"The word "courage" has been stolen from the people of this island. And from Inari. Ever since that day, because of that incident." Tazuna told us.
"That incident?" Kakashi asked. "What happened to Inari-kun?" Tazuna took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger.
"Before I get to that, I first have to tell you about the man who was called the hero of this city." He told us.
"Hero?" Naruto asked.
"It was about 3 years ago… Inari met that man…" Tazuna told us. "A group of boys were picking on Inari, telling him they were going to take his dog, Pochi, from him. They threw the dog into the ocean knowing Inari couldn't swim to save the dog. When Inari made no move to save Pochi the boys threw him into the ocean and he started to drown. As you can see, right then Pochi remembered he could dog paddle. The boys picking on Inari ran after Pochi, leaving Inari to drown. He was saved by a man who we all welcomed. His name was Kaiza, a fishermen who came here to follow his dreams. After their first meeting Kaiza and Inari became very close. It may because Inari's real father died before he got to know him, but he and Kaiza were inseparable, like a real father and son. It was only a matter of time before Kaiza became part of the family. And Kaiza was also a man the city needed. During one of the hardest rainy seasons an area of the city was in danger of being wiped out. Kaiza saved D-area by closing the gates. After that, Kaiza was called a hero by the people of the city. And Inari could not be prouder of his father. But Gatou came to this city."
"And then this incident happened?" I asked him. He didn't answer me and we were all curious. "What happened?"
"In front of everyone, Kaiza was put to death by Gatou!" Tazuna told us, shaking in his anger.
"What?" Sakura asked shocked and I clenched my fist in anger.
"Gatou had Kaiza's arms cut from his body and strung him up for everyone to see. When the entire city had gathered around the fence his men had erected, Inari in front, Gatou gave the order for Kaiza to be killed. From that day, Inari changed, as did Tsunami, and the whole city." Tazuna told us. After a moment of silence, Naruto stood from his seat and made to leave but fell on his face instead.
"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked him.
"If you're thinking of training, take the day off. You've released too much chakra, anymore and you could die." Kakashi warned him.
"I'm going to prove it." He said quietly.
"What are you going to prove?" I asked him.
"I'm going to prove that in this world heroes do exist!" Naruto said before walking out the door.
"Bold words from someone who doesn't really know the way the world works." I said placing my head in my hand.
"What do you mean Sage?" Sakura asked me.
"This world isn't just made up of heroes and villains, Sakura. If it were that easy we wouldn't have a job." I told her before getting up and going to the room we were given to share. I sat by the window holding onto my locket when a crow landed next to me. It stared at me for a while before flying up to the nearest tree.