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Naruto Episode #11 - The Land Where a Hero Once Lived At Tazuna's bridge, men are hard at work. Sakura is sitting there by herself yawning. Tazuna asks her where Naruto and Sasuke are, and she tells them that they're still training. Tazuna asks her if the training was too hard for her, and Sakura tells him that it was actually too easy, that's why Kakashi sent her to guard him. Tazuna doesn't believe that and walks away, angering Sakura. One of the workers approaches Tazuna and tells him that he doesn't want to work on the bridge anymore. Tazuna is outraged, but the man tells him that he just can't keep putting his own life on the line. Any day, Gato and his thugs will show up and kill Tazuna. Building the bridge is just a lost cause. The man tries reasoning with Tazuna, telling him to abandon the bridge to save his life. Tazuna valiantly refuses, as the bridge is their only way to save their country from poverty. Tazuna begins to walk away, and the man begins feeling guilty. Tazuna tells him that he shouldn't bother coming back anyway. Sakura watches on with a serious face. It's sunset in the forest, and Naruto is exhausted and frustrated with the difficulty of their new training. Sasuke is also hit with fatigue as the two of them look up at the great height of the trees. The two rivals stare each other down, and Naruto vows not to lose to him. The two Genin both charge toward the trees and continue on with their training. Meanwhile, Tazuna and Sakura are walking through town. Sakura asks Tazuna were they;'re headed to, and Tazuna tells her that he's picking up some food for dinner. Sakura witnesses a poor man with a sign asking for work, a young child stealing food, and two more impoverished children sitting down, obviously unhappy. The two enter a store where Tazuna will buy some groceries. Sakura can't believe it's considered a store, as the shelves are dusty, filled with scarce amounts of food. Another man in the store catches a glimpse of Sakura's bag and plans to steal it. When he goes to grab the bag, he grabs Sakura's butt instead. Sakura kicks the man in the face calling him a pervert, even though his intentions were misinterpreted. As Tazuna and Sakura continue through town, Tazuna compliments Sakura on her fighting. There aren't too many girls who can fight like that near them. Sakura begins to rant about the people in the town when someone else touches her butt. She's obviously ticked off by this, ready to beat down another victim until she turns around. She turns to find a young, poor boy asking for food with a broad smile upon his face. Sakura's eyes begin to tear as she hands the boy some candy. The young child is very grateful and he runs off into the distance. Tazuna explains that the Wave Country has been like that since Gato arrived, and none of the adults have the courage to stand up to him. They've lost all hope, which s why Tazuna must complete the bridge. Not only will the bridge bring them trade and commerce, but it will be a sign of courage and hope for the people. Tazuna wants the people to live on with dignity, and they can't let Gato get in their way. Sakura knows that she, along with Sasuke and Naruto, must save this country. Back in the forest, Naruto and Sasuke are both climbing up their respective trees. Naruto climbs a decent amount and marks it off, but when he lands, he sees that Sasuke is still climbing. Sasuke knows that Naruto is gaining on him, but Naruto believes he'll lose his concentration if he keeps focusing on Sasuke. Naruto thinks back on what Sakura told him. She told him to relax and focus on the tree, because it requires spiritual energy. If he's all anxious and frantic, it won't work. Naruto is concentrating hard, and he feels like he's going to make it all the way this time. After taking two steps towards the tree, Sasuke calls out his name, and Naruto falls flat on his face. Naruto yells at Sasuke for making him lose focus. Sasuke begins to hesitate, and Naruto wonders why Sasuke is even talking to him. Sasuke asks him what Sakura's advice was. Naruto is awed by this, but then smiles. He refuses to tell Sasuke, and the two rivals stare each other down. Back at Tazuna's house, everyone is sitting down for dinner. Tazuna tells them that it's been awhile since they've had so many guests. Naruto and Sasuke are furiously eating their food, almost racing to see who will eat the most, and who will eat it the fastest. Once both of them finish, they both stick their bowls in the air asking for more. Even though they ask for more, both of them are obviously full as they barf up their food. Sakura tells them to stop eating if they're just going to puke it back up. Sasuke tells her that he needs to eat to be energized for their training, and Naruto says that he needs to eat more than Sasuke. Kakashi tells them that food will give them energy, but puking doesn't help. Once the mood is more calm, and everyone is sitting quietly at the table, Sakura notices a torn picture on the wall. She asks them why someone is torn out of the picture, and she asks Inari why he'd been staring at it all throughout dinner. Tazuna, Inari, and Inari's mother are all silent. Inari's mother tells them that it's her husband, and Tazuna adds that people used to call him a hero. Inari gets up from the table and leaves, with his mother questioning his reasons. Inari's mother chases after him, but before opening the door, she yells at her father Tazuna for bringing up her husband. Tazuna is shaken up by this a bit, and Sakura asks who he was. Kakashi interjects and asks if there is a story behind all of it. Tazuna tells them that the man wasn't Inari's real father, but they were still very close. Back in those days, Inari would laugh and smile all of the time. Tazuna begins to cry, as he tells them that Inari never laughs or smiles anymore. It all ended one day. Tazuna explains that the word "courage" was stolen from their island ever since that day, and Inari was affected the worst. Kakashi tells Tazuna to tell them what happened. The bridge builder tells them that he'll first describe Inari's father, the man who taught them the word "courage", a true hero. Naruto asks if he was really a hero, and Tazuna tells the Genin that he'll have to decide that for himself. Inari's father came to them three years ago. It all started when Inari was being picked on by three bullies on the docks. The leader of the mini-gang of bullies was holding Inari's dog, Poochie, claiming that it was his dog now. Inari yelled at the kid because Poochie was his dog, and his friend. The bully took Poochie and threw him into the ocean, and said he wasn't going to help him. Inari's poor dog began to drown and Inari was forced to watch him struggle because he couldn't swim. The bullies continually mocked him until the leader, Ikane, kicked Inari into the water. The other two bullies felt he went a little too far by doing that, but Ikane threatened to throw them in also. As Inari was drowning, Tazuna continued on, Poochie ironically learned how to dog-paddle and he swam to safety. Inari, still struggling to survive, continued to shout Poochie's name until he finally sunk to the depths of the ocean. Inari felt he was going to die, until he awoke on the shoreline next to a friendly man cooking some fish on a fire. The man told Inari that he had a talk with the bullies, and they won't be after him anymore. Inari couldn't believe he was alive, and asked if the man saved him, but the man tells him to grab a bite to eat first. The man is surprised that Poochi abandoned the kid, as dogs should be loyal, but then he realizes that Inari did abandon the dog first. Inari begins to cry, as he froze up on the docks, and he guesses he doesn't have any courage. The man tells him not to be so hard on himself, as when he was a kid, he was scared of things also. He tells him to remember an important statement: "Live your life so you have nothing to regret. If you care about something, protect it, no matter how tough, no matter how sad, you've got to keep trying. Even if you have to give up your life, protect it with both arms, never give in!" Tazuna explains that this man's name was Kaiza, a simple fisherman from another land who was just following his dreams. After that day, Kaiza and Inari were inseparable. Since Inari never knew his father, Kaiza was a father figure in his life. Kaiza became a true inspiration to Inari, and as they spent more time together, he eventually became a part of their family. When the town needed him most, Kaiza also came. A flood gate had opened, and the water began rising. Part of the town would be flooded if someone didn't do something. A rough current was flowing through the flood gate, and they'd need to tie a rope around the gate to close it. The only way that would be possible would be if someone were to swim through the rough current. Kaiza tells everyone that he'll do it, even if the villagers find it foolish. Inari is worried, but Kaiza assures him he'll be alright, he needs to do this for the village. Inari watches as his father swims through the rough current with the rope towards the flood gate. He cheers Kaiza on as he reaches toward the gate and ties the rope around it. Tazuna continues on, saying that from that moment on, Kaiza was considered to be a hero in their village, and Inari couldn't be more proud to be his son. Shortly after that, Gato came and terrorized the whole village. Only Kaiza stood in the corrupt gangster's way. It took Gato's whole gang to stop one man, as Gato couldn't have a local hero in the village. Gato had Kaiza severely beaten for him standing up for the village. He had both of his arms smashed with mallets, as he vowed to protect the people with both of them. At a later date, the entire town was gathered to watch a brutally beaten Kaiza tied to a large pole. Gato told the people that Kaiza had defied his corporation, disturbing the order of the land. He'd gathered them all to watch his punishment. He was to be made an example of, as Inari cried his eyes out. Kaiza stood valiantly on the pole, as one of Gato's thugs unsheathed his sword, and he was murdered. Inari continually cried because Kaiza promised to protect him and the land with his two arms, making Inari believe he could do it. Inari thinks it was all just a lie. Since that day, Tazuna says, Inari, Inari's mother Tsunami, and the rest of the village has never been the same. They had lost all hope. Naruto remembers Inari saying there is no such thing as heroes, and also him crying while holding the picture of Kaiza. Naruto gets up and falls to the ground. Sakura asks what he's doing down there, and Kakashi tells him not to push himself. He's used too much chakra, and any more could kill him. Naruto, struggling to stand, tells them all that he'll prove there are real heroes in this world. Next Episode! Battle on the Bridge! Zabuza Returns! Huh? You want somethin' lady? I'm in training right now 'cuz we don't know when Zabuza will strike next. See, I got the message loud and clear. You have to protect what you care about. But to do that, you have to be strong! I'm getting stronger everyday! I'll show Inari there are heroes in this world! Next time: Battle on the Bridge! Zabuza Returns! I'm gonna kick more butt than ever! Believe it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
