Chapter 3: Identity

Time seemed to come to a crawl for Naruto Uzumaki. He looked out at the village that shunned him with frigid eyes. Beside him was an Anbu agent sitting next to him on the Hokage Monument. They have been there for the last three days of Naruto’s return. The blond male refused Hinana’s ofter to a new apartment and decided to find his own home.

He looked at the Anbu agent and inquired, “Aren't you going to lose your job, Gazeru-san?”

She looked at him then chuckled. “As long as you don’t complain and sell me out, no.” She gazed at the village she is to protect with sorrow. “They never treated you right. I believe I owe this to you, even if I wasn’t an agent at the time.”

He patted her arm then stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. “I’m going to steal from the merchants that bullied me. Are you going to stop me?”

She scoffed. “Let them suffer. I’ll cover for you and keep other ninja’s away. Just wear a disguise as you do it.” She waved then disappeared into the trees.

Three hours later, Naruto was sitting in a park with five bags worth of loot. He picked up a nice blue jacket then checked the size. “Tsk. Kia can’t fit this.” He slipped it on and rolled up the long sleeves to reach his elbows. “This does look good on me.” He ran his hand through his hair, wiping extra brown dye on the grass.

He rummaged through a large amount of money, clothes, food, and ninja ware to find a nice hair tie. He looked for any symbol or form of identification only to find nothing in the red strip of fabric. He replaced his old hair tie with the new one and appraised his new looks.

“Hey!” A somewhat high pitched voice yelled. He looked up and seen two girls. One had black hair, narrow eyes and a wooden sword on her back while the other one was plump with a shy expression.

The black hair girl unraveled the wooden sword then pointed at the blond turned brunette. “Are you the one who robbed, oba-sans house?!”

He tilted his head and asked, “Who?”

The plump girl stepped forward and explained, “The elderly woman around 60-year-old. She uses a black cane with splattered blood and has her hair like this.” She grabbed her own hair made it look like pigtails.

He nodded his head. “Ah. You mean old demon.” He turned his attention back to his ill-gained spoils. “That blood is mine.” He paused then pointed at them. “Actually, how did you find me? I know the jonin is still investigating the robberies.”

Both girls froze then the black haired girl stuttered. “W-What?”

He repeated. “How did you find me? Made sure there were no fingerprints, footprints, no one knew what I looked like, I changed my cl-”

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The brunette girl blurted out, “Smelt your food and knew it belonged to Oba-san!”

The black hair girl stomped up to him and put her face next to his, their noses almost touching. “Explain about the blood.”

He smirked then leaned closer. “If you stay this close I might have to kiss you.”

Her black eyes swam with emotion but she didn’t move. “Just give us an answer.” Behind her, her friend sat on the grass in front of him. She even swiped a burger when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Naruto pretended to ignore her as he secretly enjoyed her scent. “If you talk to the old demon, she would probably say that she had that cane since Konoha started, even though she isn't even that old, and would state the blood stains were the leftovers for her fight with the Kyuubi about 3 or 4 years ago.”

The plump brunette nodded her head. “Yep! We think she is going crazy because the Kyuubi been gone for 9 years.”

He shook his head, confusing the girls. He looked at them said. “I was born on October 9th, the year of the Kyuubi attack. Because of my bloodline that gives me fox-like features-” He rubbed the makeup off his cheeks, revealing thin whisker-like marks. “-I was named the new Kyuubi. That blood is mine. She struck me with it when I was 5.”

The black hair girl stared at him then reached for her sword. Naruto thought she was going to try to strike him and prepared for the attack when she brought out wipe. He froze, confused on why she pulled out an oil-covered cloth and gave her a bewildered look. Instead of explaining herself, she reached out and gently wiped the makeup off his face. After a few moments, his suntanned skin and a few streaks of his blond hair shown.

She whispered, “You are Naruto Uzumaki.”

He nodded, confused. “I am. What about it?”

The plump girl crawled closer to him and sniffed him slightly. “Our parents said that a young hero died because of this village. They said his hair was like sunshine and his eyes were the color of the sky. Of course, this is our moms saying it. Our dads just say that Naruto was a prankster but a good boy.”

He stared at them then asked, “Who are you?”

The black haired girl pointed at herself. “My name is Tatsuki Arisawa, the adoptive daughter of the Tens.” She gestured at the brunette. “She is Dina Akimichi, the heir of the Akimichi clan. Her dad would talk about you a lot and he created special ramen in your name.”

Dina smile at him. “It’s good to meet you Naruto.”

He gave her a weak smile then focused on his loot. He was trying to hide his nervousness as he has not been treated nicely by someone his age before. It was pleasant but also creepy that their family talked so highly of him after they thought he was dead.

Tatsuki frowned then leaned into his face again. “It is not nice to ignore the people helping you. We-” Pointing to herself and Dina. “are going to help you hide the evidence. There is a whole clan that could sniff you out but we have experience with hiding from them. We won’t tell them about the real you either.”

He shook his head. “No thanks. I wasted time talking to you.” He pulled out the cube Dr. Ina gave him and stored it all the interdimensional space. “...Thank you though.”

The apprentice swordswoman blinked. “Thanks for what?”

He looked up at her, his eyes conveying a multitude of emotions. “Thank you for telling me that people cared while I was gone. I thought no one cared except for a few people and the hokage.”

He stood up, brushing the dirt off his legs. “I would like to be your friend if you would accept me.” His speech became more formal and a slight blush covered his cheeks.

Dina hugged him. “Of course!” Meanwhile, Tatsuki gave him a meaningful nod.

He patted Dina on the back then disappeared into a nearby forest. His body felt lighter and he gained a strength he never knew he had.