[Blue Lock] Chapter 16 - Acknowledgement (I)

Done with his morning run, Naruto stopped at a convenience store on his way back home and bought some packaged meals, the type that he would only need to heat up to eat.

Up until a few months ago, when he started living at Blue Lock, those sorts of packaged meals used to be the only thing he ever ate; that, and instant ramen. He was almost nostalgic as he bought a few cups of instant ramen. He had not had any of that in months. The food at Blue Lock was nutritious and natural.

Having sweated a lot during his intense workout, Naruto did not dilly-dally in the cold; he rushed to get home as soon as possible.

‘I hope there is some hot water left,’ he prayed.

His stay at Blue Lock had spoilt him. Although he had had to share a room with other boys, the other living conditions had been leagues above what he had now.

He climbed the stairs to his apartment in a hurry, two to three steps at a time. However, when he arrived in front of his door, he was stunned.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Naruto asked, the tone of his voice a mixture of disbelief and vitriol as he glared at the person who was waiting for him there.

It was a man in his late 50s, but despite his long white hair and the wrinkles on his face, he had a tall and well-built body. It was none other than Jiraiya, his godfather.

“Naruto?” the man said in wonder. “My word, I almost didn’t recognise you. How long has it been? Two years? Look at you! You grew up so much! I can’t call you a brat anymore. You’re a full-grown man now,” he said as he walked towards Naruto with arms wide open.

“You dare?” Naruto asked in a low voice that quivered from fury.

The plastic bag with groceries fell on the floor, dropping from his hand, and the old man suddenly found himself being picked up from his long leather coat and slammed into the wall.

“You dare show your face here after all you’ve done?”

His enraged scream echoed loudly in the hallway, and two of his floor neighbours peeked their heads outside the doors to see what had happened.

For two years, he had been living a life not much better than that of a stray dog. His father had died, and he became a penniless orphan. Putting aside his miserable financial situation and the lack of familial love, Japanese society was not kind to mixed-race people and especially orphans, who were derogatorily called “throw-away children”. Only he knew how much he had suffered in this period of time.

Jiraiya struggled to free himself from Naruto’s hands, but the once short and skinny teenager was now a strong and athletic man. His grip was like steel.

“Please listen to me, Naruto,” he said quickly. “I know I made a big mistake. And I regret it from the bottom of my heart. I want to make things right. I want to make it up-”

“Make it right? How? Are you going to raise my father from the grave?” Naruto shouted at him. “Answer me!”

“. . .I can’t do that.”

Naruto let out a ragged breath. He was so angry that he was physically trembling. But, unexpectedly, he let go of Jiraiya’s clothes and stepped back.

“Get out of my sight.”

“Naruto, I-”

“I said get OUT,” he suddenly screamed, making Jiraiya jump. “Get the fuck out of here, you sleazy piece of shit. Fuck off before I do something we’ll both regret.”

Jiraiya swallowed nervously. He had expected Naruto to be angry, but he had not expected such rage from him.

He did not dare linger and scurried away. As he walked towards the stairs, Naruto spoke in a cold voice:

“Never contact me again. I don’t want to ever see your face again. Not in one year, not in ten, not in fifty. We aren’t family. You’re dead to me.”

The old man didn’t reply. He only threw one more look at Naruto, a barely perceptible sneer flashing on his face, before leaving for good.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Naruto snapped at the eavesdropping neighbours in a belligerent voice.

The two middle-aged neighbours quickly ducked inside their homes, shutting their doors and locking them too right away. After all, they were living in the slums, and Naruto looked exactly like the type of person anyone would want to avoid in a place like that.

He let out a shuddering sigh and closed his eyes for a few moments. He didn’t remember the last time he had been so enraged. It was to the point where the back of his head was pulsating with pain as though someone had just hit him with a crowbar.

Picking up his discarded bag of groceries off the floor, he went inside his apartment.

⁂

It took Naruto the larger part of the morning for his anger to simmer down and for him to regain his composure.

‘I can’t believe that bastard had the gall to show after everything he’s done.’

He couldn’t understand what was going through the old man’s head. Just what in the world had made him think that he would welcome him?

He blew out a sigh as he waited for the microwave to heat up his meal. It was a box of rice and curry.

Once the timer ended, he took out his food and started eating right away. He was famished.

‘Thank God I didn’t punch him, or worse,’ he thought while wolfing down his bento.

If Jiraiya had tried pulling this stunt half a year ago, Naruto was afraid of what he would have done to him. He would have probably beaten the old man to an inch of his life. Back then, he had had nothing to lose.

But now, it was different. He had everything to lose. The thought that physically assaulting Jiraiya could destroy his career as a professional football player had given him the strength to keep his emotions in check.

He finished his bento in a matter of minutes, but he was still hungry, so he put a second lunchbox in the microwave. While he was waiting for his food to heat up, his phone vibrated.

‘Nishioka?’

They did exchange contacts before he left Blue Lock, but this was the first time Nishioka Hajime called him.

“Hey, Naruto! The promo video for our match against U20 Japan is out already!! Did you watch it?” Nishioka started in an excited voice, without as much as a greeting.

“Hello to you too,” Naruto said, chuckling. “No, I haven’t.”

“Man, it was uploaded yesterday. You really have to watch it! It's freaking amazing! You won’t believe it, but there are over one million views already!”

“Oh, damn!”

“I know, right?” Nishoka said. “But you know what I found strange? You still appear in the Blue Lock video. I thought they would... you know, cut you out since you’re not part of Blue Lock anymore. But they didn’t change the video.”

“Let me watch it myself, and I’ll call you back in a few minutes,” Naruto said, too curious to wait anymore.

“Alright.”

⁂

Thanks to Saeko telling him two days ago about the Football Association’s decision to market Blue Lock as a formidable opponent for the U20 Japan team, Naruto was not surprised to hear Nishioka say that there were promotional videos of them online.

Nevertheless, the fact that he still appeared to be a Blue Lock player in the promotional video confused him.

‘Why didn’t they edit me out?’

Sure, he had assisted others in some of the other players’ goals, or he had been in a team opposing them, so it was not as though they could cut him off completely from the video. But the problem was that 30 entire seconds from the video were dedicated to promoting him. Aside from Naruto, the only other Blue Lock players who received the same amount of screen time were the Top 6 that Ego had decided before Naruto left: Rin, Shidou, Isagi, Nishioka, Karasu, and Nagi.

The video showed off his amazing free-kick goal against Team Y, the one that greatly resembled Roberto Carlos’ free-kick goal against France in 1997. (1)

Then, it was his goal against Team Z when he cut inside past Chigiri with a Ronaldo chop and broke the goalkeeper’s finger with the bomb he shot. (2)

And lastly, the moment from his match against the World Five when he and Dada Silva kicked the ball at the same time, making it explode. The video was edited in a way that did not show Dada Silva’s face, only Naruto and the ball. (3)

Once the video came to an end, he went to the comment section. To say that the viewers were excited would be an understatement. There were dozens of new comments every minute.

‘Itoshi Rin already has a fanbase.’

Once people found out that he was Itoshi Sae’s little brother, his fandom exploded. It would not be an exaggeration to say that probably half of the people who watched Blue Lock’s promotional video did it because of Rin’s connection to Itoshi Sae.

‘Nagi too,’ Naruto mused. ‘I guess being good-looking helps a lot.’

Many users with female avatars (and not only) were swooning over Seishiro Nagi and flooding the comment section with heart emotes.

Momentarily leaving the comments, Naruto went back to the video to rewatch his section. But when he tapped on the clip’s playback bar to go back, he was startled to see that the start of his section of the video was the most replayed moment of the entire clip!

‘Holy shit!’ he thought, amazed.

Objectively, he knew that he was good and that he had scored some real bangers at Blue Lock, but seeing other people actually become aware of him was a special experience.

It was then that it finally dawned on him:

‘Did Jiraiya watch this video too? Is that why that bastard turned up at my door now of all times? Did he realise I’m about to strike gold?’

The timing was too perfect for him not to link one and one together. 

He was broken off from his thoughts and he realised that he had forgotten entirely about calling Nishioka back only when his video was paused and the dial window popped up on his screen.

“Dude, you were supposed to call back 15 minutes ago!” Nishioka said as his face appeared on the phone’s screen. It was a video call.

“Ah, sorry, I went down the rabbit hole in the comments section,” Naruto said, chuckling. “Did you notice? My section of the video is the most replayed one. Actually, there are 2 most replayed moments and they are both mine, haha! Take that!”

“I can’t even be mad at that,” Nishioka said, grinning at Naruto’s enthusiasm. “That free-kick goal you scored in the first selection was nuts. As for the other most replayed scene, man, it was like out of an anime series. I’ve seen videos of footballs exploding on the pitch, but it was the first time I saw it in person. But, leaving that aside, what are you up to now that you aren’t at Blue Lock anymore? Can you talk about it or still not?”

Naruto hesitated before saying:

“. . . Actually, I got transferred to the U20 Japan national team.”

A poignant silence followed.

“DUDE!” Nishioka exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief. “Tell me you’re kidding! What the hell?!”

“I’m not lying. Ego-san told me himself. I’m supposed to go meet the team in two days.”

“Aw, man, we’ll have to play against that ogre in the U20 match?” came a voice from Nishioka’s side.

The short boy burst into laughter and turned the phone in the direction of the voice for Naruto to see who had said that. It was Nagi. The white-haired boy even paused his mobile game for a brief moment; that’s how much that piece of news had surprised him.

“Who are you calling an ogre, you lanky weeb? I hope you keep the same energy when we see each other again,” said Naruto, making Nishioka laugh even harder.

“No problem. We’ll be on the pitch. I dare you to try anything then,” Nagi replied, not looking up from his mobile game.

They went back and forth for a few more minutes before Naruto changed the subject.

“How come you’re in your dorm? Aren’t you supposed to be participating in the tryouts?”

“The tryouts are actually finished. We have a day off today to rest and recover.”

“Already? That was quick.”

“That’s what she said,” Nishioka piped in.

“. . .You guys sure gained a lot of courage since I left. I really am looking forward to when we meet each other again.”

Nishioka, who had been terrified of Naruto when they had first met, thinking that he was a violent thug (it had been shortly after blond knocked Kuon out cold), laughed uncaringly at his threat now.

“Anyway. Did the Top 6 change? I remember Ego saying something about the lower-ranked players being given the chance to dethrone the top 6.”

“Actually, yeah, it happened. Yukimiya booted Isagi.”

“Who?”

“Remember the tall dude with stylish hair and round glasses who asked Ego why he wasn’t in the top 6 himself?

“Oh, right.”

“Yeah, that guy. I think he joined my team on purpose – me and Isagi were Number 3 and Number 4, by the way. He was probably aiming for Isagi's position from the start. As you know, Isagi needs to rely on his teammates and positioning to score. When he can read the game, his ‘goal-smelling’ thing, as Bachira likes to call it, can be amazing. But if his teammates don’t work with him and he has to do something all alone, well. . . “

Nishioka trailed off, and Naruto understood what he meant. Isagi’s individual skills were barely average compared to other players at Blue Lock. If things didn’t tick for him, he was like a fish out of water.

“Yukimiya is crazy good. He’s very physical and has brilliant dribbling. One of the best 1-on-1 players at Blue Lock. He scored 2 goals by himself when we played together, and I scored 3. Isagi drowned in that match. He didn't contribute with anything significant."

Nishioka proceeded to describe the match in detail for Naruto. Eventually, he brought up another incident worthy of note.

“Ah, I almost forgot to tell you about Rin and Shidou! They actually got into a fistfight, haha! I heard Shidou might get kicked out of Blue Lock. This isn’t the first, nor the second time, he has gotten into a fight. Sheesh. . . we lost two great players already, both you and Shidou. Ego-san is confident we’ll beat Japan’s U20 team, but I have a feeling it won’t be easy at all. . .”

[...]

Nishioka’s chatter barely came to an end one hour later. He had so many things to talk about that one would be fooled into thinking that he and Naruto had not seen each other in months.

After ending the video call with Nishioka and Nagi, Naruto didn’t put his phone away. Instead, he dialled his girlfriend’s number.

“Heyyy,” Saeko greeted him happily, pleasantly surprised by his call. “Let me guess, you couldn’t wait to hear my voice until tomorrow, so you decided to call me.”

Naruto and Saeko had made plans to go on a date on Sunday, the day before he was supposed to meet Japan’s U20 national football team.

He couldn’t help the smile that came to his face at her flirtatious question.

“I do like the sound of your voice,” he admitted with a chuckle. "I like it a lot. But. . . as much as I wish I could say I called you just for that, I can’t. I need your help with something. Is Mr. Busujima around?"

“Father? Yes, he’s actually at home. He was supposed to go play indoor golf with my uncle, but he cancelled their outing for some reason. Why are you asking? Did something happen?"

Naruto didn't remember right away, but Mr Busujima's brother was actually the Minister of Sports in Japan. That was the reason why Saeko and her father could visit him during the first selection, at Blue Lock, and why Mr Busujima could bring Naruto into the U20 National Team through the backdoor. (4)

“Nothing bad happened. . . but I’d like to talk with him face to face. It’s really important. Could you ask him if I can visit your home today?”

“Um, sure, give me a minute.”

Putting their call on hold, Saeko returned after one minute.

“He says he’s free. He sent his driver to pick you up directly from home.”

“Thank you so much, Saeko,” Naruto said. “Wait, he sent a car for me? …Is that fine?” Naruto asked. “I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re making too big a deal out of this,” Saeko said, giggling softly. “See you in 30 minutes then? Oh, and bring a change of clothes. Maybe I’ll convince Dad to let you stay over tonight.”

“What?! No way! Don’t ask him that!” Naruto blurted out, alarmed.

“Ehh? Why not? Don’t tell me, you’re actually getting shy~?” she said in a teasing voice.

“No, it’s got nothing to do with being shy! I wouldn’t mind it, but-”

“No buts, mister! You’re sleeping with me tonight, and that’s final!”

Naruto paused for a second before asking in an incredulous tone,

“...Do you want your father to kill me?”

“What?” Saeko started, only for her words to die in her throat as realisation dawned on her. “Ahh! Nooo! That’s not what I meant! Not like that! I didn’t mean—aaah!”

Naruto burst into laughter. He couldn’t see her face, but he was one hundred per cent sure she was blushing furiously now.

“How cute,” he said, laughing.

And that was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Unable to bear the embarrassment, Saeko let out a squawk, and the line went dead.

⁂

As amusing as his phone conversation with Saeko had been, Naruto’s playful and easy-going attitude vanished by the time Mr Busujima’s driver arrived in front of his apartment building.

The trip to the Busujima family’s residence was quiet, and he made use of that time to go over his thoughts a few more times and steel his resolve.

It was his third time visiting Saeko’s home, but he was still not used to seeing the luxury they lived in. As the new butler of the mansion welcomed him respectfully and led him to Mr Busujima’s study room, he wondered if he ever would.

The butler knocked on the door, and a middle-aged man’s deep voice rang from within:

“Yes, come in.”

The butler didn’t get the chance to even grab the doorknob because, in the next moment, the door was opened abruptly, and, faster than either of them could react, a girl rushed out of the study room and threw herself into Naruto’s arms.

A soft vanilla fragrance filled his lungs as Saeko’s long purple hair covered his face, and he smiled widely as he caught her in his arms. He lifted her off her feet playfully, and he would have even twirled her around a moment later, but that thought immediately vanished, and his grin faltered when he saw the pointed look Mr Busujima was throwing at him.

“I missed you!” Saeko said, a soft blush colouring her cheeks.

“It’s only been a few weeks,” he said, laughing, but when he saw her father’s glare suddenly intensifying, he instinctively added rapidly, “I missed you too.”

Saeko’s smile looked like it could light up an entire city at that moment.

“Come, let's not stand in the hallway,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him after her into the study room.

“Hello, Mr Busujima. Thank you for agreeing to meet me today,” said Naruto and bowed slightly, doing his best to be polite with his limited knowledge of proper manners.

“You can be at ease,” he said easily. “Saeko told me you wanted to talk to me about something important.”

“Yes,” Naruto said, but he didn’t continue right away.

“Saeko, could you remind the butler to prepare the guest room for Naruto?”

His expression of surprise must have been rather obvious because Mr Busujima chuckled a bit after Saeko left.

“That mischievous little. . . Did she not tell you that you'll stay over tonight?"

“Ah, no, she did,” Naruto answered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “But I told her that it wouldn’t be right, so-”

“I am here. And I have a collection of roughly 300 swords. I’m sure nothing improper will take place.”

When Naruto’s face paled visibly, Saeko’s father started chuckling merrily.

“Haha. That was but a joke. Saeko told me you’re a lot more easy-going than this. Don’t be so nervous. Have a seat first.”

“Right,” said Naruto as he sat on the comfortable leather chair at the desk across from Mr Busujima.

Deciding that he had messed around with his daughter’s boyfriend enough, Osamu Busujima dropped the teasing act and asked in a more serious voice:

“So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

Naruto hesitated briefly.

“I want to say first that I’m grateful for all you’ve done for me so far,” he began. “I could even say I wouldn’t be here today if not for our encounter a few months ago.”

Without Mr Busujima informing Naruto of the fact that Ego had accepted him into Blue Lock, Naruto might have never learnt of it because he had missed the letter due to his apartment not having a mailbox.

“You also paid for my rent and took care of my little apartment when I was at Blue Lock. I am truly grateful.”

Saeko’s father did not interrupt him, allowing him to speak his mind.

Feeling as though it was improper to be seated at that moment, Naruto stood up as he continued:

“And if my debt of gratitude wasn’t big enough, you even got me into Japan’s U20 national team . . . It’s an incredible favour, something that I could never repay. Becoming a professional football player has always been my dream. Still is. However… …I can’t accept this favour.”

Keeping his hands close to his body, Naruto bowed deeply from the waist, as was the custom in Japan when someone meant to express their utmost regret or respect, depending on the situation.

“I apologise. You have done so much for me, and I am grateful for all your help. . . but it wouldn’t be right for me to join Japan's U20 team.”

Mr Busujima stood silent for a few very long seconds.

“Raise your head, Naruto,” he said in an undecipherable tone.

Now able to look him in the eyes, the man asked him:

“Do you not want to accept something that you feel like you did not earn? Is it because of your pride?”

Naruto shook his head.

“What pride would someone like me have?” he said, self-deprecation unknowingly slipping into his words. No one knew better than he did what his place was in Japanese society.

Mr Busujima frowned imperceptibly at his choice of words but did not comment on it.

“Then? What’s the reason you’d reject the easy way? You said it yourself, didn’t you? It’s your dream to become a football player.”

Naruto spoke in a calm but resolute voice:

“When my school team failed to go to the nationals, I thought my dream of becoming a professional football player died because that was the last chance I had to put myself out there for the football clubs to take note of me. It was my last year of high school. . . And I failed. But when I was at my lowest point, when I thought I had nothing left, Ego-san saw my potential. When every other football club ignored me, he invited me to join Blue Lock.”

“This match against Japan’s U20 national team will decide the fate of Blue Lock. . . Ego-san is my benefactor. He and Blue Lock changed my life. What kind of man would I be to forget about my debt of gratitude to him? How could I possibly fight against him and try to bury Blue Lock after all that? I can’t.”

The older man looked him in the eyes very intently, as though he was trying to look into his soul.

“You do understand that the odds are overwhelmingly against Blue Lock’s victory, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Naruto replied, nodding once.

“So you would risk losing your dream just for that? Would you risk never getting another chance to become a professional football player only because it wouldn’t feel right to go against Ego Jinpachi, is that it?” Mr Busujima asked.

“Yes.”

"But there is also a chance that I might not be able to bring you back to Blue Lock. There is a chance that you will lose out on joining both the National Team and Blue Lock too. Will you still not play against Blue Lock?" Mr Busujima asked seriously.

The blond nodded resolutely one last time.

"Yes."

It was not easy for Naruto to give him that answer. It had not been easy for him to decide to come speak in person with Saeko’s father either. The stakes were simply too high. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the very course of his life would be changed based on the result of this conversation right now.

He broke eye contact and looked down, swallowing nervously as he stared at the hardwood floor vacantly, waiting for Mr Busujima’s verdict.

The older man stood up from his seat and walked around the desk before stopping in front of Naruto and raising his hand.

The blond looked at his outstretched hand stupefied and then at his face before tentatively bridging his right hand to his too.

Saeko’s father grasped his hand in a firm handshake and said:

“From one man to another, you have my respect, Naruto.”

Before the boy could respond, Mr. Busujima turned his head toward the door and raised his voice a little.

“You can stop eavesdropping, princess. Just come in.”

The door opened, revealing a red-faced and teary-eyed Saeko. She was not crying, but she was not far from it, and the expression on her face made Naruto not know what to make of it. Was she sad? Then why was she smiling? Was she touched? Or perhaps, did she feel proud? He was at a loss.

Naruto glanced nervously at Mr Busujima, expecting the older man to glare at him again, but, unlike when he had just arrived, this time, her father nodded at him in approval.

Although he was caught off guard for a brief moment to see Mr Busujima actually encouraging him, he opened his arms for Saeko, who embraced him eagerly and buried her face into his broad chest.

“I’ll go make a few calls,” Mr Busujima said and patted Naruto on the shoulder before leaving them alone in the room.

Now that her father wasn’t watching him like a hawk anymore, Naruto allowed himself to relax. He tightened his arms around Saeko’s waist and planted a soft kiss on the crown of her head.

He didn’t know exactly what had made her so emotional, but he left that question for another time. At that moment, he craved her closeness as much as she needed him because his discussion with Mr Busujima could have gone horribly wrong.

If Saeko’s father had taken his refusal the wrong way, not only would Naruto have lost his spot in Japan’s U20 team, but in Block Lock as well. Fortunately, things couldn’t have gone better, but the fact that he had been nervous as hell the entire time didn’t change.

He caressed the back of her head gently, greatly enjoying the silky feeling of her beautiful, long purple hair. It served to not only soothe her, but it calmed his agitated spirit, too. The two of them remained like that for a long time, simply basking in the comfort of each other’s arms, in that warm feeling of intimacy.

⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

AN: Some people may complain that Naruto isn't selfish enough and that his ego isn't as big as that of the rest of the guys at Blue Lock.

Well, that is true. And it will not change.

This is still Naruto after all. He puts loyalty above all else. Canon Naruto does this, and this version of Naruto from the fic does the same, especially due to his past (Jiraiya basically betrayed his father, scamming him of all his money and dipping out).

(1) It happened in Chapter 5.

(2) It happened in Chapter 7.

(3) It happened in Chapter 13.

(4) It was mentioned in Chapter 5.