Chapter - 26

I took another bite, took my time chewing and only spoke when I finished. "Good boy.

"

"I'm not a dog!"

"No, you're a Menace. " I gave him his serving.

"You suck!" But he took the slice and practically inhaled it, immediately looking longingly at the empty plate.

I took it back and gave no hint that I had ten times the amount back inside. Someday Konoha would suffer Uzumaki Naruto on a sugar rush and it won't be my fault when it happens.

"Kid, you need to stop stalking me. "

"I'm not stalking you!"

"Yes you are. "

"No I'm not. "

"Just for that you don't get any more cake. "

"You have more?!" Naruto gasped before he could catch himself. "I mean, I don't care about your stupid cake, believe it!"

"I don't, in fact, believe a word you say," my mild tone made the brat all but shriek in outrage. "What do you want from me that you haven't already taken, kid?"

Naruto opened his mouth, closed it and crossed his arms, turning away with a huff.

"Naruto. "

Naruto turned back around. Sullenly.

"What'll it take for you to stop following me around?"

"I'm not following you!" Naruto lied. Badly.

"I can go wherever I want! It's your fault for always being in the way!"

"Kid, let me make this clear for you. " I leaned forward and spoke, very blandly.

"What you're doing is creepy, it makes my skin crawl whenever I leave my house, the salesmen look at me like I'm cursed and it's driving a wedge between me and my neighbours. "

"I'm not a stalker!"

"Yes you are, kid, the word literally means exactly what you're doing. "

"… It does?"

"Yes. " Thank the Sun, he finally gets it! "You need to stop.

It's creepy and makes people want to throw you off the Hokage monument. "

"Do you want to throw me?"

"I'm thinking about it. "

"When will you stop being so mean?" Naruto whined. "The Old Man says good people forgive each other!"

He told you that even though you're the one causing all the trouble? "There's no each other, kid. I never did you wrong ever.

"

"I know!" Naruto burst, surprising me and all the eavesdropping neighbours, bloody busybodies. "I know…" Naruto deflated.

"I'm trying to help!"

I stared at him in disbelief.

Naruto puffed his cheeks. "I'm trying to figure out how to help, alright!"

I snorted. I just couldn't… what even was my life? "I don't need nor want the help of a snot-nosed brat.

"

"Who're you calling snot-nosed?! And what gives, my help is awesome, why are you saying no?"

"Kid, you already helped me closer to my grave, that's enough to last me a decade. "

"Why are you still so mean, it's been ages! Do I have to apologize again?"

"No. Because you don't mean it.

"

"I do so mean it!"

"No you don't. You know why?"

"Alright, shitty old man, tell me why then!"

How harsh can I be here without doing more harm than good? "Because you haven't made amends, kid. The Hokage swooped in to fix all your damage.

You didn't fix my cart. You didn't heal my back.

You didn't wrap my bandages. You didn't do favors for the local anthill to have them sort my dead children's ashes.

Now, I don't expect you to do any of that, you're a tiny 5 year old child. But you still shout and yell and break people's things and stalk people to the edge of madness because they happen to be in the way.

You haven't changed, kid. "

"But that's why I'm here!" Naruto stomped his foot in frustration. "I'm trying to do a good thing here, what kind of weirdo says no to that?! I'm doing you a big favour, Uzumaki Naruto isn't a charity you know!"

How many people used that on you that you know how to use it without knowing what it means? "Look kid, why are you so obsessed with me?"

Naruto opened his mouth to yell something, paused, closed it and then spoke with all the certainty of someone repeating the words of his authority figure of choice. "The Old Man says you have to make it up to someone when you do wrong.

I want to try to help you somehow, if I can? Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, you absolutely suck at this. "Not when it's not your decision to make.

"

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it, not understanding.

"Look kid," I sighed. "You do not decide for other people.

Especially when you caused the harm in the first place. Your attempt to 'help' me last time only made things worse.

In fact, all you showed me was that you have more power over the bad things in my life than I do. Why would I want more of the same? Why would I want to see the same person exert more power than me over the good in my life too?"

Naruto's face scrunched as he tried and failed to understand what I was saying.

The intellect of 5-year-olds is as annoyingly inconsistent in this world as their attention span. "Right.

Forget about that, this isn't working. " I sighed and brushed my hands clean, then leaned forward.

"I'm here. You're here.

I can see you. I acknowledge that you exist.

I'm listening. What do you want?"

Naruto warbled, sniffled, scowled, angrily wiped his nose and eyes with his sleeve and failed at imitating my angry snarl of so long ago so badly that he looked like a pouting bunny.

I waited.

But in the end, Uzumaki Naruto was an ostracised child who didn't understand what he wanted. The next outburst was inevitable.

It was just the content that surprised me.

"You lied to me. "

Eh? "… I don't follow. "

"You lied to me!" Naruto hollered. Loudly.

"You said they-people don't hate me 'cuz of–it's not because I'm a bastard! Most people never even thought of that, did they?" Because it was perfectly fine if everyone in Konoha heard him breaking the Jinchuriki taboo. Apparently.

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