Hello everyone,
When I began work on this story, I had in mind that in order to try and make the rise to power as realistic as I could, I would try and make Kushina suitably manipulative. This had the effect of many people being just shy of telling me to kill myself. I have edited the story to soothe their fragile constitutions. Let's try this again, shall we? To Birth an Empire, Mark II.
Kushina Uzumaki screamed in agony as she pushed yet again, tears streaking down her sweaty face. "Once more," Biwako Sarutobi ordered, her gaze boring intently on Kushina's most intimate area. Had the woman not been focused on ending her excruciating pain, her face would have been red for another reason entirely.
"Kushina, breathe," Minato murmured next to her. "It's alright, I'm here. Come on, breathe with me," he said, breathing at the tempo she was supposed to. Kushina complied, matching his pace, before screaming again as she pushed, hard. A cry burst forth as their child was born, and just as Kushina's head fell back in relief, a man suddenly appeared, and her world was shattered.
In the faraway remains of what was once Uzugakure, Sato Uzumaki made his way through the rubble and brush of the island. The old man's white hair and fu manchu extended to his chest, and the rough spun robes he wore bespoke a life of simple contemplation. As he passed by the weathered statue of Momohime Uzumaki in nude repose, a depiction of the first Uzumaki to have settled the island, the arms gone at the shoulders, he felt a strange presence. Turning toward the statue, he saw the face shift, its weathered features replaced by the clean angles and features of a daughter long away. "Kushina," he whispered.
"Father, I need your help."
"Kushina," Minato began, pain evident in his eyes, "you won't be able to survive being bound again to the Kyuubi. It has to be Naruto."
"No!" she shouted, holding her son closer to her chest. "No, you can't! I know what it's like to be condemned to that fate. Even if he is accepted by the Village, he will always be cursed to have a being so filled with hate within. It eats away at you, Minato! Please, do not ask me to condemn my son to that fate!" Minato's expression turned even more pained, but he stepped loser.
"Kushina… please…" he said softly, gently touching his son's arm. "I love you both. You know that. However, I have to do what I must to save the people." Kushina hesitated, before allowing Minato to gently take their son. Before Naruto was completely out of her arms, however, the Kyuubi appeared, roaring in its terrible fury, and Minato's gaze met its own. When the man glanced back, his wife and son were gone, and he was alone. The Kyuubi charged forward, and with a single silent tear falling down his cheek, Minato closed his eyes, turning to meet his fate.
"I don't know how many people got away. I know that at least a quarter of the Shinobi population escaped, but I don't think I would be wrong in saying that only five percent of the civilians are still alive. I'm not alone; an Uzumaki that is unknown to me managed to get me to the gates, and Minato's student Kakashi found me and Naruto there. When the man disappeared, the boy helped us escape. He doesn't know about my last interaction with my late husband. I'm only telling you because he left ten minutes ago to hunt. We are on our way towards the remains of Uzu." Kushina fell silent for a few seconds, before she spoke hesitantly. "Father… I want you to use the Clan Head's jutsu to call a meeting with all survivors of the clan."
"What you propose is dangerous, Kushina," Sato cautioned. "The jutsu will send the message to all of our blood, and when they gather their tempers will burn hot and bright. There is a reason we were doomed to annihilation."
"I don't care about that, father. All I care about now is doing whatever I have to do to make sure that my son will want for nothing. I have to keep him safe. Therefore, my proposition. What I propose will be proposed once I'm there with the rest of the clan," Kushina said, and the statue's features returned once more to weathered mystery.
Kakashi grinned slightly as his repaired chakra saber sunk deep into the rabbit's neck, penetrating completely so the animal died immediately and painlessly. About time, he thought as he tied it to a brace of two others at his waist. Been chasing that one for a long time. Wiping the blood off on the grass, be sheathed the blade before working his way back through the woods toward their makeshift camp. "I'm back, Kushina," he announced when he entered the clearing. He paused for a moment, surprised and embarrassed to see that he had arrived just as Kushina was switching Naruto to her opposite breast, the one he had just fed from bare and wet. Kushina didn't notice, and covered herself once Naruto had latched on.
"I started a fire for whatever you've got," she said. Kakashi nodded, quickly skinning the animals and roasting them on a spit. Once they were done, the two fell asleep in their respective tents, Kushina holding Naruto close.
Hiashi took stock of everyone who had survived the attack. He was the only survivor of the Clan Council, leaving him completely in charge. His brother Hizashi was helping a few of the Branch hobble along with their wounds while Hizashi's wife was off to the side, their child asleep in her arms. His own wife, almost seven months along, was in one of the few carts they had managed to bring along for the elderly and the infirm. How could this happen?! He thought to himself, clenching his fists. We were the greatest in the Village; we weren't supposed to be defeated!
"Lord Hiashi," one of the younger Hyuugas said, "what will we do now?"
"Whatever we must."
Sato sat at the feet of Momohime's statue, his eyes closed in solace as he listened to the birdsong and the sound of the wind rustling through vegetation. "So peaceful…" he murmured, feeling his tired muscles ease whatever tension he possessed. "Then again, you never were very quiet," he said, opening his eyes to look upon his daughter. Kushina remained silent, regarding her father with the neutral expression of a girl who had grown up without parents, yet did not begrudge them or care. "I see the girl I knew, deep inside," he said as he managed to stand. "I hear that they took to calling you the Bloody Habanero. I can see why; you look like you've never cut your hair at all."
"The mark of an Uzumaki is nothing to be ashamed of," she replied, pulling out her breast when Naruto began to cry. Her father didn't even blink; he had seen plenty of women with their children, and he barely noticed at all when they breastfed. "How many others are here?"
"Four Uzumaki have appeared so far. A child named Nagato hails from Kirigakure, with two children in his company. One babe, Karin I believe, appears from parts unknown with her father and mother, the father being of the clan. Finally, a toddler named Tayuya. Orochimaru was interested in her for some time, but he failed to find her."
"All that remains of an entire bloodline are three children, two of them female, and a man who is unlikely to reproduce again? The boy might be able to give exponential growth by breeding multiple women at once, but the girls will only be able to carry one child per year. The rate is too long."
"I sincerely hope that your grand plan isn't to try and recreate the clan."
"No, father. Merely commenting on the likelihood that an entire line will die out." Kushina glanced sideways at Kakashi as the boy sat down on the remains of a pillar. "I had hoped that there would be at least a dozen of us capable of bearing arms." Kushina sighed, stretching. "The first thing to do will be to rebuild," she said, gesturing at the stones around her. "The island will be a Village again. Once we have the forces, we will go from there." She paused for a few moments. "Do you have a hawk that can find the survivors of Konoha's massacre?"
Hiashi Hyuuga silently observed his clan as they bedded down for the night, feeling anger bubble up in his body once more as he thought of how they should be back in their mansion. His brother brought him a small scroll that had arrived via messenger hawk, and when he opened the seal to access the full-sized scroll it contained, his fury bubbled all the hotter.
If you are reading this letter, than you, like I, survived the annihilation of Konohagakure that was wrought by the Kyuubi. I, Kushina Uzumaki, Princess of Uzugakure, extend the invitation for you to join me in the rebuilding of my once-great nation, where we may thrive again.
"You are the one responsible for my disgrace," he murmured to himself, "you and that thrice-damned husband of yours. Had he protected the Village like he was supposed to, I would still have a home. I know you ran while we were slaughtered, Kushina, and I will come and exact my revenge upon you."
Well, hopefully this time it was less objectionable. Beginner chapter to test the waters; if the feedback is good overall, I might continue.
-Zeratide, out.