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Naruto woke up to a pair of blue blue eyes staring at him without a hint of judgment or anger. Just pure, unadulterated curiosity and a hint of something soft, like those looks parents gave their children when they thought he wasn’t there. Parents he didn’t have.
Locks of blond hair- just like his own, his eyes widened at that thought- framed the stranger’s pretty face, swaying softly in the wind.
Why was he outside? Last thing he recalled he was locked in his little room in the northern corner of the orphanage, the caretakers calling him a monster and claiming he would ‘ruin everyone's festival mood’ and ‘would be better off de-
“Hello,” the stranger said softly, a gentle, coaxing smile on their lips, “what are you doing out here alone, little one?”
He didn’t know how to respond to that.
“Dunno,” was all he could give to the pretty stranger who squatted down to his height- he liked that, he thought, more than people towering over him constantly, seemingly caging him, “I woke up here,” because he did.
The pretty stranger’s brows furrowed, like the other adults when they got mad. Did he say something wrong again? Oh no, he didn’t want this person who spoke to him so nicely and so softly to start yelling at him too! He didn’t even know why everybody seemed to dislike him so much. Was it because of the whiskers on his face that made him ugly like every other kid said? He couldn’t even get rid of them and the last time he tried to scratch them off it had hurt-
“-Are you okay? Kid?” The stranger was still there, brows furrowed and hands on his shoulders- oh no oh no oh no it was going to hurt-
But nothing came. The hands were just there, stabilizing him. He blinked.
“Kiddo, you’re shaking,” the stranger said quietly, a worried look on their face- a look that never went his way, only to other kids, especially when he went near them. People never worried for the monster, only the other kids who could be hurt by said monster… even though the monster was always, always the one getting hurt, never the other way around.
“Ah,” the stranger made an alarmed noise as they gently lifted their hands from his shoulders- no no no please stay-, “sorry for making you uncomfortable.”
“‘T's okay,” he mumbled, glaring down at his trembling legs- stop doing that!-, “‘t’s not you.”
The stranger made some sort of whimpering sound, one that made him look up- they probably hate me now too- only to see a kind, worried face without a trace of anger.
He was in awe. Not even the old man- or Jiji, as the man had wanted Naruto to call him- had that kind of look. Jiji looked genial and kind, yes, but he looked like that to everyone. The old man visiting him out of all the children in the orphanage only made the other kids meaner. They were jealous that the hokage visited the monster of all people and not them.
So, as much as Naruto enjoyed the solace of the kind old man, it wasn’t worth the aftermath of those meetings where he was screamed at, yelled at, thrown rocks at-
“Do you want to go back home, kid? I can walk you back, if you’d like,” the stranger murmured quietly, soothingly rubbing circles on his back- he didn’t even notice when the other started! How out of it was he?
It felt nice. He didn’t want to go back. The orphanage didn’t feel like a home. Not to him.
If only everybody could be as nice as the stranger in front of him.
Then his stomach rumbled.
There was a moment of silence as he just stared at the stranger, who had wide eyes, in embarrassment. Stupid stomach.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, deciding to just stare down at his hands to not have to look at the kind stranger, “didn’ mean to.”
“Well,” the stranger said, not unkindly, “we could get some food before I send you home, if you would like.”
Naruto blinked before looking up, shocked that anyone would offer to buy him food. Him , the monster , the freak , the-
“You don’ hav’ to!” He quickly yelped, “t’s okay, I’m not tha’ hungry anywa’. My stomach just does tha’ som’times, ya know.”
That was a lie. He barely ate anything yesterday and the day before that. Two days ago he had to raid the storage room in the middle of the night when nobody was looking because he was starving and the caretakers would never give- more like throw- him food except midday when he often got a loaf of bread as hard as rock and some tap water in a cup that looked like it was found in some dirty corner of the orphanage.
He was hungry, but he didn’t want to- want to take advantage of the stranger who was so so nice to him even though he would love to spend more time he couldn’t because they would start to hate him too if the other adults talked to them about him and making the other person pay for his food didn’t feel right-
He didn’t want the stranger in front of him, who looked at him with such kind blue eyes and spoke to him so nicely, to start looking at him meanly too.
The stranger smiled a little sadly as they patted his back, “don’t worry kiddo, this one’s on me. You don’t have to worry about paying me back or anything. Promise.”
It’s not just that, Naruto thought pensively, I’m more worried about you growing to hate me after you hear other people talk badly of me.
He shoved those thoughts away and decided to let himself act freely this once, a chance like this might never come again. You’re starving, Naruto. Who in their right mind would say no to free food?
“Uhm, oka’, thank you then!” He smiled hesitantly at the stranger, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck, “I’ll pay ya bac’ one day, ya know, promise!”
The stranger smiled back, and Naruto felt the weight on his heart lift just a little.
“Well, uhm,” the stranger offered a lopsided grin, “unfortunately, this is my first time in Konoha. Do you perhaps know of a good place to eat?”
That explains a lot.
… He hopes the stranger stays this nice to him even after the villagers whisper that he was a monster to them.
“Of course!” He beamed, leading the other- turns out he was in the park. He probably just fell asleep and had a nightmare there again - towards the only food place that didn’t kick him out and even let him steal from the trash the few times he did, “righ’ t’is way, please!”
—
“Well, seems like you’re all set,” the gruff looking man huffed as he handed back the other’s identification papers, “welcome to Konoha.”
“Thank you,” the blond haired man smiled slightly at the gruff looking man, his blue eyes shining in gratitude and a bit of sympathy as he took the papers back and carefully stored them in his backpack, “I do apologize for taking up so much of your time.”
The older man waved him away, the only tell-tale signs of acknowledgement being the slight upturn of his lips and the hint of mirth in his eyes, “next!”
The blond haired man hummed a little tune to himself as he walked out of the slightly worn down building with a lopsided “Immigration Office” sign on it, hands on his backpack straps as his eyes took in the bustling buildings around him with a light smile on his face.
“It’s so… lively here,” he mused to himself as he watched two little girls sped past him, giggling to each other while carrying something that resembled a bunny plushie.
He only paused for a moment before walking down the street, his eyes glancing at everything and everyone, an expression of wonder etched onto his face.
“-Come and buy an apple! Fresh from Kushi’s farm!-”
“Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you-”
“-Mummy look! Look! So many balloons, can we pretty please get one?-”
“-Awh! Another one? I already have two of Sandaime’s figurines!-”
His grin only widened slightly at the hustle and bustle of the market, carefully weaving in and out of the crowd to ensure he didn’t bump into anyone.
“-Wow, can I please pet your puppy? They look so cute!-”
“-Oh no, your future is a very gloomy one indeed-”
“YOU SHITTY SWINDLER! I’LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!!”
“-Nuh uh, no more taiyaki for you. You’ve eaten so many already-”
“-Have you heard? Apparently they’re still letting the monster run free-”
His grin faltered at the last comment he heard, whipping his head around to see who it was that spoke. A monster?
His eyes caught onto a couple, a man who seemed to be in his forties wearing a dark blue yukata stood next to a woman with heavy makeup on her face, her disdainful expression making her look older than she ought to be.
“We’re in public, Nimani-chan,” the weary looking man shushed the woman who spoke, “don’t talk about that here.”
The so-called “Nimani-chan” rolled her eyes, her irritated expression morphing into a sneer, “so what? Everybody knows about that freak already. We’ve got nothing to hide!”
“Nimani!” The man chastised, his eyes darting around in fear, “Stop talking!”
The blond haired man frowned, but swiftly turned around and kept walking down the street. He was supposedly new to Konoha, so it really was no wonder he had no idea what they were talking about. Perhaps he could look more into it later?
He pretended to not notice the shinobi who landed silently next to that woman moments after he turned around and kept walking, speaking to her in a low, warning tone.
He pretended to not notice that very shinobi had been following him ever since he arrived at Konoha.
—
Kakashi knew the blond man who came out of the immigration office two hours ago was not a threat. Not even remotely threatening, actually. Yet, he couldn’t help but eye the other’s every move with growing agitation as he made his way around the village, taking in anything and everything with something akin to wonder in his eyes. Kakashi knew someone who already knew the layout of the village would not be so oblivious to their surroundings, could tell the details from the minute changes in a potential threat’s expressions- so he was already sure the blond man was just a civilian. A civilian with at most a could-maybe-hold-up-a-transformation-jutsu-for-three-minutes type of meager amounts of chakra in his repertoire. Less than that of an academy student two years into schooling.
Yet, he just could not take his eyes off of the man.
Just a minute longer, he whispered to his aching heart, and I’ll leave him alone.
He kept watch over the man for far longer than just a minute.