"This kid… he's pretty interesting."
Inside the seal, Kurama let out a strange laugh, grinning wide.
Watching Naruto scold Sarutobi Hiruzen to his face had him rolling with laughter, his booming chuckles echoing in the void.
"I'm not going to mess with him for now. Let's see what kind of tricks this little Jinchūriki pulls."
The Nine-Tails dropped his hostility for the moment, curious to see where this vessel would go. A Jinchūriki might last a few decades at most. For a tailed beast, that was little more than a blink.
"Hmm. Chakra feels like it's flowing smoothly."
Naruto tested the energy moving through his body and grinned, mood lighter than ever.
When you're happy, even your chakra seems to hum along with you.
Every day, he stuck to his routine: Saitama training, practicing the Transformation Jutsu, long hours at the Konoha Library soaking up knowledge. Always moving, always busy.
As for the war Cloud was shouting about?
Calm. Nothing happened.
Raikage had raged when he heard the news, but in the end, he swallowed his anger and held back.
Still, on the black market, a new bounty quietly appeared: Kira of the Red Sun Society, three million ryō.
"See? The moment you get tough, they back down," Naruto smirked when he overheard villagers gossiping about it.
He locked the lesson away: blind compromise earns you nothing. Being tough—that was the only path.
The Third Hokage really didn't have it in him.
"Hinata, come train with me!"
After more than half a month, Hinata was finally allowed outside again.
Naruto lit up when he saw her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her along, laughing as they ran across the snow.
The Hyuga guard trailing behind them scowled.
"Don't run around! Demon Fox brat, don't drag our Lady Hinata into trouble!"
"Boy, you hit too hard—look at her poor hands, all bruised!"
"Damn it, Naruto, what did you do this time? I swear I'll never forgive you!"
"Our lady, be careful—this troublemaker even picked up some of the Hyuga clan's Eight Trigrams Palms…"
The man was Hyuga Shin, Hinata's ever-present bodyguard, who seemed to spend more time ranting about Naruto than actually guarding.
Time flew by in his endless complaints.
In the blink of an eye, a year and a half passed.
Naruto had grown from a three-year-old into a sturdy five-year-old, taller and sharper. His bond with Hinata deepened, too.
The shy little girl had brightened under his constant training. She smiled more. Laughed more. Grew stronger, faster.
So much so that even Hyuga Hiashi sometimes shot Naruto daggers with his eyes, jealous of how close they'd grown.
But even Hiashi couldn't deny the results. With Naruto around, Hinata's Gentle Fist improved at an astonishing rate. At just five years old, she'd already mastered the Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms. Sixty-Four Palms wouldn't be far behind.
"Naruto-kun, what did you give me? It's sweet… and my injuries healed so quickly!"
"That's a secret between us. Don't tell anyone."
"I won't—even my father."
They sat side by side, resting, their voices low.
Hinata wasn't the same timid girl anymore. Her cheeks still flushed easily, but she stayed close to Naruto now, sometimes letting her small hand linger in his, sometimes leaning against him with only a faint blush.
Naruto had been secretly slipping her red potion, hidden in sweet drinks.
He knew the truth: taijutsu training wrecked the body. The faster you healed, the faster you grew.
That was why Hinata had skyrocketed in progress, catching even her father's eye. Her confidence blossomed along with her strength.
As for Naruto himself…
Right now, he sat frowning, hand running through his hair.
Still thick. Still golden.
For now.
"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked softly.
"It's nothing… just thinking."
After two years of grinding, he was fast and strong—strong enough to fight a jōnin even without his bedrock armor.
But something worried him.
Every morning lately, he'd woken to see strands of blond hair littering his pillow. Not once. Not twice. Every day.
He was losing hair.
This Saitama training works… but maybe it comes with a cost.
Stronger… but bald?
No way. I'm only five. I can't spend my whole life bald!
The thought chilled him enough that he downed another bottle of red potion on the spot.
"H-Hinata…"
"Yes, Naruto-kun?"
"If… just as an example… if I lost all my hair and went bald, what would you think of me?" He looked at her with nervous hope.
"Bald? No way, Naruto-kun! Your hair is thick and looks great. You won't go bald."
"I mean if. Suppose it happened."
Hinata tilted her head, then smiled with quiet certainty.
"No matter what happens, Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun. Even if you were bald… you'd still be you."
Her pale eyes shone, unwavering, full of warmth.
Naruto felt his heart melt. It was like drinking honey.
He couldn't stop grinning.
Baldness? Hair loss? Who cared anymore?
So what if he went bald?
-------------------------
For advanced chapters, visit patreon.com/Varnok