Chương 16: Easier said than done! Inari and the fox!
It had been a few days since Kakashi's apology, and Naruto could see that the man had changed for the better.
For one, Kakashi kept his left eye uncovered at all times. Initially, Naruto was curious about how Kakashi had managed to temporarily deactivate the Sharingan since he didn't seem to be a medical expert.
After all, in Naruto's mind, nobody could be a medical expert yet consistently disregard the damage that they do to their own body when injured.
So Naruto was more than a little shocked to hear that Kakashi had a seal directly connected to his tenketsu, which would close it when activated.
Secondly, Kakashi had started taking Team 7's training a lot more seriously. The man tried his best to create a different training plan specifically tailored to each Genin, improving their strengths while working on their weaknesses.
Of course, Kakashi was still a little green to teaching. There were multiple holes in his explanations, and some answers used knowledge too esoteric for them to understand.
However, his teaching skills were improving at a rapid rate, and Kakashi's teaching style was nice. A good mixture of theory and practical applications.
During this time, Naruto had also spent a lot of time learning Kenjutsu under Hayate. It turned out that he was the 'Crescent Moon Swordsman' that the blonde had heard about.
Kakashi had also openly admitted that he was more than happy for Naruto to take time out of their training to learn from Hayate, as the man's Kenjutsu was above his.
Kakashi had changed for the better, so why was he still stuck in the past? Naruto couldn't help but wonder as he stood in an open clearing, running through the stances that Hayate had been teaching him.
There weren't any problems that Naruto expected after accepting Kakashi's apology and forgiving the man. It was instinct at this point, likely conditioned by his lack of social life, that he would cling to any form of acknowledgement.
Of course, Naruto never had any problems with this mindset before. In the past, whenever he would receive an apology from one of the few people in his life, he would quickly drop any lingering resentment he felt against them.
Naruto cared for them. So if he had to put down his dislike towards one of their past actions to mend their relationship, it was an easy decision to make, and it wasn't all that hard to put into action either.
Yet, even though the silver-haired Jonin had apologised and he had accepted, Naruto's and Kakashi's relationship hadn't been the best. They weren't openly antagonising each other, far from it. But their relationship could only be described as awkward at best.
Naruto knew the reason. Although he had said that he forgave Kakashi for leaving him tied to the post, he was having struggles with actually doing so.
Kakashi also seemed to be aware of this and tried his best to spend more time bonding with the team while giving him the space he needed. The man also had enough tact not to bring up how he had untied himself from the post to avoid bringing up the negative memories associated with the incident and further souring their relationship.
So why couldn't he look past Kakashi's past actions and forgive him?
When Kakashi had apologised for leaving him tied to the wooden post, Naruto understood the man's reasoning. Kakashi didn't know his abilities, which made sense.
The Genin graduation exams happened every year, and as Kakashi had said before, only 9 out of 27 students would realistically pass. So the Jonin testing each team couldn't be expected to memorise the Genins' skillsets before the test. Especially since it wasn't guaranteed that they would pass.
Naruto knew that Kakashi had fallen into the same mindset, a common mistake that the man had apologised for. Although it came a little late, Naruto knew that he didn't really give Kakashi any information about why he was angry.
The fact that Kakashi had analysed the clues that he had unintentionally left was a testament to the amount of effort that the man had gone through to find out what was bothering him without directly asking him.
Logically it was sound… So why couldn't he forgive Kakashi so easily?
Kakashi had put a lot of effort into smoothening out their relationship even before knowing what he had done wrong. Whether it was consistently checking on him whenever a civilian in Konoha snubbed him or even small things like checking on his diet.
There were many opportunities for Naruto to talk to Kakashi, whether it was asking him for advice on which Ninjutsu to purchase or even guidance on things like Taijutsu styles.
Yet despite having so many opportunities, he instinctively rejected them.
Was it due to the fact that Kakashi was his teacher? He had already been misled and betrayed by Mizuki, another teacher that he had trusted.
Naruto also didn't really have any pleasant experiences with teachers, even during his time at the orphanage. So maybe there was some sort of scarring in his heart, a bias against teachers?
The fear that Kakashi would start to ignore him like his previous teachers, causing him to do everything alone. The instinctive wariness that he felt whenever Kakashi was nearby as if the man would once again tie him up and leave him once more. The bitterness about being left behind.
Of course, logically, Naruto understood that the man would never intentionally do that. Kakashi had risked his life to protect Team 7 against Zabuza. There's no way that he would deliberately harm them for no reason whatsoever.
But logic doesn't always win against emotion. Naruto would always feel slight bitterness towards Kakashi at being left behind.
In the end, Naruto decided to not dwell on his thoughts and would continue to learn how to forgive. The more time he spent with his team, whether training or bonding, the more he felt the resentment on his shoulders ever so lighten.
It had helped since even Sasuke and Sakura had been treating him a lot more amiably. Well, it was more like they didn't treat him as an idiot who couldn't do anything, which he was thankful for.
However, they were still far away from the point where they could be considered friends. Naruto didn't expect an apology from either Sasuke or Sakura for leaving him tied to the post, as even Kakashi had taken 2 months to figure it out. He doubted that the two Genin would ever get a clue on it.
Naruto watched as Kakashi continued to train Sakura and Sasuke. The man seemed to sense his gaze and turned, giving a quick eye smile before returning to what he was doing.
Feeling the glance, Naruto felt a pit of ice form in his stomach once more. Oh, he so envied his old ability to forgive anyone who had wronged him with a single apology, so he wouldn't be stuck in this problem.
…
Dinner that night
Naruto sat at the table, gobbling up what Tsunami had served. He didn't know how long she had been cooking or if she was professionally trained, but her cooking was better than most chefs in Konoha.
The other members of Team 7, alongside Hayate, seemed to agree with this as they silently ate their food. Tsunami smiled happily, knowing that people were enjoying her food so much. She had been getting a lot of practice recently by helping Naruto out at the food stand.
Tsunami glanced towards the left and inadvertently gave a worried frown. Her son, Inari, had been forced to eat at the dinner table these past few days by her in hopes that he wouldn't hole himself up in his bedroom alone.
However, despite this, Inari showed no sign of improving. Instead, the longer he was around the ninja that protected her father, the more angry and sad the boy seemed to get. Even now, he was poking at the food on his plate, moving it around instead of eating it.
"…Why?" Inari muttered. Everyone glanced up from their meals and turned toward the young boy.
Inari seemed to shrink in on himself from the questioning stares but glared at the ninja across from him eating their food without a care in the world. The ninjas, who are unaware of the suffering that the people of Wave have to go through every day, finally broke his inner hesitation.
"Why do you try so hard? All this training you are doing is useless! Gato's got a whole army. They'll destroy you no matter how strong you are!" Inari screamed at the ninjas across from him.
The ninjas in question looked non-plussed except Naruto, who looked happy hearing Inari's words. They were used to hearing about civilians doubting their abilities; even in a ninja village such as Konoha, many civilians have no idea what ninjas are capable of doing.
At first, Sasuke and Sakura were tired of being underestimated and refuted the civilian estimations of their power and skills. However, after experiencing the same thing for the past 2 months, they had given up. They understood that most civilians have no idea what ninjas are capable of.
Meanwhile, Naruto looked happy hearing this. 'Inari cares about our lives?' Naruto thought to himself. There's no other reason he could think of why the boy wanted them to leave and escape from Gato's rule. He wanted them to survive. Naruto's goodwill towards Inari just went up.
"Don't worry, Inari. We won't die!" Naruto smiled at the boy, who seemed to falter at the pure innocence on Naruto's face.
In fact, he almost felt guilty for what he was about to say next. Almost. "You don't know what this country's been through! You always walk around all smiles, but I bet you have never had a hard day in your life!"
Everyone present inwardly cringed at Inari's words. While at normal times, a young, grieving boy's words wouldn't affect them, almost everyone's scabs had been ripped off recently and were a little sore to touch.
Naruto's smile seemed to wither ever so slightly, understanding what the boy was coming at. These past few days, Tsunami had told him about what happened to Inari's father and why he was so depressed. He understood what Inari was feeling. Well… sort of.
Even if he was angry at the boy's thoughtless words, Naruto decided to ignore them. He knew that Inari was grieving and lashing out at anyone and everyone who he thought was responsible. It wasn't his place to teach the boy what is right and wrong.
However, Naruto saw that Inari's words hit Tsunami and Tazuna far more than expected. They had taken good care of everyone over the past few days, so he wanted to do something in return.
Naruto wondered what he could do to help Inari see what everyone was fighting for. Empty words such as 'we are fighting to free Wave from Gato's tyrannical rule' definitely wouldn't help and instead would make the matter worse.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind.
Naruto stood up from his seat and walked toward Inari, shocking everyone. Kakashi was thinking about stopping him, but as their eyes met, he decided to trust the boy.
Meanwhile, Inari looked a little frightened. He had been watching Team 7 train these past few days, and even if he didn't think they could take on Gato, he knew that they were easily enough to take him on.
Everyone was surprised to see Naruto place his hand on Inari's bucket hat, pushing it down until it covered half of his face.
"OI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Inari screamed in anger, glaring at Naruto, who didn't have a care in the world. How dare Naruto touch his hat. That was his hat!
"How about you come with me for a quick trip," Naruto asked, but his tone was anything but that as he dragged the boy out the door. "Tsunami-san, I will take him to that place. Feel free to join us if you want!"
Tsunami stood up and quickly followed, shutting the door behind her, leaving the remaining occupants bar Kakashi confused.
"Where are they going?" Sakura asked curiously. She was a little worried that Naruto would harm the boy, knowing that he could get a little hot-headed.
"Well…" Kakashi trailed off. He had seen Naruto often send a clone with Tsunami to the town these past few days. After asking the boy about it, he had learnt that he had set up a food stand for the hungry civilians of Wave.
"Naruto set up a food stand to give food to the hungry civilians of Wave. Tsunami-san has also been helping him operate it." Kakashi explained, shocking the others in the room.
"Naruto is so kind?" Sakura had known the boy for several years, and not once had she seen him show such a caring side to anybody.
Kakashi sighed, noticing that Sasuke seemed to share similar thoughts. This had gone on long enough. He decided to end their prejudice against Naruto right here. "I want you guys to throw away everything you think you know about Naruto since you clearly know nothing about him."
"Eh? What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked in shock. What did he mean that they knew nothing about Naruto? They had been in the same class for several years, and the boy had hounded her for dates every week. There's no way they don't know anything about him.
"Hm? Then tell me what you know about him."
"Well… he likes orange? He also likes to prank others! And…." Sakura trailed off, thinking of what else she knew about Naruto. That was all she could really remember of the boy, to her confusion.
Sasuke didn't voice anything, but inwardly that was all he knew about Naruto too. Except for the fact that despite his boisterous façade, that Naruto was as lonely as he is.
"And that's what I mean. Despite all these changes that Naruto has shown since the Genin exams, your understanding of him still remains back when he was at the academy." Kakashi explained.
Sasuke inwardly nodded in agreement. While he knew that Naruto had changed since the Genin exams, he didn't know what catalysed these changes, nor did he care to know exactly how Naruto had changed. All he knew was that Naruto seemed to gain a sudden boost in skill, strength and speed.
"I am not telling you that you have to be best friends with Naruto. However, if you keep looking at him through the lens that you did in the academy, you will miss any opportunity of becoming friends with him that you could have had." 'just like I almost did', Kakashi inwardly finished off.
…
Inari silently walked next to his mother, frowning. He didn't want to follow the blonde, but his mother told him that he should listen to Naruto just this once.
As they continued to walk, Inari looked even more upset at the state of Wave. The streets were practically empty, devoid of any of the happy civilians that he used to see before Gato had arrived. How could these ninjas have any idea of what their life is like?
However, Inari was confused by the lack of people on the side of the streets. Usually, there would be multiple people, adults and children alike, begging for food.
His unvoiced question was soon answered as Naruto took them down a small alleyway which led to a rather large clearing. Inside this clearing were several makeshift huts, with people bundled together eating food.
On the right, there was even a small puppet show surrounded by many children who smiled with joy as they watched it under the warm eyes of the nearby adults.
The man or boy responsible for all of this had several clones stationed in various areas in the clearing. Some were cooking, and some were doing funny actions using puppets. While others had opted to clean up some of the nearby residents, shaving their beards or cutting their hair with a kunai.
"What's going on?" Inari asked in confusion. Wave shouldn't be like this. Just a few days ago, he was met with the soulless eyes of people begging on the street, yet adults and children in front of him were smiling in joy and hope.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Naruto smiled at the scene in front of him. The two children a few days ago had led his clone to this clearing which had multiple other children sleeping in boxes.
Originally, Naruto planned to only feed them but seeing their sleeping conditions, he used his limited construction knowledge to make insulated huts.
Word quickly spread amongst the others on the street that there was a kind young boy who was making and serving hot food and shelter for free, and soon the homeless adults and elderly also turned up.
It didn't take long for the clearing to be filled with civilians who were once empty, to be filled with hope and joy.
"Look in front of you, Inari. This is what your mother and grandfather are fighting for. This is what we are fighting for."
Naruto and Inari walked around the different areas, and the grateful civilians all smiled whenever they saw Naruto. Some had even handed him home knitted gloves, scarves and socks, which Naruto gladly took.
Inari was amazed. He thought that the ninjas were just training to take down Gato, even if it was futile, and never knew they were helping people.
Naruto knelt down in front of Inari, drawing the boy's attention to him. "Listen, I know you are sad over Kaiza's death and believe me, nobody is telling you that you can't be sad. We all understand the feelings of pain behind losing someone.
"But instead of doing nothing but focus on his death, keep his memories close to you and fight against Gato. You can't change the past, but you can always look towards the future."
"What can I do? I am weak! I can't stand against Gato or his army!" Inari cried in sadness and fear.
"Leave the fighting to us. That's our job." Naruto smiled, pointing at his chest. "But fighting isn't the only thing that can be done. Why not help out here? We could use a helping hand."
Inari once again looked around, seeing everyone's smiles. At some point during their arrival, Tsunami had entered the food stand, smiling while conversing with an elderly man while cooking.
It didn't take long for some sort of impulse to help fill him as he nodded his head, deciding to do what he could to help the people in Wave. It might not be much in the grand scheme of things, but for Inari, it was enough.
Author's notes: Hey, how are y'all doing?
This chapter covers Naruto's side of the apology I mentioned before, alongside the Inari scene. It's a little messy, but I have done my best to clean it up while trying something new.
Haku might appear later, but the forest meeting is meh, so I changed it up a bit! I tried to make the characters as in character as possible, feel free to send any constructive criticism, I do read everything!
Once again, I hope you all enjoyed reading! Feel free to leave a review, PM or whatever!
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