A/N: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows as well as everyone who reviewed the last chapter. These updates are coming fast to make up for not updating the original in a very long time.

He really looks so young when he is sleeping like this.

Sleeping was the best word to describe her brother's state right now if you asked Natsuko. Well, it was the only word that she could use to describe what was happening to her brother right now. She shook her head and patted his head before looking down at the skirt that barely reached her knees.

It was probably the most appropriate outfit that she could wear to go to the hospital.

"You look nice," Atsuko commented, looking her up and down. The brown-haired woman took a sip of the orange juice before gobbling down the poached eggs like there was no tomorrow. "You are going to go back to school?"

This isn't even my school uniform. The urge to spit the words out to Atsuko was great but Natsuko swallowed down the words, choosing instead to glance at Yusuke. There was just no point for her to be furious with the woman that gave birth to her second body. If anything, it was completely pointless if you asked her.

"I'm going to take Yusuke to the hospital to get the confirmation about his state and I can't meet the doctors in my ratty t-shirt and jeans," she replied. They will just judge me for not having the best outfit and care like their own kids. Those words hadn't been said but Atsuko flinched as if she could hear the unspoken judgment on her.

For a brief moment, she felt guilty but then…

"Natsu-neechan, why are you buying new shoes for me? And why were those girls being so mean to you?"

She might be a 125-years-old but her body was physically of a teenager and…it shouldn't have been her responsibility to make sure that Yusuke was clean, had decent clothes and just make sure that he was growing to be a good man. A kind man. Of course, the kindness bit wasn't the most obvious thing but Yusuke had been a kind boy in his own way.

"You shouldn't take all of the responsibility," Atsuko said softly. "You can just stay here while I take Yusuke to the hospital."

Natsuko thinned her lips. "Why? Why shouldn't I take responsibility?"

Her tone sounded almost furious and she shook her head at the young woman. Think of her like Rin! Think of her like Asami! Just recalling her great-granddaughter and her own granddaughter should be enough to calm her down. They had been young. Well except she didn't know if Rin ever became a mother and Asami had been so responsible when it came to her own children.

Then again, Asami was also Hinata's granddaughter and her best friend would have made sure that Asami never inherited her own irresponsibility.

"Natsu-chan, I'm your Mom."

I feel like I'm your mother instead of you…and well that has always been fine when Yusuke was alive. Inhaling, she looked down at her brother and combed through his hair before looking at the woman in front of her. It would be wrong of her to say what was on her mind but Yusuke needed this. Atsuko probably needed to hear this because the woman needed to understand what she had been doing was wrong.

Yusuke was gone and he had always been Atsuko's child while she was just an imposter.

"You may have given birth to us but you have never really acted like our mother," she said flatly, placing Yusuke's hand on her shoulder. Soft hair tickled her nose and Natsuko bit back the urge to sneeze before looking at the frozen woman. "I've always been the one to make breakfast for us, the one to pay the bills and…I was the one that made sure that Yusuke went to school, wore clean clothes and had shoes on."

Even to her own ears, it sounded like resentment and the little part of her that was truly Natsuko…was resentful. In her first life, she never had anyone to rely on and had to do everything by herself. Her first parents died and left her an orphan. Atsuko was alive but she acted so much like a teenager that she wanted to smack some sense into the woman.

Atsuko looked up at the ceiling. "You know I was only 13 when I gave birth to you, don't you?"

"I did the math," she replied calmly.

The brown-haired woman stared at her and looked up at the ceiling. "You know I was terrified at having you and at one point, I did think about giving you up like how my parents wanted…but there was a point when I thought I was going to lose you. Your Dad was scared too and…well that was when we decided that we wanted to keep you. We thought if you lived then…we could be a family."

"Having a baby doesn't mean that you automatically become family," Natsuko observed. "You and…that man were always arguing and what kind of bastard pries on a 13-year-old girl!"

What kind of parents allows a grown-man near their daughter? If she had ever given birth to a daughter then she would never allow a grown-man near her child in that way. Sasuke would have murdered any bastard that dared to touch their child. But of course, her biological grandparents didn't see things the same way.

She could only infer on why they weren't apart of her and Yusuke's life.

"Your grandparents didn't see things the same way," Atsuko laughed bitterly and stared at the ceiling. "They told me if I was old enough to have sex and get knocked up then I was old enough to live by myself. I doubt that you remember it but Hisao and me were happy and…for a time, I thought that the four of us could be a family."

Tears sprung out of Atsuko's eyes and Natsuko lowered her brother's body before dragging her feet to the tissue box. I don't know who I can blame for what happened to her. For a brief moment, her throat tightened as the memories of her first life came to her mind. She hadn't exactly been there for her children when she became a Hokage.

"You care more about the village then us! You and Dad are barely there!"

She inhaled and shook her head as bitter blue eyes came into her mind.

"Mother…"

The woman shook her head and looked at Yusuke. "You would think giving birth would give me some magical ability to be an amazing parent but it is difficult to be a parent when you are a kid yourself. In those early days with you, I thought parenting was easy because…you were so quiet and you weren't fussy. I thought I could do it with your Dad but Yusuke came and then…"

She shook her head and looked away from her. There might be no words but Natsuko knew what the woman couldn't admit to say to her. Having Yusuke made you want to be a child because he was so fussy and difficult. It was something that she had predicted from the moment that this woman informed her partner about her pregnancy.

The difference between Yusuke and her, was definitely the fact that Yusuke had been a new soul.

"You know I don't expect you to be an amazing parent but when you chose to keep Yusuke and me, I guess I expected you to try and be a decent Mom," she admitted. The 28-year-old woman blinked and Natsuko looked down at her brother. "I always wanted you to try and you have provided when you could but…I shouldn't always be responsible for the both of you."

Those words dripped with bitterness and she wondered for just a brief moment which part of her was talking to Atsuko. Was it Uzumaki Naru, the mother and Seventh Hokage? Or was it Urameshi Natsuko, the teen that had to be the responsible one in the family? She couldn't tell. Most of the time, she identified as Naru.

But…she was also Natsuko if it made sense.

"Natsu-chan, I want to be a decent mother."

The confession lingered in the air and Natsuko stared at the teary, determined eyes of the 28-year-old woman. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to sink the confession inside of her head before looking down at Yusuke. It was too late for the woman to be a mother to her, not when she had so many years worth of memories inside of her.

Not when she had been a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother as well as one of the longest-living leaders in Konoha's history but…

"If you want to be a really decent mother then please reconsider going to rehab for your alcoholic tendencies," Natsuko said flatly. "When Yusuke wakes up, I want him to see that you are trying to be the best version of yourself."

The woman sighed and shook her head.

"I always told your Dad that you acted more like an adult than me and him combined," the woman commented with a quiet huff of a laugh. "It seems pathetic that my 15-year-old daughter acts older than me but…I'm glad that I kept you because I don't know what I would do without you."

She didn't want to think about it either and there was absolutely no point of thinking of the possibility because they had her.

"I need to see a doctor! I think that there may have been a mistake when they informed my mother and me about my brother's status!"

A loud voice sliced through the air of the hospital waiting room and Kurama looked away from the basket of fruits, focusing his attention on the blond-haired teen standing in front of the receptionist. There was a boy on her back. A boy who looked barely older than the girl…and who looked almost like he was comfortable sleeping against the girl's back.

The chatter in the waiting room died down and Kurama paused as he took in the whisker marks that covered the girl's cheeks. Isn't she the girl from yesterday? It seemed so. She was the only girl that he had seen with those kind of whisker-like birthmarks and those intense, old blue eyes. Yes, it did look like that it was Urameshi Natsuko.

"Miss, do you want to explain what is going on?" One of the nurses asked, strolling closer to the blond-haired girl. He inspected the sleeping boy before shifting her eyes to the girl that seemed intent on keeping her brother close to her.

Natsuko cleared her throat and jerked her head at the sleeping boy. "Well your doctor declared that my baby brother was dead but I heard a heartbeat yesterday…and well I'm giving the doctors an opportunity to explain themselves instead of allowing my mother to sue you guys."

There might have been a sugary, sweet smile on her face but there was a subtle tint of a threat in her tone. The nurse must have sense it as well because the nurse paled a little bit before quickly grabbing the boy from Natsuko's back. Kurama watched with a tilted head as the nurse laid the boy down onto one of the empty seats.

Even though there was a great distance between them, Kurama could sense the difference in spirit energy between the two siblings. Urameshi Natsuko might have muffled her energy levels but it was still great enough to tickle his senses, however her little brother did not have enough energy to be considered alive.

But it wasn't low enough for him to consider the boy dead.

"T-This is…unheard of because how can a dead boy have a heartbeat," the nurse stuttered, standing up from his position. He exchanged nervous glances with the secretary before offering a half-bow to the blond-haired girl. "Can you please wait here while I get the doctor who had done the check on your brother."

The blond-haired teen nodded. "Yeah, you go ahead and do that."

It is like she is the boss and they are her minions. Kurama bit back a snort and looked down at the fruit basket in his hands. It was rather peculiar of how such a young girl could have such confidence in herself when it came to dealing with nurses. None of the humans in his class had the same subtle sincere confidence that the girl seemed to possess in herself.

He paused when blue eyes met his own and thin, pink lips curved up into an amused smile as if she found some irony in their meeting. An irony that he probably could not figure out at this moment. A glance around the hospital waiting room told him that no one seemed to have noticed the smile on her face.

She seems to be rather bored by herself.

Considering the fact that his mother might be sleeping, he could sacrifice a couple of minutes to make some kind of small talk with her. Besides, there was something rather odd about that human. Odd in the sense that he sensed so much spiritual energy in such a small girl. He had never felt so much energy from a human.

In that brief moment, he had sense more energy than any human he had ever met.

"It seems like we are always meeting," Natsuko commented as he slid into the empty seat beside her. "First in my favorite bookstore and now…in this stupid hospital."

Kurama nodded and looked at the window right across them. "It is a small world."

The blond-haired teen stared at him for the longest time before looking down at her brother. There was a subtle softness in her eyes alongside an emotion that he always associated with his human mother. Love. There was absolutely no denying the fact that the teen adored her brother and it almost made him uncomfortable to be near them.

"I never liked hospitals with their disinfectants and all of those doctors," she commented. "If I wasn't certain that my Mother would make a bigger fuss then I would have let her come here instead of me."

He inspected the teen and looked down at the basket of fruit before darting his eyes back at her. "You were bluffing."

"I just told them the consequence if they didn't make a good job of confirming my baby brother's status," the teen said slyly. There was almost a dark sense of amusement creeping up in her tone as if she found her own actions to be funny. He raised a thin eyebrow and the blond-haired girl curved her lips into a mischievous smile. "That doesn't mean I'm bluffing about suing them."

He offered her a raised eyebrow. "Oh?"

"With the right words and the right…people then anything is possible," she explained vaguely. Her hand gently combed through her brother's hair and her eyes looked distant as if she was recalling a fond memory. The smile on her lips curved up until it seemed like the sun shone through her lips.

Tilting his head, Kurama gazed at the nurse that stood in the furthest corner of the room. "You must have your ways of getting things done."

She made no comment. There was no indication that she knew his hidden words or if she would give him even the tiniest hint of what she had done in the past to make that kind of judgment. The only thing between them was the quiet silence that came from someone, who seemed to be thinking carefully about their actions.

"Movies can be exaggeration but they aren't wrong about certain things," she mused. "Once a person has money and power then they can do anything. They can either make a good or bad change, depending on how those two things corrupts them."

The words were spoken like she had her own personal experience when it came to those matters. No, the words were spoken as if the teenager was older than her age. If I didn't feel her spiritual energy then I would think that she was like me. Except the teen felt almost entirely human.

If it wasn't for her strange behavior and the way her energy seemed just a little bit off then he would have mistaken her as completely human.

Kurama blinked and jerked his head when Natsuko said, "So since you heard my little show, wanna tell me who is the sick person that is going to eat your fruit basket?"

He shouldn't tell her. She was a stranger after all but the nurses were indeed watching him and he did have a mask to put on. The role of a polite, kind man and a kind man would tell a stranger about his dying mother. And there could be some use in telling her. His mother had been growing concern about the lack of friends and had seemed rather insistent to know about his friends.

If it would ease his human mother then he would have to do this.

"My mother is…sick."

The guilt flooded him as it always did whenever he confessed about his mother's condition. An irrational guilt but a guilt all the same. Perhaps if he had been closer to his human mother, had been able to get closer to her on time then perhaps she wouldn't have gotten sick. If he hadn't misbehaved and came to the realization that she was…

"I don't know what your mother has but I am pretty certain that you have no reason to be guilty," Natsuko commented with a knowing tone. He jerked his head and turned to look at the frowning teen, who stared blankly at the window. "We always seems to think that every bad thing that happens to our loved ones is our fault, even in some way…we know that it isn't our fault."

He offered her a frown. "Are you talking about what happened to your brother?"

"…Yes."

The teen stopped patting her brother's hair and her eyes seemed fixated on a young man that seemed to be around his early 20's. Grief shone through her eyes before it faded just as quickly as it formed. She shook her head and leaned against the chair before looking up at the ceiling, revealing a slender neck.

"It is a difficult time for you."

She curved her lips into a smile and looked at him with eyes filled with weariness. "I think I should be the one saying that to you."

"You also have your own grievances," he observed. "You and your mother must not have had an easy time."

It was funny how he only understood the grief that came upon the death of a loved one when it became apparent that his own mother would not have much time to live. Except while the doctors might have messed up with her brother, there is a certainity in my mother's death. It was becoming increasingly apparent as time went by.

"Yusuke might be my brother but for my…mother, Yusuke was her son." He tilted his head and knitted his eyebrows together. The teen offered him a tired smile and further elaborated. "Do you know what is the greatest grief that a mother can experience? It is the knowledge that you outlived your own children. That the child you gave birth to…is no longer going to be there."

For a brief moment, he felt a stirring of guilt as his mind wandered back to the plan that had been on the works for the past few weeks. There might be some pain but he wasn't truly his mother's son. He had taken over the fetus before it could form his own soul. He exhaled and pushed his hair back.

"Your mother still has you," he commented.

Natsuko shook her head. "It isn't the same and you would know that when…"

The words trailed off and Kurama waited patiently for the woman to finish her sentence but the teenager only shook her head. Well, it seemed like she had no plans of informing him anything. She isn't that open like her appearance suggest. It didn't matter. There was nothing that could change his mind nor did he have that kind of interest.

"You enjoy being cryptic, don't you?" She wasn't as cryptic as him but she was more cryptic than the normal 15-year-old.

She snorted. "Nah, I fucking hate being cryptic but I have a feeling that you are smart enough to figure things out."

He opened his mouth to probe her but it wasn't long before a nurse came rushing towards them, and he took that as his signal to leave her alone. If we meet again then I…will try and figure out what she really is. She sounded way too old to be a teenager and had too much energy for her to be a normal human. She was an odd being.

A human that he had never seen before.

The sight of a nervous-looking Keiko standing outside her door did not surprise her one bit.

Natsuko sighed and smiled faintly, arms folded against her chest as her brother's childhood friend hurried inside her apartment. She kept quiet and allowed herself to watch as the brown-haired girl rushed towards her sleeping brother. From that reaction alone, she could guess that Yusuke had decided to visit Keiko in her dreams.

"I had a really weird dream yesterday, Natsu-chan!" Keiko admitted, dropping her knees. "And I didn't believe it but…is it really true that he is coming back? I mean he isn't in the coffin and that proved his claim about telling you but…it is so unbelievable!"

The words rushed out of her like a never-ending waterfall. It was almost difficult for her to make out but she had been babysitting Keiko for as long as the brown-haired girl could remember. She knew the girl long enough toknow when her friend was trying to process something that was insane.

"So it seems like the only person that Yusuke decided not to visit, was Mom," she commented.

Keiko jerked her head. "So Yusuke really did visit you and eat ramen? He told you that he was coming back."

It speaks volumes about how dysfunctional our family is if Yusuke couldn't visit his own mother. She sat down on the chair and looked down at the plate of curry rice before staring at the window. If her own children had the opportunity that her little brother had and didn't visit her…

She would smack them in the head and scream at them.

"Yup and that's why I went to the hospital," she admitted, leaning against her chair. The 14-year-old girl blinked and trembled before letting out little sob. It almost made her heart clenched with sadness but not enough to make her sob alongside Keiko. Being so old had made her almost…indifferent. "I mean I had to get rid of the death certificate and confirm his claim."

Her brother's friend sniffed and shuffled closer to Yusuke. "So what did the doctors say?"

"The doctor in-charge tried to explain how they could miss the heartbeat," she smiled faintly and felt the stirring of amusement as the doctor's panicked expressions came to her mind. "It was faint…and they got petrified when I mentioned the idea of them being sued for incompetence."

The brown-haired teen frowned and eyed her. "Did you threaten them with your Mom's contacts?"

I hate low-lives but they have their uses. She folded her legs together and allowed Keiko to sweat over her claims. It was completely wrong and if she was a 100% Uzumaki Naru, then she wouldn't have done it. But it would be a while before she could gather the power and education needed for her job.

Although the idea of being a politician and doing paperwork again was not something that she practically enjoyed either.

"Natsu-chan, you can be really terrifying," Keiko muttered, shaking her head. "I don't understand how you can be so different in school and be completely different outside of school."

She sighed. "If I acted like how I acted in the wake then those stupid, ignorant teachers will make it impossible for me to get the reference needed for a scholarship. Life can be so difficult when you have everyone hating you."

For a brief moment, the childhood memories of her first life came into her mind and Natsuko frowned. Yusuke always believed that she pretended to be some kind of angelic teen because of some kind of reputation that he thought she treasured. He didn't understand how much more difficult to climb up when teachers hindered you.

"Iwamoto-sensei is going to be after you," Keiko warned. "I heard him badmouthing you when I went to get the papers."

I wish I had Shikamaru or Sasuke because they would give me an amazing idea on how to handle that insensitive asshole. She picked up a chopstick and stared at the bowl. Perhaps, it would be a good idea for her to meet one of her birth mother's contacts or maybe she would have to meet her birth father to send a message to that asshole.

She would send clones but Yusuke was roaming the streets…and she could not afford for him to question her.

"I should have dealt with him after his disrespectful behavior in the wake but…there were other things on my mind," she admitted.

The teen shivered. "Y-You talk like you are going to beat him up."

Death will be too good for him. She had better plans when it came to dealing with that teacher. Of course, there might be some money lost but she had no choice when it came to her brother's future. If things went well and if Enma truly allowed her brother to come back to life then she would have to make his life easier in some way.

"He is going to wish that I beat him up," she commented. "I…should have made things easier for Yusuke when that bastard started to make life difficult for him. He is doing all of this because Yusuke refused to conform to his…ideals and because Mother refused to have anything to do with him."

Of course, Atsuko did not know that and there was just no need to inform her biological mother about this. If I mix some truth alongside a couple of lies as well as get some…help then it will be worth it. His reputation was a big deal and destroying his reputation was going to be the thing that would ruin him.

Keiko stared at her. "Would…you have gone that far if Yusuke wasn't coming back?"

"I have no problem for him making my life hell," she replied. "But I don't want Yusuke getting into fights with teachers when he come back, and that teacher making my life hell just give him an excuse to get into trouble."

If he is getting the second chance in life then I'll make it worth it. Natsuko stood up from her seat and made her way to the window, ignoring the concern eyes of Yusuke's friend. It was going to be difficult for her to convince Yusuke to go back to school and stay there, but removing those troublesome teachers would just make things easier for her.

"I always thought that you would be the most happy to have him back," Keiko said hesitantly, tugging at her sleeve. Natsuko turned her head around and kept her expression completely blank as brown eyes wavered with concern. "Natsu-chan, why do you sound so resigned when it comes to Yusuke? I thought you would be happier."

I'm bursting with happiness but I'm also concern. Her hand crept up to her stomach as memories of the last war crept up in her mind. She barely remembered how she ended up from dying in a hospital bed and being cradled by a teen mother, but Enma's image was fuzzy in her memory. Well, she presumed that he was Enma.

Why did he give her a second chance of life?

Was there anyone else in her situation?

"Everything comes with a price," she answered softly. Her finger crept up to the window and began to trace the characters of the various seals from her past life. Even when I made that body for Kurama, I had to pay a price as well but…I was already dying at the time. It had been the cruelest thing she had done for the fox but she wanted his freedom. "Things…are going to change."

From the window, she could see Keiko trembling and staring at her with so much concern. I'm really talking too much. If Keiko knew the truth about her and if her little brother was not around that girl, then she would be more direct. But the truth was more terrifying and she didn't want Keiko to be terrified.

"Natsu-chan, are you going to be more strict with Yusuke when he comes back? Is that what you mean?"

No, it means that I know that revival comes with a price and from my fuzzy memories, I know Enma isn't a kind and benevolent deity. She opened the window and kept her expression blank when she saw Yusuke floating outside of the door. He glanced at the blue-haired woman, who looked almost unnerved as she stared at her.

"Yeah, I'll be more strict when it comes to my baby brother."

She would just keep an eye on Yusuke and the people around him because Enma might be planning something big when it came to her brother.

A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and do tell me what you think about this chapter as well as your thoughts about this rewrite.