Under the Orange Jumpsuit

Not Convinced

Back in the village, after handing in the mission report, Kakashi had given everyone the rest of the day off, but were to report to him for training the following morning.

As the group were exhausted from their travels, they wasted not a second as Sakura and Sasuke made off to their respective homes to unpack while Naruto was about to do the same.

"One second, Naruto." Kakashi spoke to his genin, causing the boy to stop in his tracks and turn to face him. Naruto kept his face blank, trying not to give anything away that Kakashi could pick up on.

"Hmm? What's up Kakashi-sensei?" He asked. Not liking being under the other's gaze too long, feeling uneasy as Kakashi's one exposed eye trained on him.

"Just making sure, but you're good right? I was thinking maybe the mission made you overexhausted from what I saw you tumbling in the forest." He inquired and Naruto gulped a bit at that.

"Yeah I guess or maybe it really was just a twig I tripped on, I can be clumsy sometimes." He smiled.

"Well, alright. But still, I need you well rested for tomorrow, training is at sunrise and I need you at your best, and make sure to fill up on a good breakfast, you hear me?" He left it at that, not going to push the subject again. Kakashi managed a wave to him before leaping off.

Naruto sighed, happy to have his sensei off his back for a while. He quickly jumped up onto the rooftops and jumped towards his home, trying to avoid any more encounters from anyone else for the time being.

He made it home and practically stumbled into his apartment, the aftermath of the mission fully hitting him as he was this close to passing out on his bed upon entrance. But he pushed through and started unpacking his things before his stomach started growling loudly. He huffed as he tried to push the feeling away. Instead he went to the bathroom and stripped himself of his battle worn clothes, he was rather thin now, not alarmingly so yet, but definitely more on the slimmer side than boys his age and height.

He examined himself in the mirror and saw where there was still work to be done, as he pinched his sides and his arms and legs. He recalled the comments from his friends, the pudge he had supposedly packed on that Kiba so helpfully pointed out in front of everyone. To anyone else, he would have looked fine now, as Naruto had worked most of that fat off that he'd be gathering, but to him, he looked horrendous. He had to work harder, it was the only way to get where he needed to be, if he wanted to be leaner, to jump higher and move faster than everyone else, he'd need to drop more weight.

He stepped onto the scale that he had in the far right corner of his bathroom. His heart leaped in his chest, and he was terrified to see the number on the scale, knowing very well he wouldn't be happy with it no matter what.

The numbers danced along on the scale and finally settled on 64.4 lbs. He sighed, that meant he only lost about a pound and a half since he left on his mission. It was disappointing, but compared to what weight he was at the start of everything, he came a long way. He just needed to keep it up.

Naruto had first weighed in at 88lbs, a healthy weight for a boy his age, which had then offset to the low 100s with the amount of food he was taking in, soon he realized he had to stop what he was doing, to eat better and do better, as everyone was always pointing out to him. He was a disgrace, and the number on the scale only verified that.

That's why he had made a pledge, and had thrown himself into a strict diet, cutting majority of his favorite foods out and replacing it with things that he was sure would bring him weight loss.

But in time he felt that it was growing useless, as the numbers weren't going as low as they were in the beginning, pushing him to eat less, sometimes going full days without a meal, but at times he'd cave and eat until he couldn't move, and through accidental discovery and the inability for his stomach to take on the large consumption, found that he could alleviate the uncomfortable feeling, by throwing up his guts till he was empty.