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I'm back as usual!

I'm back with the next chapter! This chapter is dedicated to Skywolfychan. You reviews always make my day!

Just a sec, I'm writing the disclaimer here. 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 25: Entering Uzu

Shores of Nami no Kuni, the next morning

As planned, the Rookies were about to head out by eight the next morning. Tsunami and the Konoichi along with Choji had helped out with making the breakfast and some food for lunch. This time, even Sasuke had joined. This had been another surprise to everyone. They had eaten their breakfast swiftly and checked the huge boat that they would be travelling in. Once everyone was settled in, they left the coast of Nami no Kuni.

A few hours passed by but the ninja couldn't tell the difference. This was majorly due to the high currents. Many were holding on to the poles in the boat. Some unlucky ones like Lee, Kiba and Ino had to suffer seasickness even after everyone had taken medication for it in advance. The only one who seemed to not be influenced was Inari who must have experienced it enough time to get used to it.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the currents had reduced and the sea had calmed down. When they looked up, they realised that it was already past noon. They quickly had their lunches and have some small talk and relax. After another hour or so, they could finally see an island in the distance.

"Yeah, that's Uzu that you can see", said Inari.

They all eagerly waiting to reach the island. Everyone was excited to see the place they had heard so much about. They were also extremely excited to meet Naruto and her children.

It took almost another hour before they reached the island. It was a gigantic island covered in so much greenery, forests and some old wreckage. Inari then guided everyone into the forest. They walked for another half an hour before reaching what seemed like a gigantic arch surrounded by wreckage. The walls on both sides were broken and destroyed. Even the arch itself looked ancient and like it was barely standing.

"Wait a minute. Don't go ahead", warned Iruka as he remembered what his parents used to tell him before they passed away. The others immediately stiffened in their positions from Iruka's tone. Meanwhile, Inari put his hand into his bag and got something out a vile with something that looked like blood. He then took it forward and put it on a spot on the arch where are seals started to glow.

"Uzushiogakure is surrounded by a protective seal due to which only the people of Uzushio from before the destruction and their blood can allow foreigners to enter into the village", he explained. Then he signalled them to follow him through the arch.

Once they entered, everyone's jaws dropped. The place was beautiful in its own way with an ample variety of locations ranging from farming land, construction areas, civilian area, academic and training area and many others. It couldn't be described in words. There was a huge Japanese style mansion which looked like it was in the centre of the village. The village had a circular structure to it. There was a mix of both ancient and modern in the architecture and the environment.

They were brought out of their thoughts when they heard a voice. A man dressed in Shinobi clothing was standing in front of them.

"Hello, Inari. Are these the people Uzukage-sama and Uzumaki-san's family had called first?", he asked.

"Hai! These are the people, Ikeda-san", replied Inari.

"Hello! My name is Daichi Ikeda. Welcome to Uzushiogakure. I'll guide you to the Uzukage's office as requested by Uzukage-sama", he spoke.

Everyone nodded and followed the Uzu Shinobi across the village. They looked around the village trying to find Naruto but to no avail. But one thing they observed was that most people were in Shinobi gear itself. Finally, they reached the mansion in the centre. Daichi Ikeda guided them to an area on one end of the mansion. They entered and this area and found themselves in a large hallway leading to a single room at the other end.

No one was sitting at the reception. So Daichi asked them to follow him. When they neared the room, they realised that the door was open. They all entered. A woman in her thirties sat behind a desk. She had reddish-brown hair and violet eyes. She wore a kimono with two symbols - the Uzu symbol and another clan symbol.

"Kon'nichiwa, Fujii-sama! The group from Konoha has arrived. So I bought them to meet Uzukage-sama", said Daichi.

The lady smiled and spoke, "Daichi-san, did you forget that it is Wednesday? You know where Uzukage-sama is on Wednesday afternoons. You can go and fetch them all. I'll keep them company in the memorial for the time being".

"Hai, Fujii-sama. I'll let the others know of the news and get Uzukage-sama as soon as possible", replied Daichi and left the office.

The lady then looked at the others and spoke, "Welcome to Uzushiogakure. My name is Eiko Fujii. I'm Uzukage-sama's second in command. Uzukage-sama will arrive in some time. But until then, if you would like, I can take you all out to the memorial".

"Kon'nichiwa Fujii-sama. It is a pleasure being in Uzushiogakure. We would like that", replied Neji.

Eiko nodded and then looked to the side and spoke to Inari. "Good to see you again Inari-kun. Hope you have been doing good. It's been a while since you came by".

"Hai, Eiko-san. I have been working on the ships as requested. Hope you are also doing well. Nee-chan isn't bugging you too much, I hope", replied Inari.

"Nah. Nothing more than usual", answered Eiko. "Now, let's go to the memorial. Come on."

Inari and the others followed Eiko. The others realised that Eiko Fujii-sama knew Naruto and was close enough to allow Inari to call her with so much familiarity.

"If it is okay, Fujii-sama, may I ask where is Naruto?", asked Sakura.

"Sakura, right?", Eiko asked. Sakura nodded. "Naru-chan will come by in some time. You'll see her soon."

As they walked around the mansion towards its backside, they continued to have a conversation. The people around the area bowed to Fujii-san and she responded back with a pleasant smile.

"If it is not something of a secret, where is Uzukage-sama?", asked Shikamaru.

"Uzukage-sama takes two days off from the office every week, Wednesdays and Sundays. Both days, Uzukage-sama goes to help the citizens. On Sunday, Uzukage-sama goes to the farms to help with the crops and on Wednesdays, to the Academy to be present in the nurturing of the children and also too meet up and help train the newly turned ninjas of Uzu", explained Eiko-san.

Everyone was fascinated by the things they had heard about the new Uzukage. They wanted to meet this person who everyone was praising so much. They could understand why this person was chosen as the Uzukage.

They arrive at the ground right behind the mansion. It was a huge land with the first half just grassland with a stage like an arrangement and with space enough to fit over a few hundred people. Following that, was an area which looked like a forest from afar but had a board saying cemetery. At the entrance, right in front of the mansion was a whole arrangement of a garden with numerous varieties of flora. It looked beautiful.

They proceeded inside the cemetery. It was surrounded by trees making a pathway to someplace. Between the trees, people could spot the headstones with details and symbols that represented their clan or village. As they passed through, they saw the names and dates on some of the headstones and realised most was probably the leftover bodies of the people murdered. Eiko saw their expressions and decided to answer their questioning expression. "Yes, these are mostly the bodies or whatever was leftover in a decaying state when the first few people arrived at the island. Uzukage-sama and the remaining Uzumaki family members felt this would be the best way to at least give them last rights."

By then, they had reached an opening that led to the most wonderful garden they had ever seen. It was in a circular formation with the most beautiful variety of flowers of all kinds. At the centre of this garden were two white marble tablets placed adjacent to each other with some gap in between. Everyone's jaws had dropped at this view.

"Beautiful, isn't it?", Eiko asked. "Even we aren't used to it yet. But the family of Uzukage-sama along with the remaining Uzumakis in this village took it upon themselves to building this place. Uzumakis of all ages stayed inside this placed for weeks if not years putting this together. The rest of us only saw it for about two weeks back. Now all are welcome here. So you can see a lot of people around before and after work hours. You all are free to roam around this place for now".

The group of fourteen split and roamed around the cemetery and garden. They had no words to describe it. They could truly see how much this place meant to its people by their works.

None of them had realised the time passing by until they heard a voice call out to them, a familiar voice, a voice that they had yearned to hear for quite some time now.

"Hey, guys!"

Ooooh! I did stop at a dramatic time.

What do you all think? How will the encounter go ahead? How will they learn about the Kage? XD

Do le me know your guess in the comments!

One more think, thank you for the follows, fav and support! Do review and let me know how you feel about the story!

Putting you on your toes till next chapter, Bye Bye!