Dinner with the Uchiha was a not surprisingly lively affair. Mikoto told stories of her genin days, even showing us a picture of her team. I was shocked when I saw Yoshino and my mom's smiling faces alongside Mikoto's in their team photo. I was even more shocked when I saw a familiar looking Nara sensei standing behind them. He looked exactly like Shikaku. Was it Shikaku's dad?
Shisui also crashed dinner. His only acknowledgment of what had happened the night before was a ruffling of my hair and calling me a genius idiot. Whatever that means.
After dinner the boys played while I sat on the engawa with Fugaku and Mikoto. They had a very intense and competitive game of shogi despite the squeals and screaming of the boys in the backyard. Mikoto even gave me tips on how to beat Yoshino!
All too soon, it was time for us to go back to our apartment. Shisui walked us home with Itachi as Sasuke had already fallen asleep while waiting for us to grab the leftovers Mikoto wanted us to take home. It wasn't until I was at home, waiting to take a shower, that I realized there was someone watching our apartment.
I managed to fake a happy demeanor until Naruto went to sleep. And then, I sat at the end of his bed holding a kunai in my left hand and knockout seals in my right.
Mito-baachan said in her journals that the Uzumaki always held combat seals in their dominant hand and trained to eventually become ambidextrous to hold a weapon in the other hand. I still wasn't at that point yet, but this kunai is sharp enough to do some damage no matter how weak I am with it.
I sat in that spot until three in the morning when I felt Tenzo and Genma's chakra signatures move closer. The root agent outside must have noticed it too, as they left a minute before Tenzo climbed through our window.
"Kiku-chan," he whispers as Genma climbs in as well. "You can put down your seals and kunai." It's not until Tenzo gently takes the kunai out of my hand that I realize I'm shaking. I toss the knockout seals down and throw my arms around Tenzo.
I struggle to catch my breath as I hold onto Tenzo for dear life. I vaguely hear his soothing voice along with Genma's, but I'm too far gone to actually hear what they're saying.
If Danzo was watching me, he was watching Naruto. He also already knows that I value Naruto's life over my own. Which makes Naruto even more of a target for Danzo. I can't protect him from root. Not right now. I have to get stronger, I have to-
"Uzumaki-Namikaze Kikuko." Genma's firm voice makes me look up at him. His anbu mask has been taken off of his face, and his worried gaze scares me even more.
"G-Genma-nii," I manage to whisper. His shoulders immediately relax before he pulls me from Tenzo's arms and into his chest.
"Don't scare us like that, what was going on Kiku?"
"Bad seal person followed us h-home. He left r-right before you g-got here."
"I'll go get Kakashi-"
"What? And let them know we know they were here?" Genma shakes his head as he walks over to my bed. He slips off his sandals and climbs under the covers, leaning back against the wall. "They don't know for sure about Kiku's sensing skills."
"And her sitting there like that for who knows how long?"
"She's terrified someone is going to attack her brother like they attacked her Jiji," Genma shrugs before kissing the top of my head. "At least try to close your eyes, Kiku." I hear Tenzo's sigh before I feel the bed shift a little. Tenzo has sat down at the edge of my bed, his shoulders hunched as he looks out the window.
"Thank you for coming back. Missed you," I whisper to the two Anbu in the room.
"We missed you too, imouto," I hear Tenzo's voice crack and feel tears start to fall down my face again. I cuddle closer to Genma, my eyes feeling heavy. I hadn't felt tired at all until whatever that was when they came into the apartment.
"You had a panic attack, Kiku-chan. You were in survival mode and then when you were able to relax when we came in you finally let yourself feel your emotions." Genma runs his hand through my hair, just like he has whenever I don't feel well.
"Now sleep, Kiku." Tenzo says from his spot in the room, "Panic attacks can make you really tired afterwards, you need as much rest as you can get."
"Especially since you two are starting your tanto practice with Yugao and Hayate tomorrow." I finally feel myself smile at that, but I'm too tired to respond. I'm asleep in seconds.
It's been two years since the first night a Root agent watched our apartment. The next day, Yugao and Hayate got us out of the academy to train with our tantos by the river. I haven't heard anything about Danzo, his attack on Jiji, or about Root since.
But Root continues to watch us when our Anbu are not.
Root has been banned from clan compounds from what I can tell. They're no longer watching the Uchiha, and in the last two years the police force has opened to accept anyone if they qualify. It also seems like the Hyuga and Uchiha have gotten over whatever clan rivalries they had before, I've seen Fugaku and Hiashi walking together in the Hokage tower after the clan council meetings.
I have no clue what Jiji told Fugaku about the Root agents. Danzo is still walking around, crashing what council meetings I've been in the tower for, and in Jiji's office on a regular basis. I don't know why I thought removing that seal would work. Jiji is still too nice to his old friends-
"Ne, watch it Kiku!" Yugao calls, pulling me back into the present moment.
"Sorry, Yugao-nee!" I say sheepishly. I'd barely missed one of her attacks. We'd moved to training with ninjato bokken, which were much easier for me. Naruto, though, stuck with his tanto. He'd excelled enough with it that he and Hayate were practicing with actual weapons instead of bokken.
I'm not jealous of that. Not at all.
I quickly jump back to avoid Yugao's bokken and swipe my own up, hitting hers out of the way.
"Nice, Kiku!" I smile at Hayate's praise from his spar with Naruto before turning back to my own. Yugao doesn't look as happy as Hayate and I feel myself deflate.
The entire Anbu team viewed me as a prodigy like Itachi. But instead of progressing like he had, I'd barely improved in the last two years. Sure, my sealing was still advanced for a seven year old and my sensing abilities were still advanced. But that wasn't enough.
I've worked hard to improve my taijutsu and ninjutsu. Much like my brother, I can't do anything relating to genjutsu. It's just horrible. My chakra control, though, was the worst. Naruto's was even better than mine.
"Kiku, have you even been practicing?" Yugao asks as she finally holds the seal for reconciliation. I mimic her before sitting down on the ground, gasping for air.
"Everyday, 'ttbane!" Yugao just sighs before walking over to join in Naruto and Hayate's spar. Once I eventually catch my breath, I decide not to sit around. I hear Naruto's excited laughter and Yugao and Hayate's praises of his improvement as I start running along the river.
A few minutes later, I make it to a quiet part of the river beside an equally calm clearing. I toss my bokken on the ground as I slip off my sandals. I've been focusing on Mito-baachan's non-sealing focused journals lately, ones that talk of the ocean that swirled around Uzushiogakure to protect her. How Uzushiogakure only had three bridges on the entire island despite it being filled with small ponds, creeks, and rivers that divided the land. Apparently children in Uzushio were better at walking on water than walking on land.
And here I am, in a village with only a river and a few creeks. A land that rarely sees rain while Uzushio saw it regularly throughout the year. Mito-baachan said that those were the nights she slept the best in Konoha, that the rain and humidity it brought were a reminder of home.
I'm grateful our mother came here before Uzushio fell. But I wish she had returned home. Or that we were allowed to visit. But Naruto has never pushed the issue, I'm the only one that brings up our mother's clan and homeland.
He looked at me like I was crazy when I said that the wind had whispered for me to come home. But it had. I know it did. I could just feel how sad Uzushiogakure is. The pain, the suffering she had to endure.
Or was I really going crazy after all? To put so much hope in a land that I will never be able to call my own? I feel tears make their ways down my cheeks and brush them away roughly. If Naruto can dream to become Hokage, then I can dream of at least seeing our home once.
But first, I'm going to need to learn how to walk on water.
I know in the manga that trying to hold a leaf to your forehead or tree-walking are typically the first training methods for chakra control. They'd tried the leaf exercise at the academy. It didn't go well for me.
But since when have the Uzumaki followed what's normal? I grin and place a foot on the water, closing my eyes and trying to focus my chakra on my foot. And then, I take another step.
I fall into the freezing water immediately. I push my way back up the surface and can't control my laughter. All the pain and anger I was just feeling is gone.
I finally feel free.
I make my way back to the rock I'd stepped off earlier and pull myself back up out of the water. The first thing I do is pull down my twin buns and let my hair flow freely. There's no way it's going to stay put with all the falling in I'm about to do.
I grin and put my foot out again. I'm going to be able to walk on water by the end of the day if it's the last thing I do. The cycle repeats itself too many times for me to count. But then, as the sun starts to set and I've braced myself for the imminent fall.
Nothing happens.
I feel my feet sway back and forth with the small current. I look down, and I'm standing on the water!
I take a tentative step forward, and then another. I walk off the water and onto the rock. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and then step back onto the water like I was just walking on flat ground. And it works.
All that time trying to funnel my chakra, all that time trying to do something, anything, and I should have just walked normally?
I walk around across the water faster, and then I jump. But I don't fall into the water! I land just like I would on, well, land. And then, I run. But soon, my fun is cut short by a yelled question,
"Kiku, where are you?"
"Over here!" I call back, slowing down from my run. I'm walking along the river when Yugao, Hayate, and Naruto break through the trees.
"Eh?" Naruto yells, running over to the side of the river. "When did you learn to do that, Kiku?"
"Today!" I grin at him.
"Teach me!"
"You can't tree walk yet, Naruto," Yugao drops a hand on top of his head.
"But-"
"No, first you do the leaf exercise, then the trees, and then you can water walk," she sighs, leaning on her bokken.
"But Kiku-chan can't do those!"
"What?" Hayate asks, looking over at me. "I thought they did the leaf exercise in the academy?"
"They did, but I still can't do it," I shrug.
"But you can walk on water," he says.
"It's just like walking on land, it's not that-"
And Naruto splashing into the river stops my train of thought. He comes up gasping for air and glares at me.
"It wasn't just like walking on land!" I bite my lip to stop my laughter and awkwardly help him get to the rock I'd used earlier.
"It was for me, I tried channeling my chakra to my feet for the longest until I got annoyed and just tried walking like normal."
"Well, that doesn't work for me," Naruto puffs out his cheeks as he crosses his arms.
"I'm sorry, Naru." I honestly thought that's how it works for all Uzumaki, that it would be natural for him like it had been for me. "How about we go home and change, and then go to Ichiraku?" That distracts him enough to hop up before running towards the village. I shake my head and follow him, almost forgetting to grab my bokken. I wave at Yugao and Hayate as I run away, but instead of waving back they both look lost in thought.
I feel my jealousy creep up again, but push it down. I managed to learn to walk on water before doing any of the other Konoha techniques.
I'm one step closer to Uzushiogakure.
Two years after I learned to walk on water, I've finally been allowed to move on from my bokken. On my ninth birthday, I managed to bug Yugao enough for her to bring down Ryūjin. And today is the first day I'll be able to use my sword. Yugao said last week when she brought it down that if she thinks I'm not ready, that we'll go back to bokken.
I know I can't do that as soon as I feel Ryūjin in my hands again. I'm walking out on the river waiting for Yugao, Naruto, and Hayate to come for our training session. Yugao and Hayate were finally back from their missions, so I can finally get to practice. I'd been so tempted to try to come out here earlier, but Naruto always managed to stop me before I did.
Until today. I couldn't wait anymore. I pull Ryūjin out of its sheath and place the sheath in the grass on the side of the river. As soon as I hold my sword with both hands, my vision goes blurry for a second. The wind around me picks up and the water starts running violently below my feet. I hear roaring in my ears and smell the sea in the wind.
When I open my eyes, I'm once again on the shores of Uzushiogakure. The once beautiful scene I saw as a child has changed to a nightmare. The water and cliffs are as beautiful as before. But the houses.
The houses, no homes. Are in shambles. There's clear damage from explosions, trees have fallen, and there's blood on the ground.
And then, I see the whirlpools have been deliberately removed from above the doorways. The entire area around where they once were displayed proudly isn't touched. But the whirlpools are broken and scattered across the cobbled roads.
I knew that Uzushiogakure was targeted, that its people were killed. But to see such disrespect on clear display. Why hasn't anyone fixed this? How much hatred, how much fear did the people who destroyed my island have?
For the first time in this new life, I feel like my physical age. A scared, lonely nine year old. For the first time, my need to go to Uzushiogakure isn't just for myself. It's for my people. The Uzumaki weren't just my mother's clan. They are mine.
I feel so many emotions at once, sadness, pain, but most of all, I feel rage. My chakra starts to swirl around me, the wind picking up with it, as if guiding it through the destroyed streets. I take a step forward, to see more. To try to find out who was fully behind this.
And then the vision fades, everything goes black. When I open my eyes I see the worried faces of Yugao, Hayate, and Naruto. Naruto's hands hold my face, he's wiping at my cheeks and that's when I realize I'm crying.
"Kiku?" He whispers.
"Where's Ryūjin?" I ask, looking from him and the two shinobi behind him.
"I don't think-" Yugao begins to say.
"Ryūjin is mine," I say firmly.
"Your chakra flared-"
"Because I saw a vision of the destruction of my island! The symbols of Uzushiogakure were removed from homes, destroyed, and scattered across the ground like they mean nothing! Why hasn't Konoha cleaned up? Why didn't they help them?" I look at Yugao and Hayate, shock written across their faces.
"Kiku-" Naruto starts, but I shake my head, his hands falling from my face.
"I've got to talk to Jiji," I stand, grabbing Ryūjin from where it had been thrown on the ground without its sheath. Thrown away just like Uzushio's people.
I feel myself shake as I put Ryūjin back in its sheath. I shunshin from the area before Yugao or Hayate can stop me. At least Shisui thought I was good enough to learn new techniques.
I run for the tower and pause outside of the doors to Jiji's office. His secretary has a look on his face as soon as he hears me come in. But unlike the villagers, it isn't one of disdain. More like he's too tired for me today. Which honestly? I don't blame him. Me and Naruto are kind of, well, a lot.
"It's serious, Joben-oji."
"That's what you said last time, Kiku-chan," he says, amusement clear in his eyes.
"I'm not pranking Jiji today, it's about Uzushiogakure." The amusement leaves his eyes as he finally looks up from his paperwork to look at me. He immediately stands up and knocks on the door to the Hokage's office. He steps inside, shutting the door behind him. I lean against his desk, ready to wait. But the door opens and he motions for me to go inside. He squeezes my shoulder as I walk by him, leaving me alone with the Hokage.
"Ah, Kiku-chan. What can I help you with today?" He's moving things around on his desk, like he does before we have our sealing sessions together.
"I saw a vision of Uzushiogakure, Jiji," I say honestly, standing on the other side of the desk.
"How so?" He asks as he stands from his seat.
"When I held Ryūjin in the store when Hiroto-san gave it to me-"
"Ryūjin, the sword from Uzushiogakure?" Jiji cuts me off, placing a hand on my shoulder as he leads me out of his office. I give a tense smile to Joben as we walk by.
"Yeah," I say, moving my jacket to show him.
"When was this?"
"Uh, four years ago?" I say as we start walking down the steps of the tower.
"And you're just telling me now?" He says, amusement clear in his eyes.
"Well, it was good back then 'ttbane!" He pauses as he opens the door to the fuinjutsu room.
"So you've seen multiple visions?"
"Two. Once when I held Ryūjin at the store, and once earlier today when I was waiting for the others for training."
"Come, sit," he sits at his regular zabuton while motioning for me to sit in mine. I carefully lay Ryūjin on the floor beside my cushion before sitting down. Jiji puts some fuinjutsu practice on my table as he starts working on his own.
"The first one was amazing," I say as I dip my pen in ink. "The ocean was so pretty, and the homes were so colorful and different!"
"Uzushiogakure was very unique, just like her people," I feel my breath catch at the way he talks of the island. He was the only one to talk about Uzushio like it was a being itself. "Uzumaki Kushina and Mito-sama both talked about how they often felt like they were being called home."
"So it's not just me?"
"Of course not, hime," I see him peek over at me and I struggle to keep working on the current seal array.
"Hiroto-oji calls me that but won't tell me why!"
"Kiku-chan, Uzushiogakure was matrilineal-"
"Mito-baachan talked about that in her journals, Jiji," I roll my eyes. Honestly, despite my grades I do read!
"I'd hoped that I would have more time before telling you this, but it seems like Uzu has other plans." He sighs, finally turning to face me. I finish working on my seal before looking at him. "You are the last princess of Uzushiogakure, Kikuko."
"What the fu-"
"Now, now. That is not fitting language for a princess, hime," I jump on him before he even finishes the sentence.
"You use it all the time and you're the freaking Hokage 'ttbane!" He laughs freely now, holding me close to him.
"Both Mito and Kushina-chan wanted to go back to Uzushiogakure. Both of them felt the call just like you." He says after his laughter subsides. "But unlike them, I believe you will return to your island."
"Really?" I look up at him and only see sincerity in his eyes. "Jiji when?"
"Not until you're at least a chunin, Kiku-chan."
"But-"
"That's for your safety, I will not do anything to risk that," he says in his Hokage voice. I pout but lean back into his chest.
"Fine, but I'm gonna make you come visit when you retire, old man."
"I look forward to that day, hime. Now what was in your second vision?"
"They destroyed everything Jiji," my voice cracks more times than I'd like to admit. "The homes that weren't hit too bad had their Uzushiogakure symbols torn down, destroyed, and scattered on the ground like they were nothing."
"Oh Kiku-"
"Why didn't we help them?" I sniffle, holding onto his robes tighter.
"Kiku-chan, it was too late by the time word reached us for anything to be done," he sighs, running his hand through my hair. "I tried going there myself in the days after it happened, but a sealing barrier had been placed around the island."
"A barrier?" I tilt my head to look up at him, but he's not looking at me. He just stares straight ahead, but I know he's not looking at the wall.
"Only an Uzumaki can break it. Your mother wasn't able to do so at first due to the war, and then because she was pregnant with you."
"I'm gonna break it, Jiji." I say into his robes. "And I'm gonna clean it up and learn everything I can and show all the nations that they can't destroy Uzushiogakure." He grabs my head gently, making me look up at him. Tears are clear in his eyes as he looks down at me.
"Of course you will," he smiles gently.
"You are Uzumaki Kikuko. The Last Princess of Uzushiogakure. And you will not fail."
AN: This chapter was one of the most challenging things I've had to write! I wanted something akin to a training sequence while also including some of the more important events in Kiku's life from the time she's 5 to 7 to 9. I've also spent a lot of time outlining this week. (I'm at over 60 chapters and that's just getting to around her 15th birthday!) I'm so excited for this fic! Also, would y'all like chapter summaries? I'm thinking about including them once Kiku gets older and things start getting a little more dark. I hope you liked it!