Early in the morning, Naruto was wandering aimlessly around the village, looking for something interesting to catch his attention.
Lately, he'd grown tired of doing nothing but training and studying in the library these days, even though it had become a routine by now.
Today, he wanted to do something different… something fun.
"Should I go visit Iruka-sensei today? Now that I've got a lot of money, I could even treat him at Ichiraku Ramen."
Walking down the road, Naruto was deep in thought. It had been months since he graduated from the academy, and he realized he really missed Iruka's nagging.
Strict as he was, Iruka had always shown care...something that had gradually softened Naruto's heart.
When Naruto had first entered the academy, Iruka was like everyone else...distant, cold, avoiding him.
But as time passed, something changed in him. Iruka began to see himself in Naruto the lonely kid who pulled pranks just to get noticed. From then on, Iruka started treating Naruto like any other regular student, even showing kindness to him.
That gradual shift in attitude… it meant the world to Naruto.
Sometimes, Iruka would even take him out for ramen, and his encouraging words still echoed in Naruto's heart.
"Naruto, I believe in you." Remembering those words now, Naruto felt emotional. He didn't know if he could ever truly repay Iruka's kindness.
But at the very least, now that he had money, he could treat him to a good meal as a small gesture of gratitude.
With that thought in mind, just as he turned left down a familiar street, Naruto came face-to-face with a strange trio who, frankly, looked a bit odd to him.
Their attire was noticeably different from what people in the Leaf Village usually wore.
The weirdest among them was a guy with purple face paint and a large object strapped to his back.
The other two looked relatively normal in comparison, at least to Naruto.
He glanced at them briefly...mainly at the one with the painted face, Kankuro before attempting to walk past.
But just as he did, a sudden stinging sensation shot through his body, like ants crawling all over his skin. He paused mid-step.
Naruto could feel it was coming from the red-haired boy with the gourd strapped to his back.
He looked up, glancing at Gaara. And Gaara stared right back at him.
Seeing Naruto, Gaara's lips curled into a menacing smile, his pale blue-green eyes locked onto him with unnatural intensity.
For a brief moment, Naruto felt a wave of bloodlust coming from Gaara as those eyes bore into him.
But after a few tense seconds, Gaara's expression cooled.
'Now's not the time to lose control.'
"Temari. Kankuro. Let's go," Gaara said coldly as he walked past Naruto.
Both siblings flinched slightly, then followed without saying a word.
They had felt it too Gaara had nearly lost it again.
Naruto stood frozen, watching their backs as they disappeared down the street.
On instinct Naruto activated his sensory ability Kagura Mind Eye on Gaara feeling something strange.
he didn't usually use his ability but his gut feeling was telling him something was wrong with him.
The moment his senses latched onto Gaara's chakra...
A sickening wave of nausea surged through him, and it felt like the ground beneath him had turned to wet sand, dragging him underneath.
'What the hell is that?' Naruto thought, clutching his chest.
He quickly cut off his sensory ability, stumbling back a step. His forehead was drenched in cold sweat.
'That chakra… it was too dark. Evil.'
But it wasn't Gaara's chakra...he could tell.
It was something inside him.
Naruto had scanned hundreds of villagers in Konoha before. Not once had he ever felt two completely different chakra signatures in one person.
But Gaara… was different.
And whatever that second presence was
It was monstrous.
'Why is that red-haired boy different?'
Thinking for a moment, Naruto finally arrived at a possible answer.
Jinchūriki.
Although there was very little information available in the library, one of the books had briefly mentioned the term.
A Jinchūriki is a person who has a tailed beast sealed inside them, acting as a living container for immense chakra and power.
This was the only conclusion he could draw from the knowledge he had... on why Gaara had two distinct chakra signatures.
After seeing Gaara and sensing that dark energy, Naruto felt he needed to revisit the library, hoping it might have more information about Jinchūriki.
Root Headquarters
Danzo sat calmly in his chair, as usual, listening to the Root ninja's report about recent events in the village.
"Oh? So he's going back to the library?" Danzo's eyes glinted coldly.
Seeing the Root ninja nod, Danzo made up his mind.
"Discreetly place the documents, everything we have on Jinchūriki...where he can find them."
Danzo was deeply dissatisfied with Hiruzen's methods.
In his eyes, the Jinchūriki was both the most powerful and most dangerous element in the village... a variable.
And Danzo hated variables.
Hiruzen had refused him many times whenever he asked to take control of the Jinchūriki. So now, he had come up with a different plan.
Why not let the Jinchūriki run rampant for a while?
If the boy lost control and caused astronomical damage to the village, Danzo could use that destruction to his advantage.
He was certain he could pressure Hiruzen into handing Naruto over once the village had suffered enough.
It was a perfect plan.
Lately, he had also noticed suspicious activity Orochimaru's movements, and the Sand Village acting strangely.
Something was brewing… definitely a conspiracy, no doubt.
But Danzo didn't care. In fact, the more chaos, the better for his plan.
He had already dropped a few hints to Naruto enough to make him curious. But this time, he was going all in.
With the documents Naruto would find today, he would finally learn the truth:
Why people avoided him. What was really sealed inside him.
And the source of their hatred.
Danzo was sure that once Naruto read everything, he would go berserk.
And when that happened, Danzo would step in becoming a hero of Konoha by subduing the Nine-Tails in front of everyone.
And gaining the fame necessary to become Hokage.
----
[ A/N : I'm not sure what I did differently while writing this, but I really don't like how this chapter turned out. If there's a flaw or something missing compared to my previous chapters, please let me know. Maybe I was just too tired while writing this section, and the quality dropped as a result. I plan to re-edit these chapters when I have time — I think it's just two chapters at most that feel off. After that, I took a break, and the quality seemed to return to normal.]