Time Travel Lovers **BEING REWRITTEN/EDITED WITH MAJOR CHANGES**

Chapter 31: Bridge

I am so sorry this chapter took so long. After my vacation I found it hard to just sit down and return to writing. I promise to try harder at consistent updates in the future. Love all y'all and enjoy!

Naruto flopped down on the bed and groaned. His whole body was aching. His head pounded to the beat of his heart. The fatigue and memories of a full day of physical labor from 32 clones had hit him hard. It was only the second week of working on the bridge and he was dead tired. It had only taken a week to get the basics laid out so they could start foundation work. Mainly prepping and choosing the start point. After they got the start point prepped Naruto had been working off a float to place and prep pillars and supports on the ocean floor. Diving and working in teams with himself to get pillars placed and secured. It was demanding physically exhausting work. 

Hinata ran her hand over his hair soothing him as he groaned and he moaned at her soothing touch. It felt nice. The gentle touch was exactly what he needed to calm the screaming ache in his limbs and bones. He sighed and just went limp on the bed.

Hinata giggled but she wasn't all to happy about seeing her husband in this state. "Tired?"

A groan.

More soft, remorseful, laughter from Hinata. Naruto needed a break. Badly. Not just the half day break they had last week when it rained. He needed a good two or three full days to just relax and recharge. It was much harder on him then they thought it would be. The clones themselves were as easy as breathing. It was the long time periods and the sustained transformations on top and then the sudden weight of all the memories and fatigue at once at the end of the day that was getting to him. He would be perfectly fine all day ready and raring to keep going. But once the clones poofed he was just exhausted and could barely move.

If it weren't for the fact that the exhaustion might very well kill him at the end she would suggest not proofing the clones for longer periods of time. A more moderate rate of dispelling the clones might also be better but it just exhausted him sooner. The one day they tried dispelling a clone every five minutes instead of all at once just left Naruto exhausted to the point the last 8 clones poofed from his lack of remaining chakra and his slip in control.

It was impossible to find a good solution. It would be just as effective to do all the work not transformed and would reduce the stress Naruto would feel but it wasn't feasible. Tazuna had enough reservations about them to start with. If they revealed their young bodies it wouldn't matter what skill level or mental age they were at. They'd be sidelined or reduced to menial useless work.

He may be a cranky old man but he was also a good father. He would take care of them as children. If he found out their physical bodies were only six all their plans would halt.

Hinata sighed and started to massage Naruto's shoulders. He sighed and let his transformation go. Hinata paused momentarily to go lock the door to the room they had been staying in. She let her transformation go as well. She settled back in to massage Naruto with healing chakra. She worked down his shoulders to his feet and then back up. Slowly kneeding out the tense ache from his muscles.

She couldn't remove all the pain or his fatigue but she could ease it enough for him to make it through dinner before they crashed for the night. When she was done he pulled her down into his arms and peppered her face, neck, and shoulders with kisses. She giggled under the onslaught of butterfly kisses.

A call for dinner interrupted their cuddling. Naruto groaned but released Hinata from his grasp. He stood up slowly trying to avoid the rush of blood to his head. Only a minor rush before he was clear and ready to go. He pulled Hinata up and they made their way out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Food spilled all over the table. It took Tsunami only two days of having every crumb cleaned off of the table before she started cooking an extra three portions. With a total of four portions worth going to Naruto. Hinata ate a lot as well but she was more inclined to snacking throughout the day and helping the local market out by sending a clone to go get snacks throughout the day to share with the guys. It had only been three weeks but they were quickly spending their money. It was hard to be money conscious when they felt secure about their position in the Wave.

They were becoming regular faces around town and the fact that they were on good terms with Tazuna and were working for the betterment of the whole land gave them an almost immediate good standing with the community. But that didn't get them free snacks so they were quickly spending the money they had planned to stretch. Being responsible spenders was supposed to be their next lesson in married life according to their time's Kakashi. Now they had to figure it out on their own. Hinata had always been smart about money but her sweet snack weakness was getting to her, and Naruto had always spent when he had the money or he hadn't been in charge of his funding. So they were now feeling the effects of giving into temptation. 

Tsunami had a big spread laid out. At first they had felt a bit guilty about all the extra cost of feeding them but Tazuna insisted they were more than earning it with their hard work and labor. They ate and chatted, talking about the days work. They talked until a roll of thunder was heard. Tazuna stood up and gazed out the window. A firm line of displeasure was displayed on his face.

"Rain. Big storm. It will probably last till tomorrow or the day after. Wonderful."

Hinata and Naruto shared a look. The timing couldn't have been better. Now they had time to relax and rest. They would make the most of the break by doing absolutely nothing besides meditating and resting. Maybe also some cuddling and making out. You never know what can happen when you get cooped up in the rain.