The Other Jinchūriki - A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 16

After a long day of training, with Sōma and Sakura going with Tazuna for some groceries, it was time for dinner. Sakura helped out while Sōma had set up the table. Everyone was eating quietly...well, almost everyone.

"Hey, this is fantastic!" Tazuna said happily, while the Uchiha twins, Naruto, and Rizaki were literally inhaling their food to see who finishes first. "We haven't had guests here in ages!"

"You guys do know you'll get sick if you eat too fast, right?" Sōma questioned, looking at his teammates excluding his sister.

"I want some more!" The four yelled out. After a few seconds they turned to one side and puked out all the food onto the floor.

"Don't eat so much if you're just going to turn this place into a puking zone!" Sakura scolded, bonking the four of them on the head, Sasuke's lighter. "Tsunami and I made this food for you and you're just inhaling it! Actually try and taste it, will you?!" The four complained about the hits but nodded, eating the food slowly this time.

Sōma sighed and took a quick glance around the room, before he noticed a torn out picture on the wall.

"Excuse me," he said, trying to be as kind as possible. "This picture is torn. Inari, dude, you've been staring at it all through dinner. It seems like there was someone else in the picture but it's torn out. Isn't that a bit strange?" Sakura gave him a scolding glare and a soft huff.

Why the heck would he say that out loud?! Inner Sakura yelled. Isn't he supposed to be the older, mature one?!

There was a long silence. "It was my husband," Tsunami finally answered.

"They used to call him a hero in this land," Tazuna added. Inari got up from his chair, a shadowed look on his face, and made his way upstairs again.

"Inari, where are you going?" His mother asked, trailing behind him. "Father, you know you can't talk about him like that in front of Inari. Ugh..."

"Inari's so—I mean what happened to him?" Sakura asked.
"Is there a story behind this?" Kezuka asked.

"He wasn't his real father," Tazuna started. "He came into our family later. And he brought so much happiness. He and Inari were very close. In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time." The elderly man's tears started appearing and falling down his face. "But then, all of that ended. He never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since that day, everything's 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."

"Tell us what happened to Inari," Kakashi demanded kindly.

"First you need to know about his father. The man who taught us the word courage, a hero in this land."

"A hero?" Naruto asked. "Really?"

"You can decide that for yourself. He came here about three years ago. Inari was with his little puppy, Pooch, when a few kids ganged up on him. They threw Pooch in the water and Inari was more than scared, since he didn't know how to swim. But he jumped in anyway. Interestingly enough, Pooch figured out how to doggy paddle; Inari, not so much. He was slowly drowning, until a man came up and pulled him out the water, saving him.

"His name was Kiaza. He was a simple fisherman who'd come here from another island to follow his dreams. After that, he and Inari became inseparable. The boy had never known his real father, so you can imagine what it must have meant for him to have Kiaza in his life. He looked up to him and followed in his footsteps, like a real father and son. Kiaza spent more and more time with us, until he just naturally became part of this family. And when the town needed him, he became something even more.

"There used to be flooding happening around here when our dam broke, and Kiaza came in to help. He tied a rope around his waist and jumped in the water, swimming towards the dam despite the danger. He pushed it closed and was pulled back to shore. From then on Kiaza was considered a hero to this island. He taught us all the meaning of courage.

"It wasn't long when Gato showed up and took over. He terrorized the whole village, and only Kiaza stood up to him. Gato couldn't have a local hero getting in his way. It took his whole gang to stop one man. They set him up on the cross and...killed him. Everyone in this village was shocked and horrified, and Inari was there to see it all.

"Since then, Inari has changed. So has Tsunami. And all our people. We lost our will." Naruto had a shadowed look on his face as he tried standing up, but falling face-first in the process.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Sakura questioned, giving him a look. Rizaki slowly stood up, of course making sure to actually stretch her legs a little before doing so.

"Seriously Rizaki, you too?" Sōma asked with the same look Sakura has, but more curious.

"You two better take the day off," Kakashi suggested. "No more training. You've used too much chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you."

Rizaki grunted as she felt the soreness in her ankle. Damn this thing. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," she apologized with a soft grin. "I don't plan on taking days off with something like this happening!"

Naruto slowly got up as well, his legs a little wobbly. "We're going to prove it!"

"Prove what?" Kezuka asked.

"Prove that it's true. That in this world, there are real heroes!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
970 words

So yeah, now we know the reason of Inari's smol attitude-

And Sōma can be stupid at times too, yes XD

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter! <3