Naruto: Shoton of Konoha

by Arch-Daishou00

: For Stormy Rebel, miss you, Joachim, and thank you: "By the actions of the traitor Mizuki. Naruto awakens a rare Kekkei Genkai. And his path has now changed. And in the darkness awakens an ancient threat more terrifying than the Akatsuki, which only stirs thought of myths from a lost and forgotten age." : huge world expansion story, OC. Co-Author: Etheral-23

5. A week in Nami making lucky charms

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 5: A week in Nami making lucky charms

- At Tazuna's home -

Kakashi's visible eye fluttered open. He was looking up at a wooden ceiling 'I used the Sharingan too much… At least we beat Zabuza'

"Oi sensei, you're awake" Kakashi rolled his head and looked over at his blond Genin sitting cross-legged beside him. "I'll tell the boss" Naruto said before puffing away in smoke. Kakashi raised his eyebrow 'He was a shadow clone… so that's how he's done it'

It didn't take long before he could hear footsteps out in the hallway along with "dobe, how can you know he's awake? You have been with us all along" from what sounded like Sasuke.

"Just trust me on this one teme" Naruto said

"Naruto-Baka! Stop calling Sasuke things like that!" it came from Sakura.

Then the door slit open "See, I told you he was awake" the blond Genin said with a big smile.

Sakura rolled her eyes and made her way over to where Kakashi was laying "It's good to see you're awake again" she paused while she sat down beside him "The Sharingan really is amazing, but it puts a lot of strain on the body. I'm not sure if it's good or bad"

"No" Naruto said while making his way to the other side of the futon "it's because it isn't Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan. Only the members of the Uchiha clan can get it. I'm guessing you had it transplanted, and by what I saw, it was when you were quite young." The other looked at him like he was crazy. While they had slowly started to accept that Naruto actually knew stuff, it was still surprising that he could estimate when Kakashi had his eye transplanted, just by looking at it once. It had also caught Sasuke's attention, since it was his Kekkai Genkai the subject was one. Naruto continued "Normally the Sharingan, or the Byakugan for that matter, doesn't take that much chakra or do so much strain on the body, but I'm guessing because it isn't a part of his body, it takes much more. People with Kekkai Genkai are normally born with bodies adapted to it, as the Uchiha clan, who hasn't the biggest chakra reserves, but very precise chakra control. This is so they can control the flow in and out of their eyes more precisely, and better control their Sharingan."

Kakashi nodded affirmative on what Naruto said "he is right. It does strain my body much more, than it would on any Uchiha. By the way, how long have I been out?"

While Naruto had talked, Tazuna and Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, had made his way in "You shouldn't worry about your brats. They carried you here about two hours ago." Tazuna paused "And at least you beat that creepy Kiri shinobi. Or the masked kid did anyway."

Sakura turned back to Kakashi "Ano sensei… Who are the hunter-nin's?"

Kakashi laid his head back down and closed his eye to rest. To say the Sharingan had strained his body was a great understatement. Sakura was almost beginning to think, that he wouldn't answer, when he spoke up "The hunter-nin's are a special department from the village's ANBU. They are also known as the fire extinguishing unit, and their job is to erase any evidence that a shinobi was alive. A shinobi's body will give away the secret of their jutsu, if said shinobi had a special chakra type, and any specific medicine that was used on the body, along with various other things…" he paused and opened his eye to look around on the audience. "For example, if I died, the secrets of the Sharingan would be examined… Or if Naruto died, his Shoton would be studied, and possibly copied." He looked at Naruto when he said his name.

Naruto got shivers up his spine 'It's kind of creepy and disgusting that another village would examine my body from top to toe, just to find out about my Shoton.'

"In other words" Kakashi continued "hunter-nin's will kill missing-nin's who have abandoned their village, and dispose of the shinobi's body, to keep the village's secrets in the village." He looked over the people in the room. They were all nodding understandingly. That is, all except Naruto, who was frowning "What is it Naruto?"

"Sensei, isn't senbon needles an odd choice of weapon for a hunter-nin? I mean, they a small and precise, but it's pretty hard to kill anyone, unless you hit exactly on some specific nerves."

Now Kakashi was frowning too "Yes, that is odd…"

"And then" Naruto continued "there's also the fact that the boy took the body with him. If a hunter-nin is supposed to erase all evidence of a shinobi, why would they take the body with them? Wouldn't it just be easier to do it where the body is? It could be because we were there, but… It just seems like something is adding up"

"You're right. All he had to bring back as proof was Zabuza's head" Kakashi said.

Sasuke, who had been silent until now, thought about everything they had been told. 'Nothing adds up. Why did the hunter-nin use senbon needles, when it's so hard to kill with, and why did he take the body, if all he needed was to take the head and burn the rest to crisps?' Sasuke kept thinking over what he had been told, trying to see 'Underneath the Underneath'. That's when his eyes widened "No. It can't be."

"What? What are you people talking about?" Tazuna asked, not a little bit irritated.

"Father! I'm sure they will get to it" Tsunami scolded

Kakashi looked lazily at the two civilians "Zabuza isn't dead; he is in fact very much alive"

"WHAT!?" the two civilians and the pink-haired Kunoichi were all but stunned. "What do you mean sensei? You yourself confirmed that he was dead! As in 'not alive'" Sakura screeched

Kakashi looked at Sakura "It's right, I did confirm it"

"Then how? How is he alive?" she asked

"Senbon needles" Naruto said, with a look that said 'Why didn't I think of that before?' All eyes were on him now "It's because he used senbon needles. As I said, you need to be very precise when you want to make a kill with them. You have to hit the right nerves to kill, but there's also nerves that put you into a stasis which makes you appear dead. You're literally put in a near-death state until someone pulls the needles out."

"Hunter-nin's studies the structure of the human body to the extreme, many times more than the average medic" the Cyclops Jounin said "That's needed to make the kill fast and precise, and to be able to dispose of all the parts. It would be easy for them to put a person into a near-death state". He breathed deeply "I think it's safe to assume that the hunter-nin wasn't who he said he was. First, he took home the apparent corpse of Zabuza, even when it was obvious that the body was much heavier than him. Second, he used a weapon that has a low fatality rate. From these two points, it's clear that the goal of that boy wasn't to kill Zabuza, but to help him."

"Excuse me Kakashi-san, but maybe you're over thinking this a bit?" Tsunami said with a doubting look on her face

"You're quite right. I am over thinking this. But that's a shinobi's job; to look underneath the underneath. The shinobi world is filled with lies and deceptions, so you need to think of every possible result, and expect the worst. It keeps you alive. It's one of things the academy students learn first; it's the iron rule of the shinobi."

Sakura looked a little worried "Sensei, how are we supposed to prepare for this? It doesn't really look like you will be able to move for a while. And couldn't Zabuza drop in at any moment?"

Kakashi shook his head "No he won't. To be in a near-death state like he was, he won't be able to move completely for about a week. And by then I should be able to move too."

Sakura nodded "still, you we still have to prepare, and how are we going to do that, when you're cooped up in here?"

"How? Even if I can't move around too much, I can still train you. For the next week we're going to get you three prepared by training. I can probably take on Zabuza again, but you will need to keep his little friend off my hands. He can't be much older than you, but he is already that talented. We can't underestimate him."

"Wait! You can't expect us to take on another shinobi of that caliber!? We just graduated from the Academy! How are we supposed to beat another shinobi?"

"Sakura, who was it that took down the Demon Brothers? And who helped me get free when I was trapped?" she glanced over at her teammates "That's right. And don't forget yourself. You may not have fought, but you stood your guard to protect our charge. You three are growing at a rapid rate. If I train you for a week, you should have more than a chance of beating that kid."

"There's no way you can beat them" it came from a gloomy voice in the doorway. They all turned around to see a little boy, not much older than seven or eight years old "You will just die".

"Inari! Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" a loving voice sounded. Team 7 looked around, before they were shocked to find out it came from Tazuna.

Inari ran over to his grandfather and hugging him "You're home ji-chan! I've missed you too"

"Inari, They have escorted your grandpa all the way from Konoha, and they will be staying with us until the bridge have been build. They will be helping us" Tsunami scolded.

Inari looked at the foreign shinobi "Kaa-chan, they're all going to die. There's no way anyone can stand up to Gatou and live."

This caused glare's from Sakura and Naruto 'Pft, how dare he. He doesn't even know what we're capable of' Naruto glanced at Tazuna 'I guess being an ass runs in the family' he thought, remembering how Tazuna had reacted first time he saw them.

Inari started to walk away "If you don't want to die, you should go home. No one can stop Gatou". And with that said, he disappeared out the door.

Tazuna looked down the floor with a solemn look "I'm sorry for that". Team 7 was once again shocked. Not only had Tazuna spoken with love to the little brat that had insulted them, he was sad now. There was much more to Tazuna than they knew.

Kakashi waved with his hand "No problem. Now, Team, we will take today to rest from the journey. Tomorrow we will start the training"

- Elsewhere in the middle of an unknown forest -

The young fake hunter-nin was squatting beside Zabuza's body, slowly unfolding a leather roll with various medical tools. He turned to look at Zabuza, trying to find any damage that may have been done. Other than scratches here and there, the only problem right now was the long needles in his neck. He looked analyzing in the area where he had hit him with the needles "It seems I have to cut the clothes off his mouth first, and make him cough up the blood first".

He took a scissor-like tool from the scroll, and slowly closed in on the clothes. When his hand was no more than a few centimeters from the target, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed the fake hunter-nin's. "I can do that on my own, thank you very much" it came from Zabuza, as he slowly opened his eyes, and began to peel the cloth wrap off.

"Oh" the boy said "You're already awake". He didn't sound surprised by a long shot

Zabuza grunted as he sat up "Geez, you're so rough" he said, as he began picking out the needles harshly.

This caused a gasp from the young boy, who frowned under the mask "I could say the same thing about you, Zabuza-san. If you keep picking those out like that, you're just going to damage a blood vessel. Then you're going to bleed out and die for real"

Zabuza didn't seem to care, as he continued to pick out the last of the needles. He sat silently for a second, before turning his gaze on the young boy "How long are you going to wear that fake mask? It's not needed here, so take it off Haku"

"Sorry, I forgot. It's been a while since I have needed to use this… "The boy said, beginning to lodge off the mask from his face." Though it did help pull off the act and fool the shinobi from Konoha. If I didn't intervene when I did, you would have been killed for sure" he finished. His mask was off. His face didn't look like a boy's face; the curves were very soft, and the skin fair. And his expression just shouted 'I couldn't hurt a fly if I wanted to', though Zabuza knew that it wasn't true.

"That may very well be, but you didn't need to attack my neck if you wanted to put me into a fake death. You're still that same wicked girl I picked up all those years ago"

Haku smiled "That may very well be true. But I couldn't help it; I didn't want to scar your beautiful body, Zabuza-san. Also, it's much easier to aim at the neck, since it has much less muscle tissue." Zabuza tried to stand up, but only made it halfway up before falling on his butt. Haku made her way over to help him "You won't be able to move for a week or so. But knowing you, that will not get in your way, Zabuza-san."

Zabuza sat still for a few more moments, catching his breath again "You're pure, clever and not tainted at all…" he paused for a moment, looking over at his student "That's what I like about you"

Haku blushed "well, I am still a child…" she looked over the area, noticing that the fog was lifting. "The fog is lifting… We should probably make our way back" Zabuza nodded affirmative as Haku paused. She turned a concerned look at him "Will you be ok next time?"

Zabuza sighed "I really don't know. I know I could take the Sharingan on one on one, but they also have a Shoton user… We have no idea what he can do. He broke my clone and water-prison with only little preparation. Given, I hadn't pumped as much chakra into it as I normally would have, but still…" He looked at Haku's concerned face "I need you to train to take him on. I don't think he will be an easy opponent – not even for your Hyoton"

Haku nodded "Anything for you, Zabuza-san." She helped him up, and they started walking towards their hideout to recuperate.

- Later that night -

Tazuna, Tsunami and Team 7 had just eaten dinner, made by Tsunami. Inari hadn't come down. After he had said hello to his grandfather, he had been in his room 'watching the ocean' according to Tsunami.

Naruto leaned back and patted on his stomach "Ah! That was really something. Not as good as Ichiraku's ramen, but good nonetheless" he said with a pleased smile on his lips.

"Eh, thank you, I guess" Tsunami said

"You should" Sakura said, taking another bite of the fish "He rarely compares anything to ramen, not to mention Ichiraku's ramen." While they had been a team, Sakura had learned a thing or two about Naruto. He was a train-a-holic, he actually had a head on his shoulders, and he loved ramen. On more than one occasion had he called it the Gods gift to man'.

"I'm honored then" Tsunami said with a blush.

Naruto stretched his body and yawned loudly "Well, I think I'm going to hit the rack. See you all tomorrow" he said walking out the kitchen. He walked up the stairs and heading for his room when he heard something from Inari's room. Slowly he opened the door to a crack to see what was going on. Inside Inari was sitting in the window sill. He was looking out at the ocean, but that was not all. As far as Naruto could see, he was holding a picture.

Then he heard sobs from Inari, who were pressing the picture frame further into his hug. "Tou-san" it came half-smothered from Inari. Naruto was looking with compassion 'I guess he lost his father. And I'll bet a year's supply of ramen that it was Gatou who took killed him'. Naruto closed the door quietly, making sure Inari didn't hear him, and made his way to his room.

- The next morning -

The three Genin of Team 7 were standing in front of their sensei, which had climbed out of bed with crutches this morning. They were standing in a forest clearing not long from Tazuna's house. Tazuna had agreed to wait with continuing the bridge till the next day, so Kakashi could get his team started on the training regime.

Kakashi looked over his team. They were all looking back at him determinately, even Sakura. He took an extra look at her 'What has come over her? She normally just looks and adores Sasuke. Oh well, it can't be bad.' He coughed in his hand to clear his throat "Well then, let's get started. We're going to work on your chakra these next days"

Sasuke and Sakura looked disappointed, while Naruto looked indifferent. Sasuke was the first to speak "Chakra? We can already use chakra and form jutsu. Let's just get on with it"

"Yeah, I agree!" Sakura said. Naruto looked at her with an 'are you kidding me' look. She always agreed with Sasuke; she didn't have to voice it.

Kakashi shook his head "No. You may be able to use chakra, but you have far from mastered it. Now, for today's exercise we're going to…" the Genin looked at him with high expatiations "climb trees".

And once again, Sakura and Sasuke were dumbstruck. This time it was Sakura who voiced her opinion "Climb trees? How are climbing trees going to help us with our chakra control? Or help us at all for that matter?"

"Like this" Naruto said going over to a tree, only stopping for a second to concentrate his chakra, before stepping onto the wood and beginning to walk vertically up the tree.

Kakashi nodded "That's right. I see you've already mastered it. Care to explain to your teammates what you're doing?"

Sasuke were glaring at Naruto 'How much ahead of me have you come since the academy? What am I talking about; he isn't ahead of me. He just knows an exercise that I don't. He can't be ahead of me. He is a clan less loser, and I'm the heir to the strongest clan in Konoha. Yeah, that's right.'

Naruto shrugged "It's pretty easy when you get the hang of it" he said walking up below a branch, and hanged with his head down, proving his point. "All you need to do is mold and concentrate your chakra below your feet, creating a suction effect to keep you on the surface you want to climb. But you really should watch out; if you build up too much chakra in your feet, it's just going to blast you off. And if you do the opposite, not building up enough, you won't get the suctions effect, and you will just fall off."

"Very good Naruto. As to why this is going to help you in the long run: Sakura, when you fight an opponent, what is one of the most basic skills a ninja uses?" Kakashi looked at the pink-head

"Erm, I guess Ninjutsu?" Sakura answered tentatively

"That's right. And what do you need to use Ninjutsu?" Kakashi continued

"Chakra" the girl answered, realization covering her face

"Right again. So by doing this exercise, your chakra control, and therefore your chakra utilization skills, will improve, and you will be able to use more Ninjutsu" the Jounin finished the explanation. He looked at the two grounded Genin to see if they had understood. Sasuke looked pissed, Kakashi thinking it was highly likely because of Naruto. Which caused him to look at said member of Team 7 and sweat dropped 'Now you're just showing off'. Naruto was currently swinging back and forth whistling, only connected to the tree by one foot. Kakashi cleared his throat, getting the attention "Meh, Naruto, mind coming down now?"

Naruto grinned, releasing the chakra in his foot, causing him to fall to the ground at high speed. Sakura gasped, but it really wasn't needed; Naruto simply flipped half way down, landing with a quiet 'thud' on the ground. "No problem" he said, still holding the same grin "So does that mean I can go on ahead with my own training?" Naruto hadn't had a chance to really train the last few days, for obvious reasons. He wanted to progress that water balloon exercise, and he also had to do practice some in his calligraphy. He had never thought that it would be a big part of his shinobi career to write, at least not until he became the Hokage, other than the mission reports here and there, and he never imagine to take it to such a high level. But if he wanted to get better at Fūinjutsu, he needed to learn to write fast and precise, else all his knowledge about seals would be for nothing. And maybe he could also get started on that water walking exercise. He had wanted to start on that for ages, who wouldn't want to walk on water?, but had waited till he was advanced enough in the tree-climbing. Finally when he was, they had gotten this mission, so he hadn't gotten started yet. And then there was the matter of keeping his training method a secret. Naruto gulped 'Sandaime-Jiji told me that he would have me get all the missions involving Tora until I took over the Hokage-hat myself, if I ever exposed it to someone not meant to see it.'.

The silver-haired Jounin glanced over his blond student before shrugging "I guess it won't be a problem. But since you already know the three-climbing, and has mastered as far as I can see, I will assign you to guard duty tomorrow"

Naruto's eyes narrowed "You're just assigning me to guard duty so that you can stay in bed all day and read ero-sennin's perverted books, aren't you"

Kakashi waved his hand in a dismissive motion, laughing nervously "now, where would you have gotten that idea? Off to train you go" he finished, hoping that the prospect of training was more exciting than exposing him as a pervert for the rest of the team. Naruto stood still for a few more moments, before sighing in a defeated manner, and ran into the forest to find a clearing he could use for training.

As soon as Naruto was away, Kakashi turned to the remainder of his team, and started them on their training.

- Next morning at the bridge -

Naruto was sitting on the railing of the bridge, taking a break from his water balloon, was looking over the bridge. It had been a slow day really. Tazuna had told him to get up around 4am, as they were needed at the bridge at 5. Naruto, not wanting to miss out on any training, had made a clone with three quarters of his chakra, and sent it to the forest clearing he had trained in yesterday. It had chakra to about seventy clones, but he was only making thirty or so. The reason being that they were on a mission, where they could engage in battle against foreign shinobi at any moment, so it wouldn't do that he was totally exhausted if that happened.

They had been the first to arrive, with twenty or so workers slowly filing in as the time got closer and closer to 6am. As they were about to start, one of the workers had asked were the shinobi guarding them were, to which Tazuna had pointed on Naruto. This caused disgruntled looks from almost all the workers, and a one even had the nerve of calling him a short brat. Tazuna had smirked, since he had come to know Naruto just a little bid the past few days. And as he had though, Naruto had showed the worker what he could do, almost fully surrounding him with crystal, before three razor-sharp blades had shot out, and were inches from slicing him. This, of course, had closed the mouth of any and all the workers, who quickly went to work, not wanting to get on the bad side of their guard.

Naruto sighed. He was developing a little temper when it came to his height. He looked down beside him; there were broken water balloons. Not shattered at all, they were just punctured, but he was happy; it was progress. He had made the breakthrough yesterday when one of his clones had sat down and analyzed what they had seen Jiraiya do a couple of days earlier, and had realized that what they were doing looked completely different. That's when he had gotten the idea to swirl the water in more than one direction. It had been a success, but it was still damn hard.

"Oi gaki, are you bored or what?" Tazuna's voice sounded, bringing Naruto back to the bridge

"Huh? No, not really. I was just taking a break from my training" Naruto answered, leaning back with closed and enjoying the sun on his face.

Tazuna frowned "Training? You're just playing with water balloons"

Naruto chuckled internally. He had figured that the way Tazuna showed curiosity were by insulting. When talking to strangers anyway. Naruto shook his head to answer Tazuna, and made eye contact with him "It's a bit harder than that. I have to burst it open with nothing but my chakra. It's a lot harder than it looks you know"

"I don't kno-"

"May I have a word with you Tazuna?" a voice from behind them interrupted.

Both of them looked at the newcomer. Tazuna put down the little log he had been carrying "Sure thing Giichi. Is something wrong?"

"Well… I have thought a lot about it, and I think I'm going to quit building the bridge" Giichi said, looking down on the ground as if ashamed, not going unnoticed by Naruto.

"W-what!? Not you too Giichi… Why the sudden change of mind?" Tazuna asked surprised, and a little outraged

"Tazuna, I have known you for a long time, and you have become a good friend. I want to help, but if I get much more involved in this, Gatou will after me when he's done with you. I have to think on the wife and the kids you know…" Giichi replied. Naruto could see that he was really split in this decision, but he had finally valued his family more. Naruto couldn't blame him; it was something Naruto longed after. He longed after getting a father and mother, or just knowing who they were. Naruto respected the man's decision. Tazuna didn't look that convinced. Giichi continued "I want to build the bridge and save Nami as much as the next islander, but everything will lose meaning if you die."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow 'So he is also concerned for his old friend? I like that guy'.

Giichi almost looked pleadingly at Tazuna "Why don't we stop building the bridge?"

Naruto was, to say the least, shocked. He hadn't expected the man to suggest that, not after all he had learned Tazuna had done for it to be built, including lying his ass off to the Hokage, one of the mightiest persons on the elemental continents. Tazuna had regained his calm look, and answered just as calm "You know I can't do that. This bridge is our bridge. Not just yours or mine, or the workers bridge, but the bridge of all the islanders of Nami no Kuni. This is the bridge, build on the hopes of the people, the hope that we can break free from Gatou's rule, that we can increase our distribution and transportation that will increase the wealth in this poor country. "

"But if we die…"

"If we die" Tazuna interrupted "people will know that Tazuna the bridge builder died for what he believed in. That he died in the hopes that someone would take over his work. That he died believing that Nami no Kuni will break free from Gatou, if not by his own hands, then by the hands of his successor." He put a hand on his old friends shoulder "I can't ask you to do it, but I will continue to build this bridge until my dying breath. I don't blame you if you don't want to risk your family… You can go home if you want."

Giichi looked sad at his old friend, before giving up convincing him with a sigh. He took off his uniform and the tools he had used, and gave it to Tazuna "I'm sorry old friend". And with that he left the bridge.

Tazuna stood there for a while, just staring at where his old friend had left. He didn't even hear the steps behind him, and only noticed the person when he took the uniform and tools of his hands. He turned around to see his blond guard putting on the uniform. He gave the kid a questioning look "I thought you said you shouldn't overwork yourself?"

Naruto grinned back at the old man "How can I sit still and not help after you gave that speech. You have gotten a little more respect in my eyes, Ojisan - but only a little".

Tazuna grinned back at the kid. He had come to like him; he was lively and didn't give up. "Thanks kid, I'm sure it will help. I just hope there are no more workers who quit just now. We're almost done with the bridge, one and a half to two weeks more… But, just like Giichi, people won't risk their families."

"I guess" Naruto said, bringing up his hand to form a very familiar hand sign "I will have to help a bit more. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twenty additional Naruto's appeared, effectively doubling the workforce at the bridge. It didn't take long for them to spread out on the bridge, and help where he could. His lively spirit also affected Tazuna, who only was that more, determined to finish the bridge.

- Same afternoon at the market -

Tazuna and Naruto were walking down the main street of the biggest town in the area. In all honesty, it didn't deserve the name town or road. It was a long dust trail, where shacks and cracked stone buildings stood along the sides. The people didn't look much better: they were all walking around very carefully, afraid that their life could be stolen at a seconds notice. They wore clothes, if you could call it that, which looked to be made up of sacks and mold infested cloth. The worst were the children; they were at every corner and store opening, begging to just get the tiniest attention and food. It reminded him of the year after he was kicked out of the orphanage, before he had gotten the apartment he was living in now. He shuttered a bit "What is the meaning of this?"

Tazuna didn't have to look to know what he was talking about "Nami no Kuni have been like this since Gatou took over…"

"That man can't be anyone but the devil" Naruto said angrily "I will definitely ki-". Naruto was interrupted when he felt hands go through his ninja bag. Whoever did it had chosen the absolute worst time to do it. Naruto swirled around to see a middle aged man. As soon as he caught a glimpse of Naruto's eye, he was scared out of his pants, and tried to run away. But Naruto was angry and he had to take it out on somebody. He grabbed the shirt of the man "You do NOT steal from me! Thief!" and threw the man down the street, where he continued skirting, before he was stopped abruptly by a brick wall. Naruto scoffed and continued after Tazuna, who had walked into a store to look for ingredients for tonight's meal.

He wasn't happy with what he saw. It was the same as the street and the town; the shelves where close to empty, with only a few foodstuff scattered here and there. And they didn't look fresh, quite the opposite. Naruto sighed and became only more determined to see that this country was set free from Gatou, and that said man was burned in the deepest pits of hell for what he had done.

He continued after Tazuna, who continued out of the store after paying overprizes on the scarcely collected wares. They hadn't walked more than a few meters before Naruto felt tucking in his bag again. 'Not again!' he thought as he swirled around, planning to chew out whoever was stupid enough to try and steal from him. He stopped in his tracks as he saw who was standing in front of him: a little girl who couldn't have been more than eight years old. "Please, give me" she said, holding her hands out. Naruto blinked a couple of times, before going through his bag and found a few pieces of candy. The girl's eyes lit up with joy.

She was just about to run off when Naruto stopped her with a smile, squatting down to her level "Hey, what is your name"

The girl blushed slightly "Amaya"

Naruto kept smiling "Hey Amaya. My name is Naruto. Want to see something cool?" he asked, which in response got a tentatively nod. He closed his hand together, activating his Shoton powers, making it glow slightly out of the cracks. When he opened it a miniature figure of a puppy was standing on his hands. The girl went wide-eyed. Naruto just kept smiling and handed the figurine to the girl "here, you take it. It's a lucky charm. As long as you have it, good things will happen to you. Just believe in it"

She reached out and took the dog, inspecting it all over. She looked back at the blond with tears in her eyes. She bowed deeply "Arigato Naruto-Niisan!" she cried out, before hugging him deeply. Naruto was taken by surprise, but quickly returned the hug. When they were done she looked at him with big puppy eyes "Will you be back? So you can meet all my friends?"

"I'm sure I will. Just keep an eye out for me" Naruto said with his kind smile on the lips. She nodded, and ran into the crowd, surely to find a show her friends her new toy.

"That was very kind of you" Tazuna noted

"Yeah… They remind me of myself when I was little" Naruto responded, before starting to head out of the town. It peaked Tazuna curiosity, but he could see he wouldn't get more of an answer for now.

- Evening at Tazuna's house -

When Sasuke and Sakura came back to Tazuna's house that evening, they looked extremely exhausted. Naruto raised an eyebrow 'It seems Sakura is actually trying. I'm glad she actually listened to me'. Naruto smirked at Sasuke "Worked hard, eh teme?"

Sasuke scoffed at him, not having the strength to come with a longer answer.

Sakura was just about to come to the defense of her beloved Sasuke-kun, when Tsunami's voice sounded from the living room "Dinner is ready! Come and eat!"

The Konoha Genin didn't need any more to be said, as they ran as fast as their bodies could carry them to the dinner table. It wasn't a gourmet meal, but it was not bad either at all. They all took their places, broke off the eating chops "itadakimasu!" and began eating like wolves, Sakura eating like a fine wolf.

After dinner when they had some tea, Sakura was looking around the kitchen and found a picture hanging on the wall. It showed Inari, Tsunami and Tazuna, and one other person it seemed like. But he was ripped out of it. "Ano, why are you hanging a torn picture?" it brought all the attention of all the shinobi to the mentioned picture. "Inari-kun was watching this during the dinner the entire time. This torn part looks like someone intentionally tore away the person who was there" she continued. It silenced the whole room.

Finally Tsunami, who was doing the dishes, spoke up "It's my husband". The shinobi waited for her to continue, not satisfied with the answer, but she didn't.

Tazuna spoke up "He was the man known as the hero of this town".

He didn't get to say more before Inari left his seat, walking towards the door. "Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked, but he had already left.

She walked after him, and when she opened the door, she turned around looking at Tazuna "Father, I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" she said a little harshly, before she to exited the door.

Tazuna sighed deeply. Team 7 was watching him closely. He looked around on them all "Inari had a father he wasn't related to. They were very close, like a real father and son. They were a real father and son."

He looked back up at the picture, seeing a laughing Inari in the middle. "Inari used to laugh a lot back then. But…" Tazuna began to sob lightly, shocking the shinobi. They had the impression of Tazuna of man who didn't really show any vulnerable feelings. Well, everyone but Naruto who had learned some about their client on the bridge. Tazuna bit back some tears "He changed after what happened to his father. His name was Kaiza."

Tazuna paused again "The word "courage" was forever taken away from the people of this island and Inari after that day". Tazuna went on about explaining how Inari and Kaiza had met. How he had taught him about living his life so he didn't regret a thing. He then went about telling them how a big storm had hit the island, breaking the dam, and how Kaiza had saved them all.

Then his voice turned into venom, as he spoke of how Gatou had taken over the island, and how Kaiza didn't want to back down. How he was executed in front of the whole town to set an example and that after that day, Inari was changed. He didn't believe in heroes and courage. He was depressed and cried alone in his room.

After he finished, the whole room was quiet. Team 7 had troubled looks on their faces.

"How horrible…" it came quiet from Sakura. The others nodded in agreement.

Tazuna then looked up at them all with a determined look in his eyes "And that's why I want to build that bridge. For the people of wave, for Kaiza and for Inari. I want to break us free from the rule of Gatou. I want Inari to be happy again".

That determination was also brought up in the shinobi. "And we will help you achieve it. We won't let Gatou lay a hand on you. Count on it!" Naruto declared.

Sasuke smirked "You count on it. I'm not going to be outdone by you, dobe"

"Hai, we can't let the people of wave suffer anymore" Sakura said.

Kakashi took a look on the clock "Guys, I think it's about time to hit the racks. We still have to train you guys hard the next few days to get you ready. You don't want to let Tazuna down, do you?" None of the Genin did, and quickly made their way to bed.

The next few days didn't go very different. Kakashi came and helped guard Tazuna, and in the meantime had handed over a jutsu scroll on Fūton: Reppusho. He had said it would work well with his Rokkaku Shuriken, and Naruto wasn't one to deny his sensei. Naruto was also making progress on the water balloon exercise, now progressed to the rubber ball exercise. It had taken time to finish the first part of the exercise, only finally completing it when Kakashi had said he had spun it against his natural flow. After that, it had gone easy. But this next step took so much more power, that he hadn't even punctured the ball.

Sakura and Sasuke were also progressing, both now able to walk up and down the tree without faltering, and just starting to learn to stay still on the surface. It was going slowly but surely.

As for the bridge? It had gone faster with Naruto's clones helping, but more and more workers had quit, and only seven of them remained now, most of them already having lost their families to Gatou. They didn't have anything to lose.

Naruto had also been back to see Amaya and her friends, telling them stories, and of course, making more 'pretty lucky charms' as they called them. Naruto was starting to grow attached to the children, especially when they all called him 'Naruto-Niisan'. It was at least one thing he was going to miss in Nami.

- At Tazuna's house, two evenings before Zabuza's return -

When they came back that evening, the Genin were rather battered up, even Naruto who had been working hard on the rubber ball, and were delighted when they saw another homemade meal was waiting for them. They ate as much as they could to recharge their energy, so they could give it all the next day.

Tazuna stopped eating and looked up at Kakashi "The Bridge is almost complete. It's thanks to you guys".

The old drunk's daughter looked up from her meal "But don't push yourself so much." The Genin just smiled.

Tazuna continued "I wanted to ask this before, but why are you still here even when I lied about the request details?"

Kakashi folded his hands and closed his eyes. "Not doing right when you know it is right is a coward's way. There are no weak soldiers under a valiant commander. They're the teachings of the Yondaime Hokage, our previous Hokage."

That's when Inari spoke up "why…" it caught all the Genin attention. Inari stood up, and slammed his hand down in the table "Why are you trying so hard to end up dead? You can't beat Gatou's men, even if you train! No matter how hard you try and say those good-looking words… Weak people are going to lose against strong people!"

Naruto glared at that "Shut up. You don't know the first thing about us!" That silenced Inari who were on the verge of tears.

"Here you are, living a relatively good life! You have mother that loves and cooks for you, and a grandfather who tries to save this country. And what do you do? You cry, and mope about how bad it is! You don't realize how good you have it compared to other people! Have you seen how the children in the town live? And for that matter, you don't know what it's like to be hated in your own village for something that is out of your control. You don't know what it's like to be beaten and kicked out of shops and forced to go through the garbage for food. You think your life is bad fine, but don't just sit around and moan about it do something about it fight back, don't be a coward!" Inari visibly shook as Naruto glared heated at him.

Naruto rose from the table and headed for the door. Sakura went on alert there "Naruto! Where are you going?"

"Out to train" Naruto all but mumbled. And with that Naruto stormed out the front door with tears in his eyes. Inari stormed out the other side of the house, out the backdoor.

The civilians and the Genin of Team 7 were shocked of what Naruto had said. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto's life couldn't have been that bad right? He has to be lying to get attention" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shook his head "No. Everything he said was true. Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage when he was 4 years old, and was forced to living on the streets for twelve months before some ANBU found him and took him to the Hokage. The Sandaime gave Naruto an apartment, but he has had to learn everything for himself, and was constantly being beaten and kicked out of stores. And that's the down watered version" he said, shocking everyone in the room.

Tazuna looked down on his half empty plate 'So that's what he meant by that they reminded him of himself as a child. It seems to me that they got a good life compared to what he had to live through…'

- Later that night at the docks outside the house -

Inari was sitting on the edge of the docks, looking out over the ocean. He could see the bridge his grandfather was trying to build. He heard footsteps behind him, but didn't bother to see who it was.

"May I join you?" a male voice sounded. Inari guessed it was the Konoha Jounin who had arrived a few days earlier. He shrugged.

Kakashi walked over to Inari and sat beside him "Naruto didn't say those things out of spite, you know." Inari didn't react, but he continued anyway. "He is just stubborn" still no reaction. He looked over the ocean "We heard about your father from Tazuna-san. Naruto is the same as you in that way, he didn't have a father when he was young. To be truthful, he doesn't know what it feels like to have parents. He also didn't have a single friend growing up." That caught Inari's attention. He looked up on the Jounin as he continued "However, I have never seen him grow timid, get sulky, or cry. He has always been desperate to make people recognize him." He now looked down on Inari with what Inari could only guess was a smile on his lips "And he's able to put his life on the line for that dream. He's probably bored of crying by now."

That got Inari thinking, remembering what his father was like. "That's why he knows the true meaning of being strong. Just like your father. Naruto might be the one who understand you the most. What Naruto said to you before… Those are probably the words he's been telling himself over and over again."

Kakashi rose from where he had sat. "If anything, just don't hold a grudge against him. He wasn't trying to be mean" and with that said, he went back to the house leaving Inari to think about what he had heard.

- The following morning in the forest -

"Are you ok? Hello? Are you there?"

Naruto's eyes slammed open, surprising the person who had tried to wake him up. Quickly reacting he jumped up into his Taijutsu stance, but relaxed upon seeing that it was an ordinary teenage girl looking at him. He looked around him, finding himself in the same clearing they had been training in the last few days I must have fallen asleep out here.

Haku took a better look at the now obvious ninja in front of her. She noticed his Konoha Hitai-ate He was with Sharingan Kakashi the other day. He must be the one with Shoton… She didn't show her worry, but simply smiled at him "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you."

Naruto smiled back at her "Ah, no problem. I didn't mean to jump like that; reflexes you know."

She nodded at that "Is that hitai-ate real? Are you a real shinobi?" she asked, completing her act as an unknowing civilian

He grinned back at that, pushing his chest up "Yes! I am a shinobi of Konoha! I will protect her with my life" The girl giggled at the way Naruto was acting. Naruto looked at her again "By the way, what are you doing out here so early?"

"Picking herbs" she answered nicely, as she turned away, resuming looking through the plants on the ground.

"Herbs?" Naruto asked.

She turned her head and smiled at him "That's right. It's to cure injuries and illness. One of my friends has gotten hurt, so I'm out here looking for herbs to cure him."

"I can help you. I still have some time before I have to be back to breakfast" he said, helping her going through the plants. He had gotten a bit of knowledge of herbs from his reading, but it really hadn't been anything he had read up on.

They picked through the plants for a while, then the girl spoke up again "By the way, what are you doing out here so early?"

He threw her one of his big smiles "Training!"

"And why are you training?"

"I want to become stronger!"

"But you look strong enough already"

"No, I want to become stronger and stronger."

She was silent for a time, resuming picking through the forest-floor. "Are you doing it for someone else..? Or for yourself?"

"Well… I think when I just graduated I was doing it for myself. But then Iruka-sensei acknowledged me. And so did Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan, and… I guess Sasuke-teme did too" he paused. "I think now I'm doing it just as much for them, as I'm doing it for myself."

She looked up at him "That's good. I believe a person is able to become truly strong, when they wish to protect someone they cherish."

Naruto got a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I think you're right. I understand that."

She nodded at him. She took her basket, now filled with herbs. "Thank you… I think you will become strong". She began walking out of the clearing "By the way, I'm a boy" she said, walking away, leaving Naruto stunned but he is beautiful! She can't be a boy.

"You're lying" he said before he could stop himself.

"I…. I…" she stammered. She sighed "Yes I am…"

"Why would you lie about something like that?"

"Because of Gatou. His men aren't always… polite"

Naruto was disgusted by that "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone"

She smiled back at him "Goodbye". I really hope I don't have to fight you when the time comes.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Hyoton – Frost Release: The Kekkai Genkai of the Yuki Clan

Fūton: Reppusho – Wind Release: Gale Palm: A simple technique that when the users hands are clapped together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale. This technique, when used as an isolated attack has the power to easily knock over a human. Though the true value comes from using it together with projectile weapons like shuriken or kunai. Their speed, power, and ability to wound or even kill are all increased several times.