The Last Uzumaki Princess

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the legal owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Rose Potter was asked to help her friend Luna out for one of her projects. Something went wrong. Majorly. So now Rose finds herself shrunken down to six years old, lost in a world she didn't know. And Luna was nowhere to be found... Just another day in the life, right? Or why Naruto, Jiraiya and Shizune accompany one extra person back to Konoha for Tsunade's inauguration as Godaime Hokage.

This is yet another old story dating to the beginning of my fascination with Naruto and how I could incorporate fem!Harry to that.

Prologue.

Tsunade of the (in)famous Sannin motioned for her assistant/adopted niece to stop. Following her keen ears, the renowned medic-nin jumped from the tree she had been occupying as a means to travel. Checking carefully for traps, the blonde kunoichi searched the forest for the source of the faint noise.

To her surprise, she found a relatively small child, about five or six years of age, breathing shallowly on the forest floor. She was dressed in rags, which were dirty and holey. Her bones were stretching the sallow skin tightly, indicating malnourishment.

Underneath the shrubbery, Tsunade discovered a head full of unique, grimy, ruby-red hair. Her tiny face was pinched in pain, although she was clearly unconscious.

The girl seemed vaguely familiar. In fact, the blonde Senju was eerily reminded of a miniature of her grandmother in her childhood. Uzumaki Mito had almost sported the same color red, only a shade darker than the little girl's.

Maybe because there was still some small part in her heart that couldn't let a child die like this, especially one who might turn out to be distantly related to her, Tsunade carefully activated her Mystical Palm Jutsu, infusing some of her healing chakra into the girl's exhausted body.

Then the Slug Princess gently picked the starved girl up, cradling her much too-light body in her arms.

Cautiously, Shizune approached the two other females. "Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde Sannin sighed, tearing her eyes off the tiny little life in her care. "Shizune, come. We need to find an inn nearby. She requires immediate treatment."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Shizune complied easily, having also seen the poor girl's worrisome condition.

xxx

~ two months later ~

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It had turned out that the redheaded girl suffered from at least partial amnesia. She could not understand a word they said to her, wondering who her parents had been. However, she remembered a few lessons, although it appeared as if she had never used chopsticks before, judging by her clumsy handling of the eating utensils.

Shizune adored the shy child, so Tsunade did not have to bother with teaching her latest charge more about basic skills. Or the language. Shizune took that voluntarily upon herself.

Although their foundling developed sufficient knowledge of their language, the Slug Princess's first suspicion became almost certainty. After a thoroughly cleansing bath, and her return to consciousness, Tsunade was quite convinced that the little girl was an Uzumaki.

She boasted the unique ruby-red hair of the aforementioned clan, the lightly tanned skin as well as aristocratic features which only served to emphasize the child's nearly eerie similarities with Senju Hashirama's wife.

Sadly, the little foundling had no chakra to speak of - absolutely none - so they could not compare it to the usual warmth of the Uzumaki bloodline.

Then the girl opened her eyes for the first time and both Shizune and Tsunade knew they were a goner. Uzumaki or not.

The devasting effect of those green-green orbs was only increased by the large sheets of the bed, almost swallowing the tiny girl whole, the quivering lip and fearful expression on her malnourished face.

Now the small girl could communicate her basic needs, such as hunger, as well as hold a simple conversation. It required both of the women to speak slower than they usually would, but their charge improved a little each day.

As the girl couldn't remember her name, they gave her one after explaining the meaning of their suggestions as best as they could. In the end, Tsunade noticed how much the small child loved to stargaze, so they named her Hoshiko. Starchild.

The thusly-baptized girl smiled happily at that name, sadness and love in her eyes. Both women assumed she was sad about not knowing her 'real' birth name and appreciated the gesture.

Tsunade kept her suspicions in regards to the tiny chibi's heritage to herself for now, unable to confirm or disprove anything at the moment. So life began anew for one adorable ruby-haired, green-eyed girl with a doe-fetish. (Which is an interesting story in itself...)

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~ Chapter 1: ~

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(Six years later)

Hoshiko sighed frustratedly, attempting to concentrate on her meditation. Tsunade-bachan had ordered her to feel for her inner sanctum, in order to collect some form of energy within her. This the redhead knew to be her magic which both medics in her life classed as a new Kekkei Genkai.

Hoshiko's daily task consisted of two hours of meditation to improve her control over the energy circulating within her. The discovery of her possessing anything even remotely resembling chakra had come as a surprise to her guardians.

Approximately six months after the two women had found her in the forest, Hoshiko had a bout of accidental magic. At the time, the three had been under attack from some missing-nins while on their way to another town. One of the low-leveled thugs in the nins' company had tried to at least incapacitate the terrified child with a kunai, but she reacted subconsciously to his threat. By accidentally knocking him out with a Stunner.

Later, after many little experiments on behalf of her 'aunt' and Shizune-nee, the two concluded Hoshiko could use the energy within her for various purposes, as a substitute for her lacking chakra. In fact, the Slug Princess theorized that her chakra had mixed with the other energy ever since her birth, synchronizing them so intricately that there was no difference between them anymore.

Theoretically speaking, Hoshiko did have chakra - but the bloodline limit had mixed in too deeply to discern one from the other.

They also found out relatively quickly that her Kekkei Genkai was based on strong emotions. Like chakra exhaustion, too much usage led to a sluggish, nearly unresponsive state. Unofficially, Hoshiko's gift now dubbed her as a 'Light-User' as opposed to the Nara clan who were classed as 'Shadow-Users'.

After this revelation, the two women began to seriously consider training the ruby-haired girl. She accepted an apprenticeship under Tsunade who taught her what she remembered from the Uzumaki-style tai- and later also kenjutsu. Her attempts to try genjutsu failed horrendously. As did any kind of chakra-based ninjutsu Hoshiko was tasked with.

After several trial periods, it became clear that Hoshiko had to invent her own jutsu based on the desired outcome of the original technique with her Kekkei Genkai. However both of her trainers were impressed by her accuracy when aiming. Even over long distances.

For some reason Hoshiko loved to come up with various ways to throw her weapons.

For her last birthday (she had 'chosen' the date herself, July 31st), Tsunade-bachan gave the redhead a set of katana. This gesture implied that the blonde thought she was now a mature kunoichi-in-training and could fend (somewhat) for herself.

Her inner musings were cut off when a door slammed open. Tsuande-ba-chan ruffled her hair before glaring at Shizune.

"How has your meditation progressed, Shiko-chan?" the blonde demanded.

Hoshiko smiled tentatively at her adopted aunt/mother-figure, brow furrowed a little in disappointment. "Well..."

Shizune nodded, smiling encouragingly at her adopted sister, although this gesture could not quite mask her unease. "How much energy can you feel in your core?"

Hoshiko smiled at her self-proclaimed sister, sensing her discomfort was not caused by herself but rather by outside sources. "Enough for maybe twenty minutes of intense sparring against you?" The ruby-haired girl estimated roughly. Her control still sucked after six years without a wand, but she was slowly remembering lessons to help increase her pool of available magic. Without concentrating too hard.

Shizune smiled proudly at her, ruffling the long ruby-haired locks of the twelve-years-old. "It's getting late. Why don't we get some food?" the ravenette suggested with forced lightness.

Tsunade-oba-san nodded in agreement so the trio went on their way.

xxx

They eventually settled into a somewhat respectable bar, ordering food and juice for Hoshiko whilst the blonde medic-nin opted for some Sake. Shizune sighed in disapproval, but let it slide. After all, she felt like having a drink as well after their encounter earlier...

Hoshiko quickly demolished the relatively healthy portion of fried rice in front of her whilst slowly sipping her congratulatory juice. It was a rare treat for her, so she relished every last drop of it.

Then something tickled her unofficial sixth sense.

Hoshiko recognized the feeling as a last minute warning before her life was once again turned upside-down. Or another adventure awaited her. To be honest, traveling around and training under her 'aunt' and 'sister' had been fun, but gotten boring after a while. So naturally, she was curious what would happen now.

Apparently, her anticipation had been noted by her two care-givers, because they straightened up as well.

All three focused on the entrance as two males entered the local establishment. One seemed to be around fifty years old, white-haired, and looking for Tsunade-oba. The other male was around Hoshiko's apparent age, blonde, loud-mouthed and slightly disgruntled. If his petulant face was anything to go by.

Of course their expressions changed immediately after discovering what Hoshiko thought of as an unexpected third female sitting with their target. There was a flash of immense surprise in the eyes of the white-haired male when he caught sight of her, but that was quickly buried underneath his own obnoxious demeanor.

While the adults talked, Hoshiko studied the blonde boy. His tan face was dominated by big blue eyes and six whisker marks. The blonde appeared to be slightly malnourished - if his stunted growth was anything to go by - and skillfully cloaked his true feelings so others would not expound upon them.

Nonetheless, Hoshiko found she genuinely liked him. His slightly eccentric presence reminded her of Luna, a little. Maybe even the twins. There was something about him that told her he wouldn't mind playing a prank or two.

So Hoshiko decided to try befriending this new person after her careful observation. "I'm Hoshiko. It's nice to make your acquaintance, shinobi-san," she bowed formally to the blonde boy.

At first he seemed quite confused what was going on, even looking around to check if she really spoke to him, before turning around and grinning at her. This time though, his expression came across as more genuine than before. "Nice to meet ya, dattebayo! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage!"

She sincerely smiled at him, accepting his eccentric behavior as another personality quirk that covered his original sentiments. His behavior reminded herself of her own when she was younger and staying with the Dursleys.

Unfortunately, their introduction/conversation was interrupted by Tsunade-oba's loud scoff. Whenever the topic neared the Hokage, Konoha, or her family, the Senju turned bitter. Hoshiko suspected that something traumatic had happened to impact her demeanor so heavily. Shizune had hinted at her 'aunt' losing someone precious to her heart who had wished to become Hokage.

This the young redhead could relate to, although she also felt that Naruto's ambition was something good. It kept him somewhat grounded in reality, gave him a goal to strive towards.

Therefore the girl kept her silence as the two fought over the 'awesomeness' of this position.

Instead, Hoshiko simply stayed with the white-haired guy and Shizune, watching the impromptu duel.

"Who are you?" Jiraiya-san asked suspiciously, focusing one wary eye on the ruby-haired girl.

"I'm Hoshiko, Tsunade-sama's charge."

"Where did you come from?" Jiraiya-san continued to question.

Shizune jumped in, sparing Hoshiko a small compassionate smile. "We don't know. Six years ago, Tsunade-sama and I found her alone and injured. She suffers from amnesia - couldn't even remember how to use chopsticks! We named her Hoshiko. Sandaime-sama accepted her as a Konoha kunoichi due to Tsunade-sama's apprenticeship."

Jiraiya-san wrinkled his brow. "Why have I not heard of this before?"

Hoshiko smiled sadly at the other Sannin. "Tsunade-sama fears for my safety. It is not well-known but I have inherited a Kekkei Genkai which is fairly dangerous."

Shizune nodded, patting her shoulder. "Shiko-chan can't use chakra. It is virtually non-existent in her body. However, we have discovered that she possesses an energy source similar to chakra which is quite powerful in its own right."

This explanation seemed to clear some of the suspicions from Jiraiya-san's mind, so the male concentrated more on the match taking place below.

Hoshiko smiled when Naruto forced Tsunade-oba to bet against him. Even at "twelve", the young girl knew how often the blonde Sannin lost when gambling. She gave a quick wave towards the blonde and vanished alongside Shizune. Something told her, he would win his bet.

Hoshiko grinned to herself. It was good to feel alive again. She only hoped that this time, there would not be a war waiting to happen in her cards. Either way, she had the feeling that Naruto would make life interesting.

xxx

She was right about the blonde. The very next morning, Hoshiko searched for him, only find the nin in 'her' clearing, seemingly trying to demolish the place.

"Hey, what are ya doin' here?" Naruto shouted upon discovering her presence.

Hoshiko simply smiled at the boy. "I use this place for training usually," she explained to him while cataloging the damage done to her favorite clearing around this town.

"Oh. So what are you training in?"

She grinned a touch ferally. "I'm a kenjutsu specialist," the redhead admitted, a little proudly.

Naruto smiled. "Ne, what rank are you?"

Hoshiko sighed. "Overall, I'm a genin. And you?"

He sighed disappointedly. "Me too! When I'm done winning this bet, do ya wanna spar?"

In response, the ruby-haired girl shrugged but smiled. "Sure. Why not?"

"Why do you not defend your sensei?" Naruto wondered curiously.

"Because she is known as the 'Legendary Sucker' for a reason," Hoshiko grinned a little. "Tsunade-oba-san is awesome when she wants to be, but has no luck at all in gambling. So it's kind of a guaranteed win for you, should you work hard on this jutsu. I suck at ninjutsu, so I don't know how to help you, unfortunately. But I think Shizune-nee misses Konoha and wants to go home," she replied quietly. "I don't know for sure how long they have been traveling together, but the last time they visited Konoha was for me to get registered as Tsunade-shishou's latest apprentice. It took only half a day so..."

Naruto nodded understandingly. He could relate to loneliness, apparently. "I'll totally get this! You'll see! I'm just that awesome!"

A small, genuine smile worked its way on her lips. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I hope we can be friends."

"Friends?" He sounded so hopeful, it cut straight through her safeguards. "Sure, imōto!"

On impulse Hoshiko hugged the lonely boy. "Thanks, Aniki."

Neither noticed the silent watcher who smiled a little wistfully at the scene played out in front of him. He had missed seeing a blonde and a redhead get along for a very long time.

Shizune smiled to herself as she turned away from her 'imōto' and back to the Sannin. "Don't worry too much, Jiraiya-sama. We checked her out for everything before entrusting her with any of our secrets."

The man nodded slightly. "I'll arrange for a discreet blood test. Then you'll know for sure."

However Shizune simply smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Jiraiya-sama. It hurts all of us to not gain closure...especially Hoshiko-chan."

xxx

Over the following days, the blonde trained relentlessly to get the jutsu down, in order to win his bet. Naruto gained Hoshiko's respect through his unwavering determination. She made sure to pack some lunch for him whenever she joined him in the clearing for her own training exercises. (Usually early in the mornings, to take advantage of the quiet before his arrival.)

Slowly, the two twelve-year-olds befriended each other, learning more about the respective other as time went by. Apparently, one of Naruto's teammates was heavily injured and trapped in a coma, which was the reason why he wouldn't surrender to failure, as Hoshiko discovered. Another friend of his had been heavily injured several months ago during the Chūnin exams and only Tsunade-oba-chan could possibly help him back on his feet.

This led to Naruto discovering that Hoshiko couldn't use chakra. At all. She even tried a Kawarimi to humor him, but nothing happened. Instead of pitying her though, the young blonde simply grinned, telling her she could probably wipe the floor with him with a sword if she was anything like Lee and let the matter rest.

The day Naruto had a break-through, they discovered Tsunade-sama had drugged Jiraiya-san and snuck off to meet with Orochimaru. The same bastard the blonde had tried to keep Hoshiko secret from.

Despite Jiraiya-san's protests, the tiny girl accompanied Shizune to the rendezvous point. She simply near-silently teleported to a branch every so often, instead of leaping through the trees with chakra-encased feet. Her balance had been improved so much so Hoshiko didn't need to stick herself to the bark in order to avoid falling downwards.

Naruto seemed impressed by her teleportation technique as it differed greatly from the Shunshin he was used to seeing. Even Jiraiya-san quieted down slightly.

When they arrived at the scene, Tsunade-oba-chan had been incapacitated by a silver-haired young man who was purposefully bleeding in sight of the blonde Senju.

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