(An hour and thirty-eight minutes later)
Everyone was back at Tazuna's house, but no one knew what happened to Naruto. He told them that he was going out early to train alone, but he hadn't return for half the day. Sasuke was sent to go and look for him, but Naruto's trail turned cold at some point.
"Where is that knucklehead?" Sakura asked angrily. "He should have been back by now! How could he be this irresponsible while we're on a mission?"
"It is troubling that Naruto hasn't returned yet. If anything, he should have informed us if anything happened. I may have to go and look for him myself," Kakashi stated.
"You don't suppose something happened to Naruto-niichan, do you?" Inari asked worriedly. Everyone saw how Inari's demeanor had changed completely since Naruto's talk with him. He no longer cried and complained pessimistically, instead trying to be optimistic and encouraging whenever possible. Everyone also took note that Inari also started referring to Naruto as "niichan."
Kakashi replied, "I'm sure that Naruto-"
Kakashi was cut off when the front door to the house opened, revealing Naruto entering the house.
"Naruto-niichan!" Inari greeted happily as he went over to the blond Genin. "What happened to you! We were all worried about you!"
"Sorry Inari, but something very important happened that required my immediate attention. It was a life-changing event for me," Naruto explained with a bright smile on his face.
"Is that so? And what, pray tell, was this life changing event?" Sasuke asked cynically as he, Kakashi, and Sakura approached him. Tsunami and Tazuna appeared from the kitchen to see what was going on. Grinning, Naruto stepped aside and gestured for Honoka to step into the house. When she did, the reaction Naruto got was quite comical, as she placed her left arm around his shoulders and smiled at everyone.
"So, she's the red-haired gorgeous woman you were talking about when you first came here, huh Naruto?" Tazuna realized. "She's quite a catch, boy! Ah…to be young again…"
Tsunami frowned and nudged her father's side for his perverted implications, while Inari looked on with a quizzical expression. Tsunami didn't like the fact that her father was making such statements about a woman, especially in front of her son.
"Father! Don't talk like that in front of Inari!" Tsunami scolded.
Inari replied, "What do you mean? All Grandpa said was how much his misses being young and all."
"Yeah, but he meant it in an inappropriate way," Tsunami corrected.
"What do you mean?" Inari inquired.
Tsunami decided to drop the subjected, "I'll tell you when you're older."
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura took a good look at Honoka. All three of them had to admit that she was indeed a healthy-looking beautiful young woman. The question in everyone's mind was how Naruto was able to get her to follow him back. Kakashi, though, was able to sense that there was more to Honoka that was about to be explained.
Naruto was about to introduce Honoka properly but…
"You two-timing cheater! That's your life-changing event? You had us all worried, thinking that something bad happened to you, and while that's going on, you go and get involved with some woman out in town and boldly bring her here for us to meet, despite the fact that you already have a girlfriend! You're really low, Naruto, and what's worse is how this woman here was willing to go along with it!" Sakura yelled. Naruto and Honoka blinked and took a moment to process what just happened. When they did, they both burst out laughing.
"Is that what you all think? That I was out in town secretly seeing some other woman?" Naruto laughed. "While I'm flattered that you believe I have such talent, that isn't the case here at all!" Naruto calmed down from his laughter and became serious. "And I wouldn't cheat on Hinata-chan either!"
"Then would you care to enlighten us on who this young woman is?" Kakashi suggested with his orange book in hand.
"Let me introduce myself properly," Honoka said with a sweet tone, "My name is Uzumaki Honoka. I'm Naruto-kun's distant cousin, and now I'm his surrogate big sister. He and I are of the same Uzumaki Clan."
There was a dead silence at that moment as Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura repeated Honoka's words to themselves. Sakura's mouth dropped open in utter disbelief as her eyes widened after everything sunk in. Sasuke had a hard time believing that this female before him was, in some distant way related to Naruto, of all people, but what he was bothered by was the fact that Naruto found a survivor of his clan. Kakashi dropped his orange book as he understood the full weight of Honoka's words.
"This can't be!" Sasuke replied doubtfully. "You were said to be an orphan, Naruto, and there's no record or mention of anyone else in Konoha bearing the name Uzumaki!"
"Clearly, Konoha has been lying to all of you for all these years," Honoka stated dryly. "There are other Uzumaki scattered around the world. Naruto-kun and I just don't know where they are or what became of them. We're just happy that we found each other today, and we won't allow ourselves to be separated again. Naruto-kun and I are descendants from a strong clan that had strong ties with Konoha and the Senju clan, a clan that was hated and feared by many foreign nations before they sought our destruction."
"We've never heard of any of the things you're talking about. How do we know you're even telling the truth?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.
"That's because everything she said is true," Kakashi confirmed. "There's no lie to what she said."
"You mean that there actually was an Uzumaki Clan? Naruto...descended from…a clan?" Sakura asked, trying to believe what she was now learning.
"One that helped build Konoha to the village that it is now. In fact, the red spiral on the back of my green flak is his clan's insignia. As law, all ninja from Konoha are required to wear it, as decreed by the late Shodai. Some of Chouji's clan members wear that insignia facially," Kakashi clarified.
"Is that some kind of twisted joke, Kakashi? By law, we have to wear the insignia of the clan that…dobe descended from?" Sasuke retorted.
"Why weren't we taught this at the academy?" Sakura asked.
"There's a lot that the academy didn't teach any of you about the huge of history behind Konoha's ties with Uzu no Kuni, the country once ruled by the Uzumaki clan. But it's an S-class secret that none of you are to discuss with anyone," Kakashi said.
"I'm not under your Hokage's law, therefore I'm not obliged to obey. If you guys want to know about me and who I really am, you're best to know my history and the bond I share with Naruto-kun," Honoka argued, leaving Kakashi with no room to argue with her.
The Jounin sighed, "…Very well, then. But I ask that after everything has been explained that what's discussed doesn't go beyond this house. It would really cause too much trouble, especially since not everyone in Konoha is ready to learn the truth. And by extension," Kakashi turned to Tazuna and his family, "I'll have to ask you three not to share any information you hear here with anyone else."
All three of them agreed and Tazuna spoke for them, "You can trust us."
For the next hour, everyone was in the living room as Honoka briefly explained her life's story to them. She didn't show them her photo album, as it would reveal too much that she didn't want them to know. She told them that Naruto's mother was in fact an Uzumaki who married a very strong shinobi of Konoha, but she wouldn't reveal their names. When Sakura and Sasuke asked why, Naruto told them that their names and status as a couple wasn't disclosed to Konoha civilians for unknown reasons. Needless to see, the two Genin found something suspicious about that explanation.
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