43

"You know that you're holding the hiding cloth the wrong way, don't you?" Naruto asked as he was walking down the street towards Ichiraku Ramen.

"Wow, Naruto nii-chan. You found out my disguise so easily. Superb. You're so cool!!" A juvenile voice sounded from behind Naruto carrying a stripped cloth that resembled the fences on the side of the road.

"It's true that I'm cool and awesome, but that's not the reason that I found your hiding spot. Now, tell me, what do you want today?" Naruto asked as he knelt down to ruffle the boy's brown hair.

"Let's play ninja, please?" The boy asked as he looked up with puppy dog eyes.

"Sigh, you always want to keep playing don't you Konohamaru? You know, if you want you can watch while I train. Do you want to? I'll be practicing all my jutsus." Naruto patted the boy's head, like how Hiroki used to do when he was young.

"Really. Will you be doing high-class jutsus? Can you teach me some? I want to learn a really awesome jutsu so that I can defeat grandpa and become the next Hokage after granny Tsunade." Konohamaru pumped his fists in the air and screamed.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a rush of rage and killing intent coming from behind him, both boys froze in terror.

"Who are you calling a granny you brat??" Tsunade's voice came from behind, as Konohamaru paled in fear.

"Run, boy. Run!!!" Naruto looked at the boy pushing him to run, as he went towards the Hokage-in-training and tried to spot her.

"AhHHHHHH" With a terrified scream Konohamaru ran for his life, breaking all his previous sprinting records.

"Calm down aunty. Calm down. He didn't mean anything by that. He called you that because you are so loving, warm, and caring like a grandma. Don't hurt him." Naruto pleaded as the woman calmed down lightly, before looking at him suspiciously.

"He thinks I'm caring, warm and loving. Aww, that's so cute. But he still shouldn't call a young woman a granny. It's rude, you know." Tsunade contained her anger, her fists still clenched, but no longer releasing her killing intent.

"Yes, yes. I'll teach him better next time. Ok. Now, what did you come here for?" Tsunade looked at the boy, before quickly slapping her forehead.

"I almost forgot. I came down to give you your reading material for this week. I would have had someone bring it down to you, but these books are my personal journals. I didn't want them in anyone else's hands. Take care of these, alright." Naruto nodded as he carefully picked up the stack of books and journals from her hands, as she began her walk back to the Hokage tower.

"I better get going. I just had a few minutes to stretch my legs before getting back to work. See you soon, Naruto." Tsunade waved as she disappeared with a flash of green leaves.

"Oi, kit. I feel one of my siblings nearby. And he doesn't seem happy." Naruto heard Kurama's voice in his head, and Naruto instantly went into battle mode.

"Where?" Running in the direction he felt the unique chakra signature, he came across the sight of a young man in a onesie lifting Konohamaru by the neck.

"Really?" Naruto looked at this in disbelief, analyzing the situation in an instant before quickly retrieving the child from the man's grasp.

"Are you alright, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked as the boy took deep breaths with slight tears in his eyes, before nodding.

"Huh? What happened?" Feeling the lack of weight in his hands, the boy in a black onesie asked looking around, while the blonde girl with a war fan on her back looked at Naruto in disbelief.

"How did you do that?" She asked, breaking the boy out of his stupor.

"Are you guys idiots? Attacking the grandson of a Hokage while he's still in the village. Moreover, you are here on limited entry passes. Do you want war between Suna and Konoha???" Naruto asked the two as if he were looking at idiots.

"Grand- what??" The boy panicked hearing the words of the blond boy.

"Enough. Both of you. You guys are an embarrassment to our village." Suddenly, a cold voice sounded, as a red-headed boy stood upside down on a tree branch, overlooking the four below on the street.

"But Gaara…"

"Not another word." The boy in the onesie was about to complain but one look from the redhead was enough to shut him up.

"You. What is your name?" Looking at Naruto with a cold look, the redhead asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name, One." Naruto asked, feeling creeped out by the psychotic vibe the boy was oozing out.

Surprise momentarily flashed across his face, before going back to the stoic look, before answering. "Sabaku no Gaara. Mother tells me you are Nine."

"Very well. Gaara. Nice to meet you. I would tell you to keep your people in check as you roam around our village, but it seems you have it handled well. I hope to meet you in the ring a week from now." Naruto flashed the boy a bright smile, which surprised Gaara a bit, but nonetheless nodded slightly, and disappeared in a small sandstorm.

"We should get going. I apologize for my brother's mistake. Have a good day." Temari bowed lightly toward Naruto, before dragging her brother away, who was still afraid of the look Gaara gave him.

"Brat, did you sense it as well?" Kurama asked in seriousness, ignoring Hiroki who was intently watching an episode of DBZ. The whole episode, Goku kept screaming to power up, but Hiroki was heavily invested.

"Yeah. Those bastards used such low-quality seals to make the boy a jinchuriki that it drove both of them to madness.

Those shadows under his eyes, though covered up by makeup, showed that the boy hasn't had a decent night's rest in almost his whole life.

Furthermore, the one-tail is in constant pain, his chakra never settling down, like how yours did inside my body. It's constantly leaking, covering the boy in some sort of twisted protection." Naruto analyzed seriously, while Konohamaru looked at his big brother curiously.

'Why is Naruto nii-chan talking to himself.'

"That boy is a walking time bomb, and I need to think of a way to keep him from exploding," Naruto muttered, before looking toward Konohamaru.

"Lets go buddy. I'll show you how I usually train." Switching back to his usual jovial self, Naruto and Konohamaru went towards a training ground as Naruto showed off his skills in ninjutsu.

.

"Mother was wary of the boy. Mother was hungry. Mother is hungry. Mother wants blood. Mother Needs His Blood." A voice kept on echoing inside Gaara's head, causing Gaara to slowly be influenced by the constant command. Slowly, his bloodlust started to bubble up, before a middle-aged man with a turban and a sheet hanging off it, covering half of his face, arrived in front of him and gave him a stern stare.

"No killing anyone yet," Baki stated coldly, causing the mentally unstable Gaara to gain a new focus aside from the commands inside his head.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Mother will have your blood."

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I almost forgot to post the chapter today. Sigh. Really tired from work. If you guys found any mistakes, let me know.

Also, a lot of the readers think that the focus of the story is shifting to Naruto rather than the MC.

Unfortunately, I felt that too. This is mainly because, while I may have a general idea of what the story will look like, I don't plan every single thing in advance. I keep some major events in mind as I write, and I most of the time wing every single chapter. I am trying to remedy the situation though.

Soon, after the chunnin arc, there will be a special arc that will give the story a big push forward, and that will mark the start of the process in which Hiroki will get a new body. It will be a bit unconventional, and at least I haven't seen it in any fanfic before, so it will be new territory. (Who am I kidding? Most of this book and its ideas are kinda unique, I hope, so everything is just a trial by fire I guess.)

Anyways, Enjoy.