Hidden Underneath the Underneath

Chapter Six

"The word 'courage' has been stolen from the people of this island and Inari. Ever since that day...because of that incident..." continued Tazuna solemnly.

"What happened to Inari-kun?" questioned Kakashi.

"Is Inari-kun alright?" asked Haku politely.

"First I have to tell you about the man who was called the hero of this city. It was about three years ago Inari met this man. One day, Inari was getting bullied by three other kids.

They threw his dog Poochi into the ocean and forced Inari to save him even though he couldn't swim. It turned out that Poochi could swim and he paddled to shore, leaving Inari to drown.

Inari woke up minutes later to find the man who saved him sitting next to him. His name was Kaiza, a fisherman who came here to follow his dreams.

After that, Kaiza and Inari became very close. Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. To Inari, Kaiza was his substitute father. Eventually, Kaiza became part of the family.

Kaiza also saved the city. When the rain was overflowing the dams, Kaiza was the one courageous enough to swim against the strong currents to close the dam with a rope.

Kaiza was called a hero by the people of this city and Inari could have not been prouder of his father. But then Gato came to this city and Kaiza defied him. In front of everyone, Kaiza was executed by Gato.

From that day, Inari, Tsunami and the whole city changed."

Naruto walked off after Tazuna had finished explaining the incident with Inari.

"Where are you going Naruto?" asked Haku but Naruto ignored the question and flickered away.

The next day, they all sat down to have dinner again.

Inari stormed in.

"Why do you guys bother to try so hard?! No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gato's men. No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work when facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed!"

There was silence.

"Whatever kid, I'm not like you," said Naruto calmly.

"I'd hate to be like you! You don't know anything about this country yet you're being so nosy! What the hell do you know about me?! I'm different from you, you're always training, you don't know how hard life can be!"

Intense chakra filled the room.

"So it's okay for you to pose like a star of a tragedy and cry all day? Just keep crying then. You don't know what suffering is."

"Naruto! You've said enough!" scolded Sakura.

"Shut up Sakura! You don't know anything. Out of all of us, you have lived the most luxurious life."

Sakura couldn't say anything. Naruto flickered angrily away while Inari ran off.

Kakashi and Zabuza followed Inari while Haku tried to find Naruto.

"Can we join you?" asked Kakashi.

"Well, Naruto didn't mean any harm by what he said," comforted Zabuza.

"Tazuna-san told us about your dad."

"Like you, Naruto also grew up without a father."

"He has never known his parents."

"Truth is, he's had a rougher childhood than you but I have never seen him once cry or complain."

"He knows what it means to suffer and be strong, just like your father."