Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the characters, any part of the franchise, or anything else affiliated with it. This is a non-for-profit fan fiction work.
Good Grief Uzumaki
Chapter 1: A Mother's Return
"You know, no offense, but this place looks like it's seen better days," a young woman with long flowing red hair, which reached down to the small of her back, commented as she brought up a small glass of tea to her pink full lips and gingerly took a sip. The clock on the wall of the rather bland office ticked ominously as she adjusted her long black cloak, which feature a red spiral design on the back, and eyed an elderly man sitting across from her at an old age and element worn desk. Her emerald eyes seemed to be trying to calculate something in the old man's features, but the man, who was currently donning the white rob and red hat of a Hokage, made no subtle remarks or movements that might indicate that he was hiding something from her.
"Okay, out with it old man, you know I don't have all day. What happened to this village, and where's Minato-kun? I'm gone for two days and when I come back the village is in shambles, and that idiot's nowhere to be found? That doesn't bode well with me," the woman stated as she frowned and took another sip of her tea while the old man across from her reached across the desk for his pipe and brought it to his lips before lighting it.
"Just as brash as you always were, and just as beautiful, 'eh Kushina?" the old man questioned with a smirk as he took a long drag on his pipe and allowed the smoke to filter through his nostrils while he stroked his white goat like patch of beard and sighed. Reflecting silently to himself for a moment the Hokage considered it very fortunate that the red head had run off when she did, otherwise she would have been caught in the attack as well. While the elderly man wasn't sure what had brought about her urge to vanish for a few days, he was certainly grateful for it to an extent.
"First, I think it would be best if you put your tea down. I would greatly appreciate it if my tea glass wasn't broken after you hear what I have to say," Sarutobi said as the red head before him cocked an eyebrow in confusion but downed the last of her tea and set the cup on the table. "Well then, where to begin?" Sarutobi muttered to himself with a sorrowful and distant look in his eyes as he started to stroke his beard again.
"How about what happened to Minato and my son, and why are you dressed like the Hokage?" Kushina suggested, frowning deeply as the man before her nodded and sighed.
"As you wish. I'm dressed like the Hokage because I am the Hokage now," Sarutobi answered as he took another long drag on his pipe and allowed the smoke to filter through his nostrils once again as the young woman before him cocked an eyebrow in confusion again.
"What are you talking about old man? Minato is the Hokage now, the only way you could become…oh no," the red head gasped as her emerald eyes widened to the point where they looked as if they were going to fall out her head. In response to Kushina's unsaid question Sarutobi could only nod solemnly, while the red heads eyes began to tear up.
Fighting back the urge to simply let her emotions go unchecked, Kushina furiously blinked away her tears and gritted her teeth. "That…GOD DAMN IDOIT!" she snapped causing the elderly man before her to jump in surprise.
"BAM!"
"Damn him…why, how, when?" Kushina muttered to herself through gritted teeth as she continued to slam her fist on desk, cracking the wood and leaving indentations in it, as her hair served as a curtain by which she hid her face.
"Kushina, you have to understand-"
"WHAT!? WHAT DO I HAVE TO UNDERSTAND!?" the red head spat vehemently, not bothering to look up, as the old man before her simply sighed, shook his head solemnly, and took a long drag on his pipe.
Blowing the smoke out the corner of his mouth the man cleared his throat and began again. "Minato died protecting this village form the Kyuubi no Kitsune, that's why the village is in shambles. The demon fox attacked two days ago, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands since the body count is not in yet, and in order to stop it the Fourth sacrificed his life to seal it away before it could do any further damage and kill more innocents," Sarutobi explained as sympathetically as he could. While Kushina and Minato never formally tied the knot, they were just as much a married couple as any he had ever met. While the tomboyish red head did enjoy running off for days, or even weeks, at a time she always came back, and they were practically inseparatable when together. He knew she was taking the news even harder then she showed.
"So that's what happened…he just up and gave up his life to seal some stupid overgrown mammal? Did he even think about me, what I would go through if he died? What about his son!? Wait!" Kushina gasped as she snapped her head up, tears streaming from her horrified eyes, and stared at the Hokage for a moment while opening and closing her mouth wordlessly. "My son! Where's my son!?" she exclaimed almost hysterically as the Hokage waved off her concern.
"Naruto is fine, he's perfectly alright," Sarutobi stated dismissively as he took a long drag on his pipe and allowed the smoke to filter through his nostrils once again as he sat looking pensive for a moment. "However, there's something you should know," the elderly man began as Kushina stared at him intently. "When Minato sealed the Kyuubi away he…sealed it within your son," Sarutobi muttered.
"SLAM!"
Kushina shook uncontrollably as she snarled at the Hokage who simply eyed the chair she had just knocked over upon shooting to her feet. "He did what," she growled out as the elderly man sighed and shook his head.
"It was the only choice he had, and before he died he told everyone not to treat Naruto like a monster, but as a hero. That's exactly what your son is, a hero," Sarutobi stated in a placating tone, trying to calm down the enraged woman before him.
"Do you really think that means anything!? Everyone in this village, regardless of what that idiot said, will view him as a monster! They'll view him in the same light that they viewed that damn fox in!" the red head spat as Sarutobi's eyes widened in realization. He couldn't denounce what the woman said as a falsehood, because it wasn't. Already people were whispering about the "Monster boy" and how the Kyuubi was sealed away in some demonic brat. They said all of these things despite knowing that the boy was in fact the Fourth's son, and what the newly deceased had wished.
"I-I-I had not thought about that," the elderly man said, just above a whisper, as the red head before him simply scoffed in response.
"Of course you didn't, why would you? He's not your son now is he?" Kushina stated in a sarcastic tone as she shook her head in disgust. "I want to see him," the red head stated sternly as the Hokage simply nodded in consent and pushed his chair out.
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"Here he is," Sarutobi stated as the pair walked into the medical wing of the building, which was only two levels below his office. Looking through the glass of the nursery Kushina immediately spotted her son, laying in one of many blandly designed cribs covered in white sheets, thanks to his canary yellow blond hair and the bizarre seal on his stomach. He sat kicking and squealing joyously at nothing, and the red head couldn't help but to unconsciously smile in response.
"Do you want to go in?" the elderly man inquired as the woman stood silent and still for a moment before nodding her head in consent and following Sarutobi through the door into the dimly lit room.
Upon entering the room several infants looked up to spot two strangers and many of them stopped what they were doing to stare. However the blond, who was currently rolling around in his crib trying to swallow his foot, continued to coo completely ignoring the fact that everyone else had stopped moving.
"He's just like his father isn't he?" Kushina inquired as the Hokage chuckled nervously and sweat dropped.
"Actually he acts more like you," the elderly man muttered under his breath, low enough that he was sure that the red head couldn't hear him. Smirking to himself the elderly Hokage thought of how much the red head before him had changed since coming to the village a few years back. Once brash and incredibly tomboyish she had begun to mold herself into a beautiful woman, and, while she still tended to act brashly with the motto of "Consequences be damned!", she had seemed to mature rather rapidly with the birth of Naruto. It was almost as if overnight she became a loving and caring mother.
"Hello sweetheart, have you been waiting long?" Kushina asked the cooing infant, who stopped trying to swallow his foot long enough to look up at the woman before him with a look of puzzlement on his features. "Mommy has been away for too long, but don't worry, I'm not going to leave you again," Kushina said as she scooped up the boy in her arms and stared down at him lovingly. The infant only smiled and giggled in response as the red head gently poked his nose and smiled.
"We should get going," Sarutobi said as Kushina nodded in response before the pair started to walk out of the nursery.
"Yes, we are going, and we're going somewhere far away for a little while," Kushina said as she cradled Naruto next to her bosom while looking straight ahead of herself in a dignified manner.
"What do you mean by that?" Sarutobi inquired, not bothering to look at the woman to his side, as the red head simply grinned and shook her head.
"Naruto can't stay here, at least not right now. There is too much animosity within this village toward both him and the fox. I don't want my son to ostracized, so were going on a trip until this village comes to its senses," Kushina stated as they exited the medical wing and stood on the spiral stair well that comprised the Hokage's tower. Looking over the vast grey and glooming sky, Kushina could only shake her head as the Hokage started to open his mouth but cut himself off.
"Look at this village, almost everything is in ruin. Even if they know better, they'll still use Naruto as a scapegoat in order to make themselves feel better," the red head muttered as she looked over the smoldering remains of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The buildings were a crumbling mess, with beams protruding out and large sections missing if there was anything left at all. Below people, who looked like ants from Kushina's viewpoint, seemed to walk aimlessly, as if their will to live had been destroyed along with their village.
"This village needs to rebuild itself without my son present, only then can at least some of the animosity fade," the red head muttered as Sarutobi nodded his head in understanding.
"I understand your reasoning, and all I have to say is that I'm sorry. I know it must be hard on you, and I wish there was something more I could do," the elderly man stated as Kushina simply chuckled darkly in response.
"We both know that you've got far too much to worry about already by simply reconstructing this village. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine," Kushina stated dismissively as she leapt onto the ledge of the spiral stair case and sighed while looking up at the darkened sky. "Besides, I need to train him so that he doesn't accidentally release the Kyuubi. We'll be back…eventually," she said before leaping off of the edge and disappearing.
"By the time you return things will have changed for the better," the Hokage promised with a small smile as he headed up the stairs back toward his office.
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4 Years Later
"Oooooo!" a five year old Naruto exclaimed as and his mother walked into clothing boutique. Having worn nothing other then a pair of bland khaki pants, a black t-shirt, and a black cloak for most of his life until that point, all of which were designed by his mother, the young man was amazed at the countless colourful outfits which adorned the racks of the otherwise bland store.
Looking up at his mother uncertainly Naruto beamed when the older woman's stern mask cracked and she smiled while nodding in consent. "Just make sure it's something durable, otherwise it will fall apart while you're training and I'm not buying you another one. You'll have to wear the pants I make for the rest of your life," his mother threatened half jokingly as Naruto frowned and gulped comically before nodding his head in understanding before running through the store.
Chuckling to herself Kushina couldn't help but smile as the blond "oooo'ed" and "ahhh'ed" at every outfit he came across. Brushing some of the dust off of her black cloak she headed further into the store trying to discern if she wanted something for herself as well.
'This place doesn't have much,' she thought to herself as she wrinkled up her nose in disgust at some of the outfits they were displaying as the newest fashions. "I just need something durable, but what kind of ninja equipment shop sells frilly outfits like these? Maybe there counting on women to flash their opponents or something," Kushina scoffed as she came upon a rather revealing black leather top and an impossibly short black mini-skirt.
"Oooo! Mommy, I want this one!" Naruto exclaimed from the male side of the store causing the red head to sigh in resignation before walking over to inspect her son's outfit selection.
"…Absolutely not," Kushina deadpanned as she sweat dropped while staring at her son through slanted eyes.
"Awwww! But orange and blue are my favorites!" Naruto whined childishly before his mother bonked him on the head.
"Stop whining, no son of mine is going to act like some spoiled brat," his mother chided as she examined the outfit further and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Why do you want this ridiculous orange jumpsuit anyway? You'll look like a clown," Kushina said as Naruto frowned in response while sticking out his tongue.
"I will not! I think it's cool!" he shot back as his mother simply sighed and threw the outfit to the side. "Hey!" he cried before his mother grabbed him by the collar and dragged him through the story looking for an appropriate outfit for him to wear.
"Here we go!" she exclaimed upon stopping in front of a royale blue jacket with a wide collar, a pair of durable black pants, and a white shirt made of semi-durable fabric.
"What in kami's name is that?" Naruto deadpanned as his mother frowned slightly before bonking him on the head again.
"I would have let you pick your own, but if that jumpsuit is any indication of your fashion sense, albeit while mine is lacking, then it's best if I pick an outfit for you," the red head replied as Naruto simply frowned and sighed in response. "Okay, try these on!" Kushina stated excitedly as Naruto rolled his eyes but took the selections anyway, and headed to the changing room.
A few minutes later Naruto reappeared looking completely mortified while his mother got starry eyed and gave him a once over before nodding.
"Well I must say I have an excellent eye, hehe…," Kushina stated girlishly before her eyes widened in realization of how feminine she sounded and she immediately corrected herself. "Yes, that's the one. Although you do look kind of like your father," she said as Naruto sweat dropped in response. To make things worse the statement was absolutely true; he looked like the spitting image of his father in his picture that hung from the Hokage's wall, aside from the whiskers on his face. However, that was not what Naruto wanted to hear.
"I'm changing back, I'll just wear the pants you make for the rest of my life," Naruto deadpanned as he turned to enter the changing room before he was yanked back. His eyes wide, Naruto could only sputter in response as his mother as his mother dragged him to the front of the shop to pay.
"How much?" she inquired as an elderly woman, donning an old burgundy kimono, smiled and totaled up the cost.
"Did you even get yourself something? You've worn that cloak since forever, and you don't take it off," Naruto said before his eyes widened and his mouth went slack jaw. "Are you naked under there!?" he exclaimed in horror as his mother face faulted and sweat dropped.
Immediately shooting back onto her feet and correcting herself, Kushina could only frown and shake her head for a moment. "Yes, Naruto, I am completely nude under this cloak. Do you want to see?" the elder Uzumaki deadpanned as Naruto's eyes widened even more before his face turned green and he ran to the back of the store toward the bathroom.
Once again Kushina, whose eyebrow was twitching violently, could only sweat drop in response before muttering, "What exactly is that supposed to mean? Besides, it's not like I need any new cloths or anything." Opening her cloak and looking herself over a few times, noting that she was still wearing the same blue Jonin vest and black pants she had worn years ago, she couldn't find anything wrong with her ensemble…that was until she got a whiff of it and wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "Maybe it is time to get a new outfit," she muttered to herself as she paid for Naruto's outfit, which she hoped he hadn't gotten vomit on, and went back into the store to shop for herself.
A few minutes later both mother and son walked out of the store and headed down the dirt street in their new attire. Kushina had decided to purchase a red and black half jacket, a black tank top with a red spiral in the center, and a pair of durable black capris style pants.
"So where do you want to eat? I guess I can treat you to something special since this'll be the last time when stop in a village before we start your training," Kushina stated as Naruto stoked his chin and looked pensive for a moment before grinning like a mad man.
"I want to get some ramen!" he exclaimed as Kushina sweat dropped and sighed loudly.
"How did I know? I swear if this kid lived on his own he'd eat nothing but ramen and milk," she muttered to herself as they headed down the street past several other small boutiques looking for a ramen stand. The blazing sun in clear skies above promised good fortune, but nothing good can last forever…
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1 Years Later
"Owie," a six year old Naruto moaned as his face once again connected with the cold hard dirt for the fourth time in only six minutes.
"That one's goin' to leave a mark," he muttered to himself as started to push himself off of the ground, wincing all the while due in no small part to the tens of bruises he sported all over his body. His jacket was also covered in dirt and so was his face, but the young man's face held a look of stern determination that could not be broken as he got back onto his feet and glared at his opponent.
"I'll give you one thing, what you don't have in skill you certainly make up for in tenacity," Kushina stated with a good natured smirk as she lowered her smoking palm and turned back to the book in her other hand.
Naruto could only growl in response as he lashed out at the red head again. Leaping into the air he lashed out with a swift kick which Kushina easily blocked with her forearm without even looking up from her book. Growling again Naruto quickly dropped to the ground before lashing out with a series of lighting quick punches which the red head easily blocked with her palm once again.
"You're going to have to do better then that," Kushina chided as she jumped over Naruto's ill timed and ill preformed sweep kick. It was apparent that the boy was exhausted, but she wouldn't force him to stop unless he wanted to. She knew it would be pointless because the boy was far too thickheaded to know when to stop. However that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The ability to push past your limits was something many ninja lacked, and it could be what made the difference in a life or death struggle.
'I just hope he doesn't kill himself by pushing too hard,' the elder Uzumaki thought to herself as she blocked one of Naruto's roundhouse kicks and grabbed his ankle in the process causing the boy to gasp in surprise. Swiftly flicking her wrist she tossed the boy into the air upside down before lashing out with a lighting swift kick Naruto didn't even see coming. The kick connected with his abdomen sending him hurtling into a nearby tree with a bone crunching thud.
'Oops! I think I went a bit too far this time!' Kushina thought to herself, eyes wide, as she quickly dropped her book and ran over to her son's fallen form. "Naruto are you okay, I didn't-" she began worriedly before the blond abruptly cut her off.
"Don't go easy on me! If I'm going to become a ninja I have to be ready for this kind of stuff! Forget I'm your son for a minute and go all out for once!" Naruto snapped through gritted teeth, thin line of blood running down his face from his forehead, as his mother's eyes widened and her mouth hung open for a moment before she smirked and nodded.
"You asked for it kid. Just remember though, you're the one who suggested this," Kushina replied as Naruto smirked and wiped a small trickle off blood out the corner of his mouth. Both then assumed battle stances and seemed to be waiting for the other to make a move. A sharp breeze whip through at that moment and the sky seemed to darken from a light grey to an almost pitch black while the lush trees that surrounded them seemed to sway ominously.
"YAH!" Naruto cried making the first move by throwing a fist full of shuriken, which, while clumsily aimed and poorly timed, made their way toward their intended target at a lighting quick speed. However, Kushina easily side stepped the shuriken and caught Naruto's foot in midair as he tried to surprise her by coming down with an ax kick.
"Hm, not bad, but tricks like that won't work on me!" the elder Uzumaki snapped as she spun the boy around before flinging him into another tree.
"THUD!"
"Ugh," Naruto moaned as he fell out of a same size hole in the bark of the tree and onto his face.
"That's good enough for today, we'll start up again tomorrow," Kushina stated as Naruto's fallen form could only nod weakly in response. Chuckling to herself the red head made her way over to the fallen blond and scooped him up in her arms. "I told you not to push yourself so much, but you're just to hardheaded for your own good," the elder Uzumaki stated as Naruto grinned in response.
"What can I say, I learned it from my mom," he muttered weakly as Kushina's eyebrow twitched in response.
"I am not hardheaded," she muttered under her breath while Naruto chuckled weakly in response before the red head poked him in the ribs causing him to howl in pain. "Those in a weakened state should know better then to make fun of those who are taking care of them," Kushina chided with a smirk as Naruto winced and nodded in response.
"Good, now then what should we have for dinner?" the red head inquired as Naruto opened his mouth to speak but was immediately cut off when his mother haphazardly threw him to the side behind a tree.
"THUNK!" "THUNK!" "THUNK!"
Several shuriken imbedded themselves in a tree where the pair once stood and then suddenly exploded sending bits of bark splintering off in all directions.
"Damn, why didn't I sense them before now?" Kushina muttered to herself from her place behind another tree adjacent to the one that had just exploded. Reaching into her pouch for a fist full of shuriken, she patiently waited for her foe, foes, to show themselves.
'Come on, I don't have all day,' she thought to herself as she gritted her teeth but remained unmoving and unshakeable.
"THUNK!" "THUNK!"
"Oh damn!" she swore, eyes wide, as she dived away from the tree she had been pressed against and rolled toward another.
"BOOOOM!"
The ground shook violently as the explosion subsided, and Kushina could have sworn that her ear drums had just popped.
'This isn't good, there's no way that I can stay hidden with all of these explosive shuriken flying around,' the red head thought to herself as she gritted her teeth. 'Besides, I need to end this quick otherwise something might happen to Naruto,' she thought to herself as she leapt from behind the tree she had been pressed against and sprinted toward an open clearing.
"BOOOOM!" "BOOOM!"
Several shuriken exploded behind the red head who barely managed to keep a safe distance away from them before she dived into the clearing spun around to face her foe(s).
"Come on!" she barked through gritted teeth as she slanted her eyes and waited for her foes to present themselves.
"My, my, I'm happy to see that maternity hasn't left you soft or rusty, Kushina-chan, otherwise I would have been most disappointed," dark raspy male voice stated causing the red head's eyes to widen like saucers.
"I know that voice!" she exclaimed breathlessly as the voice chuckled darkly in response.
"I would have hoped so, I have been hunting you for awhile now. In fact, I would have been hurt if you had managed to forget about me," the voice whispered before several white cloaked figures, all with red spiral symbols on their backs, sprang out of the trees and encircled the red head.
"Kirigakure Saizou, I should have known," Kushina muttered through gritted teeth as she stealthily reached for a shuriken.
"Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you," Saizou admonished from his spot hidden in the dense forest.
"Tch, and why not?" the red head inquired with a smirk which promptly fell when a man donning a black cloak, with a red spiral design on the back, leapt from the trees. The man, who was rather feminine looking by anyone's standards especially with the way his shoulder length light brown hair was feathered and the fact that he wore thick black eyeliner around his canary yellow eyes, held a slightly squirming Naruto up by his collar and held a kuni to his throat.
"My, my, he is the spitting image of Minato-sama is he? Mhm, too bad he's been tainted by your filthy traitorous blood, otherwise he might have had a chance of becoming like that hunky boy toy of yours," Saizou said, licking his thin lips as if imaging the deceased Fourth before him.
"LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!" Kushina spat vehemently, despite the fact that her eyes were wide and her expression slightly crazed.
"Now why would I do something like that? If I left your precious little boy alone, you might just run off, and I can't have that," Saizou stated with a malevolent smirk as he slowly dragged his kuni along the blond's throat drawing a thin line of blood which slowly trickled down the length of the blade. Naruto's eyes widened considerably as he stopped his fidgeting and grew ridged.
"STOP IT!" Kushina cried as she sprang toward Saizou only to be caught off guard by one of the other ninja leaping forward to intercept her. 'Bastard! Don't try to stop me!' Kushina thought to herself as she twisted in midair and prepared to intercept what ever the opposing ninja had planned. However in doing so she left her guard open to another ninja who had managed to sneak up behind her.
Kushina's eyes widened as she turned around to see the kick, but could not possibly avoid it.
"SLAM!"
The red head flew across the field toward the end of the clearing and slammed into a tree causing bits of it to splinter off as she fell to her knees.
"MOM!" Naruto exclaimed wide eyed and his mouth agape for a moment before he gritted his teeth and started to thrash wildly. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" he spat before Saizou brought his kuni back to the boys neck ceasing his futile struggling despite the low growl the boy emitted while glaring up at the highly feminine man.
"Ugh, I should have paid more attention. I can't afford to get careless," the red head admonished to herself as she shook her head and sprang back onto her feet. Wiping the blood from the corner of her lip the red head unsheathed a red tanto dagger which she had hidden in the back of her belt.
"What's wrong Kushina-chan? Don't tell me being a mother has actually made you soft," Saizou questioned tauntingly as he smirked at the red head who simply smirked back in response. "Well then, make your move," the brown haired man invited with a dark chuckle as Kushina nodded before leaping forward and disappearing before Naruto's eyes.
'Where is she? Where did she go? Did she become invisible?' the blond thought to himself in awe before Saizou spoke up.
"She was always the fastest ninja our village has ever produced, but that won't be enough against trained Jonin like us," Saizou muttered to himself, still smirking as he watched the battle. Several of the white cloaked men quickly whipped their heads around growing concerned due to the fact that they had lost sight of their opponent. Saizou gritted his teeth and frowned in response as he glared at his men in contempt and thought, 'Maybe she is a little too fast for even them to keep up with.'
"Where did sheURK!" one of the white cloaked men cried out as a blade coated in blood protruded out the center of his chest. The cloaked figure could only gazed down, completely dumbstruck, and the blade was yanked out of his chest with lighting quickness. He then fell lifelessly to the ground as the other ninja stood on edge trying to anticipate the red heads neck attack.
"Tch, pathetic," the red head muttered as she reappeared almost instantly in the center of the clearing, frowning deeply and shaking her head with a bloody tanto in hand.
"There she is, beta formation now!" the man closest to Saizou commanded as four of the nine remaining men leapt toward the red head who simply chuckled darkly in response. Quickly rolling to the side Kushina easily dodged the kunai thrown at her and flipped over a perfectly timed, but ill executed kick. She then flipped back a good distance and glared at her opponents.
"You know Minato-kun taught me this a month before he died, so it's still in the experimental stages. However, since I don't have the time or the patience to play with you I'm going to end this now!" the red head spat as pale blue chakra, almost like a flam in appearance, formed around her voluptuous form causing some of the men to back away cautiously. Slowly the chakra swirling around the red head started to condense spiral in her open palm forming into a small blue/white orb which seemed to radiate with immense condensed energy.
Holding the orb out in front of her, Kushina smirked before whispering, "Rasengan Beam." Suddenly the orb exploded into nine blast of energy which flew across the clearing quicker than anyone could blink, and incinerated the ground that it hovered above in the process leaving nine identical streaks of dirt. Before the nine men could even think of an evasive maneuver, the beams struck them in the center of their chests leaving a smoking spiral hole in their wake. The men then collapsed onto the ground, very much dead.
"Damn! What was that!?" Saizou spat angrily as he gazed upon his fallen men and growled.
'I wasn't expecting her to have this kind of power, perhaps I should have requested some stronger troops. It seems underestimating her because she had a child with her was a mistake. Well then, the only thing left to do is kill her myself,' he thought to himself, smirking as he noticed the woman sway as if off balance, and noticed that her pupils looked dilated. 'I guess she exhausted herself with that last attack. Tch, fool, this just makes it even easier for me," the brown haired man thought to himself as he released Naruto's collar allowing him to start to fall toward the ground before he lashed out with a swift kick which sent the boy sailing into a tree with a bone crunching thud. This time Naruto did not get back up.
"NARUTO!" Kushina exclaimed, completely horrified and her exhaustion momentarily forgotten as she sprinted toward her son on legs which threatened to give way any moment. She knew she had used too much energy with her last attack due to the fact that she was sweating profusely, he legs felt like preverbal jelly, and her eyelids threatened to shut on her at any moment.
'Damn, leave it to him to develop an jutsu only he can use,' Kushina thought to herself with a rueful smirk as she grew nearer to her son's fallen form.
"I don't think so!" Saizou spat as he lashed out with a lighting quick kick at an uncharacteristically surprised Kushina who took the blow to the head full force. The red head soared through the air for a moment fighting the urge to give way to the darkness that threatened to enshrouded her mind and body.
'I-I-I can't rest yet…have to…save…Naruto,' she thought to herself as she hit the ground and slid ten meters before coming to a halt. Immediately grabbing a handful of dirt, the red head tried to push herself back onto her feet. However another blow to the stomach sent her right back down with a sharp gasp in pain.
"My, my, Kushina-chan, it does appear that you've exhausted yourself. Pity, I did want to have at least some fun with you, but right now this isn't even a challenge," Saizou stated tauntingly as he smirked and shook his head in faux disappointment. He then picked up the moaning red head by the neck before punching her in the stomach with enough force to make her cough up blood.
"This is for what happened six years ago!" the feminine man spat venomously as he punched her again with the same amount of force. "I'm going to kill you here and now you traitor!" Saizou continued as the red head gasped and moaned in response.
Meanwhile, Naruto had managed to regain consciousness. Whether or not this was due to the fact that he had handled worse beatings before, or that he had a head a thick as a brick was up for debate, but he was up and he was mad. Looking around for the man who kicked him Naruto immediately spotted his assailant in the middle of the clearing. However, what he saw the man doing caused his mouth to hang slack jaw and his eyes to widen like saucers.
"Mom?" he questioned weakly as he gazed upon the woman's bloodied visage and felt something wet sting his eyes. "Stop it," he whispered weakly as he felt something wet roll out of his eyes and down his cheeks. "Stop it," he whispered again, his eyes still wide and mouth agape, as his hands balled up into fist while watching the man continue to punch and kick his mother. "Stop it," he whispered, but the whisper held more of a growl to it now, as he lowered his head and balled up his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
At that moment Naruto felt something dark welling up within him. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he couldn't stop it. His body was shaking with rage, and the normally happy-go-lucky boy didn't have any idea on how to handle his rising anger. Despite the immense evil he felt welling up within him he couldn't stop it, and he didn't want to either. He also didn't notice the fact that his teeth had begun to elongate into fangs, or the fact that the seal on his stomach had begun to glow. All he could think about at that moment was the fact that the man before him was hurting his mother, and he wanted to hurt the man before him so badly that he couldn't contain it anymore.
"I'll kill him."
On the other side of the clearing, completely oblivious to Naruto's conscious state or his rising anger, stood Saizou standing over the battered and bloody Kushina, who was currently unconscious but incredibly close to death. "Just one more blow, and then my revenge, and the revenge of the village, will be complete," the man muttered to himself darkly as he smirked at the red head as pulled a kunai out from under his cloak.
"This is the end traitor!" the man spat as he prepared to bring his kunai down on the woman's heart before a chill run down his spine causing him to halt in mid-swing. 'W-W-W-What is this chakra? Why does it feel so incredibly powerful and so…evil?' the man thought to himself as he slowly turned around, his kunai still ready to strike. However what he saw when he turned around made him drop his kunai anyway.
Before him, only a couple of meters away, stood Naruto. Or what the man presumed to have once been Naruto, because the boy didn't even look human now. The boy's once ocean blue eyes were now vulpine like and blood red, and his whiskers had darkened considerably. He also had fangs, which Saizou only noticed because the boy was snarling at him. However, what really scarred Saizou, to the point where he felt like wetting himself, was the bright red chakra swirling around the boy. It seemed to have a life of its own, and it felt darker and more malevolent then anything the hunter nin had ever experienced before in his life.
"You hurt mom…I'm going to kill you!" Naruto spat and, without any kind of warning, lashed out at the petrified man. A claw like hand slashed the brown haired man across the face completely blinding him as he fell back screaming in pain and horror.
"AHHHH! DEMON!" the man screamed as he threw a hand full of shuriken in all directions hopping to hit the boy and stun him long enough to make his escape. However the possessed Naruto simply side stepped the man's pathetic attempts to hit him and growled in response.
The man tried to crawl away after that, but it seemed that the possessed Naruto would have none of it as he grabbed the man by his ankles and flipped him up in the air. The possessed boy then leapt into the air after the man and soared above him before striking down with an ax kick which sent the man plummeting down toward the ground.
"BOOOOOM!"
When the dust cleared there was a small crater sized impact in the ground and Saizou's broken form could be seen in the center of it. The possessed Naruto could only growl in what seemed to be disappointment as he nimbly landed on the ground and bounded over to the crater and slid down into it before sprinting over to the man's broken and bloodied form setting into it with a series of vicious bone crunching punches and flesh rendering slashes.
Meanwhile Kushina had slowly started to come to, and while she was sure she wasn't in any condition to fight anytime soon she was conscious enough to be worried about her soon. Quickly rising on unsteady feet, the battered and bloodied red head clumsily reached for a kunai but stopped upon hearing the blood curdling screams of a man only a few meters away. Cracking open one of her eyes, the red head spotted a blurry looking crater not too far away and by the sounds of the screams that seemed to be where they were coming from.
Quickly, and clumsily, making her way over Kushina looked down into the hole only to immediately snap her head back up and try to keep the bile from escaping her throat. 'Was that…Naruto!?' she thought to herself wide eyed as she gathered up what remained of her courage and looked down into the hole again. Much too her surprise, and horror, Kushina saw what appeared to be her soon clawing into the near dead form of Saizou, who she only knew was alive because he kept screaming.
"Naruto!" she exclaimed in horror, but at the same time drawing the possessed boy's attention. Kushina subconsciously flinched as the boy's evil red eyes connected with her emerald orbs sending a chill down her spine. "Naruto…that's enough," she stated as sternly as she could, but with her voice cracking and her body shaking in fear her statement was a far cry from intimidating.
"Grrrr," was Naruto's response as he glared up at the elder Uzumaki before leaping out of the hole and landing deftly next to her while continuing to growl.
"N-N-Naruto?" Kushina questioned, wide eyed, as she tried to discern if the snarling beast before her was actually her son. 'Is this the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune?' the woman thought to herself, noting that she was more frightened at that moment then she had ever been in her entire life.
Naruto continued to growl as the red head cautiously reached out toward him with a bloodied hand which he stared at disdainfully while continuing to snarl. "Naruto, it's me," Kushina stated in a pleading motherly tone as the boy seemed to stop growling for a moment and cocked an eyebrow in confusion. 'Does he remember? Is there something left of him in there still? I hope so, because I'm in no condition to fight him and even if I was I don't think I could…" the red head thought to herself as she continued to cautiously reach out toward the boy. "What are you so scared of Uzumaki? Isn't he your son? He'd never intentionally hurt you, just like you'd never really hurt him," she gently chided herself as she watched the possessed Naruto back away slightly.
"Come on Naruto, mommy's right here. Come on," the red head all but pleaded as the boy slowly and cautiously started to approach her.
"M-M-Mom?" the possessed boy questioned weakly as his fangs began to shrink and his eyes began to lose some of their cat like quality.
"Yes, that's right, mom," Kushina whispered in a motherly tone as she watched tears well up in the boy's, which had returned to their regular blue colour.
"MOM!" the boy exclaimed joyously, as tears streamed from his eyes before he tackled his mother bowling her over in the process. "You're okay!" he exclaimed as the red head blinked twice in surprise before smiling warmly and nodding.
"Of course I am, it would take more then that to kill me. You should know that by now," the emerald eyed woman stated in a faux admonishing tone as Naruto chuckled airily in response.
"Are you sure you're okay?" the boy questioned uncertainly as the red head smiled and nodded in response.
"You better believe it," she said with a wink and a wince as she tired to move only to find that her side burned and ached something awful.
"Alright, I believe it," Naruto replied weakly with a small smile before falling into his mother's bosom. "Well since you're okay, I'm gonna take a nap cause I'm really tired right now," Naruto said with a loud yawn as his eyes shut and he started snoring almost immediately.
"I can't say that I blame you kid, but let's get away from here and back to camp first," the red head said, summoning what remained of her almost non-existent chakra and pushed herself to her feet, with the blond boy in her arms, before starting on her long trek back to the campsite.
'So that was the power of the Kyuubi…I still can't believe it could be so powerful and so evil. It looks like we'll be heading back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves sooner than I thought, because there's no way I can handle him by myself now,' Kushina thought to herself with a frown as she plotted out her course back to the village in her mind.
"He needs formal training anyway…"
To Be Continued
Author's Note: Okay, this has got to be the first Naruto fic I have ever written so I hope it's good. Anyway, this is just something I came up with to help me get over my writers block, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to devote as much attention to it as possible. Anyway, please review and feel free to flame if it sucks!