This was a fun chapter to write, I hope you enjoy it.
This is actually an entire episode that was largely filler in nature for the Arc so I got through it quickly but powerfully.
Please, give me some reviews and tell me what you think. I am trying to make Naruto more independent and powerful but it will take time so be patient...
Sasuke wanted to scream as Naruto reached the top of the tree with a slow walk, that the loser of his class had completed this task before he did was unacceptable. 'Why, why must I always be so weak, so helpless!' He wanted to bellow, to throw fire jutsu around and destroy everything in sight but he managed to keep his cool just barely. Years of apathy and depression helped. 'What does he have that I do not?'
Naruto joyfully started doing flips around the tree, almost bragging with every action that he did, a smile on his stupid face. " This is awesome, believe it."
Finally the strain was too much and Sasuke caved." How did you do it?"
Naruto jumped, looking at him with some shock. " What are you... oh this, well I listened to Rai and realized that it was just like the leaf sticking thing we had to do in the academy only with more chakra." He smiled. " Do what Rai suggested and start by laying your back, it helped me get here."
Sasuke wanted to scream, but he managed to calm himself down. 'Maybe I should listen, he seems to be smart... and he isn't likely to hold it against me like Naruto is.' That decided things for Sasuke and so he reached the bottom of the tree and laid on his back, putting his feet on the tree and slowly started to life his feet up, walking slowly upwards. The sticking part was easy but keeping it up was hard... he kept on slipping a few feet up. 'Damn it, I bet Itachi got it on his first try.'
The shame was hard for him to deal with, but deal with it he did as he pursued his path. After twenty or so minutes he realized that his feet stopped falling off. He did it! Standing up, Sasuke calmly walked up the tree. First reaching half way, then three quarters then finally... the top!
'I did it... I guess I owe them both... sigh.' He didn't want to thank Naruto , he never asked for help, but some part of him wanted to do just that. Embarrassed and shamed as he was, he was deeply grateful for their help. ' I must do better, be better... if I want to slay my brother, then I have to be better... I cannot accept anything less...'
"Well well, it seems you both succeeded." Kakashi's voice drew Sasuke from his painful thoughts. "I admit, I sort of have nothing else planned. I figured this would take you a few days... you can guard Tsunami and Inari, just in case someone attacks them while we are guarding Tazuna."
Sasuke saw a flaw. "Wouldn't it be smarter to have the stronger Genin protecting Tazuna?" He knew he was stronger then either Sakura or Rai, hell probably stronger then both combined.
"Maybe, but for now I want you to watch over our more vulnerable customers. If they want to blackmail Tazuna to stop they will go after his family, we need someone to watch over them. I will be going between both parties for now."
"We'll watch over them, believe it!" Naruto all but screamed out.
Gritting his teeth a little bit, wanting a more important mission, Sasuke obeyed his teacher and walked with Naruto over to Tazuna's house, keeping his attitude as low as he could. It was pretty hard to do that though...
::::
Rai, moving through his Kata, did his best to focus on the hard working men around him, unlike Sakura who was yawning and sitting in place. He may not be allowed to do any hard core training but the least he could do was move through his Kata's and refine what little he could do if he had to fight once more.
"You always this lazy?" Tazuna, carrying a large metal beam, walked by them on the massive bridge. His attitude hadn't really changed despite them saving his miserable life. "Where's the Weird blonde kid and the one with the attitude?"
"Their training, climbing trees." Sakura's tone was almost smug, it grated on Rai's ears.
"Too tough for you?"
"No in fact I'm the best, that's why he sent me here to guard you."
Rolling his eyes, Rai turned to Tazuna. "We both excelled at it but Naruto was doing well too. Tactically, I imagine Kakashi will send them to watch over your family while we are here once they finish since your family could be used against you." He saw the man's fear, the sudden wave of concern in his eyes and he realized that if he didn't comfort the man at least a little he was liable to freak out. "Don't worry, Kakashi is with them and he is powerful. You saw what he could do and Zabuza is too weak to attack. All should be fine."
The man let out a long sigh of relief, just as a worker came to him carrying his hard hat.
That left Rai with a very annoying Sakura and they both watched as the man, Giichi, quit on Tazuna, leaving the old man in a miserable slump.
About six hours later, when the sun began to set, Tazuna lead them off of the bridge and towards the village. "Where are we going?" Sakura asked once they reached town, and it was clear she wasn't see what he was.
A man carrying a sign to do any kind of work, tons of thin twitchy people, a kid stealing from a shop and running away with calls of thief towards him... a sense of dread filling the air. It reminded him of Naruto's childhood, of the despair and misery that filled his life... in theory at least, as he lacked the emotional pain Naruto had collected from that time.
"You want Dinner right, I need to collect some food." Tazuna said as they passed by some weak kid, kids who's chakra was so low he could just barely sense it like a tiny buzz against his skin. They were starving and they were going to die... his heart broke for them. "Here we are. " Tazuna said as they reached a shop.
"Welcome. " A man said as they entered, his voice weak and scratchy. His body thin from not eating enough food. His selection of food was miserable, only a handful of vegetables of each type... it was depressing and it hit home how hard this town had been harmed by Gato's evil.
'What a wretched soul, to drain a people so thoroughly and leave them with nothing. Human greed is something else.'
"YOU PERVERT!" Sakura's bellowed out, making Rai pull out a kunai and turn just in time to see her kicking a man hard enough to knock his teeth out.
"Your wrong I..." then he passed out on the ground, bleeding from his mouth and nose.
Rai felt a surge of pride towards Sakura even as he looked at a stunned Tazuna. "He's lucky. Even a weak genin could snap a man's neck with a single kick."
The man shuddered as they hurried and bought the food before leaving the store.
"Girls around here don't fight like that." Tazuna said, his tone hesitant but impressed.
Rai felt a little smug. "They should, no one should be at the mercy of another person. Man or women." he bumped Sakura a little, smirking at her. " That was a hell of a kick."
He enjoyed her flush. "That was nothing." Her eyes went wide suddenly and she turned, ready to whoop ass only to stop when she saw a small child, thin and in rags.
His heart broke at the sight of that very kid, holding out their hands. "Please?" With the most beautiful smile.
He reached into his bag and pulled out some jerky that he had stored with him, Sakura did the same pulling out candy. Both of them placed it in the kid's hands.
"Thank you!" The kid's face was radiant even as they ran off to enjoy their prize.
Rai didn't bother to hide his tears as, for the first time, his new heart felt grief.
"This is how it's been since Gato came here. The children suffer and the adults are afraid to stand up to him. They lost all hope that's why we need to finish the bridge. It will bring commerce and trade but much more importantly that bridge is a symbol of courage. We must restore the spirit of our people. When the bridge is finished people will start to believe again. They will believe they can live with dignity. We can't let Gato stop us."
And with that speech, Rai's heart grew and encompassed more then just his brother and himself. He felt it grow and envelope the entire country of Wave.
'We must save these people. At any cost... this cannot go on.'
"""
"NARUTO ENOUGH!" Naruto froze as he saw his brother, almost glowing with rage as Naruto stuffed his face with bowl after bowl of food. "This country is starving as it is you will not make it harder by eating them out of house and home." He turned to Sasuke, giving him the same look and getting an equal amount of hesitance in his eyes.
He felt a sense of grief at that, Rai had told him about what he had seen in the village. The thin people, the starving children... 'What am I doing... sigh...' And with that he stopped, sighing and turning to the stunned customers. "I am sorry. I let my competitive nature get the best of me." He bowed to them, lower just like Rai taught him was good manners.
'According to all the books, the Hokage is a politician and a warrior. That means you have to have good manners so you can talk with people from other nations who have their own agendas and missions. You have to learn them if you want to become a successful Hokage, Naruto.'
His brother's words echoed in his head and he obeyed them. Rai hadn't led him wrong yet.
Sasuke on the other hand didn't bow but he did look regretful.
Some time passed and they started to drink some tea, the room quiet except for the sound of Tsunami doing the dishes.
This was interrupted by Sakura. "Hey this picture is torn. Is there some reason for that?" Naruto may have struggled to read the room but he could easily tell there was something wrong. "Inari, you kept glancing at it through dinner, it looks like there was someone else in here but they were torn out."
"It's my husband." Tsunami said, her voice quiet and pained.
"He was once called a hero in this land." Tazuna said and with that Inari left the room, eyes shaded in shadows from his hat.
"Inari where are you going?" Tsunami followed him as he left the room, stopping at the door to turn to her father. "Father you can't talk about him like in front Inari you know that."
"Inari's so… what happened to him?" Sakura broke out, not reading just how much pain was in the room.
Naruto turned to her and with more wisdom then he realized he had, he said. "It's not our business Sakura..." He felt Inari's pain, whatever the cause.
And from the look at his brother's face, so did he.
"He wasn't his real father eh came into our father and he brought so much happiness...he used to laugh and smile all the time and then... " Tazuna started to cry. "...All that ended. He never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since that day, everything changed. The word courage was stolen from this island, we were left feeling powerless, hopeless and Inari suffered the most. Ever since that day, ever since it happened."
Kakashi's voice didn't change much but Naruto felt like it sort of did, like Kakashi felt warmer and quieter then normal. "Tell us, what happened to Inari."
"To understand, you need understand the man, his father. The man who taught us the word courage, his father."
"""
Rai's heart broke for the family as they heard the tale of Kaiza, the pain in every word was practically visible. The man cried as he spoke, weaving the tale further and further and with each word he understood just how much courage the man before him had.
'To think, he is willing to work on the bridge despite what happened to Kaiza, and right in front of him. I disagree though Inari is not the one who suffered the most. He still has a family, food and a roof. So many others have none of those things... in a way he is actually quite lucky.'
Naturally, Rai kept that little thought quiet... and listened to the rest of the tale. A tale that seemed so strong that even Sasuke, mellow and brooding Sasuke, seemed moved by it. There was a wistfulness in his eyes that just wasn't there before...
When it was finished, Naruto stood up. "I'm going to prove it, prove to Inari that heroes do exist."
Rai's burst with pride at that moment and though he said nothing, he totally agreed with his brother. 'We'll all show him... every one of us.' He looked skyward, feeling his heart ache just as it had before. Inari's pain entered his soul and like Naruto he had a vow of his own. 'Naruto will show him heroes exist, I will show him that anyone can be strong... believe it.'
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
I loved this chapter and I hope you did too.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.