Yo everyone. I'm back with the next installment of Misty vortex. For those of you that care, I'm happy with all the freed back I've received, and I hope to get more feedback, even if it's negative, so long as it's not flames, I'll read it.
Onto reviews!
AngelLost4EverInLife: well here you go, I just hope you could add more in next time, ne?
Kani-leek-lover: glad you were so pumped, it always nice to have feedback.
1): Glad you liked the teams, and I couldn't have anything but Ino-Shika-cho in this case. As for Mikoto, she is a serious Kunoichi, she just didn't the damned Uchiha arrogance, which seems to be genetic in all the males except for Shisui and Obito, so there's that. As for the sweets and Cabbage, hey. Itachi had to get it somewhere, so why not his mother?
2): Yeah, the guilt of something like that would be enormous, and the guts it took for the normally quiet Kasumi, at least in comparison to most Uzumaki, to tell them? But, yeah. Kushina did say she was slightly upset that she waited so long, but she would still be her sister no matter what. Now Kasumi is practically guilt free, so she can be herself once again.
3): Ok, to answer your questions, as far as I knew Shizune didn't become her apprentice until about the middle of the third war, to which all three of her genin will be at least Chunin rank, maybe even Jõnin, so there would still be a long time for Tsunade to teach Shizune. To clarify this, however, Kasumi is not, nor will she ever be, Tsunade's apprentice. She wants to learn on her own to much for that.
4): Well, you are going to see in this case. Trust me when I say that your going to like this chapter just as much, even if I gave you a pesky cliffhanger in the process. No matter what, however, the number one hyper active knucklehead ninja will be born.
5): now, that was something I added in due to the fact that there was such a sad ending to the last chapter, which is something I don't like to do. A funny note, on the other hand... Either way, glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you like this chapter as well.
Well that's that, but I still wanna stated that I need a 'reading of' person for this story, as I'm curious to how this would turn out. Honestly, it would be extremely interesting, even as a side project where you update every once in awhile only. That said, let's get the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for non-cannon characters and events.
Some words came be extremely simple, while having a strong sense of emotion attached to them. The words 'I love you' is one example of this type of situation. What Namikaze Minato said, however, was just as, if not more, extreme in terms of emotion for the one he told. The one being told this, being Uzumaki Kasumi, sister of the Uzumaki that had been kidnapped, was shocked, before her hair flew up in a way similar to her sister when she got angry.
Seeing the look on her face, Minato paled a bit, but he did exactly what he was told, which was to lead the way, while explaining. As it turned out, Kumo had heard of the Uzumaki becoming a jinchuriki, and decided to try and add a Third to their arsenal. If that wasn't the worst part, it was also so they could make an army of Uzumaki soldiers, which caused Minato to have chills go down his spine.
Kasumi, unlike some of the others in the small group of theirs, was not sheltered in thinking about what another village could do. Turning someone into breeding stock to strengthen your forces was not above Kumo, or Iwa. Konoha was far from merciful towards its enemies, but they wouldn't do something like that just to strengthen their village. Konoha had been strong for the simple fact of their teamwork was almost always flawless on missions.
Almost anyways.
Every so often there would be a group of genin, or higher ranked individuals being put with people they didn't get along with, but more often then not, teamwork was the reason for the success of the hidden leaf, even going as far back as the clan wearing era. Something that was so brutal in terms of fighting, that the first and second Shinobi wars couldn't hold a candle to how brutal the fighting was.
Clearing her thoughts, Kasumi searched out with her senses to find the chakra signature of her sister at the very least, using her sensory ability that she had almost completely forgotten about. Now that she remembered it though, she remembered that her Chakra sensory was sensitive enough that she could pinpoint an ally from miles away, which is why when she found the signature that she was looking for, she turned towards Minato and told him that she knew where they were.
The blonde boy, who trusted Kasumi enough to not lead him astray, was surprised by that. He had no indication that she could pinpoint locations of enemies by whatever means she used. She hadn't lead him astray yet though, so he would take whatever Kasumi was doing in stride so that he could save Kushina, and get her home.
The two continued to run for a few hundred feet, before Kasumi stopped and made a shadow clone to go with Minato, while she told him that she was going to be making something to help distract the Kumo nin. She didn't want him to waste time worrying about her, and instead he wanted the blonde boy to go and save her sister. He could worry about her later.
Staying for a couple of seconds, Minato just nodded, and went forwards, Kasumi's clone following not to far behind, while the original sat down and started to work on a seal that could help make sure that they could get away if needed.
The seal, in essence, was almost like a moving barrier seal, something that would be extremely useful all things considered, as even if it was weaker, it could help save lives when you had to retreat. She had managed to start on is seal, with Mito's notes as this was her idea, but it wasn't until team placements that she managed to finish it, and since she never had anyone to tell about it to.
The shielding would always be weaker then a planted barrier seal, one with a point of origin that stayed put. The grounded barrier seals tended to be strong enough to hold back a Bijudama, if what Mito's research notes said were true. With this in mind, she had tried to create a moving barrier seal with enough reinforcement to at the very least, keep a few Shinobi from dying while on the retreat. The biggest problem was that it would be difficult to make, with a three hour production time for one.
It was a really good thing that she had one that was almost made already with her, otherwise she wouldn't be able to make it, and help Minato.
With a nod, Kasumi sealed up her ink, and rolled up the rest of her blank Tate's back into a scroll, while she started to head towards Minato, the seal in hand as a precaution. She didn't know what rank the Kumo Nin had, but if it was anything higher then Chunin, then there was little to none that either one of them could do. It didn't matter what their unofficial ranking was.
Before she could get there, however, she stopped when the familiar feeling of a shadow clones memories came back to her. Kasumi stood there for a few seconds processing the clones memories, before she let out a sigh, and an amused shake of her head. It seems that blonde did manage to save Kushina by his lonesome, but now, Kasumi was just standing to the side, listening to what the two were saying to each other.
"Are you hurt? I came to save you." The blonde boy wonder simply said, though you could tell there was an edge of relief in his voice that Kushina was alright.
Kushina slowly looked up, but when she saw the familiar head of blonde, she let out a relieved look of her own, before she started to fall forwards. It seemed that the shock of he situation had finally settled in to where she just collapsed, but before could hit the ground, Minato rushed forwards and caught her.
With a soft, closed eye smile, Minato said "You'll be alright now."
Before Kushina could say anything, however, Minato started to pick Kushina up in a princess style hold. The redhead in his arms, gave a startled sound, as she said "Wait a minute!"
Minato just gave her another smile, as he jumped up into the air, and onto a tree. Kasumi, who had sealed up the Kumo nin using an ANBU assassination scroll that she had 'Commandeered' from Mito's storage room, even if she didn't know why it was there, followed quickly behind, as Minato stopped at the top of a tree.
On top of the tree, however, Kushina noticed something in Minato's hand that looked very familiar. With the surprise evident in her voice, she quietly said "That's..."
Minato gave a smile towards Kushina as he said "Your hair is beautiful, so I noticed it right away."
Kushina looked at the blonde in surprise once again, before she looked away and said "But you've always ignored me..."
The blonde boy didn't even have to look to towards her while he said "It was because I know your strong, in body and spirit... But this is a fight between two villages. It's different then your other fights so..."
Kushina gave him a slightly indignant look, as she asked "So?"
Turning towards her with a smile, Minato said "I didn't want to lose you."
The indignant look, turned to surprise, before it quickly morphed back into a worried look as she asked "Even if I'm an outsider?"
Minato gave her a slight questioning look, as he asked "What makes you say that? You live in Konohagakure so you're one of us."
The blonde boy ended up giving Kushina another soft smile in the process, while she looked away slightly in embarrassment. The whole while, Kasumi was smiling in amusement at the sweet, and 'Fluffy' moment between her sister and the blonde boy who she was sure would marry said sister. It was so sweet, it almost made the Manjū loving girl queasy, but more in the sense of how overly sweet it was, not that it was sweet in general.
Giving another sigh, Kasumi sent a shadow clone home to make sure that Kushina didn't worry, while she steeled herself and started to head towards Konoha as well, but instead she was headed towards the Hokage tower. She was going to hand over the scrolls that the Kumo nin were in as a way for this war to end faster. It wouldn't do much, that much she knew, as Kumo nin hardly ever broke under interrogation tactics, but if they managed to get anything out of the enemy, then they could very well gain Intel to end this war a hell of a lot faster then they would via normal means.
Continuing forward, undeterred by the looks sent her way by the few and between civilians, and the wayward Konoha nin, or ANBU that she passed by, she walked into the Hokage tower, almost expecting the Sandaime to be home by now. Instead, she found the older man sitting behind a desk with a small pile of paper on it as well. Looking up from said pile, Sarutobi Hiruzen sent a small smile towards the Uzumaki.
"Ah, Kasumi-san. What can I do for you at this time of night?" Hiruzen asked, though there was a tired tone to his voice.
Kasumi bowed slightly to him, gaining an amused chuckle, while her expression stayed serious "Hokage-sama, I'm here to report tonight's crisis has been averted. Namikaze Minato saved Uzumaki Kushina from three Chunin level Kumo nin. I have all three in ANBU assassination scrolls that I found In Uzumaki Mito's storage room, ready for T&I."
Hiruzen's soft look turned serious, as he nodded in understanding "Neko. Please take the scrolls from Uzumaki-San, and bring them to T&I. I want out best interrogators to coax the enemy into giving us information."
The ANBU with the cat mask, who appeared out of nowhere, gave a simple, and soundless nod, before taking the scrolls from the Uzumaki. The second the ANBU left the room, Hiruzen turned back towards Kasumi "I am to assume you assisted Namikaze-San in retrieving Kushina-San as well?"
Kasumi gave a nod "Through means of Sensory, to which I have hidden for reason I shall not divulge, I located Uzumaki Kushina and assisted Namikaze Minato in retrieving and returning her. I did not, however, engage the enemy, as Namikaze-San had already taken care of the Chunin. I did nothing to contribute to the actual fight."
The main reason that Kasumi was even talking about that little bit of information was because they were at war. That simple fact meant that the Hokage could promote someone anytime he so wished, so long as he believed that the Shinobi, or Kunoichi, met the criteria for the promotion. She didn't want the promotion yet, and it was exceedingly obvious by the way she made everything that Minato did known, while trying to show that what she did was minuscule and insignificant. In the end, she knew that it was Hiruzen's choice as to if she was promoted, but she didn't want to be promoted, just to do something that would break her team apart.
They had only been a team for little more then a day. Not to mention she had only been a Genin for little more then a week, and the Hokage were already debating to promote her.
Hiruzen gave a hum of Acknowledgment, to where he said "I understand. However, due to the circumstances, I have no choice but to bestow upon both you and Namikaze-San thr Rank of Chunin. Your regulation vest will arrive at your home within the next two days."
Kasumi grimaced slightly at that, but she nodded none the less. She expected this, and she even knew she would be a Chunin faster the Kushina, mainly due to how she thought and all that. Kushina could become a jõnin easily, but she needed to think about what it took to become one before she could really become Jõnin rank.
Turning away from the Hokage, Kasumi started to head towards home, expecting Kushina to be upset about her little sister becoming a Chunin before she did, though the fact that a certain blonde became a Chunin as well, was enough to cause the older redhead to get angry. Or maybe she would be happy. Who knows what she would be like at this point.
Before she could completely run off, however, Kasumi spotted a couple of small kids sneaking towards a food stand, a hungry look in their eyes. It was obvious what was going on, and it angered Kasumi. Even here in Konoha, orphans were not getting enough food.
Stiffening her posture, she walked towards the food stand before the kids could make a grab from anything, and she set down 12,000 Ryo. The food stand owner looked with wide eyes at the red head in front of him, though they widened even more when he noticed the headband that showed she was a Kunoichi.
Gulping audibly, the stand owner hesitantly asked "W-what can I do for you Kunoichi-San?"
Kasumi gave him an unamused look, as she turned her head towards the kids "You three. Grab whatever you want so long as it doesn't go over the amount I have here."
The three kids, two boys and a girl, all three covered in dirt and grim to the point she could only tell their eye colors, stared at her in surprise. The girl, who had silver-ish eyes and couldn't have been older then 4, was the first to speak, as she asked "Why?"
Kasumi sent the three a soft look, as she next down, making sure to keep the Ryo in sight as well as she ruffled her head, revealing slightly Auburn hair "Because I know what it's like to have nothing. Now, come on, get something to eat. It's on me."
The two boys were a little hesitant still, but the girl, who quickly rushed forward and pointed out a couple of things she wanted. Eventually the boys broke down as well, and decided to get something, to which Kasumi sent a scolding look towards the shop keeper. It was obvious that the three children had tried to take something from the shop keeper once before, or they had asked for something to eat, and said shop keeper ran the children off without so much as a remorseful look.
When the three got what they wanted, Kasumi lead them to a park, and sat down on a bench. The two boys sitting on one side, while Kasumi had the silver eyed girl in her lap. The whole time they were eating, Kasumi was telling stories about the pranks that Kushina had pulled on her classmates, which in turn caused the three kids to break into laughter.
Kasumi eventually set the smallest girl down onto the ground, as she stood and stretched. When she finished, she knelt down to the kids and asked "Do you three have anywhere to go?"
The boy on the right of the girl, and the tallest boy who had mud colored eyes, shook his head "We got no place to go."
Kasumi gave a sad smile towards the kids, before an idea popped into her head "How about you come home with me? I live with just my sister, and there's plenty of room. So how 'bout it?"
The little girl seemed ready to agree to that right away, but it was the last boy who stopped her. The last one was slightly taller then the girl, but shorter then the brown eyed boy, and his eyes were a pail blue color. His eyes stared at Kasumi with distrust, as he asked "Why are you so nice to us? Were Orphans! You have reason to!"
Kasumi's Violet eyes lit with anger, but it wasn't at the kids. Instead it was at whoever had caused these three kids to be so distrustful. Claiming the fire in her eyes, Kasumi said "I understand what you three are going through. I'm a clan kid, but me and my sister are the last of our clan. We have no one but ourselves, and even our parents died. We understand what it's like to lose what's important to us. So will you please consider this?"
Three pairs of wide eyes looked back towards Kasumi as she walked to the bench and sat down. It was far enough away that they would be able to whisper about what they were going to do, but close enough that Kasumi could see them. The first to say anything, was the girl as she hissed out "Why were you so mean to her? She's actually nice to us!"
The blue eyed boy snorted "What about the caretaker huh? She was nice to us, now look at what happened."
"That's different!" The girl hissed out.
"Can we just think about this? Please?" The brown eyed boy asked, a nervous tone to his voice "You two are always getting fights with each other."
The blue eyed boy sent a look towards the brown eyed one "Don't tell me you agree with her! That red head is a Kunoichi! She could be trying to trick us!"
The silver eyed girl let out growl as she said "So what?! She can't be older then 10!"
The brown eyed boy gave a small sigh, as he said "How about we ask her instead of trying to fight each other for something so trivial?"
Both the boy and the girl looked at each other, before they nodded and turned towards Kasumi, who had started to dip her head due to tiredness. Her eyes snapped open, however, when she heard the rustling of the grass showing that the children were walking towards her. Looking up at that, she gave them an honest, smile and asked "So have you three decided yet?"
The brown eyed boy shook his head "Not yet. We wanna ask you some questions first."
"Fire away." Kasumi stated, undeterred by this.
The blue eyed boy narrowed his eyes at the red head, before asking "Why do you have such vivid red hair?"
Kasumi was slightly startled by that question, but none the less, she laughed, and answered "My red hair is a trademark of the Uzumaki clan. My clan was known for its sealing abilities, and energy in general."
The smaller girl jumped in place a bit due to excitement, as she asked "Are you really a Kunoichi? Cuz you don't seem like a Kunoichi, not that you aren't pretty, though not all Kunoichi have to be pretty, but-"
The brown eyed boy quickly put a hand over the girls mouth, stopping the mini rant allowing Kasumi to say "Uh... Yeah, I'm a Kunoichi. To be specific, I'm Chunin rank, which is the same rank all the academy teachers are."
The three looked at her in surprise once again, but she just waved them off, an amused look on her face, as the brown eyed boy asked "Since you explained why your helping us, why go through all the trouble and spend so much on kids you barely know?"
"I think I explained that already." Kasumi said with an amused look "but I understand. I'm a Kunoichi, it's fine to not trust me. I just really want to help you as all."
The blue eyed boy turned toward his friends, both of which were looking at him, the girl with a pleading look, and the boy wi a raised eyebrow. With a deep sigh, the blue eyed boy conceded and said "Fine, Fine! We'll stay with the redhead. Are you happy now?"
The silver eyed girl cheered loudly at that, as Che all but charged at Kasumi, who caught the girl. Laughing slightly, Kasumi turned towards the blue eyed boy, and said "Thank you. My name's Kasumi by the way. Do you three have names?"
The blue eyed boy gave a sour look towards Kasumi, but the brown eyed boy shook his head "No. We never really had the chance."
"Hm... How 'bout we get you cleaned up before anything else." Kasumi suggested "No sense in trying to give you a name when I can't even see what you look like."
The blue eye bored made to protest, but in e end he was dragged into the Hot springs that the Senju compound had. It was just the four of them, but the boys, who had been living on the street, were blushing, as they saw Kasumi's developing figure. It was more in the sense that she was getting female curves then anything, but it was still enough to cause the boys to blush.
As it turned out, the brown eyed boy had blue hair of all things, though it was almost black with how dark it was, and he seemed to have more of a square jaw then the other boy. He looked like he would be more heavy-set when he grew up, so that meant he could do heavy work, or if he became a Shinobi, to which she would not force onto anyone, a tank like Shinobi who could take hits and deal them out just as much.
The other boy had white hair of all things, which surprisingly went with how pale his blue eyes were, but his thin jaw line showed that he was going to be more lithe when it came to his body type. His type were more meant for spead then anything, and he would probably be a good chief if nothing else, as nimble fingers would be good for that type of thing. Either way, the boy still had a scowl on his face when it came to staring at Kasumi and she just ignored it in favor of helping the girl that was in front of her.
The girl had slightly darker Aburn hair then she thought at first, but that didn't really man much in the grand scheme of things. It did show however that she was going to be a so called knock out when she finally grew up all the way. She had a thinner cram the the boys, which was to be expected in this case, but she didn't have as much fat in turn. In all she seemed to be the best in terms of how her body would work when it came to working as a Shinobi. Her frame was meant for things like flexibility, and then speed as well, which just showed that while Kasumi wouldn't force the kids into the job, she knew what she was going to do if they ever became Shinobi, and she was going to help them in any way she could as well.
With that out of the way, Kasumi said "Alright, now that we have time, lets see about getting you three some names, ne? I was thinking somthing along the lines of Akira for blues eyes over there."
Kasumi gave a grin towards the scowling boy, but she could see a hint of appreciation in his eyes. With the scowl lightening up a bit, the boy raised an eyebrow "Clear and intelligent?"
Kasumi gave an unapologetic look, as she said "You have clear white hair, and blue eyes. Your also intelligent, so why not?"
The newly named Akira just gave a nod in response. It didn't matter to him if it was name given to him by someone he didn't know. He wouldn't admit it, but he was happy to have a name in general.
Kasumi then turned towards the brown eyed boy, with a thoughtful look before she snapped her fingers and pointed at him "Kousuke. Clear bay seems to suit you."
The boy gave a thoughtful look for a second, before he gave a grin and a nod "Hai. I like the name. Kousuke... Has a nice ring to it."
"Now you..." Kasumi said with a small smile towards the silver eyed girl, before a smirk appeared "how about Yoshiko, child of Joy? The name suits you."
Yoshino gave a cheer of agreement, and it made Kasumi absentmindedly realize that she and Kushina would get along greatly. With a shake of her head, she finished helping Yoshiko with getting dry, while Akira and Kosuke finished getting clean as well. When they got out, Kasumi saw the sorry state the children's clothes where, and she sighed, while giving them something that was to big for them for now.
Tomorrow they were going to have to get some new clothes for the children.
Well, that's that. Another chapter down, and I can honestly say that I'm happy with this one. More then four thousand words, and that's not including all the stuff at the beginning and the end. So I am happy to say that I am happy with this, even if that sentence was redundant.
Ok, I'm still looking for a person who would like to do the 'Reading of' thing if possible. I'm interested to see where it goes.
Questions:
Did the explanation of Konoha's strength make sense?
What did you think of the Mobile barrier seal idea?
Did you like the fluff I put in here between Kushina and Minato?
Did the reason for promotion make sense?
Can you say you forgot about Kasumi's sensory abilities?
What did you think of Kasumi helping those kids?
Did you like the three kids?
Did you like the names Kasumi gave the three?
That's it, so I hope to hear from you guys soon, Please Review!