Chapter eight! :D Can I just say thank you so so so much for reading and voting for my story ^_^ It's got 89 votes and I've only posted 8 parts (including the prologue), very unexpected :D So thank you so much for voting and, Happy reading :D
Also, here's a hilarious video called Stupid Sakura Project xD It's a.. special version of a Naruto opening xD I've forgot whether it's the first or second opening song :L
Also a picture of Kakashi because he's awesome ^^ I don't actually know what he was laughing at but whatever>>>>
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Sakura yawned loudly, half asleep. I didn't blame her, I was bored as well. We had been watching the construction workers as they built the bridge all day. Extremely uninteresting if you ask me.
"You always this lazy?" Tazuna, clad in builder's gear and carrying some sort of construction material on his shoulder. "Where's the annoying blond kid and the two kids with the attitude?"
"I'm right here," I stated dryly, stepping out from behind a random box I had been leaning against.
"Oh, uh.."
"They're training, climbing trees," Sakura intervened quickly, feeling the sudden awkwardness in the air.
"Except for you?" Tazuna asked, obviously relieved for the distraction.
"No, in fact, we're the best; that's why sensei sent us here to guard you," Sakura stated proudly.
"I love your modesty," I muttered, but she didn't hear me. Ugh. No one could appreciate my sarcasm when they couldn't hear me; that's the only reason I would have wanted Sasuke to be there at that moment.
"Seriously?" Tazuna looked at Sakura disbelievingly. That instantly sparked her scary side, which I'd been told about by Naruto. Her eyes bulged and she recieved an enraged anime vein on her forehead as she shook her fist. I rolled my eyes and watched as a worker walked over to Tazuna, who was placing the metal construction material he had been carrying with the rest of it.
"Tazuna? Um, I need to talk to you."
"What is it?" Tazuna asked.
"Thing is, I've been thinking about the bridge. And I've decided.. I've pushed my luck far enough, I wanna quit."
"W-Why all of a sudden?! Not you too!" Tazuna cried.
"You know, I've carried on working because of our friendship; but I'm putting my life on the line every time I stay here! If I get involved, Gatoh and his men will come after me, too," the worker said sadly. "Everything will lose meaning if you die. Why don't we stop building this bridge whilst we can still get out alive?"
Sakura and I watched and listened to this exchange of words, surprise clear on our faces.
"No chance," Tazuna replied determinedly. "This is our bridge. Our island is poor, and it will stay that way until this bridge connects us to the mainland! Trade and hope - that's what we're building here!"
"There's not gonna be much hope if we're all dead."
"It's already noon. Let's break for lunch." Tazuna walked past the worker.
"Tazuna!"
"Save your breath. Oh, and, Giichi; don't bother coming back after lunch," Tazuna told him gruffly, before turning and walking away.
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"Um, where are we going?" Sakura asked, looking around. We were trailing after Tazuna through a bustling street in the village. Naruto and Sasuke still hadn't returned from their training.
"You wanna eat tonight, don't you? I gotta pick up some things for dinner," Tazuna replied. I looked around at the people going about their daily business curiously, and my eyes saddened when I spotted a poor, thin man who didn't look very old, early thirties at most, holding up a sign that said 'Will do any kind of work'. I looked away when I heard cries of "Thief, Thief!!" and caught sight of a small boy frantically running away, clutching a string of sasuges he had stolen from a butcher for all he was worth. Two other little boys sat not far off, their heads bent. They looked so poor...
The only thing that could ever make me feel compassionate towards anyone was misfortune for something they can't help. Gato must have done this to these poor people. Selfish, evil bastard.
We entered a tiny, under-stocked grocery store.
"Welcome," a man greeted in a feeble voice. I looked around to see that they had a seriously lousy and small supply of vegetables.
"This is a store? There's nothing here!" Sakura whispered to herself, looking around with a similar expression as my own.
"I know," I murmured, a little louder so she could hear me as well. She jumped when she realised I'd heard her.
"These poor people..." she said softly. Suddenly I heard someone come up behind us. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw a man wearing a green hat who had a funnily-shaped nose and a black moustache eyeing sakura's bag gleefully. It had the sort of strap that went across the body, so it was easier to carry and didn't require the owner to keep hold of the bag. I knew what he was planning as he chuckled evilly, but I smirked and decided to let Sakura's 'scary side' resurface. It was kind of funny; although I wouldn't have liked it to be directed at me.
His hand reached out but he accidentally clutched her backside as well as the bag, upon which Sakura froze and her eyes bulged angrily. Before I knew it, she'd turned round and kicked the guy in the face, sending him flying.
"YOU PERVERT!!" she screamed.
"No! I was -gah!" the man realised his attempt to explain was fruitless, considering he'd get his ass kicked either way.
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"Wow, you really surprised me back there. Girls around here don't fight like that," Tazuna said to Sakura, impressed. We were walking down the road again, having bought the groceries and left the store.
"They should! Something's seriously wrong here," Sakura replied indignantly, still angry from the encounter. I heard someone come up behind us and grab Sakura's dress, tugging on it. Unfortunately he happened to grab in the exact same place the other weirdo had. Sakura froze, once again enraged, and twitched angrily.
"HEY, BUSTER-!" she yelled, swivelling round, only to stop when she saw a frightened, innocent, wide-eyed little boy standing behind her. Her expression quickly changed to a softer, slightly surprised expression when she saw the small boy. He smiled angelically and held his open hands out to her.
"Please?" he asked. The little boy giggled, sounding slightly nervous, with his eyes closed.
Sakura regarded the boy with pity-filled eyes, before reaching into her bag and pulling out some small, green and orange boiled sweets. The child looked surprised and delighted, accepting the sweets happily.
"Thank you!"
Sakura and I both smiled at the little boy, touched by his sincereness. He ran off, clutching the sweets tightly in his fists.
"This is how it's been since Gato came here," Tazuna explained as Sakura wiped a tear from her eye that threatened to spill over. "The children suffer.. and the adults are afraid to stand up to him. They've lost all hope - that's why I have to finish the bridge. It will be a symbol of courage. We must restore the spirit of our people."
I looked around, seeing hopeless, disenchanted citizens of the village, gazing sadly at the floor or begging where they could.
"When the bridge is finished, people will start to believe again. They will believe that they can live with dignity. We can't let Gato stop us!" Tazuna finished, determination clear in his voice and stance.
I caught Sakura's eye and could tell she was thinking the same as me. We had to help these people, no matter what.
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"It's been ages since we've had so many guests around our table," Tazuna said. We were all seated around the dining table in his house.. Sakura and I were eating normally, but Sasuke and Naruto were practically shoving it down their throats, determined to win their little competition.
"I WANT SOME MORE!" they both yelled, holding up their empty ramen bowls, then glared at each other, shooting sparks. Suddenly both keeled over and threw up.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," I sighed. I'd told them they'd make themselves sick if they continued wolfing their food so fast.
"DON'T EAT SO MUCH IF YOU'RE GONNA PUKE IT UP!" Sakura complained angrily, an anime vein appearing on her forehead as she shouted.
"I have to eat!" Sasuke said.
"And I have to eat more than him. It's the only way I'll get strong enough to beat him!" Naruto stated determinedly, through clenched teeth. Both still had their heads bent, though I hoped they'd finished spewing up their food by now.
"It's true. But puking won't help you," Kakashi informed them boredly, his arms crossed.
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"Excuse me? This picture is torn. Is there some reason for that?" Sakura asked. We were sat around a small table drinking tea, with Naruto practically gulping it down. He hadn't liked the taste of his vomit, that's for sure. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, stood at the sink washing the dishes from supper, whilst Sakura had stood up and was now observing a small framed photograph that hung on the wall. She was right, the top left corner of the photograph had been torn away, as though someone had ripped somebody out of the photo.
"Inari, you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like someone else was in the picture but was torn out. I mean, that's kinda strange, isn't it?" she continued. I smacked my palm to my face, despite my effort to resist the urge to facepalm, as Tazuna and Kakashi paused suddenly. Inari looked like he was about to murder somebody. I took one look at his expression and edged slowly closer to Sasuke, away from Inari, because I was sitting in between the two of them.
"It's my husband," Tsunami explained bluntly, without turning around, after a few seconds of tense silence.
"They used to call him a hero in this land," Tazuna elaborated. Inari suddenly stood up and turned to leave.
"Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked, worried. Inari simply ran out of the door without replying, and Tsunami followed her son, worried.
"Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari, you know that!" she exclaimed angrily. She then left, slamming the door.
The room was quiet as an awkward, tense silence crept over us.
"Inari's so... I mean, what happened to him?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Hm, is there a story behind this..?" Kakashi looked at Tazuna expectantly, as did the rest of us, each one of us curious.
"He wasn't his real father, he came into our family later... And he brought so much happiness. He and Inari were very close."
I looked up at the photo as Tazuna spoke, spying a happier-looking, cheerful Inari. I barely recognised him with the changed expression.
"Things were different back then; Inari used to laugh all the time.." he looked as if he was struggling to continue, clenching his fists. "But then..."
We all watched him expectantly, as tears dripped down his cheeks and on to the table.
"All that ended. He never laughs or smiles any more. Ever since the day everything changed."
Get on with it old man... I thought. I wonder what happened to Inari... What made him so touchy and self-absorbed...
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I'm sorry I had to cut it off here D: I've gotta go :/ Sorry T_T You got to see a bit of a different side to Eira ;o she can actually be compassionate *Shock* Anyway, thanks for reading and please vote, comment, etc ^^
Also, please check out my story A Twisted Love Story and the sequel, thanks :D