Chapter 11: Future's past. Part One
About an hour and half after the debriefring, Naruto, Angelo, Sakura, Hinata, Naruko and André arrived at the address that Tsunade gave to Naruto. She and Jiraya were waiting on the address and she is caring a big bag with her. The address is an old Pagoda-style temple, which is abandoned and clearly lacking proper care.
"So, Tsunade-bachan, what you wanted to us to see here?" Naruto asked.
"This is an old temple made by my grandfather, sometime over the late 1900s, expected to work as a museum of the 18th and 19th century. My grandfather's clan was one of the few which survived as political parties after the Meji restauration. Much history is still unchartered inside that temple." Tsunade said.
"Wakateru, 'ttebayo…" Naruto said.
"Sounds fun to see." Naruko said. Then everyone climbed the set of stairs on the entrance and approached the door. The door has a lock on it that looks quite old. Tsunade then looks the lock and hold it for a moment. Then she suddenly punches the lock, and it opens. She then looks around, and see everyone in shock. Then Jiraya helps her to push the door.
"It's pitch black here… can't see a thing." Sakura says.
"Hum… here." Tsunade says as she picks up two lanterns from her bag and gives one to Sakura. They walk a little more and find a funnel-like thing on the wall.
"Here, there's another one too." Hinata says. Sakura illuminates the space between them and the light shows up a large corridor that goes beyond the lantern's light range
"The end of the thing must be inside the wall or something…" Tsunade says as she picks up a lighter and puts fire on a piece of paper. She then throws the paper on one of the funnels, and a series of small lights lighten up at one side of the corridor. She gives the lighter and a piece of paper to Sakura, and she repeats the same procedure. The lights on the other side of the corridor also lighten up. On the very end of the corridor, is a gate. The group then proceed onto it.
"Huh? What's there above the gate?" Angelo asks.
"Is the old Uzumaki clan emblem." Tsunade says. Then everyone looks at Naruto and Naruko.
"You two have a family with quite an story, you know. The Uzumaki clan had the same age as the my grandfather's clan and the Uchiha clan, the most powerful clans in the Edo period. It was a prominent clan from the Uzushiokagure region, actual Ibaraki region, and distant relatives of my grandfather's clan, the Senju clan. As such, both were in good terms and an alliance that extended to their regions. The actual regions of Saitama, Tokyo and Kanagawa, and even this island were once their region and domains, and the areas over the mainland named Konohakagure region. Konohakagure Air Base was named after it, and your headbands have the symbol of the Konohakagure region."
"Sugoii…" Naruto said.
"Amazing…" Naruko says.
"Unfortunately, the passage of the hurricanes Matsui and Okakure in the 18th and 19th centures, so do the World War Two aerial bombings destroyed most of the Uzushiokagure region, and the remaing members were scattered throughout the Japan. My grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, married my grandfather and settled the Tokyo region, same goes to Kushina."
Angelo and André get astonished and look at each other. Tsunade notices it and asks.
"You two have a question?"
"My grandpa said he dated a woman named Mito Uzumaki before joining the Imperial Navy Air Force." André said.
"That can't be possible." Tsunaed said.
"Why not?"
"My grandmother had born in 1881, and married my grandfather in 1904. She died in 1986. Teacher Noji was only 20 years old when he joined the military. My grandmother was on her late 50s by the end of the war." Tsunade says.
"Whoa…" Angelo said.
"Then… could be someone else named Mito Uzumaki by the start of the war?" André says.
"Maybe… maybe someone making a tribute to my grandmother. To have an idea of it, the capital of the actual Ibaraki region was named Mito, after my grandmother's death."
"Uzumaki members were quite respected and feared as soldiers also." Jiraya said.
"Really?" Naruto said.
"Yes. Besides the aforementioned and known Uzumaki life longevity, the Uzumaki clan also had an incredible stamina and life force." Tsunade said.
"I've heard reports and Noji-sensei once said that an Uzumaki clan member could sustain and survive wounds from a bullet on the head, and even on the vital parts of the torso, like the lungs, heart and stomach. He even saw it himself." Jiraya said.
"Amazing!" Naruko said.
"One more thing about it." Tsunade said.
"What else me, mom and imotosan can do? We have super force also, or agility?" said the excited Naruto.
"None of the those. Is about your hair."
"Eh?" Said Naruto and Naruko, both quite confused.
"One of the features of the Uzumaki bloodline and genetic, besides the stamina and longevity, was a unique hair color."
"Which was…?" Naruko says.
"Red."
"Ehhhh?!" Both Naruto and Naruko said.
"If I'm correct all the Uzumaki with most of the clan's genetic features had red hair. About you two…let's just say it was…"
"An beautiful interfention…" Angelo and Hinata said, very distacted by Tsunade's words, and haven't noticed what they said. They just realized what they said when everyone started to look at them, then they felt very embarrassed.
"Thanks, dear." Naruko said as she gave Angelo a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Hinata." Naruto said, as he kissed Hinata's forehead.
"Well…shouldn't we be going?" Jiraya said.
"Yes. There's a series of invaluable artifacts on the upper floor that I want to check if any robbers violated them." Tsunade said. Then everyone walked through the gate and climbed a stair to the upper floor. On the upper floor, there was another corridor, this one had four doors along each side it.
"This should be the artifact hall. There is a series of artifacts on each room. I want to check if all of them are in their right place, and by the morning I'll have some soldiers guarding this temple." Tsunade said.
"Are them that important?" Jiraya asked.
"The oldest of those is 225 years old. The value of them together is bigger than all the Air Force's planes before the invasion. For me they have only sentimental value…"
"Okay then…"
Everyone then heads for the first door of the left side, and Jiraya opens it. Then everyone enters the room. There is several scrolls over the floor and some of the wooden and bamboo shelf little doors are sliced open.
"This is, or was, this floor's scroll room. There is several and valuable documents around here, including old 18th centures maps, diaries, and battle strategies from my grandfathers and his predecessors which luckily wasn't at the capital's National Library, thank goodness. We gonna take those of this section here, which is the most important ones, and wait until tomorrow to pick up the rest of them." Tsunade says as she picks some of the scrolls and puts in her bag.
Suddenly, a shadow passes behind them. Hinata then turn around, but doesn't see nothing.
"Hey Hinata, what's the matter?" Naruto asks.
"I think I just saw something… Like a shadow…" she answers.
"You think there is already someone else here, ma'am?" Angelo asks to Tsunade.
"Then must be someone with a hell of a guts to come here pile my ancestors' treasures! You kids go check that room over there while we finish here." She answered.
"Yes, ma'am." He says. Then everyone, with the exception of Jiraya and Tsunade, enters the first room of the right side. Sakura then illuminates the room, and the light shows a dummy with a samurai armor, however, the breastplate and both the shoulders armor is missing.
"Anything?" Tsunade says from the other room.
"There is a dummy with an old samurai armor, but the pectoral part is missing alongside the shoulders' aromor." Sakura answers.
"Which color the armor is?"
"It's blue."
"That was my grandfather's brother's armor. Good, I'll not kill the son of a gun, but I'll give him a hell of a punch." Tsunade says to Jiraya.
"Hum, no doubt you would. Time has shown you can't be underestimated, Tsunade." He answers.
"Looks like this guy needs a little pick-me-up to remind him of this goddarn lesson." She answered.
Then the shadow runs again, this time from the end of the corridor to the second door of the right side. Again, Hinata notices and turns around.
"I saw it again." She says.
"What?" Naruko asks.
"The shadow. Just entered that door over there." Hinata answers.
"I'll take a look." Angelo says. "What is supposed to have in that room?" He asks.
"If Tsunade-sensei is right, that should be the katana storage room." Sakura answers.
"Oh well…" he says.
"Be careful, dear." Naruko says.
"I'll. I promise." Angelo says. He then enters the katana room, and looks around it, but the darkness don't allow to see much of the interior of it . However, he can see the katana stand just in the middle of the room. The stand was supposed to have four katana swords, but he only see three.
"What the…" he says.
Suddenly, the missing katana strikes him, almost beheading him, but he evaded by getting down on the right moment. Then he looks to were the sword came from, and sees the figure pointing the sword to him. The figure then attacks him again, but he evades to the left, and it attacks him again, but he evades to the right. The figure attacks him aiming to the middle, then he manages to grab the katana's cable and the attacker's hands. He then pulls the attacker to the right, and kick its belly. The attacker is moved to the door by the kick, and Angelo can see its sillouete and that the attacker have a long black hair. The attacker puts the katana up for another attack run, but before it can start its run, Tsunade appears and punches the attacker on the neck from behind, who falls on the floor.
"That's what you win by piling my grandfather and my family's treasures, you little piece of crap." Tsunade says to the fallen attacker, which is unconscious. Then everyone else comes.
"Uh, I may not be a doctor, but I think he, or she needs assistance." Angelo says.
"Of course. If I hit 'it' right, it may have two or three broken bones. Sakura, take a look on it." Tsunade said.
Sakura then approaches, and makes a check on the attacker. She then puts the lantern light over him, and gets everyone astonished. The attacker is a girl over her late teenage, have an straight and lined up fringe, same like Hinata and Hanabi's fringes, as an addition to her long hair, pale skin, and its wearing the samurai armor above an black shirt, and is wearing black paints. Sakura then hold the attacker's chin, and press its cheeks.
"She has signs of dehydration and lack of proper nutrition, sensei. I'll have her pulse checked now." Sakura says as she picks up the attacker's pulse, and looks at her clock. After one minute, Sakura says in a alarmed voice tone.
"Her pulse is at 42 per minute! She needs proper medical assistance!"
"What is this on her eye?" Naruko says. Then Sakura points the light to the attacker's right eye. It is a black eye with an untreated cut in the eyelid. Tsunade then checks with her fingers the wounded area and the eye bag.
"The cut must be causing an red cell flux overflow and a lack of oxygen on the ocular membrane." She says. "Put the light on the minimum. If we force too much, she can lose her eye." Sakura complies and Tsuande opens the attacker's eye.
"As I suspected. If we don't treat the wound, she will lost her eye." Tsunade says.
"Not only that. Her pulse is now at 39 per minute and dropping! By this rate, she'll have a cardiorespiratory stop in 15 minutes!" Sakura says.
"She'll not survive it with her lack of nutrition. Naruto, help your brother-in-law to carry her to outside, where we'll take her to the hospital." Tsunade says.
Naruto then helps Angelo to carry the attacker to outside the temple, while Tsunade calls for a ambulance. When Angelo and Naruto carry the attacker, a card falls from the attacker's pocket. Naruko pits it up, and puts on her pocket, then goes with the others to outside.
This is the end of this chapter. Second part will come out shortly.