They were able to reach town Sazori, a village in the fire countryside. It took at least five hours to get there. Taking a break twice, one for lunch and one for resting up a bit to regain their strength as Kakashi was watched for any signs of movements.
They reached Sazori in time for dinner. Eri suggested they look for a restaurant and he will be treating them since they brought him here safe and sound. They were grateful for that since they all were hungry. While Eri walked away to look where they can eat Naruto looked over at Kakashi.
"Hey Kakashi Sensei?" he said, Kakashi over at him, "can I talk to you for a second?" Kakashi nodded knowing what he probably wanted to talk about, telling Sasuke and Sakura that they can wait with Eri as he led Naruto to where they can talk alone.
Sasuke looked over at them, wondering what he wanted to talk to the Sensei about.
"Hey, Sasuke-Kun?" Sakura said, putting her arms around him, this annoyed him, since he had no interests in her but kept his cool, "are you hungry too?" Sasuke ignored her, not caring, he disappeared from her sight, "huh Sasuke? Where did you go!" she shouts.
"What do you want to talk about?" Kakashi asked, already knowing what but decided to wait till he was correct.
Naruto gripped his hands tight, "I am sorry for earlier with the robber," he looked down at the ground, "it just his stare, the stare of somebody who thinks of me as a freak, a monster, and well I lost it with him because it reminded me of my childhood. I hated those stares and when I see them now...I..." Naruto gritted his teeth, Kakashi walked over to him, giving him a pat, "am I a good person Kakashi?" he wondered. His teacher was stunted by this question, "the truth is back there I wanted to kill that man," he admitted, "I wanted to rip those eyes out of his skull beforehand too," Naruto looks over at Kakashi, "what is going on with me Kakashi?"
"What do you want to talk about?" Kakashi asked, already knowing what but decided to wait till he was correct.
Naruto gripped his hands tight, "I am sorry for earlier with the robber," he looked down at the ground, "it just his stare, the stare of somebody who thinks of me as a freak, a monster, and well I lost it with him because it reminded me of my childhood. I hated those stares and when I see them now...I..." Naruto gritted his teeth, Kakashi walked over to him, giving him a pat, "am I a good person Kakashi?" he wondered. His teacher was stunted by this question, "the truth is back there I wanted to kill that man," he admitted, "I wanted to rip those eyes out of his skull beforehand too," Naruto looks over at Kakashi, "what is going on with me Kakashi?"
"Well to answer the first question," Kakashi Sensei said, patting his student on the head, "you are a good person Naruto you just had a childhood that even myself could not understand. And it seems that you lost it with that guy because you were thinking about how they used to stare at you in Konoha that was all, and I stopped you before you could do any real damage," he smiled sadly over at him, "I know about your suffering. I know everything about my students because I am your teacher," he said, "therefore it is my duty to know about your situation and what you are dealing with." Naruto nodded looking at the ground, "by the way that was a nice thing you did back there," Kakashi said, deciding it is best to change the topic. Naruto who was confused looked up at his Sensei, "giving Sasuke credit for helping out. What made you decide to say those things to him?" he wondered, letting go of his student.
Naruto looks up at the sky, "Because we are the same that is why," he decided to admit, "he has lost so much more than me though," Kakashi gapped at this, 'How does he know that?' "I know Kakashi," he looks up at his Sensei, "I know that he is alone too and that his clan was wiped out," Naruto gripped his fists, "and all I have been doing is being selfish and wanting to pick fights with him, "it was mostly because I was jealous of him," Kakashi nodded, figuring it was like that, "he was the popular one at school and I was the outcast but then I realized he never asked to be popular," Naruto figured this out for a while now, "it is because of his looks and attitude but they do not know anything about him. Even Sakura," Naruto looks over at his Sensei, that is when he noticed a figured hiding in the shadows behind the tree they were standing by. Naruto had a feeling on who it was since he could make out part of the spiked hair, "listen Kakashi, do you mind if I have some time to collect myself, Eri and the others are probably looking for us anyway."
Kakashi nodded, leaving him be. "I know it is you hiding over there Sasuke," Naruto turned his head to the tree. The shadow moved to the clearing. Sasuke was standing in front of him, "Since when are you an eavesdropper?"
Sasuke shrugged, "You were just admitting the obvious for me, that I never wanted to be popular, not needing you as my rival," Naruto gapped at this, "all I wanted from someone to see for who I am, but no one cared for me in that way. It is different for you, you have friends now."
Naruto walks closer, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You have of us three too Sasuke, and I always and have always been your friend," Sasuke gasped at that, "I was just jealous of you that is all, even if we fight," Naruto turns away from his comrade, gripping his fists, "I purposely fought with you Sasuke, it was a way for me to help you escape your situation," Sasuke watched his teammate's fists clenching tightly, "you are an important person to me, and having to watch one someone that I care about the most suffer and I cannot do anything because I never had those ties," he felt a hand on his shoulder, Naruto turned away from Sasuke's eyes, "you are suffering so much and I cannot do anything but give you some good fights with me," Naruto was trying to hold himself together. Sasuke moves, to be face to face with his blonde comrade, "but you know Sasuke you do not have to fight this alone. You have us," he puts a hand on him, "come on everyone is waiting for us by now."
"Hey Sasuke, where have you been?" Sakura wondered as he and Naruto met up with the others, sitting beside one another. She can care less her blonde teammate at the moment.
Naruto looked over at his female teammate, "He had to find a bathroom Sakura, it was a long trip here after all," Naruto looked down at the bowl in front of him, "yay this is my favorite!" he shouts, "thank you for ordering me a bowl of ramen," Naruto grins at Kakashi, knowing it was him.
"Actually, it was Sakura who ordered it for you," Kakashi grins over at her and back at his blonde student.
Naruto looks over at her with a surprised expression, "Thank you Sakura," she smiled back at him.
He started digging in, Sakura ordered Sasuke something too, "I know you eat these at school," they were Onigirazu. Sasuke nodded, giving a taste, feeling grateful but did not show it.
Naruto heard something from the next table, "Hey you, what are you doing in here?" the owner of the restaurant wondered to someone who appeared to be a customer, a girl around 10 years old she had a white patch around her right eye, "freaks like you should not be here," A couple of customers started laughing. The girl ignored them as she was finishing her meal. The guy grabbed her shirt making her look up at him, "did you hear me?"
Punch! Thud! Everyone turned his or her attention to the owner laying on the ground and a blonde-haired boy with the hidden leaf headband standing in-front of him. The girl looked at the person who came to her defense. Never once has an anyone stood up for her like that. He turns to her, "What is your name?" he wondered. She looked down on the ground. Naruto understood that she might be scared. He knelt, to her eye level, "you do not have to be afraid ok?" he reassured her. He looked over at her eye patch, "who did that to you?"
"You little brat!" the owner walked over and was about to grab him till a black-haired boy with the same headband stopped him by gripping his wrist.
Naruto did not pay attention, right now he was wondering why this girl is treated so poorly, "Are you ok?" he wondered, "it is ok, I am not here to harm you."
"That brat never talks," he said, "she never learned how after all, that is what you get for having someone like her living in this town. She is a freak who does not know her place," Naruto gritted his teeth, but he did not want to hit the man, he did not want to frighten the girl any further then she is, "she has never attended the school and she never had any parents to teach her. She is as dumb as she looks," this made the girl look sad.
"Hey," Naruto said, "do not let that man's words bother you," she looks over at him, "would you like to sit at our table?" he offered. She was surprised at this. Giving a small nod.
The little girl sat between Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi was reassuring her that they were the good guys. She nodded looking up at Naruto.
"Can you really not speak?" Sakura wondered the little girl looked down at the table. She told them without speaking that she can speak just she never had anyone to talk too.
Naruto looks over at Eri, who sadly looked at her, "Do you know something about this?" he wondered.
Eri nodded, "She never knew her parents. They died a long time ago by a fire."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were both shocked, even Kakashi. Naruto looked down at her, directing his attention at her patch, "Since our mission is over can I stay here with her?" Naruto asked Kakashi Sensei. She looked shocked at this. Naruto looked over at her knowing what she is thinking, "never mind why I want to help you just let me ok?" she looked down at the table nodding. He noticed her shivering beneath her thin shirt, trying to hide it.
"Well we can rest up here for a couple of days," Kakashi said, "we do not have our next mission till next week anyway."
Naruto looked over at Eri, "She can stay at my place too," he offered. She looked over at the old man, shocked at this, "it is not really my interest in helping her, but I will be ok with her staying there while you're here." Naruto smiled at the Eri and nodding as thanks. He looked back over at the girl.
She suddenly felt warm, she looked over at the orange jacket placed around her, she looked up at the one who saved her. "As long as I am here you can wear my lucky jacket," she was not shivering anymore, she felt warm. She let out a small smile. This shocked Eri, he never saw this child smile before. This made him melt a little.
They entered Eri's house. Naruto and Sasuke were sharing a room together and Sakura offered the little girl to sleep in her room. Sasuke and Naruto were in the room they were sharing while they were putting their things down. Sasuke looked over at his teammate, "Why do you want to help this child?" he wondered, "It is such a waste of time you know."
"Because I know how she is feeling. I was like that as a child too. People would do those exact same things," Naruto looked out the window, "that is why I want to help her." Sasuke pouts at this, Naruto looked over at his teammate's reflection, "will you stop pouting? This only for a couple of days."
"You can still do that here," Naruto looked over at him, "I really want to help this girl Sasuke. I want to teach her that it is ok to be herself and not let anyone stand in the way of that. Just like what I had to deal with most of my childhood. He heard a knock at the door.
Sakura opened their door, the girl standing next to her. Having his jacket around her shoulder. He noticed she was cleaned up a bit, knowing that Sakura did that for her. The girl looked over at Naruto, with her right eye patch still firmly in place, "I tried to take it off of her, but she didn't want me to," Sakura said going over to Sasuke, kneeling beside him.
Naruto nodded, "Thank you for helping her Sakura," he smiled at his teammate.
"It is the least I can do," she said, "to make her look more like a lady."
Naruto nodded, agreeing, he sat on his own mattress, telling the girl to come over here, "Can I move the patch of yours?" she was frightened by that, "it is ok? Listen to me when I say that it will be ok as long as you are with me and Sakura," he smiled over at her, she went over to him, he looked over at his jacket around her thin body. He took it off her. She was disappointed at the sudden chill, but Naruto quickly covered her again. This time zipping his jacket up, "this is so you do not catch a cold," she smiled over at her warmly, "please understand we are here to help you," he gave her a pat on the head, "I see Sakura helped you wash your hair." She nodded. He went over to her right eye, placing his hand on her face, "will it be ok to move your patch?" she looked at the ground, deciding to put her trust in this blonde, nodding. He moved her patch. They all were surprised to see a black eye staring back at them, "who did this to you?" Naruto wondered, she looked down at the ground, "was it someone in this village?" she nodded, tears starting to cloud her eyes. Sakura went over to her, putting her arms around her.
"Can you least try to speak to us?" he wondered, "we want to hear what you have to say?" she wipes her eyes while Sakura held her on her lap.
"They hate me, everyone in this village hates me...I do not know why though?" she started crying, "I just want to be loved," she said heartbroken, "no one here wants to know who I am, I was allowed to attend school but even there the other classmates would make fun of me..."
she could not keep from crying as she broke down completely in Sakura's arms. Naruto looked at her, knowing the pain, "why do you want to help me?" she wondered, "I am nothing special."
"Do not say that about yourself," Naruto grits his teeth, "I am wanting to help you because I know what it feels like." She was shocked at this, as she kept her face hidden in Sakura's chest. Sasuke was surprised to see his comrade admitting his past, "I was the same you know. I had nobody to care for me and nobody cared that I existed some even said they wished I would disappear," he looked over at her, "I know the pain and suffering more than anyone in this room," the girl looked over at him, "I too had no parents, no family," Naruto went over to them, kneeling beside the girl, "but I chose to not let them get to me and I did crazy things to get people's attention. To have someone at least look at me. The first person who took the time to know who I am was my teacher. The one person that had hated me the most. And yet he saved me that night," Naruto recalled that day, "the truth is if he did not stop me and told the person who was hunting me," he clenched his fists, "I would have done even worst things," the girl looked over at him, wiping her eyes, "do not let them get to you. You must be strong and fight back."
"How? They will just hurt me in the end when I do."
Naruto nodded, understanding that, reaching a hand out to her, she took it, standing up, he put her hand on her face, she flinched but realized as he was touching her eyes, he was wiping her tears, "Do you not show them your tears. If they hit you or even beat you to not give in," he went over to his backpack, taking out something. She walked to his side, "here," she looked over at a pair of green goggles handed to her, "this is what I wore most of my childhood life," she looked stunt at what he is giving her, "why don't you hold on it for me for a while," she smiled at him as she tied it around her head, "now let's show those clowns of this town how special you are. I will teach you how," he grins at her, "just leave it to me. Naruto...oh that is right what do we call you?" She shrugs, "what did your parents' call you?"
"I was only a baby so I do not remember, and no one will tell me," she got something out of her pocket, it was a photograph, "this is all I have left of them." Sasuke sat next to Naruto, looking at the photo. Naruto and Sakura look at it too.
"Well then, what would you like to be named?" Naruto asked, "you can be whatever you want it to be?" she thought about it, "you know, you remind me a bit of a girl in my village named Hinata," she looks over at him, he smiled, "I used to protect her a lot and I was the one who helped her overcome her difficulties. She saw me in my dark times and watched me from afar," he looked over at her, putting his hands on her face, "you remind me of her you know," he smiled, the girl gave him a shy expression, giving out a blush. He realized what he was doing and let's go, "so what would you like to be called?" he wondered, "it can be anything?"
She thought about it, finding the perfect name for her, "I like the name Hinata," she said giving out a small smile, showing her teeth for the first time, "I will go with that name."
Naruto looked down at the ground, "Hinata huh?" he put his hands behind his head, "well then Hinata it is," he grinned at her with smiling eyes, "your name from now on will be Hinata!" he said, she laughed at this, glad that he cared so much for her. He looked over at her. She yawned, "Getting sleepy huh?" she nodded, rubbing eyes. Naruto took her right hand, this stunt her, "do not rub the right one," he said, he let's go, "now off to bed. You and I have a long day tomorrow," she looked over at him, wondering what he had in store for her, "instead of me training while being here, I will take you under my wing. You do not need the restaurants to eat after I am done with you. First, of I will teach how to catch your own meals," he grins at her, "now off to bed."
She nodded with a smile, running out of the room and closing the door behind her. Sakura went over to Naruto, and gave him a pat on the shoulder, "That was nice of you for giving her your green goggles." Naruto nodded at her with a smile, "I want to help you," she said. Naruto looked at her with a shock, she smiled, "do not give me that we are teammates after all. We should do this together," she looked over at Sasuke, "what about you Sasuke-kun?"
He sighs, "I will be nearby while I do my training. Also," he looked over at Naruto, "it will be amusing to see this thunderhead being a teacher."
Naruto snapped, grabbing his teammate's shirt, "Who are you calling thunderhead you jerk?"
Sakura sighs 'Here they go again.' She decided to bid them goodnight and leave the room.
In the dark, both thinking their own thoughts. Both in their own beds. The clock ticking in the room. Naruto was staring at the ceiling in the dark. Thinking about his past and how far he has come. Wondering what his life would be like if things stayed the way it was in his childhood.
"Hey?" Naruto heard in the dark.
"What is it Sasuke?" The startled blonde wondered, not expecting his comrade to talk to him out of the blue.
"Just having you on team seven eases the burden," Sasuke admitted, facing the wall, "night."
Naruto was shocked at this, feeling touched, and happy to be of some use to his comrade somehow, "Goodnight."
