Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 151 The Second Move and the Beginning

"Good morning, brother, did you wake me up?"

Facing Haku, who was a few years older than him, Naruto still addressed him with respect and asked in a natural tone.

Upon hearing the accurate address "brother," Bai was clearly taken aback. Because of his overly delicate and handsome face, almost everyone would subconsciously call him "little girl" or "sister" when they first met him. It had been a long time since anyone could accurately determine his true gender at a glance.

Haku's gaze gently swept over the headband on Naruto's forehead, a symbol of a Konoha ninja, before he smiled gently as always and replied, "Good morning. Get up, sleeping in such a damp place isn't good for your health."

Seeing that Bai Mingming had recognized him as a Konoha ninja through his headband, yet showed no hostility and remained friendly, Naruto returned a sincere smile: "Yeah, thanks for reminding me. By the way, what are you doing here so early, brother?"

"I've come to pick some herbs," Bai Weiwei said, holding up the small bamboo basket she was carrying. "I'm picking some herbs that can cure illnesses and heal wounds."

"I see. It must be hard work to have to come out to gather herbs so early in the morning," Naruto remarked.

Haku simply shook his head and didn't say anything more. These herbs were all for treating Zabuza... For him, as long as it was to protect Zabuza, the man who gave him meaning in life and a place to belong, he was willing to do any task, no matter how hard or trivial.

Afterwards, Naruto offered to help, and together with Haku, they searched for the necessary herbs in the woods and bushes in the early morning. Haku was initially a little surprised, but seeing Naruto's enthusiastic and earnest manner, he accepted the offer.

After busying himself for a while, and filling the bamboo basket with the necessary herbs, Haku stopped, turned to Naruto, and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you so much for coming to help. It's getting late, you should head back now, otherwise, the people who are worried about you will be getting anxious."

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded and said cheerfully, "Then we'll meet again someday."

Bai smiled and nodded in acknowledgment, then turned around to leave.

Just then—a few strands of long black hair on Bai's forehead and temples were suddenly lifted. Bai subconsciously tilted his head slightly, glancing around with some confusion…

Is it the wind?

But what he couldn't see was that in the instant the wind swept by, a golden figure appeared in front of him.

The next moment, the golden figure quickly retreated, merging into the silhouette of Naruto, who was waving goodbye with his back to him and walking away in the distance, and disappeared.

------

"Naruto! Naruto—!"

In the early morning woods, an anxious figure was moving quickly, constantly parting the dense foliage, his voice filled with worry and urgency.

Satsuki called out Naruto's name loudly while anxiously looking around. She had woken up this morning to find Naruto's sleeping mat empty!

Although Kakashi deduced that Naruto had probably gotten up early to train as usual, Satsuki couldn't put her mind at ease and immediately ran out to look for him without even having breakfast.

"Um...excuse me, are you looking for someone?"

A gentle voice came from the side, stopping the anxious Zuo Yue. Zuo Yue immediately jumped down from the tree branch and landed in front of the voice's owner.

She was a "girl" with long, straight black hair, delicate and pretty features, and dressed in an elegant kimono—at least on the surface. It was Bai.

"Yes!" Satsuki nodded eagerly. "Have you seen a boy with blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a Konoha ninja headband, and about this tall?"

"Hmm," Bai pointed in one direction from the woods, "I saw him, in that clearing not far away. He seems to have fallen asleep on the grass because he was too tired from cultivating."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Hearing the confirmation, Zuo Yue's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally felt half relieved. She hurriedly thanked him, immediately turned around, and ran as fast as she could in the direction Bai had pointed. Her figure quickly disappeared into the woods.

Bai stood quietly, watching Zuo Yue's undisguised anxiety as she quickly walked away, a complex yet understanding look flashing in her eyes.

It seems... this girl is the same type of person as me.

He lowered his eyes slightly, understanding dawning on him. The next time we meet... we'll probably be enemies on opposite sides.

Although a faint sense of melancholy crossed his heart, his pale face remained expressionless. He silently turned around, picked up the basket full of herbs, and left without a sound.

------

In the following days, perhaps because there were no new developments in Kado, many of the bridge construction workers who had been scared away returned one after another, and the construction site became busy again.

As the framework of the bridge stretches ever closer to the other side of the sea, this bridge, which carries the hope of driving Kado out of the Land of Waves, will soon be completely completed.

Sakura's mood lightened considerably. These past few days, while shopping at the market with Tazuna, she had witnessed firsthand the misery of ordinary people in this country under Kado's oppression, which made her understand even more the significance of building this bridge.

Now, the terrifying rogue ninja from Kirigakure has stopped attacking, and the bridge is nearing completion; everything seems to be progressing towards a satisfactory conclusion.

Out of caution, Naruto, Satsuki, and Sakura did not continue their training in the forest for the next few days. Naruto even left a shadow clone at Tazuna's house in case Gato sent someone to raid it.

Meanwhile, their main bodies followed Kakashi to the bridge construction site, remaining vigilant against possible attacks from the sea or from the dense fog.

However, seeing the students diligently helping to keep an eye on their surroundings, Kakashi revealed his true colors. Right under the watchful eyes of everyone on their guard duty, he brazenly pulled out the orange-covered book "Icha Icha Paradise" and began flipping through it with great interest, completely immersed in his own world.

Sakura's speechless look and Satsuki's whispered warning to Naruto in a tone of disappointment, "Never learn this careless attitude from Kakashi-sensei," could not stop the Jonin from immersing himself in the ocean of "literature."

And so, in a peculiar atmosphere that blended tension and vigilance with Kakashi-esque leisure, several days passed peacefully.

Until this day-

From the depths of the sea fog came the faint sound of water. An inconspicuous little wooden boat quietly pierced through the morning mist and slowly approached the area beneath the bridge.