A/N: Well here is chapter 16. I honestly can't believe how much I've written for this story so far and I still have so many ideas left. The only down side is getting them out of my head and written down. I more or less have the rest of the Wave act figured out and I just need to sit down and write. After that I'll be breaking from canon quite a bit. Hope you all look forward to it. As always please read and review. All of your reviews have been awesome and they really encourage me to write. So without further ado, onto the show.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Text examples:
"Hello." Biju or jinchuriki using biju's powers speaking
'Hi.' Person thinking
'Hi there.' Person speaking through mental link
'Howdy.' Biju speaking through mental link
Chapter 16: Uzumaki
After the encounter with Zabuza it had taken team Kurenai and Tazuna another two days to make it to the Land of Waves. At the border they took a small boat that ferried them straight to Tazuna's home. The old bridge builder got out of the boat first.
"This is it. Come on. Let's get inside before anyone sees you lot." The team followed closely behind the man as he entered his house. "Tsunami! Inari! I'm home."
At his call a long haired woman with a pink shirt came out of the kitchen. "Hello father. I see your trip was successful."
Tazuna gave a nod before he looked around his home. "Where's Inari?"
Tsunami smiled and gestured towards the town. "I sent him to pick some things up for dinner. He should be back shortly."
With a nod he turned to face the ninja and gestured for them to follow him. They went upstairs and were shown the rooms that they would be sleeping in. There was plenty of space but Kurenai insisted that they would only need two rooms. Once they knew where they would be staying Kurenai ushered the genin into one of the rooms while Tazuna headed back downstairs. Once in the room Naruko released her transformation and swung her tails around happily. The action earned a giggle from Hinata and a small smile from Shino. Kurenai took a few minutes to gather her thoughts and decided on a plan of action as the genin chatted with one another. She cleared her throat to get their attention.
"It's a pretty safe bet that Zabuza is still alive and will attack us again in the near future. We also have to worry about the Kiri brothers as well as that masked ninja. As you are now I don't know if you would be able to handle it if all of them came at us at once. So what we're going to do is have you start your training again." There were nods all around. "I want you to focus on physical training and effectively using your new ninjutsu in combat. You can use the forest near the house to train during the day while I guard Tazuna at the bridge. Is that understood?" Again there were nods from her team.
They exited the room when they heard Tsunami call them down for dinner. The table was large enough to seat all of them so they sat down and waited for dinner to be served. Tsunami turned and was shocked to see that the red head she had seen before was now sporting fox ears and had several tails swaying behind her. The woman quickly brushed it off and placed the food on the table. Naruko smiled as she inhaled the pleasant smells of the meal. After a brief thanks everyone began to fill their plates. The red head was just about to take her first bite when she felt an aggressive presence behind her. She turned just in time to catch a stick that was about to strike the back of her head. She looked down and saw a small boy with anger in his eyes holding the other end of the stick like it was a sword. Naruko frowned as she tugged the stick from the boy's grasp.
"What the hell kid?" The red head asked.
The child just stared at her before he turned towards Tazuna. "Grandfather? Why is there a filthy half-breed in the house?"
The question just made Naruko even more annoyed. She really did not want to deal with some prejudiced little kid right before she was about to eat. She would have said something but to her amazement Tazuna spoke up first.
"Leave her alone Inari. I may not like her, but she is here to help us so at least try to tolerate her." The bridge builder said.
Inari stared at the fox girl before him for a few more moments before he turned and went to his own seat. Naruko just shook her head as she began to eat again.
The next day the genin grabbed their radios and headed to the forest. As instructed they began developing tactics and alternating sparing each other. Kurenai made sure to check in with them throughout the day. After training they returned to the house and had dinner before they crashed on their mats. Naruko tried to fall asleep but she was itchy all over and kept on having to scratch. She had no idea why she was itchy but it was preventing her from sleeping. After a few minutes she let out a frustrated grown and got up to take a shower hoping that the water would provide her with some relief. Thankfully it did and Naruko returned to her room. She was about to lay down when she noticed a fine powder on her mat. She took a sample of it with her finger and gave it a quick sniff. She recognized the smell. It was itching powder. The red head let out a small growl. She would have confronted the little brat but it was late and she just wanted to sleep. So she decided to take the safe route and snuggled up next to Hinata. The blue haired teen did not seem to mind as she snuggled up to her girlfriend in her sleep.
-Forest near the house-
The next day Naruko wandered away from Hinata and Shino as they sparred. She wanted to work on channeling her wind chakra through her claw like nails and did not want to be around her teammates in case something went wrong. Once she found a decent clearing she made twenty clones and began her training. She had been at it for half of the day and even with her clones she was not making much headway. Asuma had shown her what the result was supposed to look like by using his knives and she was still a long way off from being able to slice a boulder in half. She let out a sigh as she tried again and was only able to leave shallow cuts in the tree. She was so wrapped up in her training that neither she nor her clones heard the stranger approach from behind.
"I don't think you're doing that right."
The red head lost her concentration when she heard the unexpected voice. Her nails collided with the tree without any chakra in them at all and she let out a subdued yelp as she held her hand.
"Ouch. Sorry about that." Said the man behind her.
She turned to see a man leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing with short reddish brown hair and grey eyes. There were two large scars on his face. One that reached from his left temple to his right cheek that went between his eyes and the other was below is left eye that went back towards his left ear. He looked to be in his early twenties. He wore a blue short sleeved shirt that was tucked into black pants and a grey sleeveless haori on top. What really drew her attention though was the nub that was slightly visible coming out form the left sleeve of his shirt. He did not have a left arm. Her eyes moved downwards and noticed the katana at his hip. Naruko took her stance and prepared for a fight as her clones slowly spread out to either side.
The man just chuckled. "Relax. I'm not here to fight."
Naruko did not relax. She kept her gaze squarely on the man in front of her. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
The man smiled and held up his hand. He could hear the distrust in her voice. "I'm just passing through. I felt some chakra activity so I figured I'd check it out."
Naruko looked at him quizzically. "Are you a ninja?"
He shook his head as he chuckled again. "Not exactly. Just because I can sense chakra to some degree doesn't mean I'm a ninja."
"Who besides ninja can sense chakra?"
The man raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't get out much do you?"
"Why does that matter?"
The man stood up from his position against the tree and took a few steps towards her. The clones shifted some more so that they completely encircled the man now.
"Well if you did get out more you might have heard of the samurai from the Land of Iron."
Naruko shifted her stance just in case he tried to attack her. She had heard of samurai before and knew that they were skilled at killing ninja. She had to be careful.
"So you're a samurai?" The fox girl asked.
The man nodded. "Yep."
He was still smiling and for some reason it made Naruko relax. She could not explain it but she felt like she could trust him. She let out a sigh as she relaxed a bit and her clones disappeared. The man looked around at the clouds of smoke and did not seem to be at all surprised. Naruko realized he must have encountered ninja before.
"So who are you?" Asked Naruko.
He stepped closer to her and extended his hand. Naruko took hold of it and they shook. "I'm Arashi Uzumaki. It's good to meet you."
Naruko froze. She could not believe her ears. There was no way that it was possible for him to be an Uzumaki. She had to make sure.
"Did you just say Uzumaki?"
The man nodded as he let go of her hand.
"How?"
Arashi looked at her in confusion. "How what?"
Naruko searched his face in some strange hope that she would recognize him or somehow determine if he was lying.
"How can you be an Uzumaki when I'm supposed to be the last one?" Naruko asked.
He was about to reply when it registered to him what she had said. His face shifted from confusion to shock. "You're an Uzumaki too?"
The red head nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. I'm Naruko Uzumaki, head of the Uzumaki Clan. I'm supposed to be the last of the clan. Uzushio was destroyed and barely anyone survived. So I'll ask you again, how is it that you're an Uzumaki too?"
Arashi held up his hand in an attempt to calm her down. "My grandparents were from Uzushio. My father told me that they were on a mission when the Land of Whirlpools was attacked. They had my father a few years later and eventually my father made it to the Land of Iron and met my mother. A couple of years down the road I was born."
Naruko nodded but she was still not convinced. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"
The man smiled as he turned around. On the back of his haori was the Uzumaki spiral. After a moment Arashi turned back around and faced the fox girl.
"Besides that there is also my reddish hair. And why would I lie?"
Naruko nodded. Everything he said made sense and he had no reason to lie to her. "That still doesn't really count as proof."
Arashi looked like he did not really know what else he could say so maybe he didn't have to say anything. He smiled as he reached into one of the many pockets on his pants.
"Here. Maybe this will help convince you."
He found what he was searching for and pulled out a small bungle of cloth and handed it to Naruko. The red head took it and opened it. Her eyes went wide as she took in the sight of the Uzushio headband in her hands. She took it in for a long moment before she looked back up at the man before her.
"I want to believe you. But all of this could be some persona you made." Naruko said sadly.
The samurai looked at her and shook his head. "You really can't believe me can you?"
Naruko handed the head band back to him and took a step backwards. "Not really. I've lived my whole life under the belief that I was the last of the Uzumaki so for one to just appear before me, it's hard to believe."
Arashi nodded solemnly. "I understand. I really do know what you're saying. I grew up to that kind of talk too. How great our clan was. How many other villages were jealous of our fuinjutsu. How many enemies wanted us dead. How it would be almost impossible for the survivors to last long if they were ever found out. But it wasn't impossible. You and I are proof of that."
Naruko ran her hands through her hair as she let out a long breath. "That's another thing, how can you just believe me? Why do you trust me so much?"
Arashi just smiled and shrugged. "I like to believe that most people will be honest if I'm honest."
Naruko wanted to believe him she really did. It was just so hard. Back in the day she would have consulted her dad about something like this, but she could not do that now. Then she just blinked for a second. She felt like an idiot.
"I have an idea." Stated the fox girl.
Before he could say anything Naruko quickly bit her thumb and preformed a variant of her summoning jutsu. There was a small puff of smoke that dissipated and revealed Kurama in his small fox form.
The fox demon looked over at his daughter and smiled. "Hello kit. How are you?"
Naruko smiled as she kneeled down to hug her dad. "I'm good Dad."
Arashi was a bit perplexed by what was going on in front of him but he soon brushed it off. It seemed clear to him that the fox was Naruko's demon parent. After a moment Naruko stood again and regarded the samurai.
"Dad this is Arashi. Arashi Uzumaki." Naruko emphasized the Uzumaki.
Kurama did not miss the hesitation and confusion in his kit's voice. He looked the samurai up and down before he began to walk around the man.
"So you claim to be an Uzumaki?" Kurama's voice was dark and cold. The sound of it made Arashi straighten his back.
"Yes sir." Arashi said.
For such a small creature the fox demon was admitting a powerful chakra. It commanded respect. Kurama finally stopped his circling in front of Arashi and sat on his hind legs.
"I'll be the judge of that." The look in Kurama's eyes made the samurai gulp. "Hold out your hand."
The samurai did so and Kurama promptly leapt into the air and bit the man's hand. With a hiss Arashi reacted and shook Kurama off of him.
"What the hell are you doing fox?" Arashi asked angrily.
Kurama licked his paws so he could clean his face. After a moment he turned towards Naruko. "He has the blood of an Uzumaki. He's telling the truth."
The red head smiled a bit as she nodded. "Thanks Dad."
Kurama inclined his before he turned to face Arashi. "I'm sorry for biting you but it was the only way I could be sure."
Arashi nodded but he was still confused. "How does that work exactly?"
"Blood is required to perform a summoning jutsu. As head of the Fox clan I can identify all contract holders by their blood. And your blood is similar to Naruko's. So it's obvious to me that you two are related."
The samurai nodded. He had never heard of such a thing before but it made sense to him and he did not have a summoning contract so he did not know much on the subject.
"Well thank you for clearing that up." Said the samurai.
Kurama gave a nod before he made his way over to his kit. The red head kneeled down to hug him again before they exchanged goodbyes. The two Uzumaki watched as Kurama disappeared in a puff of smoke. After a pause Naruko looked at her new found relative.
"I guess that means we're related." Naruko said before a thought occurred to her. "Wait. You said that your dad and grandparents were Uzumaki. Does that mean that there are more of us? Do you have any siblings?"
Arashi cast his gaze towards the ground and shook his head. "No. I'm an only child and so was my father. As for my parents and grandparents they're all dead. I'm sorry."
Naruko smiled sadly at him. "No, it's okay. I thought I was the last one so it's kind of awesome that I'm not."
Arashi smiled. "Yeah I guess you have a point there."
There was a long silence as they came to terms with the new discovery. Arashi's gaze shifted and he took in the sight of the mangled trees.
"Want some help with that?" Arashi said as he gestured towards the trees. Naruko nodded and summoned her clones again. "I have to ask, what's with the clones?"
The red head smiled at him. "They're shadow clones. What they know I know. If they figure out something so do I. It helps cut down on training a lot when it comes to ninjutsu."
"That's actually really smart. I kind of wish I knew a jutsu like that."
The comment made Naruko raise an eyebrow at the man. "Can you even use ninjutsu with one arm?"
"Yes you can. But for now let's get back to your training. I'm guessing you've been trying to channel some kind of nature chakra through your nails, right?" Naruko nodded. "Okay so what nature type is it?"
Naruko cracked her knuckles while she stretched. "It's wind."
"And I bet you have little cuts on your fingers from slashing the trees." Arashi guessed.
Naruko's eyes widened. She did not expect him to realize that. The cuts were not bleeding and they were very small. She gave a small nod.
"Well you're wrong. The cuts aren't coming from the trees. It's coming from your own chakra. From what my dad told me about wind chakra it can be very harmful to the user when it is not used properly. Most of the wind chakra users I have met only use it for long range ninjutsu or they channel it through weapons."
Naruko thought back to her training sessions with Asuma and found that he was right. "The Jonin that first showed me how to channel my wind chakra always used a pair of knives. He said that wind chakra was the best for offensive attacks at close range."
"And he's right, but what you're doing is actually hurting yourself, even if it is just a little bit. I think you might want to try just coating your nails in regular chakra to strengthen them first before using wind chakra."
Naruko chuckled. "I can already do that." With a smirk on her face she turned and slashed at the tree leaving jagged cuts in it.
"That's actually pretty good. If you can do that already why do you want to channel the wind chakra?"
Naruko shifted so that he could see the tree. She pointed out several areas. "If you look at the cuts I just made they look harsh but they're kind of shallow. The ones done from wind chakra are deeper plus thin and clean. I would think it would be better if I could cut through enemies rather than tear through them."
It was a grim thought but accurate. Cutting was much more efficient and clean then tearing.
"I see your point. In that case I have an idea. You might want to try coating your hands in regular chakra first and then layering wind chakra on top of that. It would cut into your reserves more but the regular chakra would act as a buffer for the wind chakra and prevent injury. And being an Uzumaki you probably don't even need to worry about your reserves."
The two red heads shared a smile before Naruko nodded. It sounded like it could work, but it would still probably take a while to figure out.
"I can try." Naruko said with a smile.
With that the twenty clones set about the training. The original Naruko walked away from the tree and over near Arashi.
The samurai raised an eyebrow at her. "Why aren't you training too?"
The red head shrugged. "I'll learn what the clones do. One more won't help too much. Plus I figured that we could talk."
Arashi smiled. It was a good idea. They were family after all. Naruko told tales of her journeys on the road with Jiraiya and Arashi had a few stories of his own about growing up the in the Land of Iron. They shared laughs and some moments of pain as the day went on. Naruko learned how Arashi's father, Jin, made it to the Land of Iron where he met Hisoka, Arashi's mother. It was an over the top kind of story and Naruko guessed maybe only half of it was true but she was not about to say anything. When it came to Naruko's parents Arashi learned that Kurama was not in fact Naruko's biological father, only her adoptive one. It was strange but they somehow bonded over the fact that they had both lost their parents at a young age. They realized that it somehow made them grow up faster, even if it was only a little. The stories continued throughout the day. Hinata was brought up more than once and the stories he heard about her always made Arashi smile. Naruko was lucky to have someone in her life like Hinata. As the day went on Arashi's idea helped her make some progress. Once the clones dissipated she could actually cut half way through the trees. The downside was that she could not keep the chakra around her hands stable for long periods of time. It was getting late and when their stomachs started to growl they decided that it was time to stop. Naruko went over the day in her mind as they were heading out of the forest. She had never suspected that she would meet another Uzumaki. She realized that she was presented with a chance and she was going to take it. With a few quick steps she got in front of Arashi.
"Do you want to come back to Konoha with me and join my clan?" Asked Naruko.
Arashi was blindsided by the question. He had not seen it coming at all so he had to take a while to think. He had his grandfather, on his mother's side, back in the Land of Iron to return to, but that old samurai could get along just fine without him. The idea of going to a ninja village was an odd one especially since it seemed that if he agreed he would end up living there. It could be nice though. Not having to move around so much, to settle down. But then again could he even live his life like that after wandering for so long?
Arashi shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'll have to think about it. It is a big decision."
Naruko nodded. She understood that. She was basically asking him to uproot his life for no reason other than that they were related.
"I understand. I'm here with my team for the next month or so. We're staying with Tazuna. He has a big house near the water. You can't miss it. Just let me know what you decide before we leave."
Arashi nodded before he turned away from her and headed in another direction. As she watched him go she saw him raise his hand as a goodbye. Even though he could not see her with his back turned she smiled and waved to him.
-Tazuna's home-
Shino was sitting in the living room reading a book on insects when he heard the door open. He looked up to see his red headed teammate walk in. She had checked in with them throughout the day and said that she would be late getting in so Shino was not surprised that she had just arrived. He waved to her from his position on the coach and she returned the wave.
"Hey Shino. So how did the sparing go?" Asked the red head.
The brown haired teen marked the page he was on before he closed his book. "It was productive. I have found that my Earth Fists allow me to better combat Hinata's Gentle Fist as they protect the chakra points along my arms."
Naruko nodded as she took a seat next to him. "That makes sense. Did Hinata make any progress?"
"I noticed that both her reaction time and power have increased since we began this mission."
Naruko smiled as she nodded. She was pleased that her Princess was making progress. All thoughts of continuing the conversation were halted when they heard Tsunami call everyone to dinner. The meal was pleasant and uneventful. Tazuna was quiet throughout the meal and Inari only occasionally glared at Naruko. The red head had the first watch that night and stayed in the living room while everyone else went off to bed. Nothing at all happened and Naruko woke up Shino for his watch before she got ready for bed. She was about to lay down when she remembered what was in her mat the last time. Cautiously she pulled down the sheet and was a bit surprised to see a large amount of bugs wriggling and crawling all over her mat. If she was any normal teenaged girl she might have freaked out and screamed, but she was not a normal teenaged girl. Naruko had spent many nights in the forest before so bugs did not bother her. So instead of freaking out she carefully picked up her mat and brought it down stairs to show Shino. Upon his confirmation that none of the bugs were poisonous Naruko headed back upstairs and walked into Inari's room where she dumped the bugs out of her mat and onto his bed. With a satisfied smirk on her face she went back into her room and decided to curl up next to Hinata.
The blue haired teen stirred at the contact and rolled over to face the fox girl before she let out a yawn. "Hey Naru, how did your day go?"
The red head placed a quick kiss on Hinata's forehead as she got comfortable. "It went great. I'll tell you about it in the morning."
The two girls fell asleep in each other arms, both looking forward to the morning.
A/N: And there you have it, the first potential recruit for the Uzumaki clan. Yes, he is an OC and I hope you all like him. I wasn't sure if the one armed samurai thing was too cliché or not, but I went with it anyway. Arashi is actually an old OC I made that I revamped for this story. Well I hope you all liked the latest chapter and are looking forward to the next one.
Next time: Naruko talks about the training she had as a child.