Dangerous Bond

Part 19

An eerie silence fell over the area, the cry of a circling hawk was the only sound heard.

A small drop of sweat rolled down Naruto's temple as he watched with anxiety pouring through his veins, the tension thick because of Kakashi sensei staring the bridge builder down.

The jounin watched him, waiting for him to speak and when he concluded Tazuna would continue his shivering in fear instead of being useful, the copy-nin took it upon himself "Tazuna." He called out.

Said man jumped at the sudden voice breaking the tense silence.

Sasuke and Sakura who had been further away from the group chose that moment to step into the tense atmosphere and break the uncomfortable silence.

"Kashi-sensei! Are you alright?" Sakura worriedly asked, still coming to terms that her Sensei wasn't really torn to shreds.

"Hm? I'm fine Sakura and well done. You three did a good job handling that"
Sakura sighed in relief, still coming to terms with her Sensei's fake death. Sasuke's chest swelled with pride and Naruto gave a toothy grin.

Suddenly, as the blonde boy went to wipe the sweat off his forehead, His face contorted in pain. A stinging sensation announced itself and when Naruto looked down, he found his hand was bleeding profoundly with a large gash on to the top.

"Hmm, it seems Naruto has been poisoned" Kakashi murmured as he noticed the boy's wound.

Sakura stared wide-eyed at her teammate, fearful of what that could mean.

Sasuke frowned as he, too, looked over but a part of him felt smug as Naruto was the only one hurt while Sasuke was perfectly fine.

"I'm wondering whether we should continue this mission, Naruto's been hurt and this is clearly out of our pay grade" Kakashi went on to say.

Sakura couldn't help but agree as he was right, this mission was above their level and she didn't know enough of medical ninjutsu to take out poison yet.

Tazuna was silently freaking out and hoped the boy would just cut off his arm so they could continue but he also knew that if Naruto did that then they'd surely leave because the boy would be a cripple unfit for duty.

Naruto frowned at his hand. 'All this trouble...because of my hand? Because of a little poison? If I quit here, how can I achieve my goal of becoming Hokage. A Hokage is supposed to fight through any obstacle. Why am I so different from everyone else? I'm not going to be left behind!" Naruto angrily thought to himself as he took out a kunai, Kakashi watched closely to see what the boy would do.

Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other when the sound of skin tearing and blood splattering caught their attention.

"T-To!" Sakura yelled while taking a step forward.

Sasuke widened his eyes but let his teammate continue, knowing Naruto wouldn't be that stupid as to do this without reason.

"Why am I so different? I won't be left behind. I won't be weak. From this day on I pledge to protect my comrades and become Hokage. Even if it kills me" Naruto spoke with the seriousness that anyone could tell there was no changing his mind and that he'd stick to this decision till the end.