Uzumaki Temple Garden.
Twelve-year-old Naruto was half-asleep beneath the cherry blossom tree, body slack against the grass, the shade cool and gentle against his skin. Pink petals drifted lazily down around him, catching in his hair and on the folds of his robe.
The garden was quiet, and the silence flowed through the trimmed hedges, raked stone paths, and water murmuring somewhere just out of sight. Naruto breathed slowly, lost in whatever dream had claimed him.
He breathed slowly, mouth barely open.
"R-ramen… miso… tonkotsu…"
The guard standing nearby looked like he was about to walk into his own execution.
He lingered a few steps away, eyes fixed on the boy beneath the tree. He had heard the stories.
Everyone had. The blonde-haired Uzumaki clan heir with the bloody hot temper. They said he was like a demon wearing human skin. The clan's black sheep that was tolerated only because of how dangerous he might become if pushed too hard.
Waking him felt like tempting fate.
He leaned down and reached out, fingers trembling as they moved toward Naruto's shoulder.
Before he could touch him, Naruto's hand snapped up in an instant.
Fingers locked tight around the man's wrist, iron-strong and sudden. The grip wasn't crushing, but it was deliberate and controlled. The man sucked in a sharp breath, heart slamming into his ribs.
Naruto's eyes opened slowly.
"…You got about three seconds," Naruto said, voice rough with sleep, "to explain why you thought that was a good idea."
His sharp blue eyes pierced through the guard.
The guard nodded too fast. "I-I was told to wake you, Naruto-sama. I swear, I wasn't trying to do anything weird or disrespectful or anything!"
Naruto sighed and loosened his grip, letting go like the whole thing bored him. His hand fell back into the grass. He rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his elbow, already beginning to blink into unconsciousness again.
"Man," he muttered, "you could've just yelled out my name."
The guard staggered back a step, relief hitting him like a wave. "Thank the Gods," he breathed. "Looks like all that worrying was for nothing."
Naruto squinted at him. "However, I refuse."
The guard froze. "But Naruto-sama , the Elders, said this in an important request."
Naruto tilted his head. "Oh yeah? And are you gonna move me from this spot?"
The guard opened his mouth, then shut it. "No. Of course not."
Naruto grinned and flopped back onto the grass. "Then we're good."
He closed his eyes.
"Oi, blonde bastard."
The words cracked throughout the calm.
The guard jumped like he'd been struck by lightning. "Karin-sama!" He bowed so fast it was honestly impressive. "I was just informing Naruto-sama of the Elders' request, but he, uh.."
Naruto glared at him.
"Yeah, I see," Karin said, eyes flicking to Naruto without missing a beat. "You did your job. Go and I'll deal with him."
The guard did not hesitate. "Of course!" He backed away, relief practically pouring off him, and disappeared down the path.
The second he was gone, Karin turned on Naruto.
"Get your ass up."
Naruto didn't open his eyes. One finger went straight to his nose. "Mmm. I think I'm fine right here."
Karin stared at him, jaw tight. Then she slid a hand into her jacket.
Naruto heard it before he saw it, that soft scraping of paper.
Karin pulled out a rolled poster, neat and clean, tied with a thin red cord, and held it up casually for him to see.
Naruto cracked one eye open.
"…No. It couldn't be.."
She tilted it so the sunlight caught the edge and the color could peek through.
It was his signed and limited edition poster of Princess Gale.
Naruto sat up fast. "That's not funny, Karin." he groaned, "How'd you even find it?"
"You hid it like a dumbass.," Karin said. "Under the floorboards in your room that's full of old ramen cups and shitty rom-com comics."
"You went through my room?!"
"You made it impossible not to. Now do I have to destroy this poster?"
"You wouldn't dare," he said, voice dropping. "That's sacred material of the Gods.."
Karin lifted her other hand.
Green fire bloomed in her palm and the heat rolled across Naruto's skin.
Cursed Technique: Twin Flames. It was Karin's innate cursed technique that could soothingly heal or viciously destroy depending on her intent.
Naruto stared. "…You're bluffing."
Karin pushed her glasses up with her wrist as her eyes went dark.
"Try me."
The air went still and even the tree blossoms seemed to hesitate.
Naruto clenched his fists. For a second something sharp and dangerous moved behind his eyes.
Then he groaned.
"Okay. Okay. Fine. I'll go. Just put the poster away."
The flames vanished instantly. Karin re-rolled the poster and tucked it back into her jacket.
Naruto dragged a hand down his face. "You're insane."
"Get ready. You'll get this back once you've sat through the meeting."
He let out a long, miserable groan, tipping his head back toward the tree. "And I was having a good nap too. ."
Naruto grabbed his sandals and jammed his feet into them, scuffing the grass. "Crazy red-haired women," he muttered, trailing after her. "All of you are completely unhinged."
Karin re-rolled the poster with meticulous care and slid it back into her sleeve. "You love me."
"I fear you," Naruto shot back. "There's a big difference."
They walked off down the path, petals crunching underfoot, the cherry tree left behind to reclaim its shade. The spot where Naruto had been napping looked perfectly peaceful again.
Uzumaki Temple
Sunlight filtered in through the open shōji screens, warm and gold, stretching across the polished wood like it owned the place.
Outside, wind moved through pine needles and brushed stone lanterns with a soft scrape, but inside the great Uzumaki residence everything had gone painfully still.
Naruto lay flat on his stomach at the center of the hall with his arms spread, and cheek pressed into the tatami mat.
His formal black montsuki was rumpled, the crimson lining flashing where his haori had slipped off one shoulder. His sleeves hung too long over his hands, his blond hair stuck out in every direction, and a perfectly good cup of tea steamed quietly by his elbow, completely ignored.
On either side of him, three elders knelt in seiza with their backs straight and hands folded.
Their expressions seemed like they were carved from stone.
The elder on Naruto's right cleared his throat.
"The decision has been made that you will travel to Konoha and maintain the barrier seal and repair it if necessary."
Naruto didn't move an inch.
"…And why does it gotta be me?" he said, voice muffled by the floor. "We've got, what, like a thousand seal masters on this island. Why me specifically?"
The elder in the center answered without hesitation. "Because there are no barrier masters better than you. And because it would be an insult not to send our best to a long-standing ally. Have you already forgotten that the Senju are our sister clan?"
Naruto lifted his head just enough to squint at the ceiling. He scratched at his scalp, annoyed. "Yeah yeah, sounds really nice and noble and all that. But I'm uh.. kinda busy."
The third elder leaned forward slightly. "Busy with what, Naruto-sama? What could possibly take priority over this?"
Naruto rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his hand, completely serious. "Oh, you know. I still haven't caught up on my Rent-A-Girlfriend. It would suck to miss any new chapters."
Silence hit the room like a dropped plate.
All three elders stared at him.
Behind them, cursed pressure rolled through the hall, heavy and familiar.
A woman stood there with her arms crossed, her white hair falling straight down her back, with purple eyes sharp enough to cut stone.
A rectangular green mark sat on her forehead, glowing faintly with restrained power. She looked around fifty, maybe, if you ignored the heavy weight behind her gaze.
Her white yukata was simple but beautiful, and tied with a deep purple sash that didn't quite hide the presence she carried.
"You damned brat," she snapped. "How long do you plan on shirking your responsibilities? I'm nearly a hundred years old and you still act like an irresponsible child. Your mother would be ashamed."
Naruto didn't even look back at her.
"You're a hundred? Just die already you old bat," he replied casually. "No one's stopping you."
The cursed energy in the room spiked hard enough to rattle the shōji pieces.
One of the elders winced in fear. This was far from an irregular occurrence and usually resulted in property damage.
However, Mito's eye twitched.
She stepped forward, looming over Naruto, her shadow swallowing him whole despite her petite frame.
"Say that again, you damned cursed brat." she said quietly, which somehow sounded worse than shouting.
Naruto finally rolled onto his back and looked up at her, squinting against the light. "You heard me, old geezer. Or have you finally gone mute? Honestly, the fact that you're still kicking after all this time is kinda impressive, actually."
Her hand cracked against his forehead in a sharp and precise flick.
"You'll mind your elders around me, brat!" she said.
"Ouch!" Naruto said flatly, not even attempting to dodge. "Abusing the future clan head is a crime, you know?"
"You can't be the future clan head if I kill you now!"
Mito exhaled through her nose, then straightened, looking back at the clearly frightened elders.
"Don't worry, he's going."
Naruto shot upright on his elbows. "But still why me?" He pointed at her without looking. "You've been to Konoha before and lived there when you were younger. Hell you were even married to the First Hokage, right? You know the place and the people way more than I do."
Mito didn't even turn at first. "And?"
"And you've got, what, a century on me in experience?" Naruto said. "You're telling me the great and legendary Uzumaki Mito can't handle a little trip to Fire Country?"
That got her to look at him.
Her stare was flat, unimpressed. "I'm old," she said. "I don't feel like traveling. My knees ache, my back aches, and I'm not sleeping on some futon in another village just to look over a barrier that you're perfectly capable of handling."
Naruto frowned. "That's it? Your excuse is that you're… tired?"
"Damn right," she snapped. "I've earned it."
He squinted. "But all you do is sit around, watch soap operas, and read smut."
Mito nodded once. "Damn right I do," she repeated. "I earned that too!"
Naruto groaned and flopped back onto the tatami. "Still doesn't explain why you can't go. If you leave for a bit surely things won't fall apart."
Mito stepped closer and nudged his ribs with her foot, just hard enough to make a point.
"Ow!"
"No. If you leave for a bit, things won't fall apart. Hell, they might even get better. If I leave for a day, everything goes to shit."
He opened his mouth, then paused to reconsider his words which would only make things worse.
She went on, her voice calm but barbed. "Who do you think keeps the seal archives in order? Who do you think shuts down the elders when they get their stupid ideas? Who makes sure half this clan doesn't murder and enslave the other half over pride and petty grudges?"
The Elders flinched.
Naruto stared at the ceiling. "Yeah, okay, but.."
"And don't give me that look," she said. "You're young and you barely leave your room unless someone drags you out. You're a shut-in with too much talent and not enough sense."
"Isn't that a bit harsh? I sleep in the gardens sometimes." he argued.
"When I was your age," Mito continued, talking right over him, "I'd already fought hundreds of sorcerers. Exorcised hundreds of dangerous Cursed Spirits, and saved a handful of princes!"
"And yet you're still single," Naruto muttered under his breath.
"What was that, brat?" Mito snapped.
"Nothing, nothing!"
"Fine! I'll go to Konoha." Naruto groaned and covered his face with both sleeves. "Man. I knew today felt troublesome…"
Mito glanced down at him again, lips curling just a little. "Now that everything is settled pack your shit. You leave at dawn."
"…Can I at least bring my comics?"
She paused, then sighed. "Don't push it, brat."
Karin stepped out from the shadows along the wall, arms folded tight across her chest, crimson eyes sharp behind her glasses. She waited until Naruto's footsteps faded completely down the corridor before she spoke, lowering her voice the moment he was out of earshot.
"Mito-sama," she said, chin tilting toward the seals carved into the pillars. "About the barrier in Konoha. It's a beautiful work of art, from what I've seen in the seal archives. It has multiple layered redundancies, a built-in feedback loop, a self-correcting cursed energy flow. It's your magnus opus." She huffed softly. "It wouldn't fail. Not unless someone sabotaged it, and even then they'd need extensive knowledge of barrier techniques."
Mito did not look surprised. She lowered herself onto the edge of the platform, hands resting neatly on her knees, gaze steady and unhurried.
"What are you trying to say, Karin?" she asked.
Karin's mouth pulled tight. "I'm saying this isn't about the barrier, is it? You're sending him away because you want him gone."
"Yes, and no," Mito said plainly.
Karin exhaled through her nose. "Figures. Nothing is ever simple with you."
Mito's eyes softened slightly, though her voice did not. "I don't want him to leave. However, Naruto is simply too strong."
Karin looked at her sharply. "And you send him away North?"
"Power like his," Mito continued, "comes at a price. Ever since he was a child, he has been paying that price. People have watched him like a terrible disaster waiting to strike. They fear what he carries, and that fear is a dangerous thing."
Karin said nothing.
"As clan head," Mito went on, "he will inherit that fear whether we wish it or not. Authority built on fear will never last." Her gaze lifted to Karin. "It is better to rule with love, no?"
Karin's shoulders eased a fraction. "Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, I suppose it is. But to send him North? You know how our people feel about Konoha."
Mito sighed. "Yes, there is the issue of Konoha. Our clan has always been distrustful of the Land of Fire after our sister clan intermingled with the numerous warring clans, and for good reason."
She folded her hands loosely in her lap. "Truthfully, we have no love for Konoha. Our trust was aligned with the Senju clan, and after their fates that relationship was fractured. However, they still recognize us as a sovereign state. They give us breathing room, trade guarantees, and protection if we were ever to come under attack. That relationship only holds together if we give something back in return. Trust. Security. Cooperation. A face they can see is even better." A faint smile touched her lips. "And Naruto is very hard to ignore."
Karin snorted.
"Sending him there also puts him among people his own age," Mito continued. "It lets him be a boy. It teaches him how others live, how they struggle, how they deal with things he has never had to face. That kind of lesson cannot be taught here."
She stood, straightening her robes.
"All of this," she said quietly, "is for his sake. Even if he doesn't realize it."
Karin glanced toward the hallway Naruto had vanished down, then back at Mito.
"He's gonna hate it," she said.
Mito smiled, just a little. "Probably. But there are bigger things at stake."
The ocean between Fire Country and Whirlpool.
The sailboat drifted out from the island of Whirlpool slow and easy, the hull rocking in that lazy rhythm that made it feel like the sea itself was breathing.
Mist hung thick over the water, close enough to taste, cool and salty, and it blurred the horizon until the world felt smaller and quieter than it should have been.
Naruto lay stretched out on the little deck, hands folded behind his head, tabi sandals kicked off to the side, listening to the rope creak and the water brush the boards.
"I'm gonna miss the village," he said out loud, voice carrying nowhere in particular, then his mouth tilted into a grin and his cheeks warmed before he could stop it.
"But at least maybe I'll get a chance to meet Princess Gale-chan in person." he giggled.
The water suddenly went still.
Naruto's eyes opened fullt as the sea ahead of the boat swelled upward, slow and heavy, like something massive was pushing itself up from underneath.
The mist peeled apart and a huge shape rose from the water. It was dark and thick with broad shoulders. Its body was mainly humanoid, with a large head that was round and smooth like a monk's shaved skull. Water poured off it in sheets. Its eyes were pale and sunken, and fixed straight on him.
It was an Umibozu.
A class of cursed spirits born from the negative emotion from mainly sailors of the sea itself.
They accounted for countless drownings and lost ships.
Umibozu test humans with riddles and trials, clinging to twisted memories of their faith from the dead they were born from
Naruto sat up, planting a hand on the deck, more curious than scared. "Huh. Didn't think I'd run into a Cursed Spirit out here so soon."
The spirit's voice rolled out low and deep, like it had been dragged across the ocean floor before it reached the surface. "I have three riddles, and you have three chances. Fail, and I drown you and your boat."
Naruto laughed, bright and honest, like he'd just been invited to a festival game. "Alright, yeah, sure. I love games."
The Umibozu leaned closer, the water around it beginning to churn. "When you meet a Man of the Way on the road, greet him not with words, nor with silence. Tell me, how will you greet him?"
Naruto blinked, frowned, then scratched the back of his head. "Eh! Hell if I know! Next question."
The sea rumbled, but the spirit continued.
"A water buffalo goes out of his enclosure. The head, the horns, and the four legs go through, but why doesn't the tail, too?"
Naruto leaned back against the mast, eyes drifting up into the fog like the answer might be hiding up there. He thought hard, really hard, lips pursed, brow creased, then snapped his fingers. "I got it. The tail's, uh… stubborn. Yeah. That's gotta be it!"
The Umibozu's eyes darkened and the waves slapped harder against the boat.
"Wrong," it said. "You have one final riddle. If Keichu made one hundred carts, and if we took off the wheels and removed the hub uniting the spokes, what would then become apparent?"
Naruto didn't even hesitate this time. He smirked, shoulders relaxing. "Maybe that he was a shitty wheel maker."
For a heartbeat the sea was silent.
Then the Umibozu roared, the water surging upward in towering walls that curled toward the boat. "WRONG! Prepare to perish at sea!"
Naruto sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. "Man. If only Honoka was here. I'm no good when it comes to tests.. Oh well."
He dropped his hand and smiled as cursed energy flared through him like raging whirlpool under his skin.
"Cursed Technique: ADAMANTINE SEALING CHAINS."
Golden chains burst from his back, ripping through the air and snapping tight around the Cursed Spirit's arms, chest, and neck.
They dug in deep, glowing golden hot and locking the curse in place. The spirit thrashed, water exploding outward, but it couldn't move, attack, or retreat back into the sea.
Its pale eyes widened in horror.
Naruto stepped forward to the edge of the boat, chains humming behind him. "Alright, my turn now. Here's a riddle. I start as a hard, dry block, but with hot water and a few minutes, I become a steamy, savory meal. What am I?"
The Umibozu opened its mouth but quickly closed it. The chains tightened around it as it struggled, but no answer came out.
Naruto tilted his head, almost seemingly apologetic. "No answer? That's really unfortunate… It's the only riddle I can think of too."
He yanked the chains inward and the Umibozu fell apart, its body shredding into dark fragments that dissolved into mist and foam before they hit the cold water.
The sea swallowed the remains, the curse dispersing like it had never been there at all.
The waves settled and the mist thinned a bit.
Naruto let the chains fade and flopped back onto the deck with a long breath, staring up at the foggy sky. "Ramen," he muttered. "It was ramen. Dumbass."
NEXT PAGE.
Location: Konoha Guardstation.
Kotetsu was leaning way too comfortably against the gate, chewing on a stick of candy like he had nowhere else to be in the world. "I swear, Izumo.. Front gate duty is killing me slower than any curse ever could."
Izumo didn't even look up from where he was inspecting the seal plates embedded along the gate frame, fingers brushing over the etched lines. "You say that every shift. And guess what happens every shift? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"Yeah, because nothing ever happens anywhere," Kotetsu said, waving a hand toward the road outside the village. "We live in a peaceful era, with no big curse activity on the outskirts, and what foreign sorcerer would stroll through the front gates of Konoha? They'd obviously try and sneak in somewhere else if at all."
Izumo straightened, arms folding. "And that's exactly why we're here. Because people get stupid ideas when they think things are easy."
Kotetsu snorted. "Man, if this gets any easier they're gonna have to start paying us in lunch vouchers instead of ryo."
"That's why you gotta always look busy even when you're not. Them's the rules."
The air suddenly shifted.
It wasn't explicit, but a sense of sharp dread tugged at Kotetsu's senses, like something brushed past his shoulder without him catching a glimpse.
Kotetsu blinked. "Uh… did you feel that too, or am I finally losing it?"
Izumo turned slowly, eyes scanning the road beyond the gate. "Yeah. I think I felt it too."
They stared out into the vast forest of nothingness. There were no footsteps. No cursed energy signature strong enough to latch onto, just an empty stretch of road and trees and the cicadas buzzing like nothing had happened.
Kotetsu scratched his head. "Maybe it was just the wind?"
Izumo shook his head. "Didn't really feel like it."
A few seconds passed.
Kotetsu let out a breath. "Okay, so either something just blew past us faster than we can track, or we're both jumpy from boredom."
High above the village, Naruto touched down on a tiled rooftop without a sound, crouching low as the city spread out beneath him. He glanced back toward the gate, eyebrows lifting slightly.
"…That's it?" he muttered. "Huh."
He straightened, hands in his pockets, eyes sweeping over Konoha's rooftops and barrier lines. "Security's kinda loose for a major village. Guess they really are living rather comfy these days."
A breeze tugged at his coat as he turned toward the inner district, already moving again, gone before anyone below ever thought to look up.