The scent of the fresh cherry blossom trees, that Arashi had erected in his backyard, began to drift through the open window of Kushina and Minato's kitchen, carried by the evening breeze. The sun had dipped further below the treeline, creating long shadows from the surrounding houses.
Inside the house, Kushina paced and paced and paced.
Minato leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed, watching her with quiet amusement as she muttered under her breath, occasionally waving her hands in exasperation.
Finally, she stopped, whirling around to face him. "Minato!"
He raised a brow. "Yes, dear?"
She jabbed a finger in the direction of Arashi's newly claimed house. "You have a lot to explain! There is another Uzumaki in this village right now. A real, living, breathing, red-haired Uzumaki, and you're just standing there like this isn't the craziest thing that's happened in years!"
She returned to the window and pointed towards the house across the courtyard again. "And to add on top of that, it looks like he can use some kind of wood style! I just saw him create those wildflowers out of nothing and you're leaning against the counter as if everything is just peachy?!"
Minato chuckled softly, tilting his head. "Well, to be fair, a lot of crazy things have happened around here recently."
Kushina let out a frustrated groan, dragging her hands down her face before sighing. "I can't believe this… I just—" She shook her head. "Honestly, I just can't believe someone from my clan managed to survive. Do you know what this means?"
Minato softened slightly as he moved to hold his wife in his arms, blue eyes warm. "It means you're not the only one left anymore."
Kushina froze in his strong arms instantly.
The words settled heavily between them, wrapping around her heart like a weighted blanket. Her hands curled into fists, nails pressing into her palms as she tried to breathe past the lump forming in her throat.
"For so long, I had thought… For so long, I had believed I was alone, that none of my family remained."
But now? There was another Uzumaki standing just a few houses away.
"I need to sit down," Kushina muttered extracting herself from her husbands embrace, sinking onto the wooden bench near the dining table. She pressed her fingers against her temples, trying to process it all.
Minato pulled out a chair across from her, resting his chin on his palm. He didn't push her to speak, he just let her breathe.
After a couple of minutes, Kushina exhaled and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "Do you have any idea how impossible this should be, Minato?"
Minato nodded. "I had my doubts at first, his hair though was definitely distinct just like yours is."
Kushina snapped her head forward to glare at him. "Doubts?"
Minato smiled. "Take a breath, at the time I just wasn't completely sure, ok?"
Kushina threw her hands in the air. "Minato, we look identical! You thought he was just some random guy with my hair, my eye shape, and a chakra volume that screams 'Uzumaki'?"
Minato chuckled. "You have to admit, that would be one hell of a coincidence."
Kushina groaned and leaned forward, pressing her forehead to the table. "I can't believe you."
Minato reached over, brushing his fingers gently against hers. "I just went with my gut," he admitted softly. "Something told me I needed to bring him here. I just wasn't expecting to actually find and bring someone back with me while I was out of the village."
Kushina let out a shaky breath. "Neither was I, for all I knew you were out on a regular mission but you somehow brought back someone that looks exactly like an Uzumaki."
She lifted her head up from resting on the table and sat up straighter, crossing her arms. "You wanna know why this feels so unfeasible to me?"
Minato nodded. "Sure, I mean I figured it was unlikely to find another Uzumaki because of the unfortunate events surrounding Uzushiogakure but you make it seem like it's impossible that another Uzumaki could still be living. So why is that?"
Kushina's gaze darkened, her fingers tightening slightly on her arms. "Because there aren't supposed to be any of us left."
Minato frowned slightly, listening carefully.
"You know how I ended up here, right?" she asked, her voice quieter now.
Minato nodded. "Konoha and Uzushio always had strong ties. You were moved to the village when you were a child to become the new nine-tails jinchuriki in Lady Mito's stead. This served to keep Konoha safe for the foreseeable future as well as strengthen the two villages alliance."
She sighed. "'Moved' sounds so nice, doesn't it?" She rested her elbows on the table. "But you are right, I was a gift. A peace offering between two allied villages. Konoha got what would become a powerful kunoichi with a rare bloodline, and Uzushio maintained strong diplomatic ties with the most powerful shinobi nation, their neighbors."
"Looking at it objectively, it's a great deal for both sides that made sense but to a child being uprooted and moved it felt unfair, like I had been given away." A single tear escaped Kushina's eye, wiping it away she continued.
"Shortly after I came over here and the nine-tails was transfered to me though came the most devastating news I've ever received."
Minato nodded as her story continued. "Lord Third pulled me into his office and told me that my clan had been annihilated. That all four of the other Hidden Villages, led by the Hidden Mist, had descended on the island like a gang of vultures."
"In that meeting, he had told me that the Leaf village had gotten word of the invasion too late and by the time we had sent troops to provide back up, Uzushiogakure had been razed. There was nothing but rubble and corpses left."
"My home was gone just like that. The village had been attacked by multiple shinobi nations, working together with the singular purpose to wipe us out and I was oblivious the entire time. My family was being slaughtered and I was going about my buisness as usual here."
Minato stood up, came up behind his wife, and hugged her as tears began to slip out of her eyes. "He told me that the elders of Uzushiogakure made the decision to have the strongest shinobi stay behind to fight while the civilians fled. That they decided to try and preserve the bloodline, instead of the village, that way someday the clan could be reformed somewhere else."
Kushina shook her head. "But they never made it. The ones who got off the island were hunted down. There were mercenaries waiting for them as well as shinobi squads from every major village. They killed them all as they washed up on the shores."
"They were wiped out before they could regroup, before they could settle anywhere else." She bit her lip, her voice breaking. "And I just… sat here, training, completely oblivious to the fact that I had lost everyone special to me before I even got the chance to understand what that meant."
"Looking back on it, I guess it was a blessing in disguise; getting shipped off to another village right before the eradication of my clan but somewhere in my brain I thought about if it would've just been better to go out with the rest of them instead of being forced to carry this fox with me for the rest of my life and be teased and made fun of for my red hair and loud attitude by the rest of the kids."
Minato squeezed her harder as her soft redhead leaned back onto his shoulder trying to calm her shaking. "I was told that no one was left, Minato" she whispered. "Hiruzen told me I was the last Uzumaki left in the world."
Minato's eyes softened. He could hear the pain in her voice, the weight she had carried for so long.
"But now," she murmured, her fingers and lips curling slightly, "He's here. Even if we still have to test his blood and check if he is an Uzumaki, the chances are so high. He doesn't know who his family is, he has bright red hair and a massive amount of chakra." She looked up at Minato, something desperate flickering in her gaze. "That means there could be others out there still."
Minato nodded. "It's possible."
Kushina shut her eyes tightly, inhaling shakily. "I thought I had lost all of my family, then you came along and helped me get over the loneliness. And now in a twist of fate you brought home someone that could be part of my family. Thank you, my love."
Minato reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I just did what anyone who loves a person would've done in that situation."
She swallowed hard, blinking rapidly to keep her emotions in check. Then she let out a choked laugh. "Minato."
He raised a brow.
She gave him a watery glare. "I still can't believe you didn't immediately recognize him. For being one of the strongest ninjas in the village you can be airheaded sometimes."
Minato chuckled, relieved she was regaining some of her fire. "What? It's not like I have a special Uzumaki radar, you know."
Kushina rolled her eyes. "Minato. He has our hair. He has our eyes. He even has a similar personality as me! How did you not put it together?"
Minato sighed dramatically. "Alright, I'll give it to you. You're right, I should've known. Only an Uzumaki could have annoyed you as much as he did earlier."
Kushina snorted, lightly punching his shoulder. "Shut up."
He grinned at her. "See? You already sound like family."
Kushina shook her head but smiled. "Whatever, Blondie."