The Real Me

22

Lately, Naruto had been acting weird. For starters, he wasn't talking as much as he used to and his actions were lousy, like he didn't care, about anything.

Sasuke, along with the rest of the Konoha 12 found this incredibly suspicious.
"More like weird." Kiba said. They were hanging out under a tree near the weekly market and the only one not there was Naruto.
It wasn't like they ever invited him to join though...

"Maybe he's plotting something? Making us insecure?" Ino said with her eyes wide.
"Insecure?! Him not talking makes you INSECURE? " Shikamaru was bewildered.
"Hey that's totally not what I meant!" She retorted.

"Maybe he's sick? And honestly? I don't understand why we're all worrying about it so much? Why do you care?" Sakura scoffed, disgust and confusion lacing her voice.

"Like it or not Sakura, he is one of us now and we have to look out for him. For the village." Neji noted. He wasn't a huge fan of Naruto, specially since he was the Demon Fox. His fate was sealed. He was meant to be hated.

"I hate it when you make sense." Kiba tched.('tched' is a word that should be used more often, honestly)

Just then they saw Naruto. "Speak of the devil..." Tenten muttered. He was walking along the market looking at goods that the merchants of other villages brought.

"Do you think he's looking for a special type of Ramen?" Lee asked, totally curious.

"Who knows." Sasuke replied.
To their surprise, he stopped at a shop which sold extensively made swords and Katanas. The merchant seemed to know Naruto and handed him the best sword on display with a smile. Naruto held it in one hand and then on his palm, balancing it. In a quick motion he twirled the sword and held it up with astounding grace.

"Whoa. Did he...did. He just do that? With a sword?" Tenten asked. Being a weapon master she knew exactly how hard it was.
"I guess he did." Shino said.
"Since when did he know how to use a sword?" Kiba  asked. "Has anyone ever seen him use a sword before."

"Once. On our first mission. That too a clone was using it." Sasuke noted, remembering that moment

They watched quietly as Naruto removed a scroll  and summoned a Katana, handing it to the man.
"Yeah, that's what he was using." Sasuke pointed out.

Naruto held his Katana as the merchant took it from him. A younger woman- his daughter probably- came out and smiled at the blonde and took the Katana in. Naruto followed her in.

"I wanna have a look at this merchant." Tenten said. So the 11 of them went to that shop.

The man wasn't so old, around 38. He smiled at the group and asked them what they were looking for.
"Uh, what's your name sir?" Sakura asked him.

"My name is Mr. Yoshizuke and I bring the best quality swords from the Land Of Steel. "He said. Sasuke went ahead and picked up a Kunai, the blade was the sharpest that he had ever seen, the best indeed. He asked about the sword that Naruto had just used.
"Oh she is Mitsuyu. Isn't she a beauty? Mind you it's quite heavy." He said gently placing the sword in his hand. It had a dark blue handle and a slightly curved blade.

Sasuke was surprised at the weight of it. He could barely hold it straight with one hand.
"Who was that guy you gave this to some time ago?" Sasuke asked. He wanted to know how exactly did this man know Naruto.

"Oh that boy. Well he once saved my daughter and so I gave him the best Katana that I had. He still uses it and that red haired friend of his teaches him.   He's still a valuable customer, perfectly analysing the qualities of a sword. He's in right now. My daughter is probably sharpening his Katana at the moment. " He smiled as he said this.

The group thanked him and departed, Sasuke's brow furrowed as he thought about the man's words.
"Who's the red haired man he spoke of?" He finally asked.
All of them shrugged.
How annoying. Sasuke thought.
Guess only one guy can answer that question. "Should we ask him? About everything?" This was spoken softly and they turned to see that it was Hinata who had spoken.

"I'm not sure... It isn't exactly the best thing to do, and what makes you think he will tell you anything?" Neji answered.

As much as they disliked it they all had to agree. They promised never to breath a word of all that had happened today to anyone. They would find out. Someday.

Someday, they would find out everything about Naruto Uzumaki.

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A/N

Tbh, i had quite a lot of problem with this chapter. Chhe.

Anyone LoveS Fall out boy? And R3hab?
Anyways. Tell me if y'all like it. Anything I should work on? Anything I should do more?

Vote, comment, share and follow!

PS. I noticed that people in general (around me) tend to ignore my mssgs and texts. It just makes me wanna stop. You know. Stop "bothering" them. Anyone else feels the same way?

Yours Truly,
23