Hello there!

I'm TG, and I'm proud to present to you the first chapter of my first Naruto Fanfiction! ^_^ Like I said before, this will be a Minato and Kushina story, but primarily focuses on Kushina's life. So here we begin, Kushina is now eleven years old.

Hope you enjoy!

Tell me what you think in a review...

Keep Reading!

-TG

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kushina, or any other of Masashi Kishimoto's characters or plotlines, but Keiko, Hiromasa, Kimi, Kenji, and Kazuo are all mine! Hahaha... especially Kazuo 3

Chapter 1- The Great Whirlpool

"In the world there are five great nations: the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, the Land of Lightning, the Land of Water, and the Land of Earth. And each of these nations is home to one of the five great shinobi villages: can anyone tell me what those five villages are." As Hiromasa-sensei's question drew to a close, I watched most of the students' hands shoot up. All were fidgeting anxiously in their seats, wanting to answer a question they knew the answer to, but I felt bored out of my mind. I knew the answer to the question; this one was far too easy. But I didn't raise my hand. This part of becoming a real ninja was the painful one—sitting in a class of students while there are real battles to be fought outside. I was ready for it, but the genin exams weren't for a few weeks still. That was just a few more weeks I'd have to endure.

Finally, Hiromasa-sensei called on someone: and not just any someone either. This girl was Keiko Uzumaki, my very distant cousin. But, in reality, practically everyone in this village was somehow related to me, seeing as the Uzumaki family was the founding family, and it hadn't been all that long ago that our village had been discovered. It was not only that, but the fact that women who married Uzumaki men had an odd tendency to have only sons- and many of them at that, all of whom would carry on the family name. My father was the oldest of seven boys; my uncles. When my father's six brothers had married, all of them had succeeded in having more than five children each, only boys—which would be why I have thirty-seven male first-cousins so far. My father had been the odd one out. He had married a girl who had been preapproved by the clan elders, and they had had two sons—my older brothers. When a third child was on the way, everyone figured it would be another boy. I was a surprise to the family even at birth, and I hadn't stopped surprising them since then.

"Thank you, Hiromasa-sensei." Keiko purred in a way that automatically screamed teacher's pet. "Respectively, the shinobi villages are Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaf; Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand; Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist; and Iwagakure, the Hidden Stone Village."

When Keiko was finished, she looked pleased with herself. She considered herself, and others did as well, the smartest person in the entire class. She was smart, I'd admit that. But if we really had to get down to specifics, I knew more about shinobi now than she would in years. Not only that, but I doubted she had much fighting potential at the moment. A real ninja needs a brain, but that's only a tiny fraction of what it means to be called a ninja. Hiromasa-sensei gave my cousin one of those pleased, proud teacher smiles and said in his best, self-degrading voice. "Very good, Keiko."

I swear if my cousin didn't have ears, her smile would have never stopped. Everyone around her was staring at her rather hatefully, in the way only the brains of the class can be hated. This was another reason I didn't flaunt my knowledge, but at this particular moment my pride had to show a little bit. "Hate to break it to you Hiromasa-sensei, Keiko-chan, but you're both wrong. You're forgetting something."

"What? That's absurd!" Keiko wailed, and I had the urge to cut off my ears with a kunai if that would make the horrible sound of her voice stop.

"Whatever do you mean, Uzumaki-san?" Hiromasa-sensei asked incredulously, and I scowled a bit at the title. As a child of the main branch of the Uzumaki family, I was treated with more respect than what was called for in normal social situations. It sounded like getting unmerited respect from almost everyone you met was a good thing, but sometimes it got annoying. Like, for example, when you try to make friends but they can't stop calling you by you're last name like you're their superior. I didn't think I was automatically better than anyone else, and I didn't want to be treated like I did.

"I mean," I stated, trying to speak over the annoying exclamations that Keiko had filled the room with. "That you have forgotten one of the, if not the, most important hidden shinobi village there is: Uzugakure, the village hidden by the whirlpool."

There was a mixed response from the class to what I said. Some people laughed, scoffing at what they thought was a ridiculous idea. Some people murmured their agreement, but quiet enough so that I couldn't really tell who had done so. Hiromasa-sensei laughed as well, but he spoke his response. "That's a very nice thought you have, but it is technically wrong. Our village of Uzugakure is practically brand new in comparison to the other great shinobi villages, and therefore is a long way from being recognized as such. It is good that you have pride in your village, but don't spout false information to the rest of the class."

Keiko hmphed in a high-pitched, condescending tone, and it seemed to make my blood boil beneath my skin. "Well, I don't care." I said. "What gives them the right to the titles and not us? Who gets to decide what villages are great enough?"

"The daimyos decide to put their greatest faith and support in certain villages. It is not up to us. We have to prove our village is worthy of a kage and a title, but maybe someday we will. But, for the sake of learning the lesson, I beg you to accept that reasoning." When Hiromasa-sensei finished speaking, the entire class seemed to turn towards where I sat at the top of the room as if anticipating my response.

I smirked, looking directly at my sensei as I spoke. "I refuse to accept that. As sure as my name is Kushina Uzumaki, our village will be great. We will be a force to be reckoned with, and when people hear of the great shinobi villages, there will be six. And when that day comes, I will be the kage of this village."

Only one laugh echoed around the room after my exclamation, and that was Keiko's. After she realized that no one else had found what I said as hysterical as she had, she looked around the room in shock. "What?!" She looked around at our fellow classmates. "You can't honestly believe her? She'll be kage the day the great whirlpool stops spinning."

The class gasped at her choice of words, knowing that mention of the destruction of the great whirlpool was the unmentionable taboo in our village. I wasn't shocked, just angry. "Take it back." I muttered. "Take it back right now."

She glared at me, and muttered. "Make me."

That was the only cue I needed. Without hesitation, I launched across the desks towards her, and she screamed like I could only expect a wimpy girl like her to. As I jumped on top of her, I heard the sensei call my name. I cocked my fist back in preparation to strike, but was pulled up off of her before my hand had even touched her.

"Class dismissed." I heard an angry growl from behind me say, and the other students didn't have to be asked twice to leave early from school. "Except for you, Kushina. I'll let your family deal with the problems between you and your cousin, but I will be providing discipline for disrupting the class and fighting in school. Do you have anything to say for yourself, young lady?"

He had already placed me back down on the floor, and I was purposefully avoiding his gaze in my anger. My arms crossed over my chest in annoyance, thinking how ironic the situation was. Just moments ago, Hiromasa-sensei had been calling me Uzumaki-san like I was his superior, and now he wasn't even bothering to tack on a suffix to my name. Worst of all, he had called me young lady. Ugh, I cringed at the mention of the word. Even at eleven years old, I could hardly be considered a young lady. There wasn't much lady-like about me, to my mother's deep chagrin. I was a tomboy, there was no doubt about that. That's what happened when you grew up in a predominantly male clan and household; it seemed rather inevitable that I would be less girly than anyone had hoped. Keiko was girly, but she had a younger sister, Kimi. Those two, who were probably my fourth or fifth cousins if that was even possible, were probably the only biologically related girly-girls in the entire Uzumaki clan. I, Kushina Uzumaki, was not a young lady.

"She had it coming to her." I muttered, and I heard my sensei's exasperated sigh in response.

"Alright, Kushina-hime. You know the drill." Oh great, I thought, my inner self fuming in annoyance. Not only am I "young lady" or "uzumaki-baa-chan" but Princess Kushina. Just keep the good names comin' Sensei! Without voicing my thoughts, I stalked over to the chalkboard and grabbed the piece of chalk, beginning to write out "I will not disrupt the class…" for the first out of many times I would this evening. Hiromasa-sensei watched me for a few moments, and returned to his desk to start filing through papers. He looked up at me every few moments, and after a little while I figured out a pattern in his watch over me. It was then that I had an ingenious idea, and it took all my will power not to laugh diabolically when it came to me. The next time sensei looked down; I made a few quick hand signs and whispered the name of a jutsu. I watched for sensei's reaction to the jutsu in my peripherals, seeing if he had sensed anything out of the ordinary. When he didn't, I had to say I was a little disappointed. I knew that academy teachers only had to be chunin level or higher, but even a chunin should have been able to see through my rudimentary genjutsu.

After a while of continuing to write on the board, Hiromasa-sensei looked up to see the entire chalkboard filled with the same line. "Alright, Uzumaki-san." He said, and I was almost happy with the name as long as it wasn't Princess. "You're free to go. But don't think I won't be talking to your parents about this again."

"Wouldn't expect anything less from you, sensei." I said with a sarcastic edge to my words. I turned away from the chalk board as he scanned it and made for the door. "Later, Sensei."

He waved from his desk, and when he wasn't looking my way, I made one more hand signal and muttered "Release!"

A distinctive pop sliced through the air around me as my genjutsu released. As Hiromasa-sensei looked up at the chalkboard, trying to find the source of the sound I saw his expression was a mix of shock and anger. On the board, where he had seen lines and lines of disciplinary writings, appeared now what I had actually drawn: a detailed animation of me, squishing my sensei beneath my foot. On the top corner of the board, in a huge speech bubble, the animated me said "GOTCHA SENSEI!!"

I'm sure sensei was angry, but I could also tell he was impressed. It wasn't every day that you saw an academy student be able to pull the wool over a chunin's eyes using a genjutsu. My genjutsu was only basic, seeing as I hadn't really focused on it as much ninjutsu or taijutsu, but it was much better than the average academy student, or genin for that matter. As Hiromasa-sensei's shock went back to anger, I heard him yell from the room. "KUSHINAAAA!"

But I was already gone, running outside of the school unable to control my laughter. I didn't risk slowing down as I made my way through the little village to my clan compound. Half-way between the academy and the compound, I collided with someone. The person was tall and strong, so they didn't even stumble when my little body made contact with theirs.

"Kushina?" the person asked, and I didn't need to see the person to know whose voice it was. The lack of honorific was another clue, seeing as it wasn't necessary for older siblings to use them with their younger sibling.

I looked up into the face of my older brother, knowing which one it was but wishing it was the other. I muttered, "Oh. Kenji-onii-san… sorry."

"Hmm." He muttered in response to my apology, which didn't exactly seem like he accepted. "You're late from the academy. What did you do this time?"

"Oh, um…" I scrambled, shuffling from foot to foot in my nervousness. He gave me that look of superiority, and I finally sighed and told him. "I tried to hit Keiko-san. She was doing that know-it-all thing again, and I couldn't stand it."

"Kushina." He said with disappointment. "Those who are inferior to you will always both look up to you and envy you. You can not react to those who insist on instigating you, and you must show a good—"

"Example for those who look up to you. I know." I said, knowing the same old speech I had been given from mother and father and now big brother time and time again.

"It's pretty hard to look up to someone who's such a squirt." A different, amused voice said from a few feet away from us. I looked over to see the classic red hair and crooked headband of my oldest brother.

"'Zuo-nii-kun!" I ran to my oldest brother and gave him a big hug—he was the only person other than my mother who was allowed to do so. He laughed and looked over at our much more serious, raven-haired brother.

"'Sup, Kenji-toto-san?" I watched Kenji cringe at the name: he hated being referred to as little brother. "How was the mission? Any problems?"

"Kazuo-niisan." He acknowledged our brother, though it looked like he did it purely out of respect and not because he had any desire to. "Uneventful. But, as you know, the most successful missions are."

The incessant arrogance to my brother's tone was something both my eldest brother and I couldn't stand about Kenji. Kazuo looked at our brother with his signature amused smirk and said, 'I don't know, totosan… I can't seem to enjoy a mission unless I get some action in it. Get my hands a little dirty, you know?"

Kenji scowled, and turned his nose up as he began to walk away. "Getting your hands unnecessarily dirty doesn't contribute to the greater good of the mission. It only shows poor leadership on your part that you think that way."

As Kenji walked away from us, by oldest brother and I watched him depart. When I looked up to see Kazuo's face, there was a darker, more meaningful look to it than his normal amused expression. He seemed to be absorbing Kenji's previous choice of words slowly, actually thinking about what his younger brother had said with consideration. After a few moments of looking at him, he sighed and faced me. "Squirt, am I right in assuming that delaying your arrival home is for the benefit of your life?"

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head, and nodded. "Alright," He said then, his normal personality beginning to show again. "How 'bout some sustenance for the road, and we go to the usual spot then?"

I nodded enthusiastically, and followed my brother to a local shop. We bought a few boxes of pocky, knowing each other well enough to know that we would both rather be eating ramen. Our obsession with the food was just another aspect that made Kazuo and me so similar. Not to mention the fact that we both took strongly after our mother's side of the family: from the trademark bright red hair and slate gray eyes to the outgoing and often stubborn personalities. Our brother Kenji, however, had taken greatly to father's side of the family: all of the men having the same raven hair and dark eyes and the serious, calm personality. It was like the two sides were polar opposites, and Kazuo and I had often wondered how mother and father had married and had three kids without killing each other. They had been an arranged marriage by the clan elders; so compatibility had obviously not been a determining factor. Our mother had been the daughter of the leader of the next highest ranking clan in the Village, so it seemed good to marry her off to the highest clan head's son. I often worried about whether or not my mother was happy with us and if she ever actually wanted to get married and have a bunch of kids. I often thought she might have gone through with all of this out of obligation to her clan—I couldn't imagine a life like that for me.

Lost in my thoughts, I followed Kazuo aimlessly as we left towards the edge of town to head to the little forest that bordered it. When we got closer and closer to the ocean, the trees thinned until they opened up into a huge cave on the ocean's edge. We made our way to the entrance of the cave, the roof of which was open to the blue sky above. On the roof, huge columns of stalactites cascaded down like the cave was melting above us. The stalagmites on the bottom of the cave were rounded on the top from the erosion of the ocean tide creeping into the cave from below. The entire bottom of the cave was sunken in and filled with water, but the stalagmites provided perfect seats to look over the water from. Many of the stalagmites were littered with flowers, money, and incense as offerings to the swirling water below: the great whirlpool.

This was Kazuo's and my favorite spot because there was certain serenity to sitting on holy ground. It was peaceful, and people often came and went but never reprimanded us for spending long periods of time here. We made our way to the tallest, flattest stalagmite in the cave and Kazuo lifted me up to the surface before lifting his self on top. The hike up to our favorite spot would be the reason we had decided on pocky over ramen: ascending smooth pillars of stone while carrying steaming bowls of broth was harder than it sounded—we would know, having tried it before. First, though, he found a smaller platform and placed one of the three boxes of pocky on top as well as a ryo coin. His other coin was reserved for me. Every time we came here, we would leave some sort of offering. This was a protected holy ground, so no one would dare steal the money or food offerings. It was legend that if someone were to steal an offering from the stones in the cave, the whirlpool would rapidly turn into a great vortex and swallow the thief whole: it might have been a rumor, but no one was willing to test the theory. Once a month, on the full moon, the tide would flood the entire cave and the whirlpool would reach high enough to collect all of the offerings. It was an amazing force of nature, and the basis of our village and my own clan.

As I perched myself on top of the highest stalagmite, I tossed my own ryo coin straight into the vortex, and watched as it disappeared into the swirling abyss. The churning waters were slow, but strong. There had been stories about people falling into the whirlpool and being sucked down forever, but those might have been rumors as well. If I had to die, though, being consumed by the great whirlpool didn't seem like a half-bad way to go. I had always had a certain attachment to water: I could swim before I could walk, seeing as I had lived by the ocean shores my entire life. Water was calming and peaceful. It sustained all life, and it was home for millions of creatures. Water could be gentle, but also strong and formidable. Water was the perfect element. Last year, Kazuo had snuck a piece of chakra-testing paper to me for kicks, knowing his own chakra affiliation was water. When I had focused my chakra into the paper, as Kazuo had taught me to do, the paper had become soggy and wet. I had been overjoyed, as Kazuo had been when he found out his chakra affiliation was water. We had gone out for ramen to celebrate our secret discovery.

"So what'd you do this time, 'shina? You sure got Ji-Ji all riled up back there… well, as riled up as he can really get." He broke me out of my reminiscing and I laughed. I hadn't seen Kazuo in a while, so it was refreshing to hear someone call me Shina. When Kazuo and I were together, we often affectionately referred to our family members without the first syllable in their names, seeing as every biologically related Uzumaki had a name that started with K. I referred to my oldest brother as Zuo, sometimes Zu-Zu—though he didn't like that one very much. He called me Shina, and both of us referred to Kenji as Ji-Ji, though we would never say so to his face: we actually valued our lives.

"Oh…" I said sheepishly. "Um, well I tried to hit Iko-chan. You know how she can be."

"Yeah, I do…" Kazuo said, rubbing the stubble he had growing on his chin thoughtfully. It was funny, but I just realized how old Kazuo had grown. He was almost twenty now, but I had always seen him as my teenage brother who had always acted the same age as I was. But now he had lost his goofy adolescent looks, and with it, some of his goofy personality. He was a full-grown man now, and I hadn't even realized it.

"How's it going with Otosan?" I asked, trying to deflect the spotlight away from me for a moment.

"It's not." He grumbled, obviously frustrated. He and our father had always argued over everything, but as of late there had only been one argument that they ever really focused on. "He just doesn't understand me. I try to talk to him, to tell him about my dreams, but he never listens. It's always Kazuo, when you're clan leader… this and A leader's supposed to…that, but, if he stopped for a moment to listen to me, he would know that I don't care. I think he knows deep down that I sincerely don't want to lead our clan, but he knows it's what is expected of me. I think the reason he tries so hard to drill the idea into my head is that he thinks I might warm up to the idea. Father is not a cruel person: he doesn't like to have to force things upon his children, but the elders will throw a fit if the title isn't given to the eldest son of the clan leader. It's tradition—and, among our family, you know that tradition is viewed above all logical sense."

I nodded slowly, knowing well what he was referring to. The women in the Uzumaki family had always been refined, sensitive young ladies, so I wasn't exactly traditional either. In a few weeks, with the genin exams, I would become the first Uzumaki woman to ever become a full-fledged ninja… assuming I got a better score than Keiko on my exams. If I got a better score than her, I would get my headband and status before she did—making me the first ever Uzumaki kunoichi.

"I fear the stability of our entire family if I am to rule." He looked down at the swirling vortex below us, and mumbled almost to himself—or maybe he was talking to me, maybe to the great whirlpool. "If father had his way and if things were at all fair, Kenji would be appointed clan leader. It only makes sense: he is almost exactly father, looks and all. It would be like he continued on his own term if Kenji were to rule. It doesn't make sense that I should have to be it, when everyone in the clan knows Kenji would make a better ruler. The only way it would ever work is if father were to disown me, which he would never dishonor me by doing. Not that I would mind, though."

"What?!" I exclaimed, shocked at what I had just heard my brother say.

He shrugged, way too nonchalant to follow what he had been talking about. "If disowning me is what it takes for myself, for our brother, and for our clan to be happy, I would gladly agree. But like I said, father respects me too much to do it."

"Don't talk like that." I muttered, deeply concerned over my brother's sanity. "You may not make the traditional leader, but you're probably just what this clan needs. Kenji is practically emotionally stunted—he's too structured. As clan leader, you would have to make decisions that affect the entire family and clan. You can't just do something because it's proper; not when your family is at stake. Kenji seems perfect, but he's probably most susceptible to that kind of mistake."

Kazuo laughed one of deep, throaty laughs that echoed around the cave. "Ah, thanks 'shina. That's what I needed; a good laugh. But you know, if we're being perfectly honest, I think Kenji and I would both make pretty horrific leaders. I wouldn't be structured enough; Kenji would be too structured… I think the solution here is obvious: You would be the best clan leader, 'Shina."

"What?!" I yelled, shocked. As impossible as it was, I was flattered. Kazuo joked around with me and loved me like a big brother should, but it was very rare when he would make a genuine, significant compliment like that.

"It only makes sense! Think about it: Kenji and father have the awesome leadership and ninja skills. Mother, you, and I have the sense of humor, the high goals… and not to mention the good looks." Kazuo winked, and I laughed. "Kenji's just like father, and I'm pretty sure I'm just like mom before she was married. But you, 'Shina? You got the best of both families: you're a great ninja no matter how much crap everyone in the family is giving you for it; you actually have a personality and a sense of humor; and you got the makings of a great leader someday."

"Don't forget the good looks!" Kazuo and I laughed, but I was secretly thinking about what he had said. "I suppose that if you and Kenji were somehow both overlooked for the title and women were suddenly allowed to be clan leaders, I could do it just fine. But I'm setting my sights higher—not just the first female clan leader, but the first kage of the whirlpool village."

Kazuo laughed, though I could tell he wasn't making fun of the idea itself. "I suppose you're right, 'Shina: You're even too good for clan leader. I have confidence that one day you'll make a great kage."

I punched his shoulder playfully. "Thanks, Bro."

He smiled back half-heartedly, but didn't say anything for a long time. We both just sat watching the whirlpool, and I realized that Kazuo was pondering something. I didn't push him to tell me though. If I knew my brother at all, he would tell me in due time, or at least give me a good idea. But silent seconds grew into silent minutes, and Kazuo had still yet to say anything. I ate my pocky, waiting patiently for him to speak again.

"Promise me something, Kushina." I jolted up to look at him, taken back from the long period of silence. Not only that, but I knew this was serous: Kazuo had used my full name.

"Sure, anything." I muttered, my eyes wide in anticipation of what he would say.

"No matter what happens in life you'll remember that I'm your brother and that I love you." He said, only looking down at the water as he spoke. The tone of his voice worried me—it was like he was saying goodbye or something.

I shook my head, and made a feeble attempt at humor. "How could I forget that? We're kinda biologically connected, you know?"

He didn't laugh. He looked at my face and scrutinized it for a few moments before smiling at me. The smile didn't reach his eyes though. "Alright. I guess we should be getting back to the compound then. You have to face the music eventually, 'Shina."

I nodded, letting him help me up even though I was perfectly capable of getting up myself. As I stepped down the rocks with him, I wasn't thinking about the punishment waiting for me back at home. I looked at my brother where he walked in front of me, and- though he was right there where I could see him- I could feel him getting farther and farther away from me.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Into the Fire! Keep an eye out for the next chapter, which I've alrady written. I just need to have the next one edited, then we'll be on our way!

Reviews are welcomed ^_^

-TG