Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Scars.
Shinobi always acquired scars. Scars that show great wounds they have received and overcome. Some scars are physical, some are emotional.
Naruto never got scars, not physical ones. The only thing that could count as scars would be the whisker marks on his skin. He didn't seem to look like a shinobi. His smile was too big, his eyes to wide to be an assassin, a killer. He wore bright orange as if to say look at me.
Some would say Naruto let Sasuke do everything. That Sasuke was the one saving people and Naruto just basked in his glory.
Sasuke got scars. Sasuke got marks in his skin, small pinpricks and tiny lines on his pale skin.
Even Sakura got scars.
But Naruto…Naruto never got scars.
Naruto healed. Naruto just needed to sleep and his bones would heal. Naruto had a furry tenant who healed him. How else did Naruto survive childhood? How else did he survive the cuts and broken bones?
It wasn't until he learned how to run faster than the mob did he not get that many cuts and breaks.
Sometimes Naruto didn't want to heal. He wanted to have scars, to have marks on his skin showing that he grappled with death and survived. He wanted to show that he worked just as hard as everyone else if not harder.
He wanted his arms roped with thick scars. His fingers crooked to show how hard he worked. He wanted something to show that he did something worthwhile.
He wanted to show that he lived, not just existed.
To Naruto, existing wasn't enough.