Chapter 9: Hide-and-Seek and Heroic Hearts
While one Naruto was down in the basement getting smacked around by a slightly sadistic swordswoman, another version of him—cheerier, cleaner, and significantly less bruised—was outside in the mansion's garden playing an altogether different kind of game.
"Ready or not, here I come!" he called out dramatically, finishing his count to thirty with a theatrical flair.
The garden was bright and breezy, full of cheerful daisies, towering rosebushes, and a suspiciously wobbly teacup set left over from morning tea. Naruto tiptoed across the lawn like a fox with a secret, his eyes gleaming with mirth.
"Oh where, oh where, could my little rascals be?" he sang, peeking behind a tree and poking at the flower beds with the end of a twig. "Come out, and I'll buy you chocolate~!"
From somewhere behind a particularly fat azalea bush came a suspicious giggle.
"Aww," Naruto said, clutching at his chest with exaggerated heartbreak, "you're making big brother so sad."
With a sudden lunge, he parted the flowers and scooped up a tiny, squealing figure. "Caught you!"
"No fair!" cried Kuuderika, pouting so fiercely that it could have caused small birds to fall from the sky. "You definitely used your ninja magic!"
"I did not," Naruto said solemnly, hugging her tightly and rubbing his cheek against hers. "I used my Big Brother Senses™. Totally different. Isn't that right, Ure?"
Behind him, a tiny laugh betrayed the hiding spot of the second twin. Ure popped out from beneath a bush with grass in her hair and a winning grin on her face.
"Found you too!" Naruto said triumphantly.
"You're too good at this," Ure mumbled with mock defeat.
"Now, how about a deal?" Naruto said, crouching to their level with a conspiratorial glint in his eyes. "You two get a turn finding me. And if you win—I'll do anything you ask."
"Really?!" the twins chorused, their eyes going as wide and sparkly as treasure chests in a fairy tale.
"Really really," Naruto said, his smile spreading wide…
...only for a chill to run through the sunny moment like a cold breeze sneaking under the door.
"No, you are not," said a calm but firm voice. Arche, in her usual no-nonsense tone, walked over from the terrace, arms crossed. "Naruto, you're spoiling them far too much."
Naruto turned sheepish almost immediately, like a puppy caught chewing the furniture. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's just... this is the first time I've really had younger siblings. I guess I got carried away."
The twins looked up, their earlier excitement dimming as they felt the mood shift.
"Big brother, it's not your fault," Kuuderika said softly, hugging him around the neck. Ure followed, wrapping her little arms around his waist.
Arche sighed—more gently this time. "I'm not trying to be the villain here. But spoiling them will do more harm than good. They need structure. Guidance. Not just sweets and promises. If they do something wrong, you must correct them."
Naruto nodded slowly, the weight of responsibility settling across his shoulders like a cloak. "You're right. I'll do better. Thank you."
He turned to the twins and gave them a serious look—well, as serious as someone could look with twin bundles of adorableness hanging off him like barnacles.
"Alright, little ones. Starting tomorrow, you'll be going to school."
The world might as well have ended.
"NOOOOOO!" came the wail in perfect synchrony.
"But we don't wanna! What if people are mean? What if you're not there? What if school is... boring?" Kuuderika pleaded, clutching his sleeve.
"Yeah! Don't make us go!" Ure added with all the fury of a kitten being told it can't have cake.
Naruto ruffled both their heads with a gentle hand. "Relax. I'll go with you on the first day. I've already checked the place, and it's safe. Plus, I put ninja seals all around it. Nobody's getting in or out without me knowing."
"But what if we miss you?" Ure whispered.
"You'll see me after school every day. And Arche too. But you have to learn and make friends. That's how you become strong like us. You want to be heroes too, right?"
The twins exchanged a long look. They didn't seem entirely convinced—but Naruto's hopeful smile worked its usual magic.
"...Fine," Kuuderika muttered, dragging the word out like it had thorns.
"But you owe us double chocolate tomorrow," Ure added quickly.
Naruto laughed, stood, and pulled both girls into his arms. "Deal."
Arche shook her head with a small sigh—but this time, she smiled.
Sometimes, even heroes needed time for hide-and-seek.
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In the afternoon, Naruto was reviewing the mission board when one particular request caught his eye—an investigation of the surrounding area for potential dangers, with a requirement to classify threat levels using a ranking system.
'Seems interesting,' Naruto thought as he picked up the scroll and confirmed the request with the guild counter. Unlike the others, who chose to go out as a team, Naruto decided to take this one alone.
He passed through the city gates, jogging at a moderate pace while quietly observing his surroundings. Every scent, sound, and disturbance was registered by his enhanced senses. The forest spread out around the region, calm and quiet.
'Feels more like a nature walk than an investigation,' Naruto mused, scribbling down notes in a calm, practiced manner. 'I guess this is what being strong feels like... peaceful, in a way.'
His thoughts drifted as he moved. It was becoming clearer that he'd need to leave the city soon. 'My dream used to be becoming Hokage. But now… what should I aim for? Wandering without a goal… that's not me. Maybe king?'
He immediately shook his head.
'Nah, that sounds even more troublesome than being Hokage. Paperwork, advisors, nobles... ugh.'
Naruto let out a soft sigh as his mood dipped. Something had changed in the air.
His expression hardened.
He felt them.
A disgusting, vile intent filled the forest air—and then arrows shot from the trees, aimed at his legs.
Clink.
They shattered against his shin guards, not even scratching him.
"Come out already," Naruto said, not even raising his voice. "I know exactly where you are."
A group of bandits stepped out from the shadows, armed with mismatched weapons and confident smirks.
"Tch, rookie's got guts," the leader sneered. "But we got numbers, and one of the kingdom's top warriors on our side. Be smart—hand over your valuables and walk away."
They had done their research. They knew of Naruto's mansion and assumed he was some spoiled noble brat playing adventurer.
But they miscalculated—horribly.
Naruto's calm eyes bore into them like a blade.
"You must be from the Death-Spreading Brigade I heard about." His tone was even, but the weight behind it was crushing. "The only death spreading today will be yours."
He formed hand seals with swift precision. The earth groaned beneath the bandits as a swamp swallowed them whole, dragging their bodies down into the muck.
Only the leader remained, stuck up to his neck, thrashing in terror.
'Reminds me of when Jiraiya took out those bandits…' Naruto thought. 'Definitely not a good way to go. But they deserve worse.'
"Let us go! D-Don't you know who we work for?!" the man shrieked. "We're under Brain Unglaus! He's the Kingdom's strongest warrior! You're dead if you touch us!"
Naruto tilted his head, completely unbothered.
"Don't know him. Don't care. Doubt he could even land a hit."
He walked closer, his tone shifting into something smooth, almost hypnotic.
"Where's your hideout?"
The man blinked—then, unable to resist the command embedded in Naruto's chakra-laced voice, began spilling everything.
When he was done, Naruto looked at him, eyes calm but final.
"Thanks. You can die in peace."
With a whisper of movement, a compressed air bullet shot from his fingertip, piercing the bandit's forehead in an instant.
Naruto turned and vanished, speeding toward the hideout.
There were people that needed saving.
--------------------
Brain Unglus had once been a name whispered in hopeful awe—"The man who might beat Gazef!"—until, of course, he didn't.
He lost.
In spectacular fashion.
It was the sort of loss that made spectators blink twice and whisper things like "Was that it?" or "He dropped his sword before the fight even started?" Not because Brain was bad—no, no—he was quite good. Excellent, really. It was just that Gazef was… better.
That loss, unfortunately, did something to Brain. He trained harder, longer, and with such devotion that he eventually stopped noticing things like friendship or personal hygiene or the ethical implications of having morally bankrupt goons do your grocery shopping.
These days, he lived in a hut that smelled vaguely of unwashed socks and regret, surrounded by cronies who had all the collective brainpower of a stale cabbage.
Brain leaned back in his creaky wooden chair, which had probably seen better centuries, and stared at the ceiling.
'When would be the right time to challenge Gazef again?' he pondered, twirling his sword like a villain in a stage play. 'A public duel? Maybe at the next tournament? Or perhaps a dramatic alleyway ambush? No, that sounds messy. I hate messy.'
He was in the middle of imagining the audience cheering his name—"Brain! Brain! Brain!"—when the unmistakable sound of panic reached his ears.
Screaming.
Lots of it.
Brain shot up, sword in hand, and stormed out of the hut, fully expecting to find a bear, or perhaps an overcooked stew exploding again (that had happened before).
Instead, he found blood. And carnage. And one very calm, slightly wind-blown teenager standing in the middle of it all like a casually dressed storm.
"Oh, one of them's still twitching," the boy muttered. With a sigh, he raised his fist, punched the air in absolutely no direction at all, and the poor fellow on the ground promptly exploded into a fine red mist. It was like watching a magician do a trick and then accidentally blow up the table.
"What… what are you?" Brain asked, not out of curiosity, but because it seemed polite to ask before one's inevitable doom.
The boy turned. Blonde hair. Sunny smile. Wholly unfazed by the chaos.
"Naruto," he said, as though that explained everything. "I've heard you're a good fighter. That's lucky, because I'd like to see for myself."
Then, cheerfully, as if offering Brain tea and biscuits:
"You'll serve me after that. You've got the spirit—it's just been pointed in the wrong direction."
Brain stared.
Just stared.
He was afraid, yes. But worse—he couldn't see the boy's arms move.
That was never a good sign.
'Is this karma?' Brain thought, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his blade. 'Am I being punished for that one time I stole the last sweetroll at the barracks?'
He sighed, not dramatically, but the kind of sigh one gives when it's raining and you forgot your umbrella and someone just vaporized your entire workforce.
"Will I ever get to fight Gazef?" he wondered aloud.
Probably not.
But for now… he had a fight in front of him. And this boy—this smiling lunatic with air punches and swamp jutsu—wasn't going to wait all day.
Brain stepped forward, blade gleaming.
The duel had begun.
And it would be anything but boring.