The night sky had yet to fully recede.
A layer of hazy, thin morning light quietly emerged, blending with the night to dye it a deep blue.
In the bedroom, Naruto Uzumaki lay sprawled on his bed, wrapped in a blanket. A defenseless, foolish smile was on his face as he let out a soft, rhythmic snore.
Just then, on the nightstand, the hand of a simple alarm clock clicked, precisely jumping to the 5:30 mark.
Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!!
The deafening, shrill ringing suddenly tore through the tranquility of the morning!
Naruto was brutally yanked out of his sweet dream. He sat up abruptly, staring blankly around the still-dim room before turning to look out the window.
The sky outside the window was still hazy; it would be a while before sunrise.
"Ugh…"
Seeing this, Naruto covered his face and let out a mournful groan. "What's the big idea? Why am I getting up so early on a weekend…"
He had stayed up late studying in the sealed space yesterday, and now a wave of intense sleepiness washed over him again.
Naruto let himself fall back onto the bed like a side of pork, sighing contentedly as he was embraced by the soft, warm blanket.
"Hah!"
With a satisfied sigh, his leaden eyelids slowly closed, ready to return to the gentle embrace of sleep.
However, just as his consciousness was about to sink back into a dream…
"Brat," Kurama's low voice sounded in the depths of Naruto's mind without warning. It said slowly, "Give that pig brain of yours a little shake and think about what day it is."
"…"
Naruto's eyes shot open. He sprang up from the bed with such force it created a gust of wind.
But his toe solidly hit the hard edge of the bed. A piercing pain shot from his toe to the top of his head.
"Ahh!"
Naruto instantly drew a sharp breath, clutching his unfortunate toe. His face was twisted in agony as he hissed in pain.
In the shadows beside his bed, a pair of slender cat eyes slowly opened. Seeing Naruto's foolish state, a human-like look of disdain appeared in the cat's pupils.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, I'm dying, I'm dying…"
Naruto mumbled incoherently. After the sharp pain finally eased, he jumped off the bed and exclaimed, "Monday, Monday, today is Monday!"
Today was the start of the new school year. He was going to be assigned to a new grade and a new class.
He didn't even bother putting on his slippers, running barefoot across the cold floor and straight into the bathroom.
A moment later, a nimble black shadow followed him, walking with light, lazy cat-like steps. It nudged Naruto's slippers along as it strolled into the bathroom.
It was a completely black cat with glossy fur. With a light leap, it jumped onto the edge of the sink and sat down steadily, watching Naruto.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp—Pah!"
Naruto spat out the toothpaste foam in his mouth. He looked at the black cat, then at the slippers at his feet, and put them on. He then looked up at the cat and grinned. "Thanks, Kuro!"
This cat was special. Its entire body was pitch black, without a single stray hair.
Only its left eye was marred by a grotesque scar that ran from top to bottom across its closed eyelid, as if it had been viciously slashed by a cat's claw. It was clearly blind.
It watched Naruto with its remaining, amber-like right eye, its gaze unblinking and judgmental.
This one-eyed black cat, which Naruto had named "Kuro," was an "accident."
One morning a few months ago, as Naruto was opening his front door, a black shadow darted past his feet and brazenly occupied the most comfortable spot on his sofa.
No matter how much Naruto coaxed or shooed it, it stubbornly refused to leave, acting as if it were the new master of the place.
In the past, Naruto himself often struggled to make ends meet and would never have taken in this "uninvited guest."
But ever since he met Hiruzen Sarutobi and started receiving a stipend, although he wasn't exactly wealthy, he had more than enough to feed himself and a cat.
So, with a soft heart, Naruto let it stay.
But he later discovered that the cat was ridiculously smart. It would go outside to relieve itself and hunt for food every day and would return on time every night to sleep, requiring no effort at all.
Sometimes, when Naruto was being foolish like he was just now, it would lie in its cat bed and watch him, a human-like look of disdain in its eyes.
Naruto didn't mind at all. By now, he was completely used to its presence.
Soon, Naruto finished his simple morning routine and went to the kitchen, where he stood on a small stool and began to busy himself clumsily but earnestly.
Chopping vegetables, cracking eggs, turning on the stove…
Sizzle.
The eggs in the pan made a tempting sound, and the aroma filled the air.
The black cat jumped onto the adjacent cupboard, looking down at Naruto's busy figure. Its tail swayed leisurely.
Though his movements were still a bit awkward, they were a vast improvement from his initial fumbling attempts, which had almost burned down the kitchen.
Naruto didn't know how to cook. Even with plenty of money and with restaurants refusing to serve him, he had never considered cooking for himself, preferring instant ramen and other pre-packaged foods.
Until one day during a lesson in the sealed space, the 'teacher' suddenly said that eating ramen all the time was unhealthy and not suitable for human growth, and that he needed to learn to cook for himself.
So, Naruto began learning. The meals he made now were all simple dishes.
Fried eggs, toast, miso soup, or simple rice balls…
Although they were all simple things, Naruto's appetite was enormous.
After eating enough for three normal adult men, Naruto went back to his room to change clothes. He stood in front of the mirror, carefully looking at his reflection.
He wore a short, high-collared jacket that was white on the outside and red on the inside. The lines on the shoulders were sharp, and the cuffs were tight, giving him a clean and crisp look. The sleeves were embroidered with the red spiral crest of the Uzumaki clan. The jacket was open at the front, revealing a white inner shirt.
He wore a pair of loose black trousers that were three-quarters length, with the cuffs cinched below the knees, revealing his lower legs wrapped in dark red ninja leggings.
On his feet were a pair of black ninja shoes with slightly high tops that covered his ankles. He wore a wide belt around his waist with a metal buckle in the center.
"Teacher, big fox, is this outfit okay?" Naruto asked tentatively in his mind.
This outfit was also something the teacher had told him to change into.
He had now completely gotten rid of his old, faded, and garishly yellow jackets.
"Mhm," Yunshi's calm voice replied.
"Duh, it's an outfit the old man and I picked out for you," Kurama's tone was as acerbic as ever. "There's no way it could be uglier than that yellow one you had before."
In the mirror, Naruto's frame was still a bit thin, but compared to before, he was noticeably more upright, and the gloom that used to cloud his brow was gone.
His somewhat long, golden hair was casually swept back with his hand. Although it was still a bit messy, it was much more pleasing to the eye than his previous "spiky hedgehog" look.
Only the six cat-like whiskers on his childish face remained clear.
"Okay! Let's go!"
Naruto grinned at his reflection. He grabbed the lunch box he had prepared on the table and took one last look at Kuro, who had curled up in its cat bed and was resting with its eyes closed.
"I'm leaving, Kuro!" he called out. Without waiting for a response, he pulled the door open.
In the distance, the pale blue of the sky had, at some point, been edged with a warm golden hue. The golden light pierced through the morning mist, casting a warm glow over the entire world.
Naruto Uzumaki took a deep breath, and, facing the bright morning light, ran toward the Ninja Academy.
Behind the now-closed door, the black cat curled in its bed opened its eyes.
This time, it wasn't just one, but a pair of eyes that opened.
One was a clear, amber-like vertical pupil, and the other was a peculiar, solid white eye.
Undoubtedly, this was the cat that had been used by Yunshi Hyuga to lure Orochimaru away during his experiment and bring Hiruzen Sarutobi to witness the scene.
The cat's true owner was none other than Yunshi Hyuga.
The "blind" eye was, in fact, a real Byakugan.
The gentle morning light fell upon the gates of the Ninja Academy.
It was the beginning of a new school year. The entrance was bustling with the noisy chatter of children and the fond instructions of parents, a lively and vibrant scene.
Naruto jogged all the way to the school gate, a familiar sunny smile on his face.
However, the moment he stepped into the relatively crowded area by the gate, the parents who had been smiling and greeting each other all turned their gazes to him, focusing on the six distinct whiskers on his face…
Their smiles instantly froze and stiffened, then quickly faded, replaced by complex expressions mixed with wariness and aloofness.
The once-noisy chatter abruptly dropped several decibels.
The parents who had been chatting together tacitly stopped their conversations, subtly turned their bodies, and shielded their children from his view.
They then moved a few steps away with their children, creating a deserted space around Naruto.
Although the children were young and naive, they were very perceptive to their parents' behavior. They caught on to the sudden change in their parents' emotions.
Some children looked at Naruto with confusion and curiosity but were blocked and quietly warned. Others instinctively imitated their parents' wariness and rejection.
The smile on Naruto's face wavered slightly, then faded away little by little.
He knew what they were saying and what they were doing.
They were talking about things like "don't go near that child," "he's dangerous," and "stay away from him."
Back then, Hiruzen Sarutobi had indeed dispelled the rumors, telling the villagers that Naruto was not a monster and that they shouldn't fear or ostracize him. He even strictly forbade them from spreading rumors.
He had even let Naruto attend school, hoping he could make friends, and Naruto had excitedly agreed.
Naruto still remembered that first morning of school, wearing his brand-new clothes, filled with an unprecedented excitement and anticipation as he eagerly ran into the school and his classroom.
He thought everything would be different.
However, while the villagers no longer slandered him, they had adopted a different, even more complete and cold-hearted attitude—one of ignoring him.
No matter how hard he tried to get close or how much he longed to fit in, as soon as he appeared, the lively conversations would instantly cool down, the laughter would stop abruptly, and people would disperse and leave.
In the end, he was left standing alone in the suddenly quiet, empty space.
Clearly, his situation in the Hidden Leaf Village had not fundamentally improved. In fact, because of Hiruzen Sarutobi's intervention, it had become even more awkward.
He had gone from being a "monster" that everyone loathed to a "trouble" that everyone avoided.
Not only in the eyes of the ignorant villagers but also in the eyes of the knowledgeable ninjas, Naruto, as a jinchuriki, was also "trouble."
The same went for their children.
Influenced and instructed by their parents, in an atmosphere of silent but omnipresent rejection, no one was willing to approach him, let alone be his friend.
However, after all this time, seeing this scene again…
The fierce indignation that once churned in Naruto's heart now only stirred a slight ripple before settling into silence.
He was used to it.
Or rather, he no longer cared.
Because, as he had read in a book: "If no one is willing to understand the truth, then even if you scatter the truth on the streets, no seed will sprout or blossom."
And because, as his teacher had told him: "People are foolish only because of fear, and people are afraid only because of ignorance."
"Ignorance will not free them from laziness; it will only plunge them into it, making them degenerate, timid, and even more foolish, fearful, and ignorant."
Therefore, he only needed to care about those who cared about him and accept those who were willing to accept him.
With this thought, Naruto took a deep breath. The cool morning air filled his lungs, carrying a hint of fresh grass and trees.
The turmoil in his heart completely calmed down. The smile on his face, though faded, hadn't disappeared. Instead, it had settled into a more resilient one.
He no longer paid attention to the dodging gazes or the silence that formed around him. He lifted his feet and walked straight into the school gate.
Naruto entered the school building, walked through the corridor, and looked for his new classroom number. His steps finally stopped outside one of the classrooms.
Click.
Quite a few students had already arrived. They were gathered in twos and threes, excitedly talking about the start of the new school year, getting to know each other without a hint of shyness.
A new school term, a new teacher, new classmates…
The air was filled with a sense of novelty and curiosity.
However, the moment Naruto pushed the door open, the noisy classroom fell silent. Dozens of eyes turned to him, focusing on him.
He habitually walked toward the back of the classroom and chose a seat by the window.
This spot offered a wide view and was relatively quiet. More importantly, it was farther away from the crowd.
After sitting down, Naruto slightly lowered his eyes, as if waiting for a certain reaction he had anticipated.
However, nothing happened.
The silence in the classroom only lasted for a very short few seconds.
The lowered chatter returned like a receding tide rushing back, even more lively than before.
The students continued their conversations, discussing holiday fun, their expectations for the new semester, and who the new teacher would be…
Occasionally, a few curious glances were cast his way, but they quickly moved on, returning to their topics, as if his appearance were just an insignificant little interlude.
Then, someone actually walked over to him.
It was a black-haired boy wearing a deep purple, high-collared short-sleeved jacket with the Uchiha fan crest embroidered on the back.
The girls in the classroom followed his figure with their eyes, watching him walk up to Naruto and stop.
Then, to Naruto's surprise, Sasuke's lips slowly curved upward, revealing a gentle, friendly, and even a little boyish, sunny smile.
"Hello."
Sasuke's voice was clear and pleasant, carrying a genuine sense of goodwill. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha, and we're classmates now."
"I want to get to know everyone in the class, so could I ask for your name?"
Naruto Uzumaki was stunned as he looked at Sasuke Uchiha in front of him.
He wasn't the only one. Even Otsutsuki Yunshi in the sealed space opened his eyes at that moment.