Hello once again!

I'm back with the next chapter! This chapter is dedicated to Amaterasu53 , Skywolfychan and yukime katsuhiko. Thanks for the reviews and hope you like this chapter as well!

You all know what I put here, the disclaimer... I'm don't any of the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto; just this single plot going on is from my imagination.

Now, back to the chapter.

Chapter 24: Back in Nami

Konohagakure no Sato, the next morning

Everyone had packed and reached the main gate early the next morning. They were all excited to see Uzu and more so, to meet Naruto and her children. Most hadn't even known about them let alone seen them.

Tsunade arrived at the gate at sharp eight and handed out the scrolls and documents. Then, they said their final goodbyes and left, some for just a few weeks, others for the rest of their lives. They excitedly went ahead in the direction of Nami no Kuni.

On their journey, Iruka and Sasuke narrated some of the older and more personal events with either Naruto or the kids. Neji added in a few of the new ones. But what surprised and made everyone happy was seeing Sasuke open up. They knew that it must have been really hard to tell them such personal stuff. It showed that he trusted them, at least as a comrade if not a friend.

They all laughed and enjoyed listening to those stories that they didn't realise the passing of time. By the time they reached Nami no Kuni, it was already late evening. Sakura and Sasuke guided them to Tazuna's house. They had once again become good friends. Sakura had even let go of her feelings for Sasuke and had gotten to know him for who he was and not keep her fantasy image of him.

Once they reached Tazuna's house, Sakura knocked on the door. Within a few minutes, the door was answered by a middle-aged woman. As soon as she saw the two people in the front, her smile widened with recognition.

"Sakura! Sasuke! It's so nice to see you both after so long. You both have grown up beautifully. Inari had told me to expect Sasuke and some of you, at least." Then she turned to the rest of the group. "Hello. My name is Tsunami. I'm Inari's mother. Come on in. You can stay here tonight. Inari must be helping at the docks now with his grandfather. They'll be back in sometime", Tsunami said.

"Thank you Tsunami-san, but we can set ourselves up outside.", replied Neji.

"Nonsense. You are all welcome to stay inside and share rooms. I'll fix up some dinner soon. Feel free to freshen up by then", she said as she showed them the location of the bathroom and three extra bedrooms.

"Let me help you with the dinner, Tsunami-san", added Sakura as she followed Tsunami into the kitchen. Ino, Hinata, Tenten and even Choji joined them. The rest of the Konoha group decided and taking turns and scouting the place once. Iruka and Sasuke stayed inside the house and helped with the sleeping arrangements for that night.

About an hour later, just as dinner was about to be ready, two men entered the house. One was a young boy about fourteen years of age while the other was an old man. Both had olive skin. As soon as they saw the group inside the house, Inari spoke, "Huh, you are early. It's good in some ways." Then he saw Sakura and Sasuke and went over. "Hey, Sakura! It's nice to see you after almost a year. How are you?", Inari spoke.

"Good. You have grown again since the last time I saw you", replied Sakura.

Then he looked at Sasuke and spoke, "Nē-chan asked me to forgive you. I will. But remember that if you hurt her once more, I will personally pull you away from Uzushio and never allow your entrance back in." Sasuke just nodded.

"Dinner is ready. Come on. You can talk about tomorrow's journey later", called Tsunami. Other than their introductions, they all quietly had the Yakitori with some compliments being given to Tsunami. Once they had finished cleaning up, they all sat in the living room and discussed their next day's journey.

"Here, at Nami no Kuni, we have been arranging and building a lot of ship in the last few months with the help of some Uzu citizens as well. They had informed us in advance about their decision to open up to the rest of the world, so with our alliance, we have been helping each other out since the end of the war", said Inari.

"So you already have an alliance with Uzushiogakure? It's not even been a week since they have announced their return" said Tenten.

"Yes, but you have to remember, we have known about Uzu being rebuilt for years now. Most people had come here to go to the island. Then, during the war, Uzu offered us a safe shelter away from the war and the rest of the world. So once the war was over, we formed an alliance and our services in return for their security and help during the war", explained Tsunami.

It made sense. A mutual understanding and support from two nations and villages. They both were rising and prospering. No one could deny the changes that could be seen in Nami no Kuni. Especially Sasuke and Sakura who had seen it during the time of Gato's reign.

"So, have you been going a lot to Uzushio?", Sakura asked Inari.

"Not that much since our return to Nami after the war. But I have been there less than a hand full of times to meet Nē-chan and the others. All of us have been busy, so it has been hard to meet regularly. So, we just send each other mails often. Though, now, once people start arriving to go to Uzu, I'll be surely visiting more often since I was one of the first to start the services to the village", stated Inari.

"Can you tell us about Uzushio then?", asked Ino.

"Hai", spoke Inari. "Uzu is a beautiful place. The place is like a mix of modern and ancient architecture and art as they had built the new structures keeping the old ones intact. They have also removed all the debris and expanded such that, if necessary, they would be able to survive as an independent nation and village. Jī-san even tells me that it is pretty much based on and following the footsteps of the previous version of Uzushio with just modern touch to it. Uzukage-san, even before ascending the throne, has been a huge influence on the citizens. The people there were ready to follow even without a single protest. The people are a mix of Shinobi and Civilian but no one would be able to differentiate as such when they visit since everyone is proficient in Shinobi arts and self-defence along with sealing. The elders who have returned have been teaching everyone the art. Even though not many are as proficient as the Uzumaki clan members, all know enough of sealing to protect themselves and their nation."

The listeners were impressed, to say the least. The only use of Fūinjutsu they had seen outside of making tags was during the war, to see the reanimated people being sealed and those were just a hundred or two hundred people. It was fascinating to learn a whole village knew this sealing art.

"A-Are there many Uzumakis in the village?", asked Hinata.

Inari shook his head. "Not many. Less than fifty. Most are just descendants of Uzumaki clan with just an ancestor being an Uzumaki. There are just about three Uzumakis alive from the time of the attack, none from the royal clan. Nē-chan said that it was because they were the main target of the attackers. So over ninety percent of the clan was killed. Only a few had escaped. But a lot of the other clans and citizens in Uzu had been able to escape that eventful day as they weren't targeted. Now, the majority of the citizens are all from other clans. Only about twenty Uzumakis live in Uzu and most are half Uzumakis since most never met or even tried to meet until some started to come back to their homeland".

Everyone paused and thought over the tragedy of a wonderful clan. Sasuke was just thankful that his Imōto had found some members at least.

"That's one of the major reasons Uzukage-san was ready to announce their return so soon. They wanted their clan and village members to know about their return and be able to find out the actual numbers of survivors. Everyone felt more reassured once Nē-chan had arrived as it assured in some way, at least, that at least the five great nations and a few minor ones wouldn't think of attacking them. Especially since she had such major influence everywhere since the war", added Inari.

The other had to agree. It made perfect sense. No one would dare to attack the home of such a Great-Ninja-War hero's homeland. It would have been a risk of causing a war with all other nations that were on her side. They could only wince thinking about how their own village had played it wrong and lost such a huge-hearted and yet powerful person.

"Mendokusē. I guess it's time we all head to bed. Since we have to start early", said Shikamaru.

"Yes. The ride to Uzu is a long way. We would need about five to six hours to reach it with the strong currents going on during this time of the year", added Inari.

"Then we should leave by eight", said Neji.

Everyone agreed and split up. A few went to take the first shift, while the rest went to bed.

Any thoughts? Opinions?

What about the Uzumakis? Or the plot? Any idea about the story ahead?

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Until next chapter, Ja ne!