It was a month into the clean-up after the Kyuubi incident that they were found. Two people, both wearing kimono and hakama, who seemed to have been surviving on what water had leaked through the cracks in the collapsed building and, judging by the small pile of refuse in one corner, instant ramen. Both were, naturally, filthy, very grateful for the rescue, sick, and looking forward to eating something other than instant ramen, and the chance to get properly clean.
"What's your names?" asked the shinobi that helped them out and into the mercifully fresh air.
There hadn't been a lot of that available to them either, and there had been times when they'd worried about being buried alive, and dying down there.
"Um..." the young woman hesitated, an uncomfortable expression on her face as she fiddled with her necklace.
"We don't know," the young man supplied plainly.
"You don't know," repeated the shinobi flatly, unimpressed with the answer in the extreme and suddenly very suspicious of the two.
The young woman sighed, shoulders heaving up before sagging. "We've had however long we were down there to adjust to the fact that neither of us can remember our own names, or anything else personal about who we are, even when we can remember how to make a fire, tie the knots of our obi, and read the instructions on the ramen cups," she explained. "It's kinda frustrating," she added with a pout.
"Well, I'll take you to the hospital anyway, and maybe one of the Yamanaka can sort you out," the shinobi decided.
~oOo~
Once they were clean, it was clear that the young woman had black hair, rather than dusty grey-brown, and the young man had vibrant red beneath the same coating of grime that had disguised the hair-colour of the young woman. The young man also had a distinctive cross-shaped scar on his left cheek that, amazingly enough, no one in the hospital recognised. Then again, both of them seemed to have a fair grasp of first aid, and even had better knowledge than basic in a few differing areas, so it was possible that either of them could have patched up that injury, and the young man had no other cause to visit the hospital.
That both were perfectly fine (apart from the memory loss and severe malnutrition), and that both had some idea of how to be useful in a medical situation, saw both of them being put to work in the hospital once they'd been checked over, given a chance to wash, and been fed a meal of – annoyingly enough – instant ramen.
They both proved their skill in tending to injuries. Washing the wound, applying disinfectant, wrapping, occasionally sewing stitches if the wound was bad enough. To the surprise of many, the pair also turned out to be very helpful in the maternity and paediatrics wards.
Babies didn't wait for natural disasters, and eighteen children had already been born in the month since the mess with the Kyuubi. More than three dozen children had also been orphaned by it, with more being found and brought in every day, and they were being monitored by the hospital until the orphanages could be re-built to house the young ones.
They'd been working in the hospital, nameless, for five hours before anybody could spare time for them. After all, they just couldn't remember who they were. It wasn't like they were injured.
"I'm Yamanaka Inoichi," the tall blonde man informed the nameless duo once he'd gotten them sitting down in a private room. "And I am going to find out who you are."
For some reason, that sounded more ominous than comforting.
Being mind-walked was surprisingly painless, though Inoichi frowned each time he removed his own psyche from their heads.
"It is very frustrating for me that I almost couldn't find your names, and that I truly could not find any memories of your pasts," he informed them gravely. "I am going to recommend to the Hokage that you both be kept under surveillance for a long time, in case someone from another village tries to contact either one of you. For now, I can tell you that your names are Himura Kenshin and Higurashi Kagome," he said, making sure that they clearly understood which of them was attached to which name before he stood, bid them good day, and left.
"Kagome," Kenshin said softly, and smiled at her when she turned to look at him. "It is good to be introduced to you properly at last."
Kagome smiled back shyly. "It is good to have a name," she agreed. "Kenshin," she added, knowing that, between them, acknowledging that they did have names, that they finally had a name to address the other with, it was something significant. Something they had been missing for some time.
"Kagome," Kenshin repeated, and gently took one of her hands in his. "Will you marry me?" he asked.
Kagome's eyes widened in shock, before she smiled back. They had, after all, gotten through being trapped together for quite some time and with absolutely no privacy except to turn their backs at the needed times. They'd had nothing to do down there but talk. To try to figure out what they could remember, to discuss what they wanted to do with their futures when – they had refused to think 'if' – they were rescued.
"I will," she agreed.
With that decided, the pair returned to the children's wards. There were a lot of babies that needed to be fed and changed, and a lot of older children who needed to be comforted as their wounds were seen to.
~oOo~
The Hokage met Kenshin and Kagome when he came by the hospital to perform a personal check-up on how everybody was doing. He particularly lingered in the post-natal part of the maternity ward, and just stared down at a blonde infant with a sad expression on his face. He was standing there, looking at the babe, when Kenshin and Kagome stopped in.
For some reason that they couldn't comprehend, no one else wanted to spend even so much as ten seconds together in the same room as the adorable little guy, and so they'd taken it upon themselves to make sure he was cared for.
"Thank you," the Hokage said as he watched Kenshin remove the soiled nappy and bathe the child while Kagome got his bottle ready.
The pair looked at the old man curiously.
"Young Naruto... no one else is willing to treat him kindly. Thank you, for caring for him," the Hokage elaborated.
They both shrugged.
"He's a child," Kenshin said. "Children should be cared for."
"And he's such a cute baby," Kagome added with a fond smile as she took the boy from Kenshin and, even with the kid only wrapped in a towel for now – she'd dress him once she'd burped him – settled in to feed him.
"May I know your names?" the Hokage asked.
Kenshin smiled happily. "We are pleased to be able to say that you can!" he answered. "I am Himura Kenshin, and this wonderful lady is Higurashi Kagome, though she has agreed to become Himura Kagome, my wife."
"Ah," the Hokage said, eyebrows raising as he recognised those names. He'd received Inoichi's report on these two. Amnesia. "Well, congratulations then. Hmm. I don't suppose you would also be interested in becoming parents soon?" he suggested, only allowing himself to be just a very little bit hopeful. "Naruto is an orphan, after all, and as you have already noted, no one else wants to care for him."
"So, Naruto is his name, is it?" Kenshin asked as he moved to stand by Kagome and watch the baby drain his bottle. "It is a most curious one."
"Written with the kanji for 'maelstrom'," the Hokage explained with a fond, if slightly despairing, shake of his head.
Kagome looked up at Kenshin, who was himself looking down at Naruto. They did both love children, and both had become particularly attached to this little one. It was true that they weren't even married yet, but...
"I want to know why," Kagome insisted suddenly, startling both of the men.
"Why?" the Hokage repeated, curious. "Why what?"
"Why the other people here don't like Naruto, and why you're so concerned about his welfare," Kagome clarified. "Parents need to know as many of the important secrets about their children as possible, so that when the child is old enough to be told them, we can."
Kenshin smiled at Kagome before he turned an expression full of resolve to the Hokage. He agreed with Kagome. They'd take the boy in, but they wanted to know all the details, for Naruto's sake.
The Hokage looked between the two of them, then looked down at Naruto and nodded tiredly.
"This room isn't secure enough for that conversation though," he informed them. "I'd like you both to come to my office tomorrow, at noon. We can discuss the whole matter then, as well as deal with the paperwork that you will need. Including that marriage licence, perhaps?"
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kenshin answered, and bowed to the old man.
"Yes," Kagome agreed. "Thank you."
~oOo~
"I think, first things first, let's get you two married," the Hokage said with a smile once Kagome and Kenshin were seated in his office. "And officially citizens of Konoha, hmm? Since we only have your names, and no other records, we'll have to make you up those sorts of papers from scratch. I'll find a plot of land for you both as well. Houses that are undamaged are few and far-between right now, so I'm afraid you'll most likely be building your home, rather than moving into it."
"That is fine," Kenshin assured the old man.
"We're not afraid of a bit of hard work," Kagome agreed. "Or too concerned over poor living conditions," she added, acknowledging that they were only recently rescued from being trapped underground without the basic fascilities.
The Hokage nodded, and they worked their way through the pile of paperwork that was required for the couple to be married citizens who owned land in Konoha. The land the Hokage assigned them to build their new home was the plot that had previously been the house and home of Naruto's mother. And he told them so.
"There might be some of her possessions surviving there," the Hokage confided. "Kushina and her husband were both rather good at the sealing arts, so there's no telling what might have survived, even if the house itself didn't."
"It will be good for the boy to have a connection with his true heritage," Kenshin agreed thoughtfully. "I hope there is something there that we can give him."
"Hokage-sama, are you ready to tell us now about our son?" Kagome asked, aware, just as Kenshin had been, that Naruto's name had been very deliberately left out of the conversation until now, however much he was alluded to.
The Hokage rose from his chair and went to a picture that was hanging on his wall. Behind the picture was a safe, and from within the safe he removed a scroll.
"To speak of it is punishable by death," he informed them solemnly as he set the scroll down on his desk. "Even in my own office, I will not risk these matters being overheard."
The new husband and wife both nodded in understanding, and Kenshin reached for the scroll. Kagome leant over his shoulder to read as he did.
At exactly the same time, both of their heads snapped up to stare at the picture of the Fourth Hokage that hung on the wall behind where the Third was sitting.
"The child will be much safer with our name," Kenshin said at last. "Both the names of his mother and his father are too famous, and to hide the worth of his mother's family to protect him would be to dishonour them."
The Third Hokage nodded in agreement. "It could have been done though, they were secretive enough, and it was my initial plan, but you're quite right," he answered. "The boy will be much safer with the two of you, and much better cared for as well. You will, of course, receive a purse for his care every month, from the accounts of his parents, until you are satisfied that you can sustain yourselves. The rest will be his when he is old enough to be trusted not to spend it all on sweeties."
Smiles and soft chuckles were shared around the room at that, and the scroll was rolled up and put away once more, safe.
"There is also this," the Hokage said as he turned back from the hidden safe, another scroll in his hands. "Almost any shinobi expecting a child will suddenly be possessed by a fierce desire to record the processes of their techniques, so that their children can learn even if they die before they can pass them on themselves. This was put together for your son, by his parents. The seal prevents it from being opened by anybody who is not related by blood."
Kagome and Kenshin both nodded in understanding. These techniques were not for them. These techniques were for Naruto. They were only just trusted, and they would be under watch for some time, just in case, but this scroll was for Naruto, and it was safe to give it to them because they could not open it.
"There is one other thing," the Hokage said, and rose from behind his desk for a third time. A sheathed sword and a quiver of arrows were brought out from a simple cupboard against the wall by the door. "The shinobi who found both of you returned to the site where you had been trapped, just in case there were any others. There weren't, but he found these, along with a broken bow. I believe they are yours, and your new son, as you have noted already, will need to be protected. I would prefer you not use deadly force on the people of this village. That is my duty alone to exercise. If you remember the skills to use these, however, or if only your bodies do, then I will see about enlisting you both as my shinobi, and you will be able to earn an income that way."
Kenshin reached for the sword at the same time as Kagome reached for the arrows. Neither knew why, but they knew that these things were theirs, and that they would be well able to wield them in defence of their new son, as well as any other children they had.
They'd just have to... re-learn how.
~oOo~
A young man in the black-and-white uniform of the AnBu, with white hair sticking up over the top of his porcelain dog-mask, supervised as Himura Kagome set up targets at the other end of the yard while Himura Kenshin cleaned his sword. Himura Naruto was being gently rocked in a cradle by Kenshin as he lightly tapped one side with his foot while he worked.
His assignment was one of Village Security. The family were being watched because even they didn't know if they had been sent as spies, and actually so far they rather liked Konoha, even if it was something of a wreck still. It also said something about them that the first thing they'd done when they'd been presented with the slice of property that the Hokage had given them was to separate, and return half an hour later – Kagome with a tent, and Kenshin with Naruto and a few important baby-things. Like the cradle the child was currently occupying.
The second thing they'd done, they were in the process of doing.
"Alright," Kagome declared with a pleased smile. The last target was ready. She had only been given her quiver by the Hokage, but on their way to the property, she'd somehow acquired a new bow to replace her old, broken one. It was not a small bow, either. A shinobi might use a subtle little crossbow if they needed to, but what Kagome had was a full-on, almost-as-long-as-she-was-tall, yumi.
Between the two different samurai weapons that the couple were apparently comfortable with, the young AnBu suspected that they had come from the Land of Iron, a land that was famed for its neutrality, and which all of the shinobi nations had long ago agreed to never make war upon. The Land of Iron didn't have shinobi. At all. They weren't defenceless, far from it, they had a strong military presence, but they were samurai, not shinobi.
If this couple was from the Land of Iron, then it was most likely that they had truly been innocent by-standers, probably just passing through, perhaps part of a trade caravan or similar.
Then power flared, pink at the tip of Kagome's arrow and she let it fly. It hit the centre of the first target she had set up, but she didn't notice. She'd already knocked and fired two more arrows, the tips flaring pink before she released them. The young woman wasn't even giving herself time to aim as she knocked arrow after arrow, each arrowhead leaving behind an after-image of pink power in the air behind them as they flew.
Each target smoking from the bull's-eye where the arrow had buried itself.
"Your mother will teach you how to do that when you get older, that she will," Kenshin informed his little blonde son with a smile, one that was clearly very proud of his young wife, even as his violet eyes reflected a wonder that showed he'd had no idea that she could do that.
Kagome released a slow, loud breath as she looked back, wide-eyed, at all the perfect shots she'd made in each of the target's she'd set up, then she blinked and smiled over her shoulder at Kenshin.
"He's not going to be interested in learning the bow," she declared easily, a smile on her face. She collected up her arrows and walked back to the edge of the yard to sit down by her husband and son. "He's going to be far more impressed with his father's sword."
"We don't even know for sure yet if I'm any good with it," Kenshin reminded her.
Kagome half-nodded in allowance.
"Besides," Kenshin continued, and looked down at the sword that was across his lap, the cleaning kit on his other side. "It looks as though this sword is not designed for killing my enemies."
Kagome looked over her husband's shoulder at the sword in his lap, and blinked in surprise.
The young AnBu also leant forward a little to have a better look at the blade.
The sharp edge was on the wrong side.
The sword had clearly been used a bit though. It had tiny little nicks up and down its length. None held the scent of blood, and there was no tallow on the blade, as other blades often accumulated as they were used, but the sword had seen use, even if it had never drawn blood.
"Well, then we don't have to worry about you damaging the blade on the training posts," Kagome decided after a moment.
Kenshin blinked in surprise, then smiled. "You are quite right," he agreed, and stood, leaving their son to be minded by Kagome as he replaced his sword in its sheath and he took a stance in front of the training post, wrapped all up in straw rope.
His eyes were wide as he turned back to Kagome a few moments later, all the rope from waist-level and up around the post was broken and dust on the ground.
Kagome's eyes were wide too as she stared at the destruction her husband had just delivered to the innocent training post.
"Definitely be much more impressed with his father's sword," she said firmly, a smile slowly creeping onto her face.
Kenshin laughed, the shock easing in the face of his wife's admiration.
The young AnBu was wide-eyed behind his mask, and swallowed tightly. He hadn't even seen the man move, and being able to keep up with chakra enhanced speeds was something he had long been trained for. The man was fast.
Fast, and deadly.
They both were.
In his office, the Hokage nodded to himself in satisfaction, and cancelled the surveillance technique he was using, tōgemane no jutsu, that allowed him to watch the goings-on around Naruto in his crystal ball. Yes, this couple would be good protectors for Naruto as he grew.
~oOo~
For two years, the Himura family were under watch, just in case some unknown contact from beyond the village came looking for them. For those two years, it wasn't possible for the Himuras to apply to become shinobi, but that was fine with the couple as they had rather a lot of learning to catch up on if they wanted to take up such positions. Their only battle skills were with the yumi, for Kagome, and the katana, for Kenshin, and neither one of them knew any of the chakra-based techniques of the shinobi.
This fact was something which furthered the idea that the couple had probably originated from the Land of Iron before their memory loss. Except that the Hokage had sent a message to the leader of the Land of Iron, asking if he had records of these two, which he did not. Neither did their allies have any people missing who matched the description of the Himuras, and there had been some thought given to Himura having come from there, given his skill with the sword and how famed the 'Seven Swordsmen of the Mist' were. But no, that too was a dead end, as were the Fire Daimyo's census records. He had no records of anyone by the names of Himura or Higurashi anywhere.
It seemed that they had come out of nowhere.
They were going places now though, and doing a lot of good in the village. The Hokage had assigned them Mitarashi Anko to teach them about chakra. The girl had been left hurt by Orochimaru, one of the Hokage's old students, and her former master. If left to the not-so-tender mercies of the village, the girl could well have grown twisted, something that had already started in the time between the time Orochimaru had left and the Kyuubi had attacked.
Kagome and Kenshin had both been kind to her though, and valued the knowledge that she could share with them. And make no mistake, she could share a lot of knowledge. Orochimaru was many things, a bad teacher was not one of them. Anko had learned a lot in the time she had been apprenticed to him, and the Himuras had been willing, respectful, and gracious students.
Especially as they were at least half-a-dozen years older than their teacher.
The value that the pair placed in Anko and her teachings did good things for the girl's self-esteem, which had taken a severe beating when her master had used, discarded, and deserted her when he was driven from the village. Kagome teaching the girl how to cook for herself had also been a good thing.
But now the pair, with Naruto between them and Anko beside them, were standing before the Hokage, in a private training ground beneath the Hokage Tower. Today, the couple were going to be tested by him to see if they were up to the standard the old man set as the minimum for his shinobi to enter the ranks of genin.
Kagome's skill with her yumi, and Kenshin's skill with his sword, these things were not in doubt. It was a matter of if they could use the more common weapons of the shinobi.
"We accidentally came up with something a bit strange, Hokage-sama," Anko admitted when they moved on to test the chakra-based techniques.
"Oh?" the Hokage asked, curious.
"Chakra's the combination of spiritual and physical energy, and that combination has to be balanced. Kagome-san has a lot of spiritual energy but not as much physical energy, and Kenshin-san has it the other way around," Anko explained. "Simple techniques, and chakra control exercises, these they can do on their own. If it's a bigger technique though..."
Kagome and Kenshin smiled, and Kenshin took over the explanation.
"For a more demanding technique, Kagome and I have found that we can combine my physical energies with her spiritual energies, and perform the single jutsu together to greater effect, with less drain," the red-head elaborated.
"Hm, well, that's very interesting, but I should hope that you will both be working to increase your chakra reserves, rather than relying on the presence of each other for the more demanding techniques. It's against policy for people who are in any sort of romantic relationship to be on a team together, if it can possibly be helped," the Hokage replied thoughtfully.
The Himuras nodded in solemn understanding. Besides, if they had been on a team together, and their team was sent on a mission out of the village, neither of them would be there for Naruto, and they were not willing to leave the child completely on his own for the length of a mission.
At the end of the day, the Hokage was satisfied that the Himuras were up to standard for shinobi of Konoha, and put them each on teams with a few of his most reliable shinobi.
Depending on their record by the time the chuunin exam was next hosted in Konoha, he would probably see them promoted, but that would be a couple of years away still.
~oOo~
Kagome and Kenshin both worked hard as shinobi of the Leaf. The Hokage was very considerate to make sure one of them was always in the village for their son – and the small business that they had set up in the two years they had been in Konoha before they'd become shinobi: a little apothecary.
Kagome had a bit of a green thumb, which Anko attributed to her high levels of spiritual energy, and with little Naruto's help, she grew the plants that her husband prepared, since he was better at doing that without sneezing once he'd gotten them to a fine powder. They weren't the best and biggest apothecary, not by a long shot, but they had a good enough selection, and they knew about which of their small selection was best for whatever the customer was having a problem with.
The trouble was, after the Kyuubi, and the many slow recoveries – some injuries had taken a few months, others had needed much more prolonged treatment, followed by physical therapy to restore the individual to even a civilian level of activity – many of the teams had needed to be completely restructured. It was a good thing for inserting the Himuras into the roster without saddling them with children fresh from the Academy. It was a problem because it meant that the teams all needed to spend time getting used to each other, settling into new cells, when Konoha needed active, ready teams to go on missions.
At least all the 'team building exercises' – which included numerous D-ranked missions around the village – saw Konoha looking as though it had never suffered the Kyuubi attack by the time the chuunin exams were due to be held there. The re-building had gone very well.
The first part of the exam was proctored by Hyuuga Hizashi, the twin brother to the head of that clan, and it was a paper test. Anybody who he and his fellow branch-members of the Hyuuga clan who were in the room – with their byakugan eyes all active – anyone who they caught cheating would be immediately ejected from the exam. Anybody who got less than six answers correct would be disqualified. Anybody who couldn't handle the pressure would be permitted to leave. But if any member of a team was ejected, then they would be taking their team-mates with them.
Along with six other teams, both Kagome's and Kenshin's managed to survive that first stage of the exam.
The second part of the exam was proctored by Aburame Shibi, and required the teams to carry two scrolls through an obstacle course. Except that they were only given one of the two scrolls they required, and the other genin teams counted as part of the obstacles. Thankfully, they were using one of the calmer training grounds for this exam. This natural safeness of the training ground was countered by the fact that it had been loaded with all sorts of traps. Pit traps, trip wires, even bear traps. If there was a sneaky way of stopping your quarry, then it had been laid out over some part of the training ground. They had five days to navigate said course, and not one second more.
Only three teams made it through to the third round, and one of those teams almost hadn't. They'd had to carry one of their team-mates into the building that was the 'end' of the obstacle course. It was lucky for them that their team-mate had passed out from pain and blood-loss after they'd crossed the threshold. A fourth team had also succeeded in bringing two scrolls to the building, but they were carrying an unconscious team-mate in addition to being five minutes late, so they didn't pass.
Better luck next time.
The remaining nine would meet in single combat in the stadium of Konohagakure, where a tournament would be held, and their individual skills could be assessed, to see if they were worthy of promotion.
This tournament would not take place for a month yet, however, to allow for foreign dignitaries to come and see the shinobi on display – and they were on display. If those hoping for promotion made a good show of it, then it was more likely that their village would get more business.