Chapter 30: The Bridge of Hope

Chapter 30: The Bridge of Hope

Disclaimer:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 30: The Bridge of Hope

"You okay there, boy?"

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up at the figure of the old Tazuna.

"I'm fine, I was just meditating." Naruto remained seated in lotus position and gave the place another glance. There were a lot more people working now.

"It looked to me like you were sleeping. And where are the girl and the grumpy kid?" the builder asked.

"The grumpy kid is having some trouble training a new technique, and the girl refuses to go too far from the grumpy kid," Naruto answered.

"And shouldn't you be with them? That black-haired kiddo is going to steal the girl, you know?" Tazuna tried to tease him.

"I seriously doubt he has much interest in her. Besides, someone has to be here to protect you, and our teacher is still a bit under the weather."

"And you are protecting me with your eyes closed?" Tazuna gave him a look of suspicion.

"Even when I am meditating, I remain aware of my surroundings. But in any case, an attack right now is very unlikely. That ninja we fought should be at the very least severely injured and will need some time to recover."

"Wait a minute, I thought he was dead!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"Right..." They hadn't told him about Kakashi's theory. "He probably is...anyway, if you see anything, just give a shout and I will be there in a second." After saying that, Naruto closed his eyes again.

"Hey, Tazuna!" Another man approached them.

"Giichi? What is it?"

"I've been thinking...and I want to quit working on the bridge."

"This country needs a symbol of courage...my bridge will serve to inspire them. To lose their fear and regain their desire to stand up for themselves."

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When they arrived at the house, Tazuna's daughter was just finishing setting up the table.

His teammates, along with Kakashi, were already sitting and waiting for dinner.

"You look terrible," Naruto said as his eyes rested on Sasuke.

The black-haired boy was dirty and covered in cuts and bruises. It appeared that he had fallen from the trees over and over while trying to learn that technique.

"Naruto! Don't say that! You have no idea how hard Sasuke has been working," Sakura snapped at him.

"Did you at least learn it?" Naruto ignored the angry girl.

Sasuke glanced at him with his usual expression of displeasure. "I'm close...I will master it tonight."

"Oh...I see." He went and sat down next to their teacher.

"So, how did your day go? Did you have fun with your bodyguard job?" Kakashi asked him.

Naruto could not see his mouth, but he was sure the man was grinning. "It was all quiet. Nothing worthy to report."

"Mmm...that's good. I should be completely fine with one more day of rest." Kakashi said. "How long until the bridge is complete?" he asked Tazuna.

"Perhaps two weeks will be enough, if we don't run into any serious issues and work as hard as we can," Tazuna said.

The builder's grandson got up from his seat and stared at them with a scowl on his face. "What are you even bothering for? You are all going to die! Gato is going to kill every single one of you!"

"Inari!" Tsunami came running from the kitchen to scold her son, but he ran upstairs.

"What's wrong with the brat?" Naruto asked.

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