She's My Cousin

Meet and Greet

"Only if he returns to find the scroll she left for him in the floorboard." He was silent for a moment, his brow knotted close together, as if he was trying to figure something out. "The other Kage and I have heard of your mothers passing three and a half years ago, and never told anyone of it," he said slowly, "but, if you're her daughter, where have you been all this time?"

"After her death, I was made a slave to the nobles in my village, which happens to be the Akagawa clan. I served under them for about two years before I was sold to the Kazekage for Five Million Ryo and a promise to give the Akagawa clan my first born should I have one with one of his sons." At that the Hokages eyes widened, but I wasn't finished, "I worked for his and his children for the past year and a half until his youngest son helped me escape as long as I help him with Shukaku when he needed it."

He was silent again, slowly processing the information I just told him. I silently prayed to the God my mother believed in, asking him not to have the Hokage send me back to the Hidden Sand. Suddenly the Hokage smiles and stands, grabbing his hat as he did, and began to walk to the door. "Let's go introduce you to your cousin. If I remember correctly, Iruka was headed to the academy to give him a talking to." I smiled and gladly followed him out of the building and to the academy.

'Thank you, God, for creating such a kind-hearted Hokage...'

*TIME SKIP*

I followed the Hokage to a large, white building with the same Kanji as the Hokage building, it also looked as if it was comprised of several other buildings as well. In front of the building was a tree that has a swing on it, which is where we saw Iruka standing, cutting a line into the tree above a boy with spiky blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and skin just a shade darker than mine. He was wearing a short sleeve, navy blue shirt under a sleeveless orange jacket with dark green 3/4th length pants. His chakra was like the Hokages, warm and inviting, but like Gaara's, there was a hidden dark chakra, full of power and hatred, only it was ten times more powerful than Shukaku's.

"He's a Jinjuriki," I said as we began to walk toward them. I didn't phrase it as a question, but he nodded anyway. "Yes. He holds the Nine-tails." He turns to look at me, "How did you know that?"

"I'm a sensory type like my mother," I said as I watched the boy stepped forward and hold his fist up as he said 'Okay then, I'll work just as hard till that day comes.' Iruka smiled and then turned to look at me and the Hokage. "Lord Hokage," he said as he bowed, then turned to me and smiled again, "Ginko."

"Hello again, Iruka," I smiled. The boy looked from the Hokage to Iruka to me and back again. "Iruka, you may head home. I'll introduce Naruto to Ginko," The Hokage said to Iruka. He nodded and jumped away. Naruto stared at me for a while before he spoke.

"You sure are pretty. You look just like an angel. Believe it." My eyes widened as a smile broke across my face. Only Mama and Kankuro said anything like that to me. The Hokage chuckled lightly. "Naruto, this is your cousin, Ginko Hatake. She says she'd like to stay with you and enroll in the academy."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked from the Hokage to me. "Her mother passed away and has traveled a long way to be with you. She wishes for the village and her father not to know who she is, so she will take on her mother's name and be known as an Uzumaki." Naruto looked back up at the Hokage, who had a serious look on his face. "I need you not to tell anyone her real last name, alright?" Naruto nodded and looked back at me.

He suddenly smiled and tackled me into a hug, knocking the wind out of me as he did. "I've got family!" I laughed and hugged him back. I could hear the Hokage laugh lightly as I hugged Naruto tighter.

"You really are an angel..."

*TIME SKIP*

When I visited Gaara that night, he said he didn't want to go to sleep just yet, he wanted me to tell him all about my trip to the village and my cousin. He was lying on his back on the Kazekage building, one arm behind his head and one around me so I wouldn't fall off of the round building.

"And you wouldn't believe how many trees are there, Gaara. There's Sycamores, Aspers, Sweet Gums, Sassafras's, Hickories, and so many Maples. There's probably more I haven't seen yet, me and Naruto only saw about half the village. He said that tomorrow, when he gets but of the academy, we'll see the rest on the village and have ramen at Ichiraku's, which is supposed to have the best ramen in the world. You should've seen his face when I told him I've never had ramen before, you'd think I told him I've never breathed before." I kept on talking for who knows how long, but Gaara never said anything about it.

When I finally finished talking, I noticed that the moon was shining high in the sky with the stars twinkling in the background. "You like it there?" I nodded and whispered back, not wanting to disturb the peace of the night. "Yeah, it's new and colorful and all, but I don't think it could ever replace the home I found here." I look up and instantly found Orion's Belt. It was quiet for a while, the only noise was a coyote howling somewhere in the distance.

"What's your cousin like?" Gaara asked in a quiet voice. "He's hyperactive and a little bit of a knuckle head, but a total sweetheart." I couldn't help but smile as I thought of him, "he also has this dream of becoming Hokage and proving himself to the village, because all they see when they look at him is the Nine-Tailed Fox that's sealed inside of him." My smile left as quick as it came as I remembered the looks on the villagers' faces, "The looks they gave him and the things they said... it's just like your village and mine. No matter where I go, there's always hatred," I whispered.

I was staring into space, my mind somewhere else, when I felt something warm cover my hand. I looked down to see Gaaras hand on mine. "You know, you two are a lot alike..." I said more to myself than I did to him. I felt him tense a little, so I sat up and looked at him.

He could barely keep his eyes open, I could see how hard it was for him to stay awake. I'd had put Shukaku to sleep before I started talking like he wanted me to, so I don't know why he stayed up listening to me if he was so tired.

"You need your sleep," I whispered as moved to place my hand on his head, but he tightened his gripped my hand. "I don't need to be put to sleep this time," he whispered. I turned to look the hand he had a hold of. He wasn't squeezing it like he did when I first meet him, he was as if he didn't want to hurt me. "Do you want to go inside?" I looked back at him and see him shake his head, his eyes never opening. "We can stay out here," he whispered as he gently pushed me back down with his sand. "You need to sleep as well."

"But-"

"Sleep." I kept my mouth shut after that. Slaves weren't supposed to talk back, nor do they disobey a command, but I don't understand his actions. I've always stayed up to keep watch and keep Shukaku at bay, but now he wants me to sleep... and the original plan was that I visit him every night so he knows that I'm alive.

Did something happen to change him? And he's never been this... gentle, either. My mother always said I had Dads smarts and that I was a natural genius, but I think this is one of those times when miracles happen, as Mama would say. It's unexplainable.

I yawned as my eyes grew heavy. I closed my eyes and got closer to Gaara so I could stay warm. I felt something warm surround me as I slowly drifted off to sleep.