Chapter 167: Is THIS How Our Son Has Been Living?!!
Konoha Village, a shabby rental apartment.
The post-school noise faded. The sunset gilded the window frame, but none of its warmth reached inside.
Naruto Uzumaki, the dead-last of Team 7, trudged listlessly through the door.
"I'm home…"
His voice echoed in the empty room. No one answered.
He practiced kicked off his muddy sneakers and walked straight to the humming old refrigerator in the corner. Opening the door, a smell of stale food and frost hit him. Naruto wrinkled his nose, dug out a carton of near-expired milk, and gulped down most of it, filling his empty stomach with something better than nothing.
Dinner was, as usual, a few cups of his favorite instant ramen. He tore off the lids and deftly poured in boiling water.
While waiting for the noodles to soften, Naruto's gaze drifted to the cans of paint piled in the corner. He was planning to give those sour faces on the Hokage Rock a "makeover."
Thinking of those high-and-mighty faces, a big grin spread across Naruto's face, his spiky blonde hair seeming to perk up with mischief.
But as he smiled, it slowly faded.
It must be nice… to go home with a mom and dad.
The image of passing the Ninja Academy at dusk, seeing his classmates holding their parents' hands, laughing as they went home, flashed through his mind. Every time he saw it, he would pretend not to care and turn away. Then he would shout, "I'm gonna be Hokage!" even louder, as if that could chase away the bitterness in his heart.
"Hokage…" Naruto slurped his ramen, mumbling through a mouthful, "Someday, I'll make everyone acknowledge me!" He punched the air, forcing himself to cheer up.
Just then, a small white thing walked out of the shadows and sat next to his cup noodles.
"Whoa! What the heck?!" Naruto jumped, nearly knocking over his dinner.
It was a tiny, pure white creature with long ears and a fluffy tail. It tilted its head, staring at Naruto with round, innocent-looking red eyes.
"Are you… a pet? A summon?" Naruto leaned in curiously, poking the creature's soft fur. "Are you hungry?"
He looked at his half-eaten ramen, then at the creature. He wasn't rich, but…
"Here, you can have this!" Naruto pushed his cup noodles forward, grinning. "It's not much, but it'll fill you up!"
Kyubey blinked but didn't touch the ramen. It spoke in a soft, yet strangely emotionless voice. "Naruto Uzumaki, do you have a wish?"
"A wish? Why are you asking that? If you make a contract with me, I can grant it, you know."
Naruto paused, scratching his messy blonde hair. "My wish is obviously to become Hoka—"
But Sasuke's words suddenly echoed in his mind. "You don't have parents or siblings! You don't understand anything about me!"
The villagers' scornful looks, their cruel laughter. "Look, it's that kid without parents. He thinks he can be Hokage?""Monster! Stay away from him!"
Loneliness was an invisible hand, squeezing the breath out of him.
If… if Mom and Dad were still here…
"Becoming Hokage is the path I have to take! There are no shortcuts, I have to earn it myself!" He looked at Kyubey, his expression more serious than ever before.
"But… if… if you can really grant any wish… I… I want to meet my mom and dad. I want to know what they were like. I want to have a real family…"
He lowered his head, his blonde bangs hiding the moisture in his eyes. He knew it was impossible. How could dead people come back to life? This weird little thing was probably just joking.
But… what if? What if it could really do it?
"I've decided!" Naruto snapped his head up, a desperate hope in his eyes. "My wish is—bring my mom and dad back to me!"
"Is that your decision?"
"Yes! That's my decision!!!"
"Then, the contract is made."
As the words fell, a blinding light instantly swallowed the shabby apartment. Naruto instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
When the light faded, he carefully opened his eyes and was completely stunned.
Two people stood in the center of the room. A man and a woman.
The man was tall and handsome, with spiky blonde hair just like his. He wore a white haori with flame patterns on the hem, the red kanji for "Fourth Hokage" on the back.
The woman had fiery red hair and violet eyes that held a trace of confusion from just waking up.
Who are they…? Naruto's mind went blank.
That man… he looks so familiar…
Right! Hokage Rock! He looks just like the Fourth Hokage!
Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki looked around, equally bewildered.
"Where… is this?" Kushina rubbed her head, still feeling groggy. "Minato, weren't we… already…" Dead?
Minato didn't answer. His gaze was locked on the boy in front of them, dressed in a strange girl's outfit. The signature bright blonde hair, the whisker marks on his cheeks… and the frilly pink dress with white wing decorations and a shiny gem on the chest?!
"Are you… are you Naruto?" Minato's voice was filled with disbelief.
"Huh? Uh… yeah?" Naruto stammered. "I… that's my name. Naruto Uzumaki!"
He felt incredibly awkward under the man's stare, especially that look of shock mixed with something strange, which made his face turn bright red. Th-this outfit! It's all that little white thing's fault!
"Naruto! Is it really you?! My son!" Kushina reacted. She rushed forward, pulling Naruto into a tight embrace, tears streaming down her face.
Warm liquid dripped onto Naruto's neck, making him stiffen. Mom's… embrace?
"W-wait, hold on!" Naruto struggled helplessly. "Who—who are you guys? Did that white thing hire you as actors? Although… although thanks for comforting me, ya know…"
He felt his face burning. Being seen like this, and hugged so tightly!
"Actors?" Minato and Kushina exchanged a look, both seeing the amusement in the other's eyes.
"Naruto, we really are your mom and dad." Minato walked over and gently ruffled Naruto's soft hair.
Kushina let go of Naruto, cupping his face and examining him closely. Seeing her son in this "cute" girl's outfit, the years of longing and the joy of reunion finally broke through. "Pfft," she laughed, but as she laughed, the tears flowed even harder.
"My… my son… why are you so cute… sob… Oh, this is great, this is really great…"
"Waaah! Don't look!" Naruto's shame meter exploded. He covered his face with his hands, wishing the floor would swallow him whole.
Cancel! Cancel transformation! He screamed in his mind.
The next second, the Magical Girl outfit that made him want to die vanished in a glimmer of light, replaced by his usual orange tracksuit.
Phew… saved. Naruto let out a long breath.
Minato and Kushina looked at Naruto's amazing "transformation jutsu" with curiosity.
"Naruto, was that… some special transformation jutsu?"
"Yeah, yeah, it looked powerful! But why girl's clothes?"
"It was probably that little white beast's doing. You guys appearing is because of it too, right? It said it could grant my wish…" Naruto scratched his head, explaining. He turned to find Kyubey, but the mysterious creature was long gone.
"White beast? Wish?" Minato and Kushina exchanged a glance, seeing the confusion and gravity in each other's eyes.
"Minato… are we… really alive again? I clearly remember you using that jutsu…"
The Reaper Death Seal. A sealing jutsu that costs the user's life.
Minato nodded silently, his blue eyes flashing with disbelief. "Yes, I remember clearly. This… isn't a contingency I left behind. We have truly… regained life."
He could clearly feel his warm blood pumping, his heart beating strongly. This was a reality no residual chakra or genjutsu could simulate.
What exactly is going on? That "white beast," that impossible "wish," and Naruto's strange "outfit"… everything is bizarre.
But Kushina had no time to think about that.
Her gaze swept around Naruto's pitifully shabby apartment. The expired milk, the mountain of cup noodle bowls, the thin bedding on the cot…
An uncontrollable rage surged from the bottom of her heart!
"IS THIS HOW OUR SON HAS BEEN LIVING?!!"
Kushina's voice trembled with fury. Her red hair floated up without wind, and a powerful wave of chakra exploded from her! "Those bastards! I'm gonna punch them all into next week, ya know!"
Minato's face was also grim. He had entrusted Naruto to the Third Hokage, hoping his death would allow his son to be loved by the villagers as a hero. But the scene before him was a slap in the face. Naruto's life was far harder than he had imagined.
Just as the family was immersed in their complex emotions, a violent shockwave from the collision of two powerful chakras erupted in the distance!
BOOM—!!!
The violent tremor made the windows groan.
"That chakra is—?!"
"Fugaku Uchiha's?"
Minato and Kushina's expressions changed simultaneously. Something's happening in the village!
"Naruto!" Minato looked at his son, his expression deadly serious. "Stay here, do not go outside! Your mother and I are going to check the situation!"
"Protect yourself, understand?!" Kushina added sternly.
With that, the two flashed away, disappearing instantly.
Naruto was left alone, still not fully recovered from the massive shock.
Mom and Dad… they really came back?