Naruto's in general an excitable kid who bounces back easily from problems.

But then as kids get adopted, the temporary staff leave, and that's sad - 

And when they're three Miss Nono quits. She doesn't say why. Her expression's stony as she packs, and Kabuto spends the whole month upset, even though she tells him he shouldn't be.

And sometime between three and five, kids start noticing that the adults don't really like Naruto. That the kids at the playgrounds outside the orphanage are told by their parents not to trust Naruto. That, really, Naruto's charming, but people don't like him - 

Their friend circle gets a lot smaller, very quickly. Most of the older kids keep helping them, though a few will be entering apprenticeships or graduating the Academy soon...

Once the other kids stop playing with Naruto and Kouji hears about how parents would tell kids to stay away...this all seems very familiar to him...if not for his perfect recall of his past life he might not even have picked up on it.

Even if the other kids tell him to stay away he continues to hang out with Naruto and his suspicion of Naruto's identity grows, the coincidences keep piling on.

When Kouji is four and a half years old and Naruto is four years old he goes up to Naruto and very carefully asks him "Naruto what is your family name?" though he already suspects the answer, even if it feels crazy to believe that his friend Naruto might be THE Naruto Uzumaki.

"Uzumaki!" Naruto says. "I don't know any others, but it's a fun name!"

Kouji sits there stunned, he was reborn into a fictional universe, just in time for the main character to become his friend. it takes a few minutes for him to process this, though Kouji taking a few minutes in the middle of a conversation is not out of character.

This is Naruto, the hero of Konoha, the saviour of the ninja world. it is hard to reconcile this with Naruto the silly giggling child who pushes him to socialize and who he shares his afternoon snacks with and who is his best and only friend.

"Naruto...people are...be mean to you...and be more mean after" struggling to find the words and taking his time to find the right ones to say. "Is not because you have ever be anything bad or that you deserve it, And I not stop being your friend like the other did".

The isolation of Naruto isn't too bad right now, but Kouji knows it will get much worse and he can't do anything to stop it as just a kid.

Hugs for his friend and more emotion on his face than he's ever shown him before.

Hugs!

"It's 'kay. You're the bestest friend!"

Kouji smiles at his friend.

After that conversation and the realisation of who his friend really is, Kouji starts trying to get Naruto interested in new games, mostly playing ninja and samurai. Practising punching and kicking outside and asking Naruto to talk older kids into taking them down to the training fields to watch the Academy kids practice, trying to copy their movements as they watch.

Kouji knows what is in store for his best friend in the future, and he is going to make sure they are prepared. There is no such thing as over-preparing.

Playing ninja is fun! He wants to be a ninja when he gets older, he thinks, it looks really cool! And ninja get to leave the village and Naruto wants to go everywhere!

After coming home tired and dirty from playing ninja one day(Naruto is so much better at it! Kouji feels so clumsy trying to play fight when comparing himself to Naruto), Kouji remembers reading about famous ninja doing ninja arts as young as 4, well he is almost 5 now physically and he is sort of an adult mentally. He uses the mandated naptime to meditate and try and feel out his chakra.

What is Chakra even supposed to feel like? and then he remembers the night his mother died and realized that must have been the night the ninetails fox was released, maybe if he looks for that same feeling that night imposed on him?. He searches for that Fire and Ice that seared his soul that night.

It's findable - there's a warmth of sorts in his belly, that spreads in tendrils and waves out into the rest of his body. An almost liquid feeling, that he can poke and move around, that energizes when he moves and curls when he focuses on a hard problem.

Well, Kouji knows what he will be doing during naptime and before bed from now on, He is going to try moving his chakra around or using it up somehow, just pushing it to extremities or curl and swirl inside him faster.

He really has no idea if this is actually training anything but it can't hurt to have some practice right?.

Kouji also starts practising his drawing skills when he's not training, drawing Uzumaki swirls and the manga representations of the people he knows to see how well they match.

Depending on how well he remembers the manga, Kabuto is probably baby Yakushi Kabuto, and Nono is probably the orphanage lady who was noted as raising Kabuto.

He doesn't know many other people yet, but there's pictures of the past Hokage in one of the rooms that look very familiar - Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, Minato...

Kabuto ends up one of the biggest instigators in the apocalypse...but he's a nice kid right now, how can Kouji save him? he probably won't listen if he is just told not to be a ninja.

Kouji walks up to Kabuto to try anyway. "Kabuto-kun...you can keep secret?".

"Yeah, of course. What's up?"

A very serious expression on Kouji's face, grabbing the hem of Kabuto's shirt. "Very serious secret, life risk type secret, Is place to talk where no-one hear?".

"Uh. Yeah. Come on, I know a place."

He'll lead the way to a very-out-of-the-way spot in the attic, sort of wedged into the rafters, where he's clearly started his own little nest.

"I....Know secret things...future things..., you train in shinobi school but you live bad life as shinobi, very sad life, many people hurt" wringing his hands, its a lot to trust this with someone even if it is relatively low risk.

"You probably not listen and train as shinobi anyway, so at least listen to this" Begging with eyes at Kabuto to listen. "Sannin Orochimaru evil man, stay away from Orochimaru, Or elder Danzo, find other shinobi to work for, is safer and you happier".

"How do you know those names? Why are they - bad?"

"Future knowledge, you probably not believe me for everything but maybe you be careful?" The little five-year-old looking much too serious for his age. "Sannin Orochimaru hurt you and twist you into bad person in future, and also hurt physically, he make bad Kinjutsu" Kouji looks resigned to not being believed because it is pretty crazy what he is saying, but if Kabuto is just that little bit more wary...it could help.

"Danzo just treat servants bad, get them killed, more than regular shinobi, orders bad orders, safer joining other factions if still be shinobi" Kouji hugs Kabuto around the waist. "You probably leave soon, not get hurt please, be careful".

He'll hug back.

"That's - very dangerous stuff to know. Like fire. Knowing it is like fire. You - be careful who you talk to, okay?"

"Thank you for believing, right now I only tell you because you in danger soon sorta, maybe next 2 year, you important person to me, is nakama right word? you teach me words, is a very big deal to me".

"I will be very careful, already worried secret anbu maybe hear me and take for interrogation". Kouji thought the risk was worth it, if he dies it'll probably just be another reincarnation like this one right? he got a few extra years anyway and maybe this will save a lot of lives later on. "We should go back downstairs now".

Kabuto ruffles his hair. "Yeah. Thanks for the warning."

Kouji spends the next six months making plans and preparing, he needs to be READY.


So he drags Naruto off to watch the practising Genin at the training field as often as he can, trying to copy their moves and sparring with Naruto. He spends an hour every single day moving and sensing his Chakra. He eats all his food and asks for seconds to fuel his growing body.
During one of his visits to the training fields he begs every genin he meets if he can hold their kunai or shuriken until one of them says yes, to feel out the weight and balance of them. He uses his perfect memory to make wooden replicas to practice with that have a similar balance and weight.
Kouji has much more trouble with moving his body in the right ways to do fighting moves than Naruto does, but he practices hard and Naruto doesn't seem to mind the difference in skill between them.

By the time Kouji is almost 6 years old the staff at the orphanage start being a little less understanding of his loud silly friend, a little more ready to punish him for things other children would get away with. Naruto gets sent to bed without dinner sometimes so Kouji very carefully hides part of his dinner at mealtimes to give to Naruto when that happens, because Kouji almost always asks for seconds anyway its a lot easier to get away with getting a full meal in and also something to give to Naruto.

Naruto eats a lot of food when he can and Kouji thinks he knows why, honestly with a demonic god fox inside him fueling all sorts of chakra nonsense Naruto should be getting as much food as he wants, the excuse of eating a lot being a shonen trope doesn't hold water in a real-life world like this one.

So Kouji gives naruto food when he is punished to be without dinner, tries to keep Naruto occupied so his mind is not on the growing isolation that is happening to him, and plans for future events.

Academy recruiters eventually start talking to their age group directly, too - they can take the entrance exams as young as five, though they're told most people wait until they're six or seven. The other five year olds talk a lot about being shinobi someday - it's seen as the only way out, with apprenticeships in other trades hard to come by for orphans.

Kouji puts off joining the academy this year, he wants to be in the same grades as the rookie 9 since that is where his information will give him the most advantages.

Now he is 6 years old he gets a little more freedom to wander the village unsupervised, so he heads off to the library. He has long since finished all the picture books at the orphanage.

Naruto gets bored and goes off to do his own thing while Kouji trawls the stacks for books in hiragana (kanji are still too difficult to learn). While looking for books with new words in the fiction section Kouji finds a certain title he recognizes: "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" by Jiraiya. This is the book Naruto is named after!.

Kouji checks out the book and a few others and runs outside to show Naruto. when he finds Naruto he will show off the book the way kids show things off presenting it proudly in front of him. "Look Naruto, its a book about a Naruto being a gutsy ninja who never gives up, just like you" Smiling a rare smile at Naruto "should get Kabuto or another older kid to read it to us".

"Cool! Books are kinda boring but that sounds neat."