Sighing, Tazuna began his story, but not before taking out a big bottle of sake for him to drink. After several gulps, he began.
"The word "courage" has been stolen from the people of this land, and Inari... Ever since that day..."
"That day? What happened to Inari?" Ao asked
Taking another gulp of sake he started again, tears leaking from his eyes "Before I get to that... First I need to tell you about the man who was called a hero to this village."
"You mean Kaiza?" Naruto asked and Tazuna nodded.
Solemnly he continued, reminiscent of when Inari actually laughed and had a smile on his face.
"It was about three years ago, when Inari met Kaiza..."
Flashback
On a pier stood four boys, one holding a dog, two holding the last boy, Inari, keeping him restrained.
"POCHI!" Inari cried, the other boy was holding his dog Pochi under one arm. The three boys were bullies who were giving Inari a hard time and even kidnapped his dog, telling him to come to the pier to get him back.
Inari shouted for his dog when the boy holding Pochi responded, "WRONG! He's my dog! And his name is Shooting Star!"
"His name isn't Shooting Star! Its Pochi! Now give him back! He's my friend!"
The boy told Inari to shut up, but just then had a wicked idea; his eyes becoming narrow and a sickening smirk formed on his face when he then tossed Pochi into the lake.
"Let him go guys!" the boy commanded the others as they released Inari who stumbled when he was let go, tears streaming down his face.
"POCHI!" Inari screamed as he saw his dog flailing in the water.
The boy who threw Pochi merely gave a condescending look to the crying Inari.
"Hey? Isn't he your dog? Why don't you go save him? Look, he's going to die if you don't." The pointed at the drowning dog.
Inari couldn't move, he knew he couldn't swim but if he didn't do something his only friend would die!
"Well? Why don't you go SAVE HIM ALREADY!" the boy kicked Inari off the pier sending him careening into the water bellow.
Inari was swallowing water at a dangerous pace as he saw the boy laughing.
"*GLUB* HELP! *GLUB* *GLUB*"
One of the other boys looked worried, "T-this is bad Akane-san, what if he can't swim?"
The boy now known as Akane gripped the shirt of the other boy and said, "Forget him."
"But... But..."
"Then do you want to go save the dog?"
The boy shut his mouth and he along with the other two left Inari to his fate.
"WAIT! *GLUB* DON'T LEAVE ME!"
Just then, Pochi started paddling and started to swim to shore.
"P-pochi!?"
"HEY! Shooting Star is getting away! Get him!"
Inari now left alone fearing for his life, was losing consciousness,
'Is this it...? Am I going to die...?' were Inari's last thoughts as he blacked out.
When he woke up however, he was lying down next to a fire with a strange man with a X shaped scar on his chin and a fisherman's rope knot on his head.
(AN: I don't know what the hell the actual knot thing is called but whatever.)
The odd man was cooking some fish on sticks which attracted Inari to its delectable smell.
"You're awake now huh? Don't worry, I taught those bullies a lesson they won't ever forget. Here, eat!" The man said with a smile as he handed a fish to Inari who was still shocked at the weird man.
'Kami?' Inari thought but shook his head and thought better of it that he was still alive and this was just a kind stranger.
"You saved me?" Inari asked, to which the man answered,
"Yeah, but you sure were getting picked on huh? Even your dog didn't save you. Where I come from, dogs are loyal companions who helped their masters, but you didn't even try to save him either so what can you expect?"
Though it wasn't the man's intention he made Inari feel terrible, he hesitated on saving his friend! He felt cowardly and awful.
The man, seeing the inner turmoil on Inari's face asked what was wrong.
"I... I was so scared I couldn't move; I wanted to save him but I didn't have any courage..." Inari broke out in tears but was halted when he felt the man's hand on his tiny head giving him a pat.
"Yeah.. Any kid your age would be scared, but just remember... If you're a man, choose a life without any regrets!"
The man sat back down and continued, "For something that is precious to you... Not matter how tough, no matte how sad, you must try and try... And even if you lose your life, you must protect it with these two hands!"
Inari looked at the man with awe, he looked so cool and brave just then, could he... could he be like that someday?
"If you do that, even if you die, the proof of a man's life will remain... forever... Right? I know its a bit corny..."
Inari shook his head no, he didn't think it was corny! This mans beliefs and his strength made him seem like... like some kind of...
.
.
.
Hero
Dismissing his thoughts for now he just smiled at the mans antics and laughed saying, "Yeah!"
"You finally smiled! Here eat some more!"
Flashback End
"His name was Kaiza, a traveling fisherman who came here to follow his dreams; after their meeting, he and Inari became very close."
"It may have been because Inari's real father had died before he got to know him, but he and Kaiza became inseparable, just like a real father and son."
Naruto smiled listening to the happy tale, that is until Tazuna's voice became grim yet again.
"He was also a man the village needed."
Flashback
Kaiza and Inari were talking in his cabin when a civilian burst into the room, panting with fear etched in his face.
"Kaiza! Terrible news! The dams are overflowing because the storm! If no one stops it D - area will be flooded! We need everyone to help in anyway they can!"
The fisherman stood straight and tall and yelled as he ran out with the civilian, "Then what are we waiting for!? We need to stop the water now!" Inari not far behind his father.
When they got there, it was too late. The dam gave way letting the ferocious water pass through with some debris of torn trees and branches that it picked up on its murderous path. Nearly all the village's men were present but were just standing around not knowing what to do.
"We have to pull the gate and pull it shut!"
"But to do that we need someone to tie a rope to it! No one can go into those rapids without dying!"
"If we do nothing then D - area will be wiped out!"
All the men were silent as they could do nothing, that is until one man answered...
"...I'll do it"
All the men looked in shock at the foolhardy man who answered.
"Kaiza!" They all chorused.
"But thats crazy! Even for you those rapids are too strong!"
"Don't do it!"
"You'll die!"
"DAD!" Inari cried out fearing for his father's life.
Looking at Inari and smiling, Kaiza crouched down and pat Inari like he always did and reassured his son.
"Don't worry Inari, your dads invincible... Because your dad loves this village."
With a band of rope wrapped around is shoulder, Kaiza bravely jumped in the dangerous rapids fighting the current to get to the gate.
"KAIZA!" The men screamed, and as they watched, Kaiza's words from when they first met echoed in Inari's head.
"If something is truly precious to you..."
"Even if you lose your life..."
"With these two arms..."
"You must protect it!"
"DAD YOU CAN DO IT!" Inari screamed.
"He did it! Everybody pull!"
Flashback End
"And then... Kaiza was called a hero by the people of Wave and Inari couldn't be more proud of his father. That is... Until Gato came"
Everyone was on the edge of their seats, even Ao, who asked,
"What exactly happened?"
Tear now flew freely off of Tazuna's face, he no longer held them back and cried as he looked directly into Ao's eye.
"In front of the entire village... Kaiza was executed by Gato!"
The room became deathly silent, Naruto stared wide-eyed at Tazuna while Haku placed a hand over her mouth in shock. Ao had just tipped his head slightly as he had guessed that outcome for the brave man at the hands of the evil magnate.
Another Friggin Flashback
There on a cross shaped post was Kaiza, he was crucified and his arms were cut off, he was suspended about three feet in the air and ropes were tied around his shoulders so he wouldn't die of blood loss.
Gato was next to him, as was his hired hand Zori a samurai mercenary. They were standing in the center of Nami no kuni and were inside a fenced area to prevent any bystanders from interfering.
Seeing everyone around him stare at the prone figure of their hero Gato decided to make his speech.
"Listen up! This man has been conducting terrorist activities against the Gato corporation! He has been disrupting the countries peace and as such, the punishment is death!"
Now done with his speech, Gato turned to leave but not without giving an order to Zori,
"Kill him..."
Zori complied and drew his katana, Inari stood right in front of Kaiza behind the fence getting a full view of what was about to happen, his tiny hands gripping the fence hard and tears falling from his eyes. Kaiza looked up and made eye contact with Inari and smiled...
"DAAAAAAAAAAD!"
Last Flashback of this chapter end
"After that day, everyone changed... Inari, Tsunami, and the townspeople. They all lost hope and in its place in their hearts grew despair..."
"When Kaiza died, Inari stopped believing in heroes, and the village gave up on hope and courage." Tazuna recounted the day after Kaiza's death, Inari didn't mourn but instead hated the man he called his father. On his grave Inari didn't speak words of sorrow but instead words of anger, Tazuna never forgot what his grandson said that day...
"You... You said you would protect everyone... Me, this village, WITH YOUR TWO ARMS! You're a LIAR dad!"
As Tazuna wept, his tears flowing down every crevice that showed his age Naruto just glared at nothing remembering Inari's attitude towards everyone.
"There's no such thing as a hero!"
"Uuuu... *Sniff* uuuuu...dad..."
Finally making up his mind Naruto ran out from his chair to go to the door. However he still hadn't fully recovered from his training session and fell flat on his face. If the mood wasn't so somber Ao might have laughed.
"Where are you going Naruto?" Ao asked, "You know you still haven't recovered your chakra yet, so why don't you rest up?"
Pushing himself off the floor, the teen responded,
"Can't... I'm gonna prove it..."
"What?" Tazuna asked,
Opening the door, the midnight haired teen peered outside saying,
"I'm going to prove, that in this world... Heroes do exist!"
AN
I feel awful. Not because of my surgery, cause thats healed now. No, I'm sorry I left you guys hanging for a month, I truly apologize, I'm just a friggin R-Tard sometimes and I blame it all on my AP Psych class. (AP = College level class for highschoolers) I will update another of my crappily short chapters in 2 weeks but before that, I put a poll on my thingy about who should be Naruto's third teammate, Its either going to be Menma, Tayuya, or Kimimaro. Why? I dunno, but if its Tayuya I'm pairing her with Naruto (cause shes sexy), If its Kimimaro, I'm making him younger, and if its Menma... HOORAY! but yeah pick who you want, and goodbye.
-Aergaia