The Hyoton - 5

For the remainder of the day Haku insisted that they train. He worked in quiet solitude out on the water and refined his new ability while Gaara and Naruto continued their clumsy rounds of close-quarters combat.

They each contemplated the death of Kaiza. It was painful to think that a family suffered nearly as much as they had, and it was difficult to admit that the outcome of their mission looked bleak with Momochi Zabuza looming in the future.

Dinner was more cheerful, mostly revolving around a series of jokes both Naruto and Anko had been telling. Inari, as always, was silent and moody, and they made it a point not to touch on the subject as to why.

As he often did, Gaara retired to sleep first, followed shortly by a yawning Haku. Naruto, though battered from Gaara's fierce strikes due to their training, was not as tired as he should've been and lingered.

It was a clear night.

The air was thin and the breeze carried a salty smell. Naruto preferred the familiar rustic, leafy scent of Konoha. He slipped outside barefoot. Naruto stood on the cool hardwood deck and stared with unblinking eyes at the ocean of stars dotting the black sky.

He turned after sensing a faint presence nearby. Inari sat silently with his hat tipped over his bowed head and his short legs dangling off the side of the porch. Without much thought, Naruto padded over to the young boy and took a seat next to him.

Inari refused to look up, too stubborn to acknowledge his presence. He didn't like being ignored. With a light-hearted seriousness, Naruto removed the younger boy's hat in one swift motion, which left him amusingly startled, and replaced it on his own head.

'Aw, it's too small...' The Kyuubi container mused to himself. Inari snatched his hat back with an air of annoyance and tugged it back on, "Quit it, will ya? This is my favorite hat."

"It's kinda ugly," Naruto droned disinterestedly, still staring upwards and Inari scowled at him, "Go inside. You'll catch a cold of you stay out here you know."

"I don't care."

"Your gramps will care," Inari didn't respond, "And your mom too."

"Just shut up okay? I don't need some weirdo who thinks he's a ninja to tell me what to do!" Apparently it hadn't been very hard for Naruto to get his attention.

With the thick silence that ensued, Naruto lowered his eyes to the lazy waves crashing in slow-motion ahead of them. The young boy was tense and angry and it was radiating off of him. Naruto could feel it. How could someone that small give off so much resentment? One might think he would've spontaneously combusted by now.

"I heard about what happened to your dad." Naruto said without looking at Inari.

The young boy's back stiffened and he didn't answer.

"You have it rough here and you're unhappy," Naruto went on when Inari didn't protest, "But that doesn't mean you give up and let things stay like this."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, I think I do!" The blonde bit back mildly, "So you think you're miserable? Then would you know what it's like to not even have a father to look up to? Or have your fellow villagers look at you like you're some kind of monster? I don't think so."

There was a long silence before he began again.

"When I was little I had nothing. No family, no friends, and people turned their backs on me wherever I went," Naruto's voice was low, "I met Haku-kun and Gaara-kun and they...they knew what it was like to have nothing; to have no one to depend on. We grew up together wanting to become ninja because the only way we could be respected is if we proved ourselves first...and life shouldn't have to be that way."

Inari was finally looking at him.

"No matter how bad it gets that doesn't mean you surrender. You have to try harder every time you fall down," He continued to watch the waves, "I'll be the strongest shinobi in my village, the Hokage, and then everyone will see me. And you..." He gave a serious look to the young boy, "You've got to stand up for yourself and for your village, because we can't fight Gato for you. Even if you die, you'll die fighting for what you believe in. That's the only way I'll ever let myself die."

"But it won't make a difference. We'll all still be stuck here until he kills us all," Inari's voice shook, "He has us trapped here..."

"Stop being such a baby about it! What would your dad say?" Naruto snapped, "Sometimes you've gotta fight for your freedom. As long as you don't let him, that's the one thing that Gato guy can never take away from you!"

"My freedom?"

"Yeah! Believe it!" The blonde nodded, "It's okay to be scared, but that doesn't mean you run away from your problems. I bet your dad never did that did he?"

"No, but...I just don't see what good I'll do. I'm just a kid and Gato's got a whole army!"

Inari looked taken aback when Naruto pulled out a kunai and held it out to him, wearing a convincing grin. With a quivering hand Inari reached out and took it from him, gingerly grasping the cool, metal ring.

"Haku-kun once told me that it's not the weapon, but the force and spirit behind it that does the most damage," Naruto recalled a small bit of philosophy, "Of course, that was after I kicked his butt during training..." He smirked to himself.

Inari nodded, taking the words to heart and then stared at the knife in his hand for a long moment, "Right! Um..." He wore a quizzical look, "W-what do I do with this?"

Naruto shrugged then yawned, "Just practice with it. Try throwing it at Gaara-kun and see what happens." Inari looked floored as the blonde grinned mischievously, "Now come on, let's get some sleep! It's freakin freezing out here!"

"Sir, we're a few days behind schedule but we can still finish laying the support beams by the end of tomorrow if the weather keeps up," A man wearing a blue helmet gave his report to Tazuna, who scratched his beard in thought.

"Good. Keep the pace up and we'll take a break for lunch in a few hours."

"Yes. Um, sir?"

"What now"

"Er, well it's just a rumor but...is there really a ninja trying to sabotage this bridge?"

Tazuna looked away from the paper he had been reading and gave a stern look to the young worker, "You can go home now if you want. I won't stop you," Tazuna looked back down at his paper, "But I'm not leaving. Come hell, high-water, or assassin, I'll die here if I must."

The worker gave him a shaky nod before stumbling back to his duty. Tazuna heaved a sigh. He didn't blame his staff for being nervous. Ninja were all-around bad news if they weren't on your side, but he couldn't afford to have his laborers abandon their posts now.

Besides, he still had his faithful body guards nearby.

They seemed more inclined to chat rather than act as surveillance apparently.

"So then Haku-kun just jumps right into his mirror thingy and disappears!" Naruto was retelling the tale of how Haku uncovered his new Kekkei Genkai ability the day before, "Can you believe it, Anko-sensei?"

She nodded, "Um, yeah. Naruto, are you sure you didn't hit your head or something last night?"

"Positive! I wasn't dreaming, really! Haku did get into that mirror. I saw him do it!"

Anko nodded again while Naruto did his best to convince her it was not a figment of his imagination. Haku said nothing, not really wanting to expose his new ability so early on, 'I thought I could at least keep it a secret until we got back home...Why must Naruto-kun always talk about these things?'

"I'm just curious about something..." Anko had to ask, "Does Gaara sleep in often?"

They had left the redhead behind after he had failed to wake up at the designated time. Naruto wisely suggested that they let him get his sleep because waking him too early could result in loss of one's life and or limb.

"He'll catch up when he's ready." Haku said simply.

Anko shrugged.