"How is she?"
Silence and the rustle of paper.
"Exhausted and emotionally overloaded, but other than that perfectly healthy. There is nothing wrong with the girl, sensei, at least not physically. Her chakra system is stressed and overloaded, however, it's been an irregular torrent for most of her stay."
"Her sensei tells me she thought she was in a genjutsu."
"Genjutsu? But… she is only six, how could she possibly… Although it would explain the strain on her chakra coils, if she kept fighting against a genjutsu that wasn't there…"
A quiet sigh.
"I hurried with her academy enrollment. I thought that having her around peers would help her adapt easier, Mito-sama agreed. Apparently, it did the opposite – the child is in shock."
"Sensei, about where ANBU found her… Even if she was in shock…"
The flap of cloth and quiet footsteps.
"Yes, I am aware."
"Have you spoken to them?"
"I wish to speak to her first."
"Yes, of course. I will notify you when she wakes."
"Please do, but for now… let her rest. Her mind is in turmoil from whatever is burdening her… let her sleep it out."
Exhausted… in shock… let her sleep…
The words swirled around her, bits and pieces of a conversation she must have heard while asleep. Her mind was trying to piece it out, the links of the puzzle stubbornly turning around and around, very much apart.
She was lying down somewhere and judging by the softness beneath her and by the sterile scent of chemicals and medicine, she could only conclude she was at the hospital, still recovering. Memories started drifting back as her senses struggled to grasp the world, images flooding her mind – she had given birth not too long ago, she had seen her son… and then a masked man had whisked her away, had torn the Kyūbi out of her, had almost killed her…
Her hand stirred as she instinctively tried to move it to her abdomen, searching for the faintest trail of a seal that was no longer there. A pained grunt escaped her, the pictures in her mindscape taking on a new light – she had held Naruto in her hands, fear rocking her as Minato fought a creature she was tasked with keeping at bay, a demon that should have never stood before the man she loved. And then he had been there, pulling her and their son to safety, claiming that he would give his life for them, for the village, for her… and then he… and then…
Her eyes flashed open, blinking rapidly at the surrounding darkness without seeing it, her mind locked far away. A ragged sob escaped her, the swirling emotions finding expression down her cheek. An invisible hand had clutched her chest so tight that she found it hard to breathe. She was alone in this room, she was certain, and he… How was she alive? Had Minato done something to save her, yet again?
She had dreamed of him. A bittersweet idyllic dream where they had been children again and she was given the chance to make it all right, to make sure he would never stand before that Bijū again, never face his death. And it had felt so real and so vivid, the imprints of a feverish mind that had endured unbearable physical and emotional agony only moments ago. A pained hallucination that she had almost willed to be true.
She didn't know how long she stayed like that, staring at the inky blackness of night, her pillow drinking the silent tears hungrily as they slid down her temples with no end, the constriction in her chest not lessening one bit with time, her mind fighting to commit every detail of him to memory. The firm grip of his hands as he held her, the gentle touch as he swept fiery locks from the crease of her neck, the whisper of his lips by her ear, the soft voice murmuring her name in the dead of night, the ringing laughter and the merry bright eyes and the scent of pine needles and of ramen and of Minato, his cloak billowing in the wind as he stood on the Hokage monument, embracing their dream… as he walked towards a demon, giving his life for it.
Getting up meant embracing reality, accepting that he was gone; she had to, inevitably, but just for now, she wanted to stay like this, indulging in the drunk memories of him.
Minutes rolled, her tears running dry, leaving the girl staring listlessly at the ceiling as the faint light of dawn started sneaking past the window blinds and marring the darkness of her room into lighter colours. A new sense of purpose was worming its way in her mind along with it, a need that was fighting to make itself known – Naruto. She had to find her son.
With a final dry sob she rose to a sitting position, not even registering the surprising feeling of vigour that should be unusual for one recently stabbed by a giant claw, and swinging her legs to one side of the bed, making to stand up.
With a yelp she felt herself falling forward, the bed being elevated unexpectedly too high; the ground on which she had made to push herself standing never came into contact and instead her legs swung into nothingness, unbalancing her. Hands gripped sheets that provided little anchor and she found herself on the floor in a swirl of cloth, swearing inwardly at the newly acquired bruised elbow.
Only then did it occur to her that said elbow might have been the first real ache that she felt since waking up – good as Konoha's medics were, after all the ordeal she had been put through, she expected at least some partial repercussions to her health. Heck, a tumble like this should have definitely torn the stitches that ought to be all over her chest.
An uncomfortable feeling settled inside, the girl reaching blindly for her ribcage, searching for bandages beneath the blouse, her fingers sliding over smooth skin and chest suspiciously flat…
She froze.
Wake up, Kushina, you're still asleep, wake up now.
The pinch did no good and nor did the forceful slap that she directed at herself, the sting of it doing nothing to wash away the clarity before her eyes. With a sickening fit of vertigo the world reeled around her as trembling hands jumped to frantically unwind the sheets from around her and the girl was soon up on her feet, her ridiculously short feet, judging by the height of the bed next to her. It wasn't that it had been elevated for unknown purposes – her limbs had simply been too short and she had misjudged the distance, causing her disgraceful plop on the hospital floor.
Her breath had once again turned into shallow huffs as her one hand – her ridiculously chubby, small hand – shot out for the firmness of the bed, trying to steady herself as her mind reached the one obvious conclusion: the dream hadn't been a dream at all – it had been real.
Before she could budge any further the door behind her opened on dry hinges, spilling light in the semi-dark room and Kushina whipped around frantically, reaching down her leg for a kunai pouch that wasn't even there.
The newcomer lifted an eyebrow at the obvious hostile movement, shutting the door behind her and flipping the light switch on with a firm hand. With a buzz the lamps flickered into life and the girl hissed at the sudden bleary light, blinking rapidly to clear the blur from her eyes.
A startled gasp.
"Tsunade-san?" she mumbled before she could further comprehend the situation. "You're back?"
The woman before her – the impossibly young woman – lifted an eyebrow at her statement.
"Of course I am. I'm your appointed medic, although I don't believe we've met officially."
"You don't believe we've-" Kushina started incredulously before cutting herself off with a sharp intake of breath.
This was actually happening and gods almighty, this was Tsunade eighteen years ago, Tsunade before Dan died, Tsunade, who hadn't left and she was her appointed medic and was claiming that they had never met-
It was all ridiculous, impossible, absolutely mad.
And yet it was real, she had given up on trying to break a genjutsu that was simply not there. She was really back again, stuck in her body at the age of six, incredulous as it might sound.
Her fingers as she brought her hand up to tuck her hair back, trembled uncontrollably – she had told herself that when she got out of bed she needs face reality and accept it, but she had had something quite different in mind.
Upon seeing the obvious signs of distress Tsunade jumped into action, making to approach her and console, but the girl was already backtracking to the opposite wall, hands lifted before her instinctively, defensively.
"Stay away from me!" she heard herself call in that childish voice and the medic froze in place, a look of wary concern swimming in her eyes. Steady now, steady… "Just… I'm sorry, Tsunade-san…-sama, I need some time. Please."
A few pained heartbeats later and the Sannin nodded, acknowledging the dismissal.
"Call me if you need anything, child."
The ominous silence after her retreat lasted a few long seconds before the girl exhaled deeply, wearily, giving in to her trembling knees and sinking to the ground.
Rational, stay rational, there must be an explanation to this, she chanted inwardly like a mantra to cling to, trying to think back on anything she remembered of their last fight against the Kyūbi.
They had died, of that much she was certain, remembering the cold unforgivable feeling of her chakra leaving her and with it – life. Her memories after that were hazy and unclear and no matter how much she attempted to grasp them she failed, as if her whole existence shied away from them, her mind finding itself physically incapable of wrapping around the vast concept of nothingness and the pain she was sure had been much too excruciating to bear again, even in memory.
She had gone beyond… and traveled back again.
The next thing she knew was finding herself standing before her class, being introduced to the Konoha academy all over again and this time, thrown into shock, she had made a mess out of it. The moment she had gone back to seemed oddly significant, as if it spoke much and more about the way she had turned up here and she bit her lip, trying to will her jumbled thoughts into cohesion.
A memory arose within her, dancing on the edge of consciousness.
She frowns as she stares at the shogi board, an exasperated sigh escaping her and she throws a dirty look at Shikaku, the man who seems to be handing her ass back to her at shogi. Royally.
The Nara heir is grinning, arms crossed, waiting for her next move, knowing full well that she will be cornered in no more than three turns. And even though she sees it, she has no idea how to trump it.
A light chuckle from besides her breaks her out of her reverie and she directs her attention to the merry man beside her. One arm resting casually on his knee, the other extended back and to the floor right behind her to support his weight, Minato is watching their game most intently.
"Laugh at me one more time and you will regret it, ya know."
His brilliant smile doesn't waver for a second.
"I am not laughing at you." he murmurs and leans ahead, eyes fixed on the board, not betraying in any way how his hand has slipped to the small of her back, one thumb gently tracing circles across her skin. If Shikaku has noticed the uncharacteristic moment of intimacy in public, he feigns oblivion very convincingly. She blushes and seriously considers elbowing him in the ribs – he is doing nothing for her concentration. "Empty your mind of distractions, consider his figures one at a time, piece it out as a puzzle. Regard the bigger picture, why is he attacking without pause here…" he says, breath tickling her shoulder, and gestures towards the board. "…trying to stop you from moving here. Try to look underneath his obvious motives."
Shikaku coughs.
"I thought I was playing against Kushina."
Minato chuckles again, leaning back once more, his hand moving to twine around one fiery lock behind her. She pays him no heed, finally seeing what he meant, Shikaku's weekly fortified bishop and through it a path to his own King, a path that requires more moves than it would take the Nara to win, but at least she wouldn't lose as disgracefully as before.
"See the whole picture, huh?" she whispers and tips a gold piece ahead.
One piece at a time…
She couldn't panic, not now.
She had, after all, seen one too many extraordinary techniques in her life, proving her over and over again that the limits of what was possible stretched far and further still. Hadn't she been just as shocked when Minato had improved on Nidaime's teleportation technique? It was a space-time technique after all; an aspect of it, however small, suggested manipulation of time in an unorthodox manner.
If that was possible, then why shouldn't it be possible to control that element on a larger scale? Why was she so certain that time travel was impossible when she had seen so much in her life to suggest that nothing was impossible in this twisted world of theirs?
Had Minato found a way to bring them back?
But if that was the case… why would she be the only one here? Judging by child Minato's astounded reaction at her seemingly nonsensical blabber yesterday, the Minato of her past – now present – had no idea of their shared past… or rather future. It was all dreadfully confusing, but the question still remained: if her… soul… had somehow made it back instead of finding the afterlife, then why hadn't his?
"Then I will take the Kyūbi with me… using the one seal a non-Jinchūriki can use – Shiki Fuijin."
Her hands tightened in trembling fists.
Of course… of course, his soul couldn't find peace in the afterlife or in the past or anywhere else for that matter – it was trapped forever in the belly of the Shinigami, the deity with which he had struck the ultimate deal in order to protect his home. To protect his son…
Her breathing had sped up on its own again, hands flying to her abdomen out of habit, cradling a child that was no longer there, would not be there until years in the future – a child that she had, nevertheless, grown to love more than life itself.
For the sake of her own sanity she refused to believe that Naruto no longer existed; if she was thrust back to the past through a technique cast by Minato, she might as well consider the fact that his specialty was space-time techniques. She had held her son, had felt his warmth, had heard his cry – he existed, she was certain, in a present that she was no longer a part of, a timeline that was no longer hers.
She didn't remember much of her agonizing moments of death after all, but of one thing she was certain – she had felt an inexplicable surge, as if a part of her had been torn away with those wisps of chakra, sealed in a Naruto of another time, for a future meeting as was supposed to happen all along.
He was safe, she would believe in that or she would go mad.
Through a slow, exaggerated movement she placed two fists to her own temples, pressing down and willing her flying heart into a steadier rhythm. The cold floor of the hospital room was chilling her through the flimsy gown, her legs quickly growing numb and the girl forced herself to make her way to the bed, awkwardly climbing up despite its added height… or her lost such, depending on the perspective.
Now that she considered that aspect, she was surprised she had moved so effortlessly yesterday given the confusion of unexpected body alterations. Logic dictated that she should be tripping on limbs too short for her perceptions. She quickly discarded that thought; her bodily functions were driven by impulses in the brain, which was very much aware of her altered physique, accepting it as quite normal. Her brain knew the dimensions of her small figure well and thus dictated moves accordingly.
The only issue was her mind – the expectations of height of objects and their distance, born from a past life of habit, adding confusion when said expectations fell short. Her bruised elbow testified to that conclusion.
She assumed she would get used to it quick enough – just yesterday, being far too numb under the pressure of shock and confusion, she hadn't even noticed the obvious height difference between her and her academy teacher when she had unexpectedly found herself standing next to him.
She had, in the end, acted out of instinct and had done well enough. Her movements had been fluid as she had kicked him with brutal precision in the chest (she winced at the memory), although she had to admit now that her childish figure was not used to the forceful moves she had tried to implement. Her muscles had burned from the strain and a kick that should have sent the man flying and crashing into a wall had merely caused him to stagger back.
Her chakra was also scarcely developed – what Kushina had perceived to be a large amount yesterday had simply been a huge part of her reserves. Now, thinking calmly and rationally, she could grudgingly conclude that said reserves, although being quite large for a six-year-old, were still meager compared to what she had been capable of before. Her chakra control, based on mental training rather than physical one, had been good enough, but the chakra mastered with it – far from it.
She had to work on it as soon as possible, she had to regain her previous level of strength if she was to-
To do what?
She had somehow come up with an explanation about the phenomenon, an explanation that she considered logical enough to beat down the confusion that threatened to overwhelm her otherwise. The question that remained, however, burned her on the inside: What are you going to do now that you know how, when and where you are?
For a fraction of a second she froze, her mind reeling back. She was six now… untainted, unspoiled, unmarred by the presence of a terrible demon inside. It would be whole two years before the council locked the Kyūbi within her, enough time for Kushina to make her way out of here, away from that terrible creature and everything it entitled. Away from the pain, the hatred, the weight of that burden that had initially made her crumble in loneliness and scorn.
Almost immediately she shook her head, discarding the thought as if it was a cloth on fire, searing her. If not her, then who would bear that beast? Would she inflict that pain on someone else, now that she knew how to deal with it, knew that she was the most suitable host? Running away from her responsibility would mean abandoning Konoha and the thought proved to be so unbearable that she shied away from the very idea.
This was her home now, had been for longer than any of them knew. She would stay and protect it, again, especially now, when she knew of the turmoil that awaited them.
And with that thought the answer to her initial question presented itself in the image of a confused golden-haired boy with clear blue eyes.
This was not her Minato, but this child had the potential to one day become one of the greatest men Konoha had ever known – a man that she had grown to respect, trust, follow, love. A man, who had met his end much too early, unexpectedly, paying a price too high for her inability to protect the village from what she had been tasked with keeping at bay.
A man who should not, would not die, she vowed to herself now, latching on the thought with such ferocity that it almost startled her, her newly found conviction burning on the inside like living fire.
Because a world where Minato Namikaze did not exist was wrong and unnatural, a colder, darker place. Whatever she did, however she acted, she would find that masked man and make sure that Minato never faced him, never faced the Kyūbi and lived to watch over Konoha for many years more.
She was back in the past and she wouldn't be Kushina Uzumaki if she didn't make the best of it – she would change the future and correct her mistakes even if it was the last thing she did.
The chair creaked audibly in the still hospital room, the sound carrying well after the Hokage had occupied it with an unreadable expression plastered on his face.
Much as she tried not to stare, Kushina soon found herself stealing curious glances at this familiar, yet different man. So much younger than she remembered him, still in his prime, Hiruzen Sarutobi might have been only a few years older than Minato was when he took up the hat he so dreamed of.
This Sandaime stood straight and alert, the subtle weariness now absent from the slump of his shoulders, long fingers intertwining gracefully in his lap with not an ounce of the lassitude she had grown to recognise before – this was the Hokage of her childhood, imposing in his own right.
Had she really thought him severe and intimidating once? There was a different look playing in his kind eyes this time around, a feeling of concern she did not remember seeing about him until well into her adulthood.
With a sudden twinge of guilt she realised that Sandaime had never really changed. What she had thought to be the man mellowing out over the years was in fact her own perspective altering as she learned how to look beyond the cloud of anger and fear that had plagued her childhood. The man had always been concerned – a certain affability defined his character no matter what age she would see him at.
She wondered briefly how much she had missed, how much she had failed to see and realise, being blinded by the naïveté of childhood.
"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, intent eyes studying every stolen glance and every twinge that she could hardly school herself to control at this point.
"Fine" she whispered through a voice too rough to be convincing before clearing her throat and trying again, "Tired."
Sandaime harrumphed with a nod and fell silent by her side, most likely expecting some sort of explanation to the events of a day ago.
Should she react? Would she have spoken, accused, shouted if she were a child all over again? Probably, but then again she had never really gotten herself in such a situation in her past; there was no measure of comparison, nothing to base her supposed reaction on, save for a few hazy memories and speculations. She was still too weary to attempt to reenact her own boisterous personality of years past… or as things might have it – present.
With a quiet sigh she directed a look at Sandaime and found herself lost in the depths of this kind, sympathetic look that she had failed to understand before and for the briefest of seconds she was suddenly on the brink of telling him everything.
She quickly averted her eyes, the moment passing as fast as it had risen, and Kushina twined her hands in her lap, eyeing them stubbornly.
Telling anyone about her past… or future… was quite pointless, she had decided already, for they would more than likely think her mad. She had little proof to her claims – her memory of her childhood, as the memory of almost any other child, was hazy and lacked particular details that involved anything but her daily school life. Therefore, she could hardly make any major future predictions to prove her point, not until well ahead into the future, some years away from now.
In the meantime, would Konoha decide that she was mentally unstable and thus dangerous, she would most likely be locked away, losing precious time that she could otherwise spend into improving her skills and searching for the masked man.
With predictions being an impossibility, her other option to convince would be revealing secrets about the village's system and its leaders that she had learned over the years. In her situation, this was likely the least prudent thing she could do – she was still a foreigner, who had been accepted in Konoha only recently. Proving exceptional knowledge about the village's secret affairs would only make them doubt her loyalty and by extension – Uzushiogakure's.
Now more than ever Uzu needed its allies if Kushina was ever to prevent its destruction – another point on her to-do list, right up there with saving Minato, Sakumo Hatake, Dan Kato, Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara and generally as many people as she could, caution be damned.
She would have to achieve all that alone, however, within the boundaries of rationality and expectations or she would give her position away and things would likely end terribly. Demonstrations of superior skill like those of the previous day were quite unacceptable and she had to give a good enough excuse for them if she were to satisfy Hiruzen Sarutobi's curiosity.
"I hear you had an eventful first day at the academy." Sandaime began quietly and Kushina gulped.
Let the farce begin.
"So what of it, ya know?"
"I've come to apologise." The man said quietly and the resolve to act as mean as her younger self would have, quickly gave way to surprise as she directed a startled look at him. "It was too early to enroll you in the academy, the shock from the-"
"No, ya know!" she interrupted him sternly, afraid all of a sudden that she wouldn't be allowed to go back. Her plans centered wildly around interacting with her future teammates, helping them to get stronger faster, making sure that they would all survive through the third shinobi world war if it ever occurred again.
Sandaime lifted an eyebrow.
"I mean, I am fine, I can deal with it! I just panicked, ya know, things were… new… but I won't anymore!"
"Panicking was well within measure, but you have to understand, Kushina, that your reaction was wrong. You frightened your classmates and disrespected your teacher. Actions like that cannot be tolerated in this village."
"I didn't harm anyone, I wasn't going to! But they said stuff about my hair and they laughed at me, they thought I was a weak little girl so I wanted to show them they were wrong!"
It was probably the best, most child-like excuse for her actions that she could come up with and she could only hope beyond hope that Sandaime would believe her and not look into it any further, even if it ruined her image substantially from early on.
Kushina the show-off bully – that was one title she had been hoping to avoid this time around.
"Is that why you attempted a release technique, to show your superior chakra control?"
To say that she had attempted one was a mild understatement, but she decided not to correct him there.
Instead she nodded.
"How did you come to know such a technique?"
Ah, the dreaded question. She gulped, hopefully not all too visibly.
"I saw some shinobi at home do it and I asked what it was so I read about it in a book." she mumbled hastily, hoping that she had managed to make her speech scrambled enough to sound childish.
When she had been six, she had barely been aware what a genjutsu was, much less how to counter it and actually attempting it, or anything involving chakra for that matter, had been very much out of the question. There had been others, however, who had fared much better than she – Minato for one, was most certainly already well-read enough to know precisely what she had performed. Which is why, she suspected, he was perhaps the only person who didn't backtrack in horror when she had started casting the technique.
Kakashi, who was clearly not yet born, had accomplished even more by the time he was her age.
So why shouldn't she allow herself a touch of genius as well? She would need it as an alibi in any case, if she was to ask for advanced training at some point.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's look was impassive, schooled into an unreadable mask and, much as she tried, Kushina could interpret none of his actual thoughts on the matter.
"Is that how you came to develop a chakra control fine enough to let you leap across roofs?"
Oh, right, she had done that too.
"Um well, no, but before I came here I got extra lessons, because they said I represent my village and I shouldn't fail them, ya know." She said in a rush, forcing herself to sound as vague as possible, letting Hiruzen interpret the "they" as he saw fit.
It was a risky explanation that could easily be disproven with a further investigation with Uzushiogakure and she could only hope that the Hokage wouldn't be suspicious enough to launch one or she might find herself stuck between the hammer and the anvil.
That was future Kushina's problem, however – present Kushina wanted nothing more but to escape the harsh scrutiny in Sandaime's eyes.
"Any other unexpected talents that we should be aware of?" the man asked lightly, casually, as if highly disinterested, and the girl actually stopped to consider this one through. Maybe if she admitted early knowledge of a trick or two it would save her the trouble of suspicion later on?
How much knowledge was too much knowledge for a child her age, imaginary genius inclinations included?
"Well I can walk on walls and water and stuff." she said finally, deciding to play it safe for now.
Sandaime only sighed, shaking his head slowly.
"Don't make me leave the academy, please!" she started again, jumping at the first opportunity, already fearing that she had changed events irrevocably. "I won't mess with any techniques anymore and I won't jump on roofs, I promise!"
To her surprise, the Hokage chuckled, the brief smile not quite reaching his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, regarding her with a quiet look.
"I should hope not. You have shown incredible prowess; I wonder whether your enrollment in the academy is at all needed at this stage. However, this might be the first time since your arrival that you have shown enthusiasm about anything in Konoha." Here the man paused, weighing her with a look and Kushina could only wonder whether she imagined the brief tint of suspicion on his face. All too soon it had disappeared behind another warming smile. "You can return to the academy tomorrow, under the condition that you formally apologise to Sasshi-sensei and promise to never disrespect him in a show of skill again."
She was only too eager to consent.
In, out, steady now. In, out, breathe.
She didn't know why she was quite so nervous for something so ridiculously simple.
With a final sharp intake of breath, she pushed the door open, stepping through the dreaded threshold and into the academy classroom that held so many bittersweet memories for her.
The entire room grew still.
Kushina sighed inwardly, having expected something of the sort. The startled looks of her classmates didn't make her feel any less uncomfortable, however, and the sudden unnatural silence was making the fine hair of her neck rise.
Children, as adorable as they were, could be strangely eerie at times, she had to remind herself.
Trying her best to ignore the quiet murmur that seemed to swell in the room like the whisper of a beehive, she made her way to the front of the room where her sensei was standing, eyeing her with a strict look.
Before the man could say anything, she quickly pulled short next to him and bent low at the waist, voicing the most respectful apology that she could think of, letting honest regret seep into her voice. She hadn't meant to undermine the man's position in any way, truly; had she known better she would have avoided it all together, but she had been too shocked to react properly.
After a brief pause the man nodded and she found herself forced to turn to the see of faces that was still openly staring at her, not even bothering to mask curious looks behind the masks of disinterest that adults usually attempted to put into place. There was more time until the start of the lesson after all, which gave her plenty of time to get acquainted to her lovely classmates all over again.
To her credit, her eyes flickered to Minato's face only once, taking in yet again that peculiar look of quiet wonder that he had directed at her. Without a word she passed by him and continued to the back of the room, making her way to her old seat out of habit, not stopping to marvel at the ease with which people parted to let her through. Apparently in this timeline her vicious reputation would precede the comical one.
"What's up with your hair?" the boy sitting in front of her quipped, turning to stare at her through genuine wonder.
…alright, perhaps she had hurried with the previous evaluation, she thought, as the quiet whispers finally turned into loud talks once again, the commotion already wearing off as the children around her decided that yes, she was in fact human, and she was in fact a chubby little girl, who was actually shorter than most of them.
"How can anyone have hair like that?"
"How do you get it that red?"
"It's so weird!"
"I would never go out with hair like that!" she heard a girl throw in, causing a few strained giggles. Surprisingly, she simply sighed, not a trace of her signature anger bubbling on the inside this time around.
Because, childish stature or not, intellectually she was a grown woman now, who viewed such childish quips as nothing more than. It was typical, expected even, of children to argue and pick on each other, mean as it was. Furthermore, as a person who had, at least emotionally, become a mother not too long ago, she couldn't help but see the whole picture with a different eye – blissfully fond of the theatrics as only a parent could be when seeing children at their games.
In her reverie she had completely skipped the small group of boys that had gathered around her, clearly eager to re-establish their territory by putting down the one girl everyone feared. The self-appointed leader, a rather large Inozuka boy, whose first name Kushina had embarrassingly forgotten, was grinning at her through a few missing teeth, small meaty hands triumphantly placed on his hips.
"You have such a weird name, kids in our village would never be called like that." he said haughtily, quickly drawing the line between us and you. Were she indeed a child, this might have, probably actually had indeed hurt her. "I know! Tomato!" he said loudly, pointing a chubby finger at her face. "From this day on we're going to call you Tomato! You have a fat round face with red hair! Just like a tomato!"
The boys around him burst out in giggles and she found herself simply sighing tiredly at the repetitive quips – why had she thought she could avoid them this time around?
"I hate tomatoes!"
"Me too! I never eat them in my salad! As if Minato would ever like a tomato like you!"
Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, seeking out the quiet blond boy, who was eyeing the Inozuka kid through the same measure of surprise. Unsurprisingly, he did not comment, as he never had before, following her reaction curiously instead.
This was new. Had they decided to tease her for her nonsensical blabber yesterday as well, deciding that she somehow fancied the boy?
She had to admit that as far as little kids were concerned, the mere fact that a girl had addressed a boy directly without the use of a honorific already counted as relationship material. How could they know that technically the two of them had never spoken before? Well, not in this timeline anyway.
The thought felt quite disturbing in a way – yes this was Minato, but it was not her Minato – here, now, he was simply a child. She realised now, staring at the wide innocent eyes of the fair boy, that her overprotective impulses had very little to do with the kind of love she had grown to know in adulthood. She loved this boy quite differently – she admired him, she trusted him, she believed in him and most importantly, she respected his dreams. She loved the man he would one day become. Right now, however, she saw a child, a friend, and any other insinuation struck her as disturbing on one too many a level.
The boy had remained completely oblivious to her inner musings, snapping her out of her thoughts by pulling on one of her bangs through a less-than-friendly-grin.
"What's up, Tomato, cat got your tongue?"
"A tomato, ah?" she murmured, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips.
She couldn't force herself to actually beat those children as she once had, not in good conscience, regardless of her status of a child as well. Internally she was an adult long past; hitting a child was something she would never forgive herself. She had to handle the situation differently this time around.
"Watch this then!" she exclaimed, turning to face them head on and puffing out her cheeks, pressing her hair on both sides of her face.
The boys around her stared at her in utter shock, not having expected her to join in on the jokes meant to upset her, before the smallest of them giggled.
Soon enough all of them burst into laughter, save for the startled Inozuka kid. She released her breath in a huff, joining in on the laughter – a fact that no one seemed to mind. For the first time it felt as if those children were laughing with her, not at her.
"Now that's a tomato to remember!" she said loudly through giggles, making sure to pin their attention. It was about time she made a very important statement after all. "Tomatoes are really healthy, ya know, you should eat them to grow big and strong! I eat them all the time, that is why I could make chakra tricks yesterday and you need to be strong to be a good shinobi and I am the strongest, ya know! I am going to be Konoha's first female Hokage!"
Without her quite realising it, her look had strayed downward upon proclaiming that statement, finding a pair of wide blue eyes staring at her through mild fascination. A lifetime ago she would have asked him why he was staring and waved a fist at him. This time around she smiled widely at him, an inexplicable warm feeling spilling inside her as he smiled back.
AN: Because I felt the need to establish a few time-travel ground-rules and relationships before diving into this whole mess. The following chapter would probably contain a succession of scenes with a certain time skip in between, covering major different events in the time-span of about four-five years, so stay tuned!
Also, an important note! I will be basing the timeline of this fanfic on the general timeline I am using in my main fic "How It All Began". Naturally I am not looking forward to rewriting my whole story, so there will be major changes coming up (and I do mean major), however the time around which main events occur will be the same as it was the general timeline I personally drafted when diving into the world of Minato and Kushina and the third shinobi world war. Furthermore, I will use that first fic of mine as a basis for how Kushina and Minato's lives were prior to this time travel shift. Kushina's memories will reflect it.
I hope you enjoyed it! Your comments are very much welcome, be they negative or positive or simply asking a question – feel free, I will do my best to answer as soon as possible! Thank you for stopping by again! Till next time!
Ja ne~
