Naruto: All depends on the Nine-tails Fox

"Ramen is so delicious!"

Little Naruto, coming out of the ramen shop, happily rubbed his round belly. This was his first time tasting authentic ramen, not just instant noodles, and it was incredibly flavorful.

Moreover, the uncle who made the ramen was really nice. When he found out Naruto didn't have enough money, he didn't make a fuss or refuse to serve him like other shops did... Naruto decided he would definitely come back whenever he got the chance.

With that thought, he turned and glanced at the shop's sign to remember the name.

"Iruka Ramen."

As Naruto was leaving the ramen shop, he spotted two figures walking towards him, one tall and one short.

They were chatting and laughing, and the shorter one was about Naruto's height. Both wore dark outfits.

"Brother, can you practice shuriken throwing with me today?"

"Sure!"

Are they brothers?

As they passed by Naruto, their mention of training piqued his curiosity, prompting him to turn and take a closer look. He noticed that both their outfits bore a prominent fan emblem on the back.

"Hmm?"

It seemed like the taller one, Itachi Uchiha, noticed Naruto's gaze from the corner of his eye.

Is it him?

As the eldest son of the Uchiha clan leader and a genius ninja, Itachi knew much more about the truths of the world than most villagers, including the fact that Naruto was the host of the Nine-Tails.

However, that had nothing to do with him today. He shifted his gaze back to his younger brother and said, "I can only practice with you for a little while. I have some other things to attend to afterward."

"Eh~?" His younger brother appeared a bit disappointed.

Before he could whine, Itachi smiled at him in silence. Sasuke, his younger brother, seemed used to his brother's tactics and reluctantly said, "Alright, but you have to... hmm?"

As if sensing something, Sasuke turned to the curious Naruto still staring at them and politely asked, "Hello? Is there something you need?"

"Ah, no..." Caught off guard by the unexpected conversation, Naruto fumbled for words. But soon, his natural outgoing personality kicked in. "I heard you guys talking about practicing shuriken throwing. Can I... join... and watch?"

"Ha, that's definitely not possible. The clan's shuriken techniques...," Sasuke replied, not wanting anyone to interrupt their rare moment of playtime. Plus, clan techniques weren't something they could show to just anyone. How strange was this kid not to know such common sense?

Itachi had intended to politely decline as well, but before he could speak, he noticed Naruto's stance.

Though they were just casually walking and chatting, Itachi realized that Naruto's posture gave off an impression of a ninja hiding their weaknesses, ready to strike at any moment.

This style was common among seasoned ninjas, yet this child should have never left the village...

Itachi was a true genius. Since the second year after his birth was when the Third Great Ninja War broke out, he had been brought to the battlefield by his father from a young age. His perspective on everything was vastly different from the villagers'. Having become a genin at the age of seven, he felt a spark of curiosity about Naruto.

"I'm sorry, but it's not possible this time. If you're interested, maybe next time we can do something together," Itachi replied, following up on Sasuke's words and politely excusing himself. He then pulled Sasuke along as they left.

"Ah..." Despite being rejected, Naruto wasn't too disappointed; after all, this was a common occurrence. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was quite interested in them.

Regarding the shuriken they mentioned, Naruto felt a genuine curiosity.

It was that familiar sensation; he had never seen or heard of shuriken before, yet he felt an inexplicable familiarity with the term, as if he had seen it multiple times in dreams.

"Where are they headed...? To the riverbank?" Naruto pondered.

Konoha Hokage Office.

"Hmm..." The list laid out on the Third Hokage's desk gave him a slight headache. The names listed, all with the same surname, made him frown.

The Uchiha clan was indeed full of geniuses.

"The suggestion from the advisors is to continue reducing the Uchiha clan's ANBU positions, but not to increase their jonin positions," said Nara Shikaku, the strategist standing in front of the Third Hokage. "The opinion is still to suppress the Uchiha clan!"

"What do you think?" The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke and looked up.

"Due to the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice and the Nine-Tails incident, the villagers are clearly wary of the Uchiha clan. If we keep applying pressure, it might be... difficult to gain their trust," Shikaku replied almost immediately, showing he was well aware of the villagers' sentiments towards the Uchiha clan.

"So you think we should promote this batch of clansmen?" The wide-brimmed hat of the Third Hokage obscured his expression, making it hard to discern his thoughts.

Shikaku glanced at the Third Hokage's demeanor, realizing he wasn't pleased with his answer.

"This batch of Uchiha clansmen has already met the standards for promotion. We can't just deny them without a reason, can we?" The Third Hokage, who didn't receive an answer, didn't pursue the matter further. His thin fingers pointed at the names on the list. "The Uchiha are part of Konoha. Such actions are unreasonable, but... forget it. Notify Shisui to come over."

"Understood." An ANBU member who had been waiting in the shadows stepped forward before disappearing.

The afternoon sun was still blazing. Under the sweltering heat, two figures dashed through the trees at high speed, one in front and one behind.

Suddenly, the figure in front came to an abrupt halt, turning to call out to the person behind, "Itachi, that's enough for today."

The one trailing closely, Itachi Uchiha, also quickly stopped, looking confused at the handsome figure standing in front of him with his sword sheathed. "What's wrong, Shisui?"

"Emergency. I have something I need to attend to, so I'll leave first." Shisui Uchiha turned around, smiling gently at Itachi. "It seems today isn't our lucky day. I had planned to teach you a technique to show off in front of your brother."

"Alright." Knowing Shisui had important matters to deal with, Itachi wouldn't stop him. "I'll head back to see how Sasuke is practicing, and if I have time later, I'll come find you."

With that, Shisui vanished from the branch, and Itachi turned back to look for Sasuke.

Upon returning to the riverbank, he heard a sudden shout: "Watch out!"

A shadow hurtled toward Itachi Uchiha!