When Kushina awoke, she imdiately felt a pair of arms wrapped around her. Opening her eyes, a man's chest appeared in her vision. She was leaning against soone.
Sowhat confused and still a little groggy, she looked up and found a pair of slitted red eyes staring back, frad by a handso human face.
She was in Kurama's arms!
"Eep!" Kushina jumped away, embarrassed. She had never so much as hugged a man who wasn't family. Unlike most girls in the ninja academy, Kushina hadn't focused much on boys. Rather than crushing on them, she had been busy beating them up.
But now that she was getting a good look at Kurama...
He was tall and muscular, wearing nothing but a pair of pants. With pale skin and long, wild, fiery orange hair flowing downward, reminiscent of Kurama's fur. Fox-like ears erge from the top of his head, furred in orange and tipped with black and red. Distinct, red whisker-like markings adorned his face, and nine fluffly tails could be seen behind him.
His eyes are vivid red with slit pupils, intense and piercing. Though they carry a very subtle warmth as they gaze at her. (Image)
Kushina's face turned scarlet, and she quickly averted her gaze. She never found any of the boys in the Academy or Konoha attractive- they were too skinny and weak-looking. But Kurama is not skinny and definitely not weak-looking.
"P-put on so clothes, idiot!"
Kurama snorted. He had only put on the pants for her comfort in the first place. He didn't expect soone like Kushina to be so shy.
"I guess all that bravado vanishes when you see a handso face, brat." Kurama chuckled. Although he's no longer hundreds of ters tall, his voice still rumbles and carries throughout the seal space.
Kushina once again looked his way to retort, but when she caught his appearance, she swallowed her words. She quietly averted her gaze once more.
"C-can you just put on a shirt, please?" Her voice ca out softer this ti.
"Alright." He spoke, though he had a sly glint in his eyes.
A red, almost tangible chakra erged from his skin. It took the form of an open-chested white n's blouse. There are no clothes in the seal space, so he's forced to make his own from chakra.
Kushina let out a quiet sigh of relief, ready to move past the embarrassnt- until she turned back to him.
'What's the point of wearing a shirt if I can still see everything!? He's gotta be ssing with !' She shook her head and tried to suppress her blush
Kurama sat on the stone floor, tail tips fanned lazily around him, and motioned for her to sit beside him. She swallowed her montary irritation and followed without a word.
"Over the next few years, we'll train hard. I'll teach you chakra control and ninjutsu. I know all the forbidden Jutsu of Konoha and many others that were lost to ti." Kurama wasn't a master in chakra control himself, but having been around for nearly a thousand years, he knows every chakra control exercise there is.
Kushina's face darkened with embarrassnt when she heard chakra control. She could only barely control hers. She still couldn't master the basic Academy Jutsus.
"My chakra control sucks…" Kushina admitted quietly, shoulders hunched.
Kurama didn't laugh. Instead, he put one of his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in gently. His warmth radiated through her.
"That's not a problem. Even without , you still have a large amount of chakra. It's only natural that you struggle with basic jutsu. The next ti you use the Clone Jutsu, I'll help you manipulate your chakra."
Kushina leaned into his side. She held strong for all those years alone, but now that Kurama is here, she can let go a little bit. "Okay… I'll trust you," she said, voice small but firm.
Kurama was satisfied with her response and said, "There's one Jutsu in particular that suits your large chakra capacity. The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. It allows you to create multiple identical clones that can train individually. With this, your progress will increase rapidly."
Kushina tilted her head cutely and asked, "How am I gonna learn a forbidden Jutsu when I can't even use the academy ones?"
"Your problem is that you pour too much chakra into every technique. It's like trying to fill a teacup with a tsunami. However for the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, this will be your advantage. The extra chakra will just form more clones."
Kushina's eyes lit up. For years, she'd struggled with the most basic techniques. If she could turn that weakness into a strength… and learn a cool forbidden Jutsu at the sa ti?
"I'll master this technique and beco the strongest Kunoichi ever, dattebane!" She exclaid. So of her previous fire was rekindled.
Kurama chuckled and said, "After we're strong enough, we can leave Konoha and rebuild your clan."
Kushina's eyes sharpened. She was still a little nervous about becoming a rogue-nin. It felt like she was betraying Mito, who loved Konoha. But Mito was an Uzumaki too, surely she'd understand?
Regardless, Kushina couldn't stand to stay in the village for the rest of her life. It's only ever brought her pain. She had no problems with Kurama's plan.
"Once you're around 15 or 16, we should be ready to leave. By then, no one could force us back." Kurama concluded.
Kushina nodded, when suddenly a thought ca to her mind, "What's your na?"
She rembered that yesterday, he said the Sage of Six Paths gave each of them a na. She assud they were naless forces of nature before, but now she knows differently.
Kurama paused for a mont and looked into the distance. His expression was unreadable. It had been hundreds of years since he last told soone his na. It was deeply personal to him.
"Kurama." He looked into her eyes again. "The Sage gave the na of Kurama."
She smiled and said, "Kurama. That's a good na."
With that, Kushina relaxed in his arms. She hadn't experienced this kind of peace in years.
——
Hours later,
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage showed up at Kushina's apartnt. He wasn't happy with how their talk went earlier and needed to confirm her ntal state himself.
If the Nine-Tails escaped it would be disastrous for Konoha. Sure, he and the ANBU could seal it again, but not before it destroyed the village and killed most of their forces.
And if Kushina herself harbored resentnt for the village…
Maybe he was too hasty with the Uzumaki clan. But what's done is done. There's no one else who can carry the Nine-Tails, so he has to make do.
He knocked. A few monts later, the door creaked open.
"What do you want, old man?" Kushina appeared and 'welcod' him inside.
She looked much better than she did yesterday. Her complexion regained so life and her eyes weren't nearly as puffy, though they're still a little red. With Kurama by her side and her new hope of restarting the Uzumaki clan, her condition improved by leagues. Though she's still grieving and irritable.
Hiruzen was ushered in with minimal hospitality. They sat awkwardly at her rickety table.
"I wanted to check on you." He began with a kind smile.
Hiruzen poured himself so tea and continued, "I know loss is hard. I was a little younger than you during the Sengoku period; back then, life was as cheap as grass and it was reaped just as easily."
"I'm… alright. I just need ti. And I'm not at risk if that's what you want to know." Kushina finished with a glare. Although she and Kurama had agreed not to antagonize him imdiately, she couldn't help it.
Her comnt hung awkwardly in the air for a mont before Hiruzen coughed and continued, "Ahem. That's good, that's good. I'm here if you ever need soone to talk with. Being isolated isn't healthy."
"I said I'm fine as I am, old man. I was just… caught off guard earlier and lashed out. It won't happen again." She said irritably.
There was a pause again, and Hiruzen forced a smile, "Alright, alright. It's just, I've heard there's a good lad in your class," he paused for a mont, thinking of the na, "Minato Namikaze, that's it. He seems like a good young man, what about him?"
Kushina's face darkened even further. Minato's been following her around for years. She's not oblivious to his feelings, but she wasn't interested in romance and he's far too wimpy anyway. He just won't take the hint.
"I said, I'm fine." She gritted out.
Hiruzen could tell he spoke poorly, so he backtracked, "Yes, well never mind then. I'm sorry for bothering you while you're grieving. I'll be on my way now… will you need any leave from the Academy?"
As she was about to answer, she felt a pulse from Hiruzen's direction. It was dark and cold, sothing she's never felt before.
'What is this?'
'Malice.' Kurama replied ntally. 'I have the unique ability to sense malice, and I let you experience it.'
'That's-'
"Kushina?" Hiruzen called out, with a kind smile.
She blinked, and replied curtly, "No."
"Alright."Hiruzen got up and moved toward the door, but as he was about to leave, he looked back and said, "Just rember, the village is here for you. People's lives don't end when they die. It ends when they lose faith. The Will of Fire lives within us all, don't forget that." With that, he left.
Kushina sat in silence for a few monts. This talk confird many of the things Kurama told her. About the village's manipulations; their half-truths, and petty words. Kushina isn't stupid, but she hadn't seen many of these signs before. Now that Kurama told her the truth, it all feels illuminated.
She looked out her window at the village she once tried to love.
'Thank goodness I have Kurama here.'
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