The moon hung heavy over the Hidden Leaf,casting shadows long and sharp across the rooftops. Graduation day should've been a turning point—a day of celebration, of recognition. Instead, it ended in blood.
Naruto lay on his thin mattress, arms behind his head, eyes lost in the ceiling's cracked patterns. His small apartment was quiet, save for the ticking of a clock and the faint rustle of wind outside the window. Moonlight streamed through the glass, dim and pale,
like the weight sitting on his chest.
"Graduation... Nine-Tails...Mizuki's dead..."
He whispered the words as if repeating them would help make sense of the day.
In truth, he hadn't fully processed any of it—not yet.
It was supposed to be the best day of his life.
Graduation day.
But he'd failed. Again. All because he couldn't perform the stupid Clone Technique. The one thing keeping him from becoming a ninja—his dream—just out of reach.
Then Mizuki came with sweet promises: "Steal the Forbidden Scroll and learn a powerful technique," he said. "That's how you can graduate."
It was a lie.
A trap.
And in that moment of betrayal, Mizuki told him the truth—no, a cruel version of it:
"You are the Nine-Tailed Fox!"
The words kept replaying in his head. The memory was jagged—sharp and bitter. Mizuki had screamed it with venom, like spitting out poison. Naruto hadn't understood at first. It didn't make sense.
He wasn't the Nine-Tails. He was Naruto Uzumaki. Just... Naruto.
But then Iruka-sensei had stepped in. Shielded him. Took the blow.
That's when everything blurred.
He used a jutsu he barely understood. The Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. A Forbidden Technique straight from the scroll.
Dozens… no, hundreds of Narutos surged forward. Mizuki tried to fight. He even dodged and deflected some attacks.
But there were too many.
Naruto hadn't meant to kill him. He just… lost control. Some of his clones had grabbed kunai. In the chaos, blood sprayed. Screams echoed. And Mizuki stopped moving.
When it was over, Naruto stood there,shaking, staring down at what he'd done.
And the worst part?
He remembered it all.
Every clone. Every stab. Every scream. Every sensation.
Normally, he wouldn't remember what his clones experienced. But this time was different. This time, the pain etched itself into his heart.
Earlier that night, the Third Hokage had visited him, his robes heavy with the weight of decades.
Naruto had asked just one thing:
"Is that what they see me as? A monster?"
"I killed him," Naruto whispered.
Iruka had been sitting beside him, bandaged and still pale, but alive. His voice had cracked when he spoke.
"You saved me, Naruto. You saved everyone he would've hurt next."
"But I—" Naruto choked on the words. "The clones— They didn't hold back. I could see it. Feel it. I remember everything they did."
Iruka had lowered his eyes. "That's what it means to be a ninja, sometimes. We carry the weight of our choices… and our power. But we don't have to carry it alone."
Naruto had only stared at his hands.
"Does it make me a monster… if a part of me doesn't regret stopping him?"
Iruka had reached out, gripping his hand
tightly.
"It makes you human."
And then the Hokage spoke. Calm. Honest. Gentle.
"Not all hatred comes from cruelty, Naruto. Some of it is ignorance. They don't understand the seal. Fūinjutsu is complicated. What they fear is the unknown inside you—not you."
Naruto hadn't argued. He hadn't cried.
He had just nodded.
And now, in the quiet, his mind churned.
He was the child the Kyuubi had been sealed into. Not the Kyuubi itself.
He could remember every look. Every whispered insult. Every empty street when he walked by.
They weren't seeing him.
They were seeing what was inside him.
But maybe… if he got strong enough—if he worked hard enough—maybe they'd see him. Naruto.