Chapter 47 The Unloved Scoundrel
Kakashi initially didn't pay much attention to these stares, assuming it was just the villagers' fear of Jinchuriki.
Naruto, on the other hand, was already used to this treatment.
At this moment, Kakashi arrived at a dumpling stall, intending to buy something to fill their stomachs.
Upon reaching the stall, the owner, who had been sitting inside, looked up and first saw Naruto hesitating in front of the stall.
The owner immediately showed disgust, waving his hand as if shooing away a fly.
"What are you doing here, you little demon fox brat? You're bad luck! No wonder business is bad today!" The owner glared and roared fiercely, "Get out of here!"
However, when the owner turned and saw Kakashi's ashen face, he froze.
Kakashi didn't speak, but a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Over the years, he had heard rumors about Naruto's ordeal, but he had only assumed it was due to the villagers' fear of the Jinchuriki's power. However, witnessing it firsthand today, he realized that Naruto had endured this undisguised malice.
"You...who are you?" Kakashi, a ninja who had worked in the Anbu for years, exuded a killing intent that the dumpling stall owner couldn't withstand, and he immediately retreated in fear.
But upon seeing the headband on Kakashi's forehead, the man calmed down. In this village, it was an ironclad rule that ninjas couldn't attack civilians, so he felt he had no reason to fear Kakashi.
So, he mustered his courage and loudly questioned, "Who are you to this demon fox brat? What do you want? Are you going to attack civilians?"
The commotion attracted a crowd. Although most of them were wary of Kakashi's ninja identity as indicated by the headband and didn't approach him directly, they whispered amongst themselves.
"Who is this guy?"
"I don't know. I've never seen him around that fox demon brat before."
"Anyway, who can be a good person hanging around with that fox demon brat?"
"Shh, keep your voice down. He's a ninja."
"A ninja? So what if he's a ninja? Does he dare to beat people up in the village?"
"Hmph, even if that damned fox demon brat has a ninja backing him up now, we can't be afraid of him!"
"That's right! As long as we unite, the Hokage will back us up!"
...
The surrounding conversation naturally didn't escape Kakashi's ears. Kakashi's face grew increasingly grim amidst the whispers. This was the Fourth Hokage's son, who had risked his life to protect them during the Nine-Tails' attack, and now he was being treated like this. Thinking about his previous neglect of Naruto, he wanted to slap himself.
"Alright, Kakashi-nii, let's go." At this moment, Naruto tugged at Kakashi's sleeve and whispered.
Seeing this, Kakashi turned back to the still-talking stall owner, his killing intent erupting without restraint.
The small dumpling stall owner, never having seen anything like this before, was immediately terrified and stumbled backward, tripping over a chair and falling flat on his backside.
After doing this, Kakashi turned and pulled Naruto along, preparing to leave.
However, the dumpling stall owner, lying on the ground, suddenly began to wail: "They're hitting people! That little fox demon is bringing ninjas to beat people up! Ninjas are bullying civilians!"
The loud commotion drew the weekend crowds of shoppers to their location.
Kakashi frowned, watching the growing crowd and the strange looks they were giving him. He could only pull Naruto closer to him.
Just then, a commotion arose from the outer edge of the crowd.
"What are you doing! What are you doing! Don't gather together, or there will be a stampede!"
The onlookers turned around and saw that it was the security patrol arriving, so they quickly made way for them.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the security personnel arrive; the leader of this patrol team was Uchiha Zaito.
The security personnel dispersed the crowd with standardized smiles, while Uchiha Zaito approached Kakashi, nodded slightly in greeting, and then looked at the dumpling stall owner who was sitting on the ground, howling.
"What happened?" Uchiha Zaito asked seriously.
"Officer, you've come at the right time!" The dumpling stall owner scrambled to his feet upon seeing Uchiha Zaito and complained, "Arrest this ninja who hit someone! He's in cahoots with this fox demon brat! And arrest that fox demon brat too!"
"Kakashi-nii didn't hit you!" Naruto couldn't help but chime in.
"You hit him?" Uchiha Zaito asked, looking at Kakashi.
"No," Kakashi replied succinctly.
Uchiha Zaito nodded, then looked at the dumpling stall owner: "You say he hit you, what's your evidence?"
"I... he made me fall down!" The dumpling stall owner's voice trailed off, but he still insisted.
"Ask around, see if anyone saw this ninja hit someone," Uchiha Zaito instructed his team.
Soon, the team of officers, with their standardized smiles, began their routine questioning, but the result was obvious.
They might dare to gather together and chatter, but they would never dare to openly give false testimony in front of the police headquarters.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Uchiha Zaito asked with a smile, looking at the troublemaking dumpling stall owner.
"No, nothing, it's all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding." Seeing that the situation was against him, the dumpling stall owner, who had been making trouble unreasonably, immediately wilted and said with a sneer.
"Since it's all a misunderstanding, let's talk about your problem of operating your stall in the street." Uchiha Zaito said, "How many times have we in the police headquarters reminded you? Don't set up your stall on the street. Someone! Take his stall away and invite him to sit in the police headquarters."
Hearing Uchiha Zaito's words, the dumpling stall owner immediately started shouting again.
"So, you in the Security Department are afraid to offend ninjas, so you bully an unarmed civilian like me? I'm going to complain! I'm going to report you to the Hokage's office!"
However, his attempts to argue and muddle through were futile against the civilian ninja team members who were already used to the Security Department's work. Two ninjas in Security Department uniforms simply smiled and watched him.
Only after he got tired of arguing did they move his stall and take him to the Security Department.
By this time, the surrounding crowd had already scattered like birds. Uchiha Zaito then said to Kakashi, "Kakashi-senpai, I have official business to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer. If you have similar issues in the future, just come to the Security Department to find us."
"I understand, thank you." Kakashi nodded and thanked him.
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(End of Chapter)