Jokichi could hear these gossip, and Uzumaki Naruto naturally could too. He was no longer as careless as he was at the beginning. He closed his mouth and stopped in his tracks. Jokichi looked back at Uzumaki Naruto; his expression was very desolate.
"What is wrong?" Jokichi asked.
"Let's just forget it!" Uzumaki Naruto was silent for a while and said, "I am very happy that you invited me for your birthday, but if I get too close to you, it will implicate you."
"Are you referring to those indifferent gazes?"
Uzumaki Naruto looked at Jokichi's indifferent face, hesitated, and nodded. "Yeah!"
"Why care about them?" Jokichi said indifferently.
"?"
Uzumaki Naruto's eyes widened.
"People should live for themselves. Isn't it tiring to always care about other people's gazes?"
"..."
Uzumaki Naruto opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. Although everyone has their own values in life, but... Isn't living only for oneself very sad? A person can indeed live very freely for themselves, but why did you show a lonely expression before? That day in the forest, didn't you also say that you were lonely inside?
Jokichi looked at Uzumaki Naruto, looking at his hesitant expression, and chuckled coldly. "I know what you are thinking, so didn't I invite you?"
"Eh?"
Uzumaki Naruto looked at him in confusion.
"Friends, family... having them is enough. Other people's gazes, other people's thoughts..." Speaking of this, Jokichi revealed a meaningful gaze, "To put it bluntly, a bunch of people who have nothing to do with me, why should I care what they think."
After saying that, he left Uzumaki Naruto, who had not yet recovered his senses, and walked alone towards Yakiniku Q. Everyone has their own path. Jokichi did not want to criticize other people's paths, but he also did not want anyone to criticize his path. He was not as great as Uzumaki Naruto, and he would not think about getting everyone's approval. He was just an ordinary person who cared about himself and those around him.
But— My path is the most suitable path for me, and I do not need anyone's pity.
...
Jokichi wanted to meet the Akimichi father and son at Yakiniku Q again, hoping for another big eater competition, and to pluck some hair along the way to see if he could make equipment that converted fat into chakra.
As for Uzumaki Naruto... Jokichi did not know if the Third Hokage was peeping with his crystal ball, so he had to find the right time to pluck hair and draw blood. He definitely could not let anyone see that he was intentionally going after Uzumaki Naruto's bodily tissues.
Unfortunately, heaven did not grant his wish. The Akimichi father and son were not in the shop, but he saw Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai instead. They were sitting at a window seat, chatting cheerfully while eating barbecue. Who knows what Sarutobi Asuma said, but Yuhi Kurenai was occasionally amused into covering her mouth and laughing loudly.
Tsk, damn couple.
Jokichi cursed sourly in his heart, then found a seat in the corner and sat down. He liked to keep a low profile and did not want to attract attention. Even when eating, he liked to be alone in the corner. But with Uzumaki Naruto here today, he was destined to attract countless gazes.
Shortly after he sat down, Uzumaki Naruto followed a beat slower. The gazes of everyone in the shop turned towards him, and the customers who were originally eating happily put away their laughter and chatter one by one. Then, as if it were an illusion, everyone picked up their chopsticks again, and laughter and chatter filled the barbecue shop once more.
Uzumaki Naruto opened his mouth, wanting to say something. But no one in the shop looked at him, the waiters did not come to greet him, and everyone acted as if they did not see this person.
Jokichi stood up and waved at Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto felt bitter inside, lowering his head and walking towards Jokichi's seat. Behind him, the people who acted as if they did not see him stopped their chopsticks, pointing and pointing at Uzumaki Naruto and Jokichi one by one, quietly discussing something.
Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai, sitting by the window, naturally noticed these anomalies. But they did not say anything, just could not help but sigh.
Sarutobi Asuma lit a cigarette and sighed, "The villagers have a huge misunderstanding about that child!"
"Why is there such a huge misunderstanding?" Yuhi Kurenai raised a question.
"I do not know." Sarutobi Asuma took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaled, and continued, "But there is a high probability that it is a phenomenon intentionally provoked by someone." He had just returned to Konoha and did not understand the situation in Konoha very well. But as a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, Sarutobi Asuma had stayed by the Daimyo's side these past few years, witnessed many political struggles, and had just experienced an internal civil war over differing opinions himself. He was now very sensitive to those political methods and faintly smelled something.
"Why would they do this?"
"I do not know." Sarutobi Asuma leaned back in his chair, tilted his head back, and exhaled a smoke ring, saying, "Perhaps there is some unknown hidden reason, or perhaps some guys are plotting something for their own benefit. In short, there are too many possibilities."
"Let's hope it is the former!" Yuhi Kurenai sighed, picked up her wine glass, and drank it all in one gulp. As a ninja, she knew what she should ask and what she should not. Although she felt sympathy for Uzumaki Naruto's encounter, she did not reach out to help. Because she did not know if doing so would make things worse.
However, Yuhi Kurenai looked towards Uzumaki Naruto and saw him happily chatting with another peer with an indifferent face, and a smile involuntarily appeared on the corner of her mouth. "Even though everyone hates him, there are still people who will be his friends."
Sarutobi Asuma followed Yuhi Kurenai's gaze and saw Jokichi, who was chatting sporadically with Uzumaki Naruto, and a smile also appeared on the corner of his mouth. "That kid is not bad. Even though he might be implicated and hated because of it, he did not abandon his friend."
"Is that so, I think so too." The two clinked their wine glasses and then drank it all with a knowing smile.
...
When Uzumaki Naruto came to the table, he had already piled a smile back onto his face. Although he still minded it very much in his heart, he did not want his emotions to affect others. In a sense, Uzumaki Naruto could be considered a saint.
"Um... although we have met, how should I address you?" Uzumaki Naruto scratched his head, looking at Jokichi, and asked somewhat embarrassedly.
"My name is Sakakura Jokichi." Jokichi rested his elbows on the table, supporting his chin with his hands, and looked intently at Uzumaki Naruto. "If you feel bad inside, do not force a smile. It will only make you feel worse."
"Eh!?" Uzumaki Naruto was stunned, laughing and waving his hands. "No way, how could I feel bad over this kind of thing!"
"You do not need to worry about me. Even if you cry in front of me, my heart will not waver in the slightest."
"Hey! Didn't you say we were friends earlier?" Uzumaki Naruto slammed the table and stood up, shouting dissatisfiedly, "I feel so bad inside, do not you even care?"
"No, do not talk nonsense, besides, idiots do not need caring."
"What did you say?"
"Because idiots will forget their sadness themselves and then look for new happiness."
"You are talking about a husky, right!"
"...I guess so, suddenly finding that you and a husky are quite alike."
"Nani!"
...
After a bout of noise, Uzumaki Naruto relaxed a lot. He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the light on the ceiling, a smile appearing on his face. The indifference of the villagers that had always lingered in his mind finally disappeared from his mind temporarily.
"Thank you, Jokichi."
"What are you thanking me for?" Jokichi, who was brushing seasoning on the tenderloin, looked up at him strangely.
"Anyway, thank you."
"Crazy!" Jokichi muttered softly, silently putting various meats and vegetables on the grill.