Selfish Desire [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 46: Make You Smile Again

The next morning...

Third Person's P.O.V

"Oh! Naruto, what are you up to this morning?" an unidentified passerby approached the well-known hero of the Fourth Great Ninja War, probably unmindful or uncaring that the young blond boy seemed to have a destination in mind.

Naruto stopped in his tracks to address the man, "Hey! I'm doing nothing much now. They said I need some time off because... yeah, it's my arm."

An elderly lady walked over to their side, sending a warm smile to Naruto, and greeted him, "Good morning, Naruto-kun. How is your arm? If you want, I can give you an ointment or lotion for free."

Naruto Uzumaki brought his only hand to the back of his head and rubbed subtly as he was feeling embarrassed by the attention and kindness that the citizens were generously giving him. He replied with a rueful smile, "No, it's okay, baa-chan. Thank you. It's just difficult to get used to having one arm only."

"I see," the elder woman said, "If you ever need help, you can always ask my son and grandson. It must be hard to do many things with one arm. But you're strong, Naruto-kun. I'm sure you can lift a lot with just one hand."

"Oh, really?" Naruto giggled boyishly as his rubbing on the back of his head intensified. Even his cheeks were bathed with bright red, thanks to all of the attention.

Meanwhile, just five feet behind him stood Sakura Haruno with a deadpan look. She observed quietly how the Leaf residents treated and worried over Naruto with care and love as though he was their own son or brother.

"Look at him getting all the attention now," she spoke as a warm smile etched on her face.

Kakashi Hatake stopped by her side and gazed at the scene with a nonchalant look. He said, "They adore him. It's obvious that he will one day become a Hokage."

"That's true," Sakura nodded, "But perhaps after you, Kakashi-sensei. I heard your inauguration ceremony would be held two or three days later."

The gray-haired Jounin sighed rather heavily, which caused Sakura to giggle in amusement, and he drawled, "I asked Tsunade to cancel that ceremony. It's unnecessary. I don't even know what to do or say once I stand on top of that Hokage building with all eyes on me."

Sakura chirped, "Nope. You still have to do it, sensei!"

"I'd rather not."

"You have to!"

"I will ask Tsunade about this later."

"You don't have to. I know master very well and I'm very sure she will just laugh in your face."

This prompted Kakashi to let out another disappointed sigh, making Sakura snicker loudly. That's when they were aware of how loud the citizens were surrounding Naruto. Both of them shifted their attention to their blond comrade. At this point, the rubbing on the back of his head was now furiously fast as his entire face crimsoned in embarrassment as praises were thrown at him repeatedly.

Sakura was about to call him as he had delayed their journey to their destination. However, the people that were circling Naruto became as silent as the sheeted death all of a sudden. Their eyes were staring wide at something right behind Sakura and Kakashi. The last two aforementioned ones followed their gaze and they finally understood why they suddenly became nonplussed.

Sasuke Uchiha had stepped closer to the scene and directly stood behind Kakashi. Many passersby he had walked past gawked at him without shame as though all of them saw something in him. He did not make any eye contact with anyone as he instead stared into the distance, waiting for the rest of Team 7 to get a move on.