Hello again. This is Cindy, the Co-author of this account! I, um... Really don't know what to say at this point... Well let's just get onto the review responses then.
Native-x: Well, your just gonna have to wait and see aye?
Kani-leek-lover: I'm glad you liked that part. Gotta have a bit of fluff here and there, can't have it all being serious. With Shikaku its for you to figure out ^_^. Well, that's good. It took me a bit to get the school thing right, and I'm glad I managed to get it right. Well, I was under the impression that they were in the war to begin with, maybe not the front lines, but they were in the war, I mean Minato fought in the war, so why couldn't Kushina? You can count on Mito being alive at least until the two graduate. After that, it's all up in the air.
That's that, so onto then chapter!
"Uzumaki!" A loud voice of a teacher yelled, followed by a loud laugh.
Kasumi, who was sitting against a tree along with Shikaku, reading a book, just let out a sigh. Closing her book, she handed it over to Shikaku, who took it with an amused look on his face. Kasumi gave him a slightly annoyed look, before she stood up, her longer black and red hair swinging behind her.
Taking off in a run, Kasumi started to run up a wall using a chakra control excercise that the genin weren't supposed to have learned just yet, but she knew anyway, and went to the roof. Stopping as she looked around, Kasumi spotted a familiar head of red hair running at a fast pace, with a couple of chunin behind her. Shaking her head, Kasumi called down to Shikaku "I'll see you later Shikaku-san. Make sure my book is safe."
Shikaku simply gave a two finger salute Kasumi's book held firmly underneath his right arm, just as Inoichi and Choza walked by. Inoichi looked after Kasumi with an amused look "I hate nearly would have thought you would have considered her too troublesome at this point."
Shikaku gave a simple shrug at that, as he said "What can I say, she grows on you."
Choza let out a snort, while he munched on a bag of chips "The way things are going, you're going to end up on a team with her. Every team gets a Kunoichi afterall."
Shikaku gave a small sigh at that "Good thing she's not the Kunoichi of the year at the moment then. That goes to Uchiha Mikoto though, doesn't it?"
All three boys, at the thought of the Uchiha Kunoichi, let out a sigh, that followed by them rubbing their heads. Despite her being from such a stuck up clan, and the fact that she was to be the clan Matriarch eventually, she was eccentric. That was partially to due to Kushina's influence. The number one hyperactive redhead Kunoichi, or as her nickname was the 'bloody habanero after she beat up some students who called her 'Tomato' was influencing her, and many people (none in the Uchiha clan) were actually happy she wasn't so stuck up, though many wished it wasn't Kushina who influenced her.
One such person was Kasumi, who had lost her sister due to a genjutsu made by said Uchiha. It wasn't a bother to the Nara-like Uzumaki, but it was enough to have Kasumi loose her sister. In the two years that she had been in the academy she had grew enough to not be called a chibi anymore, which was to say she was now at an acceptable height of 3'6 and she had changed out of darker clothes, into still dark, but more brighter clothes such as a deep red.
Along with her physical growth, her mental aptitude had become even larger the before on account of Kasumi and Shikaku's daily Shogi match. Needless to say, the games usually took all of the break period, and it was to the point that when it wasn't one persons turn, they ate, while the other person took their turn. It got really boring for everyone who had decided to try and watch, but for those few who saw it interesting either way, still watched with extreme interest, though the matches seemed to always end in stalemates, but if one would look closer, the matches were dragging out further and further, which meant that the two still stood on even ground, but they were growing in their mental aptitude.
With a sigh, however, Kasumi threw a senbon at a wall to her right, which dug in and caused a yelp to be heard. Turning towards the wall, right as a genjutsu dispelled showing Uchiha Mikoto on the ground, the senbon that was thrown, an inch above her head, the dark haired girl standing at it with wide, coal black eyes.
Walking up to the girl that was on the ground, Kasumi simply said "Tell me where she is, and I won't tell anyone about you helping her. That, or I could have Mito-Oba-san deal you Kushina's punishment along with her."
It was simple, and straight to the point, but it got through to the Uchiha girl. No one, and that meant absolutely no one, wanted to have Uzumaki Mito's version of punishment. There had been a lot of people who ended up getting said punishment while Mito was younger, and here were still some now even. She was fierce and strong for someone who was almost 70-80, Kasumi didn't know exactly as she never gave her age to anyone.
Mikoto told her where she should have gone, and Kasumi gave her a light pat on the head in response. The red and black haired girl giving a soft smile, something that was still rare at this point even with Shikaku's influence, and jumped away, leaving the Uchiha Matriarch to be, in a bit of a stunned state.
Running to catch up to where Kushina was, Kasumi gave a small smile, figuring that it should have been obvious in hindsight. From what Mikoto had said, she was at the top of the Hokage monument, something that even civilian's can get up to with the right path up. It was also one of the few places that let Kushina see the whole village in peace and quiet. Not to mention that the sunset was honestly breathtaking when it came to the mountaintop view.
Kasumi eventually made it to the top of the monument, and to her surprise, instead of seeing Kushina alone, she saw the blonde boy from their class with her. She had a look of anger on her face, and the boy looked nervous, but before Kasumi could do anything, Kushina punched him in the nose, and ran off, her feet stomping along the way. Kasumi let out a small sigh at that, and walked over to the taller blonde boy.
When said blonde noticed her staring, he recoiled a bit due to her lilac eyes having such an intense quality to them. That was something that unnerved everyone except for Kushina. Her eyes usually held an intense color to them when she had her mind working overtime, and the fact that such a gaze was directed to him of all thing, unnerved him to no end.
After a few more seconds of staring, Kasumi, in her normal quiet tone, said "Your Namikaze Minato from our class... What is it you did to make Kushina-nee punch you?"
Minato gulped audibly, as he stood up, and shook his head "I-I didn't do anything. I just complimented her hair is all."
Kasumi's gave a hum of understand at that "Kushina-nee is brash, blunt, and all around stubborn, but her hair is a sore spot. How could it not be when in our first year of the academy people had started to call her 'Tomato' due to her hair? I ignored the calls of 'Rotten apple' but Kushina can take things a bit too literally at times."
Minato sweat-dropped at Kasumi's words. Was she trying to encourage him, or tell him off? He wasn't to sure.
"What I'm trying to say is, the compliment came as a surprise to her. She doesn't deal with surprises in the best ways, so don't worry. Also, I think you two would be nice together. I've already thought things through and I'm only six." Kasumi stated with a drawl at the end added with her soft tone.
That was another thing that had been added onto Kasumi's personality. She tended to add a drawling tone into her sentences just like Shikaku. It actually worked to piss enemies off, when in a fight, or comfort allies when outside of combat. It had the needed effects when it came to such fights, and it also helped that by doing that, she tended to be able think things out even more compared to when the enemy is trying to outwit her as well.
Minato gave a small smile towards the smaller girl, as he nodded "Thank you Uzumaki-san. I have to say though, Kushina-chan is confusing."
Kasumi, instead of blushing like she normally did from a compliment, gave a happy nod "Hai Namikaze-san. Just one thing." In an instant her calm demeanor turned demented "If you so much as think of hurting Kushina-nee, and you'll be on the wrong end of an Uzumaki made Kibaku Fuda."
There was something know very quickly when it came to the Uzumaki clan as well. Until they were mature enough to make their own, Uzumaki children were not allowed anything explosive. An Uzumaki Kibaku Fuda was normally three to four times as strong as a normal Kibaku Fuda. Take into consideration that Kasumi was on her way to becoming a Fuuinjutsu master, as she had a master over simplify things, and wasn't allowed to continue her studies until she graduated, and Kasumi's Kibuka Fuda would be enough to take out a good tenth of the village with one tag.
Despite not knowing all this, Minato still felt a shiver down his spine, when he saw her expression. With a quick, and hasty, nod, Kasumi's expression brightened once again, before she gave a bright wave, and walked away. The only thought going through the blonde's head was 'How can she have such wild mood swings?'
Along the way, however, Kasumi started to hum a song from her previous life. As she grew older, some of her old memories came back, but they were more of the artistic parts. She remembered some things like a face, but it never gave her any comfort. It always seemed like the memory of whatever dreadful thing that face meant, but every time it seemed like the memory would spill out of whatever crevice it was in, she would wake up, as was normal. It annoyed her to no end at times, but at others she was glad that whatever horrible memory it was never came again.
In the time that she had been in Konoha, she had confided in her sister and Mito more than she ever had before, and that included her sensory abilities. Mito seemed surprised by the fact that she was a sensory, and told her with strong emotions to never let the the council know about her abilities until she was Officially a Shinobi. Kasumi was confused about why, until Mito said that the Sensory ability was hereditary, but also rare. It meant that if she was found out to be a sensory type, she could be carted off and turned into little more than breeding stock, as crude as that sounded.
The young Uzumaki frowned at that thought, but didn't stop humming the song she had playing in her head. She knew what this world was like now, but it still didn't mean that she wants worried about the future. With a sigh, she stopped at Ichiraku's, where lo and behold, the Uzumaki that she had been she arching far and wide for, was sitting in eating ramen. With a sigh, she gave a small nod towards Shikaku, who was also waiting at Ichiraku's, though he was standing outside of the stand, where as, Kushina was inside stuffing her face.
Shikaku handed the youngest Uzumaki her book, while said girl gave a small smirk towards Shikaku. Despite what anyone said, the two had actually gone out with each other on multiple occasions, and they both enjoyed the company of the other. That was one thing that was good when it came to the Nara, and Uzumaki. They both had the mental capacity of an adult, even if their tactical minds were a bit dull compared to some of the adult Nara's, but they both knew what they were getting into, and they knew not to push anything until they were old enough. That was actually something that both Mito, and Shikaku's parents had stated multiple times.
The two sets of guardians knew that their children, or Grandchildren in Mito's case, had every idea of what they were doing. Even if the idea of a future with each other didn't exactly pop up right away, they knew that Kasumi had every intention of seeing how far this would actually be able to go. So far though, it actually seemed that the two were going to be together in this sense for awhile. Both got along far too well for any other option, and unless something diaristic changes with one of their personalities, then there was nothing large stopping the two from staying in this sort of relationship for a while, before it bloomed into an actual relationship.
"Why do I even bother chasing her if she ends up here every time?" Kasumi drawled out, with a slightly hung head.
Shikaku let out another laugh, as he said "I don't know. You were complaining about not getting enough exercise at the academy. Think of chasing her as said exercise."
Kasumi scowled at Shikaku's comment, but she did take a seat inside of the Ramen stand, Shikaku not to far behind, taking the seat on Kasumi's left, while Kushina was on the younger Uzumaki's right.
Kushina, who had heard their conversation, was still stuffing her face with some Shio Ramen, while Kasumi got Chikin Ramen, and Shikaku got Tonkotsu Ramen. This was another thing that the Nara and Uzumaki did. They just went somewhere to eat at times. Sometimes it was a place Shikaku's choosing, sometimes it was of Kasumi's, and sometimes it was at Ichiraku's due to Kasumi trying to find Kushina. Either way, both of the intellectual Giants, in child terms, were fine with the meal they had now, though Kasumi was slightly annoyed due to the fact that they had to eat here, when she had wanted to go to the BBQ place that the Akimichi ran, but she was happy nonetheless.
Turning towards Shikaku with a neutral look, Kasumi Casually stated "So. Mito-oba-san Wanted me to invite you to dinner tomorrow."
Kushina choked on her Ramen at that, while Shikaku just paused for a second and raised an eyebrow at that "Oh? My parents wanted me to bring you over at some point as well. Guess they think alike in that sense."
Kasumi let out a snort as she said "Or they planned this from the beginning. Knowing Mito-oba-san, It wouldn't surprise me. She gave me a talking to about this whole situation not to long ago."
"Yeah? My mother gave me the same talking to as you I guess." Shikaku drawled out "Mendokusè.. Of course they would do something like this. "
Kushina, who finally recovered at this point, looked towards her sister with wide eyes "You're actually going to invite him over? Aren't you moving a bit fast with all this? I mean, you're only six, and he's eight."
"Ah? Well what about you and Namikaze-san?" Kasumi asked in a drawling speech pattern.
Kushina grew a bit red around her ears, while she quickly turned away, and said "I don't know what you're talking about 'ttebane!"
Kasumi smirked as she heard the verbal tic that Kushina had "Oh? Than what's with the 'ttebane? You only let that out if you're nervous, or excited, and I'm pretty sure you're not excited."
Kushina turned towards her sister with a fierce look, as she yelled "There's nothing between me and Minato 'ttebane!"
Kasumi, instead of getting scared, just let out a laugh and said "Hai, hai. There's nothing going on between you and Minato Nee-chan."
Shikaku let out a braking laugh along with Kasumi's giggle when Kushina dropped her head against counter that was in front of them.
A bit later when all of them finished eating, Kasumi was staring at the ground slightly, as she and Kushina walked home. Shikaku had went on his own way saying that he would be there for dinner at the Uzumaki household tomorrow, but that wasn't what Kasumi thinking about. Despite not letting anyone know it, she was worried about what the future would hold in this case. She knew that she would eventually have to kill someone, but it never really hit her until after she came to konoha due to what happened to her parents.
She hadn't wanted to think about it until now either. The fact that she would actually have to end someone's life... It scared her to no end. She knew that this wasn't her first life, and she could remember bits and pieces of the last life now, but she definitely knew that in her past life it was frowned upon to kill anyone unless in a desperate situation or unless you were a soldier. The fact that she was being trained to kill at the age of six... that was definitely something that was frowned upon when it came to her old life. She didn't remember what her old life was like, but she at the very least that this world was barbaric in contrast.
Shaking her head away from those thoughts, she continued on her way home, not noticing Kushina's look of worry.
So? Did you guys like this chapter as well?
Seems like Mito and Shikaku's parents have the same thing in mind, no matter what the twos ages are. They both have the mental ability of someone far older, so they know what their getting into, even if they couldn't really do anything physically, or emotionally for that matter, until their older. Expect more soon though, so until next time!
Questions:
What do you think of the fact that Kushina is influencing the future Uchiha matriarch?
What did you think of Kasumi and Minato's talk?
What about Kasumi's 'mood swing'?
Do you think things are progress at an ok pace between Shikaku and Kasumi?
That's it for now.