Naruto: Reaching the Stars

Meeting Minato, one of the most popular characters in the series, in such an unexpected place was surprising, but Kisuke quickly regained his composure. He eyed Minato for a moment before relaxing and putting the kunai away. "Sorry about the reaction. I had a bad experience that makes me jumpy at sudden noises. Name's Kisuke, by the way."

"No, no, I should be the one apologizing for suddenly interrupting you," Minato said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Well, don't worry about it. I was about to leave anyway," Kisuke shrugged and then asked, "So, do you need something from me?"

He was curious whether Minato had met him here by coincidence or if he had approached him for a reason.

"Ah, well…" Minato scratched his neck before pulling out several kunai and shuriken. "These should be yours, right? I just collected them from that tree."

"And so…?" Kisuke raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

"And I was wondering if I could take them, if you don't mind, of course."

Kisuke blinked, not expecting such a request. "I'm fine with that, but is this really okay? As you can see, they're a bit damaged, and their aim wouldn't be accurate."

The reason Kisuke hadn't retrieved those weapons was because they were old, with some cracks, and had lost their sharpness after so much use. Their balance was off, which affected the accuracy of his throws, so he had discarded them. But he didn't expect Minato to ask for them.

"It's fine. I'm used to training with such weapons," Minato said, unconcerned about the quality of the hidden weapons.

"Well, if that's what you want, you can take them," Kisuke shrugged, handing them over without a second thought.

"Then, I'll leave you to your training. Thank you very much for the weapons," Minato said with a polite bow before turning to leave.

Watching him walk away, Kisuke hesitated and then glanced up at the sun. "Kirikou will surely give me an earful when I get back,"

Instead of heading home for lunch, his curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to secretly follow Minato, wondering what he was up to.

When Daiki was around, Kisuke had asked him countless questions about what it was like to be a ninja, and one of those was how to follow someone undetected.

Though he didn't consider himself particularly skilled yet, Kisuke tried his best to follow Daiki's instructions on tracking while minimizing his presence. To his surprise, he managed to trail Minato without being noticed.

Kisuke observed as Minato passed through several more training grounds, collecting discarded hidden weapons along the way. Eventually, Minato headed deeper into the forest, where he finally stopped and started practicing his throwing technique.

'He's good,' Kisuke thought.

Despite using damaged weapons, Minato's accuracy was better than Kisuke's. Out of ten shots, he hit the bullseye seven times. If he were using new, intact weapons, his accuracy might be even higher.

'But why is he using damaged weapons? Can't he afford new ones?' Kisuke wondered. Practicing with damaged weapons wasn't ideal; it could cause his hands to get used to the altered weight and balance, making his technique slightly off when switching to intact weapons.

After practicing for about an hour, Minato finally stopped. He collected the hidden weapons and buried them under a marked tree before heading out of the forest.

Kisuke watched the entire scene from a safe distance before hurriedly following Minato's trail.

'Fortunately, I'm not on Earth, or I'd certainly be labeled a stalker or a creep… but then again, I'm physically only six years old, so it wouldn't be considered too weird.'

He followed Minato through Konoha's streets until they reached the outskirts, where Minato eventually stopped.

'I didn't expect him to live here,' Kisuke thought, eyeing the compound Minato entered. A large sign hung over the door with the kanji for "orphanage" written on it.

There wasn't much information about Minato's family in the series, but it seemed like he was the last of the Namikaze.

'That's why he used damaged weapons instead of buying new ones—he's an orphan.'

Kisuke didn't know how orphanages were run in this world, but he doubted they gave the kids allowances. Well, unless they entered the ninja academy.

After watching the orphanage for a while, Kisuke headed back home. As expected, the moment he arrived, he received an earful from the worried Kirikou.

After lecturing him for a while, she served lunch, and they ate in silence.

"What are you thinking about?" Kirikou broke the silence, noticing Kisuke's lost expression.

Kisuke looked up at her. "It's nothing," he shook his head and smiled. "I just met an interesting kid today."

"Look at you, talking like you're all grown up," Kirikou smiled. "And so, did you make a new friend?"

"Ah, well, not exactly…" Kisuke smiled awkwardly. He knew her intentions; she always urged him to go play with kids and make friends instead of spending all his time training.

"Sigh, do you really enjoy training so much that it's all you do all day?" Kirikou asked with a sigh.

"Yep!"

Seeing him admit it so openly without any shame, Kirikou sighed again, but she didn't plan to stop him from doing what he loved. Ever since her son had fallen unconscious six months ago, he'd changed a bit... but in a good way. He had become more mature and responsible, just like now. After lunch, Kisuke collected the dishes, washed them, and then asked her to take her usual nap while he took care of the store.

Normally, she wouldn't have agreed to such a request from her son since he was still a child, and she didn't want him to start working at such a young age. It was her responsibility to work and provide for them, not the other way around. But after he insisted for several months and she saw with her own eyes how well he handled the customers, she felt reassured and was comfortable leaving things to him.

"You sure you don't want me to stay around just in case?" Kirikou asked.

"Mom, how many times have we had this conversation?" Kisuke sighed and continued. " I got everything under control, so go on and rest."

Seeing him acting like an adult, Kirikou couldn't resist and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Look at you like the little man of the house." She giggled and pinched his cheeks.

Kisuke felt awkward being victimized like this. Thankfully, an elderly woman entered the store saving him.

"Stop it.. look , I have a customer, so let me go."

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you to it." Giving him another kiss, Kirikou went to rest with a proud smile on her face.

After Kirikou left, Kisuke let out a sigh of relief. The elderly had saved him from further embarrassment, and he quickly switched back to his professional mode. Greeting her with a polite smile, he helped her with her shopping, offering his best recommendations before she paid and left.

With the store empty again, Kisuke took the opportunity to restock the shelves and organize the inventory. Once that was done, he sat at the desk, boredom creeping in as he waited for the next customer.

After a while with no one entering, Kisuke decided to practice a little. He pulled out a scroll he had copied without Kirikou's knowledge and opened it, reading the instructions for the D-rank Genjutsu once more. It was a basic technique, one that changed the color of objects within the target's vision. Nothing complicated, but a good way to hone his skills.

Kirikou had been strict about his Genjutsu practice, insisting that he wasn't ready to delve into it without her supervision. But Kisuke had always been drawn to the art, and since copying this scroll in secret, he couldn't resist practicing whenever he got the chance.

'Just a little practice won't hurt,' he thought, rolling his shoulders and stretching his fingers. He had already memorized the hand signs—Dog, Rat, Horse, Tiger—and with a swift movement, he performed them.

A faint pulse of chakra flowed through him as he focused on a simple chair in front of him. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the chair's wooden surface shimmered and shifted from its natural brown color to a bright red.

Kisuke smiled in satisfaction. Focusing again, he altered the chair's color to blue, then green, and finally back to brown. 'Looks like I'm a bit talented in this area.'

It had only taken him three days to master this Genjutsu, and he hadn't faced many difficulties, which left him satisfied. 'Well, I guess this is expected from a Kurama. After all, Genjutsu is our specialty.'

Over the past few months, Kisuke had learned a few things about his clan. The most important revelation was that the Kurama had a Kekkei Genkai. This both surprised and thrilled him. A Kekkei Genkai was a necessary advantage in the later stages of the story. Without one, Kisuke had no idea how he would fare against the Otsutsuki.

'Well, I still have no idea how I'm supposed to awaken this Kekkei Genkai. I just hope the requirements aren't as harsh as the Sharingan.'

Just as he was about to try more advanced Genjutsu, the bell at the door jingled. Kisuke quickly dispelled the Genjutsu, shoved the scroll into his pocket, and stood up straight as a new customer walked in. It was a middle-aged man, likely one of the regulars. Kisuke greeted him with his usual polite smile.

"Welcome! How can I help you today?"

The man, just a civilian, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Kisuke assisted him with his purchase before the man left, and Kisuke returned to the desk. He took out a small piece of paper and resumed practicing his wind nature transformation.

'I'm starting to get the hang of it,' he thought. 'Just a few more weeks, and I feel like I could succeed.'

After mastering the basic chakra control exercises, Kisuke had spent most of his time practicing wind nature. Though he hadn't seen success for months, he could feel himself getting closer to his goal.

As he continued to train, his thoughts drifted back to his meeting with Minato. It allowed him to determine the timeline he was in, which was helpful. 'According to what I know, Minato graduated from the academy at the age of ten and rescued Kushina from Kumo spies. Does that mean the Second Ninja War had already started by then?'

Despite not remembering everything about the series, Kisuke knew Kumo wouldn't attempt something as reckless as kidnapping Konoha's Jinchuuriki without expecting retaliation. Were they at war by then?

Kisuke shook his head. There were too many missing pieces to build a solid assumption, so he decided to stick to what he knew. Since Minato seemed to be his age, that meant Kisuke had until he was ten to graduate from the academy. Even though he didn't know whether he would be sent to the battlefield, he needed to train harder. He needed at least Chunin-level strength by graduation.

Kisuke clenched the paper in his hand and pushed away his distractions, refocusing on his training.

By the time evening rolled around, Kirikou woke up from her nap and came back downstairs. She looked well-rested and smiled warmly at Kisuke when she saw how well he had managed everything.

"You've done a great job, Kisuke," she said, patting him on the head. "You've earned yourself a treat tonight. How about I make your favorite for dinner?"

"Sounds good! I'm starving."

Kirikou chuckled and started preparing dinner while Kisuke finished closing up the store.