Those Hands - A Naruto SI

The morning began with a deceptive tranquility. Breakfast was as usual: warm miso soup, fluffy rice, and light chatter from his parents, to which Yuji responded with the necessary grunts and nods. It was a peaceful routine, a bubble of normality that Yuji cherished more than anything. After finishing his meal, he headed to one of his sacred places, his fortress of solitude: the bathroom.

There are a few simple pleasures in life that are often overlooked. The first coffee of the morning, finding money in the pocket of old pants, and of course, a satisfying pee after holding it for a while. As Yuji stood before the toilet, he closed his eyes for a moment, savoring this moment of pure peace. This was one of the few moments where he didn't feel like a man trapped in a child's body or a reluctant ninja-in-training. He was just a living being emptying his bladder. It was a universal and grounding act.

'This is life,' he thought with deep satisfaction. 'Not epic battles or grand destinies. Just this. Physiological tranquility.'

That peace was shattered into a million pieces by the sound of a muffled giggle.

Yuji's eyes snapped open. The sound came from... below. He glanced down and saw it. In the narrow gap between the wooden door and the floor, a pair of very familiar blue eyes were staring at him. Peeking.

Time seemed to stop. Yuji's brain took a few seconds to process the absurdity of the situation. There was a blond-haired boy peeking at him while he was urinating.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Yuji roared, his voice cracking with shock and indignation. He nearly sprayed the wall.

The door creaked open and Naruto's blond head popped in, a wide grin plastered on his face. "I found you! My infiltration training worked, dattebayo!"

"Infiltration?!" Yuji shrieked, frantically finishing his business and fixing his pants. His heart was pounding from a mixture of adrenaline and rage. "This isn't infiltration! This is a violation! This is... a crime against bathroom humanity! Privacy! Ever heard of it? It's a fundamental social concept that separates us from wild animals!"

Naruto just laughed, completely unfazed by Yuji's tirade. "Privacy is for boring people! Come on, Yuji! I've got a great plan for today!"

"My plan for today was to sit in my room and contemplate how weird my life is!" Yuji retorted fiercely, pointing towards the door. "Now get out! This is a sacred space!"

"Come on!" Naruto whined, stepping fully into the small bathroom, completely ignoring Yuji's protests. "We're going to do real ninja training today! Not just chasing! We're gonna fight!"

Yuji stared at him in disbelief. "Fight? I don't want to fight you. I just met you yesterday. I'm not even sure we're friends. We're more like... acquaintances of circumstance."

"Of course we're friends!" Naruto said with complete conviction. "I shared my Hokage secret with you! And you gave me a candy! That's practically a blood oath among ninjas!"

"It was a lemon candy, not a blood oath!" Yuji ran a hand through his own brown hair in frustration. He felt like he was arguing with a hyperactive brick wall. "Look, Naruto. I appreciate... your enthusiasm. I really do. But I'm not the 'fight for fun' type of person. I'd rather, you know, not."

But Naruto wasn't listening. He was already grabbing Yuji's hand, dragging him out of the bathroom and towards the front door. The kid's grip was surprisingly strong, fueled by unwavering determination.

"No! Let me go! I'm not mentally prepared to interact with the outside world!" Yuji protested, his feet dragging on the wooden floor.

"Too late!" Naruto chirped cheerfully. "Adventure awaits!"

And so, for the second time in two days, Yuji was forcibly dragged into Naruto's plans. He felt like a leaf swept up in a hurricane.

They ended up at the same empty training ground where Yuji had first seen the other kids practicing. The afternoon was hot, and Yuji already felt tired just from being dragged there.

"Alright!" Naruto said, striking a fighting pose he probably saw somewhere. His hands were raised awkwardly, his knees bent. "Here we go! A fight to determine who's the greatest ninja between us!"

Yuji just stood there, staring at him with a flat expression. "There are only two of us. And neither of us is a ninja. This is more like a fight to determine who gets heatstroke first."

"Stop talking so much and fight!" Naruto challenged.

Yuji sighed. Fine. If this is what it took to get the kid to be quiet, then so be it. And honestly, a small part of him—the arrogant, twenty-three-year-old David Gerald part—felt a little challenged.

'I'm an adult,' he thought, stretching his neck. 'He's a kid. I have a massive strategic advantage. I can outsmart him. I'll use my brain, not brawn. I'm going to make him look like a fool.'

It was a good plan. A logical plan. A plan that fell to pieces in the first five seconds.

"Here I coooooome!" Naruto yelled, and he charged.

There was no strategy. No form. It was just a pure, chaotic explosion of kinetic energy. Naruto ran at him with his arms pinwheeling, letting out a series of unintelligible war cries.

Yuji, with all his adult wisdom, tried to gracefully sidestep. His six-year-old body, however, had other ideas. His feet got tangled up in each other, and he stumbled in the most ungraceful way possible.

Naruto's windmill attack missed, but his momentum carried him right into the off-balance Yuji. The two of them went down in a tangled heap of limbs.

"Ugh," Yuji groaned, his face planted in the dusty grass. He could feel Naruto's knee digging into his back.

"My first attack was a success!" Naruto declared triumphantly, jumping to his feet.

Yuji pushed himself up, spitting dirt out of his mouth. Okay. Plan A was a total failure. Time for Plan B.

'Alright, no more fancy moves,' he thought, wiping dust from his face. 'I'll take him head-on. I'm heavier than him... probably. I'll use force.'

As Naruto charged again, Yuji held his ground this time. He reached out to grab Naruto, intending to use his weight to push him to the ground.

He managed to get a hold of Naruto's orange jacket. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed.

However, trying to hold onto Naruto was like trying to hold onto an oiled eel. Naruto twisted out of his oversized jacket, breaking free and leaving Yuji holding nothing but a piece of orange fabric. As Yuji was momentarily confused, Naruto used the opportunity to ram his head into Yuji's stomach.

"OOF!"

The air left Yuji's lungs in a single, painful whoosh. He staggered back, his eyes watering. The hit wasn't particularly hard, but it was utterly surprising. Who uses their head as a weapon?

"Whirlpool Headbutt!" Naruto yelled, looking as surprised as Yuji that his move had worked.

Humiliation began to burn in Yuji's stomach, hotter than the sun's rays. He, a grown man, was being played with by a six-year-old who didn't even know how to fight properly. This was unacceptable. His honor was at stake.

"Alright," Yuji hissed, ignoring the pain in his gut. "No more messing around."

He charged this time. He tried to throw a punch, mimicking moves he'd seen in action movies. It was a slow, telegraphed punch. Naruto, with his strange, natural reflexes, simply ducked, and Yuji's fist hit empty air, sending him spinning from his own momentum.

For the next ten minutes, the "fight" continued in the same embarrassing pattern. Yuji would try a "strategic" move, and his uncoordinated body would betray him. Naruto would just keep charging with endless energy, his attacks unpredictable and completely unorthodox. He tried biting, scratching, and at one point, he even tried to throw a handful of dirt in Yuji's face.

The climax came when Yuji, in a last, desperate attempt, tried a leg sweep. It was a move that looked so cool on TV. In practice, Yuji only managed to sweep his own legs out from under him, sending him falling flat on his back with a loud thud.

Before he could react, Naruto was on top of him, sitting on his chest and pinning his arms to the ground.

"I win! I win! I win!" Naruto cheered, his face flushed with excitement and exertion. He let out a loud, triumphant laugh, the purest and most annoying laugh Yuji had ever heard.

Yuji just lay there, staring up at the bright blue sky. Dust was caked in his brown hair, his clothes were dirty, and his pride was in tatters. He, David Gerald, a twenty-three-year-old man, had just been decisively beaten in a physical fight by a possibly malnourished six-year-old orphan.

This was the lowest point of his two lives.

Naruto's laughter suddenly cut off, replaced by a loud, long rumbling sound.

Grrrrrroooooowwwwl.

Naruto blinked, then looked down at his own stomach in shock. "Whoa. My stomach is yelling."

The sound broke through Yuji's fog of anger and shame. He looked at Naruto's now slightly embarrassed face. All the fighting energy seemed to have been drained away by hunger.

Yuji let out a long sigh, a sigh of total defeat. "Get off me, you idiot."

Naruto got off, and Yuji sat up with a groan, every muscle protesting. He looked at Naruto, who was now patting his stomach as if trying to quiet it.

And once again, his stupid, traitorous conscience took over.

"Come on," Yuji said, getting to his feet and dusting off his pants. "You can have lunch at my place."

Naruto's eyes immediately lit up, brighter than ever before. "Really?! You mean, like, real lunch? With real food?"

"No, I'm going to serve you a bowl of rocks," Yuji deadpanned. "Of course with real food. My mom probably cooked too much."

The excitement on Naruto's face dimmed slightly, replaced by a familiar hesitation. He looked down at his feet, saying nothing. "But... your parents..." he started, then trailed off.

He didn't need to finish. Yuji knew exactly what he was thinking. Adults often shunned him. They would pull their own children away when he approached. They would give him cold looks in stores. The idea of going into an adult's house, of sitting at their dinner table, must have been terrifying for him.

Yuji looked at the boy in front of him. The boy who had just humiliated him in a fight, but now looked so small and vulnerable.

Yuji was sure his parents weren't like that. They were kind, naive people who made masks for a living. They didn't have the ingrained hatred that many in the village did.

Without another word, Yuji reached out and grabbed Naruto's thin wrist. "Come on," he repeated, this time in a tone that brooked no argument. He started walking, pulling a surprised Naruto along with him.

The walk home was quiet. Naruto just let himself be pulled, his eyes fixed on Yuji's hand holding his wrist as if it were a foreign object.

When they arrived at the house, the gentle aroma of curry greeted them at the door. Yuji's mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on an apron.

"Oh, Yuji, you're ba—" She stopped when she saw Naruto standing awkwardly behind her son, still held by Yuji. "Oh, hello."

"Mom, this is Naruto," Yuji said simply. "He's having lunch with us. His stomach is making noises like an angry bear."

Naruto looked down, looking ready to bolt.

But then, Kaori's warm smile bloomed. "Naruto-kun, is it? It's nice to meet you. Come in, come in! Don't be shy. The food is almost ready."

Kenji appeared from his shop, curious about the commotion. "Who's your new friend, Yuji?"

"Naruto," Yuji said again.

Kenji smiled kindly. "Welcome to our home, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stared at the two adults with wide eyes, as if they were a rare species. No cold glares. No whispers. Just smiles and a warm welcome.

Slowly, the tension in Naruto's shoulders began to ease. Yuji let go of his wrist.

At the dinner table, Naruto was very quiet at first. He sat ramrod straight in his chair, his hands placed neatly in his lap. When Kaori placed a large plate of curry and rice in front of him, he just stared at it for a few seconds as if it were a mirage.

"Eat up while it's warm," Kaori said gently.

Naruto hesitantly picked up his spoon and took the first bite. His eyes immediately widened. "THIS IS SO GOOD, DATTEBAYO!" he exclaimed with his mouth full.

And just like that, the dam broke again. Naruto's hesitation evaporated, replaced by his signature enthusiasm. He ate with incredible gusto, talking between mouthfuls about their "epic" fight, about how strong he was, and about how this curry was the second-best curry in the world after a bowl of Ichiraku ramen.

Yuji's parents just laughed, clearly amused by the boy's energy. They asked him questions, and Naruto answered them all with bubbling enthusiasm.

Yuji just sat there, eating his curry in silence, observing the scene. He saw the way Naruto's eyes lit up every time his mother offered him a second helping. He saw the genuine smile on his father's face as Naruto enthusiastically recounted his dream of becoming Hokage.

Amidst all the chaos and noise that Naruto had brought into his usually quiet home, Yuji just watched with a deadpan expression.