Title: Believe
Pairing: None
Summary: Because it only takes a few people to make him believe.
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Naruto had not met very many people who did not laugh at his foolish, beloved, most cherished dream. Only three, in fact, but that was alright.
The first had been Haku, the only person Naruto had ever met that had been prettier than Sakura-chan. Haku, who gave up his life willingly, happily, for a man - a demon - who realized everything too late.
Then there was Hinata, the shy Hyuuga heir who stuttered when she spoke, and blushed until Naruto was sure her cheeks would catch flame. She was a tiny thing, one of the only shinobi his age who was shorter than him, and she always looked too delicate to be the warrior that she was. She always told him that he'd make it, that he was worth it, even when no one else did. She would smile at him, and cheer in her silent way, and make him feel more important than anyone else. She told him that he had inspired her to become stronger, and that was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him.
Finally, there was Rock Lee, the Thick Browed, eccentric, 'Beautiful Green Beast' of Konoha, who always cared, and never ever made promises that he didn't fully intend to keep. He never laughed at Naruto, because his dreams were just as foolish and impossible, and he knew what it was like to always be the loser.
Naruto had only fought him once - the 'hard work genius' who made up for his lack of ability to use chakra with sheer determination and willpower - in his second Chuunin exam. It had been a long, long fight, because both were too stubborn, too stupid, too unwilling to let go of their dreams, because those dreams were the only things that they had left.
And it wasn't important whom had won, or whom had lost, because at the end of the battle when Naruto had proclaimed that he would become Hokage, Lee grinned his crazy, sparkly, 'good-guy' grin and said "I know.", and nothing else mattered.
And so when Naruto put on the Hokage headpiece for the very first time, his heart bursting with happiness and pride, he didn't do it in front of the hundreds of villagers that he had sworn to prove wrong. He did it in front of the graves of the only three that he had to prove right.
.
.
.
Fin.
.
.
.
Naruto had not met very many people who did not laugh at his foolish, beloved, most cherished dream. Only three, in fact, but that was alright.
The first had been Haku, the only person Naruto had ever met that had been prettier than Sakura-chan. Haku, who gave up his life willingly, happily, for a man - a demon - who realized everything too late.
Then there was Hinata, the shy Hyuuga heir who stuttered when she spoke, and blushed until Naruto was sure her cheeks would catch flame. She was a tiny thing, one of the only shinobi his age who was shorter than him, and she always looked too delicate to be the warrior that she was. She always told him that he'd make it, that he was worth it, even when no one else did. She would smile at him, and cheer in her silent way, and make him feel more important than anyone else. She told him that he had inspired her to become stronger, and that was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him.
Finally, there was Rock Lee, the Thick Browed, eccentric, 'Beautiful Green Beast' of Konoha, who always cared, and never ever made promises that he didn't fully intend to keep. He never laughed at Naruto, because his dreams were just as foolish and impossible, and he knew what it was like to always be the loser.
Naruto had only fought him once - the 'hard work genius' who made up for his lack of ability to use chakra with sheer determination and willpower - in his second Chuunin exam. It had been a long, long fight, because both were too stubborn, too stupid, too unwilling to let go of their dreams, because those dreams were the only things that they had left.
And it wasn't important whom had won, or whom had lost, because at the end of the battle when Naruto had proclaimed that he would become Hokage, Lee grinned his crazy, sparkly, 'good-guy' grin and said "I know.", and nothing else mattered.
And so when Naruto put on the Hokage headpiece for the very first time, his heart bursting with happiness and pride, he didn't do it in front of the hundreds of villagers that he had sworn to prove wrong. He did it in front of the graves of the only three that he had to prove right.
.
.
.
Fin.