It had been a week since Naruto started living in his new apartment. For the past seven days, he had done almost nothing.
He slept. He ate instant ramen. He stared at the ceiling. He walked around the apartment.
Then slept again.
He was procrastinating.
After facing a life-and-death situation, something inside him felt shaken.
Real fights were not like anime.
There was no background music.
No slow build-up.
No dramatic speech.
It just… started. And almost ended.
The whole fight with the matron lasted less than two minutes.
Maybe even one.
If Kakashi had not arrived.
He would have been burned alive by that fireball jutsu. Just like that.
Gone.
Again.
Naruto lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
Do I really want this life? A life where half the time I train until my body breaks…
And the other half I fight enemies to death?
He clenched his fist slightly.
Orochimaru.
Akatsuki.
Obito.
Madara.
Zetsu.
Kaguya.
The Ōtsutsuki.
These were not small problems. These were monsters.
Even with perks. Even with knowledge. Even with chakra.
Was he truly capable of standing against beings like that?
Silence filled the apartment. He rolled to his side.
But then.
There was another thought.
It did not matter. He could think all he wanted. But the truth would not change.
He is Naruto Uzumaki. The jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
One way or another. Chaos would find him.
Even if he tried to hide. Even if he ran away.
The world would not leave him alone.
So what choice did he really have?
Train.
Get stronger.
Survive.
That was it.
No shortcuts. No easy path.
He sat up slowly and rubbed his face. "My life is a mess," he muttered.
Then he sighed.
In the words of Shikamaru Nara.
"What a drag."
But even as he said it…
A small fire began to return to his eyes.
He was scared. Yes.
But he was not done. Not yet.
Naruto suddenly jumped up from his bed.
"Enough," he muttered. "Time to go out and buy groceries… and then make a proper plan."
A real plan. If he wanted to become the best, he needed to start now.
Step one-get faster.
Step two-get stronger.
Step three-dominate the Ninja Academy.
In the original timeline, Naruto was the dead last.
In this timeline? He would ace the academy.
That decision felt good. It gave him direction.
"Alright," he said, nodding to himself. "First, food." He grabbed his pouch of money and ran out of the apartment.
The village streets were busy. People were walking, talking, shopping. At first, no one paid attention.
Then someone noticed him.
Whispers started. Naruto ignored them and entered the first grocery store.
"I would like to buy some vegetables," he said politely.
The shopkeeper's face turned cold.
"Get lost," the man snapped.
Naruto blinked.
He walked out and went to another store.
The second shopkeeper looked at him with disgust.
"Piss off, demon."
Naruto clenched his fists but said nothing.
Third shop.
"Go eat a goat or something!" the vendor shouted and threw a cabbage at him.
The cabbage hit his chest and fell to the ground.
Laughter followed.
Naruto stood there for a second. Picked up the cabbage. Then quietly walked away.
He tried more shops.
Some refused to sell him anything.
Others agreed-but charged him three times the normal price.
"Five hundred ryo for that?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
"That's the price," the shopkeeper said with a smirk.
Naruto stepped outside again.
His chest felt heavy. In his excitement, he had forgotten something important.
He was still the jinchūriki. The village still hated him. To them, he was not Naruto.
He was the Nine-Tails.
He stood alone at the side of the street.
"Damn it," he muttered. "No one is letting me buy anything."
He kicked a small stone on the ground.
"I can't survive on instant ramen forever. I need real food. Vegetables. Protein. Something healthy."
If he wanted to grow stronger, he needed proper nutrition. Training without food would only damage his body.
Naruto took a deep breath.
Getting stronger would not be easy. Not in this village.
Not like this.
But he refused to give up after just one bad shopping trip.
"There has to be a way," he said quietly.
And once again. He started thinking. He needed to learn the Transformation Jutsu. If he could change his appearance, he could turn into someone else and buy whatever he needed without trouble.
Simple solution. But there was one problem. Who would teach him?
Naruto frowned as he walked down the street. He did not know anyone willing to train him.
Kakashi… maybe.
But Kakashi had only visited once after bringing him to the apartment. He had dropped off medicine the next day and then disappeared again.
Since then?
Nothing.
No visits.
Naruto sighed.
He pushed the thought away for now. Fine. Forget transformation for the moment.
Food first.
"Ichiraku Ramen," he muttered.
In the anime, that was the only place that treated Naruto kindly. And it was affordable.
So he began searching. He walked through several streets. Turned corners. Checked small food stalls. But he could not find it.
"Maybe it hasn't opened yet," he thought.
Or maybe. The village was bigger than it looked in the anime. Or maybe he was just small, and everything felt larger from his height.
After wandering for a long time, his legs grew tired.
In the end, Naruto returned home empty-handed.
That night, Naruto Uzumaki sat alone in his small kitchen. In front of him lay the dirty cabbage that had been thrown at him earlier.
He had washed it. Cut off the damaged parts.
Boiled it.
Now it sat in a bowl.
He stared at it for a long moment. He did not want to admit it…
But it hurt. Not his body.
His pride.
He had been called a demon. He had food thrown at him. And now he was eating it.
It was humiliating.
Maybe for the canon Naruto, this would not be a big deal. Maybe the original Naruto would laugh it off.
But he was not canon Naruto. He might have a three-year-old body. But his mind was not three years old.
And the villagers who treated him like trash were not children either.
They knew what they were doing. He took a bite of the cabbage.
It tasted bland. But it filled his stomach.
Right now, survival mattered more than pride. He clenched his small fist.
"I can't do anything right now," he whispered.
"I'm weak. I'm small."
But that would change. He would make sure of it. One day, these villagers would regret how they treated him.
He would rise so high that they would have no choice but to look up at him.
Naruto took another bite.
For now, He would endure.
But he would never forget.