Reborn!

43: Beings of Myth

Sasori's brow furrowed.

"A joke, then," Sasori said decisively. "I won't misunderstand. Calm down, Deidara."

Deidara did not know whether to laugh or cry at Sasori's easy dismissal.

Noticing Deidara's conflicted emotions, Sasori added, "I am not opposed to trying to further our relationship. We're friends, after all. Though I might've never loved anyone, I'm not repulsed by you."

Poor Deidara went into another coughing fit, not noticing the mellow warmth in the coffee-hued eyes of the puppeteer.

Of course, that did not stop Sasori from chuckling at Deidara's expense.

"How can you team up with Naruto against me, Sasori-danna?" Deidara grumbled, glaring at Sasori accusingly.

Sasori's eyes crinkled mirthfully, but he replied candidly, "I mean what I said, Deidara."

Deidara reddened even further -- he wished he could turn invisible.

This was not what he had signed up for.

Naruto blinked. How unexpected. So there really was something there?

"What is 'there really was something there?' What about you? Will you leave Hatake Kakashi hanging there forever?" scoffed Kurama.

Naruto winced. 'I cannot answer him until I know whether he can accept my identity.'

"A terrible excuse if I've ever heard one, Naruto-sama," admonished Matatabi.

'It's at least partially the truth. And I need time to think about it. It's hard to let anyone get close when I've always been alone,' Naruto admitted.

Moreover, they seemed to be getting the wrong idea. Naruto's entanglement with Kakashi was not one of him rejecting the latter's romantic advances. There was no such element in their relationship as Sōjirō and Kakashi, though people around them tend to misunderstand... Not yet, at least. Naruto was sensitive to the intentions of others, and he knew that Kakashi's feelings for him were still platonic -- or at least not erotic in nature.

Chōmei interjected, genuinely confused, "Aren't Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura your friends? You trust them with your life. You survived a war together; you cared enough about them to bring with you. You might have deceived those children, but you cannot hide from us. We know you had to seal your chakra to bring passengers with you. You even permanently sacrificed half of your chakra to protect them from the backlash to their souls from the overturning of causality. You have done so much for them -- why do you keep them at a distance when you cherish them so?"

Naruto's smile faded.

His wooden expression was painfully reminiscent of Sōjirō's, neutral and devoid of emotion.

'You are right, Chōmei. I care for them. How could I possibly bear to implicate them in my personal matters? They deserve to be happy. They have suffered enough. Besides...' Naruto hesitated then, shadows fleetingly darkening his eyes.

He did not continue, but Mugetsu did not seem to care about the aborted revelation.

"'They deserve to be happy,'" Mugetsu echoed, almost mockingly. "What about you? You've suffered too -- more than the children you hold dear can ever imagine. Even if temporary, don't you think you deserve a little slice of happiness for once? You are loved, Naruto. You touch the hearts of the children you have interacted with. You care for them; you want the very best for them. Yet you will not allow them to care for you in turn. How cruel of you, Uzumaki Naruto. People gravitate towards you -- they adore you. You can't just ignore that and wallow in self-pity."