If you only had two hours to set your child on the path needed to survive the horrors of their future, would you? Could you? Even if you had to sacrifice the love and go straight to the stricter, meaner parts of yourself? Kushina has no choice but to make this choice and even if it kills her to make it, she would do it any day knowing it was what her son needed to thrive.
"Where am I?" Naruto frowned, blinking as he literally fell into what looked like a massive sewer flooded with water that didn't stink. Looking around, naturally, he was starteld to see not only Cage with a giant Fox glaring at him but also a beautiful red haired women dressed like a Ninja frowning in his direction. She caught his attention more then the Fox did, for some reason. She looked like him with the same round face, and same color eyes... like she could have been the mother he spent countless hours imagining."Uh,... Hi?"
"Naruto... My name is Kushina Uzumaki. I am your mother." The women said, making Naruto laugh hard before she smacked the back of his head, sending him into the water. "Stop that, we don't have a lot of time. I wish I could ease you into this, I have less then two hours to help you! Please listen."
Naruto struggled to stand, blinking with pain, rage and hate. "You can't be my mom, the Old man said she died when I was born and I-"
She put her hand on his mouth. "When you were born, the Nine tailed Fox escaped my body because it was ripped out by an evil Ninja who attacked and killed the Third's wife. He was then sealed, or rather half of him, was sealed into your body. It's why everyone so pointlessly hates you." She sighed, slumping and holding her belly, almost as if she missed being pregnant. "Your father was the Fourth Hokage Naruto, you look just like him, if you paid attention and looked into your history books I am sure you'd see that. Hell I know you''ve seen his picture in the Hokage's office... he has blonde hair like you, beautiful blue eyes like you though your color is more like mine... and you facei s round like mine."
Naruto tried to focus on the Fourth Hokage's face, she was right he had seen the man's face in the Hokage's office... and he could not deny how similar they looked. Tears prickled at his eyes as he realized the depths of his Mother's words. "Mom... and I'm the Fox?"
She laughed, as did the Fox. " No more the I was for having the Fox inside of me... no baby, you are you and Kyuubi is Kyuubi. However I made many mistakes in my time, I enslaved him and mistreated him, much like the man who attacked us and forced him to attack the village. I am here to make ammends for you and for him... in the hopes you will both survive the coming years." She turned and walked to a piece of paper on the cage, placing her hands on it the thing glowed and in a rush of steam, it evaporated as did the cage. The Fox Blinked, having a collar on it's neck. " I cannot undo the seal, I am far too weak for that but I could adjust the seal enough to make you freer... consider that my begging you to work with Naruto to stop the forces that seek to use, abuse and mistreat you both.
Like you he has been a victim of the village, and like you he deserves more. With my skills, the skills he will learn after today, he will be able to one day free you. Can you wait for that time and one day seek freedom safely, through working with him?"
To Naruto's confusion, the Fox actually nodded. "I can and though I can never forgive you, I will accept your terms so long as the boy agrees to do as you said."
The women, his mother, turned to him. " Naruto, like you he has been a slave to the world, can you agree to help him one day in return for helping you?" Naruto wasn't sure how to asnswer with words, so he just nodded at first. "Wonderful... now let's talk... about your training or lack thereof. Naruto, you need to do better. It is true that you haven't been treated with much decency from your teachers, I wasn't either for being a forgiener, but I still studied and trained... you don't do either, spending your time pranking and being obnoxious. You have three months until you can take the Genin test again, and so your going to actually train enough to pass it. You can do it, you might barely pass but you will pass.
Before I go, I will help create with you a training schedule and lead you to our old home, where I left sealed into a wall and scroll, a series of scrolls to teach you. There was always a big risk that I would die from giving birth and as one of the Last Uzumaki I could not bare the thought of our family legacy fading with me. If you train with it, with that knowledge, you should be able to become powerful and skilled no matter what the world throws at you...
I am sorry I am not being super loving or kind or warm, it would be amazing if I could do that, but I only have enough time to help get you started. I need to put you on the path to your survival and safety... I am so sorry that is how things are going now, but that is where they are. Now, you need to wake up so I can take you to our old home."
:::
Sneaking with all the skill his pranking days had molded, Naruto found himself across the village in an isolated area where a rundown house lay. He had never been near this place and yet it seemed familar somehow... that only gave more credit to his mother's claims.
"Go into the building Naruto, your already keyed into the Seals." His mother said, her voice echoing in his head as he did as she said.
His eyes misted over, a deep sense of loss overtaking him. On every wall was signs of life, his parents holding each other in photos. "I really do look like dad...I can't believe he ended up being the Fourt Hokage." Naruto still wanted to scream on that, but with everything else he was too shocked to do that. "You were so big mom, so pregnant."
She laughed. " Yeah, I was... no go to the room down the hall and on the left, it's your bedroom." As Naruto obeyed, he stopped for a moment at the sign on the door, his name was etched into the wood placed on the door. Walking into the room, he continued to listen to his mother's instructions, only giving the crib and stuffed animals a glance before he moved to the corner of the room where a spiral was carved into the wood. He pricked his finger on his kunai before allowing his blood to drip onto the Seal. It expanded into a flurry of black kanji he had no idea meant anything, and then a single massive scroll popped out of smoke.
The Scroll was white with Maroon stripes on it, the Kanji for Uzumaki in the center. It was heavy, but he managed to life it.
"Press your fingers, with some blood, onto the Uzumaki Kanji. It will seal it on your collar bone." Naruto obeyed his mother's instructions, and the scroll poofed away. He cried out as the new seal was burned into his collar bone, but the pain lasted only a moment. "Sorry, I forgot it would hurt... now. go back home Naruto and only return here when you are strong enough for the world to know who you are." As he fled his family home, Naruto listened as his mother made mental notes to him about his training. "You'll need to spend at least a month catching up on the academy stuff, mostly your academics. You are so behind it will take time to make ammends... Kyuubi can over the subjects in your head, allowing you to study even as you sleep. You'll need to spend at least two hours catching up...and then you should work on your caligraphy so you can put on you resistence seals and master sealing in general. However there are training weights in the scrolls, you can start with those.
Training as soon as you leave the Academy in secret, mastering tree climbing and waterwalking early since your chakra control needs serious work. I have a water clone jutsu you can master that should give you a clone jutsu to pass... I have a training sword stored in the scrolls so you can master my style. You can show off in three months what you know, but you should never trust the Hokage with your scrolls. He has done so little for you, he is not to be trusted period. A real leader would have put you with a family, even if many hate you for being the Jinchuuriki there would be at least a few that don't among the Ninja. I don't trust the Old man to be not be sabatoging you."
Naruto wanted to argue, but he just couldn't... her logic was sound enough that even his stubbornness could hardly fight against it. "He's hurting me?"
"Or at the least not helping you. He could have done so much more then he has done Naruto... but that is on him, not you. You need to get real friends and allies, like Kyuubi, people you can rely on who won't hurt you. I wish I could guide you through that, but I can't... my time is close as it is..."
They reached him home by that time, and he snuck back into his bed, cuddling into his blankets comfortably. "I'm going to miss you."
"And I you, baby... I am so sorry I had to be harsh sensei more then your mom... if we ever get the chance to met again, hopefully the roles will be changed. Now... let's go over your training schedule and then you have to promise me that you will not only keep this secret but actually commit to the training both for the academy and what's in the scroll. Can you do that?"
Naruto nodded, wiping away his tears. "Yes... I can. I love you, Mom..."
"I love you, too... so much Naruto, more then you can understand." They ended up speaking for a few more minutes, on what he was going to do, how he was going to train and so on... so many questions would go unanswered, like how she was even in his head to begin with, how she had his dad met and... so many other things he would never get the answers for.
And then she faded away, her presence disappearing as the sun rose into the sky, her final gift to him a kiss on his conciousness that would leave him in tears for hours to come...
"I am sorry, Naruto... I may have loathed her, but I can respect what she has done for you... I can also answer the questions you may be searching for." '
Naruto frowned. "Like how she even got in my head?"
"She was in your seal, a part of it to help guide you in controlling my power. However she was powerful enough, skilled enough to circumvent that and redirect her energies to something better when she realized you were in need of direction now. I had sensed the seal being manipulated for months, I think it took her that long to alter the seal enough to manifest early. Actually I sensed it when you failed your second Academy Exam."
"She really loved me... didn't she?"
The Fox sighed. "I Can sense negative energy and emotions, she had none of those towards you... so yes, I imagine she did love you... now, today is Saturday, so you have two days to get yourself started before the school week starts. I would do your best to get yourself in order. Spend the weekend mourning and training so that you are prepared to deal with it all."
Nodding, Naruto slumped out of bed. "I need to eat better, that was part of my training schedule. She said to disguise myself as another person to not get cheated out of my stuff... I need more meat and veggies in my diet, and that there were better ways to cook them in my scrolls... time to get started I guess."
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was fun, powerful and quick and I love it.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.