Episode(s): 11

~On the Bridge~

"Where do we put this?" asked Rei to Tazuna as she and Usagi helped move some metal beams.

"Over there," said Tazuna as he pointed in the direction the two needed to go.

"Kay!" said the two girls as they walked toward where they needed to be.

"So why is it just the two of you?" asked Tazuna as he walked up to the girls.

"The exercise that Kakashi-Sensei and Haruka-Sensei had us do was easy for us," said Usagi with a smile. 'Kakashi-Sensei even said he'll teach us how to walk on water next!'

"Yeah, they figured that we were best to send while the others train. Kakashi-Sensei still needs to rest, and Haruka-Sensei is watching everyone's training," said Rei with a smile.

Tazuna smiled and the walked away to work on another part. After a few minutes, one of the other workers walked up to him.

"Tazuna, uh, I need to talk to you," said the man as he walked up to the old man.

"Uh?" said Tazuna as he turned around and wiped his face with the towel he had around his neck. "What about?"

"The thing is, I've been thinking a lot about the bridge. And I decided I've pushed my luck far enough. I want out."

"Now you're going to quit on me, just like that?" asked an angered Tazuna. "You're kidding!"

"What's going on?" asked Usagi to Rei. 'Why is Tazuna mad suddenly?'

"I don't know," replied Rei as she and Usagi moved closer to Tazuna and the other man.

"You know, I stayed on because of our friendship. But I'm putting my life on the line every day I stay here. Gato and his thugs will show up eventually," said the man.

"Hmm," grunted Tazuna in anger.

"When they do, they'll kill you and the bridge will never get finished anyway. It's a lost cause, Tazuna. Why don't we stop now while we can still get out of this alive?"

'To work so hard, only to quit when you're so close. They're terrified, and I can't blame them. Unlike us, they don't have the means to fight back. We have to do what we can to help these people,' thought Usagi as she watched on in shock.

"No chance," said Tazuna, shocking the others. "This is our bridge. Our island is poor, and it will stay that way until this bridge connects us to the mainland. Commerce, trade, and hope – that's what we're building here!"

"There's not going to be much if we're all dead," replied the man in anger.

"It's already noon. Let's break for lunch," said Tazuna as he walked past the man. The man turned to look at him.

"Tazuna, let's not end it like this."

"Save your breath. Oh, and Giichi, don't bother coming back after lunch," said Tazuna as he continued walking. Rei and Usagi looked at each other in concern. They then nodded to each other with looks of determination and ran after Tazuna.

'I'm sure the boys would love to help once they complete the tree walking exercise,' thought Usagi as she ran.

~That Afternoon ~

"Where are we going?" asked Usagi as she, Rei, and Tazuna walked through the town.

"You want to eat tonight, don't cha?" asked Tazuna as he looked at the girl. Usgai was on his left while Rei was on his right. "I have to pick up some things for dinner."

As the three walked through the town, the two ninjas noticed all kinds of problems around them. A boy running off with some food that he stole. Children sitting on the side of the road, looking starved. Everything was filthy.

'How sad,' thought Usagi as she looked at the children sadly.

"Here we are," said Tazuna as he led the two ninjas to a shop.

The shop was not only dirty but was practically empty of food. This showed the poverty the island was facing. Both girls looked at each other in concern. The two girls watched as Tazuna bought what he needed.

Once back on the street, the three were walking when Usgai felt someone touch her butt. She turned around, ready to yell at the pervert, only to see a small child. The boy looked at her and held his hands out with a smile.

"Please?" he asked. The two girls looked at each other and pulled out some things from their pockets. Usagi had some candy while Rei had some protein bars.

"Here," said Usagi as the two girls placed the things in the boy's hands. He looked at them in surprised and wonder.

"Aw, thank you!" he said as he giggled and ran away with his food.

"This is how it's been since Gato came here," said Tazuna as they watched the boy run away. "The children suffer. And the adults are afraid to stand up to him. They've lost all hope. That's why we have to finish the bridge. It will bring commerce and trade. But much more importantly, that bride 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'll believe that they can live with dignity. We can't let Gato stop us."

'We have to help them,' thought the two girls as they looked at each other.

~That Night~

After a long day, the ninja and Tazuna's family were together, eating inner. Luckily for everyone, they had a big enough table. Tazuna sat at one end of the table with Inari to his left and Kakashi on his right. On Inari's left sat Rei, followed by Michiru and then Sasuke. To Kakashi's right sat Haruka, then Ami, then Naruto. Usagi sat at the other end of the table.

"Hahahaha. Hey, this is fantastic," said Tazuna as he rubbed his head. "It's been ages since we've had so many guests around out table."

"I want some more!" yelled Naruto and Sasuke together.

"And I want you both to sit your asses down, shut up, and eat like normal people," said Haruka, not missing a beat. She then turned to the two boys, who both began to sweat. "And if you puke, I'm gonna make you guys do such an intense training that your future children are going to feel it."

"Yes ma'am!" yelled the two boys as they sat down and looked at their bowls, trying to hold down the food.

~A Few Minutes Later~

After dinner, everyone was drinking some tea.

"How do you manage to do that and not choke?" asked Haruka as she looked at Kakashi with his finished cup.

"Do what?" he asked with a smile. Haruka smiled back at him.

"Choke on a fist," she said with her smile. Kakashi chuckled nervously. While the Genin laughed or chuckled at him.

"Excuse me, why is this picture torn?" asked Usagi as she looked at a torn picture.

"You kept glancing at it all through dinner, Inari," said Rei as she looked at the young boy. "It looks like there used to be another person in the picture."

Kakashi and Haruka looked at each other as Inari, Tazuna, and Tsunami all tensed up.

"It's my husband," said Tsunami as she continued to clean the dishes.

"They used to call him a hero in this land," said Tazuna. Inari then got up.

"Inari, where are you going?" asked Tsunami as Inari walked out the door. She went to follow him but glared at her father before she walked out. "Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari, you know that."

"What happened?" asked Michiru in confusion.

"Hmm. Is there a story behind this?" asked Kakashi as they all looked at Tazuna.

"He wasn't his real father. He came into our family later. And he brought so much happiness," said Tazuna with a strained voice. "He and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time. But then, all that ended."

Everyone watched in shock as Tazuna began to cry. The Jonin were the only ones able to hide their emotions.

"He never laughs or smiles anymore, ever since the day everything changed," said Tazuna as he took a deep breath. "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."

"Tell us," said Haruka. "What happened to Inari?"

"First, you need to know about the man, his father. The man who taught us the word courage, who was a hearo in this land," said Tazuna as he took off his glasses to wipe his eyes.

"A hero, really?" asked Naruto in surprise.

"You can decide that for yourself. He came here about three years ago," said Tazuna as he told them of the story of how Inari almost drowned and was saved by his father. "His name was Kaiza. A simple fisherman who'd come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that, Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy had never known his real father, so you can imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him and followed in his footsteps, like a real father and son.

"Kaiza spent more and more time with us, until he just naturally became a member of our family. And then when this town needed him, he became something more."

Tazuna told the group how Kaiza saved the village and became its hero.

"From that time on, Kaiza was considered a hero in this land. He taught us all the meaning of courage, and Inari was so proud to be his son. But it wasn't long after that, that Gato showed up and took over. He terrorized the whole village. Only Kaiza stood up to him. Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man."

The Genin listened in shock to the gruesome details of Kaiza's execution. The Jonin, used to this, simply looked on as the story continued.

"Since then, Inari has changed. So did Tsunami and all our people. We lost our will."

After a few moments sitting in silence, Naruto got up, only to fall over.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" asked Ami in concern.

"You better take the day off," said Kakashi to his student. "No more training, you've used too much chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you."

"I'm gonna prove it," said Naruto as he struggled to get up.

"Prove what?" asked Usagi, confused. Naruto managed to get to his feet, thought it was shaky.

"I'll prove that. . . that it's true. That in this world, there are real heroes," declared Naruto, shocking everyone.

'Naruto is right, we have to keep working hard,' thought Usagi as she looked at her teammate with a smile.