Surprisingly, Iruka knew a lot about dressing up, despite the fact that Naruto had never seen him go to a formal celebration. It was something that he was thankful for, because the only semblance of fashion Naruto ever had was his bright orange jumpsuit and maybe a tank top with short orange jeans.
The only thing he was aiming for was looking presentable, though he suspected Iruka and Hinata were over doing it. Indeed, Hinata let out a soft squee as Naruto turned around reluctantly in his new outfit.
Iruka merely smirked.
"You know, it's the first time Hinata's been allowed to dress you up."
Naruto merely grumbled half-heartedly, but he was also glad his two most trusted companions were taking the whole situation lightly. Considering how socially awkward he was, it was hard not to freak out at the possibility of speaking to a crowd.
Still, joking around with them allowed him to ease the inherit jitteriness in his muscles for a while. It was a shame that Jinne hadn't been all that reassuring about the whole ordeal though, because he felt far less enthusiastic about the event than finding out what Anko did with her sexual organs.

He was jerked out of his thoughts with the knock outside the door, pressing him to answer it. It didn't take a genius to understand that the escort for the night was here, but what greeted him shocked the stuffing out of him. There was a luxurious carriage, two ANBU squads, and the Hokage himself. Four grand horses lined the front of the carriage, in the streets illuminated by Chinese red lanterns, they looked absolutely intimidating.
"Isn't this a bit much?" Naruto muttered to himself, as his nervousness only compounded.
But a soft hand grabbed his from behind.
"We'll be waiting for you," Hinata said when he turned to face her. She had worn a concerned expression, but her hand squeeze conveyed the rest.
Iruka noted the subtle yet noticeable-if-you-squint blushes on their faces, and grinned with a tinge of exasperation. Those two…sometimes he felt left out of their interactions. But it couldn't be helped, his new job kept him from interacting with them as much as he would have liked.
"Ganbatte, Naruto."
Naruto grimaced at him, but his expression was strangely grateful at the same time. Poor boy, dealing with that sort of situations at that age, Iruka would have hated to be him. It seemed as if Naruto had the worst luck in the universe at times, but Iruka loved him all the same.

"Naruto," the old Hokage began. "They are waiting."

It was their cue to leave, and Naruto gave a last fleeting look towards his house mates, who had tried to look as reassuring as they could. With that, he was led away.
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Hinata asked Iruka with her signature soft, lilting voice.
Iruka pretended to muse the question before he patted Hinata's head and smiled kindly.
"It's Naruto," Iruka answered which a touch of humor.
Hinata merely smiled in relief at the answer. A revelation thronged in the back of her mind.
"You're right."

{[+]}

The clan was in high spirits. No longer did they have to live in marshy caves, in muddy huts, to hide in less than pleasant conditions. They were still stowed away, yes, but they were now under the secret protection of the strongest village in the five nations. In fact, the Hokage had opened up to them with wide arms, even giving them the supplies needed to commemorate their annual consecration.

The founding of Uzushiogakure.

The decision to arrive in Konoha around that day was done for several reasons; the auspicious date was one of them. The fact that they celebrated this occasion no less than a week after they arrived here was a good sign to the more superstitious; it signaled towards future success in rebuilding their nation. It was like another founding; a rebirth.

But the most excitement of all concentrated among the children. To most of them, luxury was something rarely seen in their harsh life in the marshes around wave country. Meat was rare, as well as rice. Mostly, gruel had been their diet from birth until now. However, the sight of so much food, so many bright lights despite the dark sky, so much clamoring of celebration sent them up an inflated high of hysteria. People laughed. People laughed. Cymbals clanged, drums rang and groups danced.

There were rows and rows of tables with food, while alcohol was distributed to adults indiscriminately. There was a constant buzz in the air, a certain magic. Despite the fact that the remnants of Uzushiogakure numbered only a few hundred, the throng was thick and heavy.

Misao Uzumaki had been one of the children that were there, caught up in the flurry of it all. Her red hair came down to shoulder-length in braids, her face set itself in a permanent expression of awe at the celebration. Meanwhile, a red-haired boy beside her, Kain, scoffed at her enthusiasm, yet couldn't help be more than a bit impressed at his surroundings.

"You know, Jinne-sama said that Kushina-hime's son was here!" she gushed. Kain rolled his eyes.

"I bet that's just a stupid rumor."

Misao turned to give him a look that threatened physical retribution, but then all the celebration settled down to a hush abruptly as a band of notable individuals had arrived.

Jinne-sama was among them, as well as the Hokage, shutting all celebration and noise down in a heartbeat as the clan anticipated his words. Among them, Misao began to fidget.

"Everyone!" he addressed. "It is a great honor to have all of you here after so many years of separation. When the war had hit your country and ravaged your lands, when we were unable to salvage anyone, our village was saddened beyond compare. To this day, we celebrate your sacrifice in that war, for without the battle of the bridge we would never have survived the five-way battle. I'm sure you have all heard the tales of the legendary ninjas of Uzushiogakure, on how they took on three great powers and inflicted them with massive casualties, allowing us, Konoha, to eventually emerge as the victor."

His speech sent waves of seriousness among the crowds.

"You thus know that other nations still fear you. If they know of your existence they were seek you out and destroy you, and Konoha cannot afford a war in this era. Of course, we are more than happy to be reconciled, but your existence must be kept hidden at all costs. Indeed, while I am more than happy to accept you within our ranks, you must understand how important staying hidden is. "

Several individuals frowned at this; neither the elders nor Jinne-sama had spoken of this. To some, a troubling mood began to plague them as the Hokage continued his speech. It was a speech boring to most of the children, but to the members of the clan, it was tremendously important, for it detailed many conditions of their stay.

"…Thus, from this day forth, all symbols of Uzushiogakure must be hidden, none of you may leave this site without permits, the use of jutsu is forbidden-"

A roar of outrage drowned out the Hokage's list of demands despite the logic of his statements. The sentiment among the general populace was this: even if they were a fallen nation, they still had their roots in tradition and pride.

"This is nothing better than being held prisoner!" one of them shouted out.

"We were not told of this!"

It would have gotten more out of control if it wasn't for the older and more level-headed elders, as well as Jinne-sama speaking up.

"All of you!" she raged, dealing a hammer blow to their frenzy. "If you think that leaving here and going back into hiding among the dumps is better than staying here, you are all fools!"

Akai Uzumaki, a hot-headed young but prominent speaker moved on to contend with her heatedly, but was shut down by an interjection by one of the elders.

"I agree with Jinne," Elder Pachinko rasped, and all fell silent to hear her barely audible voice. As one of the founders of Uzushiogakure centuries back, she was highly respected despite her old age. She was the prime example of how Uzumaki blood gave their bearers great longevity along with copious amounts of chakra. "The way we were going, we would not have achieved anything, not even in a thousand years."

"Then what?" Akai demanded. "We are sacrificing our pride just for a tentative alliance with a village that abandoned us during the third shinobi war?"

"No. We are here because of a tradition far more important than our pride," Jinne intercepted. Akai raised an eye brow.

"And what is this tradition?"

"Don't tell me you forgot? To honor a descendent of true lineage, which we once thought lost with the death of Kushina-sama of course!"

Murmurings ran through the crowd once Jinne finished.

"But, that was…" he began.

Akai finally noticed the carriage right behind her.

"Is that…?"

"Yes," Jinne said. "He's the container of the nine-tailed demon fox, just like his mother, Kushina-hime."

The angered buzz of the crowd ebbed as most of them came to a realization, and a young boy of blonde hair climbed out of the door, directly adjacent to Jinne. On his face was shock, but he had no time to express it as Elder Pachinko approached him and grabbed his face.

"That jawbone…those eyes…" she whispered as he stared into his eyes and began to cry. "…Indeed as the clan had hoped, Jinne was correct."

There were more murmurs; all of them had known the contents of Jinne's letter back then, but until now did it really sink into their brains.

"We have finally found our prince."

{[+]}

A/N: Longer chapter than usual. Lots of things happened, my laptop broke down, had to send it to get repaired, and so I'm stuck writing on my mom's computer. Great.

I don't know how I could have gone through this chapter in any other way, with the rampant use of OCs. To my knowledge, there has been no known Uzumaki unless you guys want to drop a PM or something like that. Also, the flow of events in this chapter is something I have problems with since I had to retype all of this, but I guess I'll leave you guys to criticize me on that. D: Don't be too mean. (One day I might come back and re-write this chapter according to its original format.) Hopefully, I didn't turn that much of you off.

Thanks to the anonymous, two reviews from Chandagnac [ ], Ramen Knight, RedEye00, BombRaider, Balatros, and Twilifay. I really appreciate the support.

R&R?