Naruto just looked at her with hard blue eyes before shooting her down, refusing to let the matter go so easily.
"Then why are you hunting down Naruse Mio like a criminal? What has she done to you? To anyone? What gives you the right to dictate whether she lives or dies because of something she can't control!" Naruto shouted, knowing that feeling all too well.
"She may have not done anything now, but in the future..." Yuki tried to say, shaking her head warily before getting cut off.
"How the hell do you know that? Mio was just a normal teenaged girl just a year ago! What kind of heroes kill people because of what they 'might become'!?" Naruto growled, baring teeth as his temper grew more fiery.
The shinobi quickly turned around for a precious moment after his tirade, taking a deep breathe to calm himself before turning back around to the tired hero.
"...What do you want from me Uzumaki Naruto...?" Yuki questioned with a sigh, emotionally and physically tired from the day's events.
"...I want you to act like how a true hero should." Naruto said simply.
Unknowingly to the young man, he striked a chord with the girl, making her tense faintly as the words was bandied about in her head.
A true hero...
Nonaka Yuki closed her eyes, trying to forget what the words meant to her, staying quiet to gather her thoughts again, centering herself.
"In your opinion..." Yuki spoke up softly, her yellow gaze opening up to see the night sky again. "What would a true hero do in this situation?"
The shinobi just smiled and gave her his hand before replying. "In my opinion...a true hero would wait and see if the bad guy was really a bad guy."
Placing his other hand on his chest, Naruto flashed his teeth in a shit-eating grin, blue eyes bright in the dim light that the moon provided. "I never lied when I told you that I never go back on my word, and I'm not lying now when I say that I would never harm innocent an innocent human as long as I live. You can bet on that dattebayo."
Yuki looked, just looked at the blond, before tilting her head enough to focus her attention on the extended hand as if it was a bomb that was about to go off.
Of all the things that the hero thought could happen today when she woke up, she didn't expect this.
Just looking at the inviting gesture from her former enemy, she could easily admit that she was tempted.
Everything about him seemed genuine, his words were earnest and spontaneous, a far cry from the pre-planned speeches that were made to evoke something out of a person.
This was just...spoken from the heart.
She could see that from his eyes which seemed blindingly vivid to her at the moment.
Without even thinking about it, she stretched out her hand to meet his own, drawn to him.
'Now now, Yuki-chan, did you really think that I stood for stupid shit like 'peace and justice'? You shouldn't trust so easily next time, Yuki-chan. It'll do you well to remember this feeling the next time that you feel like being soft, as a matter of fact, use it in order to propel yourself forward and become a wonderful human...a realhero...'
As if she just touched something foul, she immediately retracted her hand after dark memories resurfaced.
Memories of broken promises.
"How..." she rasped, clutching her retracting hand tightly, shielding it. "How do I know that you won't betray my trust...?"
The shinobi's features pinched up, opening his mouth to reassure her that she had both both worry about.
He didn't get the chance.
"Your words...feel genuine, but I've been fooled by the charismatic words of bad men before." she claimed solemnly, on guard. "So...how do I know that your words actually mean anything...?"
Even as she was speaking, Yuki's features were becoming more wary and leery.
"How do I know that you won't betray my trust?"
Naruto was speechless, completely thrown off by the hero's complete shift in behavior, not sure what to make of it.
That being said, the blond recovered admirably.
"Wait, just hold on a minute...where did this come from? You were ready to give me a chance here, what changed?" Naruto asked in confusion, seeking understanding.
Unable to bear looking at his eyes for some reason, the human teen turned her head away from the oceanic gaze of the blond and looked at the sky instead.
"You wouldn't understand."
Naruto frowned at this. "Hey, for all you know, I may understand more than you think. I myself had a pretty rough life in the beginning, ya know?"
Parting with this tidbit wss meant to help the young woman to relate to him, at least, that wss the idea.
Instead of serving to reassure her however, this only managed to worsen her already darkening mood.
"What do you know...? How can someone whohas such a bright smile ever understand how painful it is? How painful it is to know that someone you trusted with your life could so casually just...throw it away. You don't understand a thing." Yuki hissed with venom, her pent up frustration and anger leaking through as she glared at the blond for reawakening old memories.
She then turned her head to focus on anything else except her enemy's eyes, not willing to let him see the tears that were building up around her eyes born out of impotent frustration.
She felt spent.
Tired.
Numb.
She definitely wasn't expecting this to happen today.
The downed hero stayed like that to numerous beats, feeling herself tense when she didn't get any response from the young man that hung over her.
Did she, perhaps, push him far enough to convince him to end this...permanently?
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