Disclaimer: Nope, don't own anything

Kushina/Minato Pairing

Warning: Could have been a lot better and MIGHT seem to be moving fast, but I'd like things to keep moving forward as much as possible. (I might be speeding the academy years up a bit faster in the next chapter, not sure yet)

I have College and I just got a job, so I'm currently training for that. Please do understand that updates might not be often as of right now.

Story: NOT edited

Flamers NOT Welcome; If you have a problem, go write your own.

Thank you for the Favs/alerts/ and reviews

Drifting Blossom Chapter 6

Kushina's bright eyes watched Minato with confusion. She hadn't known Naruto's parents, but Minato looked so much like him that she couldn't deny that they were somehow related. Father and son seemed like it, for no one else resembled them in Konoha.

Another thing that bothered her, was Minato's name. Minato Namikaze. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, trying to remind her of something that was just out of reach.

Looking away, she found her gaze flickering over a couple of other academy students, but for some odd reason, it always went back to that blonde, spiky haired person.

Class passed by quickly and Kushina soon found herself in front of a door that she knew and at the same time, didn't. She gripped the scroll a bit harder before sighing and raising her hand to knock on the door to the Head of the Hospitals office. A woman answered and before she could even question the redhead, Kushina stuffed the scroll into her hand and was quickly on her way.

She had at least over a dozen more to deliver for today.

Kushina gazed widely around the Nara Compound. She hadn't expected in getting Clan Messages to deliver, but it didn't matter in the end, for she needed to continue out her punishment. She could even feel the gazes of the Anbu that always seemed to follow her as well.

Looking down at the address on the scroll, she then proceeded through the compound, getting lazy, but bright greetings. It was quite soothing that the Nara's haven't changed at all. Finally finding the small house that was on the Nara compound that she was looking for, Kushina climbed the stairs to the porch and knocked on the door.

A drawl was heard from the other side and a couple seconds later, the door was opened and Kushina froze at the familiar, yet unbelievably younger face of Shikaku Nara. She had forgotten that Shikamaru's father was the next heir for the Nara Clan and that she would have a greater chance in running into the clan heirs.

"Afternoon…" the Nara boy drawled, eyeing the girl on his porch with a raised eyebrow. He had to be at least eight by his looks, but Kushina quickly shoved that thought aside and smiled at the older boy.

"I have a message for the Nara Clan Leader." She responded, holding out the scroll that was addressed to the boy's father. Shikaku's other eyebrow rose to join the other one before he took the scroll from the red headed girl.

"Have a good day!" and she was down the steps and speeding towards her next destination, a knot settling in her stomach before it slowly went away. If she met one Clan Heir, then she was bound to meet all of the others at some point, and seeing that she had quite the amount of scrolls left, it might be today.

Meeting Ino's grandfather had been an odd experience, but Kushina felt relief that she didn't have to deal with the girl's young father this day. At least her deliveries were pleasant and nobody was bothering her.

Digging in her bag, Kushina sighed in relief that she was done for today and that she could go home and delve into the library that she was given free reign over.

When she walked through the doors to the Senju compound, Kushina toed her Shinobi shoes off and quickly found Mito within the kitchen. Without even asking, Kushina set to work on helping the elderly woman with dinner, which was homemade ramen tonight.

Kushina loved the salty taste of ramen, but bitter things just didn't settle well with her. When Mito had made a bitter dish, Mito had been amused at the face Kushina made when biting into the bitter food. From there on, Mito avoided bitter dishes for Kushina, who appreciated her consideration.

After dinner, Kushina swiftly made her way to the library, having to drag a stool up to the mural so she could reach the seal that needed to be unlocked. Swiftly rotating the seal clockwise like she had been shown and had done quite a lot in the past almost month, she made her way inside when it was done.

Kushina scanned quite a bit of rows on different kinds of seals before turning the corner and finding a section she had not previously explored. Curious as to what it contained, she found herself standing before the shelf and scanning over the titles with pursed lips.

Weak arms lost their hold on the scrolls that she was already holding and Kushina's mind was racing, piecing together many thoughts that suddenly crossed her mind. Her mouth became dry and her eyes widened as she continued to stare at one of the scrolls.

'Space-Time Ninjutsu Seals: The Basics'

Quickly snatching the scroll off the shelf, Kushina began to scan through the pages, her mouth popping open when it started to explain in detail, the basics of the Second Hokage's Hiraishin No Jutsu. It was a Double Layered seal, the first layer dedicated to the 'space' and the other to 'Time' which was split with 'destination'. Kushina felt something click into place as she registered exactly what she was seeing.

Mito was an Uzumaki through and through. She would never take an apprentice unless they were an Uzumaki as well. Jiraiya, who had made small conversation with her over her seal checkups, had been turned down time and time again when he asked Mito to teach him. Yet with Kushina, she gladly complied to every question she had about sealing.

Now, as she gazed at the beginning workings of the Hiraishin No Jutsu, she suddenly connected the missing dots.

Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure and Father to Naruto. He was taught Sealing by an Uzumaki that was located in Konoha. The only two Uzumaki in Konoha were Mito and Kushina Uzumaki and Kushina knew, quite well, that Mito would never be the one to teach Minato to seal.

Her fists clenched as she berated herself for not recognizing that name so quickly, for taking so long to connect everything together and as she sputtered about her lack of attention in that aspect, she suddenly stiffened as another thought crossed her mind.

'Who was Naruto's mother?"

Kushina found her legs suddenly weakening, her knees shaking underneath her weight. Mito's voice filtered throughout her mind, but she didn't register the woman as she stood, frozen to the spot from her shocking thoughts.

Kushina Uzumaki was the only Uzumaki in Konoha that was very close to Minato's age and possibly the last Uzumaki remaining out of the entire clan. Mito was an old woman and unable to produce any more children.

Everything just came to a dead halt as Kushina realized that she was probably Naruto Uzumaki's mother.

She had been placed into her blonde teammate's mother's body.

A gurgle made its way past her lips and Kushina found her violet blue eyes taking in a worried Mito before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell into a dead faint.

Oooo

It was cold and she could see her breath whenever she exhaled. There was the sound of drip, drip, drip in the background, almost unnoticeable, but she found her attention zeroing in on that sound. All around her Kushina could make out a dreary scene, nothing at all pleasant about the dark water she was standing in.

Her red hair slid over her shoulders as she leaned forward, searching the area and wondering where exactly she had ended up. She remembered fainting after finding out exactly who Minato was and just who Kushina Uzumaki was.

She was the mother of Naruto Uzumaki.

Kushina could still feel surprise and absolute shock seeping throughout her body, but at the same time, something felt so right about it.

She sighed. That was probably her new personality and acceptance to her new reality helping her along with this whole messed up situation.

Hot air slithered down her neck and Kushina stiffened as she whirled around, gazing down a long passage way that had not been there mere seconds ago. The hot air in general had reminded her of her new position and thoughts of being a mother and of the Fourth Hokage left her mind. Her gaze did not drift from that long, dark hallway as hot air flooded it.

Dare she go down that Hallway?

With a deep breath, she set her shoulders and her eyes hardened before she finally trudged through the dark water.

The air seemed to get even hotter as she continued to move forward. This situation she found herself in was not a pleasant one so far. Having passed out in shock and waking up here of all places was definitely labeled unpleasant.

An opening appeared in her line of sight and she paused as she took in the bright light filtering through the arched passageway. Moving forward slowly, she finally came to the doorway, the light blinding her as it flashed brightly at her presence.

"So, my new Jailor finally decided to show her face." A snarl sounded throughout the room and seemed to press down upon Kushina's ears. Her face paled at the deep voice and her eyes flickered towards the culprit.

Standing within the middle of the room, upon a platform and surrounded by golden water, sat the Kyuubi. He was surrounded in golden chakra chains, which Kushina belatedly realized, were hers. With wary steps, she came to a stop out of reach if the chains did not hold the circular barrier.

"Kyuubi…"

The fox glared at Kushina and snorted, looking away from her.

"An Uzumaki, just like the last one. How I despise being caged. Filthy humans don't know their place."

Kushina didn't know what to say or where to start with the Kyuubi. She knew it was filled with hatred, but how was she going to get it to listen to her?

"I am…Kushina…" she finally decided on introducing herself. Kyuubi lifted a brow and frowned.

"I will not give my name away so willingly, pest."

How had Naruto managed to get the Kyuubi to go along with him?

"I um, I wish to be friends, ttebane!" she blurted out. Silence filled the entire area before a cackle filled the room. Kyuubi's tails flickered wildly around him as he stared at the girl with a wide, grin like smile on his face.

"Friends? You think you can be friends with me, brat? A small thing like you would be a nuisance."

Kushina scowled at him, but her face quickly slipped into a neutral mask. Naruto had looked content and pleased when Kyuubi had finally relented to his nagging. Naruto was also always cheerful and had obviously waited the Kyuubi out. With a deep breath, Kushina finally resolved her nerves and smiled brightly at the Kyuubi.

"I am Kushina Uzumaki and I'm going to be your friend, ttebane!"

She could and she would do this. Kushina will not let the future follow the same path. She would save as many as she could. Especially Naruto and Minato Namikaze. After her startling discovery, there was no possible way she would let Naruto be without a family this time.

The Kyuubi looked somewhat taken aback as he noticed the sudden switch in the small girl he had just met. Mito had been calm and collected, pushing his power down and restraining him. This girl was keeping him locked up, but he could feel a range of freedom within the seal.

What was so different about his new host?

He frowned and then sighed as he settled down on the platform.

"We'll see, Kushina." He replied, eyeing the girl who looked surprised by his words. "We'll see how far you can get."

Kushina's violet blue eyes lit up before everything began to dim. With one last look, Kushina found herself bolting upright in a bed, covered in a film of sweat.

There was a beeping from the side of her, and turning her head, she found a heart monitor keeping track of her vitals. With a pained groan from her head pounding, Kushina noticed that Mito Uzumaki was standing outside her hospital room with a doctor, both talking in hushed voices.

When both came back inside, Mito was suddenly by her side, looking relieved that the Uzumaki girl was alright and awake.

"Are you alright dear? Do you know what happened?" Mito questioned and Kushina found herself jamming up, her mouth unable to open. She couldn't tell the woman that she had figured out quite a bit of shocking information.

There was so much Kushina did want to tell Mito, but she knew for a fact that the only one to ever know about her situation, would be the Kyuubi. Even though she found herself trusting Mito and her words, Kushina couldn't allow a single word about the future to pass her lips. She could allude to some situations and whatnot, but Kushina would never let the knowledge of her soul being sent back in time, out to anyone.

"I…met the Kyuubi…" she said, wary of the doctor that had been checking everything. She had recognized him as the head of the Hospital, the only one that would probably be checking up on her from then on. Mito opened her mouth and then shut it before taking a deep breath.

"Was everything alright? Did your mindscape have your chakra chains? Was he behind bars?"

Kushina frowned. Kyuubi had mentioned hating cages.

"He is within a cage made of my chakra chains, within the middle of a lake of golden water and on a platform. He was unpleasant at first…but…I think he's alright."

At least, so far Kushina thought he was alright. She knew how much help he could be in the future, but right now, he was wary and very much filled with anger and hate from being sealed.

Mito remained silent before pulling out a pale yellow dress with a red embroidered swirl for the Uzumaki Clan on the back.

"We'll have to talk later, but the academy starts in half an hour, I thought you'd still like to attend class today…"

Kushina eyed Mito and finally took the short sleeved dress and obi that came with it from Mito. There was a pair of thigh high black stockings and her Shinobi shoes set aside for her. Bindings and underwear were set on top of the pile with short shorts for practical reasons.

"Wear our Uzumaki Clan Symbol with pride, Kushina-chan." Mito murmured, smiling and leaving the room with the head doctor.

Kushina ran her hand over the yellow fabric, eyes glazed over as she thought of everything that she had possibly figured out. With a heavy sigh, she found herself slightly smiling at the thought of Naruto having his family, but at the same time, it was awkward and nerve wracking. How does one take in the fact that their soul has been merged with their teammate's mother's own body and soul?

She cringed at the weird feeling passing through her, but shoved it aside. Some things just needed to happen and she wouldn't take away Naruto's dreams by denying his existence.

Tears sprung up within her eyes suddenly. She was sacrificing everything and she realized that there was even more things coming up.

To have Naruto, she needed to follow a path that led to him coming about, so in a way, Kushina was already destined to be with Minato if she wanted Naruto within her life again. The thing is, Kushina had already agreed to do anything to see the future changed for the better and if Naruto was not there, then it wouldn't be worth it.

She was doing this with Naruto mostly in mind and she wanted to see him happy. She had given up everything just to see him and everyone who she grew up with in Konoha, happy.

Kushina rubbed at her nose, thoughts drifting towards Minato. He was much more reserved than Naruto, who she realized, took after her, his mother, quite a lot. Kushina sighed, it was probably time to get to know her classmate, Minato, if she was to at least be somewhat happy with what she was resigning herself to.

"Naruto had better be thanking me." She finally grumbled, temper coming about as she thrust her covers off her body and quickly headed towards the bathroom to get ready.

Oooo

Delivering Scrolls for the third time this week, Kushina had found herself avoiding Minato like the plague. It wasn't her intention, but as she hopped from rooftop to rooftop, she realized that she was afraid that she might not even like Minato in the first place and ruin everything that should happen.

Kushina was on her last scroll delivery of the day and as she finally came within the district that the Orphanage was located in, Kushina found her nose wrinkling ever so slightly. This was another thing Kushina didn't want Naruto to face.

Knowing that he had been mistreated for holding the Kyuubi, she found anger seeping into her being at the thought of the Orphanage being unfair and biased.

Steeling her nerves, Kushina knocked on the Orphanage's doors and waited to be greeted. Door hinges squealed and Kushina looked down, digging out the scroll that the Orphanage needed and looking up, her violet blue eyes met with brilliant azure colored ones.

The boy was dressed in a simple blue t-shirt, khaki colored pants, and Shinobi shoes. He, at first, looked quite surprised at seeing Kushina standing before him, but then smiled at the redhead. Kushina on the other hand felt her insides freeze before she found herself struggling to hold back a grimace. Minato was an Orphan?

She didn't know that.

"Kushina-san? What are you doing here?" he questioned and Kushina's mouth went dry and her tongue felt like it had become swollen. She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before glancing away quickly to regain her confidence and nerve.

"I'm delivering scrolls…for the Hokage."

Surprise flickered across his face and Kushina knew it had to do with the fact that she was already in a way, doing missions before graduating from the academy in Konoha.

His eyebrows furrowed and he was just about to question her delivery on scrolls when Kushina found herself blurting out the first thing that she could think of.

"To become Hokage…is an admirable dream. I know that one day, you'll make that dream come true, ttebane!" and she smiled brightly before flushing at Minato's suddenly wide eyed look and pink dusted cheeks.

It wasn't because she thought him cute, though, he was, but she scowled at that thought. It was that Kushina felt embarrassed at her ability to suddenly blurt out whatever was on her mind before she could fully think it through and speak like a normal person.

It was troublesome, because that ability or rather, habit, could very much get her in trouble.

Swiftly handing the scroll to the Orphanage over, she spun on her heel and was about to launch herself back to the rooftops, when a hand grasped her wrist. Turning her head to glance at Minato out of the corner of her eye, she found him smiling kindly towards her.

"Thank you, Kushina-chan." He stated and Kushina blinked before pursing her lips.

"It's still san to you, Namikaze." She found herself stating, covering a smile as she watched him wilt a bit. Kushina could find herself getting along with Minato in the future.

Oooo

Kushina met up with Mikoto early Saturday morning, her eyes still half closed in her tired state. She had spent a lot of time practicing her next touch seal, which was a lightening one, meant to mess with the nerves and paralyze the opponent for half an hour tops. It was a difficult one and so far, Kushina managed to paralyze herself over ten times.

It was pain inducing and literally filling the girl up with static. She shocked everything she touched and her hair just wouldn't stay fully down, even after hours of rest.

There was a reason she didn't work with lightening.

Mikoto blinked at the sight of her friend with messy hair stick up all over the place. It was the simple mention of lightening that had the Uchiha snickering in amusement.

"So, in class, we were told to work on our chakra control." Mikoto suddenly stated, smiling brightly. "I've already gotten the leaf exercise down and my father is going to be teaching me the tree walking one next!"

Kushina opened her mouth and she found her voice failing. Lying would only bite her in the ass.

"I've already been taught the tree walking and water walking before I left Uzushiogakure…" she murmured, looking away. "But no matter how much I practice, I can't seem to get a good grip on my chakra control."

Mikoto blinked in surprise before her face took on a thoughtful expression. With a bit of pondering and eyes lighting up, she spouted the first thing she remembered.

"Meditation! My mother meditates to help her spiritual side of her chakra as well. It helps balance our chakra systems, like yin and yang."

Kushina found herself pausing at that statement and she looked down at the ground with a contemplative gaze. Would she find her control a lot better if she were to try meditating?

It wouldn't hurt to try.

The rest of the day the two girls went over what they learned in class and then went separate ways after Mikoto was found by her mother, who finished her shopping.

Oooo

Clearing her mind, Kushina settled into a seated position with her knuckles pressed together in front of her stomach. She had never tried to meditate before, but something seemed to fall into place with her as she closed her eyes and began to breathe in even paces.

The flow of her chakra was steady, as always, until, for some reason, it felt a lot stronger than usual. It was like her senses heightened and she was left feeling her chakra within her body, flowing like an ocean just out of her grasp.

With brows furrowing, Kushina mentally reached out towards her chakra with an imaginative hand, seeking to claim that chakra and control. Before she could even grasp hold of it, she found herself falling and gasping as she landed in shin deep golden water.

Kushina blinked as she found herself before a sleeping Kyuubi, who hadn't even woken from the girl's loud splash. Apparently, meditation was also a door to the Kyuubi and not just from passing out from shock.

It took her a bit of time to figure out how to get back to consciousness, but she had found that it was the same as meditating.

Breaking concentration, Kushina found herself back to reality, her position still the same as before. She would have to find a way to meditate without opening that 'door' to the Kyuubi, but it was a good thing to know that she was able to get to him when she wished to nag at him to befriend him.

Though, Kushina did hope that meditation was a possible route that would help her with chakra control. If not, then she could ask Mito about finding better ways to work on it.

Oooo

Golden Chakra chains erupted from Kushina's back, thin, but insanely strong.

"Good. Now, I want you to work on forming a small barrier around yourself." Mito called out, watching the girl with narrowed eyes.

Five chakra chains pierced the ground around her and swiftly came back up, making a dome around the Uzumaki. An explosion then rocked the chakra chain barrier and Kushina found her knees shaking a bit from the strain. As long as she had the will to keep them up, her chakra chains would stay.

The reason she was even working with her chakra chains was because Mito had found out about Kushina trying to gain control over her chakra and the added chakra from the Kyuubi.

Practicing with her Chakra chains would help her in the long run.

"Eventually, you should be able to battle with your chakra chains like they are second nature. They are deadly Kushina. You wish to specialize in Sabotage, then so be it. With chakra chains, you can encase an entire platoon inside your barrier and annihilate them. There is no escape from these chains, this is the reason that they are special and rare among our Clan. They even have the ability to hold a tailed beast in place…"

Kushina could only take in Mito's words like a sponge. Ryuga hadn't told that to her. He might have mentioned some things about chakra chains, but he didn't exactly mention just how strong and valuable these chains could be.

From there, Kushina continued to hold her chakra chains up, determined to strengthen her control and ability to use the chains with ease.

Oooo

Kushina stumbled in her step as she was rooftop hopping before righting herself out. There was so much on her mind dealing with Naruto, Minato, Kushina herself, and her progress. It was a lot, something that was taken in and sort of processed in a way that let her cope. She didn't want to overload herself and cause problems. With another leap, she landed on the ground and paused as she looked at the very large house.

With pursed lips, she tilted her head and tried to remember if she had ever passed by this house, before and now.

Coming up blank, Kushina finally knocked on the door and waited, looking down at the scroll to see if it was the right house.

The door opened and Kushina looked up, eyes widening as she spotted messy, silver hair and dark eyes that were almost black. Her heart started to thump heavily in her chest as a man by the name of Kakashi Hatake popped up within her head, looking just like this man.

This was Sakumo Hatake, father of Kakashi Hatake.

Kushina suddenly found herself peering past the man, trying to see if there was a child like Kakashi behind Sakumo, but quickly turned her attention back towards the man. Tightening her hand around the scroll, she then smiled, a hint of sadness upon her face as she recalled that this man hadn't been around in her other time. She would try to make sure he stayed, for Kakashi-sensei.

"Message for Hatake-san, from the Hokage." Kushina said, holding the scroll out towards the man. Sakumo smiled kindly at the redhead and quickly took the scroll from her hand.

"What's a little girl like you doing delivering the messages?" he questioned with an eyebrow raised and amusement written on his face. Kushina shrugged before grinning at him.

"This is my punishment for pranking people." She merely stated and Sakumo could barely keep the smile on his face concealed.

"Better get back to delivering messages then…?"

Kushina blinked owlishly as he left off and then she smiled at him. "Kushina Uzumaki."

"Sakumo Hatake." He replied, reaching out and ruffling Kushina's hair, causing her to scowl at him.

"Be on your way, wouldn't want to hold anything up." And Kushina waved, eyes darting back towards the open doorway and past him, searching, but not finding.

Kushina wondered when she would be able to meet Sakumo's son, Kakashi Hatake. It was something that Kushina couldn't wait for.

Information: I made Kushina aware of Minato being Hokage because they learned about them in the Academy. She didn't recognize him because he is just a kid who looks like Naruto. Other than Hiruzen having a picture of him, and the Hokage mountain, there seems to be no other pictures. Words, yes, but not pictures and even if there is a Name, it doesn't mean you're going to place Hokage Minato Namikaze, to the face of a child. Also if there was a picture, WHO wouldn't have realized that Naruto and He were father and son? seriously...Naruto is a mini me...

Kushina/Sakura is not just Sakura anymore. The reason she did not have a meltdown or that whole 'EWWW I'm Naruto's Mother!' fit, is because she is adapting to the reality she is living. Sure, she will feel odd, weird, slightly disturbed, but if she does NOT follow at least some of the same paths, there will be NO Naruto. He will not exist and she can not accept a world where everyone is happy and at peace without the one that was fighting for it so strongly.

Kist: Thank you for the review. As for Kushina ever telling anyone (I did mention it in the story) I don't think I can. I've debated it over and over and over again and there's just too many Accepting situations, interrogation situations, and such. If anything Kurama will be the only one because, well, He does have access to her memories. And sure, there have been many situations where they don't say a word, but as much as I love the whole confiding in Mito, I'd rather Mito go unaware.

(And your Seal for Chakra Control is an amazing idea that I found very interesting and If I ever use it, credit will go to you.) Thank you lots

Tonegawa Rie: I've got greyish blue eyes and darn freckles lol. (Played connect the dots in highschool too many times with my friends...)