A Bridge that Connects Us All: Part One

Naruto walked out of the forest after a bit of rest when his stomach suddenly rumbled. Man, he could really eat some miso ramen now. That would really make his day even better. However, Naruto hadn't seen Suki and Tenten all day and wondered what they were up to. Knowing Tenten, she would probably be training by now.

"Naruto?"

Well, speak of the devil.

Tenten walked up to Naruto with a large smile plastered on he face. Her body was covered in sweat after a long and grueling training regiment. Seeing Naruto now, it looked like he never even fought in a life or death battle. It was shocking to see, but she was happy to see him up and about, nonetheless.

"Who else but me, Tens?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"Don't try to be a smartass with me, blondie," Tenten tapped a finger on his chest. She quickly caught a whiff of his natural odor, it was musky but not overwhelming.

His scent alone made her feel hot and bothered as if it had suddenly triggered a dormant instinct in her brain. Tenten wanted to get closer to Naruto and bask in everything that he had to offer. It didn't help at all that his sweaty clothes were sticking onto his body.

Tenten could practically see the outlines of his sculpted muscles. God knows how much she loved a trained body of a man. More so a man with an untamed and wild look like Naruto's. She had seen Naruto without his shirt back when she was bandaging him up with Azula and Suki. Tenten had to say, his muscles were to die for. She couldn't help but drool when she first saw them.

Tenten quickly push back down on her own perverted thoughts; Naruto probably had his own boundaries that shouldn't be crossed. But, a little flirting here and there wouldn't hurt.

"Was I?" Naruto threw a teasing smirk at her.

"You know that playing dumb won't work," Tenten inadvertently moved closer to him, her hands slightly brushed up against his toned body, her voice slightly more high-pitched than usual. Was Naruto being more of a tease than usual? He was certainly playing with her emotions, that's for sure. Tenten suddenly asked, "You're pretty sweaty. We're you out training?"

"Yeah, I've been trying to master this one technique; I'm getting there though!" He answered.

Tenten had mistaken what he said for something perverted as she imagined various 'nightly positions' in her head, 'Damn it, Tenten, get your mind out of the gutter!' She scolded herself.

"You alright, Tens?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things, that's all," She hastily replied with flushed cheeks.

"Then, waddaya say we go back to Tazuna's?" Naruto suggested. "I'm starving."

Tenten suddenly remembered something that she had almost forgot, "Ugh, I was suppose to be helping Yulah and Suki make dinner for tonight. I completely forgot about it."

"Sounds like a you problem."

"Tell me about it," Tenten groaned loudly. "The last thing I need is to have Suki yelling in my ear."

"Then what're ya waiting for? Let's go!" Naruto said in a hurry, and the both of them ran back to Tazuna's house.

They quickly arrived there, and an aroma of food wafted through their noses. Oil sizzled from inside the hut with occasional chatter and laughter. Tenten knew she was late for the party, but she hoped Suki wouldn't be mad at her. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Tenten entered Tazuna's hut followed by Naruto.

"There you are, Tenten! Didn't I say to be here before evening?" Suki scolded her.

Yulah and Suki stood by the firepit with utensils in hand and aprons. Suki stirred some meat in a pan while Yulah focused on the boiling soup, sprinkling a bit of seasoning into the pot. Beside them was Azula chopping up some vegetables, albeit she was rather having some difficulties with it.

Her cuts were unrefined and sloppy like that of a complete beginner. Well, that's because she was; she had never cooked a meal before. Why bother when she had royal chefs cook her five star meals every day.

Azula let out some petulant moans when she suddenly messed up. Meanwhile, Temujin and Tazuna chatted near a bamboo floor table along with Tazuna's grandson, Inari. They had beers in hand as they discussed which alcohol tasted the best. Compared to their jolly attitude, Inari sat there in gloomly silence.

"Sorry, mom," Tenten said jokingly with a roll of her eyes. "I was caught up in talking to Naruto here."

"Naruto?" Suki turned her eyes to the boy she had a major crush on. She dropped her spatula and suddenly ran towards him for a hug.

"Good to see ya, Suki," Naruto brightly smiled as he hugged her back. He glanced down at her form, and he had to say, Suki looked really good in that apron.

Suki pulled back from him and took a good look at his face. Azula was right; all of the wounds on his body were actually healed. Suki didn't know if she should be surprised by him at this point.

However, she guessed that it should be expected from the boy who was full of surprises. Nevertheless, Suki was relieved that Naruto was alright; she had been worried sick for the past three days, wondering when he would finally wake up.

She laid her arms over his shoulders with a frown on her face, "Where were you? I've been looking all over for you."

"Training, why?"

Hearing that, Suki suddenly looked towards Azula with narrowed eyes. Feeling Suki's piercing glare, Azula stopped cutting the remaining vegetables and looked back at her with confusion, "What?" She asked.

"Apparently, someone didn't tell me that Naruto was training beforehand."

"Oh... that detail may have slipped up from my mind earlier," Azula said. "However, I did find it amusing to see you wander around like a lost child in search for her parents."

And it was funny, at least for Azula. Who could blame her? She always enjoyed a few laughs at someone else's expense. It was not like Azula was wishing physical harm upon them; she wasn't that much of a sadist.

"Can you believe her, Naruto?" Suki pouted at Naruto to get his attention. However, she looked more cute rather than angry.

Naruto scratched his cheek as he chuckled, "Well, that's Azula for ya. Nothin' I can do about it."

"I can't believe you're siding with her," Suki sighed to herself. "Ugh, forget it. Why don't you sit down with the guys over there or something?"

Meanwhile, Tenten tried to walk away from the whole fiasco until Suki caught her in the act by grabbing onto her collar, "And where do you think you're going, Tenten?" Suki asked.

"I was just, you know, heading to the bathroom," Tenten adverted her eyes from Suki.

"Yeah right. Nice try, Tenten," Suki pulled Tenten away by her collar. "At least help peel the potatoes, you lazy meatbun." Tenten grumbled to herself as she was being dragged away.

"Oh my, it's gotten quite lively in here," Tsunami suddenly entered the hut with a bag filled with vegetables in hand. She noticed Naruto and smiled at him, "Ah, you must be Naruto, right? It's good to see you're finally awake. My name is Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, it's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto." Tsunami politely bowed her head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Tsunami," Naruto bowed his head back. "Thank you for letting us stay here."

"Oh, not at all. Please make yourself at home while I helped the girls cook. Just let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you," Naruto nodded.

*****

Naruto left the girls to their own devices and sat down on his knees next to Temujin, his hands rested on the the table.

"Sup guys," he greeted everyone across from him.

"Well, if it isn't the man of the hour," Temujin said with a grin. "Come ta bother us, kid?"

Inari simply gave Naruto an annoyed glare before looking away, seemingly staring into nothing. Naruto wondered who shat in that kid's bowl this morning. Jeez, talk about being moody.

"I got nothing else to do, so yeah, why not?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders, glancing away from Inari. He had no time to deal with a grumpy brat.

"Well if you are, then why don't you come drink with us?" Tazuna grabbed an empty glass from the table, filled it with beer and handed it to Naruto.

"Aren't I a little to young to drink?" Naruto stared fixedly at his glass of beer. He wasn't too fond of the smell of alcohol. Naruto imagined the taste would be bad as well.

"If you're old enough to fight and kill, then you're old enough to drink," Tazuna said. "I heard them ninjas started out at twelve."

"If you put it that way, I guess I can't argue with that," Naruto raised the glass and played around with it, swirling the beer into a tiny whirlpool.

"Think of it as a comin' of age ceremony, brat," Temujin added in as he raised his glass in the air. "Let's make a toast to celebrate his rise into adulthood."

Naruto simply rolled his eyes at these two old farts that were probably drunk out of their minds. However, he did enjoy their positive and carefree attitudes; it made him feel like he belonged somewhere rather than an outcast. Not wanting to be a party pooper, Naruto decided to go along with these geezers. Naruto gave them a defeated smile as he raised his glass as well.

"Cheers!" They shouted together and gulp down their beer.

"Bleh..." Naruto threw his tongue out in disgust, his taste buds were crying out from regret. He knew he shouldn't have drank along with them, but it was too late now. Naruto just hoped he wouldn't have to do that again.

"Ah, that's right! Let me introduce you to my grandson, Naruto," Tazuna wrapped an arm around Inari's shoulder. "This is Inari, my daughter's son. Inari, this is Naruto."

"Yo," Naruto nodded at the brooding younger fella. He looked around seven if Naruto had to guess his age.

"Why should I care about him," Inari said with furrowed brows. "He's probably going to die soon."

"Inari!" Both Tazuna and Tsunami shouted at him.

Having enough of this kid's shitty attitude, Naruto slammed his palm against the table, startling everyone in the room, "Alright, you brat, what the hell is up with you."

Naruto could tolerate Inari's broody attitude if his trap had stayed shut, but the damn kid had to go and say that to him. Told him that he would die? Don't kid with him; he hated people with attitudes like that. Naruto needed to give this brat a piece of his mind.

"What's with you all acting so happy when Zabuza's still probably out there!" Inari shouted back. He was tired of seeing them so nonchalant when danger was just around the corner. "And it's not just you, you yellow-haired freak, all of us will be killed when Gato and his men takes over the land; he'll do even worse to us than the Fire Nation."

Everyone stood silent as Inari let out his whole grievances to them. However, Azula narrowed her eyes at Inari, trying to hold back her anger. If it wasn't for his mother here, Azula would have slapped him by now.

"I'll just have to kick they're asses, if that's what it takes," Naruto said.

"What do you know! You think this is some sort of joke?" Tears began to fall from Inari's eyes. "They're stronger than you think! What makes you think you can just take them on? No matter what cool things you say or how much effort you put in, the weak always loses to the strong!"

"Shut up. I'm not like you."

"You shut up! You don't know what they've done to our village, you don't even know what real pain is if it ever came across your stupid face!"

Naruto suddenly furrowed his brows, "So you're just gonna cry all day like the lead in some tragedy? An idiot like you can cry forever for all I care, you crybaby!" Naruto growled at him.

"Naruto, you're being a little harsh on him," Suki said.

Naruto just ignored her and walked out of the house, leaving Inari there to cry.