Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Naruto or its world. I don't own any media or pop culture referred to or mentioned in the story.
* SPITE * SPITE * SPITE * SPITE *
Recap:
"Poor thing." The Nurse monitoring Nami closed the door as the child whined in her sleep. He made a note on the girl's file. 'Psychological Evaluation Needed.'
"They get younger every day." The nurse tsked, moving onto his next patient.
With that note on her file, the girl will be placed in the system with other children of the state. From there, she'll be processed into Konoha's Orphanage and treated like the other orphans.
With that note on her file, The Border Girl became another child without a name.
* SPITE * SPITE * SPITE * SPITE *
Nami's First Day at the Orphanage - Konoha Orphanage
Nami sniffled, looking forlornly at the tall man next to her. So they WERE leaving her at this place…
The building before them wasn't as imposing as the building—hospital, Nami learned it was called—as the hospital she had been in up to now.
After several days of different people asking Nami questions, trying to learn more about her and her grandmother and what happened, the Man in the White Hat must've decided to send Nami to this new place.
Nami was annoyed and afraid. How could her grandmother find her if they kept MOVING her. It reminded the little girl of her grandmother's rule to keep moving so They couldn't hurt them. (Whoever They were.)
It seemed these people would use the same tactic.
Still, Nami was no longer in a constant state of panic by being here. She found out the People in White weren't trying to harm her or take her away. They were healers, some even medic-nin, whose job it was to fix people using magic—er, using chakra, like the kind Nami's grandmother used for her magic words—er, Fuuinjutsu.
Nami was learning a lot of new things her grandmother, Miho, never told her about.
Flashback: 2 Weeks Back - Konoha Hospital
Miho never took Nami to a medic, clinic, or healer, so the… hospital… was a new experience for the curious child. She came to see the people here were friendly, or at least not mean, and all of them were busy. The hospital wasn't so bad.
Nami even learned the basics of the new place she was in. A place called Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village. The Man in the White Hat was their leader, the Hokage, and his job was to protect and watch over their home. Like a king.
Nami agreed with the kind nurse who spent time teaching her these little things. Nami even drew him a picture to show she understood what 'Hokage' meant.
(She refused to break her grandmother's rule to speak to strangers. She was already acting out enough. She wouldn't break this rule if she could help it.)
Her picture made the Hokage look like a king. When she hesitantly showed him, the nurse had laughed, gently ruffling her fluffy hair. "Something like that ojou-chan."
(When was the last time Nami smiled and laughed with someone? She really missed her grandmother… Was Miho even coming for her?)
But now, just when Nami was getting used to the Hospital, they were moving her again.
Yesterday, the Man in the White Hat came to see her again after several days. He was the only one who spoke in Uzek, even if it was really bad, like talking to a baby. So Nami only spoke to him. She hoped her grandmother didn't mind….
Speaking of, when she saw the Hokage, she excitedly asked him about her grandmother, and even called him, "Hokage!" She pointed at him, then graced him with her name for being so nice to her. "Tsunami." She pointed at herself.
The Hokage seemed surprised, then smiled a little. "It's nice to know your name, Tsunami-chan." But he didn't speak in Uzek.
Nami's excitement died down at his response in Common. So he wasn't here to ask more questions? Slowly, she asked, "What's wrong Hokage?" in her first language.
The Hokage took a moment to process the information before responding in Common once again, further disappointing Nami. "There's nothing bad Tsunami." He pat her hand, making her relax. "You will be leaving for your new home tomorrow."
Home. That's a forbidden word for Nami. She's never had a home before.
Sitting up on her crossed legs, the little girl watched him attentively. "Home?" She replied in Uzek.
The Hokage nodded. "We found a place for you to stay and grow up."
Nami frowned, confused. She chewed her lip in thought. "But… grandmother…" She pointed out the window to the east, where the sun rose that morning. "How will she find me?" She asked urgently, still speaking in Uzek.
Nami broke her grandmother's rule at that moment. But how could she not worry-they were moving her!
Hiruzen shook his head. He caught "grandmother," but the rest was outside his scope of understanding. "We don't know where she is, child." He said as gently as possible. Hiruzen spoke as if addressing his own young son. Tsunami and Asuma looked around the same age, she might even be a little younger. "In the meantime, you have to go to a new home. You can't stay here if you aren't sick or hurt."
Nami didn't understand. Why couldn't she stay at this hospital? It was big! Surely she could keep her little bed.
Nami must've looked about to cry, because Hiruzen pat her little hand again. This time, he took both of hers soothingly. "I know this is scary for you." He caught her attention.
Nami sniffled, lip wobbling as she tried not to show more weakness. She didn't want him to think she was bad too.
Hiruzen gave a fatherly smile to the little girl. She was being very brave. "But we did find something that belongs to you." From his robe, he pulled out a necklace.
Nami's eyes zeroed in on the jewelry. It was her grandmother's! "Baabaa?" She sniffled again, looking at him. Was he giving it to her?
Hiruzen saw the unspoken question, turning her hand over and setting the necklace in it. "Yes, Tsunami-chan. This is yours."
The metal chain was light in weight. Despite its delicate appearance, it was very sturdy. In fact, the thing was nearly unbreakable, as they found in their testing.
The shinobi tasked with investigating the case found miniscule symbols, barely visible to the naked eye, carved meticulously on every chain and loop of the necklace. What their investigators could glean revealed passive fuuinjutsu seals to reinforce and protect the necklace from breaking, eroding, or other damage from outside sources.
They even hypothesized some of the unknown symbols might be fuuinjutsu specific to the Uzumaki who raised the girl-her "Baabaa" who taught Tsunami how to hide her chakra presence, use stealth techniques, and recognize basic kanji combinations for the sealing arts.
Seeing the girl's reaction confirmed the owner of the necklace was her grandmother as they suspected.
Some were against giving back the necklace, stating if they could unlock its secrets, there may be new sealing knowledge that could benefit the village.
But Hiruzen put his foot down. They couldn't hoard the one thing a nameless child had left. Despite the signs pointing to an obvious Uzumaki heritage, legally they could not give the child the Uzumaki Clan status.
The Uzumaki were considered a Noble Clan-a distinction given to clans descended from royal families of the past or with ties to the current Daimyo court. Without a current member claiming the girl, she was in limbo.
On top of that, it was deemed a waste of resources to try and compare her DNA against Mito and Kushina's considering the chance of her being a direct blood relative was low. All of that meant she was labeled, "Child of Unknown (Probable) Origin."
So Hiruzen made the call to give the jewelry back to the little girl. Lucky for her, it seemed they couldn't activate or identify the purpose behind some of the unknown seal arrays or kanji on the jewelry. None of the seals on the necklace activated when probed with chakra. Everything was a dud. The necklace was just that, a piece of metal.
To compromise, Hiruzen ordered every kanji and seal combination copied down for further study before returning it. Just because the necklace was no longer active, didn't mean they couldn't find something beneficial in the future.
But he was glad to return it. The gratitude and sadness radiating off the child was both heartwarming and bittersweet. It was one of the less strenuous parts of the job. But he did have a purpose for coming.
"I came to give that to you and to take you to your new home."
Once again at the word, 'home,' made the girl hesitate. "What is…" Tsunami started in Uzek. She then paused. "Home?" She said the word in Common.
Hiruzen once again wondered what she went through to not know the word. "I'll show you." He held his hand out to her, standing.
Nami's eyes went from his hand to the necklace in hers. She stared at the metal swirl in the middle of the chain. The same swirl her grandmother always drew in dirt, and sewed on Nami's cloaks in the smallest stitch she could.
("This is our family, our Clan. It represents our home, our history, and our future." At the last word, Miho, on one of her good days, cuddled Nami close to her in their shared bed roll. Under the canopy of trees, the woman whispered tales of white, sandy beaches, mysterious whirlpools, and legends of old, before the time of chakra. She ended the night with a lullaby, lulling Nami to sleep in her loving arms.)
Nami slipped the chain over her head. The necklace fell long, the swirl landing in the middle of her chest.
"Okay." She slid off the bed that's been her hiding place for the last several days and followed the Hokage to this… "home."
A/N Thanks for reading! See you next time.