As Arashi took his first few steps into the Uzumaki clan he found a few things that were starkly different compared to the main part of the village. One was the peace and quite and the other was the stronger hum in the back of his mind.
'So that feeling is the seals Minato was telling me about, and why this village's energy feels so charged up. It feels even more amplified in this compound as well.' Arashi brushed his hand against one of the many trees lining the path of the main compound.
'Though if this is the Uzumaki compound and they were known for their sealing techniques, it would make sense that they'd take extra care of these seals specifically.' Which could explain why as Arashi wandered into the compound he felt a significant difference in the way that the air felt compared to what the rest of the village felt like, in terms of strength.
Hundreds of them, maybe more, layered into the stone pathways, the wooden gates, even the houses and trees surrounding them on the immediate entry. 'This place feels alive even if it is drained of people compared to the rest of the village.'
He glanced at Minato, but the blond didn't seem fazed by it. He had probably been walking through this place for years.
They moved along a stone pathway, the surroundings dominated by the towering green trees and neatly contained grass. The architecture was distinctly traditional, wooden houses with curved roofs, paper lanterns hanging at the entrances, and intricate carvings decorating the support beams.
To the right, a few abonded shops sat at the edge of the compound, their red lanterns waving in the wind unused.
To the left, a small stone path split off into 7 distinct smaller footpaths, each leading to a small shrine resting beneath cherry blossom trees, its wooden torii gates arching over the paths. A few paper charms fluttered gently in the wind, tied to the branches like prayers caught in the leaves.
Arashi took all of it in with quiet curiosity. "Not bad," he muttered. "Really kinda cozy."
Minato nodded. "It's peaceful when it wants to be."
Arashi lifted a brow. "And when it doesn't want to be?"
"You'll see soon enough," Minato said.
They followed the winding stone path deeper into the compound until it opened into a large courtyard. At its center sat a ring of houses, arranged in a wide rectangle. They weren't grand mansions, but they were a little larger than the other buildings, more sturdy, with reinforced walls and more elaborate carvings.
Arashi immediately picked up on it.
"This is where the important people used to live, huh?" he mused, glancing around. "The clan heads, elders, or something like that."
Minato nodded. "Used to be the heart of the Senju Clan before it was passed down to Kushina. Now, it's just us and I guess you now."
Arashi tilted his head slightly, processing that. "Huh."
"The last remnants of two powerful allied clans who now only had a handful of descendants and a clan compound to show for it, and we are living in it all alone." Minato said as he frowned a little.
Before Arashi could think too much about that statement, he heard a voice.
A very loud voice.
"MINATOOO!"
The sliding door to one of the houses slammed open, and in an instant, a red-haired blur stormed into the courtyard.
Arashi blinked as a fiery woman stomped toward them, her hair as wild as a flame and floating very slightly as if her hair was being effected by static electricity, eyes blazing like an oncoming storm.
And in that moment, Arashi realized three things.
One: This had to be Kushina, Minato's wife.
Two: She was probably the only person in the world who could make Minato Namikaze flinch.
Three: She had almost an identical color of hair as he did.
"Oi, you didn't tell me you were bringing some stray home with you!" Kushina snapped, her piercing eyes immediately locking onto Arashi.
Arashi blinked, taking a second to glance between her and Minato.
Then he grinned.
"Oh, she seems really fun, blondie."
Arashi barely had time to get his remark out before Kushina was right in front of him, standing just inches away.
Her violet eyes narrowed, scanning his face with the kind of scrutiny that made even seasoned shinobi uneasy. He had the distinct feeling that she was looking for something.
And then, before he could react—
She grabbed his face.
Arashi froze as Kushina's hands latched onto his cheeks, squeezing slightly as she pulled his face closer. She turned his head one way, then the other, inspecting him like some kind of rare artifact.
"…What the hell?" Arashi finally managed to say, his voice slightly muffled from how she was squishing his face.
Kushina ignored him. Instead, she tilted her head, eyebrows furrowing as she studied him with intense suspicion.
Minato sighed from beside them. "Kushina…"
She shot him a sharp glare before pointing at Arashi's hair.
"Minato," she said slowly, voice low and serious, "why does this kid look like he could be my cousin?"
Arashi blinked. "Huh?"
Minato exhaled. "I was going to bring that up eventually," Minato admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But I figured I'd let you process his personality first before we got into the genetics."
Kushina whipped back around to face Arashi, who, to his credit, looked thoroughly amused by the situation.
"You," she said, still holding his face.
Arashi gave a big smile and held up a bouquet of flowers he had managed to grow from his right hand and offered them to Kushina. "Me."
Kushina's eyes narrowed as she snatched the flowers from his hand and looked around from where he got the flowers. "What- where did- huh?"
She looked back and forth between the flowers and Arashi as her brain tried to process the events that were happening in front of her. Kushina took a steadying breath before continuing. "Where are you from?"
Arashi shrugged, or at least, tried to, considering she still had his face gripped in her hands.
"No clue."
Kushina stared and stared and stared.
Arashi lifted a brow. "That's usually the part where you say, 'Oh wow, that's tragic, let's move on,' but you're still gripping my face, so I feel like we're going in a different direction."
Kushina squinted even harder, as if doing so would magically extract more answers out of him. "You seriously don't know? Not any clue about where you're from?"
Arashi sighed. "I grew up in the wild. My earliest memories are being raised by wolves. So unless you're about to tell me that you also grew up in a forest full of surprisingly judgmental animals, I don't think we're gonna have much history in common."
Kushina didn't let go.
Minato watched the interaction with thinly veiled amusement.
"Arashi, you might want to start answering her properly," Minato advised. "Kushina isn't known for letting things go easily and she's liable to start getting physical to get the answers she wants."
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Arashi looked with a deadpan.
Kushina finally let go of his face, only to cross her arms and give him a glare so intense it could have burned through steel.
"You're telling me," she said slowly, "that you don't remember anything about your family?"
Arashi shook his head. "Nope. Not a thing."
Kushina's expression twisted slightly, and something flickered in her gaze. It wasn't suspicion anymore, it was something else. Something akin to recognition?
She stared at him for another long moment before stepping back slightly. "Alright," she muttered. "Fine, I'll stop asking questions for now. But this isn't over."
Arashi grinned. "Yeah, I kind of picked that up Red."
Kushina shot Minato a look. "And YOU! You're just okay with picking up random redheads off the street now?"
Minato smirked. "He's not from the street. He was in the forest."
Kushina's eye twitched and her hair floated higher. "Minatooo."
Minato laughed lightly. "Relax honey, I already talked to Lord Third. Arashi's staying here under my watch until he decides that Arashi is all clear."
Kushina looked back at Arashi again, eyes narrowing. "And he's staying here, in this compound?"
Arashi's grin widened. "Looks like it, better get ready to hand over a house."
Kushina sighed, rubbing her temples. "This is going to be a headache."
Minato smirked. "You'll get used to him."
Kushina grumbled something under her breath before finally shaking her head. "Whatever. If you're living here, I need to lay down some ground rules."
Arashi leaned forward slightly, smirking. "Oh? Are you about to give me a list of things I'm not allowed to do? Because I'm gonna warn you now, I don't do well with rules."
Kushina gave him a dangerous smile.
"Oh no, these aren't rules," she said sweetly. "They're laws."