Somewhere near the border of fire country...

Kakashi massaged his temples. He was seriously getting a headache. Having a border patrol mission was horribly boring as it is, he was getting the feels of a baby sitting mission too. Well, why wouldn't he when his teammates, who were supposed to be top notch, cold blooded, silent killer ANBUs had been bickering like a bunch of nappy wearing, snot nosed brats? For the last 30 minutes. Over the seemingly very very important question... 'Why taichou wears mask.' As if the topic itself was not idiotic enough, their suggestions...Oh God!

Curse the Sandaime and his bleeding heart. "I'm worried about you Kakashi. You've been taking S rank solo assassination missions one after the other with no break. Minato would not have liked seeing you like this. I am assigning you an ANBU squad. Here, ANBU Commander Inu, these are their details. A team will be good for you." Fat load of good his teammates were doing him right now. He rolled his eyes.

If Kakashi had not vowed to never abandon his comrades, he would seriously have buried the three of them. 30 minutes ago. He silently groaned as he listened to another round of outrageous answers.

"I bet he has got really, really huge lips...and that's why he's hiding them. Uh huh. Yeah that's right. Isn't it Taichou?" This was Uzuki Yugao's brilliant conclusion.

"No no! I think Taichou is just a little shy. He must like hiding his face. It's okay, taichou. There's nothing wrong with men being shy." Ah. This was Tenzou. Seriously? The infamous Copy nin...shy?! Seriously?!

"It's just a fashion statement, I'm telling you. Women fall for the mysterious vibes he gives off with the mask." The third idiot, Ko, just had to add his two cents. The smack which he got from Yugao was definitely deserved.

He was about to turn around and chew their ears out about appropriate work ethics, add a word or two about the Will of Fire while forbidding any further mention of his poor mask, when he startled.

'This chakra! No. No this is impossible!' He thought as he felt a familiar chakra. One that he had not sensed since 5 years. It was weak, and fast fading...but it was still there. His sudden change in demeanor alerted the others. With hand signals, he ordered his team to follow him as he sped through the woods towards the warm chakra alarmingly fast.

There, in a clearing, bloodied, bruised and unconscious, lay a girl. More noticable than her battered condition, though, were her hair. A brilliant shade of red he had not seen since... He made himslef stop thinking. More pressing matters at hand, he quickly approached the girl and lay two fingers on her neck. A steady pulse thrummed beneath them. Alive. He ordered Yugao to tend to her wounds as he looked around for any clues to what had caused this sorry state of the redhead. A trail of blood could be seen going into the bushes. She had been bleeding while running.

Signalling Tenzou to back him up, as Ko kept surveillance, Kakashi followed the trail of blood and the sight which he came upon...he exhaled a shaky breath. If the hair and chakra were not proof enough, this definitely proved that she was an Uzumaki.

Gut churning, cold sweat breaking out and a thousand questions swirling in his brain...he returned to the unknown Uzumaki, the only one who held answers but was dead to the world.

Beep...beep...beep

' Where am I? Is this another dream? Another memory? What is this sound?'

Beep...beep...beep

' Why can't I see anything? What's going on? Where is baa-san?' A picture of her grandmother with a sword run through her flashed before Kahana's eyes and with that came the sense of bitter reality.

She flung awake. There were wires attached to her. 'Did they succeed in capturing me? Was baa-san's sacrifice for nothing?!' Agitated, she pulled at the wires with all her might.

The heart monitor fell silent. A calm, elderly voice called out to her, "Calm down Uzumaki-san. I assure you, you are safe." She stopped her tirade and looked up into concerned brown eyes. The door to the room she was currently in, burst open and a woman wearing a white apron, stethoscope around her neck, entered hastily. A doctor. Kahana tried to calm her breathing and looked around herself.

White walls. Green sheets. She was on a bed. The wires she had just pulled out were of a heart monitor and the iv. She was in a hospital. She looked at her bandaged form. They had treated her wounds. Surely an enemy would't do that, right?

Finally having steadied herself, she glanced at the owner of the voice which had told her to calm down. Warm yet cautious brown eyes set on an old face. White robes. A red hat with the 'Fire' kanji drawn elegantly on it sat atop his head. His mere presence exuded power and commanded respect. She knew who this was. Baa-san had told her. Kahana let out a relieved breath. She was here. Finally. By some miracle, she was somehow in Konoha!

Confirming her thoughts, the old man said, "I am Sarutobi Hiruzen. The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. You are admitted in the General hospital of my village. Hatake Kakashi here, and his team found you inside the borders of Hi no Kuni today morning, in a bad condition." He said pointing towards another man in the room whose presence she had completely missed. There were two of them, she noticed, a masked man with silver, windswept hair and a serious looking, scar faced one with hair in a ponytail. 'Nara' a voice that sounded very much like her grandma said in her head. The masked shinobi gave her a nod.

She tore her gaze from them and focussed on the Hokage as he continued speaking. " We are always happy to give our aid to an Uzumaki but I would like to know your identity and the events before you were...found."

She bristled slightly. 'Happy to aid Uzumaki? Since when?' Burying that train of thought, she introduced herself.

"Uzumaki Kahana, the younger daughter of Nanadaime Uzukage, Usumaki Arashi. I have been living in the forests with my grandmother Uzumaki Asaki since I was born, since the demise of my village, 14 years ago. Today, me and my grandmother were attacked by..."

As she painfully relived the hell she had gone through this morning, trying and failing to reel in her tears, her pain over her grandmother's death clearly written all over her face; she failed to notice the stiffened form of the Hokage.

By the end, she felt drained. She swiped her palms quickly over her cheeks to dry the tears. Silently nodded as the men offered their condolences.

Turning to the one who had found her she asked, " What happened to the Kumo shinobi who were after me? Did you stop them?"

"No. You did. All 7 of them were found dead with stabs in their neck which were most likely done with Uzumaki chakra chains. I have seen the pattern before" he replied in a toneless voice.

Kahana frowned. "You must be mistaken. I am yet to activate my kekkei genkai. I assure you it was not me." She gasped. "May be it was my sister, ya know! Maybe Kushina nee-san was the one to kill them and then you found me before she could! Yes that's it! I'm sure my nee-san is very strong and she was the one who helped me, ya know!" The young girl said with voice full of excitement and admiration. Completely oblivious to the way all the three men had gone rigid.

Noticing their continued silence, she sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. A nervous tick of hers. "Heh. That does sound a little farfetched. She would have been here in the village right? Can you please call her here Hokage-sama?" Kahana looked at the Hokage. "I've been waiting to meet her for years, ya know! Her name is Uzumaki Kushina. She's around 29 years now, I think. I've been told I look very much like her..except she has purple eyes. I'm sure you know her. My baa-san had promised to bring me to nee-san before she...before she..." Kahana fell silent.

Hatake Kakashi clenched his eye shut and silently went to the window, hands clutching the windowsill, shoulders slightly shaking. Even the Nara was rubbing his palm over his face, which now held a pained expression. Noticing their odd reactions, Kahana felt a ball of dread settle in her stomach. Forcing her voice not to waiver, she asked the Hokage, "Is something the matter Hokage sama?"

The Hokage clenched and unclenched his fingers. Let out a deep breath. And told her, "Your sister is currently not in the village Kahana chan."

What? While it was entirely possible that her nee-san was on a mission, Kahana knew this was not true.

"You lie." Kahana said in a low voice. "Why do you lie Hokage sama? I can sense nee-san's chakra nearby. She is definitely in the village. It is understandable that you don't trust an outsider like me but please don't lie."

The Hokage looked shell shocked. So did the others. Kakashi had left his spot by the window and was now scrutinizing the unknown sister-in-law of his sensei.

"You can sense Kushina's chakra? Here? In the village?" The Nara spoke for the first time.

"A warm glow of Uzumaki very similar to mine with the undercurrents of a bijju's chakra. I know she is the Jinchuriki. And I know she is in the village." Kahana replied curtly.

The men shared glances before the Hokage, with a sad, apologetic expression uttered the words which broke her. Utterly destroyed her for the second time in that day. "I am very sorry Kahana-chan but Uzumaki Kushina is no more. She fell in the battle against the Kyubi five years ago. You have my deepest sympathies."

But she was not hearing him. ' No more. No more. Uzumaki Kushina is no more'
These words played in an endless loop in her head. Numb. She was numb. Icy hands had wrapped around her heart. She couldn't breathe. Just when she had thought she couldn't cry anymore. They came back like a blizzard. The tears. So did her anger.

"NO! NO! Tell me that's not true! That's not true! That can't be true! I can sense her! I CAN! You bastard! Do you even care?! Did you even try to help her?! First you take my sister from us and turn her into your weapon, then you ignore our calls for help, turn your back on us and leave us all to die and then you calmly sit in that chair wearing your fancy hat and tell me my sister is dead?! "

With that, she lunged at the Hokage. Only to be restrained by two figures in dark clothes and masks who appeared out of nowhere. ANBU. She kept thrashing and screaming in their hold, even when the doctor quickly injected her with a sedative.

As she felt darkness take hold of her against her will, the only thought she could muster was 'Who did the chakra belong to? It was obviously Uzumaki and was close family too, and clearly a Jinchuriki. If Kushina-nee was really dead, then who...' with that she she fell into a dreamless sleep.

In the hospital room though, the Hokage and his Jonin commander were still hooked on one statement of the devastated girl...'Ignore our calls for help? Turn your back on us?' Uzushio had asked for help? They had come to know of the siege and Uzushiogakure's fall only after the unfortunate event had happened. And Hiruzen had personally grieved over the fact that he could do nothing to help their ally and Mito-sama's home.

What did the girl mean?

Thanks for reading! I hope you like this chapter. I'd love to know how you feel about it in the reviews.

The next chapter might come out a little late, as I have tests this week.

Until the, bye!

Stay safe and take care :)