Naruto: Rise of the Uzumaki by X009

Chapter 2

Team 7 was silent as they neared the village gates. After the bridge had been completed, the entire village had come out to see them off. After a tearful goodbye between Naruto and Inari, they'd been on their way. They walked forward with their heads held high, knowing the nation had a chance for a brighter future now, thanks to them... for the most part.

Naruto had mostly returned to his usual self over the few weeks it had taken them to finish the bridge. A bit quieter. There were still times when dreams of the masked boy interrupted his sleep. But with time and the support of his sensei and occasionally Sakura he had taken great strides to move on.

He'd run through the events on the bridge many a time in his head, wondering if things could have gone differently. His sensei's words and Sakura's reassurances had helped, but he still couldn't help but wonder how things would have turned out if he hadn't walked into that dome of ice mirrors. If maybe he'd tried to take the masked boy out of the fight with that first unseen blow...

... But then, how would he have reacted if he'd lived? Zabuza wouldn't have stopped. Unless Gatō decided to show himself before they killed him, they would have been forced into a battle to the death. When he thought about how he felt when he'd believed that Sasuke died, he had to wonder how would the masked boy have reacted if they'd killed Zabuza while he was still alive? He liked to think things would have worked out, but there were a lot of ways things could have gone wrong.

There was something else Kakashi had told him since that day, "Cliché as it sounds; there's no point dwelling on what-ifs."

And that was true... thinking about all the ways it could have gone differently wouldn't change that the masked boy was dead, buried back there in Wave. Kakashi had sealed Zabuza's body into a scroll. Apparently, that was the normal thing to do with rogue ninja. They tended to have pretty big bounties on their heads, which made sense between betraying their village and whatever crimes they committed to make a living afterward. Though Kakashi had mentioned that any shinobi who made a name for themselves would probably wind up with a bounty too.

That was kinda cool: it was like a measure of your awesomeness. Not really worth it though, when it came with people looking to cash in...

Sakura meanwhile had been quiet and she wouldn't talk about why. She kept to herself, throwing glances to him and Sasuke every once in a while, and seemed unsure of herself. It sucked, seeing the usually confident girl like that, but she just wouldn't open up, not to him or Kakashi. She'd say something supportive to her fellow genin every once in a while, but that was that.

She hadn't even fawned over Sasuke since that day on the bridge! He'd had to check to see if the sky was falling when he realized that.

And Sasuke... well, Sasuke had been himself; the textbook example of brooding.

The three genin couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved home was in sight, but Naruto noticed Kakashi didn't seem as relaxed. While he mostly seemed his usual cool self, he hadn't once taken out that stupid book of his, and he noticed the man's eye was slightly tense.

As they approached the gates, the guard looked up and greeted them. "Hey, welcome back..." He frowned, his face twisting slightly as he took in the genin. "Tough mission? It wasn't a failure was it?"

"Oh no, no, nothing like that..." Kakashi replied before rubbing the back of his head and looking away. "It's a long story. Let's just say Lord Hokage's going to rake me over the coals and leave it at that."

That got Naruto's attention. Why would the old man be mad? They managed, hadn't they? Not exactly the way he'd have wanted, but they pulled it off. He'd have to be impressed that they saved a nation, right?