Once the three got to Tazuna's house, Rokudo helped Tsunami cook dinner "Boy, this is real fun! I can't remember the last time I shared a meal with so many people!!" said Tazuna as Rokudo put each of their plates down in front of them.
As he finishes he sits next to Sasuke as he and Naruto were eating so quickly, stuffing their mouths with the dinner "MORE PLEASE!" they both yelled before glaring at each other.
A few seconds later after glaring at each other the two of them started throwing up at the same time "STOP EATING IF YOU'RE JUST GONNA HURL IT BACK UP!" yelled Sakura as Rokudo ignored the three as he continued to eat.
××××××××××
After dinner and the incident with Sasuke and Naruto Rokudo helped Tsunami wash and put away the dishes while Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Inari, and Tazuna were sitting in the table, and Sakura was looking at a torn picture "Little Inari was looking at this the whole time we were having dinner, someone's face is completely gone, is that deliberate?" asked Sakura, Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari tensed up "...It was a picture of Inari's father" said Tsunami breaking the silence as she and Rokudo kept cleaning the dishes.
"...Once upon a time, if you will...our entire city called him a hero" said Tazuna, Inari got up from his seat and started to leave the room "Inari...Where are you going?" asked Tsunami worried noticing her son leaving, but Inari ignored her and left slamming the door "Father! I've told you time and again not to mention that in front of my son!!" yelled Tsunami as she also left the room slamming the door behind her going after Inari "So...you're talking about what it is that makes Inari act so strangely...?" asked Sakura as Rokudo sat next to Sasuke "It sounds like there's a story there" said Kakashi-sensei.
"...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 then..." said Tazuna, Naruto, Rokudo, and Kakashi-sensei looked at Tazuna to see him trying to hold back his tears as he was shaking "...But Inari changed...after what happened to his father" said Tazuna as he shed a few tears not being able to hold them back "Our people and especially little Inari were robbed of the very meaning of courage because of what happened that day" said Tazuna as he got everyone's attention "'What happened?" What was it? What could have changed Inari so much?" asked Kakashi-sensei, Tazuna took off his glasses and uses his hand to wipe his tears away "Let me start at the beginning...and tell you about the man who our entire land called champion and a hero" said Tazuna "'Champion"...?" asked Naruto.
It was three years ago that Inari and the man first met.
"Here, Poochie!!" yelled Inari as he was being held down by two boys as the third boy was carrying a small puppy "Not any more! Starting now, his name is Shooting Star and he belongs to me!!" yelled the boy still carrying Poochie "HE'S NOT A SHOOTING STAR!! THAT'S MY POOCHIE!! GIVE HIM BACK!! POOCHIE'S MY FRIEND! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!!" yelled Inari "SHUT UP!!" yelled the boy until he smirked having an idea looking at the water besides him.
The boy threw Poochie in the water, Poochie struggling to swim "POOCHIE!!" yelled Inari as tears form in his eyes "It's what you get for not handing him over when I ordered, who caries abut a dumb dog, anyway? Let Inari go!" the boy demanded as the two boys let him go "YOU CAN'T JUST DROWN MY DOG!" yelled Inari "Well, if the puppy means so much to you...better go save him!!" said the boy smirking "But..." said Inari as he was panicking more each second "Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to just let him die?!!" asked the boy, Inari looked at Poochie as he struggled to swim knowing he himself couldn't swim.
"Hey!! If you own him, why aren't you diving in?" Asked the boy as he kicked Inari in the water with Poochie besides him "This ain't right, Akane. What if he can't swim?" Asked one of the boys panicking, Inari came up to the surface struggling to breathe for air "H-HELP! HELP ME!" yelled Inari as he kept struggling.
"Just leave him!" Yelled the big known as Akane "B-but..." Stuttered the boy "Or do you want to be the next one performing a little pet rescue?" Akane asked pointing at Inari who was still struggling to swim and breathe "P-Poochie...?!" Yelled Inari as he sees Poochie start to dog paddle to land.
But I digress...necessity, and the nearness of his own death finally taught Poochie how to dog paddle...
"Shooting Star's getting away, go after him!!!" Demanded Akane as the three boys left to chase after Poochie while they left Inari to drown.
Inari opened his eyes as the sun was hitting his face "Are you awake, son?" Asked a male voice, Inari got up from the floor to see a man sitting near a fire as he was cooking fish "I really let those punks who were picking on you have it good, here, eat!" Said the man as he hands Inari a fried fish that was on a stick.
Inari looked at the man before taking the fried fish "Did you...rescue me, mister?!" Asked Inari "You've had a pretty rough time of it, haven't you?! Even your dog let you down, where I come from, dogs are loyal, you can count on them, but...well, I guess since you let him down first, we really shouldn't be too hard on him" Said the man as Inari looked down with sadness in his eyes while eating "I was too scared to even move" Said Inari while the man gave him a warm smile.
"I wanted to rescue him, but...I guess I wasn't brave enough" Said Inari as he starts crying but felt a hand on his head, he looked up to see the man patting his head still with a warm smile on his face "Of course not, any kid your age would have been terrified, but keep in mind, son, when you do become a man, you have to walk a road that won't leave you filled with regrets" Said the man, Inari looked at him confused.
"If something is precious to you, no matter how painful or how hard it seems, no matter what it may cost you, you have to hang in there and protect it with all the strength you've got, even at the risk of your own life, if you do that, then even if you die in the attempt, at least the world will be left with the proof that a man worth living had died! It'd be like your legacy, right?!" Asked the man as he kept smiling, Inari smiles back "Yeah!!"
His name was Kaiza, he was a fisherman who came from abroad to seek his fortune, 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!
"I...it's terrible!! Kaiza, the rain's so heavy, it overflowed the riverbanks and forced open all of the locks!! At this rate, all of Sector D will be flooded!!" Yelled a man "What?!!" Yelled Kaiza as he ran to the lock "DADDY!!" yelled Inari as he follows him "Inari, go to the back and get the ropes!" Said Kaiza "Okay!" Said Inari as he ran, quickly grabbed the ropes, and he ran back after Kaiza.
The men watched as the lock was loose and the water running in "This is awful...the only way we could possibly get this lock closed is if we put a rope around the entire barrier and pull it but..." "IMPOSSIBLE! HOW WOULD WE GET A ROPE AROUND IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!! ANYONE WHO GOES INTO THAY TORRENT WILL BE SWEPT AWAY AND DROWNED!!" Said another man Interrupting the first man, "The longer we wait, the worse it will get and Sector D is running out of time!" Said the third man.
"I'll go!"
"Kaiza!!" "It can't be done!!" "You'll be throwing your life away!!" "Don't risk it!" All the men said begging him not to do it "Daddy!!" Yelled Inari "Don't worry Inari...daddy can do anything!" Said Kaiza as he places his hand on top of Inari's hat.
"Because he loves the city where his little boy lives!" He says as he smiles.
Inari watches as Kaiza jumps in the water with a rope tied around his waist and starts swimming to the other side, a smile grows on Inari's face "GO DADDY!!" Cheered Inari as Kaiza made it to the other side "He's done it!! The rope's in place!!" "Pull everyone, pull!"
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...until Gate came to town.
"And the incident you've alluded to took place.." Said Kakashi-sensei, Tazuna looked down as they all looked at him "What happened?" Rokudo asked, wanting to know, Tazuna started to shake at the memory "In front of the entire city...Gatô had Kaiza put to death!" said Tazuna as everybody's eyes widened "What?" Asked Sakura.
"Everybody listen up! This man has committed acts of violence and terrorism against my company and our activities here! He's openly denounced our policies and tried to incite sabotage and resistance against us, and disrupted the order of this land, the penalty for all his crimes is death, the sentence will be carried out at once to ensure that such an awful thing will never disturb any of us, ever again!" yelled Gatô.
"DADDY!!" yelled Inari as he was on the other side of the fence that was put around them, Kaiza looked at him with a smile on his face ignoring the blood dripping from his mouth and the pain "Now!" Said Gatô as a shinobi pulls out their sword "DADDY!!" Screamed Inari, but it was too late.
"But...you promised...you promised to protect me! You're a liar!!"
"What are you doing Naruto?" Asked Sakura as Naruto ran but fell as he took a step "Don't even think about training any more today, if you try to work your chakras any more with getting some rest first, it works probably kill you" explained Kakashi-sensei "I'm going to prove to him that he's wrong!" said Naruto getting up. Everyone looked at him confused "Prove what to whom?" Rokudo asked, confused.
"I'm gonna show Inari that there are still heroes in the world!!!"