Chapter 17: Birthday Gift

Although there was a brief interruption, after Hinata Hengzu followed Hizashi, the crowd gradually dispersed. Some people left behind a few memories for Naruto, like Neji, but because Hizashi had called for a stop, most of them didn't think this incident had anything to do with Naruto. They simply assumed that the young lady was playing with this unlikable boy from the village.

Later, Hinata found Naruto, who was about to go eat, holding a small gift she had wrapped up. Initially, she planned to follow her father's advice and simply give Naruto a token of appreciation.

But when she handed him the gift, Naruto suddenly froze, then said something Hinata never expected: "Is this... my birthday gift?"

"Today... today is your birthday, Naruto-kun?" Hinata's heart skipped a beat as she stammered the question.

"Yeah... the orphanage teacher said my birthday is October 10th, so it should be right." Naruto received the gift with a look of genuine emotion, "Can I open it now?"

It's my birthday; should I also give a gift... because we're friends?

"Ah, Naruto-kun," Hinata quickly interrupted as Naruto was about to unwrap the gift, "What do you want the most right now?"

Thinking too much made Hinata stumble over her words.

"What I want the most? Ah, that would definitely be to eat at Ichiraku Ramen! Especially the Tonkotsu Ramen, with an extra egg, please!" Naruto replied with a grin.

"Then... then I'll treat you!" Hinata instinctively offered.

"Eh?"

...

"Will Hizashi see anything?"

When Hizashi had just approached Naruto, the Nine-Tails had already closed off the chakra sharing, so Minato could no longer see what was about to happen next.

After all, Hizashi's Byakugan was so powerful that if he discovered the current state of Naruto's inner world, it would be hard to predict what actions he might take.

"I've gathered all the chakra; don't worry, even with the Byakugan or the Rinnegan, nothing can be seen," the Nine-Tails said with a sly smile.

"That's good, but it's wonderful that Naruto made a friend." After hearing the Nine-Tails' explanation, although Minato didn't have much of a concept of how powerful the Rinnegan was, he felt relieved. "But what did you mean when you said Naruto is like me? I certainly didn't attract this much attention back then."

It seemed that seeing Naruto making a friend put Minato in a good mood, to the point where he was even joking with the Nine-Tails.

"I'm not talking about his personality." The Nine-Tails glanced at Minato, narrowing his eyes. "Hinata Hyuga—she is your daughter-in-law, at least in the future I experienced."

Daughter-in-law?

Minato was taken aback, finally understanding what the Nine-Tails had referred to.

The bond formed when he saved Kushina back at the academy...

"Uh... but Naruto is still a child! Isn't he too young for that? Back in the war years, no one was this young to... But if the Nine-Tails said they were indeed together in the future, then does that count as early romance?" The yellow flash of Konoha, the heroic Fourth Hokage, Minato entered a stage of thought that every father inevitably faces, or perhaps it should be said, a dilemma. "That kid's personality is clearly different from Kushina's. Naruto wouldn't bully her in the future, would he...?"

Hmph.

Seeing Minato lost in his thoughts, the Nine-Tails had no interest in discussing such topics with him.

After all, some time had passed, and Naruto was probably no longer near the Hyuga clan. At this moment, no one would be able to notice him.

The Nine-Tails slightly released some of its chakra, and Naruto's current state appeared in its mind, revealing an unexpected figure.

"Itachi Uchiha?"

Itachi Uchiha was equally surprised. Today, he had just completed a mission for the Anbu and, feeling exhausted, hadn't paid attention to his surroundings. As he passed Ichiraku Ramen, he was unexpectedly stopped by Naruto.

"What is it?" Itachi asked softly, still remembering his father's advice to minimize contact with Naruto, the host of the Nine-Tails, to avoid misunderstandings.

"Uh, I came to return this to you..." Naruto, still feeling a bit full from eating ramen, fumbled around his body and pulled out a kunai. Just as he was about to hand it over, he noticed Itachi had also drawn a shuriken and aimed it at him.

Realizing that his instinctive reaction was overly sensitive and had caused a misunderstanding, Itachi felt a bit embarrassed but maintained a neutral expression, putting away the shuriken. Then, under Naruto's somewhat apologetic gaze, he accepted the kunai and shuriken that Naruto offered.

"Ah, I picked this up by the river last time, so I thought I'd return it to you. I just never got the chance to..." Naruto scratched the back of his head shyly. "It's definitely not because I wanted to try it out or anything..."

"I know; it is indeed my ninja tool." Itachi interrupted Naruto, pointing at the mark of the Flying Thunder God on the kunai's handle. "What's this?"

"Oh no, I forgot to wipe it off." Naruto was taken aback, quickly explaining, "Oh, oh, that's just me doodling; it's a bit hard to erase..."

"Is that so?" Perhaps feeling he had already spoken too much, Itachi decided not to say anything further. He took back the kunai and shuriken, thanked Naruto, and disappeared before him.

"So cool!" After witnessing Itachi's body flicker technique again, Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement, growing more eager to grow up and attend ninja school. After all, now that his birthday had passed, he was five years old, and in two years, he could go to school and learn real ninjutsu.

Speaking of birthdays, he still hadn't unwrapped the birthday gift Hinata gave him. But since this was his first birthday gift, should he prepare a return gift for her?

"Oh, speaking of which, I think I dreamed that someone wished me a happy birthday. Otherwise, I wouldn't even remember my own birthday, and I wouldn't have met friends to give me birthday gifts." As Naruto pondered this, he felt even luckier about his dream.