Painfully Aware with So Much to Learn

Chapter Twenty: A Dumb Ramen song Away

A dark hand ruffled vibrant yellow hair as a teacher chuckled at his student's antics.

"But I only just finished unpacking!" The jinchuriki whined.

"I think it would be good to head out, I'm sure Jiraiya-sama already informed the hokage of your arrival but you should go talk to your friends." The chunin tried, going back to putting his leftover ramen away.

Naruto suddenly had a burst of energy at 'friends' and ran out the door before Iruka could say goodbye. He skipped down the street, but then he realised how long he was gone.

He slowed to a walk as he saw how people were looking at him. Hate, resentment, annoyance, disgust. All the stares almost forgotten with time, but not quite. Naruto had gotten used to people not paying attention to him or saying friendly hello's. Slowly the tall presentation was dropped, he slouched a little and put his nose to the ground like he had done thousands of times before as people muttered.

'It's back'
'I hoped he would have died on his trip, I don't want my children exposed'
'of course he wouldn't die, he has a sannin under his spell'
'look at how he dresses, he looks like a whore in that tank top'
'I still can't believe hokage-sama let's him wander the streets like a person'
'That filthy demon won't die, will he?'
'He's infected all the genin of his year, I saw a group at the gate waiting for it'

Naruto swallowed hard and sped up his walking, trying to avoid the murmurs, the glares, the rocks being kicked at him. He just sped up like a reflex, because it was. He hoped some time away might make them less ruthless, but two years without a fox hunt must have made their hatred worsen.

He kept walking but he froze at a tiny raven boy with a spikey ponytail, he must have been from the Nara clan. The boy was pointing right at the blonde. "Ew! Mommy it's the demon!" Left his tiny mouth before his mother ushered him into the nearest store. Naruto snapped at that, running as fast as he could into the nearest alleyway, so fast the ground where his feet once stood was charred.

Naruto curled up safely in the dark, right next to a dumpster that had a dent in the side from where his seven-year-old head was bashed in. He didn't mind the bad memories as long as less people could see him, he hid his chakra and curled into a ball. It was a safety precaution he had learned once nin began to join the fox hunt, he knew that if he really wished, he could wipe out Konoha without draining his chakra, so he couldn't get hurt anymore. But the glares were just as potent if not more so. With his slightly uneasy breath he began to hum the old ramen song he made up to distract himself from...things.

He leaned his head against the brick wall and hummed to himself, thinking about all the people who never held those glares. It was a stupid song really, but it reminded him of the family he had cultivated.

Shika POV

Once I had safely left the forest, I looked up at the sky. It looked around four in the afternoon but the sun looked about ready to set as the days grew shorter with seasons pass. I sighed and intertwined my fingers, putting them behind my head to hold my head up as I looked up at the sky. There were a few clouds that drifted by, but the sky was still prominent. I strolled into the village, looking for Naruto through the thick crowds. He wasn't at iciraku's or the hokage tower so I wandered the streets aimlessly when my ears picked up something.

"-won't just die already."

I looked over to the offenders and casually listened in.

"It thinks it can just walk around like person, the demon.'

I was trying to figure out what they were talking about when the other one spoke.

"I hoped Jiraiya-sama took it out of the village to 'deal with' it."

And that's when it hit me. It had been so long without a peep of malcontent that I had almost forgotten how the villagers were. I hated how the villagers spat insults about Naruto but using my shinobi strength on a civilian would surely get me banished. I sighed and continued my search for Naruto, hoping he hadn't heard all of this.

I breathed in, out, and then hummed Naruto's goofy ramen song as I walked. I found the repeatitive silly song to help me keep my composure with thoughts of Naruto.

I hummed and walked down the less crowded streets, running into a distant bratty cousin of mine. I kept walking, and I saw a part of the ground was charred in footprints.

I kept walking until the sun began to set and I stopped at the corner of a building.

I watched the sun set over the colourful buildings of Konoha and hummed to myself, noticing a second voice humming in tune with me, but I didn't react.

It was peaceful there, like I had found something I had lost.

I watch the sun fade into the distance, humming harmoniously with the person in the alley I sat just outside of.

Once the sun had disappeared I spoke up, subtly putting my open hand on to the alleyway ground.

"I'm happy you're home, you were walking so tall when I first saw you."

Not a word was spoken but a slightly smaller hand fit into my own welcoming palm.

"We're all happy you're home, Naruto. A few villagers will never change the relationships you worked so hard to build." I stroked his knuckles with my thumb. "We're here for you and we always will be."

Suddenly I felt a weight on my shoulder and I looked down to see a mop of blonde hair in the dim light, he was staring intently at our hands.

"A kid that looked just like you called me a demon." He said, his voice sounded a little dry as he leaned more into me.

I groaned. "Troublesome, I ran into him earlier too. He's only a fourth Nara but his mother dyes his hair black and puts it in a ponytail so he looks closer. She wants to get her son to be heir after my father so she can live a rich life." I said bitterly, squeezing the blonde's hand a little at the thought of how much that tore me apart when I was younger.

Naruto squeezed back with equal force. "The thought of being replaced by your own family, that must've been hard. Did you have to deal with this while I was away?" He asked worriedly, I gave a sigh.

"Troublesome knucklehead, you don't have to worry about me-" I was cut off when my hand was squeezed tighter, signifying that I hadn't answered the question. "It bothered me a bit back when I had just turned thirteen, back when being clan heir was pretty much all I had going for me. But your being there helped me with that." I said honestly, the blonde on my shoulder let out a tired sigh.

"But don't you realise, Shikamaru? Even back in the academy, I always considered you a friend. I've always been there for you, even when you didn't want me."
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Happy one month anniversary of writing this! Also twentieth chapter!🎉🎉🎉🎉
I made this one a bit longer to make up for the short chapter, usually they're around 1000 words but this one is near 1300 because the last was 700. Thank you for reading!!!
                                                      ~Gracie