ᴅᴇꜱᴛɪɴʏ ʀᴇʙɪʀᴛʜ|ⁿᵃʳᵘᵗᵒˣⁿᵃʳᵘᵏᵒ

Truth

"So," began Naruko as she walked backwards while facing Naruto, "Where exactly are you from, Naruto-san?"

Following at a slightly sedate pace, Naruto just shrugged. "I've told you, I'll explain everything once we meet Hokage-sama. It's not something I can freely tell to anyone. I'm sorry."

Naruko pouted, earning a chuckle from the male blonde. "Fine, but you owe me!"

Naruto chuckled. "Hai, hai..."

The two of them were currently walking through the village of Konoha towards the Hokage Mansion, which was located just under the Hokage Monument at the back of the village. Naruto was hit yet again by a sense of nostalgia as he gazed upon the great stone faces of the previous Hokages, elegantly carved into the mountain. He maintained his gaze at the face furthest to the right, where Namikaze Minato's monument stood. He silently prayed for his father and mother, and renewed his vow to defeat Kaguya once and for all.

It was about noon, and the village was as lively as Naruto remembered, and it made him quite happy. Hawkers and shopkeepers were busy selling their goods, children were all playing tag and 'ninja', while the adults were milling about their daily routines. The peaceful and lively atmosphere reminded Naruto about why Konoha shinobi fight in the first place. And here was the reason that he would do anything to protect them, if he can.

"Don't worry kit," Kurama said from within him, "You'll definitely save them this time — you have me remember?"

'Thanks for the vote of confidence you cocky Kitsune,' Naruto mentally replied with a smile, earning a howl of laughter from his tenant.

"Besides, you also have your counterpart as well, and by Kami, she's one pretty little lady!" Kurama commented with a wolfish whistle, "She's smart, mature and very much kunoichi material, definitely unlike you when you were her age. Maybe you should go for her kit! She's definitely a good mating material!"

Naruto stumbled slightly, shocked out of his wits. He waved off Naruko's concerns as he continued walking as if nothing happened. Although many wouldn't notice it, Naruto actually had a small blush on his face as he mentally frowned.

'Shut up, Kurama, just stop it... she's my sister damn it!'

To his chagrin, Kurama only laughed louder.

As Naruto looked around while trying fight down his blush and tune out the slightly perverted Bijū's comments, he noticed that the villagers who saw Naruko... weren't glaring at her or ignoring her as he would normally expect. In fact, they were actually greeting and waving at her, and the bubbly girl just waved back with a huge smile. That was when Naruto realized one of the major deviations of this dimension with his own — Uzumaki Naruko was already acknowledged by the village much, much earlier than Naruto's.

The very thing he fought for all his life, and he only got the recognition when he saved the village from Nagato's Six Paths of Pain, sixteen years later.

Naruto then felt a sense of envy well up inside him at his counterpart's treatment. He knew it was wrong to feel that way, but that particular emotion came up unannounced. How he wished the villagers back in his time would acknowledge him this early in his life, the he wouldn't have to put up with the constant glares and harsh treatment from the villagers. He wouldn't have been alone, unwanted.

Suddenly, a wave of soothing energy washed over him, and he noticed that Kurama was flooding his chakra coils with the calming effects of his Yang chakra, and Naruto sighed in content. 'Thanks Kurama... I needed that.'

"Don't mention it, and I think your crush is worried about you~" Kurama sang out at the end, making Naruto frown mentally.

'I don't have a— ' he never finished the mental statement, because at that moment, his vision was blocked out by the cute face of Naruko, her face showing concern for the blonde male. He also noticed the close proximity between their faces, and he immediately blushed. 'Damn these teenaged hormones...'

It also didn't help when his tenant was teasing him all the while.

"Naruto-san, are you alright?" Naruko asked with concern, "Your face looked sad all of a sudden."

Naruto shook his head and sighed as he smiled sadly at her. "You noticed huh?" he chuckled dryly. The way he chuckled reminded Naruko of someone truly sad and lonely... like how she had been when she was younger, and couldn't help but find it similar, "I'm an orphan you know, my parents died protecting my home village from a walking natural disaster."

Ignoring the indignant snort from a certain fox, he continued, "Ever since then, the villagers had always hated it, as they lost loved ones during the disaster, and they needed a scapegoat to vent out their sadness and anger. They found it in me."

Naruko's eyes widened in shock as she immediately related the male blonde's plight with her own, a couple of years ago.

"The villagers always hated me, glared at me, ignored me, even going so far as overcharging spoilt goods and chasing me out of the village on my birthdays, as it's the same date as when the natural disaster struck." He continued, "Every day I tried to get them to acknowledge me for me, not for the things that I couldn't possibly control. I played pranks on the villagers just to get their attention — even while negative it was far better than the glares and them pretending that I didn't exist in their minds."

The whole backstory of his was him thinking on the fly, but the emotions in them were real and genuine. He only twisted the tale of his mom and dad's to better suit his own version, but the emotions in them held true.

Naruto didn't even know he was crying until something wet slid down his face, and he reached up to wipe them away. He honestly couldn't believe how a story he made up on the fly could get him to cry, but he got the message across at least. He looked up to see that Naruko had stopped walking, and was crying tears of her own.

He smiled a little in happiness. Someone was crying for him, even if it was for his plight. That was new for him.

"I-I'm sorry..." she started, voice uneven and watery due to the crying, "I-I shouldn't h-have brought it up. I'm sorry!"

Naruto shook his head with a kind smile. "Don't worry. It's not your fault." He soothed, gesturing to the scene around him. "The lively atmosphere here reminded me of what I could've had... and what I can have."

"But still," Naruko sniffed, "I-I was the one who opened old wounds. Please forgive my insensitivity!"

She bowed low, tears still falling from her eyes. She felt horrible at opening a wound that couldn't easily be healed — she knew that better than anyone. She felt so useless and insensitive at her actions, and was hoping the blonde boy could forgive her. She was horribly snapped out of her pessimistic thoughts when she was embraced in a hug, from Naruto no less!