Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me, seeing as they are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
This one is not a crack filled one shot. I'm actually pitching an interesting idea that I've had floating around in my head for awhile. Is it worth pursuing?
The setting? Um...think of it as a modern day ninja village...city type place. They're ninjas…but with…technology.
"Mama, I want to do what you did when I grow up." The portrait of a cherub stared up at his mother. Kushina Uzumaki smiled back down at her young son, Naruto. She could see the hope and willingness in his eyes, his desire to be just like her. She knew what he wanted. In fact, she had known what he wanted ever since he first asked to be enrolled in classes. But his requests were getting more complicated. It didn't matter however, and she would see to it that her only son, her shining star, would get whatever he wanted.
"Of course baby, you can do anything." She kissed the boy softly on his forehead, taking delight in his smile as the toddler fell asleep.
Kushina Uzumaki was a ballerina. Recently retired and now toying with the idea of starting up a local studio, Kushina had once been on top of the dancing world. Recognized for her mastery of both the French and Russian (Vaganova) methods and praised for her artistry, she had been the principal dancer for the Whirlpool Ballet Theatre, and soon gained the title of prima ballerina assoluta in the world famous Fire Nation Ballet Company. While touring she met a charming young man who was of great importance in one of the Hidden Villages, Konoha. His name was Minato Namikaze and they quickly fell in love. He also happened to be the Hokage.
The young lovers made the decision to keep their affair private, figuring that a political leader couldn't have a public relationship with a celebrity. Especially a celebrity from another village, and one who was always traveling. After a whirlwind affair they parted ways not too soon after consummating their relationship and promising themselves to each other. Kushina left with a heavy heart and quickly discovered with a heavy womb as well.
Minato ended up dieing in battle a couple of weeks after her departure. By then she had realized she was pregnant and made the choice to stop dancing professionally. After hearing news of her lover's death a heartbroken Kushina made an additional choice to up and move. Having no desire to go anyplace else, and deciding that raising her child in his fatherland would be most beneficial, she found herself settling into the bustling village of Konohagakure. It was a political stronghold; entertainment was never a priority there, and none of the villagers had ever heard her name. It was also during that settling in time that she learned that her lover had been the village's strongest ninja, an occupation compeltely foreign to her. With new resolve to learn about her late Minato's life, she planted herself firmly into the village, confusing those around her. Who was this woman? They didn't know. But soon the village grew to accept this single mother-to-be, and she grew to become part of the village as well.
She quickly found out that to earn a living in this new place, she had to figure out the way of the ninja. With the help of new friends, the internet and the local library she learned everything she could about the ninja and village lifestyle. The current Hokage (a busty blonde woman who reeked of good sake) had heard of this hardworking lady, and decided to meet up with her for a job offer.
"I can see you're new. You're obviously not a ninja, despite your book knowledge of how things are done..." Tsunade-hime (as they called her) narrowed her eyes and the now heavily pregnant woman. A goofy smile broke out onto her face soon after. "One of our veteran academy teachers recently died, so we need somebody to take her place in the classroom. You teach little brats of the basics and make sure they just know what's going on before we send them out onto the training grounds and ultimately, the mission field." A smile grew Kushina's face as she lunged towards the woman, catching her in a bone crushing hug.
"OH MY GOD! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
After only a couple of months of settling into her position as the new schoolteacher, Kushina gave birth to a wailing young boy. The villagers looked in awe of this precious little baby, who, despite the peculiar birthmarks on his face (six whisker like lines, three on each cheek), looked so much like their late Yondaime. "The resemblance is uncanny," many of the elder folk said. But this woman was a foreigner, so it was probably only a coincidence.
In the end the boy and his mother were both raised with the full support and love of the village. But soon mother was missing her old lifestyle, and began to flip through albums of her dancing years (which really only ended about 2 years ago). Showing them to her son she watched as he also flipped through pages of photos.
"What are you doing here mommy?"
"I'm dancing baby, dancing."
"Can I dance too?"
The question had caught her off guard. Surprise was quickly overrun with delight as she quickly picked up her son, stuffed him the backseat of her car, and drove him to a nearby village to sign him up for dance lessons. They were on Saturdays, and only 30 minutes away. Nobody noticed her weekly disappearances, and for that she was glad. At the Academy there were reports that Naruto had apparently shown some major skill in becoming a great ninja. He was nowhere near as fine tuned as the militaristic Uchiha and Hyuuga, both of who hailed from legendary ninja clans, but the raw power and passion that he displayed in his classes were well beyond his years. Kushina found it hard to hide her distress at the news. In all honesty she didn't want her baby boy to grow up to be a fighting machine, and with him showing interest in another time consuming activity she figured it would deter him from wanting to grow up to be a top ninja.
Kushina soon found herself with a slight problem on her hands. She came home one day to find her son trying to balance himself, en pointe, with her old shoes. After taking them away from the sniffling boy she explained to him exactly how much training was needed before dancing en pointe. She also mentioned that only girls wore those shoes. He nodded at her, and she could see the combination of sadness and understanding in his eyes. But that night as she was tucking him in, she looked down at a hardened face with fierce determination in his eyes. Her resolve broke, and as she walked downstairs into the small kitchen she promised herself that she would help her little boy in achieving what he apparently wanted most. Slowly shaking her head as she made herself some tea she allowed herself a goofy smile as a couple of thoughts pushed their way to the front.
Tomorrow I suppose I need to enroll him in a different studio. I also need to start stocking up on some girl clothes.