{Happy New Year!}
When Ren heard Naruto's declaration, a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He lifted his chopsticks, tapping them lightly against the rim of his bowl before speaking.
"Well," he said, tone casual but firm, "just saying it won't work. You've gotta work hard if you want to become the strongest."
Naruto straightened immediately, chest puffing out like a proud little soldier. "I'll work harder than anyone else," he declared, fist clenched tight.
"Believe it!"
Ren nodded approvingly. He'd heard those words before, heard them echo through another life, another time, but hearing them now, from a smaller, scrappier Naruto, still carried weight.
"Good," Ren said. "That kind of confidence is useful, as long as you back it up."
Naruto grinned and went back to his ramen, slurping noisily.
After a moment, Ren continued, "So… how are the teachers at the academy? They teach okay?"
Naruto slowed, his chopsticks hovering over the bowl. His brows knit together slightly as he thought about it.
"I dunno," he admitted. "They don't hit me or anything, and they don't yell like the villagers do. But… they look at me weird too. Not the same as the others, but not good either."
Ren's eyes sharpened just a bit.
"What's his name?"
Naruto answered without hesitation. "Uzami-sensei."
Ren hummed quietly. 'So Iruka isn't there yet.' He remembered that Iruka had taken the Chunin Exams this year and had passed too, so he should be probably become a teacher soon too. If things went the same way, Naruto's real support in the academy would come in a while.
Ren leaned forward slightly. "Does it bother you? That he treats you differently than the others?"
Naruto shifted on his stool. His usual grin faltered for just a second.
"Well…" He scratched the back of his head, words stumbling out. "It doesn't really feel good, but…"
Suddenly his expression flipped, mischief flashing in his eyes like a spark.
"When he scolds me too much, I play pranks on him!" Naruto said proudly. "I mean, yeah, he punishes me afterward, but seeing his face turn all red and angry? Totally worth it!"
He snickered, clearly pleased with himself.
Ren let out a short laugh. "That's how it should be."
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
"He's a teacher," Ren continued calmly. "If he's going to scold you unfairly, he should at least be prepared for pushback. A person who can't treat students equally shouldn't be teaching."
He muttered the last part under his breath, just quiet enough that Naruto didn't catch it.
Naruto, oblivious, went back to eating, humming happily.
Ren watched him for a moment, expression unreadable.
He hadn't been around Naruto much in the past year, not openly, at least but he hadn't ignored him either. He'd kept an eye on things from a distance, quietly, carefully. Overall, Naruto's situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. Especially not after Danzo and Root had been dragged into the light.
If anything, that confirmed what Ren had long suspected.
Danzo had been the spark.
The one who fed the paranoia, who sharpened the fear and hatred surrounding the Nine-Tails, who made sure Naruto was isolated just enough to break him, but not enough to kill him. With Danzo gone, that machinery was gone too.
But hatred didn't vanish overnight.
The resentment had sunk too deep into the village. Too many people had lost someone to the Nine-Tails. Too many had chosen an easy target to blame. Even with Danzo dead, they wouldn't suddenly wake up kinder.
Ren exhaled slowly.
At the very least, people in positions of responsibility, teachers, shinobi, leaders, should never have been allowed to indulge that bias. A child didn't deserve to be judged for something he didn't even understand.
Naruto shouldn't have had to earn the village's affection.
That thought made something tighten in Ren's chest.
In the original flow of things, Naruto won the village over through blood, pain, and sacrifice. Saving them again and again until they finally acknowledged him. But Ren had always hated that part.
Being a jinchuriki was never Naruto's fault.
Blaming him for the Nine-Tails was illogical and cruel.
If anything, it was the village that owed Naruto an apology, not the other way around.
And Naruto wasn't the only one.
Sasuke too had been shaped by the choices of adults, left alone to drown in loss and expectation. Hinata as well, quietly crushed under a clan that decided she wasn't good enough before she'd even had the chance to grow. Hiashi had allowed that, and it had taken Naruto's stubborn kindness to help her heal.
Children like them should have had a better future.
Even in a world built on shinobi and bloodshed, they deserved that much.
Ren looked back at Naruto, who was now enthusiastically arguing with his ramen, slurping noodles like they might run away.
A small smile returned to Ren's face.
'I'll make sure of it,' he thought. 'At least this time, things will be different.'
Ren had seen it far too many times, in stories, in retellings, in badly written fantasies and even in some well-meaning ones. The moment someone reincarnated or transmigrated into this world, the first instinct if they are older than Naruto was always the same, train Naruto, make him stronger, make him sharper, make him ready for the sky falling on his head at twelve.
Ren hated that.
Naruto was a kid.
A loud, annoying, stubborn, painfully lonely kid, but still a kid. A child who should have been worrying about scraped knees, bad grades, and whether his ramen had enough toppings. Not about wars, gods, or destinies heavier than mountains.
Sure, Naruto had absurd potential. Enough to become the strongest shinobi in the world in a frighteningly short time if someone pushed him hard enough. But that wasn't the point.
Strength could come later.
Happiness couldn't be reclaimed once it was stolen.
In the original timeline, Naruto's childhood had been brutal. Isolation disguised as "protection." Hatred justified as "fear." Neglect painted as "necessary." And even after everything he did, after saving the village again and again, no one ever truly apologized. They just… accepted him once he became useful.
Ren clenched his chopsticks slightly.
If he'd come into this world, been given the chance to change things, and still let that happen again, then what was the point of his existence at all?
So no. Naruto didn't need to become the strongest at sixteen.
Naruto and even Sasuke would reach that height eventually. Their fates practically demanded it. But they could do that at twenty-five, or thirty. When their minds were stable. When their hearts weren't cracked under expectations they never asked for.
As for enemies? As for monsters, gods, and wars?
Ren exhaled slowly.
That was his problem.
Wasn't that why he existed here? Wasn't that what his system was for?
They'd survived Zabuza with almost nothing but courage and dumb luck. They would survive the early years just fine. Childhood wasn't supposed to be a battlefield.
And if there was one person who ensured that childhoods in this world stayed miserable, one man whose fingerprints were all over the suffering of so many children, it was Danzo Shimura.
Danzo had to die.
That wasn't vengeance, it was cleanup.
Ren's gaze shifted back to Naruto, who was happily demolishing his ramen, cheeks puffed and eyes bright.
A sudden mischievous thought crossed Ren's mind.
He leaned slightly closer. "Hey, Naruto."
Naruto looked up, noodles hanging from his mouth. "Hm?"
"There's a very bad man," Ren said seriously, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret. "And I don't think I can beat him alone."
Naruto froze.
"So," Ren continued, grinning now, "I was thinking… I'll bring him to you tonight, and you give him a really strong punch. Deal?"
Naruto's eyes widened.
He slapped a hand against his chest with absolute confidence. "Of course! I'll punch all bad men!"
Then, a second later, confusion crept in.
"B-but…" Naruto tilted his head. "If even you can't beat him… can I really do it?" Though he didn't know Ren's real strength, he had heard the people talk about him and knew he was way stronger than him.
Ren chuckled softly. He reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair, fingers gentle.
"Of course you can," Ren said. "If you believe in yourself, you can beat anyone."
Naruto beamed at that.
Ren raised his fist into the air theatrically. "Tell you what, when I bring that man to you, think about everything the village people have done to you over the years."
Naruto stilled.
Ren's tone softened, but didn't lose its weight. "You've got anger, anyone would. So when the time comes… let it all out on him. Okay?"
Naruto's smile slowly faded. Not completely, but enough that it hurt to see.
He stared down at his bowl, chopsticks resting against the rim. His shoulders slumped just a little.
After a few seconds, he nodded.
"…Okay."
Then he hesitated.
His fingers tightened around the chopsticks. He didn't look up when he spoke, voice smaller now.
"Hey, Ren…"
Ren's attention sharpened immediately. "Yeah?"
Naruto swallowed.
"Do you… do you know why the people of the village hate me?"
The question hung between them, fragile and heavy.
Ren didn't answer right away.
He looked at Naruto, really looked at him. At the forced brightness. The way he laughed too loud. The way he asked questions like this only after convincing himself it was safe.
Ren set his chopsticks down.
And when he spoke, his voice was calm, but deadly serious.
"Yeah," he said softly.
"I know."
Naruto's face lit up the instant Ren said he knew.
It wasn't a big smile, but it was real. Like something heavy had shifted off his chest, even if just a little. He leaned forward on his stool, eyes wide, almost hopeful.
Before he could start firing off questions, Ren raised a finger.
"Easy," Ren said. "Let me finish."
Naruto immediately shut his mouth, cheeks puffed, nodding hard.
"You remember what I told you last time," Ren continued, voice steady. "People usually hate others for two reasons. Either you did something that made them hate you… or you're better than them."
Naruto nodded slowly, he remembered. He'd thought about that line a lot, especially on days like today when villagers glared at him for no reason at all.
Ren's eyes softened, but his tone sharpened just a bit.
"But there's a third reason," he said. "And it's the ugliest one."
Naruto tilted his head. "Third?"
"The third," Ren said quietly, "is when someone makes people hate you."
Naruto frowned, really frowned this time. The idea seemed to bump against something inside his head, like a puzzle piece that almost fit.
"You mean…" he hesitated, "…someone is telling people to hate me?"
Ren blinked, then gave him a sideways look. "Oh?"
Naruto straightened slightly, emboldened. "That's what you're saying, right?"
Ren snorted despite himself. "Huh. You're smarter than you look, worm."
Naruto bristled instantly. "HEY!"
Ren waved it off, not even looking apologetic. "Focus."
Then his expression sobered again.
"But yeah," Ren said. "That's exactly what I'm saying. There is a man out there who wants people to hate you."
The change in Naruto was immediate.
The confusion vanished, replaced by something raw and sharp. His hands clenched into fists on the counter, knuckles whitening. For a split second, Ren felt a faint, ugly pressure, deep and instinctive, like a wounded animal baring its teeth.
Malicious chakra.
It was not much, not even enough for most shinobi to notice. But Ren did.
Without any outward motion, he let his own chakra flow, wrapping around Naruto's presence like a blanket, muffling it before it could leak any further. Naruto didn't even realize it had happened.
Naruto's voice trembled when he spoke.
"B-But why?" he asked, eyes burning. "Why would they want people to hate me? I didn't do anything!"
Ren exhaled slowly. He reached out and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, grounding him.
"That's because it has nothing to do with you," Ren said. "It's adult business, rotten, selfish adult business."
Naruto looked down, shoulders shaking just a little.
"They think it's okay to mess with kids," Ren continued, voice low and controlled, "just because kids don't know anything yet. They think they can decide what you carry, who you become, and how the world looks at you."
Naruto's teeth clenched.
"But don't worry," Ren added, turning Naruto's chin gently so he had to look up.
Naruto met his gaze.
Two light blue eyes stared into each other, one shone with wisdom beyond his years, the other held pain far surpassing his age.
"I'll handle that man for you," Ren said simply. "I'll make sure no one ever tells others to hate you again."
Naruto's lips trembled.
"R-Really?" he asked, voice cracking. "People… people won't hate me anymore?"
Ren felt something tighten in his chest, but he didn't lie.
"It'll take time," Ren said honestly. "Hatred like that doesn't disappear overnight."
Naruto's eyes brimmed with tears.
"But," Ren continued firmly, "eventually, in due time, I'll make sure nobody looks at you with cold eyes anymore."
A tear slipped free, trailing down Naruto's cheek.
"I'll make sure they understand," Ren said. "And when they do, they won't just stop hating you."
He leaned closer, voice unwavering.
"I'll make them apologize to you too."
Naruto stared at him, stunned, tears spilling freely now.
"I promise," Ren said.
~~~~~
{Let me be clear, I'm not hating on any fic, it's just my opinion, everyone is allowed to have one, so let's not go down deep, kay?}
{Now, tell me what you thought about this chapter, I know people would come that this is shinobi world, fictional world, but let's be clear, kids are kids okay? Whether they are being trained to be killers or not, they are still kids, nobody deserves what Naruto, Sasuke or even Hinata suffered, so I'll be changing stuff, that's the point of reading a fanfic right?}