Disclaimer: Naruto is copyrighted by their respective owners, of which I am not one.
Warnings: Language, mention of Icha Icha Paradise. Alternate Reality, Slight Character OOC
Summary: The villagers were lucky to have such a dedicated shinobi like Naruto. Too bad they would never realize that truth. But at least I did. And I guess, in the end, that was enough.
From the very beginning, I knew something was different about Uzumaki Naruto.
No, it wasn't the faint whiskers on his cheeks or that he happened to have atrocious taste in clothing and color (though it was bad). It wasn't because he could go from cheerfully loud to sulky mad within a bat of an eyelash.
It was how the villagers reacted to him. And how he reacted to them in turn.
It became rather obvious to anyone who hung out with Naruto that he was treated differently. Not differently with respect because he was a shinobi protecting the village and their lives. No, they treated him coldly. Ignored him. Gave to him grudgingly what they freely gave to the rest of us.
After intensely watching the villagers interact with him for a week, I concluded that they hated Naruto. Probably because he carried Kyubi within him.
(Someone should have told Sandaime his edict about never discussing the fox demon was rarely observed when people were drunk or talking in the privacy of their homes. Sure, the new generation of shinobi didn't know that the Nine-tails was still alive, but if you were intrepid enough, you could get a lot of information just by listening to the adults. Especially after eight cups of sake.)
Yet Naruto didn't hate them back. In fact, he endured the veiled insults and sneers with surprising patience. He didn't cuss back at them (except for one time when a man had the audacity to come between him and his ramen – but that's another story), didn't wave around his kunai in a threatening manner (except, again, to that ignorant ramen-blocker), and didn't demand equal treatment.
He merely smiled his neutral smile, accepted what he received, and said nothing.
I wondered why. I pondered it for a long time, wrestling with ideas and discarding them as either too ridiculous or too un-Naruto like. It puzzled me as to why Naruto-the-prankster and Naruto-the-number-one-shinobi-at-surprising-people would put up with the indignant treatment of the villagers with such patience (I'm sure Tsunade-sama would have killed for even a tenth of that virtue directed towards her).
Were I him, I would have Rasengan-ed them all the way to the abyss and back by now. Maybe even twice.
Luckily for said villagers, Naruto bore with all the ill-treatment like a saint. Oh sure, he'd holler and fuss at his fellow teammates and even to the other rookies (and no doubt to Iruka-sensei), but with the villagers, he became an altogether new Naruto. (The pranks he pulled while at the Academy hadn't diminished in the slightest; rather, the target of these tricks changed from the poor, unsuspecting townsfolk to his fellow shinobi. I swear, sometimes he has a deathwish. Why else would he attempt to rig up a bucket of glue and feathers on Morino Ibiki?).
But after a while, the hatred would get to him. I could see it in the strained smile and quietness. Naruto would remain silent, shrug off any questions. And once in a while, he would sigh, his guard would slip, and I could see the aching loneliness and despair passing through his eyes.
Which made me wonder all the more: why did he put up with it?
And more importantly, did the villagers know how lucky they were to be still alive?
One only had to go on a mission with Naruto to know just how strong hewas, and the amount of damage he could do if he so wished. Even when faced with overwhelming odds, the blond's determination not to fail, to not give up on his dreams of becoming Hokage made him a formidable opponent. It was his greatest strength and time and time again, enemies and people alike underestimated him.
Yes, I would be the first to admit I was like that once. But at least I can now claim to see the truth.
Case in point of the villagers. Team 7 along with our sensei were heading to what I'm sure Naruto considered heaven on earth. Namly, the Ichiraku ramen stand for dinner. There was an unusual amount of people out today, perhaps to enjoy the balmy weather that was characteristic of the autumn in Konoha. As it was, we had to practically push our way through just so we wouldn't be swept away by the crowd. Why is it that whenever there was a large mass of people and you had to go in one direction, everyone else seemed to be heading the opposite way?
Anyway, we were all still more or less together when there was a loud crash to my right and a loud voice erupted over the drowning sound of the crowd.
"Look what you did, you flea-infested rat face! You'd better pay for all that!"
I turned around and saw a small pocket of space had opened up. Right away, I noticed a large, angry man who was splattered in some sort of red glop and Naruto, who had managed to go unscathed (the perks of being shinobi - fast reflexes). Between them was a large, upturned metal pot that had carried said glop (some sort of sauce, maybe?).
He was glaring and pointing at Naruto, who had slipped on his neutral My-middle-name-is-Patience expression. "Well? Hand over some money, you little brat, or I'll make you regret it!"
Naruto said nothing, which made the man angrier. He clenched his fists together and stepped over the mess. My teammate didn't move, not even when it was apparent he was going to be attacked.
I snorted and crossed my arms across my chest. What kind of idiot attacked a shinobi? We were accorded respect as we were trained to protect the village. Did that moron villager think he could hit a ninja and get away with it? Not only could Naruto retaliate, he could do it without moving a strand of hair out of place.
The crowd had been silent thus far but an ugly jeer now rose up from the ranks. Shouts of encouragement for the man erupted from the mob. "Show him who's boss, Goro!" "Don't let that fox wimp beat you!" "Beat him down! Beat him!"
I ignored the shouts. Naruto could take care of himself. As Goro swung his fist around, I waited for Naruto to block or dodge the blow.
But he still didn't move.
My stance faltered as I realized he was going to take it. Naruto was going to take the punch without complaint. For a moment, I wondered what alien had taken over his body. This was not the Naruto I knew. Or had come to grudgingly respect.
From the corner of my eye, our third teammate had wrestled to the edge of the crowd. Seeing what was happening and realizing the truth about the same time I did, we prepared to defend Naruto. But even then, I knew we would be too late.
Goro's fist sailed towards Naruto's face and I couldn't look away even as I leapt forward to protect my idiot friend. But as the large man's hand smashed into flesh, I skidded to a halt.
Kakashi-sensei was there, standing between attacker and would-be victim, his right eye showing lazy boredom. "Maa, maa, what's all the fuss here? It's just a little spilled soup, after all." His voice reflected the same disinterest his eye did even as his hand stopped the fist that had been aimed for Naruto.
The presence of the infamous Copy-nin shook Goro up for a moment but he finally found his voice. "That little brat ruined my profits! He's gotta pay!"
"You bumped into me."
For the first time, Naruto spoke, his voice flat and emotionless. He didn't look at the man.
Goro gasped with affront. "Why you little … how dare you? You're just a stupid demo— Aaagh!"
I could see Kakashi's eye narrow the slightest bit as he applied pressure to the man's fist in his grasp. Leaning forward slightly, the jounin whispered just loud enough for me to hear. "Don't. Even."
That tone of voice promised pain and retribution so terrible he would lucky to leave with his head attached to his body. Scary. I actually had to repress a shiver.
The threat was apparently clear to Goro as well. He swallowed – hard – and nodded so rapidly his hair flapped around as if trying to take flight.
Suddenly, Kakashi reverted back to his usual happy self. "Well, then," he proclaimed, releasing the man's fist. "It was just a little misunderstanding and we'll just be going our way. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, let's go get our dinner!"
"Hai," we murmured and fell in step behind our sensei, leaving the silent crowd behind. For some inexplicable reason, I felt relieved. Naruto's secret was safe and so was he. At least for now.
As if the evidence that Naruto put up with the villager's taunting and punishment weren't enough, the next day he acted like his normal, boisterous self as we met at the bridge. To say the least, I was confused. How could he be so different with us and with other people?
The pinnacle of my confusion came when we were assigned to a B-class mission that day. Kakashi-sensei poofed in (only three hours late this time) and gave us the details. There had been a string of robberies from the main road leading into Konoha where visitors and residents alike were accosted, relieved of their money purses and the occasional jewelry, and released. The bandits threatened the people with swords and seemed as though they could use the weapon properly. But because no one had gotten seriously hurt from these attacks (minus the one or two incidents in which the victims slipped and fell to the ground in their haste to get away) and because only two people were reported seen in all the robberies, it was merely classified as a B. The Godaime thought it was the perfect mission for Team 7.
Kakashi finished debriefing us and gave us his happy, inverted U-shaped eye. "All right, team, the entire village is counting on us. Tsunade-sama wants you three to handle the details so I'll just be around to check and make sure nothing goes wrong."
I heard a mutter from our third teammate who said something like, "If they're going to give us chuunin-level missions and treat us like one, shouldn't we get the rank, too?"
I agreed with that sentiment; it was a bone of contention between Team 7 and the Hokage. She had refused to let us retake the chuunin test so far and Kakashi (the traitor!) agreed.
Why? I have no idea. They wouldn't tell us, but I had a feeling it had to do with a certain person onthe team (who shall remain nameless) and his actions from three years ago.
"Eh, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, interrupting my thoughts and dragging my attention back to my teammates. "What kind of bandits attack people in broad daylight?"
The jounin shrugged as he whipped out a familiar orange hard-back novel. "What kind of bandits attack Konoha villagers with the same predictable pattern? That'll be for you three to figure out. Be careful now!"
Kakashi-sensei leapt back and watched us (okay, he was reading his horribly immoral book but I'm sure he was watching us from the corner of his eye) as we discussed the best way to lay in wait for the bandits. Because the attacks took place around the same area, it would be a little bit easier to track them down. The main road was, of course, rather busy so we knew we wouldn't have to wait long for them to show up.
After a plan was concocted that would cover most of the area, we separated and took to the trees. Each of us had a sector to scan and would warn the others if there was any sign of the bandit and/or potential targets. We dampened our chakra just in case the bandits could sense it. A wireless transmitter was in our ear so we could communicate with little noise. We positioned ourselves to be hidden from view. There was nothing left to do but wait. So we did.
And waited. And waited.
(At this point, I heard a soft voice muttering through his transmitter mouthpiece, "Bored, soooo bored!" Of course, it was Naruto. To my chagrin, I had to resist the urge to join him in chanting the same mantra.)
Apparently, the news of the robberies around Konoha alarmed people so much they were avoiding the road altogether. Well, crap. How could we apprehend the bandits if there was no one to rob?
Plus, my leg was falling asleep. I hated that feeling.
As if on cue, there was a slight static in my ear and I heard a soft voice murmur, "Blue One in Sector Zero."
Finally! A potential victim. We had designated the code 'blue' to represent a civilian and'yellow' to be the bandits. ('One', of course, meant there was one person.)
Carefully, I lifted my leg without rustling the leaves around me and shook it awake, just in case I would have to move fast. It would be time to take action soon. Where there were victims, there were criminals.
Another soft voice spoke. "Yellow Target One sighted. Entering Sector Two."
My body tensed in excitement. I detected a faint rustle of leaves about a hundred feet away from my position and then a flash of black. "Yellow Target Two sighted in Sector One. Where's Blue One?" I whispered.
"Heading into Sector Two."
"Blue One spotted. Yellow One readying."
"Naruto, head into Sector Two. I'll watch Yellow Two," I said, leaning forward to get a better look at the bandit in the trees below. But there was no one there.
Cursing, I broke free from my position and began leaping to help my teammates. "Yellow Two is gone. Repeat, Yellow Two is gone. Stay on guard!"
"Roger," a staticky voice said.
I arrived in the area designated as Sector Two and saw that the victim was already on his knees, tucked into a small ball. A pathetic whimper escaped him as the fighters leapt and moved around the prone figure. Weapons flashed and glinted in a macabre dance that was deadly yet beautiful at the same time. Near the man was an upturned cart with a pot of red glop. I blinked at the sudden familiar scene and took a closer look. Yep, it was the same man who had tried to hit Naruto the other day.
Imagine the irony.
I supposed I didn't have time to taunt Goro since Naruto was being attacked by two men. I couldn't see the third of our trio. But I did hear a large, rustling sound to my left and spun around to face the noise. Three men crashed through the overgrown shrubbery and I saw a glimpse of another fight beyond them where more kunai and swords were meeting. Our missing teammate was there, fending off another pair of fighters.
Hn. Someone had neglected to inform us the possibility of more than two bandits. From the look of things, there was at least seven total.
Well, I wasn't one to complain. I was itching for a fight. I also wanted to prove to Goro that without us, he would have been dead long ago.
That without Naruto, he would have been dead.
I immediately engaged my set of enemies with a sort of glee that seemed to unnerve them. Slipping out a kunai for each hand, I attacked to gauge their skills. They weren't bad, really, but I was better. As we did our ritual dance, weaving in and out, I scanned the three men for any weaknesses. Seeing an opening, I dodged a sword swing to my side, darted in, and thrust my kunai into the chest of one bandit. He stumbled back, gurgled, and fell over.
Hehe. One down, two left.
But as I turned my attention to my remaining targets, I could hear a yelp followed by a loud moan. Risking a glance to the side, I saw that Goro was clutching his head and emitting pitiful noises even though I couldn't see any injuries on him.Then I realized the cause for his whimper were the two men standing over him, swords drawn.
I cursed, realizing that I had been so intent in battle that I didn't notice more bandits arriving at the scene. But as I tried to move towards Goro, I was cut off.
"Running away?" one of the sneered through a curtain of hair. His greasy locks valiantly tried to cover a large scar that nearly cut his face in half, a diagonal slash that had puckered with age.
A surge of anger rushed through me as much from the challenge of the bandit as the frustration I couldn't help the would-be victim. "I don't run," I said flatly, keeping one eye on Goro. Our mission was to stop the bandits, but not protecting one of the villagers wouldn't look good either. And knowing the man, he would complain to the Hokage (and anyone else who would listen) about our negligence.
When I saw one of the bandits raise his sword to show he was going to attack the hapless idiot – I mean Goro, I started to move towards him again. Unfortunately, Ugly Scar surged forward in an attack, forcing me back. I had no choice but to defend myself. From the corner of my eye I saw the sword descend into the quaking man.
Damn. Whoever said the bandits weren't hurting anyone was obviously as misinformed about the number of them. I made a mental note to tell the Hokage Intelligence needed to work on their information gathering skills.
"Kyaaa!"
Naruto. As I dodged the sword thrust from Ugly Scar and threw my last kunai as a distraction, I caught a glimpse of orange leaping to tackle the swordsman just beforehe made a Goro-kabob.Naruto apparently managed to use enough strength to bowl both men oversince they were knocked off their feet.
I realized Naruto abandoned his own fight to protect Goro.
Goro, who tried to punch him just yesterday. Who called him names and sneered at him. Who nearly revealed his (semi?) secret to the world.
Just another thing Naruto did that I couldn't understand.
The bandits regrouped together while Naruto sprang to his feet in front of Goro (who, by the way, hadn't even bothered to lift his head to see what was going on. Obviously, he was quite comfortable where he was).
Four against one weren't exactly overwhelming oddssince they weren't S-class criminals, but it was difficult to fight and protect someone at the same time. I decided to finish up with my opponents to help Naruto with his.
I turned my attention back to my own fight in time to see a sword swing aimed for my neck. I dropped into a crouch to avoid the blow and spun around in a low kick to knock Ugly Scar off his feet. His sword went flying up in the air as he slammed on his back, grunting from the hard impact. Standing, I reached forthe weapon from its downward descent. With the blade pointed down, I plunged it into my unworthy opponent's chest.
Two down, one left. I smirked at the remaining bandit who suddenly didn't look so confident.
In the distance, I heard a loud boom. Someone had used an exploding tag. Then I felt a surge of chakra near by.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
One Naruto multiplied into four more and they each jumped into what was like choreographed action. One stood guard over Goro (who still hadn't look up once as far as I could tell) while three others engaged the enemy. The remaining shadow clone ran by and plunged into the thicket where I my opponents had originally come from. I could tell that Naruto was going to help our third teammate.
As it was, the presence of more loud-mouth, bewhiskered ninja than there should naturally be tipped the battle in our favor. Another five minutes of fighting and it was all over. The bodies of the bandits were strewn over the forest ground, though I noticed a few were still alive to be interrogated later (and to help recover any stolen goods). Kakashi-sensei had yet to make an appearance despite the completion of the mission, no doubt still reading his porn somewhere.
Panting but triumphant, Team 7 regrouped and stared down at Goro.
He had wet himself and was still quivering in fear. I ruthlessly suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.
Naruto, on the other hand, squatted down and poked Goro on the shoulder. "Hey, old man! Get up, you're safe now!" He wrinkled his nose and added, "Phew, you stink, too! Come on, we'll take you back to the village."
Goro slowly lifted his head and saw Naruto's blue eyes peering into his face. They were so close I was certain the man could see the fine lines of the blond ninja's whiskers. "Gah! Demon!" he shrieked and scuttled back as far away as he could manage.
Naruto sighed and for a moment I glimpsed of the tired, defeated expression in his eyes. Turning around, he called out, "Ne, Kakashi-sensei, I'll head back to Tsunade-baa-chan and turn in our report. Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme can help you clean up here."
Kakashi appeared overhead on a low branch. "All right, Naruto. Good job, you three."
We all eyed him balefully. "Thanks for the help," I said dryly.
The jounin crinkled his eye at me. "You obviously didn't need it. All right, let's get this mess straightened out. Sakura, you help Goro-san up. Sasuke, let's get these bandits accounted for."
Even before Kakashi-sensei finished speaking, I saw the last third of our trio bound away, disappearing into swell of the forest. He was alone once more.
It took me a while to track down my teammate after we cleaned up the forest. Naruto, as promised, had already gave an oral and written report to the Godaime so the paperwork was done (surprising since he, out of all of us, hated filling out the report the most). I needed to talk to him, to figure out why he saved Goro when it was obvious the man would never change his opinion of Naruto, even after the blond saved the ungrateful bastard. I was confused and I did not like the feeling one bit.
After checking his apartment, the Ichiraku stand, and the training ground, I figured there were only two places left he'd go: Iruka-sensei's house or Mount Hokage. After what had happened, I doubted Naruto would want to be around the all-too perceptive school teacher and answer uncomfortable questions (no doubt he had heard of yesterday's spilled red glop incident with Goro already) so I tried the latter place first.
I, of course,was right in my supposition. I approached the blond just as he was about to settle down at the edge.
"Naruto?"
He glanced at me as he flopped onto the ground, legs dangling off the edge as he looked over the village. One hand was absently raised to rub one of the spikes that depicted Yondaime's hair. The stone was so smooth that I suspected it was a regular gesture he did when sitting on the Fourth. "Yeah?" he asked, giving away no surprise at my use of his actual name.
I hesitated before joining him at the edge of Mount Hokage, settling down next to the blond. Since he didn't protest to my presence, I relaxed slightly and followed his gaze out. From here, the view of Konoha was breathtakingly beautiful. Houses and people and trees and colors exploded into a portrait of picturesque perfection and calm. From here, one could almost believe there was not a problem in the world that couldn't be solved.
But I had long ago ceased to believe everything would turn out all right in the end. And I was willing to bet a years' supply of ramen that Naruto did, too.
Since I wasn't really too interested in the view, I decided to ask my questions instead. I never did havea tolerance for dancing around the truth. "Why did you save that man?"
Naruto turned to look at me, a frown marring his expression. "What do you mean?"
"That soup vendor, Goro. He treated you like a leper but you saved his life anyway. Why?"
His brows furrowed into a classic 'I'm confused' Naruto look. "Because he was in danger?" From the way he phrased it, he sounded like I was giving him a pop quiz and he wasn't sure of the right answer.
"Yes, but why?" I could be patient. All the thinking in the world couldn't help me come up with the reason why Naruto put up with so much from the villagers and I was determined to learn the answer now. "You were already fighting off two bandits. You risked your life for his. You didn't have to."
His expression cleared and he turned back to look down at the village. "Yes, I did. What kind of shinobi would I be if I couldn't even protect my own people?" I saw from the corner of my eye that he flashed his famous smile that just oozed confidence. "After all,the future Hokage can't just let his villagers die on him!"
Hmph. That didn't answer the question at all. After all, he could have claimed Goro was too far away to save. I had been closer than Naruto and I couldn't even move. "But why? Why do you put up with all the abuse? All the hate?"
"Oh, that." Naruto was quiet for a moment and I let him think. Or dream about ramen, whatever was going on in his head. "It won't help to complain. Tsunade-baa-chan can't make people like me. And even if she says anything, it'll just make them treat me worse when she's not around." He shrugged. "Anyway, it's because I want to."
Now I was really confused. "Explain," I said.
He smiled his patient smile at me. "Konoha is my home. I love this village and I love all the people within it. Yeah, there are jerks out there who'll probably never give me a chance. They'll be the ones who'll oppose my bid to become Hokage. They'll never stop egging my house or throwing rocks at me. But that's okay."
It is? "It is?" I said.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. 'Cause there are those in the village who make it worth it. I have Iruka-sensei and all my friends and fellow ninja who would die to protect me. They acknowledge me. They care for me." He paused as if struggling to find the right words. "But I can't differentiate between those whom I love and would save and those whom I wouldn't. It's … well, Konoha is my home and I love it."
I mulled that over for a while. Was that it? Such a simple reason? The reason why he didn't become bitter and angry at those who constantly mocked him? Was that kind of love, that kind of loyalty strong enough to get past all those negative feelings?
I looked at Naruto again. He was a good ninja. And he was strong, stronger with Kyubi inside him. He could have unleashed his anger out on the village and do enormous amounts of damage. There would be many of Konoha's enemies who would welcome such a power to their side. But love for his home was so strong that temptations of power or even acceptance wouldn't turn him (unlike a certain person who did just that).
Such unswerving loyalty. A necessary trait in all shinobi but Uzumaki Naruto embodied that very principle just by being here still, despite the ill-treatment and abuse.
And, from what I could tell, he always would remain to defend his home and his people.
Satisfied with my reasoning, I stood. "Come on, dobe. I'll buy you some ramen."
The mere mention of that tasteless food (dare I call it that?) had his eyes light up into a rich shade of turquoise. "Really? All right, let's go! I'm going to get a supersize miso pork ramen with extra meat!" He slid a sideways glance at me and cackled. The hair on my neck stood straight up at that shifty look. "I hope you brought your big wallet, Teme!" With that, he hopped up and sped down to Ichiraku.
I shook my head slightly, a reluctant smile tugging at the corners of my lips before following my teammate. The villagers were lucky to have such a dedicated shinobi like Naruto. Too bad they would never realize that truth. But at least I did.
And I guess, in the end, that was enough.