An Unfamiliar Face
Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry. A change of clothes, a haircut, some training, and a couple years' absence was all it took for the village to not recognize him as he walked down the street.
Jiraiya had disappeared the minute they set foot in the village, probably checking in with Tsunade. Initially, he didn't know what he was supposed to do, so he threw a smile on and walked into the market looking for some food and being prepared to get overcharged like usual.
Only he didn't. He came across an old guy who ran the kebab stand, one he'd passed a hundred times when he was young and hungry on the streets, and the guy just greeted him and took his order. Naruto paid the price the guy had on the board and walked away with his food. Maybe he was just going senile in his old age? But no; faces of store owners and civilians that he vividly remembered from his youth passed by without so much as a glace towards him. No glaring, no giving him a wide berth, no whispering to their kids to stay away from the demon, they just... walked past.
At first he wasn't sure if they were intentionally ignoring him, but when he popped into another store to pick up some kunai, the guy there treated him like any other customer, too. Usually Naruto would have to throw on a henge to get that kind of treatment.
When he exited that store, he spotted some other familiar faces. It was Kurenai's team! Hinata with long hair, Shino looked the same, Kiba had a haircut and new clothes too, and - wait, was that Akamaru? He was huge now! He almost ran right over to them to say hi, ask how they'd been - but something made him pause. Would they not see him either?
So he decided to casually walk by on the street, opposite the way they were going and not too far away. Kiba was chattering like usual as Shino and Hinata smiled and listened.
Twenty feet away. I mean, Akamaru at least ought to be able to remember what he smelled like?
Ten feet away. It's not like he'd changed that much, right?
Five feet away. If he wanted to, he could leap in and punch them all in the face. The closer you got to a ninja, the more wary they were supposed to be.
And then... they just kept walking. Didn't say hi, didn't even pause. They just...
No, there had to be someone who recognized him! But he couldn't make it easy on them, that would be against the point!
So he found an alley and made some shadow clones. They all split up and went to different parts of the city, trying to find other people he knew. One of them had to be glad to see him.
Choji had long hair and a cool red outfit, but didn't spot him from his table at the barbeque place he was having lunch at, even after an hour of the clone sitting and eating food two tables over.
Team Guy was on their usual crazy workout routine, and he walked by close to the walls as they ran. Cautiously, he raised a hand to them. They didn't see.
Shikamaru, the lazy guy in his new clothes, didn't seem to notice until the blond had walked too close to him laying down at the park, where he was told "Hey buddy, could you move? You're blocking the sun." Nothing more.
He walked into Yamanaka flowers and found Ino working behind the counter. Ino! She was the gossip of the village, she knew faces almost better than anyone! And she looked almost the same as when he last saw her, even if she had grown up. He walked up to the counter.
"Hi! Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers. What are you looking for today?" She greeted with a smile.
The hope that bloomed in his chest at the door died at the counter. It was a familiar pain Naruto felt, the feeling of nobody really seeing him. With practice, he pushed it down and returned the smile.
"Hey, I was looking for something specific. Can you help?"
She grinned and gave a wink. "That's what I'm here for? What do you need?"
"Well, something that's like..." He thought of how to phrase it. Maybe dropping a hint wouldn't hurt here? "A message. For seeing someone again after a long time, how it's good to reconnect."
"Hmmmmm," she pondered, then walked out from behind the counter over to some bunches of flowers on one side. "I'd recommend a mix of Alstromerias and Amaryllises. Together, they're supposed to represent time and togetherness." She turned back to him. "I can do a bundle for 600 ryo, if that sounds good?"
She really didn't know. She didn't see. He was standing right in front of her and she didn't see.
"Sure, that would be great."
A little humming and some bagging later, Naruto was holding the flowers. "Have a nice day!" Ino told him as he left.
It was too late for that.
He found himself wandering until he wound up at the memorial stone. He stared at it, feeling emotions roiling around inside him. Despair, and old friend, wanted to sink its claws into him. But he wouldn't let it.
"Hey, Kakashi-sen- oh, sorry." He heard a voice behind him.
His old teammate, his first crush, Sakura-chan. She had new gloves, a fancy gem on her forehead, but otherwise she looked the same as when he left. Sakura-chan. There's no way she wouldn't recognize him!
The girl sort of stared at him awkwardly. "Didn't mean to uh, interrupt you visiting the stone, mister. I was looking for my old teacher." she glanced at the bundle in his hands. "Those are pretty flowers. Are they for a friend?"
Emotion crept up his throat, and Naruto fought down the urge to yell or scream at her. He swallowed. I guess they're not. "Yeah, they are." He walked over to the stone, laid the flowers down, and walked away.
He went back to his apartment. He couldn't bare to go to Ichiraku's, terrified that they might not recognize him either. He entered to a place full of dust and worn-out furniture. Welcome home, he thought bitterly. He slunk into a chair.
After a long while sitting there, the pain and hurt he felt curdled into hatred and contempt. How could career ninjas fail to recognize someone they'd known for years? How could they not even react to someone who was so clearly a ninja by the way he moved? They were as observant as civilians. How pathetic was that? It was no wonder people like Kabuto or Itachi could just waltz into the village whenever they wanted, everybody here was an idiot. Some future of Konoha his fri- no, former friends must be if they missed the most freaking obvious and recognizable ninja in Konoha.
Would Tsunade wonder who he was if he went to the Hokage tower tomorrow? Would Kakashi have his nose buried in a book and walk on by?
All Naruto had ever really wanted was recognition. For people to accept and acknowledge him. He spent years putting up with their hatred, their cruelty, and he did it with a smile because he believed he could do it if he just kept pushing through it. Now it felt like he was back to square one.
He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra slowly flowing off him, his emotions fueling the channel. Jiraiya would've told him to calm down, given him another exercise to help him control his emotions. But Jiraiya wasn't here, and he damn well didn't want to control his emotions right then. Why should he have to? Wasn't he allowed to get upset at all the shit he's had thrown on him his whole life?
He took a deep breath, but it wasn't a calming one. It was a focusing one.
Naruto didn't know what he was going to do next, but he knew that things were going to be different. If the people didn't recognize him anymore, well...
Maybe he should be a completely different person now.
Heyo, folks.
This is just a little one-shot I was inspired to do after reading a subreddit post;
"[Writing prompt] Naruto leaves the leaf village for 2 years for training. Upon returning to the village, his friends don't recognize him. He finds this disturbing to say the least."
I wrote the above story on that page as a reply, and someone mentioned I should post it as a one-shot. I'm not looking to make this a full story - I've already got my hands full with Thread Plague. Just a little writing exercise. Feel free to use it, if you like the idea.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, be sure to check out my other stories. And if you're feeling generous, you can head on over to my Pat*reon, link is in my profile bio.
-Waki