Chapter 1: The Whirling Tides

Nanami wasn't stupid. She could tell by the trembling of her mother's lips and the wild look in her eyes that something was very, very wrong, despite her attempts at hiding it.

"Nami, I need you to listen to me, sweetie." Dread began to kreep its way into her stomach at the waver in her mother's voice. "Remember the plan that daddy and I made? The one we made just in case?" Nanami nodded, feeling numb. Of course she remembered the plan.

The plan that she knew was only necessary if their village was in mortal danger. The plan that meant that there were no other options left.

"I can help," she said, trying to appear as big as she could at nine years of age. Her mother gave her a quivering smile, tears finally collecting at the corners of her eyes.

"No," she said gently. "Not with this."

Nanami understood. She rushed forward, hugging her mother as tightly as she could. She wanted it to last forever, but her mother's tears had barely begun to drip onto her shoulder before they broke apart. Her mother's soft hands curled around her own, pressing a scroll into her palm. Nanami met her mother's watery look with confusion, her icy blue eyes searching for the answers a part of her already knew.

"What's in here?"

"Everything." Soft lips pressed onto her forehead, before her mother drew away. "Go." A pause. "I love you, Nanami. Don't ever forget that." Nanami nodded blankly, gazing down at the scroll in her hands. "Go," her mother repeated. A weight began to creep deep into her chest, almost choking off her breath.

Nanami turned and ran.

It was almost half a day before the shock began to wear off. She was forced to stop running as her small frame was racked with sobs, sending her to her knees in the dirt.

She had been able to see them by the time she reached to mainland, the fires that consumed her home.

Even now, she could barely accept the truth. Uzushiogakure had fallen. Her parents were dead. Her friends were dead. Her grandmother, her teachers, the couple that lived two doors down. All the people she had ever known were gone. Nanami forced herself to her feet, stumbling almost drunkenly as a wail escaped her lips.

She pulled at her long red hair, she screamed, she kicked, but nothing made the pain go away.

It took a week for her to reach Konoha's gates, and yet as she gazed up at the high walls surrounding the village of Konohagakure, she felt years older. The pure agony of her sorrow had been bad enough, but then came the guilt. Why did she live when her parents did not? When her clan did not? She should have fought with them until her last breath, just as she was being trained to do in the academy. Perhaps she could not have turned the tide of the battle, but she could have at least helped. Instead, she ran away like a coward. A weakling. Nanami hated feeling weak. She was young, but already she stuck out among her peers. Or she had, before they all died. Weakness was not something she would tolerate, her pride as an Uzumaki demanded as such.

"What business do you have here?" Nanami's snapped to the clipped tone, her icy eyes coming to rest on one of the guards before Konoha's gates.

"I am a...courier from Uzushiogakure," she lied, not wanting to share the cause of her current anguish. The guard tilted his head, but let her pass, probably because of her vibrant red hair. It was the most characteristic trait of the Uzumaki, and wasn't found very often outside of the clan. Certainly, she could have been using a henge, but there were ways to detect those. Nanami strode through the gates, and found herself almost immediately stricken by the sheer size of Konoha. Even the outskirts of the village was bustling with activity, the crowd made up of mostly civilians by the looks of them. She wandered further into the village, taking in the rather tall buildings, pressed closely together to form a lattice of narrow alleyways, occasionally broken by larger streets and parks. As she neared the center of the village, she began to notice more shinobi, easily spotted by their forehead protectors and flak jackets.

In some ways, it reminded her of home. She could smell the food stalls, hear the bustle of daily life, see the children that flitted through the crowd, playing some made up game. She almost smiled wistfully, but a pang of hollow loss curled her lips in the opposite direction.

She already missed the sound of the waves.

The Hokage tower was visible ahead, standing tall and proud over the rest of Konoha. The mountains behind it served as the perfect backdrop, the faces of the first three Hokage carved into its side. Of course she had heard about them, all three were some of the most powerful men to have ever lived. It was not without reason that Konoha was the most feared shinobi village. Uzushiogakure had been feared as well, only a week before.

With a heavy heart, she began to climb the stairs.

"An audience with the Hokage?" The woman asked incredulously, apparently astonished that a nine year old could possibly have anything to say that would be worth the Hokage's time.

"That is correct," she responded regally. "Due to the importance and sensitive nature of the information I posses, I wish to relay it directly to the lord Hokage." The woman blinked owlishly at her, not expecting the rather formal language from someone so young, but stood from her desk and entered to Hokage's office. She returned moments later, gesturing for Nanami to enter. She did so, adopting the best posture she could manage. Her father had taught her about such things, but she had never spoken to a foreigner with so much power before.

"Lord Hokage," she said, bowing her head respectfully.

"What brings you here, little one?" The Hokage asked, apparently uncaring of formalities. Even so, Nanami didn't relax, though she slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"I…" Nanami trailed off. She hadn't planned this far ahead. How was she supposed to breach the subject of her whole clan being killed?

"Perhaps we could start with your name?" Sarutobi prompted kindly. Nanami nodded gratefully. The Third Hokage was said to be a kind man, despite his battle prowess. Apparently, such rumors were true.

"I am Nanami Uzumaki. I am here with recent...news of Uzushiogakure."

"Oh?" Sarutobi steepled his fingers together, regarding her with interest, and Nanami couldn't help but think that he was the perfect image of a Kage. She took a deep breath and began.

Kushina grinned happily as she stuffed her face with ramen. Despite the seemingly haphazard and almost dangerously fast way she consumed the dish, she didn't waste a single drop or noodle of her precious meal. It was something that her friends regarded as a rather impressive talent. She slammed her empty bowl down on the counter in much the same way as she would a glass of sake, gesturing for another.

As much as she missed Minato, it was nice to have some alone time once in awhile. That way, nobody could tell her she ate too much ramen. Minato claimed that it was unhealthy, and had too much salt. Kushina rolled her eyes. It had both meat and vegetables. There was no way it could be unhealthy! Minato could be so thick about things, despite how smart he was.

Kushina smiled at the thought. He should be back any day now. She missed him, despite his strange intolerance of the best food ever created. Her smile slowly grew sinister. She knew just how to greet him when he got back home. Maybe she would surprise him with a shadow clone. He always seemed to enjoy that…

"Miss Uzumaki." The formal voice startled her from her less than pure thoughts, and Kushina found herself blinking up at a masked Anbu.

"Yes?" She asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. If they didn't have a good reason for interrupting her meal...

"The Hokage has requested your presence." Of course, when the Hokage requested something, it was done, no matter how politely the delivery.

Grumbling, Kushina stood from her chair.

It took only minutes for her to reach Sarutobi's office, despite the absolutely adorable ninken she saw along the way. She burst through the door without ceremony, a wide grin splitting her features.

"What's up, old man?" Her grin slowly slid away as she took in two stony faces staring at her. One was a young girl with sharp features and icy blue eyes that almost reminded her of Minato's. But it was her hair that have Kushina pause, it was the same vibrant shade of red as her own. Could she be…?

"This is Nanami Uzumaki," Sarutobi said, answering her unvoiced question. "She has recently come to me with rather...troubling news." He gestured for Kushina to sit. She complied, unease settling into her stomach, though she still favored the girl, Nanami, with a small smile.

"Not too troubling I hope. I'm Kushina, pleased to meet you." The girl nodded stiffly, but there was no warmth in her expression. Kushina began to get worried.

"There is no putting this lightly," Sarutobi said, his voice grave. "Uzu has...fallen."

Kushina felt everything come to an abrupt halt.

"What-" She swallowed thickly. "What do you mean 'fallen'?"

"Burned." It was the girl that spoke this time, her voice trembling with pent up emotion. "To the ground." Kushina could almost feel herself shatter. Vaguely, she realized that she was crying.

A pair of slender arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly as she sobbed. Faintly, she thought how embarrassing it was the a young girl was comforting her. One who had probably experienced the event firsthand. Still, the tears came. Her home, her beautiful home, with it's shining water and blue skies. With the ornate roofs and red doors. All turned to ash.

Slowly, she was suffused with a rage so powerful it made her tremble. She barely even noticed when her eyes slitted and Nanami's arms retracted, the young girl shrinking away under the heavy killing intent she was exuding.

"Who?" She growled, her voice slightly warped by the Kyuubi's chakra. "Who did this?" When she got a hold of them, they were going to wish they had never been born. She was going to-

"Kushina." Sarutobi's sharp tone made her flinch. With an apologetic glance at Nanami she let up on her killing intent, trying to force down the anger that was threatening her self control.

"We don't know for sure who is responsible for this, but it is doubtful that it was one single village," Sarutobi said darkly. "You know well enough the strength of the Uzumaki."

"When I find out who-"

"You can't help the dead," Sarutobi cut in, his voice kind yet commanding, much in the same way Minato's could be. "But..." She looked up sharply, mostly out of a desperate hope to do something. "You can help the living." He tilted his head in Nanami's direction, and Kushina instantly understood. Sarutobi wanted her to take this girl in. Not that she would object. Nanami was now her only living relative, not that she yet knew how near or distant. There was no way she would allow the girl to be thrown out on the streets, or be put in an orphanage of all places. She nodded, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She noticed Sarutobi's expectant look and turned to Nanami, forcing a wavery smile to her lips.

"How would you like to come stay with me, Nanami?" She asked, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. She could always cry later, especially after Minato came back, but now it was best to remain strong for Nanami's sake. Kushina could only imagine the trauma she was suffering through.

"I would be honored, Kushina-san," Nanami responded respectfully. Kushina kept up her watery smile, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on the young girl's shoulder.

"No need for formalities, 'Nami-chan." Kushina paused before a genuine grin split her face, pushing aside thoughts of her lost home for the time being. "You can be the little sister I always wanted!" The girl smiled reservedly, but was obviously pleased at the sentiment. Kushina supposed that anything was better to the orphanage. She knew that well enough.

"I would like that...Onee-chan."

Kushina was positively beaming.

"Make yourself at home," Kushina said kindly, holding open the door to Nanami's new room. Nanami found herself almost overwhelmed by the kindness the woman had shown her over the past two days.

Sarutobi had been able to streamline the adoption process, and aid in her enrollment into the academy as a citizen of Konohagakure. Usually, the processes requiring that would be much more lengthy, but as a valuable Konoha ally there was no reason for tedious deliberations.

"Say, Nanami-chan?" Kushina's hesitant voice startled her from her thoughts, and she turned to face the older woman. Kushina was toying with her long hair, a habit that Nanami had noticed after only a few hours together. Kushina could be rather fidgety, and disliked sitting still for long periods of time, unless ramen was being constantly shoveled into her mouth. It was a surprise, Nanami noted, that Kushina could maintain such an excellent figure despite her horrible choice of diet. "There's something I forgot to mention."

"What is it, Kushina-nee?"

"I have a boyfriend," Kushina blurted. Nanami wrinkled her nose in confusion. She didn't think of Kushina like that. But how had she already guessed at her preference to women?

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on trying to steal you from him or anything."

"I- You- What?"

Nanami realized, in that single horrible moment, that she had blundered terribly.

"Uh…"

"Y-you're pretty, of course, but I don't-" Kushina stammered. Nanami wanted to die. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm with Minato Namikaze and that you shouldn't be surprised when he comes back home," a flustered Kushina said, almost too fast for Nanami to understand.

"Oh...yeah, of course."

Nanami wasn't sure if she was reeling more from the fact that she had inadvertently come out to her new sister figure, or that she would be living with Minato fucking Namikaze. The man who was turning the tides of the war all by himself.

"Um…'Nami-chan?" Kushina asked, with similar hesitation to before. Nanami forced herself not to grimace at the awkwardness she had created.

"Yes?"

"I was just thinking- Maybe I might know- If you wanted to tell me, of course," Kushina rambled, tugging at her hair once more. "Who was your mother?" Nanami probably should have expected that question, but it still shot a pang of sorrow straight through her heart.

"Her name was Kishiko." Kushina looked thoughtful, continuing to toy with her hair as she pondered.

"I don't know any Uzumaki by that name, maybe-"

"She wasn't an Uzumaki." That make Kushina pause, even her hands, which were before working feverishly in her silky hair, had frozen.

"She...wasn't?" Nanami shook her head, lifting her palm. Kushina watched her confused, until a thin sheen of ice began to creep over her fingertips. Kushina's eyes were almost bugging out of her head, her jaw dropping open rather comically.

"Her name was Kishiko Yuki."