Chapter 33: Finally Meeting Naruto, Kushina's Furious Rage
"This is the place."
With a helpless look on his face, Kakashi led Kushina right up to Naruto's apartment door.
Because of the unexplained circumstances of her revival,
Kakashi had suggested she temporarily use the Transformation Technique to alter her appearance.
Kushina, wanting to avoid trouble
and make meeting Naruto go as smoothly as possible,
had gone along with the suggestion without complaint.
She transformed into an utterly ordinary female shinobi.
"This is it?
It's so rundown!"
Kushina frowned deeply.
Her heart was filled with confusion.
"But… why such a place?
I remember our house wasn't destroyed…
Could it have been wrecked by the Nine-Tails back then?"
Though doubts swirled in her mind, she didn't dwell on them too much.
After all, the Nine-Tails had leveled half the village that night!
Swish swish…
Two soft sounds.
In the next moment, the two of them were standing right at Naruto's door.
Kakashi quietly pried it open, and the pair slipped inside without a sound.
The room was a complete mess.
Random junk was scattered everywhere.
Several empty instant ramen cups sat on the table.
A few unwashed bowls lay piled in the sink.
All sorts of strange smells mixed together with the unmistakable odor of Naruto's sweaty socks,
making the entire room… indescribable.
And Naruto himself seemed completely oblivious to it all.
Right now he was sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep and snoring loudly.
"Uncle!
One more bowl!
This time I want chāshū ramen!"
Gulp gulp…
Naruto seemed to be dreaming about eating ramen.
He mumbled softly,
then hugged the Sasuke plushie next to him and started nibbling on it,
apparently mistaking the doll for his beloved ramen.
"Good grief…
What on earth has Naruto been eating every day?"
Under the surge of emotions, Kushina's Transformation Technique slipped,
and she instantly reverted to her original appearance.
She didn't disturb the sleeping Naruto.
Instead she turned and opened the refrigerator.
Inside were plenty of vegetables and fruits…
all of them wilted now.
Clearly left untouched for who knows how long.
There was also bread and milk,
but most of it had already expired.
"Naruto…
These past years…
just how have you been living…?"
For a moment, Kushina felt tears welling up.
"No one to care for him, no one to love him… doesn't even know the milk's gone bad.
Eating this junk instant ramen every day…
Has vegetables and fruit right there and doesn't touch them."
"Um…"
Seeing Kushina's eyes redden and tears beginning to spill,
Kakashi hurriedly spoke up.
"Naruto's always been a carefree kid.
We check on him pretty often,
bring him things from time to time.
But he just… really loves ramen…"
"Is that so?"
Kushina wiped her tears.
Then she slowly walked over to the bed and stared quietly at her son,
who was still happily gnawing on the Sasuke plushie.
Though she had desperately wanted to see and talk with Naruto before actually meeting him,
now that the moment had come…
she suddenly felt afraid.
After a brief hesitation, Kushina chose to let it go.
"Let's go."
She stood up slowly and strode toward the door.
"You're not going to say hello to him?"
Kakashi looked puzzled.
"No need."
Kushina shook her head. "He must have trained really late last night.
Let him sleep a little longer~
We'll go out and walk around first~"
"Alright~"
...
The two left Naruto's apartment and started walking the streets again.
This time, Kushina decided to first investigate how the people around viewed Naruto.
She desperately wanted to know how he had really been living all these years.
But asking Kakashi directly might not give her the truth.
Asking Naruto himself…
he might hide the painful parts just so she wouldn't worry.
Therefore—
the only way to get real answers was to disguise herself and ask ordinary villagers.
For convenience, Kushina once again transformed into the appearance of a regular shinobi.
Then she began gathering information from various shops nearby.
"That little demon brat is seriously annoying!
He actually pranked me during a mission—
made the cat I just found run away again!"
Kushina's method of gathering intel was simple and direct:
she went into shops near Naruto's place and complained about him.
If the shop owner knew Naruto, there was a high chance they would respond.
Sure enough,
after hearing Kushina's words, the owner of the ninja tools shop immediately jumped in.
"The demon fox brat causing trouble again?
Hmph~
He really hasn't improved at all.
I thought after becoming a ninja he might change a little~
Didn't expect him to still be the same old troublemaker."
"Demon fox brat!?"
Kushina nearly exploded on the spot.
She barely managed to hold herself back.
"You didn't know?"
The shop owner suddenly became very cautious and glanced at Kushina.
Then he looked at Kakashi standing beside her.
"Kakashi-san, who is this lady?"
"Uh…"
Kakashi gave an awkward smile.
"She's originally from another village.
She just joined us recently.
I'm showing her around."
"I see."
The shop owner nodded. "I thought she might be a spy from another village~
Otherwise, how could she not know that Naruto is the demon fox?"
BOOM!
Kushina's hair practically stood on end.
At this moment, she was genuinely furious.
From the shop owner's words, she could piece together a lot of critical information.
First: the entire village knew Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki!
Second: the villagers didn't understand what a Jinchūriki was—they simply treated Naruto as the incarnation of the Nine-Tails itself!
Third: Naruto frequently pulled pranks around the area.
Fourth: most people nearby absolutely despised him!
Fifth: the reason Naruto pulled all those pranks… was undoubtedly to get people's attention.
As someone who had once been a Nine-Tails Jinchūriki herself,
she understood all too well what it felt like.
That suffocating loneliness and oppression had nearly crushed her!
Fortunately,
back then only a very small number of people knew she was the Jinchūriki.
She had never suffered the villagers' discrimination and rejection.
Even so, it had been incredibly painful.
One could only imagine…
just how bitter Naruto's life had been.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen!!!"
Kushina roared, then charged straight toward the Hokage Tower.
"Kushina-sama!"
Seeing Kushina vanish in an instant, Kakashi's heart lurched in panic.
He hurriedly chased after her.