DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

A/N: There's a LOT of dialogue in this and not a lot of action, but it will get us into Naruto's first big mission.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, Naruto speaking in her mindscape, etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

"Hello," a subdued Kushina said, holding her hands together almost as if in prayer. She bowed and heard her little cousin squeak - which was adorable - and her sensei's son scoff - which was not adorable at all! "If I may, I'd like to introduce myself again, 'ttebane." She peeked up at her little blonde cousin who had big, BIG beautiful eyes and was nodding eagerly. The little girl was also teary, and Kushina allowed herself to hope that it wasn't because she was scared of her, like last time.

Standing tall again, Kushina threw her ponytail behind her. "My name is Uzumaki Kushina, and I am a Jonin of Konohagakure. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

Kakashi looked to Naruto since Kushina had known him since the day he was born, but Naruto was busy being an agape idiot, so he decided to practice his introduction skills. "Maa, my name's Hatake Kakashi, and I am a Genin of Konohagakure." He could already see Kushina's brow twitching, so he figured he'd better wrap this up fast. "I like training with my father, dogs, and kenjutsu. And eggplant."

"As if I wanted to know about you… I already know you," Kushina hissed. Her hair was ready to whip right out of her ponytail. She immediately paled before turning as red as the tomatoes she hated, realizing that her mouth had gotten the best of her again. Fortunately, her little cousin was breaking into a fit of giggles at Kakashi-kun's misfortune.

Between barks of laughter, Naruto started and - although she wouldn't admit it - really hoped to get one of her teenage mother's big hugs again. Jiraiya had made a temporary seal that, for now, only needed chakra to mask Kurama. It even helped her chakra signature appear smaller to people, and that was always a bonus. She didn't even have to think about doing it!

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm a Genin, too. Umm, I love ramen but don't like the three minutes it takes to make instant ramen 'cause it's supposed to be instant!" She knew she must sound like an idiot, but the whole "Instant Ramen" thing always tremendously bugged her.

"Ichirakus is better anyway and he's super fast! And umm, I want to be Hokage, but I want to bring Tsunade-hime back to the village more or first 'cause she can help train and motivate all kunoichi and save people!" Naruto could admit that her mother's brilliant smile at that declaration got her even more excited. "I think seduction missions are bullshit and know girls can do anything boys can, plus we gotta get a medic on each team, ya know?" Naruto was talking faster and faster the more she went on, no matter if Kakashi was sighing as a clear complaint or not. "Don't count on me for that because I can only do first aid and I have a lot of chakra, and… I'm a front-liner," she finished, scratching the back of her head, pouting and feeling lame.

"GAH!" Kushina grabbed her little cousin and squeezed her tight, making a squeezing little accordion noise come out of the little girl's lungs before she finally relented.

Naruto almost passed out, feeling that she may have just gone to heaven both literally and figuratively. That was her MOTHER who had nearly hugged the life out of her! What a way to go.

"SO CUUUUTE!" Kushina gushed, hearts appearing all around her.

"Hey, I'm serious," Naruto said, feeling a little embarrassed about being called cute by someone so stunningly beautiful. That genjutsu she'd pulled off with the hearts flying around was also really something, too. How could her mother, who was also an Uzumaki with a big fox in her gut, do genjutsus when she couldn't?!

"WHY CAN'T YOU BE CUTE LIKE THAT KAKASHI-KUN?"

Kakashi hummed before he finally answered. "Hn."

"YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT," both females screamed, hair flying everywhere. Kakashi winced and took a step back, but would not alter what he'd said.

"What kind of Uchiha bullshit," Kushina began while Naruto went into how Kakashi had become the picture of a cartoon cowboy villain.

Whatever that was.

"GAAAAAH!" Kushina screamed at her teammate who had seemingly melted out of the wall. "Don't scare me like that you red-eyed bastard."

"Hn. What Uchiha… nonsense were you talking about, Kushina-chan?"

"Screw you, Fu," Kushina said, waving her arm dismissively in front of her. The two argued as Naruto studied the man in front of her that was clearly harassing her mother just when things were getting good.

Fugaku seemed older than her biological parents, but that could have been because he had an obvious stick up his butt, Naruto figured. She knew that a "Fugaku" was Sasuke's father, the former Clan Head, and this guy HAD to be him because although he looked more like a somewhat-ugly Itachi, (although ugly was something Itachi certainly was not,) this dude's chakra was so Sasuke-like that it was grossing her out by the association. It wasn't quite as dark and ugly as Sasuke's chakra had been as he got older, but it had a nasty edge to it that left a burnt feeling on the back of the girl's tongue.

Naruto twisted her lips into something akin to a sneer but bit them back. In her head, she snarked to herself in a pretend baby Sasuke voice, (something she did more than she realized,) "Nyagh, nyagh, nya... I'm going to kill all the Kage and capture the bijuu." What a bastard. I still can't believe it's his fault I'm in this situation... Stupid Sasuke. It may have been the Sage of Six Paths or all those dead Kage that threw her into this time period, but it was Sasuke's disgusting vision and goals that made the Sage do something so desperate.

At least she was getting to know her parents, though, and honestly? Naruto wouldn't give this up for anything in the world. Maybe not even for peace.

GET IT TOGETHER, NARUTO! Stop being angsty!

She was really glad that Kurama's voice was turned down in her head because of Jiraiya's seal because the fox was rethinking all his previously peaceful thoughts, as he begged Naruto to kill the Uchiha in front of her right now and be done with it. Her attention came back to her mother when a Hyuuga appeared from behind a bush, also scaring the redhead. It seemed like her mother's sensing ability kind of sucked right now. Naruto pointed at the Hyuuga.

"UGH!" Kushina groaned, putting her hands on her hips. "Why are you two following me? Don't deny it! FINE!" The redhead grabbed the Hyuuga by the ear; he began wincing as he was dragged through the bush, somehow managing to keep his clothes untorn by the time he was in front of them. "Hyuuga Hizashi," Kushina began, her voice turning darker at the next name - although her lips betrayed her tone as they turned up into a grin - "Uchiha Fugaku, meet my students. You know Kakashi-kun, and this is my little cousin, Uzumaki Naruto-chan. Naru-chan, these jerks are my teammates."

"Hello," Naruto said as she bowed. "Pleasure to meet you." The little blonde couldn't believe she was meeting her old friends' fathers, or that they were her mother's teammates. A little part of her felt betrayed that they never came to her aid when they were alive, but remembering Neji's sacrifice as she held him in her arms, dying, she vowed to save both his dad AND him. And maybe Fugaku.

Definitely Itachi, even though what he did was brave, it was horrible. She'd have to stop all that nonsense.

"You'll find that it's really not a pleasure at all," Kushina said saucily as she glared at her teammates. "What do you two want?"

Hizashi put his hands inside of his large kimono sleeves as he crossed his arms and rose elegantly. "To ensure that you don't corrupt the next generation."

"Hn."

Kushina gawked at them. "Why you!" Even Naruto was impressed at the string of expletives her mother put together, and although she was working on it (they had a swear jar at home,) Naruto thought she had been the vicar of vulgarities. "That's it! Change of plans! You four are with me!" Kushina began stomping toward the open training ground.

Naruto couldn't hold back a grin as she heard Neji's father almost whining to Fugaku that he knew this was a terrible idea, while Kakashi grumbled behind that mask of his. "What's wrong?" she finally asked her chibi former-sensei.

"This always happens. She's never gonna train us."

"I heard that!" Kushina yelled, making Kakashi shrink back behind the person he felt was his barely-girl teammate. "You two sit down over there."

"I told you," Kakashi whispered. The two small children sat on a large rock together, Kakashi scooting over to get away from the orange girl until she called him a chicken and griped about how she didn't have cooties. - Something that was debatable, in his mind.

What followed was an absolutely glorious battle that was so far beyond anything Naruto had seen in this time period, she couldn't seem to close her mouth. Even Kakashi was silent with his fists clenched. Although they had darted out of the way of an errant fireball jutsu or two, the three teenage Jonin were so, so good and fast, they seemed unstoppable. As a unit? If they weren't just sparring 2 on 1, with partners changing every couple of minutes? They probably were unbeatable! Naruto felt enormous pride that THIS was her mother.

"Do you think we'll ever be that good?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Naruto bit her lip but had to tell the truth. "I know you will be." When she turned back to watch the end of the spar, she didn't see the surprised look on Kakashi's face as he continued to stare at her as if he'd never seen her before, his cheeks pinkening underneath his mask. She began clapping and couldn't help but bounce around when the Jonins' spar ended. "That was so good!" The three Jonin talked quietly among themselves before deciding to go over their tactics and how they could improve for the two Genin.

Once wrapped up, Kushina seemed much happier, even pulling both her teammates into unwilling hugs which neither Jonin returned. She didn't seem to mind.

"I haven't seen them do that since they got promoted," Kakashi said quietly. "That was informative."

"It was awesome!" Naruto agreed, then slumped as she turned toward him. "You think that kunoichis can do whatever male shinobis can do, right?" Kakashi simply pointed at Kushina who had - for unknown reasons - wrapped her teammates in big glorious chains, making her laugh in sheer delight. In a smaller voice, she questioned, "you've known her for a long time."

"Yeah. She used to babysit me."

"Ah." Naruto pulled a few strands of hair into her mouth and chewed on them. Why had he never told her about her parents? If he was so close to both of them, had it just been too painful? She clearly remembered him quickly looking away from her when she introduced herself on the Academy rooftop a decade ago. "Let's not have secrets, okay?"

Kakashi didn't commit one way or another. Naruto felt her heart sink again.

Hours later, the two Uzumakis were on their tenth bowls of ramen, each, after dropping Kakashi off with his father. "So that idiot, Minato, said you grew up alone in Uzushio," Kushina said quietly before ordering another.

"Kinda."

"And you made it all the way to Konoha by yourself?" the redhead asked. Naruto's chubby cheeks were full of ramen as she nodded her head. "Why? And how... You couldn't have just been all alone!"

"Ah," Naruto agreed while scratching the back of her head as soon as she finished chewing. She didn't want to be rude in front of her mother: that just wasn't right! "Umm, there was a lady: she didn't like me, or," she grimaced and thought about the woman who was probably her nursemaid as a second-time infant, wondering how to describe her. "I don't know. She musta lost a child, and there I was, ya know."

"She took care of you," Kushina guessed. "If you felt that way, I suppose she wasn't your mother... And I'm sure you're mistaken about that anyway! Do you remember her name?"

Naruto shook her head, feeling guilty about that. "She had hair like yours, and she hardly ever talked, and the old man was quiet, too."

"Do you remember his name?"

"Uzumaki Hajime."

"Hajime?" Kushina nearly scoffed at what she considered a silly name. Suddenly a memory hit her like a ton of bricks: an Uzumaki elder with a stick up his butt, but... "Is he still alive?! Are there more of us?!" she asked excitedly, hope blooming in her chest that she hadn't felt in years.

Naruto nodded, but her face was sad. "I buried him. I'm sorry." Jiraiya was supposedly handling the Uzumaki Nagato situation, and Naruto had no idea of where Uzumaki Karin came from.

"Oh, honey," Kushina said, pulling back in pain before rushing forward to hug her little cousin. Half-Uzumaki or whatever Naru-chan was, she felt like home to her, and Kushina decided she would never let her go! She ruffled the teary-eyed girl's hair when she finally let up, glad that she hadn't given her one of what her teammates called her "hugs of doom." Naruto sniffed but didn't let tears fall, making Kushina shake her head in fondness. "You're so strong."

Naruto's eyes went wide and she looked away before nodding her head. She was strong. She might have been re-infantized and forced to grow up mostly alone again, but she chose to stay alive and not just drown herself in the whirling tides. She had survived a war with a goddess, and she still had people to protect, including her three parents - and her parents' friends. Minus Orochimaru maybe. "I am. I wanna be Hokage so I can change the system."

"Wow," Kushina said simply, before breaking out into a fit of snorts. Seeing the hurt look on Naruto's pretty little face, she grabbed the girl and squeezed her into her side. "I wasn't laughing at you, sweety! I was laughing 'cause that's what I want to be, too! And for the same reason! ...And so does that idiot, Minato."

Naruto smiled and nodded, thankful that her mother wasn't making fun of her before slurping up some more noodles. She knew that both of them had a lot going against them as they tried to achieve their goals. They were both considered foreigners, something Konoha wasn't TOO bad about, but it still made a difference. Plus her father was going to be the Yondaime! It was great, though, that they had the same reasons for wanting to be Hokage: they both wanted change.

Plus, Naruto was sure that each of them would eventually hold a lot of sway over Namikaze Minato.

"You shouldn't call your boyfriend an idiot so much," Naruto said sagely.

"B- boy- boyfriend?" Kushina stuttered, her mouth hanging open enough that Naruto could see noodles. Her little cousin laughing at her, Kushina gave her a playful swat which knocked the little girl off her barstool. "Sorry!" Naruto just kept laughing. "Shut up, Naruto," the redhead pouted.

"I think it's nice," Naruto declared. "My big brother and big sister... You can get married and have more little Uzumakis," she continued, meaning every word of it. Kushina was turning all kinds of colors and making squeaky noises but that was probably because she wanted it, Naruto figured, smirking to herself. As long as she and Jiraiya could fix her seals some more, Kurama would finish absorbing almost all of his other half by the time her baby replacement was born. Kurama PROMISED that because his chakra was being regained so slowly, Kushina would barely notice it. The fox had told her that her mother only channeled his chakra once, ever, and that was when she had been kidnapped as a young teenager.

Plus, she hadn't noticed when HALF of him had suddenly disappeared six years ago!

Kurama thought Kushina was an idiot for immediately shutting him and his chakra down, when she could have freed herself and killed her kidnappers (and everyone else, he'd said,) if she hadn't been so opposed to "his help." Naruto was glad that it all worked out the way it did since her mom told her - in her chakra imprint - about how she fell in love with Minato after he rescued her.

Part of Naruto wished that she could have children one day, too, as soon as she was super old - I just need to find myself a Nara, she thought dreamily before mentally slapping herself - but she'd never risk losing Kurama like that. "I'd like to have lots of nieces and nephews."

"GAH! You brat!"

"First we have to make you or Aniki Hokage, eh? Right after we get Tsunade-hime back!"

Kushina's glare over the embarrassing prospect of having babies with her idiotic boyfriend eventually softened. "You sure look up to Tsunade-hime, don't you?"

"I look up to you, too!" Naruto said sincerely, especially after watching her mother spar. "But yeah: Tsunade-hime's a combat medic, and she has lots of great ideas!"

Kushina hummed contemplatively. "I'm a combat medic, too."

"WHAT?! I didn't know that!"

"Yep," Kushina said. "Now, Tsunade's got some bullshit rules - oh, sorry - but anyway, I can't do everything that she can by a long shot, but I've never let rules stop me before, 'ttebane."

Naruto found herself wide-eyed again. "Can you teach me?" she asked in a quiet voice. She gulped when Kushina just shrugged and nodded as if the idea was no big deal. It was a huge deal!

"We've got lots of stuff to work on, though, Naru-chan. Minato said you haven't used your chains yet."

"I don't know if I can."

"If you're even a smidge Uzumaki, you can," Kushina said, "you've just gotta visualize them."

Naruto grimaced, wondering if that was true. Tsunade had never used them, to her knowledge. She did remember picturing her chakra appearing outside of her body, and it came out like arms and hands during the Fourth Shinobi War. Kami, she was weird.

"That was my chakra, brat."

"You're awake! And paying attention!"

"Tch. Listen to the annoying female."

"...and that your fuuinjutsu sucks!"

Naruto's first reaction was outrage: she was six for fuck's sake! "Hey! Well... Yeah," she pouted a moment later, knowing that compared to a full Uzumaki from Uzushio - or to her big brother/father/fathers - her sealing was terrible.

"Ha! It's no problem. Unlike your perv father - oh, sorry - I can FEEL the Uzumaki in you, kiddo. Whenever I'm in the village, we'll train that stuff. And did you know that using your chains in battle is considered an A-ranked feat? It's really not all that hard, but... Bwahahaha. I'm gonna get those chains out of you, kiddo," Kushina said, a dark expression taking over her face. "We're going to get cousin Tsunade back here and terrorize the hell out of her! Oh, sorry."

"I have a swear jar at home."

"What a terrible idea," Kushina said, feeling horrified at the prospect. How would she buy ramen if all her money was in a swear jar? A fox-like grin took over her features. "You called me your big sister." Seeing her "little sister" deflate and look away as she turned red, she grabbed and hugged her again. "I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER, 'TTEBANE!"

Naruto grinned into red hair as she was dying of suffocation.

Best. Day. Ever.

As a tall, dark-haired drink of water sunshinned in to save her, Naruto knew that it really was the very best day. "Sensei!"

"Troublesome," Shikaku sighed. It looked like Naruto was about to die: that would probably go on his record. "We got a mission. You, too, Kushina. First thing in the morning: pack for a month. We're going to the Fire Capital."

"Gross!" Kushina gasped as she read the mission details, her face screwing up more and more, to the point that even Naruto would think it a little unattractive. "You've gotta be shitting me - oh, sorry. Now, who am I gonna get," Kushina began as she tapped her chin before her eyes lit up with glee. "Let's get your teammate," she said to the little blonde.

"Kushina, you can't be serious," Shikaku said.

"Shut up, Lazyboy! Tell me it's not a good idea!"

Shikaku took a step away from the temperamental, horribly energetic female before shrugging his shoulders. "As long as his father doesn't find out, I'm down with it."

"Who?" Naruto asked. "Kakashi-kun? What about him?"

"Sakumo-sensei is a big softie," Kushina grinned at her classmate. Shikaku didn't look like he agreed with her opinion of the White Fang at all. "Just let me handle him!"

"Fine," he pushed three storage scrolls into her hands and turned around, waving behind him immediately afterward. "O530 at the North Gate, you two!"

"Okay!" Naruto cheered, very excited about her first mission outside of the village. She hoped that it wouldn't turn out as badly as her first C-ranked to Wave. Looking up at her mother/"big sis," she wondered what she was thinking.

"You're about the same size as Kakashi-kun... Let's go back to my apartment: we gotta alter these kimonos."

"Kimonos?!"