Chapter 4:- Golden Chains

"My grandpa was a Shinobi. As he raised me, he taught me a few of his Jutsu so that I could protect myself from Bandits, rogue Shinobi, and dangerous animals that live in the wild. Though I am far from being a real Shinobi. What I did back there was one of the tricks that I picked up over the years. Pretty cool isn't it?" Naruto ended his words with a small laugh. This was something that Hinata found herself liking very much. 

"Naru-kun, you're a strong Shinobi. Please stop being so modest." The way Naruto appeared before her wasn't something that even a genin-level Shinobi could do. This meant that Naruto's strength was above Genin level. Maybe he was a Chunin. 

Trying his Naru awkwardly scratched the back of his head. For a moment neither of them said anything. 

Naruto looked at Hinata to find her staring at the river with a small smile on her face. "Hina-chan, aren't you afraid that I might be a spy from another village?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. Shinobi from other villages have to get permission before being allowed to come to Konoha. After all, the strength of a Shinobi cannot be underestimated. 

Hinata put her head on her knees and stared at Naruto with a smile on her face. "I don't think so." 

"Why?" He asked. He noticed a strands of her hair had fallen over her eyes. 

"Even I am not sure why. You could call this a gut feeling. You're a kind person, Naru-kun." As she was speaking, while staring at her face in a daze, Naruto couldn't help but reach out to gently move the few strands of hair that were over her eyes. 

'I wish I could tell you who I am. I wish I could show you the memories that I and another version of you made together.' Naruto thought while lovingly staring at her face. 

Naruto wasn't naive enough to think that this world's Hinata was going to be the Hinata of his old world. He wasn't trying to search for someone that didn't exist within her. 

Meanwhile, Naruto's action had completely turned her whole face crimson red. She was blushing so hard that Naruto could even see steam coming from her head. 

Realizing this he quickly moved his hand away. "Sorry about that." 

Hinata looked away and said nothing but after a moment he heard a very small whisper. "It's alright." Hearing this Naruto grinned. 

"So Hina-chan, exactly when is your graduation?" Naruto asked after a moment of peaceful silence. 

"6 months later." Hinata replied. She was still feeling shy when looked at Naruto. 

"Oh really.....!!!" Naruto nodded his head. He wondered if he could enter the Academy and graduate with them. 

'Maybe as soon as I explain the whole situation to Old Grandpa and gain his trust then getting into the Academy would be really easy.' Naruto thought in his mind.

"Naru-kun, why have you come to Konoha?" Hinata timidly asked. 

"Hina-chan, my real name is Naruto. You could call me Naruto, but please don't anyone my full name. Sorry, I can't tell you why I am hiding my real name. But I promise I will tell you very soon." Hearing this Hinata nodded her head with a smile. She was happy that Naruto trusted her enough to tell her his real name. 

"As for why I came to Konoha, this is a complicated story. My Grandpa died but before dying he told me to come to Konoha and become a citizen of Konoha. This is the reason I am here. From now on, I am going to stay in this village." Hearing the latter part of his sentence, Hinata became really happy. 

Naruto and Hinata kept talking for another hour before Hinata took her leave. She had to return home for urgent work. But both of them promised to meet here tomorrow around 12 in the afternoon. 

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Scene change____

'Talking with Hinata was nice. I learned so many things from her.' Naruto thought as he ate an apple that he brought for Ryo. 

'I hoped to prevent the Uchiha Massacre but it seems the Uchiha Massacre happened around 3 years back.' 

'Over the years, although Grandpa Hiruzen tried to give the Position to Hokage to my master Pervy_Sage, he refused. When Grandpa approached Tsunade with the offer, she too refused.' These were the things that Naruto learned from Hinata. 

'Around 8 to 10 months later, during the next Chunin Exam, that snake bastard is going to Invade Konoha. And Since Grandpa is even older than he was during the Invasion back in my world, his strength must have declined a lot. In order to prevent Grandpa's death, I have to get as strong as possible within the next 8 to 10 months. I can't waste any time.' Naruto wasn't exactly sure when the Chunin exam was going to be. Maybe the date of the exam will change depending on some external factors. 

Naruto was walking in the market of Konoha. On both sides of the street, there were countless stores. This place also could be considered the most crowded place in all of Konoha. 

As he was walking on the street, suddenly he froze in utter shock as he saw a few red strands of hair in the corner of his eyes.

'Red hair.....!!! Mom....!!!' An image of Kushina appeared in his mind.

Naruto turned around as fast as he could. As he did, he nearly cried seeing the beautiful woman walking on the other side of the street with a basket that was full of vegetables. Although it was his mother, at the same time, her expression was very different. Her eyes were cold and almost dead. There wasn't any trace of emotions on her face. 

'Mom.....!!!' Naruto wanted to call out his mother but his hand stopped in midair. This woman wouldn't recognize him. After all, in this world Naruto had died 15 years ago. Even if he called her mother, she wouldn't think that he was pranking her. 

Realizing this, Naruto suddenly felt very bitter. 'At least she is still alive and from now on I could see her every single day.' Naruto thought as he stared at his mother's back. He was comforting himself with these words. 

It was better than not seeing his mom at all. 

However, the distance between them felt a very bad taste in his mouth. His heart ached on seeing the woman who was his mother walking away like a stranger. 

'Of course, what did I even expect?' A bitter smile appeared on Naruto's face. 

『Notice!!! You could still follow your mother and know where she lives.』

'Is this the system?' Naruto thought the system had left after bringing him to this world. Naruto asked in his mind. However, this voice sounded more feminine and not as robotic as before. 

『Notice!!! This isn't the system. I am Great Sage. I am a Unique Skill bestowed upon you by the God Line Helping System. My job is to guide you and accompany you on this journey for the rest of my life.』

'I see.' Naruto did not ask any more questions. He could learn more about the Great Sage or whatever later. But for now, he decided to secretly follow his mother so that he could learn where she lived. 

Being a Shinobi, Naruto kept his distance from Kushina and followed her till she reached home. The house in which she lived was a two-story house with 1-meter tall walls surrounding the entire property. There was a beautiful garden and even a very small pond where there were some Koi fishes swimming in it.

Naruto watched from a far distance as his mother opened the door and entered inside. He kept staring at the shut door for a few minutes before he decided to come a little bit forward. 

Without making any noise, Naruto landed a few meters away from the door.

He looked around the beautiful garden. There were many types of vegetables. 'With this much vegetables, I guess she doesn't often need to come out of the house for shopping. Today might have an exception and I might have been extremely lucky to meet her. I guess this is what people call fate.'

Naruto had decided he'd seen all he needed to. Now, his plan was to look for an affordable place to stay. His funds were quite limited, so he needed somewhere cheap. Just as he was getting ready to leap away, an unexpected event occurred. The wooden door of the house suddenly swung open. To his surprise, a shiny golden chain shot out from the open doorway.

In a flash, the chain moved like a swift snake, aiming straight for Naruto. He barely had time to register what was happening before the chain coiled tightly around his legs. Caught off guard, Naruto was yanked off his feet and dragged into the house with surprising force.

"Ah....!!!"

Bang!!!!

He found himself slamming hard against the wall inside the house. The impact was so forceful that it sent a loud crashing sound echoing through the room. As he tumbled to the ground, Naruto couldn't help but cry out, "That hurts!!!"

The pain was more than he expected. Without the power of Kurama or the Asura Chakra, Naruto realized he had become much weaker than before. His current situation was a stark reminder of this newfound vulnerability.