After the fight in the bridge and the subsequent attack on some of Gato's men, Tazuna decided that the bridge workers could do with a day off.

The walk back to Tazuna's house was quiet - no one really felt like talking at all.

Naruto was clutching onto Sakura, his tears dry and his eyes downcast as they walked.

Sakura was also holding onto Naruto, too, as if for dear life, unwilling to let him keep his pain bottled up inside.

Kakashi looked towards Naruto, running conversations through his head that he could have with him, to try to ease the boy.

Haku was basically dragging her feet, still shell-shocked by the loss of Zabuza, pondering his last words. "Don't be a tool, be a person."...

Sasuke wasn't feeling especially bad, but he still felt sympathy for Naruto - he'd basically been forced to kill Zabuza.

The moment that Zabuza came into the fray, Tazuna knew that this might not end well. Still, he felt incredibly guilty for letting his problem become trauma for a kid.

Upon reaching the house, each of the ninja kicked their shoes off and placed their headbands on the coffee table. Naruto made a beeline to take a shower.

He still felt dirty inside.

Kakashi used the other bathroom to shower at the same time; he really wanted to talk to Naruto.

As soon as he was finished, Kakashi, wearing just a tank top and pants - his iconic headband and mask absent-, searched for Naruto. Kakashi walked up to the guest room and found Naruto just sitting on the bed, staring at the floor.

The boy was wearing red shorts, and he was shirtless, displaying the one-of-a-kind seal on his stomach.

Kakashi couldn't help but admire the parallel between the intricacy of the seal, and the complexity of Naruto's life; it's as if the seal was made for Naruto. Which, it was, he figured.

Kakashi sat on the bed next to Naruto and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Naruto gripped Kakashi's shirt.

Kakashi began to talk. "My first kill... Was nothing like this, Naruto. The circumstances were different, and I didn't feel the way that you feel now. I'm sorry, Naruto. This shouldn't have happened to you."

Naruto looked up at Kakashi. "I- I was using the fox's chakra when I killed Gato, but that was all me. I had total control...", he said.

Kakashi put on a downtrodden look as Naruto continued.

"At least with Zabuza, I can say that I did it because I thought he was gonna hurt Sakura. But Gato? I killed him in cold blood. I murdered him, Kakashi."

Kakashi didn't even care that Naruto didn't refer to him as his sensei. That was irrelevant.

All that mattered was that Naruto was hurting, and that Kakashi had to comfort him.

Kakashi responded, "It's okay, Naruto. You killed him because he was actively hurting people in the worst ways. Just remember that, alright?"

Naruto then hugged Kakashi, unaware that Sakura and Sasuke had finished their own showers and watched them talking.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other, then walked into the room and joined the hug.

Dinner at Tazuna's house was quiet - no one knew where Haku and Naruto stood in terms of their relationship and no one wanted to overstep any boundaries.

That is, until, out of the blue, Haku blurted out a simple, unambiguous sentence; as she finished dinner, she looked down and said, "I don't hate you for killing lord Zabuza, Naruto."

Everyone at the table perked up at her statement, and looked towards Naruto to gauge his response.

Naruto simply smiled, and said, "Thanks...".

Both Haku and Naruto seemed a lot more cheery after that.

9:00 A.M., The next day

Team 7 had just left Tazuna's house, when Haku suddenly stopped them.

"I have something for Naruto!", she called.

Naruto asked, "What is it?"

Haku handed him a scroll. "This is a summoning scroll.", she explained, "It summons ravens that you can use to assist in relaying messages and tracking, too. Just put a small amount of blood on the paper and then sign your name so we can keep track of whose blood it is. Once you've done that, focus your chakra on summoning one of the ravens from this scroll, and slap your hand on the ground."

Naruto opened the scroll, and saw only one name in it.

Haku Yuki.

Although, above Haku's name, there was a blank spot, as if someone's name was there, but had been removed.

"Lord Zabuza's name was up there," Haku said, "but I removed it just this morning."

Naruto nodded. Then, he pulled out a kunai, poked his thumb, and marked the paper right above Haku's name.

Naruto then pulled out a pen and wrote his name on the paper.

After that, he focused his chakra and slammed his hand on the ground, summoning an average-sized raven.

"Yo.", the raven said. "Where's Zabuza?"

"Dead.", Naruto replied. "I killed him."

The raven looked at Naruto and said, "Renge owes me 50 ryo now. Anyways, my name is Randall Percivald Janet Joseph Timothy Harold Bartholomew Brian Peter Layne Steven Stephen Steffen Richard..."

Over the next few days, a faction of Gato's military broke off and tried to suppress the Eastern Land of Waves' rebellion. Fortunately, they were outmatched by the armed citizens of the East, whose forces were padded by the Western Land of Waves' military. Gato's military was defeated in less than an hour.

In that same span of time, Tazuna and his workers managed to finish the bridge, working faster than ever thanks to Naruto's clones.

Thus, Gato's hold over the Eastern Land of Waves diminished, and now, there was only one United Land of Waves.

Next morning

Now that the bridge was finished, Team 7 were leaving the Land of Waves to go back to Konoha. Haku decided to stay, opting to train the military to use chakra and attract shinobi to the Land of Waves.

So, Team 7 said their goodbyes and went on their way home.

On the way to the exit, Team 7 came across the town square, where Tazuna was standing next to a tall man - the new leader of the United Land of Waves was giving a speech.

The man spotted Naruto, and called him up to the stage. He presented him to the crowd and said, "In honor of this young man's bravery, the bridge which has unified our lands shall be called 'The Great Naruto Bridge'."

Short chapter, I know.

Y'all looking forward to the chunin exams? Arc will probably start at the end of the next chapter.