So special thanks to the one person that reviewed. You sparked a fire in my writer's soul and had the motivation to do another chapter. A little shorter, but we're moving forward!

It was a couple of days before Kurama had acquired enough money (after learning the monetary system) to rent a room. But, so far, his sleeping in trees wasn't really wrong or bad.

As long as he stayed on the edge of the forest, and slept high enough, no one would bother him. Well, the civilians didn't notice him that high up, but the other warriors would sometimes glance up at him. He also got weird looks for sleeping in a tree, but it was extremely comfortable for Kurama and he wasn't breaking any rules.

The nature energy was soothing to his senses and took his mind off of the watchful eyes that seemed to follow him since he first entered.

In the same amount of time though, he was able to hone his ability to feel others while in an energy rich environment. It was slightly easier when he used demon energy since it was unique, but he forced himself to learn with chakra too. Kurama did not live this long by taking unnecessary risk or leaving holes in his training.

With this though, he became aware of eyes on his person. He could maybe get a general direction of where they were coming from if he stopped and concentrated really hard, but pinpointing where they were was beyond his current capabilities. It didn't help that while he knew he was being watched; he sometimes couldn't even find a trace of whoever was watching him.

So Kurama just acted as if he was being watched consistently because he probably was, even if his watchers sometimes disappeared.

While Kurama could admit he was a little hasty getting here, he also could appreciate the fact that being here provided him with fountains of information.

Civilians didn't do or really think of word games, so it was easy to ask questions and get answers. It was also easy to lead them lightly into a topic and let that person do all the talking. Kurama wouldn't lie when he became a little disappointed by the lack of word games.

The silver haired man he had met earlier was apparently an outlier. Though the warriors (shinobi, he was told) were shrewder than civilians, they weren't up to his competitor's level. The silver haired man, his competitor, spoiled him for being his first true human interaction in so long. It wasn't really fun when you were just handed the answers, though much more efficient and useful.

What could he say, he was a fox demon; they loved their games.

Oh civilians, what they lacked in fun word games, they made up in sheer volume of information. Made it easier, but boring, to discover information here.

It still took him a little more than a week to be relatively confident in the knowledge he had gained. People always overlooked elderly people but they usually had the best and most information. Show yourself willing to listen to their stories and they would tell you basically anything.

Luckily, this had cleared a little of his confusion earlier by the guards' reactions to his hair and name. Apparently, red hair was a clear indicator of those from the Uzumaki clan. But the silver in his hair usually deterred others from making a clear connection, which was nice.

(That was a thought to put on the backburner for later consideration: pretending to be a long lost Uzumaki. Maybe if he got stuck and needed some prestige, but he didn't know enough to pull it off yet.)

Next was his name, especially the Minato part of it. Apparently, the fourth hokage (their leader) was Minato Namikaze, so the name Minato in general was usually noticed. It was a little too late now to change his 'last name' to something that didn't warrant as much attention, so he would have to adapt.

It was relatively recent to his confidence in his knowledge that something came and changed almost everything.

After Kurama had decided to save money by continuing to sleep in a tree, regardless of the looks he got, he decided to buy actual food. Eating what he had packed and little shops was all well and good, but he had enough that he could afford a meal.

He had been hearing amazing things about a ramen place and decided to give it a try, Ramen Ichiraku.

Kurama would have to admit, the people weren't lying about the quality of the ramen served here, which was a pleasant surprise.

It was as he had finished his meal and was drinking some green tea, when his world seemed to tilt slightly to the left. Because in that quiet moment, the boy from long ago that had played a prank burst in.

Kurama forced himself not to stare at the child and continued to savor his green tea. Though, with his bright orange jumpsuit and yellow hair, he garnered enough attention already.

But being much closer to the boy, really did hammer the fact that a human child held half of his eldest's energy.

Kurama watched the boy out of the corner of his eye as he sat down a few seats away from Kurama. As much as Kurama wished he could be like Yusuke and rashly ask questions and somehow get answers, that wasn't how things worked.

Watching the human boy though consume bowl after bowl of ramen though was pretty amusing and he couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him after the kid got started on his 4th bowl. This simple action though got him intense attention from the shop owners and the boy himself.

He had to stop himself from tilting his head in consideration to this newest development. The shop owners were watchful and seemed to be bordering on hostile, watching him with a new intensity. The boy on the other hand had tensed, after realizing that there was another patron in the establishment. He tried to act like nothing had happened, but his movements were now stiff, slower, and the boy kept glance at him consistently with a wary look in his eyes.

Well. Kurama had a soft spot for children, and maybe he could get more information from the boy himself. So, turning himself slightly in his chair, he gave the boy more of his attention. Though he noticed the owner tighten his grip on his utensil, and the boy's shoulder seem to hunch slightly as if to make himself a smaller target.

"You must really love the ramen here." Kurama said casually.

Kurama had to stop himself from smiling as the boy seemed to perk up at the mention of the food. He also noticed the owner somewhat relaxing, now that it appeared that Kurama was being civil to the boy (which was curious in itself).

"Ramen is the food of the gods! And they make the best ramen in the world here!" The boy had fully perked up and was now animatedly, almost yelling, at Kurama.

He was also pointing with his chopsticks straight at Kurama. This time, Kurama couldn't stop himself from smiling at not only the words but his whole demeaner. Interestingly enough, this caused the owners to fully relax, while the boy had started almost preaching about the amazingness of ramen (his words).

Kurama continued to smile indulgently as he listened to the boy. It was always something else when you got a child to talk about something they were very passionate about. It always lightened the mood, made the child immediately start beaming, and sometimes even shaking or bouncing in place with excitement to be able to share their thoughts. It was always incredibly adorable.

As the boy was talking though, and now that he could fully look at the boy without real suspicion, he took in the details.

The orange jumpsuit was as bright as expected, and seemed to be fighting with his bright yellow blonde hair for vibrance. The boy did have really pretty blue eyes though, probably at the level of Kurama's full human visage with a color difference. Interestingly though, he had three whisker marks on each of his cheeks.

Though, that is when Kurama starting noticing other things that basically explained why the owners were so protective. Though small and young, there was a certain thinness to the boy that spoke of lack of consistently eating food and getting nutrients. He briefly wondered if ramen was all the kid ate, and was slightly worried at that prospect. Ramen, while good and had some nutrients, was not a meal kids should solely be eating as they grew.

Now that the boy was animatedly talking about something he was passionate about, the wariness and tenseness had left the boy's frame. There was still a bit of his body ready to bolt at a moment's notice, but he was much more relaxed than earlier. That was another thing about letting kids talk about something they were passionate about, it helped them relax.

Soon though, the boy finished and gave Kurama an expectant look so Kurama chuckled and answered, "I don't know much about ramen so I'll have to take your word on it."

The boy's facial expression showed his utter shock at that statement before he looked determined and gave a decisive nod.

Still amused by his antics, Kurama couldn't help but comment, "Where are my manners, my name is Kurama Minato and it is very nice to meet you."

The boy looked taken aback that Kurama actually gave out his name and that honestly also worried him. Was this child so used to anger and hate that he forgot how people should normally act? Kurama had seen the civilians get angry at the boy and call him names, but surely it wasn't throughout the whole village?

The boy gave a sunshine like smile and answered back excitedly, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!"

Oh, so there were still Uzumaki's? That might put a pin in his earlier thought of using the name as cover. But Kurama sat and considered it, he was told that Uzumaki's were well known for their bright red hair, yet Naruto's hair was a golden blonde.

Those were some strong genetics then if it beat out a generational gene of red hair. It briefly made Kurama wonder if Naruto could still pass on the red hair gene to any children he had.

"So Uzumaki-kun," Kurama started, "you wouldn't happen to be a prankster would you?"

Naruto comically froze with a noodle sticking out of his mouth. He quickly finished his bite and sheepishly started to scratch the back of his head with a reply, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, when I had first entered the village, I saw some of the villagers chasing you with pink hair."

Naruto looked torn between being proud of his prank or continue to pretend he didn't do it. His pride won out in the end though and he puffed up a little. This kid was absolutely adorable.

Well, I might have gone to look for my children, doesn't mean I don't pick up a few siblings along the way. Kurama couldn't help but think to himself.

If demon or spirit world had figured out his weakness against children, Kurama was sure he'd lose his notoriety. Though to be fair, he didn't start caring for children until after his human life, and even then, it really only came into being when Kurama was there as giant chakra beasts grew up. So, at this point in time, the only people that might know were his friends he had left in the other dimension.

Oh, Kurama definitely wasn't going to do anything this moment, but this kid was adorable and apparently attention starved. Going by his malnourishment though, and general attitude, Kurama had a very strong guess that Naruto was an orphan.

This did leave Kurama to wonder how old Naruto actually was. It was always difficult to tell with malnourishment.

"Say Uzumaki-kun, how old are you?" Kurama finally asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Call me Naruto! I just turned 10, believe it!" Naruto was back to almost yelling again in his excitement.

Kurama wasn't too surprised that Naruto told him to use his first name. He was slightly surprised that Naruto was 10, but he could see it, barely.

Before they could continue though, another customer entered.

It was like watching a switch flip, and it was horrifying to watch. Naruto immediately dropped his head a little, hunched up his shoulders, and genuinely tried to disappear. Kurama thought that maybe this was a victim, but the person that entered was a civilian and looked perfectly fine. So this couldn't be a prank victim; it also didn't explain the hateful look the person threw Naruto.

Now, by being mischievous, Kurama was used to anger from having a prank played on you. But this anger was different. It was full of hurt and rage, completely dark emotions, not the type of thing you get a reaction for from a simple prank.

Kurama's focus sharpened as he watched the interaction. His mind flashed to the silver haired man, and how in the beginning, the man had showed a personal and village wide connection to Naruto. He figured that having even half a bijuu's energy in you had to mean something. But this hatred was different than what the silver haired man had indicated.

Though, watching the tense interaction between the owner and the new customer, it explained why the owners had been so tense and defensive earlier if this was a common occurrence. Luckily (for the new customer at least) the customer did nothing more than throw a hateful look before ordering.

Kurama pursed his lips a little and was considering the pros and cons of moving to Naruto.

Kurama would never stand for this, especially not to a child for seemingly no reason. But at the same time, that hatred was so different and potent. And as much as he hoped it was just this man, Naruto's actions when the man had entered had confirmed that this was a regular occurrence.

Kurama had a feeling that if he did stand up for Naruto, he would be ostracized from the civilians. While usually, he didn't care, he was relatively new here and while he had knowledge, he was still a bit shaky. He could absolutely live on his own and be fine, but he rather spread out a bigger connection before doing something like this.

Before Kurama could make up a decision though, Naruto had finished his bowl, threw money next to the bowl, and ran out.

Kurama's default smile had appeared out of pure habit, but he couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly at the action. Naruto might have forced this current decision, but it now gave Kurama something to consider.

The civilians might not be good at word games, but Kurama has seemed to stumble into a mine field. He would have to be cautious now, especially because he was determined to give Naruto some positive attention.

Thanking the owners, Kurama put down the money and sedately walked out. He did memorize the man's face though, just in case.

Once outside he took a glance around to see if he could spot Naruto, but he didn't see the boy, and his senses told him that Naruto had completely left the area.

Well, at least he knew where exactly to go if he wanted to meet Naruto again. For now, though, time for him to step into a word game with the civilians that can hopefully give him answers.