The Protagonist System

320 Bridging The Gap

Was it a little evil to tease Yui so much? Maybe. I had been going over how I could show her that I wasn't a little kid anymore and it was Tsuru's suggestion to put on a little show. It almost worked a little too well with how Yui's moans were both muffled and fairly loud as she watched us getting it on.

When Tsuru positioned herself above me and told me to brace myself, then she plunged herself down onto me, Yui cried out with pleasure louder than she did. It definitely gave Yui the correct impression about me being fully grown and it wasn't an illusion.

Surprisingly, it was only Yui that had been spying on us. I had thought Anko and maybe Temari would have found their own spots nearby to get an eyeful as well. After a bit of thought about it, I believed Anko lost some of her interest after she realized she wouldn't be corrupting me with her attitude as I grew up with her around.

Temari on the other hand, I was sure she was just too shy to try to peek at me. Plus, I was nearly two feet taller than her right now and it might be a little intimidating for her to think about trying to start anything between us. Again, I believed it was for a similar reason as Anko, I wouldn't be growing up around her.

Tsuru moaned lewdly and convulsed as she came, hugging me tightly as she recovered. She was breathing heavily and gave me a very sexy look, because Yui's muffled moan reached our ears. Tsuru seemed to take extra pleasure in knowing she was showing Yui what she was missing and she had also gotten it first, which made her very happy. No one could ever take that away from her.

I laid her down beside the private hot spring and gave her what I considered the royal treatment, which she loved, and Yui's muffled needy sounds told us that she was going to love it, too. With how we weren't trying to hide anything, I was sure that Yui would approach me by the end of this week of vacation or within the first few nights after we reached Wave to start building the bridge.

When I was done pampering Tsuru and laid down beside her, she cuddled into my side and peppered my face with little kisses. She whispered a thank you and then drifted off to sleep. I laid there and didn't move or say anything as I closed my eyes to look at Yui with my X-Ray vision. She was almost in a similar state as Tsuru and had slid out of the water to collapse on the rocky outcropping.

I admitted to myself that she looked super sexy in post-coital bliss and I opened my eyes to look over at her. Yui didn't react as our eyes met, probably because she was a little out of it at the moment, and I nodded to her and closed my eyes again to see what she was going to do.

Apparently, she was going to do nothing. Yui laid there and let her breathing calm down and her mind went over everything she did, saw, and felt. It was years of repressed feelings that surged forth in her mind and she fondly remembered all the times we spent together. That culminated with this last memory and Yui promised herself that she would approach me as soon as she could get her legs to work again.

I held in my laugh at that and tried to not smile. Would she react the same way if it was me getting her off? I couldn't wait to find out, and according to Tsuru's thoughts, she couldn't wait to find out, either.

*

Anko wasn't sure why she was so hung up on losing her chance to influence Naruto as he grew up. Was she channelling her inner Orochimaru or was she just trying to duplicate the same feelings her sensei had engendered in her when she was younger? He didn't become a complete bastard, or revealed his real personality, until after he had succeeded in his experiments with her.

Am I such a horrible person to want him to look at me like I looked at him? Anko asked herself and felt sad. What she couldn't make sense of, was if she was talking about her sensei or Naruto. It was confusing and she tried to push those thoughts out of her mind as she relaxed in her private bath. He's spoiling us by buying out the entire wing.

Anko didn't really care about that, though. Her mind went right to how masculine the little boy had become and she suspected that he had a perfect body, both for fighting and for other important things. Yes, very important things. Things she herself hadn't thought about in a long time, thanks to how she had been mostly ostracized because of who her previous sensei had been.

Who had the time to pursue a romantic relationship when they were so busy doing nothing during their spare time? It wasn't because no one wanted to take a chance on her or risk her old sensei coming back for her, which everyone knew he eventually would.

Anko reached up and rubbed the spot on her neck where the cursed seal used to be. She still had phantom pains and knew it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She had been completely purged of his evil chakra and didn't doubt Naruto or Akiko's prognosis about her being 100% cured.

What she doubted was Naruto's promise that Orochimaru would never come for her. How could he ever say something like that? He was only a kid and... her mind ground to a halt. He wasn't a kid anymore, was he? No, he had become a fully grown man somehow and he had given her his word.

Hope bloomed in her heart at the sincere look he had on his face when he said those things and Anko had to admit that she was falling for the blond idiot. His confidence was both infectious and comforting and she knew without a doubt that she would ravage him if he gave hre any indication whatsoever that he was interested in her.

Well, that was assuming Tsuru wouldn't try to kill her for it. Anko chuckled as she thought over that first battle and she had been grateful that the older woman hadn't done her worst, despite how angry she was. Her words about her not learning her lesson if she was dead, made Anko snort and laugh. She learned her lesson, all right.

Make sure you have a good escape plan before making a move on another woman's man! Anko thought and kept laughing as she rolled onto her side and hugged herself. She imagined that it was Naruto holding her and her laughter died off as her thoughts went to what he would do to her if he was in her bed.

She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face and a tall muscular idiot on her mind. Why did she think he was an idiot? He had jumped from being a 9 year old kid to a 25 year old adult and skipped all of the years of learning and experiences he should have had in between.

The women around him had a lot of work ahead of them as they taught him everything they knew about becoming an adult, or so Anko thought. She wouldn't realize her assumption was a mistake until the last day of their vacation and she told him he had to learn to give a woman a proper massage and she would teach him everything she knew.

Naruto had laughed and agreed, only to leave her in a boneless and unconscious puddle. Anko had come several times as he gave her the best massage and made her body sing with pleasure while his fingers danced over her skin. He hadn't touched her most sensitive parts at all and it wasn't until Anko woke up that she realized he didn't need to.

*

It was a quick hop back to the Land of Fire and the construction company chose a fancy bridge design to cross the distance from the Land of Fire to the island of Wave. Thanks to the local resources available for both stone and lumber, there was no need to ship in extra materials and the building began almost right away.

Anko and Yashamaru spend the time giving Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro lessons while also patrolling the area for bandits, animals, and any other dangers. They kept a keep eye out for any possibility for missing-nin or enemy shinobi, or worse, Konoha ninja trying to make them pay for their recent embarrassment.

It was a constant worry, because they weren't stupid and had prepared for retaliation. Even if anyone showed up from the other nations, they knew to not assume they actually were from those nations. Trickery only worked if you let it, after all, so they would question everything.

It was the third day of construction when several small boats approached from the direction of Wave. Temari was on watch from the top pillar and she sent the appropriate hand signals to her teammates. They passed on the silent alert and everyone scrambled to their defensive positions, because the men in the boats were not simple farmers or fishermen.

“Mercenaries.” Anko almost spat the whisper and Tsuru nodded.

“Do we allow any of them to live to report back?” Yashamaru asked.

“I'm pretty sure Gato knows we're here if he's sent this many to take care of us and attack the bridge.” Naruto whispered the answer.

It was a modern marvel and used techniques that no one else in the world would have ever imagined. It was also reinforced with both magic and runic arrays for strength and durability, so there was no chance for them or anyone else to wreck it. It even had a mix of chakra absorption barriers from the forbidden scrolls embedded into the superstructure and any of those kinds of attacks would only strengthen it further.

“We should openly declare them bandits. If that doesn't scare them off, then we remove them and check the updated Bingo Book and see if any of them are in it.” Temari suggested.

Anko chuckled. “I doubt any of these morons are in it.”

“Do they list Samurai?” Naruto asked and everyone looked at him. “The guy in the middle of the second boat is wearing the right outfit and has a katana on his belt.”

That was quickly confirmed by Temari and they decided to leave him to Anko, whom would take him out first. Sneakily. How? By summoning venomous water moccasins and sending them out to meet the boats before they reached the bridge. Anko's face showed an evil smile as she set about her task and went a little overboard, which was appropriate considering the circumstances.

One hundred cottonmouth snakes practically zoomed through the water silently towards their prey. The members of Uzumaki Construction and their guards watched as the three boats were swarmed by the deadly predators. The screaming and thrashing didn't stop for several minutes as the boats continued on.

When they reached the bridge, all of the members of the mercs were dead, as was the Samurai. The uncontrolled boats lightly bumped against the concrete footing of the latest pillar and bounced off.

“Free boats?” Anko asked as she and Tsuru used kunai on strings to throw into the hulls and pulled the three boats back against the concrete footing.

“We need to take their heads for identification anyway, so sure.” Tsuru said and walked down the pillar as if she was strolling down a garden path.

“How does she make that look so sexy?” Temari asked in a whisper. “I can only walk normally doing that and that's only if I'm fully concentrating on it.”

“Years of practice.” Yui said and didn't clarify if she meant the wall-walking technique or Tsuru's normal walk. Some of them suspected it was both.

Tsuru collected the heads and put them and the bodies into one bag, then picked up the three boats, including the oars and equipment, and put them into another one. She walked back up the pillar and onto the bridge, saw everyone was looking at her with admiration, and she posed as if someone was going to take her picture.

“That is so unfair.” Temari said and didn't bother whispering this time.

Tsuru laughed and walked over to the girl and hugged her. “Once we get you trained up a little more, I'll start teaching you certain classes that they can't property teach you until after you become a Jonin and are sent on special missions with specific requirements.”

Temari blushed, because she knew what kind of classes Tsuru meant. Her eyes went to Naruto briefly and she looked back at Tsuru before she nodded in agreement.

“How long before Gato starts worrying about them not coming back?” Yashamaru asked and he looked grateful to Tsuru for the offer to his niece, since he did not want to teach her those things himself.

“It depends on if he paid them upfront.” Yui said and Tsuru handed her the bag with the bodies for her to check. “Barely any coins or paper Ryo.”

“None of them were drunk, so they weren't paid yet.” Anko said.

“How do you know that?” Akiko asked.

“They would have shouted about attacking us if they were drinking. Most idiots are like that.” Anko said with a grin.

Yui let out a laugh and handed the bag back to Tsuru. “You'd know all about that, huh?”

“I am totally an expert.” Anko said proudly and everyone laughed.

“We should get back to work.” Naruto said and handed everyone a small snack and a water bottle. He did not miss Temari holding his hand a bit longer than necessary to take the water bottle. He also didn't miss the look Yui gave him as everyone moved off to take their previous positions. “Akiko's leaving at 8, isn't she?”

Yui blushed and nodded.

“Then I'll meet you in your room at 9 and we can talk about things.” Naruto said and she nodded again. He left her there at the edge of the bridge and jumped off. He dove 50 feet down into the water with barely a splash, then he swam like a fish out 100 feet and dove down to the bottom to start dropping stones and transfigured them into the base of another pillar.

The height of the bridge would let any ship pass underneath and the span between pillars would allow any ship to pass between them without trouble. It was also a perfect example for people to see and use, since it was four carts wide and easy to cross. The solid stone railings also blocked the wind and there was no danger of anyone falling in.

Naruto made sure to leave a carved ladder in the stone as he built the pillar, just in case anyone was in the water and needed to climb up to safety. He had already killed a dozen sharks and disposed of them, because he didn't want either blood or chum in the water to attract more of them.

Then again, would clearing them out of the local waters benefit anyone? It was a question he could ask someone when they went to the Land of Water for their next contract. It should be fun to make water features and fountains for their main palace that none of them had ever seen before, which would let the Daimyo's wife croon about their distinctive decorations and would make the rest jealous.

Business was booming and the members of Uzumaki Construction couldn't have been happier with having so much to do.

*

Yui Uzuki didn't do any talking when I arrived at her room. She pulled me inside, slammed the door shut and locked it, then she dropped her robe to reveal her nakedness. Still without a word, she hopped into my arms and kissed me with a passion that surprised the both of us. She was almost desperate to have me take her, as if she was somehow going to miss her chance.

She only calmed down after I had been sheathed inside of her and her whole body shuddered and shook with relief. Her kisses became tender and loving after the initial rush and her behavior changed from desperation to adoration. She made sure I knew how she felt and she did her best to recreate the things she saw Tsuru do over a week ago.

Her mind replayed the scene and she acted it out, almost wallowing in the sensations and how her remembered feelings were combining with how things actually felt. She wasn't disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed finally giving in to her desires and giving herself to me, fully and completely.

When we were done and relaxing in each other's arms, I asked her an important question. “Do you want to become a powerful kunoichi and not rely on Tsuru and Anko for protection?”

“Yes, please.” Yui said and kissed me.

The next day, no one questioned why Yui was taking remedial classes in basic chakra control or how she had suddenly gained abilities that should have manifested when she was a child. Things happened around Naruto and it was just common sense to accept things and move on. It was better for your sanity that way.