Baki Three weeks later
Baki felt weird. Information was flooding his head and he didn't know where it came from. It was stupid, but his eyes were closed and everything was there. That didn't make a lick of sense. As Kyubi damned as he felt two weeks after he triumphed over the first barrier, he wasn't dizzy. This wasn't like what he felt before. What was this feeling of seeing and not seeing? It made no sense and made him feel dizzy.
He shoved his covers off and was about to step into his house shoes. Baki froze, there was tooth paste in his shoes. Two months worth of tooth paste were gone right out of the gate. He'd forgotten that Naruto liked to pull pranks but why did he know the tooth paste was there? Blearily, he picked up the shoes and dumped the tooth paste in his waste basket. It was like he felt the tooth paste was there. He really was Kyubi damned, that wasn't the right word for it either.
Baki opened his eyes hoping the other information would go away. Nope, he wasn't that lucky. Up to a meter around his body everything was known. A crimson ever changing 3d image was burned into his head. A meter was also where the image cut off. He took a step forward and the image adjusted filling with new information. His head ponded with the change and it wasn't going to get any better.
He dressed before pausing and shaking the itching powder out of his shorts. When he grasped the doorknob, he found a trip wire attached to a set of spring-loaded paper shuriken. Maybe, he shouldn't have been so adamant about taking the top bedroom. Baki took a pair of nose hair trimmers from his grooming kit and cut the tension wire. The shuriken impacted his door and he thought about taking his cane with him down stairs.
Baki shook his head, he'd need it when he broke through the next barrier. He let out a sigh. That was the price for continuing this path. To reach greater heights first he must destroy himself.
He made his way down the stairs to where Naruto sat eating his instant ramen. Basically, it was the only thing they had to eat. "Hey Naruto, the tension wire was too close to the door." Baki said.
"What tension wire are you talking about? If there is one, I bet it was done just like the book Jiji gave me said to do it." Baki nodded his head. That book was teaching Naruto how to read faster than any lesson from the Matron. His eyes narrowed at the direction his thoughts were heading. How hard did she really try to teach him?
"I guess you're sorry for taking the top floor right. We can trade if you want." Naruto suggested.
"Hokage sama is going to be angry with you for wasting so much tooth paste. Where did you get the itching powder anyway? It smelled like our, he got up and opened a cabinet, chili powder." Baki said.
"Well that's enough of that, I better go to the park and find someone to play with." Naruto said.
"Naruto, we need to get some food besides ramen. Didn't you say something about wanting some training kunai?" Naruto made a weird face.
"It's too expensive, couldn't we buy some ramen instead?" Naruto askes.
Baki looked at Naruto in a way that made the blonde kid take a step back. Naruto wasn't hard to figure out. He had his own dreams, like becoming the Hokage and gaining the respect of people.
"Don't you want to be a powerful Ninja like the Hokage?" Baki asked. Naruto nodded his head. Baki smiled knowing he'd already made the sell. He smiled and let out an evil laugh.
"Baki, this isn't some sort of forbidden jutsu or something." Naruto asked.
"No Naruto the secret to becoming the biggest strongest ninja you can be is eating plenty of meat and vegetables." Baki said. Naruto looked anything but sold.
"Jiji never mentioned that." Naruto said.
"Of course, not Naruto, it's a secret. Who would believe that eating plants and meat could make you so strong. Don't worry Naruto, I'm here to ensure you become the strongest Hokage you can be." Baki said and reviewed his own words. Maybe, he could have framed it differently. From what he understood, the better resources they had to grow on the better they would develop.
Naruto stored their money in his frog wallet for safe keeping and they made their way out the door. After putting on their outside sandals, they opened their door to see the landlord moments from knocking on their door.
The older man gave a jovial smile that never reached his eyes. Baki received a disappointed look from the man while Naruto received nothing but hate.
"Ah, glad you're here. There is a leak in the wall behind the sink. This door doesn't lock properly. And the hot water heater is nonfunctional." Baki said in rapid fire. He turned to Naruto. "Are there any other problems?" Naruto froze for a moment, then spoke.
"The air conditioning doesn't work." Naruto added.
"You got what you paid for. I'm not going to fix any thing for the F- brat and his friend. Now that leak raised your water bill quite a bit. I'm going to need a little more this month, and payment for a plumber." Baki knew he didn't know nine tailed shit about how long the leak had been going on. He just washed his hands in the sink and noticed the leak.
"Don't bother we'll repair it ourselves it's just a hairline leak. Consider our labor taken out of the rent. Of course, we run at a plumber's rate and it could take two six-year-olds hours to repair it." The land lord gave them a horrible glare. More interesting was the look Baki received. Baki knew the man was gauging his intelligence.
"Whatever, forget about it." The man left.
"What was that about?" Naruto asked after the man left.
"He was here to cause trouble." Baki replied. He'd seen people like that before around the orphanage. Still Baki didn't know how to repair a leaking pipe. They'd need to go to the library and now their landlord knew their lock didn't work. He might have known before or damaged it himself. He was tempted to leave Naruto here but Baki didn't trust that guy.
The first grocery they went to seemed nice enough. He noticed a few adults giving them odd looks but they were two children grabbing groceries. They grabbed anything that took their interest.
"I can't wait to try the asparagus does it really make your pee stink?" Naruto asked.
"You bet and its good for you. We'll cook a big meal and maybe add some ramen as a side as well. I can't wait to slow cook the venison tenderloin in the oven." Baki said as they waited to check out.
The lady looked at them nervously as the store manager whispered something in her ear. She gave the man a nod and clicked a few extra keys. When she scanned the first item he knew something wasn't right.
"Is something wrong young man?" The manager asked in a kind tone. A smile spread across his face as the ryo began to rise.
Baki looked at the rising price and couldn't figure it out. The landlord being scummy was a coincidence, the matron hating him could have been an outlier, but this was the beginning of a pattern. He looked back to see the blonde shaking his head. Baki let go of the buggy full of groceries.
"Oh, aren't you going to pay for any of this. We don't appreciate you wasting our time." Naruto reached for his frog wallet before Baki could stop him. He took some cash out and gave it to the manager.
They were let out after that. Baki didn't know what to think. He was beyond angry and confused.
"Naruto what's going on? Back there, he charged us for bringing groceries up to the counter." Baki asked.
"They weren't like that when Jiji helped me. While he was there they were nice. When I went back, they were mean and charged me more that the signs said. I thought things would be different with the both of us." Naruto said quietly. This felt wrong. For Naruto to say something like that in such a quiet voice, it pissed him off.
"Maybe we should prank them by burning their store down." Baki muttered. He felt it as his heart pounded. The smallest amount of qi strengthened him. It felt like assurance, this was the right path. Burning down their store was the right decision.
"What's the point they're all like that? Burn one down and the next one will just get more business. Jiji said it would just prove their point." Naruto said.
"What point is that?" Baki asked.
"I don't know. The Jiji said they think I might be bad. Attacking them will only prove their beliefs right." Naruto's words took the wind out of Baki's sails. Nine tails shit, he wanted to act out and his qi roared in agreement. The ability to obtain a easy source of food was gone. His stomach grumbled. He was getting hungry.
"Then we'll come up with a new plan. Instead of buying food, we'll go to the library and learn how to grow it and hunt it. We're surrounded by woods full of game. There is also training ground 44 is said to stretch all the way to the coast. I heard it was miles of trees larger than the hokage tower and there are even dragons there deep in the swamps and volcanoes." Baki said.
"Believe it you hear that you bastards. So what if you won't sell us food. We'll get it in training ground 44 instead." Naruto shouted excited to get to the library.
They made their way to Konoha library and the librarian quickly barred their way. "The library is closed to your kind." The woman said. That was their last chance. Baki knew it to be true. If he did something to get past the librarian. An Uchiha police agent was nearby ready to apprehend them.
Baki met the man's eyes and felt himself get pulled into an illusion. Qi surged just as he was being arrested and taken into custody. The illusion shattered and he was standing there with Naruto. The Uchiha policeman looked shocked for a moment then began slowly unsheathing his blade.
Just as he was about to make a move an ambu appeared and the sword went back in its sheath quickly. "Sir he broke my genjutsu. That isn't something a normal child can do. What if he's an imposter here to tempt the demon child," The man froze mid question. He'd just done a little more than hint at something. Naruto was looking at the Uchiha in shock.
"May we enter the library crow san?" Baki asked.
"I apologize but no. She has the right to refuse service to the public library, if she has a valid reason. Of course Lord Third will hear about this."
"I don't care what you do to me. I won't give that thing a chance to grow stronger in anyway. Anyone who helps it is a traitor to the village as far as I'm concerned." The librarian said.
"What in the nine demon tails is going on here?" Baki demanded.
"That is right you've figured it out. How loyal to your friend are you now?" Baki was a lot of things but stupid wasn't one of them.
"You dare to break the Lord Third's edict." The uchiha police yelled. Before he hadn't been on their side at all but breaking the rules was another story.
"Crow if you would be so kind please report this to the Hokage. She has broken the edict to an officer of the uchiha police, the ambu, the one the edict protects, and a civilian. She must be made an example." Baki didn't know what was happening, what edict was broken, or what to do. Naruto didn't seem any different.
"You killed my husband and brother you damn demon. Kyubi I hope you suffer trapped and powerless forever." The Uchiha glared at her with his spinning red eyes and she went silent.
"Kid I'm sorry you had to hear that." Naruto stared at the woman his face written in shock.
Did he believe the woman? No not a word. She seemed insane. What if her words held some truth so them? What if Naruto was somehow the demon reborn? If he was then there were no memories left of the before times.
Naruto
His mind was on repeat. He was the fox. It made sense. It was why the matron hated him. He was the reason why there were so many orphans. Of course they would do everything they could to rip him off. Is that why Jiji helped him? Was even that a lie? What about Baki?
"I don't believe you." His friend said. He didn't shout it like Naruto wanted him to. It was said like explain.
Naruto found himself opening his mouth. "It makes sense. They all hate me. Not even the bums on the street are nice to me. Parents don't want me to play with their kids." Naruto said.
"Naruto trust me, I'm wise beyond my years. You are not a three hundred story demonic fox with nine tails." Baki said.
"How do you know?" Naruto asks.
"Naruto, you're shorter than me." He opened his mouth and shut it.
"What if I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet?" Naruto asked and gave Baki a raspberry.
"Not a chance if you don't eat enough meat and vegetables." Naruto frowned.
"You're just trying to distract me. I bet you don't want to be my friend anymore now either." Naruto muttered.
"Naruto if we're still friends after you wasted two tubes of tooth paste, the ravings of a mad woman won't break our friendship." Baki said.
"You don't think she's telling the truth, it fits." Naruto protested.
"Naruto it would be cool to be a giant ninetailed fox with a Hokage hat but you're short and not a fox." Bastard, Naruto's mind immediately went to how cool it would be.
"It was actually quite terrifying. The thing just appeared." The uchiha police muttered.
"That sounds incredibly planned. Has that happened before?" Baki asked.
The uchiha scratched his head. "Well there was old man Madara when he fought the first in the valley of the end. He was able to control it too. But he died." They were quiet for a minute as Naruto tried to wrap his head around someone controlling a massive fox of Ninetails.
He thought about how much a prank that sounded like. Bam, he summoned a giant fox and no one can do anything about it. "That doesn't explain why I'm hated."
"You were born on the same day the fox was defeated. Superstition, sounds like the most likely answer. Then the Hokage forbid anyone spreading around and made gossiping about it a death sentence." The uchiha coughed.
"That does sound plausible. It could be true even." The Uchiha said.
Naruto knew it wasn't. He knew Baki didn't think it was when he stopped trying to come up with reasons.
"It doesn't change anything either way." Baki said with finality and put a hand on his shoulder. He realized this is what having a friend is like.
Quarantine Day 2 Omake Naruto
Those fools had no idea that when he'd bought all the ramen they would be forced to remain in their home. Ramen didn't spoil, it was ready in three minutes, and it was delicious. How could they possibly part with such a resource? Then the grocery stores all burned down and they came begging. Naruto sat upon his throne made of stacks of ryo.
They say that later Naruto became a king by his own hand. Once the quarantine ended, he went on to conquer the elemental nations. After purchasing the Akatsuki's services with his ramen money he did conquer all. But that is a tail for another time.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading hope you enjoyed it. Leave a review and tell me what you think. Next chapter: two years pass and they enter the academy. I'm not in the quarantine this is just an omake becuase of the virus.