Edited: 12/30/15

Enjoy.

Infamy – 汚名

2

"Kenma!" I shouted, voice full of excitement as I ducked under waving arms. He growled, to which I answered with an evil cackle.

"Get back here Kushina!" He cried, chasing after me as I gained speed, inspired.

"Only if you admit you like Habanero peppers!" I replied with, grinning like the Cheshire cat with evil mirth.

"Ugh! No way! How could you even do that to me, evil woman!"

"I'm a woman?" I asked, laughing, "I didn't know you looked at me as such!" I spared a second to glance back and gaze at his face. Just as I thought, his face went bright red. Kenma was such an easy tease!

"Shut up! I wanted to enjoy Mika's cake!"

"Sorry!"

"Really?" His voice sounded as if he'd been stunned, not having expected an apology.

"No. This is pay back for what you did to me in class!" I chortled once more, and shot forward with speed as a burst of adrenaline spurred me on. Before long, we were in the village's most crowded and lively district. The Tanto District, named for it being one of the more dangerous areas, and for the abundance of weapons. Uzushiogakure ninja were the type to need frequent replacements due to the undoubted experimenting that went on with coming up with interesting, flashy offensive jutsus. Blacksmiths, certainly, were quite prosperous. So much so that this distract also contained the highest population of people from different villages. Outsiders, most would call them.

It was kind of the perfect place for what occurred next.

One second I was zigzagging, using my natural agility and flexibility to dodge and avoid big angry, off-kilter men, and the next second, I had run into probably one of the hardest bodies I had ever had the (dis)pleasure to meet. I bounced back, a stuttered apology on my lips as I took a look at the man before me. He was squinting at me, with lilac, pupil-less, Hyuuga like eyes. I stepped back, suddenly nervous. He said nothing for a moment, keeping me ruthlessly in his eyes. Yet just as he opened his mouth to say something, Kenma rushed forward, grasping at my sleeves as he shouted, "Kushina!"

"Kenma?" I asked, dazedly, still slightly starstruck. This man was of the Hyuuga main family branch, if the lack of a hitai ate placed on my his forehead was of any indication (instead, it was placed around his neck). More so than that, he held a regal quality, even with his lack of long hair. It was nearly startling that he had such short hair, that was sort of the trade mark that the people of his clan tended to have. I was probably staring a bit too hard, however, as suddenly Kenma had his hand on my head, forcing me to comply to a bow.

"Sorry for the trouble, sir, we'll be leaving now."

"Hn." It was the man's only reply.

"Kushina," Kenma chided as we walked away from the Tanto District, "what were you thinking?"

"You know," I said, getting the feeling I was being nagged, "You're sort of starting to act like Ichigo."

"Really?" Kenma perked up and I gave him a careful glance.

"Yes."

The gullible boy became flushed by what he took as praise. And I guess it sort of was.

"Who was that guy anyway?" Kenma asked, changing the subject. Probably from the sheer embarrassment of being complimented by his worst enemy.

"I don't really know," I replied, shrugging my shoulders and I gave an interested glance toward Kenma, "You know, my mom was going to teach me some of the family seals today when I get home. Or at least how to draw them."

The little boy stared at me, as if a little perplexed, "Why are you telling me that?"

I shrugged, "Well, I happen to know that drawing is your favorite part of the whole process."

He was still hesitant, "Are you inviting me over to your house?"

"Yeah, actually," I mumbled, looking at him expectantly. For the longest time, I had known about his love for art, and something about his annoying personality reminded me a little of my past life's sister. As I thought back on all of our past interactions I suddenly came to realize something. Kenma had been missing out on his hobby for a while now. He was already proficient, above even most chuunin level Uzumaki seal masters in the way he was able to create nearly perfect seals on the first try. Because of that, he had been advised to focus more on his weaker areas in his training, chakra control. No wonder he was so annoyed with me. Chakra control came very easily to me.

"Alright," Kenma said softly, eyes wide with surprise. Then his pose suddenly shifted, "This isn't a joke on me, right?"

My brows shot up in surprise, "You must think me low, but I wouldn't do that to a friend."

"F-friend...?" He asked, face flushed beet red before he let out an exclamation, "You haven't won the war! I won't be fooled by your pretty words!"

For a moment I was too stunned to reply but then suddenly I found myself clutching the sides of my stomach, trying to contain my laughter.

"This isn't funny," Kenma whined as he stood awkwardly to the side.

"Oh, Kenma! You're a hoot!" I bit out in between cackles, "Don't ever change please!"

"Tch, you've gone insane," Kenma muttered, then pushed into my right shoulder, "Well then, let's get going to your house, we don't have all day to learn seals."

"Un!" I cheered, still fighting back the occasional giggle as we both headed to my home.

As soon as we got there, I didn't waste anytime slamming open the front door and yelling out, "I'm home, Mom! I brought Kenma!"

As soon as the words were out, Satsuki appeared with a pleasant smile on her face, only for it to grow bigger just as she laid eyes on the boy, "You've grown!"

Kenma flushed, but nodded nonetheless, "I eat a lot."

"I bet you do!" Satsuki nodded in understanding, "Kushina-chan is the same way, Kenma-kun. She eats even more than I do!"

"Kaaa-san," I bit out, lips puffed out in a pout, "It's not my fault you're such a good chef."

Satsuki gazed at me suspiciously, "You get that excuse from your father, don't you? Always with the false compliments."

I puffed out my cheeks, "I'm no liar! Ne, Kenma, you should stay for dinner and prove me right," I offered, glancing at the blue eyed boy in surprise as I noticed he was smiling. Actually smiling. This stubborn, usually whining boy was smiling. Strangely enough, his smile was contagious and I grinned at him broadly, "He's staying for dinner, Mom! So what seals are you going to teach us?"

Satsuki merrily laughed and beckoned the two of us bratty kids with a waggle of her fingers as she lead us to the scrolls room. I took this as my chance to inhale the scent of the aged scrolls and let out a mischievous laugh.

"Our family has the second most scrolls in the village," I bragged and Kenma just shrugged.

"Ours has the most," Kenma replied with, a confident grin on his face.

"Well you're related to the clan head. I claim it's nepotism!"

Kenma gazed at me curiously, "Wouldn't it be nepotism for your own family too? I mean, we both are related to him. He's our grandparent."

I frowned, "I mean, I guess by blood. But he's never taken an interest in me aside from getting me to train earlier than most kids. Besides, these scrolls were earned by Dad's collecting habits."

"Alright!" Satsuki cut in cheerfully, but due to me having lived with her for so long, I could recognize when she was hiding something. Her nose scrunched up a little in thought and her eyes were pinched. I wondered, vaguely, what caused her to be so upset when it came to her father. I guess they just didn't have a very good relationship.

"Mom?" I asked curiously and Satsuki just smiled.

"I'll be teaching you how to draw a memory seal."

"Memory seal?" Kenma and I chorused with curiosity.

"It's a well known seal in our family," my mother explained, "It's just to help with all the information we have to retain as seals masters. It doesn't actually seal any memories within, however," Satsuki looked slightly sad as she said her next words, "The seal that does do that should be taboo." I was going to ask why but as soon as I opened my mouth, Satsuki went on, "What this seal does do, is help our brains with developing excellent retention skills. It's only a temporary boost, however, as paper isn't lasting."

"Then what about a flesh seal?" I asked and Satsuki's face grew worried.

"I absolutely prohibit you ever learning flesh seals," My mother said, voice stern and unrelenting, "And I advise you, Kenma, to never take an interest in them."

This confused me immensely. Didn't she have flesh seals? I could distinctly recall bathing with her and seeing all sorts of things on her back and arms. If they were so bad, why did she have so many? What I knew of flesh seals was that they lasted forever and they were usually showcased to be our most dangerous weapon. With flesh seals, we could do permanent damage, and the offensive possibilities were endless. But then, what of the seals that were made in consideration of binding the Kyuubi and the other tailed beasts? I asked.

"Wait, what about the seals that put the big monsters into the people like in the bedtime stories?" I kept my tone childishly innocent, "Aren't those flesh seals?"

Satsuki sighed, "They aren't considered as such. They weren't designed to be permanent as all other flesh seals are. Those seals are just simply called binding seals."

"Will we learn the binding seals?" I asked, really hoping that would be the case. If I couldn't learn the coolnes of what looked like tattoos, then I could at least learn something actually useful to me.

"Yes," Satsuki grumbled, before turning to the shelves of scrolls and picking up two scrolls as well as ink, papers, and brushes. She opened one scroll and the three of us sat down, as Kenma and I waited expectantly. My mother cleared her throat as she laid out the scroll, "This scroll is for motivation, Kushina-chan. This is something I'm sure you'll be very interested in. I'll give you a hint as to why: It deals with summoning."

I jumped up, jaw slack and eyes wide, "Really!?"

Satsuki looked to be in a mixture of relief and amusement, as she laughed, "Yes. But first you have to master this seal. Today you'll be learning how to draw it, and about the basic structure of the seal, and of most seals. And then, I'll be teaching you how to actually use the seal." She grinned as I bounced with excitement, "You're welcome to invite Ichigo as well, Kenma-kun."

Kenma smiled and nodded, "I will."

"Now, let's get started."

Satsuki kept us busy for the rest of the time, and left midway in our lesson once we both just had to practice drawing it on our own. I can't say I did as well as Kenma, making me wonder why I had invited him knowing it would be this way in the first place. He was able to completely draw it within the hour Satsuki left to prepare dinner. I was a little bit slow in comparison, as I could only draw half of it as good as it was supposed to be. My calligraphy wasn't bad, but I just couldn't match up to the genius in front of me.

Later in the night, our dinner was rather noisy and silly, as Kenma and I refused to back down in our banter but my parents put up with it, with happy, amused grins. Kenma left with flushed cheeks and a promise for Ichigo to join us tomorrow.

It was only when I laid in bed that night that I thought of that Hyuuga man once more and marveled over his short hair. Maybe someone had chopped it off in his sleep? At the thought of a pride man waking up to something that should have been impossible, the look of surprise, followed by anger. It was pretty comedic.

Little did I know that that prideful man would be the one who changed everything.

Whisper

"Hello, sir," I mumbled awkwardly, bowing in a greeting as my eyes skidded to the Hyuuga from before as he stood in the corner of the room. I probably should have been focusing more on the clan head. As it was, this was my first time ever meeting him face to face. He had always just been Kenma and Ichigo's grandpa, and the man who stood in front of crowds and spoke powerful words.

"Hello," the man grumbled and it was at this time that I realized I had never really retained what his name was. So much for being polite.

"May I ask what I've been summoned for?" I asked cautiously. Something was wrong here, very wrong and I could feel it in the there. It was so tangible that I almost felt I was breathing it in.

"Kushina-chan, it seems you are, as it turns out, what we've been looking for."

"Looking...for?"

"Have you ever heard of Mito Uzumaki?"

I flushed. Boy, did I ever. I was raised, more like brainwashed, into believing she was close to royalty, a queen in her own right. Everyone knew who Mito was. Everyone. And it didn't seems to matter that she was the container to such a dangerous entity. And then there was the added fact that Kushina had an such an important relationship with the woman.

I nodded, "But what does that have to do with me?" A sinking feeling started in my chest and fell to my stomach as realization struck me. This happened to Kushina too. This is how she got to Konoha in the first place, for her special chakra. But why on Earrth had I pushed that tidbit aside? Pretending as if my memories were a joke, and Naruto would never be born. Of course I had pushed it off. What an odd thing to keep focus on the fact that I would give birth to the chosen one. It was in this moment that I realized, like ice cold water splashed onto my face, that I hadn't accepted everything like I had thought I'd done. Instead, I had felt as if this was still just a hazy dream. A paradise. As if I had been in heaven. I felt my hands shaking, a mountainous pressure creeping slowly to rest on my shoulders. My vision grew blurry as I tried to listen to the clan head.

He cleared his throat, "Your chakra is special and largely compatible with what we have in mind for you."

"What for?" I asked, my voice surprisingly faint, and light.

"For you to become a Jinchuuriki," the clan head replied with, almost coldly.

And I knew. There was no getting out of fate.

Whisper

As it turned out, that Hyuuga man was apart of the main family. A natural sensor matched with the Byakugan, he was able to spot a mile away what my chakra type was. It sort of explained why he stared at me so weirdly. He, most certainly, was the man that sealed my fate. His name was Hakuba Hyuuga, and he was the clan head, the father to two twin boys. He, apparently, had been here to assist with our defense, meeting with some of our sensors to give them some tips or whatever, and had seen me in that cursed Tanto District.

"Why are you frowning so much?" Ichigo asked, brows raised in question as the three of us practiced drawing the memory seal.

"Your stupid Jii-san!" I bit out rather vehemently, "And stupid, stick-up-the-butt Hyuuga," I muttered as I faded into an intelligible grumble.

"What did he do?" Ichigo looked rather conflicted but I couldn't fathom why.

"He's carting me off at the end of this stupid month. That's what he's stupidly doing! Stupid,stupid,stupid..."

"Isn't it an honor?" My friend asked, voice sounding surprised, "You are going to be working with Mito-sama on something very important, aren't you?"

"Is that what the clan head told you?" I asked, feeling absolutely livid with his excuses. Something important, my ass. Working on something? He made it sound as if I was coming back. As if. As, fucking, if. To the best of my knowledge, Kushina had left and never came back because her entire clan had been destroyed. I froze. That meant the village... The thought was too scary to even think. I whimpered, suddenly feeling very lost.

"Is there any other way to describe it?" He asked, eyes too focused on his task to see my sudden change in posture and I sighed, making sure to keep my feelings in check. I'd learned from my last life that taking it out on friends was often more detrimental than beneficial, even as obvious as it should have been.

"Yeah," I muttered out as my strokes suddenly got very well practiced. I found myself completing the seal for the first time since I'd started practicing. Before Ichigo could nag as usual in his older brother 'I'm-just-looking-after-you' way, I jumped up. "Yatta! I did it, 'ttebane!"

"Good for you," Ichigo mumbled as he looked down at his clumsy strokes. Kenma stole all the artistic genes, I suppose.

"I've just been practicing longer than you," I said to cheer him up, although none of my failures had looked that bad. Possibly because Satsuki turned sadistic when she taught me calligraphy and the Uzumaki shorthand.

"Yeah!" Kenma agreed, looking over from his spot as he actually practiced with his chakra to make the seal was where he has a hard time, so he was just as frustrated as Ichigo was. With a light bulb moment, I realized I needed to do something to cheer them up. Sighing, I moved a little bit away from them and started to dance. It was probably what I was the worst at. My mother had always wanted a daughter that she could teach her families traditional dances too, but after the numerous failures and my inability to improve, my mother had to accept that I was never going to excel in the area of dancing. Since then, I learned mostly the boy developed style of fighting style and had never looked back on the atrocity I had been as a dancer. Until now.

After a few moments, I could see the two of them looking slack jawed at me as I hopped awkwardly around, looking similar to a chicken with its head cut off. Then the two boys started to laugh.

"Kushina, you really have gone crazy!" Kenma exclaimed, pointing at me with one hand clutched to his stomach.

"I agree with Kenma for once. What are you doing?" Ichigo asked between fits of laughter and cackling evilly over my embarrassment.

With my face flushed bright red over something I had vowed to never show to anyone, I scuttled over to grab a scroll as I covered my face, "I was trying to show you," I mumbled, "that we aren't supposed to be innately good at things. To learn and grow, the journey, isn't that the fun part of everything? That moment we actually succeed, isn't that moment priceless? I happen to like that feeling a whole lot more than just naturally being good at things. The Uzumaki... We're supposed to be the ones who enjoy a challenge, right? So...don't give up."

There was a soft moment of silence, as I hid my brightly colored face away from their prying eyes. Then, I heard the two boys get up, and I watched as their feet came closer to me. Without a word, the two boys took the scroll away from me as they smiled, brilliantly. Kenma was more so reluctant than his brother, a blush of his own covering his face but his lips were curved just as much.

"Thank you, Kushina," Ichigo said, "For showing us something very wonderful."

Kenma snorted, and just like that the three of us were laughing uncontrollably, clutching our stomachs and hanging onto each other for support. My bad mood forgotten, we were found like that by my mother as she called us to dinner, observing curiously as she watched us try to gather our breath.

"What's so funny?"

At that, we all chortled.

"I suck at making seals," Ichigo tried to explain before taken by the laughter again.

"I suck at chakra control," Kenma added on, having to lean onto Ichigo for support, which Ichigo lacked himself as the two of them crash to the floor in a fit of laughter.

"I showed them my dancing!" I cheered as I merrily jumped into the dog pile. Satsuki's face went white.

"I thought you promised to never show anybody your p-pretty dancing."

The three of us quieted as we let her words sink in. It was quiet, oddly, comfortably quiet, but Satsuki ruined it by her sudden laugh. Which ensued another round of gut wrenching cackles.

To me, it felt rather bittersweet, knowing that in only a month's time I would be in Konoha, and my home would be in ruins.

Whisper

The whispers of moving away from our little island only grew to be more incessant as time grew on, the rumors escalating as we all wondered what on Earth had gone so wrong that some of us were already leaving the village. It seemed as if the village was split, like Kenma and Ichigo. One believed we could beat the enemy, (we were fuinjutsu masters and thus, tricky to beat) yet the other side believed we should move, leave to Konoha and come back once the problem was gone. It was clear what Konoha wanted to have done, what with the way they brought in representatives discussing how nice and beautiful it was there. Some bought into it and were already packing their bags. Others? Not so much. Some had even taken to sealing their houses with protective ones, and using fortifying seals to make sure their house could last if matters got worse. Even my father had done that, secretly, to our house.

As tensions grew and the whispers grew into a raucous roar (at least they did in the meetings my father attended) my mother grew more worried, frantic even. It showed when I would wake up in the middle of the night for a glass of water, only to witness her shoving items into a knapsack. She would stare at it for a few moments before taking everything back out and laying it on the table. All the things were either weapons or scrolls.

Satsuki wanted to choose the option of flight, and it made since. As my father had said to me in one of our passing conversations, Satsuki wanted to raise me up in a different village for reasons I couldn't fathom but had ended up staying for my stubborn father.

Kushiro was different. He wanted to fight back with everything we had, show they entire world that Uzushiogakure had nothing to hide, and no possible weakness. We were strong, and one united front as family served as the most important thing on our tiny island. He took everyone's divided views very badly, and even struggled with Satsuki's desire to leave.

Surprisingly enough (in my whole entire life I had never heard them disagree), I could now wake up to hear the both of them arguing, wondering what was best for our tiny trio. Our family.

School remained the same, however, and there was no visible rush in the students being taught. It almost felt as if in the moment we entered those doors or left, it was a world of worry, of murmurs and paranoia outside. For the time spent in school it was almost like a little paradise, filled with simple games and competitions. Kenma was still a punk after all and I was more desperate than ever for a distraction. Ichigo became kind of reclusive, however, withdrawn. When Kenma and I would start up a game, he would just wave his hand and sit off to the side with his leaf. It was almost as if he were trying to master chakra control, so that he could have the chance to fight too.

It was safe to say that I was worried. That nervous feeling in my gut told me something very bad was going to happen. And that was a no-brainer. I mean, I knew things. I could recall things from my past life. I knew things that related to the future of this world but, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what I could do to fix this mess. Because I didn't know what caused it.

I made excuses, instead. I told myself that I was still too young in the eyes of the public for anyone to listen to me. I lied and told myself this was all just a dream, that or that other life was. I told myself I had nothing to worry about.

But that wasn't the case at all.

Whisper

"Happy birthday, Kushina," my mother said, just as Mika brought the cake out. I stared, dumbfounded by the beauty of it, even if it was elegantly simple. It just a white cake after all, save for a tiny red flower in the middle of it. But it was the most impressive sight my eyes had laid on in a long while. My shoulders felt heavy with emotion that could only be described as gratitude.

"It's not a Habanero pepper," I murmured quietly, grinning at my private joke. To the others confusion, I just shook my head as I stood up to give Mika a hug, "Thank you, Mika-san."

"No problem, Ku-chan," Mika replied, winking. Her new pet name for me was recent and it never failed to make me flush. It just sounded rather cute and I wasn't used to being 'cute'. Mika merely grinned at my reaction.

"Happy birthday," Ichigo told me, bringing a hand forward to pat my head. His eyes were still dark and lost, but today, if I weren't just being optimistic, he was looking happier, more so than anything else.

"Thank you, Ichi-kun," I grinned brightly at him, as I enveloped him in a hug. In my past life, I wouldn't have ever done that. I was much too shy and reclusive. Yet, whether it was the Uzumaki genes or the fact I was in a child's body, I was the 'free-hugs' type of person most of the time in this world. Ichigo laughed, not minding it at all as I separated from him and turned to the cake, ready to blow out the candles. Just as I did, there were claps and laughter and I jumped with anticipation as Satsuki took out the candles and picked up the knife to start cutting the cake, "Give me this biggest-est piece, Kaa-san," I demanded and with an amused chuckle, she nodded.

"Yes, Kushina-hime."

I flushed happily as I realized that Satsuki was determined for this to be a good day. Ever since Kushiro and her had gone to meet the clan head, she'd been very quiet and reclusive, thoughtful. It had been very disappointing when I finally showed her my finished product of a working memory seal and she had just wordlessly handed me the summoning scroll, no explanation whatsoever on how to use it, or learn from it. It was written in the Uzumaki shorthand but it was far too hard of a scroll. It was more like a scroll for a chuunin or tokubetsu jounin. Not for an Academy student. Was it perhaps, a long term goal for me? That made the most sense, but I was still kind of disappointed.

"Kushina-hime!" Kenma cheered, having warmed up to me immensely, as he jumped forward to bump into my shoulder. I bumped back harder. We still argued but it was more like siblings fighting, if I was honest.

"Shut it," I said smugly, "or you get no cake."

Kenma mimed zipping up his lips and throwing away the key as Satsuki delivered my piece of cake to me. It was one of those time I wish I could recall how to make ice cream. Cake and ice cream were the best together. Oh well, it'd come back to me one day.

As soon as everyone had been served a piece, we all sat in the dining room, and I surveyed my family, taking in how much love I had for them all. It seemed unfathomable for me to have so many people supporting me, as in my past life, family hadn't been so keen to loving. I grinned at all of them before taking a big bite of my cake.

"Be prepared," Mika said as everyone else dug in, "I got you the best present ever." Next to her, her daughter, Arisa smiled.

"Wasn't the cake your present?" I asked, put off by accepting too much kindness. I mean, they had even closed the shop just for me.

"As if," Arisa said, grinning, "Mom and I plan to spoil you rotten today."

I laughed, a bit childishly as I reached out over the table to touch their hands. I'm sure they always kept their hands within distance just for my sake. I had such a weird thing with touch, it was almost OCD.

"You won't beat me at it," Kushiro announced, "Satsuki and I have the best present ever."

Mika and Arisa exchanged glances before playfully laughing.

"We'll see about that," Mika said.

"Oh stop it," Satsuki humorously scolded.

"Eh? It's just friendly competition, Satsuki-chan." Mika replied, blinking at that, everyone in the room laughed, even Kenma and Ichigo's dad, who was usually so quiet and lost in his thoughts. It seemed everyone was determined for it to be a good day.

And it really was.

Once everyone had finished eating, thoughts went back to the presents and in the end I was the ultimate judge to see who would win. As I was handed the box which held Mika's present, she winked at me, causing me to laugh as I hurriedly opened it. What was in the box caught me completely by surprise. I had thought it would be clothes, or even cooking tools, but never this. Tears welled up in my eyes as I delicately removed it from the box, letting out a whimper.

"I remembered you telling me you wished for a way to have something to keep your memories forever. I also know that you're very concerned about going to Konoha, and I want to ask of you to send me back letters with the things you take with that."

"How?" I croaked, wiping away tears as I looked at her.

"I took a little of the proceeds that we raked in from your creations and splurged a little."

I couldn't help but grin, couldn't help but feel an immense relief towards this gift.

Because inside that box had been something I never thought I'd see again. A camera.

It was very big, and clunky, but it was a camera nonetheless and I couldn't be more ecstatic. In my past life, I had actually been a photographer. Something about being able to keep a single moment engraved forever in the physical world meant a lot. With a nod, I studied the camera very carefully, wondering what kind of materials had gone into creating it. I hadn't even known camera's had been made yet. I thought they came a little later, during Naruto's era. After I had figured out how to work it, I simply wiped my tears away, grabbed both Kenma and Ichigo, as three of us took the first selfie ever. Perfect lighting, angle, and no filters, it was probably one of my favorite moments of the day. The photo turned out great, as it developed and the film shot out and I caught it. It showcased the three of us, Kenma looking confused and adorable, Ichigo looking surprised, and me smiling in the middle making peace sign with my free hand as I had wrapped my arms around the two, bringing us close. It was a nice photo that I knew would become my treasure.

As I showed everyone in the family, Kenma demanding we retake it as he said he looked weird, I couldn't help but feel weightless.

"Now, as great of a present that was," Kushiro said, still looking confident although I couldn't fathom how. Camera beat everything. Well everything except...

"Our present to you is a new little sibling," My father announced carelessly, Satsuki's face completely covered in a blush as everyone's eyes shot to her stomach.

"How long?" Mika asked, eyes wide.

"I'm four weeks along in the first trimester."

"Kushina?" Kushiro asked, noticing that I was frozen, blankly gazing at my mother's stomach. Everyone went quiet as I suddenly walked forward to Satsuki and held my ear to her stomach.

"It's gonna be a girl," was all I said as everyone exhaled in relief.

"Ano," Arisa spoke up, "Who won?"

I debated in my head. Camera, sister, camera, sister, camera, sister... "No one. It's a tie."

"Lifelong memories of a cute little sister doesn't win?" Kushiro asked, slightly disappointed.

"Being able to take pictures that immortalize those memories doesn't win?" Mika asked, the fire in her eyes speaking volumes of her unwillingness to draw at a time.

"I'm just happy I'm able to have both," I murmured, a lazy, satisfied grin settling itself on my face.

"I guess that's all that matters," Mika mumbled, cheeks warm with happiness.

Whisper

"Don't go," I heard my mother whisper, her tone desperate. I blinked, surprised by her urgency. I had just gotten up to get water and this is what I see? I moved as quietly as I could to hear more clearly. Yesterday had been such a happy day that something like this felt near to a dream. No one really likes to accept the bad things, do they?

"I have to. People have died, Satsuki. I have to do something to protect you and Kushina."

"But you may-."

"I have to see my daughter wedded, right?" Kushiro murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, "I can't go dying now."

It was a possibility, I knew so very well. Because I didn't know. Nothing had ever been said about Kushina's – my parents. Yet I watched, in dumb-struck horror, as my father left a still faced Satsuki, eyes twisted in pain when his gaze traveled in my direction. I stood, frozen to spot even as he tried for a calming smile. I wasn't calmed. I didn't feel calm. I felt angry and scared.

I wonder, really. I wonder how Kushina must have felt, watching her father leave. Or if she had been oblivious to everything to the very end.

I really wonder.

Whisper

It was almost a blessing in disguise when my father stepped into the doors of our house, breathless. Satsuki and I had jumped up from our tasteless, silent meal. Neither of us had gotten too much sleep last night, so it was no wonder we ended up tripping and falling into Kushiro. The three of us landed on the floor but I didn't care. I did my best to stay as close to my father as I could.

"How did it go?" Satsuki asked, her own voice a shaky whisper.

"It went fine, as you can see. Not even a scratch."

"Did you fight a bad guy?" I asked him, peering up at him for his reply.

He nodded, causing Satsuki to sigh. "He was no match for your daddy, sweetheart."

I found my head bobbing in understanding. But there was a strange look in his eye.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, my dear. Why don't you go finish up your breakfast? I have something to discuss with your mother." He was trying peculiarly hard not say whatever he was keeping inside.

"I'm five," I said to him, stubbornly, as I stuck to his body like glue, "I can handle what you're about to say."

Kushiro gazed at me briefly, the wheels turning in his head before he finally nodded, "It does involves you, Kushina."

"Me?" I blinked, in relative surprise.

"Yes. It seems that the council has been talking about some things."

"Things?" Satsuki picked up on, her voice sharp.

Kushiro sighed, waving a hand at their current situation, "I think you girls should properly sit down for this news."

"What? Why?" I panicked, feeling highly alarmed as I stood up, my mother following after as the three of us headed back into the dining room.

"Kushina, you are a very special girl," Kushiro said, eyes grave as he said this, "more special than all of us."

"I don't see why," I mumbled, eyes downcast. I didn't like to feel different from the others. It made me feel less unitary and more… secluded.

"Your chakra, my dear, is different and very special. And they need you immediately, and you'll be leaving to Konoha tomorrow."

"Why?" My voice sounded hallow, scratchy and thin, "What changed? I wasn't supposed to leave until the end of the month!"

"Mito-sama needs you immediately. I don't exactly know all the details but I do know that it has to deal will the Kyuubi."

"Why?" I tried to believe that my voice hadn't cracked as my face went white as a sheet. I knew what he was trying to tell me but no. I didn't want this. I wanted to stay with everyone else. I wanted us to stay a family.

"I'm sorry, Kushina."

I knew why Mito needed me, however. I knew it in my gut. She was dying and I would need to take her place as the Jinchuuriki.

Whisper – End