Disclaimer: Let's see. . .3 boys bouncing off the walls making a mess. . .1 2-tailed lump sitting at the other comp. . . dirty laundry and dishes everywhere. . . nope still don't own Naruto
Chapter Twenty-Five: Advice From an Odd Source
In the village Naruto's old friends were gathered at the Ramen stand he used to favor. Teuchi and Ayame knew Naruto hadn't been in once since his return. They too, were confused since they had seen him around the village a few times. They knew the boy had loved their food and didn't understand what had kept him away now. They'd always made it clear to all their customers that he was a favored customer and anyone who displeased them by treating him rudely would be thrown out and never served again. But now he'd been back for months and he didn't stop in once. They just didn't understand. Teuchi was sad thinking maybe they'd done something or someone had said they had. Maybe there was a misunderstanding of some kind and the boy just didn't know how much he was missed.
Ayame saw her father growing more and more depressed by the day. She didn't know what if anything could be done about it but she vowed to find some way to help her father. If someone had spread a hurtful rumor than they needed to know so they could set it right. If Naruto was staying away because he just wanted to then he needed to know how much pain it was causing. Whatever the reason it had to be resolved. She removed her apron and told her father she'd be back before heading to the tower to see if she could speak to Lady Tsunade.
Kiba morosely ate his ramen, twirling the sticks in the bowl between bites. "Why do you think he doesn't want to see us anymore? Did we do something to upset him?," he asked.
"No Kiba. He just has a lot on his mind now that he didn't before. Before it wasn't so much a question of who could he trust but how far could he trust someone," answered Shikamaru.
"But he could trust me. I wouldn't ever hurt him." Kiba was getting loud again.
"And if Kurenai-sensei told you to take him out? Could he trust you then?"asked Shino.
"She wouldn't do that," protested Kiba.
"She would if she was ordered to Kiba. She would if she thought he'd hurt one of her team. There are conditions under which none of us can trust another. It's the business we're in. We know and understand that but for him it's different and it always has been," explained Shikamaru.
Temari was sitting with them and she tried to explain things so that they would understand. "It's hard for you guys to understand why he's acting this way but really this was bound to happen sooner or later. In a way, he's trying to protect all of you. He knows the council doesn't like him any better now than it ever did but now they're desperately afraid of him. He survived something no normal person should have and the council is afraid he is back here for vengeance. Naruto is concerned they will use anyone he is close to, or shows a preference for being around, against him. He has allowed only those he believes to be well protected or safe to come for visits. Hinata has the protection of her clan to rely on. Her father and cousin will allow no one to harm her for her association with Naruto. Tsunade-Hokage is safe because of who she is and she extends that protection to Iruka-sensei also. Jiraiya is untouchable because of his Sannin status. But the rest of you don't have such powerful protectors. Your families aren't that high of a rank or as powerful in their own rights. Naruto knows he can't be everywhere at once and now that he has survived to return he's done pretending. Pretending that it doesn't have a high cost if ever he is not in the right place at the right time. It''s the same for all Jinchuuriki but at least Gaara had Kankuro and I. No one could hurt us for our association with him because we were born associated."
"But how can we convince him we are willing to take that risk? He's our friend. He's one of us."
Shikamaru answered, "We can't. No matter what we say he wouldn't believe we knew what we are risking and he wouldn't accept our sacrifice. He may be one of us to us and maybe even to him but as far as the village is concerned we are two different types of people. They will never accept that he is just like us."
Temari agreed. "That's true. The villages never will accept a jinchuuriki."
"Then if they won't accept them they should make them," said Choji between bites of chips. He had long since finished his ramen and gone back to his favorite type of snack foods.
Shikamaru smirked. "True, Choji, but that's always the problem. They make them, figuring they can control them but then the vessel proves to have a mind of it's own. A moral code all it's own and they find they can't control them after all. With Naruto, though, there wasn't much other choice. It was either make him a vessel or watch the Kyuubi kill us all."
"My father had a choice with my brother but he was afraid Konoha would be able to control the child they'd just made and it would tip the balance of power in the world even more strongly in Konoha's favor. So he and other rulers tried to copy the process Konoha used. But they weren't willing or didn't have the skill to pay the same price and so their products turned out to be flawed. Naruto has done a lot in his time to correct as many of those flaws as he can but he can't do it all."
"Anyway, whether or not the village accepts him doesn't solve our problem. We all agree we want to see our friend again and we gathered here to figure out how to make that happen," said Kiba, feeding a dog treat to Akamaru out the window of the ramen stand. His companion had finally gotten too big for Teuchi to allow inside so he laid on the sidewalk outside and tried to stay out of the way while the gang was inside.
"Yosh. We need to see our most youthful companion. I am sure he has not allowed the fires of his youth to dim to such a point where he has grown weak and timid of the village," added Lee.
"That's what we are telling you," said Neji. "We can not force him to do something he may have good reason for not doing."
"I don't care what his reasons are. We are all part of one big group and while he was gone we had to accept it but he's back now and we don't anymore. It's time he realized he doesn't get to make this choice," declared Kiba.
"So because you want to hang around with him and let's face it, battle him, he should be forced to accept your company, Kiba?" asked a new voice from the curtained entry. Sakura had decided to stop for lunch not realizing everyone else was gathered there already. "I admit there was a time, not too long ago, when I thought the same way but I realize now just how wrong that is. I tried to make Naruto be who I wanted him to be. I treated him way worse than you ever did but still you are trying to tell him who he must hang out with and that is the same thing. It's the first step. May I please have one bowl of Vegetable Shrimp Ramen?"
"No, it isn't. I won't make him just stand there while I beat him to death. Then mock and ridicule him for his injuries. I want him to fight back. I want to see how strong he is and to let him see how strong Akamaru and I have grown. When I fight with him it isn't to beat him down or build myself up. There's a difference," growled Kiba.
"Not in this case, there isn't. You know he doesn't want to see any of us but you want to force him. How is that any different from Ino forcing him to ask me out to cheer me up? Or me beating the crap out of him and then refusing to heal him? Or only asking him to join a party because he'll make the party happen? Or forcing him into a spar he doesn't want before you'll answer a question or show him a move? I'm sorry I fail to see the difference. In each case it's someone forcing Naruto against his wishes to do something we want done with no regard to what he wants or even why he didn't want it." She accepted the bowl of ramen and just as Naruto had shown her long ago she dug into the noodle mess of shrimp and vegetables. "Thank you, Teuchi. It's delicious as always."
The group at the large table fell quiet as they thought over what she had said. She was right in an odd way. They were all trying to force Naruto to change his mind and allow them back into his circle but none of them really knew why he wouldn't. And there was every possibility that he did indeed have a good reason for it. Most of them were looking back over their years of friendship with the blond and wondering just when they'd ever just done something for him without expecting something in return. Heads drooped as they realized maybe she had been more right than they thought. None of them could think of anything or any time they'd done something for him just because they could.
Only Hinata did not drop her head. She had given him presents on his birthday and special holidays ever since she had realized no one else ever did. She had made it a point to be nearby when he was upset in case he needed a friend to talk to. It wasn't much but she knew, from her own lonely childhood, how much it could mean. So she held her head up as one by one her friends dropped theirs. She shared a look with Sakura as Sakura finished her ramen and paid for the bowl before leaving.
Sakura went back to Mrs. Tsu's home and got to work on the front flower bed. She'd seen some small weeds trying to poke through the mulch and while she plucked them out she thought about what she'd said to the gang. She was right, she knew, but was she right to say it. That look Hinata had given her seemed to suggest that she had been but she was so unsure of herself these days she just didn't know.
"Well, hello. I thought you were finished for the day, Dear?" asked Mrs. Tsu, sitting down on the stoop to watch the girl work.
"Umm. I ran into the gang when I went for ramen and I needed to think so I came back to get these weeds."
Mrs. Tsu cocked her head to one side and studied the girl on her knees. The girl had become gentler over the last few weeks of steady gardening. She was no longer a bundle of suppressed rage looking for an outlet. Maybe it was time to begin the next step?
"Why don't you tell me about it? Sometimes just putting your thoughts into words helps to sort them out and make things clear."
"Well, I went to get that ramen I told you Naruto created and all the old gang was there. Well, most of them. My cell wasn't but that's not unusual with the way we all behaved. Are still behaving. But anyway when I pushed through the curtain I heard Kiba, he's the one with the big dog, trying to convince everyone that they needed to force Naruto to see them regardless of what he wants. I told them it was as wrong to do that as what I did to him was. That although what I did was worse, it began the same way, with me forcing Naruto to do as I wanted him to do. They didn't agree and I can see their point but it's only different because I was in a position to go farther and I did. If they had been in my shoes maybe they wouldn't have gone that far but then again maybe they would have." She spread her hands. "I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I should have kept my mouth shut or not."
Mrs. Tsu nodded and sat in quiet thought for a few minutes. She was waiting to see if her pupil would say anything else and she wasn't disappointed.
"I asked them to tell me how their own past behavior was any different than my own had been but I also admitted that my behavior was totally wrong. I think I did the right thing but I guess I'm just not sure of the rightness of my thoughts right now. I went so totally overboard into what was good for Sakura that I never realized when I was doing things that not only weren't good for me but were hurting others." She smiled. "I'm finding my way back but I'm just not quite sure of my steps yet I guess."
"You're doing fine, Dear. You made the right choice today in telling them that. Not only have your friends seen that you are changing but you helped them to realize they also might not have been the friends they thought they were while they looked down their nose at you. It is always easier to cast stones at others then it is to look in the mirror."
Sakura nodded and thought it over as she pulled more of the tiny weeds. Mrs. Tsu continued. "It takes courage to face the image in the mirror but once it's done and you've seen the truth of the image then it only takes small steps to correct all the mistakes that made all the flaws. That face is never pretty but once you begin trying to change, it gets prettier with each passing day. Soon will come the day when you will look and see a beautiful young woman looking back and you'll know you're ready for someone special and, like me, you'll turn around and find him waiting there for you. But chances are Mr. Right will not be your Golden Robe guy."
"You think Sasuke isn't the right guy for me?" She had come to accept that, for her, Sasuke was and always would be the Golden Robed boy from the tale Mrs. Tsu had told her.
"Did he tell you of the hurt and pain you were causing? Did he ever make you question what you thought of others? Did he once chastise you for how you spoke to a friend? Or did he just take what you gave him as his due? What did he do to earn your favor? Did he give you something special that only he could have given you? There are many questions like that for you to answer. And each one needs a yes answer for him to be Mr. Right. A truthful yes answer. Sometimes we think our heart wants someone but the truth is, it's our brain that wants them. Now I will leave you to your thinking and go make some lemonade." She went back inside and left Sakura to it.
At the ramen stand everyone had broken off in separate directions. They all had some serious thinking to do and none of them were feeling any too good after what Sakura had said. They all wondered just how often had they used Naruto for their own ends and disguised it as being his friend. None could say for sure but all had the feeling that face in the mirror was biting off their nose to spite their face.
Temari stood watching them split into separate groups with Hinata, Shino, and Shikamaru beside her. "Well, do you guys think they got the point finally?" she asked.
Hinata and Shino nodded while Shikamaru answered, "Maybe. I know Ino got it but Kiba is pretty thick headed and Lee is obsessed with training and youthfulness being best expressed by training constantly. That doesn't leave a lot of room for other ideas. Chouji already understood it though. I believe Tenten, like Ino, understands now."
Behind them, Teuchi groused, "Well, I don't. Gaki used to love my Ramen. I came to love that boy like my own son and he hasn't even stopped in for a bowl."
Shikamaru raised a brow as Hinata walked back over to the counter. "He still eats your ramen Teuchi-san. I take it to him when I stop by for take-out. He does not want you to get hurt or taken hostage by his enemies in order to force him against his will into the open. Please understand," she begged the Old Man. "He is only trying to protect you and Ayame-san."
"You take my take-out to him?" he asked her. She smiled and nodded.
"One miso and one pork, one chicken and one vegetable beef that I take out are for him."
Teuchi smiled the biggest smile any of them had seen him wear ever since news had begun to spread that Naruto had returned. In those early days every customer was greeted with that same sunny smile until the old man realized it wasn't the golden haired boy. Then the smile would fade away until the next person appeared at the restaurant flaps. "In that case, Young Woman, you tell me next time and I will be sure to make his bowls extra filling since I know how much he loves my ramen."
Hinata nodded and with the gentle smile she was known for she went back outside to her companions who were waiting for her. Shino would walk her home and Temari and Shikamaru were waiting to walk with them.
Author Note: I know this chapter took a long time to post. But I had lost the whole story for a while on my computer. I had to take it to the doctor. (pets computer tower) Poor comp got a sick motherboard so it needed the doctor's attention. Anyway, he saved my documents so I wouldn't lose them. Only thing was I had a hard time finding WHERE he saved them and then getting them to where I could actually access and load them. But I have found them now so maybe I can get the rest of this story out for you. Once again I sincerely apologize to all of you who have so patiently waited for me.