AN: Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoy this Chapter! I came across something interesting when I was looking up the word for nephew in Japanese, it is listed as oi….so to prevent confusion between the use of oi as hey and oi as in nephew the few times that I will use it meaning nephew I will write it as oi-kun. Please read and review!

Disclaimer: This story is mine, the characters and their worlds are not, they belong to their original creators only!

Chapter 1

Kenshin watched as Yahiko ran ahead of him through the outer gates to the Kamiya compound, eager to get ready for his training session. Kenshin had promised to spar with the boy after dinner, he was curious to see how far the boy was coming along under Kaoru's tutelage.

"He is so energetic today! To bad he wasn't like this for every training session." Kaoru said with a laugh.

"He is that Kaoru-dono, that he is!" He said a content smile on his face. As they approached the gate, Kenshin paused. His gut was issuing a warning of danger seconds before he heard the slight whistle of an incoming weapon.

"Kaoru-dono get down!" He exclaimed as he dropped the basket of vegetables he was carrying to grab Kaoru, pushing her down onto the side of the road as he graceful turned in a crouch, his right hand flying to the hilt of his Sakabatou. The dull thunk of metal hitting wood barely registering with him as he scanned the area for danger. His bright violet eyes scanned carefully, but nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. After another moment he slowly stood up, his hand never leaving his sword.

"Kaoru-dono, get inside quickly. I am going to investigate." He said, casting a stern look to the woman behind him as she too got to her feet.

"Kenshin, what is going on?" Kaoru asked, worry evident in her voice. "Who is trying to attack us?"

"I do not know." He said. As he started to turn back he saw it. A kunai with a letter attached to it was imbedded in the wood that framed the gate to the compound. But this kunai was different from the ones Misao and the others used, and eerily familiar. Moving forward quickly he easily pried the kunai out of the wood and untied the note. What he read next nearly made his heart stop.

Her legacy yet lives. His will of fire burns brightly, hidden among the leaves. Proof lies written for all to see on the great bridge in the land of waves.

"Kenshin, what's wrong?! What does that note say?!" Kaoru asked as she snached the note and kunai out of Kenshin's grasp. Confusion was written all over her face as she read the note for herself. "Wh-what does this mean?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"It means I must go. I need to find the truth and see it with my own eye's, that I do." He replied. His voice quiet, his eyes hidden by his bangs. He moved quickly, entering the small Kamiya compound, skirting around the edge of the dojo he headed towards the house.

"Your leaving! Why?!" Kaoru asked as she chased after him. "Please Kenshin, please tell me what is going on!" She called out as she chased him through the gate. Her panicked voice catching both Megumi's and Sano's attention.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Sano asked, his brows furrowed in concern as he walked towards Kenshin. "Someone looking for a fight?"

"Someone threw this at us with this note attached. He won't tell me what it means. All he would say is that he has to leave." Kaoru said as she shoved the kunai and note at Sano as she rushed passed him, hot on Kenshin's heals. Sano looked down at the note as Megumi walked up to him, reading the note over his shoulder.

Kaoru ran down the engawa, almost sliding on the polished wood as she turned the corner as she headed for Kenshin's room. She slowed down as she approached, the shoji stood open and she could see him inside, kneeling on a cushion a book in one hand and a picture in the other. "Kenshin….may I come in?" She asked quietly.

He gave a slight nod without looking up. As she approached him he finally spoke. "There is much of my past you do not know Kaoru-dono. I must face a part of my past that pains me greatly and find out the reason why I was lied to so long ago, that I must." He said quietly, his eyes never leaving the photo. It's edges worn from much handling.

"Kenshin please let me help. Let us help. We are your friends, you know you can trust us!" Kaoru pleaded, drawing his attention from the photo that he held in his hands.

He studied her for a minute, his violet eyes held a sad far away look to them, a look she had only seen when he was about to tell her about the Bakumatsu. "I have told you only a little about my past. This goes back farther than anything that I have told you before." He said softly as he handed her the photo. "I was born to a prestigious clan, in a village that was destroyed a long time ago. I had an older sister, who was strong and beautiful and who had a husband that while he was feared greatly by his enemies, was kindness itself to those he cherished." He said, his voice sounding far away. "They were to have a baby, a son, when a great tragedy befell their village. I received a message from the village shortly after informing me of the incident. I was told that they had perished protecting the village and that the baby, my oi-kun, had not survived."

Kaoru listened quietly as she studied the photo. Her eyes were drawn the the woman, her long red hair was pinned up with flowers, her wedding kimono was stunning and looked like the ones woman of nobility wore. Her bright violet eyes were shining with happiness and a large, sunny smile graced her face telling all the world that she was just too happy to care to look refined or modest at that moment. Her eyes then turned to the man. He was a head taller than the woman, he too wore wedding attire appropriate for nobility but what caught her eye was his coloring. His hair was a bright and sunny yellow. Much like the flowers that her mother used to grow when she was a small child. His eyes were a bright azure blue like the summer sky, and he too wore a smile. Although it was smaller and more modest, it still spoke of the genuine happiness that he felt.

"They were a beautiful couple, they looked so happy." Kaoru said quietly, handing back the treasured photo.

"They were happy, that they were." Kenshin said as he carefully slipped the photo into the small olive green book he was holding. "Nee-san wrote me when they learned of the baby. They were so excited to be starting a family. And that is why I must go. If that message is correct then my oi-kun survived."

"I will go with you. No arguing." Kaoru said, giving him a stern look. She watched as his eyes hardened slightly and opened his mouth to argue. "I don't want to hear it's too dangerous or any of that!" She growled, her temper rising. "You know I can handle myself well enough and this isn't some treck to handle a bad guy so don't start!"

Kenshin stared at her, his eyes softening again. "Alright, alright!" He said with a small chuckle, raising his hands in front of himself in a placating manner. "You may go. Just you though. I do not know what to expect and we will draw too much attention to ourselves if we all go, that we will." He said as he turned back to gathering his few belongings. Of which was mostly a few old scrolls. "There are other things that I may need to explain that I do not wish for everyone to know anyway. Go gather what you need. We travel light, it will take ten days to reach the land of waves and if the proof is truly there then it will be three more to the village where my oi-kun lives."

"Alright, just give me a few minutes and I will be ready!" She said as she left the room, moving quickly. Once she was in her room she wasted no time, grabbing just a change of clothes, a comb, an extra ribbon for her hair along with a little money that she quickly stuffed into a small bag. She was out of her room and back to Kenshin's room in a matter of minutes.

It took them ten extra minutes to leave the dojo as Sano, Megumi and Yahiko peppered them with questions. But Kenshin, having taken back the note and the kunai, kept the reasons for his leaving to himself. He only offered the knowledge that there would be no enemy to fight so there was no need for them all to go and Kaoru was just going with him to keep him company. He was grateful that Kaoru followed his lead, and did not offer any of the personal information he had shared with her.

Once they finally left the dojo, it took them several hours traveling along a lightly used coastal road to find the small port just south of Tokyo. There were a couple of small merchant ships at anchor in the small bay but the majority of the vessels, both large and small, were for fishing. The sounds of hard working fishermen and their families off loading the day's catch could be heard well before they arrived. They watched as small carts over loaded with fish passed them, going up a larger road to the village that could be seen on the other side of the dunes that they were currently traversing. Along the bay there were a couple large docks with good sized warehouses attached, presumably for the bit of merchant trade that came through the area as it was slightly separated from the current hub of activity.

A few minutes later they approached the warehouses. Kenshin walked passed the door marked 'Office' on the first warehouse and stopped when he came to the small alley way between the two structures. 'Now where was it that Hiko-shishou went?' He thought as he looked down the alley way.

Kaoru looked at him curiously. "Kenshin, what are you looking for?" She asked as she watched as he continue to look down the alley way with a look of concentration on his face as if he was trying to remember something important.

"Oh, nothing really." He replied as he turned towards her. "Would you do me a favor Kaoru-dono and see if maybe one of those kindly looking fishermen would sell us a fish or two for our dinner tonight? I doubt that we will be going much farther." He said as he handed her a couple of the coins he had on him. He knew it wasn't much, but hoped that it might get them a fish, and it would serve to keep Kaoru occupied for the next few minutes. Something he need if he were to get them passage on the next boat to wave.

Taking the coins she looked at him a bit suspiciously as she answered. "Sure, I'll be back in a few minutes. You'll wait here for me won't you?"

"Of course Kaoru-dono. When you get back we will find ourselves a place to set up a small cook fire and cook us something to eat, that we will." He replied, doing his best to ease any suspicions or doubts that she might have.

"Well….ok. I'll be right back." She answered as she turned and walked away, moving back around the warehouse as she left.

Once she was gone, he moved quickly down the small alleyway. 'Now, where was it.' He thought as he carefully studied the walls of the warehouses on either side of himself. It didn't take him long to find a spot on the wooden walls that looked slightly different than the rest of the wall. Rubbing his hand over it slightly, he noticed that it felt like there was some sort of engraving in the wood that could not been seen. 'It has been a very long time since I had to do this...but let's see if I still got it.' He thought as he carefully channeled his energy and raised his right hand in front of himself, keeping his index finger and middle finger extended while curling the rest into his palm as he formed the earth release seal. "Release!" He said, keeping his voice low as to not attract attention. After a couple of tense seconds the wall before him flickered and then changed revealing an intricately carved solid wood door. He carefully slid the door open to reveal a set of stairs descending below the warehouse. The stairway was dimly lit by a torch at the top and one at the bottom. He carefully entered the stairway, sliding the door closed behind him and descended.

Once at the bottom he found what would appear to be an ordinary shipping office. Behind the paper strewn desk sat an older looking man who was eyeing him warily. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yes, I believe you can. I need to book passage for two people on the next boat to Nami no Kuni." Kenshin said, his voice serious but not unfriendly.

"Nami no Kuni huh." The older man said as he eyed him for another long moment. "You don't look like a shinobi." He said as he continued to eye him.

"Looks can be deceiving. Whether I am shinobi or not doesn't truly matter. What matters is the fact that I am in your office not the one up stairs. It is urgent that I get passage to Nami no Kuni on the next ship, that it is."

The older man eyed him for another moment before letting out a sigh and opening one of the drawers in his desk. "Well gaki," he said as he pulled out a folder of papers "you're in luck. The next ship leaves at dawn. We just unloaded her this afternoon." Carefully flipping through pages of the folder he pulled one out. Picking up a brush and ink, he quickly filled out the form and placed it in front of Kenshin and handed him the brush. "I know, not the most elegant way to do things, but you know how it is, do as the locals do and all that." He said as Kenshin signed the paperwork and handed over the pouch of coins he had on him.

Once that was done to the older man's satisfaction he handed him two slips of parchment. "Give these to Seikou-Taicho. He'll know what their for. Just remember, the ship leaves at dawn and Seikou-Taicho is a stickler for leaving on time." He said and turned back to his paper work, effectively dismissing the red haired man in front of him.

Kenshin turned and left the office, carefully tucking the slips of parchment into his kimono. The passage was booked and they would be on their way at dawn.

Just as he had said, they arrived in a bustling port the morning of their tenth day. Although she was feeling a bit miffed at Kenshin as he had spent most of his time at the front of the ship, looking out over the water and refused to tell her any other information, she was feeling relieved to see land after so long at sea. When he had called her up on deck as they approached to port, which was the first time in days he had said more than the merest greeting, he had showed her the view and had said that the small island that they were approaching was called Nami no Kuni by the residents.

As they moved through the town she looked at him, from what she could see of his face under the sugegasa they had purchased was set in an expressionless mask and let out a sigh. "Kenshin, you really need to tell me what we are looking for so I can help!" She said for what felt like the hundredth time that week. As she was adjusting her sugegasa she was surprised when he actually answered.

"We are looking for a bridge, a great bridge." He said quietly, his eyes moving as he took in his surroundings. His ears straining to catch tidbits of conversations, looking for clues as to the location of this bridge. After about a half hour of walking, they crested a small hill at the edge of the village. While they couldn't see farther into the island, they could see a good bit of the coast. Off to their right was the port that they had arrive at. The coast spread out from there, many large sand dunes could be glimpsed through the buildings immediately in front of them but as they continued to look, they saw it. Off to the left they could just make out a large bridge stretching the kilometer to the main island. "That must be it, that it must." Kenshin said as he turned and took the first street that headed in that direction.

After a few more minutes of walking, Kaoru turned to Kenshin again as she spoke. "So how will we know if the information is there?" She asked.

"A bridge that large will have a dedication plaque on it. That is most likely what we are looking for." Kenshin replied.

"Ok, but how will we know if it talks about your nephew. Do you even know what his name is?" She asked.

Kenshin let out a sigh as he stopped under the shade of a large tree, absentmindedly adjusting his hat. "Nee-san had told me when she wrote about the baby that they wanted to name him after the hero in a book that her husband's sensei had written. If her wish had been fulfilled then we are looking for the name Naruto. I do not know if they would have given him his father's family name or our clan name." He said as he looked off into the distance.

"So then we are possibly looking for someone named Naruto Himura?" She asked.

"Himura is not my clan name. My clan name was Uzumaki, that it was." He said, his voice low, his eyes distant as he seemed to relive the past as he started off again.

"Uzumaki?" She asked as she tried to keep pace with Kenshin's quick step. "Ok then, so what is the other name we need to look for?"

"Namikaze." He replied simply as his pace quickened. He could tell they were getting close as the sound of waves hitting wood and stone was growing louder and the foot traffic changed to hold more and more large carts full of goods.

"Those are some interesting names. I don't think I have ever heard of them before." She said, trying to break the silence.

"You wouldn't. We are no longer in Japan. We are in one of the smaller countries in the elemental nations. That we are." He said as he rounded a corner, the bridge stretching out before him.

"N-not in Japan! What do you mean, everyone here is speaking Japanese!" Kaoru exclaimed.

Kenshin stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder at her. "The elemental nations are just off the coast of Japan. It is a cluster islands, the main island is huge, about two-thirds of the size of Japan itself and is composed of several different countries. They all speak the same language, just the accents are a bit different. Japanese isn't really Japanese. The language originated here, not there, that it did." He said, and with that he was off again, moving at a rapid pace.

It did not take long to reach the foot of the bridge. Off to the side a large plaque could easily be seen and Kenshin moved over to it quickly and started reading it out loud. "The Great Naruto Bridge. This bridge is dedicated to the hero of wave, Naruto Uzumaki and to the other Konoha shinobi on team seven. Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha who defended our village and our nation from Gato and his men and restored our hope and way of life. Built by Tazuna-sama" He said.

"So then he is alive." Kaoru said, looking at the plaque herself. "This is dated three months ago! How old is he then?" She asked looking over at Kenshin.

"He will be fourteen in October." He replied quietly as he re-read the plaque.

"Then he is only thirteen… He is only a child still! Why would he be fighting someone like this Gato guy so young?!" She exclaimed shocked.

"He is shinobi. This team seven must be his Genin team. I am glad to know Kakashi-dono is his Jonin sensei, that I am." He said as he moved off of the street and walked down to the bit of beach under the bridge. Finding a spot out of sight from passers by, he pulled out an old scroll, the edges a bit tattered from handling. "We must find Tazuna-sama to gather some information and then we will be crossing the bridge. We do not have time to waste here so I must change quickly, please pay me no mind." He said as he unrolled the scroll to reveal an intricate circular design on the center of the scroll.

"What is that?" Kaoru asked as she moved towards him to get a better look.

"This is what is called a storage scroll. All the items are sealed using chakra within the design." He said indicating the design before him. He raised his right hand to his face, forming the earth release seal and placed his left hand on the seal. "RELEASE!" He said, using a small burst of power to activate the storage scroll. With a small poof of smoke, a small and varied pile of items appeared.

"H-how did you do that!" Kaoru asked surprised.

"Chakra." He replied simply as he removed his sugegasa and faded red kimono. He lifted up a black, mesh looking item and pulled it over his head revealing it to be a long sleeved mesh shirt. He quickly replaced the red kimono with a similar item of a deeper, darker red. The distinguishing difference between the two kimono besides the shade of red was that the one he was putting on had a moderately sized, black trimmed, bright red circle with a swirl pattern in the center of it that rested in the center of his back, just above his shoulder blades, with two matching, but much smaller swirls on the front. One on each side of his chest. As he removed his sandals and socks, he continued. "There really is no time to fully explain chakra to you, but it is simply the power of shinobi. It is a power you are either born with or not." He said as he pulled on a pair of open toed black boots. "There are things that I can do, even with the limited training I received as a child, that you can only dream of doing Kaoru-dono." He quickly put the sugegasa back on and neatly piled up the clothes he had just removed onto the circle in the scroll. Once again making the earth release seal with his right hand, he placed his left hand on top of the pile of clothing and items he had not used. "SEAL!" He said with a small burst of chakra the items disappeared into the scroll. He quickly rolled it up and placed it into the pouch on his back.

Kenshin moved forward, taking in Kaoru's appearance. Her dark blue kimono and violet obi were a bit wrinkled from travel, but in good condition. Her long black hair, which was tied back with a violet ribbon, shone in the noon time sun and looked soft and clean from the hasty bath that she had taken earlier that morning. What caught his attention most was the look in her sapphire eyes, She looked confused, lost and worried. Almost like she was no longer looking at someone she had know for the better part of a year, but a stranger. He stopped in front of her, his expression softening in a way that he reserved only for her. "Kaoru…" He said, his voice barely above a whisper. "This one is beyond grateful for your support in this. You have been so very patient, so very trusting, so very understanding with this unworthy one." He said as he gently caressed her cheek. "I cannot give you all the answers you need or even want, I am sorry, that I am. But, I am still me, I am still Kenshin so do not fret. I allowed you to come, to share my past with me because I know you can be trusted. I trust you beyond all others, that I do."

"Kenshin…" She said softly looking into his eyes. His emotions swirled with in their violet depths. The truth of his words written plainly on his face. He had opened his heart to her, as much as he dared anyway. Letting her see a part of him that he had kept hidden from the world for so very long. Trusting her with his truths, a bit at a time. She smiled softly at him, moved that he trusted her so. "Kenshin…" she began again. "We should get moving. Your nephew has waited long enough for his uncle to come see him." She said.

"Aa." He said softly, his heart swelling for the woman in front of him. If only she knew how much he loved her and her big, kind heart. "Yes, yes he has." He said, his hand dropping down as he tucked his hands back into his sleeves. "Let us go, there was a tea room that we passed not too far from here. We shall start tracking down Tazuna-sama, that we shall. "

With that said, he moved passed Kaoru, leaving her to follow in his wake.