Chapter 15

"It is because they are weak, Naruto. The people of the village are weak in strength, weak in mind and most of all, weak at heart." I spoke with a serious face. His showed confusion but did not speak, only staring at me, waiting for me to continue, and I did, "Because of that, they decided to blame and bully a child for their own weaknesses. I have to admit, I really am impressed, Naruto. Impressed at your strength. Only someone who is so strong would want the same people that hurt him for so long to acknowledge him, but at the same time I pity you as well. Because you are weak, they are able to bully you." Pausing, I could see his gaze slowly getting resolute. It was more like he already knew.

Who said Naruto was dumb? I had read a few fan theories concerning that which made more sense so I knew he had already thought about it more than a few times. Constantly losing to Sasuke, he most definitely trained by himself, knowing very well he was weak, in order to beat the emo kid. No one liked losing after all.

I was sure he very much hated how weak he was, however, since there was no one to teach him, unlike the others of the major clans, he likely had no proper way to train himself.

"Do not hate them, Naruto. Pity them. Pity their weakness which has caused them bully the one weaker than them, you. For a group of foolish villagers such as these, only pity them. But the only way you get to have that right…"

"Is to become stronger." Naruto who had been silent all the while finished my statement. His eyes looked to have grown firm. Looking into those blue eyes, I felt something stir up in me. My words may have been cheesy and cringy, but for a broken minded eleven-year-old, it was more than enough.

'Forgive me Naruto, I do not know which path this would lead you to but honestly, I am really looking forward to seeing it.'

I walked towards a tree and picked up a leaf. Placing it on my forehead, I circulated my chakra to the area and made it stick. Again, it felt so easy, like I had done this more than a thousand times.

"This is a chakra control exercise. Circulate your chakra to the location of the leaf to make it stick. Do this with as many leaves as you can till you are comfortable enough to do it in your sleep. From the looks of it, the reason you suck at those jutsu is because you can't control your chakra properly.".

I speculated that for someone who could create the sexy jutsu before mastering the academy jutsu was because he bypassed and just performed the jutsu without minding the control of chakra, compared to the academy jutsus that required precision. I could be wrong but still. Naruto had been silent all this while. He simply stared attentively as I demonstrated and instructed.

"I will be leaving for a while. If you are serious about getting stronger meet me at the gate tomorrow morning." There was a sudden panic and slight sadness on his face. His friend was about to leave.

"Don't worry. I am going to get stronger. I am sure by the time I get back I would be far stronger. It is getting late and I need to get going. Don't forget to practice the leaf control exercise. I hope to see you tomorrow at the gate. Bye Naruto." I began walking away without waiting for him to say anything.

As I was walking down, I looked back slightly. Naruto stood there a while before walking towards the cans of paint which made me frown. For some reason I was slightly disappointed. "I had spoken so much hard cringe and yet, *sigh*".

Just as I was about to turn away, I saw him bypass the can and gather a few leaves before stuffing them in his jacket. The smile was hard to keep off my face as I continued down the mountain.

"Oi Sakura, wait up, let's go down together!" Naruto yelled as he run and caught up with me.

"Naruto, this was supposed to be a cool and dramatic exit. Now it's just awkward with us walking the same direction."

"Huh? Why would you want to do that? That's just weird." He answered back.

"Whatever, let's just go." He laughed at me as we walked down.

"Thank you, Sakura." It was barely audible but I heard it. I knew what he was thanking me for and merely nodded it return. Reaching the bottom of the mountain, me and Naruto said goodbyes, again, and went our separate ways, with me heading back home. I was exhausted and just wanted a cool bath.

[To celebrate hitting 60 stones. We will release 2 chapters today. Second one incoming]