Awoken: Part One

Naruto suddenly woke up with a startle. His eyes darted around the room with utter confusion. How long was he out for? Naruto quickly sat up with a groan; he was still beaten up since his fight with Zabuza. Damn, that was one hell of a battle, but thank Agni that he managed to beat Zabuza.

Naruto was inside a thatched hut with nothing but a blanket to sleep on and some bagged supplies. The room was a shade of dark thanks to the curtain that blocked the rays from passing through the entrance.

Where was he? What happened while he was passed out? Questions flew through Naruto's mind as he took in his surroundings.

Naruto noticed bandages wrapped around his whole body, but took a closer look at his right hand. His hand was nearly healed, yet It felt numb. But thankfully his hand didn't get blown up from using the rasengan. After that battle with Zabuza, Naruto realized just how weak he was. He nearly let Azula die and himself die by the hands of that shinobi. If all shinobis were like this, then Naruto would have to train even more.

"I can't let that happen again," Naruto clenched his fist with determination. Naruto had successfully conjured the rasengan. All he needed to do now was to perform it again without hurting himself. He felt confident enough to be able to do it again.

"Look who just rose up from the dead," Tazuna suddenly said.

Naruto nearly jumped in fright, spinning his heads towards Tazuna. Tazuna sat with his back against the wall of straws, holding one arm over his bandaged belly. From what Naruto could tell, the man looked well off for someone who had been stabbed by a powerful shinobi.

"Tazuna, you're okay!" Naruto said with glee.

"Yeah, this old man is still kickin' alright, but this bitch of a wound is killing me," Tazuna replied, adjusting himself against the wall into a more comfortable position. "So, how are you feeling, kid?"

"Like eating hot ramen on a cold day."

"Right..." Tazuna didn't really know how to respond to that. Must be what the kids say nowadays or something. Who knows.

"Where are we anyways?" Naruto asked in curiosity.

"In my humble abode, of course," Tazuna replied. "It doesn't look like much since its pretty much what I can afford."

"I think it looks nice."

Tazuna rolled his eyes, "C'mon, kid. You don't need to lie to me. I'm pretty thick-skinned, so I could take it."

"Alright, I think it looks like absolute shit," Naruto bluntly said.

"Oi, you didn't need to be THAT blunt, brat," Tazuna quickly took offense.

The room grew silent for a moment before Naruto suddenly laughed. Tazuna frown turned into a smile, and he started to laugh along with Naruto. Soon, their laughters slowly died down, and Naruto faced turned serious.

"Old man Tazuna," Naruto sat on his knees towards Tazuna, garnering the old man's attention. His head slightly bowed as he looked towards the ground. "I wanted to thank you for trying to help us. Honestly, It really means a lot to me."

Feeling uncomfortable with Naruto's sudden formality, Tazuna quickly waved him off, "Ah, don't sweat it, kid. I did what I had to do."

"Seriously, If ya ever need help with anything, don't be afraid to ask me, dattebayo."

Tazuna simply chuckled, "I'll take you up on that offer."

The curtain flew open, and a sudden light blinded both of them as a large, shadowy figure entered the hut.

"Ah, yer finally awake, lad!" Temujin happily said as he limped towards Naruto. "Ya nearly gave us all a fright."

"Temujin..." Naruto finally got a closer look at him as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

"It's good ta see ya up again," Temujin sat down next to him with a gourd of rum in hand.

"Oh man, you reek of alcohol," Naruto covered his nose in disgust. "Bleh."

"Oi, don't diss tha rum. It's good stuff."

Naruto couldn't be more happier seeing Temujin acting like his usual self. It really made him feel at ease. Naruto gripped the sheets covering his waist below and asked, "How long was I out for?"

"Three days."

Naruto's eyes bulged from his sockets, "That long?!"

"Crazy, ain't it?" Temujin replied, taking a swig of alcohol before letting out a content sigh, "We were worried for a moment that ya won't be able to wake up at all. But man, those gals wouldn't leave yer side no matter what. I'm honestly quite jealous."

Naruto softly stroked the bandages on his body, "So it was them..."

Naruto couldn't help but smile; hearing Temujin say that warmed his heart. Nobody had ever shone such care for him besides Jiraiya. He was honestly quite lucky to have met those three girls. Naruto needed to thank Azula, Suki and Tenten once he sees them again.

"I mean seriously! Bandaging you, feeding you, stripping you and even wash-"

"Okay, okay! I think I get it!" Naruto suddenly interrupted Temujin as his face flushed red with embarrassment. Wanting to quickly change topics, Naruto asked, "What about the girls? How're they holdin' up?"

Temujin playfully slapped him across the back much to the ire of Naruto, "Them? Those pretty faces seems to be trainin' themselves like there's no tomorrow. After what happened earlier, I can't blame em."

Naruto suddenly stood up much to the shock of Temujin. His legs wobbled, but Naruto was able to steady himself after a brief moment. The blanket fell from his waist, revealing nothing but a pair of boxers.

"Woah, take it easy there, champ," Temujin quickly supported him up. "A good warrior needs his rest."

Naruto shook his head, "I'm fine, old man. I just want to see them again."

"Suit yerself," Temujin shrugged his shoulders. "Don't blame me when ya suddenly drop dead again."

"Right... I'll catch you guys later," Naruto donned on his pants and walked outside. Surrounding him was a forest of green as echoes of nature hummed in his ears. The forest was split by an open dirt road that led to the rest of the village. The thatched hut that Naruto slept in seemed to be isolated from the rest of the community.

"Naruto!" Azula cried out with delight and quickly ran over to him.

"Hey, princess- YEOW!" Naruto suddenly yelled. Azula had hugged him out of the blue which unintentionally caused him pain. She held tightly onto him, not wanting to let him go.

"Princess... you're kinda hurtin' me," Naruto said.

"Oh, sorry," Azula slowly pulled back. She looked him up and down with surprise. All the wounds that he had before were either mostly healed or gone completely. Azula laid her hand on his cheek and softly caressed him, "Your wounds... they're not there anymore."

"Hehe, I sorta heal fast, ya know." Naruto added. "My body's kinda achin', though."

Naruto never knew why he was able to heal faster than others; he had assumed that he was just awesome like that. He vaguely remembered when his godfather, Jiraiya, had tried to investigate it but came up short-handed. However, Naruto didn't really care about it; the faster he healed, the faster he can jump back up and kick ass again.

"Then maybe you should rest a bit, you simpleton," Azula rolled her eyes.

"Are you kiddin' me? Nothing even this can stop the great Uzumaki!" Naruto said with nothing but overwhelming pride and confidence.

"I would never have thought," Azula deadpanned at him.

That was so typical of him. However, that wouldn't be her Naruto if he didn't have that overly stupid confidence. Seeing him up and about about a small smile to her face. When she first saw Naruto's badly beaten state, it felt like her heart was about to rip into pieces. Fortunately, all of Azula's hard work to take care of the whiskered boy had finally paid off. However, Naruto doesn't need to know that.

"By the way, I just wanted to thank you," Naruto said, disrupting Azula out of her thoughts.

"What for?"

"Ya know," Naruto rubbed his neck. "For taking care of me while I was out."

Azula suddenly flushed red in response. She suddenly remembered memories of earlier when she had washed Naruto and changed his clothes. His trained muscles; his toned chest. Azula quickly shook the thoughts out of her head.

"I assume that the crude drunkard told you?" Azula asked.

"Yeah, I told him, what about it?" Temujin suddenly limped out of the hut before Naruto answered her.

"You- ugh, forget it. Just take a hike somewhere else," Azula said.

"Aiii~ kids these days can't even show respect fer their elders," Temujin shook his head in disappointment. He took a swig of his rum before walking off.

Seeing Temujin far enough away from, Azula whispered to Naruto, "He didn't say any unnecessary things to you, did he?"

"Uh, nothing at all, princess..."

Azula narrowed her eyes at him but simply shrugged it off, "Hmm... alright. Well, anyways, I was getting some training done, and I want you to come watch over."

"Yeah, I'm down with it."

"Perfect!" Azula quickly dragged him along.