A little warning to those who finds these things annoying: this story has not been checked by a beta and honestly I wasn't sure was ever going t post it as I really only wrote it for fun, but I figured I might as well try to contribute something to the site that has provided me with so many enjoyable hours worth of reading. I have read it over multiple times, but I'm sure I haven't caught all mistakes - sorry.

Also, my writing style isn't set and I have no idea how the layout needs to be to not be annoying/confusing to read for others yet.

Other than that, enjoy :D And if not, well at least I had fun writing it.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, only my OC's :)

Kaze no Uchiha: Aya

- 1990 –

A little redheaded girl was born in a trading village in Land of Water. She had big blue eyes, framed by dark lashes and a completely natural thin dark pigmentation running along her upper lashes, making her almost resemble an adorable doll. Her biological parents were very proud and named her Aya for her bright coloration. Both parents were sailors, her father having an amazing – some whispered unnatural – connection with the wind, one that seemingly let him know which way the wind would blow before it did. He was however very good at what he did and a kind man, so no one really complained. The family was happy, and Aya grew up spending most of her time on the family's ship.

- 1993 -

Uchiha Susumu, a retired Konoha-shinobi turned businessman, and his wife Yui were passengers onboard a ship returning to Land of Water, where they were planning to visit Yui's family and maybe expand their business. While on the ship they met the then 3 year old Aya, who was quite taken with 'the pretty lady', admiring her white-streaked black hair, ocean-blue eyes and colorful kimono. Yui in turn found the little redheaded toddler adorable. They spent many an hour in the company of each other and were sad to part, but the married couple had to travel on, leaving the little trading village.

However, the night after the ship arrived, the village was overrun by bandits, burning the ships and killing indiscriminately. Ayas father lost his life giving his wife the opportunity to run in-land with little Aya. She was however followed before long, and chose to deposit her precious burden far into the woods, running in another direction to distract the bandits, while praying that Aya wouldn't die before someone from the village found her. Her distraction succeeded, but she was also killed.

Aya felt her mother's "presence" disappear the same way her fathers had done, so in her distress she frantically sought out the closest safe "presence" and stumbled through the woods toward it.

The next morning Susumu and Yui got a big surprise when a dirty little creature crawled into their camp, steering unerringly toward Yui, completely ignoring the quite elaborate genjutsu hiding them from sight. Before Susumu could react to the possible danger to his wife, she recognized Aya, picked her up and started fussing over the the almost passed out child. Susumu was stumped: why was the little girl so far from home, and how in the blazes did she see through a genjutsu most chunin-level ninja wouldn't have been able to penetrate?

After upping the defenses around the campsite, Susumu set out to find the answers to his questions, leaving Yui to tend to Aya. He found Aya's mother in the woods, and after killing the few bandits left in the village, talked to the survivors still there. Finding that Aya had no family left, he returned to camp. Yui, always having wished for a child despite having long ago accepted it wasn't to be, quickly decided to take in Aya and Susumu didn't have the heart to disagree with her, even if he thought them a bit too old to become parents at 59 and 61. And anyway, the kid was interesting and kind of cute after being cleaned.

- 1994 -

Still in Land of Water, on the day marking a year after Aya came tumbling into their life, the three were celebrating Aya's 4th birthday:*

'…and our first year together as a family. Because that is what we have become' Susumu realized, while watching his wife help Aya cut the cake they made together earlier. He hadn't really paid it any mind, but now that he looked back he could see it had really only been a matter of time.

Originally he had given in to Yui's wish of taking in the little girl for his wife's sake. She caught a virus when she was 10, which she fortunately survived, but was left unable to bare children. It was this realization that prompted her to give up her claim on the family-business and join an Okiya to become a geisha.

'Nearly got away from me then, she did' Susumu thought, smiling.

But despite her seemingly accepting her fate and making the best of it by throwing her all in to training and later their business, he knew she loved children and dearly wished to have one of her own. He himself was of course also very intrigued by the girl seemingly being able to see through his genjutsu at such a young age, wondering if it was perhaps some kind of kekkei genkai.

He actually still wasn't quite sure about that. Since Aya was too young to explain something that came naturally to her, he had played little games with her, designing them to suit the dual purpose of entertaining her and testing her abilities. Or, that had been his intent, but very quickly he found himself becoming more and more involved, actually teaching her other things along the way and feeling a kind of pride when she learned something new – no matter if what she learned was completely unrelated to his little training exercises. A pride he had only now identified as being a father's.

Yui had taken to motherhood as a duck to water. She had so much love to give and so many things to teach, it was amazing to see her bloom all over again, almost radiating happiness. His girls absolutely adored each other and Aya had quickly taken to calling his wife Kaasan. Yui had teased him mercilessly when he confessed that it felt kind of nice, if a bit weird, when Aya named him her Otousan.

'Aya really has become our daughter in all except name, but maybe it is time to do something about that too. I'll talk to Yui about going home to Konoha tonight…'

Bright light blue eyes with a darker blue ring circling the iris blinked up at Susumu, the little girl holding a plate out to him with a big smile: "We made cake Otousan!"

'…But first I will enjoy this lovely evening to its fullest. Which reminds me, better go find that gift for our daughter. I wonder if she will like it..'

- later that night –

"She absolutely loved the fan, dear, she wouldn't even let go of it in her sleep" Yui said with a smile, closing the door into Ayas bedroom in their rented house. Susumu smiled back, arms circling his beloved's waist, pulling her in for a kiss.

"I've been thinking that maybe it is time we returned home to Konoha, so that Aya can be adopted as our daughter officially" Susumu admitted.

Yui's smile widened "You know I would love that", but then said with a slight frown "How do you think the clan will take it? They are awfully uptight about who is allowed to carry the Uchiha name: remember all the fuss when you refused that arranged marriage, saying you would marry out of love, not to breed?"

Susumu's lips quirked up at the memory "Heh, they really didn't like that, threw a wrench in their finely laid plans. But I nonetheless had it my way when I finally got you away from that Okiya. Deserved it too after getting through that damn war alive"

"Yes well, war or no, I still don't think they would have accepted you marrying a geisha if I had been able to bare children" Yui sighed.

"It would have been just like the counsel to think like that, but I think I know how to handle them in this case. We are going to play on their shinobi-caution. After all, no matter how superior we Uchiha with our sharingan are, it would be stupid to leave a child already now capable of seeing through some sharingan-cast genjutsu to be picked up by a potential enemy. It could actually be advantageous to take her under our wing, keeping the ability to see through high-level genjutsu within the clan. Well, at least that is what I am going to tell them, and I know Hiruzen will approve" Susumu said, black eyes twinkling with mischief.

Yui lit up, laughing as she ran her hands through Susumu's long black streaked with silver locks of hair "Oh you are a devious old man. My devious old man"

"And my beautifully matured lady-wife" Susumu quipped, swooping in for a kiss "Now let's get to bed, we have travelling arrangements to see too tomorrow!"

- 2 days later –

Aya loved being on a ship out on the big water. The swaying deck under her feet, big white sails over her head and the sailors calling out to each other felt familiar. But most of all she loved being out where the wind danced freely around her, letting her both see and feel much further than when in the places with many houses around. She loved it, but she was also so excited to see to Kaasan and Otousans home with the really big trees! Her Otousan was standing behind her where she couldn't see him with her eyes, but she could feel him and he was smiling.

Susumu was indeed smiling, watching his daughter staring excited out over the water. He had brought a bento and was planning on the two of them eating it out on the deck, since he couldn't bring himself to take her inside seeing her enjoy herself so.

"Otousan, is that food for me?"Aya asked, still looking out through the railing.

'I really should stop being surprised by her perceiving things she can't possible see, it's almost as if she has eyes in the back of her head. Maybe it is something like the byakugan, just without the bulging veins? But I can't see her using any chakra' Susumu wondered.

"Actually it's for both of us. Move over a little and I'll join you on your on your box" he said, and moved to sit with his daughter, unwrapping the bento. The little girl eagerly took the food; Kaasan's food was the best!

"Otousan, where is our home with the really big trees?" Aya asked after a while, blue eyes searching the horizon.

Susumu pointed the way the ship was heading, saying "It's that way, but the captain says we won't arrive until tonight with the wind like this" "But that's a long time! I wanna get there fast!" she said, looking intently at the way her Otousan pointed. Suddenly the wind picked up drastically, catching the billowing sails, and the ship lurched forward picking up speed. Aya laughed happily.

"That… Can't be possible, right?" Susumu murmured to himself. But the thought stuck.

'It has actually seemed as if the air was moving slightly more than it used to, even inside, but I thought that was a Land of Water-thing. Could the air somehow be related to her perceiving things around her so clearly? And if it does, what are the limits?' he thought. Maybe some new games where in order, something to do with finding or guessing things without looking…

"Aya-chan, let's play a game" he said. Aya eagerly turned to him; she liked Otousans games! "It's a lot like some we've played before: Otousan holds something in his hand and you have to guess what it is, but this time you do it with your eyes closed, okay?" he continued. "Uhn!" she replied.

The rest of the time on the ship flew by for Susumu and Aya, Yui checking in on them occasionally.

Later that night, in a hired carriage en route to Konoha, Aya sleepily thought back on the day. Otousans new games were kind of like the old ones, just without the weird pictures trying to cheat her eyes, since they were closed. She still had to feel what it was, without touching, like she usually did. But the game got a lot harder when she had to find things around the ship or had to describe the things. 'Moving around with closed eyes is easy; it's almost like normal, only without the little things and color. But how could I know what color something is when I can only feel it! I hope we can play again soon…' she thought, finally drifting into sleep, head resting on her Kaasan's lap.

When they were sure Aya was asleep, Susumu and Yui talked quietly about what they had learned about their daughter that day. In the end they agreed that it would be prudent to do some more testing and step up her training a bit; light chakra-moulding and chakra-control exercises, starting her on taijutsu-katas and preparing her for wielding a small tessen – she did so love her fan after all. They would make it as fun as possible to keep their daughter motivated, but agreed she had to learn, since they wanted their beloved little girl to be able to protect herself as fast as possible.

- In Konoha –

After finally getting to Konoha and through the gate, the family brought what little luggage they had with them – the rest would arrive later – using the private entrance to go directly through the wall surrounding the compound to the garden surrounding their house. Luckily the guards at the gate knew them and let them through with Aya; they even sent a message to the Hokage, stating that Uchiha Susumu was seeking an appointment with his old friend and village leader at his earliest convenience. Upon having unpacked, they dressed in more appropriate clothes to be able to respond to the Sandaime's summons immediately;

Susumu in deep blue pants and high-collared long sleeved shirt in the same color, but with the Uchiha-symbol embroidered on the collar. He wore black shinobi-sandals, put his long hair up in a ponytail and made sure his beard was properly trimmed.

Yui looked him over, thinking 'He might have gotten older, but in my eyes he is still the most handsome man around', smiling when Susumu caught her looking and winked at her.

Aya was dressed in an ocean-themed child-kimono: azure with a white wave-pattern. Over it she wore a little obi, dark blue with little ships sailing across. Her long wavy copper-red hair hung loose, she had her beloved red fan in the hand and little red geta on her feet.

'In short she looks completely adorable' Susumu thought. 'But prize for being the loveliest definitely goes to my darling wife'.

Yui had chosen a simple dark red kimono embroidered discreetly along the edges with little golden and green birds, matching hakama and a clear green obi with a beautiful big bird in gold, reds, greens and blues stitched onto it. Her obi-belts were golden, the socks stuck into her geta white and her hair done up in a simple up-do with golden hairpins keeping it in place.

- At the Hokage Office -

As luck would have it, Susumu's message reached the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, just as he thought he would be left to drown in the dreaded paperwork.

'I haven't seen Susumu and Yui for way over a year, and the guards said they had a little girl with them. Interesting… To hell with paperwork, it will have to wait!' Hiruzen thought, smiling with a slight maniacal glint in his eye. Hiruzen then remembered the chunin standing before him, looking a little nervous at his Hokage's expression.

He cleared his throat, saying "Send a message to Uchiha Susumu; I will see him and his family now", and watched the chunin's quick retreat from his office. Sighing he resigned himself to a bit more paperwork.

30 minutes later he was saved by knocking on his door and in walked the most adorable little girl he had seen in a long time.

The meeting with the Hokage went well. When it was over Aya was registered as Uchiha Aya, daughter of Uchiha Susumu and Yui by adoption and an appointment for a check-up at the hospital had been made. They had also talked over how to best wrangle the Uchiha-counsel into accepting Aya and Hiruzen agreed to omit the information on her possible kekkei genkai from the official records, only stating that while her status was civilian, she showed an aptitude for seeing through genjutsu and would be trained in the basics by her parents, as she was unlikely to be able to join the Academy because of their travelling lifestyle. In return they agreed that they would keep Hiruzen updated on her progress, so that he could make a different file on her, for the Hokage's eyes only unless she decided to join the village as a shinobi.

All in all they all left the meeting happy. Hiruzen was left much more relaxed after the meeting with his good friend and his charming wife; meeting their lovely little daughter and seeing them interact as a family was a delight. He was also looking forward to them coming over to visit him and his wife the week after.

Susumu and Yui had gotten new good input and were relieved with the outcome of the meeting.

Aya had gotten a lot of candy from the nice man, who was Otousan's friend and was told that now they were officially a family. Which she thought was kind of silly, because they had been a family in a long time!

Susumu used the next few days in fierce discussion with the Uchiha counsel-members, but as predicted got his way in the end.

Author's note(s):

* seeing as her papers were burned with the rest of the house, they chose consider that day her new birthday

You don't need to read this, it's just a little info and clarification regarding her family/adoptive parents for those who are curious :)

Uchiha Susumu was a high jounin-level shinobi before he retired and a good friend to the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, despite their age difference. He is also loyal to his village first rather than the Uchiha clan, in spite of being the brother of the current clan leader's younger brother. This and his tendency to follow his own head, like he did when he refused to marry anyone but Yui, hasn't made him all that popular with the clan's counsel since he is well-respected enough to hold some sway, but they have a silent truce of sorts; he doesn't meddle in clan-matters, while they keep their noses out of him and Yui's lives. Aya's adoption was pushing it, but by then her parents' business was so successful that they held more influence because of their contributions to both the clan and the village, so not only would they not have suffered from denouncing the clan, but it would also have lost something by it. Well, that and Susumu knows how to play the political game so t speak, even if he finds it troublesome.

Uchiha Yui was born in Konoha to a pair of merchants with roots in Water country. The years she spent in their store and later when she was being prepped by the Okaa-san (proprietor) to run the Okiya (where geisha are trained and work from) she joined while younger, gave her the necessary skills to run a business and also she inherited her parents' flair for business. Just to be clear; Susumu did a good job adapting to a whole new lifestyle when he retired, but it was Yui who started up and later made the business flourish.

You know how civilians outside the Hidden Villages rarely even notice the shinobi conflicts? Yui and Susumu can expand their business relatively unhindered to other countries despite their rather infamous name, because it is a civilian business. Plus they have a good reputation and primarily cater to a costumer-group that is typically very popular with those well off enough to hold any power; the geisha. And said powerful peoples' female family members of course, since those will want their hands on the lovely merchandise too.

...I could go on, but I will just stop here... I'd recommend looking up geisha on wiki at some point :)