Wow. I don't even have an excuse for the delay on this chapter.

Long-Lost Relatives

After having told Naruto that we're related, Kakashi—who had apparently become the Rokudaime Hokage after the Godaime, Tsunade, passed down the job—decided that he wanted explain things to him privately, so Tsunade took me to one of the training grounds on the outskirts of the village to blow off some steam. She and I fell into a strange routine to help me become accustomed to how things are nowadays. We sparred, and every time I landed a hit, she'd tell me something that had changed since I'd been locked away. On the first kick I landed, she'd told me that Kushina had married the Fourth Hokage. That had resulted in me freezing in shock, and I just barely dodged one of her chakra-packed monster punches.

By now, I had also learned that there had been two more Shinobi World Wars, the Uchiha clan had been wiped out, she'd taken on two disciples, and technically, my nephew and I are the same age. The last one had caused me quite a bit of thought. He's nearly eighteen, and since I had been frozen at eighteen in a time-capsule of a prison, I'm still eighteen. Well, I'm really fifty-four, but yikes, I don't want to think about that.

Looking over at Tsunade, I wonder if anyone knows what she really looks like, or if even she knows what she really looks like. She's still using her chakra to look twenty-one, but I know she's actually sixty-four. I'll just keep that to myself, though.

For the next few minutes, neither of us make a mark on the other. Growing exasperated, I push myself a little harder, screaming and finally swiping her legs out from under her and knocking her down with my forearm at the same time so that she can't right herself before falling. She's up again in under a second. I bark out a victorious laugh and smirk. "Two hits! Gotta tell me two facts this time, Tsunade."

Her face takes on a contemplative look as she sorts through all the things she can tell me. She gives me a sad smile. "Sakumo died, and Jiraiya."

The wonted weight of grief crashes down on me for the third time today. My arms go limp at my sides as they fall from their protective stance. The short-lived comfort that sparring gave us is gone. "Damn it, Tsunade," I mumble, "you weren't supposed to tell me depressing shit."

I feel her hand come down on my shoulder. "Sorry, kid. Wanna go drown your sorrows in some sake?"

I shake her off, and unbidden, a surge of misplaced amusement courses through me. "Of course, not! Why would I deliberately disorient myself? No respectable kunoichi should ever—"

"Alright, alright, alright. I get it." She starts making her way back to the village, so I follow suit. I hear her snort from my place behind her. "I forgot how annoying your lectures were."

Tsunade bangs on the door in spite of my protests. She stops when we hear the inhabitant of the apartment begin to stomp over.

"I don't want to stay here," I repeat in an angry whisper.

"Don't care," she whispers back. The door opens. "Ah, Naruto-kun. How are you?"

"Uh, fine," he responds, his eyes nervously darting over to me.

"Great." Her hand clamps down on my shoulder, and unlike the other times she'd done this today, it's not comforting. She pushes me through the door, though I try to resist. She's just too damn strong. "Well, Naruto-kun, as I'm sure the Rokudaime Hokage told you, Nara will be staying here until further notice." She grabs the doorknob, beginning to close the door. Giving me a pointed stare, she finishes off with: "Be nice."

I look around the apartment. It's rather small, but enough for one person. The living area has a few chairs and a couch littered around a small coffee table, all sitting on a hardwood floor. In the corner is a cramped kitchen, a tall counter separating it from the rest of the main room. Three doors are lined up on the wall opposite to the entrance with various distances between them. Two of them are opened, revealing a bedroom and a bathroom. I assume that the other one is a closet, not interested enough to ask and make certain. Finally, having gone around the entire space, my gaze lands on my nephew.

Nope. Too weird. Just gonna refer to him using his name.

I clear my throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I suppose I should start out by apologizing for lying, and then trapping you and your friend in a genjutsu. . . . Twice."

He places his hands on the back of his neck. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Right. Well . . . uh . . ." I trail off, uncertain of what to say. What does one say in such a situation? I mean, sure, technically I'm the adult and I'm supposed to know what to do, but I'm not prepared for this! How could I be? Why would I have expected to be incarcerated without aging physically or mentally for decades, only to come back to find out that my dead eleven-year-old sister had a son that's now as mature as myself? Why did this have to happen?

"So," Naruto starts, distracting me from my internal breakdown. "I made up the couch for you."

I turn to look at the couch again, cocking an eyebrow in question. Sure, if haphazardly throwing a threadbare orange blanket onto the sofa constitutes 'making it up,' then yeah, he did a great job. "Thanks." I move to sit down, suddenly exhausted, but before I do, I look down at myself, taking in the clothing stained from blood and jelly-water and my grimy skin. Pointing to the bathroom, I ask, "Do you mind if I take a bath?"

"Oh, sure." He walks over to the closed door beside the bathroom and pulls out a purple towel.

So it is a closet.

He hands me the towel. "You can use this one. It's my girlfriend's." I nod and thank him again. "No problem. So, after you get out, can you just turn out the lights in this room? I'll probably be asleep." I frown in confusion? Asleep? Why would he go to sleep before me, someone he barely knows? Any genin knows better than to let their guard down like that.

Once in the bathroom, I move to draw the bath, but quickly notice that there is no bathtub, only a sink, a toilet, and a strange glass stall. I go back outside, asking Naruto where his bath is. Clearly confused by my confusion, he walks past me into the small room. "What?" He points at the glass stall in the corner. "The shower is right there."

"What's a shower?"

A surprised laugh escapes him. "You don't know what a shower is?"

"No," I exclaim. "I've never seen one before. They must be new." He laughs again, and yeah, I start to take it personally. He explains how the shower works, and when he finishes, I only have more questions. "So, it's like bathing in the rain while standing up? How are you supposed to soak the dirt out of your skin?"

He shrugs. "You just scrub it out with soap."

I scoff, skeptical of this shower. It doesn't seem as though it should be classified as a modern advancement. What was wrong with baths, anyway?

After Naruto leaves, I turn to look at myself in the mirror. My skin is pale, and dark bags have formed underneath my eyes, no doubt from the stress of having chakra slowly extracted from me for nearly the entire duration of Kakashi's life. I remove my long, golden hairpins from the sides of my head first, letting my red locks fall over my cheeks. Next, I untie my headband from where I keep it tied under my hair, then set it down next to the hairpins on the corner of the sink. The symbol of Uzushiogakure glints up at me, and I turn away, not wanting to stew over the now-abandoned and destroyed village.

I unstrap my sandals and step out of my long, blue, standard shinobi sweats. I unhook the straps around the buttons of my shoulder piece and peel off the fabric that covers my arms. I then examine the appendages, checking to see if the identical seals on them had been affected by the chakra-sucking jelly-water. They appear to be fine, if not slightly discolored, a lighter turquoise than usual. However, that's always been the case when my chakra hasn't been at its full capacity, which it certainly isn't now. Moving on, I carefully pull the turtleneck shoulder piece over my head as it's connected to the strapless piece that covers my breasts and the top of my midriff by the stitched red circle containing the symbol of Konohagakure at the back. I take a moment to take in the irony of each village having the other's symbol on their ninjas' backs. If Konoha was so loyal to Uzushio, then why didn't they come to save the village from its destruction? Then again, they undoubtedly worked together to lock me away.

Completely undressed, I run the water from the sink, sticking my clothing articles under the faucet and soaping them up one by one. I try my best to scrub off all of the dirt, grime and stains, but given that it's all dark blue fabric, it's hard to tell how successful I am. Afterward, I spare a little chakra to use Wind Release and blow dry them instantaneously as I have nowhere to hang them or any other clothes to wear.

Stepping into the shower, I turn the nozzle to the left for hot water, but it comes out freezing. I jump in surprise, figuring that I must've forgotten what Naruto said, though that doesn't seem like me. A shinobi has to comprehend directions as quickly and best as possible in order not to die on a mission. However, I don't have a lot of adrenaline, despite being in a new and unsettling environment; maybe that's why I'm so slow. Though, it could be from the news of Kushina's death. The demise of loved ones has always made me freeze up, even in battle.

I sigh. This really isn't my day.

Once I get the temperature of the water right, I clean myself thoroughly, scraping at my skin even after the soap has washed off, leaving it pink and raw. Afterward, I finally let myself cry, knowing that the hot dribbles of water will wash away anything my tears leave behind.

Naruto rises three hours after dawn and opens his door to find me lying on couch, staring at the ceiling. I hadn't slept during the night, too disturbed by the previous day's events to let myself rest. At around 2 o'clock, my chakra had returned in full, but I'd placed a seal on myself to suppress it, not wanting to notify anyone from my past of my presence, and to keep others from knowing how powerful I truly am.

He smiles at me in greeting. "Good morning."

"Mornin'," I reply, sitting up to peer over the back of the sofa at him as he enters the kitchen. He wears his shinobi uniform, which is spectacularly orange. I notice that his eyes shine with the same color and excitement that Kushina's used to in the morning, and my heart twists in agony. He pours himself a bowl of cereal.

"Do you want some?" he asks, not looking up. I answer by walking over and leaning on the counter. He smiles at me again as he hands me my bowl, and I return the gesture, but it doesn't reach my eyes. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I lie. "Did you?"

"Yep!"

The conversation lapses after that, neither of us knowing what to say to long-lost relatives that we didn't know existed until yesterday. Minutes later, a knock sounds at the door, saving us from any further awkward interaction. I recognize the chakra on the other side of the door, and given Naruto's reaction, he does, as well.

"Sasuke-teme! Did you come to see me?"

Naruto's friend ignores him, stepping past him to enter the apartment. He fixes me with the infamous Uchiha glare. "The Hokage wants to speak with us."

I shrug, unsurprised. I step out of the apartment, and both boys follow suit, Naruto shouting at his friend for ignoring him. After a few minutes, we reach the Hokage Tower. All three of us are allowed in, but Naruto is barred from entering the Rokudaime's office. He gets upset, to say the least.

Currently, he's banging on the outside of the door to the office, screaming his head off. "Kakashi-sensei! Let me in!"

I press the heels of my palms into my eyes. "Is he always so loud?"

"Hn," the Uchiha boy answers, though I'm unsure as to whether it was an affirmation or negation.

He bangs on the door again. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Go away, Naruto," Kakashi calls back. "I don't want to talk to you right now." Naruto continues to whine for a few more seconds, but shuts up when someone approaches him in the hallway. I don't recognize anything significant about the person's chakra, so I assume it's one of his friends.

Kakashi turns back to the Uchiha and me. "So, the reason I called you both here is because you were very recently a rogue nin," he pauses, looking to the impassive boy beside me. I raise an eyebrow in question. "Or," he continues, "you're about to become one." His eyes then focuses on me, and my other eyebrow raises to complete my look of shock. Both of us knowing that we're clearly not on his good side, we remain silent.

"Sasuke, you were pardoned for your crimes—thanks to me—but I still don't completely trust you. And Uzumaki-sama, the last thing you did before being put away was threaten to kill the Hokage."

"Unjustly put away," I argue.

"Nonetheless. Both of you will therefore be placed on a three months suspension from active duty, and you may not leave the village during this time. Sasuke, at the end of this period, you will be immediately reinstated as a ninja of Konoha. However, Uzumaki-sama, you will have a supervisor for the next three months, and—depending on the evaluation she gives you—I will then decide if you become a Konoha kunoichi."

I hold up my hands in protest. "Hold on. What makes you think I'd want to be a Konoha ninja? This little village you run is responsible for the death of my sister."

His bored expression doesn't waver as he asks, "You'd rather become a missing nin and be hunted down and exterminated?" I wince slightly at the morbid images of my own missing nin-hunting days that flash through my mind's eye at his statement, but don't otherwise react.

Taking our continued silence as agreement to his absurd three-month plan, his face—his eyes, really—turns up in a smile. "Good. For now, you'll both be helping our Interrogation Force make detailed records of any special skillsyou might have. Yamanaka Ino will escort you." With that he gives his attention back to the papers on his desk, effectively dismissing us.

A girl with the signature long blond ponytail of the Yamanaka clan stands in the hallway, waiting for us. Naruto is nowhere in sight. He must've gotten bored.

She greets the Uchiha in an overly sweet voice. "Sasuke-kun! Good to have you back!"

"Hn. Where's Sakura?"

At his question, all the pleasantness drops from her expression, and part of me wonders if it was ever there to begin with. It is replaced by a cool, challenging look. "Sakura isn't a member of the Interrogation Force, Sasuke. You know that. Why would she be here?"

Oh, damn. She dropped the honorific. I don't who this Sakura person is, but she certainly seems to have quite the effect on these two.

"I don't feel her presence in the village," he clarifies.

She sighs over-dramatically, as though his question is of childlike quality. "Yes, well, she's on a mission. Now," she turns, sauntering away from us. "Sasuke-kun, Uzumaki-san, if you'll follow me."

I've been waiting outside of an investigation room for the Uchiha to finish talking to the Interrogation Force for an hour, and it's starting to get ridiculous. What could they possibly be discussing? Even if he does have a bunch of crazy jutsus and his clan's kekkei gekkai up his sleeve, he could simply breeze over everything without giving them too much information—that's just good sense.

After another half an hour, the door to the investigation room opens, and the scowling young man loses no time in leaving the building. The Yamanaka girl calls me in. I'm asked to sit at a table across from her and a large man named Morino Ibiki. I run my hand over to the back of the offered chair to check for hidden seals. When I find none, I take my seat and lean my elbows on the table. "So, what can I do you for?"

"Uzumaki-sama," the man starts, obviously not buying my overly relaxed demeanor. "We have a record for you already, but it was made more than forty years ago, so I'm hoping that you'll fill in any gaps that it may have."

"Not a problem," I reply, smiling. "Let's see, I use taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu, senjutsu, kenjutsu, fuuinjutsu, and—of course—there's the Uzumaki clan's kekkei gekkai." I place my palms on the table, standing to leave. "So, if that'll be all—"

"Uzumaki-sama, please, sit," he says. I grumble, but comply. "Why don't we ask you questions, and you answer?"

I tip my head back, scowling and clenching my teeth. "Fine."

"Alright." He looks down at a file in his hands. "Under taijutsu, it says you can open the first of the Eight Gates. Have you progressed since then?"

Crap. I should've expected this level of thoroughness from a team called 'The Interrogation Force.'

"Yes. I'm on the Third Gate."

He nods, and his younger companion writes it down. "Genjutsu?"

"What about it?"

"Do you have anything worth sharing?"

Sighing, I digress. "I created a jutsu that allows me to review, share and steal memories through touch. Other than that, I use normal ones, I guess."

"Alright," he says. Blondie jots something down again. "And you have a Forbidden Seal?"

"Yes."

"Which Forbidden Seal is it?"

"No."

"No?"

"No," I repeat, standing my ground. "Information concerning The Forbidden Seals has been protected by my clan for centuries. Don't think I'll give it up without a fight."

Morino Ibiki locks eyes with me, scowling. "Just tell us what else it does."

"No."

He squares his jaw in irritation, but moves on. "You use Wind and Lightning Release, right?"

"Right."

"And you're a Frog Sage?"

"Toad Sage," I correct.

"You're a Sage?" The Yamanaka interjects. "Like Naruto and Jiraiya?"

My brow furrows. "Naruto is a Sage?" How had I missed that? I had spent hours observing his chakra before he'd woken up. There'd been the Kyuubi's chakra and his own, though there had also been something else that I hadn't been able to identify. I'd felt no trace of senjutsu usage, but it's possible that he simply hadn't used it in a while.

"Yeah. He said that someone named Fukasaku taught him."

I nod, suddenly remembering the first time I'd met Fukasaku and his wife, Shima.

Jiraiya had been tasked with training me for combat in the Second Shinobi World War, and he'd decided to take me to Mount Myōboku to study senjutsu. He'd reverse-summoned us into a small house, and I'd promptly fallen to the ground and started hyperventilating.

"Nara-chan, calm down," Jiraiya shouted at me.

"No! It felt like I was being turned inside-out." My breathing remained heavy, but I eventually stood to survey my new surroundings. We appeared to be in a living room, but everything was tiny, as though it were made for small children. Also, there were a lot of mushrooms.

"Jiraiya-kun! Who is this?" I looked down to see who'd spoken, spotting two large frogs. One had dark, swamp-green skin and spiky white hair, and the other was much lighter in skin color with purple hair and lips. The darker one took notice of my hair and spoke up again. "Is she an Uzumaki?"

I shrieked at seeing him speak, ducking behind Jiraiya. "You're frogs!"

"Toads," the creature had corrected. "Jiraiya-kun! Why did you bring a skittish little girl here?"

He shrugged, laughing. "I didn't know she'd be so freaked out. I thought she was tougher than this." His voice had a lilt to it, and I knew he was mocking me.

I took the bait, stepping out from behind him. "I am tough!"

"Then why don't you act like it?" He pushed me forward. "Now, be polite and greet Ma and Pa."

"Ma and Pa?" I'd repeated. "Are they your parents?" Jiraiya was a pervy weirdo—that would explain things.

Well, maybe not the pervy part, but the weird part for sure.

"No! Why would you even think that? Are all ten-year-olds in Uzushio as stupid as you?"

I stomped my foot and scrunched up my face at him in annoyance. "I'm not ten, I'm eleven! And I'm not stupid!"

"Hey," the white-haired toad—Pa, I assumed—interjected. "Answer me, Jiraiya-kun!"

The man sighed, turning away from me. "I brought her here to learn how to use senjutsu. We're on a special team for the war, and she needs more training."

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled. "I'm already trained."

"Be quiet," he shot back. Addressing the toads again, he asked, "So, will you guys please help me train her?"

Pa jumped up, grabbing onto the braid that had been hanging over my shoulder and yanking me down to his level. He squinted his eyes and gave my face a one-over. I'd scowled in defiance at being judged, and he'd smiled. "Sure thing, Jiraiya-kun. Shima, feed Uzumaki-chan something. We'll begin her training afterward."

Ma tapped the back of my hand and motioned for me to follow her to a small table. "Come on, dear. I have just the thing to get you going."

"Uzumaki-sama," Morino repeats, bringing me back to the present. "What kind of sword do you typically use?"

"Hm? Oh, I use dual Dao swords."

"Okay," he says, the energy in his voice winding down—not that there was ever very much to begin with. "Now, I know that the Uzumaki clan's kekkei gekkai is different for each clansman, so can you give me the specifics of yours?"

I place my elbows on the table, folding my hands into a bridge under my nose. "I can steal people's chakra and use it as is."

He crosses his arms. "So, if you were to—for example—steal the chakra of the Godaime, you could use healing techniques?"

"Oh, no, I suck at that. Medical ninjutsu is the one thing I just can't do. However, I could use her Earth Release."

"Alright. Well—"

"Hold on, I—I'm sorry, Ibiki-san, I keep interrupting, but I have a question. Uzumaki-san, can you explain your clan's kekkei gekkai?"

Squinting at her, I cock my head to the side, skeptical. "Why?"

"Well, I'm friends with Naruto and I'm pretty sure that he doesn't know about it, so I want to be able to tell him."

I scowl at her implication. What? She doesn't think I'll tell him?

Nah. She's right. I'm not exactly the sharing type.

With a sigh, I begin to explain. "Each blood member of the clan can manipulate chakra in a particular way that other ninjas—both within and outside of the clan—cannot," I explain. "I can steal chakra, Kushina can—"

No, Kushina can't do anything. Not anymore.

My throat closes up at the thought. All of my emotions from the night before come rushing back, crashing into me and taking my breath away. I had tried to keep them at bay so that I could keep myself together, but I guess I just can't do it.

I can't live with the fact that my sister is dead.

I stand abruptly. The legs of the chair screech against the floor as I push it into the table. "This is over, right?"

Morino Ibiki—perhaps taken aback at my sudden change in emotion—nods, and I leave.

I need to blow off some steam.

However, the moment I step out of the room, I realize I won't be able to. A woman with long, messy hair and dark, red eyes waits for me in the hall.

"Uzumaki Nara-san," she greets. "Nice to meet you. I'm Yuuhi Kurenai."