Spoilers (kind of) for the chapter 383. A short story written for my friend in order to cheer up. Unintentionally, I also made her cry. D: Enjoy. Oneshot.
I do not own Naruto.
Be proud of me
There were many ways in which some admiration or recognition for someone's achievements could be expressed.
You could, for example, be told "Good job", however, in Naruto's opinion there was nothing special about these words. They could be said by a stranger, someone you had never met before and you never would again. They also could be a random phrase, mentioned or said because that was what should be done and what was required in the name of so called "good manners". That was why, although still welcomed, the words were not something that Naruto would really yearn for.
You also could be told that what you had done or achieved was great, but... who really realized how tricky these words might be? They could be said by someone who had always hated you, because even an enemy might appreciate your skills or strength. Words would be said and quickly forgotten and there was no deeper meaning behind them. Naruto didn't really mind hearing them, obviously, but not necessarily he had to value them a lot as well.
What Naruto really wanted to hear was one simple phrase "I'm proud of you." No matter by whom and in what way it was said, it always indicated one thing – the one who said the words really thought that what you had done was in some way special, and, what was even more important, there was something special about the fact that it was you and no one else. The words were equal to some strong feelings expressed toward the person and that was why Naruto was ready to sacrifice a lot in order to hear them from people who were important to him.
His lists started from something that he called "the impossible wishes" – the first on this list was his mother. Obviously, Naruto had never met her. He didn't even know her name, but there were days when he thought about her for long hours, wondering what kind of a woman she had been. "Had been", because Naruto had no doubts that the woman was dead – he knew that his mother would have never left him and let him live in the way he did – alone.
In his dreams his mother was a strong and brave kunoichi, one of these women that feared nothing and no one, but were feared instead. She would teach him how to throw shurikens and watch him during his training, making sure he wouldn't overdo himself. She would be a woman of a great sense of humour and would appreciate his jokes and pranks he played. She would share his love to ramen, and obviously, his mother would be the most beautiful woman he had ever met; there was no doubt about it. She would be the best mother one could ever have.
And... every time something important happened, she would ruffle his hair and kiss his forehead and look at him with her eyes full of love and say the words, "I'm so proud of you. You did well." And then she would smile at him with one of these smiles that made the whole world brighter.
"That's how it would be," Naruto nodded to himself imagining the scene.
The second on his list was his father. Obviously, Naruto had never met him. He didn't know his name and he didn't even know what the man had looked like. "Had looked like", because Naruto was sure that the man was dead – after all what father would abandon his own child, right?
Not knowing anything about his father, Naruto liked to imagine that he was like the Forth Hokage – in his dreams his father had the Hokage's face. Obviously, one could wonder why of all people Naruto had chosen the man that involuntarily had become a cause of Naruto's unhappy past, but Naruto could easily explain. It was because of the photo he had seen in Kakashi's place. The man on the photo looked different from the man he could see in the Hokage's office and Naruto liked that man's smiling face, which reminded him of his own, and these unruly, blond hair. Besides, wouldn't it be great to have a father who had become a Hokage in the past?
Naruto could easily imagined him coming home after a long day spent at work, looking at Naruto with a serious expression on his face and asking how his day had been. And Naruto would tell him about the mission he had been on or about his training or the progress he had made. Then the man would smile at him, just like in that photo, and said, "Good job, my son. Be proud of yourself as much as I am proud you."
"That's right," Naruto grinned, "and then he would ruffle my hair."
Only recently one more name had been added to "the impossible wishes". At first Naruto saddened at the thought, but quickly a smile was brought back to his face. There was no day he would not miss the old, perverted man who had been his teacher, but... in some way the man was still here with him, still alive in Naruto's heart.
Naruto smiled thinking about the trip and the training they had been on as well as all these Jiraiya's "researches". He chuckled remembering how one day they had had to escape from some onsen after Jiraiya had been discovered while "observing" the female part of the onsen (by accident obviously, as he had claimed). Then he almost wanted to roll his eyes when the memories of Jiraiya talking about his greatest student were brought back – too often he had heard about it.
Then he imagined himself on his greatest day – the day on which he would become a Hokage. They would have been standing on the top of the Hokage Tower, gazing at the stone faces of the previous Hokages. Jiraiya would have glanced at the Forth's face, then his eyes would have rested on Naruto and the man would have smiled in that special way.
"I'm proud of you, kid," he would have said.
"Yes," Naruto smiled, "and then he would add one more story about his other student to his tales."
Obviously, Naruto wanted his other teachers to be proud of him as well.
He hoped that one day Iruka would bring his class to the Hokage Tower to show them the Hokages' faces. He would point at Naruto's face carved in the stone and say, "And here you can see our current Hokage." Then he would smile and add, "He used to be my student and I'm really proud of him. Train and study hard and maybe one day your faces will be carved on this wall as well."
"That's how it would be," Naruto grins, "and then I will make my appearance, and talk to the children and like Iruka-sensei I'll encourage them to work hard. Then he'll smile at me in the way only Iruka-sensei can."
The same words he would like to hear from Kakashi as well. He had no problem with imagining this silver-haired ninja, eyeing him with one eye only, as the other one would be covered by his headband, and smiling under the mask hiding most of his face. "I'm really proud of you," he would say, "not only you managed to surpass me, but even that man." Having said that, he would move his gaze to the stone face of the Forth Hokage.
"That's right," Naruto giggled, "and then he would take out that perverted book from his bag."
Naruto thought that it would be nice to hear the words from Tsunade, too. Even though he had been mad at her for a short time after Jiraiya's death, once he had calm down, he could see that it hadn't been easy for her as well.
In his dream he could see her smile at him on that important day – the day on which he would finally become a Hokage. She'd glance at him, being deeply moved, and just like on the day they had met for the first time, she'd kiss his forehead and say, "He would be proud of you, just like I am."
"That's right," Naruto said, "and then she would pat me on the arm with the strength that would knock down any other man but me."
Obviously, Sakura would also say the words. Naruto could even see her standing with him on the top of the Tower and watching the village. The wind would play with her hair, longer than it was now, and she would brush it away from her face with one impatient gesture. Then her emerald eyes would turn in his side and she would smile at him. "Congratulations, Naruto," she would say. "You've become much stronger than the boy I remember. I'm really proud of you, you know." Then she would turn to Sai standing by her side, suggesting that he also should say something.
"Oh yeah," Naruto laughed at the thought, "and a while later she would punch him because once again he would say something that should not be said."
There was one more man that Naruto would like to hear the words from, especially on that day. The thought made him frown at first, but a few seconds later he was smiling again. This man would never say the words; at least not in a direct way. He would be standing by his side, with the arms crossed on his chest and a smirk on his face. First he would hn-ed him and then he would say, "Who would have thought that the dead-last would become a Hokage one day."
"That's right... That's what he'd say," Naruto smiled gently, "because that's his way of saying that he cares."
He looked at the sky above him and clouds moving through it. Then he smiled.
"That's right... I'll make all my dreams come true one day."
THE END
At least once I have nothing to add here :P