"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."

After the talk, Kakashi and Zabuza left Inari alone to think about their words.

The next day, everyone except Naruto went to the bridge to protect Tazuna. Naruto was in the forest meditating and told them that he would come later.

It was just before lunch and Kakashi, Zabuza, Haku, Sasuke and Sakura arrived at the bridge. There lay a couple of dead and wounded people.

"Wha-what's this?" cried Tazuna in anguish. "What?! What happened?"

"A monst—"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Naruto sped through the forest, jumping from branch to branch. He was about to go to Tazuna when he saw a severed boar and a trail of tree markings heading for Tazuna's home.

Sensing trouble, he flickered back to Tazuna's house and hid, masking his chakra to spy on Tsunami and Inari.

"Are you Tazuna's daughter? Sorry, but you're coming with us," threatened one of the mercenaries.

"Mum!" screamed Inari.

"What, kid?" grunted the other bandit.

Tsunami's eyes widened in fear. "Don't come! Run away!"

"Should we take him too?" asked the mercenary.

"We only need one hostage," said the other.

Inari cowered in fright behind the door frame. "Hostage?!" he thought, quivering.

"Then...hehe...should I kill him?"

"Wait!" shouted Tsunami. "If kill him...I will bite my tongue and kill myself. You want a hostage, right?"

The bandits chuckled. "Heh...thank your mum, kid."

"Damn," groaned the other bandit. "I wanted to cut something."

"Give it a rest. You just cut up a bunch of stuff. Let's hurry up and take her."

Inari sobbed silently as he heard the mercenaries take away his mother.

"Mum, I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry...I'm a weak kid so I can't protect you...but...will I...will I also be able to become strong like Dad?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hehe, looking at that pretty skin makes me want to cut it."

"Walk faster."

"Wait!" shouted Inari.

"Huh?"

"It's that kid..."

"Inari!"

"Get...Get away from my mum! Uaaaa!" said Inari, charging at the mercenaries.

"Geez, stupid kid."

"Cut him."

"Sure."

"Inari!" screamed Tsunami.

Then, the area was engulfed in radiating chakra. The bandits looked around warily for any signs of shinobi. In an instant, they were dead. It was Naruto.

"How did you know those bandits were coming here?" asked Inari as he untied Tsunami and removed her gag.

"Inari, I'm sorry about yesterday. Forget it, you are strong," said Naruto.

"Damn it. I decided I wasn't going to cry anymore. Now you're going to make fun of me and call me a crybaby," sniffled Inari.

"What are you talking about?" said Naruto.

"Huh? Crying is for babies."

"Inari, it's alright to cry when you're happy, relieved or sad. But it's cowardly when you do nothing but cry when faced with a situation. A true and strong shinobi will shed tears. They are not a sign of weakness. Well, I'm done here, I can count on you right?"

"Yup!" grinned Inari.

"Okay, I'm going Inari! Later!" said Naruto, flickering to the bridge.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The bridge enveloped in heavy, thick mist. Team 7, Zabuza and Haku stayed alert, sensing for any signs of trouble.

The mist dissolved and Gato could be seen.

"Pathetic, and you call yourself the Bloody Demon of the Mist? You can't even kill an old weak bridge builder! What type of shinobi are you?" mocked Gato.

Naruto laughed. "Being a weak shinobi is a million times better than being someone like you. Money might be your gain but it is also your biggest weakness."

"Naruto, let me take his head," hissed Zabuza.

Naruto nodded.

Zabuza smirked and pulled out his sword. Gato trembled and ordered his bodyguard forward.

"G-give up Zabuza. You can't beat them."

Zabuza smirked and charged forward. The bodyguards raised their swords in defence but it was futile. As if they were training dummies, Zabuza killed them with ease.

Then it was Gato's turn.

"P-please, Z-zabuza. Spare m-my life. I will give you anything! More money!"

"Stop spouting sh*t," snarled Zabuza.

Blood splattered across the bridge.

Sakura and Tazuna cheered, although a bit fazed by the blood while the others smiled. Sasuke smirked slightly.

Then, suddenly, a mob came.

"Damn you shinobi! You killed our meal ticket! You guys are dead! Now we're gonna pillage this city and take anything of value!" shouted the mob of thieves and bandits.

Naruto smirked and he was about to attack when he saw Inari leading the Wave citizens onto the bridge, brandishing everyday items as weapons.

"If you come any further into our island, the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we've got!" cried the villagers.

The group of mercenaries screamed in fright. "Let's get outta here!"

"We did it!" cheered the villagers triumphantly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two weeks had passed. The mission was complete.

"Thanks to you, we've completed the bridge but this is super sad," said Tazuna.

"Thank you for everything," said Kakashi gratefully.

"And thank you for allowing us into your hospitable home," said Haku, bowing down while Zabuza smirked at them.

"And like I said, Inari, it's alright to cry in situations like these," said Naruto.

Inari smiled, letting the tears out. "Bye Naruto! Visit us please!"

Tazuna smiled seeing them walk off in the distance.

"That boy changed Inari's heart and Inari changed the people's heart. That boy gave us a bridge to hope and call courage. We need to name this bridge and I have a super perfect name for it...The Great Naruto Bridge."

The villagers nodded in agreement.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ne, ne, where are you guys going off to now?" asked Naruto.

"I do not know, we are just following you for now," said Haku.

"How does becoming a proper shinobi sound?" asked Naruto.

"I guess that would be good. We don't have to be on the run anymore and it's a lot safer," mused Zabuza.

"You know what? Sandaime owes me a favour for a certain mission so I can always register you two in."

"Well thank, Naru-chan," said Zabuza as Haku smiled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Soon after, Zabuza and Haku were registered as shinobi in Konoha. Haku became a jonin and helped out in the hospital and was placed on Konoha's high-class tracking team while Zabuza joined the ANBU.

They didn't have a problem fitting in: Anko loved teasing Haku about his androgynous appearance while Zabuza got along very well with Ibiki and Anko because of their sadistic nature.

Hayate and Yugao also took a liking to Zabuza as they liked talking about kenjutsu.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After a mission, Naruto was walking back home while Sakura tagged behind him. Behind him, he could sense Konohamaru along with his two other friends, Udon and Moegi.

"Konohamaru, you're not going to fool anyone with that disguise. A rock is not a perfect rectangular prism nor does it have two peepholes. And most of all, they don't move."

"That's the man I view as my rival," exclaimed Konohamaru, smirking. "Anyway, you said you would play shinobi with us!"

"Yeah, let's go then, I hate training anyway."

Sakura deadpanned. "Why would a shinobi play shinobi?"

"Hey, bro, who's this girl? Your girlfriend?"

"No, she's just my teammate," replied Naruto.

"Thank goodness, that ugly forehead girl is no match for you, boss," said Konohamaru, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Naruto laughed. "Good luck Konohamaru-chan, good luck."

"Kyaaaa!" screamed Sakura, charging straight at Konohamaru.

Konohamaru ran away in fear but he was stopped when he bumped into someone.

"That hurt, you little piece of sh*t!" said the boy with purple face markings and cat ears.

"Don't, we'll get yelled at later," scolded the blonde girl with four spiky ponytails.

"I'm sorry, I was messing around," apologised Sakura.

"Let go of him," said Naruto coldly.

The boy grinned. "How about we play a little before the boss comes."

In a flash, Naruto was right behind him, holding a senbon to his neck.

"I suggest you do not stir up trouble, especially when you said that you wanted to have some fun with the Hokage's grandson. After all, do you want to taint Sunagakure's image and the alliance between us?"

Kankuro gulped and dropped Konohamaru to the ground.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?" appeared Sasuke, sitting on a tree branch.

Sakura squealed while Naruto eye-rolled. "They're here for the chunin exams, you idiot. Keep up with the news."

Sasuke growled, but could not say anything.

"Another guy who pisses me off..." said the guy with the purple face markings.

"Get lost!" grunted Sasuke arrogantly.

"Kyaaaa! So cool! Get him Sasuke-kun!" shrieked Sakura.

"Hey punk, get down here. I hate show-offs like you the most," he growled.

Sasuke was about to jump down and attack them but Naruto intervened.

"Sasuke, stop being so bloodthirsty, you should know better than to start a fight in your village, with an ally at the least. Anyway, the guy in the tree, who I presume is your teammate, get down."

A red-haired boy came down from the tree and landed gracefully on the floor.

"Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to our village," he said sharply.

"Ga-Gaara..." said Kankuro sheepishly, nervously sweating.

"Him...When did he?" thought Sasuke. "That's Kakashi level sneakiness."

"Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic...Why do you think we came to Konoha?"

"Listen Gaara, they started it and..."

"Shut up...or I'll kill you..."

"Okay, I'm sorry," apologised Kankuro shakily.

"I'm also sorry...really sorry..." said the blonde girl.

"Sorry to you guys," said Gaara coldly. "It looks like we got here too early but, we didn't come around to play."

"I know that..." said Kankuro.

"Let's go."

"Wait, what's your name?" asked Sasuke.

"Huh? You mean me?" stuttered Temari, blushing.

"No. you with the gourd."

"Gaara of the Desert. I am also interested in you but I am more interested in the black-haired boy. Who is he? He must be good to be able to go behind Kankuro and detect me."

Sasuke seethed.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto, that is the name I will give to you, brother, jinchuriki of the Ichibi, Shukaku the Racoon. Later," said Naruto, flickering away.

Kankuro and Temari's eyes widened while Gaara hid his surprise. How did he know about it?

Sasuke walked off, gritting his teeth in anger while Sakura fangirled over his coolness. Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi just thought about Naruto in awe. Their Big Boss was so cool and so much better than Ebisu...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hey reader-chans! Another update for you guys! Updates will be more regular now since my exam period is over. :)

Thank you for all the reads so much and all the support for my first fanfic, I really, really appreciate it. The Wave Arc is over now! Did you like the twist I put with Haku and Zabuza coming to Konoha?

Look out for the next update! Bye!