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Chapter Text

The Hidden Eddy Village was without a doubt a force to be feared by many shinobi villages. Their sealing jutsu was the main reason for that. The villages with tailed beasts were especially wary of them, since they could use their sealing jutsu to extract their tailed beasts from the jinchuriki. And there was also the fact they had deep connections to the Hidden Leaf. 

Knowing full well the power that they could have if they could put their hands on some of those sealing jutsu, the Hidden Cloud craved to infiltrate it and steal some of their secrets. However, their shinobi were truly strong, especially those belonging to the Uzumaki clan, their most prominent one, and the Third Raikage and his forces were having trouble in infiltrating the village. However, that would change... 

According to his spies that he had strategically placed around the other big shinobi villages, there has been a great commotion, especially on the Stone and smaller villages around it, having to do with intel regarding the possibility of the Hidden Eddy to attack them by surprise and take that opportunity to capture any of the Stone’s jinchuriki to extract their tailed beasts and seal them away to then give them to the Leaf in order to prevent the war that was clearly building up between the two great villages. 

The Raikage didn’t know if that intel was real or even if the Leaf knew what the Eddy Village was potentially planning. However, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that the Stone Village and other lesser villages were planning to attack the Eddy Village before it could attack them first. That was the opportunity that he was waiting for. The moment the village was attacked, they would be vulnerable, and he and his forces would be able to infiltrate and take the secret jutsu much easier. 

After having confirmation of the day and time the attack would happen, the Raikage gathered a team led by himself. This was an important mission to be led by another that was not himself. With him, he had Dodai, between a handful of other Cloud shinobi. They waited in a strategic place, based on the intel of the place where the attack would hit. 

“Wait until the attack starts” the Third Raikage said to his men. “As soon they are focused on them, we advance. We go directly to our objective. Don’t disperse formation for anything until we secure the jutsu.” 

“Yes, Lord Raikage!” the men answered promptly. 

It didn’t take long for a big explosion to happen and then a great commotion to initiated. 

“Okay, this is it” the Raikage said. “Let’s be quick and precise. Remember: no straying away and eliminate anyone that stands in the way.” 

“Yes, sir!” his men replied. 

And so the Cloud ninja advanced to infiltrate the Eddy village and advanced towards the place where they had their secret jutsu. As the Raikage had predicted, the size of the attack had forced the Eddy village to mobolize most of its forces to deal with the invaders, leaving the vault with the secret jutsu less protected. After taking care of the guards, the Cloud ninja got holder of some of the secret jutsu there and, as soon they were done, they mobilized to escape the village, before they were too much caught up in the crossfire. 

As they walked on the rooftops, some enemies would come after them. Most of them were ninja from the Eddy village, but others were from the attackers, especially Stone ninja. However, with the Third Raikage with them, leading the way, they would just take them ou as they passed, since the Raikage’s Cloak of Lightning would just deflect any attacker, while the others would take care of the rear. It was then that one of them, the sensory shinobi of the group, stopped, saying: 

“Wait...” 

“What is it?” Raikage asked. “Do you feel a powerful enemy coming our way?” 

“I... don’t know exactly, my lord” he replied. “I feel a small, but powerful chakra nearby. I don’t feel it to be dangerous, but... It’s a chakra like any other.” 

The Third Raikage got intrigued. He knew he and his team were on the clock, but the fact his personal sensory shinobi got impressed by a chakra was enough to pick his interest. 

“Dodai, you and the others go ahead” Raikage said, as he delivered to him the bag with the secret jutsu. “I’ll get to you later.” 

“Are you sure, Lord Raikage?” Dodai asked. “As he said, it doesn’t appear to be dangerous.” 

“I will do a quick peek” the Third Raikage said. “But for that, I need you to ensure the mission. Go now and I will get there soon enough.”

“Yes, sir” Dodai replied, as he and the others continued their way. 

Meanwhile, the Third Raikage went at the direction his sensory shinobi told him and so he found a scene that was curious. While landing on a rooftop, he saw as a young kunoichi (who seemed to be around ten or eleven years old) fighting a Stone shinobi. The girl had a distinctive red hair, while using her Eddy village headband. The Raikage got impressed by the tenacity of the girl, as she actually managed to knock out her adversary, despite looking to be still a genin. 

But her luck seemed to have run out when two other Stone shinobi came around and effortless tossed her back against the floor, taking their kunai to kill her. Raikage sighed, as he felt bad for the little girl who seemed to have a lot of potential. But before he could leave, something happened that completely caught him off guard. 

As the girl found himself cornered and about to be killed, her fear activated something in her, as she screamed and chains made of chakra came out of her and pierced through one of the two shinobi. Seeing that, the Raikage got very surprised. He had heard about that type of jutsu that was quite rare, something that only a very rare and powerful type of chakra could summon. That girl really was especial... and it would be a terrible waste if he would come to allow her to die at that moment.

The other Stone shinobi had been able to dodge the chains, which, due to Kushina’s unexperience, were not as powerful as they should be. Realizing the danger that the girl represented, he knew he had to get rid of her. However, before he could do anything, he felt an immense sudden pain trespassing his chest. When he looked down, he saw a hand charged with lightning aura. The Third Raikage had used his Thrust of Hell on the Stone shinobi who had a terrified look, before coughing blood and fall on the ground after the Raikage removed his hand from his chest. 

After that, he turned to the girl, who was filled with terror, despite her initial courageous demeanor. One thing that perhaps contributed to that was that sudden powerful jutsu that came out from her when she felt threatened. Raikage and the girl switched a few looks, while the chakra chains started to retreat, coming out of the Stone shinobi’s body and into her. After the chains went completely into her, the girl simply passed out.  

The leader of the Hidden Cloud approached her and went to check on her and saw that she was still alive. Besides that, all she had were minor injuries. Judging for the amount of sweat, the irregularity of her breathing and her accelerated heartbeat, she had just passed out on exhaustion... both physically and emotionally. But the Raikage couldn’t help but be impressed by what that girl just performed. He had already heard about that jutsu and, after watching the girl carefully, he realized how luck he was that he decided to follow his curiosity. 

He then heard movement approaching. He needed to get out of there as soon as possible, before he was caught in the crossfire between the Eddy Village and its attackers. And so, he picked the girl up, putting her over his shoulder and jumped to the rooftops and moved away. 

Dodai and the rest of team arrived to their base camp and, not long after, the Third Raikage arrived as well, transporting Kushina. Noticing the girl, Dodai asked: 

“Lord Raikage, who is that?” 

“The source of the chakra” he replied, as he put down the girl, placing her. “This girl possesses a great power inside her. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It took me a few moments, but now I get it. The powerful chakra, that red hair and the jutsu I saw... She must be part of the Uzumaki clan.” 

“So... what will we do with the girl, my lord?” Dodai asked. 

“We’ll take her with us” the Raikage said. “We can’t let this much potential go to waste. Besides, as of tonight, this girl will no longer have a village to return to. Her family is possible either dead, captured or lost. She has no one to turn to. We’ll turn her into an asset to our village.” 

Dodai and the others nother. And so, after they dismantled their camp, the Raikage put the girl back on his shoulder and they started to move away from the Hidden Eddy Village, which was now falling into its own end.

Chapter Text

After being able to successfully steal some of the Hidden Eddy's secret jutsu, the Raikage and his men advanced as further away they could from the village that was now falling into its ruin. Not only were they able to get some of secret jutsu, but they had also brought the girl that the Third Raikage had saved and taken. It didn't take long for them to reach the ship that they had used to reach the island that was the Land of Whirlpools.

"Lord Raikage, welcome aboard!" the captain of the ship said, as he and the other sailors greeted their leader, as he and the others came onto the vessel. "I assume that you've been successful in the mission.

"Indeed we were" he replied, as the jutsus were handed to some of the Cloud ninja on board. "I want the secret jutsus placed on the vault and watched at all times."

"We'll do, sir" the captain said, noticing then the girl the Raikage was transporting on his shoulder. "And who is that? A prisoner?"

"She's... a guest" the Raikage replied, handling the girl to the captain. "Make sure you give her the proper care."

"Yes, sir!" the captain replied, as he went to get subordinates to take the girl to the infirmary.

"And let's get moving!" the Raikage shouted to everyone. "I want this ship away from this land as fast as possible, before we raise undesirable attention."

Soon enough, the ship was able to set sail and move away from the Land of Whirlpools. Of course, they had to move slowly at first in order to pass through the whirlpools existing near the shore, but after that, they started heading towards the Land of Lightning at full speed.

Raikage went to the office of the ship and, while he was taking care of some paperwork, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in" he said.

The door opened and Dodai entered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Lord Raikage" he said, while closing the door.

"Not at all, Dodai" he replied. "What is it? Is there any problem?"

"No, but I couldn't help but wonder about one thing" Dodai said. "I still can't understand your reason to bring that young kunoichi from the Hidden Eddy. I get that she may have a powerful chakra and all, but... It's not like we don't have powerful shinobi at our village already. And I am not just talking about you and your son."

The Raikage took a moment to answer, but then he said:

"To tell you the truth... I don't have a concrete answer to tell you. Maybe I just got too amazed by the jutsu I saw her using. But there's also the fact that little girl, a simple genin, was able to stand on her own against much more experienced shinobi. However, we cannot ignore the fact that, being an Uzumaki, she may be useful for when we try to master the secret jutsu."

"Even so... Do you think she will be willing to join our village?" Dodai asked. "Even if we manage to convince her we have nothing to do with the attack at her village, we did take advantage of it to steal the secret jutsu. And we don't truly know how if her family is either alive or not. Not to mention that her village did have close bonds with the Leaf. She may want to join them."

"I understand those worries, Dodai" the Raikage said. "But it's not uncommon for shinobi who lost their villages to join others... especially when we can give her the right motivation to join us."

Dodai wondered what kind of motivation he was talking about, but then the door to the office opened suddenly and a Cloud shinobi entered, saying then:

"Lord Raikage! We need you!"

"What is it?" he asked. "Is an enemy village attacking us."

"No... it's the girl you brough!" the shinobi replied. "She's awakened and... she is causing trouble!"

Both the Raikage and Dodai got surprised by that. The way the girl was, she shouldn't wake up for a long time... much less be able to cause trouble to a group of strong Cloud shinobi.

Below deck, the girl had managed to get out of the infirmary and was trying to get away from wherever she was. The Cloud shinobi that crossed her path tried to stop her, but with her always being able to take them down and continue her away.

"Leave me alone, you Cloud jerks!" she shouted as she continued.

It was then that she was able to reach the top level, the one at the deck level. She could see the entrance in front of her. But when she was about to reach it, she sensed something and went down, in time of avoiding a rubber-like substance that hit the door and made it unmovable. She turned around and saw Dodai.

"Now, now, little girl" he said. "Is that the thanks we get for saving you?"

"Saving me?!" she exclaimed. "You're Cloud shinobi! You... you were at my village, right?! You helped those Stone ninja invade us!"

"I'm afraid that you are quite mistaken about that..." Dodai started.

But he didn't finish, as the girl simply didn't want to listen to him, with tears on her eyes, while shouting:

"You will pay for everything!"

She started running towards Dodai to attack him. However, the man didn't move. At a blink of an eye, the Raikage appeared between them, covered by his Lightning Coat. He took the girl's attack, looking nothing but an immovable wall as it did nothing to him. After that, he grabbed the girls by the hands, suspending her, and said:

"Now, that's enough of that. If you were a prisoner, you wouldn't be in an infirmary, but in a cell, little girl."

But it would appear she wasn't even listening to him, as she was trying to free herself from the Raikage's grasp. Noticing her feistiness, he got pretty impressed how much she was giving her all, even if not long ago she had exhausted herself. The Uzumaki clan's immense chakra reserves... the secret behind of their longevity... the secret behind their great stamina... all of them were very impressive. The Raikage could only imagine what would happen if the Cloud ninja had the same characteristic.

He then threw the girl towards the rubber-like substance Dodai created to seal the exit, with him then tossing more on the girl's hands and torso, making it hard enough to not stretch too much. She tried to free herself, but without success.

"Now, you listen to me carefully" the Raikage said, as he approached and kneeled to be at the same level as her. "We were not the ones to attack your village. That was the Stone, together with neighboring villages, afraid of what your people could do against them. We just took advantage of that for our own interest. And if you don't believe us... It doesn't matter, we have proof of what I am saying. But one thing will not change: your village is gone. Most likely, most of you companions are dead, while the others just escaped as far as they could get. And you... Well, you got lucky. I saved you from Stone ninja who would not hesitate in killing you. Like I said, you are not a prisoner. So, it's really ungrateful how you just attacked the ones that prevented you from dying."

The Raikage's words were pretty tough for the girl, who couldn't help it but drop all the defenses she had raised now that she had been contained and had come to face the truth of the reality. She came undone, with tears starting to come down her eyes.

"They... killed my parents... they destroyed my village... And now... I have nothing..."

Even if it was disgraceful for a ninja to show any emotion, that was still a child... a child that had lost everything she had. However, even if he felt sorry for her, he couldn't help but notice that was the perfect opportunity to sway her to his side.

"So what if you have nothing?" he asked, making the girl look at him. "Is that any reason to gloom about? A real shinobi doesn't mope around crying about what they had lost. A real shinobi stands up and keep moving forward. You lost everything you love... but you can still stand and build a new life, find new things to love."

He stood up and then, using his lightning coat, he cut the rubber that was holding the girl and continued:

"Here's my offer, little girl... I will give you a place in my village. However, for you to truly own your place, you will have to prove yourself worthy of it. Do that and you'll see that, when you least expect, you will have rebuilt the happiness that you have lost. Not to mention that, by joining us, you may get the chance to avenge the fall of your people."

Despite that offer, the girl was still unsure about what to do. She had heard about the reputation that the Hidden Cloud had. That they prioritized the enhancement of their military power, even in times of peace, so they could have the upper hand in case of another war came to happen. Even if she understood their reasoning, that type of behavior had also caused the other villages to do the same and, in this way, increasing the risk of conflict.

However, it was not like she had any other choice. Not to mention that the Raikage's promise of avenging his parents was actually quite enticing. And so she found herself nodding before his offering. A smile appeared on the face of the leader of the Hidden Cloud and he asked:

"Tell me, what is your name?"

"Kushina... Uzumaki" she replied.

"Well, Kushina, you have just made the best decision you could have done" the Raikage said. "Welcome to the Hidden Cloud."

He extended his hand to her and, even if hesitantly, Kushina took it and was helpd by the Raikage to stand up. Other Cloud shinobi arrived there and the Raikage told them:

"The situation has been resolved. Please, take this girl back to the infirmary and take good care of her."

"Yes, sir" they said, as they went to escort Kushina back to the infirmary.

As they saw her moving away, Dodai approached the Raikage:

"That was very well done, my lord. The way you convinced her to join us..."

"I meant every word of it" he said, as he crossed his arms. "It doesn't matter their origin... A shinobi's worth is measured by what they can give to enhance the strength their village. And she has a lot to offer. That feistiness... that determination... not to mention the power she possesses... I knew she had guts and potential... But to be able to knock down some of the shinobi I personally chose for this mission... Can you imagine how much our forces will benefit with her?"

"After seeing it at close... I have to admit she seems to be rather special" Dodai answered.

"And you haven't seen what she can really do" the Raikage said. "You know, Dodai, that kind of power... Can you imagine if a Raikage possessed it? A Raikage with the vitality of an Uzumaki... it would be a force of nature..."

"My lord, you're not thinking..." Dodai started.

"It's just... an idea" the Raikage said. "That girl is still young... and my son is just seventeen. Who knows what can happen... But it would be rather reassuring if that idea did become a reality..."