My curious adventures with the Nine-Tailed Fox

Altay reviewed the plan he had formed in his mind down to the finest detail. Weighing the original story against the statements made by its author, Kishimoto, he conducted a brief risk analysis. After evaluating the potential complications that might arise, he made his final decision. Crossing his arms over his chest, he called out to Naruto in a determined tone of voice.

"Naruto! Go to Teuchi."

Lazing on the grass in a secluded corner he had found, Naruto jumped up the moment he heard this sentence. His eyes sparkling with joy, he suddenly leaped to his feet and shouted with such excitement that even the ANBU guards watching him from a distance were momentarily startled.

"RAMEN! LET'S EAT RAMEN!"

Altay quickly intervened so as not to draw unwanted attention.

"Don't speak out loud, brat!"

Realizing his mistake, Naruto scratched the back of his neck in a shy manner. He replied silently through his mind.

'I'm sorry...'

Altay let out a brief sigh and softened his voice slightly.

"It's fine kid, but you're going to be disappointed. You are not going to eat ramen. You are going to ask Teuchi something."

Although Naruto was momentarily surprised, his enthusiasm quickly returned as he remembered the adventure-filled stories he had listened to the previous night.

"Are we going to ask about a strong ninja again!"

Altay chuckled lightly.

"No. We're going to ask for a place where you can go shopping."

Naruto's enthusiasm instantly faded. Lowering his eyes to the ground, he whispered through his mind in a cautious and timid manner.

'Brother... is there really a shop that will sell me something? Besides Uncle Teuchi...'

Altay smirked faintly. Imagining the events to come and how he would send the blood pressure of Konoha's elders through the roof gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Don't worry, Naruto. the place we're going is a bit special for you."

Tilting his head to the side in curiosity, Naruto asked.

'Why?'

Altay replied in a very calm and measured tone of voice.

"Because the people running the place we're going shopping at are the family members of your mother's best friend."

Naruto froze stiff where he stood. In the sealed space, Kurama—who had been carefully listening to the conversation from the very beginning with a growing sense of dread—jumped out of his seat at these words, nearly spilling his ice cream.

"NANI!"

The little boy forgot how to even breathe for a moment. His eyes were wide open, and his hands, hanging by his sides, had clenched into fists. His shoulders trembled slightly. With the complex mix of joy and apprehension that came from finding a genuine trace of his family for the first time in his life, he asked.

'Brother... are we really going to my mother's best friend?'

Altay let out a deep sigh in a feigned but convincing manner.

"Not exactly kid... we will just go to her clan."

Little Naruto, his body still trembling with excitement, voiced the innocent heartache inside him.

'Brother... if my mom has friends... why didn't they come to me...'

Just as Altay sighed again, a brilliant idea flashed in his mind like lightning. He chuckled softly to himself; behind him, the shock-frozen Kurama was snapped back to reality by the sound. Altay took a deep breath and spoke. He already intended to seek revenge, but he wanted to explain it to the boy in terms simple enough for him to understand. This approach would also serve to make Naruto wary of Konoha's elders.

"Ah... kid, since you're so young, you wouldn't understand the deep politics involved here, so I'll explain it to you simply. Your mother's friend wants to meet you, talk to you, and spend time with you, but she can't."

Naruto's trembling ceased instantly, and he immediately asked.

'Why?'

Hiding the mischievous smirk on his face, Altay answered with absolute seriousness.

"Because they threatened her and forbade her from approaching you."

At this answer, both Kurama and Naruto flinched simultaneously. With immense shock and curiosity, the little boy fired off a barrage of questions.

'What? Why? Who!?'

Altay continued to execute his plan step by step.

"You know I told you your father and mother had enemies."

Naruto nodded in confirmation. Then, as he slowly began to grasp the situation, a spark of anger ignited within him.

'Is it them!'

As Altay continued to weave his story, Kurama, sitting behind him, began rapidly spooning his ice cream out of sheer stress. He was fighting a war within himself to remain silent. Altay calmly explained.

"Something like that. It goes like this: there are certain people living in the village who hated your father and mother. While your parents were alive, they were very afraid of them. But now that they're gone and their child is left all alone, they've grown bold."

Naruto grew even angrier the more he listened to Altay's words. He was grinding his little teeth so hard that Kurama's chakra within his mind reacted to this fury, beginning to leak out in a thin wisp. Realizing the situation was about to spiral out of control, Altay instantly shifted his tone. Bringing forth the disciplined, uncompromising authority of a commander, he issued a strict order.

"NARUTO! CALM DOWN!"

Startled by this harsh command, Naruto snapped back to his senses and calmed down. Meanwhile, the ANBU guards in the vicinity—who had tensed up at the sudden surge of ominous chakra that vanished as quickly as it appeared—decided against reporting to the Hokage at the very last second, breathing a collective sigh of relief. As Altay sighed with the relief of having salvaged the situation, Naruto burst forth with pure determination.

'I will ask Grandpa Hokage!'

Just as the boy was about to dash forward, Altay stopped him.

"Wait, kid!"

Having already taken his first step, Naruto stumbled slightly as he tried to stop abruptly.

'Why are you stopping me brother!'

Altay continued without losing his composure.

"You are not to say anything to the 3rd Hokage."

Naruto was utterly bewildered.

'Why?'

Altay continued in the same monotonous and serious tone.

"Because these enemies of your family I mentioned are the 3rd Hokage's very close childhood friends."

This piece of information hit Naruto like an absolute shockwave. The simple, childlike view of the world in his mind was momentarily shattered. He simply couldn't fathom why the friends of the Third Hokage—a man who had always treated him with such kindness—would do such a terrible thing. Fully expecting the boy to experience this emotional crash, Altay immediately stepped in to rectify the situation.

"Hey hey! Calm down kid. The 3rd Hokage doesn't know his friends did this, or even that they are enemies of your family."

Perking up as if he had just found a solution, Naruto replied with determination.

'Then I will tell him!'

Altay, however, shook his head firmly.

"You can't."

"Why!?"

"Because the 3rd Hokage sees them as his own blood siblings. If that old man were to learn that his friends did this to you, it would completely devastate him. He would be so heartbroken that he might have a heart attack and die."

In the face of this outrageous excuse Altay had just fabricated, Kurama—who had been teetering between tension and sheer suspense for the past few seconds—covered his face with his massive paw and hung his head in secondhand embarrassment. Three-year-old Naruto, on the other hand, was completely unfamiliar with the term he had just heard.

'Brother, what is a heart attack?'

Altay quickly explained what a heart attack was, keeping it simple enough for a small child to understand. Naruto listened with utmost seriousness, and upon grasping the concept, he nodded slowly.

"I understand."

However, mere seconds later, his face turned ashen with terror. In the scene that played out in his mind, he revealed the truth to Hiruzen, and the old man clutched his chest, collapsing to the ground in agony while crying out, "How could they do this!" Then, the entire village would gather, blaming and punishing him for killing the Hokage. Breaking into a cold sweat at this horrific scenario, Naruto gulped nervously, just as Altay’s voice snapped him back to reality.

"Focus, kid. You are not to say a single word to the old 3rd Hokage."

In a state of utter panic, Naruto nodded his head frantically.

'Okay!'

Pleased that his plan was working perfectly, Altay cleared his throat.

"Now listen to me well, kid. Right now you are very weak. You can't fight them. When you grow up and get stronger you will go and beat them up. Okay?"

Hearing this, a brand new goal was added to the fire already burning within Naruto. His eyes blazing brightly, he clenched his tiny fists with all his might.

'I will definitely do it! Dattebayo!'

Altay nodded in satisfaction and smirked once again.

"Now, I will describe to you what these people look like. When you see them on the street, you can glare at them fiercely, as if you're about to beat them up~ Don't worry, they wouldn't dare lay a finger on you because they're terrified of Grandpa Hokage."

Making it clear that he liked this idea, Naruto quickly agreed. Then, in an unexpected flash of brilliance, he lay down right where he was, closed his eyes, and began to pretend he was asleep. His mental focus instantly shifted inward, and seconds later, he manifested in the sealed space, directly across from Altay. With an unshakable determination plastered on his small face, he looked up.

"Tell me brother! I'm ready!"

Altay slightly raised his eyebrows at the child's practical ingenuity, but he shrugged it off without dwelling on it too much. Swiftly opening his system, he requested a few items through his mind. Within seconds, a large notice board materialized behind Altay in a faint beam of light. A chair appeared in front of it, and a few document boxes settled onto a desk. The damp, dark sealed space had suddenly transformed into a pre-operation military briefing room. Altay turned to Naruto with utmost seriousness.

"Sit down, kid."

Wasting no time, Naruto sat down in the designated chair. Altay pulled three photographs from the document boxes on the desk and taped them to the board one by one. These photos displayed the current faces of Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzo. Taking a thick marker, Altay wrote the following heading at the very top of the board:

ENEMIES OF THE UZUMAKI FAMILY

Behind the bars of his cage, Kurama's jaw dropped wide open as he watched this entire theatrical performance and saw how Altay was methodically setting his revenge plan into motion, step by step. Utterly dumbfounded by the sheer cunning of this man, the giant fox could only stare blankly at the unfolding scene without being able to utter a single word...