Chapter seventeen- The tragedy of the Uzumaki clan
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
At the first signs of sun rise, Naruto decided to sneak out of the room that he shared with Riku, so with uneasy steps, he tiptoed around the snoring man and made for the door. Each of his muscles was tense as he tried not to make even the slightest noise. As he was slowly sliding the door open, he froze. Riku had groaned. He slowly turned around and sighed in relief as Riku grumbled in his sleep, before turning. Naruto closed the door and with haste, he walked down the hallway, only to come face to face with Ichirou. They stilled at the sight of each other. "You're sneaking out too?" he asked and smirked when Naruto frowned.
"Yeah" he said and they walked out the inn together. They braced themselves for the cold morning air and when they were out on the streets, people were already awake.
"I didn't take you as the bad boy, little man" Ichirou said and Naruto glanced at him. "I mean, sneaking out in the morning? Shame on you" he added with a chuckle.
"You're doing the same, and just because you're four years older than me, that don't mean you get to call me, little man" Naruto said and he arched an eyebrow.
"You're different from the shy, quiet blonde at dinner last night" he commented to Naruto. "So, are you going to meet a little cutie too?" he asked and Naruto's cheeks turned red.
"What? No!" he shouted at him and Ichirou just laughed at how embarrassed he was with the question.
"Why not? Don't tell me, you're going to meet with a boy, are you? I didn't think you swung that way" he said.
"It's not like that!" Naruto shouted and he threw his head back with laughter. "Are you meeting with a girl?" he asked.
"Yup. I meet her at the festival last night and we hit it off" he said, smiling to himself. Naruto looked at him and he asked "What?"
"So why are you meeting her so early in the morning?" Naruto asked and he smiled at the blonde.
"That's a secret only privy to adults, little man" he said and he frowned at the older boy. "Besides, your ears are too young for such things" he added and at the insinuation, Naruto blushed again. Ichirou laughed and Naruto mumbled to himself about how he was just like his 'Anko-sensei'. "That's right, you're training to be a shinobi, right?" he asked and Naruto nodded. "What is that like?" he asked.
"Most of the times it's hard but sometimes, when you get to learn something new, it's worth it" Naruto said and Ichirou stared ahead with a sigh. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's nothing. I just wanted to become a shinobi too but since we're always moving around, I can never get the chance" he said with a frown.
"What's your reason for wanting to become a shinobi?" Naruto asked and he glanced at him.
"Do you know how many robbers are waiting to ambush travelers on the roads? Do you know how hard it is especially for the women like my mother and sister to be travelling around the Elemental Nations when there are groups waiting to steal them into the black market? It's tough out here, little man" he said and Naruto couldn't believe what he was saying. "If it wasn't for my dad, they would've been kidnapped about ten times now. That's why I'm scared. What if one day, he's overpowered and they do take them? I ask myself that question everyday when we're out on the road. Despite the fact that I can defend myself, there are strong people out there, you know?" he said and Naruto nodded.
"I do know" Naruto said, thinking all the people who had defeated him so far. The list ranged of Hinata, Lee, Sasuke, and Anko-sensei. They had all shown him how really weak he was but unlike before, he didn't let it get him down. Like Anko-sensei said, getting strong was a process.
"Well this is my stop, little man. I'll see you at breakfast, right?" he asked and when Naruto nodded, he smiled. "You didn't see me, and I didn't see you" he said with a salute and he watched Ichirou leave. When he wasn't busy arguing with Keiko, he was fun to be around. When Ichirou was finally out of sight, he turned to get going himself.
"You're late" Dai said to Naruto as soon as he approached. Naruto rolled his eyes at the orange haired boy who was ready to blow a fuse.
"Good morning, Naruto" Arata said, and Naruto nodded. Arata wore a long sleeved grey shirt and black pants, with his long hair in a high ponytail. "Now that you're here, we'll get started" he added and Naruto leaned up on the stone ledge, opposite from the brothers. Dai hopped up and sat down with a glare directed at Naruto. Naruto thought the boy reminded him of Takao, with that scowl on his face. He listened to the river beneath them, as it ebbed and flowed. "Before we start, what do you know about the Uzumaki clan?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"I don't know anything about the clan. Jiji never told me" Naruto said and frowned as Dai's scowl deepened.
"That's okay. He probably didn't know himself. Our clan has always been secretive. Even when we lived in Uzushiogakure, we didn't allow strangers into our homeland. It's what made sure that our secrets were preserved" Arata said, and Dai nodded.
"Uzushiogakure?" Naruto asked and Arata smiled at him. "Where is that?" he added and Dai scoffed. "Could you stop that?" Naruto shouted at him.
"Dai, stop it" Arata said with a firm voice. Dai quietened down and Arata shot a smile at Naruto. "Uzushiogakure was our homeland" he said.
"The ones that the great shinobi villages destroyed" Dai said and Naruto's eyes widened at the claim. "That's what I meant before, shrimp. They're the ones responsible for annihilating our clan" he added with a set jaw.
"What?" Naruto whispered with doubt in his voice. "That's not right" he added and when he looked at Arata, he could see the sadness in his eyes. "Why would they do something like that?" he asked.
"The Uzumaki clan was famous for three things. We always lived long lives, we always had red hair and we always had the strongest seals in the entire Elemental Nations. No one could defeat us when they were up against our seals" Arata said and Naruto absorbed everything he said. "It's those same seals that made the great shinobi villages so afraid of us with the exception of Konoha. We were always allied with Konoha and that's why the jounin wear our swirl on their backs. Did you know that the Shodai's wife was an Uzumaki?" h said, and Naruto's eyes widened.
"Nothing was ever recorded about his wife" Naruto said and Dai had to resist the urge to huff.
"Yes, she was one of the few humans that sealed the Bijuu, Kyuubi" Arata said and Naruto gasped. "Our seals can do anything, young Naruto. It can be used to sap the energy of our enemies, increase our own strength, seal Bijuu, hold fire, create dimensions and even transport us across space as well as time. That's why they feared us. They feared the power of our clan" he added and Dai turned his back on them so he could watch the river. He heard that story many times before. When they were just kids, they would sit around the fire, as the older folk weaved their tales about Uzushiogakure. However, recently the place felt like a fairytale more than anything. Everything about the Uzumaki felt like some strange myth, from their red hair to the prestige they held, the same prestige that made them one of the strongest clan in the Elemental Nations. Now, they were reduced to nothing but nomads. "So during the Second Shinobi war, Kiri, Kumo as well Iwa turned their attention on us. Soon enough, they decided to attack simultaneously" he said, and Naruto could hear his heart beating in his ears.
"But they've been enemies since the day the villages were formed!" Naruto shouted, unable to keep his emotions in check. He had just found people who were related him, learnt that he actually had a clan, only to find out that they were destroyed by the other villages? It couldn't be! He shouted in his mind.
"They had the same purpose, Naruto and that was what brought them together. They had to get rid of us before we posed a threat to them, especially since we were allied with the likes of Konoha. They thought that if Konoha called us to fight, we would. That was where they were wrong. The Uzumaki clan has never been involved with shinobi or their wars. We have always been neutral with what was happening around us because we always chose peace" Arata said and Naruto clenched his fists. Now he understood why Dai was so upset. He was right, he sadly thought to himself. "On that fateful night, the last Uzukage took his stand against the shinobi of the three villages. The women and children were evacuated whilst most of the men stayed behind to fight with their leader. It was a massacre" Arata added and closed his eyes. Even though he hadn't been borne as yet, the elders always made sure to regale the demise of the Uzumaki clan.
"Despite the fact that we had our seals, the number of shinobi that had been deployed were too much for them. Soon enough, every Uzumaki, who fought, had been slaughtered in our own homeland. The great shinobi villages made sure to wipe us off the map. They made sure that even though there were survivors, we would never be able to go back home, thereby ensuring that we could never be able to achieve the level of greatness we once had" Arata said, and Naruto bit his lower lip. The sorrow mixed with anger, had wrapped itself around him, tightening its hold with each word Arata said. He felt like he was suffocating by the minute.
"Fearing that the villages would come after us again, the few survivors have spilt into groups or families, if you want to be specific" Dai continued and Naruto looked at his back that was distraught with the grief he felt. "The red hair that was once our pride, now remind us of what once was. We're forced to dye our hair, move around the Elemental Nations without a place to call home and live our lives in fear of the enemy that is all around us. We can't even wear the symbol of our clan anymore yet Konoha have adopted the swirl as though it was theirs to take in the first place. We've been written out of history like we weren't there in the first place. That is why I hate shinobi!" he shouted and turned around. "They keep taking from us! When they took our homeland, it didn't stop there. No, they had to take more so they took our symbol, our past, our present and future! We can't even use our last names without cowering in fright!" he shouted and Naruto looked at his feet.
"Calm down, Dai" Arata said and Dai scoffed before turning back around. "Do you understand now, young Naruto? We're often referred to as the forgotten clan, because no one remembers the injustice that had been paid to us. We're lost, forever searching for a new home to call our own once more" he added.
"What about Konoha? What was their role in all of this?" Naruto asked looking at Arata who frowned.
"When they came to our aid, it was too late" Dai said, and glanced at Naruto. "That doesn't mean they didn't have a hand to play in what happened. I know for a fact that if Konoha truly wanted to help, they would've made it faster to Uzushiogakure in order to help us" he added.
"That's not true! If it was so, then they would have made it to Uzushiogakure faster!" Naruto refuted but Dai just looked at him with a blank stare.
"Why do you keep defending that place? Even after what you've heard about what happened to our clan, you still wish to believe the lies that Konoha have told you?!" Dai shouted at him.
"It's because I have to protect the village my Hokages have died protecting" Naruto said, and Arata opened his eyes. "I hate what the other villages did to our clan so much so, that it physically hurts" he said, and they watched the way his face twisted, like he was in actual pain. "But you have to understand. Konoha is where I grew up. Konoha is the precious village that my jiji treasures. The same jiji that protected me when no one else would, the same man that held me when every one else refused to even look at me. He's the same man that raised me. He's as much as my parents as he is my grandfather" Naruto said and Arata's eyes softened.
"He's also the man that held the truth from you!" Dai shouted and spun around. He jumped off the ledge and looked at Naruto square in the eyes. "He didn't even have the courtesy to tell you about your clan, yet you still believe in him?" he asked.
"It's because I HAVE to believe in him. I know he has his reasons for not telling me, and I'll respect that, because that is what family does. We trust each other. It's the same case as with you too. Even though I may not like you and I don't know your brother, I trusted you enough to meet you here" Naruto said and Dai looked at him with wide eyes.
"Maybe it's not trust but just the fact that you're an idiot" Dai said, looking away and Arata shook his head at him.
"Well said, Naruto" Arata said with a smile. He walked up to him and placed his hands on his shoulders. "You're the one we've been waiting on for all this time" he said and Dai frowned.
"Do you really think he is IT?" Dai asked Arata who nodded. Arata slipped off his necklace and Dai gaped at his older brother. Arata placed the silver necklace around the blonde's neck.
"I can't take this!" Naruto shouted and moved to take it off, but Arata stopped him. "I can tell that this is precious to you so I can't take it" he added.
"This is something I'm giving you, young Naruto" Arata said, and smiled at him. "I know you want to become a shinobi for Konoha, but I feel as though you may be the one to bring our clan together once more. So I'm placing the hopes of the Uzumaki on your shoulders as well, Naruto" he said and took a step back.
"Nee-san, father won't like this!" Dai shouted at his older brother but Arata ignored him.
"Thank you" Naruto whispered and Arata just smiled at him. He looked at the pendant and Arata placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Before you leave, there's something else I wish to give to you. So tomorrow, you'll have to meet us here once more" Arata said and Naruto nodded.
"Shoot! I have to get going!" Naruto shouted as he noticed that the sun had already risen in the sky. "The old man must be up already!" he said and then shot the siblings an apologetic look.
"Go and be with your family, Naruto" Arata said and with a smile, Naruto nodded. "Don't forget our promise" he added and Naruto waved before running away.
"Tell me you're not planning for him to meet with THE Mother" Dai said and Arata smirked. "Dad is not going to like this" he mumbled.
"We need him on our side. I can feel it. He's the person that can bring about a change in the Elemental Nations that we've never seen before" Arata said and stared at where the boy once stood. "Maybe, we can get our homeland back" he added and turned to his younger brother.
"How do you plan to get him to Mother? He can't leave the village, and we don't even know Mother's exact location" Dai said and Arata smirked.
"Leave all the thinking to me, Dai. I already have a plan" Arata said and Dai rolled his eyes as his brother smiled to himself.
"Why you didn't tell him all of the truth?" Dai asked as he glanced at Arata.
"It's not my place to tell him" Arata said and Dai just shot him a confused look. "In time, you'll understand" Arata added before walking away. Dai sighed and mumbled something at him but Arata wasn't listening. He was just happy he was able to meet the young blonde like Mother had prophesized.
Uzumaki files #1
His robes dragged on the wooden floor as he walked. "Anata, talk to me!" the woman behind him shouted. The howling wind outside, rushed into the room, bringing with it, some dry leaves. The front doors opened with a loud 'bang' and coldness ushered in. Her robe slipped from her shoulders and with a flutter, it fell to the ground. She scooped it up with her delicate fingers, and as a violent clap of thunder rolled in the sky, she jumped. The hair band snapped in two and her red hair cascaded from the ponytail. Her amber eyes studied her husband's stiff back.
"You felt it as well" someone said with a throaty voice that severed the silence. Her husband looked to the woman who emerged from the corner of the room. Her grey, cloudy eyes were blankly staring in the air. Her face sagged with the many wrinkles decorating her face. Her red hair had turned into an almost salmon color with age. She wore a long sleeved, white cotton shirt and brown pants. On her feet was a pair of flat, black silk shoes. The jade colored hair pins in her hair shimmered as the lightning flashed.
"Mother" the man whispered and the woman turned to gaze out the window. "Is it true?" he asked.
"As the Uzukage you must never doubt your senses" the woman only replied and the man clenched his fists.
"Do you know who?" he whispered and she shook her head. He turned and when he saw his wife's distraught face, he looked away.
"Anata, what's going on?" she asked and the woman turned to her. "Mother" she said but still she got no answer.
"Someone has betrayed the Uzumaki clan" he said and with a gasp, she fell to her knees. "Kami help us all" he whispered.
Author's notes: I only have one thing to say here and it's about the Uzumaki files. While writing this, I've decided on a personal story line in regards to what happened to the clan. Therefore, I've chosen not to let other characters in the story tell you what happened. As a consequence, the Uzumaki files are something like flashbacks into the past. Now, they won't be in all the chapters. Only the chapters concerning the clan like this one. So, expect more revelations to come.
Until next time,
FrostyCookies.