@maitiests liked for a starter
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Smile. Smile. Smile! — PLEASE!
Grief pressed down, sharp and unrelenting. Edges digging into flesh and bone, rupturing his heart and lungs — until speaking was hard, breathing was harder, and the smile everyone liked so much felt like another cut.
A smile he fought hard for, one the world tried to break. His best friend gone, leaving him with wounds that would never heal, not until he returned. Only to wake up in the hospital to find out that IT had happened again.
Another Jinchūriki, another target... a friend locked away, treated like a criminal.
Naruto couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.
And he couldn’t say goodbye with a gloomy expression. He knew how much those hurt.
Another deep breath, straightening his back, rolling his shoulders, he took both his hands and slapped his cheeks, once, twice.
“Stop being such a gloomy loser! Dattebayo!”
And with another deep breath, the smile appeared on his reddened cheeks, just as recognizable as his whisker marks.
Getting past the guard was difficult, or he made it difficult for himself. Likely, if he had asked, they’d have let him pass. Maybe Tsunade had even given the order. Allowing the more experienced Jinchūriki to meet the new one.
And finally, he knocked on Lee’s window, warning him with a wide grin, sitting on the windowsill like a frog.
Still-bandaged hands formed a megaphone around his lower face as he mouthed, “Hey, Lee, let me inside!”