Chapter Fourteen: The Southern He River
“Ah! Finally home!” Naruto let out a relieved sigh as he struggled with bags of all shapes and sizes.
Yuu Higashino followed behind him, setting down what he was carrying while slipping the keys he’d just used to open the door into his pocket.
He took the items from Naruto’s hands and put them away, then walked over to a nearby chair.
Naruto followed him. “Yuu-nii, you still haven’t told me how you turned those leaves into money earlier. Was that ninjutsu?”
“No… it was just a simple trick,” Yuu replied, settling into the chair.
“Huh? Can you teach me?” Naruto stood expectantly in front of Yuu.
“I don’t think I can. But once you start at the ninja academy and learn ninjutsu, you should be able to do something similar.”
“Why can’t you teach me?”
Yuu found it hard to explain, so he changed the subject.
“Are you short on money?”
“…Not really.” Naruto scratched his head.
“Then why do you want to learn?”
Naruto thought for a moment before answering, “Yuu-nii, didn’t you say before that as long as you have money, you can earn everyone’s approval? Just now, I found out that having money really does get you recognized by everyone, so… I wanted to try it.”
Honestly, Yuu was startled. He had indeed said something like that before, but it was meant as a joke—a bit of mischief. He never expected Naruto to take it seriously.
Could this lead to unforeseen consequences? For example, Naruto might start acting like this:
Sasuke: When I’m sad, I just want to be alone. The only person I can trust is myself.
Naruto: No, that’s wrong. The only thing you can trust is money!
Or perhaps:
Naruto: Mr. Tazuna, what does the destruction of your Land of Waves have to do with us in the Hidden Leaf? Unless… you pay more!
Or maybe:
Naruto forms a hand seal: Secret Technique—Money Style—Multiple Money Shadow Clone Jutsu!
…
Yuu shook his head, trying to dispel the strange mental images, then looked at Naruto seriously.
“Naruto, didn’t you say you wanted to gain everyone’s approval by becoming Hokage? Are you thinking of giving up?”
“Of course not!” Naruto shouted immediately. “I’m not giving up at all!”
“Then why…”
“I just wanted to try it… But if that’s the case, I won’t bother learning it! I’ll definitely become Hokage!”
It seemed Naruto hadn’t gone astray; it was just a passing whim.
But Yuu was already caught up in the moment and decided to say a bit more.
“Naruto, do you know why having money earns you people’s approval?”
“…I don’t.” Naruto thought for a while, then shook his head.
“It’s not actually because you have money, but because of interests. You can bring them benefits, so they approve of you.”
“Interests?” Naruto repeated the unfamiliar word.
“Money, personal safety, status, a sense of superiority—even happiness—these are all interests. If you can give people these things, they’ll acknowledge you.”
Yuu continued, “I’ve heard it said that you aren’t recognized because you’ve become Hokage; you become Hokage because you’re recognized. Do you understand, Naruto?”
Naruto didn’t answer, but Yuu could tell from his confused expression that he hadn’t quite grasped it.
Still, Yuu went on, “Winning recognition with money and becoming Hokage don’t actually conflict. The main thing is, what kind of recognition do you want?”
Naruto began to catch on and asked back, “There are different kinds of recognition?”
“Of course.”
“So what kind of recognition does it take to become Hokage?”
When Naruto asked this, Yuu’s serious look faded back into laziness.
“How should I know? I’m not even a ninja. You’ll have to figure that out yourself.”
With that, Yuu glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
“It’s getting late. I’ll go make dinner. You keep an eye on the shop.”
Without waiting for Naruto to say anything else, Yuu headed upstairs, leaving Naruto standing there, dazed.
Yuu had no idea what Naruto ended up thinking about. But when he came downstairs to call Naruto up for dinner, Naruto was just as before—sitting at the counter, bored, staring at a comic book he could barely understand.