Chapter 8 - The Hero: Gato's Shadow Extended!

THE HERO: GATO’S SHADOW EXTENDED!

At dinner that night, everyone sat down, including Ryouko, and ate the delicious meal Tsunami had prepared. Naruto and Sasuke ate with relish- too much relish. Sakura was eating carefully, and had one of the boys on either side of her. They inhaled their food, double-fisting their food as fast as they could handle it. Sakura was just digging into her rice, eating carefully, when both Naruto and Sasuke stood up:

“More, please!” they shouted. Then they looked at each other. Then at the floor, as they both threw up. Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust, while Ryouko gulped his water down, hoping to keep his dinner down.

“Don’t eat if you’re just going to puke it back up!” Sakura admonished the two.

“No, I want to eat!” Sasuke replied stubbornly, glancing at Naruto.

“Right! Gotta eat to make your body strong for training!” Naruto added, grinning happily. Sakura and Ryouko were done after that spectacle. Ryouko excused himself to train, while Sakura walked around the table and to the wall. She noticed a picture with part torn away. It looked like it had been done on purpose.

“Excuse me, but why is this picture torn?” Sakura asked, studying it.

Tsunami, who had been doing the dished, froze for a moment, then responded, solemnly.

“…he was Inari’s father…”

“The town called him a hero,” Tazuna added, equally as solemn. At this, Inari left the table and walked out of the room, ignoring Tsunami’s questions.

“Father! I asked you to talk about this in front of Inari!” Tsunami ran after the boy, trying to comfort him.

“So…that’s why Inari acts so strangely…the man missing from that picture?” Sakura questioned, still wondering why the picture was torn.

“Inari wasn’t always like this…he used to be a happy boy, always smiling and laughing. What happened that day robbed this Land of it’s courage…” Tazuna had to stop and wipe his tears. The tale was always hard to tell. But the tale’s result was something Tazuna had to live with daily.

At this point, Ryouko stumbled in, his lip bloodied. He didn’t say anything, getting the gist of the conversation. He sat down at his spot and held a napkin to his bleeding lip.

“What was it that could have changed Inari so much?” Kakashi asked somberly, keeping with the mood.

“Let me start from the beginning…”

(FLASHBACK!)

“Hey, nice dog! I think I’ll call him “Shooting Star!” one of the bullies declared. His two cronies were holding Inari back.

“No! He’s not a ‘Shooting Star!’ He’s MY Poochie! Give him back!” Inari shouted/begged, trying to pull away from his captors. These three were something beyond bullies.

“Alright, fine! If you love him so much, go save him!” the ‘Leader’ taunted. He held Poochie out over the edge of a dock, and dropped the puppy into the water. Poochie began to thrash wildly; he didn’t know how to swim.

“POOOOCHIIIIEEEE!” Inari shouted, free of his captors.

“I SAID go get him!” the ‘Leader’ pushed Inari off the dock, and into the water. There wasn’t a strong current, but that didn’t matter; Inari couldn’t swim. He began to thrash wildly as well. His last site was of his dog, learning to swim, before Inari himself sank towards the depths of Davy Jones’ locker.

I…I couldn’t save Poochie…I can’t even save myself! I-I don’t want to die! I’m scared! Inari’s thoughts scared him even more. Then he blacked out.

--

A short while later, Inari woke up with a start, on the beach. The ocean was in sight, glimmering beautifully, even though it was night time. Inari made a small sound of surprise, wondering how he managed to get here.

“Oh, are you awake, son?” a man with a strong, but gentle, voice called out. He was hunched over a fire. Inari walked over to him. The man had black, spiky hair, and a strong, dimpled chin.

“I really let those punks who were picking on you have it. But, enough of that. Here, eat!” the man said with a wide grin, handing Inari a fish flame-broiled on a skewer. Inari knew never to take food from strangers. But he couldn’t help but trust this man, so he took the food and ate rapidly. It was so good! Inevitably, Inari asked the man if it was he who had saved him.

“You had a pretty tough time, huh? Even your dog let you down. Where I’m from, dogs are loyal and trustworthy. Well, I guess you let him down first, to be fair.”

Inari started to cry again, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I tried to save him! But I couldn’t do it!”

“It must be very hard for someone your age. It’s scary, I know. But remember this: When you become a man, walk the path of life with no regrets. If something is precious to you, no matter how painful, or how hard, you’ve got to protect it, with both arms. If you do that, even if you die trying to protect what you love, you leave the world a good man.”


“Inari was star-struck by this new man, an ordinary fishermen. As he came to learn, the man (his name is Kaiza) showed him what life was about. Inari adored him, dressing like him, eating like him, and trying to act like him. His affection for Kaiza kept growing, and in no time at all, Kaiza was one of the family. Most likely, it had something to do with Inari never knowing his real father. But Kaiza filled the roll. He was exactly what our town needed then, and needs now!”


Kaiza! Come quick! The rain, it’s so heavy! It’s forced open all the locks and dams!” a man shouted. Immediately, Kaiza stood up and put on his rain hat.

“Inari, get some rope,” he called.

All three ran to the site of a barrier, the last hope of saving the town.

“We need to tie the rope around it!”

“Impossible! The current’s too strong!”

People were doing a lot of shouting, but taking very little action. Kaiza pushed his way to the front of the crowd, rope in hand. Taking a deep breathe, he leapt into the water. After a moment, he surfaced, and used his powerful arms to swim to the makeshift barrier. Gasping as he made it, he tied the rope around the strung-together logs.

“He’s done it! Kaiza’s done it! Everyone, pull on the rope! Hurry, pull the rope!”



“The town called Kaiza a hero, and a champion. Inari was so proud of him. But then Gato realized just how dangerous Kaiza was to him. With courage, this Land wouldn’t bend to his every will anymore. So he did what he felt he had to do: he had Kaiza executed publicly!”



Kaiza was tied to a rough, wooden cross. His arms were both gone, only bloody stumps remained. There were countless cut marks all over his body; one eye was missing, the other was closed from being swollen. But Kaiza opened that eye and found his ‘son’ in the crowd. He gave Inari an encouraging smile.

“Everybody listen! This man has commited acts of terrorism and violence against my company! He’s openly renounced our agencies and attempted sabotage! This is nothing short of treason, and is punished with death! His execution is now!” Gato nodded to his two samurai flunkies. They drew their swords back, and began the downward cut.

“NOOO! DAD!” Inari screamed. Dad…how could you. You…you promised to protect me! I hate you!



Tazuna looked incredibly sad, his glasses stained with tears. He spoke in a low whisper, finishing his tale.

“That day, Inari changed…so did Tsunami, and the whole town…”


Naruto remembered what Inari had said. There were no heroes anymore…Naruto knew what he was going to do. He pushed away from the table and got up.

“Naruto, where are you going? You shouldn’t even think about training anymore today, you’re going to wind up killing yourself.” Kakashi tried vainly to get Naruto to listen to reason.

“I don’t care, I’ve got work to do! I’m going to show Inari that there ARE heroes in the world!”


Ryouko stood up, too, but he was shaking with anger. The glass in his hand burst suddenly, making little cuts all over Ryouko’s palm. The glass fell out, and Ryouko swept it up, along with leaving enough ryo on the table for a new glass. He even bandaged his hand as though he wanted to kill something, violently ripping the gauze apart.

“Ryouko? What’s wrong?” Sakura asked. She hadn’t seen the Kaguya boy exhibit so much emotion before.

“Forgive me…I’m just upset by what samurai have become. I trained as one. We used to be respectable, and respected! Not flunkies for some little midget, killing on orders! I became a ninja to save lives, even if it meant my own. Never did I think that the samurai would sink so low…I should have guessed. The money-hungry dojo I left probably bred those two!” Ryouko’s chest was moving in and out rapidly as he tried to contain his fury.

“I’m sorry for my outburst,” Ryouko said, apologizing quickly, and walking out of the room.

--

Haku was walking through the forest, his hair down, and wearing a pink robe. It seemed nature smiled at him. A bird landed on his shoulder. Haku smiled at it, and kept walking. That’s when he saw a familiar boy lying face-down on the ground.

That’s the boy from the Leaf Village...

Haku bent down to wake Naruto. “You’ll catch your death, lying on the cold ground like that.” It looked as though Naruto had been lying there a while. Birds, and bird droppings, were all over him, and he was all scratched up. Naruto woke up groggily. Say what you want about Naruto, but he has a heart of gold. And a head of bone, apparently, as he never realized he was talking to an enemy. He even helped Haku pick out certain herbs that would aid Zabuza’s healing.

“So these weeds are really medical herbs?!” Naruto was fascinated. He was always willing to learn, you could say that much for him. “That’s some job you took on, girl, picking weeds at dawn!” Naruto wrinkled his nose in displeasure.

Haku smirked jokingly. “You should be talking, what were you doing out here?”

“Training!” Naruto replied heartily.

“Oh…your headband. Are you some sort of ninja?” Haku questioned kindly. Of course, he knew the answer, but Naruto STILL hadn’t picked out who Haku was. To be fair, I WAS wearing a mask, and I was dressed completely different. But you would think he would sense something…

“Why? Do you think I look like one?! I’m a full-fledged ninja, believe it!” Naruto couldn’t help but shout, happy to have someone notice him. “I’m training because I’ve got to be stronger! I’m going to be Hokage some day, of the Village hidden in the Leaves!”

“But you look so strong and masculine already!” Haku replied. Behind him, a few birds chirped and rustled in the bushes, looking for their breakfast.

“I’ve got to be WAY stronger than this! I’ve got to prove a point to…someone…” Naruto’s intensity tapered off a little bit.

Haku giggled to himself. “So…tell me…is there anyone special in your life?”

Naruto cringed. What’s this girl getting at?

Haku was lost in thought, and didn’t notice Naruto’s face change. He was remembering being a street urchin in his home town. That’s when he noticed a long shadow suddenly obscuring what little sun he felt in such a cold place. He felt an even colder presence. But to Haku, that was comforting…

Haku shook himself out of his trance. “If there’s someone truly precious to you, you will FIND the strength to protect that person. That’s when you truly become strong.

Naruto thought back to Iruka, Kakashi, Old Man Hokage, all the people that had protected him.

“I know all about that, believe it!” Naruto replied happily.

“You WILL get stronger…oh, you should know…I’m a boy,” Haku said over his shoulder as he walked, medical herbs in a basket, clutched tightly in one nail-painted fist.

This blew Naruto’s mind. No way! He-he’s girlier than Sakura! Naruto exclaimed to himself, hands squeezing either side of his head.

--


The next morning, a week after they had begun training, Naruto and Sasuke were once again practicing. But THIS time, they had it down. And when Kakashi and Sakura came looking, Naruto couldn’t help but show off.

“Hehehe! I did it, sensei! Sakura, check it out, I- AHHH!” Naruto slipped off the branch he was on. At such a height, the fall would kill him. Kakashi gimped toward Naruto as fast as he could, hoping to at least soften the blow. But he didn’t have to worry. Naruto was hanging upside down, like a bat, just as he had seen Kakashi do!

“Ha ha ha! Gotcha!” Naruto laughed.

“YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART-ATTACK, YOU JERK!!!” Sakura snarled. I’m going to kill you for this later, Naruto! Inner-Sakura added.

Naruto, still laughing, lost his balance- for real this time. He was heading for a showdown with the ground he wasn’t going to win. Lucky for him, Sasuke leapt over from his tree and snared Naruto’s ankle.

“You bonehead…” Sasuke muttered.

--

Kakashi was doing one-finger pushups, checking to see if he had healed. While he was doing this impossible-looking training regimen, Tazuna voiced something that had been on his mind since their arrival in the Land of Waves.

“Why did you keep the mission, even though I duped you?” Tazuna asked, sitting down on a futon after a long day’s work.

“Like master, like man,” Kakashi replied, thinking that he was healed. “True Shinobi don’t simply dance to the tune of the person paying the pauper.”

--

“It looks like your strength has returned,” Haku told Zabuza, while the latter crushed an apple.

“Yes! Let’s go, Haku!”

---

At supper time that night, Naruto and Sasuke walked in, leaning on each other for support. It had been another all-out day of training. Ryouko limped in seconds later, this time sporting a cut knee.

“Sensei, I think I should practice on another target before I kill myself,” Ryouko muttered with a laugh. His subconscious had taken quite the beating, and it was hard to tell if he was getting any better or not. With his natural nervous nature, Ryouko was either having anxiety attacks, or he was doing the genjutsu right. He didn’t know which at this point; all he knew was that he had fallen down to the point where it was a painful affair to write in his scroll at night.

Kakashi smiled, and used an adage Ryouko had heard at his old dojo. “If it hurts, you’re during it right.”

Ryouko expected as much. That was when Inari stood up, and pointed at Naruto, who had collapsed into a chair and lazily picked up a roll.

“WHY DO YOU KEEP TRAINING LIKE THIS?! NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY, YOU’LL NEVER BE A MATCH FOR GATO’S THUGS! YOU TALK TOUGH, AND ACT ALL COOL, BUT STRONG PEOPLE LIKE GATO’S HENCHMEN WILL KILL YOU!” Inari shouted.

“Shut up! I’m not you, and I’m not going to lose, okay?!” Naruto shot back, too tired for this crap.

“JUST WATCHING YOU ANNOYS ME! RUNNING YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING! THIS ISN’T YOUR TOWN! AND YOU DON’T KNOW ME! YOU’RE ALWAYS CLOWNING AROUND AND HAVING FUN! YOU DON’T KNOW SUFFERING OR PAIN!” Inari finished his rant. Team 7, Kakashi, and Ryouko winced. It looked like Inari had touched a nerve.

“So, what? You think it’s okay to be all whiney, and try to be the star of your own soap opera, and get everyone to be guests at your pity party?” Naruto began quietly, his head buried in his arms. The room had gone silent. The bag of ice Sasuke had been passing to Ryouko hit the floor with a small crack. You could have heard a pin drop.

“It takes a REALLY big man to sit around and cry, you brat…you baby!”

Naruto and Inari both left the table, going in opposite directions.

“Naruto, you went too far!” Sakura admonished him. But Naruto didn’t answer. He had heard enough. He had training to do.

Meanwhile, Inari went outside, to sit on the docks, just like he used to do with Kaiza. After a few moments, he heard someone walking down the dock.

“Can I join you?” Kakashi asked. When he didn’t receive a reply, he sat down next to Inari, staring out across the smooth ocean. For a minute, Kakashi didn’t talk. When he finally did, he looked over at Inari.

“You know, Naruto IS kind of a brat, but he wasn’t trying to be rude, or mean…Tazuna told us what happened to your father. You should know, Naruto grew up without knowing HIS father. Or even his mother. He’s been alone in the world. And in all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never once seen him cry, or use his troubles as an excuse. He gives everything he does his all, and he trains hard, with little encouragement from anyone. Everything you said…Naruto’s probably told himself those things hundreds of times. But, I guess, he just got fed up with crying one day. He understands what it means to be strong…what it costs…the same as your father did. In fact, Naruto probably knows how you feel better than any of us.”

Inari’s look of disbelief made Kakashi laugh inside. But, the boy might have misconstrued that, so Kakashi patted him on the head and went inside.

--

The next day, Naruto was out of it from training so much. Kakashi asked Tsunami to take care of him. Naruto was blissfully unaware of this. But when he woke up, he was dressed in a flash and tearing out the door.

“I can’t believe they left without me!” Naruto grumbled, jumping from branch to branch on the trees at warp speed.

Even though he was moving so quickly, Naruto noticed some strange marks in the trees. Huh? Those look like sword cuts… Naruto kept moving, but for some reason, those cuts in the tree bark disturbed him. Farther along, Naruto saw a pig, butchered in the same manner as the trees.


--

As Kakashi and the others reached the bridge, they saw a fearsome sight. Dead. Every worked, dead or dying. The grim realization hit Kakashi hard.

“They’re coming!” he told his group urgently. Everyone took up their positions around Tazuna, and waited for the Demon of the Mist to strike…

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