Hidden Within

Prologue

With a grateful sigh Uzumaki Mitsu slid the door closed behind her. Mai was going to be alright, she just need some rest, the injuries she had were minor and would be healed by tomorrow. She ran her hand through her long russet red hair; now that Mai was seen to she had a million other things that needed to be done. She leaned back against the door and closed her eyes for a moment. Gods, how she hated this war, so many of her Clan were going out to fight and coming back injured or, worse, not coming back at all.

But the worst part was the fact that she had to stay behind in the village to look after the day to day business of the Clan while her brother, the Head of the Clan was off fighting. She gave a snort, well he wasn’t off fighting at this instant, in fact, he was in his rooms recovering from a few minor injuries himself. The result of throwing himself headfirst into the fray, and of course Mai had to follow him, which was how she had become injured. Mitsu opened her eyes and gave a mischievous grin, her dearest brother should be well enough to receive a major tongue lashing from her. She started to purposefully walk off to her brother’s rooms but as she rounded a corner she almost ran into her 16 year old nephew.

“Akira! I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you there.” She exclaimed.

He grinned at her, his green eyes dancing with merriment, “That’s alright; I was just coming to find you. Mum’s just come home from the hospital and she is mad. In fact you can probably hear her now.”

They both went quiet and heard the faint noise of shouting clear across the compound. Mitsu gave a snicker, maybe she could save her lecture for later.

“How’s Mai-sama?” Akira asked concern suffusing his voice.

His aunt looked down at him with a small smile, “She’ll be fine, just a few scrapes from having to rescue your idiot father.”

Akira gave a laugh. He looked just like his father with blonde hair cut short, and a grin always hanging in the corners of his mouth. But whereas most of the family had blue eyes, Akira had inherited his mother’s green eyes. Suddenly Akira’s face fell.

“Dad will be going back out to fight as soon as he has recovered, won’t he? And Mai-sama will be going out in a few days.”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Mitsu replied with a sigh, then she gave a weak grin, “I wouldn’t worry to much, Mai has suffered much worse then this and has still managed to survive and save the butts of various family members throughout the years.”

Akira brightened, “Really?”

She nodded, “Yep, and try not to worry about your father too much, Mai will do her best to keep him, and the rest of the Clan, from harm. And you know how strong she is, so you should know that everyone is in the best of hands.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Akira replied.

“Well, I’ve got work to do, so why don’t you join me?” Mitsu asked.

Akira rubbed the back of his head, “I might as well; Mum is going to be awhile chewing out Dad.”

Mitsu just grinned and started walking towards the administration buildings located near the entrance of the complex. When they arrived she let them into the office allocated for the Head and flopped into the chair. Akira took the seat opposite his Aunt and looked up at the picture hanging above her head. I t was a portrait of his ancestor, Uzumaki Naruto. Mitsu followed his gaze up to wall.

“You know, I always wondered what it would have been like to know him personally.” Akira said.

Mitsu gave a chuckle, “Why don’t you talk to Mai, she could tell you plenty of stories. Hell I could probably tell you half of them; I’ve listened to them so many times.”

Akira fidgeted with the Clan crest embroidered on the chest of his shirt, “Would Mai-sama be awake?”

“No, she needs her rest.”

At that moment two kids came running in, squealing with glee, both boys and both sporting the same russet red hair that she did.

“Mitsu-chan! Mitsu-chan! Ryuko-kun is using the fox transformation on us! He said he had to practice the shape! Please help us hide!”

Mitsu stalled their progress by holding up a hand, “Well, you can’t hide in here I’m busy. Besides if you can practice hiding from Ryuko-chan by yourselves then you will be technically training.”

The two boys thought about the statement for a moment before identical grins crossed their faces and they bolted out the door. A couple of moments later, a flash of gold raced past her open door. Akira was laughing silently in his chair. Mitsu leaned back in here chair with a suffering sigh as she looked at the paperwork in front of her.

“You know I’m half tempted to take this and go dump it on your fathers bed.” She said pulling a face.

“You know, that is a perfect idea!” a new voice said.

Akira and Mitsu both looked up at the door to see Akira’s mother, Midori, standing in the doorway. Midori had actually married into the Clan, so she didn’t share the distinctive blonde or red hair of the Clan. She had in fact come from the Uchiha Clan, and shared their darker coloring with black hair and dark emerald eyes that she passed onto her son. But since she was born without the bloodline trait, she had elected to become a Medical Ninja and now worked primarily in the hospital, patching up the Ninjas that came in from the battle field. She was a gentle soul, who loved her family dearly. Right now, however, her dark eyes were snapping with anger, a grim smile graced her lips. That expression boded nothing good, so much so that her son Akira actually shrunk down into the chair, even though he wasn’t the target of her wrath. Midori marched forward and picked up the small pile of papers.

“My husband can still read and write and these would be a perfect way to keep him in bed.” She turned to Mitsu, her expression softening, “Besides you could do with a day off.” And without another word she swept out of the office.

Mitsu just shrugged and stuck her hands behind her head, turning the chair to look up at the picture on the wall. But out the corner of her eye she could she Akira’s expression darkening to one of worry. She knew what he was worrying about, the same thing she was constantly worrying about these days. Akira had become a ninja and was one of the chuunin chosen to stay behind in the village as a kind of guard. Secretly Mitsu was glad, because it meant one less person to worry about whether or not they would be coming back home alive. She closed her eyes, she had buried too many already. She opened her eyes again, both she a Akira needed a distraction from these morbid thoughts

“Akira.” She said softly, “have you ever heard the story of how Mai and Naruto met?”

Akira thought for a moment, “No, I haven’t.”

Mitsu spun back around, rubbing her hands in anticipation, “Oh, then your in for a treat, because it is one of the best stories I have ever heard.”

Akira settled into his chair a bit more, an interested look on his face, “Well let’s hear it then.” He said.

She pursed her lips and look off into space, “Well, let’s see…. Naruto was eighteen and had gone out to meet his former mentor, Jiraiya, who was retuning back from a mission. Now, if I remember the story correctly, Naruto had gone out to meet him on the road because he was convinced that Jiraiya could teach him a new technique…”