Naruto stayed quiet for a moment, then took out three soldier pills from his ninja pouch and put them in the boy's hands.
"Eat one a day."
After that, he patted the boy's head and continued walking with Tsunami.
The little boy looked down at the three Kuromaru pills in his hand and tilted his head in confusion.
"Aren't these just mud balls?"
...
"Naruto, what did you give that kid?"
"A soldier pill."
"Soldier pill?"
There are no ninjas in the Land of Waves, so Tsunami didn't know what a soldier pill was.
"It's a pill that can fill you up like a full meal," Naruto explained.
Normally, a ninja can go a whole day without eating by taking just three of them.
That boy is still growing and doesn't eat much, so one pill a day should be enough for him.
"I see... Naruto, you're such a kind person~"
As she spoke, Tsunami lowered her head, looking a bit down. "But sadly, our family doesn't have the ability to help so many poor people."
The Tazuna family isn't rich, but the fact that they can afford to hire ninjas and buy materials to build a bridge shows they're not exactly poor either.
If they really gave it their all, they could probably help a few more families have enough to eat.
But... once you help, you can't just help a few.
You help one person, and someone else will start counting on you.
You help one family, another family will expect the same.
You help two families, the whole village will start to expect it.
You help one village, and then the whole country will look to you.
There are way too many people in a country for Tazuna's family to save.
As for why no one targeted Naruto for helping that boy — it's mostly because Naruto is an outsider.
People in this country have been bullied by Gato for so long, they're too scared to mess with outsiders. They're afraid they might accidentally mess with someone connected to Gato.
Of course, not everyone is afraid of outsiders.
That simple-minded boy, and some criminals, don't care whether someone is local or not.
When they arrived at Tazuna's house,
Sasuke was standing coolly at the door with his arms crossed.
No one knew where Inari was.
But judging by the situation, it seemed like nothing had happened.
When Sasuke saw Naruto come in, he didn't say a word and just walked off to keep training.
He had been guarding the place mostly to watch out for enemies, but now that Naruto was back, he didn't have to worry about that anymore.
Tsunami went to make dinner, and since Naruto had nothing to do, he just watched Sasuke train.
Before long, Kakashi and the others returned safely.
It was too risky to keep working on the bridge at night with poor lighting, so for safety's sake, Tazuna had to give up on nighttime construction.
"Tree climbing?"
Kakashi was a little surprised to see Sasuke doing the chakra tree climbing training.
Did Naruto teach him that?
Or was it something passed down from the Uchiha clan?
Given the Uchiha's status in the past, it wasn't surprising if they knew this kind of basic training method.
"Naruto, do you want to do some training?" Kakashi suddenly asked.
"What kind of training?" Naruto turned his head and asked back.
"It's the same one Sasuke is doing. It helps ninjas get better at controlling their chakra," Kakashi said.
Naruto didn't say anything. He just walked straight up to the top of a tree, then came back down.
Kakashi: "..."
"Impressive~" Kakashi squinted and smiled. He didn't ask when Naruto learned it.
It didn't matter whether Naruto learned it from Sasuke or somewhere else.
With Naruto's talent, maybe he figured it out just by watching once — this kind of basic training wouldn't be hard for him.
"Kakashi-sensei, what kind of training are Sasuke and Naruto doing?" Sakura couldn't help but ask curiously.
"It's a training method where you focus chakra into your feet. It helps you get better at controlling chakra," Kakashi explained. "Sakura, you should try learning it too. It'll help you get stronger."
"I see!"
Sakura looked over at Sasuke, who was still training, then turned toward Naruto. "Naruto, can you teach me how to train?"
Naruto looked at her sincere eyes and held up five fingers. "Five thousand ryo."
"Five thousand ryo?" Sakura froze for a second, confused.
"I charged Sasuke five thousand ryo to teach him. To be fair, I have to charge you the same." Naruto said flatly.
"..."
What a "fair" deal!
Sakura rolled her eyes, then obediently pulled out her wallet and handed Naruto five thousand ryo.
Naruto took the money, gave it a quick count, and pocketed it. "Let's go."
A few minutes later,
Sakura stood halfway up a tree, watching Sasuke still sprinting like crazy. A bit of worry crept into her heart.
Does Sasuke-kun hate me now?
Should I try to act a little?
When it came to chakra control, Sakura's talent was top-tier—very few could match her.
But when compared to bloodline abilities, her skills felt a bit plain and ordinary.
And her chakra nature didn't seem very strong either. It looked like her future path could only be as a medical ninja.
...
The next day,
Naruto and Sasuke followed Tazuna to the construction site of the big bridge early in the morning.
The two of them stayed close to Tazuna, watching him and another worker move materials, start machines, and slowly build the bridge bit by bit.
"At this pace, it'll take at least two months to finish."
By the end of the day, Naruto made a rough estimate of the bridge's progress.
Earning 10,000 ryo in one month and splitting it among four people meant only 2,500 ryo each... That wasn't even as much as what he made from teaching one ninjutsu class.
"Sasuke, did you see anything suspicious?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke shook his head. "Everything looks normal."
As Tazuna was about to wrap up for the day, Naruto figured Zabuza probably wouldn't show up today.
But if he didn't come today, the chances of him showing up tomorrow were much higher.
If Zabuza wasn't injured, then taking a two-day break without making a move made it even more likely that he was gathering more info or waiting for the right moment to strike.
For a jonin-level ninja, two days should be more than enough.
"Tazuna, I might not be able to come tomorrow!"
As Tazuna was finishing up work, Naruto and Sasuke were about to leave with him when they saw another worker walking over to say goodbye.
"You too...? Why?"
"I'm sorry, Tazuna. I really want to keep helping you. But Gato might already be watching us… We can't afford to hire ninja to protect us. I'm sorry!"
Looking at his old friend's guilty face, Tazuna felt both frustration and sorrow—but in the end, all he could do was let out a sigh.
"Sigh… Go, then."
"Thank you, Tazuna!"
Naruto and Sasuke looked on as the last remaining worker quit too, both of them feeling discouraged.
Now the project would take even longer!
...
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