A/N: This is a rewrite of Because We're Family. I finished reading Fuzzy Logic by Deritine and got hit with a better idea. I suppose this is a kind of Mary Sue. Although, I'll try not to rush this one. MinatoOC pairing and Alternate Universe.

Prologue

Uzushiogakure was in flames.

Her mother was dead…that much she knew. It didn't matter that she was twelve years old and just barely a genin. It didn't matter how hard she prayed that her favorite cousin, Kushina, somehow escaped; she knew she was dead too.

"Tou-san!" She yelled over the inferno, searching desperately for her father or at least one of her surviving uncles. She had been on the frontline with her parents and older generations of Uzumaki's; just so everyone else could escape. But the way it was looking right now…it was no use. Not when the Sandaime Mizukage ordered the Bloodline Purge. Besides her younger cousin being a jinchūriki, Koriko had recently messed up a simple fūinjutsu that was meant to find her second elemental affinity. She was distracted by a nearby explosion and drew a character wrong, triggering a much unexpected reaction from the overlapping seals. Her elemental affinity (water of course) became one with her chakra, acting purely on instinct.

She had accidentally created her own kekkai genkai by being able to control the water around her at will.

"Koriko," she heard a rumbling to her right and nearly screamed at what she saw. Her father was missing an arm and what looked like half his face. "Run, Koriko. Get away from this place," he barked at her as he turned his head to get a better look at their once prosperous village.

"Tou-san," she bit her lip to keep back her sobs, "did…did they get out alive?" She held a kunai between her fingers, her hands clasped together in a sign of hope. When her father's gaze didn't mean hers, she felt her world shatter around her. "Tou-san, tell me!" She didn't dare speak louder lest the Sandaime Mizukage's Hunter Nin hear them.

"I…I don't know. It's time to go, Koriko. Uzushiogakure is lost."

She stubbornly shook her head, red locks flying about her head as she fought the tears. "Not without you, Tou-san. " Feeling a pressure on the top of her head, she looked up and cried. Her father's eyes were starting to glaze over as he ruffled her hair. "Live for us, Koriko-chan. Live for Uzushiogakure."

"TOU-SAN!"

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Koriko didn't know where she was going or how far her feet and chakra would take her. Shunshin would only take a kunoichi so far. All she knew was that she was at the shores of Mizu no Kuni, and that everything she knew was slowly burying itself deep into her memory. She didn't want to think of how only a week ago; her mother told her that she was going to be a big sister. Or that her grandfather was ready to teach her a more advanced lesson on sealing. Or that Kushina—

"Doushite…" she muttered as she stared up at the cloudless sky. She didn't want to live, but Uzumaki pride wouldn't allow her to end it all. Swallowing a sob, she straightened her shoulders and went through her katas. Pushing away her memories further with every thrust of her fist and every swipe of her leg in a kick to an imaginary enemy. Over and over she practiced the moves passed down from generations of Uzumaki; and over and over, her imaginary enemy gained a form.

She practiced for weeks…maybe months. Time was nothing to her as long as her memories stayed far away. She practically lived on the shores; living off of what edible food she was able to gather. When an unexpected hurricane came upon her lonely shore, she welcomed it with open arms.

Literally.

When the war came to Uzushio, she was just barely settling into her new ability. Only one way to test how much control she had now. Standing in the shallows, she waited for the tide to come. Waited for the breakers in the waves as it came rushing towards her. And waited when the sky thundered and a massive wave passed over her and dragged her into the sea.

Patience wasn't a known trait for an Uzumaki female.

She fought hard against the waves, forcing chakra through her palms as she swept her arms over her face—or at least tried to. She was desperately trying to form a kind of air bubble over her head but it wasn't working!

Don't panic…don't panic!

Thrashing, she forced herself up to the surface and took a gulp of air before she was dragged under once more. She didn't know what to do; didn't know how to fight against nature itself. This was something only her mother knew how to…

~Flashback~

"Stop fighting, Koriko!"

"But Kaa-san, the wind is too strong!"

"Because you're moving against it. Try moving with it."

"How? I don't understand where it's going!"

"Then stop moving and feel where it's going."

~End Flashback~

Koriko's eyes snapped open. The salt water stung her eyes as swam to as close to the bottom as she could get. Looking up, she observed the waves from below. Watched them twist and churn before releasing against the sand only for it to be gently pulled back before ruthlessly crashing back onto the shore again. It was different than her mother's affinity, but the lesson remained the same. Her mother helped her adjust to the wind in small steps…so maybe diving headfirst into a hurricane wasn't her best answer.

Now if she could only get back to the shore…

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"It's a kid…I think. Or maybe some kind of octopus?"

"That's her hair, you idiot."

"Shut up Zabuza."

"Stupid sushi."

"Stop calling me that!"

Whoever was talking over Koriko's head sure was loud. And obnoxious…and curious by the sound of it. Groaning, Koriko was content to discover that she was on the sand and that the hurricane had passed.

"Holy shit, it's alive!"

"Moron."

Pushing back the fall of hair over her face, Koriko blinked wearily up at the two men before her. One had sharp pointed teeth while he talked, and the other was…blue?

…the Hell?

"Um…hi?"

They both blinked at her before locking gazes with each other. They signed to each other—she recognized it as the sign language used by shinobi taught at the Kirigakure Shinobi Academy—before turning back to her. The blue—why the hell was he blue?—man scratched his head and asked, "You're not an Uzumaki are you?"

The retort of "Yeah, and?" nearly slipped before she quickly thought over how much time had passed. Her clan was most likely still being hunted…assuming any were still among the living. "I dunno. I'm an orphan; always have been." The last part sounded more than bitter to her ears, but she mentally shook it off.

She watched them sign to each other again, reading it perfectly as: "She could be from a bastard line of the clan. Sub-branch possibly."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn't matter anymore though."

"That's true. They might as well be extinct."

Masking her emotions, Koriko gave them a blank stare and signed back. "I can understand you, you know."

Zabuza stared at the strange girl before chuckling, "We can see that you can. What rank are you, onna?"

"Genin," she replied mentally going over what she knew about shinobi that carried swords about as tall as they were. The Clan Head once told her about a group of swordsmen so powerful that there were only seven of them per generation. "Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū," she mumbled under her breath.

"Oh?" The blue shark man thing spoke again, "You've heard of us."

"In a manner of speaking," she said quietly. "I've heard stories…all of Wave has."

"She's got you there, sushi."

"…I hate you, Zabuza. You're mother was a—"

"—whore and my father a bastard. Yes, Kisame, we've been over this."

Koriko tuned them out…bickering seemed to be a normal routine for them. Right now, she had to think. These two shinobi could either get her killed or help her grow stronger. She was really hoping for the latter despite her pride yelling at her that she could do it on her own.

Highly doubtful right there.

"…don't make me serve you up sashimi style."

"Quit it with the sushi references already!"

"You're the one who insists on eating his own kind. Cannibal."

Sighing, Koriko hesitantly tapped Kisame's shoulder. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could teach me now to be a better shinobi?"

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Oh Kami above it hurt. Koriko wondered if she would be better off dead at this point. Maybe asking for both of them to train me was the worst idea ever? She yelped as she nearly tripped over her own feet to dodge Samehada.

"Stop thinking and move, Riko-chan!"

"Shut up sushi!"

"And stop listening to Zabuza!"

This style of training was very different than what she was used to. The deal they come up with was that Kisame would teach for six months before switching off with Zabuza, who would teach for the rest of the year. She never questioned why. Not after figuring out that when it was their respective turn to teach, they would make her review previous lessons from their original turn. Overall though, it did help.

"Zabuza, can I study Kubikiribōchō?"

"Why?"

"I just want to see how it absorbs the iron from the blood of enemies?"

"You plan on being a donor?"

"…just give me the damn sword."

It took time to rack her mind on memories of seals she was taught when she was a child. She was thirteen now, and even though her teachers wouldn't admit it, she was talented enough to be considered a prodigy. It took her another four months of studying both Zabuza and Kisame's swords before she imitated the absorption abilities with her chakra and elemental affinity.

"So…Odachi, eh?"

"Not my fault I'm used to fighting against swords like yours."

"So you've figured it out then?"

"Mostly. Need to run more tests though. Hey Sushi, come here for a second…."

Another year passed just in time to finally figure out how to stabilize and destabilize the double odachi with just a thought. Although using it in battle was taking longer than she thought it would. Twice her hair had gotten hacked off because she had been too focused on changing the blade from a solid to a liquid. It wasn't until Zabuza used Kirigakure no Jutsu that the solution finally clicked.

"Riko-chan, you're doing it again."

"But Sushi-san, it's so much easier going from a solid to a liquid and back! I'll just form it half way through like the mist!"

"So…oh. You'll be shifting the forms into mist. That does sound like it could be more manageable."

"Exactly, Sushi-san."

"…I hate you. Three more rounds against me and Zabuza."

Koriko groaned.

She was fourteen and a half when she found an ancient sealing scroll during a raid with Zabuza. It happened to relate to her earlier thoughts on forming weapons from chakra and water. In fact, it filled in a lot of the missing holes of her knowledge.

"…blood. Really?"

"Hai. There's water in everything so therefore, I can control water from anything."

"That's…oddly impressive. Morbidly disgusting, but impressive."

"Wanna watch Zabuza slap himself in his sleep?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was on her fifteenth birthday when she got her first taste of revenge.

She volunteered with her teachers to join the coup d'état of the Sandaime Mizukage. It was definitely a long time coming; only three years of relentless training and she felt as close to ready as she could get. It also didn't take much nagging to get the truth out of Zabuza and Kisame. Either way, the Mizukage had to die.

It took them a few months to assemble defected nin from Kiri; the Demon Brothers were a nice catch if you ignored how much they argued. They were nearly on par for the annoyance level with Kisame and Zabuza. Thank Kami she had Yagura to keep her mostly sane. He was a very calm and patient man…well, he was after Uchiha Madara had beaten her to a pulp and negotiated his release to her. Madara was the reason why she was even involved in the coup; he said he found a living relative in Konohagakure but relations were non-existent and it would take time for her to even discover if he was telling the truth or not.

But have a jinchūriki on their side was a big plus. And considering the sanbi controlled water (to a point), it greatly helped her in her training to master her kekkai genkai. That she still had no name for. Dammit.

But back the present…

The battle was going well from what Yagura's clone was telling her. A few casualties but that was just kunai fodder that she didn't have to think about. As for the Sandaime Mizukage, however, he had not been spotted on the battlefield yet. Her gut told her that he wouldn't dare fight on the frontline; assuming he existed at all.

Because that was Kirigakure's best kept secret. No one had ever actually seen the Sandaime Mizukage. They'd see a vague face and form wearing the Kage robes, but that was it. There was a bigger picture that they were all missing. And if they had to tear apart the Land of Waves to find it, then they damn well did.

She was nearly sixteen when they discovered the truth.

The Water Daimyo had gotten greedy with the absence of a Third Mizukage and took the position for himself; he hired rogue nin to 'become' him when the Kage needed to make an appearance. He already ran the country, why not the shinobi as well?

It was at this moment that he chuckled darkly to himself in his impenetrable fortress deep within the marshes of Water country. It was also at this very moment that his veritable "invincible" army was being slaughtered by the dozens by some very, very, very pissed off shinobi. Feeding a resistance of shinobi with just ration bars was downright inhumane, and they could only control themselves so much after finding their target's location.

Yagura was in his demon form, blasting apart the fortress' defenses with massive water bullets and she was pretty sure she could hear Kisame and Zabuza arguing over the kill count. Rolling her eyes, she practically flew up the stairs to reach the greedy Daimyo; she hoped he was shaking in his proverbial boots right now.

To be honest though, she was definitely surprised when she found him in the bath drinking sake and congratulating himself. Ew…most disturbing unofficial mission ever. I think I might vomit if he turns his back on me. And oh, Kami, is that a unibrow?

The look of absolute shock and horror on his face was priceless. Then again it wasn't every day that the most powerful—in the political sense—man in the Land of Waves would come face to face with a member of a once-believed extinct clan covered in blood.

"You're an Uzumaki!"

Koriko sweatdropped. Gee, when did he figure that one out? Could it have been the red hair? The slightly green eyes? Or it might have been the whirlpool insignia on her sleeve?

"No shit." She said before she raised her hand palm up and twirled her fingers in a spiral, watching in great satisfaction as the hot spring she found the Daimyo in began to whirl in a maelstrom.

"What are you doing? You can't have a bloodline! There are none, I made sure of it!" The coward tried to move away from the whirlpool only to have it follow him. And he didn't dare leave the hot spring; that would be unsightly for him. "You won't get away with this. My army—"

"—is currently being slaughtered by my army." It wasn't really hers, but he didn't have to know that. "Hell, you're not even worthy of being assassinated by a clan jutsu." Rolling her eyes, she turned her back on him and relished the sound of his blood bursting out of his all his pores simultaneously.

"What a waste."

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She honest to Kami did not know how it happened.

She and the remains of the resistance had just stopped by Kirigakure to drop of their wounded at the hospital when the Village Council approached her with a funny looking hat and robes. They were blue and…oh hell.

"Famed Female Warrior, you have saved Mizu no Kuni so as repayment for your service, we offer you the position of Yondaime Mizukage."

It took about point two seconds before Kisame was laughing hysterically. Zabuza actually looked like he was considering the offer for her. Even she was considering it now that she realized she had nowhere else to go. And maybe she could change the village to how she wanted it to be. That had a nice ring to it.

"I accept, honored elders. But firstly, who stood by and watched our country get ravaged by the Daimyo? I'm just asking now because if you don't say so, I'll find out anyway, and you have a choice of being executed or exiled."

A/N: I'm well aware that the timeline is more than wonky. But that's why I set this in an alternate universe. The next chapter will describe the reconstruction of the Land of Waves and all the drama that comes with it. During this time though, Naruto hasn't even been conceived yet. This chapter is five years before his birth.

Review please.