A mother's wish
Naruto Uzumaki slammed the door of his apartment behind him as he ran in. He locked the door, breathing heavily. He froze at the shouts of people outside sounded not too far away.
"Demon! Where is he?"
"Come out, you monster!"
"Demon brat!"
The shouts faded farther and farther away from his apartment. Naruto did not untense until he was sure they were far away. When they were all energy within him vanished. He slid to the floor, crying. He didn't understand this. Why did the villagers do this every year to him?
Every year for the past four years the villagers would come and hunt him down the night of October 10; the day that the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and was slain. They would track him down with weapons in hand and try to kill him. It did not help that some of them were drunk from the festival held and others ninjas. A few times they were close to killing him like that one time when he was four. If it weren't for the old man Hokage and a few ANBU that mildly liked him he would have been dead! But by the end of the night he would also be pretty beat up. Tonight was no different.
Naruto held back his tears and shakily stood to his feet. A flash of pain shot from his ankle. He bit his lip to not cry out. He had a sprained ankle, he deduced. He hobbled his way to the bathroom where he kept his first-aid kit. After shuffling through the medical cabinet he found the small white kit and took it into the kitchen. Setting himself down he started to treating his injuries. He wrapped his ankle and a few deep cuts. The others he did not treat because they were only minor. In the morning they would be miraculously gone. He finished treating his wounds when he noticed something on the kitchen table.
On the table sat a small strawberry cake that he could eat all by himself. Seven candles were at the top and lit. In the center in icing it read, Happy Birthday, Naruto! At the sight of the cake Naruto gently smiled. He knew that a few people really knew today was also his birthday and that was the ANBU, Teuchi and Ayame, and the old man. It was mostly that one ANBU lady, Rabbit. She was one of the few who helped him with no hesitation, unlike some of her colleagues. She even knew that strawberries were one of the few fruit he would actually eat. He actually liked her. It was like she were his mother.
At the mention of that word his smile faltered. Every time he thought about that word he would get slightly depressed. Naruto never knew his mother nor did anyone else. The old man said that his mother died when he was born and that was it. He didn't know anything else about her. He always wondered, though.
Was she a good person? Was she a ninja? Did she like ramen as much as he did? Did she...love him? Did she even want him? Alot of the other kids' mothers didn't want him around so did his own want him? She probably didn't. Who would want a kid who gets in trouble all the time? Granted, it was fun to pull pranks, but what would she think of him?
Sometimes, Naruto would imagine his mom when he got really sad. He would imagine she would be alot like his classmate's, Sasuke. He once saw the Uchiha's mother and she was very pretty. He would imagine his own mother kissing his wounds when he got hurt and hugging him with love. She would protect him from all the bad things that scared him and when he got older he would do the same with her. He would make sure she wouldn't get hurt. They would be happy with each other.
Tears welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks. He swallowed and quickly wiped away his tears. He shouldn't cry over something that was already gone. They were dead and that was that. Nothing could bring them to life. Naruto shook his head as if to clear away the depressing thoughts. He leaned over the table and closed his eyes to make his wish.
"I wish I had a mommy like all the other kids do," he whispered into the silent air. Then he opened his eyes and blew out the candles.
After that he ate a slice of the cake with some fresh milk. It looked like the ANBU replaced his groceries again. He finished his cake and hobbled over to bed. Quickly changing clothes he got into bed and yawned loudly.
"Another birthday, another year alive." Naruto laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, drifting off into the sweet land of dreams.
Once Naruto was asleep, a figure shimmered from thin air. She slowly appeared, the moonlight going through her until she solidified enough to cast a shadow. Through the light it was possible to see the figure was a woman with long red hair and a thin figure. The woman stared at Naruto, a sad frown on her face.
Kushina Uzumaki was not happy. Not ever since she gave birth to a beautiful child only to have him taken away to be used as a demon host. After she died, she cursed her husband for his actions. She was slightly okay with the fact that their son was going to become a demon host. She could live with that; it was fine. What was not fine was Minato dying seal the demon into their son and having him live as an orphan as well as being scorned by many! This basically pissed her off. She wanted to strangle Minato around the neck so badly. Unfortunately he was sealed within a shinigami's stomach. That left it to her to watch over her son.
And watch she did. She followed Naruto around as he grew up. She was basically a guardian spirit to the boy. Not angel. She was too rowdy to be an angel by what the gods' told her. Thry preferred to use the term spirit with those who lived their life as a ninja. She was always around Naruto. She did not want to miss a minute of her little boy growing up.
He looks like Minato, Kushina thought with a smile. But he's definitely like me.
That was true as well. Naruto had her spirit-so to speak-when it came it pranking people. She practically cracked up when Naruto replaced the clothing of his teacher's to green spandex. Iruka ran all over the village after Naruto, making him look like Gai. He was definitely her son.
Kushina's smile faded after awhile, seeing the condition was in. He was still banged up from the beating session he already took that night. A cut on his cheek started to fade already to a scarless pink. The Kyuubi was working his magic on healing him. She might have hated the furball for ruining their lives but he was good for something.
She walked over to her son's bed and sat on the edge. She watched her son sleep peacefully like he hasn't been hurt. This astounded her. How could her poor baby go through all of this and still smile? She was more than angry at the villagers for even touching her child. How could Naruto just act like he wasn't beaten? How could he not be in an angry rampage like she would be right now if she were alive?
"My sweet Naruto..." Kushina reached a hand over and ran her hand through her son's golden hair. She was allowed to do this only when Naruto was alone and asleep. In his sleep he smiled and sighed in content at her loving touch as if he's never felt something like that. She smiled herself. "Sorry I didn't get you anything for your birthday again. A ghost like me can't just walk into a store and buy something being dead and all. I wish I did get you something like actually sharp weapons or something. But I can't give you the only thing you want."
A mother's love. Kushina wanted to give that to Naruto if only for was one of the many things that her child never had. How could people not love Naruto? He was the sweetest child on earth! He hardly was a danger. And to think she used to be friends with some of these people. They scorned her child but not her. Naruto was a child that would be sweet to his mother. If only people could see that. Most of all she wished that she could protect him.
Kushina sniffled, feeling the onslaught of tears that occurred every birthday of her child. She wanted to so badly help him. All she could do was stand by and watch him get hurt and ignored. Seeing all this made her heart hurt.
She froze when Naruto stirred in his sleep. He did not awaken but whimpered, a warm tear sliding down his closed eyes. She was startled as he mumbled in his dreams.
"Mommy...don't cry. I'm...fine."
Her breath hitched. Was he really asleep? To her somewhat relief he was. His words still startled her. Naruto was asleep. Did he actually know she was there? Perhaps he was dreaming of his mother crying, which she was. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Don't worry, kiddo. Mommy's fine. She's just...happy to see you."
He breathed deeply and sighed, "Happy...see...too."
Kushina laughed and gingerly wiped away the tear on his face. She grinned widely. "I'm glad," she said. "Naruto...You're just like your dad. Determined and strong and have some good people who love you for you." Her grin faded to a melancholy smile. "I hope you do grow up like him. I loved your dad more than anything in the world, you know. He gave me the greatest thing I treasure more than my own existence: you."
She leaned down and kissed Naruto on the forehead. "Your mother loves you, Naruto. Never forget that."
Her form began to shimmer and fade into the darkness. The words formed on her lips lingered in the air like a light wind. She was gone.
In the morning, Naruto would awaken to think about the dream he had of a beautiful woman who told him that his mother loved him more than anything she treasured.
Okay, random thing here. I made this out of randomness when I was reading the book for English and doing an assignment. One of the questions were explain what "Mother is Supreme" is. I read it and it said that a child belongs to their father when they are the happiest in the world. But when a child is sad and down, the child goes to their mother for comfort and safety. That got me thinking about a mother and it led to this. I was planning on doing it for Mikoto and Sasuke, but then I thought about how I wanted to try someone new so it's Kushina and Naruto! Then I totally remembered that Mother's day was this weekend so I made this for Kushina! She's basically a spirit in here and can only see Naruto when he's asleep so whatever.
I guess it's a Mother's day thing. Go figure. You can review if you like. I don't care as long as it's read. Bye!