Chapter Text
Sometimes, keeping peace was all Naruto was good at. He wasn’t especially talented at cooking, despite his Omegan nature. He wasn’t good about picking up after himself, even though Sakura was constantly on his ass about it. He could fight. He could fight through hellfire and sunshine and still have energy to spare. It was the only thing he could rely on. So when he fought the Peins, he felt he was finally living up to his full potential. His sage mode was practically perfect, even better than Jiraiya’s had been. While Kurama had rejected the toads when they had tried to bond with his body, he knew it wasn’t out of spite. He knew the chakra beast was only jealous.
Now, he’d never let Kurama know he knew that was the real reason, because the big softie could be a real asshole as well, but he did. Naruto could tell by the way Kurama huffed and groaned to hide his true feelings. He didn’t want anyone to bond with his Omegan kit. Not anyone he didn’t deem worthy, anyway. (He wasn’t going to tell Kakashi that. Letting him figure out why he was constantly pulled into Naruto’s headspace for “check ups” would make the realization meaningful. That Kurama would trust any human with his kit…)
The thing was, while Naruto was strong and could protect, people still looked down on him. Because he had a tailed beast inside him and still managed to become an Omega. It wasn’t like they didn’t respect him, but he could tell, just like he could with Kurama. The way they hesitated in their thanks, almost like they didn’t realize he had just saved them from destruction. Had brought people back to life by talking his (probably) cousin into using the rinnegan jutsu for him instead of Madara. But Naruto stayed strong. Ignored it. Accepted that if this was the closest he’d get to being accepted, he’d take it. He’d take anything to have people acknowledge him truthfully. Like Sasuke had. Before the idiot had left in search of his brother, to bring him back to the village. To get him to train his mangekyo sharingan.
So when Iruka hugged Naruto, whispering in his ear how proud he was as Kakashi encircled him from the other side, also whispering his agreement, Naruto cried. He cried as he was tossed in the air by his peers who were grateful. He cried as they cheered his name in rejoice. He wiped his tears as he set his mind to help in cleaning up the damaged Konohagakure. And that night, as he fell into bed with his father figure, Iruka, in the next room... he wept himself to sleep. For he did not deserve the praise for letting all of those people even become hurt in the first place. He did not deserve the praise when he could’ve done better. Did not deserve the praise when he almost let Kurama rip apart his cousin for killing his precious people. (While he knew Kurama would not take over his body, the others did not. They didn’t know the fox like he did). And when Iruka was suddenly laying in front of Naruto, he did not protest the arms pulling him to a warm chest, breathing in his scent. And then he slept.
-
“Naruto!” Iruka called from the kitchen. The blond stirred awake, stretching slowly with a yawn. His eyes were hard to open, crusted over from his long sleep and he had to rub them to get it all off. Putting on a bright smile, he pulled himself from the bed and skipped to the kitchen in search of the delicious smell coming from it. “Is that ramen I smell?”
Iruka just laughed and set the bowl down in front of him. “Eat up. Today’s the day!” And by that, he meant it was finally time for Tsunade and Naruto to make their big speech. It was something the clan heads had decided on, to lessen the stress out on citizens and shinobi alike. The point was to congratulate all those who gave their lives to protect the village, and those who were helping to repair it (which they had done a good amount of. About three fourths of it was rebuilt now after only 8 months.There were plans to renovate and add with the added room from the crater). They’d postponed the speech for so long because for one Naruto just couldn’t figure out what to write. And second of all, they were all so busy with construction there wasn’t really much time anyway.
At least, that was the reason they told the general public. Both Tsunade and Naruto knew it was to get him started on his path to Hokage. Get him used to standing in front of hundreds and thousands of people and speaking. Not that he was bad at talking. He could run his mouth all day if someone let him, but he was bad at the formal things. Addressing crowds not as friends but as a person and getting rid of his verbal tic.
(Significantly harder than anyone thought it would be. 15 years with it made it hard to break out of. He didn’t want to, either- it was a part of who he was at this point.)
“Yeah, yeah. I’m just excited to see everyone together again! It’ll be just like our academy days.” Naruto reminisced, finishing off his noodles rather quickly. As usual. Iruka laughed quietly, regarding the blond with a fond gaze as he ate at a much slower pace. “I’m so proud of you, Naruto.”
That got him to look up, and he blushed when he saw the look. “Mah, no need to be sentimental, it’s a great day!” Despite his words, Naruto’s heart clenched. That was the exact same thing Iruka had said to him when he had come up to him after Kakashi dropped him off, having spent the rest of the daylight together, taking comfort in the fact they were both alive. He could remember the whole day clearly, as though it were yesterday. Noticing the mood shift, the brunet cleared his throat. “Yes, I suppose you can’t go and make your big speech while getting choked up because of your old man.” “You aren’t old!” was the immediate response. They shared a laugh, and Naruto told himself everything was gonna be okay.