The walk to Tazuna's house was quiet and tense.
The awe-inspiring and terrifying battle they had just witnessed had left a deep impact on all the Genin. Even Naruto, who usually couldn't stop talking, was silent, his mind replaying the fight over and over again.
Sasuke's suspicion about the hunter-nin was still fresh in their minds, and they couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, sent a jolt of adrenaline through them.
Only Kakashi was carefree. Despite barely being able to walk, he knew that there was no way Zabuza would recover quickly, and he would clearly need medical aid, something only a shinobi could offer.
Which meant his accomplice would need to stay by his side, so there was no way either of them could attack right now.
So, he knew this was the safest time, which suited him just fine, since he also needed a few days to recover. After all, he was truly dangerously close to complete chakra exhaustion.
Tazuna's house was a small, humble dwelling, but it was a welcome sight. A warm light shone from the windows, and the smell of food filled the air.
A young woman with short brown hair and warm brown eyes was waiting for them on the porch. She was wearing a simple apron over a plain dress, and a gentle smile was on her face.
"You're back, Father," she said, her voice filled with relief, as she ran over to Tazuna and hugged him tightly.
"I'm back, Tsunami," Tazuna said, returning the hug.
Tazuna then turned to his team. "This is my daughter, Tsunami."
Tsunami then looked at the four of them, her eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you for bringing my father home safely," she said, bowing deeply.
Naruto felt his face heat up at the praise. He wasn't used to being treated like this, not at all, and he wasn't entirely sure how he should feel about it.
Despite being a small home, it was by no means cramped nor full. In fact, it had two empty rooms, which the shinobi team gladly accepted.
And while Tazuna caught up with his daughter, they excused themselves to one of the rooms for a small team meeting.
Finally, once they were sitting there, Naruto could no longer remain silent.
"Damn, Kakashi, that fight was awesome! I have never seen anyone move like that. I could barely see you at all, and those ninjutsu? Awesome!" he said, with stars in his eyes.
Sasuke just snorted, but he didn't disagree with Naruto's assessment. The fight had been awesome, and he had learned a lot from it.
"Don't be too impressed, Naruto," Kakashi said, leaning against the wall, still looking exhausted. "Zabuza was strong, but he was careless. He got sloppy, and that's why he lost."
"Still," Sakura said, "you were amazing, Sensei."
"I'll admit, I was a bit impressed by your Chidori, but I must admit, I am more impressed by the way you copied Zabuza's Water Dragon Bullet. It was perfect," Sasuke couldn't help but say.
"Heh, that's the Sharingan for you," Kakashi said, tapping the headband covering his left eye.
"What about that hunter-nin? Do you think Sasuke is right? Was he really a fake?" Sakura asked, her expression serious.
"It's a possibility," Kakashi said. "But right now, we can't be sure. The best thing we can do is be on our guard."
"So, what's the plan?" Sasuke asked. "We can't just stay here and wait for them to attack us again."
"Indeed," Kakashi nodded at the question, crossing his arms as he looked at the three of them. "Which means we have to decide what we are supposed to do now. Our mission was to escort the client home, which we have done, despite it clearly not being a C-rank mission, so what do we do next?" he asked, leaving the choice to them for now. "We can either complete the mission and return to the village, or we can stay here, protect Tazuna, and complete the bridge. The choice is yours."
The choice was indeed theirs. They were shinobi, but they were also children.
And the choice was between safety and duty, between returning home or staying and fighting.
"We have to stay!" Naruto shouted. "We can't just leave them here. We are shinobi, after all! We have to protect them!"
Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. He wanted to stay, he wanted to fight, he wanted to get stronger, but he also knew that this was dangerous. This wasn't a game. This was a real fight, and people could get hurt.
But as he looked at Naruto, he saw the determination in his eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the blond. He might be an idiot, but he had a good heart, and that was something Sasuke, with all his hatred and anger, couldn't help but admire.
Sakura, however, wasn't nearly so sure. She was clearly scared and was someone who had spent far too much time memorizing the rules to understand them.
She looked toward Sasuke for guidance.
Seeing the situation, Kakashi decided to make things clear to them, so they really understood what their choice meant. This time, without Tazuna being able to use his sad story to emotionally influence them.
"Alright, before you make your decision, there are a few things you need to know," he said. "This is no longer a mission we are being paid for. It is no longer a simple escort mission. This is now a battle against a dangerous, elite-level shinobi, and we are on his home turf. If we stay, we will be fighting on his terms, and he will have the advantage. He knows the land, he has the resources, and he has the manpower. We are the ones who are outnumbered and outmatched."
His words were cold, harsh, and honest, painting a grim picture of the situation.
"Because if we stay, what we agree to is to protect Tazuna and the bridge, while Zabuza only needs to kill his target. Protecting is always far more difficult than assassination. Not to mention that we don't know if this Gato person has more than just Zabuza working for him."
"And we are the only ones who can stop him. So, what's it going to be? Are you in, or are you out?"
His words hung in the air, a heavy, suffocating blanket of reality.
Sasuke remained silent. He was torn. On one hand, he wanted to leave, to go back to the safety of the village, to continue his training in a controlled environment. On the other hand, he wanted to stay, to fight, to test himself against a real opponent, to get stronger.
But he had also made a promise to Aiko that he would look after Naruto. And that meant, if he was going to be a stubborn fool, he had to be there to make sure he didn't get himself killed.
So, he had to stay.
He looked at Naruto, a silent, almost invisible smirk on his face. "I'm in," he said, his voice low and determined.
Sasuke's decision made the choice far easier for Sakura. If Sasuke was going to stay, then she was going to stay too.
"I'm in as well," she said, her voice trembling a bit, but her eyes filled with a new-found determination.
Naruto, who had been on the verge of panicking, let out a sigh of relief. He was glad that he wasn't the only one who wanted to stay.
"I'm in too!" he shouted, a wide grin spreading across his face.
Kakashi looked at them, a small, almost invisible smirk on his face. He had expected them to stay, but he was still proud of them for making the choice. They were no longer just a team of Genin. They were a team of shinobi, with a will of their own.
"Alright," he said. "Then we stay. But from now on, we will be training. Hard. We will need to be at our best if we want to survive this."
"So, get some rest," he continued, "because tomorrow, the real training begins. But before then, let's get some food. I'm sure Tazuna and his daughter are grateful, and given the smell, I dare say she isn't a bad cook."
He was trying to lighten the mood.
And indeed, once the two of them heard that they would be staying and helping him build the bridge, or at least protect him until it was done, Tazuna was so happy that he brought out his best sake.
"I'm afraid my students are a bit too young to drink, not to mention that on missions, shinobi shouldn't drink at all, but I appreciate the sentiment. I think we all could use some of that amazing food I can smell," Kakashi said as he politely refused the sake.
Tsunami had indeed prepared a feast, a welcome change from the bland rations they had been eating for the past two weeks. The table was laden with grilled fish, steamed rice, miso soup, and a variety of pickled vegetables.
As they sat down for food, another person arrived to join them, a kid. A boy with brown hair and brown eyes, but with a very sad look in his eyes.
"Inari," Tsunami said, "where have you been?"
"Nowhere," the boy mumbled, as he sat down at the table, not even looking at them.
"This is my grandson, Inari," Tazuna said, taking a swig from his bottle of sake.
Inari didn't even look up. He just stared at his plate, his shoulders slumped.
"So, who are they?" he finally asked, his voice filled with a bitterness that seemed out of place in one so young. "More charity cases?"
Tazuna's smile faltered, a shadow crossing his face. "Inari, mind your manners," he said, a warning note in his voice. "These are the shinobi who saved my life."
Inari snorted, a sound of pure, unadulterated scorn. "Shinobi? They look like a bunch of brats to me."
Naruto, who was about to take a large bite of grilled fish, stopped, his fork halfway to his mouth. He stared at Inari, his eyes wide with disbelief and growing anger.
"What did you just say?" Naruto asked, his voice dangerously low.
"You heard me," Inari shot back, finally looking up, his eyes flashing with a defiance that was tinged with deep-seated sadness. "You're all just a bunch of fakes. You pretend to be heroes, but in the end, you'll just end up dead. Just like him."
Having said that, he rushed back into the house, and the sound of a door slamming shut told them all that he wanted to be alone.
"What's his problem?" Naruto grumbled, stabbing a piece of fish with his chopsticks with a bit too much force.
Sasuke didn't say anything. He recognized the look in Inari's eyes. It was the same look he saw in the mirror every morning. The look of someone who had lost someone important, someone they loved, and had been left behind to pick up the pieces.
"Inari lost his father," Tsunami said, her voice filled with pain. "He was a fisherman, and he was killed by Gato's men a few years ago."
"Gato's men?" Kakashi asked, his one visible eye narrowing.
Tsunami nodded. "Gato took over the shipping industry, and he started to extort money from the local fishermen. When Inari's father, Kaiza, tried to stand up to him, he was... he was made an example of."
She paused, her voice choked with emotion. "They beat him in front of the whole village, and then they hung him in the village square as a warning to anyone else who dared to defy him."
The room fell silent. The only sound was the crackling of the fire in the hearth.
Naruto's anger was gone, replaced by a profound sadness. He looked down at his plate, his appetite suddenly gone.
(End of chapter)
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