Naruto: Cautious Ninja

Turning to gaze down the road Naruto and Tayuya could be seen off in the distance, the elder inhaled deeply in relief. "I wish to have the dam restored as a proper bridge; a link that will help connect us to the future. We must reinforce the pillars so that it can stand as a new symbol for this country, one that represents the freedom we've managed to reclaim and will help us to rejoin with the rest of the world."

"Oh. I see," Marco replied, looking around to see that other villagers had also heard the old man's words. Noticing their smiles and nods of agreement, the villager then turned his attention back towards their voice of wisdom. "You wish to rechristen it as a monument?"

"Yes. A monument dedicated to the young man who saved us all." With that idea in mind, the elder raised his hand to the back of his head and turned toward his assistant with a sheepish gaze. "I believe a new name for it would be nice too. Instead of Mugen River Dam… how about The Naruto Uzumaki Big Bridge? That has a nice ring to it."

"Of course, sir."

OOO

Naruto and Tayuya made excellent progress climbing the valley out of the river land. On their way up the road they passed by several groups of people a part of a convoy. The pair only needed to give them a single glance in passing to tell that they were villagers returning to their home town, as all of them could be seen dragging carts and carriages filled with all sort of miscellaneous items from furniture to basic supplies. A smile was brought to the jinchuriki's face knowing that life in the region was steadily going back to the way it had been before Gato's interference.

While they were halfway through climbing the hill to exit the lowlands, Naruto then remembered another important matter he had to attend to in which he quickly addressed Tayuya with when he reached a familiar branch in the dirt road.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Tayuya asked when she noticed the boy stop walking a few feet back.

The jinchuriki smiled at her before pointing down the abovementioned path. "I just need to make one last stop. Can you give me a moment?" Seeing her nod of acknowledgement, Naruto then followed the perpendicular road down to the familiar farm on the hill overlooking the country and the massive river now back to its former glory. The blonde stepped up onto the patio of the main building and knocked on the door.

While he stood back and waited, he became aware of a rather strange sensation tickling the back of his neck and looked around. When he did, he saw that the cause of the mild coldness was a fine mist of moisture floating through the air from the sprinklers in the fields starting up. He stared across in surprise, but then smirked when he realized what the sight was actually entailing.

"The water system's back on, huh?" Naruto murmured, placing his hands on his hips while looking up to see his friend Swift flying circles above the crops before fluttering down to land on his shoulder again. She chirped happily when she saw him grin, "Pretty awesome, eh?"

"It sure is." Turning around, the boy was met by the door to the front of the building slowly opening and was greeted by a smiling Hanare. The woman now dressed in a casual kimono, leaned against the frame of her door as she beamed down at her visitor. "Good work, by the way. You really showed me something incredible out there, squirt."

"R-Really?" The blonde massaged the back of his head bashfully. "All I did was beat the snot out of a bunch of assholes and destroy a dam blocking a river. I don't see how any of that was incredible…"

The woman giggled at his casual downplay of the events. "Of course it was. You didn't just liberate an entire country. Your actions showed the villagers just what one person was capable of doing, and the courage you displayed gave the people of this country a renewed sense of hope and strength to keep moving forward, and to work hard to hold on to what they have."

"Is that so?"

"I never thought a brat like you would've been able to pull something like that off. It was unreal. At first I figured you were just trying to act tough and cool in front of a pretty young lady, but after seeing that fireworks display I knew it had to be you. I bet the entire region felt the blasts before actually seeing what had happened."

"It was that big?" Naruto murmured while fishing inside his pockets. After a moment of searching he upturned them to show how bare he had been stripped. "Geez… I used up everything I had to knock that stupid wall down and to fight that Crow guy. Now I have to restock all of my equipment again…"

"I'm sure it's not that big of a deal for you. You definitely seem like the resourceful type," Hanare pointed with a smile. "Chin up. It'll be fine."

"Yeah. Alright," Naruto replied before grinning up at the lady. "I just dropped by to see if you were doing okay. I'm heading back home now, so I probably won't be seeing you again for a while."

"Oh. You're leaving so soon?" Hanare queried before reaching behind her door. She then pulled out a box wrapped in cloth and passed it on to the boy, who took it with both hands and looked it over curiously. "Here's something for your trip then. I knew you'd be stopping by sometime after I saw the dam collapse, so I made you something special to say thanks."

Astonished, Naruto weighed the item in his hands gingerly while gazing speechlessly up at the farmer. Since this was the first time he'd ever received a boxed lunch from somebody and having only seen kids back home receive it from their parents, he didn't know how else to respond except out of delight. He laughed happily and bowed repeatedly to the kind farmer.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Naruto exclaimed over and over.

The woman giggled again and laid a hand on his head, stopping him from hurting himself by accident from his exuberant show of thanks. "That's okay. You did well, squirt."

With that friendly exchange, the woman then looked up when she sensed another presence nearby and saw the red-haired girl that had accompanied Naruto all the way out here. When she noticed Tayuya tentatively looking over from the front gate, the woman smiled and nodded towards her. "Is she with you?"

Naruto looked between Tayuya standing a distance away from them and Hanare momentarily, before grinning back up at the farmer. "Yeah. I met her here a few days ago."

"She's pretty." Able to make her out even from her spot, the sharp-eyed woman decided to add a little more input for the benefit of the runt. "You two look good together. I'd hang on to her if I were you. Good company is really hard to come by these days."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You'll understand one day when you're older," Hanare chuckled before giving him a gentle wave. "I guess I'll see you when I see you. Okay?"

Gear in hand and Swift sitting astutely on his shoulder, Naruto then set off from the property with one last grin that he sent towards the farmer and his sights fixed squarely on his home village. It was while he was moving up the path away from the property though he then heard Hanare call out to him, and paused for a moment to look over his shoulder to listen in.

"Hey, if you meet a man named Kakashi Hatake in Konohagakure, tell him thank you from me!" Hanare exclaimed loud and clear.

A little puzzled at first, Naruto quickly complied with an affirmative nod and moved on, leaving the young woman standing on her front porch and gazing after him. She then glanced back towards the valley below, where she could see the steadily flowing river and the decimated barrier that was once Gato's base of operations.

The sight brought another warm smile to Hanare's face.

OOO

Sometime later…

Tayuya was walking alongside Naruto and gazing across at him fondly, finding his expression and appearance under the sun incredibly captivating.

With nothing but silence occupying the space that was normally reserved for talking, it gave the musician plenty of time to study up on the young man that had saved her life, and to see how he operated when he wasn't focused on a mission or moving with intent or purpose. From the way he strode along with his hands in his pockets or resting behind his head and was constantly wearing that smile of his, he looked just like an ordinary kid.

As much as he was a hardnosed brawler and a superb shinobi in battle in spite of not being one on paper yet, he appeared just like any other normal ten-year-old boy. Tayuya just couldn't figure him out, which was why she was investing so much time and energy in examining him while they were still in motion.

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