Well, well, well… it's you, the reader.
This is awkward. Cue random comment about trash pandas (raccoons – I just call them trash pandas). For those of you who don't know, Sumiton is the ink release.
Here we go, motherfuckers.
x-x-x-x-x
Kushina had been awake for a couple weeks. Awake for the first time in a decade. She felt anger, sadness, and happiness all rolled into one.
Anger because physical therapy was taking as long as it did. She longed to be up and about doing as she pleased. Kushina was not the type to ever sit still for long and be happy with it. Not to mention learning about Konoha's betrayal of Uzushiogakure after the eastern side of the village was attacked. The attack consisted of several explosions, but the residue pointed towards Uzumaki seals. Kushina had a nice, long chat with Hiruzen about that one. By "nice," it was more of Kushina shouting angrily at Hiruzen.
She was saddened upon receiving the news of Minato's death and how Naruto had grown up. It felt like yesterday when she last saw Minato, but suddenly… he was gone. Forever. She had looked over the seal that Minato made and grimaced.
It would certainly do the job, but there was one problem.
He had, in his rush to complete it, left a workaround for the fox to torment Naruto. Not in a way that it would be able to take over or weaken the overall seal, but it was able to forcibly drag Naruto into his mindscape and hurt him.
But she couldn't stop herself from being happy whenever Naruto was around. She started to teach him Fuinjutsu… well, calligraphy, but it was close enough for now. But, at Naruto's request, Kushina taught Naruto a certain seal and helped him make two of them, which were then applied to his arms.
Needless to say, once Naruto fully learned how to use the seals, he'd be able to launch things away from him just by touching them. That is, if the seal worked the way Kushina thought it would. She told him not to use it until she was able to double-check it to make sure it wouldn't blow up, because seals could do that if you weren't careful.
Seals had a tendency to either do nothing, set things on fire, blow up, or send things to hell if you messed up on the seal. Yeah, it was a good idea to make sure you knew what you were doing. Winging it was potentially very deadly, not just for the enemy, but also for whoever used the seal.
That brought her back to an important subject: the new relationship between Konohagakure and Uzushiogakure, which she was chatting with Naruto about.
"Kaa-san, are you there?" Naruto asked when Kushina got lost in her thoughts again. She did that a lot.
Kushina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Yeah, sorry about that. Just thinking, dattebane."
That did not change the fact that she hated being stuck in a hospital bed, condemned to do physical therapy for an hour every day. Naruto, who was sitting in a nearby chair with his hood and mask down, nodded. Kushina had asked him to always keep his hood and mask down when he was around her.
"Naruto?"
"Hm?"
"Who are your loyalties with?" Kushina asked. She hoped Naruto knew that he could tell her anything. Besides, his answer would have an impact on what she did once she got out of this god-forsaken hospital.
Naruto's gaze hardened, "Not with Konoha."
That made sense. Konoha, after they had an Uzumaki and the demon fox under their control, decided to try and destroy Uzushiogakure. They didn't want the chance of Uzushiogakure demanding that all Uzumaki clan members be brought back to Uzushiogakure, out of Konoha's control.
But Kushina had been counting on the answer he gave.
"That's fine. One day, when we're both strong enough, we'll go home," Kushina said after motioning for Naruto to come closer. She pat Naruto on the head, ruffling his hair.
"Where is home?"
Kushina pulled Naruto onto her lap and held him close. She wasn't going to lose anybody else. She had to make sure he was strong. She had to make sure that she was strong. Strong enough to survive the journey.
"Uzushiogakure."
x-x-x-x-x
Naruto had changed over the past 3 years. For one, he finally had a mother taking care of him. One that he didn't even know existed until Hiruzen told him that Kushina woke up. But Naruto had to admit, he was grateful. Kushina, after she was released from the hospital, patched up the workaround that the demon fox had found to torment Naruto. Naruto was no longer forcibly pulled into his mindscape or tormented during his birthdays.
He lived together with his mother in a small apartment, but it was good enough. With his mother training him, he had become much stronger, although he was lacking in Taijutsu now and he was still unable to perform any Genjutsu. Naruto made up for his lack of Taijutsu by using arm blades. Sleek and dark, they were very deadly if used properly.
Kushina had, about a year into living together, forced Naruto to undergo a change in appearance for safety reasons. Rumors that Kushina was still alive had spread to the other nations, including rumors about her son. Kushina decided that a change in appearance was due. Both of them now had dyed white hair and contacts that made the sclera black while the pupils and irises were the same shade of purple that they naturally had: neon purple.
Needless to say, the rumors had died down since then.
Although Naruto swapped out his red shirt and bandages for a simple black long-sleeve shirt. He replaced his jacket with a dark silvery jacket with a thin metal layer for protection, although it was several sizes larger than him.
He had progressed in Fuinjutsu a little, having finished calligraphy a year before. His mother had explained how there were 15 levels of mastery in the Uzumaki sealing arts. She explained how people like Jiraiya, people considered to be seal masters without being of the Uzumaki clan, were only a level 5, on average. Kushina herself was a level 14 seal master.
Naruto was just barely a level 2 after a year of practice, but Kushina told him that he was moving faster than many people who learned Fuinjutsu. He was thankful for that.
He wondered what team he'd be placed on, having passed the graduation test. Naruto started to pay attention to Iruka, who was listing teams.
"-Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Choji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi. Team 9 is still in use this year. Team 10 will be Ino Yamanaka, Fumiko, and Sai. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. Finally, Team 11 will be Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki, and Mizuko. Your sensei will be Kushina Uzumaki."
Iruka finished, putting down the clipboard and inhaling deeply, nearly out of breath from listing most of the teams without taking a pause for air. Several of the new Genin looked at Naruto, hearing both his last name and the last name of his sensei. They didn't know that Kushina was his mother.
After a bit, the class split up to sit with their teams, Shikamaru moving over to Naruto and sitting next to him. A black-haired girl with dark purple eyes and a plain hoodie walked up to them and sat next to Shikamaru. The girl only had a dull grey hoodie and black pants. Her headband was loosely tied around her neck. Other than that, she had average shinobi sandals.
"I assume you're Mizuko?" Shikamaru asked. The girl nodded.
"Troublesome."
Iruka rapped his knuckles on the chalkboard to get the attention of the class, "The Jounin assigned to be your sensei will arrive shortly. In the meantime, behave. I'm going for my lunch break now."
With that, he left the room. The new teams began to chat with each other, for the most part. Some of them just sat in awkward silence.
"So, Naruto," Shikamaru said. Naruto turned to Shikamaru.
Naruto, despite having a mother now, didn't change much at the academy. He was slightly less antisocial, but not by much.
"Your last name is Uzumaki."
"So?"
"The last name of our sensei is also Uzumaki."
Naruto nodded and looked out the window. It was raining outside. Naruto liked rain. It was never too bright outside or too hot outside whenever it was raining. "Yes. Kaa-san was already training me, but she'll be training a team now, I suppose."
Shikamaru did a double take.
That was the most he had ever heard Naruto say at one time.
Wait…
"She's your mother?"
"Yes."
Shikamaru nodded. That explained the last name. "Troublesome."
A few minutes later, several people walked into the room in a line.
One had spiky silver hair. He had his headband tilted so it covered his eye. In his hand was a little orange book, but from the distance, Naruto couldn't see what the title was. The Jounin otherwise looked quite normal, wearing the standard Jounin attire.
The next was a woman with wild long black hair and bright red eyes. It looked as though her clothing was made entirely of bandages, ending around the middle of her thighs. Probably a Genjutsu specialist, based on the clothing, Naruto internally guessed.
There was a man with short spiky black hair. He was smoking a cigarette, which Naruto internally grimaced at. He otherwise looked to be wearing the standard Jounin attire, though he did have a sash around his waist with the kanji for "fire" on it, like the ones that the Twelve Guardian Shinobi had.
The last one was one that Naruto recognized, his mother. She had her hair up in a ponytail with her bangs kept out of her face by her headband. She had a black version of the standard Jounin flak jacket and a black sleeveless shirt. She wore standard Anbu pants. Her sheathed katana was attached to her back.
Kushina's eyes fell on Naruto before she smiled, "Team 11, come with me."
x-x-x-x-x
Kushina sat across from the trio of Genin. She had led them up to the roof for introductions to get an idea of what was to come. The rain didn't bother her.
"Alright, we might as well start up with introductions. I'm Kushina Uzumaki and I like my son, ramen, and Fuinjutsu. I don't like people who use others as weapons or tools. My goal is to one day go back to Uzushiogakure," Kushina said. Then she motioned towards Shikamaru.
"Fine. I'm Shikamaru Nara. I like watching clouds and sleeping. I dislike putting effort into things. My goal is to be an average ninja and marry an average girl. Maybe have a son and a daughter. I'll retire when my son becomes a respectable ninja and when my daughter marries. I plan to die of old age before my wife."
Shikamaru yawned and leaned back against a nearby wall. Kushina deadpanned, 'A true Nara.'
Kushina motioned to Mizuko.
"Well… I-I'm Mizuko… I like t-the quiet. I don't l-like loud noises… I h-have no goals," Mizuko said. Kushina nodded. She had to help the girl fix her stuttering. Then she motioned to Naruto.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like training with Kaa-san and trying to perfect my Sumiton techniques. I dislike talking, but I'll do it if I have to. My goal is to one day go to Uzushiogakure."
Naruto's tone was curt and slightly harsh, but he did the best he could.
No, that was a lie. He didn't really care what his tone of voice sounded like.
"Well, it's nice to know I have an interesting team. Tomorrow, meet me at training ground 32 at 9 in the morning. I'll be testing your skills so I have an idea on what to train you in," Kushina said with a smile on her face. She was itching to throw a few punches, even if she had to hold back a bit against the Genin team.
"See you then!"
x-x-x-x-x
Naruto watched as his new teammates walked into the clearing. He could hear the soil squelch a little from the rain of the previous day. It was still a little muddy, but not much. Shikamaru looked tired and carefree, but slightly irritated from having to be awake. Mizuko looked pale as a sheet and had dark marks under her eyes. She clearly hadn't slept well.
"Where's Kushina-sensei?" Shikamaru asked, yawning.
"She'll be here in a couple minutes. Kaa-san had to go get something quickly," Naruto answered. Today would be the first time he had a spar with his mother in a few months. He knew Kushina's method of finding out what skills a person had.
That method often involved fists.
Sure enough, Kushina showed up a few minutes later.
"Hello, kiddos," she said. Naruto had made sure to bring his headband with him, since he had forgotten it the day before. He had it loosely tied around his neck, the black cloth blending in with the shadow cast by his hood.
"I'll be testing your skills individually, at the same time. Through a spar."
Mizuko raised her hand. Kushina nodded to her.
"Um… h-how would you t-test all of us… at the sa-same time?" Mizuko asked.
Kushina smirked as a pair of clones popped into life on either side of her, "That's how."
"O-Ok."
Kushina quickly pulled Naruto away for a spar, her clones dragging Mizuko and Shikamaru off into different directions for the same thing.
"Ready?" She asked. Naruto took a deep, calming breath. He wouldn't be able to win, no, his mother was an elite. He was a mere Genin. And he knew it. But that didn't stop him from trying to do his best.
"Ready."
Kushina jumped forwards, unsheathing and slashing with her katana in one fluid motion. Naruto leaned back 90 degrees, narrowly avoiding being beheaded by his own mother. He shot back up and backflipped away, stopping several feet away and flashing through hand-signs. Kushina dashed forwards again, flipping her sword to a reverse grip.
"Sumiton: Ink Mist!" Naruto shouted, quickly pulling the hidden zipper on his facemask open in time for him to spew out a fine black and inky mist. Part one complete, he told himself.
Kushina dashed through it effortlessly, homing in on Naruto's chakra signature. Naruto jumped up and over his mother and sensei as she used a reverse beheading slash. Naruto jumped away from his mother, trying to get more space while flying through more hand-signs. It probably wouldn't do the job, but it would hopefully slow her down.
"Sumiton: Ink Mist Binding Coffin!" Naruto held his palms out, fingers clenched. Then he closed his fists, focusing on solidifying the inky mist around anything and everything in the mist and crushing the life out of it. Part two complete.
A low chuckle sounded behind him, alerting Naruto of his failed attempt. He dropped to the ground and rolled, avoiding another slash from his mother.
"Really, Naruto-kun, do you really think that would work on me just yet? We are Uzumaki; while we focus on Fuinjutsu, all members of our clan can use Sumiton. Seals are more than just ink and paper! Here, let me show you. Sumiton: Dripping Puppets!"
The inky mist solidified on the ground near Kushina, forming puddles of ink. From the puddles rose a pair of short humanoid inky creations, ink dripping off them. Neither had legs, but they seemingly slid over the grass towards Naruto without a problem.
One of the "puppets" swung an arm at Naruto, who extended his arm blades and cut through the creation. The slash cut the thing clean in half before it deformed and melted into a puddle of ink. The other "puppet" quickly followed suit when Naruto cut through it.
Naruto retracted the arm blades and formed a hand-sign, "Sumiton: Ink Clones."
From the puddles that Kushina's Dripping Puppets had deformed into, a pair of identical Naruto clones rose. Naruto jumped backwards as his clones dashed towards Kushina, arm blades drawn. Kushina easily blocked the attacks of both clones, using one sword to block four blades. She was a skilled swordswoman, after all.
Meanwhile, Naruto sat down and began flipping through hand-signs. He had learned that he could create seals using ink… without using paper. He only knew a few seals though. One of his clones pulled away and dashed around Kushina, only to be kicked in the chest and deform into a flying puddle of ink. The other one was quickly beheaded. Kushina turned to dash at Naruto, only to be met by his final technique.
"Sumiton: Flash Seal!" Naruto shouted. The kanji for "flash" floated in the air in front of him, entirely made of ink, before it was sent flying at Kushina. Then it seemingly exploded into a blinding flash of light. Naruto had barely looked away in time to avoid being blinded.
He turned back around after the light died down, only to see a dome of chains. Chakra chains, to be exact. The chains shifted around, swirling about, until they had completely retracted back to Kushina. She stretched as four chains sprouted from her back and lifted her into the air.
"That was a nice try, Naruto-kun, but I'm not down yet. It'll take a lot more to take me down, dattebane!" Kushina said cheerily. The chains started to lift themselves and move forwards, planting themselves into the ground as they moved Kushina closer to Naruto.
Naruto knew he was in trouble. Big trouble.
His mother only ever pulled out the chakra chains when she had to put in a little effort or more. He had actually managed to push her far enough to get her to put in a little effort. Naruto crouched low to the ground and dashed forwards, using the muddy and inky puddles to skate forwards through use of chakra.
Once he was close enough, Naruto jumped upwards, extending both arm blades and spinning around in a blur, turning him into a human buzz saw. Another chain sprouted from Kushina's back and batted him away, skidding him off the ground.
"I might be your mom, but I'm not going to take it too easy on you, Naruto-kun. You won't get better or stronger if I hold back too much," Kushina said. Naruto had to admit, she was right.
"Understood, Kaa-san."
Naruto dashed forwards once more, dodging the chains sent his way, and jumped onto one of the four chains Kushina was using to keep herself in the air. The golden chakra chains dimmed as mud and ink splattered onto them from Naruto's shoes, but Naruto paid no heed to that. He jumped from one to another and then straight at Kushina, using the built up momentum to try and catch her by surprise.
Kushina raised herself higher and grabbed Naruto's wrist, effortlessly avoiding the blades. She spun herself around and threw Naruto towards the ground. At the last second, he exploded into a small shower of ink. Kushina pulsed her chakra outwards, searching for Naruto's chakra signature. She found it right above her.
Looking up, Kushina moved herself backwards to avoid the spinning buzz saw that was Naruto. He exploded into a shower of ink once more as he hit the ground. Kushina growled, 'Another substitution?'
Naruto rose from a large puddle of ink while holding his hands in a hand-sign, his eyes seemingly glowing from under the dark shadow provided by his hood.
"Sumiton: Ink Clone Saw Missiles."
Kushina's eyes widened slightly when clones of Naruto shot out of any and every puddle of ink, arm blades extended. Each one curled up and began spinning mid-air, arms out to their sides so the blades could do their job. Kushina smiled slightly as she maneuvered herself mid-air and slashed at the clones. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the original Naruto drop to one knee, panting, but still holding up the hand-sign.
The jutsu must have been taxing. Or he was already quite worn out. It was hard to tell.
Kushina pulled out a scroll and channeled chakra to her finger, turning chakra to ink as she quickly drew on the scroll. Then she used the chains to propel herself at Naruto, stopping a few feet away and flinging the scroll open.
"Hexagonal Paralysis!" Kushina shouted, throwing the paralysis seal at Naruto. The name came from the base used for it, the hexagon base, and then the function of the seal. Naruto tried to jump away, but the scroll hit and wrapped around him, tightly binding him and keeping him in place. Then he felt the chakra seeping into him and relaxing his muscles… until he collapsed.
The inky mist had vanished a while ago, making it easy for Naruto to see around the clearing. Kushina lowered herself to the ground as the chains retracted into her back.
"You did well, Naruto-kun, but you have much to learn."
x-x-x-x-x
Shikamaru was not happy. He wasn't happy that the first thing in the morning came in the form of Kushina swinging her sword at him, nearly cutting him in half every time. He had tried everything he could think of, except for one thing, but that one was only needed in a life or death situation he wouldn't be walking away from.
Setting off an exploding tag at point blank range.
Plus, Kushina was an elite. She could probably dodge it with ease.
Kushina stabbed at him, forcing Shikamaru to move to the side to avoid the blow. He didn't expect the sword to swing towards him though. It stopped less than half an inch away from his neck.
"That's enough for now. You have much to learn, Shikamaru, but hopefully I can help with that."
"Troublesome."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
x-x-x-x-x
Mizuko was having a difficult time even keeping up with Kushina, while Kushina was holding back. She pulled out a handful of wires, three for each hand, and swung them at Kushina.
The wires were sharpened with chakra, turning them into potentially deadly weapons. The wires hit Kushina, much to Mizuko's surprise.
She almost shrieked when ink dripped from the wounds before Kushina deformed into an inky blob and collapsing completely. Her senses screamed at her to duck, and so she did, narrowly dodging the sword the passed through where her neck was moments ago.
Mizuko rolled away and stood up, weaving her hands around and throwing the wires at Kushina. The wires seemingly expanded mid-air, revealing an intricate flying and spinning net of razor sharp wires. Chains sprouted from Kushina's back and launched her up and over the net before the chains vanished completely.
"Neat trick," Kushina commented cheerily. Mizuko pulled both hands backwards sharply, revealing another set of wires… that were attached to the flying net behind Kushina. The Jounin used her chains to launch herself upwards again, dodging the compacting net of wires once more. The wires flew back into Mizuko's hands, somehow not hurting her.
Mizuko turned tail and ran towards the trees when Kushina started using chains to propel herself towards the fleeing girl. Mizuko threw a wire at a nearby tree, which wrapped tightly around a branch, and retracted the wire. The wire, being stuck in place, pulled Mizuko towards it instead. It launched her into the air. Weaving her hands again, Mizuko flung another wire net at Kushina, who was still chasing her.
Then Kushina exploded in a small shower of ink. Mizuko looked around wildly as she flew in the air, until a chain wrapped around her ankles. Letting out a surprised yelp, Mizuko could do nothing as Kushina pulled her towards the ground and slammed her into it. Luckily, she hit a bit of mud, even if it only did a little to soften the landing.
Kushina walked over and pulled Mizuko up. The girl was coughing out small amounts of blood, making Kushina frown.
"Here, bite my arm."
Kushina pushed her arm towards Mizuko's mouth, forcing the girl to bite down. Her chakra, despite being a clone, flooded into the girl and healed her injuries.
"I have a good idea where you are. I'm impressed. I'm also happy that you aren't a fangirl. Those are useless. You, however, have a nice talent. You still have much to learn, like your teammates, but I'm confident you'll become a very strong kunoichi."
x-x-x-x-x
End of chapter.
"Fucking finally." - Me