Chapter 4-Talk and Choices(Part-2)

"So come and join us, Naruto Uzumaki." After hearing those words, Naruto stood frozen for a long time, looking at the ground.

"No, I won't," Naruto finally said, his voice barely audible. "That still doesn't justify the death and destruction you have caused, and I don't have any reason to join you either."

"Oh! But I think you have plenty of reasons. Weren't you just questioning your existence in this village?" The masked man said this, causing Naruto to pale little by little.

"You just said nobody here cares about you. They see you not as a person, not as 'Naruto Uzumaki,' but as the demon fox that's sealed within you. Nobody here cares about you as a person; all they think about is what would happen when the Kyūbi is loosened," the masked man continued, and the light in Naruto's eye dimmed.

Negative thoughts started swirling in Naruto's head. All the hate and sadness he had buried in his heart started revealing themselves. *N-No, that's not true. They care about me too, Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, and Iruka-sensei. They care about me! Right?! They do?* Naruto started questioning everything, and all the loneliness he had endured since his birth started taking over his heart.

"No, they care about me too," Naruto finally said. "All my friends, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Baa-chan, Sakura-chan, they all do."

The masked man found it amusing and chuckled. "Then where were those people when you were injured and alone in the hospital all those times? Where are they when you spend all your days alone? Where are they when the entirety of the village still curses your very existence?"

Something finally broke in Naruto as he widened his eyes, lowering his head and saying, "T-That's not true. It can't be. T-They care about me too." At the same time, strange red chakra started leaking out of Naruto.

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Sakura's POV

She was returning from a mission with Kakashi and Ino, jumping from one tree to another. "Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Hearing Sakura calling out to him, Kakashi and Ino stopped and looked at Sakura.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to ask about Naruto. He's getting more and more quiet during our missions or even when Team 7 is training. Did something happen to him?" Sakura questioned Kakashi.

"Now that you mention it, he has been getting more quiet and gloomy for some time now," Ino said.

"I don't know. It seemed like he wanted to talk about something a while back, but he didn't say it." Kakashi was silent for a moment, then said, "It's probably nothing. Maybe he'll be back to his hyperactive, energetic self before we know it," Kakashi said with a smile (under his mask).

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go back and have dinner together with everyone," Sakura also said with a smile. But she was still worried about Naruto and thought, *Maybe I should've been more considerate towards him.*

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Meanwhile...