Satomi P.O.V.
"So, why are you brats here?" Tazuna asks, carrying a piece of plywood. Sakura and I look at each other with smirks.
"Well, we already completed our training. The boys, however, still aren't done with it. You could even go as far as to say that we are better than them," Sakura brags. I offer a soft smile and nod.
"Really? And here I thought that you two were the weakest on the team," he states.
"I've actually had extensive training, so technically I am more skilled than the others, excluding Kakashi-sensei, of course," I state proudly. Sure, I'm pretty soft-spoken, even for an Uchiha, but I do have my pride that I was cursed with from my bloodline. Tazuna waves me off, and continues working on the bridge.
"Tazuna, I've got to talk to you. I'm gonna have to quit. The danger I'm in isn't worth it," A man says, walking up to Tazuna with a guilty look. I raise an eyebrow and listen in on the conversation.
"Not you too! I've already lost quite a few workers, I need you to stay!" Tazuna pleads with the man. He, however, shakes his head and turns to leave, not looking back. Sighing, I get up and pick up a small stack of plywood.
"Hey, kid, what're you doing?" Tazuna demands. I bring it over to where it was needed, stretching my back and looking at Tazuna when it's safely on the ground.
"You just lost another worker, so in the meantime, I'll replace him. It's only fair," I say, continuing to move supplies around. After a few minutes, Sakura also joins me and we make the work go must faster than before, especially since we were trained ninja.
"Thank you very much, girls. It means a lot to me that you would help me out even though you didn't need to," Tazuna says once we were finished working for the day. I wave him off with a smile.
"It's not a big deal. The faster we get this done, the faster your land becomes wealthy again!" I state. Sakura agrees from beside me.
"And the faster we get to go home and sleep in our beds!" she adds with a dreamy look on her face.
Soon enough, a small town comes into view with shops lining the streets. What surprised me, though, was that all of them were open for business. From the looks of it, I was sure that they were all closed based on the amount of product they held, it was close to nothing. People lined the streets, although unlike Konoha, none of them were smiling. They were all dirty and hungry, almost like living corpses. It was actually really unsettling.
"I was asked to grab some food on the way home for dinner," Tazuna states, walking into a shop with very few items.
A frown is apparent on my face as Tazuna grabs a few vegetables, all of which were of poor quality, and puts them in a basket. With a sigh, I take the basket from him.
"Let me," I say, putting more food into the basket. As I'm reaching for a tomato, I hear Sakura scream, making me whip around with a deadly glint in my eye. Who the hell was messing with my teammate?!
"Pervert!" Sakura screeched, kicking the man who had reached for her bag in the face. Some blood flew out of his mouth, and I was pretty sure a few teeth fell out as well. To be honest, I didn't know that she held that kind of power. The man runs out of the shop, ashamed, letting us shop in peace once again. With a sigh, I take the basket full of food to the counter. All of it was overpriced, but it didn't matter to me, I had the money.
"Kid, you don't need to pay for it. I've got it," Tazuna says, trying to pull out what little money he had. I shake my head, giving the cashier money for the food, as well as a few dollars more because I could spare it.
"Keep the change," I say, grabbing the basket and leaving. Tazuna and Sakura follow behind me as I walk back to the house. The people all around us were watching me closely, eyeing the food that I had in my hand hungrily.
From behind me, Sakura growls again, making me turn my head to see what the commotion was. It turns out, this time a little girl was trying to get Sakura's attention, begging for some food. Sakura frowns sadly at the little girl, taking a few spare candies that she had in her bag and giving it to her.
As sad as it was watching the little girl beg, the saddest part was the true excitement and joy on her face just because a stranger had spared a little treat for her. It had me thinking, had she ever lived a normal life, where you didn't have to beg for food every day? Was that really what her entire life had been, just trying to survive until the next day? It was truly heartbreaking.
My eyes become glassy with unshed tears as I continue down the path towards Tazuna's house. My resolve had become strong at this point. I vowed to complete this damn bridge, so little girls like the one we just met could live happily and carefree. I would help change their lives for the better, even if it killed me. It was the least I could do for them, considering how they have to live. I mean, what's one measly life compared to an entire town?
::
My eye twitches in annoyance as I watch Naruto and Sasuke swallow unnecessary amounts of food, each claiming that they would eat more than the other. Luckily enough, I was sitting next to Sakura on one side of the table so I didn't have to experience their vomiting up close and personal. Surprisingly enough, Sakura intervenes, scolding not only Naruto but Sasuke as well.
"Don't eat so much if you're just gonna throw it all up!" she shouts at the boys. Both Naruto and Sasuke pant as they start to shove food down their throats again.
"No! I will eat as much as I want!" Sasuke says. Naruto growls and swallows a piece of bread.
"And I will eat more than him so I become stronger!"
I sigh and just continue eating like a normal human being, deciding on ignoring the two idiots across from me.
"Excuse me, Tazuna, but I was wondering why that photo on the wall was ripped," Sakura asks. I listen in, curious as well.
Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami all stop what they were doing with grim looks on their faces. It seemed like it wasn't a very nice story.
"He was Inari's father... That man was once called a hero of this land." Tazuna starts. Without warning, Inari hastily stands from his seat and storms out of the room. Tsunami gasps and runs after him, leaving Team 7 and Tazuna alone.
"As I was saying, he was a man known as a hero. Back when he was still around, Inari would smile and laugh all of the time. But since the incident... Inari has changed. He barely has any life or vitality left in him, almost as if he were sucked dry of all of his happiness. It's all because of that day... The incident on that day..." Tazuna says, a few tears rolling down his cheeks.
He then goes on to explain how Inari met the man, and how he had lost his life because of Gato and his men, trying to protect the Land of Waves. By the end of the story, we all understood Inari and just how terrible the situation really is.
Finishing my dinner, I quickly go to bed in hopes of avoiding the others. After a story like that I really just wanted to be alone... Settling into bed, I close my eyes gently and pray for the safety of this town, drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
::
The days were quickly passing by, and the boys had finally finished their training, although Naruto used up too much energy on the last day of training, so while the rest of Team 7 accompanied Tazuna to the bridge, we left him to sleep in. I was having a pleasant conversation with Sakura as we were walking when I heard Tazuna gasp in alarm.
I look at him with curiosity, before my eyes settled on the bodies littering the ground. Sakura and I both run to the closest man, feeling for his pulse. Luckily enough, none of the men were dead, but the needles in each of their necks lead me to assume that Zabuza and the tracker ninja had gotten here, and were waiting for us to arrive so they could kill Tazuna once and for all.
Just as I expected, mist starts rolling in causing me to tense up.
"You know the drill," Kakashi-sensei states, and with a nod from each of us, we surround Tazuna with our kunai up. From beside me, Sasuke is shaking but when I glance at his face it's showing no signs of fear or hesitation. Instead, it showed clear determination and a hint of... excitement?
"Looks like you caught us... Is that one still shaking? How pitiful." Zabuza taunts, appearing from the mist in front of us with the guy who posed as a tracker ninja beside him. Sasuke smirks and glares at Zabuza.
"I'm shaking with excitement!" he states. I raise an eyebrow, so I was right. He was excited. I sigh and shake my head at his antics. Boys these days...
"Look at that guy, who does he think he is, hiding behind a mask," Kakashi-sensei taunts. Sakura and I give him incredulous looks. He was one to talk. Sasuke scoffed at the masked enemy beside Zabuza.
"Yeah, that's right, hiding behind a mask like some phony. What a joke."
With this statement, Sakura squeals and I swear I wasn't the only one who was giving her an unimpressed look. That's literally what Kakashi-sensei just said.
Within seconds, water clones of Zabuza surround us and I can tell that Sasuke is barely containing his initial reaction to destroy them. Kakashi-sensei, however, allows him to destroy them, and that is just what Sasuke does. The water clones fall apart, leaving the four of us safe once again.
"It seems like you have a rival, Haku."
The boy, Haku, I presume, nods from beside him.
"So it seems," He says quietly. Just from that small sentence, I could feel the tension being built up between Sasuke and Haku.
The two end up having a small brawl off to the side, with each boy being seemingly matched. As much as I want Sasuke would obliterate this guy, I can't help but think that he would have a hard time.
With a sick smirk, Zabuza readies his weapon, catching the attention of Kakashi-sensei who also readies a weapon of his own. I take a deep breath and settle my erratic heart, clenching my kunai tightly.
"Let the battle begin."
::