"So, did you know he was there?" Sakura asked.
Kiyo looked at her. "Hum?"
"The boy who took Zabuza away. I saw you looking around and into the trees. But when I looked, he wasn't there anymore."
Kiyo shrugged. "Meh. I did smell him. That's about it."
"How come you have such a great sense of smell? I'm not sure even Kiba's is that good." Naruto said.
Kiyo looked around. They were all sitting at the table, waiting for Kakashi to wake up. Idiot had tired himself out so much they had to bring him to Tazuna's house. Kanemaru hung out with the grandson, Inari.
"Practice makes perfect." Kiyo shrugged again. She looked at Sasuke who was looking at her, hands resting under his chin. She knew that look. He was trying to figure something out, and it was most likely about her. "Well, I'm going to check on Kakashi-sensei." She said, standing up.
"I'll go with you." Sakura said, standing up as well.
Kiyo nodded and walked out of the dining the room and to the bedroom where Kakashi was.
"So, you finally woke up. How're you feeling?" Kiyo heard Inari's mother ask.
"Been better." Kakashi said with a light grunt. "Might be at least a week before I can move normally again."
"Well, just lie down then." She said.
"Yeah...right..." Kakashi sighed.
Kiyo peeked into the room and smiled. "Look. He's finally awake." She said softly.
Sakura walked towards Kakashi and began to lecture him, which Kiyo found amusing. By the time it had turned into a discussion about what happened if they were really safe. Kiyo had doubts, but she couldn't be sure.
Later, Kiyo went in there alone and sat down next to Kakashi as he sat up. He glanced at her and breathed deeply. "Let me guess..." He sighed. "You feel it to?"
Kiyo nodded silently. "So I'm not being paranoid then." She said.
Kakashi nodded. "Yeah...something's wrong. We're missing something. I just don't know what."
Kiyo nodded in agreement. "Let's go over what we know then." She said cheerfully. "We know what a Tracker's job is. To take care of the body immediately."
"But the Tracker we saw took the body away. They usually take care of it on the spot. So there's little room for error."
Kiyo nodded slowly.
"Weapons." Kakashi said.
"Senbons, right? Throwing needles. Can be used for medical operations." Kiyo said. "To put the patient into a near death state so they can operate safely." Kiyo's eyes widened in realization. "Seriously! You don't think?"
Kakashi nodded. "Yes. You should go tell the others."
"They won't believe me." Kiyo said bluntly.
"Then have them come in here so I can explain it to them."
"But, you beat that guy flat, right? You even checked." Tazuna said. "He's dead."
Kakashi shook is head. He began to explain the same thing he did to Kiyo. They didn't take it to well, of course.
"Aren't you over thinking this?" Tazuna asked.
"Once a shinobi feels something is weird, they must prepare." Kakashi said. "It is one of the rules we have."
"Okay then." Sakura said. "If we are preparing, then what about you? You can barely move and we can't beat him."
"Yeah, well. Besides that. You three, plus Kiyo, are going to go through some training."
"But, even if we train, it's not going to be helpful. Even you, a Jounin with the Sharingan, had trouble dealing with him."
Kakashi just gave her a blunt look. "Who is it that saved me when I was having trouble? You three have grown. Especially you Naruto. You've grown the most."
Naruto looked at him in surprise. Then he grinned. "Hehe. Thanks! It's going to be even better! Believe it!"
"No. It's not."
Kakashi looked up to see Inari, followed by Kanemaru who was whining.
"Who are you!" Naruto pointed at him with a large frown.
"Inari!" Tazuna said. "Where were you?"
Kiyo walked in and looked around. "Huh? Oh. That's where you went." She said and went to Kanemaru, picking him up. "You know, Kanemaru seems to like you a lot." Kiyo grinned at Inari.
"Say hi to these guys." His mother demanded. "They are the ninja who escorted your grandfather home safely."
"It's okay, right?"
Kiyo watched as Inari looked over all of them carefully. Then he turned towards his mother. "They're going to die."
Kiyo and Naruto both reacted the same. "What did you say?" "Who says we're going to die?"
"Listen up, here brat!" Naruto said, standing up. "I am a super hero who's going to become the Hokage. I don't know or care who Gato is, but he's not going to be a problem."
"A hero?" Inari looked down. "That's stupid. There's no such thing as heroes."
"Wha-" Naruto started at him in surprise.
Sakura had to hold him back as he tried to advance towards Inari, most likely to hit him. "Stop it!"
"If you don't want to die," Inari continued. "You should just go home." Then he walked out.
"Damn brat!" Naruto muttered to himself as he walked up the stairs. "I'm going to tell that kid a thing or two." He walked towards the slightly opened door and then paused. "Is he... crying?" He peeked in and saw Inari, was indeed crying. He looked out towards the ocean, his head down and shoulders shaking.
Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped back to see Kiyo. She put a finger to her mouth.
"Dad..." Inari muttered through his sobs.
Because Sakura had done so good at the Tree Climbing, she didn't have to train with the boys as they practiced. Kiyo was also excused from it. She and Kakashi trained privately, and she passed as well. Sakura sat down and watched the bridge workers, while Kiyo walked among them, offering help to everyone.
"You look rather young to be doing this kind of thing." Someone said.
Kiyo just shrugged. "It's okay. I'm here willingly and need something to do."
"Are you one of the ninja that came with Tazuna?"
"Yep!"
"He told us the only adult is recovering from a battle. Is that true?"
"Yep!"
"He also said there was an annoying blonde kid, an arrogant boy, a smart girl, and a hyper girl with a dog. Which girl are you?"
"The one with the dog. But he's with the other girl at the moment."
"Ah." He nodded. "Thanks for the help, anyway."
"It's time for lunch, so you should go find Tazuna."
"Okay. Have a good day!" Kiyo grinned at him before running off to where Sakura was. When she got there, Kanemaru jumped onto her, digging his claws into her shirt and leaving holes in it. "Again?" She sighed as she picked him up. "So, what happened? You look upset?"
"Another man just quit." Sakura said softly.
"Oh..." Kiyo said.
"They're scared." Sakura said softly. "This one was scared of Tazuna dying."
"Tazuna is probably scared of that as well. For himself, his family, his friends, and everyone else left working." Kiyo nodded.
"Come on, you two! Don't want to leave you behind!" Tazuna called.
"Coming!" Kiyo said. She looked at Sakura with a grin before they both ran to catch up to the Bridge-Builder.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked as she looked around.
"I was asked to get ingredients for dinner tonight." Tazuna smiled.
"Ah..." Kiyo looked around. A man with a sign saying he would do any job. A thief ran past them. Two boys were curled up on the side of the street. She looked at Sakura who looked confused, and kind of scared. She probably hasn't seen anywhere but Konoha.
"This is it." Tazuna said.
"Welcome." Said a not-so-happy shopkeeper.
Kiyo and Sakura looked around. There was barely anything in there. And the food that was there, wasn't in the best condition.
"Pervert!" Sakura yelled.
Kiyo jumped in surprise and saw Sakura had kicked a guy. Kiyo looked at Sakura and immediately understood. "Her bag is close to her behind." She concluded.
On the walk back, Sakura was met with a poor little girl. Kanemaru licked her face, which made her giggle. The candy Sakura gave her made her beam.
"I seem to recall you complaining about this city?" Kiyo said softly, earning her a punch in the arm. "Okay, okay." She laughed lightly.
During dinner that night, Sakura was mostly quiet. Kiyo acted like it was a normal day in Konoha, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't stop eating and competing.
"Seconds please!" They both yelled out. Then glared at each other. Then, they both threw up their food.
"Don't waste food like that!" Sakura yelled at both of them.
"No." Sasuke said. "I'll eat."
Kiyo sweat dropped and slid her food over to Naruto. She rested her head on the table.
As the two boys had tea to settle their stomachs, Kiyo had fallen asleep on the table, and Sakura had wandered around. "Why are you hanging a torn picture?" She asked. She looked back at Inari. "It looks like someone intentionally tore out whoever was in this picture."
There was complete silence.
"It's my husband." Inari's mother finally said.
"He was known as a hero to this town." Tazuna added.
Inari quickly got up and headed out the door.
"I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" The mother said angrily. She left as well, closing the door behind her.
Kiyo woke up as soon as the door closed and she looked at Inari's chair, then at the door. "What did I miss?" She asked.
"What's wrong with Inari?" Sakura asked.
"There's a reason." Tazuna said. "Inari had a father that wasn't related to him. But they were as close as a father and son could be."
Kiyo looked towards the picture.
"He used to laugh and smile a lot back then. But..."
Kiyo looked back at Tazuna in surprise. He was crying... She knew what that meant. The evidence all pointed to death.
"But... Inari changed. After the incident that happened."
Kiyo got comfortable, feeling a story come along. "The word courage was taken from everyone on this island, and Inari. After that day... that incident..."
After Tazuna explained the whole story, Naruto got up, a determined look on his face. Then he tripped.
"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"I'm going to prove to him." Naruto said.
"Prove what?" Kiyo asked.
"That there are heroes in this world." Naruto said as he pushed himself to his feet.