Becoming

Part 12

 Naruto was startled by his thought. He'd never really thought of a girl as pretty before. No, that was a lie. Sure, he'd thought some girls were pretty, but never beautiful. As he watched Hinata's hair whip around her face, and saw the way the fading light brightened her eyes, he was beginning to think she was just getting prettier. The small smile on her lips made Naruto's heart skip a beat and...okay all this was just getting too mushy. Needless to say, Naruto was growing attracted to Hinata. He'd remember later to talk to Tsunade or Tenten to see if they could make sense of any of it. Cause he'd get nowhere by himself.

"Naruto?" Hinata's voice broke into his thoughts. She was now looking at him, and had obviously just asked him a question.

"What?" Naruto asked, blinking. "Sorry, I was thinking about something. I didn't mean to ignore you."

"Oh, no it's fine," Hinata said, blushing a little. "I was just wondering if you were okay. You seemed to be a little out of it, and I was hoping you weren't-I don't know-thinking anything depressing."

Naruto chuckled a little. "It was the opposite, really. But thank you for worrying." He glanced to the side and saw Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Ino walking together. They were talking in hushed tones, and when they looked up and saw Naruto, they shushed completely.

"Uh, hey," Naruto said awkwardly. Ino flinched, but the other three nodded stiffly. They were staring at Naruto strangely, and he wondered if he'd done something to make them suspicious. Or something.

"Oh," Sakura gasped, upon noticing Hinata. She looked between the two of them, then stared at Hinata worriedly. "Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"I was on a walk with Naruto," Hinata said, sounding as annoyed by the looks Naruto was getting as Naruto himself was. "Is something wrong?"

"No, of course not," Sakura said quickly. Shikamaru snorted and shook his head. He was glaring at Sakura, Naruto realized. On further observation, Sasuke too, actually looked annoyed. Ino just looked terrified.

"Okay, really, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, noticing Ino and Sakura visibly flinch every time he moved. "What's with you two? Are you scared of me?" No one spoke, and Sakura and Ino just looked at the ground. Naruto groaned in frustration, trying to make sense of it. They should know nothing of his past, or what he was, and yet they seemed afraid of him.

"Naruto," Tsunade called sternly suddenly. He turned and saw Jiraiya, Tenten, Sai, Shino, Lee, Neji, and a few others following her. The first six looked confused, but Tsunade and the remaining few looked furious. "Naruto, tell me this minute what this means!"

A paper was slapped in front of his face and Naruto pulled it back to read it. Hinata stood near him, reading it over his shoulder. She gasped, and Naruto felt all the blood drain from his face. It was a murder report, no doubt about that, but the bloody details weren't what bothered Naruto. No, it was the photograph on the bottom and the description of the murderer. Apparently one of Tsunade's men had managed a picture and survived to show it. It was an unmistakable blond. A blond that looked exactly like Naruto.

Naruto whirled angrily to Sakura and Ino. "So you saw this and thought me a murderer? That's why you were afraid of me?"

"Don't get mad at them, Naruto!" Tsunade yelled. "Explain it!" Naruto turned facing everyone. His team obviously didn't believe it. They just looked confused at to why the murderer looked like Naruto. Jiraiya didn't seem to believe it, and Neji didn't either. Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed reluctant to believe it, but the remaining people, minus Tsunade, looked at him in a mix of fear and hatred. Tsunade just looked as if she was having a hard time not believing it. Next was Hinata. Naruto was afraid to look at her. But he took a deep breath and turned. He almost laughed out loud when he saw her glaring daggers at those who didn't trust Naruto. Hinata trusted him. He gave her a grateful smile before turning to a very angry Hokage.

"I can't explain it, Tsunade," Naruto whispered. "I don't know who that is, but it isn't me." At least, he hoped it wasn't. He felt that doubt. He hoped it didn't show.

"Explain how it is that I've had to accuse you twice?" Tsunade questioned. She was obviously, so painfully obviously, doubting her trust in him.

"I can't. I don't know, Tsunade. I need you to trust me." Naruto hated how much it sounded like a desperate plee. Tsunade grit her teeth and looked down.

"I can't anymore. You've changed. I have no proof you wouldn't do it. I have to go by facts, and Naruto, all the facts point to you. My own men saw it."

And with that, Naruto's world crumbled.