But You're Different

The girl behind the tree trembled all over. Her fingers clenched the hem of her clothes so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She knew she could not hide any longer, so she slowly edged out from behind the trunk with her head lowered, her two index fingers anxiously pressed together like a little rabbit cornered by a hunter.

"I... I wasn't... watching you..."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, thick with tears.

"I just... I just saw that Naruto... lately..."

Her words caught in her throat. She did not know how to continue.

Should she say he had become terrifying? That he looked like a demon when he killed? That the oppressive aura around him frightened her, yet also made her unable to stop herself from drawing closer?

She could not say a single word of it. She was afraid those words would be like knives, stabbing the heart that the world had already wounded beyond recognition.

Naruto watched her quietly without urging her. His mind was running at high speed, analyzing the target before him.

[Target: Hinata Hyuga.]

[Behavior analysis: Conducted non-hostile observation from a safe distance for three consecutive days.]

[Physiological indicators: Elevated heart rate, unstable chakra, extreme nervousness. No killing intent or deceptive fluctuations detected.]

[Threat level: None.]

He had confirmed that she was harmless, but her motives remained unclear. This variable that could not be classified by logic made him slightly uncomfortable.

Then, as if she had exhausted all her strength, Hinata suddenly raised her head. Her watery Byakugan stared straight at Naruto, her cheeks as red as ripe tomatoes. Gathering all her courage, she asked a question that nearly crashed Naruto's logical circuits.

"Naruto... do... do you still like Sakura?"

The air seemed to freeze.

Naruto's thoughts stalled for an instant.

[Unexpected query received...]

[Keywords: like, Sakura Haruno.]

[Database search... correlation analysis... emotional module... error.]

This question lay completely beyond his tactical plans and behavioral logic database. Why would he like a unit with poor combat efficiency, intense emotional fluctuations, and only barely sufficient qualifications as a battlefield medic? It did not conform to any principle he believed in.

He looked at the girl trembling slightly from nervousness, at those eyes so pure they contained not the slightest impurity. A database he had neglected for far too long was forcibly activated by this sudden question.

He remembered. During that childhood he had defined as "inefficient and full of flaws," the girl named Hinata Hyuga had always seemed to be there. When everyone else rejected and despised him, only she had looked at him with concern rather than disgust.

Her loyalty had been there from the start—pure, unwavering, and never shaken.

Naruto slowly raised his hand.

Hinata shut her eyes in fright, thinking she had said something wrong and was about to be hit.

But the pain she expected never came. A warm, dry palm gently rested on top of her head and awkwardly, carefully stroked it once.

It was encouragement for her loyalty.

Hinata's eyes flew open, and she stared at Naruto in disbelief.

"She's only my medic."

Naruto's answer was as calm as ever, yet it was like a calming pill that instantly soothed all the panic in Hinata's heart.

Looking into the girl's round eyes, widened in shock, he continued explaining with his commissar logic. "Personal emotions are inefficient catalysts. They affect battlefield judgment, interfere with command efficiency, and are combat variables that must be eliminated."

Those cold words made Hinata's heart, which had only just settled, rise again. The light in her eyes dimmed. That was right. Naruto no longer needed such things.

Which meant he did not need her either.

Naruto keenly caught the subtle shift in her emotions. He fell silent for a moment, seemingly carrying out some complex internal calculations, then added one more sentence.

The words were soft, yet weighed as much as a thousand pounds.

"But you're different."

What he meant was that she was not suited to being a medic, but her Byakugan made her suited to being a scout. Scouts were just as important on the battlefield, and her loyalty was exceedingly precious.

Such words were usually used on the battlefield to encourage veteran soldiers or insecure recruits.

Boom.

Hinata felt a dazzling firework explode within her world.

She could no longer hold back her tears. They rolled down from her beautiful Byakugan in large drops. But these were not tears of sorrow. For the first time in more than ten years, she felt someone treating her so distinctly, so solemnly, as someone special.

He had not said he liked her, nor had he made any promise.

Yet those words, "you're different," shattered her defenses more thoroughly than any sweet nothings could have.

"Hm?"

Naruto looked at the girl sobbing uncontrollably before him, and his mental processing core issued a faint warning.

[Target's emotional fluctuation exceeds the safety threshold.]

[Behavior analysis: Crying. Cause assessment: Positive emotional stimulation.]

[Logical paradox: Why does positive emotion lead to negative physiological signs (tears)? Database lacks a relevant model.]

[Recommended solution: ...none.]

Since becoming a "commissar," this was the first time he had encountered a situation where his thought processes could provide no solution. The hand that had just patted her head remained suspended in midair. Pulling it back felt wrong, but leaving it there felt wrong as well, making him look especially stiff.

"I... I..." Hinata choked out, wanting to say something, but only broken sobs came forth. She wanted to thank him, wanted to say how happy she was, but countless words clogged her throat and turned into a burning ache.

Naruto watched her silently as his internal analysis module continued its futile operation. Looking at her shoulders shaking with sobs, he finally reached a conclusion that matched his current logic.

"Excessive dehydration will affect bodily functions," he said calmly, as if stating a fact. "Crying is an unnecessary expenditure of water and salt. I recommend stopping immediately."

"Pfft—"

Hinata burst out laughing at his serious words. Tears still clung to her eyelashes, but the corners of her mouth could not help curving upward. Only the current Naruto could say something so absurdly funny during such a tense and touching moment.

Naruto looked at her smiling face streaked with tears, and his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. He felt he should do something.

He rummaged through the tactical pack he carried with him.

First-aid bandages? No, those were for external injuries.

Soldier Pills? No, she had not expended any energy.

Explosive Tags?... Even less suitable.

In the end, he pulled out a slightly crumpled packet of tissues. Teuchi had forcibly stuffed them into his hands the last time he visited Ichiraku Ramen, saying that boys needed to keep clean too. Naruto had considered them unnecessary supplies at the time, but had kept them anyway.

He pulled one out and held it before Hinata.

The movement was a little stiff, as though he were handing over a mission report.

"Wipe your face," he said. "There's dust on it."

In the bushes not far away, a white-haired head was poking out sneakily.

Jiraiya had a foxtail grass stem in his mouth and a small notebook in his hand. He had originally intended to continue observing and record a "Daily Life Behavior Report for Problem Child Naruto," in preparation for future "reform education."

He saw Naruto's cold interrogation and the way little Hinata looked as though she were about to cry from fright.

"Sigh, there's no saving him. This kid's completely broken. That old Third Hokage is far too irresponsible..." he muttered, shaking his head as he wrote in his notebook.

But the next scene made him chew the foxtail grass in his mouth to pieces.

That head pat!

That "She's only my medic"!

And that earth-shattering final line: "But you're different"!

Jiraiya's eyes widened like bronze bells, and the pen in his hand fell to the ground with a smack.

Damn! he cursed inwardly. This brat... It's not that he doesn't understand. He's clearly a master!

At last, he understood.

Naruto was not an emotionless machine. He had merely sealed away all his tenderness and humanity behind a whitelist. Not just anyone could see it. Want to? First, see whether your loyalty rating was high enough, and whether you were on his list.

Just look at Naruto's Team 7 companions whom Jiraiya had investigated. Sakura Haruno? An "asset" that needed management. Sasuke Uchiha? A "weapon" that needed calibration.

And Hinata Hyuga... this girl who had always given quietly without asking for anything in return had passed that "political review" with her pure concern—a review that even a legendary Sannin like him had been powerless against.

"So that's it... so that's it!" Jiraiya slapped his thigh, feeling that he had grasped the key to the problem.

To deal with this kind of "commissar-type" personality, conventional gentle tactics would not work. That was called "ineffective infiltration." He had to present some kind of "value" that Naruto could respect and acknowledge!

Jiraiya put away his notebook, straightened his slightly messy clothes, and revealed a profound, inscrutable smile. Clearing his throat, he walked out from behind the tree, every step carrying the bearing of a grandmaster.

Naruto had noticed his presence long ago. He had simply classified him as a "harmless perverted sage" and ignored him.

When Hinata saw Jiraiya appear, she hurriedly wiped away her tears and lowered her head in embarrassment.

Jiraiya walked up to the two of them. He did not look at Hinata, instead fixing his gaze on Naruto.

"Kid," he said, his tone more solemn than ever before, "you've hit a bottleneck in your training, haven't you?"

Naruto's icy blue pupils turned toward him. He neither confirmed nor denied it.

Jiraiya grinned, flashing a mouthful of white teeth.

"You don't know how to turn that saw into a Shadow Clone yet, do you? It's fine, I can teach you. Want to learn?"