AN: It's been a long time since I've updated. I apologize for that, but here it is. I wasn't sure how to get past a certain point halfway through this chapter, which is actually kind of... well I think the song I was listening to and why it's chapter name is 'Hide' explains it all. The song is Hide by Red, I suggest listening to it while reading the chapter at some point, but it's not necessary.

I will be cutting down on how much time this arc gets before we get to the promised canon stuff of the new Team Seven. Be patient, I just need a few more chapters to finish up this and then we'll time skip a few years. Until then though I hope you enjoy the chapter and chapters to come.

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For you, just you, I'm caught in place. But I ignore what I can't erase, I will run and hide till memories fade away. And I will leave behind a love so strong ~ Hide by Red.

Ōyamaneko Arc.

Uzu no Musume.

Chapter 29: Hide.

Her first day as a teacher assistant was going rather well, she thought. Some of the students had to be scared into listening to her, believing she couldn't be taken seriously since she was their age, younger than some considering her birthday wasn't until October.

Iruka did most of the teaching though, she just offered her opinion on certain things and helped the students who seemed to need it. The young Hyūga heiress seemed very shy and unsure of herself when it came to taijutsu lessons which they held just before lunch.

This was a surprise since she'd worked with a Hyūga or two since her return and they were better at taijutsu than anyone she'd encountered. They'd certainly made her look like a genin when it came to taijutsu. Though the Jūken and her own taijutsu styles were similar, and she did last longer in a spar against a Hyūga than one would expect.

In part this was because she had knowledge of the human body and pressure points which were similar to tenketsu. Tenketsu may be only see able with a Byakugan but most were given a general location in any medic-nin textbook, though only someone from the Hyūga clan would know where exactly all tenketsu could be found.

The point was it gave her the knowledge she needed to attempt to avoid or deflect the Jūken. Naruto had no problem admitting when she was outclassed and needed more practice though. More experience, that's really what it came down to. Though without skill and power experience was useless.

There were other students who she took notice of, most of the clan heirs for one. There was a lot of potential in this class, more than there had been in her own graduating class.

Out of the teams that had graduated in her year she now only had contact with Aburame Hoshi and Yamanaka Jin, but that was only on a mission or two she'd done in the past. They were acquaintances and comrades at best. Otherwise her generation of graduates were either dead or estranged from her.

She grimaced mentally as she looked over one of Inuzuka Kiba's school assignments, his handwriting was little more than chicken scratch she noted. Reminding her a little of her own handwriting before she dove into fūinjutsu.

Her former thoughts of her years graduate had caused her to think of the only survivor of her Team Seven, Kasumi. She hadn't talked to the girl in nearly a year now. Sadly she didn't think that would change anytime soon.

"Uzumaki-sensei," an almost hesitant voice said, dragging her from her thoughts (which with the direction they were headed she was thankful for).

Looking up she saw the brown haired girl with the panda-like hairstyle. Now that she was in front of her she realized the girl was older than others in the class. At least by a year, if not two years. Thinking on it a few of the students had been, which was odd but not unheard of.

"Naruto or even Naru is just fine," she said, smiling. "How can I help you today?"

"Um, I'm Tenten, uh..." Tenten bit her lip, wondering if this was a good idea or not. True, the girl seemed powerful enough to be a chūnin, and Iruka-sensei had backed her claim as did the flak jacket, but could the girl actually help her with her fūinjutsu?

Usually she wasn't in Iruka's class. She was in another higher level class who were not far from graduating, but their sensei was hurt on a mission and the Hokage had decided to split her class in two and assign them temporary sensei's. She'd been one of the students to go to Iruka's class, while others went to another class. It would only be until their sensei recovered enough to teach.

In that moment she decided she'd have to take a chance with Uzumaki Naruto.

"You mentioned fūinjutsu lessons during lunch break... is that an option today?"

Naruto smiled, and nodded.

"You're the first one to approach me about them, but yes that's acceptable. We have half an hour before lunch ends..." She slowed her words as she saw a shy girl, the Hyūga heiress she realized, and three others making their way inside the room.

She didn't recognize one of them, but the other two were Sasuke (who she'd half expected) and the blonde Yamanaka heiress. "Can I assume you four are here for the same reason?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, sitting in one of the first row seats.

She rolled her eyes mentally at the boy, but truthfully she hadn't expected much more than that. These days it was lucky he said more than two sentences at once. She remembered a time it was hard to shut the boy up. She shook her head of those thoughts, she wasn't going back to that place right now. She had a job to do.

The other three introduced themselves as Hyūga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, and a boy named Hikarai (no surname, he was an orphan from the Kyūbi attack whose parents were unknown but assumed dead in the destruction).

"Alright then. As I was saying to Tenten. I hold these lessons during lunch, giving us an hour and a half to work with. You'll need to bring your lunches here, and we'll take no more than ten minutes to eat. I actually recommend a big breakfast so you can eat smaller lunches and we'll have more time to work with. I will also take students for an hour and a half after school each day in this classroom, you'll need to make sure it's alright with you parents that you stay late. The only days I will not hold these lessons are on Friday and the weekends. I expect you to use your own initiative if you want to practice fūinjutsu on those days."

She looked at each of the five students before her.

"Are you with me so far?" she asked and they nodded.

"Good. There are some rules to this. Fūinjutsu is not an easy subject to learn and can be very volatile. Knowing this when you do practice outside of class I expect you to be responsible and careful. Also you are never, never to play around with it. What I mean is I don't want you trying to create your own seals, while possible and a great accomplishment at the level you all are now you'd sooner kill yourself and possibly those around you. When fūinjutsu goes wrong it tends to leave consequences."

She took a breath, and continued.

"Second, we'll be starting with something not exactly what one could call fūinjutsu. The first week will consist of theory and most important calligraphy..."

She raised a hand when she saw the Yamanaka heir and Sasuke both open their mouth to complain, as she sure it was what they were about to say.

"... no, don't interrupt me. Calligraphy is very important to fūinjutsu. You need very legible handwriting and a steady hand, otherwise you'll miss a brush stroke or mess up and add a stroke that shouldn't have been there turning something harmless deadly. Believe me, when I began my writing was terrible and I suffered quite a few burns and explosions because of it. It took me months to get my writing to the point I could make a storage seal. I'm not saying it'll take you months, some of you are clan heirs and probably had these lessons on some level in the past."

"Is that all?" Hikarai asked, head bowed a little.

He didn't seem the shy type like Hinata obviously was as she'd stayed silent the entire time, but he seemed low on self esteem. She could understand, she'd once lived at the orphanage as well and they didn't exactly make it easy for her. Some other children also had issues there, mostly because after October 10th there were so many parent-less kids and not enough attention to go around.

"No, not quite. If you ever need help you can come to me whenever, even if I am at home. Unfortunately you may not always find me there... " she looked over at Sasuke quickly, before shaking her head. "... I still have missions to complete should I be sent on one, and I sometimes stay other places. Here at the Academy though I am all ears."

"I have a question," Ino began, raising her hand hesitantly. "How do you know so much about seals, I mean you're our age, how did you get so good the Hokage allowed you to give these lessons?"

"Fūinjutsu is arguably in my blood," Naru said, smiling. "Before Konoha existed there was one clan who lived somewhat like a ninja village of today live like. The Land of Whirlpools was home to one of the most prominent clans of the warring state era, the Uzumaki clan."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "It sounds familiar, but I don't recall from where."

"I'm not surprised, it's not common knowledge among most these days. The history books hardly mention Konoha's once sister village. The Uzumaki were a cousin clan to the Senju, one of the two clans responsible for building Konoha as it is today, the other being the Uchiha clan."

Sasuke sat up a little straighter, and Naruto smirked slightly.

"The Uzumaki were known and feared for their fūinjutsu and longevity, though they were also known to be chakra monsters. An average Uzumaki could live well into their hundred given the chance, they stayed young longer, even had children well past their fifties, and had the chakra reserves that could sometimes beat a Kage. In later years they helped Hashirama and Madara start Konoha, and even arranged a marriage between Hashirama and their clan heiress, Uzumaki Mito a fearsome warrior in her own right. The best they had in the art of fūinjutsu at the time. When Konoha was founded an alliance was signed between Uzushiogakure and Konohagakure, the first of any between hidden villages. As a sign of friendship the Uzumaki allowed Konoha to use their clan symbol and their village symbol on the back of their flak jackets."

The students eyes widened in realization, even Sasuke hadn't known this information.

"The spiral, that's your clan symbol?" Tenten asked, and Naruto nodded.

"It is."

"What.. h-happened to-to Uzushio?" Hinata asked, her voice soft and stuttering but not as badly as it had the other few times Naru heard the Hyūga heiress talk.

Naruto face dropped sadly and she sighed.

"Before the Third Shinobi War there was an alliance between three of the hidden villages. Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure all banned together and attacked Uzushio, somehow getting passed both the protective whirlpools surrounding the island and the barrier seals that protected it. Having recently been there I believe there was a spy who leaked information out to the three villages which led to the destruction of Whirlpool. It took nearly four days and nights before the battle ended, by then Uzu no Kuni, especially Uzushiogakure, was bathed in the blood of its enemies and its people. After the last Uzumaki in the village fell a large scale seal was activated and completely sealed off the village and some other parts of the island from anyone not of Uzumaki blood. It also finished the job the ninja of Uzushio started by obliterating anyone not of Uzumaki blood still on the island. By that point four days had passed and no one but the enemy and surviving ninja of Uzu were left anyways."

They looked at her with surprise, disgust (at the other villages actions) and Sasuke had turned away to look out the window in a mixture of stoic emotions she couldn't figure out. She did know he hadn't liked listening to her words, it reminded him too much of the Uchiha Massacre.

"Why didn't Konoha help them!?" Tenten nearly yelled. "Why would Kiri, Kumo or Iwa want to destroy Uzushio?"

Naruto sighed.

"It was more like they wanted to destroy the Uzumaki clan. The other clans and people of Uzu were just collateral damage. As for why? They feared the Uzumaki. They're capability in fūinjutsu especially. Their ninjutsu was usually nothing to sneeze at and of course they had some of the best kenjutsu users around. The Third Shinobi War would have been over much sooner than it was had Uzushio not been destroyed, and Iwa and the others definitely would have lost to Konoha since the Uzumaki would have most likely agreed to help Konoha in the war effort as they had before. As for why Konoha didn't come to help, I believe they tried but there was an attempted invasion which kept them occupied in case word of the attack on Uzushio leaked out. Uzushio was unable to get the message sent by Konoha of the approaching danger and Konoha didn't reach Uzushio in time once they'd dispatched their own threat. It was the destruction of Uzushio which truly began the next war, which had already been brewing."

"So you're the last of your clan," Hikarai muttered, and Naruto nodded.

"That we know of. There may be other Uzumaki who got out and had children. It's unknown, what I do know is I am the only survivor of the main house, and that my mother was clan heir before she came to Konoha. As such that leaves me as clan heiress of both my mother and father's families."

Naruto shrugged and pulled out a few books.

"Alright, enough of that. I think we've wasted enough time. These books are yours now, they're for beginners in fūinjutsu and commonly found in any ninja bookstore or library in Konoha. I didn't buy many since I didn't expect many to want these lessons. Do not try any of the seals mentioned inside until I've approved it. Right now we'll just be reading the theory portion and working on your calligraphy as stated. If this is too much work for you I suggest you find something else you're interested in that is more hands on, like taijutsu or ninjutsu. This will take time, depending on how much you want to learn about the subject."

She took a much needed breath before continuing.

"After we've finish the beginners level I'll teach you how to go about identifying seals, breaking, and even changing them in creative ways to fit your needs. If you pursue to become a fūinjutsu specialist it'll take a long time, hard work and more than I can teach you since other than my clan not much was recorded about the art of sealing. I am also not willing to teach you clan secrets which is why I can't teach you much further than the theory of creating your own seals, which I wouldn't recommend for a long, long time."

"How many fūinjutsu masters does Konoha have? I mean there has to be books on more than just beginners fūinjutsu somewhere in Konoha," Tenten said, and Naru nodded.

"Konoha currently only has one fūinjutsu master, Jiraiya of the Sannin. Once upon it time it had three, the other two being my parents. There are a few who are proficient with seals, but can't be considered masters of the art. I am still quite a few levels from being considered a master," Naru explained. "Also there are a few other books in Konoha about fūinjutsu than what I've given you there, books Mito, wife of the Shodai, gave to Konoha so more generations of Konoha ninja could learn the art of sealing. As far as books of the Uzumaki the ones she gave were rather... low on the tier of fūinjutsu knowledge and some were destroyed over the years from war and other incidents. They're enough to give you the knowledge you need to become fūinjutsu masters if that is your goal though."

No one had anything else to say, so for the remaining twenty minutes Naruto began the lesson as she'd promised; with theory and calligraphy.

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Hiruzen chuckled as he watched the whole scene with his crystal ball. Around him were a group of ANBU, the two who'd been following Naruto, and three more. One of which had familiar silver hair and a dog mask on.

There was also another woman in the room, a familiar snake summoner who trained Naru for a while on how to work with her snake contract. Mitarashi Anko.

"She'll make a great leader one day," one of the masked ANBU, a female by the voice and body shape, said. "I see what you mean now. She may be young but she's ready."

"Almost," Inu (dog, but better known as Hatake Kakashi) said. "She still has a mission to complete concerning the Kurama heiress, and of course this."

"I have to agree with Captain Inu, Fukurō," another ANBU with hawk themed mask said. "Uzumaki-hime isn't ready to accept a place within the ranks of ANBU. She still has a little growing to do, not to mention we've got another recruit recently and it wouldn't be wise to have them near one another so soon after..."

He trailed off, but everyone knew what he meant. Inuzuka Kasumi and Uzumaki Naruto weren't ready to be in the same vicinity of one another, much less trained as ANBU together. They might not ever be, a tragedy such as they'd suffered had been known to tare stronger friendships apart.

"I still think she's as ready as ever, gaki's been trained by the best. Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Itachi, Tsunade of the Sannin, and of course... Me!" Anko exclaimed, jabbing at thumb in her direction with a large nearly smug proud grin.

The others all sweat-dropped at her words, though the ANBU all hid it exceedingly well.

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Naruto collapsed on her couch with her arm over her eyes. She'd never thought teaching a bunch of brats – never mind the fact they were her age – would be so tiring. Added to the fact she was finishing the seal for the Kurama heiress and her days were looking pretty full.

She messaged her temples, her eyes staying closed as she tried to relax from everything quickly piling up on her.

When she'd been four and asked her Jiji to become a ninja, knowing that if she truly set her mind to it that she'd be able to graduate quickly she'd not thought her life in three to four years would be where it was now.

The deaths she'd seen in such a short time had been building up, and the emotions she'd suppressed... had been suppressing since the moment she'd witnessed Yoko of Iwa die in the Chūnin Exams felt like it was finally beginning to catch up with her.

The Uchiha clan, and her growing relationship with Itachi had all been ways to cope. They kept her grounded, which was almost ironic not many would describe the Uchiha clan members as being grounded (or sane at times). The trip with Tsunade-Shisho had really helped, but being back in the village was like pouring salt on a not quite closed wound.

It hurt, a lot more than she let on.

Being back at the Academy had opened even more old wounds and memories up. The last time she'd been to the Academy had been the day she'd graduated, and she hated thinking of her Academy days because if she thought about them she thought about Koji, which led to thinking about Team Seven.

It truly was a cursed team in her mind, at least her team had been. She didn't know much about the other teams before her, but something told her they weren't all happily retired ninja living through their golden age.

Sitting up, Naru pushed it all back in the box at the back of her mind. She was a ninja, and being a ninja meant coping with things in not so spectacular ways... or not at all in some cases.

In her case she'd throw herself into work, into studying fūinjutsu and trying her damnedest to better her chakra control (which by no means was terrible, but wasn't up to the level of someone like Tsunade).

No matter the fact she probably had better control than any other with too much chakra (meaning an Uzumaki or an Uzumaki unfortunate enough to hold a Bijū). Working on her taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu or even kenjutsu was also a good way to keep her mind occupied, in short training in general.

If worst came to worst she'd pull out the sake – she wasn't one for drinking (she was nine going on ten, it just didn't appeal to her), and it wasn't exactly looked fondly upon by civilians and some ninja (usually civilian raised), but she was a kunoichi. An adult in the eyes of Konoha and fire country; if she wanted a damned drink she'd have one.

Maybe Tsunade hadn't exactly been the best influence when it came to certain things (apparently the damage alcohol could do to ones body wasn't anything medical ninjutsu couldn't filter out later. Which explained how Tsunade hadn't died of liver failure or something related), but it had been better than boiling in her confusion, anger and grief after the massacre.

'You'll work yourself into an early grave at this rate, brat.'

Naru grunted at the deep voice which nearly caused her to jump a foot in the air. Shaking her head she moved towards the kitchen to make a simple sandwich for dinner.

"What do you know, ya stupid rabbit-eared fox?" she muttered. "If I'm not doing something I'll end up going insane."

Kyūbi grumbled inside the seal, shaking his at the sunset haired girl. She was on a sharp slope from what he could tell. Hell, if he didn't know any better he'd say she was related to those cursed Uchiha somehow (and in a distant way he supposed she was, but it hardly counted so many generations down the line. Back then the bloodline hadn't even existed in the sages wife).

As it was he was sure they had rubbed off on his jailer because she was so close to crashing and burning it wasn't even funny for him anymore.

Honestly the girl kind grew on you, like a fungus. He didn't like her, but she reminded him of the sages cousin who the girl had inherited her Akureigan from. Sometimes he was even reminded of the old sage himself, but he dismissed it as quickly as the thought came to him.

Kyūbi just knew he hated being caged, he hated Madara more, and he hated the idea of his jinchūriki being dragged down by her own emotions. Insanity and the curse of hatred wasn't only found in the Uchiha clan, it was just more common.

One thing dōjutsu seemed to have in common was the mental strain it caused the users. The Hyūga got off easy, the Byakugan wasn't as strenuous on ones mind as the others. Though they did seem to have entire forest shoved up their asses. The Rinnegan could cause one to develop god complexes (though he'd only heard of it happening since it was even more rare than the Akureigan). The Sharingan was probably the worst at causing instability, and the Akureigan usually ended in death so he wasn't even sure what the strain on ones state of mind might be.

Laying his head down on his folded front arms/legs, Kyūbi sighed. He'd already said his peace to the girl, if she didn't want his not so easily given help than so be it. Eventually it would catch up to her, running away like she had to train with that Senju woman would only help temporarily.

She couldn't run from it forever. It may take years but eventually it would all crash down on her.

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AN: So there it is. The first part of it came off more like a history lesson than I wanted it to, but eh... it had to be done. The next chapter will be here as soon as I can get it finished. Until then.