I know that you're all probably mad at me for not updating sooner but being a college freshman is not an easy job. Also thank you to all of the new readers who have favorited/followed this story. If nothing makes sense please let me know and I will fix it as soon as I can.

2 days later….

(Akina's POV)

"Good morning everyone." Sakura yawned out as she made her way into the kitchen towards the dining table.

"Good morning." I answered in reply as she sat down across from me. Sasuke, Inari, and Tazuna were already sitting at the table eating their breakfast while Kakashi was sitting on the floor between the kitchen and the living room, staring off into space.

"Here you go." Tsunami said as she brought Sakura her breakfast.

"It looks like Naruto was out all night again." Tazuna said since Naruto hadn't come back again from his training last night.

"He's become completely obsessed with his training that he's climbing trees in the dark. He could be dead by now from using too much of his chakra." Sakura said nonchalant.

"I hope he's ok. A child shouldn't be spending the night in the woods alone." Tsunami said with a worried tone as she served Sakura her breakfast.

"There is nothing to worry about, Naruto may be a goofball sometimes but he is a full fledged ninja. He can handle himself." Kakashi answered.

"Sakura is right. Naruto is such a loser he's probably lying dead somewhere." Sasuke joined in as well.

"You guys have no faith in him." I said as I stood up.

"Akina where are you going? We just started eating." Sakura asked as I opened the door.

"Going to get Naruto so he can eat something." That was the last thing I said before I closed the door.

'I'll head to the clearing first to see if he's there and if he's not then I'll search the surrounding area.' I thought as I walked on the dock towards the forest. I kept thinking about what Sakura and Sasuke said about Naruto being dead and the way they acted, as if they didn't really care if he actually died. Is this how other people in his village think? Just because he has a demon trapped inside of him. I didn't realize that I had already been walking into forest until I heard a twig snap. Completely stopping I searched with my chakra to see if I was being followed.

"Come out Sasuke." A few trees behind me the Uchiha walked out and stood there as if he did nothing wrong.

"I'm starting to think that you're becoming a stalker Sasuke." I said to tease him for being caught again.

"Hn. Why would I want to stalk you? I was only going on a walk." Sasuke said with a snappy attitude but the slight blush to his cheeks betrayed him.

"Well since it seems we're going in the same direction would you like to join me?" I asked with my arms crossed. He seemed to think about it for a second before his legs moved for him and we both walked together. Our walk was silent but it wasn't awkward. The life of the forest filled most of the silence

"What were you doing the night I found you?" I couldn't answer for a second from the shock of Sasuke initiating conversation.

"I was training to better control my chakra." I didn't want to go into full detail into because the years in the Mist Village taught me to not reveal anything to anyone because they could use it against you. Even though I knew Sasuke was nothing like that it was hard to break the habit. I could tell this ticked him off a little bit.

"Ok what kind of training though? I could from the damage to the trees that you couldn't have been doing the tree climbing exercise." I sighed as I had an internal debate of whether or not I should tell him.

"I'll show tonight if you'd like." I saw a slight bit of surprise in his face but I could see that he desperately wanted to know, even though he had to wait a little bit longer.

"Fine." With that settled we continued toward the clearing we train in. As we were almost there a young boy was walking towards us with a basket of herbs in his hands. I almost mistook him for a girl because he had such a feminine beauty. Also he was wearing a pink kimono with a red trim and a white sash around his waist. He also had long hair that shined in the morning light. It was mostly his eyes though that made me believe he was a boy, I don't what it was that made me think it but they just did. No words were exchanged between us when we walked by each other. As Sasuke and I kept walking I turned my head to look behind us and saw the boy still walking. Something was telling me that the boy looked back at us as well.

"What's wrong?" I turned to look at Sasuke and noticed that we had stopped walking, or at least I did and didn't even notice. I wasn't sure if I should say something since all I had was a feeling to go off of.

"It's nothing, I thought I saw him before at the markets." I lied. I think Sasuke knew I was lying by his hard stare but decided to say nothing about since we were at the clearing. We found Naruto sitting indian style and mumbling to himself about '…boys looking like girls…' and '…one of the weirdest things in my life…' Sasuke walked up to him and punched him on the head to get his attention.

"Ow! Hey what was that for Sasuke?!" Naruto yelled out.

"We're here to get you for breakfast before you miss it." I said completely catching Naruto's attention.

"Great 'cause I'm starving!" He jumped right up from the ground but immediately fell from his lack of energy.

"Um can I get some help please?" I grabbed his right arm and put it over my shoulder as Sasuke grabbed his other arm with a sigh of annoyance, while muttering, "Dobe."

"Sasuke!"

Later that night after dinner…

(No One's POV)

The kitchen was ablaze with the atmosphere of people talking together with smiles and stomachs well fed. Akina was helping to bring the dishes to the sink as Tsunami washed and Sakura dried them off. Kakashi and Tazuna was sitting at the table talking about the progress of the bridge and surprisingly Naruto was laying his head down on his hands, exhausted from completing the tree climbing exercise. Sasuke was being his usual quiet self with his head resting on his hands, leaning his elbows on the table. Inari was quiet as well but something seemed to be on his mind.

"In just a few days the bridge will finally be completed and I have all of you to thank. But have to ask why did you all stay when you found out that I lied to bring you here?" Tazuna asked Kakashi, which caught everyone's attention.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage. But under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive. That was a quote from the first Hokage." Kakashi answered.

"But why?" We all looked to Inari who had his hat covering his face but they could see his body shaking.

"What did you just say?" Naruto said almost getting out of his chair. Inari slammed his hands on the table and quickly stood up almost knocking his chair over. His face was stained with his tears.

"All of this stupid training is just a waste of time! Gato has a whole army behind him and he'll destroy you. All of these amazing things you guys say they don't mean anything. Just face it the strong will always win and the weak will always lose."

"Speak for yourself kid, it won't be like that for me. You got that." Naruto said as he laid his head back on his head.

"Why don't you just shut up?! Looking at you makes me sick. You don't know anything about this country so stop butting in. All you do is laugh and joke around, you don't know anything about real pain and being treated like dirt." Naruto tensed when Inari stopped speaking and Akina became slightly worried for Inari.

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim. You can whimper all day for all I care you're nothing but a coward!" Naruto yelled back. Inari stood there astounded at what Naruto accused him of and the tears kept rushing down his face.

"Naruto you went too far!" Sakura said with her hands on her hips. He didn't say anything but scoff it off and walked out of the house.

"Akina can you go follow him." Kakashi asked as he turned to her. She nodded her head and followed Naruto outside. Inari went outside soon after his face flushed with tears and his eyes clouded with pain. Tsunami was going to go after him but Kakashi held up his hand and said.

"May I talk with him for a minute." Tsunami was surprised at first but thought that maybe Kakashi would be able to reach her son since she hasn't had any luck.

"Alright." She said with a nod. Kakashi walked out and looked around. Sitting at the dock's edge was Inari his body still trembling from the heartache he keeps locked inside.

"Can I talk to you?" Kakashi asked as he walked towards him. Inari turned to look at him and shrugged his shoulders. Kakashi sat down letting his feet hang over the water and for a minute nothing was said between them.

"Naruto can be a little harsh sometimes but that doesn't mean he hates you. Your grandfather told us about your father. You see Naruto grew up without a father, in fact he never knew either of his parents. Not long ago Akina came to the Village Hidden in the Leaves and she became Naruto's first friend in the village. Even so I've never seen him cry, sulk, or give up. He's always eager to jump in, he wants to gain people's respect. That's his dream and he will lay his life on the line for that dream. My guess is that one day he got tired of crying and decided to do something about it. Even though he's young and he still has a lot to learn Naruto knows what it means to be strong. Like your father did. I think he knows better than anyone what you're going through. What Naruto said to you earlier, as cruel as it was, he's probably told himself that a thousand times." Ianri was staring at Kakashi with a mixture of awe and newfound respect for Naruto. He couldn't believe that a goofy kid like Naruto could endure through all of that with a smile on his face.

'If Naruto can be happy like that, can I?'

Midnight…

When everyone had calmed down after dinner Kakashi told his team to turn in so that they would be fully prepared to guard Tazuna the next day. The girls were sleeping peacefully on their side of the room whereas the boys' side was a different story. Naruto was pushed all of the way against the wall snuggling with a pillow. Sasuke had used the blanket and his pillow to barricade himself against Naruto's roaming limbs. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping position he would try to get as much sleep as he could get. But a constant probing threatened to take him out of his sleep.

'I swear if it's Naruto I'm going to-' When he opened his eyes though it wasn't Naruto who woke him up.

"Are you ready to go sleeping beauty?" Akina asked as she stood there with her hands on her hips. She was wearing a black tank top, red shorts, and she had her hands wrapped with bandages up to her elbows. He noticed that her hair was down compared to the usual ponytail he has always seen her wear.

"Go where?" Sasuke asked annoyed that she woke him up for no reason.

"You wanted to know what I've been doing right? Or did you change your mind?" Akina asked him with amusement in her eyes and a small smile on her lips. Sasuke was confused for a second until this morning's events rushed back to him making him sigh loudly. Slowly he got out of bed and followed Akina out of the window. She led him back to the area where he had first found her a few nights ago. Akina was standing a few feet in front of him and when she stopped he did as well. Now that he was awake Sasuke was silently eager to see what she had been working on so secretively.

"Are you finally going to tell me what you have been working on?" Sasuke asked. Akina smiled at him and confused him with her reply.

"Duck."

"What-?" Akina ran at him with her fist aimed towards his face. Sasuke quickly ducked out of the way and watched as her fist connected with the tree that was behind him. When her fist made contact with the tree the bark immediately caved in, unable to withstand the power. That chunk of the tree came off as Akina landed gracefully on the ground. Sasuke was sitting in a crouched position his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes looked like they would come out of his head. Akina merely brushed off the dust and bark from her fist acting as if what she did was nothing.

"Are you satisfied?" She asked with amusement in her voice as she looked at Sasuke's expression. Akina lost her amusement when she saw Sasuke clench his fists tightly and anger over-ridded the shock in his eyes. Akina started to regret showing him this.

'Why is she so strong?'

"Sasuke are you ok?" He didn't anything for a minute straight and that just made Akina worry more. She walked towards him and was going to place a hand on his shoulder to see if he was ok but before she touched him Sasuke turned to her and said.

"Fight me now." Akina stopped moving. Now she really regretted showing Sasuke this, she didn't mean to upset him or anything.

"Maybe that's not the best idea Sasuke." He glared at her and decided to make the first move. Sasuke pushed his weight on his hands and swung his leg at her. Since she was too close to get out of the way Akina countered by grabbing his leg and kicked his arms from beneath him, letting him fall on his back. Sasuke got the wind knocked out of him when he landed but he let his anger fuel him to get back up and attack again. He pushed his weight on his hands and kicked his feet up in the air and landed standing up, fists ready. Akina watched him get himself up and moved back a little to fall into her fight stance. Her feet were spread apart enough she that they evenly held her weight. Her right arm held out in front her, fingers together and her palm facing her. Her left arm pressed against her back and her hand was in a loose fist. One thing that annoyed Sasuke was how calm she looked. Neither her expression or her eyes betrayed any real emotion; no anger, no caution, she was a blank canvas. Letting out a cry of anger he raced towards her, his fist raised. Akina waited for him to come and easily blocked his punch with a swipe of her hand. Sasuke stumbled from the block and Akina used this to her advantage as she brought her left hand around punched Sasuke in the face. She didn't put much force into the punch, since she didn't want to hurt him. Sasuke stumbled backwards a little but didn't fall. He turned his eyes toward her and she could see that he was beyond pissed now. Sasuke ran at her again going to aim at her legs. As he neared her he suddenly dropped on the ground and swung his leg out at her. Akina barely dodged it but she able to jump up in the air and avoid his kick. With a plan in mind Akina landed right on Sasuke, pinning his body with her own so he could no longer move. Sasuke struggled with all of his strength but it was useless, Akina's vice-like grip made unable to use his hands and her weight on his thighs made him unable to move his legs.

"Get off of me!" Sasuke yelled in her face.

"As soon as you calm down I will. Also the next time you fight someone you better box that temper of yours before you or your teammates get killed. A shinobi must always be calm and rational, they get sloppy when their emotions aren't in check." Akina replied in her calmest voice. Sasuke ignored her and continued to thrash underneath of her. Akina held her own for the five minutes that he struggled until the adrenaline stopped running through his system leaving him exhausted. Sasuke's breathing evened out since he had no choice but to calm down. Slowly Akina eased her grip on his wrists and when he didn't move she eased her weight off of his legs too. Sasuke just laid there on the ground staring at the sky while Akina sat next to him stretching her legs out, staring at the stars as well. There was a slight breeze in the air that filled the silence along with the nocturnal creatures of the forest. Nothing was said between them, Akina wanted Sasuke to really think about what she said because she has seen in it before many times in the Mist Village.

"So how are you able to do that." Akina looked at him and saw that was looking at her with his usual calm expression.

"It's exactly like the tree exercise except that I'm focusing the chakra in my fists instead of my feet."

"Is that how you were able to attack Zabuza the first time?"

"Yeah except I didn't have much control of it at the time. The tree exercise helped me to measure how much chakra I put into it so that I'm not destroying everything all of the time."

"No wonder my jaw doesn't hurt that much." Sasuke said while rubbing his jaw.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you Sasuke." Sasuke looked into her eyes and saw that she meant the truth.

"I'm sorry for randomly attacking you." Akina was surprised by his apology and it was kind of funny to see him embarrassed; he had closed his eyes and there was a slight flush in his cheeks. Akina got off of the ground and brushed the dirt from her shorts and turned to Sasuke with her hand reaching for his. Sasuke stared at her hand for a second before he sat up and grabbed it.

"I accept your apology Sasuke but the next time we spar I won't be holding back ok." Akina said as they started their journey back to the house.

"Hn. As if you can take me on." Sasuke replied with his usual tone.

"Have you already forgotten the two times I've put you on your back." Sasuke just glared at her as she smiled to herself.

Yes Akina and Sasuke has another bonding moment in the forest at night. As always I welcome reviews/messages about how the story is going because sometimes things makes sense to me but not others. Hope you all enjoyed this.