A cute baby with blonde hair, blue eyes, and whisker-like marks on his cheeks was sleeping peacefully until a nurse entered the room carrying a bottle of milk.
She walked up to him and shoved the nipple straight into his mouth. The milk in the bottle was still hot, causing the baby to wake with a startled cry of pain.
Yet, the baby continued drinking despite the heat, staring up at the nurse with barely contained fury. The nurse looked back at him with disgust, as if this infant had single-handedly wiped out her entire family.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" the nurse sneered, her voice dripping with revulsion and irritation. "You should be grateful I feed you at all. I should've let you die. But the Hokage ordered it."
When the bottle was empty, she left without another word, abandoning the baby to solitude. If this were a normal infant, he likely would have died long ago from sheer neglect and lack of care.
'I wish I could beat the shit out of you, woman.'
The baby held onto his anger as he endured yet another day of this treatment. Just days prior, he'd gone hungry because no one could be bothered to feed him. The only reason they fed him now was because the Third Hokage had issued orders.
'At least the first nurse got fired,' he thought bitterly.
This baby was Uzumaki Naruto, but not the Naruto the world knew. He was a reincarnator, living Naruto's life from infancy, experiencing a childhood of neglect that even the original Naruto never fully remembered. It had improved slightly since the Hokage's intervention, but without those orders, he likely would have died from starvation or disease. They wouldn't even wash him.
But in this solitude, he had found purpose. Every moment of anger, every ounce of frustration, he channeled into practicing chakra control. He couldn't sense it yet, couldn't manipulate it, but he focused relentlessly. He had nothing else to do, and he needed this, needed to be stronger. Not just for an easier life, but because of the events coming that would threaten to destroy the world.
➤➤➤
Three years had passed.
Standing outside the apartment that would become Naruto's home, an old man in a white robe with graying hair and weathered features looked down at the boy beside him. Naruto had grown, he appeared as any normal three-year-old would, his expression carefully neutral.
The man was the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had visited regularly since Naruto's birth, performing the role of a doting grandfather. Naruto didn't trust it for a second.
"This will be your new home," Hiruzen said with a warm smile. "Your very own home."
Naruto didn't react outwardly at first. But sensing the old man's gaze, he turned and let his face transform into the bright, excited smile of a child receiving an incredible gift. If Hiruzen had known it was all an act, he might have been shocked, and perhaps reconsidered his approach.
"Thank you, Ojii-chan!"
Hiruzen knelt down, taking Naruto's small hand in his own. He placed a key and a small bag of money, the monthly allowance, into the boy's palm, looking directly into Naruto's eyes with practiced kindness.
"Here is the key to your new home, and this is for you to use. I can't always be here with you, so you must take care of yourself, alright Naruto?"
Naruto nodded obediently.
"I'll see you later, Naruto." Hiruzen patted his shoulder gently before turning to leave.
"Bye! See you again, Ojii-chan!" Naruto waved, his smile fixed firmly in place as he watched the Hokage walk away.
The moment Hiruzen disappeared from view, the smile dropped from Naruto's face like a mask falling away.
The moment Hiruzen was out of sight, Naruto's expression shifted back to neutral. He grabbed the small stool placed beside his new home, dragged it to the door, and used it to reach the lock. The door clicked open, he slipped inside, and closed it firmly behind him.
'I fucking hate that old man.'
The thought burned in his mind. Hiruzen knew exactly what he had endured, what he'd been enduring since birth, all under the old man's watch. Under his protection.
Naruto surveyed his new home. It was exactly as he remembered from the canon: a small kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a balcony. He'd been waiting for this moment, waiting for a place of his own, somewhere he could finally have peace.
The last three years had been excruciating. He'd faced nothing but ignorant, hateful people who couldn't be bothered to learn the truth about him. A simple investigation would have revealed who he most resembled. They would have seen his surname: Uzumaki.
But no. They chose to believe rumors without question, to hate without evidence. They threw themselves into their prejudice with full hearts, targeting someone who had done nothing at all.
'This world or my other world,' Naruto thought bitterly, 'they're all the same.'
He walked to the bedroom and collapsed onto the futon, desperate to rest his mind. The looks people had given him as he walked beside Hiruzen today, he could still feel them burning into his skin.
"I wish..." Naruto raised his hand toward the ceiling, staring at his own outstretched fingers. "...this could stop."
He didn't know how much longer he could maintain his patience. If he lost control, people would get hurt, including himself.
He let exhaustion take him, drifting into a nap that stretched into hours. For the first time in years, he could finally sleep without waiting for the next cruelty.
When he finally woke up, Naruto sat up and rubbed his face, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He glanced toward the window, the sky had turned a bright orange.
"What time is it?" He looked at the clock on his bedroom wall. "6:30 PM."
He shuffled to the toilet, fumbling for the light switch before grabbing the small stool inside to reach the sink. As he splashed water on his face, he caught his reflection in the small mirror. He looked exhausted, the kind of exhaustion that came from maintaining a poker face for years while rage simmered beneath the surface.
He turned off the light (using the stool again) and headed back to his bedroom. Flipping on the TV for background noise, he slid down to sit with his back against the bedframe.
But he wasn't watching the screen, couldn't focus on it even if he tried. Instead, he closed his eyes and resumed his chakra control practice, attempting to envelop his entire body in chakra. It was a struggle; even after years of trying, his current reserves made the task nearly impossible.
Hours passed.
Naruto finally opened his eyes, his body slick with sweat. He glanced at the TV, some anime played, one that hadn't existed in his past life. He felt nothing toward it. Looking up at the clock, he realized how late it had gotten. He turned off the TV, killed the lights, and lay down to sleep.
On an empty stomach.
'I'll push through,' he told himself. 'When I finally pass out from hunger, the Anbu will bring me food. That way, I don't have to leave the apartment.'
The plan had worked when he was a baby. It would work now. He was certain of it.