"Hmm, this is the hardest decision I've had to make in quite a while." Senkai muttered to her companion sitting across from her. A large man with wild scarlet hair and an even wilder beard and mustache, Kurma Uzumaki smiled politely as he waited for his leader to make her choice. "Should I promote him or not?"
"It is an important decision." Kurma replied, "With lots of consequences should it be incorrect."
"If I promote him, he won't be able to move as freely as he can now. Though he could arguably get more done."
"It is true that the restrictions of being promoted do make him less versatile." Kurma acknowledged, "However at the same time there's that old saying, when one door closes another opens. Just because he's not as versatile as he was before doesn't mean he's completely useless to you."
Senkai eyed her companion warily, "You seem to have a vested interest in whether or not I promote him. Are you trying to motivate my choice?"
Kurma smiled as he reached for a cup of sake. "Not at all. I'm just trying to tell you that a certain loss of versatility doesn't necessarily diminish what he can accomplish for you."
Senkai found herself smiling at Kurma's sudden diplomacy, "Bullshit. You want me to promote him because it will benefit you in the long run won't it."
"Lady Senkai, I can assure you that whether or not you promote him, has absolutely zero impact on me."
"Yeah, no. Sorry not falling for it. No promotion for him. So tell me Kurma, how does that mess up your plans?"
Kurma smiled at his clan leader, "Not at all. For you see, I truly didn't care if you promoted your silver general to a golden one because," Kurma picked up his Dragon King tile and placed it in the exact spot he needed to win their match. "That's a checkmate."
Senkai's eyes widened as she looked over the board in astonishment. "What, how? You sneaky bastard." Kurma shrugged his large shoulders.
"What? I told you it didn't matter to me if you promoted him or not." The large man said defensively.
"Yes but you made it sound like the decision would actually have an effect on the game." Senkai replied. "All it did was distract me."
"And that had an effect on the game." Kurma said, with the smuggest grin he could manage.
"Kurma, I swear if you don't wipe that shit eating grin off your face I will…" Senkai's threat was cut off by the door flying open with Kurma's three genin students coming into the room, followed by a young boy in orange with blonde hair.
"Lady Senkai, Kurma Sensei!" Torren announced as all four of the children slid to a stop before them, "You'll never guess who this is." With that Torren gave the blonde a light shove front and center.
Senkai eyed the boy for a moment before she smiled, "Naruto Uzumaki, it's a pleasure to meet you." Senkai fought hard to keep herself from laughing at the expressions that appeared on the genin's faces, Kurma however made no such reservations for his pupils.
"You know who I am?" Naruto asked bewildered. "Have we met before?"
"Unfortunately we have not met before." Senkai admitted. "Your brother told me all about you however."
"You knew Arashi before he died?" Naruto asked.
"I know Arashi quite well." Senkai clarified. "He's been a great help in rebuilding our clan and villa… what do you mean before he died?"
"Arashi died on a mission five years ago." Naruto said, his breathing becoming noticeably heavier. "His team was sent out to capture Itachi Uchiha but they were beaten. Hokori was crippled, and Ayame was in a coma but they…"
"They never located his body." The Uzumaki clan head finished. Senkai could see Naruto putting the dots together. His breathing became more labored and his eyes were taking on an almost wild sheen to them. "Naruto, your brother's alive."
"Why didn't he come home then?" Naruto snapped tears flowing freely down his face, "Why didn't he come back for me? Why after five goddamn years am I just hearing about it now?" Naruto thought back to the night he became a genin, the words that Mizuki had taunted him with. "Why did he abandon me?"
"Abandon you?" Senkai asked, "How could you think he'd abandoned you. How could you even think he was dead? Arashi wrote dozens if not hundreds of letters to you. At least once a week."
Naruto shouted at her. "For five years I've not heard a damn word about him!"
Realization struck Senkai like a full powered bijudama. "Oh my God." She muttered, "Oh my God, you mean after all this time you've never once received a letter he wrote for you?"
"Not a single one." Naruto confirmed for her.
Senkai turned to look at Kurma who had a similar look of horror and sorrow on his face. His three students who were looking at their newest clan mate with a great deal of confusion. "Naruto I'm so sorry. All this time I, we thought you were being kept up to date." Naruto shook his head, and Senkai forced herself to take a deep breath. "Well then it looks like I've got some explaining to do."
Senkai cupped her hands in the river and brought the clear water to her lips as her companion filled their canteens. As water dripped down her chin Senkai scanned the surrounding forest for signs of life.
"It doesn't make any sense." She muttered. "The chakra signature I sensed was somewhere over here." Her companion stood silently as Senkai pricked her thumb and weaved her hands through a set of seals. Once the sequence was finished she slammed the hand with the bloody thumb on the water's surface. There was a great puff of smoke that cleared to show a white turtle, larger than the average man, floating where Senkai had summoned him.
"You sent for me mistress?" the turtle asked, bowing his head as he spoke.
"Kameshiru I need you to swim up river." Senkai explained. "There's someone here that we need to find. Find them and bring them here."
"Whom am I searching for if I may ask?" Kameshiru inquired.
"An Uzumaki like me." She answered. "Please find them quickly." Kameshiru bowed his head before he began his search up river.
"You think he'll find this person?" Senkai's companion asked.
"Kameshiru's sensory abilities surpass my own Agnihem." Senkai replied, "I can only get a general area, he can pinpoint. He'll find who we're here for. I have no doubts."
"Alright, and what if this person doesn't want to come with us?" Agnihem put forward. Senkai took a deep breath. It was always a possibility, that one of her lost clan mates had no interests in rejoining their clan. She couldn't blame or hold it against them. All she could do was hope and cling to those who decided to come home.
"That will be their decision." She said as she looked hopefully up the river. "With any luck however we'll soon have a new clan mate my friend."
Agnihem smiled as he ran his fingers through his snow white hair. "I keep telling you Senkai, I'm not joining your clan, I'm just helping you find them."
"And living with us, eating our food, treating out sick… I could go on Mr. Akamizu." Senkai teased. "Just face it Agnihem, you're an Uzumaki in everything but name and blood." Agnihem opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Senkai shooting up to her feet. "Kameshiru's coming back."
"Is he bringing back our new Uzumaki?"
Senkai closed her eyes and focused in on the chakra signature she'd been tracking. It was there, mixed in with Kameshiru's. "Yes." Within a few moments the large turtle was in sight with a body slung over his shell. Immediately Senkai and Agnihem rushed onto the water to bring the injured Uzumaki onto shore.
"I found him floating in the river." Kameshiru explained as they laid him on the shore. Senkai nodded as she checked the unconscious man's pulse. The man's heart was beating a mile a minute, but was strong.
"Senkai, this guy's an ANBU from Konoha." Agnihem told her, "Look at the uniform."
"What does that have to do with anything Agnihem?" Senkai asked as she checked her unconscious clan mate over for wounds. That's when the man's eyes shot open and his arm reached for Senkai's throat. "Hey, take it easy." Senkai shouted as she caught the man's wrist and forced it down. "We're trying to help you, my name is Senkai Uzumaki and this is Agnihem Akamizu. Can you tell us your name?"
The man breathed heavily for a few moments, his eyes wildly darting to and fro before groaning out, "Arashi." and just as suddenly as he had awoken, Arashi fell back into unconsciousness.
Naruto sat stock still as he listened to Senkai's story of how she had met his brother. Behind her sat Karin and her teammates with their sensei Kurma. Senkai explained how Arashi, once recovered helped Senkai find and gather more of their lost clan mates.
"He wanted to come back to you as soon as he was able to walk again, but I insisted he wait until he made a full recovery." Senkai explained, sorrow still clearly visible on her face. "Once he was recovered and I saw how strong he was, I begged him not to leave until our clan was strong enough to stand without him. During this time I repeatedly tried to make him the leader of the clan and village so he wouldn't leave. He didn't abandon you Naruto. I've kept him from you." Senkai paused a moment as she moved to wipe some tears from her eyes. "Naruto I'm so sorry that I've done this to you."
Naruto looked over to the other Uzumakis in the room. The three genin all looked like they were in the middle of the most awkward situation they've ever been in in their entire lives. Kurma however seemed to be hiding his emotions beneath a mask. Naruto looked back to Senkai who was openly weeping for her part in Naruto's suffering. Naruto took a deep breath before he reached out and placed his hand on Senkai's shoulder. The red haired woman looked up at the young blonde boy, and was surprised not find a look of hatred or anger on his face but instead one of sympathy. She was even more surprised when Naruto threw his arms around her neck and hugged her closely.
"My brother's alive." Naruto sobbed, "How could I be angry with the person who saved him?" Senkai choked out a laugh as she returned Naruto's hug.
Arashi sat cross legged under the waterfall. He remained perfectly still as thousands of gallons of water poured over him. His palms pressed together as he focused on the natural chakra flowing into his body. He could feel the scales forming around his neck as the chakra altered his body. He smiled as he felt the plates forming across his back and chest.
"Lord Arashikage!" the smile on Arashi's face vanished nearly instantly as his hated nickname assaulted his ears and broke his concentration. He quickly dispersed the natural chakra that had been building up within him before he lost himself. He opened his eyes to find a young man running towards him. The young man wore the poncho, flak jacket combo that had come to be favored by Uzushio shinobi, his red hair was pulled back into a top knot.
"This had better be good Haru" Arashi grumbled as the young Uzumaki stopped just short of the waterfall Arashi had situated himself in. Haru took a moment to catch his breath before he held out a scroll. With a sigh Arashi removed himself from the waterfall and strode toward the messenger.
"It's from Lady Senkai, Lord Arashikage." Haru said as Arashi took the scroll. Arashi gave Haru a withering glare at the second use of the unwanted nickname. If the glare had any effect on the younger Uzumaki, he did an excellent job not showing it. Though if Arashi were honest with himself he knew that absolutely no one in the village felt the glare was threatening at all.
"Why does everyone in the village insist on calling me that?" Arashi asked for what he felt was the billionth time.
"It's our way of showing you what we feel is proper respect." Haru replied, as everyone in the village always did. Arashi rolled his eyes as he awaited the second part of the reply. "And because at this point it's just fun to watch your reaction."
Despite himself Arashi smiled. "How could Senkai have sent a letter from Konoha? She should only have just got there, what a day or two ago."
"This didn't arrive by messenger hawk." Haru replied.
"Ah she used a turtle." Arashi surmised as he unrolled the scroll. Quickly his eyes began to scan the message and the smile returned to his face. He quickly reread the message to make sure he wasn't seeing things before laughter escaped his lips. Arashi left Haru as he rushed back to his house. Within minutes he had a bag packed.
"Naruto, I'm coming home."
After five grueling days of training Team 7 is ready for the Chunin Exams. What challenges and foes will they face next time. The Examinations begin.
AN: So yeah you guys know the drill by now. Sorry for the delay. This chapter was a bit of a pain. You ever have that chapter or essay or whatever you got to write, where you have a good start for it but about halfway through you don't know what to do with it? Well this was that for me. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Chunin Exams are up next. And to those of you who were hoping I'd use this chapter to describe Uzushio a little bit, sorry but it'll have to wait.
