Chapter 17: Uzumaki Clan
"Not all Treasure, is Silver and Gold"
Naruto
He stood motionless; the woman in front of him shined like a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
"Wh-who are you?" Naruto asked, stuttering, barely holding himself from breaking down; her chakra felt so familiar, and her face.
Naruto knew he had never seen her ever before, and yet she felt so familiar; her presence alone was warm and welcoming, her smile sweet and gentle.
"Minato-kun told you nothing of me," she spoke with a kind tone, her smile beaming like a sun in a dark night.
Naruto felt tears almost falling down from his eye, and his head slowly looked downwards; it was shame, Naruto didn't know.
"I guess he wanted me to introduce myself, not ruin the surprise, I'm..." Kushina stopped as Naruto threw his arms around, crying on her shoulder.
"I-I ha-have wanted to me you fo-for so long..." Naruto kept crying, Kushina patting his back, kissing his cheek; her son had grown from the baby she saw the first time.
"I'm here, my son," she spoke sweetly; her tone reminded him so much of Mikoto-chan; it was the same tone she used whenever she talked with him.
After minutes of silence, Naruto slowly pulled away, not daring even to blink, he was sure this was a dream and thought if he blinked, she would disappear, and he would be alone again.
"Let me look at you," she said, grinning, her finger on his chin, her violet eyes looking at his face from every angle, her eyes analyzing every part of his face.
"You have your father's eyes and hair, but your cheekbone and everything else is all Mine," She spoke happily, giving Naruto another kiss but noticing her son had been quiet and was even avoiding her eyes.
Kushina kneeled on the floor, her finger touched his face looking down at his feet, looking up again, Kushina saw tears rolling down his cheek, Naruto swallowing and trying to hold them back.
"What's wrong, Sochi?" She asked, concerned and making him lean closer to her.
"I-I failed Kaa-chan, I - I -I..." Kushina stopped him from talking; she hugged him close, heartbroken for her little boy; she was only six years old and yet so much weight under his shoulder.
"You haven't failed anyone; it is not your fault," she spoke in his ear, caressing his hair, hoping to convince him that everything that happened was not his fault.
Naruto shook his head in denial; if only he had been stronger if only I could have been stronger, Naruto said to himself, he would never allow his family to die; he would have done something to prevent it from happening.
Naruto stood silent before he backed away and looked at his mother; a part of him still couldn't believe she was here.
"How are you here?" Naruto asked with a small smile on his face.
"Minato-kun, he sealed a small part of my chakra in your seal so that we could talk; I always wanted to meet you, my little sunshine," She spoke smiling, knowing she couldn't be here with him for that much longer.
Naruto stood silent as he felt a wave of happiness, last time he felt like this was when Mikoto-chan told him he could call her...
Naruto shook his head as if trying to shake away that memory; he couldn't think of her right now, deciding to ease the tension between them; Naruto smiled brightly at his mother.
"Kaa-chan, I always wanted to ask... how did you meet Tou-chan," Naruto said smiling, his eyes shining like a sun again.
Kushina smiled, happy that her son wanted to know about her; a part of her had always been afraid that Naruto would be angry and maybe even hate her, not that she could blame him if that were the case.
A parent's job was always to take care of their children, yet I have failed Naruto; from the very beginning, Kushina thought, her face turned into a frown.
"Kaa-chan, you alright?" Naruto asked, concerned he had asked the wrong question, but her mouth just smiled and rubbed her hair in embarrassment.
"Nothing, my Sochi, just lost in thoughts and memories," she answered, stating that she wasn't angry with him.
Naruto was waiting for his mother to begin the story of how she met and fell in love with His father. He was slowly growing impatient when she finally began to speak.
"I moved to Konoha when I was still very young; Minato and I were still just kids. The first time I saw your father, I thought he looked like a flaky girly boy, not someone who I would take as a serious ninja at all," Kushina said with a joking tone.
"Your kidding, right?" Naruto asked, knowing his father had become the Yellow Flash.
"No, I'm not, but what did I know? I was a young girl who didn't know anything about boys or about being a ninja at all, for that matter," Kushina answered with a giggle.
"Well, I guess he proved you wrong in the end, huh," Naruto said with a smile, his hands behind his head, listening with all of his attention.
"Indeed he did. Since I was the new kid, I wanted to make an impression on my first day at the academy. I wanted everyone to remember me. So when they asked me what my dream for the future was, I yelled, 'I'm going to be the first female Hokage!'" Kushina said, letting out a loud laugh at the memory.
Naruto laughed at her first choice of words, becoming the Hokage, Naruto saw himself perhaps wanting the same, but he wanted something much different.
Kushina noticed the sudden new face of Naruto; his eyes glanced at the moon and sun symbol on his palms, flashes of the last night still fresh on his mind; he wondered if the pain would ever go away??
Looking up at his mother once again, his face beamed again, and he gestured for her to continue.
Kushina wanted to ask if she could help but decided to continue the tale since her time was running out.
If Naruto was paying more attention to her chakra level, he would notice her chakra slowly lowering.
"As you may have guessed, the people in the class didn't like the new kid who wasn't even from their village talking about becoming Hokage, and the boys started making fun of me all the time, they called me 'Tomato'" Kushina said with a hint of melancholy and anger on her tone.
"Tomato? Sure, you have red hair, but you certainly don't look like a tomato to me," Naruto said; looking at her red hair, Naruto couldn't help but love the color of her hair.
"Well, I did back then, I had a very round face and with my fiery red hair... well, even I had to admit that I looked like one! And it infuriated me!" the redhead said, still laughing slightly at the memory.
"So, did dad stand up to the bullies for you?" Naruto asked, thinking of his father standing up to protect his mother.
"Nope!, he just stood there watching, perhaps he himself didn't want to get in trouble, or maybe he was afraid of me, or maybe didn't care, but they kept bullying me, so I showed them myself, I beat all of the Bullies Half to Death, since that day, people knew from my new nickname. 'The Bloody Habanero!" Kushina said with a small smile, her fist slowly raising, veins almost popping out of her fist.
"I think I can finally understand why Shikamaru is so scared of his mom. They can be scary," Naruto said with a gulp, remembering Shikamaru complaining that his mother forced him to eat vegetables, and sometimes her eyes would look covered in shadows, making her both terrifying and creepy.
He quickly recovered, "So what did dad say when they asked him what his dream for the future was?" he asked curiously, wondering if his father had wanted to become Hokage from the very beginning.
"Minato said that he wanted to have everyone in the village acknowledge him and to become a great Hokage," Kushina said with dreamy eyes.
"To have everyone acknowledge him, huh..." Naruto added with a hollow tone as he remembered his lost family.
They had acknowledged him, Itachi, Shisui, and Mikoto-Kaa-chan, maybe even Fugaku-Sama, the way they smiled at him, the little gestures, and many other things.
Kushina noticed it immediately and leaned closer, but he turned his face to her and smiled, an excellent goofy smile.
"What happened next?"
Kushina felt her heartbreaking knowing she couldn't do much; how much she would give just to stay longer with him and not leave him alone all over again.
"W-when I heard what Minato said, I thought that a goofy-looking flake like him could never become the Hokage; there was absolutely no way it would be possible. But as I said earlier, what did I know? I was young; I looked down my nose at Minato, that was until a certain incident," Kushina said with a small shiver at the end.
"Incident? What happened?" Naruto questioned, noticing the way her face lost color slightly.
"I've always hated my red hair... Until one day, thanks to Minato, I came to like it. My chakra is a bit special, you see. And the Hidden Cloud wanted it badly enough to kidnap me," Kushina said.
"Kumo huh," Naruto said, with no surprise in his tone.
"You don't seem too shocked to hear that they tried to kidnap me?" Kushina said, slightly disappointed her story hadn't given out a stronger response from her son.
"Well, I have heard quite a few story's about Kumo's old habits of kidnapping anyone they think could be useful to the village," Naruto admitted remembering Kumo trying to kidnap the Hyuga Heiress.
"Oh, have they changed now?" Kushina asked with a dreadful tone.
"You could say that the new Raikage isn't bad, and his brother Bee-sensei gave me a few tips on how to control More tails without losing control," Naruto said, knowing he didn't know them well yet, perhaps when he grows up.
"Well, anyway, as I was saying, the old Raikage and the counsel sent a team of Kumo ninja to kidnap me. As they were marching me away, I pulled out my hair one strand at a time; I had to be very careful not to be seen. Konoha sent out pursuit squads immediately, but none managed to find me.
As we got closer to the border, I started to give up hope of being rescued. But in the end, Minato was the only one who picked up my trail. He was the only one who noticed the trail of red strands. He rescued me from the Kumo ninja and carried me away. He said he noticed my beautiful hair right away as he held me. Suddenly he no longer looked like a goofy flake; he looked like the most magnificent shinobi ever.
Like a man who would make all of my dreams come true. My bright red hair had led me to my soul mate. From that day on, I liked my hair, and more importantly, I loved Minato," Kushina said with a reflective look on her face.
Naruto said nothing for a moment, thinking of what she said; he wondered if he should tell her about his involvement in Kumo trying to kidnap the Hyuga Heiress but decided against it since he didn't want his mother to yell at him for being reckless, not mentioning she would definitely get worried.
"You mentioned Bee, that means you know Him?" Kushina asked, interested remembering her own experience with the weird sunglasses man.
"Well, not really, I mean he and his brother, the Raikage stood in Konoha for some time, Bee spend every day with me, so yeh I know him, what about you, how do you know him?" Naruto answered.
"Well," Kushina said, rubbing her hair nervously. "I beat him a few times, and somehow we became kind of like friends, every time I beat him," Kushina finished with a laughing, remembering both Bee and Hachibi.
Naruto wasn't sure what to think; if she knew Hachibi, that meant Bee must have gone all out and yet not Win; he wondered just how strong was his mother.
"How were you able to defeat Hachibi?" Naruto blurted out without thinking.
"Well, we of Uzumaki clan have Chakra Chains; they were an advantage against almost all attacks, especially Bijuu," Kushina stated, a golden chain coming out of her sleeve.
Naruto couldn't help but wonder if he could do the same.
"How did you come up with my name, and which one decided?" Naruto suddenly asked, wondering how they thought of his name.
"Jiraiya-sensei wrote a book, you father loved that book, and the main character's name was Naruto after your father asked Jiraiya-sensei for permission, we gave you the name 'Naruto,' and he became your godfather," Kushina explained, waiting for a positive response from her son but instead his face changed.
Various different emotions flashed through his face so fast that even Kushina wasn't sure what Naruto was feeling. Still, the way his hands went from behind his head to his lap, his hands clenching around his knee, his teeth hitting against each other, his blue eyes turned Ice, reminding her so much of how Minato's eyes turned when he was furious, especially one time when they fought against Kumo Shinobi.
"Naruto..." she whispered and put her hand on his shoulder, his eyes still looking down on his lap, not making eye contact with her.
"W-why? Why has he abandoned Me..." Naruto breathed a huge breath, trying to calm himself.
Kushina's eyes widened at his words, No, Jiraiya would never do that.
"Wha-what do you mean..." "He Left Kaa-Chan, he-he abandoned me, he was there when-when, he Just Left, he didn't Say Hi, He Just Left," Naruto almost shouted, but the gentle hand of his mother calmed him down.
Kushina didn't know why or what to say to her son; Jiraiya always treated Minato as his own son, and yet, What if he doesn't recognize... No, No, That's Not It; Naruto looks like a Copy of Mina...
Kushina's eyes widened at the realization hitting her like a sword; she remembered how much Jiraiya had mourned for Tsunade's brother, the way he talked about his lost ones, she understood.
Naruto reminds him so much of Minato that he...
She wasn't sure what to think of this, she had been sure if no one, at least Jiraiya, would be there, but he has left, leaving him alone against a whole village of people who hate him.
"What about Hiruzen-Sama? He takes care of you, right?" Kushina asked with dread, hoping her son said 'Yes,' hoping her son wasn't truly alone.
Naruto looked at her and explained that the Hokage just gives him money once a month and sometimes takes him to eat Ramen, but nothing else beyond that.
Kushina's face, crying, she should be there; why is this happening? Why? WHY?
Naruto hugged his mother, hoping to ease her pain; she stopped crying and just held Naruto close to her, after minutes of silence...
Kushina suddenly felt her chakra going lower; she knew her time was running out. She took a deep breath and shook his shoulders slightly to gain Naruto's attention.
"I need to tell you about what happened on the night of the Kyuubi attack nine years ago," Kushina explained.
"The night of the Kyuubi attack," Naruto repeated.
"As you know, I was not originally from Konoha; I came from Uzu, Konoha and Uzu villages had very strong ties to each other," Kushina said.
"Yeah, I know, the Senju clan of Konoha and the Uzumaki clan of Konoha were the best of friends. In fact, they were even distant blood relatives," Naruto added.
"The people of the Uzumaki clan were all blessed with astonishingly long lives. You surely know already of our clan's skills in sealing techniques and Kenjutsu. The four-element seal on your stomach was one of the seals from the Uzumaki clan. In fact, I taught Minato-kun a whole bunch of different seals," Kushina explained.
"I know all of that, but why did they pick you? There were many members of the Uzumaki clan that could take the role of jinchuuriki?" Naruto said, remembering what his father told him.
"Well, for one, I was a grandchild of the current leader of the Uzumaki clan. Also, I was apparently born with a powerful chakra that was well suited to suppressing the Kurama. My predecessor as the Kurama jinchuuriki, was also a powerful female shinobi from the Uzumaki clan. I guess it was seen as appropriate that I take over for her. It's funny, her name was Mito Uzumaki, and she became the Shodaime Hokage's wife. And I ended up marrying the Yondaime," Kushina said.
"Yeah, I know about that; she became the first jinchuuriki during the fight between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha," Naruto said.
Kushina was surprised to know Naruto knew all of this despite being six years old; she wondered how he knew but decided to ask later.
"Yes, that's correct. From then on, Konoha took possession of the Kurama. And as Mito-sama neared the end of her life, I was brought to the village as the Kurama's new 'vessel,'" Kushina explained.
"They used you!" Naruto yelled, standing up, angry at how they had made his mother the previous jinchuuriki.
"I had no idea why I had to move... And when I learned the truth, I was speechless. It had all been kept top-secret... Only the Sandaime Hokage and the top village councilors knew... Only three people. I was suffocating under the pressure of being a jinchuuriki and the crushing loneliness that came with it. But then Mito-sama told me something that made me feel a whole lot better," Kushina said, hoping to ease the tension.
"What could anyone say that would make it better" Naruto stated, almost shouting; his Sharingan had activated on itself; if Kushina was surprised by his Sharingan, she didn't show it.
"She told me that 'Ultimately we were brought here to Konoha to become the vessel of the Kurama, but before the beast can be housed... We must fill the vessel with love. Do that, and even the host of the Kurama will live a happy life'" Kushina said with a smile at the memory.
"You were happy as the previous jinchuuriki, weren't you?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, I was, thanks to Minato-kun and Mito-sama, I had a very happy life," Kushina answered.
"What happened to Uzumaki Clan?" Naruto asked curiously; perhaps his mother knew more about it.
Kushina sighed at the question; despite being years now, she still felt sadness and anger about her homeland.
"Uzushiogakure was a beautiful place; Uzumaki Clan lived there for almost two millennia; soon after I arrived in Konoha, Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa banded together and destroyed my Home," Kushina spoke, holding back tears, remembering her sister, she never saw her ever again.
"I'm glad you survived," Naruto said softly, leaning closer and kissing her cheek.
Kushina laughed and kissed his cheek, already feeling better.
"I have another question, the Kyuubi attacked nine years ago, and the masked man, controlling him! So how did he get control of the Kurama if it was sealed away inside of you?" Naruto asked.
"I guess your father didn't tell you... It figures; he left most of it to me... I suppose Minato-kun must have had very little time. But you are right! That masked murderer had control of the Kurama when it attacked nine years ago. But it was only moments before his attack that it was still sealed inside of me," Kushina said.
"What? How did he get it out?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know how that masked man knew, but he did," Kushina said.
"Knew what!" Naruto asked.
"He must have known that a jinchuuriki's seal weakens upon a full terms pregnancy," His mother said, shocked and saddened.
"Hiruzen and his wife Biwako informed Minato and I that I would have to give birth outside of the village, and there would only be three people allowed inside with me," Kushina said.
"Outside the village? Why go to that much trouble? Surely the seal doesn't become that weak, does it and not mentioning Kurama was a friend?" Naruto asked, confused.
"It does, sadly the stronger the Bijuu is, the weaker it becomes, despite Kurama being friendly, if Seal became too weak, he still would come out even if he didn't want to," Kushina explained, her hand instinctively gripping her belly remembering the day as if it were yesterday.
"I went to gather my things for the birth with Biwako, it was an uneventful apart from running into a good friend Mikoto Uchiha, who had just given birth around a week earlier to her son Sasuke, I remember being so afraid of childbirth I just had to ask her if it hurt, but she didn't really help and in the end Biwako dragged me away to stop me from revealing anything more about the birth. She gave me such a lecture about not talking to anyone, as well as not screaming when the contractions start"
"I remember Biwako lecturing him to watch the seal and not panic, and that this was the reason women have babies because men can't handle the pain!' if I wasn't in so much pain myself at the time, I would have probably laughed. Your birth went without complications, and I was finally able to meet you; I was so happy to see you, to be able to hold you finally. Minato-kun just couldn't stop smiling," Kushina said reflectively.
"So there were no complications with the birth? Then what went wrong?" Naruto asked, dreading what his mother might say.
"Only moments after you were born that masked man showed up, he had killed all of the Anbu that were guarding our location, and upon entering the room, he killed Biwako and the Anbu that was with her Taji. And what was worse, he had taken you, threatening to kill you if Minato-kun didn't leave me.
In the end, that masked bastard attempted to go ahead with his threat forcing Minato to leave me while my seal was still weakened. He, of course, saved you in the time Naruto but had to act quickly to avoid the explosion from seals that the man placed on your blanket," Kushina explained.
"While Minato-kun returned You safely home, I was taken by that man, and he was boasting about how despite all of the safety precautions Konoha made to ensure Minato-kun would be able to protect me, he managed to separate us. He then activated his Sharingan and forcefully ripped the Kurama from my seal," Kushina said.
Naruto felt his anger rise once again; the man was responsible for all of this, his chest burning like fire in anger.
"That masked man who seemed to have almost complete control over the Kurama forced him to kill me, saying that 'It was fitting for a Bijuu to kill its previous jinchuuriki,' it almost got me as well, but Minato-kun arrived and saved me. He returned me to the place he had hidden you, Naruto-kun, so I could stay with you while he went back out to fight the man in the mask and, of course, the Kurama. Minato-kun then left me with you, so I do not know exactly what happened in the village, but I am sure that it was horrible," Kushina said.
"I do not know what happened, but from what I can gather, Minato-kun was able to defeat the masked man and remove the Kurama from his power, because the next time I saw Minato-kun, he was warping both of us to the location of Kurama, Minato explained that we needed to seal Kurama into you, before being sealed away, Kurama promised to look after you" a small smile erupted on the blonde's face, at the mention of his friend. "Mina-kun sealed Kurama using Reaper Death Seal," Kushina finished.
"So you just let him use Me as the jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked with a slightly hurt tone.
"Not really; I was damn against the idea, and to make you a jinchuuriki without even having a father was just unthinkable. I couldn't understand it at all; Minato-kun was sacrificing you just to keep the balance of the Bijuu between the villages," Kushina said.
"Well, what did he say to that?" Naruto asked with a low voice, almost a whisper.
"He said that 'Turning your back on your country is the same as abandoning a child. That he made a promise to protect the village of Konoha and the Land of Fire when he became Hokage, and he couldn't just turn his back on those people I still didn't like what I was hearing, despite knowing Minato-kun truly believed what he was doing was right, I didn't want my son to grow up alone. But Minato said something that, in the end, I am glad he did because it meant that I was able to meet you.
He said that 'Even if he lived, he could never substitute for me; there were things that you need to be told that he could never say. Even if I only have the briefest of moments to do so. And that the sealing wasn't so that I could see you again; it was so that you could meet me. A lifetime with a father could not give the same kind of love and affection as even five minutes with a mother."
My last words to you were. Don't be a fussy eater; grow up to be big and strong; make sure you bathe every day and sleep well! Make friends; it doesn't matter how many... Just make sure they're real friends, people you always trust and rely on; even a few is enough! And study your ninjutsu; I was never very good at it, maybe you will be.
And remember to avoid the three vices of shinobi... don't borrow money if you can help it. Save what money you earn from missions... No drinking alcohol until you are old enough, and as for women, I hope you find someone that makes you happy.
Finally, remember who you are, find a dream, and don't stop trying at it until it comes true! And of course, I couldn't leave you without telling you how much I love you... Naruto, I am so sorry about what happened, we made you into the Kurama vessel, and I wasn't there for you while you were growing up," Kushina said while wiping a tear from her eyes.
Naruto was also tearing up. "But I get it now, you both gave your lives for me so I could live, you loved me so I could grow up happy and healthy... I am so glad I am your son," Naruto said.
Kushina rushed forward to hug Naruto just as she was fading away. "Naruto, I am so happy to hear you say that. Thank you for allowing me to be your mother and Minato-kun to be your father. Thank you for being our son... Thank you!" Kushina sobbed as the tears began to fall freely from her eyes as she faded away, leaving Naruto alone.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone