Disclaimer: I don't own this series.
A/N: This is two days late because of my terrible Internet connection. I've realized that I never posted a holyday themed fic, so this will be the first one – hopefully the others will be updated on time. Recently I've watched the fateful Minakushi episodes of Naruto and I must say I've loved it. This isn't my first fic written about either Minakushi or Kushina, but it'll be the first one uploaded. Naruto centered, slight MinaKushi.
Happy Mother's Day, everyone!
The lively and colorful streets of Konoha were currently silent and empty. The stores were closed down and not a single person was outside their houses; that is, no one aside from Uzumaki Naruto. It was no secret why the blond ninja would always be wandering around from street to street, never finding a place to stay. Today was one of the rare days the young boy wouldn't display the abundant energy he always had. The constant prankster was just walking alone under the chilling weather.
Today was Mother's Day.
While there other holydays related to family members, it was only this special one that managed to close all stores and reunite the whole family without fail. After all, the mother was the strong bond that united every single person in the household, be it a civilian's or a ninja's. In this day, even Ichiraku's Ramen would close down and Naruto would find himself without anything to do once more. Many expected him to either run around crazily while destroying public property as he did some years ago or to simply be moping around, going from house to house in order to annoy as many people as possible.
There were even some years Naruto had invited himself into the Hokage's household – and was unwillingly accepted by a very tired Sarutobi and warmly welcomed by an ecstatic Konohamaru – or tried to do so with his teammates. Unfortunately, none of those tries ever worked; Kakashi didn't seem to hold much with this holyday and always went on secret missions to have something to do while Sasuke would equally disappear to train some more, as he would say. Sakura, on the other hand, had always turned down his self-invitations, but this year she had actually invited him.
But then again, this year was different from all others. Uzumaki Naruto was no longer the underdog who all the children unconsciously hated because of their parents. Oh no, he had proved himself after many trials and was now accepted – no, even respected in the village as a hero. His long time dream of becoming a Hokage seemed closer to him, if only by just a little. Most importantly of all he now had friends. He had people who he could always count on and who he would always help in every single way possible. He was no longer alone during missions and holydays, not even this one. Naruto smiled warmly as he remembered each and every invitation he received from his friends to pass the day with their families: Iruka-sensei, Ichiraku's household, Konohamaru, Tsunade-baachan, Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji and Hinata (who were now getting along, he smiled), Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and even an unwilling Ino invited him. Scanning down the mental list he made, Naruto was overjoyed to know the number of invitations easily passed ten.
If it had been any other year, he'd have jumped at the opportunity at spending Mother's Day with any family at all – but this year it was different.
Due to many events during this year, many happy but also many sad, Naruto had changed. He was still the obnoxious and annoyingly loud ninja who managed to excel during the toughest of challenges, but he was also more mature and serious towards the upcoming war. Of course, he was no adult yet, but he had also let go of being a child forever. He had people who counted on him, a village that now respected him and because of that, he'd finally grow up and take his long wanted responsibilities.
Naruto didn't feel so lonely anymore. The usual pang in his chest had long since subdued into a small fraction of sad memories, now deeply stored inside him. The empty space in his heart was now filled with warmness of love and friendship, two feelings he refused to ever lose. And as much as he was thankful for his new found friends and respect, Naruto knew there was a single person he had to thank for more than anyone else.
His biggest change came from her, from meeting and getting to know the single most important person in his life: his mother.
After fifteen years of living in doubt and fear, Naruto had finally met his parents during the process of dominating Kyuubi's chakra. The process was hurtful, heavily emotional and tearful, but it was worth it. The joy and happiness to meet his parents and know they had actually wanted him was like nothing else he had ever felt. Minato was the most thoughtful father he could imagine, even with his admittedly rushed decisions; the blond ninja was everything a Hokage should be and Naruto respected him for being both: a Hokage and a father. Even dead, his father was still and would always be a role model for him in every sense of the world.
But it was his mother that had made the biggest change in him. Honestly, when he wondered about what type of person she had been, many personalities came in his mind. Perhaps she was kind and filled with soft-words and warm hugs? Or maybe she was cold and harsh, not caring? Admittedly, Naruto didn't have much experience with mothers – almost all females in the village hated him and Tsunade had always been his obaachan, the closest thing he could count, without being a mother – and he never thought much of the type of mother Shikamaru and Kiba had, only remembering them as being scary. So when he met Uzumaki Kushina, his mother, surprised didn't even cut it.
After all, what type of person confused their mother with a humanoid version of Kyuubi? He still wasn't proud of how he characterized her laugh as 'non-human'. She had taken it all very lightly, fortunately. And with no time at all, they had strongly bonded. Kushina, while initially not the image of the mother he had always harbored, turned out to be so much more.
She was everything he ever hoped to find in a mother, but in a more realistic and loving sense. She was rough around the edges and quite harsh, but she was also just as warm. Only then he realized that Kushina was much better than any idea his silly mind could've come up with. She wasn't just his long lost mother she was also human. Just like him, she also had flaws and qualities, but that didn't stop her from being the best she could be. Uzumaki Kushina was a strong, reliable, caring and sweet woman. She was his mother.
Naruto still couldn't control the tears that came whenever he thought back to his first and last meeting with his mother. How understanding, sweet and kind she had been, just like a caring mother. How bright, jovial and loud she had been, just like a child. How serious, determined and powerful she had also been, as an adult and as a ninja. If someone asked him to shape the amount of respect he held for her, the whole world wouldn't have been enough.
And he had never even heard of her till that day.
But really, how would he know? No one had ever even mentioned his mother's name to him and while he could always wonder if the Fourth had really been his father because of their hair similarities, he had never had a single clue to who his mother could've been. Her name wasn't even mentioned in the Memorial Stone. He had first heard of the Uzumaki Clan through her. It even seemed like she didn't exist in Konoha. Naruto knew why: she had been the Kyuubi's jinchuriki before him. The village was only now starting to change its superficial beliefs and look how long it took. He could only hope by the time this was over everyone's perception of jinchuriki would change for the better.
So that was why Uzumaki Naruto was currently walking alone through the streets of Konoha while every family was enjoying its warmth, coming back from a trip to the Memorial Stone. He couldn't to spend the day in a family that wasn't his when he now knew who his parents had been. It wasn't a question of fairness, it simply didn't feel right to him. The loneliness might come back to engulf him during these holydays, but Naruto didn't care. He knew he had been wanted and deeply loved by his parents. What better present could he have as a child? With a bright smile in his cold reddened face, Naruto ran down the street in the direction of his apartment where a warm cup of ramen waited for him. He would make a tradition to take a walk and remember his parents – it was the least he could do.
His father had a whole mountain to remember him by, and Naruto only thought fair that his mother should have one as well. The first thing he would do as a Hokage: to build a monument to her and that was final. Until then, the village would have to do with a freshly scribbled 'Uzumaki Kushina' written on top of the Memorial Stone, made just this very morning.
"Happy mother's day, Mom." Those were the words scribbled under the name.
Everyone may have forgotten her, but he would never do so. Uzumaki Kushina, his predecessor jinchuriki and a powerful ninja with a unique chakra, was also his mother. And he couldn't be prouder of his origins.