If you're reading this on lore.fm or on Youtube or anywhere other than AO3 or FFN, it is against this author's will and I wish you not a good reading experience. May these thieves step on a lego. Amen.
Genre : Hurt, Comfort, Friendship.
Characters : U. Naruto.
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. Otherwise, Naruto and Kurama would have become friends much sooner and Madara would have declared his undying love to Hashirama a while ago.
Forgiveness
By a warm day of June, the streets were quite lively in Konoha. The Fourth Shinobi World War had ended, and a semblance of Peace was reigning since a few months already. The chaos Kaguya and Madara had brought upon the world was slowly becoming a far away nightmare. The losses were still hurting, but the people had learnt to accept their beloved's sacrifices, and to move on while keeping their memories engraved in their hearts and by carrying on their legacy.
A few blocks away from the Academy, Naruto was quietly eating in a little restaurant. He was sitting alone by the window, tasting his steak with a miso soup, while chatting happily with Kurama. Since the end of the war, the fox had decided to stay inside of his blond friend. Not that he would have missed the blonde teen or anything, per se, but everyone knew that a jinchūriki tended to be lost and feel empty without their bijū, and anyway, it wasn't as if he had to justify himself. Since he wasn't sealed anymore, he could get out of the Uzumaki's body at anytime, even though Naruto would pretend he was actually the one summoning the Nine Tailed fox. Because he's such a show-off, and Kurama definitily doesn't snicker while thinking that.
As they were arguing over who was the weirdest bijū of all (Son Goku's hysterical laugh definitely had nothing on Shukaku's drag queen tendencies), Naruto didn't realize he was being stared at by an old man a few tables away. Since he befriended the fox, the sight of the blond talking and laughing and sulking without any visible companion had become ordinary, and if some people still were bewildered by that fact, and couln't bring themselves to trust the Kyūbi as easily as Naruto did, they were getting used to it, and didn't think too much about it.
« Naruto, you're being watched » , Kurama suddenly informed him.
Surprised, the Savior looked out from his meal and focused on his surroundings. When his eyes landed on an aged man who was fixing him, the latter froze. However, he soon closed his eyes and shook his head, before walking slowly towards the teen.
"Can I sit here ?" , he managed to ask awkwardly, never looking at him straight in the eyes.
"Oh, sure !" , Naruto grinned at him nonetheless. Despite searching in his memories, he couldn't recognize the old man who was now sitting in front of him. It had been a while since no one had approached him so carefully, and he didn't really know how to react. He ignored the fact that his heart constricted a bit at those bad memories.
Since his new guest didn't seem to be ordering anything, he pondered whether to talk to him or not. "Hum, can I help you, old man ?"
Silence was met. Not knowing what to do, the Uzumaki played a bit with his chopsticks before going back to eating. He wasn't going to let his food get cold, after all. Still, he kept throwing quick glances at his new companion. The man was probably in his sixties. He had short white hair and a well-kept anchor beard, as well as pronounced wrinkles around the eyes which could lead one to think he was the kind of person to smile a lot.
"I'm sorry", he finally spoke, still averting his gaze.
Naruto blinked. Dattebayo ?
"Do you..." , the white-bearded man started again, looking up wearily. "Do you know who I am ?"
Well... Things were really awkward. The young ninja scratched his cheek, smiling sheepishly. "Eh, should I... ? I guess you're a villager but... Did we meet before ?"
"We did", he sighed. "I'm Hasegawa Tadashi, I own a candy shop nearby. You...", he swallowed, frowning. "When you were younger, you came a few times."
Naruto blinked. This time, however, he sensed himself tensing up.
"I wasn't kind to you at the time. I would always close the door at you if I happened to spot you soon enough. And if I didn't, then I'd make you understand that you weren't... You weren't welcomed to my place."
The seventeen years old teen didn't utter a word.
Angry eyes and scornful looks flashed in his mind, and he felt a lump forming in his throat.
Hasegawa closed his eyes tiredly, before bowing his head. "I'm sorry. I just, I want you to know that I am truly sorry for my behaviour at the time." He didn't see the teenager's eyes widen. "I'm not waiting for you to forgive me, I know that my behaviour was unacceptable. I saw you grow up, from the little hopeful kid you were, to the determined ninja you became, to the powerful and respected man you are today. At first, I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to see that I was wrong, that you were truly a bright person. But when I couldn't deny it anymore, I was already drowning in my shame." He clenched his fists on his knees. "A lot of people made you suffer, and I'm part of them. I know that I'm late, but I still want you to know that I regret my behaviour. I am sorry. And even if I have no right for that, I also want to thank you. Thank you for never turning your back to us, thank you for still protecting the village. Thank you for staying true to yourself, and for changing our point of views." He bowed his head even lower. "I am sorry, and thank you."
A little moment of silence went by when Naruto stared at the candy-shopkeeper who still wouldn't move his head. His heart was beating faster that usual, and his features were slightly tensed.
"Hey, old man," he started with a wavering voice, "c'mon, raise your head."
Hasegawa straightened up, still looking down. He didn't dare looking up at the kid – the hero – in from of him. How could he ? When he had heard that Uzumaki Naruto, the damned Kyūbi brat, had become a genin, he had felt immensely displeased. And then, he wished that he'd get killed on a mission as soon as possible. During the Chūnin exam, he had been disgusted to see him succeed, and even worse, to see him get cheered on and applaused by so many people.
But there was a bar where shinobis would always meet up close to his shop. He started hearing them talking about him, about his missions, about all the clients he saved, about his sunny personality, his kindness, and "did you know that a princess proposed to him ?", his endearing naivety and idiocy, his humour, his determination to protect his precious people, and so much more. One day, he met him in the street. He saw him fidget for a bit, before heading towards an old lady and asking her shyly if she needed some help to carry her bags. He remembered the apprehension and fear in the kid's eyes, and the way his face lightened up and the shiny grin he gave her when she smiled at him.
And then, he spotted a man nearby glaring at the boy, muttering some curses about him.
He felt nauseous. For the first time in his life, he truly saw the kid who wanted nothing but acceptance. For the first time in a while, he was faced with the sickening feeling of shame and self-hatred, when confronted with the outrageous behaviour he himself arbored towards the child.
From then on, he started following the kid – Naruto's achievements. An inexplicable part of him felt proud when he heard people speak well of him, but guilt was the prior feeling when he thought of the jinchūriki.
The revered Uchiha boy betrayed Konoha, and fought Naruto. The latter was found almost dead in the Valley of the End and spent weeks in the hospital. Anger, disgust, betrayal, pity, compassion, guilt.
Naruto left the village for a long trip with Jiraiya of the Sannin. Apprehension, worry, hope, determination, compassion, guilt.
Naruto came back, grown-up, cheerful, even more determined than before, but a criminal organization of extremely dangerous missing-nins was after him. Relief, pride, anxiety, nostalgy, solidarity, guilt.
The village was attacked. They were after Naruto. The village was shoved to the ground. Naruto wasn't there. Horror, despair, worry, hopelessness... Hope.
Naruto came back. He fought the enemies. He forgave and befriended the enemy who brought everyone back to life. Hope, admiration, wonder, gratitude, shame, and so much guilt.
He had wanted to talk to him afterwards. To properly apologize, to sincerely tell him how proud of him he was, how sorry and guilty he felt. But even when he mustered the courage to confront him, their new hero – even though he had always been a denied one – was too busy with helping all around the village, training and going on missions.
And without even realizing it, another War began. He was surprised to admit that the ninja for whom he worried the most was actually the cheerful jinchūriki.
In the end, Naruto had become a world-renown hero, the Savior, and had come back victorious to his home.
The shopkeeper felt that he owed so much the young shinobi, not only for defending them all against the enemy, but also for saving him from himself. For changing him and making him finally open his eyes.
He was suddenly taken out of his thoughts when he heard a little noise in front of him. When he raised his head, he found a plate of food facing him.
From the other side of the table, Naruto had relaxed and was smiling at him. "Want some ?"
The aged man was at a loss of words. "Wha- … ?"
The blond haired ninja put his elbow on the table, and rested his chin in his palm, before grinning brightly at him. "Well, I ate a lot already, and a meal is always tastier when you share it with someone else, right ?"
The bearded man blinked his eyes quickly to prevent tears from forming. Why. Why ? "Why ?"
The shining grin slowly turned into a more subdued smile. Naruto diverted his gaze to the side and started looking through the window silently for a little while. "You know...", he began in a soft voice, "you're the first person to appologize to me."
Hasegawa froze. That... He couldn't say he was exactly surprised, but...
"I'm already really happy, though," Naruto continued. "I feel at peace in the village. All I ever needed was to be accepted and to feel that I belonged here. But... What you just told me. It actually means a lot to me." He turned his head back to his interlocutor and smiled brightly at him. "So, thank you-ttebayo."
The old Hasegawa lowered his head and bit his lips shakily. He wasn't supposed be thanked.
Naruto was the one who had changed his heart. He had saved the village. He had brought peace to the World.
He wasn't waiting for anything when he came apologizing. He just wanted his message to reach him.
Nevertheless, a big weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. All the bad feelings he had felt towards himself for the last years faded away, leaving place to tears of relief and sorrow.
Acknowlegment and forgiveness could change a man.
And that was why Kurama was staying in the idiotic brat's body. Only he could be so forgiving and bright and kind-hearted, and the fox definitely wasn't moved by that. Still, he couldn't help but feel a puzzling sense of pride when people finally acknowledged his host and truly saw what a beautiful soul he had. Jiji was probably right, after all.
A week later, the candy-shop Tadashi's Sweets had won a new regular.
The End.
