"Normal voice"

'Thinking voice'

"Summoning/ Bijuu voice"

"Summoning/ Bijuu thinking voice"

Disclaimer: Kami no Doujutsu does not have any claim over Naruto what so ever, except for the jutsu and characters of his creativity. Viewers' discretion is advised, thank you.

Chapter 2: Not Alone After All


Naruto grinned as he opened his eyes staring at the ceiling before he jumped out of his bed and quickly got washed, dressed and ate breakfast before he headed towards the door.

He took with him his pouch of kunai and shuriken with him and placed it on the side of his waist. The equipment might not have been n the best condition and was a little old but it worked just like it was suppose too.

Once he was out of his apartment he locked his apartment door before he broke into a run as he headed out for his days training just like had done the past few days.

He ignored the stares and glares he got from the villagers and simply focus on his day of training ahead of him. Many of the villagers had wondered why Naruto had been so keen and happy the past few days but they thought nothing of it and just continued to ignore him like before.

It had been four days since Naruto had spoken with the Third Hokage and discovered his clan heritage. Since then he has dedicated the past two days learning what he could about his clan. The Uzumaki Clan.

From what he read they were distant cousins from one of the most important clans in Konoha, the Senju Clan. The first and second Hokage were both Senju's and in a way they were linked to Naruto. Not much by the second Hokage but defiantly the First since Naruto had found out his wife was a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

Mito Uzumaki.

The books did not have much about her except that she married the First Hokage Hashirama Senju when she was twenty and helped him establish the leaf village with the other members of the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan.

So he went to the Third Hokage and asked him a few things about her. The third was happy to tell him about Mito since she played a large role in shaping Konoha and had known her before she passed away.


Flashback

Naruto was once again back at Ichiraku's as he sat with Hiruzen to his left who was happily enjoying his time out of the office. As much as he loved being Hokage being stuck in a stingy office where it easily got stuffy in.

Well that and he hated all the damn paper work.

Since his conversation with Naruto he was very proud to see Naruto learning as much as he could about his Uzumaki heritage. Although it was very limited since the information on the Uzumaki was kind of scarce. Most of the information on them was in history books but even then that was not much.

"So what was she like jiji?" Naruto asked as Hiruzen slurped his noodles at Ichiraku's. He was not sure how Naruto did it but somehow he managed to find a way to get him to take Naruto to his favorite ramen stand. He blamed it on old age.

"Well," Hiruzen stared as he finished his mouthful. "Well for one she was very beautiful Naruto and was one of the most beautiful women in Konoha. She had the classic Uzumaki red hair and was very polite but also very strict. She was all about order and manners and making sure everyone was at one hundred percent. Thought she had the Uzumaki temper let me tell you," Hiruzen said as he felt a chill go down his back.

Naruto grinned. Her temper sounded a lot like his. He wondered if all Uzumaki's had a temper.

"What about as a shinobi? I bet she was strong right?" he asked as Hiruzen thought for a moment.

Now that was actually a good question. Hiruzen knew she was strong but that was in Fuinjutsu. He had never actually seen her in an actual fight since she always refrained from fighting cause of her pacifist ways. Then again she was married to the first Hokage, one of the most powerful men to come from Konoha so Hiruzen doubted she needed to fight that often. Though if the beating she gave Hiruzen and his friend when they were rude or did something they should not have then yeah he would have to say she was pretty darn strong.

"She was very strong Naruto. When it came to Fuinjutsu there was no one that could match her. When it came to Fuinjutsu there was no Uzumaki better then Mito Uzumaki. In the other area's I'm a little unsure of since I never really saw it. Mito had always refrained from fighting when she could but I have no doubt that she was a very formidable warrior when she wanted to be."

"Whoa," Naruto thought as he thought of his Uzumaki descendant. "She sounds amazing. I bet she could kick even your ass jiji," Naruto said grinning while Hiruzen looked down and pouted.

"You have no idea," he muttered and thankfully Naruto had not heard him.

"Do you have a picture of her?" Naruto asked out of the blue getting a look of curiosity from Hiruzen.

"I think do somewhere but why do you ask?"

Naruto shuffled around a little in his seat as Hiruzen looked at him. The Ichiraku's also looked at him from the corners of their eyes as they continued to work.

"Well it's just I don't know of any other Uzumaki's except from Mito Uzumaki. So I wanted to have a picture of her so I knew what she looked like and so I had a picture of someone who was my family which she is."

"That's what you're meant to do right? Have picture of your family around your home. At least I think it is," he said playing with the bottom of his shirt.

Hiruzen just looked at Naruto before a smile appeared on his face and nodded.

"Very well Naruto. Since I know that it means a lot to you then I will try my best. I should have one at home somewhere since I did know her when I was just a boy. You will have to give me a day to find it but I'm sure it's possible."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks jiji," he said before he went straight to his ramen and began devouring it.

As he ate he did not see the proud smile on Hiruzen's face.

"I can see that you are dead set on bringing back your clan Naruto," he thought before he looked up at the sky. "Mito-sama, are you watching this young boy? If you are then help him with his dreams. He truly does contain the Will of Fire and I know that if you could meet him then you would care for the boy just as much as I do. Watch him as he brings the Uzumaki back to the world.

He then went back to his ramen and enjoyed the afternoon with Naruto, even going so far to help him with his studies a little.

After all who better to help a shinobi in training then the Hokage himself?

End Flashback

The Hokage stayed true to his promise to Naruto and just the next day visited Naruto and was impressed at how tidy he was keeping his apartment since he knew Naruto could be a bit of a slob from time to time.

He presented Naruto with a picture of Mito Uzumaki as promised. When Naruto saw the picture he was entranced with the woman in the picture.

She was very beautiful like Jiji said and her hair was arranged in buns with hair pins in them and three clips in the front. On her head she wore a type of crown, at least that what Naruto thought it was. He guessed it must have been some kind of Uzumaki heirloom or something. She had milky white skin with pupil less light violet eyes and a strange red diamond shape symbol on her forehead. She was wearing a cream colored high collar robes with a green undershirt. Then weirdly she wore tags with kanji written on them in her hair decals.

The picture was of Mito sitting peacefully under a Sakura tree simply enjoying the day which Naruto smiled out.

So when he got the picture he put it on one of the small tables in the living room a placed a small flower pot with some flowers in there as a way of remembering his Uzumaki ancestors. He made sure to pray to it at least once a day.

Since he was going to rebuild the Uzumaki Clan he wanted to remember those that came before him.

After ten minutes of running he found himself at one of the spare training grounds that was in the Konoha forest. Iruka had told him that people rarely go to these training grounds so Naruto pretty much had free reign to use it.

That delighted Naruto since it meant no interruptions and he could just get on with it.

He stopped in the middle of the training ground and pulled out a piece of paper from his left pocket. On it was a training schedule that Iruka had made him to try and improve for the next year.

The first thing he had to do was run five laps around the training field. Then he would move onto fifty push-ups, fifty squats and fifty jumping jacks.

Once that was complete he was to practice his chakra control by performing the leaf exercise and train to balance the leaves with just his chakra. He was to do that for about two hours before he practiced his aim with his shuriken and kunai.

Iruka had said since he was only eight this is what he would start out with but after doing the routine for a few weeks they would up the schedule and increase the work load.

Iruka had also made sure that Naruto ate better and more healthily then only eating Ichiraku's ramen all the time. He had told Naruto that despite it being his favorite meal it was not healthy to just eat ramen all the time.

Thankfully Ayame and Teuchi agreed with this and wrote down a few simple recipes that Naruto could do. While they had done that Iruka had gone out grocery shopping for Naruto since he was aware that the shop owners overpriced Naruto big time and cheated him out of most of the allowance the Hokage would give him.

So every Monday Naruto would return home to find fresh groceries in the fridge as well as a few more simple recipes the Ichiraku's would give him since he was their favorite customer.

Naruto did a few stretches before he took off and did his laps around the training field grinning all the while knowing that the more he worked and the more he trained, eventually it would all pay off and give him the rewards that he wanted.


Hokage Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk with his hands entwined together as he looked at his student Jiraiya in front of him.

His former student just returned after months of being away and using his spies to keep track of his fallen student Orochimaru. The snake Sennin had slowly began to form his own village from what Jiraiya had informed him and thuds far they were not doing anything that concerned him thought he knew that it would have to be closely watched.

"And what did you find in this hidden base?" the Hokage asked as Jiraiya told him the details of the infiltration in Orochimaru hidden base in Grass country. Although he dreaded the answers that he was about to get from Jiraiya since he knew of some of Orochimaru sick deeds.

"Corpses, a lot of them and some had no doubt been there a long while. A few weeks at best. My guess would be that Orochimaru has had his hand in experimenting again trying to find his method to immortality or simply experimenting for fun. Kami knows what goes through his head these days and may he grant mercy to those that were victims in his sick goals.

Hiruzen sighed and nodded. He wondered that too. He wondered were down the line it was that caused Orochimaru to turn on them and become such a psychopath but every time he was drawing a blank.

"My guess is that he was trying to implant a bloodline like he did all those years ago. The one with the child with Mokuton," Jiraiya said as Hiruzen nodded. He knew what he was speaking off. When Orochimaru had taken fifty new born babies and implanted the cells of the First Hokage into them all in hopes that they would all develop Mokuton.

Of the fifty newborns, only one survived and that one survivor was thankfully rescued by the Hokage and his forces and was now one of their best Jōnin in the village. Though he had Mokuton, his skills with it was nowhere near as powerful as he First Hokage's.

"I found some notes on his research but nothing concrete. The base was no doubt abandoned some time before I got there."

"And the girl?" Hiruzen asked asking about the young red haired girl Jiraiya had discovered and brought back to the village with him. He had shown Hiruzen the clipboard of info on her had found and the age old Hokage felt like having a heart attack when he saw the last name. The coincidence with Naruto discovering his heritage and then a new Uzumaki being discovered simply amazed him.

"I found her in a separate room away from the others. By the looks of her I don't think she was experimented on thank Kami though we can only really be sure when she wakes up. I don't even want to think about what idea he has had for her."

"I was not sure of the name at first but after seeing the hair I knew it had to be true. I have only seen that shade of red on one person before so I know she was an Uzumaki."

"Looks like the leaf now has two Uzumaki's," Hiruzen mused as he leaned back in his chair.

"That remind me how is Naruto? The gaki must be getting pretty big," Jiraiya said grinning as the Hokage pulled out his crystal ball.

When the image became clear they saw Naruto practicing with his kunai and shuriken on one of the log posts. His aim needed a bit of improvement but from what they could see he was doing pretty good for an eight year old.

"The little gaki is really going at it. He still wants to be Hokage I'm guessing?" Jiraiya said grinning like a mad man.

"He does though now he has two dreams and he seems more determined than ever to accomplish both of them."

"Two dreams?" Jiraiya asked raising his eyebrows. "What's the other one? Become Hokage is the one I am aware of but what is the other one?"

Hiruzen grinned at him. "To bring back the Uzumaki Clan," he said causing Jiraiya to unconsciously take a step back.

"H-he knows his heritage?" Jiraiya asked surprised at the revelation but became confused when he saw Hiruzen shake his head.

"He knows part of it," he said and saw the look on Jiraiya's face for him to elaborate. "A few days ago Naruto unintentionally came across Uzushiogakure in one of the ancient history books at the Konoha library. When he saw the part about the Uzumaki Clan he rushed over to me and asked whether he could go see them since he finally found out he had a family." Hiruzen noticed the sad downcast look appear on Jiraiya's face. He knew that having to tell Naruto they were all dead and that he was essentially the last would be tough to tell.

"After I explained he has now become determined to bring back the Uzumaki Clan as well as become Hokage. Since the day I told him that, all he has done is study and train. "

Jiraiya nodded before he asked the big question. "Does he know about his parents?"

"No. Although it did come up and I did tell him that his mother was the Uzumaki of the two, I told him the reason why he could not know just yet. At least now until he became chunin. He was a little sore about it at first but he accepted it."

Jiraiya agreed. As painful and cruel as it was to keep the knowledge of a child's parents from him, he knew it had to be done so that Naruto could be protected until the time to reveal his parentage became possible. Both knew that sometimes you had to be cruel in order to be kind.

"The kid may look like his father but he has his mother's personality."

"Oh I would not be too sure. Though there is definantly plenty of his mother in him, he has his father in him too. Naruto can surprise you. He is smarter then he lets on and if people could just look past the fox and the energetic prankster they would see that since he began training every day he has just been soaking in the information like a sponge."

"I have kept an eye on him with my crystal ball here. He is making good way in his training. Already getting the hang of the leaf exercise to control his chakra better."

Jiraiya just nodded as he leaned against the wall. Now came the question Hiruzen was waiting for.

"Do you want to tell Naruto about the girl or do you think it is best he doesn't know about her yet?" Jiraiya asked as the Hokage contemplated it and had a serious expression on his face.

He knew there could be risks but with this girl being an Uzumaki Hiruzen knew Naruto could finally have someone to call a friend and someone to call family. Naruto had the will of fire in him and if this girl came into his life no doubt he would push himself to become stronger to protect her.

In that way Hiruzen knew he was so much like his parents and his past clansmen. The precious people in life come first.

"We will tell him. This girl is an Uzumaki just like Naruto is and therefore Naruto has a shot at actually having a member of his family. Plus she could be good for him. A good motivator and vice versa," Hiruzen said as Jiraiya nodded.

"What about the villagers? If she is seen with him don't you think they might try something since Naruto is not exactly well liked?" Hiruzen thought shook his head.

"They wouldn't dare. They haven't done anything but shun and ignore him. Right now all they really do is glare and whisper. If Naruto can stride forward and ignore them I'm sure she will too since she is an Uzumaki and we all know what their tempers are like," he said making Jiraiya grin.

There's was nothing in the world that could protect you from the old Uzumaki temper. Jiraiya knew this from first-hand experience when he peeped on Kushina on one occasion when she was all grown up and he got a beating that would've killed him if Minato didn't restrain her and try calming her down before she ended kept dealing him his punishment.

"Plus I have a few of my most trusted Anbu watching over him. Since the shinobi of the leaf know the difference between a kunai and the scroll it's sealed in to they don't mind Naruto. They are just wary of him." Hiruzen clarified.

"Cat," Hiruzen called as an Anbu member appeared in front of him. Though her face was hidden behind a mask, the Anbu member in front of them was defiantly female and had long purple hair that stopped midway down her back.

"Hai Hokage-sama," she said.

"Please go and collect Naruto Uzumaki from training ground 17 and bring him to the hospital lobby where I shall be waiting for him," he said. The kunoichi saluted before disappearing via Shunshin.

"Will you be coming with me?" Hiruzen asked Jiraiya but the Toad sage shook his head.

"Not today. I have a few contacts I need to catch up on and some research that needs to be done for my next book," he said while making a perverted giggled as the Third Hokage looked at his former student with a sigh of disbelief. Jiraiya really would never change.

"Jiraiya"

The Toad Sennin stopped before turning to his former teacher.

"You'll have to see Naruto sometime, you can't keep putting off your duties as his godfather forever," Hiruzen said seriously.

Jiraiya froze for a moment before he regained his composure. "I know...but...now's not the time for me to meet him yet. Let him meet his new family member before I even think of seeing him," Jiraiya asked.

Hiruzen nodded to Jiraiya who disappeared out the window before Hiruzen got out of his chair and made his way to the hospital. He knew Jiraiya would have to face Naruto one day and when he did he'd be in for some anger at not being around like he was supposed to.

However before he opened his door he turned to face the paper work on his desk while giving it the evil eye. "One day I will find a way to beat you," he said to the stack of papers that seemed to mock him saying "No you won't, you'll never beat us".


With Naruto

Naruto panted a little as he took a big breath of air as he looked at the wooden post in front of him that had been littered with kunai and shuriken marks. He was a little rusty with his weapons but now that he had a proper planning schedule he could finally begin to practice it more and improve.

They were not bad but there was defiantly room for improvement.

Some of the Kunai's and shuriken had been fairly accurate while some had been off target. Others were way off target. But he knew this was what training and practicing was for. To get better until it becomes second nature.

His chakra control which was abysmal a few days ago was already beginning to show some signs of improvement. He could safely balance one of the leaves with his chakra for about ten minutes which for Naruto and his massive chakra reserves was quite an accomplishment.

He wiped sweat of his brow before he approached the wooden post and took of all the imbedded Kunai and shuriken and laid them to the ground.

He would have to give them a thorough wash when he got back to his apartment. After all according to Iruka as long as you look after your weapons and equipment then they won't fail you.

Naruto packed his equipment back into the ninja punched when an Anbu with a cat mask appeared before him. Naruto saw the Anbu and smiled before lunging at her with a hug.

"Cat-Chan," he said as he hugged the purple haired Anbu who let out a low chuckle as she patted his blonde hair.

"Hello Naruto," she said as she looked at the area around him and noticed the wooden log that was looking a little worse for wear. "I see you have been training hard".

Naruto nodded. "Of course! If I'm going to be Hokage and bring back my clan then I have to be strong," he said with Cat smiling from behind her mask. She was one of Naruto's favorite anbu's that the Hokage would send to watch over him and Naruto had quickly made a friendship with her. Though he didn't get to see her very often, he would always be happy when he did. Although he was annoyed he that he had not seen her face yet.

The same was for Cat. Unlike most of the other shinobi in the village who just avoided Naruto, she was happy to get to know him a little and she enjoyed the younger blondes company. It made her feel like she might be ready to be mother someday. She knew that if people could just see past the fox, they would see what a delightful and caring boy Naruto was.

"The Hokage has asked that I take you to the hospital. He will meet you there," she said getting a confused look appear on Naruto's face as he tilted his head a little making him look very adorable. Cat had to use every force of willpower she had not to glomp him and hug him to death.

"How come he wants to see me at the hospital?" Naruto asked.

Cat shrugged a little. "I'm not sure but I'm sure you will find out when you get there."

"Oh okay," Naruto said. "Could we make a quick stop at my place so I can put my equipment away?" he asked.

"Very well. We will make one detour," she said as she placed her hand on his shoulder before making them disappear in a swirl of leaves.


Hospital

Naruto appeared in the lobby of the hospital with Cat where they were greeted by the Hokage who thanked Cat before he dismissed her. Nodding her head she disappeared in a swirl of leaves again.

"So what do you need jiji?" Naruto asked.

"Come follow me Naruto. There is someone I think you should meet," he said gesturing for Naruto to follow him.

Naruto looked at Sarutobi before shrugging and walking in place beside him as they made their way through the hospital.

As they walked down the hospitals most of the nurses and doctors simply ignored Naruto and didn't look his way either because they did not care that he was here or they just did not do anything because the Hokage was there beside him.

Though there were a few that had enough courage to look and give him a glare before they were quickly silenced by Hiruzen who gave them one of his own glares that quickly sent them on their way.

It was like that most of the time Naruto was in the hospital so Hiruzen had to have his own personal doctors who he knew he could trust to heal and help Naruto when Naruto made a trip here. Thankfully they did not have anything against him and treated him fairly and never tried anything while he was being healed unlike a few of the nurse and doctors in the past.

After a couple of flights of stairs and walking through a few hallways the pair eventually stopped at room 7 on the third floor.

"So urm what are we doing here jiji. I'm not here to get more shots am I?" Naruto said as he rubbed his left arm and began scanning for escape routes in case that was the reason. He didn't enjoy getting shots last time and considering he ran away and they had to send the Medical ninja's after him where they used threw the injections like kunai's to give him to the shot which was unbelievably painful considering it hit him on the butt.

"No Naruto no shots. At least not today anyway," Hiruzen said making Naruto sign in relief.

"So are we here to see someone then?" Naruto asked with the Hokage nodding.

"Take a seat Naruto" he said gesturing the seats beside them.

"Now Naruto I want you to listen to what I say and do not freak out. Just pay attention and then you may go in to that room." Hiruzen warned.

Naruto nodded again and listened intently to what Hiruzen was about to say.

"A couple of days ago one of my old students was doing some infiltration work in Grass Country where he stumbled on a base that had been recently abandoned. Inside he found an interesting individual. Someone that is connected to you in a way" he said getting a confused look cross Naruto's face as he clearly didn't follow what he was saying.

"When my student went into one of the rooms he found a young girl asleep. She is your age and has red hair. Naruto the reason I'm telling you this is because after inspecting her and finding information about her we have discovered that she is an Uzumaki."

Naruto who was patiently listening to Hiruzen had his mouth drop open slightly while his eyes widened in surprise and shock.

"W-What?" He asked stuttering a little. "But I thought you said I was the last?"

"No Naruto I said that you were the only we knew about and therefore the only one we thought was alive. Remember many Uzumaki were scattered all across the lands when Uzu was destroyed. My guess would be that this young girl's parents or parent escaped and later had her."

"Oh okay," Naruto thought as the two just sat in silence for a moment as Naruto digested what he had just been told. "Another Uzumaki. S-So she is an Uzumaki. Then does that mean I'm not all alone anymore?"

"Jiji what's her name and can I go in and see her? He asked.

"Her name is Karin from what we understand. That was on the documents when my student found her. She is awake I believe since I tried to talk to her a little while ago but she has not said a word. Maybe since you're an Uzumaki and are the same age as her you could get her to speak. We just need to find out what she was doing in the place she was found in."

Naruto nodded as he got up from his seat and went to the door. He got a nod of confidence from Hiruzen before he turned the door handle and went inside.

Naruto stepped into the completely white room that he had been accustomed to over the years though most hospital room just looked the same in his opinion.

As he looked over to the bed he saw a girl his age sitting up on the bed wearing a hospital gown looking down at her hands in front of her. He looked at her blood red hair and noticed her eyes were even a light shade of red but was pupil less. Her hair went down just past her shoulders and noticed that while one side was straight the other had a spikier look to it and her skin tone had a slight tan to it.

Naruto had to fight back a blush when he saw her. She was cute in his eyes and by looking at her; Naruto couldn't help but make a small comparison to her and Mito. He wondered if this is what Mito Uzumaki looked like when she was their age.

Naruto made his over to the bed at a slow pace and saw that her eyes slowly panned up towards him. When he did he could have sworn he saw a tiny tinge of pink appear in her cheeks but he thought it was just a trick from the sunlight.

"Urm h-hi," Naruto said shuffling around a little on the spot. "I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki. It nice to meet you."

The girl eyes widened a tiny bit when she heard his last name but didn't say anything.

"Urm y-your Karin right?" He said but still no words came out of Karin's mouth.

"Okay this does not seem to be going anywhere," Naruto thought as Karin just looked at Naruto with a blank stare, almost as if she was studying him in a way.

"Urm if you don't want to talk to me then I can go get jiji if you like," Naruto thought a little sadly as he turned around. However when he did he felt a small warm hand grasp around his arm and felt himself be brought back a little.

He was surprised to see Karin behind him out of the bed and had her head on his back. Naruto couldn't help but blush. This was the first time a girl other than Ayame and Cat-Chan who was his own age had ever made contact with him or even been this close to him before.

"Your chakra," she muttered but Naruto could hear her as could Hiruzen who had ears pressed against the doors and were both a little happy to finally hear her voice. "Your chakra is so warm. It glows like the sun does."

"Heh?" Naruto thought in confusion while Hiruzen creased his brow as he thought.

"His chakra is warm. Could she see his chakra or sense it somehow? Does she have some kind of sensor ability?""

Karin leaned in and hugged him, all the more reason why Naruto was trying to get his blush under control. "It's so much nicer then that snake mans. His chakra was so bad it made me want to be sick," she whispered.

Naruto turned around to look at her. "What snake man?" he asked causing her to tense a little as she slowly unwrapped her hand from around him and laid back down on the bed. Naruto got a chair and scooted it close to her.

"I don't know his name but he stayed in the shadows a lot. But all I saw was his pale white hands with golden eyes and strange purple markings around them. He found me and my mom in Grass country and then hurt my mom because she wouldn't let him take me," she said as she sobbed a little making Naruto scoot his chair a little closer to her.

"He said that they were going to experiment on me, try and figure out why my chakra is so special."

"What do you mean special?" Naruto quietly asked not understanding what she meant.

Karin bit her lip as if she was deciding whether to tell him or not but figured it was safe to tell him. "Ever since I was little my chakra has been a bit more special than others. When people touch my chakra or if they, say bite me my chakra flows into them and heals them, no matter what the wound. I've only healed little things so I don't know if it could heal big time wounds and stuff."

Naruto nodded a little while Hiruzen was slightly amazed. Amazed that not only was this girl a strong sensor type but her chakra could heal people. "If Tsunade was here she'd no doubt have a field day with her," Hiruzen thought.

"I could hear him talking about experimenting on my chakra, wanting to find out what makes it so special and if he could replicate it" she whispered. But then a few days later he and everyone else just suddenly left. I fell asleep afterwards and then I woke up here," she said with a few tears making their way out of her eyes. Naruto got of his chair and got on the bed. He laid next to Karin and wrapped his fellow Uzumaki in a tight hug which surprised her a little at first but she quickly welcomed it. His warm presence just soothed her and strangely enough she felt safe when he hugged her.

"It's okay now," he whispered as he rubbed her back.

"That snake man can't get you anymore. Plus I won't let him take my new friend away. I might not be strong right now but I will be one day and I will use my strength to protect you."

"R-Really?" Karin asked as she looked up at Naruto a little surprised by his declaration.

"Of course. Its promise of a lifetime Karin-Chan," he said with a bright smile.

"C-Chan?" she thought wasn't sure that she had heard him right.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun," she said making Naruto smile brightly and fell a little surprised when she added Kun to his name.

"That was well put Naruto," Hiruzen said as he stepped through the door believing it was time to show him as he slowly strode over towards the bed where the two eight year olds were currently resting.

"Hey jiji," Naruto said before he noticed Karin looked a little scared of Hiruzen and quickly rubbed her back since Ayame did that to him when he felt scared or nervous and it always helped him. He guessed it worked when Karin looked calmer but her eyes stayed on Hiruzen.

"It nice to see the two of you have become friends. It's always nice to see two youngsters like yourself making new friends and being happy together," Hiruzen said as he sat in the seat Naruto was previously sitting in.

"My dear do you think you could tell everything that you just told Naruto?" he asked as Karin looked at Naruto as if asking if this guy could be trusted. Naruto nodded and she took a quick deep breath.

She recounted what she had told Naruto to Hiruzen as Naruto squeezed her shoulder in comfort which she was happy about and despite only just meeting, Naruto was already quickly becoming someone Karin could turn to.

Though Naruto was happy he was comforting his new friend he did have to keep fighting back a blush when his hand touched her skin. Her skin was very smooth and he had never been so close to a girl his own age before.

Hiruzen listened intently to her story and had to frown as she told him how the snake man had killed her mother before taking her away. He just could not fathom why his old student would take an innocent girl's mother away. He had truly fallen into the darkness and knew he would not ever come out of it.

When she finished he gently put his hand on top of hers and gave her a kind and grandfatherly smile. "First let me say I'm sorry for the loss of your mother my dear. I know what it is like to lose a loved one."

"I would like to ask you what you plan on doing now that you are safe?" he asked.

"I-I don't really know," she whispered. "W-With my mom gone there is nothing there for me back in my old home and my dad died when I was a baby."

Hiruzen spoke up as Naruto continued to listen. "Well if you like my dear you are welcome to stay in the leaf village. I can promise you that you will be safe here," he said surprising both Naruto and Karin.

"I-can?" She asked hesitantly as the Hokage nodded. "B-But where would I live?" she asked since she did not like the thought of living on her own.

"She can stay with me," Naruto blurted out catching both Hiruzen and Karin a little of guard.

"L-Live with you?" Karin asked as Naruto nodded. Could she really live with someone she has only just met?

"Yeah since I live on my own, I could always use the company. Plus my apartment is big enough for one more person to live in. We would have to share a bedroom but the room can easily fit another bed in there. Does that sound alright to you jiji?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hiruzen with hope in his eyes.

"Well it would have to be Karin's decision," he said as he looked at Karin. "Would you like to live with Naruto Karin? If not then we can easily get you an apartment in the village," he said though he was more or less hoping she would want to stay with Naruto.

"I-" Karin said as she looked at Naruto. She looked in his eyes and saw nothing but honesty and warmth from them. She knew she could trust him.

"I would like that," she said getting a big smile from Naruto who happily hugged her while Hiruzen let a small smile appear on his face, happy at the decision she picked.

"Then I will get the papers for your citizenship in Konoha ready then," he said as he got up went across the room towards the door.

"However there is something else I must ask Karin? he asked getting both Uzumaki's attention. "I must ask you whether you would like to be a shinobi of the leaf village. The abilities you said you could so would make you a fine shinobi if that is the route you would like to go down."

"A shinobi?" Karin asked. "I'm not sure Hokage. I have never really thought about it."

"I can give you some time to think about it. The Academy won't start for about five months so you have the time to choose."

"I-I would like to think about it," she whispered getting a nod from the Hokage. He could not force her to be a leaf ninja but he secretly hoped she would. Not because of her skills but he already had a feeling Naruto would do great things one day as a shinobi and he got the same feeling from Karin.

They were both Uzumaki's after all. And everyone knew an Uzumaki was unpredictable.


Two days later

Naruto lay awake in his bed half asleep as the moon was high in the night sky causing moonlight to shine through the windows catching his attention.

He starred up at the ceiling thinking about the last two days.

He had gotten to know Karin a lot more during that time and found she was not just the shy, quiet girl he had first met. She could be quite energetic when she wanted to, could talk to him on almost any topic, and she had proven to have a bit of a temper at times.

It made him laugh when she tried to bop one of the doctors when she thought he was trying to touched her chest but stopped when he realised he was checking her heartbeat with a stethoscope.

The Hokage had one of his female Anbu members get the things that Karin would require like clothes, footwear, pyjama's, and even a bed and a set of drawers for her since he didn't think Naruto and Karin should share and he did know that Naruto's bedroom was big enough for another bed.

Naruto had initially blushed at the prospect of have Karin sleep in his room. Even though it was in a different bed, it was still a little unnerving though Karin didn't see anything wrong with it.

He had brought her to his apartment earlier this afternoon and Karin had liked the place saying it was homey and comfortable which Naruto was happy about since he wanted to make sure she felt safe and warm in her new home with him.

As soon as she was settled in he took her to Ichiraku's and introduced her to Ayame and Teuchi who both took an immediate liking to her. She and Ayame quickly started talking and no doubt both were happy they now each had a girl they could go to talk to.

"Heck even Ayame offered to teach us both how to cook recipes and stuff" Naruto thought before he heard a shuffling come from the bed beside his and felt a weight appear this bed.

He turned is head and his eyes widened when he saw Karin had come over and got under the covers with him.

"K-Karin what are y-you doing?" he said as his face resembled Karin's hair.

"Warm," she said in reference to both his body and chakra as her arms circled around Naruto and she put her head on his shoulder making him go completely red once again.

When he stared down at her he saw she had fallen asleep immediately and her grips around him had gotten tighter. He tired to wriggle out of it but it was to no avail. She was like a vice grip that wouldn't let go no matter what.

He saw the peaceful expression on her face and merely sighed and closed his eyes. He figured he might as well get use to this kind of situation.

Though he knew now that with Karin in his life, he was going to start working even harder, so he could protect her. Whoever that snake man was he would be damned if he let him take her away again.

After all… Uzumaki's stick together no matter what.