Blood of a Lost Girl (Book 1, Naruto)

Chapter 33

We sat in the farthest corner of a diner waiting for a waiter to take our orders. I stared at the menu. What was I going to have? It was so hard to choose! Jiraiya cleared his throat and I looked up, placing the menu back on the table. I put my head on my hand. "So tell me about this Kururugi clan." I inquired. I haven't heard about that clan before, but then again I've only been at the village for about a year now. I'm pretty sure I haven't even heard about half the clans.

"Why do you want to know about a clan, Miyu-chan?" Naruto asked curiously. My body jerked at the name, reminding me once more that it supposedly wasn't my real name. Jiraiya, Shizune and Tsunade all had been avoiding calling me by my name and for that I was grateful.

I smiled sheepishly. I didn't know what to say. "Oh, uh, just for research purposes." My smile vanished and I stared at Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"They were a clan that was originally from the Land of Rivers, close to Tanigakure." My eyes narrowed at that. That's where I first woke up. "Most of them stayed there, but some of them moved to the Land of Fire. There should be a compound somewhere in the village, if I'm correct." Tsunade said.

"But why would Orochimaru want you to research them?" Jeraiya looked like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

I rolled my eyes at them. "That's what I'm trying to find out. So, please continue."

"Alright. There aren't many who know much about them since they kept to themselves most of the time, but there are books in the library in the Leaf village on them. I'll tell you what I do know, though. They were a strong clan, but someone -Orochimaru as it turns out- wiped them out. Apparently there hadn't been someone born with their Kekkei Genkai in 23 years and 5 years after the heir of the clan was born Orochimaru struck. I suspect that the heir had been born with the Kekkei Genkai, but after that she disappeared. Either she had been slaughtered like the rest of the clan, here and in the Land of Rivers, or," Tsunade paused, her face turning deathly serious. "Or she may have been kidnapped after they had been slaughtered." I frowned. "There's also this: The heads of the clan, Shin and Naomi Kururugi, died before the clan was slaughtered by protecting our village." My eyes widened in surprise. I remember seeing those names before. Where had I seen them before? I tapped my head lightly, trying to figure it out. It must've been a long time ago if I forgot it. They died by protecting our village? Of course! All heroes' names go on the K.I.A stone. "The details aren't exactly clear to me, about what exactly happened. I'm not sure anyone really knows now that the 3rd is gone." I looked down at the table. I'm sure they're wrong. They must've had a record of it somewhere. And what about his advisors? They must know what happened too. If I was going to research this clan I needed to know everything there is about it. "That's about all I know of them."

Jiraiya laughed. "That's a whole lot more than I knew!" I frowned. This really wasn't any help to me at all. It left me with a lot more questions than it did answers.

Naruto looked from me to the two Sanin. He was definitely confused. He rubbed the back of his head. "What exactly happened while I was out?"

"A bunch of things, actually. We found out about a lot of things." Jiraiya said.

I cut in before he could say anything else. "Nothing that's really important, though. So you have no need to worry." I said, my eyes moving to my left. I couldn't look him in the eye while I said that. I don't know why I didn't tell him. I guess I didn't want him to pity me. I wasn't going to tell him that my name was Reina. I hadn't accepted the name yet either.

"Oh." Was all Naruto said.

Jeraiya cleared his throat. "The last piece of news is that..."

Tsunade filled the rest in. "When we get to the leaf village I'm going to be the 5th Hokage." She said with a proud smile, waiting to see our reactions.