Mother Nature's Flower

Naruto woke up remembering one thing.

He has a cousin.

He looked down to see if she was still with him, to see her clinging to his hospital gown and her legs tangled with his. Her hair was spread out behind her head. Naruto smiled seeing a small smile on her face while she slept.

It wasn't a dream. I really do have someone, he thought. He hugged her closer and rested his head on top of hers. He had never felt more relaxed than he was right now.

He turned his head to the side and looked out of the window by the bed. He saw the branch of a tree outside of the window with two squirrels on it. Naruto spent a half an hour looking out of the window, occasionally looking down at Aiko to see if she was awake.

After another five minutes, he felt Aiko shift in his hold. He looked away from the window and looked down at Aiko. Her eyes were moving under her eyelids. Then, slowly, they started to open. Her eyes were unfocused for a minute before she looked up at Naruto and smiled.

"Ohayo, jūtei," Aiko said, yawning promptly afterward. Naruto smiled and hugged her tight.

"Ohayo, dattebayo," Naruto whispered into her hair. He loved the smell. It smelled like the forest and vanilla. It worked together. And it worked to calm him down.

Ever since he met her, he didn't feel like he had to yell to get people's attention. He felt calm. Relaxed. Seen. Noticed.

The two pulled away when they heard a knock at the door. When the door opened, it revealed a nurse with the Hokage behind her.

Lord Third smiled when he saw the two. Naruto smiled at him and hugged Aiko tighter. Aiko gave Hiruzen a small smile and hugged Naruto back just as tight.

"Well, seems you two get along well," Lord Third said while taking a seat in the chair next to the bed.

Naruto nodded, smiling wide, "Yeah! I can't believe I have a cousin! Where did you find her?"

"We didn't find her. She found us. She requested an escort from Suna to hear," Lord Third told Naruto as he sat up and Aiko sat in his lap, her head underneath his and resting on her chest.

"But Naruto, there are some things you need to know about Aiko," He said on a more serious note.

Naruto briefly looked down at the top of Aiko's head before looking back up at Hiruzen, "Like what?"

Hiruzen shook his head, "I'm not the one to tell you. She will need to, if she wants to, of course."

Naruto looked down at Aiko, who lost her smile and looked down with sad eyes. When she looked back up her eyes were watery, but they had not fallen. Yet.

"Naruto, my name is Aiko Kimura Uzumaki. I have two last names. My mother was Emica Uzumaki. My father was Souta Kimura. I took after my father in looks with the standard Kimura features. And before I was born, someone else was. My older brother, Mamoru Kimura," Aiko got sad when she mentioned her brother. She missed him. He helped her escape and kept her alive.

She took a breath to try and calm herself before continuing, "My mother had a sister. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. They were very close, even after Mama moved away to be with Papa. She sent pictures of Mamoru, and she asked Aunt Shishi and her husband, Minato Namikaze -who we called Uncle Toto- to come to visit her one day. It was to tell them she was pregnant again. Apparently, so was Aunt Shishi. But the baby obviously didn't make it."

Her head went down as the tears started to spill. Naruto held her close and let her cry into his neck. She cried and let her arms wrap around her middle, but she continued to talk.

"A few years after I was born, the people of the village decided that we were too dangerous and that the prophecy child was going to have to much power so, they killed us. The Kimura Massacre. Everyone was killed. Everyone except me and my older brother, Mamoru. We ran away, but some ninjas from the village followed us. They chased us down, and when they finally caught up to us, they attacked. Mamoru protected us for a long time, getting a lot of injuries. After half an hour of fighting them, he was left with one. However, this one was very strong and he would not go down easy. he was much stronger than the others, so Mamoru, he-" Aiko stopped talking as her throat closed up with emotions. More tears fell from her eyes, faster than before.

"He told me to go and not go back once I was safe. He told me to run and not look back," she sobbed into her hands. "I should have gone back! I should have saved him! And now it's all my fault! Because of me! And because of who I am!"

Naruto rubbed her back while trying to calm her down, "Aiko, calm down. It's not your fault. And it couldn't have been because of just you. You were only a little kid."

Aiko shook her head, "No! It is my fault! I am the one they were after. I am the one everyone was searching for. I am the prophecy child and it my fault my clans dead. Mama. Papa. Nii-san. Everyone! All because I just had to be born!"

Naruto looked at his cousin as she sobbed into her hands, and he felt anger well up inside of him. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault she was born what she is. It the people of the village who were at fault. If they just talked out their fears and compromised with the Kimura's, this wouldn't have happened. Aiko would be happily at home. With her brother. Her mother. Her father. Everyone she loved. She would feel all of the guilt she feels now.

However, she also would never have met Naruto. He would still be alone and, as selfish as it sounds, Naruto wouldn't want to have it any other way. Sure, he was sad the Aiko was sad, but he wouldn't change anything.

So, all he did was hold her and say soothing words into her ear while he rocked them back and forth.