"Okayyyy. When you get loose, you're not going to destroy the village or something, are you?" asked Naruto.
"Not unless that's your third wish," replied the dragon. "Is it?"
"NO!" Naruto was quick to shout. "Why do all the girls like Sasuke so much and not me?"
"I'll look into a few minds. Hmmmm. You act like an idiot and immature. Whereas Sasuke mostly keeps his mouth shut, manages to give a brooding but mature air. Though it seems that not ALL the girls like Sasuke."
"Well," reasoned Naruto. "None of them like me."
"Incorrect."
"Eh?" asked Naruto.
"There is one girl who likes you. Even now she thinks fondly of you and wonders how you are doing with your new team."
"Yeah, right, that couldn't be," began Naruto.
Letting out a sigh that echoed through the cavern, the dragon (who was actually Toltiir playing out a part in an improvised drama) decided to just SHOW the boy.
Late afternoon, two years previous:
There he was. Sitting there on the swing near the Academy. A swing that nobody else used.
Her heart went out to him. How she longed to go over there and speak to him. If only she could.
Everyone spoke so poorly of him. They shunned him. They saw the village pariah or the dunce or the clown. They didn't see HIM. They didn't see the confidence or inner strength, they didn't see the drive or the kind heart or his inventiveness.
No, they saw something else. She knew though. She saw him - Naruto Uzumaki.
All the other girls saw Sasuke Uchiha as attractive and cool and strong and desirable. She didn't. He brooded and sulked. He had great anger built up within him like some dam holding back floodwaters. He was the last of his clan, but she was of a highly respected (though not loved) clan of Konohagakure and wouldn't respect someone solely for that.
Then there was what they did apart from training and school. Naruto gardened. He tried to care for animals, but most of them sensed something dark and dangerous about him and they too shunned him. Plants though - he kept a few hidden away. He cared for them, talked to them, made them grow strong and tall.
If only she could approach him, but she was so weak and worthless. Her family wouldn't appreciate her making a friend like him even if he didn't reject her. It would just be more trouble for him.
If only she had the courage to take that small step. To go forward just a little bit, to tell him that it was alright. That she believed in him.
If only...
"Whoa," said Naruto.
"Going through her memories, there were exactly eleven such instances where she almost made that step. Twice she succeeded but was unable to bring herself to get your attention while it was focussed elsewhere."
"Somebody likes and believes in me?" asked Naruto in an awestruck voice. Then he wiped his eyes. "Damn dust in this cavern."
"Of course," replied the dragon. You didn't need exceptional powers to see a certain hyperactive knucklehead approaching a shy heiress in the near future.
"Why was she going on about being 'weak'?" asked Naruto.
"She's been told for years that she's weak, unworthy, hopeless. Mostly by her own family. She sees you as being driven to succeed despite your flaws and faults, and that is what attracts her to you initially."
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(Posted Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:47)
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