Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer

I don't own Naruto nor any character connected. Someone else does.

A/N

As of this chapter the story begins with a fresh start. I think some many will be happy with this fresh new chapter. I know I am. Well let's get on with it.

It's the morning after Kimiko and her father had returned to the village. It was a bright sunny Saturday. However, for the fox girl, the morning started with a feeling of dread.

Ever since the Uchiha Massacre, she had been troubled about one thing. Until now circumstances forbid her from exploring those feelings. Today was the first time she could hope to do something about those troubled feelings.

The feelings started when Itachi shredded her whip. The fact she was close to death did not faze her though. What was troubling her was the feeling she has chosen wrong when she chose the whip as her primary weapon. Today she was going to talk to her mother about it.

After getting dressed, she searched the house, but found no one. 'Of course! It's Saturday morning. Dad is probably at the Hokage tower already, Sasuke is probably with some friends, and Mom is probably by the waterfall doing her Kenjutsu practice. Well, this is better than I had hoped,' thought Kimiko.

Kimiko went over to the waterfall, but found no one, 'What the hell! Mom is always here this time in the morning practicing her Kenjutsu.'

Kimiko calmed down and sat by the edge of the water, remembering the time her mother tried to teach her Kenjutsu. She rejected the weapon, wanting something flashier. Now, as she held her practice whip she wished she could take back her impertinence. She remembers Itachi shredding her combat whip just before Tobi collected him.

Suddenly, in a moment of clarity, Kimiko heard the distinct sounds of swords clanking together. This was odd so Kimiko headed in the general direction of the sound. Son she found the source of the sounds and suddenly she wished she were wrong. Sasuke and Kushina was locked in the heat of battle.

Without thinking, Kimiko drew her whip and sprang into action. No one attacks her mother and gets away with it. Instantly she struck with her whip against Sasuke.

Several things happened simultaneously. It dawned on Kimiko instantly that Sasuke and her mother were sparing for her mom could easily wipe the floor with Sasuke. However, her muscles were already dedicated to the attack so she could not stop. She just prayed for some divine intervention.

Sasuke twirled to face Kimiko but realized too late that he was acting on pure reflex motion. Just a few months into his training and already he has trained reflexes. He correctly judge his parry will not only shred Kimiko's whip but hit Kimiko as well.

Kushina realized what was about to happen, so she dropped her sword and rushed in with all her motherly instincts to protect the children from getting hurt. She was able to knock Sasuke's arm in time to deflect the bow from Kimiko but the whip was a different story.

The whip was shredded right in front of Kimiko. The shock of seeing yet another whip shredded was enough to knock Kimiko out of her normal reflexes. She stumbled back into the line of Sasuke's sword swing.

Kushina did the only thing she could to protect her daughter. She kicked Kimiko across the courtyard away from danger. However, Sasuke's sword nicked Kushina's leg in the process. Her natural reflex reaction took over as she punched Sasuke in the gut forcing him to drop the sword.

All this happened in the span of three seconds. Everyone except for Kushina was stunned. She was busy treating her wound with a field dressing. "Is everyone ok?" she asks concerned.

Kimiko looked at her whip and recovered quickly, "Sasuke! You jerk! Geez! First Itachi now you."

Sasuke got so mad he recovered immediately, "What do you mean by First Itachi now me? What have we done, Loser?

Kimiko recovered too and jumped in his face. "You both shredded my whip. Itachi done in my combat whip and you done in my practice whip. I have no choice now but to change my weapon choice to the sword. Happy Now?" pouted Kimiko.

Kushina looked at the shredded remains of her daughters whip. Her heart ached for her daughter but at the same time, she was glowing with what she just said. However, she was not going to let her know of her excitement. "Now just hold on Kimiko. You made a commitment to learn the whip for it was flashier. Why should I allow you to change your weapon choice?"

"Ah come on Mom. I never said I would never learn the sword. I just had to get something out of my system first. I know now I screwed up. Please teach me," begged Kimiko.

Kushina got up and limped inside to change so she could go to the hospital and get her wound treated, "Just remember those words, my daughter. You screwed up."

Kimiko gulped as her mother apparently was NOT going to teach her. After her mom left, Kimiko turned her focus to Sasuke. "Mind telling me what you were doing here attacking my mother before I rip you apart!"

Kimiko had taken the steps to be right in front of Sasuke. However, the hilt of his practice sword interrupted the next step she took – she tripped on it and fell right on Sasuke. Sasuke fell onto his back the raised up on his elbows to look straight into Kimiko's startled eyes. She had braced her fall with her hands. She was now on Sasuke's lap wondering how in the world she got in that position.

To make thing worse she heard, "What the hell are you doing Kimiko?" At that moment, her tail shoots straight out in nervousness for the speaker was none other than Kiba Inuzaka.

Blushing, both Kimiko and Sasuke glanced over to Kiba. "Eh Kiba … This is not what it looks like."

"NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE KIMIKO," screamed Kiba, "Boy, I am a jerk. Here I was missing my best friend terribly so I came over the next day after she gets back only to find her making out with the Uchiha AS#$ &LE. Well Screw this!" Kiba ran off in tears.

Kimiko was very surprised by his outburst, "Kiiibbaa."

She got up to start running after him but, "Kimiko, don't run after him!" Kushina ordered as she had heard what Kiba said and came out to see why he said it as Kimiko got up off the ridiculous position she was in.

"But Mom … Kiba …"

"Needs to calm down and think. Have faith and hope he will conclude it was a misunderstanding. If you run after him now he may never see that truth. Go get cleaned up and Sasuke and I will explain why it looked like we were fighting over breakfast."

Kimiko grudgingly teleported from the front courtyard to her room so she can take a shower. Normally she took baths but today she opted for a shower. Normally, showers in their areas encompass the entire bathroom but she had asked for a western type shower stall. It was an expensive proposition so the trade off was it be installed in the main bathroom so everyone can use it and not just her. Today she was thankful her father went with it for it felt glorious. It was the perfect thing to get her mind off what just happened.

However, when she went down to breakfast, her mind kept going back to Kiba and to how bad what he seen must have looked from his position. Kushina knew her daughter well and knew what she must be reflecting on, "Kimiko, Sasuke told me what happened and how you two found yourselves in that position. That was unfortunate. I called Hana and explained the situation. After she got over laughing her head off, she promised to talk to her brother. We both are in agreement you should leave him be until tonight. She said you can speak to him at your special meeting place if you are lucky."

Kimiko felt relieved. If anyone can get thru to Kiba at a time like this besides her it was Hana. Now she concentrate on other matters and apologize to Kiba later. "Now would you two please tell me why you were fighting in the courtyard and how long have this been going on."

"First off, young lady, we were not fighting. We were sparing. It was Sasuke's first sparing match with the sword since I have been training him."

"Training him, Mother!" exclaimed a surprised Kimiko, "You told me the Uzumaki sword art is to be passed down only from parent to their children. We may be taking care of Sasuke be he is not your child. How did this happen?"

"Kushina-sama, may I please start explaining?" asked Sasuke. Kushina nodded. Sasuke sat down with some tea. "It started the night you disappeared from Konoha. Minato frantically tried to look for you as well all the other ANBU in Konoha. Your Mom wanted to look too but someone had to stay here with me since it was right after the massacre and in case you came home."

-FLASHBACK-

Kushina and Minato ordered Sasuke to bed after he relayed the message Kimiko asked him to relay. She was sorry. Sasuke was hurting too but Kimiko forgot about that. His brother and Tobi murdered less than 30 hours before his entire clan and family. In the coming day he will be attending multiple visitations as well as funerals and all Kimiko could think about was some petty ninja was being hurt because of her. He needed her too.

Once he went to sleep, in his dreams or rather nightmares, he saw his brother killing one clan member after another as if he was there. He woke up screaming.

Kushina was right there instantly. She hugged the boy to reassure him everything was going to be ok. However, she dared not speak for her tone or words might be a dead giveaway to her own feelings. Less than 30 hours ago, she lost many friends and now her daughter is missing since she ran away. She herself was hurting and now scared to death for her daughter. However, she had to push all that aside for the boy in her arms needed her reassurance even if she did not believe it herself.

No one slept any more in the Namikaze mansion that night. As Minato searched all over Konoha and the surrounding areas, Kushina and Sasuke sat on the living room couch patiently waiting word on Kimiko.

In the morning, Minato teleported into the living room. He glanced over and saw his wife on the couch staring at him. He also noticed Sasuke asleep using her lap as a pillow. "How is he?" he whispered.

Kushina glanced down at Sasuke then back to her husband. "He just had been able to fall to sleep. He woke up screaming from a nightmare last night about the Massacre. I hate to think how he would be if he had seen any of it."

"Then the reality of it finally hit him. I afraid the worst is yet to come. I just got back from trying to locate Kimiko and I have to get cleaned up to head to the Hokage tower to deal with the aftermath of the Massacre," replied Minato.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Kushina.

"Normally there would be a ton of things but …" He glanced down to the sleeping Sasuke. "He needs you more than the village currently. The leaders will no doubt try to take custody of him but I know Mikoto would want you to raise her son. I know you can convince anyone that we are best suited for that. I leave that situation in your hands. For now I need to get moving."

"Um Minato. Do you think you can teleport him to the bed in the spare bedroom without waking him?"

Minato smiled and barely touched Sasuke's sleeping form as they teleported to the spare bedroom that will become Sasuke's new bedroom. He took great care making sure Sasuke was covered and sleeping soundly. Then he teleported to the master bathroom.

Kushina was there washing up and changing into her gi. "Is he resting soundly?"

"Yep. I hope he rest better than you said he did last night. I hate for something like that to happen again," Minato said as he headed to the shower. He noticed how Kushina was dressed, "Do you think you have enough time for Kenjutsu practice?"

"If Sasuke is sleeping soundly I should have enough time for a light practice. While not enough to practice new moves it should be enough to keep any old move from getting rusty."

About an hour later, Sasuke woke up. It took him a second before he remembered where he was. As he looked around the room he guessed would be his for the near future. If that would be the case, he would like to redecorate it to feel more like his room rather than a bland guest room. However, for the time being, it suited his needs.

Upon searching the house, he found no one there. That was not unusual for a ninja household. Most everyone had chores, missions, or practicing somewhere. After grabbing something to eat from the kitchen, he decided to explore the premises. Although he knew of Kimiko and the Hokage he never been to the Namikaze Mansion.

Minato bought this mansion and the lands when he became Hokage. The Namikazes was originally not a well off family. Minato made the Namikaze name a very respectable. It was Kushina's love that made him so great. They combined their resources not only to provide a good place to entertain dignitaries but also to provide a good home for their daughter.

Sasuke understood the layout of the house having been in it for the last few days so he concentrated on the gardens behind the house. They were among the best in Konoha. Even Sasuke heard about the garden behind the Namikaze Mansion. In Konoha the three best gardens were found as the Hyuga compound, the Uchiha compound, and finally the Namikaze Mansion.

Sasuke marveled over the Namikaze Gardens. There were many well-manicured pine trees to resemble huge bonsai trees around a stream. The stream flows from a waterfall in the distance. The waterfall butts against the Hokage Mountain. There was a path along the stream. A clearing close to the Mansion is the location of a vast rock garden of mostly white river rock. Huge black lava stones act as centerpieces for the rock garden. At the waterfall, two huge weeping cherry trees were in full bloom.

Although the gardens very much impressed Sasuke, what he say at the waterfall impressed him even more. Kushina was there practicing her Kenjutsu. Kushina was perhaps one of the foremost experts in kenjutsu in the village. The kata she was performing now was one of the most complex kenjutsu katas there was however, Kushina made it look like child's play.

Kushina knew of her audience almost immediately but did not even break stride in her kata. If this were a real fight, such distractions would lead to rather dangerous results. She was taught never be distracted even in practice. Hence, her concentration in kenjutsu was extremely well focused.

Once she was done and after she sheathed her sword, she spoke for the first time. "It is rude to be spying one someone, Sasuke."

Sasuke was hiding behind a tree hoping not to be seen. Apparently, he failed so he came out from behind the tree. "I am sorry. I did not wish to disturb you. You are very good at Kenjutsu. Better than anyone in the … er … that was in the Uchiha clan."

The sadness in that statement was apparent. "Why thank you Sasuke. I have been practicing this since I was a little girl. Haha taught me everything I know before I came to Konoha," said Kushina on a sad note.

"Was Okaasan great in Kenjutsu?" asked Sasuke.

"Well no but she did say I surpassed her skills very quickly. She had to start teaching me using scrolls she never was able to master. I asked Haha why not let someone else instruct me. She said it's an art only passed down from parent to child in the Uzumaki clan."

"I see," replied Sasuke, "That means you are teaching Kimiko-chan the art then?"

"Well no," replied Kushina in a sad tone, "She says the sword is not flashy enough for her. I am hoping she comes around especially since Itachi shredded her whip. You did not come out here to talk about this Sasuke, tell me what is on your mind."

Sasuke bit his lip. "I am all alone now. I know I am supposed to be staying her with you guys but you are not my family. I don't know what I am supposed to call you. Mother or Haha just don't seem right to me."

"Nor should it. I would never presume to take Mikoto's place in your heart. She will always be your mother. I am just your guardian for the time being. You can just call me Kushina-sama if you like. I know Minato will not wish you to call him Dad. Just refer to him as Minato-san. Well you don't even have to refer to us with those pesky honor-fics if don't want to. You and Kimiko will have to decide what to refer to each other as when the time comes."

"I think I will refer to her as loser for the time being."

That reply earned him a punch in the head, "Sasuke Uchiha! That is my daughter you're speaking of so it would please me for you not to refer to her like that. Are we clear on that?"

"Perfectly!"

"Good! It's getting late and we unfortunately have a lot to do. We have to ask you to be strong in the days ahead Sasuke for they are going to filled with pain and sorrow. We tried to shield you from it but the pain must be endured. Please don't let it control you," requested Kushina.

"You're talking about the massive Uchiha Funeral that is about to take place. I overheard you and Minato talking about it earlier. I understand my role as the last Uchiha. I know I must endure this as a test of my will. But I wish I was not alone in all this."

That remark earned him another punch from Kushina, "Silly you are not alone. You have me Sasuke. I will be there for you. Want to know a secret? Shortly after being sent here, my entire clan, the Uzumaki clan, was attack and killed along with the destruction of my home village of Uzushiogakure. To this day I can't think of my village without getting sad."

Sasuke gulped when he heard this. He had no idea this woman had suffered such pain. "How did you overcome your grief?"

Kushina expression warmed up. "Well I had the love of the first Hokage's wife who was a fellow Uzumaki and then there was this very annoying blonde haired brat that apparently made it his mission to make my life a living hell at the time." She giggled thinking of the early years of meeting Minato for the first time. "That little boy, Sasuke, was Minato who turned out to be the great love of my life." Then she got serious, "So you see Sasuke I do know what you are going through and if you need me I will be there for you and when my absentee daughter gets back you will have her support too. After all she will have all the time in the world since she will be grounded for a while after she gets back."

Sasuke had to laugh at Kimiko's impending gloom then he had a thought, "You said this kenjutsu art is taught from parent to child only in your clan. I guess that will leave out the possibility of teaching me."

Kushina thought for a second, "Am I to understand you are asking me? If you are then I might be able to teach you the basics since they are not Uzumaki specific. However, I have to be asked. "

Sasuke then bowed, "Kushina-sama, please instruct me in kenjutsu."

Kushina smiled. This will be a good way to keep his mind off the pain I the coming weeks. "Off course, Sasuke-kun. Now though we need to head back. As I stated before we have a lot to do today."

-END OF FLASHBACK-

Kimiko gulped, "You told Sasuke I will be grounded."

Kushina smiled when Kimiko caught that part, "Yes I did. You worried your father and I for weeks and I missed you terribly after that even though your father was with you. You're grounded for 12 weeks after you clear up that little situation with Kiba. You are not to use the teleportation at all in that entire time. Now do I have to lock up you Chakra?" Kimiko gulped and nodded her head no meaning she will refrain from teleporting. "Good! Now I suggest you and Sasuke get ready to school."

"Um Mother?"

Kushina turned to Kimiko and noticed she was bowing. "Yes Kimiko?"

"Will you please teach me the art of Kenjutsu? I was wrong with choosing the whip and wish to learn the art of Kenjutsu."

Kushina was surprised. Kimiko listened better to the story of how she came to teach Sasuke better than she hoped. "Of course I will Kimiko. We will begin in the courtyard tomorrow morning."

Kimiko whipped her head up. "The courtyard? You always practiced the art by the waterfall. You even started to teach me there."

"That was before I started to teach Sasuke. The waterfall is fine for us but way too … intimate … a location for him so I relocated to the courtyard. Besides, it's a bigger location. Now get ready to school and no teleporting or I will lock you chakra."

A/N

It's funny. I found out while researching some things that Japanese does not have the words your or my in their language. Rather the terms change when discussing possession. My Mother is Haha. And Your mother is Okaasan. Haha in American meaning is very different. I find that rather funny in a way.

I hope everyone enjoyed this first official rewrite of Kimiko-chan. I deleted the last story already and did so without saving parts of the old chapter I wanted to preserve. Oh well it is for the best. I think this chapter is far better than the other one anyways.

Next chapter we will have the repercussions of being caught in a compromising position (Lmao).

Till then - Chow!