Sensou III
"In times of peace prepare for war." - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus.
The healing process was faster than everyone expected. In the following week and a half the Whirlpool doctors watched with amazement how Kushina healed without any further need of medical assistance. Many left wondering what was it about this particular redheaded that made her heal almost instantaneously. Kushina didn't like people prying and the only answer to the constant comments of her doctors was that she just had a higher level of healing than most. That didn't exactly shut them up, but at least that got them off her.
Settling down once again in her home village was another story. That first week when she had arrived many of her friends and family visited for it had been over three years since she had last seen her. Many congratulated her on her promotion to Jonin and wondered how long she was planing on staying. She she hadn't really thought about it all, she would usually answer something along the lines of 'until my father needs me' which led them to ask in turn about her older brother, Naota.
It was common knowledge that Naota had taken the responsibility of becoming the next clan leader once her father either retired or met an early death. Since the first scenario was more likely to happen, Naota had a long way to go before he was formally introduced as Uzumaki-dono. Still, his father had Naota take some of his responsibilities off his shoulder and was appearing more often than not on official appearances that his father couldn't attend. This off course left little to no free time for Naota.
"Wouldn't you want to become the next clan leader?" Naota asked Kushina one day while they were walking along side the beach near their house. "You'll get the power to boss everyone around, just like you did back when you were young. But this time people actually have to obey you."
Kushina punched him in the arm. "Too much work. I don't want to be tied down on a desk job."
"It won't technically be a desk job." Naota had pointed out, looking a his little sister from the corner of his eyes. "You'll get to do plenty of traveling and drinking on the job. Haven't you been to one of those council parties? The last thing on those geezers mind is politics."
"What good is traveling when people only show you what they want you to see?" Kushina wondered, looking out the melting sun. It had been such a long time since she'd glanced at orange and red water. Konoha had a small lake near the training grounds that had been made artificially to simulate a fight near water, but it was nothing compare to the smell of salt in the air. Living in the middle of a continent had been one of the few things Kushina hate about Konoha. Being so far away from the sea when she had been born in it. "And I doubt there'll be much traveling now with the war and all."
Naota casted his eyes on the ground, a grim feeling washing over him. It was true. They were supposed to be at war with Konoha. On paper at least. Only no one had fired the first kunai. It could still be called a political war.
"Another war." Naota sighed, glancing behind him to were the first village lights were starting to appear. "Aren't people tired of making meaningless wars? What has the world come to when the only thing world leaders think about is how to send people to die?"
"Konoha hasn't even fired the first kunai. You could always say that it's a paper war."
"Konoha hasn't attacked because we haven't attacked." Naota clarified looking over at his sister. "And we haven't done attacked because we are waiting for Kirigakure. It's like the whole world has decided to wait and see what the biggest mad man will do to finally decide and do something about it."
"How many times did you say do in that sentence?" Naota gave her a look. Kushina sighed, turning serious again. "Why hasn't Kirigakure made it's move?"
This made Naota ponder the question. "We don't know yet." He answered honestly. "We sent some ANBU over the border to try and figure out what Kirigkaure is waiting for. Rumor has it, it has something to do with his leader."
"The mizukage?" Naota nodded. "What about him?"
"We are not certain yet. We are still wondering why he just decided to quiet down, after three years of making threats. The incorporation of the Azore Islands has angered a lot of people. The militarization of the islands has only provoked the Mizukage further, yet, not a single move?" Kushina didn't really understand much of what her brother was saying, but it was only because she wasn't up to date about what her native village had been doing for the past three years. "Rumor has it, the internal conflict between civilians and shinobi inside Kiri has turned for the worst. Did you know that recently graduated academy kids are forced to kill each other if they wish to move up the ranks?" Kushina grimaced at this, but said nothing. "A village this blood thirsty can't be stable. Wars are always ranging. People are constantly getting killed. The government won't do anything about it. It's chaos there."
"Worst part is we have to deal with them as our neighbors."
"Worst part is, the Mizukage is the three tailed jinchuuriki."
Having been a jinchuriki for nearly ten years, Kushina would think that she was fine about such term, but once that word rolled out of her brothers lips, something inside her broke. It seemed stupid really, it wasn't like he was addressing her directly. Heck, Kushina knew for a fact that there were barely four people in the world that knew what she was, yet there was just something about what people thought of them that scared her to think that even the people who've known hear all her life would start to think the same way about her. Stereotypes, she discovered, applied to even those who were slightly similiar.
"How-How would you know that?" Kushina asked, heart racing. If he knew she was the Nine tailed jinchuuriki? Would he look at her any differently? Would he love her all the same? Would he still call her his sister?
"One of our people who's been acting as double agent sent us a report about how the Mizukage has a weird seal on his stomach." Naota retold his sister. "They've used a water seal so we know it's not stable. It also seems like there's something controlling the Mizukage since we have reports of incidents where he has snapped and killed everyone around him in a fit of mania. More people have died inside their government towers than because of their internal war. Someone so unbalanced has got to be controlled by something else. Something that doesn't listen to reason or posses guilt and remorse. Something like that could only mean a tailed beast acting in his place. Weird thing is that ever since the last massacre even his closest advisers have stopped visiting him, for fear he might kill them. This off course has caused a lot of power shift around the village."
Kushina listened with a pang of guilt threatening to make her burst into tears. That mania incidents, the unbalanced personality, that raving thirst for blood, she knew it all too well. Just mere weeks ago she had killed seventeen people without even stopping to realize what she was doing. It was strange. After nearly ten years of having that thing inside her, she had never felt it before. That raging anger that had surged from within her when that girl in the dog's mask threatened to have someone she loved killed. It was almost like the nine tails felt the same way about the people she care about, but she quickly dismissed that idea. It had just wanted to spill blood.
Composing herself she pushed the guilt to the back of her mind and asked the only obvious follow up question. "That still doesn't explain why Kirigakure hasn't attacked us."
Naota moved his head to the side and asked. "Why don't you tell me, sis? Why do you think Kiri hasn't made it's move?"
They were going to play that game now? Naota had a tendency to test her to see if she was as smart as she said she was, laying out clues and seeing if she could figure out what he was thinking. Sometimes she got it, sometimes she didn't. It all depended on the situation and how tired she felt. Except now it felt like he was more than just testing how well she could connect the dots. She had to anticipate the enemies moves.
"Well, we know that Kirigakure is currently in the middle of a civil war against those who have bloodline limit but at the same time the Mizukage has been trying to get back the islands on the south that were bought from them during the last century." Kushina thought of all the things she knew about Kirigakure. There wasn't much there. Few people had gone and come back, and those who did, spoke balderdash. Still, she had all the information she needed. "The lack of attack could only be because of three reasons: the first one is that the Mizukage is waiting for us to enter physical war with Konoha so that our forces will be divided and they'll have it easier in claiming the islands in the south, only the Mizukage has been known for his blood thirst so saving lives it's not really in his plans. The second reason might be because the Mizukage hasn't got the man forces to spare and rage war against us, since most of their ANBU is rogue and half of the seven sword's men are lunatic who won't obey orders, so he's either waiting for the internal war to come to a low point and use that thirst for revenge and attack us or…"
"Or?" Naota continued, having figured out those two scenarios but intrigued about the third one.
"Or he's dead." Kushina finished simply, rather proud of herself.
"How can he be dead?" Naota asked, thinking that maybe he'd over estimated Kushina. "If he were dead the village would have gone into chaos."
"Think about it!" Kushina urged, a sly smile crossing her face. "Nobody has seen him in quite some time. There has been some unauthorized power shifts. He still hasn't made his move against us, even when we are at our most vulnerable state. Someone that unstable would have at least sent some shinobi to attack Kosrae. There are no shinobi there, the closest military post is nearly three hundred miles away. It's the perfect opportunity to start the war he had always been dreaming of. If he hasn't done that-" Kushina stopped her train of thought realizing something. It was so obvious! Sometimes she didn't see the forest for the trees.
"If he hasn't done that…" Naota tried to make his sister continue but he had completely lost her. "Are you saying he's been killed by his government?"
Kushina wasn't really listening, but she nodded along none the less. "Or maybe he was over powered by his tailed beast." She said more to herself than to him. "I have to get dad to let me go to Kosrae. I need to find out if the Mizukage is still alive."
"Whoa. Slow down." Naota said, raising his hands in the air. "You have just been dispatched from the hospital, not to mention you are in political danger of being kidnapped by Konoha. I don't think-"
But Kushina didn't stay around too hear the rest of his speech. She turned on her heels and disappeared with a puff of smoke.
Convincing her father on letting her go without actually saying what was it she wanted to do in the small island had been no small feat. He had refused instantaneously without even hearing her whole plan. Apparently both her brother and father thought she was planning to give herself to Kirigakure on a silver platter. Did they really think she was dumb enough as to let a mad man known she was there unprotected? If the Mizukage was really trying to start a war, kidnapping her would be the straw that would breaks the camel's back. All Whirlpool needed was a reason to take revenge on Kirigakure's past actions and what better excuse than to claim that it was just to rescue Kushina? She knew for a fact that Whirlpool had never done anything to openly avenge her elder brothers death and that had been reason enough to actually start a war with the land of water. Instead they'd let it pass and had tried and failed to reach an understanding with the Bloody Mist. Between power shifts and internal wars, one could not hope that a singed piece of paper would hold any weight. Besides, the reason for her coming at all was well worth losing her life over. After all, if she really did get the answers she was looking for, it would not only save her but Satoru as well.
Besides it wasn't like she was going there blinded. She could always argue that her reasons were scientifically driven: to confirm long lost rumors about how people who were forced into Jinchuriki's would eventually lose their sanity. It was not secret that the last Sunagakure Jinchuriki had snapped and taken his life after what was nearly thirty years of slavery for the Sand Village. Did all Jinchuriki's ended like that? Mito hadn't, but Kushina knew she was the exception to the exception. She was the only shonobi alive that had lived for more than three generations, helped fund one of the most powerful shonobi villages in the world, give birth to one of the most respected women shinbo of all times and willingly seal a tailed beast within her own body. As far as Kushina knew Mito had managed to maintain her humanity and control even on her weakest years. Had love kept her alive? Kushina knew that love could do many things such as move mountains or willingly turn someone into a vessel, but was that enough to keep her human? She loved her friends like they were her family, yet she had never been completely honest to them about herself in all those years. Carrying something so monstrous inside her just made her wonder if those she loved would fear her once they knew the truth about her. How many had known about her former mentor, she wondered? Her late husband had known and he had still married her, but who else had known? Had they feared her, like Kushina feared for herself? Or had they accepted her as the person she was and not the mere container of a beast? She would never know, for every time she'd asked the Hokage, he would refused to even acknowledge the question. How did he expect her to know what she was to do about the tailed beast if he refused to acknowledge there was one? Instead of lecturing her about her appearance and her behavior like he had while she attended Konoha's academy, he should have focused on coaching her through the process of learning to live with it. He made her like this, it was his responsibility of turning her into a sane capable shinobi. Only he hadn't. He hadn't ignored her either. He had just played along like there was nothing to talk about. Like all adults did whenever there was a situation they didn't have the answers to. It was frustrating, among other things.
And there was the seikatsu seal among the constant fear of losing her sanity.
She had vague memories about the night she had cast it, almost like her mind was trying to forcer her to forget something that was just too painful to face. She remembered feeling overwhelmed with despair. They had been surrounded by the enemy. More than a thousand Iwagakure shinobi blocked her path. She remembered yelling orders behind her to the ones that had followed her. She remembered a stabbing pain on her stomach that only intensified once the first group attacked them. She remembered falling to the ground when that pain was too much for her. She remembered watching Satoru kill the man that had stabbed her only to get stabbed in the back by another one. The was a big gap of memories from then on and they only came in small episodes of sensations. The intensifying smell of blood. The screams all around her. The numbing of pain that had once seized her. The increasing thirst. The taste of death on her tongue. All of that in a state of mind she couldn't quite place.
It had been a horrible massacre. She had woken up with blood covering the better part of her body and intensifying feeling that she had done more than she was willing to admit. She felt more exhausted than she had ever felt in her life; a nagging guilt at the pit of her stomach. She often wondered what had happened that night? Was she the cause of those piles of bodies? Was she the creator of such death? Once the reinforcements had arrived she had been allowed to relax, but only slightly. There was a still a question that bothered her.
"Who did this?" One of the Konoha shinobi had asked, looking around frightened.
"A monster." One of the others said, turning a dead body with her feet. "Only a monster would be so cruel."
Only a monster would be so cruel. Those words had resonated with her far more than she liked to admit. 'Only the monster I carry inside would be so cruel.' She thought. Only the monster she was slowly becoming would be capable of killing without guilt.
She had come to terms that she had lost control of the Kyuubi that night. Something had snapped inside her and that had been the cause of her killing spree. However the question remained, what had caused her to lose control so abruptly? In all the years that she had been a jinchuuriki, she had never felt something like that, not once. It was almost as if the Kyuubi had taken control over of her mind without she even noticing it was happening. Was that something she needed to start worrying about? Losing control of herself when she least expected? Did that happen to all jinchuriki or was she turning onto the exception of the exception? She knew that seals after certain time would weaken, but she had always assumed that because it was Mito's, she was safe. Maybe it was time she started figuring out how the seal even worked. That way, when she felt like the Kyuubi was about to burst she would have means to stop it. Problem was she couldn't ask anyone in her village about the seal since no one even dared to talk about tailed beasts. It was ironic, Kushina thought, everyone wanted to get their hands on a tailed beast but no one dare to even acknowledge their existence.
None the less, Kushina arrived at Kosrae a few days ago with an uneventful boat trip. Since the last thing she wanted was to let Kirigakure know that she was coming at all, she had sneaked into one of the fisher boats that had been leaving for the demon country and convinced the captain to drop her off halfway there. It had taken some juggling on her part to make him change his course in the middle of the ocean, but it had worked none the less.
The day she had arrived what had struck her the most about the island had been the heavy military camps Whirlpool had set there. As far a she knew, the natives had always lived at peace with the Kirigakure shinobi, even when they've been absorbed into the Whirlpool nation and had started paying Whirlpool taxes.
Yet ever since Whirlpool had aggressively made their presence known at the island, Kirigakure traders had started to become more scares with each passing day.
According to Go, a native shinobi of the island, Whirlpool had been building military camps for the better part of the year, fearing that an invasion of Kirigakure was imminent. In truth, the Whirlpool camps had only banned boats coming directly from Kirigakure, other boats where welcome to come and share their information and goods, but since the threat of a war was on everybody's minds, the once lively ports had slowly started to turn ghostly. This, off course, had hurt the natives far more than the council was willing to admit. Since everyone knew the economy of the island depended mostly on trade, foreign trade at that, Whirlpool had been forced to develop new businesses with neighbor islands to keep the locals from revolting. The Kosrae people hadn't asked for the military camps, they were in good terms with the Kirigakure people and the military presence only scared the tourist away, meaning not only the local trading economy was suffering but their international one too. Was this really worth it? Kushina wondered, looking around at the locals trying to sell their goods to the military. If things kept escalating but there really was no actual war, Whirlpool would be forced to subsidize the whole island and their inhabitants something that could cost millions and reduce the budget to the military. If there really was going to be a open war with Konoha, Whirlpool would need all of their economical resources, meaning they wouldn't be able to help islands like Kosrae. That would only lead to Kosrae to sympathize eve more with Kirigakure. They were almost half way there anyway. An economical struggle would only push them over the edge.
Kushina ought to write a letter to her brother about the situation on the small island. Maybe if the council saw an insiders point of view they would do something to help move the flow of the trading ports of the island. That's if they could stay on the subject long enough without fighting like children. For an organization that was mostly assembled by grown men, they tended to act like spoiled children whenever they didn't get their way. It was frustrating in many ways and funny in others.
"Kushina!" Someone called from behind her, making Kushina falter on her steps and lose balance. She struggle not to fall to the ground but it was too late. The fall was imminent, fortunately a pair of arms grabbed her around the waist before she could even begin her fall. She looked up to see who it was, but seeing as every time they met this happened, she was not surprised to find Go smiling down at her. "Hey."
"Hey," Kushina smiled back, a faint blush on her cheeks. No matter how many times he would save her from falling, Kushina could never get used to the nervous feeling this guy brought whenever he was near her. It was instantaneous and it had happened almost immediately after they had met. Maybe it was something to with his violet eyes of the way his dark blue hair would fall on his face that would make her heart beat a lot faster. Or maybe it was just the fact that Kushina had never really had such a strong infatuation in so little time of knowing the person. She was not shy around boys exactly, but she never knew what to do whenever she was around one who she actually liked. Flirting was not something she had practiced before or ever, so his obvious advances would throw her off her game. It was rather frustrating to know that you had something important to say to the person but end up stuttering instead of actually saying it. After they would hang out, she would always wonder if maybe he thought of her an idiot. She certainly acted like one whenever he was around. "Thanks, again. You keep saving my ass."
His smile broadened as he let her go. "Can't say I don't enjoy it." He winked a her, something that made her heart beat a little faster, no matter how many times he did it.
Kushina decided to cut to the chase. Normally she would try to extend the time they spent together (which usually was far more fleeting that she liked) but today was a different story, not only was she in a hurry to get to the postal office so she could start on that letter to her brother, she wanted to confirm the rumors that there would be a secret expedition to Kirigakure from Whirlpool. If she could get herself assigned to the group being sent there, that would save her a lot of trouble of actually traveling without anyone else knowing. Last thing she wanted was to be sent back mid trip. Besides, she was positive her hair was a mess, she didn't want Go to see her when she was looking so hideous.
"Did you find out what I asked you to?" Kushina asked, sounding a little more rude that she intended to. She was about to apologize but Go cut her off.
"What? No kiss hello? No, 'you are looking quite ravishing today'?" Go teased her, resuming the walk she had been forced to stop.
Kushina sighed, a little more uncomfortable that she liked to admit. "I'm in a hurry today. I have important things to do."
"Don't we all?" Go gave her a sly smile, but when he noticed her serious expression he turned serious. "I must warn you that what I'm about to say may endanger you life if anyone ever finds out what you truly know."
"I'm aware of that." I didn't matter that she was the second in line for the seat at the council in Whirlpool, infiltrating the military intelligence and seducing one of their youngest leaders to gather information was one of the highest transgressions a shinobi could do. Her family and her place in the Whirlpool government would not save her here. If anyone found out that she knew more than she was allowed to, they would surely kill her. The countries security prevailed over someones life. That had always been the case. "But I can keep a secret. Can you?" she asked, to dispel the tension that had suddenly built.
Go smiled once more. "For you? Anything."
Kushina rolled her eyes, even though her heart skipped a beat.
Go turned serious once more, but made an effort to look relaxed. Nothing would give them away faster than visual tension. "As you might know already we sent a team to Baa a few days ago to gather information about the war Kirigakure."
Kushina did know this. It had happened before she had arrived at the island but her brother kept her in the loop of what was happening on the frontier with Kirigakure and the political war with Konoha. It was one of the perks of having such a well related brother.
"Last we'd heard the rebels were moving toward the south near Magoo, the capital. If they reach Veymandoo, which is not far from there, we could call it a rebel take over and the dethrone of the current government, which would be good for us. The rebels have not intention of fighting against us and, Kotaro, the leader, has even agreed to a peace treaty with Whirlpool if they manage to kill the current Mizukage." Meaning, Whirlpool wanted the rebels to win, but was that wise? Did they even knew who they were? And their long term intentions? All of that sounded really nice and good, but was Whirlpool really prepared to face the consequences of past actions? "Problem is, the first wave of that reached Mahibadoo was obliterated without a trace. There were no remains nor any survivor to explain what had happened. Kotaro tried sending another team to gather more information about the whereabouts of the first team, but they too disappeared without a trace. No body knows what happened to them."
"Nobody…knows…what happened to them…" Kushina repeated, tasting every syllable. "Nobody knows what happened. What?"
"As you heard, nobody knows what-"
"But that is ridiculous!" Kushina yelled, stopping in her tracks. She was aware that she had attracted the attention of the people passing by and tried in deflect the attention from them. Most of the locals knew that she and Go were friends, but that didn't stop people from talking more than the should. Eventually the news would travel to Megumi, the leading commander at the island and it wouldn't take her long to figure out what they might be talking about. Ever since she had arrived, Kushina got the sense that Megumi didn't like her. She had shrugged it off at first, thinking it as girl thing, but as the weeks pass and she and Go became ever closer, Megumi's attitude became more hostile toward her. It'd be no secret that she'd try her best to get Kushina out of the island and out of Go's life forever.
"But that's ridiculous." Kushina said a softer tone, a smile on her face. If people thought they were just talking casually, rumors might not reach Megumi after all. "People don't disappear like that. Even Simmons leave a seal somewhere. Are you sure they are searching hard enough?"
Go followed her lead and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. To anyone that passed by it would just look like they were having a date. "You don't understand. The island is covered in a thick layer of mist. You can barely see three feet in front of you."
"The whole country is like that. That's why it's called Kirigakure. And besides, a little mist won't matter if we use sensor types."
"Don't you think we've tried?" Go sighed, looking defeated. It as obvious he already had discuss this over with his other commanders. "We sent sensor types but according to them, the island has it's own chakra. You can't differentiate a tree from a person."
Kushina frowned not really getting what he was saying. "What do you mean-"
"I mean that things, the island in and on itself its alive. Everything around has a feel, it's not like here where you only sense people, there you can sense everything. The trees, the ocean, even the air has a feeling. There is something really rotten about that island."
"Are you saying that the one and only thing that is preventing us from winning to war with Kirigakure is staying on a island that is apparently alive?" Kushina asked, minding to keep her voice down, but aware that that was the weirdest thing she had ever hear. "Are you sure the mist isn't playing tricks with your mind? Maybe there's a long genjutsu user that is making you see things that aren't really there."
"Haruka Hyuuga would have alerted us about it when they got there. Now even he has disappeared and Konoha is claiming the life of one of their own."
"A Hyuuga was here?" Kushina asked, finding that the weirdest thing. Then another thought claimed her mind. "Is that why we are at war with Konoha?"
Go shook his head. "That was months ago, and Konoha knew what they were getting into when they sent him here." Go ran a hand through his head in frustration. "What are you saying that not even you know why we are at war with Konoha?"
Kushina shook her head. She found it rather strange that even though Whirlpool had mobilized military forces to Yap, the island closest to the continent and Konoha had moved its military to the beaches, no one had dare strike either side. If they really were at war with one another what where they waiting for really? That was one of the reasons that made Kushina wonder on the reasons for the Hokage to declare war against Whirlpool but not order a full invasion of the islands. Could there be an ulterior motive behind the war? Was the Hokage trying to accomplish here exactly? And why hadn't he sent teams to get her back to Konoha, she might be a Whirlpool citizen but she was Konoha's tailed beast container. Surely the Hokage valued the balance between the villages that the first Hokage had established when the villages were created, over three generations ago. So, why was he letting her roam free? And more importantly, the fact that she was here wasn't exactly a village secret. She was sure Danzo had plenty of spies in both Kirigakure and Whirlpool that have informed him about her whereabouts. She was a rather easy target here, he could just blame her disappearance on the likes of Kirigakure and clean his hands with another war. Why, ever since she'd left the continent, hadn't she seen any other Root ANBU following her? And what about that strenge war with Konoha nobody knew nothing about. If Go, a military commander didn't know about the reason behind the war and neither did her brother or the council…could it be that the war was a diversion for something bigger to happen? Had this been staged by the Mizukage to divert Whirlpool from moving more military to the outer islands near the border? Had he forged the signatures of war sent to Whirlpool from Konoha and vice versa to get the two nations to simultaneously destroy each other? And that island…
"When was the last time you received any reports from Mahibadoo?" Kushina asked, a wheel spinning in her head.
"Three days ago. Ito-san has gone M.I.A. too."
"Is Megumi going to send another rendezvous team?"
"I think so."
"Can you get me on it?"
Go was about to automatically say yes when he stopped to actually analyze what Kushina had just asked. "Why would you want to go to Mahibadoo? Didn't you hear what I just said? People disappear without a trace."
"But you don't know that." Kushina said frustrated. "Maybe the reason the island has some sort of feel to it because those who've been there aren't really dead, that's why sensor types get the feeling that everything around is alive. Since you can barely make out three feet in front of you because of the mist you aren't able to see them, but they are really there."
Go looked at her weirdly, what she was saying made no sense. "Are you saying they are zombies?"
"Zombies are dead." Kushina corrected, but tried to explain what she was trying to figure out on her mind. "What I'm saying is that whomever is making those people disappear is using a Hide in the Mist jutsu to conceal barely alive corpses that are being used to confuse sensor types. That's why sensors feel like the island is alive. It's not really the island, but people."
Go still wasn't convinced. "I still don't understand why you need to go."
"The only way to know what is making these people disappear is by making out what is on the island. For that you need to dispel the mist."
"And you have a jutsu that can do that." It wasn't a question.
"As a matter of fact," Kushina smiled brightly. "I do."
