Chapter Twenty: Pranks, Dragons and Apparition
Shikaku stared sleepily down at the letter in front of him, he then sighed before he muttered to himself, "seems Ibiki was right. He's going to be insufferable for days due to this," with that he arose from his seat at the desk and headed for Ibiki's office to report the note that he'd gotten. As he walked down the hallway to leave his house he reread the note,
'Dear 'Kaku-Chan,
I'm glad to see that you are well as well as your wife and son. Did you know that Kiri, Kumo, Iwa, Suna and Takiga are really very under defended? I mean only Ame had given us any challenge at all, whoever took over the country has done a darn good job! I hope my son hasn't been giving you too much trouble but someone had to take my place when I left.
See you later,
Your old friend and teacher,
Kushina Uzumaki
A.K.A. The Crimson Blade of Konoha
A.K.A. The Red Dragon of Konoha
A.K.A. Partner of the White Fang,' as he read that he shook his head before he muttered aloud. "If this isn't Kushina-Sensei then they are really weird for helping us like this…"
Meanwhile, Inochi stared down at the notes on his desk and idly wondered just how and who had placed them on his desk, in a way he hoped that they were from who they were both signed by. However, that was impossible since the pair had been dead for more than eleven years now, not to mention that if they had been written by them then how did they know that his daughter was a fan girl of the Uchiha boy… He then read the notes again,
'Dear 'Nochi-Kun,
I cannot believe your daughter is a FAN GIRL! I never thought I'd ever see the day that a Yamanaka would even contemplate being a fan girl, Mikoto would find this absolutely hilarious! Well at least she's not crushing on my son, I don't think it'd be a good idea for our kids to get together, I mean could you imagine the kids they'd have. The Yamamaka clan mind tricks with his traits to play pranks, I don't think any of the elemental countries would survive that! Remember Inochi, things are not always as they seem. And sometimes what you think is the last of something isn't always the last. Look under the underneath to see the real truth of things, my little 'Nochi-Kun.
See you later,
Your old friend and teacher,
Kushina Uzumaki
A.K.A. The Crimson Blade of Konoha
A.K.A. The Red Dragon of Konoha
A.K.A. Partner of the White Fang
Dear Inochi Yamanaka-san,
I'm glad that you are doing so well for yourself, your daughter is quite lovely and I see she takes after you a bit. However I agree with my beloved Dragon and thank the heavens that she has not become interested in our son since it would probably cause all of the elemental countries to have a collective panic attack. Despite the years I've been dead I'm still proud to have sacrificed my life to save this village but I'm also extremely disappointed and disgusted that my final wishes were never abided by.
Sincerely,
The Yondaime Hokage,
Minato Namikaze
A.K.A. The Yellow Flash of Konoha.' Inwardly Inochi twitched at the comments about his daughter though he agreed, he was very grateful that his daughter showed no interest in Kushina-Sensei's son. As he had taken the letters to Ibiki's office he inwardly wondered just what she had meant when she had written, 'things are not always as they seem. And just because you think something is the last of something doesn't mean it always is. Look underneath the underneath, my little 'Nochi-Kun.'
Ibiki twitched as he spotted yet another pair of notes that lay innocently on his desk when he came into his office to do his large pile of paperwork, after he checked both notes for poisons and traps he read them. 'Dear 'Biki-Chan,
You still need to improve the security of the village but it's a lot better than the security of the villages of Kumo, Kiri, Iwa, Suna and Takiga. Ame had really stepped up their security since the last time I visited them before I died but I could still sneak in. On the other hand ours has seem to have improved…just how did you get that past the villages trio of idiots. On a more serious note, if I can ever come back permanently then a few select people in this village is going to feel my wrath for the treatment of my son.
See you again someday,
Your old friend and teacher,
Kushina Uzumaki
A.K.A. The Crimson Blade of Konoha
A.K.A. The Red Dragon of Konoha
A.K.A. Partner of the White Fang.
Dear Ibiki Morino-san,
Ditto what my wife said concerning our son, I had only asked one thing upon my death and that was that my son be treated like the hero he is. By the way whose brilliant idea was it to make my little scarecrow a ANBU operative? I just want to know so I can smack them upside the head for it.
Sincerely,
The Yondaime Hokage,
Minato Namikaze
A.K.A. The Yellow Flash of Konoha
P.S. the day that the idiotic trio can get one over on you or my wife is a cold day in hell.'
He snorted in amusement at the not so carefully veiled insults to the village council while the other poked blatant fun at the same people. However, he twitched in wary anticipation at the end of both of the notes, it did not bode well if the pair could manage it. Then again, they had managed to do this and if he knew one thing for certain it was that those two were the most stubborn people he had ever come across.
Kakashi stared at his bookcases of Icha Icha novels and twitched in annoyance as he noticed that several copies of his newest books were missing. Of course when he'd noticed the four notes on his nightstand when he had woken up in the morning, he'd promptly panicked since the notes hadn't been there when he'd gone to bed the previous night. Of course after he had read them he wondered just how four dead people had managed to write him letters that contained recent information. He then looked down and read the four letters again this time he read them aloud,
"Dear 'Kashi-Chan," he frowned at how she still used that nickname for him even after all this time before he muttered, "you'll never change will you, 'Shina-Okasan?" He then shook his head before he continued to read the letter aloud, his dogs lying at his feet listening in amusement, "First things first, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING BECOMING AN ANBU AT YOUR AGE!" At that Kakashi pouted before he muttered, "I wasn't that young…" He then sniffed in mock outrage when his dogs snickered before he continued this time without interrupting himself, "I get that you lost me and Minato but you still had Naru-Chan, I thank you for looking after him as an ANBU guard but who was there to tell him about the two of us? Who told him about his father had an insanely huge crush on his mother, how his father had once been dead-last but became the Hokage? Who could tell him about how his mother was the only Chuunin who had been partnered exclusively with a single Jounin? Alright, rant about my son over, on to more important things."
At that the dogs boggled before Pakkun muttered to himself, "that certainly sounds like Kushina-San from what I can recall…"
Kakashi pointedly ignored the small pug as he said while reading the letter, "By the way your female form is quite cute, and the crush you have on that dolphin of yours is endearing. Good luck catching that former prankster, little Scarecrow. Or should I call you Little Hound?
Your Father's old Partner,
Kushina Uzumaki,
A.K.A. The Crimson Blade of Konoha
A.K.A. The Red Dragon of Konoha
A.K.A. Partner of the White Fang." He then looked down at his dogs before he said, "should I be worried that she somehow managed to see my Oiroke form or should I be more worried about how excited she is that I like Iruka-Chan so much?" At that the dogs shrugged so Kakashi merely continued by reading the post script that she had left, "P.S. I hope you don't mind that I borrowed a few copies of Icha Ichi since you do have copies of mine and I can't exactly get the newest volumes where I'm at. Thanks! By the way I promise not to write in the margins." He then sighed before he muttered to himself, "oh well, at least my beloved Icha Icha is going to someone who will take good care of them…"
Bull huffed a laugh at that before he fell silent so that the rest of Kakashi Ninken could listen in on the next letter. Kakashi frowned at the beginning name that his Sensei had used, "To my little Kakashi," Kakashi huffed before he muttered, "I'm not little anymore, Minato-Sensei…" The silver haired Jounin continued to mutter incoherently for several minutes before he continued on with the letter, "I think you heard enough from Kushina about being an ANBU so I won't get onto you for that nor will I tell you off for not being there for our son by being his ANBU guard instead. However, when Naruto graduates I fully expect you to start teaching him a few things, even if he isn't your student you were once mine, teach him a few tricks that his mother showed you." At that Kakashi boggled at the letter before he muttered, "as if I'd do anything else!" After he had glared at the paper for several moments in annoyance he once again began to read the letter, "I never thought I'd see the day when the aloof Scarecrow would be crushing on my wife's little pranking partner. Good luck with that chase, 'cause your going to need all the luck you can get.
Your Sensei,
Minato Namikaze
A.K.A. The Yondaime Hokage
A.K.A. The Yellow Flash of Konoha," the silver haired man stared down at his sensei's letter in mild bemusement. He couldn't believe that his sensei just told him good luck in catching a Chuunin in a romantic chase, for heavens sake Kushina-Okasan had done most of the chasing between those two.
He then read the letter from an old medic-nin friend first, he smiled fondly at the familiar address as he read the letter aloud, "Dear Kakashi-Kun," he snorted before he muttered, "same old Rin." He then shook his head before he continued, "I was glad to hear you were well from Kushina-San and Minato-Sensei, although Obito has told me what you've been up to lately it was nice to hear more things from other peoples perspective." He goggled at that before he said in disbelief, "how could Obito keep you up to date on what I'm doing?" He shook his head before he continued, "Obito and I have been well as you can be when you're dead. All I can say is to stop mourning us and teach any girl you get how to use medical jutsus after all you never know when you might need those type of skills. Do that for me, please.
Take care of yourself and don't let yourself get exhausted by overusing Obito's eye.
Love your old teem-mate and Friend,
Rin." Kakashi shook his head again over how much Rin being dead hadn't changed much even with her being dead for ten years at the time of this letter.
He then turned his attention to the letter from the original owner of his Sharingan eye, he snorted at the way that Obito addressed him. "Kakashi-Teme," the dogs spread at Kakashi's feet snickered at what Obito had called their master, Kakashi glared down at them playfully before he continued, "You've earned quite a reputation thanks to that eye of mine, I'm proud of what you've accomplished with it." He stared down at the letter before he said sardonically "gee thanks Obito that's what I've always wanted. Your approval of my actions," he shook his head over the general flakiness of his old teammate. "Naruto-Chan seems to be cool for a kid but then again he is Minato-Sensei's son so that's to be expected. You look pretty as a girl you know, but enough of that! Tell my cousin about me, maybe it'll be amusing for your students to know how you got that eye of mine.
Later,
Obito Uchiha, Coolest Uchiha of All Time!"
Kakashi had shaken his head over how Obito had signed his letter before he silently wondered just how the four of them had known that the Hokage had ordered him to at least test a group of Genin each time they graduated the academy. The Hokage had told him that he didn't care whether or not they passed Kakashi's test he still had to test them. Kakashi knew that when Sasuke passed his academy exam the Uchiha would be placed upon his team since he was the only one who could teach the boy how to use his Sharingan when it activated. He then promised himself that he'd fulfill Obito's and Rin's demands if Sasuke's team passed his test, he'd tell Sasuke all about Obito even if he didn't pass the test. After all he owed Obito far too many times to even think about refusing such a small request from the ever cheerful Uchiha.
He then folded the notes back up and placed them into his favorite Icha Icha novel before he replaced the book on the shelf, he then pulled out a far more battered copy of the same novel. He then rubbed the back of his head before he walked out of his house, "watch the house you guys, I shouldn't need you but you never know," he called back over his shoulder at his Ninken.
He then leapt over the garden wall, he walked down the street while he read one of his many books, he had looked up from his book when he had heard someone asking, a jeweler from the looks of it, "do you know where I can find a boy named Naruto?" Kakashi was surprised to find that he had wandered over to the Hokage Tower during his reading time because the person the jeweler had asked was one Iruka Umino, who upon being questioned eyed the trader warily. The trader continued his explanation since he hadn't caught the wary look in the Chuunin's eyes at his wording, "I have a pendant to deliver to him." The trader held up a rectangle red velvet box as he had said the last sentence and the tanned man relaxed slightly.
Iruka then smirked at the jeweler as he said while he filed a mission report from Genma, "if you want to find him. All you have to do is stick around, he'll be coming in soon for his punishment."
"Punishment," asked another trader curiously from his position near one of the Genin clerks.
At that Raido chuckled as he said while he handed in a report to Iruka, "Naruto is a bit of a prankster. For his latest prank the Hokage ordered him to be assigned to help the mission desk personnel with fixing the old archival files." He shrugged before he said, "you know, dusting them off, re-filing them if they need to be re-filed and of course making sure everything is still there."
Shortly after Raido answered the trader's inquiry, the blond boy in question bounced into the room and as he did most of the ninja's in the room heard as the jeweler had muttered, "he really does resemble his father." Unknown to the ninja that had heard the mutter he had been quoting Naruto's mother when she had asked the jeweler to take the pendant to her son instead of her.
"Naruto," Iruka called out, when the young blond had looked over at the scarred Chuunin, Iruka motioned for him to come over which Naruto did as the teacher bade. Iruka then ruffled the whiskered boys bangs as he said, "this man said he had a package to deliver to you." With that he canted his head toward the jeweler, who was standing patiently, Naruto glanced over at him in puzzlement.
Naruto walked over and asked curiously, "what is it that you needed to deliver to me?"
The dark eyed jeweler smiled before he showed Naruto the long thin rectangle box covered in red velvet, Naruto eyed the box curiously but didn't say anything. As he handed the box over to the curious blond boy he said, "that is what I had to deliver, the woman who ordered it asked if I could deliver it to you. She also asked me to give you a message from her and her husband when I did hand it over to you, she was most insistent that I say it exactly how she worded it…" The man looked a bit puzzled by the request that the red haired woman had made to him but he had been paid extra for the delivery and giving her son a message wasn't all that much more than handing over the box.
Everyone nearby that had known Kushina and Minato gasped at the sight of the gem encrusted dragon surrounded by bolts of lightning made of yellow diamonds. Each of the dragons scales were made of ruby, garnet, red sapphires, beryl and tourmaline while it's eyes were made of small pieces of moonstone. As Naruto and the other ninja gaped at the exquisite dragon pendant the jeweler said, "she wanted me to tell you this. 'Your father and I miss you, we also hope you're well and studying hard for your exam. Both of us wanted to wish you good luck so I had this pendant made for you so that we could be with you when you do take it. So good luck my golden sun and I love you.'" It was clear from the way he had enunciated it that he was repeating it verbatim to how he had heard it from the woman who had commissioned the pendant. The Hokage stared down at the pendant and idly he silently wondered how this woman could have known that Naruto was the son of the Crimson Dragon and the Yellow Flash. Meanwhile, Naruto silently wondered when his Ryuu-Okasan could have commissioned it, she had called him her golden sun once when she was visiting recently.
As the Hokage and the others turned their gazes to the jeweler in stunned shock, the jeweler wondered to himself just why they were so shocked at the message he had delivered. Ibiki, Inochi and Shikaku had stepped into the building just in time to have heard the message being delivered, the three had come to report the messages they had found just that morning to the Hokage. After several long moments the Hokage looked down at Naruto and said quietly, "Naruto, why don't you go help Iruka with those files? After all the sooner you get started the sooner you can leave for the day," the blond boy pouted at the suggestion but nodded in agreement. Iruka smiled at the young boy before he beckoned for the mischievous child to follow him and led him to the archival room.
The Sandaime then looked at the jeweler before he asked with an interested look in his eyes, "do you think you could describe the pair that had ordered the pendant?"
The jeweler then turned to him and nodded in amused agreement before he said, "of course I can. The young woman had long red hair in a braid, she had grey eyes and was almost always laughing or smiling even when she had been dealing with our bandit problem. The young man on the other hand had his hair in much the same cut as young Naruto's only he had ear tails, his hair was also the exact same shade as the boys as well as the same blue eyes." The jeweler then shook his head over how much the son resembled his father before he pointed at Kakashi and said, "the man was wearing much the same outfit that he's wearing right now. Only he had been wearing a white short-sleeved coat with flames on the bottom edge and it had the words of 'Konoha no Kiiroi Senko' written on the back of it."
At that Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow before he said idly while he had flipped a page in his book, "Kushina-San had been the one to make Minato-Sensei all of his jackets. When she had made him the jacket that had the Yondaime Hokage written on the back she had made him one that declared him to be Konoha's Yellow Flash as well as a joke." Kakashi laughed softly as he remembered the look on his sensei's face when Kushina had presented him with the coat before he said, "however, Minato-Sensei had never worn it at all."
The Hokage turned to Kakashi and said after taking a puff from his pipe, "the pairs description does match those of Minato and Kushina. However, for it to have been them is impossible."
One of the other traders from a different village looked at him oddly before he asked, "why is it impossible? We," at that he gestured to himself and his group, "saw the pair of them just a few days ago when they passed through our village."
At that Ibiki snorted softly before he said, "because the two of them have been dead for over eleven years now, they've been dead since the night that their son was born. If the pair you all had seen really was Minato and Kushina then I'm afraid that you all saw a pair of ghosts." He then pulled out two slips of paper and as he looked down at them he said wryly, "however, it would seem a pair of ghosts dropped by to leave me a couple of notes last night."
Kakashi stared at the notes over the top edge of his book before he closed the book and put it away as he asked, "Morino-San, may I see those?" Ibiki looked at him before he snorted and handed them over to the silver haired Jounin. Kakashi had then read them over before he sighed and chuckled lightly in amusement, "it certainly sounds as if Minato-Sensei and Kushina-San had wrote these." As he held up the pair of notes he asked in idle curiosity, "who all here received a note from either Kushina Uzumaki or Minato Namikaze?"
At that question Shikaku, Inochi, Chozu, Tsume, Raido, Genma and Hiashi Hyuga all raised their hands, after they had done so Kakashi cheerfully said, "well, what do you know! Me too!" At that statement everyone in the room slapped themselves on the foreheads as they groaned in exasperation before they glared at the cheerful porn-loving, ever late, bad excuse using Jounin.
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Charlie watched in anticipation as the dragon egg rocked back and forth, Tia was watching from further back, she had been asked by the Headmaster to watch over the egg when it had arrived at Hogwarts. The Headmaster didn't want any of the students who had stayed behind during the winter holidays to get too close to the nest. The builders of the Dragon enclosure had built a few rooms to house any dragon keepers sent with the egg. Out of the two groups of rooms Tia had claimed the one of the right hand side of the enclosure while Charlie had claimed the left hand side. When the Arrancar had been asked as to why she had moved out of the castle into the enclosure she had pointed out that she'd been asked to watch over the egg and living close to the egg would help her do that. She then retorted in a scathing tone, "the day that a dragon manages to hurt me is not going to be anytime soon."
The students were watching from even farther away then Tia and the trio watched with interest as the black and purple toned egg rocked from side to side until finally the egg shell cracked. A black hatchling spilled out into the soft nest, it's large eyes looked around as it chirped before it rose from the ground to stand unsteadily on it's four legs. Tia chuckled lightly as it turned it's head toward Charlie and shrieked at him demandingly, Charlie crooned at the hatchling as he stared at it lovingly. After several shrieks Tia had finally said, "quit cooing over the baby and feed it already!" The small dragon turned to the familiar voice and chirped imploringly up at her, a few moments later Charlie set a bowl filled with cut up deer and cow hearts. He then plopped down in front of it holding the bowl before he began to hand feed the hatchling, the dragon had wrapped it's forepaws around Charlie's wrist and sucked the blood off his hand using it's tongue. Once it's belly was full it crawled into Charlie's lap and quickly fell asleep, the red haired dragon keeper ran his fingers lightly over the smooth scales covering it's food expanded stomach.
After a few minutes he carefully handed the small hatchling over to the waiting Tia before he began to give a small lecture about the hatchlings breed. "Hebridean Blacks are the only known breed to have four talons and a dew claw on all four paws. They can hunt via three methods, the first being a steep dive onto the back of their prey. This methods usually kills the prey item instantly due to the sheer force of the impact, if it doesn't kill them then the dragon will suffocate the prey." He smirked at the awe filled looks that the students directed toward the slumbering hatchling before he continued his lecture.
"Their second method of hunting is a long chase, two or more youngsters usually use this method since they're not yet big enough to use the first method. The third method that the Hebridean's use is ambush hunting, they'll lay in wait and when a prey item draws close enough they'll lunge at it. This action usually kills the prey before it even realizes that the dragon has a hold of it." Charlie's blue eyes sparkled as he lectured on his favorite subject: dragons, although he had been distracted by a certain blond haired, green eyed, tanned skinned Arrancar that had been taking up his thoughts.
Scene Change
The Yondaime Kazekage stared down at the note on his desk in utter shock, he wondered dazedly just how a dead woman could berate him for turning his youngest son into a Jinchuuriki. The muscles around his left eye began to twitch at the outraged yells, yelps and screams coming in from the open window into his office from the streets below. As he listened to the shouts about swamps appearing out of nowhere he idly reconsidered his alliance with Sound and it's Kage, Orochimaru.
While Suna was panicking over the carnage that a few simple items from Weasley Wizard Wheezes had caused, A had stared down at the lengthy note he had found on his desk for several moments before he had began laughing. He had made a promise to himself that the next time he was in Konoha he'd have a drink of Sake on top of the Yondaime's carved head. As he idly placed the note away he heard as Killer B began rapping some odd lyrics, A groaned as he realized just why Namikaze had apologized in his note about A's brother and Namikaze's wife.
In Ame, a blond haired man stared down at the odd note on his desk before he muttered, "maybe I ought to rethink this whole moon idea of Madera's…" He smiled fondly down as he began rereading the note from Yahiko:
'Dear Nagato,
Can I ask what the hell you've done to my organization? I mean, Nuke Nin, what is up with that? I left it in your and Konan's capable hands expecting you to keep following my wishes and you turn it into an organization that is capturing junikari to seal in a statue? Also I have one last thing to say… The moon? Really?
However, I'm glad that you and Konan are well and hope you stay that way, be careful what ever you do, I don't want to see the pair of you join me for many years.
Your old friend and teammate,
Yahiko'
Onoki glared down at the two slips of paper that had been lying on his desk when he had come into the office that morning to do the dreaded nemesis of all Kage's, Paperwork. He twitched slightly at the screams of panic that was ensuing from his village and he muttered to himself, "damn that woman. I thought these ridiculous pranks were over when she died, even with her dead, we're still being pranked!"
Meanwhile at Hogwarts, Ron felt as Kushina shivered slightly before she sneezed quietly, after she had sneezed she muttered to herself, "huh, I wonder who is cursing my name."
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The snow melted from around the school as February arrived only to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. Purplish clouds hung low over the castle and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawn slippery and muddy. The only upshot of this was the sixth-years first apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, had taken place in the Great Hall instead of on the grounds.
When Kushina and Hermione arrived in the Hall, Ron had come down earlier with Rukia, they found that the tables had disappeared. Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them as they assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Sprout and Flitwick. Standing with the heads of houses was a small wizard whom Kushina took to be the apparition instructor from the Ministry. He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away. She idly wondered whether constant disappearances and reappearances had somehow diminished his substance, or whether this frail build was ideal for anyone wishing to vanish.
"Good morning," said the Ministry wizard, when all of the students had arrived and the Heads of House had called for silence. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry-Apparition Instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your apparition test in this time…"
"Parkinson, be quiet and pay attention!" Barked Professor McGonagall.
Everybody looked round. Pansy had flushed a dull pink, she had looked furious as she stepped away from a fiercely glaring Daphne Greengrass, with whom she appeared to be having a whispered argument. Kushina quickly glanced at her Uncle 'Rus, who appeared to be extremely annoyed, though Kushina strongly suspected that this was more due to Pansy's rudeness more than the fact that McGonagall had to reprimand one of his house. The glare that Severus leveled at her did not bode well for the pug-faced girl, he was not someone who liked members of his house acting, as he once sneered at a member Slytherin, like brash Gryffindors.
"…by which time, many of you may be ready to take your test," Twycross continued as though there had been no interruption. "As you may know, it is usually impossible to apparate or disapparate within Hogwarts." At that statement Ron and Hermione, who stared back at the pair, they then turned their attention back to the Professor. "The Headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to apparate outside of the walls of this Hall, and you would be unwise to try. I would like each of you to pace yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."
There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space. The Heads of House moved among the students, marshalling them into position and breaking up arguments.
"Kushina, where are you going," asked Hermione in confusion as she had watched her friend hurry away from her.
But Kushina didn't answer, she was moving quickly through the crowd, past the place where Professor Flitwick was making squeaky attempts to position a few Ravenclaws, all of whom wanted to be near the front. Past Professor Sprout, who was chivvying the Hufflepuffs into line, until, by dodging around Ernie Macmillan, she managed to position herself right at the back of the crowd. She was directly behind Pansy, who was taking advantage of the general upheaval to continue her argument with Daphne, who was standing five feet away and looking at the other girl murderously. "Get your sister to leave my Drakypoo alone!" Pansy shot at the statuesque blond girl, oblivious to Kushina standing right behind her. "He's mine!"
Daphne opened her mouth, but Pansy turned away from her and ignored her, Daphne glared at the pug faced girl before she snarled, "you had better stay away from Astoria or else, Parkinson!" At that Pansy glared at the other girl who merely glared back at her before Pansy huffed, as she was about to turn her attention back to the front Daphne said slyly, "besides he seems to enjoy her attention."
"I agree with Daphne, it does seem as if the Silver Dragon of the Serpent house welcomes her attention over yours," Kushina said, just loud enough for Pansy to hear.
Pansy had spun around on the spot, her hand had flown to her wand but at that precise moment the four Heads of House shouted, "quiet!" And silence fell again, Pansy had turned slowly to face the front after giving Kushina a glare while Daphne had smiled at Kushina in thanks.
"Thank you," said Twycross, "now then," he waved his wand. Old-Fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student. "The important things to remember are the three D's," said Twycross. "Destination, Determination and Deliberation! Step one: fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination," Twycross continued. "In this case, the interior of you hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."
Everybody had glanced around furtively, to check that everyone else was staring into their hoops, then hastily did as they were told. Kushina gazed at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by her hoop and tried hard to think of nothing else. This proved impossible, as she couldn't stop puzzling over why she had the oddest feeling that someone, somewhere was curing her name over something. "Step two," said Twycross, "focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind into every particle of your body!"
Kushina glanced around surreptitiously, a little ways to her left Ernie Macmillan was contemplating his hoop so hard that his face had turned a bright pink. It looked as though he was order to lay a Quaffle-sized egg and was valiantly making a serious attempt at it. She had bitten back a laugh and hastily turned her attention back to her own hoop. "Step three," called Twycross, "and only when I give the command… Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation. On my command, now… one-" She glanced around again; lots of people were looking positively alarmed at being asked to apparate so quickly. "- Two -" Once again she tried to fix her thoughts only on her hoop; however, she had already forgotten what the three D's stood for. "- Three!"
Kushina spun on the spot, lost her balance and almost fell over, she had caught herself at the last moment by using her chakra to cause herself to stick to one spot on the floor. The whole Hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat on his back and as he rose to his feet he muttered, "Dad wasn't kidding when he said that this was a lot harder than it looks." Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had done a pirouetting leap into his hoop and looked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight of Dean Thomas roaring with laughter at him.
"Never mine, never mind," said Twycross dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions…" The second attempt was not better than the first. The third was just as bad. Not until the fourth did anything exciting happen. There was a horrible screech of pain and everybody looked around, terrified, to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away where she had started. The Heads of House converged on her; there was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg but looking horrified.
"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts," said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, "occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continually upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation… Thus." Twycross stepped forwards, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched and vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the hall. "Remember the three D's," he said, "and try again… One - Two - Three -" But an hour later Susan's splinching had still been the most interesting thing that had happened. Twycross did not seem to be discouraged. As he had fastened his cloak, he merely said, "until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation." With that he had waved his wand, which caused the hoops to vanish, and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall. Talk had broken out at once as people had begun moving toward the Entrance Hall.
Hermione waved goodbye to Kushina and Ron before she headed up the stairs, Ron raised an eyebrow at the disappearing bookworm before he said, "and off she goes to visit Kenpachi and Yachiru." Kushina watched in amusement as Ron spotted Rukia and left her standing by herself as he walked off with the dark haired noblewoman.
"And that was the kettle calling the pot black," she murmured as she watched them walk way from her. After a few moments of staring after them she finally shrugged before she too headed up the stairs. She stopped on the second floor and made her way to the Chamber of Secrets, as she had stared after Ron and Rukia she had an idea about how to practice her apparition technique. She waved a 'hello' to Myrtle before she lazily hissed, "open," to the snake engraved on the faucet. The entrance quickly opened and the red haired witch jumped down the slide formed by the tunnel, she had hissed a quick, "close," over her shoulder as she rapidly slid down the pipe. After she reached the false Chamber of Secrets, Kushina had summoned fifty shadow clones, she then smirked as she said, "get to work already, you know what to do." Shortly before she summoned the clones she had drawn circles on the floor, as her clones began to attempt to apparate, Kushina had sat back and watched. Whenever the group got below ten clones she summoned another fifty to supplement them, every time one of her clones splinched itself she it dispel, thus allowing the rest of the clones to learn from it's mistake.
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Three weeks later, Kushina was confidant that she'd be able to pass the test for her Apparition License when the time came. All of her clones had managed to apparate back and forth across the false Chamber of Secrets at least nineteen times each without splinching even once. She entertained herself by summoning a clone to watch over the dragon enclosure, one night a batch of sixth years from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tried to get inside the enclosure. The group later admitted that the only reason they had tried was because the Slytherins and Gryffindors weren't trying it so they figured it wasn't that dangerous.
Both Charlie and the clone watched in bemusement when Tia stalked out of the shadows at the now terrified students, she had growled out at them, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" At her growl the hatchling woke up briefly, it had looked up at her before it yawned tiredly and glanced over to where Charlie was watching Tia ripping the group a new one. After a few moments it laid its head back down on it's fore paws and fell back asleep, it was soon snoring softly with it's wings twitching in its slumber.
When the clone had dispelled, Kushina had been thankful that she had been alone in her rooms, Minato had given her the same look she had received after she had snuck into an Iwa camp and had dyed all of their uniforms fluorescent colors during a skirmish. Of course, that prank had caused all of the Iwa Shinobi to give the red haired woman a very wide berth as well as cementing the part of her reputation where she was absolutely insane permanently into the entire country's collective thought. After she had calmed her breathing enough that she was no longer gasping for air in-between laughs she had heard Minato ask, "so what set that fit of laughter off? I haven't heard you laugh like that since the cheetah's told you how Naruto dyed the unholy trio's clothes bright pink as well as painting their houses in a rather bright rainbow of colors."
At that Kushina snickered before she gasped out, "yeah that prank was hilarious," she snickered again before she began to explain what set her off to the bemused portrait.
Scene Change
Naruto looked up from where he had been painting the faces of the Hokage Monument, a large cheetah was lying on the top of the fourth's head while calling out suggestions the whole time. As the whiskered blond glanced around he murmured warily, "why do I feel as if someone is laughing at something I did…" Finally he shrugged as he said, "oh well, best not to wonder," he then went back to painting the phrase that the cheetah had told him to write below the fourth's head. As he put the last flourish to the short sentence he asked idly, "hey Sakinari, why did you want me to paint, 'the yellow flash loves his Red Hot-Blooded Habanero'? I mean, who is this 'Red Hot-Blooded Habanero' and why are you so sure that the fourth loved them?" As he had spoken Naruto had rinsed out the brushes of the water based paint coating them that he had used to make the clean up easier.
Sakinari yawned before she said as she stretched lazily, "the name of the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero was given to a girl that the fourth liked, when she was young she had quite the temper." Sakinari chuckled as she said wryly, "of course she also had as loud a mouth as you, I have no doubt that the pair of you would have liked each other." At Naruto's curious glance up at her, she said, "she loved ramen almost as much as you do," the cheetah snorted softly before she said, "in many ways you remind us of her. You have the same loud mouth, the same temperament, the same insane love of ramen, even your temper has been mellowing like hers did so long ago." When the large cat looked down at the blond child she noticed that he was goggling up at her, she then chuckled as she said lazily, "I wouldn't worry too much at being compared to her. Out of all the Konoha Shinobi, she was among the most respected, even by our enemies, the only ones more respected than her was the White Fang, the Yellow Flash and the Crimson Dragon."
Naruto cocked his head to the right and asked naively, "was she more respected than my mom?"
At that the female cat jumped down from her perch and as she led the boy down the street she said, "they were about equally matched in that way. Although, your mother was feared more for her love of pranks, explosions and your father more than her temper."
Naruto glanced over at her oddly before he asked in puzzlement, "how could the enemy fear her because of my dad?"
Sakinari snickered softly before she said slyly to him, "oh, let me count the ways… One time when your father had been pinned down by some enemy ninja your mother charged in with only her blades as her weapons. Although, she incapacitated the enemy she didn't kill or knock out all of them during her fight, those that had been awake had seen her berating your father for having interrupted her meal." At that the whiskered boy had given her an odd glance and she laughed as she said, "your father was quite feared by the enemy and he had cowered before your mother."
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Kensei looked across the training field at the dark haired man grinning at him over his still sealed sword before he cocked his pierced eyebrow at him and asked, "do you really want me to step it up a notch?" Shuhei hesitated for a brief moment before he nodded firmly at the brown eyed Captain in response to the inquiry. The pale haired man sighed but nodded as he held his sword in a one handed grip and reached up to his face, he gathered energy at the tips of his fingers then drew his hand down his face.
As the energy passed over his features a white bone mask appeared, the younger grey-eyed man stared at the sight, he was inwardly mildly disturbed by how he wasn't either repulsed nor disgusted by the sight of his Captain wearing a hollow mask. He was startled to be feeling an odd mixture of awe, safety and comfort, as if the beast behind the mask would never hurt him but would instead protect him.
Scene Change
As the crossed blades their inner worlds had kept brushing against each other until they found familiar grooves and interlocked, as the two inner worlds locked together, Tachikaze looked over the edge of her ledge. She quickly spotted a tanned man with brilliant red tattoos lying on the ground, her face lit up at the sight of him before she made her way down her mountain towards him. Kazeshini sat up as he heard a familiar laugh on the wind and he grinned when he saw the wind spirit that embodied the sword of his masters Captain. He laughed as the female spirit tackled him with a gleeful yell of, "Kazeshini! I'm so glad to see you!"
As he fell back against the grass from where he had sat up to see her coming towards him, he let out an oomph as she caused the air to exit his lungs. He then mock glared down at her before he said in a fake angry tone, "what are you talking about! You just saw me yesterday!" At her mock pout he grinned up at her before he nuzzled her face with his left cheek as he murmured softly, "it's good to see you too, ya crazy wind sprite."
She giggled lightly at the odd nickname he had given her before she slid off his chest to lie on her side to his right. After several moments of cloud gazing on his part and whimsical humming on hers, she asked him in idle curiosity, "so when do you think the merging of our inner worlds will be finished?"
She then felt as he shrugged his shoulders before he said with a perverted tone to his voice, ""probably when our wielders get their heads out of their asses and do the deed already."
Tachikaze stared at him in shock both at his tone and words before she smacked his chest with her hand as she shrieked, "Kazeshini!" He merely smirked at her, after a few moments she sighed but nodded as she dropped back down from her position next to him from where she had gotten up on her elbow to stare down at him in shocked outrage. She had then muttered into his chest in an annoyed tone, "you're probably right about that." At that statement both spirits sighed before Kazeshini went back to watching the clouds while Tachikaze fell asleep while the male spirit ran his fingers through her hair.
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Shuhei watched as the mask over Kensei's face shattered and disappeared, Kensei sighed before he opened his eyes. As his dark eyes met Shuhei's grey ones the older man said, "how about we call it a day? I don't know about you but I'm beat," at that he had sheathed Tachikaze's sealed form and stretched his arms over his head which had caused a series of pops to ring out.
Shuhei had snorted in agreement before he had sheathed Kazeshini, while he did he watched out of the corner of his eye as Kensei scooped up his Haori from where he had tossed it at the beginning of their little spar. He was still a bit hesitant to believe that Kensei wanted him by his side as long as Shuhei wanted to be there, sometimes he woke up thinking that it had all been one big dream and he'd would still be acting Captain of his division when he went into the office. As the pair walked out of the training grounds Shuhei was startled out of his thoughts when Kensei placed his right hand on the grey-eyed man's left shoulder. When the younger man glanced over at the dark eyed man he saw him biting his lower lip nervously. Once Kensei noticed that he had his lieutenant's attention he suggested, "I don't know how you feel, but that spar made me hungry." Brown eyes glanced nervously at grey before the owner of the darker pair said, "I know a good restaurant. The chef is kind of odd but the food's good and it's near my place so you can crash in my spare room if you want instead of heading back here."
Shuhei smiled at the older man before he said happily, "that sounds good, I was feeling a bit hungry so that sounds like a perfect idea to me." Kensei flashed a small smile at the dark haired shinigami next to him before he led the way via shunpo to a small out-of-the-way building. If Kensei hadn't have led him right to it Shuhei would have bypassed it completely, actually now that he had thought about it, he had bypassed it quite a few times.
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Two hours later, the pair exited the small building and as Shuhei was silently debating on whether to return to the squads barracks or crash with Kensei, the older man had blurted out, "how about a drink before you make up your mind?" As Shuhei turned startled grey eyes toward him Kensei inwardly berated himself, 'darn it, we decided that this would go at his pace not ours! After all, if it'd gone at our pace he would have been in our bed three hours after we had met again after I had returned as his squads Captain…'
'But he's our mate!' Kensei's hollow whined impatiently before he retorted, 'he's been ours since the day we met, he carries our brand which proudly declares that we are his mate! He is our mate and we are his, we have been his mate since the day he met us, he just doesn't know it yet! Besides our mate has forgiven us for abandoning him.'
Kensei mentally hit his head against a brick wall before he mentally thought privately to himself, 'why does my hollow just does not get it?' He then muttered mentally back to his rather brash hollow whose only thoughts were of Shuhei's contentment, pleasure and safety. 'Shuhei just needs more convincing that we are what he wants as well as to be convinced that we aren't going anywhere. He knows that we had no choice but to flee for our lives so of course he's forgiven us for that but he was betrayed by the man who replaced us as Captain so of course he needs to be convinced.'
'Fine, we will convince our mate that we will never leave him again and if we do have to leave then we will swiftly return to his side.' The hollow side of Kensei muttered in agreement before it fell back asleep with a muttered, 'wake me when our mate wishes for me to claim him.'
Kensei was startled out of his shock that was caused by his inner hollows words concerning Shuhei by the same man murmuring, "that sounds fine, lead the way."
Although startled by his normally stubborn lieutenants acquiescence, he led the way to his house and after they had removed their sandals they had placed their Zanpakuto on the sword stand. Kensei then pulled out the bottle of Firewhiskey that Ichigo had given him for his last birthday along with a pair of crystal glasses. He set one glass down in front of Shuhei and the other in front of himself, he then poured the drink as he did he warned the other man, "be careful when you drink this. It has a bit of a kick to it," he ended with a wry twist to his lips before he took a sip of his glass and watched as the younger man had taken a tentative sip of the golden liquid.
As they drank they had idly began discussing their likes and dislikes, Kensei was amused to find out that Shuhei liked playing the guitar as well as liking motorcycles. While Shuhei was awed to find out that Kensei owned several clubs in the living world as well as having amassed a huge collection of vintage motorcycles as well as a large collection of custom motorcycles.
After several minutes of discussing their interests and hobbies Shuhei asked hesitantly, "what was the living world like one hundred years ago?" As he had asked the question he had refused to look up at the man sitting beside him, Kensei quietly chuckled at the other mans antics. He then began to regale the black haired man by weaving the tale of how the world was and how it had changed around him along with the rest of the Arrancar.
An hour later, Shuhei was doubled over with laughter due to Kensei having told him about Shinji's reaction to the Visored's first Mardi Gras, it had been their first trip to the United States and it had just so happened that the first time they ventured into New Orleans was during the Mardi Gras. When the pair had stopped laughing Kensei was leaning against Shuhei, the pair froze in place for a few moments before the elder man leaned forward and tentatively kissed the younger man. Shuhei responded to the soft kiss eagerly, which quickly turned the tentative kiss into a far more passionate one.
After several moments of the pair making out, Kensei pulled away reluctantly before he rested his forehead against the dark haired mans. He then whispered hesitantly to him, "if you don't want this… Just say no," after he said that he swallowed thickly as he stared into the luminescent grey eyes of his second.
Shuhei's eyes widened in shock before they had narrowed in determination before he growled sternly to the pale haired man, "no." Only when Kensei had closed his eyes after they had a look of hurt confusion flash through them and the older man began pulling away from him did the younger man realize his mistake. Shuhei grabbed hold of the back of his Captain's neck before he pulled him back into his arms. At the look of startled confusion in the older mans brown eyes, the grey-eyed man had murmured, "no, I'd never not want this. Do you even realize how much I want you? How much I crave your touch? How much the idea of having you all for myself consumes my sleep until all I can't rest without dreaming of you?"
Kensei's eyes had widened at the first question and had slowly darkened in arousal as Shuhei had continued asking his rhetorical questions, after Shuhei had fallen silent he said quietly, "no I don't." The silver haired Visored then leaned forward to nip at the younger mans lower lip before he had drawn the grey-eyed man into a long slow kiss. As he pulled away from the now whimpering man Kensei purred huskily, "why don't you show me just how much you want me…" At that he withdrew from his perch on top of the younger mans lap, as he began removing his clothes he had been walking backwards toward his room, all the while he had been giving the reclining man a sultry 'come and get me' look.
Shuhei stared numbly after his now naked Captain before a predatory smile crossed his face before he got up from his seat and began stalking after Kensei. As he walked toward Kensei's bedroom he began to remove his own clothing, leaving it piled on top of the older mans as he did so, his grey eyes only had a thin ring surrounding large black pupils.
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Kazeshini had woke up with a startled yelp when he fell out of a tree due to the earth shaking under it, from his rather undignified sprawl on the ground he had heard Tachikaze giggling in mirth. As he looked up at her with a confused look on his face she had said while she had covered her mouth, "it seems that you got your wish about our masters." He had climbed back onto his feet and stared at her with a look on his face that said, 'ehh, you better explain that to me again.' When all of the sudden he felt a shudder go through the inner worlds and he gasped in shock as he watched as the space between his savanna's and the mountains of Tachikaze's domain shrunk even more than before.
He then watched in amusement as several trees from his rather jungle-like forest turned into trees more suited to being found to a more snowy environment or to a mountainside. He then turned back to the wind sprite and said wryly, "never mind, I get it now." At that comment from him, she had fallen over laughing in mirth, not even stopping as the occasional shudder that went through the landscape became closer and closer together. Kazeshini had joined her in the fit of laughter, both of them were steadfastly ignoring the feelings emanating from their bond with their respective masters.
Scene Change
Kensei panted while he had tried to regain his breath, after he had gotten his breath back he glanced down at Shuhei, who had merely smirked up at the older man before he audibly and visibly swallowed his mouthful. The act had caused the older man to curse while his brown eyes had flashed a gold, at the curses that issued from the silver haired Captains mouth Shuhei's smirk had transformed into a very smug look. Upon seeing it Kensei had reached down and pulled the grey-eyed man up, as soon as Shuhei was close enough, the elder man had begun devouring his mouth. When Kensei had pulled back from the intense kiss Shuhei's eyes were hazy and his lips were swollen from the nips that the older man had given them during the kiss.
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Itachi had listened idly as the civilians around Kisame and himself talked about a group of Nuke Nin who had encountered a red haired, grey eyed ghost, who had soundly trounced them before pranking them and walked away. Itachi had laughed quietly, that action had cause his partner to smile at the younger man fondly, after a few moments of quiet chuckles Itachi had murmured, "that sounds like something that she'd do…" The pair had then went back to their hotel room, as Itachi removed his cloak he had pondered aloud, "I wonder what had caused those Nuke Nin to spread the word to form opinions of Naruto based only on his actions and not on the word of others…"
At that, Winky had popped into the room, thankfully the pair had recognized her energy signature as a friendly one and didn't move to attack her. She had bowed to the pair before she said softly, "Mistress 'Shina had me bring this to Mistress 'Koto, who after viewing it thought that both of you would like to see it as well." With that the female house elf had placed a small pensive on the dresser, she had then said, "when you are done with it, Master 'Tachi and Master 'Same, just call and I will come fetch it back." She then bowed a farewell to the stunned pair, although Itachi was inwardly amused by how she had inadvertently called Kisame, 'Master Shark.'
Kisame had shaken himself out of his state before he gestured to the pensive which, thanks to Kushina's visit, the pair was familiar how to operate, as he asked, "shall we?" The dark haired teen eyed the object warily before he nodded and picked it up, he had placed it on the bed between himself and Kisame. After a few moments of hesitation the pair had touched the surface of the memories and had been quickly pulled into it as observers.
Kushina's Memory Start
Kushina had wandered along the coastline near the former Land of Whirlpools, she would often use Shunpo to head to more distant lands more quickly. During one such excursion she had come across a rather large group of Nuke Nin comprised of five mist nin, two from Hidden Rain, three from Rock, four from lightning and two from Waterfall. Since she had been bored she had decided to relieve her boredom by testing herself against the group, the sixteen had been so startled by her appearance that she had pranked them as well as fighting them using Taijutsu.
She had hit the majority of them in several pressure points, which caused them to become temporarily paralyzed from the neck down, during which time she had used color changing charms on their hair to turn them different colors as well as drawing on their faces. As she had walked away from them one of the rock nin called out after her, "why don't you just kill us and collect our bounties?"
To the surprise of the other fifteen Nuke Nin she had stopped in her tracks before she had asked while she looked over her left shoulder, "what good is the money of your bounties to me?" She had huffed a small laugh before she had remarked wryly while her gold flecked grey eyes glinted in vague amusement, "after all, what can a ghost buy with money? Ghosts don't need to eat. Ghosts don't need to sleep, ghosts are dead after all. So tell me, why would I, as a ghost want to collect your bounties for? You're all far too young for me to have a grudge against you and if one of your relatives held a grudge against me, they had, no doubt, considered it fulfilled upon my death."
At that the entire group goggled at her in shock and after several moments of silence, Kushina began walking away again. She got five more feet away when one of the rain nin blurted out, "how do you become a ghost anyway?"
To his surprise, the crimson haired woman turned laughed softly before she turned to look at the group, as she stared at them in amusement she held up her left hand and as she spoke she ticked off a finger. "Ghosts can be formed several ways but there are three that are the most common. Number one: you cannot bear to leave a place you called home or even a place that you hated so long as there is a great attachment to it, ghosts can also be that way with objects that were particularly precious or loathed by the ghost. There are some ghosts who cannot bear to leave the places they were killed and relive that moment over and over again, others are attached to an object and follow it to wherever it calls home." With that she had ticked off a single finger before she had continued her explanation, "number two: the person left a task or a promise unfulfilled and as such cannot rest until it has been finished successfully."
As she ticked off the second finger she said while the gold flecks in her eyes glowed softly, "the third reason is that either their final wishes, or the final wishes of someone they cared for deeply, were not followed. And those types of ghosts cannot rest until those final wishes have finally been abided by." She smiled sadly at the group as she said, "my reason for still being here is number three, my beloved's final wishes were not followed and as such I will not rest until they have been. However, that doesn't seem as if that'll be happening anytime soon," with that she turned and began walking away for the third time.
The male Waterfall nin called out to her, "what's you're name," he had decided silently to see if he could help her rest in peace. After all, if he had become a ghost like she had he would want all the help he could get to rest in peace.
She had paused in her tracks again at the question before she had come to a decision and said, "my name was Kushina. Kushina Uzumaki of Konoha," at that a few of the nins frowned since the name sounded familiar to them somehow.
The other Waterfall nin asked curiously, silently wondering just why someone's final wishes were ignored, "what was your beloved's final wishes?"
Kushina turned around and stared at her for several long moments before she said with a wry smile, "he wanted our son, Naruto, to be seen as only himself. Not as me, or my beloved, nor indeed as anyone or anything but who he is." With that Kushina turned around and walked away from them, once she was out of their visual range she used Shunpo to reach the shore of a lake, she then stepped out onto the surface. She then went through several of the complicated Kata's unique to the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools.
As she went through the kata's she had hummed several old lullabies that were exclusive to her family, half-way through a song and kata the clone she had left behind to watch over the group dispelled itself. Her grey eyes glinted in amusement as she laughed so hard that she had collapsed atop the water and rolled around in hysterical amusement. After she had left the group behind they had started to verbally plan how to spread the word of her and her son's plight to the other countries. Unknown to the laughing red head and the scheming Nuke Nin only the civilians of the countries would truly believe their tale while the Shinobi would dismiss such talk as mere rumor. Somehow, the news of the Ghost that haunted the land, or the Crimson Ghost as the civilians would name her, completely bypassed both Konoha and a small mining camp in the land of Frost.
Kushina's Memory End
Itachi and Kisame stared at each other for several minutes in amusement after the memory had ended before the blue skinned man commented wryly, "your godmother simply cannot resist a prank. Can she?"
Itachi thought carefully for several minutes before he had shaken his head as he had said, "no, I don't believe she can." At that the pair of Nuke Nin started laughing, thankfully Itachi had set the pensive back on the dresser before he had replied to his lover's comment.