Sasuke walked in front, his injuries mostly recovered, though his face still carried the pallor of someone who had just recovered from a serious injury.
Sakura followed behind, her hair damp with sweat. She had gone to train with Sasuke, but Sasuke hadn't spoken to her much the whole time. She had just been throwing shuriken and practicing basic taijutsu on the side, better than nothing.
As soon as she entered the door, she saw Naruto standing next to Kakashi and the expression on her face completed a spectacular transformation within a fraction of a second.
First was surprise, then awkwardness, and finally, it settled into cold indifference as she turned her head away.
Both of them had heard the sentence Naruto just said: "I will work hard to become the Hokage."
Sakura thought to herself, 'Hmph, Naruto is still the same Naruto. Talking about wanting to be the Hokage, what's the use?'
'Compared to Sasuke-kun, he's far behind. And I haven't calmed down from that 'last time' attitude of his a few days ago. Now, I will not take the initiative to speak to him. I will absolutely ignore him, unless he comes to apologize to me first.'
Meanwhile, Sasuke thought, 'The loser I had known for years had always been one of the worst students in class. He could only use the Three Basic Jutsu in a half-baked way and had even failed the graduation exam because his Clone Jutsu wasn't up to standard.'
'But now, Naruto's gaze was firm, and there wasn't a hint of bravado in his demeanor. When did he change like this?'
He recalled Naruto's experiences in the Land of Waves: the terrifying Chakra he unleashed within the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals that even shocked Haku, how he broke Haku's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals single-handedly after he fell unconscious, and how he used fifty Shadow Clones to intimidate the entire Gato mercenary group.
And now, even the way he spoke was different from before.
Was this still the same loser he knew?
Sasuke looked at Naruto with more intensity than ever before.
Just then, Tazuna walked out of the kitchen carrying a large platter of freshly steamed rice balls.
Seeing everyone gathered, he happily announced in a loud voice, "Honored ninjas, good news! The bridge will be officially completed tomorrow!"
"That means your mission will officially end by the day after tomorrow at the latest!"
Hearing this, Naruto nodded and walked toward the dining table.
Sasuke glanced at him and followed. Sakura immediately put on a beaming smile and eagerly sat down next to Sasuke. Of course, she deliberately chose the seat furthest from Naruto.
After the meal, Tazuna laughed heartily, raised his glass, and announced another matter.
He solemnly declared that to thank Naruto for guarding the bridge all this time, he planned to change the name of the nearly completed bridge from the originally planned "Great Land of Waves Bridge" to the "Great Naruto Bridge".
Naruto nearly choked on a mouthful of miso soup upon hearing this. He set down his bowl and looked up to see Tazuna's smug expression, which clearly said, "Go on, praise me."
Naruto waved his hand with some resignation. "Old man, whatever makes you happy."
Sakura, who was sitting next to Sasuke and picking food for him, paused, her sweet smile freezing on her face for a moment.
Her eyes widened, and she let out a silent roar internally, 'Why is it the Great Naruto Bridge? Why isn't it the Great Sasuke Bridge? Sasuke almost died! Why give the bridge's name to Naruto instead of Sasuke?'
Sasuke turned his head to look out the window, lost in thought.
Kakashi furtively reached into his ninja tool pouch and quietly pulled out Icha Icha Paradise, opening it up.
— — —
The next day, nearly all the men, women, and children of the Land of Waves flocked to the bridgehead.
The bridge, which had been under construction for so long, finally had its last stone slab set in place this afternoon.
When Tazuna personally pulled off the white cloth covering the stone tablet at the bridgehead, the three characters for "Great Naruto Bridge" reflected a brand-new luster under the sunlight.
Cheers shook the sky.
Fishermen tossed their caps into the air, women wiped tears from their eyes, and children screamed as they ran back and forth across the new bridge deck.
They knew that from this day on, the Land of Waves would no longer be an isolated island cut off by the sea. They could trade with the outside world, their children could live a good life, and no one would ever starve to death again.
Another day passed.
Kakashi and Tazuna completed the final step of the mission handover in the small living room of Tazuna's house.
A standard-format Konoha protection mission completion confirmation form was signed and thumb-printed by the client, then signed and filed by the team leader.
After signing, Kakashi rolled up the confirmation scroll, tucked it into his ninja tool pouch, and then signaled for Naruto and the others to pack their gear and prepare to head back to the village.
While packing their last personal items, Tsunami, who had been responsible for their laundry and meals, specially wrapped a few extra rice balls in oil paper and stuffed them into Sakura's backpack.
The Land of Waves was too poor to offer any valuable gifts, every extra meal of dry rations counted.
Then she stood at the doorway and bowed deeply to them.
Inari ran up to Naruto, his eyes brimming with tears and said, "Naruto-nii, you gave me courage. In the future, I will be as brave as you and protect my family and this bridge."
Naruto looked down at the brat who used to only know how to hide behind his grandfather and cry. He bent down and patted Inari on the shoulder.
"You are already very brave. The day you stood at the bridgehead, you were your grandfather's hero. Keep it up."
Inari bit his lip and nodded at Naruto.
Naruto straightened up and turned to walk toward Kakashi and the others, who were already waiting at the town entrance.
After he had walked a dozen steps, Inari's voice rang out from behind him, shouting with all his might, "Naruto-nii, I will definitely become a ninja just like you one day!"
Naruto raised his right hand and waved.