Naruto stood at Konoha's gates at dawn, a weathered pack slung over his shoulder. The village still bore scars from the invasion, but his path now led elsewhere. Behind him, a soft voice broke the silence.
"Did you think I'd let you go alone?"
He turned to see Haku Yuki, her lavender hair tied back, a medical kit, and tanto strapped to her waist. Her wounds from the Gaara fight had healed, but faint bandages still peeked beneath her sleeves.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You're supposed to be resting."
Haku smiled faintly. "Resting is what graves are for. You need someone to keep you from drowning in those whirlpools."
They set off toward Wave Country, the road winding through mist-shrouded forests and crumbling coastal towns.
The journey to Uzushiogakure was anything but smooth. After surviving the whirlpools, Naruto and Haku set up camp on the outskirts of the ruins. As Naruto gathered firewood, Haku prepared a meal, her movements precise but playful.
"You're hopeless at cooking," she teased, nudging him aside as he nearly burned the fish. "Let me handle this."
Naruto grinned, leaning back against a rock. "Hey, I survived on cup ramen for years. This is gourmet for me."
Haku rolled her eyes, handing him a perfectly grilled fish. "You'd starve without me."
Later, a sudden downpour forced them into a cramped cave. Naruto's cloak draped over Haku's shoulders as she shivered. "You're... warm," she muttered, cheeks pink.
"Yeah, well, you're freezing," Naruto replied awkwardly, staring at the fire.
The rain pattered outside. For a moment, the weight of their mission faded.
Days later, they reached the shores of Wave, where fishermen whispered of Uzushiogakure's cursed waters. A rickety boat awaited them, its owner refusing to venture further.
"The whirlpools swallow ya whole," he warned. "No one survives the Uzumaki's wrath."
Naruto tossed him a pouch of coins. "We'll take our chances."
The sea roared as they sailed into the storm. Towering whirlpools churned around them, dragging the boat toward oblivion. Haku gripped the rails, her knuckles white.
"Naruto—!"
He placed a hand on the hull, his chakra flaring. The whirlpools paused, then parted like loyal hounds recognizing their master. The water stilled, forming a path to the distant ruins.
Haku stared. "How...?"
Naruto's Six Eyes glowed. "They remember my blood."
In Konoha, Menma paced his room, fists trembling. The whispers followed him everywhere: "Naruto saved the village... Naruto defeated Gaara... Naruto, Naruto, Naruto."
Kushina knocked softly. "Menma? Let's train together. Your father can teach you—"
"I don't want his help!" Menma snapped. "Why does everyone care about him now?!"
Mito lingered in the doorway, her voice gentle. "He's our brother. We're a family."
Menma scoffed. "Family? He's a stranger. And you're just his shadow."
Later, Danzo found him in the forest, smashing trees with wild fireballs.
"Such rage," Danzo mused. "Wasted on envy. What if I told you there's a way to surpass him?"
Menma's eyes narrowed. "How?"
Danzo unveiled a cursed seal scroll. "Power demands sacrifice. Will you pay the price?"
Tsunade's office echoed with the clatter of scrolls. Hinata and Sakura stood at attention, determination burning in their eyes.
"We want to train under you, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said. "We won't hold back."
Tsunade smirked. "Prove it. Hinata—break that boulder with your Gentle Fist. Sakura—heal this wound in under a minute."
Hinata's palms glowed as she struck the boulder, fissures spiderwebbing across its surface. Sakura's hands trembled over Tsunade's self-inflicted cut, green chakra stitching flesh seamlessly.
"Not bad," Tsunade grunted. "But you'll need thicker skin. Starting tomorrow, you'll train with the ANBU. No whining."
Under Danzo's tutelage, Menma endured grueling trials. A cursed seal burned into his arm, its dark chakra amplifying his rage.
"Again!" Danzo barked as Menma's fireball incinerated a target. "Naruto would've vaporized it."
Menma roared, flames engulfing the forest. I'll make him regret leaving me behind.
Back in Uzushiogakure, its shattered spires loomed ahead, crimson spirals cracked but defiant. As they docked, the stench of decay hit them—rotting corpses in tattered Uzumaki robes littered the streets, bones picked clean by scavengers. Foreign ninja skeletons lay beside them, blades still lodged in Uzumaki ribs.
Naruto fell to his knees, trembling. "They... they never buried them. They just left them to rot."
Haku placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll give them peace."
For hours, they worked. Naruto carved graves with his tanto, and Haku weaved ice coffins for the Uzumaki dead. He burned the invaders' remains, their ashes scattering on the vengeful wind.
"Sleep well," Naruto whispered, planting the Uzumaki crest atop the mass grave. "Your fight's over."
At the island's heart stood a crumbling temple, its doors sealed with a spiral lock. Naruto's chakra pulsed, and the mechanism clicked open.
Haku hesitated. "This is your family's sanctum. I'll keep watch here."
Naruto nodded, stepping inside. The air hummed as torches flared to life, revealing a circular chamber lined with faded murals of Uzumaki warriors wielding storms. At the center stood nine stone tablets, each carved with a tempest sigil.
A chorus of voices echoed.
"Welcome home, child of storms."
Elderly spirits materialized—Uzumaki clan leaders, their translucent forms crowned with fiery red hair. The eldest stepped forward, her eyes sharp as lightning.
"You carry our blood, yet your body remains a locked vault. The Six Eyes, the Storm Release... you wield fragments, not the whole."
Naruto clenched his fists. "Teach me."
"First, you must survive the Trials of Ascension—three tests forged by our ancestors. Each will break you... or remake you."
The floor shuddered. A staircase spiraled downward into darkness.
"Begin with the Trial of the Hurricane Labyrinth. Prove you are worthy of the storm."
Naruto emerged from the temple at dusk, his face etched with resolve. Haku stood waiting, her ice mirrors reflecting the sunset.
"How long will these trials take?" she asked.
"As long as they need to," Naruto said, staring at the horizon. "Stay or go. Your choice."
Haku sheathed her tanto. "I didn't come this far to quit."
They camped in the temple's shadow, the ghosts of Uzushiogakure whispering in the wind.