Now, though, he knew why the villagers hated him. They saw him as the Kyūbi no Yōko.
Because of that, Naruto knew it wasn't about getting the village's recognition anymore… What he wanted now was to no longer be viewed as a monster. He wanted the village to see him as Naruto Uzumaki!
'If I want the village to see me as more than just the demon sealed inside me, I need to change. I need to change how they see me. And…' He sighed. 'I should probably stop chasing after Sakura.'
With everything that had happened today, turning over a new leaf with the ending of his crush to Sakura seemed like a good start. After all, Sakura had made it perfectly clear that it would be a waste of her time. But should he search for and pursue other girls or give up entirely?
Naruto shook his head slightly at the thought. Now that he thought about it, he had never really even thought about the kind of girls he liked. He wanted girls that were smart, pretty, but most importantly, mature enough that they would look past the sealed Kyūbi and see him for who he truly was. In short, he wanted someone who acknowledged and appreciated him.
Unfortunately, very few people fit into that category and none of them, save three or so, were women. He knew that some of the older female shinobi accepted him but he doubt they would ever see him in a romantic light.
And, let's face facts, Naruto knew he wasn't the most attractive person. Sakura had pounded that opinion, quite literally in some cases, into his head. He had heard Sakura and Ino discussing, what they believed, his horrible fashion sense on multiple occasions, not that he could fix that since no shop would sell anything to him. Besides, the orange outfit had gotten him attention! A lot of it. After all, it practically screamed "LOOK AT ME!" And when he was younger, getting attention meant far more to him than his grades, hence why he started playing pranks and continued wearing the orange eyesore.
Playing pranks had also hampered his skills, with the exception of stealth and trap making. Naruto knew that despite defeating Mizuki, his skills were far from top-notch - his three failures at graduating was a testament to that. Hell, he still couldn't create a basic bunshin and that was considered one of the most basic techniques in the shinobi world!
All in all, Naruto could see that he wasn't someone a girl would stop and look at. And until he could fully change himself into someone worth respecting, he realize it would probably be best to just give up on women for the time being.
And instead, focus on becoming a true shinobi of Konoha.
But where to start?
Thinking back on what Iruka had said, Naruto tried to recall all the strong shinobi he had ever met. The ones that stood out in his mind were the Hokage, obviously, and a few Jōnin and ANBU he had interacted with. What did they have that he didn't?
"Experience."
That was the first and most obvious thing he could think of. But it was also the one thing he couldn't get until he was put on active duty.
He also knew that they trained constantly. Every day they weren't on a mission or injured, they were out training and improving their skills. What did he do? Goof off, play pranks, and boast about how he would become Hokage without ever putting any real effort into his training. That was not something a respectable shinobi would do. He would definitely be changing that, but what else was there?
'Gah, I don't know. Maybe I should ask jiji.'
Yeah. That sounded like a good idea. Well, after he got a bite to eat and tried changing his outfit. Even though the Sandaime has and always will be his surrogate jiji, the man was still the Hokage so showing a little decorum wouldn't hurt. Besides, he was trying to be more professional. Better to start sooner than later.
~ Scene Break ~
Orange. Orange. And what do you know, MORE ORANGE! He had absolutely nothing that wasn't orange save for a few shirts, shorts, and pajamas. Naruto also noted that aside from the jumpsuit, he didn't have anything that would be considered practical for a shinobi. The several t-shirts and shorts he had simply weren't designed with durability in mind. They'd probably fall apart after a single training session, if that.
His only option would to be to buy new clothes and that alone made him worry. None of the shopkeepers had let him buy anything from them and had promptly kicked him out, some literally. Perhaps, some of the shinobi-only stores would let him in? He had a reasonable amount of money saved up.
Naruto quickly left his home in search of a proper store that sold ninja equipment. Predictably, the first couple stores immediately kicked him out the second they saw him. But as he approached the third store, Naruto had a thought… What if he looked like someone else?
It was worth a shot.
"Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)!"
In Naruto's place was a totally nondescript looking teen with long black hair, dark brown eyes, and a plain shirt and short outfit with his hitai-ate tied across his forehead to ensure the shopkeepers knew that he was indeed a ninja.
"Here goes nothing!" Taking a deep breath, he entered the Higurashi's Blades and Armors, hoping to the Ramen Gods that he wouldn't get thrown out.
However, as soon as he entered, all worries disappeared as he took in the rows upon rows of shinobi equipment throughout the shop. A large section of the store was reserved for all kinds of weapons and equipment, including different swords, kunai, shuriken, weights, and many other things that Naruto didn't recognize, let alone know the name of. He felt like he could get lost in this place and probably could spend hours looking at everything he didn't know or had heard about but never seen. For a young Genin such as himself, this truly was the place to be, there was no doubt about it.