Chapter 5: Drawing Conclusions

Shibi Aburame had been having a strange day.

This had occurred precisely twelve minutes after he reached the fourth floor of the Hokage Tower for the weekly meeting of the Konoha Council. The man with the high-collar tan coat had taken the second seat on the left side of the Sandaime, signifying his clan's noble status and prolonged dedication to Konoha, when Hiashi Hyuuga coughed gently next to him. Shibi had turned to offer his greetings, as was customary between the two men with complementary abilities, whose clans had worked extensively with one another, when the first oddity occurred.

After exchanging their usual greetings, Hiashi made an unexpected request.

"I was wondering if my daughter could join your son during his chakra control exercises," the white-eyed man asked.

Behind Shibi's dark shades, his own eyes widened. This was unusual. Their families were afforded a good relationship, but they had never been close enough for joint training sessions between the clan heirs. And while Hiashi was atypically more involved in village affairs than his predecessors, the Aburame had not expected him to be liberal enough to entrust his daughter's training to another clan.

However, alienating the Hyuuga Clan Head over this simple request would be unwise, so Shibi agreed.

"My son practices tree-walking every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school," Shibi informed him, "He has previously done this within the clan, but prefers to practice on Training Ground 2 now."

Hiashi nodded, appearing unsurprised. Shibi would have marked this as another oddity, if not for the Hyuuga's well-known penchant for gathering information. The man had one of the most intensive spy networks within the village, surpassed only by Danzo Shimura and the Sandaime himself.

"I will inform my daughter that she is to seek out your son after class," Hiashi replied. Shibi inclined his head forward in lieu of an answer. "I must congratulate you for having your son befriend Minato's daughter early, even if Fugaku's boy got the march on all of us."

"Thank you," Shibi said, politely. He wondered when his son made a connection with Naruto Uzumaki. Shino had not informed him of a developing friendship yet, but he did seem pleased when they discussed his work at the Academy last night. One part of the statement confused him though. "Fugaku's boy?"

"The elder one is courting the girl," Hiashi elaborated, "Did you not know?"

The Aburame shook his head in the negative, and the other man gave him a sympathetic glance. "Yes, I was surprised when I heard the news too. I wouldn't have even considered the potential of a connection until she was much older. Shame that Fugaku had the foresight to preempt us all now."

"He must have been subtle about the endeavor," Shibi observed. The older man had not heard a whisper of the Uchiha heir interacting with the Yondaime's daughter before now, though both parties were prominent enough to be raised under the public eye. Fugaku must have successfully hidden his plans for a long time now, if the courtship had progressed to the point where Hiashi wasn't making an attempt with his own clansman.

"Stealing the Namikaze name and legacy from under our very noses," Hiashi's voice contained a mixture of envy and reluctant admiration, "I wouldn't have even known had my daughter not been enamoured with the girl. And by then Fugaku's boy had progressed to leaving love letters and sharing basic training techniques."

"Then you would like to ingratiate your daughter with the next Uchiha Matriarch?" Shibi summarized, having inferred that his son was training with Naruto Uzumaki outside of the clan. The white-eyed man gave an elegant shrug.

"They say that Itachi Uchiha is the greatest genius of his generation," Hiashi said frankly, "He holds the highest scores in Academy history, next to Minato Namikaze, and now he is courting an Uzumaki jinchuuriki. Surely you see the parallels Itachi and Naruto have with Minato and Kushina?"

Shibi was not able to reply, before the meeting was called. As the other councillors discussed tax incentives for textile merchants and participating in the Kumo Chuunin Exams though, the Aburame's mind was immersed in the previous conversation.

There were implicit connections between all of the previous Hokages: the Nidaime had been the Shodaime's brother and the Sandaime had been the Shodaime's student. Even the Yondaime had been the personal apprentice of the Sandaime's student, and the husband of the Nidaime's illegitimate granddaughter. The top candidates for Godaime were Danzo Shimura, student of the Nidaime, the Sannin, students of the Sandaime, and Kakashi Hatake, student of the Yondaime. Should this pattern hold, then future Hokages would also be drawn from this interconnected web of teachers and students; a web that the Uchiha clan were firmly excluded from.

Moreover, there were certain prerequisites that Shibi knew were attached to the Hokage position. A minimal A-rank on the Bingo Books, support of the Jounin Council, and the favor of the Daimyo were all public expectations. Privately, the Hokage also needed international notoriety, extensive knowledge of Konoha's military, leadership experience, and the loyalty of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. The last point- namely the blonde's choice of wife- had tipped the scales in Minato's favor when the council was deciding between Orochimaru and the Namikaze for Hokage.

Now Fugaku was pushing his eldest son, who had already been favorably compared to the Yondaime previously, on the man's only daughter. Should that be a long-term ploy for the Hokage position, than the Uchiha Head's matchmaking was even more bold than Shibi had originally believed. It was well-known that the Uchiha had never quite forgiven the village for choosing a succession of Senju-aligned Hokages, but now, rather than fight the other founding clan directly, they were capitalizing on the Senju's history to push the Uchiha into power. It was a brilliant move.

Shibi was even more impressed by the fact that Fugaku chose the young jinchuuriki as his entry point into the nexus of village power. The Aburame had never believed the rumors about the Uchiha setting the Kyuubi on Konoha- because if Fugaku Uchiha had been capable of taming Bijuu, then everyone would have heard about it, from the man himself- but this involved another level of daring. Few could give credence to those rumors, if the Uchiha Clan were not only protesting their innocence, but publicly aligning themselves with the jinchuuriki in question. The Aburame was confident that if there was any truth to those Kyuubi rumors, than the Sandaime would have swiftly shut down those matchmaking schemes.

'To think that we hadn't even sensed a hint of his plan, until he had already pulled it off,' Shibi thought, admiringly, 'I shall have to congratulate Fugaku, when he's ready to publically claim his success. And that Shino's first friend would be the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and the Uchiha genius' girlfriend was a stroke of luck for my family.'

Said stroke of luck was scowling over her breakfast cup ramen, as she read the latest note to arrive from her possibly-not-a-Hyuuga pen pal.

'...was sneaking into the Hyuuga Compound really necessary? I told you that I wasn't a Hyuuga before, and that my identity needed to remain secret for work. Stealing miscellaneous papers and snacks from the Hyuuga Clan- and the Clan Head, no less- won't help your curiosity, and I would prefer if you decided to drop the investigation entirely. Breaking in and stealing from the compound of a noble clan is a felony offense, Naruto. You could have gotten into serious trouble, if Hiashi-san wanted to press charges. And it would have all been for nothing, because I am not a Hyuuga…'

'But how else could you have known?' Naruto mentally wailed, 'How would you know what houses I was breaking into, if you're not living there?! And why do you call him Hiashi-san?'

The blonde didn't know which part of the note was more upsetting at the moment. The realization that she hadn't gotten away with her burglaries after all, or the knowledge that her ANBU friend was upset with her. Though the latter was partially negated by the Uzumaki's belief that her pen pal was trying to mess with her head. Either he was a Hyuuga, who was badly pretending not to be a Hyuuga, or he was a non-Hyuuga pretending to be a Hyuuga, who was badly pretending not to be a Hyuuga.

Regardless, his rebuke had done nothing to deter her investigation. Naruto was still maddeningly curious about the true identity of her first friend.

'It's not like I know what his mask looks like,' the blonde thought, miserably, 'Hanging out together in real life wouldn't risk his ANBU identity. Does he not want to be seen with me in public?'

The idea that their fledgling friendship wouldn't hold up to the public's scrutiny made an uncomfortable squirm develop in Naruto's stomach. She wanted to ask the ANBU if he was ashamed of her, in her next note, but also didn't want to risk an unhappy reply. And now she was doubting her first friend, which only made Naruto feel more guilty and miserable.

Tossing her half-finished breakfast away- when even ramen noodles tasted like ash, Naruto knew something was wrong- she finished getting ready for school. The Academy reminded her of her other friend, and that made the Uzumaki feel a little better. She knew that Shino wasn't ashamed to be seen with her, and the Aburame made a good friend. He wasn't much of a conversationalist, but he listened attentively when she would chatter on and on, and he liked to train almost as much as she did!

They were going to practice their chakra control exercises after school, and Naruto was particularly excited about that. Shino had finally managed to reach the top of the tree yesterday, and the blonde was eager to see him tumble into the water now. He had found her own mishaps hilarious- with that glasses-adjusting, amused huffing that Shino preferred- and this was just revenge in Naruto's opinion.

Most of her class had gotten used to their unexpected friendship, so no one looked over as Naruto cheerfully bounced over to the Aburame's seat. "Ready to swim with the fishes, bug boy?"

"I really hope you don't understand that reference," Shino muttered, before tipping his head upwards, "Hello Naruto. Have you had a good morning so far?"

"Nothing too interesting," the blonde replied, shrugging her shoulders.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, before Iruka-sensei came in and shouted the rowdier kids into submission. What followed was a geography lecture that was dull even by Iruka's mind-numbing standards, and Naruto didn't feel the least bit remorseful about doodling in her book. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Shino was diligently taking notes, and wondered- not for the first time- what made her quiet friend such an eager student.

It couldn't have been a clan heir thing, because Shikamaru was blatantly sleeping in the front of class.

Naruto perked up when the lunch bell rang, and the two friends made their way to the rooftop lunch spot. None of their senseis bothered to punish the two for eating in an area explicitly banned for students. Having almost every authority figure in her life determinedly pretend that she didn't exist did have its benefits.

"I was experimenting with a new cake recipe," were the first words out of the blonde's mouth, as she dug a crumbly yellow slab out of her bento box, "It's pineapple and lemon flavored, and very sweet. I brought some over for your kikachu."

With some of the citrusy lemon filling oozing through the top, being overtly sweet may have been an understatement. However, the platoon guard of kikachu sweeping out of Shino's sleeve to carry the treat away suggested that this was preferable. A giggle escaped Naruto's mouth as the kikachu's ticklish wings brushed over her palm.

Cooking was one of Naruto's favorite hobbies, but her inventive nature made the results come down to a flip of a coin. Some of her dishes were surprisingly delicious, while others made racoons avoid her building's trash. Her winter melon and shrimp soup had been a hit with Shino though, so Naruto made a thermos for him every now and then.

"Thank you," Shino replied, on behalf of his allies, "How are you intending to study for this week's exams, Naruto? I ask, because I've seen you draw violent scenes in your notebook during class rather than pay attention to Iruka-sensei's lecture."

"It's doodle therapy," the blonde defended. "If I skewer stick-figure Sasuke on paper, then I'm not tempted to punch the teme's face in, whenever he starts talking about how great his clan or his big brother is."

"Sasuke does bring that topic up often," Shino admitted, "But how do you intend to pass the test?"

"Well, I do happen to have a totally awesome best friend, who can actually stay awake through Iruka's lectures," Naruto said slyly, widening her naturally large blue eyes, "He probably has all of these great notes about Kusa-something-or-the-other and Taku-whats-it that he can share with me!"

"Takigakure is our main ally outside of the five great shinobi villages," the Aburame began lecturing, before he paused, "You would know that if you had taken the time to pay attention in class, Naruto. I will not be sharing my notes with you. You need to face the consequences of your actions."

Naruto made a face. "Why does everyone say that to me?"

"Because you are a talented student that refuses to apply herself," Shino answered, "On what basis do I make that claim? Because I've seen you learn advanced chakra control techniques, and use a C-rank fuuton jutsu effectively. You are only hurting yourself by relying on me to help you pass tests."

"But Iruka is sooo booriing," Naruto whined, though a pleased glint did enter her eyes, "And I'll learn everything from your notes and lectures anyway. C'mon, Shino, you know you love to show off how smart you are."

Despite the shades covering the boy's eyes, Naruto knew that her friend was throwing her an indignant look. "I do not."

"Sure, you do," the blonde rejoined, putting her chopsticks down, so she could form a begging pose, "Oh, please, please, please help me, Shino Aburame, keeper of all-important test knowledge and savior of slackers everywhere! I need your benevolence and wisdom to pass! If I do, then we might have winter melon soup to celebrate."

Shino adjusted his glasses, and Naruto knew that he was wavering. In order to push him just that little bit further, the blonde jutted her lower lip out, in a pout that always convinced Ojii-san to empty his wallet for ramen. When the brunette sighed, the Uzumaki knew that she had won.

"Fine, but this is the last time," Shino grumbled, as though this wasn't the third incarnation of this promise, "I'm enabling your bad habits, Naruto."

"And you are being well-paid for your sacrifice," the blonde promised, "Look on the bright side, Shino! Shoving all of this useless knowledge into my head is the greatest exercise of patience ever devised by man. By the time we graduate, you could take over your father's place in the village council."

"Why would anyone want that?" Shino asked, genuinely baffled. "It would be an even bigger headache than getting that leaf to stick on you."

Naruto shrugged. They had managed to attach one to her eventually. On her feet, where the least amount of chakra could be channeled.

"I am willing to encourage good behavior another way though," Shino said, the undercurrent of his voice filled with anticipation, "Do you remember those old clan texts I mentioned before?"

The blonde nodded, dubiously. "Yes, but why would I care about your clansman's diaries?"

"One of the duties of the Aburame clan heir is to read as many journals as they can," Shino explained, pushing his bento box away, and taking out a rectangular shaped parcel from his jacket pocket. "Last year, I read one by Aburame Matsuko, a Chuunin from before the Second Great Shinobi War. She wasn't involved in any significant battles, but did travel extensively throughout the Land of Water and surrounding countries as a suiton-using tracking specialist. There were several passages written in her journal about an allied village in the Land of Whirlpools, and its main clan, the Uzumaki."

Naruto paused, her entire world becoming cold and brittle for a moment, as her surname was spoken. The trivial package, wrapped in rough butcher's paper, suddenly became the focus of her attention, as Shino unwrapped a faded red book. The yellowish-white colouring of the pages spoke of clear age, but it was held with care, as the Aburame opened it.

"It begins on this page, and extends to the other side," her friend said quietly, handing the book over, "There's a few more sentences near the end of the journal, but Matsuko was not prone to lengthy prose. We might find other- better- chronicles of the Uzumaki in the clan's archives."

The blonde barely acknowledged his words, but Shino didn't seem to mind as Naruto reverentially ran her finger down the page. In wide, loopy handwriting…

'Reached Uzushiogakure tonight. The water lanterns were bobbing underneath the waves, letting the Akagawa helmsmen steer us through the whirlpools. Dark night, but stars above and fires below made it beautiful. Asked how they made the flames waterproof, but told that it was a village secret. Moki got seasick, but man at docks gave us mint leaf tea. Didn't get to see much of village yet. Shame. Heard the capital was the pride of Whirlpool.

Woken up from hotel room by Uzumaki, holding some more mint leaf tea. Blood red hair, loud mouth, and strange tattoos all over his arms. Says they're seals, and I'm willing to believe it. Inked scribbles are everywhere, and people move through the village as though their winding, crooked, crossway streets make sense. There's a big river bisecting the entire village, and smaller canals lining most of the buildings. We mostly use the bridges that are scattered everywhere, but most people, even those who aren't shinobi, water-walk to their destinations.

City is very bright. Walls are painted with blue, red, white, and yellow, and buildings are almost as crooked as the streets they're on. Terraces and ivy-plants are popular, but most trees are mangroves that grow outside of the main city. People are even more colourful. Red is the dominant hair colour, but brown, green, and blue hair are also common, while violet and green eyes are typical. People looked wary, until they saw the Konoha headbands. Kito got glared at anyway, but that was for the Uchiha fan on his back.

Village doesn't have a Kage, but met the Warden of the Spiral. Another Uzumaki, with black-red hair and bite marks all over his neck, met us. Sat in a circular office, and greeted us politely. Offered us tea- mint leaf again- before handing us the scroll for the Kiyomaro Defense. The Sandaime wants to add the sealing array to Konoha's Outer Wall. Thanked him. Was about to leave, before he called out to Kiyo. Wanted to know if he was related to Kagami. Kiyo said 'yes', as Kagami was his Uncle. Warden said that he's a great man. Kiyo looked uncomfortable.'

When Naruto was done reading the passage, each word committed to memory so that she could savour it fully at home, she silently returned the book to Shino. Without any instruction, the Aburame found the final mention of her clan, and returned the book back to her.

'Tracked the blasted Kamizuru past Konoha's western borders. Idiot didn't think it through, because he stumbled onto a team of three Uzu shinobi several miles outside of Whirlpool. Ship capsized from a strange sealing technique, paper wrapped around thrown kunai made the bottom of the boat rot rapidly. The kunoichi had white hair, fair skin, three triangular markings on her face, and used Suiton jutsu. Recognized Kiyo again, as one of Kagami's relatives. Called him [Kagami] a noble fool. Too distracted to ask if she was related to the Nidaime. Handed Kamizuru over to us without any trouble.'

When Naruto finally put the book down, she became aware of the wet tracks on either side of her face. "One hell of an incentive for studying, Shino."

"You should know about your family," the Aburame replied, taking out a folded piece of paper, "I need to take the journal back, but I copied the relevant passages down here, for you."

The blonde girl had tensed when Shino spoke of returning the journal, but a tremulous smile crossed her face when she accepted the paper. "Do you really think they're my family, Shino? I don't have red hair, or know anything about seals, or even like mint leaf tea. It makes me feel nauseous."

"Then you inherited your mother's hair colour, instead of the Uzumaki red," Shino said, placing a hand on her arm, reassuringly, "You can learn about seals, if you want to. Being related to someone doesn't mean that you share the same tastes; my cousin never ate winter melon, for example."

The blonde nodded absently. "You're a good friend, Shino Aburame. I'm going to make so much winter melon and shrimp soup for you, that you'll end up hating it."

"You're welcome to try," the boy responded, smiling. The two sat there, with the blonde girl unexpectedly silent, until the bell rang for class. When Naruto returned to her seat, her main thought was that she needed to find another shoebox for a second series of lifechanging notes.

Shino had been looking forward to his first lesson on water-walking, which was a skill that the Aburame clan typically didn't share with their Academy level members, but could be learned from Naruto and her mysterious source of shinobi scrolls. However, he saw how unsettled his friend had been from those messages, and so he offered to leave it until the next day, so she could reflect quietly at home. The dark-haired boy tried to hide his satisfaction, when Naruto insisted that she wanted to train instead.

The blonde had scarcely shared this, as they were walking out, before Sasuke's voice caught their attention.

"Aniki!" The excited, and attention-grabbing, sound caused both of them to look towards the Uchiha. Their classmate was eagerly almost-running to two older, dark-haired teens that were standing by the side of the Academy wooden fence. Shino judged the unsmiling one to be Sasuke's oft-praised older brother, as he was the one the youngest Uchiha turned to first.

"They look more like slobbering puppies than kunoichi," Naruto groaned, her eyes on the crowd of female classmates trailing after the popular Uchiha. Many of them were giggling and blushing, as they looked between Sasuke and the older boy, with the straight, black hair and Chuunin vest.

Shino personally thought they looked more like rabid hyenas than harmless puppies, but before he could share this, his eyes caught something else. "Naruto, why is that Uchiha staring at you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Naruto followed his gaze, and her deep blue eyes fell on the taller, messy-haired teen. When the Uchiha saw that he had caught her attention, he gave her a cheeky smile and a friendly wave. "Are you sure he wasn't looking at you?"

"I do not believe so. Why do you ask? Because he did not wave when I was looking at him," Shino reported, adjusting his glasses, "That Uchiha looks familiar to me, Naruto."

"Well, I have no idea who he is," the girl replied, staring oddly at the older teen, who continued to aim a grin at her. "Maybe I pranked him before?"

"He doesn't appear antagonistic towards you," her friend pointed out.

"Er… than I should wave back?" Naruto said awkwardly. She raised her hand and hesitantly moved it back and forth, receiving a beaming grin in response. The blonde's eyes were drawn to the other teen then, who was looking away from Sasuke and directly towards her. There was a familiarity in his gaze that discomforted her for a moment, before he looked at the messy-haired teen pointedly, and both Uchiha stopped looking in her direction.

The blonde released her breath. "That was intense."

"Strangely so," was Shino's contribution. He nodded towards her backpack, which held the copied messages from Aburame Matsuko's journal. "Want to ask them if they're related to Kagami Uchiha?"

It might have been the stress of her day so far, but Naruto found that statement to be funnier than it should be. "Not a chance. Have you- eh, Hyuuga?"

There was a familiar scent approaching her- a strangely attractive blend of lavender, pomegranate, and cinnamon- before a blue-haired, white-eyed, figure stepped in front of her. Hinata Hyuuga's fair skin was blushing fiercely as she shoved a wrapped plastic container into Naruto's arms.

Then she fell into a rapid bow. "I-I'm-here-to-train-with-you, U-Uzumaki-san, Aburame-san!" Hinata said quickly, "Please-accept-these-treats!"

Naruto blinked, trying to understand the rapid-fire talking. The Hyuuga was still bending down, so, fortunately, Shino was able to formulate a reply. "Thank you, Hyuuga-san. We'll be happy to train with you today."

As Hinata straightened from her bow, the blonde looked down at the container, and grinned. "Ooh, orange cookies! Thanks, Hinata!"

The Hyuuga heiress, seeing a wide, genuine, and happy smile on her idol, directed entirely at her, from less than a feet away, could only react in one manner. She fainted.

"Eh?! Oh no, we killed Hinata!" Naruto panicked, "She was too young! She had so much to live for!"

As Naruto was freaked out of her classmate, and Shino was caught between assuring her that Hinata was still alive and trying to lift the unconscious Hyuuga, they were unaware of the spectacle they began to make. They were also unaware of how three Uchiha were now staring in their direction, eyes alit with amusement, curiosity, and disdain respectively.

Most of all, they were unaware of Shisui leaning in to whisper into his best friend's ear. "I think you have competition now, Itachi."

When Hinata opened her eyes, orbs of deep blue were staring into her, and nearly caused her to faint once again. However, the knowledge that she had already disgraced herself in front of the Uzumaki once before, firmed her spine enough that a mere squeak escaped her lips.

"You're awake," Naruto grinned with relief, apparently unaware of the backflips that Hinata's stomach was making from her closeness. The blonde rocked back on her heels, and the Hyuuga became aware that she was leaning against a leather object. Presumably a book bag, since she could feel the sharp end of a pen digging into her neck.

"We are glad to see that you have not suffered any lasting injuries," a male voice could be heard, and when Hinata turned her head, she saw Shino standing there, "You may have temporarily been overcome by heat stroke. Naruto suggested that we place you under some shade for relief."

'Naruto helped me?' Hinata thought, a tint of red entering her cheeks, 'I shouldn't be surprised. She is such a kind person.'

The bluenette recalled exactly what she needed help from, and felt her embarrassment ratchet upwards. 'I fainted in front of her! She must think that I'm terribly weak.'

"You mentioned training with us, so we brought you to Training Ground 2," Naruto added, gesturing to the shrubbery around her, "It was pretty easy since you were so light, Hinata. And I hope you don't mind, but I tried one of the cookies. They were delicious!"

"I-I do not m-mind," Hinata managed, staring determinedly at Shino. Her nervousness was much less apparent, when she didn't have Naruto's captivating blue eyes to unravel her composure. "I'm glad that you liked them, U-Uzumaki-san."

That exchange had passed through with barely any stutters, and Hinata was quite proud of herself for that. Ha! And Hanabi said that practicing lines for her eventual talk with Naruto-chan was silly.

"You can call me Naruto! And I did like them, though you didn't have to bring snacks," Naruto replied, "Shino sad that his dad and your dad arranged a joint training session? Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" Hinata's reaction was too immediate to be anything but genuine, and the part of Naruto that noticed how the other girl avoided her eyes, relaxed. When the Hyuuga's white eyes returned to her, the Uzumaki gave her a happy smile, and Hinata's stomach began to flutter again.

For all that the bluenette had trouble talking to or interacting with her cheerful, determined, and optimistic blonde idol, there was no accusation of ignorance that could be leveled upon her. Hinata Hyuuga was a girl that definitely knew what she wanted.

"Then we should begin our training," Shino interjected himself into the conversation again, feeling mildly amused as he correctly read Hinata's actions, "Are you proficient with the tree-walking technique?"

Dark blue bangs whipped left and right, as the Hyuuga shook her head. "I-I can get to the t-top, but I take too much t-time."

Shino gave her a pleased smile. "That is good then. Why do I say that? Because I am at the same level, and Naruto is only slightly ahead of us, in the water-walking technique. We shall be able to progress together, and, hopefully, master the two techniques before this year's end."

'Naruto already knows the tree-walking technique?' Hinata considered, amazed. That was an advanced chakra control skill that was often taught at the genin level. As the heirs of noble clans that relied heavily on proper regulation of chakra, Shino and Hinata were taught the ability, but a civilian orphan like Naruto doing so, was far more impressive. Especially since chakra control was one of the subjects that her idol had significant trouble with at the Academy.

'Even though she lacks the natural talent for chakra control, Naruto has managed to progress further than all of our classmates, even the genius Uchiha,' Hinata thought glowingly, 'Her determination and hard work has made her an even stronger ninja. And now she's trying to learn an even more difficult chakra control exercise. Truly, Naruto Uzumaki is the most amazing person I know.'

"I w-will not h-hold you back," Hinata said, drawing her inspiration from her idol's success. She steeled her spine, faced the blonde, and then spoke one of her favorite practice sentences. "L-let us train together, Naruto-chan!"

Naruto returned to her apartment for a satisfying cup ramen dinner, after having a rather tumultuous day. She had received another note from her ANBU, learned a little about her heritage, had a strange encounter with an Uchiha, and even made a tentative new friend. The blonde was so exhausted that she fell asleep immediately after dinner, without even a cursory look at the notes Shino had given her, and wondered what would occur next. She found that the remainder of her week would be a study of contrasts.

The Uzumaki was disappointed to find that she couldn't raid the Aburame archives with Shino the next day, as permission had to be requested from the clan's Elders first. Her friend had sent off a dispatch, but they hadn't received an answer yet, which left the blonde feeling jittery and anxious. Naruto was tempted to break into the Aburame Compound, but recalled how Hiashi Hyuuga had chosen not to press charges for her previous burglaries. She didn't want to risk her luck a second time, especially since Shino's dad could either jail her or force his son to end their friendship, and the latter was far worse for Naruto.

On the other hand, Naruto had made some progress with both her water-walking training and her new friendship with Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress was strange. There was no doubt about that. Her face would rapidly turn crimson at random times of the day- even when the sun was down- for no apparent reason. She poked her fingers together whenever she spoke, and half the time, Naruto would look up from the water to see Hinata staring at her oddly. Still, she was a sweet and intelligent girl, who readily handed her notes over to Naruto upon request.

To be honest, after the second time, the blonde started to feel like she was taking advantage of the adorable Hyuuga, and returned to asking Shino instead. Only that seemed to upset Hinata even more, so Naruto eventually resorted to actually paying attention in class. The sacrifices she made for friendship.

She hadn't met that weird Uchiha again, but, with everything that occurred to her, that strange meeting had fallen by the wayside. Most of her attention was on those amazing, incredible, wonderful, enthralling, heartbreaking words that Matsuko had written. The bare recollections of a dead woman proved that she had a family once, people that shared her last name and possibly even more. Naruto had read a little about Uzushiogakure in the Academy textbook, and it merely said that they were a minor shinobi village that specialized in fuuinjutsu and was destroyed in the Second Shinobi War.

That knowledge was reminiscent of a minor trickle of water to a parched woman trapped in the deserts of the Land of Wind, and Naruto utterly thirsted for more. She couldn't enter the Aburame archives, her textbooks were bare of information, and her monthly meeting with Ojiisan was weeks away, so Naruto turned to her final information source.

'My friend, Shino, taught me a little about an Uzumaki Clan in Uzushiogakure today. You mentioned that history was your favorite subject. Do you know anything about them?'

'The Uzumaki were a clan of fuuinjutsu specialists that were prominent in the Land of Whirlpools. They intermarried with the Senju Clan often, and established the oldest village alliance in shinobi history with the marriage of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki. The clan's friendship can be symbolized by the spiral symbol within Konoha's leaf, that all shinobi wear on their flak jackets.

They did not have a specific bloodline, but the Uzumaki were famous for the vitality of their life force and their strong chakra reserves. Almost all members had blood red hair and either violet or green eyes, though a few would inherit brown or grey eyes instead. In the Second Shinobi War, they were destroyed by the combined forces of Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa, as their fuuinjutsu skills were considered to be too powerful to exist.'

'My hair is blonde, and my eyes are blue. Does that mean that I'm not an Uzumaki?'

'You inherited your features from a non-Uzumaki parent, I'm sure. Despite your appearance, you have many characteristics that are common to the Uzumaki Clan, such as your rapid healing.'

'I thought if a clan member married a clanless person, then the child would favor the parent with the shinobi bloodline, cause of chakra-infused genes or something?'

'As a general rule, generations of clan inbreeding and chakra usage, has made certain features more likely to be present in any offspring. However, should your other parent also be from a clan or possess large quantities of chakra, then you could favor him or her instead. You don't need to worry about your heritage; you are definitely an Uzumaki.'

Naruto read this final message, with a considering look on her face. Had Itachi been around to see it, he may have gotten nervous at the almost visible march of thoughts dancing through her mind. The blonde found a few facts to be absolute.

She had an Uzumaki parent, most likely a father, since she had that surname.

The Uzumaki Clan was famous for their strong chakra, so she should have been born with red hair and violet or green eyes.

Naruto was not born with red hair or violet or green eyes.

She was born with blonde hair and blue eyes, from a mother with either strong chakra reserves or a clan background of her own.

Civilians almost never had strong enough chakra reserves to overshadow a person born from a clan. And, as Naruto's own reserves could attest, the Uzumaki definitely had powerful chakra.

Naruto's mother was likely from a clan.

Naruto was born in Konoha. A famous clan residing in Konoha had many blonde-haired, blue-eyed members.

The conclusion? Naruto was in need of a long talk with Ino Yamanaka.