The Ninja and The Rose

Zabuza Returns

After a while Zabuza finally managed to get out of bed and is now sitting in a couch with Haku standing right next him.

Zabuza looks down at the apple that he has in his hand but instead of eating it, he just imagined that the apple was Kakashi and his little Genin team and manage to crush it with his bare hands.

"You're recovering quickly." Haku declared.

The ninja groans and drops what's left of the fruit onto the floor and sighed with delight as he thinks about how close he is to dealing with Kakashi and his team once and for all.

"Just a little longer, Haku."

Haku nod his head "Yes."

Meanwhile with Naruto and Sasuke...
Ruby sighs as sits down to eat with the others and saw that both Naruto and Sasuke weren't back yet.

"Now, they're both late. I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke." Sakura stated.

Ruby rolled her eyes and scoffs at the very notion of Sasuke coming back to Tazuna's home before Naruto.

"Please, when it comes to Naruto, Sasuke is ultra-competitive. I'd be more surprised if he came back without Naruto since it would mean that Naruto is actually more superior than him at something." She said as she drinks her tea.

She then smirks, "And we all know how much he would hate to admit that." she added.

"I guess you're right." Sakura replied.

Not even a second later the door opens to Sasuke helping an exhausted Naruto through the door.

"What have you been up to? You look like something the cat dragged in." Tazuna proclaimed.

Which wasn't far off since both boys were looked pretty roughed up.

Naruto chuckles and lifts his head to look at everyone "We both made it. We climbed all the way to the top." He said proudly.

"Good. Now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you're both bodyguards for Tazuna." Kakashi announced.

Naruto laughs happily, "Alright!" the blonde fist pumped but doing so made him lose his balance and brought bot him and Sasuke crashing down onto the floor.

"You are such a loser." Sasuke said annoyed.

Everyone laughs at this.

After calming down, everyone ate their food.

"In a few more days, the bridge will be finished." Tazuna said as his daughter took the empty plates.

"I have you to thank for that." the old man added.

"You've all done great, but you've still got to be careful." Tsunami warned.

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but I haven't had the chance until now." The ninja looked at him curiously on what he has to ask.

"Why did you stay and protect me, even after you found out I lied to bring you here?" he asked.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive." Kakashi said wisely.

Everyone looked at him confused on what he meant.

"That was a quote from the First Hokage." The copy ninja clarified.

Inari looked down in thought and then looked at Naruto, who was relaxing by laying his head on the table.

And as he stared at the blonde Genin, he thought about his father and thought about everything he did for the village and how he thought his dad was the strongest man in the world, but he was wrong.