Inari

is a young citizen of the Land of Waves.

Background
Inari is the son of Tsunami, and is also Tazuna's grandson. His biological father died before he got to know him. One time, Inari's dog, Pochi, was stolen by the bully Akane. As he lost interest in Pochi, Akane threw him into the sea. When Inari hesitated to go in and save him, Akane pushed him in as well. Luckily, Kaiza saved Inari from drowning. Kaiza took a fatherly role in Inari's life and even became close to Tsunami. When Gatō put Kaiza to death, Inari changed. He became a sad and angry boy, with little hope or optimism. He blamed Kaiza for what had happened, believing that he, in dying, had broken his promise to protect the land.

Personality
Outwardly, Inari first appeared to be a very tough individual, though this was just a ruse he put on to hide the loneliness he felt since the death of Kaiza. He would often spend most of his time in his room staring at a photo of his father, conflicted by the feelings he had of loss and anger towards the man for dying, though he did so protecting their small village. Inari has also been described as a contrarian — usually taking up a position opposed by the majority of a group, no matter how unpopular. After meeting Naruto Uzumaki, Inari's personality began to outwardly change. Reminded of his father and his beliefs, Inari would eventually even go as far as to rally the villagers to aid Team Kakashi in driving Gatō and his men out of the Land of Waves, and even shedding tears when Naruto had to return to Konoha. When Naruto met Inari several years later, he seemed like a well-adjusted young man even taking up apprenticeship under his grandfather.

Appearance
Inari has spiky black hair and dark-coloured eyes. As a child, he wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat under the brim of which he would usually look at people. Before that, he wore a blue jumpsuit without a hat. As a teenager, he grew his hair out a bit and donned a similar attire to that of his grandfather consisting of a grey, sleeveless, v-neck shirt, a pair of pants and carried a towel around his neck.

Prologue — Land of Waves
Inari's outlook is changed after he meets Naruto Uzumaki, who also had a horrible past, but learned to deal with it. Naruto's unwillingness to quit and concern for others helped Inari to realise the power of will over fate, and that no risk is too great to protect something precious. He therefore grabbed his crossbow and rallied the townspeople, who proceeded to rise up against Gatō's men. He also attempted to save his mother from the thugs, who would have killed him, had it not been for Naruto. Along with Naruto and Kakashi Hatake, they were able to drive out Gatō's thugs.

Five Kage Summit
Tazuna and Inari (now in his pre-teens and has since becoming his grandfather's apprentice), have both come to Konoha, having been hired as carpenters to help with the rebuilding of the village. Inari was happy to see Naruto and Sakura again, commenting on Sakura's appearance, calling her beautiful.

Inari and his grandfather also ask about Sasuke, wanting to say hello to him too. Both of them having not yet been made aware of Sasuke's defection 2–3 years prior, did not realise that it is a very touchy subject for both Naruto and Sakura. Seeing Sakura's reactions, Naruto covers for it by telling Inari and Tazuna (without important details), that he and Sasuke simply had a fight and that Sasuke was not in the village currently, but that he would soon be bringing Sasuke back. Satisfied, Inari and Tazuna later left to get back to work.

Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha
In the anime, Inari promised Naruto that the first building he would reconstruct is the Ramen Ichiraku restaurant.

Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky
Inari makes an appearance in this novel.

Trivia

 * Inari is the Japanese kami of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes, industry, and worldly success in the religion of Shintō. Inari is represented as male, female, or androgynous. It is sometimes conceived of as a collective of three or five individual kami. It is a popular figure in both Shintō and Buddhist beliefs in Japan. Inari's foxes, or kitsune, are pure white and act as her messengers.
 * Inari makes brief cameos in the Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!, as one of the random people queuing up for the bathroom, and in Naruto episode 161 of the anime.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Inari favours his mother's home cooking.
 * His hobby is looking at photographs.
 * In chapter 11, Tazuna says that Inari is his ten years old grandson, while the first databook states that he is only eight years old.

Quotes

 * (To Naruto) "What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero!"
 * (To Team 7) "Why do you guys bother to try so hard?! No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gatō's men! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, the weak will only end up getting killed!"
 * (To Naruto) "I don't want to have any regrets either. That's why… we have to fight. Now I know, you can't protect anything by being a cry-baby."