A Subtle Shift

3| Troublemakers

In a way, it was amusing. Naruto—an apparent murderer, traitor, and monster. Still, he wasn't the one doing the monster work. Those villagers—if anything, they were the monsters. Hating on a young, unsuspecting child? And then forcing him to live his life in solitude to the point where he ended up living in a forest?

Naruto had all the more reason to resent the Hidden Leaf, but strangely enough, he didn't. It was quite the opposite. It was his deep love for his home that kept him going—gave him the drive to work toward his future goal.

To be Hokage. That's his dream.

Naruto kept his head down, letting his hair cover as much of his face as possible. If he could stay hidden amongst Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai, then maybe this walk around the village wouldn't be too bad. After all, it'd be his first time in years.

"Loosen up," Sasuke offered, hanging back to walk beside Naruto. His face stayed as stoic as ever, but he also wouldn't stop analyzing Naruto. That was strange. Having people walking beside him and having conversations with him like he wasn't the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki.

Naruto shifted as squealing kids ran past them, giggling as they held kites. Stranded cats ran across the streets, and adults chattered and laughed together. Hell, even the leaves drifting in the breeze seemed to be contributing to the liveliness.

It was so... vivid. So real, and given the fact that Naruto knew he could ruin that beautiful effect by just showing his face was almost overwhelming. He was mentally fighting tooth and claw not to turn and run back to the safety of the forest. The only thing that stopped him was Sasuke's presence.

For some reason, Sasuke seemed determined to get beneath Naruto's well-placed mask, cross his carefully set boundaries, and shatter the barriers he had delicately built over the agonizing years. 

But to Naruto, it was almost intriguing. To an extent, he felt drawn to Sasuke, as if they understood each other and what it felt to be isolated and have nobody. But Naruto knew better than to be naïve.

Getting close to anyone was a sign of weakness.

Wasn't it?

"Easy for you to say," Naruto grumbled, kicking a rock as he walked. Sakura was scolding Sai about something, but other than that, the distant chatting of the villagers was soothing in a way Naruto had never experienced before. "You're practically a prodigy."

Sasuke snorted as he frowned. "A prodigy? In what universe?"

Naruto scoffed. "Oh, please, no need to be so modest. I've seen you in action—you're amazing. You single-handedly protected Sakura from a group of intruders two years ago. You've been sent on many S-rank missions, and you always return without so much of a scratch on your face. Also, you—" Naruto suddenly sucked in a sharp breath, realizing he was saying too much when Sasuke's eyes slowly narrowed.

Shoot. Now he most definitely thinks I'm a creep.

"You talk as if you aren't four times stronger than him and have about 20 times more chakra reserves than he does," Kurama grumbled from somewhere in Naruto's skull. "It's almost insulting to sit here and hear you practically slobber over this brat when you know you could easily kill him if you really wanted to."

Naruto tried not to show his exasperation in his face as he thought back, Yeah, you're not really helping the rumors about us, Kurama. But he wasn't wrong. Naruto knew he was stronger than Sasuke, but... the difference was that Sasuke was more honorable than Naruto would ever be.

And remember, Naruto thought, Sasuke has comrades, which practically makes him invincible, according to Kakashi's teachings. Which completely contradicted Naruto's previous thought that having comrades was a symbol of weakness, but Naruto was always indecisive.