twelve
Naruto watched the trio carefully. From what he knew of them so far, Lee would hit first. Neji would wait for the ‘right’ moment and Tenten would try and nail him from afar with one of her weapons while the boys distracted him. It had been the pattern that emerged from their fight with Gai-sensei and he knew they wouldn’t have changed it in two days. That made things simple.
Lee sped forward and swung a fist and Naruto grinned viciously. He ducked out of the way of the telegraphed move and grabbed the taller boy’s arm, locking his knees and flinging him into the dirt. That had given the Hyūga time to creep up on his right and shove a palm out. Naruto dodged around that too, observing the pale Byakugan in his eyes. He’d never had the chance to get a look this close before. It was a damn good bloodline limit but the clansmen were too arrogant to admit it had weaknesses.
Gai-sensei had said anything goes but he knew there were still limits. He couldn’t hospitalise them or cause permanent damage; honestly, if this was an enemy in the field he would just chop his hands off. It would make it damn hard to use his clan’s jutsu then. He bobbed and swayed around the Hyūga’s jabs; he was fast for a green genin but his stance was too rigid. He couldn’t adapt quick enough.
He led him towards Tenten and she moved, flinging three kunai at him. She was quick too but needs to work more on moving targets. He grabbed two out of the air, spinning to avoid Neji’s next blow and flung them right at Lee’s face, allowing the third to slice through a part of his hoodie. The genin had been getting closer to their fight and was forced to duck out of the way of the sharp blades. Neji took this moment to jab at one of Naruto’s central chakra points and Naruto slapped his forearm to the side with a flat palm and kicked Neji square in the chest. The Hyūga was forced back, the air being audibly knocked out of him.
The Hyūga he went to the academy with had the same issue; straight arms were pretty easy to shove to the side if you were quick enough.
He wasn’t doing too badly; it was tougher than fighting Sasuke just from the numbers advantage but it was a whole lot easier than Gai-sensei. His teacher had never once gone easy on his during their apprenticeship and Naruto was delighted to see the results of this finally coming through. Lee flung himself into the opening and threw a punch at Naruto’s face. He was just barely able to raise his arms, taking the punch on his forearms. It actually stung a little and Naruto had to admit that Lee might be physically stronger than him.
“Lee!”
The boy jumped back and Naruto turned in time to see a wall of shuriken coming his way. His hands flew through the hand signs automatically.
“Fūton:Boufuu Kyouzuu no Jutsu!” he called out, feeling the wind swirl up around him and push outwards.
The many shuriken were swept up in his technique, scattering them across the sky haphazardly. Most fell to the ground without any issues but some were knocked back into Tenten herself. She dove to the side to avoid her own weapons as the wind started to die down. Naruto was lucky that Kakashi liked to test his grasp on ninjutsu by ambushing him; the jounin had pulled the same kind of trick four months ago. It hadn’t gone as well.
He faced the three genin, grinning. They all faced him, having come together in a group in the wake of his technique. Each of them looked a bit ruffled and Naruto considered them for a moment. He could probably overwhelm them with ninjutsu since it was apparent none of them knew any themselves. On the other hand, he much preferred to beat them with his own two hands. It would be more educational anyway and it wasn’t like he was Gai-sensei; they would get much worse from him as his students. He would know.
“You’re so strong, Naruto-senpai!” Lee called out to him, beaming.
“Or you’re just weak,” he called back, grinning as he saw the other two genin bristle. Lee was unphased.
“We have much to learn from you, senpai!” Lee laughed. “Let us continue our battle and push ourselves to new heights in our training!”
“The outcome of his battle has already been decided,” Neji spoke up.
“You’re right,” Naruto folded his arms. “You’re going to lose.”
Despite his ‘fate’ bullshit, Naruto could tell Neji was getting angry at him. Naruto was a little annoyed at him too so he kept pushing.
“Why bother to fight at all?” he taunted. “Just lie down and die if that’s what fate has in mind for you.”
“Fate has decided your path too,” Neji snapped back. “We cannot escape the circumstances of our birth.”
Naruto narrowed his eyes. This asshole was really starting to annoy him now.
“Fate can go fuck itself,” he retorted. “I make my own path.”
“You should not try to exceed your natural limitations,” Neji sniped back. “You should know your place.”
Something snapped in Naruto at that phrase; that fucking phrase that people have been using against him his whole damn life. According to the village it was Naruto’s fate to fail and die, taking the Kyūbi with him. He’d been fighting what others had decided was his place his whole life and this green genin had the gall to tell him to know his place? He looked at the newly formed team, having eyes only for the Hyūga.
He lunged forward, throwing a punch at Tenten. She blocked with one arm and retaliated instinctively but Naruto grabbed her fist and drove it into the ground. He spun and brought his leg up, slamming it into the side of her lowered head and she crumpled like a leaf. The other two stared at him for a moment, not expecting the quick and vicious attack.
Naruto ignored Gai-sensei’s voice announcing Tenten’s defeat as he channelled chakra into his hands, grabbing a chunk of earth to hurl at the Hyūga. He deflected it easily but it kicked up a cloud of smoke which is exactly what Naruto wanted. He dove towards Lee and managed to land a kick to his side before the taller genin started to fight back.
Naruto blocked each blow, knowing it probably bruise, but he couldn’t feel it through his fury. He needed this idiot out of the way. He cursed as he activated his bloodline limit; he wanted to beat them without it. Lee was too good and Naruto needed him out of the way before Neji found the opening he was looking for. He danced back a few steps as Lee gained on him; then he saw it. He moved and Lee automatically followed, eyes widening as his feet got tangled up and he lost his balance. Lee managed to recover into a back handspring but Naruto had accounted for this.
He slammed his foot into Lee’s exposed back and genin went down. He stomped on his arm and felt the bone giving away beneath his foot. Lee called out in pain but Naruto didn’t even register it, turning to face his true foe. Gai-sensei called Lee out and Naruto ducked beneath Neji’s outstretched arm.
He dances out of reach of the Hyūga and stares at him with burning eyes.
“I don’t need them,” the Hyuga said coldly. “They are weak; they would not have changed the outcome of this fight.”
“You’re a coward.”
Neji narrowed his eyes, the pale Byakugan still activated.
“What?”
“I said you are a fucking coward,” Naruto said back slowly, venom dripping from his voice. “You are a coward who blames fate when things are shit. You don’t take responsibility for your own life. You act like this poor victim of fate and shove that into everyone else’s faces but the truth is you use it as an excuse for your own weakness.”
Neji couldn’t hide his own rage at Naruto’s words. He lunged forward and Naruto met him blow for blow. He was careful to make sure Neji’s glowing hands didn’t touch him and his own bloodline limit was singing. He could see each of Neji’s movements in perfect clarity and since he was faster than the Hyūga, he could actually do something about them. It was a big change from constantly losing to Kakashi.
He landed a punch on Neji’s face and forced the genin back. He twisted to avoid Neji’s retaliation and swept his legs. Neji just barely avoided going down, but Naruto gave him the time to recover. He wasn’t done with him yet.
This happened again and again. Naruto stole the advantage but allowed Neji the space to recover. He could see the frustration in the Hyūga’s face but he was uncompromising. The rage had refined itself into a sharp fury and Naruto didn’t just want to beat this boy; he wanted to destroy him. He wanted to take his stupid ideas about fate and smash them until they were unrecognisable.
“Fighting awful hard for someone who thinks this battle is already decided,” he sneered as Neji panted before him. The genin was covered in dirt and his once impeccable uniform was torn and rumpled. His long hair was tangled and his pale eyes were burning with rage. He didn’t know what he himself looked like but he didn’t really care.
He heard Gai-sensei say his name but Naruto ignored him. He couldn’t stop now.
“Why bother training? Why become a genin? If your entire life is predestined, why bother?” he pushed.
“I was born to the branch family,” Neji spat. “I was born to be servant to the main house. I’m better, stronger than half of them but that will never matter. I am bound by my birth as are you.”
“So what if you were born a servant?” Naruto shot back. “If you’re not happy with that shit, then change it.”
“I can’t!” Neji screamed at him, tearing off his hitai-ate to reveal a seal on his forehead. “I have been branded with my destiny. One foot wrong and they can tear me right back down. I cannot fight my destiny!”
“If they tear you down, build yourself back up faster.”
“It doesn’t work like that!”
“Have you even tried? Yeah, you were born with a shit lot in life but guess what, so are loads of people!” Naruto yelled. “What are you going to do when they brand the next person, watch and tell them that they just have to suck it up?”
This question seemed to stop Neji short but Naruto just continued.
“My destiny was to die!” he raged. “Everyone in this godforsaken village have been telling me that since I was born! Did I roll over and die? Fuck no, I’m going to become one of the strongest fuckers in this hellhole and all of them will have to eat shit!”
He took a deep breath, muttering ‘Katon: Engeki’. Orange flames flashed into existence over his closed fists. He sped forward and Neji was unable to block in time, fatigue dragging his limbs down. Naruto landed a fist square on his jaw and Neji hit the deck. He let his jutsu go as he stared down at the Hyūga.
“You don’t like the way things are?” he said, his volume lower. “Then do something about it. Whining isn’t going to change anything.”
He doesn’t look at Gai-sensei as he stomps out of the training grounds.
Kakashi entered the training ground to find Naruto punching his favourite log. The genin ignored his presence and Kakashi waited patiently, bringing out his book to flick through as he waited for Naruto get fed up with being watched.
“What?” Naruto finally snapped, twirling around to glare at him.
“Did you have fun yesterday?”
The genin’s face soured immediately.
“Of course you were watching, you bastard.”
He turned away and resumed hitting the log a little harder than before. Kakashi just continued watching him.
Naruto had changed since they met two years ago, in more ways than one. Skill wise he was growing at an incredible rate, which could be attributed to his endless stamina and single-minded determination when it came to training. He would be a force of nature when he was older, especially if he learnt to handle his swords properly. Kakashi could see him as an elite jounin one day and he had no doubt Naruto would make it happen, hell or high water. He could probably take the chunin exams tomorrow.
He was also less resistant to ninjutsu. He preferred to incorporate it into his taijutsu but they’d made a lot of progress. He was very good with wind techniques in particular although fire wasn’t far behind. His control over his bloodline limit too had come on leaps and bounds. He was just about fast enough to keep up with it now and he knew that both the bloodline limit and Naruto’s speed would only keep increasing, like it did for Minato-sensei.
The biggest area Kakashi had seen the change was in his attitude. He was still grumpy and a contrary little shit but he wasn’t so rough around the edges now. He wasn’t as angry and had stopped lashing out over the little things. He poked fun at Kakashi but not maliciously and Kakashi gave as good as he got. He was avoidant of the villagers but he also hadn’t seen him clash with any of them in ages. Gai had softened the boy, not that Naruto would ever admit that.
It was pretty funny to see their dynamic sometimes; overly positive, rambunctious Gai with grumpy, vulgar Naruto. The thing that made it funnier was it that it was clear how much Naruto adored Gai. He would tell everyone else to go fuck themselves but if Gai asked, he followed instructions perfectly. One word from Gai was enough to stop Naruto in his tracks. Kakashi knew he and Naruto got on, in their own way, but nothing came close to the loyalty Naruto had for Gai. He was the only adult that he trusted.
It’d been a while since he’d seen Naruto snap like he did yesterday. The fact that he had ignored Gai was an even bigger deal. He’d overheard their battle and knew there wasn’t much that could have been done to prevent the outcome of the fight. Neji and Naruto would have clashed over their viewpoints at some point and he honestly hoped that he’d managed to knock some sense into the Hyūga. That kind of attitude would not fly as a shinobi.
Kakashi suspected there was something deeper to this though. He’d known the minute Gai had been assigned a new team that there would be the risk of Naruto becoming jealous. He’d had Gai all to himself for two years and was extremely attached to the jounin. Now he had to share him with people around his age, who he didn’t like on a good day. It didn’t seem like it was an issue yet but it might be something he’d have to talk to Gai about. Naruto didn’t trust adults and he couldn’t afford to lose the only one he did.
“I have something for you.”
Naruto let loose one final hard punch and turned back to him, waving a hand for him to get on with it. Kakashi eye-smiled and held out a piece of paper. Naruto took it, frowning.
“I promised you chakra paper,” he explained.
“Fucking ages ago,” Naruto shot back, turning over the slip in his hand. “Late for fucking everything.”
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He was in a very foul mood today.
“Channel your chakra into it.”
Naruto did as told without further comments and the page split cleanly down the middle.
“Wind,” Kakashi announced. “As I suspected.”
“Are we done now?” Naruto scowled.
“Are you still angry about yesterday?” Kakashi asked directly. “They’re all fine. The hospital didn’t keep them; they’re all healed up and on D-ranks with Gai as we speak.”
Naruto’s face darkened.
“They don’t deserve him,” he muttered petulantly.
“Irrelevant,” Kakashi answered flatly. “Gai isn’t earned and it’s not a matter of deserving. Can you tell me that they are not going to better off for training with him?”
Naruto’s silence was deafening.
“Do you think Gai is mad at you for yesterday?”
Naruto glared at the ground in response.
“Gai knows you’re an asshole,” Kakashi said, trying to lighten the mood a little. “He doesn’t hold it against you.”
“Look you don’t have to lie to me,” Naruto snapped. “I know I went too far for a spar.”
Kakashi looked at him for a long moment. Was Naruto feeling…guilty? That was something he’d never seen from the kid before.
“You did.”
Naruto gestured helplessly to the air.
“I know he wanted me to stop, but that Hyūga needed a kick up the ass,” he said, a little quieter.
“True,” Kakashi agreed, not commenting on Naruto’s surprised expression at his response. “I also think there was a better way to go about it than losing your temper and stomping on some green genin.”
Naruto scoffed but Kakashi could tell he was listening.
“How long are you going to avoid Gai?”
Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned back to his log. Kakashi took that as his answer and made his way out of the training ground. Gai and Naruto would be fine. He would give it a week before Naruto got over himself enough to apologise.
Naruto ran across the rooftops, not sparing a glance for the bustling village below. It had been two days since he beat Gai-sensei’s new genin and the awful, twisty feeling his gut hadn’t subsided. He’d never had this before and he hated it. He’d never worried about effect of his actions before since it was mainly directed at people who deserved it or it was a necessity at the time.
He didn’t feel guilty about taking Lee and Tenten out of the fight. He was a little ruthless about it but they were trying to be shinobi. That was nothing compared to what would be waiting for them in the future. He also didn’t feel guilty about his actions towards Neji; he needed to get a clue and Naruto wouldn’t have even bothered if the prick hadn’t told him to know his place. He didn’t do it to help; he just wanted to knock him down a peg or two. It was every time he thought of Gai-sensei that the discomfort began. He hadn’t listened when Gai-sensei had said his name to stop and he did enough damage that they needed the healers. He felt dread at the thought of having disappointed Gai-sensei and he had no idea what to do. It was something he’d never experienced before so he had taken to just avoiding them all.
He missed his training session with Gai early this morning, sending a hawk to inform him that he was too busy with missions to attend. It wasn’t even a lie since he’d gone to the Mission Assignment Desk and asked for every single C-rank going. He was on his fourth and it was only midday. The distraction helped but he felt stuck.
This would never have happened if he hadn’t told Gai-sensei to get a team; he slightly regretted agreeing to it now. He couldn’t argue Kakashi’s point that they would benefit from Gai-sensei’s teaching since he was the best taijutsu teacher in the whole village but they would have been fine with any jounin-sensei. Naruto only had Gai; no one else would have treated him fairly.
He bounced across to the next rooftop, rolling to break his fall. Since he was apprenticed to Gai, he couldn’t leave the village on missions without him but there was plenty to do in the village itself. Guard duty didn’t start for another two hours so Naruto had taken all the delivery missions available. He was almost finished though; he might have to see if he could start guard duty early.
As he bounded across the next roof, he caught a glimpse at the road below. He spotted a man in a jounin uniform walking along, talking to a purple-haired woman. The thing that caught his attention though was the katana strapped to his back. Naruto stopped in his tracks and peered over the edge of the roof at the pair, deciding that his client could wait a couple of minutes.
He was pretty plain, wearing black shinobi clothes and an olive green jounin vest. Floppy brown hair hung out of the navy bandana that covered his head, but Naruto couldn’t see his face from here. He was a little taller than the woman but his body language was weird. He seemed tired and he kept coughing like he had a bad cold or something. He might not be active if he was sick. The woman was dressed in the same black shinobi clothes and jounin vest; the only difference was her shirt was sleeveless, replacing them with black gloves to her biceps. Her long, straight hair hung down to her waist and she seemed better, not coughing at all. Naruto hadn’t seen them around before but he tended to avoid everyone so that wasn’t new.
He followed them as they walked towards the edge of the village, away from the busy marketplace. Naruto had thought he’d managed to get away with it when the guy looked up.
“You going to tell us why you’re following us?
Naruto walked down the side of the building until he faced them on the road. Now he was closer, the guy looked even worse. His skin was pale and the bags beneath his eyes were dark. His cheeks were slightly sunken in and even as Naruto looked at him, the man coughed into a handkerchief. The woman was watching him with curious brown eyes, much more tan than her companion.
“Do you know how to use that katana?” Naruto asked, straight to the point.
“I like to think so,” the man replied easily.
Naruto debated with himself for a moment. He didn’t want to ask for help but he wasn’t getting very far with the scrolls he’d gotten from the capital last year. He followed the katas and images on the pages but he had no idea if he was doing it right. He wanted to master his ancestors’ techniques and combine them with his bloodline limit but that required a teacher.
“Would you teach me?” He said reluctantly.
“Are you a dual-wielder?” the man responded, gesturing to the swords strapped to Naruto’s back.
“I want to be,” he confirmed. “I have a bunch of scrolls about my clan kenjutsu but I need someone to teach me the basics. You’re the first person I’ve seen that actually carries one.”
“Do we get a name?” The woman interrupted, amused.
Naruto was sure they already knew his name but if he was even going to start convincing them, he should at least try to be polite.
“Uzumaki Naruto,” he stated firmly, watching them carefully for their reaction.
They shared a look and Naruto prepared for the worst.
“Gai’s student?” the man confirmed and Naruto blinked. That wasn’t usually people’s first thought.
“Yeah,” he said slowly.
The man nodded.
“I can, but not very often.” He stopped to cough. “I can teach you for a couple hours a week but a lot of the work will still be done on your own. I’ll also need to look at those scrolls you mentioned. Sound good?”
Naruto didn’t reply at first, just staring at the jounin. It couldn’t be that easy; nothing was ever that easy, especially for him. This guy had to know who he was, what he contained. He couldn’t even buy groceries without a world of hassle yet he gets a kenjutsu teacher like that? He was expecting to have to fight tooth and nail to convince this guy to even consider it.
“You alright?” The woman asked in a gentle tone.
Naruto mentally shook himself; he could wonder about this later. He would have to keep watch for ulterior motives or the usual bullshit but even if he got one lesson out of this, that was one more from where he was right now. He would never get strong enough if he let chances like this pass him by.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “That sounds good.”
“I’m Gekkō Hayate,” the man introduced himself. “Just call me Hayate. This is my girlfriend Uzuki Yugao. She’s also a kenjutsu user so you might be able to pry a few tips out of her now and then.”
Yugao rolled her eyes fondly. Naruto could tell the pair of them were close.
“I have to go,” he gestured to the bag on his back. “What day and time?”
“Sunday noon should work for me.”
“And what do you want for it?” Naruto couldn’t stop himself from asking.
Hayate gave him a long, measured look that Naruto didn’t know how to read.
“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled, turning to cough into his handkerchief once again.
Naruto would do nothing but worry about it. People didn’t do things for free; there was always a price. Gai-sensei was the only person he knew that was the exception to this rule and he hadn’t met another since. He nodded anyway and gave them a small wave, walking his way back up the side of the buildings to the rooftops. He would worry about it later; right now he had a genin team to avoid.
Tenten pulled the weed from the ground, dumping it into the bag next to her. D-rank were not nearly as exciting as they’d been described at the academy. Painting fences, fetching groceries and weeding gardens made it feel like she was just doing chores rather than real missions but they made up for it by training a lot outside of them. It had become apparent during their fight with Gai’s apprentice that they still had a long way to go.
She’d been taken out first but she’d she hadn’t been knocked out completely so she was able to hear what Neji and Naruto were yelling about. She’d always admired Neji’s strength; it was hard not to when he was the strongest person in their class by a huge margin. His taijutsu was so smooth and she was amazed that he could be so good at their age. He’d always seemed more mature too. He was just really cool. She knew he believed in fate and stuff but hadn’t really thought much of it. Most of the time in the academy when he’d brought it up, it had been to tell others they would lose to him and it had come true every time. She hadn’t realised how deep it went. No one had ever challenged Neji on his philosophy before and Naruto had stomped all over it.
Gai had gathered them round after their visit to the healer and gave feedback on their fight. He’d finished it by saying that Naruto would be the best person to tell them what they needed to work on since he was the one fighting them but they would need to wait as Naruto was on missions. He’d said it much more dramatically and with several references to youth but Tenten was slowly learning to speak ‘Gai’. Neji had been quiet since the fight and Lee had gotten even more intense about everything but Tenten was more concerned about herself.
Looking back at the fight, she hadn’t done anything. Her weapons had been so easily swept aside by jutsu and she hadn’t even landed a hit on Naruto. She’d been taken out first. She was supposed to be the strongest kunoichi of her year and she prided herself on her proficiency with weaponry. It was something she’d worked so hard at outside of the academy and to have it so completely swept aside, it was frustrating.
She’d always felt like she had to go the extra mile to be considered as good as the boys. There weren’t many girls at the academy and it was obvious that they were expected to specialise in different areas to the guys; healing, genjutsu, poison, seduction. Tenten had no interest in any of them but it had always felt like no one would take her seriously when she talked about becoming a weapons master. Konoha had never had a female one and Tenten wanted to change that. She’d worked hard at the academy and she knew that while she was top kunoichi, she was better than most of the boys there too. When she proclaimed her dream of becoming the best weapons mistress in Konoha, she meant the best out of everyone although no one saw it that way.
The fight with Naruto revealed just how far away from her goal she really was. She may have been good enough for the academy but being a genin was a whole other level. Naruto had spent two years with Gai; would she be that strong in two years? It also wasn’t going to be enough to just be good with weapons. She needed a back-up in case something like that fight happened again. She’d thrown herself into the physical conditioning and taijutsu practice, keeping up with her male teammates despite the exhaustion and pain.
Tenten was going to be the best. She didn’t care how hard she had to work or long it took. She was actually grateful to Naruto; he may have been ruthless about it, but he’d shown her the way forward. She’d been shown her true ability, with any false pretence torn away, so she could now start building a true foundation. She was just getting started.
Naruto stopped short when he saw Gai-sensei waiting for him in the training ground. He felt his heart drop to his stomach and for a moment he debated just getting out of there. He really didn’t want to do this.
Then Gai-sensei smiled at him and Naruto froze.
“Naruto-kun!” Gai-sensei bounded over to him. “You are so Youthful, working so hard on the behalf of Konoha! When I was informed about the number of missions you have undertaken this week, I was so moved! Your Will of Fire is burning so brightly for all to see!”
Naruto blinked. Gai-sensei had to know Naruto had done it to avoid him, not for the village’s benefit. Why was he playing dumb?
“Team Nine have been working even harder since your battle!” Gai-sensei continued cheerfully. “Your shining example of Youth have moved them too and they are striving to blossom in their own Springtime of Youth!”
He couldn’t stand this. Why wouldn’t Gai-sensei just get it over with?
“I know you’re mad,” Naruto sighed. “You don’t have to pretend to be happy or whatever.”
Gai-sensei raised a bushy eyebrow at him.
“Why would I be angry, Naruto-kun?”
“I…went too far,” he admitted reluctantly. “I beat up your new team and yelled at them and stuff.”
“You fought them honestly,” Gai-sensei replied seriously. “You fought them to the best of your abilities and while your anger was strong, you did not let it take over completely. Your words to Neji-kun may have been borne from anger but they were not intended to hurt. You wished to expand his perception of himself and others around him.”
“But I didn’t stop when you told me to!” Naruto snapped back, unable to believe that Gai really wasn’t mad.
“I do not recall asking you to cease fighting,” Gai-sensei placed his hands on his hips.
Naruto stopped short.
“But you said my name…”
“I was moved by the depth of your feelings,” Gai-sensei smiled at him, softer than his usual manic grin. “Naruto-kun, you are a very passionate shinobi. When I asked you to fight our team, I knew you would push them beyond their own limitations so that they can continue to flourish into strong shinobi. You did your best and did not hold back, which is all I can ask of my students.”
Naruto was at a loss. Gai-sensei…wasn’t mad at him? He didn’t go too far? He knew Gai valued him as student but he’d been his only student. He’d doubted that with the addition of new, non-pariah genin that Gai-sensei would see him the way he did before. Everyone favoured other people over him and he wasn’t usually bothered by it but this was Gai-sensei. He didn’t want to lose his teacher.
“I believe they learned valuable lessons from you,” Gai-sensei grinned, his usual energetic demeanour returning. “The strength of your feelings made it through to them!”
Naruto felt himself relax. Gai-sensei really wasn’t mad at him; he hadn’t fucked this up. He knew he was a bit difficult but Gai-sensei had never cared before. It appeared that the only person that had thought things would change with the new team was Naruto. Gai-sensei was still there for him and cared about Naruto for exactly who he was.
“Thanks, Gai-sensei,” he smiled genuinely up at his teacher.
Gai-sensei beamed back at him.
“Anytime, Naruto-kun! You are my precious apprentice and I will always be here to help you reach the peak of your Springtime of Youth!”
Naruto just continued smiling, hoping that Gai-sensei would never change.