Chapter 23
"Hey Kakashi-sensei, where's Hinata?" Naruto asked at the table
Kakashi looked up at his own plate. "She probably got up earlier to get some extra training in."
"Well I hope she doesn't miss breakfast. Ninja or not, breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a growing girl like her." Tsunami said
"Speaking of growing, I've decided that you and Sasuke have made enough progress in your training and can accompany Tazuna to the bridge today." Kakashi said
"Alright! Finally we get to see this bridge everyone's talking about!"
"But you can't go one an empty stomach, eat up." Kakashi said
Inari just watched as Naruto downed his food and ran out the door. He still remembered what Naruto said to him last night.
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Inari was crying over the picture of his father. These people were foolish! Trying to act like hero's will only get people killed. His father was a hero and he was killed and tortured by Gato...
*Knock* *Knock*
Inari wiped his tears before he answered."Who is it?"
"It's me, Naruto. Can I come in?"
"Yeah, sure..." Inari tried to sound like he didn't care but really, he could use some company
Naruto opened the door with a gentle look in his eyes. "Hey, Inari... Are you ok?" He asked
"O-Of course I'm ok! Why would you think otherwise?!" Inari tried to defend himself
"Inari, I can feel your emotions from downstairs. Do you wanna talk about it?" Naruto asked gently
Inari just turned away and sniffled, Naruto came to him and sat next to him. They sat for a minute before Inari spoke.
"It's my dad. One year ago today is when Gato tortured and killed him." Inari said
"Oh, I'm sorry for your lost." Naruto said
"He was the only one who stood up to Gato's unfair treatment and Gato killed him for it. Since then everyone's been too scared to stand up to Gato."
"You're dad was a hero."
"Being a hero got him killed." Inari said
Naruto looked at Inari before looking at the sky. "Inari, do you wanna know what my dream is?"
"What?"
"It's to become Hokage in my village."
"Why would you want to?"
"You see, I was born an orphan. I never knew my parents or family if I had one. I was raised in an orphanage for the first few years of my life and was treated badly for something out of my control." Naruto said
Inari looked at him with wide eyes, Naruto could tell but he continued.
"Even though I was treated bad, I saw other kids being treated terribly too. Some were treated badly for being bastard children, others for not being smart enough, and others for not being strong enough. It wasn't fair. So that’s why I wanna become Hokage, to help people who are treated unfairly for something they couldn't control." Naruto said
Naruto looked at Inari with gentle eyes. "I guess you can say I wanna be a hero." Naruto gave Inari his signature smile
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"So this is the bridge?" Naruto asked
There was some construction equipment but hardly any workers.
"Where are the workers?" Kakashi asked
"Most of them quit out of fear from being caught by Gato, not me though. I'm staying until it's finished." Tazuna said
"I think you can use some help. Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Around 60 Naruto clones appeared
"What's first boss?" One of the Naruto clones asked Tazuna
Tazuna shook off his surprise. "I need some of to move the support beams and move them to..."
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"Dammit, I didn't realize training took so long and now I probably missed breakfast. I hoped they saved some for me..." Hinata jumped through the trees
As she was jumping, some thing caught her all seeing eyes. It was a boar, dead on the ground. Hinata would brush it off as an animal attack but this wasn't the case. The wounds were too straight for an animal to do, a human killed the boar.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, some was at Tazuna's house. And Tsunami and Inari were there, alone and unprotected.
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"AHHHH!!!!"
"Mom!"
"No Inari! Run away, fast! Run-" Tsunami was thrown to a wall, leaving a crack on it
"Gato said we only need 1 hostage, we do don't need 2." The one in the tattoo raised his sword
"No! Leave Inari alone!" Tsunami begged
Before the man could strike Inari, Hinata came in and grabbed Inari and took the hit.
"W-What? W-W-Why..." Inari asked in horror
Hinata looked up at him with gentle eyes. "Cuz that's what heros do." She said before disappearing into smoke
"What the-! It's a Shadow Clone!"
It was too late to defend themselves now. Two other copies of Hinata jumped from behind them and struck their tenketsu's, leaving them immobile.
"Naruto was right, Shadow Clones are very useful." Hinata high fived her clone
'But very taxing with my level of chakra.' Hinata thought tiredly but didn't show it
"Miss Hinata..." Inari said
"I need to head to the bridge. If someone tried to ambush you, they must've tried to ambush Tazuna and my team." Hinata said before leaving
Tsunami looked at where Hinata once was and the to her son. "We need to gather the village and help them. They'll need all the help they can get to defeat Gato."
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Sasuke was fighting against Haku before he pulled out his trump card, his crystal ice mirrors. Now he was trapped in there.
"Sasuke!" Naruto was fighting Zabuza to defend Tazuna
Zabuza took advantage of his momentarily distraction amd grabbed Naruto by his collar.
"You wanna see your friend? Then go join him!" Zabuza threw Naruto in Haku ice mirrors
"Naruto!" Sasuke caught Naruto before he could hit the ground
"Sasuke! What are we in?!"
"Your in my territory now. There is no escape for you now. The only escape for you is death." Haku said in one of his mirrors
Sasuke grabbed one of his kunai and Naruto grabbed one of his seals.
"Sealing Technique: Bladed Hailstorm!" Naruto threw the seal
The seal released tens of dozens of shuriken and kunai and were aimed at the mirrors. Haku threw his acupuncture needles to stop them but one kunai lodged itself of the mirror where is forehead would be.
"Impressive." Haku stuck his arm out of the mirror and removed the kunai. "But you'll have to do better than that."
Haku threw more of his needles but Sasuke and Naruto managed to dodged most of them with their speed.
'Impressive. They are fast enough to dodge my attacks. The Uchiha seems to be having trouble dodged but it's seems his blonde friend is doing far better in terms of speed.' Haku thought
Outside of the mirror dome, Kakashi and Zabuza were at a stand off. If Kakashi moved to help his Genin, then Tazuna would be unprotected and Zabuza would kill him. If Kakashi used Shadow Clones, then Zabuza would counter using his Water Clones.
"Well it seems we're at a stand off Kakashi." Zabuza said, tightening his grip on his sword
Kakashi lifted one of his hands to his headband, planning to unleash his Sharingan eye again. Zabuza then lunged at Kakashi with a kunai, aiming for his Sharingan eye.
"Nah uh Kakashi, I won't let you use the same trick twice." Zabuza said
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." Zabuza dissappeared into his mist
'Dammit, he's dissappeared again!' Kakashi looked around in the mist
He could hear Zabuza laughing in the mist. "You're nothing but a fraud Kakashi. You rely on that Sharingan of yours to make you seem more powerful than you actually are. When you use a jutsu too many times, someone will find a way to counter it."
Kakashi kept his guard up, his eyes darted everywhere.
Zabuza appeared behind Tazuna and brought out his sword at him. Kakashi tried to protect Tazuna but he wasn't fast enough.
"You're too late Kakashi!" Zabuza swung his sword down at Tazuna
"Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fist!" Blue chakra came down and collided with Zabuza's face
Zabuza fell to the ground roughly. He looked up to see Hinata, with blue chakra lion on her fist.