"No matter how painful or how hard it seems, no matter what it may cost you, you have to hang in there.

If something is precious to you… Protect it with all the strength you have."

X

Inari charged at the two men.

One of the men stepped forward, striking inari with his sheathed sword.

"No!" Tsunami cried. "Leave him alone!"

"You better come with us if you don't want him butchered!" One of the men yelled.

Sakura appeared from the hallway, hurling kunai. The long-haired man stepped forward, deflecting them.

"Run!" Sakura shouted. "Both of you, run!" The long-haired man drew his sword and slashed at Sakura. She managed to block the blade with her kunai.

The other ninja swung his blade, Sakura dropped to the floor. The long-haired man kicked her, throwing her onto the kitchen table. Dishes clattered to the floor.

Tsunami grabbed Inari, pulling him further into the house.

The men approached Sakura. She groaned on the table.

"We're gonna rip this runt apart if you don't come out!" One of the men yelled.

X

Tsunami pulled Inari into a closet and held him tight.

They could hear the sounds of fighting. Sakura cried out.

One of the men cursed.

Inari started to cry.

X

"The rains overflowed the riverbank!" The man yelled. "All of sector D will be flooded!"

The barrier needed to be closed.

Kaizo dove into the violent water, tethered by rope.

He saved Sector D.

But he was punished for it.

"Listen up!" Gato shouted. "This man has committed acts of violence and terrorism against my company and our activities here!"

Kaizo was strung up to a post.

His arms had been cut off. He'd been tortured.

"He's openly denounced our policies and tried to incite sabotage and resistance against us, and disrupted the order of this land."

The crowd watched on.

No one took action.

No one stood for the one that stood for them.

"The penalty for his crimes is death. The sentence will be carried out at once."

His blood was shed.

Inari remembered the eyes. The people watching. It wasn't apathy. It wasn't quite sadness, either.

Something different.

Acceptance.

Better him than them.

Inari hated those looks.

He learned something that day.

He learned something about the way life was.

X

Sakura screamed. Something thudded repeatedly against the wall.

One of the men cried out in pain.

"Get her off me!" he shouted.

"She's gonna die," Inari whispered. Tsunami hushed him. Inari pulled free of Tsunami's grasp. He charged out of the bedroom.

"Inari, no!"

He grabbed a broom and rushed into the kitchen.

The long-haired man was standing over Sakura, foot on her chest. The other man was pulling a shuriken out of his back. His sword was in the wall.

Inari swung the broom at the long-haired man, catching him in the head. The broom snapped in half. Sakura grabbed the man's leg, yanking him off his feet.

She jumped up, kicking his back. He stumbled away but recovered fast. He grinned at them.

Sakura was bleeding. She winced, faltering.

The two men approached them.

"What do we do?" Inari asked.

Sakura reached into her pack.

"What's it gonna be?" The long-haired man asked.

"We're gonna kill these kids!"

Inari raised his broken broom threateningly. Sakura glared at them.

The long-haired man sneered at her.

Tsunami came charging out into the kitchen, she swung an ax at the two men.

The men scattered, Sakura drew two shuriken attached to wires.

"Inari, get outside!"

Tsunami chased the man with the ax, screaming wildly.

"She's crazy!" The long-haired man yelled.

"Don't kill her!" The other one ordered. He ducked under her ax. She kicked at him. He grabbed her arm and threw her aside. The ax hit the floor.

Inari ran to Tsunami's side.

"Just run!" Sakura ordered. She threw her shuriken, nailing the wall behind the two men. She ran to the side, yanking the wire.

Inari and Tsunami ran from the house.

The men charged, immediately getting caught on the wire. She quickly circled them, messily tying them up.

"You think this will hold us?" One of the men snapped as he struggled. He slowly raised his sword to the wire.

"Not for long," Sakura said. She placed several paper bombs on his chest and pushed them over before running from the house.

The explosion ripped the house apart.

Sakura was blown off her feet, she rolled across the ground. Inari and Tsunami were clear of the building.

Sakura slowly raised her head, staring blankly at the building. It took her a few moments to process what had happened.

Inari walked over to her.

"I think I killed them," Sakura said quietly.