Uzumaki

29: How Much You Mean

We were returning to the Leaf village by foot for teleporting more than one person wasn't something I'm confident in doing.

Halfway there I stop when I sense a familiar chakra. "Yuki?" I look at Shisui after he grabs my shoulder to snap me out of my swirling thoughts.

"Is it an enemy?" I nod no.

"It's not that, but I want to check it out." I comment as I look at the direction the chakra is.

"We'll go with you." I stop them.

"No. Go back to the Leaf and tell Lord Third what happened. I'll be there soon if I'm wrong." They all look at me, Shisui turns to Gai's teammates.

"You three go on ahead we'll catch up, tell the Third we're looking into something Yuki came across as strange." They nod and they take off.

I don't wait to follow the familiar chakra, "Yuki who do you sense?" I don't skip a beat.

"My father." Shisui stops me.

"Yuki that's impossible." I look at him.

"But it's not. In one of the mist ninjas memories, my parent's were leading people out of the village when they died. I watched my mother die but my father got away for my mother ordered him to find us. What if he found my sister and left to a safe location?" Something I haven't felt in years, hope, fills inside me.

"Yuki what if you're wrong?" I squeeze the hand he has on my shoulder.

"What if I'm right? Besides it's not possible to duplicate someone's chakra signature." He looks at me before letting his hand fall to his side.

"Lead the way." We make our way to a small village, as I follow my father's chakra signature, I stop in front of a bar, I look into the window and sitting at the back of the bar was my father, the man next to him nudges him and points to the window. 

My father looks at me and the drink slips out of his hand, his eyes go wide as he realizes I'm real. I felt like crying, the wetness of my cheeks told me I was crying. He stumbles out of the stool and to the door, "Yuki is that him?" I nod and he runs out, "Ritsku!" 

"Dad!" I hold onto him as I cry my eyes out, I'm not the only one anymore. I have my dad. He pulls me back and kneels in front of me.

"Look at you, you've gotten so big," I nod as I try and ignore the rum on his breath.

"A lot has happened since then dad." He smiles at me before wiping the tears from his face.

"And who is this?" He looks at Shisui.

"He's my friend, Shisui." My dad shakes his hand before looking at me.

"I am so happy to see you," I nod and wipe the tears.

"Me too dad. It's been just me. We couldn't find you or mom and we didn't know where Mika was, so we just left. Yukimaru died protecting me dad." I start to cry again and he hugs me.

"I'm so sorry you've been through this all alone. I should have looked harder." He rushes to speak.

"I wasn't alone," I tell him about being rescued by the Leaf Village and about living with Kushina and Minato.

"They've been good to me, I even have friends that care about me." He thanks Shisui before taking my hand and we walk down the street.

"Wait until you meet your cousins, you're going to like them, and your uncle is going to be so happy you're okay." My dad was bursting with happiness

"Uncles? I have cousins? Is mom here too?!" I look at him hopefully and he stops walking, the sadness he had when he was drinking was back. He squeezes my hand as he tells me my mom is dead. 

I look at the floor, I should have known it was to good to be true, well at least I now have my dad. "So how come we never visited your brother before?" His face changes once more.

"Oh your mother believe you were more Uzumaki than Senju and I agreed so we stayed in Uzushiogakure Village instead of here." He sighs before continuing.

"We planned on bringing you guys to visit my home village more often, but once every six months was all we could do."

We make our way to a small house away from the village, the back of the house was surrounded by wooden areas, and fields around the front. "It's a mess inside, wait here I'll go look for him." I nod and Shisui and I walk over to the fire pit and sit on the logs.

"Yuki?" I look at Shisui, "why does he call you Ritsku?"

I sigh, "because it's my name. Ritsku Senju is my birth name." I stop him from asking and continue.

"After Uzushiogakure I didn't feel like the me so I figured I'd do away with Ritsku Senju. I'd take a piece of the people I lost that day so I took Yuki in honor of the brother who died getting me to safety and Uzumaki in honor of the clan I lost." I look at my hands.

"You have your father back so what are you doing to do now?" I look at the house.

"Yuki Uzumaki is a member of the Leaf Village. I am not ready to let that go. I don't ever want to let that go. So my dad can call me Ritsku and when the time is right I'll tell him about my new life." He nods as the door slides open.

An older version of my father walks out. They have the same straight cut, long brown hair and eyes. Both were tall and built, but lean.

"I'm Sabirama, I'm your uncle, Ritsku. Don't worry about the small space. We'll make room for you."

I look at him puzzled, "room?" He nods and says a room where I can live in.

"I live at the Leaf Village, I'm sorry dad." I look at him and I bow in apologies.

"During these past few years I've gained a family and friends at the Leaf. I can't leave so suddenly, but I promise to visit frequently." I look up, he had a sad smile and was staring at me.

"What a wonderful child you are. I understand. I'll get us a house of our own and when the time comes you can come and go always whenever you like." I thank my dad as I hug him.

I pull out a kunai and give it to him, "keep this. As long as you have it I can come and go whenever. Oh just leave it on the ground somewhere spacious," I tell him and he looks at me puzzled. I tell him to trust me. Shisui returns to the Leaf while I stay behind and catch up with my father.