Arc: The Uzumaki Clan

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.

"Yeah, if near-death experiences are as beautiful as roses," Zabuza scoffed.

Naruto frowned, though he didn't comment as Hinata just smiled at Zabuza's remark. They both understood that it was a sensitive topic and it was no use in bringing it up now.

The beach was as white as a piece of blank paper. The sand was fine like snow and was pure white, untouched like a piece of marble waiting to be unearthed. Seeing the stunning beauty of the Land of Whirlpools once again, Naruto's lips straightened in hesitation.

'Should I…?'

.

.

.

'Yeah, let's do it. It's good for them to relax after such stressful events,' Naruto thought as he took out five scrolls from his storage scroll. "Unseal," Naruto muttered as he unrolled all five scrolls on the ground.

POOF!

"Ah?"

With five puffs of smoke, five children with red hair appeared on the beach. The five looked around in confusion when they saw the haven around them.

"Woah…" One by one, they all exclaimed with wide-open mouths. If a fly was around, it'd dive straight into their mouths. Naruto watched as their eyes twinkled in delight.

'It reminds me of the stars at night. Bright and innocent, but I wonder how long it'd last,' Naruto thought. 'I… want to protect that innocence… even if only for a moment. I want to let them live their childhood in peace, away from the filth of the world.'

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Naruto said to the five. Before he knew it, a gentle and genuine smile formed on his face. "Yeah! It's very pretty!" The five chorused with beaming smiles. The sight of them made Naruto chuckle as he rubbed their heads.

Hinata smiled softly as she watched Naruto interact with the children. 'It's my first time seeing Naruto-kun smiling so gently and honestly,' she thought when her smile suddenly tensed. She held out her hand and placed them on her chest.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

While feeling her rapid heartbeat, Hinata felt her eyes sting and her vision turn blurry for a moment. 'What…' Hinata chuckled as she closed and opened her eyes. 'I feel kind of jealous… This is ridiculous,' Hinata smiled bitterly.

'Naruto-kun never smiled like that at me.'

Naruto would care for her and treat her gently, but Hinata had never once felt that Naruto's smile was honest until now. At first, she thought that it was how Naruto normally smiled, but she was proven wrong today.

'What am I thinking?' Hinata chuckled to herself. 'Naruto-kun loves me, that's certain.'

Although this was her first time seeing Naruto smile so purely, she knew that Naruto's love for her was real. She was a ninja. After staying with Naruto for a long time, she'd detect if Naruto's love and affection were fake.

'Keep it together, Hinata. Patience. Have patience!'

Hinata shook her head as she approached Naruto and the children with a gentle smile.

"What should we do now?" She asked. In a split second, Naruto's eyes turned serious as he chewed on Hinata's words. A moment later, he spoke again while handing the five kids to Hinata.

"Firstly, we will explore the village ruins and map them out. After doing so, we will select a suitable location to build a few buildings. Slowly, we'll clean the ruins of Uzushiogakure and revive it," Naruto explained.

'I don't have any plans to copy-and-paste the old Uzushio back. It's both not my style and impossible as I have no records as to what the place even looked like,' Naruto thought. After handing the children to Hinata, he went to gather the rest of the group to give out roles for everyone to partake in.

"Zabuza and Haku…"

"Anything there?"

Inside the dense forest of the Land of Whirlpools, two figures bolted past the towers of trees. They both made no sounds as they jump from tree branch to tree branch.

"None. So far, I've only seen boars…" A figure with long brown hair said. It was Haku.

"Boars? What the, I didn't see any boars yet. I haven't even seen a single animal on this damned island!" A man with short black hair yelled in frustration. It was Zabuza.

Haku chuckled seeing his master's plea. "Master. Did you perhaps forget to tone down your bloodlust?"

"Ah?"

Suddenly, Zabuza halted. Haku stopped as well, having predicted that his master would do so.

"Shit," Zabuza cursed.

"Zabuza and Haku, your task is to scout the island for any wildlife. I can't have this place being empty and with your silent killing technique, you won't startle the animals when you come across them," Naruto said before turning to Hinata, Karin, and the sand siblings.

"You five…"

"Damn, this place is a wreck," A girl with long, spiky red hair whistled in surprise. She was wearing a pair of reading glasses as she placed her hand on her waist. She was Karin and beside her was Hinata who had her Byakugan active.

"It was in a better… slightly better condition when we first arrived here," Hinata said absentmindedly, making the red-haired woman raise her brow. "What the hell happened then?"

In front of the two girls was a massive crater. There were a few pieces of debris here and there, but nothing resembling a structure.

"Well, we encountered an alien. That's what Naruto-kun calls him, anyway," Hinata shrugged. Karin narrowed her eyes at the mention of the "alien."

"That alien again. Naruto said I have that alien's chakra inside my body," Karin said when she paused and added, "He also said that the kids have it inside them. Just what is that alien?"

"Well," Hinata pondered how to reply to her question when she saw three figures coming toward them from the skies. "Did you finish here?" Gaara asked as he lowered himself and his siblings. Karin nodded at his question and handed a scroll to Gaara.

Gaara opened the scroll and scrutinized it before rolling it back close. "Nice job," Gaara complimented. "Let's go to the next area," he added.

Karin and Hinata nodded and before they followed Gaara, Hinata whispered to Karin, "I'll tell you when we arrive at our next spot."

Karin smiled, "Okay."

"Hinata, Karin, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. Your job is to map out the ruins of the village," Naruto said, "It's up to you how you will do it. With Karin and Hinata's sensing abilities, and Gaara's mobility, this should be a breeze for the five of you," Naruto remarked.

The group nodded and looked at Naruto and the children. Naruto nodded and explained his role.

"As for me, I'll be developing a Seal Barrier around the island to keep us safe. I'll also be taking care of the children with the help of clones," Naruto explained. The group once again nodded, bidding their goodbyes, and were about to flicker away when Naruto remembered something.

"Karin, catch," Naruto said and unsealed a scroll from his storage scroll. Karin was startled but managed to catch the scroll. "Read it as you travel and don't be afraid. It's not dangerous," Naruto said before turning away to start his job.

Karin tilted her head in confusion before Hinata tugged her. "The fuck is he saying?" Karin mumbled as she followed Hinata, Gaara, and Gaara's siblings.

"Where are they going?" One of the children asked. Naruto smiled at the question and formed a hand seal. "Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone Jutsu."

POOF!

As the white smoke dispersed, Naruto patiently explained to the children, "They are doing important jobs to keep us safe and fed."

After a few more minutes of explaining, Naruto left the children to his clone.

When the kids were out of the way, Naruto grinned and took out a scroll.

It was the scroll of sealing.

"Finally, I can properly train. It's been a while since I've sat down and focused my mind on training," Naruto mumbled.

You can support me while reading 25 advanced chapters on my Pátreón page. That's 3 weeks of advanced chapters!

Link: pátreón.cóm/endbanner (replace the accent letters)