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Naruto was never that close to his father or mother. The only person he talked to frequently was actually Guy—and he liked his humor. Well, he wasn't going to wear his green spandex or anything, but red and black? That definitely intrigued him a little. Still, he shook his head and said, "Well, Guy-sensei, if you don't mind, I'd like to join as well."
Guy gave him a thumbs-up, and both of them started doing push-ups.
Naruto spoke first. "Today was my first day at the academy."
Guy smiled brightly. "Ah! I heard something about a tournament going on today, but I was on a small mission from Lord Hokage."
Naruto simply nodded. "Yeah, the tournament did happen. To be honest, it was pretty boring."
Guy gave him another thumbs-up. "So, how did you do, huh?"
Naruto replied casually, "Honestly, it was boring—and I won it pretty easily."
This surprised Guy a little, but not too much. "Huh… So who did you fight?"
Naruto said, "Well, first it was a dog boy—I don't really know."
Guy laughed. "Must be an Inuzuka. And the other one?"
Naruto shrugged. "Some other guy—I don't remember his face. He was really weak. And the last one… was my brother, Manma."
At that, Guy paused. He knew about the training both Manma and Mito were getting. Sometimes he wondered if Naruto was jealous of the attention they received. But after looking at Naruto's face, he doubted that. Naruto didn't seem like the jealous type.
"So how did it go?" Guy asked.
Naruto answered, "He's improved a little… but he still wasn't strong enough to do any real damage to me."
Guy simply nodded at that.
Naruto continued, "I don't know... they always seem too vague. I don't think they'll ever become strong enough to give me a real challenge or anything like that."
Guy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that, Naruto?"
Naruto replied, "Well... you know that Mom and Dad are quite worried about them. After all, they're training them specifically. I think it's because they're too weak, and they just want them to be able to survive in the ninja world."
He glanced at Guy. "You've said it yourself—the ninja world is dangerous. And they're so weak. That's probably the reason even our godparents are training both of them—to at least make them strong enough to survive."
Guy paused for a moment. It was actually a decent theory. Looking at Naruto's face, he could tell the boy genuinely believed it.
But in truth, that wasn't the case. Menma and Mito were being trained to control the power of a Bijuu—not because they were too weak to pose a challenge.
Still, Guy had seen what this kid could do. The training regime designed by Might Guy, the Taijutsu expert himself, was already being matched by Naruto—at just eight years old. That was remarkable.
He simply nodded. It wasn't his place to interfere in how Naruto's parents handled things.
"Well then, Naruto," he asked, "what are you going to do about it?"
Naruto just shrugged. "Hopefully in the future, they'll become strong enough to survive the ninja world. I don't really have much hope they'll ever give me a decent challenge, though."
Guy nodded. "Still, don't neglect your own training. In this world, skill is everything."
Naruto nodded back. He already knew that. After all, Guy-sensei was a great man—even if he wore questionable fashion.and also a great person—even if most people didn't accept or recognize it.
Still, Naruto could clearly see his strength. He simply nodded again and said, "Well then, Guy-sensei, I think I should head back home. I'm getting a little hungry."
Guy gave him a thumbs up. Naruto nodded back and began walking back toward the Namikaze residence.
There was a slight silence in the dining room as Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato, Kushina, along with Menma and Mito, were quietly having dinner.
Kushina finally spoke up. "Minato, why isn't Naruto here?"
Minato replied calmly, "Don't worry about it. He'll be back soon enough."
Kushina simply nodded, though Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the mention of Naruto's name. Something inside him told him that Naruto was going to be a problem in the future. He shook the thought away.
He wasn't as close to Naruto, not like he was with Menma and Mito.
Menma suddenly spoke up, "Dad, I wanted to ask you something."
Minato turned to look at him. "What is it?"
"I want to ask… do you really think both me and Mito have some kind of special power? Because I honestly don't know what it is. And if we do, why do we have it… and why doesn't Naruto-niisan have it?"
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room.
Minato finally said, "Menma, when the time is right, I'll tell you everything."
That only made Menma more frustrated. "What do you mean by that? We're triplets. If both Mito and I have this power, then Naruto-niisan should have it too. Why isn't he being trained with us?"
Mito nodded in agreement, clearly sharing his feelings.
Before Minato could respond, Jiraiya spoke up. "Well, Menma… you see, both you and your sister are special. You've been gifted with a unique power. And with that power comes a responsibility to the future."
Menma stared at him. "What do you mean by that?"
But before Jiraiya could elaborate, Mito suddenly stood up.
"No! You're just lying to us!" she shouted. "All these things you're saying—you're just trying to make us feel better, aren't you?"
This surprised everyone in the room.
Minato spoke up, confused, "What are you talking about, Mito?"
Menma followed up, his voice sharper. "I know now. Yeah, I understand it."
Minato looked at him, concerned.
"You all think we're weak. You think we needed the help of four legendary shinobi—our godparents and all your training—just to become something in the future. Just to become at least Jōnin level and survive in the ninja world. Naruto-niisan was right. If we don't have some special power, then all this effort is just to make up for that."
That statement stunned everyone.
Tsunade sat quietly, thinking through how they could have come to such a conclusion. Then again, considering how easily Naruto had defeated Menma and how he claimed that the reason they were being trained was because they were too weak—it made some sense from a certain perspective, even if the conclusion was completely wrong.
Kushina finally spoke up, her voice gentle but firm.
"Menma… we don't think you're weak. Not at all. Like your godfather said, you and Mito have a special power—a power that makes you important to the future."
Menma clenched his fists. "Then what is this special power? I've never felt anything different inside of me."
All of them looked toward Menma, then to Mito, who nodded.
"Yeah, I've never felt anything either. And we're triplets, for heaven's sake! If this power was inherited, then Mom should have it, Dad should have it… or at the very least, Naruto-niisan should have it too."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
They couldn't just tell the triplets the truth: "Oh, yeah, you both have the Nine-Tails sealed inside of you, and that's why we're training you… and sorry, Naruto doesn't, so we left him out."
They looked at each other in growing discomfort.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya was getting visibly frustrated. His thoughts drifted to Naruto, annoyed that the boy had somehow planted these ideas in the heads of the so-called "children of destiny. This is because of that Naruto brat, he thought bitterly. I need to talk to him—he shouldn't be putting such thoughts into the heads of the children of destiny. They should be trusting in us, not him.
He growled softly under his breath.
Minato finally spoke up, his voice firm. "Enough, Menma."
Menma looked up at his father, who was now visibly angry.
"I said enough of this talk. You and Mito, both of you, go to your rooms. We will discuss this tomorrow."
They both wanted to argue, but one sharp look from Minato made them fall silent. Reluctantly, they nodded and walked away.
Once they were gone, Jiraiya muttered, "You see, Minato? This is all that kid's fault."
Minato sighed, rubbing his temples. "All right. I'll talk with Naruto. He won't say things like that to Menma and Mito again."
Kushina spoke up gently, "Minato… I don't think Naruto meant to taunt Menma or anything like that. When he was speaking earlier, I was sensing his emotions."
She looked toward Tsunade, who nodded in agreement.
"He truly believes we're training Menma and Mito because they're weak—or at least, weaker in his eyes," Tsunade said. "I think it might have something to do with his sensory abilities. He's likely able to compare chakra levels, and he's seeing that his chakra is significantly higher than theirs."
Minato nodded slowly. "You're right. Naruto is already at an exceptional level, somehow—even without the Nine-Tails. I suspect he may have inherited a portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra from you, Kushina, which could be why his reserves are increasing so rapidly."
He paused in thought. "From that perspective, it does make sense. If he's comparing his own power to Menma and Mito, and has already defeated Menma in a spar—who, by the way, is considered the strongest among the three—that would've only confirmed his beliefs even more."
He sighed deeply. "This whole situation is a mess… one thing after another."