Tale of a setting sun

Chapter 15: The promise to a dream

Last Chapter for the day :))) 

Following Naruto's victory, the fight between Fū and the remaining Suna genin – an older boy named Kankurō – wasshort and decisive. Dressed in white with a dark skin-tone, she'd physically stood out starkly besides Kankurō, whowas light-skinned and wore all black. And once the match begun, the difference in their skills was made clear as well.Though he handled his puppet with clear talent, it was no match for the destructive cloud of termite-like insects thatemerged from the red tube on Fū's back. Seeing the insects rapidly swarm across the ground towards him, Kankurōbarely managed to get out of their way; as he did so, realizing that the insects could climb across chakra threads, hewas forced to detach himself from his puppet. In a matter of seconds, they completely covered and stripped awaythe puppet's exterior, leaving behind only a wooden carcass which then collapsed in on itself.

 Apparently having satedtheir appetite, the insects then returned to Fū's tube. However, with his weapon gone, and clearly shaken by theordeal, Kankurō soon surrendered, and to the groans of his watching Suna countrymen, he sheepishly plodded offthe arena.After dusting herself off, Fū nonchalantly stretched backwards. Then, with glittering baleful eyes, she locked gazeswith Naruto, who'd been blankly observing the battle. He stared back, and after a moment, she looked away.As the jōnin proctor told the audience there would be a brief intermission before the final match, Naruto noticed thata masked jōnin had just emerged form the infirmary building. Though he gave the man no further indication of hisrecognition, the man soon came and sat down next to him. 

"Hey," Kakashi greeted him. When Naruto didn't say anything in respond, he let out a small cough. "I'm sorry Imissed your match against the Hyūga kid. I got caught up with medical paperwork...hm...so, do you feel ready forthe final match?"Naruto shrugged noncommittally.Rubbing the back of his neck, Kakashi sighed. "I won't push you, Naruto. Just know that you're not alone in this. I'mhere, and your teammates are here to support you... At least in spirit.""Spare me the sentimentality, sensei," Naruto finally said, getting up. "There's no need for this. I'm perfectly awareof my current situation."Kakashi looked taken aback. "And what situation is that?"Naruto spread his arms wide in a sweeping motion. "This exam is a farce. Whether I win it or not, it'll make littledifference in the way everyone looks at me. Even Mayu and Rai would turn their backs on me if they knew, and youknow it."Kakashi paused. "I haven't turned my back on you." 

"...You're different, sensei." Nonetheless, Naruto fell back in his seat. The tendril of unfamiliar anger that had flaredup inside him just a moment ago had already faded away, leaving behind only a crushing weariness. "But nobodyelse will think that way. Nobody will ever acknowledge me. What's the point in trying?""So you're saying your efforts were all to get people to acknowledge you? That doesn't sound like the Naruto Iknow."Naruto didn't respond. After several minutes of taut silence, Kakashi moved away.Looking out over the dusty, sand-filled arena and the rowdy crowd that filled the seats around them, Naruto cast histhoughts back to a time when he hadn't even been tall enough to open the window.It was back when Naruto still hadn't known what chakra was. 

His caretaker at the time always refused to open thewindow for him, saying that if he fell out and died, she would be blamed for it. So, in the summer when the nightswere hottest and he found it difficult to breathe, Naruto would pile his wooden blocks on top of his tattered book offolk tales and carefully clamber on top of the teetering stack. Balancing his weight, he pushed up against the firmlyclosed window, and more often than not, he would lose his balance and fall over, the stack crashing painfully on topof him. But sometimes, the window budged open just slightly enough for a thin cool breeze to enter the room, andhe would be able to breathe again.