Coping Mechanisms
(disclaimer: not mine.)
He could deal with this. He really could.
He'd dealt with failure before (but none so severe). He'd dealt with humiliation before (but none so complete). He'd dealt with hatred before (but not from those he called friends).
He could deal with this. And because he was Naruto, he would do it with a smile on his face.
But it was at times like these, he thought, staring at the ceiling from his hospital bed, that he wished he could still cry.