==============================

Chapter 16 : What Is Now

==============================

It was silent in the room. It was silent outside in the night. The only sound that could be heard in the small hotel room was the vague and almost nonexistent breathing of the occupants.

He only noticed the silence when he paused to take a breath after talking for so long. It wasn't until then did he realize that his throat was positively screamed for water.

"I'll be right back." he said, in a sudden hoarse voice, as he dove for the tiny little kitchenette in the back of the room.

As he walked away from the group, they got a good look at his backside. It wasn't until then did Hinata catch sight of a small ponytail poking out of the mess of blonde hair. It was small and nothing more than a few strands of hair longer than the rest tied together. But for some reason, it struck a chord in her.

Just another thing about Naruto that's changed.

He came back quickly with a bottle of water in his hands. "Okay, now where was I? Oh yes, my journey in the Hidden Air Village..."

=============================

"This was around the time Jiraiya and I went our separate ways." he said. "It was totally unexpected too. We were on our way to the Wave County- he wanted to get ideas for his new book. We spent the night at a motel, and the next morning, when I woke up, I heard him talking to somebody. That 'somebody' was a messenger from the 'Leader'."

He took a breath and continued. It wasn't until much later did Sasuke wonder how he knew that they already knew who a 'Leader' was.

"He said that his job was to take me to meet the Leader. At the time, I didn't know who the crap this 'leader' person was and I thought the guy was psychotic. But then Jiraiya told me to go with him. At first, I said no. But eventually I went." he said, unwilling to elaborate on the matter any further.

"Now, before I go any further, I have to tell you guys, the Hidden Air Village is amazing. It is THE invincible fortress every Shinobi Village strives to be. First of all, it's not a place where you can just walk into. You need to know a special technique to get it, and it can't be copied by anything. Up until now, I'm still not sure how he did it, but one minute we were standing in the middle of a forest somewhere within the Wind Country, and the next thing I know, the messenger slams his hands into the ground and the landscape melts into this amazing place. He turns to me and says 'Welcome to the Hidden Air Village, Naruto-kun.'"

=============================

And out of the shadows, stepped Kakashi.

"Oy, I don't think it's normal for teachers to stalk their former student's family members." Akito said.

"I'm not trying to stalk." Kakashi said easily, hands held up defensively. "I just wanted to have a little talk."

"Why?"

"Because there are things that I, as a Leaf Jounin and Naruto's former teacher, need to know."

"Need to know?" he asked doubtfully.

"Need to know, want to know, give or take."

=============================

"Now, I'm not going to tell you a whole lot about the village itself." Naruto said. "One of the major rules of the place. All I CAN tell you is that the technique to get in is really complicated, and only certain people can teach it. Even if you know all the seals and amount of chakra needed, if you aren't taught by the proper people, then your jutsu is invalid and you can't get in anyway."

"So like I was saying," he said, promptly continuing with his story. "The Messenger took me straight to this big estate in the west section of the village. On the way there, he told me that his name was Uzumaki Kaze, and that he was my third cousin. That is to say, he's my mother's father's brother's daughter's son. I was kind of surprised because all along, I thought he was just a random Shinobi. But he's a great person."

"Moment later, I met with the Leader. I was expecting some person with graying hair and a beard or something because Kaze told me he was around 46 years old. But I saw a young man with black hair and blue eyes, just like my mom. His name was Uzumaki Eiichirou. He's my uncle. His twins, Kai and Akito, are my cousins. That's basically how I met my family."

=============================

"I can't believe we went through all that just so he could deliver a message." Akito jabbered. "If the Hokage had a message for us, why didn't he just say so in the first place?"

"Who knows. Maybe he's a melodramatic-" then she went on, adding a string of curses unfit to put on paper.

"Yea. Maybe." Akito said, suddenly mellow. "I wonder what kind of message the Old Lady has for us."

"Old Lady?"

"Yea. I'm gonna use Naruto-niichan's nickname for her. It'd really piss her off wouldn't it?"

"..."

So much for mellow.

=============================

"The Uzumaki Clan is by far the oddest clan in the book." Naruto continued after allowing a brief moment for his friends to absorb the information. "I'm sure you already know that all the bloodlines come from the Air Village. The Uzumaki Clan is a combination of all those bloodlines, including ones that have died out already. Each individual Uzumaki has a different ability. Kaze, for example, has the Byakugan and I think some form of the Sharingan, Kai has her Chakra manipulation, and I'm not sure what Akito has. But I've been told that there are only two traits that all Uzumakis have."

"One," he said, "is that they all live for a long time if uninjured."

He glanced around the sea of confused faces.

"It is said that the nerve and muscle cells in the human brain and heart have a lifespan of 200 years, while the normal cells have a lifespan of 300 years. But for various reasons, the majority of humans die before they fulfill that potential lifespan. So we actually live longer than the average person."

=============================

"Why does the Hokage want to see us?" he wondered aloud to anyone who would listen. Or rather, the only person listening, which happened to be his sister.

"I don't know." she said as they stepped in the elevator leading toward the Hokage's office. "Maybe she wants to know why Naruto's beein gone too."

"Maybe."

The elevator stopped and they walked out toward the door leading to her office.

"Why" Akito continued, opening the door," would the Hokage call us out at two in the morning just to-"

He cut off. The two stared at the Hokage and the other person in the room. Then, together, they said at the same moment:

"Ohayo, Otou-san."

=============================

"Now, before I go on, how old do you guys think Kai and Akito are?"

"Around 9 or 10." Shikamaru reasoned, while the others nodded in agreement.

"Actually, they're 13 going on 14." he said.

"The second trait is that there's a clan somewhere in the Hidden Snow Village that all the members remain young until their time of death. When you take that and combine it with the long life trait..." he trailed off. But everyone understood anyhow.

Naruto would be the one who would one would live to see them die.

======================================================================

A/N: I'm so sorry... this chapter was crap, i know. I'm just kind of spewing information left and right. I don't know what's wrong... Hopefully in the next chapter, it'll all come together. I mean, my beta-reader was REALLY helpful. It's just that I just did a bunch of things without consulting her. I shall never do that again.

Yes, as some of you may noticed, Return of the Unforgettable has been changed to "Irreplaceable". The latter just makes more sense to me because the entire story isn't just about his return.

Kaze is the name requested by a person in a review. I know I didn't tell her directly that I was going to use the name Kaze because of my legendary laziness, but I really hope she likes Kaze's character.

I've read up on the latest Naruto Manga. [chapters 200-215] and based on what I read, Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari and DEFINITELY coming in sometime soon. So Sand Nin fans can start celebrating.

Lastly, my school has been let out [thank god] so now, this story will be updated much much more. Hopefully. And I hope the people who read "Irreplaceable" will be happy too.

Questions/Comments/Just want to talk: icycloud359kuririnmail.com

-Yume