Team 7 started off on the wrong foot. Although Naruto didn't say it, it hurt him to be left tied to that log. He had to use his teeth, and it wasn't until nightfall when he was able to free himself and go home.

Alone and tired, even that night he had no appetite to eat anything, not even ramen.

The relationship did not improve over time. The first missions were just that—missions to complete, and then each one went their own way.

He had proposed several times to go somewhere or even train. Sakura didn't even bother to listen to him. She just seemed uncomfortable and upset in his presence, as if he had done something to her. But it wasn't Sasuke who was talking to her; she didn't pay attention to anything the others said.

And Sasuke, it never bothered him that he was arrogant or even emo, but what bothered him most was how he seemed so distant from them, as if talking or interacting was a waste of time.

The Uzumaki thought that that was his way of being and that inside he was a good person. Or else why would he have offered him his food when he was tied to the post by Kakashi-sensei?

For his part, Kakashi seemed to care little about the team. They only met when it was absolutely necessary or for a few hours of training, which, in truth, did not bear as much fruit as what he had with Ero-sennin.

That, although he was not the best person to look for that father figure, he was perhaps the one who gave him the most time and fun in his entire life.

Naruto... he didn't want to say it. He didn't even want to think about it, but he never had in Konoha what he had now.

"Look! I call it planetary rotation!" Aang happily moved a small rock around his glowing head.

"Even with light feet, I will show you how rocks really move."

"Mmm... the meat is somewhat tough, but tasty. With a subtle taste of parsley that gives it a subtle flavor, it is good for a palate as good as mine."

"Sokka, you don't even know what palate is, and I've seen you eat penguin poop when you were six years old. According to you, they were raisins."

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone! Like I promised not to tell you that you wet the bed until you were 13!"

"Did you wet the bed until you were 13?"

"Shut up, Toph! And you better wipe that smile off your face!"

Naruto couldn't help but have a big smile.

Aang was doing an airbending trick, moving a small rock around his head as if it were a moon and his head was the planet.

Katara was cooking soup with deer meat, and Sokka was tasting it, apparently still offended that they preferred his younger sister to cook instead of him.

And Toph was laughing in the face of an angry Katara.

"Hey sorcerer! Try this and tell me if it's better than the cuisine I make!"

"Don't listen to it, Naruto. We all know that mine is better. If you do, I promise you a good portion of meat on your plate."

"Can I have your ration of meat in exchange for this staff?"

"Toph, that's my staff!"

"He who finds it keeps it." The monk tried to take his flying staff from the blind bandit, who stood firm as a mountain, holding the staff out of anyone's reach. "Your little girl! I hope you're ready; this one." "Night you will go to my tent and give me a good foot massage before going to sleep; you made me walk a lot today."

"Toph asking a boy for those things is inappropriate; don't listen to her, Naruto."

"What are you? His wife? He can decide what to do, and he will do what I tell him."

"Wife?! You're such a big mouth!"

"And you have a fat ass, although that may sound more like a compliment than an insult."

"Toph!" While the girls seemed nowhere near fighting, the boys were too busy sitting around eating and watching the whole spectacle.

"Here, Naruto, it's good to eat vegetables." The monk gave some of his broccoli and vegetables to the shinobi, who thanked him with a smile.

"Breaking news, Aang, the sorcerer is not a rabbit; please eat more meat." The Uzumaki's plate was loaded with a large piece of fatty and juicy meat. "We need you full of energy; tomorrow the trip continues, and we need your muscles."

"But Sokka, vegetables are important."

"You can't live on salad, Aang."

Naruto, for the first time in a long time, decided to just stay silent and listen to the others, eating and enjoying the company and warmth that only this strange and peculiar group of people had.

He felt happy to be with them.

"Naruto..." Katara stopped fighting with Toph, noticing that the ninja boy had small tears coming down from his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"…" Even as he wiped away the tears, he doubted they would stop. Seeing the worried expression of the others, he shook his head. "I'm… I'm better than ever."

…...

The day was very bright and warm, with the sun high in the sky, brightening the day of many in the village.

People lived their lives, calm and serene, enjoying their routines.

But, as always there were some people, who did not have that luxury.

The glass bottle cracked in Tsunade's hands, who was already beginning to hate the feeling of the sun that illuminated her office, it was not even the warmth and brightness that she wanted to see.

No.

That warmth and glow had been gone for several months.

Where he had to feel his world fall apart, again.

Hatred and bitterness had never been so deeply rooted in his heart, since the loss of his younger brother and his beloved.

"Tsunade-sama?" The Senju had barely realized that she had broken the bottle, with small fragments sinking into the flesh of her hands.

"That?" Clenching his fist he reduced the glass to dust and before he shook his hand, all the small cuts had already disappeared, his honey-sky eyes focused on his assistant Shizune, who with a worried expression brought several reports that needed to be reviewed.

"You have to check-"

"Send them to the Nara and Yamanaka analysis branch, they will remove the garbage, to only send me what is truly important."

"Yes i-" The girl did not have the courage to ask; the closest thing she had to a mother was to leave the bottles she took out of her drawer, to start drinking. It had barely passed a little more than noon, and she would possibly end up drunk before the sunset.

Months ago, its leader had ordered the creation of a bureaucratic branch made up of trusted people, including Shikaku Nara's wife and several members of the Yamanaka clan, who would review and approve forms and requests not relevant to the Hokage.

Many would have thought that with so much less work, the Senju would use it to recover from her fragile emotional state.

How wrong they were.

She sank further into her self-loathing and alcoholism, which caused Shizune to sometimes be found alone in her office crying and drinking to the max, without the henge that made her look young.

He had never seen his teacher so down and hurt.

"He wouldn't like to see her like this."

"And I would have liked to see him grow."

"..." Shizune couldn't help but feel her heart squeezed by the bitter and desolate smile that her teacher had. She herself felt her eyes fill with tears seeing her like that.

"I would have liked to see him come into my office again, shout and call me 'Grandma Tsunade'…" The lump in the Senju's throat barely allowed her to continue speaking. "I would have liked to see his smile again… I would have liked… to be able to hug him."

Shizune couldn't resist; she ran to her teacher, throwing all that paperwork aside, and wrapped her in a tight hug.

His tears were like stabs that burned in his chest.

It would take Shizune hours to comfort her teacher, who had once again lost another person who reminded her of the people who were so valuable to her.

No, I didn't just remember them because of him.

Naruto was more than just a reflection of Dan and Nawaki; he was someone equally valuable to Tsunade, even with a lifetime of enduring so much pain and living through a war.

She felt as fragile and weak as the first time she lost a loved one.