A man and two boys walk down an empty street in a quiet town. A redheaded girl watches the trio from an alleyway. The shorter boy notices her and smiles at her. The girl shrinks away slightly and her stomach growls. The boy pulls a piece of bread out of his bag and holds it out to her. The man and the other boy watch silently. The girl takes a small step forward and snatches the bread out of the boy's hand, then retreats. The man reaches down and lifts the girl up by the back of her shirt.
"What's an Uzumaki child doing in this tiny village?"
"Let me go or I'll bite you, dattebayo!"
The man smirks at the little girl, then starts walking toward the inn where the trio is staying. The girl tries to free herself, but the man stops her by shaking her roughly.
"Stop struggling. You're coming with us. You'll get clean clothes, hot food, and a decent place to sleep at night."
The girl stops struggling and stares at the man with a wary look in her eyes.
"What's the catch? There's always a catch, dattebayo."
The man smiles and nods approvingly at the girl's question.
"The catch is that I train you to fight and you do everything I say or I throw you back out on the streets to starve."
The girl pauses for a moment to consider his offer, then she nods.
"Deal."
"Good. Now, what's your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruko."
"I'm Momochi Zabuza, the boy who fed you is Yuki Haku, and the other one is Kaguya Kimimaro."
Naruko nods and Zabuza enters the inn where he and the boys have been staying. He sets Naruko down and heads for the stairs. Naruko follows him up the stairs with Haku and Kimimaro behind her. Zabuza sits down on his bed in the room and points at the bathroom.
"Go take a bath. You can wear some of Haku's old clothes until we can get you new clothes."
Haku pulls an old outfit of his out of his bag and holds it out to Naruko. The girl takes it and smiles slightly at him before she turns and goes into the bathroom. She locks the door behind herself and turns the water on to fill the tub while she undresses. Haku turns to Zabuza with an inquisitive look on his face.
"Are the Uzumaki a Kiri clan?"
"No, they were from a place called Uzushiogakure. The combined forces of Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa destroyed it years ago. It's rare to find an Uzumaki child living on the streets like that. The Uzumaki were very protective of their family members, so she must be an orphan."
"What if she was just separated from her family?"
"Then we'll have a pair of angry Uzumaki coming after us to kill us. They'll likely accuse us of kidnapping their daughter."
Kimimaro turns to Zabuza with an intrigued look on his face.
"Were the Uzumaki really so powerful that it took three villages to wipe them out?"
"They were powerful enough that they nearly defeated the three villages attacking them. In the end, their downfall was when we poisoned their water supply. That wiped a lot of them out. The survivors fled and scattered throughout the nations. They typically hide themselves because they are afraid of what will happen to them if any of their attackers find them. This girl must be an orphan because she didn't even try to hide her red hair. Not all redheads are Uzumaki, but red hair was the defining trait of the Uzumaki clan, along with explosive tempers."
Naruko leans her head against the edge of the tub and listens to Zabuza.
"The Uzumaki were the first clan that Kiri destroyed. After they fell, Kiri's kekkei genkai purges started and none of the other villages have done anything to help those who are targeted. If Uzushiogakure was still around, they would have offered sanctuary to all the survivors of the clans."
"Why would they do that? All of the survivors would be from an enemy village."
"They were fiercely protective of those who could not protect themselves. If they were still around and had found you or Kimimaro, they would have gone on a rampage and Kiri would have likely been burned to the ground."
"It sounds like they were an amazing group of people."
"They were. My mother was a survivor of the fall. She wasn't an Uzumaki, but she was on a team with two of them and her sensei was an Uzumaki. Once Naruko is done with her bath, we're heading out. We need to get as far away from Kiri as possible."
Naruko stands up at Zabuza's words and climbs out of the tub. A few minutes later, she steps out of the bathroom. Zabuza stands up and heads for the window.
"Let's go, you three."
Zabuza jumps out the window and onto the roof of the building next to the inn. Haku and Kimimaro quickly follow him, but Naruko remains in the room and stares at them with wide eyes. Zabuza jumps back into the room and scoops the little girl up, then exits the room again and leads Haku and Kimimaro across the roofs to get out of the small village.