The clanking of metal, and boards being hammered down was all that could be heard from miles around, Sakura yawned, comfortably sitting off to the side as she watched Tazuna and his men work on the bridge. "You always this lazy?" Tazuna asked her, walking as he carried a large plank over his shoulder. "Where's the weird blond kid, the dark one with the attitude, and the beat up one?" He asked, standing in front of her. "They're training, climbing trees." Sakura explained. "Too tough for you?" He asked, walking past her. "No, in fact, I'm the best. That's why the sensei sent me here to guard you." Sakura said smugly, smiling at her self. "You must be joking." Tazuna put the board down, wiping sweat from his forehead.

N-No! It can't be! I shook, looking with wide eyes at Zabuza standing over Naruto, Naruto was paralyzed on the ground. "Naruto!" I screamed, Sasuke stood still, watching. I ran to him as quickly as I could, swinging my good arm at Zabuza, he dodged easily. Naruto was laying down on the grass, a kunai stuck in his stomach, a trail of blood dripped down the side of his face. "No! Naruto!" I cried, tears leaked down the sides of my face. "I'll kill you!" I screamed, my eyes burning wildly as I jumped at Zabuza, tears streamed down the sides of my face, Zabuza disappeared, I landed on the grass, furiously looking around. "Perfect. Now, stay angry." Kakashi walked out from behind a tree, I focused on the burning in my eyes. "Y-You!" I seethed, clenching my fist.

"Tazuna, uh, I need to talk to you." Giichi called out to him, walking over a bit slowly. "Huh? What about?" Tazuna asked, turning back around to meet him. "Uh, the thing is, I've been thinking a lot about this bridge. And I decided I've push my luck far enough, I want out." Giichi gulped, Sakura watched them talk. "Now you're going to quit on me, just like that? You're kidding!" Tazuna clenched his fists, anger bubbled up inside of him. "You know, I stayed on because of our friendship, but I'm putting my life on the line every day I stay here. Gato and his thugs will show up here eventually. When they do, they'll kill you, and the bridge will never get finished anyway. It's a lost cause Tazuna, why don't we stop now while we can still get out of this alive?" Giichi hung his head low. "No chance." Tazuna grunted. "Huh?" Giichi looked back up at him. "This is our bridge, our island is poor, and it will stay that way until the bridge connects us to the mainland. Commerce, trade, and hope, that's what we're building here." Tazuna crossed his arms. "There's not going to be much hope if we're all dead." Giichi shook his head, Sakura had a sad expression on her face.

"It's already noon, let's break for lunch." Tazuna began, walking by Giichi. "Tazuna, let's not end it like this!" Giichi reached out to him. "Save your breath. Oh, and Giichi, don't bother coming back after lunch."

"Keep it just like that." Kakashi stepped closer to me, both Naruto and Sasuke went up in a puff of smoke. I scrunched up my nose, my eyes were burning terribly, blood dripped from them. I looked up at Kakashi, right in his eyes, he started to wobble back and fourth. "Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, his eyes drooped down. "I-I'm fine...just sleepy...you're doing it right." He said, passing out on the grass, my eyes stopped burning, they became more comfortable. I looked at Kakashi's head band, large orange eyes looked back at me. "We did it! Kakashi-sensei! We did it!" I laughed, shaking him awake. His eyes slowly opened. "Good job. Let's get back to that lunch." He stood back up, still a bit shaky. "No way! I've got to perfect it!" I said determined, Kakashi sighed. "Fine. But I am really hungry, I'll meet you out here again." He waved, I wiped the blood off of my face.

"Ugh! Why is it so hard!" Naruto whined, stomping his foot on the ground, I was comfortably sitting down on the ground. A brow rabbit jumped next to me, sleep, I whispered in my head, I gracefully fell to the ground, dozing off. I was surrounded by a circle of sleeping forest animals. Sasuke panted as he jumped back down on the ground, Naruto looked over at Sasuke with angry eyes, Sasuke looked back at him. I'm not going to loose to you! Naruto growled, darting at the tree, Sasuke ran at the same time, I watched them intently.

Naruto fell back down, Sasuke kept going. He's still climbing! Impossible! Naruto clenched his fists, I looked up at a bird, sleep, I dropped down softly into my lap. Damn! He's catching up to me, inch by inch! Sasuke glared down at him as he jumped back down onto the ground. No, no, no! If I think about Sasuke, I'll loose my concentration! Believe it! Naruto shook his head, come on Naruto, center yourself! Naruto calmly breathed in and out, holding his fingers close to his face, I smiled. Finally he's catching on. I rested my head against the tree. Sleep, a cricket rested on a small piece of grass. "Hey Naruto!" Sasuke called out, Naruto fell down to the ground. "Ah, Sasuke, what are you doing?! I was trying to focus my chakura!" Naruto complained. "Well, uh, you know, the thing is..." Sasuke began, "The thing is what?" Naruto crossed his arms, that's strange. He never talks to me, what's he up to? "You...you know, you asked (Y/N) for advice, so...what did they tell you?" Sasuke asked, looking over at me. I was starting to fall asleep. "I'm not telling you!" Naruto huffed, turning his head away. Sasuke glared down at him angrily.

"Hey, this is fantastic. It's been ages since we've had so many guests around our table." Tazuna chuckled, I happily ate my soup. Sasuke and Naruto were stuffing their faces like wild animals, I smiled. "I want some more!" They both shouted simultaneously, holding up their bowls. Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other, both of them starting to turn a bit green as they both ducked to the side, trying their best not to vomit. "Don't eat so much if you're just going to puke it up!" Sakura screamed, slamming her palms into the table, I couldn't help but laugh. Kakashi smiled over at me. "I have to eat." Sasuke grunted, wiping his mouth. "And I have to eat more than him! It's the only possible way I'll get strong enough to beat him!" Naruto said through gritted teeth. "That's true, but puking won't help you." Kakashi-sensei shook his head.

"Excuse me, this picture is torn. Is there some reason for that?" Sakura asked, I glanced up at it. Oh, yeah, it is. I rubbed my eyes. "Inari, you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like there was some one else in the picture, but they got torn out. I mean, that's kind of strange, isn't it?" Sakura wondered, every one stayed silent. "Sakura, maybe you should come sit back down." I called out to her, she turned around to me. "No, it's alright. it's my husband." She called out, washing dishes. "They used to call him a hero in this land." Tazuna began, Inari jumped off of his seat. "Inari, where are you going?" His mother called out, turning around from the dishes, Inari left with out a single word. "Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari, you know that!" She said, following Inari.

"Inari's so, I mean, what happened to him?" Sakura asked, turning around to face Tazuna. "He wasn't his real father, he came into our family later, and brought so much happiness. He and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time...but then..." Tazuna sniffled, clenching his fists. "All that ended." Tears formed at the corners of Tazuna's eyes, I looked down at the table. "He never laughs or smiles anymore, ever since that day everything changed." I shifted in my seat.

"The word courage was stolen from this island, we were left feeling powerless, hopeless, and Inari suffered the most ever since the day, ever since it happened."

"Pochi! Pochi, no!" Inari shouted, two other kids kept him back as he watched his bully hold his dog under his arm. "That's not his name. Starting today his name is Shooting Star, and he's my dog now!" The kid shouted, stomping his foot on the dock, the waves hit against it's wooden beams. "No, he's not! He's my dog and his names not 'Shooting Star'!" Inari mocked, moving his head towards the kid as he shouted. "I've had him since he was a puppy! He's my friend, and he doesn't belong to you!" Inari struggled to get out of the arms of the other kids, they grinned down at him as they watched. "Just shut up!" The kid shouted back, Pochi whimpered under his arm, the kid looked down at the dog with a sinister smile before throwing him off the dock and into the ocean. "Pochi!" Inari cried, watching as his dog struggled to keep it's head up out of the water. "See what happens when you don't listen to me? Now I'm not going to lift a finger to help him, okay? You can let him go." The kid crossed his arms, his friends did what he said. Inari stepped towards him, tears were threatening to spill. "Why would you do that, he's going to drown!" Inari cried, "Ha! If he's your dog, then jump in and get him. Be a hero and save your 'friend'." The kid smiled, Inari sniffled as he looked down at the wooden dock. "After all that big talk, you're not going to let him go under, are you?" The kid asked, Inari walked over to the edge of the dock, watching as Pochi struggled to swim, shaking. "Ha, he won't even help his precious little Pochi." The kid laughed, walking over to Inari, he was shaking in fear. "Hey, you made such a big deal out of him, go get him!" The kid laughed, kicking Inari into water. "AH!" Inari gasped for air, struggling to keep afloat. "I think you went to far, I mean, he could actually drown or something." One of the other kids said, walking towards him. "Help! Please!" Inari cried out, splashing wildly in the water. "Forget about it." The kid grunted back, watching Inari struggle. "I don't know-" "You say one more word and you're going in next, got it?" The kid threatened him, grabbing onto his shirt. "Pochi!" Inari called out, watching his dog swim past him. Interestingly enough, in that exact moment, Pochi figured out how to swim. Pochi got onto the shore quickly, and ran back into the town. "Hey, Shooting Star's running away, get him!" The kid pointed, the three of them chased after Pochi, Inari sunk down into the water.

Inari woke up, the sun beaming down on his face, he shifted slightly on the warm ground. "Waking up, huh? Finally." A voice called out, Inari sat up on the ground, looking at a man sitting by a fire, he smiled at Inari. "I had a little talk with those kids, they wont bother you again." The man turned around, Inari looked over at him surprised. "Here, eat." He said, picking up a stick with a grilled fish he had stuck in the fire. "Did you pull me out of the water, mister?" Inari asked, looking over at him with big eyes. "Have a bite to eat first, then we can talk all about it." He said, passing the fish over to Inari, he gratefully took it.

"Hm, I see. Your dog abandoned you too, huh?" The man sighed, Inari continued to munch on the fish. "In my country, dogs are very loyal, they stand by their masters. Then again, you abandoned the dog first, so what can you expect?" The man rubbed his chin, Inari stopped eating. "I really wanted to save him, but I just froze. I was just go scared...I guess that I just don't have any courage." Inari sniffled, tears fell down the sides of his face. "Hey, come on." The man smiled softly, patting Inari on the top of his head. "Don't be so hard on yourself, you're a kid. When I was your age, I was scared too." Inari looked up at him. "It's no big deal. But always remember this," The man called out, "Huh?" Inari asked, giving him his attention. "Live your life so you have nothing to regret. If you care about something, protect it, no matter how tough, or how sad, you've got to keep trying. Even if you have to put your life on the line, protect it with both arms, never give in."

"His name was Kaiza. A simple fisherman who'd come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that, Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy had never known his real father, so you can imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him, and followed in his footsteps, like a real father and son." Tazuna explained, I listened intently, I laid my arm down in my lap. "Kaiza spent more and more time with us, until he just naturally became a member of our family." Naruto had a small smile, he leaned on the table with his head in his arms. "And then when this town needed him, he became something more."

"Ugh! We've got trouble Kaiza! The flood gate's opening and the water's rising, if we don't stop it, the lower district will be flooded!" A man rushed into their house, soaked by the poring rain, he shouted the bad news over the loud thunder, Kaiza stood up from the table, Inari close behind. "What?" Kaiza gasped, "Father!" Inari tugged on the bottom of his sleeve, Kaiza turned around to him lightning fast. "Inari, get me some rope! Hurry!" "Right!" Inari shouted back, dashing out of the room.

"See where the gate is? We need to get a line out there to pull it closed!" A man explained, a crowd of people gathered by the opened gate. "A line? You have to swim out there to do that! It's impossible." Another person motioned towards the rapid waters, looking down at it with a shocked face, it continued to rise. "No one can make it through that current." "If we don't do it, the whole district will be wiped out! It's the only way-" "I'll do it." Kaiza stepped into the middle of the crowd, everyone's attention turned to him. "Kaiza, don't be foolish, you'll never make it!" The man shouted towards him, Inari looked up at with a worried face. "Father." Inari sniffled. "Don't worry. Nothing can stop your dad. This is our village, so we've got to do everything we can to help." Kaiza patted Inari on the top of his head.

The rope Inari fetched was tied securely to Kaiza's waist as he stood on the ledge on the cliff, the water continued to flow. Kaiza jumped into the water. People gathered around to hold the rope to the ground, they swarmed around to help, Inari watched with wide eyes as Kaiza continued to swim through the rough waters, he smiled. "Father! I know you can do it!" Inari shouted to him, Kaiza started to swim faster. Kaiza had successfully made it to the other side!

"He made it! He tied the rope on!" "Alright, let's pull it closed!" Kaiza heard shouts from behind, everyone pitched in to pull the rope, the gate started to close.

"From that time on, Kaiza was considered a hero in this land. He taught us all the meaning of courage, and Inari was so proud to be his son. But it wasn't long after that Gato showed up and took over, he terrorized the whole village. Only Kaiza stood up to him. Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man." Tazuna explained with a pained expression.

"You overplayed your hand, Kaiza. All that talk about how you're going to protect the village with your two arms, those arms aren't worth much now, are they?" Gato grinned down at him, watching as his men continued to torture him. "Still, you've got that defiant look in your eye, well, my men will get rid of that." Gato laughed. "Get to work on him."

A large crowd of people surrounded the gate, Kaiza was tied to a large wooden pool, his head was down. "Listen up! This man defied the Gato Corporation, he disturbed the order of this land." Gato looked over at him from the ground, Kaiza kept silent. "His punishment is execution." Gato looked at the horrified faces of the crowd. "Let this be an example so no one will dare stand in our way again." Gato shouted the the crowd, Inari was a crying mess as he leaned on the gate. "Father!" Inari shouted out to him. "Inari, don't." A man tried to call him back, Kaiza looked at Inari with a smile, tears streamed down Inari's cheeks. "Do it." Gato commanded, turning away from them. "DADDY!" Inari screamed, but there was nothing he could do.

"Since then, Inari has changed. So did Tsunami, and all all our people. We lost our will." Naruto furrowed his brow, glaring down at the table angrily. I looked over at him, biting the inside of my mouth. Naruto darted up, but he instantly fell down onto the ground, energy drained from his body. "Naruto..." I sighed, crossing my arms. "You better take the day off, no more training, you've used too much Chakra." Kakashi said calmly, watching as Naruto picked him self back up. "If you push any harder, it could kill you." "I'm going to prove it!" Naruto shouted. "Hm?" Tazuna raised his brow. "Prove what?" Sakura asked, Naruto's legs shook. "I'm going to prove that in this world, there are real heroes!" Naruto said to all of us with a large smile, I straightened my back up, looking over to him with a smile of my own.