Chapter 4 Return of Shou

It was late afternoon, nearing the end of the day and Kushina was even more worn out today then she was last night. It was most certainly a shock when she realized all of her scars hadn't healed. In fact something told her these scars were not going to go away for once. Something was definitely wrong here.

"Dad!" Naruto exclaimed jumping out of nowhere, he tackled Minato to the snow covered ground, hugging him tightly.

"Narutooo!" Yamashuro yelled. He skidded to a stop in the ramen stall, breathing heavily. Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks next to Yamashuro, looming as pale as the winter raven itself.

Kushina rolled her eyes at her second in command. Obviously his mission to keep Naruto restrained failed. She wondered if ANYONE knew how to control this boy besides her. Minato chuckled, flashing a glance towards Kushina. She shrugged and turned her attention back to her meal. "Mmmmhh" She slurped down the bowl of ramen just as fast as Naruto usually does.

Old man Ichiraku smiled under his wrinkles and crinkled white hat. "Tatebayo! This is delicious!" She squealed in sheer joy. Steam still singed out of the empty bowl because she hadn't allowed it to cool down. "Thank you Uzumaki-san!" He smiled and took away the bowl, replacing it with another steaming bowl of miso ramen.

Kushina began to dig in once more, losing herself in her thoughts. The secret Gouzen held against her was the fact that she was the first of a new series of tailed beast just like Naruto was the last. Inside her long ago at her birth a man had locked the ten-tailed wolverine. This new series of tailed beast ran secretly among the corners of the earth. A new species of strange creatures not from this planet. Creatures that if contained gave the user VERY special abilities. The kind that did not require chakra nor natural energy. All it required was an open mind to a world of ENDLESS possibilities.

Gouzen is a decendant of the man who sealed this awesome power inside her. He is neither good nor evil, dark nor light. He is the inbetween; the thing what causes fiction and reality to collide. It's been so long and because everyone is gone Kushina never learned the man's name. All she knows is this; She is the first but not the last, which means there are 8 others out there like her and one man still existing who started it all. She could not say he was a threat nor an asset because he never showed any goodness nor evil. All she could say about him, is he had a plan. A plan that most likely would take place in the upcoming year.

Now, being a decendant of THAT man, Gouzen naturally had knowledge on the tailed beast inside her, including knowledge of her weaknesses. Gouzen had many ways to threaten and harm her, she just never thought he'd sink so low to threatening her only living family, her mother, Kiki. He met her during the chunin exams, which even now as the ninja world has calmed down quite a bit, still continue on. This must have been a good five years ago, when Kushina first came to the village.

She was not participating in them but rather as a sensei for her squad 8. Gouzen automatically had his eye open for her students which possessed a great potential and amazing power. Each one of them passed with flying colors which made them sucessible targets. The students always reflect the masters teachings, everyone knows that. That's what drew him to her. Gouzen was particuarly interested in how she taught them to control such massive power so well. They both knew only special individuals could teach something like that. Either a tailed beast or a pure genius. He took the lucky guess and looks like he was right.

With his knowledge, Gouzen edged his way into Kushina's life as her boyfriend pretending to accept her for who she is. She wanted to get to know the desendant of the man who gave her such power. Gouzen kept her in the village under his watch while he played the perfect prince charming roll. Everything was going great and to be honest it was the first time in a long time she felt like coming home for the holidays. That missing piece she always felt was finally being filled slowly. Unfortunately things took an awful turn. One night Kushina came home from a very tough mission in dire need of rest. Her fiancee had something else in mind. She refused him what he wanted and things turned ugly from there.

Things have been going downhill since, getting worse and worse. Kushina wasn't sure if things could possibly get much worse now that her body wasn't healing like it normally did. Could he really be intending to kill her if she didn't give in? Now it wasn't her own well being but when he realized threats towards her life had begun to dull, Gouzen found a new and VERY effective spot; her mother.

Kiki is the type of mother who always wants what's best for her daughter and never seems to know how to say no. She is gentle but firm, just the way Kushina needs to be handled and full of wisdom. That woman is the head bitch herself so if people think Kushina is a bit fiesty they haven't seen NOTHING yet. Kushina loves her mother to death and even without friends it is family who is always there through thick and thin. Family is the type of people who you come back to at the end of the day and family is what matters to her. If Gouzen was to kill her mother... The seal would break.

You see, the seal for the new species of tailed beast is not very complex but nearly indestructable. The only way to break the seal, is to murder the one person CLOSEST to the container's heart.

A grey rose petal settled in the golden liquid of the porcelain bowl. The people around her were nothing but a blurr of lively chattering and joyful laughter. No one seemed to notice the grey rose petals that began to fall from the sky like grey feathers. A female sung a lonely song in Japanese from across the street about the north star falling from the sky. Kushina turned around on her seat, and gently lifted the yellow drape of the ramen shop. The street was completely empty except for a man in a heavy thick black cloak, sitting on the ground in front of the singing woman. He began to strum a guitar along to her beautiful, familiar voice. The grey petals grew more dense upon the winter air, and melted the snow as they fell.

Her body froze as her eyes grew wide with terror. The snow had almost completely melted, revealing nothing but black, burnt shards of glass. The singing had stopped as the woman became some sort of terrifying creature with black hollow pits where its eyes should have been. The man now stood behind the creature where his face was concealed by the shadows. The rose petals became a blizzard, falling loudly, so loudly! Kushina couldn't move. She NEEDED to move! The man pointed a long bony finger in her direction as the banshee let out a long screech and just sort of floated towards her, reaching out its long and bony arms. It burned, the petals began to burn like bits of ashes from the fireplace.

"No..." Kushina whispered as she tried to remember how to move. Her mind had completely gone blank. She couldn't remember ANYTHING. Those terrible eyes got closer... and closer.. and closer... The man laughed coldly, so coldly. His laughter rung a bitter cold along the burning embers where memories long forgotten rose with the steam.

"No.. No! Nooooo!"

End of Chapter 4... Please review... :)