Chapter 28

Sitting in front of us was a shirtless man who kept taking mouthfuls from the gourd in his hand. His body looked like it was sculpted even as it was riddled with scars. In fact, that seemed to add a certain charm to it that it made me a little jealous; thinking of how I would also always have my shirt off, or maybe unbuttoned, back on earth if I had such a body.

He looked like an ordinary pretty boy without any ability whatsoever. However, every part of me was screaming in danger. That was not the reason I was surprised though; the reason was because of the color of his hair. "Oh, has the little Haruno fallen for me?" He spoke for the first time. His voice slightly deep and enchanting. Quite a contrast to his pretty boy face.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, I prefer women." I answered him as I continued to look at him.

"Then have you been enchanted by my hair? Are you surprised how to get it so beautiful?" He spoke with an amused tone.

"I am more surprised seeing an Uzumaki and how a man could actually use beautiful for himself." My words made both the man and Mebuki narrow their eyes slightly.

Yes, the man before me had bright red hair that had been tied up into a ponytail behind him. The glaring trait of the nearly extinct Uzumaki clan. I had to admit, the hair was beautiful like he had said.

The Uzumaki clan, a descendant clan of Asura Otsutsuki. They kept close ties with Konoha, specifically the Senju clan, which was evident from their intermarriages. Example being the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki. They were a neutral clan who did not involve themselves in the wars but helped Konoha with seals due to their ties.

Their mastery in seals made it so they were feared among the other villages and as such were targeted and destroyed with only few escaping and scattered about. So where was Konoha during that time? Apparently, they were unable to get there in time to save their fellow allies.

Understandable. There was no way the Third Hokage was going to send troops to face the combined forces of the three or four Great Nations and weaken his own forces, leaving Konoha vulnerable to attacks later on.

Second, with their level of fuuinjutsu the Uzumaki clan was renowned for, I refuse to believe they did not protect the paths leading to their clan with some seals and barriers. The only explanation would be they were betrayed, most likely by the Third Hokage himself concerning the safe routes to the Uzumaki clan stronghold. Maybe it was Danzo, or both.

The question then becomes, why? Why would the Third Hokage who was the student of the Second Hokage and taught by the First Hokage do such a thing? I had thought about it constantly during my time on earth but no matter how much I thought about it, only one possible conclusion came to mind.

There was absolutely no doubt the Third Hokage loved the village; He was brainwashed by both the First and Second Hokages personally after all.

Don't forget, during the fight with his best friend and rival, Uchiha Madara, Hashirama personally said 'I won't forgive anyone who threatens the village, be they friend, sibling or even my own child.'. So, it stands to reason that he would prioritize the village over any other thing, even if it meant comfortably letting their longtime allies die at the hands of others while reaping benefits; Uzumaki Kushina, a child who was tied down with/by Minato.

That meant the village now had an Uzumaki and a jinchuriki who was loyal to the village. She would continue her bloodline in the village and all seals that they would produce would belong solely to the village. Maybe if Uzumaki Mito was alive at that time, things might have turned out different. But Uzumaki Kushina, a naïve little girl who sought companionship during the lonely times of a destroyed village, and who thought of nothing but love? Easy to rope in.

'Okay, maybe I'm beginning to sound like some conspiracy theorist. But doesn't mean it is not true.' I was lost in thought before I was brought back by the Uzumaki before me.

"The little Miss Haruno has seen an Uzumaki before?" He asked, even more amused, placing his gourd at the side.

"Well no, I have read about you. The most noticeable trait of the Uzumaki would be their beautiful red hair. What? My only friend is Ino. I spend most of the time in the library." I looked at Mebuki who looked at me with a smirk, and defended. Either way, they had both seen my reaction. There was no reason to lie about it.

"Besides, Naruto is also an Uzumaki so it made me wonder." I added with a shrug

"Nobody likes a know it all. It is no wonder you have no friends." He spoke with a provocative smile which annoyed me. It is no wonder he was friends with her. Only annoying people like themselves could get along.

"It has been a while Me-chan. What do you want?" He turned towards her and asked without motivation.

"Haha. Me-chan." Her pet name was funny.

"Why do you have to make it seem like I want something each time I see you?" Mebuki defended with a smile.

"Cut the crap. What do you want?" He spoke with a sudden coldness in his tone.

"Fine, calm down already. Aoi, Kouki, come here." She called for the siblings who rushed to stand by her side the moment she called for them.

"I want you to train these two. I will be back for them in a year." This made me have a proper look again at the red haired Uzumaki.

"Aoi, Kouki, this is your new master, Uzumaki Ken." When she finished speaking, they both bowed deeply in greeting before lifting their heads once more.

"I refuse." Was all the Uzumaki said before walking into the cabin with Mebuki following behind. After a few minutes they both walked out with one irritated man and a victoriously smiling woman.

"Hey kid." He indicated towards me.

'What happened to Miss Haruno?' I wondered to myself

"Is the Naruto boy you spoke about your friend?" He enquired with his irritated look

"I would like to think so, yes. Why?" He did not respond, but fished out a scroll from behind him.

"Give this to him when you meet him. It contains all my experiences on basic fuinjutsu and upwards." I kept a straight face but the inner me was straight up screaming and dancing in joy at the moment. I did not take it but looked to Mebuki, who nodded in return.

"Cool, can I learn?" I asked because I knew how Uzumakis were with stuff they did not want others finding. I would probably be unable to open it or it would not show a single writing even if I could open it. I had read too many light novels to take that risk.

My question seemed to make him even more irritable and Mebuki smiled even wider as he responded, "I have handed the key to your mother. When you are ready, you can use it to open the scroll.". I was so glad I asked.

We bid our farewells to the siblings and prepared to leave. That was when I heard Aoi's voice from behind, "Sakura-san. By the time you return we would have surpassed you." She mumbled a few more words to herself that I could not hear but I could see the annoying woman beside me smiling.

'So that was the reason for their fiery eyes.' What I had not realized was, as I was desperately trying hard to catch up to Mebuki, the siblings were also desperately trying to catch up to me. I looked back to see the fiery look in both their eyes which made me smile. I turned back and waved at them before disappearing from their sights.

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From next week, new stone targets. Happy we could cross the old target and more.

200 stones = 2 chapter

400 stones = 3 chapters

600 stones = 5 chapters.

Current reached = 550

Chapters owed = 1/5