Sakura yawned, stretching her arms high above her head. All around her the sounds of construction roared incessantly with its hammering, drilling, and cranes lifting heavy pieces of metal. Sakura let out a sleepy yawn, thin arms stretched out, as Tazuna approached her armed with his bright yellow construction helmet.
"Where are Blondie and Pretty-Boy?"
"Training."
"Then why aren't you with them? Or maybe you should get up there with Bossy-Pants!" He gestured over her shoulder where Nishira, dressed in hand me down coveralls two sizes too big, was working with the other workers on the bridge. Nishira frowned as she held the lines alongside others, the ropes were attached to partners that dangled below the surface of the bridge. The lines tied to a harness strapped to her and then continued behind to attach to a cement block. One of the burly men beside her, the one with the scar on his cheek looked like dirt, was trying to engage in a friendly chat but Nishira's face remained concentrated on the task before her, determined to not let her partner fall into the choppy water below.
"Oh, come on, Nishira, I said I was sorry!"
"Cram it, Rani! They still laugh at me when I walk by!"
"It's tradition, we have to mess with the new kid."
"Level fluid?! You sent me looking for level fluid! How am I supposed to know that that doesn't exist?!"
Rani just laughed as Nishira's face turned a blazing crimson.
"They got me my first day by attaching a battery to my metal lunch box and waited until I got my mid morning snack!"
Nishira pursed her lips, trying to supress the giggle that was bubbling, managing to focus on the task at hand while Rani ran his mouth. She still didn't speak to the others very much, Sakura noticed, but she had seen slowly and awkwardly try to engage with them.
"I surpassed the boys, and Kakashi sensei told me to stay here and protect you."
Tazuna frowned down at the young female shinobi but was distracted as an old friend approached them.
"Tazuna. Can I talk to you?"
"What's wrong, Giichi?"
"I've been thinking it over. This bridge we're working on, I want off the job!"
"Wh-why? Out of nowhere like this… you, of all people!"
"Tazuna, we go back a long way. I want to help you, but we can't take the risk. Gato will take out a contract on us if we don't stop! And if you die, it won't be just this one project. We could all lose everything!"
The man looked guiltily at the ground before back to Tazuna with a dead set stare.
"Please, just give it up. The bridge isn't worth it."
"I can't do that. This bridge belongs to us all. It's everything we've been working toward, for our entire city. When its finished, it will bring trade and commerce and affluence to us and put our poor little Land of the Waves on the map!"
"But we're talking about lives here! Your life!"
"It's afternoon now already, isn't it? Let's call it a day." Tazuna started to walk away before turning back to his old friend. "Giichi… you don't have to come back."

Sakura accompanied Tazuna through the town. The city center stood tall, a building that lay above the river bridging both sides of the city together as the epicenter. It had begun to crumble from the endless erosion of salt and water. People milled around, heads down, simply trying to survive. Sakura walked by a man with a sign that asked for any job and some kindness, her jade eyes scanned the lines of the street, seeing the filth caked into the cracks between the cobblestones. A cry could be heard further back from a shopkeeper "STOP THIEF". Tazuna looked down at Sakura enraptured by the poverty surrounding her.
"My daughter asked me to pick up some things for lunch on the way home, so…"
Sakura obediently followed, only pausing once when she spotted a young boy sitting on the ground, filthy, too tired to walk around, his ribs poked up under the torn shirt he wore. The rags he called clothes barely covered his small body.

When they approached the tiny store, the shopkeeper greeted them with a brightness that didn't fit the sparse space before of them. Stands were mostly empty with only a few foods left for the equally sparse customers. A man spotted Sakura's bag slung over her shoulder, brimming with goods ripe for picking, and the temptation to pickpocket the unsuspecting girl was too great. His hand grazed over eager to get anything off a distracted mark. As the girl moved, his hand missed, and Sakura felt his hand on her backside. Yelling her warrior cry in indignation, she turned and struck the man's face with her foot.

Tazuna grabbed what he wanted from the small selection, and they exited back onto the buzzing street. As they walked in the streets Sakura felt a small tug on the back of her dress, thinking it another pervert, she turned to violently confront them with clenched fists but was greeted instead with a young face, caked in dirt. The little boy held out his hands in a cupped motion, begging for anything with an innocent smile. Moved by his pitiful demeanor, Sakura rummaged in her bag and fished out a handful of wrapped candies. She delivered a kind smile along with the goodies, and the glee on the little boy's face was reward enough as he ran away, clutching those candies like they were buried treasure, giggling the whole way. Sakura felt a pang of guilt that almost winded her, she couldn't do any more than that simple action, she had nothing else to give.
"It's been like this ever since Gato moved in. We've become a city of slackers, cowards, and fools. That's why the bridge we are building is so essential! It will be an emblem of courage. Maybe the people who've taken the path of least resistance will be willing to walk the road of courage and dignity again. If we can only complete it, I truly believe that our city and our people can be what they once were again!"
Sakura was touched by Tazuna's pretty speech. Remembering their discussion in the forest, she wondered idly what Nishira would have to say about this place.

Sasuke and Naruto pushed on upwards, relentlessly. Naruto felt his foot slip, and he quickly slashed the tree before flipping back to land on his feet below. He looked up, catching his breath, not to see his own progress but to see Sasuke still climbing. Sasuke's foot pressed too hard and repelled from the surface unwillingly. He marked his spot with a slash of the kunai and leapt down in strategic jumps until he was back on the ground. Sasuke looked up to see Naruto's marks were starting to catch up to his own.

Naruto shook his head of the boiling competitive streak that bubbled up and focused on Sakura's teaching. He spent a moment channeling the chakra into his feet. Once he felt there was enough, he was about to launch himself at the tree when a voice called out to him.
"Hey, Naruto!"
Naruto faceplanted mid step
"YOU'RE BREAKING MY CONCENTRATION! STOP BUGGING ME!"
Sasuke's cheeks flamed, and he avoided Naruto's confrontational gaze.
"Wha- what did Sakura say to you…?"
Naruto's face swung wildly from confrontational, to shocked, and settled on a smug grin.
"None of your business!"
There was a crackling tense pause between them.

The modest dinner table was fully encompassed by the whole group surrounding it, elbows rubbing against each other in gathered community. Tazuno beamed at all the guests around his table.
"Boy this is real fun! I can't remember the last time I shared a meal with so many people!"
Nishira tucked into the delicious fare, ravenous after a long day of labour with mission work to do after. Naruto and Sasuke heartily inhaled the contents of their bowls. Mouths still full of their last bite, they both pushed their bowls forward to the host for more, aggressively eyeing each other, childish determination not to be outdone by a dunce or a jerk. But after a beat, the threatening gurgles that came from both their stomachs was the precursor to the forceful regurgitation of the meal, souring the experience for most present. Sakura, utterly embarrassed and disgusted, slammed her hands down onto the table, determined to try and force some sense in either of them.
"Stop eating if you're just gonna hurl it back up!"
Sasuke wiped the remnant piece of rice from the corner of his mouth.
"No, I want to eat!"
Naruto smiled, blinking back the tears from the effort.
"Because even if we make ourselves sick to do it, we have to eat if we want to get strong."
Kakashi certainly approved of extreme measures for training, but perhaps the vomiting was too much of an extreme. Nishira couldn't help herself and barked a laugh, some stray rice being spewed in the effort. Kakashi watched as the outburst had startled her and she put the tip of chopsticks back into her mouth, but a smile still lingered there. Finishing her bowl without any sign of bringing it back up, Nishira rose with a thanks to the host and excused herself.

As the two boys intently consumed another helping, Sakura wandered around the room. She balanced on a wide bench that lined the wall and stared inquisitively at the lone picture frame. The picture it contained was tattered as though handled too much. It showed a gruff Tazuna, a warm Tsunami sitting next to a smiling Inari. The top right corner was ripped out and would contain the face of the last member of the photograph.
"Why is this picture torn? Little Inari was looking at this the whole time we were having dinner. Someone's face is completely gone. Is that deliberate?"

The three hosts paused with guilt. Tsunami, without turning from the sink of dishes, answered in a cool voice.
"It was a picture of Inari's father."
"Once upon a time, if you will, our entire city called him a hero."
At Tazuna's words, Inari forcibly pushed from the table and left without a word stomping his little feet as he went. Tsunami turned from the sink finally, her dark eyes following her distressed child in maternal concern.
"Inari, where are you going? Inari!"
The door slammed noisily at Inari's exit; his mother went to follow, her concern turning to a harsh anger that rubbed against those in the room.
"Father! I've told you time and again not to mention that in front of my son!"
Sakura looked at the door that Tsunami pursued Inari through.
"So, you're talking about what it is that makes Inari act so strangely?
Kakashi decided it was time to gently prod their host into explaining.
"It sounds like there's a story there…"
Tazuna let out a breath.
"The man in the picture was not Inari's birth father. But they were as loving and close as any biological father and son could have been. Inari was such a happy, laughing child back then." Tazuna was interrupted by tears and let out a strangled sob.
"But Inari changed after what happened to his father."

Tazuna removed his glasses and rubbed at his aching eyes.
"Let me start at the beginning and tell you about the man who our entire land called a champion and a hero. It was about three years ago that Inari and the man first met."
Nishira listened from the other room as Tazuna talked about a man named Kaiza. A traveler who changed the town and this family.
"His name was Kaiza. He was a fisherman who came here from abroad to seek his fortune. He saved little Inari from drowning, and from that day forward, Inari's affection and admiration for Kaiza grew and grew. It probably had something to do with Inari's real father having died before the boy was old enough to remember him, but even so, that boy stuck to Kaiza like white on rice. They were always together like any other father and son. In no time at all, Kaiza was like one of the family. And he was just the kind of man this town needs more of!"
Tazuna looked down at the table, lost in the memory and grief of it.
"One night, the dam had broken from the heavy storm, and it would have flooded the whole town. To fix it, someone would have had to jump in, but with the rain and all the water, it was a fool's errand, it would surely kill the sucker who would try. Kaiza, though, he was that sucker, but he did it. He jumped in those waters and swam to hook the dam with a rope so everyone could pull it closed. He said that he could do it, because he loves the city where his little boy lived. It was a truly inspiring moment. That was when people here started calling Kaiza a champion and a hero. With a father like that, Inari could hold his head up high. That was until Gato came to town."
There was a pause, and Kakashi gently prompted him.
"In front of the entire city, Gato had Kaiza put to death!"
Tazuna began to shudder with grief, his voice beginning to shake, a stark contrast to the gruff and blunt tone he'd used since team seven had met him. Nishira paused as she looped an earing, wanting to hear how the story ended although a lump in her chest said it surely wasn't good. Gato was not known for being merciful.
"He made Kaiza an example of what would happen if you went against him. They charged Kaiza with violence and acts of terrorism against Gato's company. And of speaking out against the policies and trying to sabotage Gato's efforts. Which were all true. We all wanted to do something; Kaiza was the only one brave enough to do it. The day he died, a little bit in all of us died that day too. And ever since then, Inari has changed. And Tsunami, and everyone in the city's changed, too."

Naruto had been listening with his chin resting on the table. He thought back over the exchanges he had had with Inari. He rose and started towards the door but tripped and clattered to the floor. Kakashi gazed upon his exhausted student.
"Don't even think about training any more today. If you try to work your chakra anymore, without getting some rest first, it would probably kill you."
"I'm going to prove to him that he's wrong."
Those words piqued everyone's curiosity. Nishira hadn't realize she was holding her breath, her hand pressed to her chest waiting for what that he would say.
"I'm going to show Inari that there are still heroes in the world."