Team 7 accompanied Tazuna to the construction everyday. It was close to being finished, only a few weeks were needed to fully complete the bridge. But they noticed that each day less and less of the workers came to the construction site. They were afraid of losing their lives, afraid of what Gato would do to them and their family.
They began not only guarding but helping the old man with construction, Naruto provided him with 50 kagebunshin who would help him with the work that needed to be done. Kakashi was on high guard, waiting for Zabuza and his assistant to arrive at any moment. Sasuke and Naruto were left to stand guard as well, assigned to take on Zabuza's assistant the moment they made themselves known. They had already gone over multiple tactics regarding the problems of the Ice Kekkei Genkai. Sakura and Akira were left at home to watch over Inari and Tsunami. Akira occasionally switched with one of the boys.
It was dinner time and everybody had just come home. For the first time since the ninja arrived two days ago, Inari finally had made himself known. He sat down quietly next to his mother, his eyes red from crying. Tsunami had been asking the ninja about their progress and their mission when Inari spoke up.
"Why do you even try? You are just going to die anyways. Gato will kill you. You don't what he has done to this town, how much we have suffered. You don't even know what suffering is, so naive coming from that big happy village of yours, " the young boy exclaimed, his mother immediately shushed him and apologised for his disrespect and urged the boy to do the same.
For once Akira had managed to restrain herself from going after the boy since he was a kid after all but that did not mean she wasn't going to teach him as lesson, "You say we don't know suffering, you know nothing about us, about our past. You don't know how I did not have a childhood, and spent my days training and gathering information in the most vile ways. I had my first kill when I was 8, when a man tried to rape and kill me. You do not know the countless people I have killed to protect those I love. You don't know how I watched my mother die right in front of my own eyes because I was careless on a mission. You don't know me, you have no right."
Everyone looked at her with wide eyes. These were not the words you were expecting to hear from a girl of her age. She was so put together but she too had felt loss.
It was Naruto who spoke up next, "You don't know how may assassination attempts I have gone through. I had six by the time I turned 10. You don't know how I am hated by almost everyone in the village for something I have no control of. You don't know how hard it is for me to even buy food or clothing because nobody will accept a 'demon' into their shop. I was starved the whole time I lived in the orphanage, they even kicked me out at age 5. I was left to fend for myself, they even stole the little money that I had. I can't even leave the house without triple checking the locks because the one time I left it unlocked my house was ransacked and almost burned to a crisp. The civilian council will find any excuse to have me locked up behind bars and tortured for crimes I didn't even commit."
Nobody knew the blonde's life was like that in the village. They just though that they did not like him very much for all the pranks he had committed. Kakashi knew otherwise, the Yondaime wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero, but all the civilians saw was a monster. They were breaking the law set by the Sandaime regarding the jinchuuriki and the moment the known stepped back into the village he will report everything to the Hokage. This the only redemption he can have for ignoring the young blonde throughout the years, when he could have took care of him instead.
"You don't know how it feels to have your whole clan massacred. I just went to school one day and I came back everyone was dead. Everything smelled of blood, all I saw was blood and dead bodies of my relatives littering the streets. I ran to my own home to see my brother, the man who I loved and idolised, I watched as he took the life of our own parents. But the thing is, he left me alive. He left me to suffer alone even if I want nothing more than to die," Sasuke had said in one breath. He clenched his hand, his knuckles turning white.
The Uchiha was not one to talk about the little feelings he had left, but when he was told that he did not understand suffering he could not restrain himself. He had gone through far too much. Unlike Naruto, he knew his parents which made all the more harder when he was left alone because he was born knowing love and in a day it just disappeared.
Surprisingly Kakashi had spoken too. The genin did not know much about the jonin, so the listened to his words intently. " I came home to see my father dead, he committed suicide because he was being ostracised for giving up a mission to save his fellow shinobi. Later on, I watched as my teammate threw herself on my own hand to kill herself. I watched as my other teammate get stuck under a boulder because he was saving my life. He too died leaving me with his eye. I watched as my sensei, the man who had been like a father to me, also die protecting the village. I became numb and did nothing but kill and kill. Before I knew it there was already so much blood on my hands and there is no way I can wash it off now, "
"You can't say we don't know suffering. We all gave up our childhoods to become soldiers to do our village's bidding. We gave up our innocence to protect civilians like yourself from the burden. We have so much blood on our hands. We put our lives on the line to keep people safe. So you have no right to tell us to give up. We are ready to give our lives to protect your grandfather over here," Naruto had concluded their sudden monologues.
Sakura looked at the members of Team 7 with wide eyes. They all held so much pain, she wanted nothing more to take it away. Kakashi was more than just the perverted man she thought he was. He had gone through so much losses. Too much losses. He was just existing not anymore truly living. Akira, the girl who had threatened to kill her was a young girl who had grown up too quickly. She gave up her childhood,her innocence, her sanity for the sake of the village. A girl who wanted nothing more than to have a break.
At the beginning she saw Sasuke as nothing more that the cool Uchiha who was handsome and good at everything. Now, she saw a boy warped by hatred and vengeance, she saw a boy mourning for the loss of his family, she saw a boy who nothing more than to die.
The Haruno looked over at Naruto. His face always held happiness, now she realised that it was nothing more than a mask. Under the mask of idiocy was boy who was far too broken to be fixed. He wanted nothing more than friendship and love. The two things he had never had. She now saw a boy who was forced to grow up, forced to face death, forced to face hardship with nobody to lean on. His rebellious side was not a call for attention, but a call for help. He wanted someone to see what was under the mask, what was under the fake smile.
Inari knew nothing of the pains if being a shinobi. He left the table and ran to his room to cry once again, but now he not only cried for the loss of the Kaiza, the man who he viewed as his father, he also cried for the shinobi who had already lost so much. He cried for not realising that he was so lucky to have his grandfather and mother who loved him so.
Tazuna explained to the shinobi the incident that happen with Kaiza. The pain Inari felt from losing him. "It is nothing to what you have experienced but I apologise for his behaviour. I would also like to thank you for taking this mission even when I lied about what it was originally about." The old man bowed lowly at the ninja, every bit thankful. Tsunami joined him as well, thanking them for staying and protecting her father.
"You have no reason to thank us. We chose to do because we do not agree with the injustice that is happening "Kakashi replied making them raise their heads. "We will happily protect your village and family from Gato. "
Naruto and Sasuke helped Tsunami clean up after the dinner, while the two girls headed up to bed. Sakura helped her fellow kunoichi up the stairs since she was still feeling quite weak. Karachi had head out to check on the traps he had lay which surrounded the house. Tazuna knocked on his grandson's door only to be told to go away.
After cleaning up, Naruto made his way to Inari's door and knocked softly. "Go away Oji-san!" the young boy had called out weakly.
"Inari, it's Naruto. Open the door for me please," the older boy urged gently.
The door the creaked open slowly to reveal Inari with puffy eyes. His tears still fresh on his cheeks. The boy ended up back on his bed curled up underneath his blanket.
"I'm sorry that had to happen to you. I don't know what it feels like to lose someone since I never had anyone. But now I have so much people that I never want to lose, my precious people. If I lost any one of them, I don't know if I could feel again. They are why I work so hard to become strong, so I can protect them. So you have to grow up and get strong so you can protect your mom and your oji-san. You are a strong kid, I know you can do it," the blonde boy encouraged as he gently ran his fingers through the little boy's hair.
The action calmed Inari down, it made him listen to the Uzumaki's words intently. For the first time in months Inari smiled, "Hai."
The boys of Team 7, together with Tazuna left the house at 7 that morning to begin the day's work. It had already been a week since they had gotten to the Land of the Waves and they would be due back in Konoha a week from now, seeing as the construction was nearly finished.
Sakura and Akira on the other hand stayed and helped Tsunami at home. They were in the middle of washing the dishes when Akira dropped the plate she was rinsing.
"Sakura, bring Tsunami-san and Inari upstairs. Make sure to lock them in the attic. We have some company arriving in 10 minutes, " the sensor ordered feeling the two small reserves of chakra enter her field. From what she could tell they were just bandits, probably under Gato coming to get Tsunami and Inari as hostages. They were a threat nonetheless.
The Haruno nodded her head and took Tsunami upstairs, she opened the door to Imari's room and grabbed him as well. She opened the door to their attic through the hatch in the ceiling and immediately ushered them in.
"Tsunami-san, do not open this door unless you hear me or Akira say it's okay. Do not make any loud noises. Please take this for protection," Sakura instructed handing the woman a kunai from her holster. "Inari, be a good boy and protect your mommy over here, okay?"
Before the young boy could answer, the Haruno had jumped down the hatch and locked it. She rushed down the ground floor to join her fellow kunoichi, who had already barricaded the windows.
"Sakura, stay in here. I will deal with this alone," her teammate instructed as she took out her handle out of her pouch and drew out her scythe.
"I will not leave you to handle this alone. I'm coming with you wether you like it or not," Sakura replied. She would not let herself be protected again.
"Sakura, please. Let me handle this. I don't want you to see what I am about to do," Akira pleaded as she felt the bandits get even closer to the house.
"If you do not walk through the door in ten minutes, I'm coming out to get you."
Akira gave her a brief smile before her whole face went emotionless as she headed out the door.
She stepped outside and manoeuvred her way through the multiple traps that Kakashi had set. She climbed up a tree and waited for the bandits.
"The old bridge-builder's house is up ahead. I heard that he has a daughter," the taller of the two mentioned to his fellow bandit.
"We are definitely having fun with her," replied his companion as he licked his lips at the thought which elicited a laugh out of the two.
Akira was furious.
In a quick movement she jumped down from the tree she was previously on and landed silently behind them. They were still oblivious to her arrival. She attacked in quick move swiping at the shorter bandit's legs, effectively slashing through his pants and leaving deep cuts on the back of his calfs. The man screamed and fell forward at the sudden pain. His legs were unable to move.
The taller bandit turned and brought out his sword. He swung directly at her, aiming for her shoulder but was blocked by the staff of her scythe. As they fought to over power one another, Akira aimed a kick to his head which caught him off guard. Using that moment of shock to her advantage she aimed a slash straight across his chest but he was not done yet. He swung straight at her neck, she dodged and she shunshined a few meters behind him.
He blinked in confusion as the girl disappeared, but in the next moment he felt a blade slice through his skin and his torso separated from his bottom. He died instantly.
His companion was still on the ground alive and breathing, but in too much pain to move. She propped him up against a tree.
"What are Gato's plans?" Akira demanded.
The man was completely at her mercy. Not wanting to end up like his companion he quickly stammered an answer, "H-he sent Zabuza and his assistant to kill the bridge builder, as soon as he completes the mission he will kill them along with the other ninja. We were instructed to get his daughter and the son as hostages so that villagers would listen to our commands."
"Please don't kill me. I will do anything," the bandit pleaded at the ninja. She looked him straight in the eye, she felt no pity. Bandits cannot be trusted they would betray you the moment you set them free unlike rogue ninja who would have loyalty.
She struck him in the arm, cutting of his right arm and let him bleed to death. She took their bodies and threw them in the river.