A/N: Waaah! Sorry for making you wait this long for the chapter! You see, my old computer crashed royally a time ago. I had to wait and see if a technician could save something out if it. Thankfully, every single story was saved. Hallelujah. The reason why I didn't just write it all over again is that in China-man (that's the name of my comp) is because there are notes, quotes, facts and dribbles of everything that is important for this story.

Please forgive me, because it was so not my fault (Soul, my brother in all but blood was the one at fault- he filled my comp with stupid little games only he enjoys). Anyways, enjoy the chapter, remember to comment on it and... Wait for the next one.

Unfortunately, I cannot keep up the update daily thingy I had; the university started some time ago and I am swamped with assignments Who the hell said first year was the hardest?! That, and my shipping business (remember, I now work at the shipping company as director's personal assistant). Finally, I moved from running from office to custom, buying breakfast, paying bills and trying not to kill the copy machine! Now, I'm finally learning something about freightage! Though firstly, gotta learn my lawzzz.

DISCLAIMER: If I really owned it, it wouldn't be as awesome as it is. So, it's still Masashi's.

Haku didn't know what to make out of the situation that presented itself to him. There on the grass, mid forest, snoring obliviously for the ice shinobi to witness- laid the blonde haired cutie that with the power of his adorable eyes managed to defeat Zabuza.

Zabuza, one of the most feared, with right, swordsman of the Mist. Zabuza, who could and would and did kill children in cold blood.

Just what was that disturbingly sweet child? Even Haku could fall under his magic- he was starting to feel dreary just by watching his peaceful, asleep face.

Thoughts of killing the blonde boy and ending his cutesy actions have passed through Haku's brain. But then again, Haku was always soft towards the young- especially when cute like the Blondie.

So, instead of snapping his neck like a twig, the brunette settled on waking him up. It was not good to sleep outdoors, he knew as much. The boy could catch a cold, fever or be killed by loose shinobi.

Like him, Haku thought blushing.

The boy slowly opened his aquamarine (sapphire Haku mussed) eyes- in a haze taking in everything around him. When his eyes landed on the figure of the brunette, beautiful girl in front of him; Naruto grinned.

And positively got another shinobi to twirl around his finger.

"Hi!~"

Kakashi watched Naruto's disheveled figure entering the small house; there were leaves in his hair, splotches of dirt on his clothes and a satisfied air around him.

But what worried Kakashi more was the red kiss marks on his face. If Sai wasn't quick to subdue the young Uchiha, he was certain the feathers would be flying. It was enough he had to stay awake all night in order to control the Sharingan-brat who was going on a rampage because Naruto decided to train on his own.

Kakashi was thankful he hadn't awoken his Sharingan yet. The murderous glare and vibe he was giving off were enough to scare the shit out of civilian. And some shinobi.

Luckily, having been the student of the same Blondaime that was terror and tremor of their village whenever Naru-chan or Kushina-koi were involved, had got used to KI that every Naruto's admirer had in him/her.

"What happened to you Naruto?" The orange clad shinobi giggled, electing something between a growl and a mewl from Uchiha. For the sake of his own sanity, Kakashi decided to forget about that.

"Well, I met this pretty lady in the forest. After talking for a bit, I helped her gather some herbs and she... well..." here he giggled again. Kakashi could see what happened next.

Unfortunately, so could Sasuke. Kicking Sai away, the Uchiha jumped at Naruto; possessively hugging his waist with one arm, and rubbing his face with a cloth.

"How dares that whore?! Who the hell does she think she is, kissing and glomping my Naruto?!" Naruto pouted; with all the rubbing and screaming in his ear, he was starting to get annoyed.

"Sasuke, it was just a few kisses..."

Kakashi never though he would see the day an Uchiha screeched (then again, Obito did that daily back then... but Kakashi decided Obito was adopted... or a mutant), but it happened.

"Just?! JUST?!" Furiously rubbing Naruto's reddened face with a fervor, yelling about 'whores', 'property' and something that sounded suspiciously alike 'deflowering' Sasuke started dragging Naruto away from prying eyes and into the bathroom; where he probably proceeded with drowning the boy into the bathtub.

And true to his suspicion, Kakashi could hear the distinctive Uchiha grunt, declaring that 'Naru-chan had to be disinfected swiftly.'

After two hours of scrubbing and what-not Sasuke doing to Naruto in the bathroom (Naruto was blushing worse than a high school girl; or it could be just the scrubbing), they all sat to dine.

Sai was patiently eating his share, not paying attention to the world around him. Kakashi was still reading his book, at the table which annoyed Tsunami terribly so, while Naruto was trying to see what was behind his mask.

He recalled, but there was some fog clouding the image, unmasking him when he was a toddler. But that was then, and he didn't really remember the picture, and so Naruto wanted (needed to, dammit!) to see it again. To his misery, Kakashi was somehow eating the food without pulling down the mask... or he was doing it extremely fast (faster than a flash).

Sasuke was still fussing over Naruto, now sitting suspiciously close to him and trying to feed him. A quick, almost unseen flash of light erupted; but nobody sans Sai noticed it. Kakashi giggled, putting away the camera, thinking about how maybe the starry eyed Sasuke may amuse Itachi. After all, Itachi was the main supporter of Sasuke's little (that word was no where close) crush, and made sure to follow up on any adventures Sasuke faced while courting the blonde munchkin.

Tazuna was eating fast, and drinking his beloved sake with a vigor; Tsunami was smiling gently at them all and Inari was staring at the shinobi around him with a pout (frown! Frown!) on his face.

And finally, when Naruto started babbling away how he was making progress (meaning, no trees exploding), he snapped.

"How can you all just sit around and laugh!" Everyone's attention was on him now; Naruto blinking owlishly, Sasuke scowling and Kakashi... imitating Naruto for the most. "You're too weak to fight against Gatoh! His goons will kill you!" Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but Kakashi's one-eyed glare stopped him.

"There is no such thing as heroes, only idiots who act brave and die in the end!" With that, and tears streaming down his face, Inari ran out of the room.

After a long minute of silence, Tsunami- red faced and on a verge of tears, said:

"I'm sorry for his actions... Inari has never been the same since my husband died."

For the next hour, the four shinobi listened to the story of Kaiza, the brave and proud hero of the Wave and his imminent death. Naruto, powered by Kurama, felt so sorry for the little, scared boy; stepping away from the table, he gave a soft smile to Tsunami.

"I'll talk to him."

Quickly finding Inari's room, Naruto sneaked in. He admired the beautiful view of the ocean, before focusing on the sobbing Inari.

Sensing another presence behind him, Inari tried to wipe away the tears but they just kept falling.

"Do you know why your father died?" Inari quickly turned towards the blonde that was lowering his body to the futon.

"Because he was stupid." Naruto chuckled, which pissed the little Inari off.

"Maybe. However, I have a different outlook on that." Taking Inari's silence as a sign to continue, Naruto did so. "My village, Konoha has a unique system that other shinobi villages condemn. It's called 'teamwork'."

"What does teamwork have to do with my father?"

Naruto smiled softly.

"I'm getting to that. What do you think, if faced with an enemy would I be likely to win alone or with the help of others?" Inari thought carefully about it, recalling how those man easily beat his dad. There was number of them also...

"With more people." Naruto nodded.

"True. Because I, just like them, am human and have some major weaknesses. Like, I'm good with ninjutsu, but my genjutsu sucks. Sasuke is awesome at genjutsu, but his kinjutsu is a bit wobbly. And Sai is great with weapons, but not that much with taijutsu. And Kakashi, or leader, is good with every single one, but has less stamina than me." Giving of another one of his grins, he continued. "We all balance each other out, and that's why we're a good team. That's why we were able to protect your grandad from enemies."

Inari, swarmed with many terms he didn't know, somehow got the gist of it.

"Basically, you're weak on your own, but together..."

"We're one hell of a team."

Inari nodded, giving Naruto a small smile, before he remembered about what they talked in first.

"What's that got to do with dad?"

"Because Inari... What do you think would happened if Kaiza wasn't alone against Gatoh? If some of the other villagers joined him that day and stood up to Gatoh?"Inari's eyes widened, but Naruto kept talking. "Kaiza wasn't the only strong fisherman around here, was he? True, he was the bravest, but not the strongest. After hearing the story about him I can't help but wonder... If somebody, anybody answered Kaiza's call for help- would he still be dead?"

Inari's eyes started watering again, while he remembered the scared face of other villagers. The hopeful look on his father's face. His words...

"Also, to Kaiza, this village and its people, mainly you and your mother, were precious."

"If something is truly important to you… even it's heart-breaking, even if it's sorrowful… ''

"So precious, in fact, that he would gladly give his life away. Just so that you could be safe and sound."

''… you keep on trying and trying, even if you lose your life, you keep on protecting it with these two arms! ''

"Kaiza was true hero, in life and death. "

''…Then, even if you die, you leave behind the proof that you are a man… forever…"

Father... father was waiting for them... for him to do something. To stand up, just as he taught the village, to the injustice of the world and take a stand.

"A Kage has a number of people that believe in him, that would to anything he says. They trust him with everything they got, hoping that in return he can protect them and lead them. Because of that, a Kage is considered the strongest person in a shinobi village. How physically strong he is is a factor, but a lesser one. My father once told me that you are only as strong as your wish to protect is. And my father is a Kage, he should know." Inari gaped at the blonde, his fathers words and action playing in the back of his head. He, of course, knew what a Kage is. You should be an idiot not to know that a Kage is one of the strongest person in the world.

"Even though Kaiza is dead, his spirit and nindo live on... Inari..." Naruto called softly to him. Inari turned his big, leaking eyes to the blonde, sniffling.

"I promise you that I will protect your grandfather and you village with these very arms." Inari's breath hitched. "And even if they chop them of, which I highly doubt, I will kick that bastard Gatoh to death and finally finish what your father started." Hugging the smaller boy, Naruto smiled softly at Sasuke who was standing at the door, giving of his own version of a smile. "And on the way, I will have my teammates to protect me and help."

"Don't worry brat." Sasuke scoffed. "There's no way in hell I'll let him die." Inari cried out loudly, gripping Naruto's jacket; sobbing into his chest with the tears of remorse, happiness and, what warmed Naruto's heart the most, hope.

A/N: About the Kaiza thing... I truly believe, and that is how I perceived the anime/manga, that if he was not the only one to rebel, there would not be a C-rank turned B-rank, possible A-rank mission for Naruto. Also Haku- I do intend to leave him alive... Him and Zabuza. They are one of my favorite characters, especially Zabuza. Though, they will not go to Konoha. I intend to put them back in Kiri, as soon as Mei takes the hat. As soon as I get my facts straight, I will be sure to write a chapter about that. Also, I made Naruto inherit his nindo from his parents, so there was no real need for Haku to teach him.

Now, go on and review, I just love reading those!

And to my previous reviewers, thank you all so much for the support! And again, sorry. Look, I'm doing seiza style bowing!

Next time on Wind Whirlpool: The battle on the bridge! Filled with Haku and Zabuza related angst-y moments, Sasuke's death and Kurama's resurfacing! Oh, and Kakashi showing some ninja movezzz. Stay tuned!