The Other Uzumaki

"Naruto, we're glad you've arrived. Your cousin is talking to Tsunade-sama this very minute," Kotetsu, said one of the Konoha gate guards.

"Naruto-kun's cousin?" asked Sai.

Naruto looked at his masked sensei and to his comrades before turning to the guards.

"I don't have a cousin."

"She said she is Shirainee Uzumaki from Hidden Herb Village in - "

Before Izumo, the other guard can finish his statement, Naruto ran towards the Hokage's cabin.

"Oi, NARUTO!" Sakura called out.

"What do you think it is about Kakashi-sensei?"

"I have no idea. We can report about our mission to the Hokage now if you want so we can find out."

The door burst open.

"And here comes Naruto, forgetting to knock as usual." The Hokage was sitting on the pillow in her temporary office, looking as if she was expecting the additional company.

Naruto dropped his backpack on the floor and stared intently at the stranger in the Hokage's office.

"Forgive his rudeness, Master," Sakura apologized on Naruto's behalf. "He always forgets his manners. I don't think he has any manners at all."

"Oi, Naruto! It is rude to stare," Kakashi scolded his student who was staring intently at the stranger in the room.

Sai eventually took note of this as usual. He wrote exactly that: It is rude to stare.

Naruto seemed unaware of what his companions were saying. He continued to stare at the lady as if mesmerized.

"Are you my cousin?" he uttered before running towards the lady with a long, straight red hair to hug her.

"Naruto? What are you - " Sakura started to say.

"Do I look like Aunt Kushina? The Hokage was just telling me I look like your mother," the woman asked.

"Aunt Kushina?" Naruto quit hugging, or more like choking the woman.

"Naruto, she's Shirainee Uzumaki. You are distant cousins. She is the daughter of Satoru Uzumaki. They are from the Hidden Habu (herb) Village.

"Hidden Herb Village? I never heard of it," Sakura said.

"We never heard of it too until now, "Tsunade explained.

"It must be well hidden," Kakashi murmured, only for himself to hear.

"It is on the mountain in Futago (Twins) Islands. Its neighbor is the Sword City.

"I'm sorry but I am getting dizzy standing up. Can I have a seat? We have been traveling on waters for weeks."

Shizune and Sakura started to get pillows from the room but Shirainee said she brought a couch.

A couch? thought Sakura. She is Naruto's cousin after all. Her weirdness is on a different level but weird nonetheless.

She looked at a box from her sling bag and took out two small couches, smaller than the size for dolls.

She placed the couch parallel on each side of the room, facing each other, then performed some seals and the furniture became bigger.

"Woah! Gamakichi-chan can do that jutsu as well," exclaimed Naruto. "You really are my cousin. Awesomeness runs in our blood."

"Ehem... Back to business," the Hokage interrupted.

"You said "we" earlier. Who was traveling with you?" asked Shizune.

"My cousins... There are seven of us here in Konoha. We traveled by water for months. They are resting in our tent somewhere in the village."

"So what brought you here?"Tsunade asked when all of them were seated.

"Granny Tsunade?" Naruto protested. "She came here to see me of course."

"Yes, that is one of the reasons," Shirainee agreed. "The other reason is to ask permission if my cousins and I can immigrate here in Konoha.

There was a long pause before Sai broke the silence.

"Is it all right for us to be here?"

"Yes, I think it is the kind of conversation that should be private between her and the Hokage", Sakura seconded.

"It is okay. Knowing Naruto, he will eavesdrop on the conversation anyway and you will know eventually." The Hokage waved her hand gesturing to get back to the main topic. "Getting back to the discussion, why immigrate? What happened to the Hidden Habu Village?"

"Months before the war, our village was attacked by ninjas. The people of our village are farmers, botanists, herbalists, blacksmiths, and carpenters. My father, paternal grandparents and I are the only ninjas in the village. My father ordered me to pack and instructed us to hide in the neighboring Yaiba (Sword) Country where my male cousins were working.

Shirainee paused for a moment, sighed deeply and continued. "We received a message the next day from my Father's summon eagle that our village was annihilated and our parents were killed. My Father's last wish was to move to Konoha and serve this village which is the home of my only living paternal relative.

Shirainee stared at the floor with a sad smile and regret in her eyes.

"I wanted my mother, aunts, and our grandparents to escape with us but they refused, saying they will only slow us down. Though they do not know how to fight, they tried to help in driving away the intruders."

"Did you not know that you have a relative here in Konoha?"

She looked up at the Hokage.

"No, after the Country of Whirlpool was destroyed my grandparents fled to the secluded part of the Yaiba country. My grandparents hated the chaos in the land of shinobi so they chose to live in a village where there are no ninjas. My father and grandparents moved to Hidden Habu Village when my father married my mother."

"I don't see any reasons why your village would be attacked."

"My mother's family had been researching and experimenting with different herbs and they passed down the knowledge from generation to generation. The leader of the ninjas who attacked us was after our family research about herbs."

Tsunade had a suspicion on who was behind the attack in the Hidden Habu but she asked anyway.

"The ninja who planned all that, did you find out his identity?"

"I heard him say his name is Kabuto. It is also from him that my father found out about Naruto."

Kakashi eyed the woman in front of him. She really looks like his late sensei's wife.

Well, Kushina Uzumaki has blue-violet yes while this woman has deep violet ones. And I don't remember Naruto's mom having lashes as long as hers. And she's very well-mannered and timid, unlike Kushina-san.

And her skin... Kakashi's thoughts continued, "It is radiant and rosy and looks so soft."

"Uhhh, sensei, I thought it is rude to stare," Sai whispered, interrupting his thoughts.

"I was not staring, I was just assessing her," he retorted coolly.

His attention was caught by Naruto's ranting.

"Damn! The war brought nothing but casualties after casualties!"

"Calm down Naruto-kun. We cannot do anything about what happened. It is all in the past now. If Tsunade-sama will accept our family in this village, we are willing to offer our services. My cousins are great carpenters and herbalist. I am also willing to open my clan's library for the people of Konoha's use."

"You-you brought your library?" Sakura asked, mortified.

"Nee-chan, don't tell me you use that jutsu to bring your library!"

Shirainee nodded at what Naruto said.

"If Lady Tsunade could tell us where I can unpack our compound, I would like to settle our things right away. I will, of course, settle the payment for the land soon. I am worried about our greenhouses. I could not take care of them till they are back in their original size.

"C-compound?" Shizune's reaction is similar to Sakura's. Their eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.

"I only got the chance to bring our library, all of the greenhouses, foundry, our house and a portion of our backyard.

All of their mouths hanged open. She managed to pack only that?!

"Kakashi! Ask Shikamaru to help with the- the unpacking," Tsunade ordered when she recovered from her shock, though she still looks bewildered.

Kakashi heard a meow before he could answer.

"Since when did the Hokage have a cat here?"

"Oh, Kuroshin is my cat," Shirainee corrected Kakashi.

Kakashi saw a jet-black cat meowing while stretching by the corner near the door.

"She said we cannot unpack until after lunch. It'll rain soon."

They all looked out the window. The sky was clear and it was sunny.

"Kuroshin is never wrong. She warned us of the attack that was why I was able to pack most of our possessions.

Naruto stood up and picked his bag from the floor.

"Great, great! We can eat lunch first before we help you unpack. I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen. They just re-opened.

Before Shirainee can perform a jutsu to shrink her couches, Naruto tugged her outside the Hokage's office.

"Hmmm... Naruto is acting extra childish today."

"Maybe because she really looks like Kushina Uzumaki," Kakashi said to Sakura. "We should join them for lunch. Naruto might do something out of ordinary in front of her and overwhelm her.

Sai approached Kakashi closer and whispered, "Miss her already, Sensei?"

What? When did he learn to tease like that?