Chapter 31.1- One Thousand Hands

A look at the sun’s position once I stepped out of the tower told me that it was just about time for Kushina to be finished at the academy. Sure, I could stop by the hospital to heal the few wounds that had managed to stick to my body, but Grandmother Mito could just as easily handle that when I got home, and shipping out tomorrow meant that I’d be hard pressed for time to spend with the little kid so it was best to get it over and done with as soon as possible. I jumped across the rooftops, taking a straight path to the academy, and arrived just as the bell rang and the children began to troop out in swarms.

It did not take me long, or even any effort, to find mine. She was a shining spot of red hair surrounded by a few other spots of red hair. The Uzu children had finally made it into the academy about a week or so ago even if the new clan head was still yet to be chosen. i debated calling out her name, but figured there was no point. The second I was within range of hr passive scanning, her neck snapped up and her eyes met mine. I doubted she could even hear the words that were tossed at her from all around as she suddenly began running in my direction. At her height, there was little need to bend to pick her up so she just jumped to cover the rest of the distance and I caught her in my hands, twirling her around once, twice, thrice, and then dropping her back on the floor.

“Shoriiiii. You’re finally back” She said.

“Finally? I was barely even gone for two days.”

“A long time” She said with a serious nod that was echoed by her fellow Uzumaki. I could see it now in the way they followed her around and hung on to her every word. They saw her as a leader figure of some sort. Of course they did. They were new to Konoha, and each and every one of them stuck out like a sore thumb so they probably stuck together for safety and as a group decided to cling to the one who as most used to the situation they found themselves in. It was probably something that someone with much better clearance than me had engineered, but I didn’t particularly care to interrogate the situation further.

“Hello Little ones.” I said, dropping to one knee to let them all meet me eye to eye.

“Kushina, introduce me to all your friends please” I said, and then girl preened under the attention before she began to speak in rapid fire fashion, introducing me to each child and how they were related to her.

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“So Suna, hmmm” Grandmother Mito said, leaning heavily on her cane at the doorframe as I had just finally managed to tire Kushina out for the day and put her to bed in her room.

“Indeed. Did Sarutobi tell you?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

A/N: In progress