(EIGHT YEARS LATER)

Ⅰ

On the day I promised Naruto that I would be his friend, I kept my word. For the first few months of our friendship, we spent a lot of time playing at the park. We rode on slides, swung on swings, went up and down on the see-saw, and even tried to conquer the monkey bars. Although we tried to play with other kids, they never seemed interested in joining us, making it difficult to play games like tag or hide and seek. However, Naruto didn't seem to mind and was always happy to have me to play with, which made me happy too. And we even did some parkour together as well.

When I told Naruto about my interest in parkour, he became very curious. We started doing it together almost every day. It was a lot of fun, and I never expected to find a friend who shared my passion for it. However, little did I know that my friend would eventually become my competitor.

Naruto was skilled at jumping and doing vaults, two essential techniques for overcoming obstacles. It was impressive to see a four-year-old kid master these movements so quickly. Within a few days, he learned three unique parkour techniques: the safety vault, cat leap, and lace. I was surprised by how fast he picked up these skills.

Moreover, he was quick to identify the fastest and easiest routes with fewer obstacles. As we both enjoyed parkour, we started competing with each other. Of course, I always won as I had been doing parkour for longer, but I could sense that Naruto was catching up to me quickly. He was very stubborn in not admitting his defeat and would always challenge me again and again until he won the race. For this, I am looking forward to making it happen when the day comes.

As I spent more time with Naruto, our relationship grew stronger daily. We've become closer than ever before. We had each other's back, always ready to support one another no matter what. This later on, it had developed a sense of protectiveness towards Naruto in me since then. I often find myself advising him to be careful whenever he does things that seem reckless to me. I worried that he may get hurt in the process. And whenever that happens… I was the one who had to clean up the mess.

Ⅱ

I remember it was a peaceful and sunny morning. I was on the street, walking towards the Ninja Academy. On that day, there was going to be a test to check the student's parkour skills. Because of this, I didn't want to get tired and be ill-prepared for the examination.

Walking towards the main gate, I found myself humming a tune under my breath. As I got closer to the building, my peaceful state of mind was abruptly shattered by an outburst of angry yells and the sound of breaking glass.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Come back here, Naruto!"

"Catch me if you can ~ !"

As soon as I heard my friend Naruto's name being mentioned, my face went pale, indicating something bad might have happened inside the building.

"Oh no… What did he do this time… ?"

I gulped as I stopped to go further to the main gate.

On the day Naruto and I enrolled in the academy, Naruto faced difficulties adjusting to the new environment. He was timid, like a mouse. Due to the traumatic experience he had with the adults, he was afraid of not being liked by everyone at school and wondered if they would treat him like an outcast.

However, I was there at his side. I helped him how to communicate with confidence and also taught him not to worry about how people would look at him when meeting for the first time. As a result, he was able to make two good friends: Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi.

Shikamaru had an air of laziness. He would rather take naps instead of paying attention during class. He did not seem bothered by getting an earful from the teachers, making me think he was either brave or a bit foolish with his behavior. However, unlike the laid-back Nara, Chouji was the complete opposite. He was kind and very polite among the boys I met. He is the type of person who would not want to get into trouble as he treated everyone compassionately.

Ever since the day we first met, the four of us have been together after school. We would come to the park and do various activities like watching the clouds, taking a nap, eating snacks, and even playing tag or hide-and-seek until sunset. It was nice to have more friends in the group, as I felt I was getting along quite well with the people of Konoha. However, I still wondered why some people treated Naruto differently from time to time.

As time passed, Naruto became more self-confident. Seeing him change over the years warmed my heart, as he was no longer the scared boy he once was. I was pleased that he became more outgoing. I strongly hoped that his newfound courage would help him deal with any problems he faced with ease.

Unfortunately, it took a complete turn, leading him to play pranks on other people. I had no clue why he started doing this, but whatever the reason, Naruto had become the number one prankster in our class and continued doing it every day.

"Ha! See you later, suckers!" Naruto taunted. He hurriedly left the school compound as he tried to shake off the pursuers. Following him behind, two or three Chunin

Instructors were chasing after him. All had furious looks on their faces, with their hands forward, trying to get closer to apprehend the blonde boy.

It all happened very quickly when they all passed by. I felt the gust of wind scraping through when I stood in the center. I was glad I did not encounter any collusion, but I was becoming more concerned about Naruto getting caught by them. Seeing the Chunin's back slowly fading from my sight, I sighed and slowly shook my head.

"Looks like I need to save him again," I quietly said to myself, and soon followed them as I quickly hopped onto a nearby building.

Ⅲ

As I leaped from one rooftop to another, I was able to locate my dear friend in the vicinity. He was using a traditional environmental camouflage technique called the Kakuremi no Jyutsu (隠れ身の術). He was covered in a brown cloth. He had his back facing the wooden fence, blending his entire body into one.

It was a neat little trick when trying to outrun the pursuers. It gives you an edge to avoid detection of your whereabouts. However, the Ninjutsu technique proved to be ineffective against me due to my Eagle Vision abilities, which allow me to detect a body's heat.

I quickly climbed down from the roof and landed safely where he was hiding. After checking the surroundings for any Chunin Instructors nearby, I called out his name in a hushed tone, "Hey, Naruto."

"Darren? Is that you?" Naruto asked, his face still hidden underneath the cloth.

"Yes, it's me," I replied, placing my right hand on my hip.

"What are you doing here? You will blow my cover!" Naruto exclaimed, worried that the teachers were still searching for him.

To ease his concerns, I shook my head and quickly reassured him, "The cost is clear, Naruto. You can come out now."

"Eh, really?" Naruto poked his head out, seeming skeptical about whether it was safe to come out.

I quickly nodded and gestured, encouraging him to leave his hiding spot. He then lowered the cloth and slowly emerged.

"Haha! I outsmarted them! They thought they could catch me, but they were dead wrong!" Naruto exclaimed, clearly proud of his hiding skills. "It will take them years to finally get hold of me!" He patted himself on the shoulder, congratulating himself on outrunning the Chunin Instructors.

It was evident that the skills he learned from me had greatly improved. Our daily parkour routine must have helped him become more agile and faster, making it easier to outrun them and give him enough time to use Kakuremi no Jyustu to avoid being caught. However, I wish he had used his skills in a better circumstance than this.

"Well, it is indeed impressive that you managed to escape from the Chunin Instructors, Naruto," I said with a soft smile. "But we should head back to the academy before the test starts."

I folded my arms and reminded him about the possibility of getting lectured by our homeroom teacher, who is known for his strict disciplinary policies. "You wouldn't want to go through that again like the last time, so come on." With that, we hurried back to the academy, keeping our heads low.

Ⅳ

We arrived at the academy after a short three or four-minute walk. Fortunately, we didn't run into any teachers in the corridors—everyone seemed to be in class, either starting their lessons or taking their tests. As we reached the door to our classroom, I turned to Naruto and asked about the prank he'd pulled earlier that morning.

He glanced at me and replied, "I did some painting today."

"Painting?" I tilted my head. "You mean… graffiti?" I asked, trying to make sense of what he was implying.

Naruto nodded, though a bit hesitant.

"I see." I sighed, shaking my head. "Well, I'll clean up the graffiti later. We'll apologize to the teachers for painting the walls at school. Let's do it after class, alright?"

At my suggestion, Naruto's face turned pale, and he quickly looked away as if he'd just swallowed something bitter.

"…Naruto?"

"Uh… well… umm…"

His sudden shift in behavior was strange. Normally, he would've been grateful for the help, but now he was mumbling, avoiding eye contact. I started to wonder what exactly he was hiding.

"You said you did graffiti, right…?" I asked gently.

"Yes," he nodded.

"At school?"

"Umm… no. It's more like…" He paused, clearly struggling to find the right words. "At a place where… everyone can see it. Like… up high in the sky, maybe?"

"In the sky?" I raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Yeah…"

"What do you mean by—" Then, it hit me. My eyes widened as the realization sank in. "Naruto," I crossed my arms, my tone sharp. "Does this place… have something to do with someone? Someone who I'm… very close to…?"

Naruto hesitated before nodding sheepishly. "Y-yeah…"

"And this someone… happens to have his face sculpted into a monument?"

He gave another nod, scratching the back of his head.

I stared at him, utterly stunned. Naruto had graffitied Konoha's most important monument—the Hokage Rock. A mix of emotions rushed through me: disbelief, anger, and disappointment. Of all the reckless things he could have done, this was beyond anything I had imagined.

Unable to hold back, I let out a sudden outburst, yelling from the bottom of my lungs. The loud shout caught the attention of students from nearby classrooms, including our own.

At that moment, Iruka-sensei, our homeroom teacher, stormed out of the classroom with his arms crossed, his expression furious. He had clearly been waiting for us. "There you are…"