Naruto and Hinata were waiting patiently in the center tent of a large encampment. They were escorted here by the man they met, Jules Tame, when they began to ask some questions he said that they would have plenty of time to discuss everything once they reached the encampment. When the three arrived Naruto and Hinata noticed several things that seemed to stand out to them.
The first thing they noticed was the assortment of the tents in the encampment. What they saw was similar to the arrangement they experienced just a few weeks before hand. The camp had the layout of a military camp. But instead of just shinobi, or in this case nomadic warriors, there were all facets of life. From people selling various wares, such as clothing and livestock, to children playing around interior to people practicing various forms of combat.
The second thing Naruto and Hinata noticed was the fact that some of the people looked like they were about to leave. When asked Tame, said that this was the central camp. That meant that parts came and went on several occasions. It was actually seldom that this camp was moved. But incase of an emergency, such as a large wild fire or enemy attack, the entire camp could be moved to a safer location in just a few hours time. The two shinobi guessed that it was because of the nomadic nature of the tribe that they were able to move a camp nearly three times larger than that the military camp they were apart of took less time to move.
The last thing they noticed was that several of the people in the camp had features similar to Naruto. Whether it was from his bright blond hair to his deep blue eyes to his whisker marks. The last part confused Naruto the most, ever since he found out about the Kyuubi he assumed that they were a result of the demon. Now it appeared that they were a trait from his family. Naruto directed his question to Tame, but he said that would be explained at a later time. This made both Hinata and Naruto wonder if there was some kind of secrete that had to do with the marks only increasing their desire to know the truth.
After they arrived at the central tent Tame told them that the leader of the tribe would greet them momentarily. They were told that leader was taking care of some disturbances not far from the camp, but would return shortly. When they were left alone Hinata asked Naruto, "Are you feeling ok Naruto-kun?"
"I guess I am," Naruto answered, "To be honest I was not really believing that these people could be my family on the way here." He looked at Hinata and saw she had a confused face, "What I mean is that I did hope that I could find some family here, but I did not have many expectations either. I guess I was a little scared that the information Ero-Sannin had gotten was wrong."
"And know that you have seen them?" Hinata asked concerned.
"I don't really know what to expect," Naruto answered, "I mean just by looking at them you can see the similarities." He then looked at his hands and thought, "Minus the claws and pupils that is." He then spoke up, "But what really surprised me was that people had similar birth marks to me, that was something I never expected. I had always thought they were from…well you know."
Hinata took Naruto's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, "I'm sure they will tell you everything Naruto-kun, they are your family after all."
"That we are," a female voice said from the entrance. The two shinobi were startled by the surprise and stood and turned to the source. They turned to the entrance and were greeted by a tall woman with the same blue eyes and blond hair as Naruto; the woman also had four whisker marks on each cheek. "You look so much like your mother it's stunning," the woman said. Seeing the surprised looks on their faces she responded, "Forgive me, my name is Savile Isalia, the leader of the Savile tribe. And you of coarse are Uzumaki Naruto." She looked directly at Naruto, "And you must be the representative of Konoha," she said gesturing towards Hinata.
"Y…yes," Hinata replied coming out of her surprise, "I am Hyuuga Hinata. Here to represent our village."
"Some one from the Legendary Hyuuga's," Isalia smiled, "It is an honor to meet you. But business came come latter. Right now I want to get to know my sister's son."
"Sister?" Naruto asked. "Then that means…"
"Yes I'm your Aunt," Isalia said. "And that also means I'm the sister of your village's Forth Hokage as well. He would have been my younger brother and you mothers elder brother if he had not died." A look of regret and sadness passed over her eyes, but it quickly faded, "So you can call me Isalia. Now I know we all have a lot of questions so why don't we have a seat and get to know each other." She then walked past the two shinobi and took a seat on a cushion about a meter or so away from them. They then retook their previous seats. "It is customary among our tribe to allow the guests to ask the first questions when meeting for the first time, so please ask anything you want."
Naruto did not even have to think of his first question, it just came out of his mouth, "Who were my parents?"
Isalia smiled again, "As I said your mother was my sister, her name was Savile Liana and her husband, your father, was Savile Moto. They were both skilled warriors that an inspiration and still are an inspiration to other members of the tribe. You get your hair color, eye color and birth marks from her, they are traits that quite common among our people. Our family has long been the leaders of our tribe and she would stand in as leader when I was a way. Your father was also from our tribe and married you mother about seventeen years ago. He had brown spiky hair with green eyes and was one our best warriors." She then got another sad look to her face, "You were their first child, and when they found out she was with child they were the happiest couple in the village, they planned on naming you after Moto's father, Gau."
"Why did they go to Konoha?" Naruto asked. "I mean if she was pregnant with me at the time why risk it?"
Isalia chuckled at that, "Because she was a rather stubborn woman. When we received news that our brother was possibly alive and the fact that he was the Kage of Konoha, she insisted that we meet him. And because the leader could not just leave the tribe for extended periods of time, and our parents had already died it only left her to represent our family. We argued for a week about whether or not she should go. In the end it was her stubbornness and the promise that she would not exert herself on the journey that finally won the argument. When we had not heard from her or any of the others that went with her we assumed the worst and mourned their passing. Then we heard about you from Jiraiya and mourned a second time. Then we heard about you actually being alive and…"
"Sent word that you wanted to meet me," Naruto finished. Both nephew and aunt were close to tears at end. Naruto because of the lost chance to know his parents and Isalia because of the memories it brought back.
After calming down a little she asked, "Is there anything else you wish to know?"
"Not right now," Naruto answered. "So I guess it's your turn."
"Yes of course." Isalia said. She then asked, "Would you please tell me about yourself?"
"Well my name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto began. "I am also called Shadow Claw," he then looked directly at Isalia and said, "But if you want you can call me Gau." Isalia's eyes widened in shock and surprise and then small tears began to form, which she quickly blinked away. "I like my village, friends and ramen. I am a Jounin that is also been recently assigned to the Hunter-nins. My dreams for the future are to be Hokage and learn more about my family."
Isalia's smile after hearing about Naruto's second dream could rival Naruto's fox-like smiles in size, "I am sure you'll accomplish both," she said. "Now I'm sure you're both tired from you journey. After you rest for the night we will begin the business part of our meeting."
Hinata then spoke up, "We appreciate your kindness Isalia-san. I believe we could use some rest."
Isalia gave a soft smile and then called out, "Zala!" a woman in her early twenties came into the tent, "Please take our guests to where they can rest and get cleaned up. Then tell the rest of the tribe that tonight we celebrate the return of my nephew Gau."
"Yes ma'am," Zala said. "Sir, Ma'am, please come with me." The two nodded and followed her out the tent.
That night was a night Naruto and Hinata would remember for the rest of their lives. The celebration was unlike anything either had ever experienced before. In Konoha many of the celebrations involved people doing their own things. Like setting up their own game booths or performing with small groups of people while others gathered around and then when the activities were done people would enter a solemn moment of reflection. The celebration in camp was very different. Everyone was involved with the activities, from the children to the elderly to warriors to craftsmen. It could only be a celebration of life, and in a way it was, for it was a celebration at the news of one of their own that everyone thought dead was alive and well.
The celebration started with music and dancing. Everyone was involved, even Naruto and Hinata. The concept of the first part was quite simple, if you were not dancing then you were playing an instrument and if you were not playing an instrument you were dancing. The music playing was a way to give anyone who was tire from dancing a chance to rest while still participating. At first Hinata and Naruto did not know what to do, but Isalia informed then that they could watch for the first part, but latter they had to join in, "Family tradition," she told them. So the two from Konoha watch as things began to grow in activity. The dancing consisted of three rings around a large bonfire. The first ring was consisted of people lined up next to each other doing simple steps and jumps while moving in a clockwise motion. The second ring involved clusters of four people standing north, south east and west, clapping and dancing in a complex rhythm of interchanging positions; they would dance for a few minutes facing outward then pause turn toward the center of the cluster then move in a counter clock wise motion to the position immediately to the left then turn around and begin again. The last ring was not so much a ring but a large grouping of the rest of the dancers; here people would perform complex acrobatics and rhythmic dance with not one being exactly like the others but still similar. Each ring represented a different part of beliefs of the tribe. The out ring represented the tribe itself, each person being unique but still part of the tribe. The second ring symbolized the four great guardians that protected the tribe's ancestors. And the inner ring around the fire represented the soul of people.
Only after a few minutes of watching Naruto joined in. The first thing he did was make his way to the inner ring and joined in the procession right next to Isalia and Tame. After a just a few clumsy steps he got the hang of it and went at like he was doing his entire life. After a few rounds he disengaged from the ring and joined in the second ring. This in relative terms because of the complexity he took too much faster. After two of his partners left he was once again joined by Isalia and instead of Tame, the woman Zala joined in. Then finally after a half an hour of dancing in the second ring Naruto tried his luck at the outer most ring, to everyone's surprise Naruto was able to do this part the easiest. He took to the rhythmic and acrobatic dancing like he was doing it his entire life, "It's in his blood," some one said while watching him dance.
While Naruto was having fun dancing Hinata was feeling out of place. She was too unsure of herself to try and dance and did not know how to play any of the instruments. So she was kind of left to herself, that was until one of the young children came up to her and handed her a small drum. Hinata not wanting to upset the child took it and started to slap the drum. The sight made the child smile and Hinata began to put more effort into it. And though she still did not know how to play it well she was at least able to match the rhythm and keep up with the beat. After a few minutes Hinata found herself being pulled by the child over to the rest of the people playing the instruments and soon got lost in the unique music being played around her. She became so lost in it that she did not notice that Naruto had come to join the instrument until he was right next to her playing a wooden flute. She gave him a surprised look as she listened to how well he played; he just shrugged his shoulders and gestured for her to keep going to which she happily complied.
After the music and dancing ended the feast began. Everyone sat in circles of ten with large amounts of food and drink in the center. Naruto and Hinata were apart of Isalia's group to which they were introduced to Naruto's other closest living relatives. His grandparents from his mother's side Ku his grandmother and Karshink his grandfather. His cousin, Isalia's daughter, Lita and her husband Dag. And their child, who was the one who gave Hinata the drum, Jade. And finally Tame and his wife Rei. At the dinner everyone who could had to serve someone else. This was to show that everyone in the tribe was treated as an equal, no one in servitude to another. Hinata particularly liked this ritual, seeing how she never liked the idea of the Branch House being in servitude to the Main House.
By the time the celebration ended it was well into the night. Many of the younger children were beginning to fall asleep and their parents would take them away to bed. Finally when Jade began to fall asleep those with Naruto and Hinata began to separate as well. When Naruto began to leave Isalia's voice stopped him, "Remember Gau," Naruto for the briefest moments wondered who Gau was, then he remembered he said they could call him the name his mother would have given him, "We have much to discuss tomorrow, including tracking down the Konoha Missing-nin and the trade between us."
"I won't forget," Naruto said and he helped Hinata up and took her too the tent they were given.
In the morning Naruto and Hinata were awakened by the beginnings of the tribe. After getting cleaned up and dressed they left the tent and decided to explore the camp a little. They were told to meet with Isalia around nine o'clock and it was only about seven so they had plenty of time. They watched, as the various merchants put out cloth, jelwery, and foods unique to the tribe in preparation for the caravans that were scheduled to come latter in the day. While looking at the jewelry Naruto noticed that one particular item caught Hinata's eye. It was a pendant in the shape of bird, when Hinata asked what it was the merchant said the bird was called a Crystal Hawk. He said it was based on a legend from the country to the north about a bird that was said to have feathers that shined like crystal in the moon light. Hinata thanked the man for the story and moved on to the next shop. When she was not looking Naruto went with instinct and bought the necklace as a present and would give it too her after the meeting.
The next stop they made was to watch as the warriors of the tribe practice their fighting. As active shinobi they were both interested in fighting styles of others and watched with ramped attention. There appeared to be two methods of fighting that existed among the warriors. One was a style that used hands and throws and the other seemed to be mostly focusing on weapons. For some reason Naruto felt the movements of the hand style seemed very familiar to him. But for the life of him he could not remember where.
When it came time to begin the meeting Isalia, who was so friendly the day before, became all business. "As per prior arrangements," Isalia spoke, "Before we begin negotiations for trade, we require an act of good faith on your part. And that act will be your assistance in the tracking down and eliminating the Missing-nin from Konoha that has been giving us trouble for the past few months."
"Yes we were informed of the arrangement," Naruto said. "If you could give us any information that you may have, such as description of attacks or physical characteristics then I should be able to tell you the best way to find him. I may even be able to tell you whom this Missing-nin is."
"The Missing-nin is about is only a few centimeters taller than you Gau," Isalia said. "And he has silver hair, but other than that we do not know much about him physically at least. He keeps his face covered," Naruto nodded in understanding, "He seems to use basic Fire Jutsus as his primary, but has been known to use Leaf Jutsus as well."
"What about unique weapons?" Naruto asked.
"Only standard kunai and shuriken," Isalia answered.
"Smart," Naruto said, "He uses only common jutsus and weapons to keep his identity a secret."
"Are you sure?" Isalia asked, "May be he just does not know other jutsus."
"Unlikely," Naruto said, "He has been rated at least a B-class, that means he's a Jounin or Anbu. That usually means that they have something unique to them. So when he become a real threat he will use his signature jutsus."
"I see," Isalia said, "Well you the Missing-nin usually attacks out going caravans that are headed to the west. So our plan is to start the search there."
"Understood," Naruto said, "When do I leave and whom am I teaming up with?"
"You will accompanying Lita on this mission," Isalia answered, "She has encountered him before and know at least some of how he fights. She also knows the region we suspect he might be in as well. And you will leave as soon as she gets here."
Ten minutes later Lita entered the tent apologizing, "I am sorry ma'am, but Jade was acting up this morning."
"Very well," Isalia said, "I'll only excuse it this time because I know how much trouble he can be."
The two then left on their way to hunt the Missing-nin. During the run Naruto was surprised that Lita was able to keep up with him. Granted he was not running at his best speed, but he was still running much faster than he expected from the nomads. Deciding he would test her a little Naruto sped up only to have Lita match his speed. He then looked over only to notice a smile on her face and then started to pull away. That was when Naruto learned she was actually testing him and ran up to catch her.
After about a half an hour of running Lita started to slow down indicating she wanted to stop. Naruto caught the message and soon both shinobi and nomad were standing next to each only lightly breathing, "Should have known you could keep up with us," Naruto said.
"Naturally," Lita said, "We don't use horses except to pull heavy loads so we have to be able to make great distances on foot, that requires speed and stamina."
"So how close are we?" Naruto asked.
"Not far," Lita answered, "The Missing-nin's normal target area is around here. The problem is we are not used to tracking shinobi so we are not able to find him."
"I however am," Naruto said, "Let me take the lead this time." Lita nodded and Naruto started forward. Soon they came to an area and Naruto all of a sudden stopped, "I think I know why you have not been able to find this Missing-nin."
"And why is that?" Lita asked.
"Because he is using a Genjutsu/Ninjutsu trap in his attacks," Naruto answered, "They are hard to detect for even experienced shinobi."
"Then how did you detect it?" Lita asked curious.
"I've had special training," Naruto responded, "And my senses are well above others."
Lita nodded thinking that it had something to do with the Hunter-nin training. "So how do we deal with it?"
"Unfortunately we have to split up from here," Naruto said, "Only a person with experience can deal with these types of traps. You have to get to the center of the area of effect to negate it."
"Why?"
"Because if you try and go around the Ninjutsu part the Genjutsu will turn you around and if you try to dispel the Genjutsu the Ninjutsu attacks you."
"So you have to deal with both at the same time," Lita nodded, "All right I'll wait here. But because we are separating how will we know when we meet up with each other?"
"Like this," Naruto said while perform some hand seals saying, "Kage Bushin No Jutsu." A single close appeared and stood next to Lita, "My Kage Bushin will tell you when the trap is gone as well as tell you if I'm the one that comes out."
"Why not send in the Kage Bushin then?"
"The Ninjutsu would destroy it," Naruto answered, "It would not last long enough." With that said he slowly made his way into the trap.
As Naruto made his way into the trap he could feel the Genjutsu assaulting his senses. But he could tell that like with all Genjutsu/Ninjutsu it did not do a complete job. So he concentrated to find which sense was not affected. After a few minutes of trail and error Naruto determined that it did not affect his sense of smell. Sniffing the air Naruto detected the faint smell of ink and made his way to its source. The closer he got to the source of the ink Naruto began to detect another sent as well. The more he thought about it the more he knew this sent. He smelled many times back in Konoha, the sent of leaves from the forest surrounding the village. He knew that he was getting close to the Missing-nin.
Naruto moved closer to the source of the sent of ink, he detected that the sent of leaves was moving away from the ink. Part of him was worried about this but he would not let the opportunity to dispel the trap escape him. Concentrating on the smell Naruto found the exact direction and through several kunai at the source. He then felt dizzy for a moment and he then felt his senses return to normal.
Lita had just witnessed Naruto enter the area of the Genjutsu/Ninjutsu trap. As she watched she became nervous for her cousin, seeing this the Kage Bushin said, "Don't worry as long as I'm here that means that he's still alive and conscious. I'll also be able to tell you when he succeeds."
"How?" Lita asked.
"You forget," the Kage Bushin responded, "I can do everything he can. So that means I can detect the trap just like him and will be able to tell when it is gone."
"Well you tell just as soon as it is," Lita said. The Kage Bushin nodded.
After several minutes the Kage Bushin detected someone coming out of the trap and it knew immediately it was not Naruto, "Company is coming and it's not Naruto."
Just as it said this a masked ninja with a scratched forehead protector came into view, "I thought I detected a person at the edge of my field, but I never expected to see a Konoha Hunter-nin with a Nomad." Not waiting time the Missing-nin attacked Lita and the Kage Bushin sharing Naruto's personality jumped in front of her and took the attack. It then disappeared into a puff of smoke. "A Kage Bushin? Damn that means…" he then detected the Genjutsu/Ninjutsu disappear, "Looks like I have to make this quick." He then began to perform several hand seals calling out, "Katon Karyuu Endan!"
Naruto felt a twinge in his chakra signifying the destruction of his Kage Bushin, "Damn that means Lita's getting attacked." He then turned and following his own sent trail ran as fast as he could back to where he left his cousin.
It only took Naruto a few seconds to return to where his cousin was because of his previously slow speed was what took all the time. When he arrived he saw the Missing-nin perform jutsu and was about to jump in when his cousin did something he never expected. She went into a stance he recognized the Nomad warriors practicing, but was surprised him more was what she did next. She called out "Katana!" and an attack came of her fist forming a long swirling shaft of wind. She used the attack to disperse the fire dragon and hit the Missing-nin. But because the dragon weakened the attack it did not kill the Missing-nin.
Lita smirked at look on the Missing-nin's face as the attack hit him in the chest. She was about finish him off when she heard a familiar voice call out, "Rapier!" she then saw Naruto hit the Missing-nin in the back killing him instantly. When Naruto landed Lita calmly walked up to Naruto and he said, "I though I recognized those stances your warriors were practicing. I saw similar stances on carvings a little over two years ago. Those are the stances for the Karuda Killing Art Open Skill."
"And the technique you performed is from the lost style Shadow Skill," Lita returned, "Our legends speak of Shadow Skill as the lost half of our ancestors. I believe we have more to discuss once we get back to camp cousin."
