Upon getting to Tazuna's house, his daughter Tsunami took over and helped Kakashi. They were waiting outside a room.

"Kat," Naruto breathed.

"What is it?" Katsumi asked looking over at him.

"When we get back to the village, we should train together," Naruto said. "We have to get stronger. That tracker..."

"Something's off about the tracker," Katsumi cut him off.

"Is that he's way too good for his age?" Sasuke asked.

"Hey, who invited you to this conversation?" Naruto growled.

"As horrible as Kat is at controlling her jutsu, she's smarter than you numbskull," Sakura scolded, she looked at Katsumi. "What did you find strange?"

"My cousin Hisoka is part of the tracking ninja back in the leaf, and if I recall correctly. The tracking ninja always travel in a team, and they work on the body as soon as they arrive," Katsumi explained. "I only know this due to how many times I had to help him study."

"Hisoka," Naruto breathed. "Is that why he had us play hide and seek with him when we were younger?" Katsumi nodded. They heard talking, and they all got up to see that Kakashi was awake. "Look, the Sensei's coming around."

 Sakura went over, kneeling next to him."Listen, Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it."

"Sorry," Kakashi breathed. 

"Huh. Well, you did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for a while," Tazuna reminded Kakashi. 

"Right, but Kat has concerns about that boy with the mask? What about him?" Sakura asked. 

"He's from the Elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi said. "Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi."

"But that's thing sensei," Katsumi said as she kneeled next to Sakura. "There are certain protocols they follow, and well--"

"What exactly do they do?" Sakura interrupted. 

"The Anbu Black Ops, also known as The Inferno Squad, destroys all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse," Kakashi explained. "The Shinobi's body contains many secrets---Ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body. These are the secrets of his village. If enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of the enemy, he would try to analyze my Sharingan. In the worst case, my entire Jutsu could be stolen and used against our village. It is the sacred duty of the trackers to prevent this, to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty." Kakashi sat up, he was touching his eye, going out of a trance.

"Hey, are okay? Sensei?" Naruto asked. 

"Hm?" Kakashi asked looking up. "Oh, yeah. To finish what I was saying."

"Kakashi-sensei," Katsumi spoke up. "Don't tracker ninja normally deal with the body, on the spot?" 

"Yeah," Kakashi asked. "They do it so there's no room for error."

"Is that really important?" Sakura asked.

"Of course, it is," Katsumi answered. 

"It seems that you have the same weird feeling about this as I do, Kat," Kakashi noticed, he looked at the others. "Do you remember what the tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

"We don't know what he did," Sakura answered. "I mean, I guess he took it away somewhere."

"Exactly. But why?" Kakashi asked. "He should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible. Think of the weapons he used for the takedown. Do you remember what they were?

"Throwing needles," Sasuke answered. "No way."

"Exactly," Kakashi confirmed. "None of it adds up. 

"What are you all yammering about?" Tazuna asked. "You demolished that assassin."

"Here's the truth," Kakashi said as he grew serious. "Zabuza's still alive." Sakura, Tazuna, and Naruto all screamed. Tsunami let out a gasp.

"But we saw his body! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed. 

"Kakashi Sensei, you checked him yourself," Sakura recalled. "You said that his heart stopped."

"His heart did stop," Kakashi confirmed. "But...that was just a temporary state to simulate death. "The weapons that tracker used are called Senbon. They can pierce deeply but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from needles used for medical treatments, like acupuncture." He looked at Katsumi and nodded.

"Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body," Katsumi continued. "Causing the heart to stop temporarily  while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them."

 " First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is," Kakashi explained more. "Second, he used Senbon, which have a precise effect but are rarely fatal. From these two factors, we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza. He was trying to save him."

"Come on, you're overthinking this, aren't you?" Tazuna asked.  

"Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly," Kakashi said. "Hesitation leads to disaster. Every Shinobi knows this saying." Naruto laughed a bit. 

"Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but how can we do that when you can barely move?" Sakura asked. Kakashi laughed. "Huh?"

"I can still train you," Kakashi pointed out. 

"Hold on," Katsumi huffed. 

"A little last-minute training won't make us strong enough to fight Zabuza," Sakura added on. "You could barely defeat him, even with your Sharingan. We have to be reasonable about this."

"Sakura, why was I able to stop Zabuza?" Kakashi asked.  "Because you all helped me. You've grown. Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto asked looking up. 

"You've grown the most," Kakashi smiled, leaning towards him. Naruto laughed nervously. Katsumi looked over at her friend.

"So you noticed, Kakashi Sensei," Naruto said. "Now things are gonna get better. Believe it."

"I don't believe it!" a boy exclaimed. "And nothing's gonna be good!"

"Huh?" Katsumi, Sakura, and Narito asked looking back to see a little boy. 

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded. 

"Inari, where have you been?" Tazuna asked as he opened his arms. 

"Welcome back, Grandpa," Inari said as he ran over to hug Tazuna. 

"Inari, that was very rude," Tsunami scolded as she walked over. "These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely."

"It's okay. It's okay," Tazuna assured as he patted Inari's head. "I'm rude to them, too." Inari stared at them intensely. 

"Mom, don't you see these people are gonna die," Inari said. "Gato and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out."

"What did you say, brat?" Naruto demanded as he got to his feet. "Listen up. You know what a super ninja is? Well, that's me, only a lot better. I'm going to be Hokage." He made a fist. "This Gato or Blato..." He looked at Katsumi.

"Gato," Katsumi answered, Naruto looked back at Inari.

"This Gato is no match for a real hero like me," Naruto continued. 

"Ha. There's no such thing as a hero," Inari grumbled. "You're just full of stupid ideas."

"What'd you say?" Naruto demanded as he went forward.

Sakura held him back. "Naruto, calm down." He was screaming angrily. 

Inari went to go leave, then looked back at them. "If you want to stay alive, you should go back where you came from," Inari advised. " He walked towards the door.

"Inari, wait. Where are you going?" Tazuna asked. 

"To look out at the ocean," Inari answered. "I wanna be alone." He left the room. Naruto continued to growl angrily. 

"Sorry about that," Tazuna apologized as he looked back at the others. Katsumi went and sat in front of the house with Sakura as Kakashi got a crutch.

"Wow, Kat, I didn't know you knew so much about tracker ninja," Sakura said.

"I only know so much because of my cousin," Katsumi said. "If it wasn't for him, I'd be clueless."

"Honestly, I always thought you were quite the blockhead, but since we've become a team, you are a lot smarter than you let people let on," Sakura said. "How come?"

"It doesn't matter how smart I am," Katsumi shook her head. "You have excellent chakra control, so people are more likely to look towards you." She put her head in her hands. "I wish I was more like you, Sakura." Sakura couldn't help, but blush. 

"You won't if you continue to just sit there," a voice said. They looked at Kakashi staring down at them. "Now, let's head to the forest." They were now in the forest ready for a technique to help them beat Zabuza and the kid. "All right, your training starts now."

"Right!" Naruto chimed.

"First, we will begin with a review of chakra, the ninja's basic source of power," Kakashi began. "Understanding chakra is essential."

"We know that," Sasuke confirmed. 

"He's right," Naruto smiled. "A long time ago, we learned about--Uh, cattra."

"No, no," Katsumi denied. "It's Chakra."

"Daa," Naruto sounded. 

"Go ahead, Sakura," Kakashi instructed. 

"All right, Naruto," Sakura took over. "I'll explain it simply, so you can understand it." She held up a scroll. "Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in Jutsu. It's the source of all his power.  Now, this energy has two forms, physical energy, which exists in all the cells, in the entire body, all working together, and spiritual energy, the primal source of power, which is intensified through training and experience. As you see, these two types of chakra must be drawn out and brought together. Notice the interplay between physical and spiritual power. That's the key. Finally, hand signs focus and unleash the chakra."

"Right on all points," Kakashi confirmed. "Iruka Sensei really did have some excellent students."

"Ha," Sakura smiled.

"Uh. What's the big deal with all these complicated explanations?" Naruto asked. "The whole point is to learn the jutsu, isn't it?"

"Naruto's right for once," Sasuke agreed. "We already are feeding chakra energy in our jutsu."

"No," Kakashi denied sharply. "You have not mastered this power. You've barely scratched the surface of it."

"What do you mean?" Katsumi asked. 

"Calm down and listen," Kakashi ordered. "It's just like Sakura said. You have to draw on physical and spiritual energies and then combine them within yourself. But...how do you do that? Each Jutsu requires different types of chakra in different proportions. You must select and combine them in exactly the right way. Up to now, you've just guessed at the proportions, hoping they'd come out right. Even if you produce a lot of chakra, unless you can balance and control it, it's all worthless. The Jutsu won't work at all, or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way. Then you're out of chakra, and you can't fight at all. You're just a target. You noticed that, didn't you Kat, when you were freezing Zabuza's clones?"

"Huh?" Katsumi asked as she looked up. " I guess I did."

"So how do we change that, heh?" Naruto asked."

"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature," Kakashi instructed. "To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line."

"What do we have to do?" Sakura asked.

"Heh-heh-heh. Climb a tree," Kakashi answered. 

"Climb a tree?" Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Katsumi repeated. 

"That's right," Kakashi confirmed. "But...there's just one rule." He let go of his crutches. "No hands."

"What? You're kidding," Sakura scoffed. 

"Am I?" Kakashi asked. "Let's see." He put his hands together, he focused his chakra on his feet. He walked over to the tree, everyone gasped when they saw his foot on it. They watched him climb up the tree, with his crutches. 

"He's climbing," Katsumi noted.

"Straight up," Sakura added.  "And he's only using his feet. " 

Kakashi was now standing upside down, on a branch. "Focus the chakra toward the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra."

"Wait, a minute," Sakura said. "That's a nice trick, but how does it help us fight Zabuza?"

"It's the only way to fight him, Sakura," Kakashi confirmed. "That's the entire goal of this training. First, you'll learn to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in your body. This is difficult, even for advanced ninja. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy. And the bottoms of the feet are the most difficult points to focus chakra. Are you getting the picture?"

"Sort of," Katsumi admitted as she tilted her head. 

"If you can master this, you'll be able to master any Jutsu," Kakashi explained. "Well, theoretically. The second point is to learn to maintain your chakra levels. When a ninja is focused in battle, it's even harder to control and maintain his chakra levels, a deadly mistake. To avoid this, maintaining chakra must become second nature, effortless. Well, I can talk about this all day, but that won't advance your skills, will it? You need to apply the power of chakra, through training." He threw four kunai, each landing in front of his students. "Use the kunai knife to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb without using your hands. Then, try to get past that mark the next time and the next. At first, you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum can take you as high as possible until you get used to it. Ready. "

"I'm more than ready," Naruto confirmed as they grabbed the kunai. "This is gonna be no sweat all the way. Believe it."

"Let's do this," Katsumi said, Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Remember what you said, Sensei, I'm the one who's grown the most," Naruto brought up. 

"You're definitely the one who talks the most," Kakashi added. "Now get focused and do it."

The students began to focus their chakra on their feet, Katsumi could feel it balling up, she looked down to see the same circle forming just like it was for everyone else. 

"I got it!" Naruto shouted as he opened his eyes. "Charge!" All of them ran towards a tree, Katsumi felt herself going up, she went up a bit, then felt her leg go through the tree.

"Ah!" Katsumi squeaked, she was dangling with her leg stuck in the tree, she saw that Naruto and Sasuke were both back on the ground. Their marks were below her, she saw that Naruto had a big bump on his head. 

"Hey, this is fun!" Sakura shouted, they all looked up to see Sakura sitting on a tree branch.

"Huh?" They all gasped. 

"Sakura," Katsumi smiled up at her. She was laughing, sticking her tongue out.

"Well, looks like one of the female members of the squad has the most advanced chakra control. Well done, Sakura."

"Yeah, way to go, Sakura," Naruto cheered. "I always knew you were awesome. Believe it!"

"You have amazing skills, Sakura," Katsumi complimented. 'But how did she do it?'

"Whatever," Sasuke grunted as he looked away. 

"Well, not only does Sakura understand chakra, she can control and maintain it as well," Kakashi explained. "We spoke about someone becoming Hokage one day, didn't we? Seems Sakura's got the best chance of that, wouldn't you say?" Naruto opened his eyes. "Didn't someone say they'll bring the Mino Clan more into the village?" Katsumi looked at her sensei. " And as for the great Uchiha Clan, maybe they're not so great after all. " Sasuke became angry.

"Shut up, sensei. You talk too much!" Sakura shouted angrily. Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other as Katsumi got herself out of the tree, she landed on the ground by the other two. 

"All right," Naruto smiled. "First, I'll match Sasuke. Then I'm going all the way to the top. Believe it!" They all continued to train, Katsumi had to change to a different tree, she made too many holes in the first one. Katsumi was now on the ground, she was panting staring up at the tree. She looked over to see Sakura, staring at Naruto who was getting frustrated. 

"Sakura," Katsumi whispered crawling over to her. "I need some tips."

"Me as well," Naruto said as he appeared on the other side of Sakura. "You're good at this."

"Uhh," Sakura breathed.

"But please don't tell Sasuke we asked," Katsumi requested. 

  "Please, please," Naruto pleaded. 

"Alright," Sakura gave in. "Chakra requires spiritual energy, so if you get all anxious and frantic it doesn't work. You have to relax and totally focus on the tree. That's how you get a steady chakra flow in the bottoms of your feet." Katsumi and Naruto then went back to their respective trees to continue their training. 

Katsumi relaxed, focusing on the tree, she felt the chakra flow to her feet. Then once she was sure, Katsumi ran, she started to go up the tree, she reached a certain mark, slashed at it with her kunai, and then went back down. 'No signs of it being dented, good.' As they continued on with their training, Sakura got sent to guard Tazuna on the bridge. Soon dusk had rolled around, Katsumi on the ground, panting with the other two.

"Why is it so hard?" Naruto complained. 

Katsumi looked over to see both boys running up the tree. 'They are rivals after all.' She looked back at her tree. 'This should be easier for me, I live in trees. The whole Mino Clan living guards are above ground.' Katsumi started back on her training. Soon they were all back at Tazuna's house for dinner, Naruto and Sasuke were still competing with each other. 

Tazuna was pleased with what he was seeing. "Hey, this is fantastic. It's been ages since we've had so many guests around our table. "

"I want some more!" Naruto and Sasuke shouted as they held up their bowls. They looked at each other and growled. Lighting struck between them, then they pushed away from the table and threw up. 

"Don't eat so much if you're gonna puke it up," Sakura scolded as she got to her feet. 

" I have to eat," Sasuke declared. 

"And I have to eat more than him," Naruto declared. "It's the only possible way I'll get stronger enough to beat him."

"That's true," Kakashi nodded. "But puking won't help you." 

"It'll just make you weaker," Katsumi added. 

"Just how weak are we talking?" Sasuke looked at her.

"Maybe you'll end up like me and lose control of your Jutsu," Katsumi suggested. "Then you'll be sent back to the academy Sas-Dork."

"Sas-Dork," Naruto laughed.

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted as he stood up. "You two are both total losers."  The others at the table were laughing. Soon dinner was over, they were now all having tea. 

"Excuse me, this picture is torn," Sakura said as she stared at a photo on the wall. "Is there some reason for that?" She looked back at the table. "Inari, you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like there was someone else in the picture, but they got torn out. I mean, that's kind of strange, isn't it?" All three members of Tazuna's household grew uneasy. 

"It's my husband," Tsunami answered as she continued on with the dishes. 

"They used to call him a hero in this land," Tazuna added, Inari got up.

"Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked, looking back. The boy silently left the room. Tsunami went after him. "Father, you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari, you know that." The door slammed behind her. 

"Inari's so...I mean what happened to him?" Sakura asked. 

"Hm. Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi asked. 

"He wasn't his real father," Tazuna began. "He came into our family later. And he brought so much happiness.  He and Inari were very close. " Naruto gasped. "In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time. But then..."

"Hm?" Katsumi asked as they watched Tazuna get worked up.

"Uh?" Naruto asked. 

"All that ended," Tazuna said as tears fell. "He never laughs or smiles anymore, ever since the day everything changed. The word courage was stolen from this island. We were left feeling powerless, hopeless, and Inari suffered the most, ever since that day, ever since it happened."

"Please, tell us," Katsumi requested. "What happened to Inari?" 

"First you need to know about the man, his father," Tazuna began. "The man who taught us the word courage, who was a hero in this land." He took off his glasses, wiping his eyes.

" A hero, really?" Naruto asked. 

"You can decide that for yourself," Tazuna said. "He  came here about three years ago." Tazuna began to tell them the story. "Interesting enough, at that exact moment, Pooch figured out how to dog paddle." They heard a dog howling; Tazuna continued on with the story. " His name was Kazia. A simple fisherman who'd come here from another land to follow his dreams. After that, Inari and Kaiza were inseparable. The boy never known his real father, so you can imagine what it meant to him to have Kaiza in his life. He looked up to him and followed in his footsteps, like a real father and son. Kaiza spent more and more time with us until he just naturally became a member of our family.  "And when this town needed him, he became something more." He told them about Kaiza swimming to help close a gate. "From that time on, Kaiza was considered a hero in this land. He taught us all the meaning of courage, and Inari was so proud to be his son. But it wasn't long after that Gato showed up and took over. He terrorized the whole village. Only Kaiza stood up to him. Gati couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man. Since then Inari's changed. So did Tsunami. And all our people. We lost our will." Naruto got up from the table, he immediately fell over.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Sakura asked. 

"You better take the day off," Kakashi advised. "No more training. You've used too much chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you." Naruto slowly got back onto his feet. 

"I'm gonna to prove it," Naruto grunted as Katsumi went down to him. 

"Hm?" Tazuna asked.

"Prove what?" Sakura asked. Katsumi put Naruto's arm over her and helped him to his feet. 

"I'll prove that--That it's true," Naruto declared. "That in this world...there are real heroes."

"You should get some rest first," Kakashi advised. "You won't get better if it ends up killing you."

"No need to worry Kakashi-sensei," Katsumi assured. "We'll watch each other's backs."

"Believe it," Naruto flashed a smile. They trained as much as they could, staying out all night. The two of them ended up even training at night. Katsumi had channeled chakra to make her hair buns light up in hellfire to give them some light.

"Hey, Kat," Naruto whispered. She looked over, he had just fallen again.

"What is it?" Katsumi asked.

"You seem to do fine channeling your chakra, so why are you having so much trouble with the tree?" Naruto asked.

"The same reason I always lose control of my Jutsu probably," Katsumi answered. "Having lots of chakra in you can be hard to control sometimes, I need to make sure to have better control of it. Then I can start catching up to the others on our team."

"Heh," Naruto smiled; Katsumi tilted her head. "It sounds like you are overthinking this, you need to be a bit more simple-minded like me."

"Like you?" Katsumi asked.

"You just have to work hard and believe in yourself," Naruto said. 

"Naruto," Katsumi said after a moment of silence, he opened his eyes looking at her. "Do you truly believe there are such things as heroes?"

"Of course there is!" Naruto yelped. "The Fourth Hokage is considered a hero of our village right? Even with him gone, the spirit of our village remains strong as ever."

"And defeating Gato will make us heroes?" Katsumi asked.

"We have to defeat Zabuza and that kid that was with him," Naruto corrected.

"Well, in all technicality Zabuza is probably working for Gato," Katsumi informed. "But yes, we have to get past Zabuza and that kid first, some others, and then Gato."

"After this is over we'll prove to the whole island that heroes still exist and give them their courage back," Naruto lit up even more, and he laughed a bit. "It'll be so great, that Granny Talia will have to give me free food for two weeks!"

"Great Gran already gives you free food," Katsumi reminded him. "You do show up for dinner about three times a week."

"Come on, Kat," Naruto said as he got back up to his feet. "If we both get stronger, then the village will have to respect me, you, and your clan."

"Huh?" Katsumi asked looking up at him.

"Let's get stronger together," Naruto declared as he put his hand out.

"Right," Katsumi smiled as she grabbed it. The two then continued training, they fell asleep at some point, Naruto on the ground and Katsumi up on a branch. Soon she woke up to someone shaking her, she opened her eyes to see Sasuke. "What are you doing out here?"

"You skipped breakfast," Sasuke groaned as he stood up. "You and Naruto are both such losers." Katsumi sat up, in another tree, she saw Naruto continuing on with his training.

"Well, let's continue," Katsumi said. She and Sasuke both went back to training with Naruto. Soon Kakashi and Sakura entered the forest.

"Naruto! Katsumi!" Sakura called out. "Knowing Naruto, and Katsumi, they could be anywhere." She looked in another direction. "And Sasuke hasn't come back, either. I wonder where they are." A kunai hit the ground right before Sakura. They looked up to see Naruto and Katsumi in two separate trees, both laying a branch with a smile.  "Whoa, they can climb that high now using their chakra? That's great."

"Hmm," Kakashi breathed. 

"What do you think?" Katsumi asked. 

"High enough for you guys?" Naruto asked. "I mean, it's a long way down, huh?" He got onto his feet with a bigger smile. He suddenly slipped going back.

"Naruto!" Katsumi gasped.

"Uh-oh," Kakashi breathed. 

Sakura let out a scream as Naruto continue to fall back, he then latched on to the underside of the branch. 

"Ha-ha just kidding," Naruto laughed looking at Sakura and Kakashi. "You guys really fell for it."

"We were worried about you, Naruto," Sakura scolded him over his laughter. 

"Why do I think this is going to end badly?" Kakashi asked. As Naruto laughed his feet were released from the branch. "Huh!"

"Naruto!" Katsumi exclaimed.

"Aah! You just had to push it, didn't you, showoff?" Sakura scolded even more. 

"Aah!" Naruto shouted as he started to fall headfirst. Sasuke ran up a tree, jumped over, and grabbed Naruto by the leg. 

"You really are a total loser, Naruto," Sasuke said. 

"Haaa! Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed as he swayed back and forth.

Sakura lit up and gushed. "All right, Sasuke. You're the best."

"If I'm still sane by the time I finish their training, it'll be a miracle," Kakashi said looking happy. Naruto, Sasuke, and Katsumi continued training for the rest of the night, till they got up to the three tallest trees, the moon was right behind them. 

"Made it to the top," Katsumi smiled as Naruto panted loudly.

"Let's go back," Sasuke said as he looked proud of himself. 

"All right!" Naruto gave a huge smile. The three made their back to the house, Katsumi and Sasuke holding up Naruto. They opened the door to find everyone getting ready to sit down for dinner. 

"What have you been up to?" Tazuna asked. "You look like something the cat dragged in."

Naruto looked up with a smile. "Us three made it. We climbed all the way to the top."

"Good," Kakashi nodded. "Now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you three are bodyguards for Tazuna."

"Yay!" Katsumi cheered; putting her hands together as she let go of Naruto.

"All right!" Naruto cheered as well. 

It ended up him and Sasuke both falling back. "Uhh, you are such a loser." Laughter spread through the house, soon they were all sitting around the table, dishes on the table from dinner.

"In a few more days, the bridge will be finished," Tazuna said. "I have you to thank for that."

"You've all done great, but you've still got to be careful," Tsunami wished. 

"I've been meaning to ask you this, but I hadn't had the chance until now," Tazuna admitted. "Why did you stay and protect me, even after you found out I lied to bring you here?"

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage," Kakashi began to quote as he looked at the table. "But under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive."

"Huh?" Tsunami asked.

"Isn't that a passage from the First Hokage?" Katsumi asked as she sipped her tear,

"Indeed," Kakashi nodded as he looked back at Tazuna and Tsunami. 

Inari looked over at Naruto, tears filled his eyes. "But why?'

"Hmm?" Naruto sounded as he lifted his head. "What did you say?"

Inari slammed his hands on the table, getting to his feet. "All this stupid training is just a waste of time. Gatos' got a whole army. They'll beat you down, and they'll destroy you. These cool things you all say--they don't mean anything. No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose." Everyone stared at him.

"Just speak for yourself," Naruto grunted as he put his head back down. "It won't be like that for me. You got that?"

Inari continued to cry. "Why don't you be quiet? Looking at you makes me sick. You don't know anything about this country. You're just butting in. Always laughing and playing around. You don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt."

'If only you knew the truth,' Katsumi thought to herself as she looked at Inari.

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim," Naruto began. Inari grunted. "You can whimper all day for all I care." He looked at the little boy. "You're nothing but a coward." 

"Naruto, you went too far," Sakura scolded. Naruto angrily got up, dismissing himself from the table. "Naruto." They looked over at Inari as he sobbed. Soon they all left the table, Inari went and sat on the dock, while Sakura and Sasuke went to bed early. Katsumi went to check on Naruto. He was staring angrily up at the ceiling, with his penguin hat on.

"Naruto," Katsumi greeted as she went sat beside him.

"I know I might've gone too far," Naruto grumbled. "But the way he was just sitting and whimpering there really ticked me off."

"Is it that he ticked you off, or you saw a bit of the old you when you were around his age?" Katsumi asked. 

Naruto looked over at her. "I guess when you put it that way...though unlike me Inari has friends at his age, a mother, a father...hell even a grandfather...and he's just crying. When I was his age, what I said to him earlier, is what I told myself over a thousand times."

"Sometimes the words we need to hear can be the hardest to take in," Katsumi stated. "You of all people know what Inari is going through. The both of you are still heated from earlier, but maybe tomorrow after the bridge, try to connect with Inari."

Naruto looked back at the ceiling. "Kat."

"Hm?" She asked as she laid down. 

"I'm not sure if I say it enough," Naruto admitted. "But thank you for you and your clan for always accepting me."

"Outsiders in our village, gotta stick together, right?" Katsumi asked as looked at him with a smile. Naruto looked at her and returned the smile. 

"When I become Hokage, you have to be one of my advisors," Naruto laughed. "And I'm not taking a no."

"Mino Clans aren't allowed to have those types of positions, remember?" Katsumi reminded him. "We can have them in our district, just not the main part of the village." 

"That'll change when I become Hokage," Naruto declared with a thumbs up. Katsumi couldn't help but smile even more. Soon those two ended up falling asleep as well, letting there bodies rest for tomorrow.