Uzumaki Naruto darted down the street of Konoha, her ears hidden in her spiky hair and her tail acting as her belt.
She ignored the whisper of the words that followed her and stepped into the Hokage Tower, her steps slowing marginally.
"Uzumaki-san, you can't go in there," the secretary said, halfway standing up.
Naruto stuck her tongue out at the woman, and ran up the hallway.
Her ears picked out voices, and her intentions became solid.
She opened the door, then made a dash towards the window of the room.
"Sorry jii-chan there's a mob after me!" Naruto yelled before jumping and crashing out the window, landing on her feet on the roof of the houses and hearing a violent crack in one of her legs. "I'm over here, sensei!" she called out, laughing madly as she ran more, not letting the searing pain bother her.
Honestly, kit, one of these days you're going to kill yourself!
Sorry, Mama! Naruto threw herself at the cliff and began scaling it better than most of the adults, using her male form to give her extra strength. "I'm wearing orange, you masked fuckers!"
Language! Mother's sharp scolding made him flinch a little.
"Uzumaki-san, please get down from the cliff face."
The six-year-old squinted at the boy standing above him.
Ooooh! It's Mikoto's boy! Hmm... Bribe him with dango! Mama cackled.
"I'll give you dango if you leave," the six-year-old blurted.
"...are you trying to bribe me?"
"Am bribing you," Naruto said truthfully, making himself comfortable on the rock face. "In fact, I can make you and your family a whole bunch of dango!"
"How do you know I have a family?" the boy asked curiously.
"Cause you're Sasuke's brother," Naruto replied bluntly. "I recognize your hair." Pretty girly for a boy...
Actually, Itachi-kun has his mother's hair.
I wish I had your hair, Mama...
"...I cannot accept your bribe," Itachi admitted.
"That's okay, I'll make some dango for you anyway." Naruto smiled... And his tail lashed out as Naruto did a backflip on the cliff face. Dangerous, but Naruto had scaled this place in the dark. While it was raining.
Itachi started to fall, but caught himself.
Naruto started to go faster, his muscles burning as he did so, getting himself on a high outcropping that hid him from view and turned back into her female form, sighing as the wind blew and made her hair fly.
This was, according to Mama, a place that she made her sanctuary. Nobody could sense her chakra if she was up there, so nobody would see her there or sense her there.
Mama and Papa had made this their date place.
Naruto sighed and stood up, walking towards the rock in the side of the cliff. Mama's pretty cool training place was behind this rock.
Naruto slipped in there.
~:~
"Where have you been?" the landlady demanded angrily, accosting Naruto at the front of her door.
"Out," Naruto said truthfully. "Training."
Mama had been teaching her to read and write. She had told Naruto that it was what every parent did for their children.
"Well, get in there! You have guests," she spat, glaring hatefully at Naruto before roughly shoving past her.
Naruto stared after her, then at her door.
Swallowing, she opened the door to the smell of tea.
She peeked her head around the door to see several ninja sitting at her table.
Hm. Mama sounded concerned.
"You should carry tea," the purple-haired ninja said, not looking at her.
Naruto stepped in cautiously. "They don't sell it to me," she answered warily, setting her bag down by the door and carefully stepping in, walking over to the hanging pot where she kept her kunai. She gathered them up, being careful not to make it obvious as she took the pot down and set it on the counter.
"I've got to say, I didn't expect this place to be so clean."
Naruto sweatdropped. "I may be an orphan," she lied, her heartbeat steady, "but I am not a savage, baka." She gave the senbon-chewing man a nasty look. "And if you ever insinuate something like that again, I'll shove that senbon so far down your throat you'll be -"
Naruto winced as Mama rebuked her, and turned away.
"Whatever," she muttered to herself. "Why are you here?"
A cough answered her. "We just figured we'd see how you were."
"Could've fooled me," Naruto scoffed, Kushina agreeing with her. At least the Uchiha left her food on the rare occasion when one was watching her. "What. Do. You. Want?" She turned to glare at them, her tail flicking to each side nervously.
"Mainly we came to see how you were," the tall, scarred man rumbled. He looked ridiculous sitting in her tiny chair. "And if the Kyuubi was bothering you."
She went pale, staring at them, at how calm they were.
"No," she said, the truth. Mama didn't bother her. She casually let her arm fall and one of her arms gripped one of her kunai.
"It's not as if we're gonna tell," the purple-haired kunoichi said with a smile, looking up at her. "I heard you made dango!"
Naruto blinked at her. "Yeah."
"How'd you learn?" Anko asked, so eagerly that the answer flowed out of Naruto almost instantly.
"Mama taught me."
She flinched and clapped a hand over her mouth. She could feel the horror emanating from Mama, then the resignation.
Let me speak.
Naruto allowed Mama to speak.
~:~
Kushina opened her daughter's eyes, calmly surveying her comrades, who were very tense.
"Settle down, settle down," she chided. "It's not as though you didn't know, ne? Well... You didn't know about me, but I digress." She frowned. "Ibiki, you're a moron."
Ibiki raised an eyebrow.
"I would never be an idiot and place my daughter in danger. I will never do such a thing." Kushina paused. "Also... In case you haven't realized it... I am both Uzumaki Kushina and the great and terrible Kyuubi no Youko!" She raised her hands and fire seemed to explode as she laughed. Then she coughed. "Damn undeveloped vocal cords. Anyway..." She was interrupted.
"You were a fox-woman," Anko said, pointing at her.
Kushina let her arms fall to her sides and smiled. "Was I?" she asked merrily. "Anyway, if my daughter is harmed, I'll murder you. Happily."
There was something about Kushina that seemed to make an image of Kushina's body overlay Naruto's body, with a glint in her eyes that suggested merciless death and endless agony to any who touched her daughter.
"Whatever," Ibiki dismissed.
Kushina let Naruto back in the front.
