AN: Thanks for your reviews and suggestions, they were really good ideas and I'm still thinking of using some of them, not all but some. On to the story...

The training had started thirty minutes ago, even now it seemed like it had only just begun. Kushina had made two kage bunshin to take care of Hinata and Naruko while she dealt with her son. Her clones knew specifically what to teach the two girls but Kushina had to actually start from the basics with Naruto.

She first did an affinity test and discovered that Naruto had a wind affinity which was her speciality. He lacked so much knowledge but she would not be deterred. She gave him scrolls that had different styles of taijutsu, ninjutsu, kenjutsu and doujutsu, even if he didn't have one it couldn't hurt to be prepared. She told him to make four clones to handle the scrolls while he stayed back with her.

"Why? Shouldn't I be the one trying to learn this?" Naruto asked confusedly. He had figured that as long as his relationship with his mother was professional then he could at least tolerate being in her presence.

"Well that's just it, you are learning," Kushina said while looking at the three clones, who were by the trees and reading the scrolls.

"No I'm not, my bunshin are," Naruto said irritably.

"Well Naruto, that's the secret to the kage bunshin and that's why its such a difficult jutsu to perform," Kushina said.

"...I don't get it."

"To make a kage bunshin you need a lot of chakra at your disposal, as well as careful equal distribution between you and the clone. It's so hard to perform that it was labelled a jonin rank jutsu. The technique has many advantages-"

"Like beating up people," Naruto said pointedly.

"It isn't just about that, the jutsu has a memory link between the user and the clone," Kushina said.

"So...does that mean we share memories?" if anything he was even more confused the more he tried to figure out where Kushina was going with what she was saying.

"Technically yes. When you summon a clone it immediately has every single bit of you own memory, but when it performs tasks and duties you will not be aware of your clones activities until the jutsu cancels, in which all the memories of the clone's activities would be brought to you," Kushina explained as straight forward as possible.

"So I can only get a bunshin's memory after it pops? I don't remember that happening when I fought Mizuki," Naruto said suspiciously. What was this woman up to? Was she trying to sabotage him?

"It is most likely due to the fact that your body and mind hadn't fully adjusted to the use of a jutsu as great and as complex as the kage bunshin," Kushina explained.

"So right now I'm learning that stuff?" Naruto questioned while pointing to his clones, who were still occupied with the scrolls.

"That's right," Kushina said happily.

"Is that it?" Naruto questioned in surprise and annoyance. Here he was, thinking that she was actually going to teach him something worthwhile but all he was doing was reading, well his clones were but that wasn't the point. He felt like she was just trying to treat him like some stupid child, that couldn't grasp what being a shinobi was, and that made him feel worthless.

"Naruto-" he was actually surprised with how serious she sounded when she said his name, "-you NEED to know the basics, no shortcuts, you need this so you have a foundation where you can build up more understanding on jutsu and survival skills a shinobi needs to utilise" Kushina said seriously. She was all sensei right now and she had to admit that Naruto was very impatient.

Naruto sighed.

"Once your clones are done, We will practice basic chakra usage and then I will teach you a jutsu," Kushina said. it was only fair, she would teach him everything she knew in time, it was his birthright.

Naruto sighed again and then looked at his sister.

Naruko was currently in a taijutsu battle with her mother's clone, dodging punches and kicks, giving counters in return, although she was holding up her own she knew her mother was still going easy on her.

Their battle was fast, so fast that Naruto struggled to keep up with the two's movements on occasion. Naruto couldn't hold in his shock at watching his sister battle the bunshin. She was quick, agile, and very precise in her abilities. She was going toe to toe with a bunshin that was probably jonin level and she was actually holding up her own! Dust was even gathering beneath them due to their speeds alone, he didn't think he ever saw anyone move that fast, they were literally blurring. She was good, she was very good.

Naruko quickly jumped back to avoid a jab that was aimed at her rips.

"You're improving, but you're still very open on your left side," the clone said, accessing any faults that she can see.

Naruko quickly went through some hand seals and then stared at her opponent seriously, "Futon Daitoppa!"

A fixed amount of concentrated wind charged at the bunshin, but the clone quickly dodged the attack, the tree behind her wasn't so lucky, it was effortlessly cut in half.

Naruto just couldn't take his eyes away from the battle, it was absolutely spectacular, even he could admit it to himself. Naruko seemed so powerful and he couldn't hide the burning envy he felt as he watched his sister fight. She was powerful and quick, combinations that he knew would be great to have but alas he didn't even compare to her.

He was getting depressed the more he watched Naruko, she was so out of his league that he couldn't fight back the bitter feeling of disappointment. It was like rubbing salt into the wound, like he was being told that he could never have what she had, that he was truly the 'dead last'. He looked down, he felt like absolute crap. He didn't even protest when a hand landed on his shoulder and gently squeezed it. He looked up and saw Kushina looking at him with guilt and sorrow.

"If you ever want to be a great shinobi-" they both looked back at the sparring match and saw Naruko making a small ball of spiraling chakra in her left hand, using her right hand to keep the left hand steady, "-If you ever want to be at her level-" Naruko prepared herself, "-Follow my teachings to the letter and I promise you-" Naruko charged at the clone, "-I swear that I will make you the greatest Hokage that had ever lived."

"RASENGAN!"

There was a loud explosion and part of the ground was replaced by a small hole where Naruko aimed, but the clone had managed to move away in time.

"That is a promise of a lifetime Naruto," Kushina finished. It was a promise she was going to keep. She looked at him and noticed that he still looked depressed. She hesitated for a second and then gently held his face with both her hands and made him look into her eyes.

"Naruko is a prodigy...and so are you, I just know it," Kushina said lovingly.

Naruto had to force himself not to waver his gaze, it was difficult to maintain with the way Kushina was looking at him. He didn't even know how to reply to what she said.

"I know you'll be Hokage. I know you'll be the best. I will not stop teaching every single thing I know. I will not stop showing you how amazing you are. I have so much faith in you, but you have to put you faith in me as well. If you let me in...let me truly be your sensei, then I promise I will put my heart and soul into you training," Kushina said with conviction. She wanted to be there as his mother as well but even she knew that would not earn favour from him yet, so she would make do with what she had.

This time Naruto did look away and removed himself from her grasp, much to Kushina silent chagrin. He didn't know how to feel about what Kushina said but he knew not to miss an opportunity to be able to do the same things Naruko is capable of. He nodded his head.

"Excellent," Kushina said with a small smile. She could tell that he still didn't like her much but she accepted it for what it was, for now.

Naruko had finished her training and her mother's bunshin had popped so she made her way to her brother first. She heard what her mother said to Naruto and she felt really guilty for showing off, she didn't mean to.

"Nii-san, I'm sorry," Naruko said softly, she almost sounded like a wounded puppy, like she was the victim.

"For what? You were just training," Naruto said as evenly as possible but Naruko wasn't stupid, she knew jealousy when she spotted it, but she understood.

"You will be better than me Nii-san. I'm sure of it," Naruko said reassuringly then made her way to Hinata.

"That was some sparring match, you're improving," the clone that was teaching Hinata said.

"Thanks, so what are you guys doing?" Naruko asked curiously.

"Well, I'm trying to improve her kekkei genkai. I cannot teach her anything that would interfere with her clan's jyuuken. So far we're just sparring so I can analyse her flaws and weaknesses," the clone said while staring at the girl who was across the field, they were still in the middle of their own fight.

Hinata had watched Naruko's sparring match, it was so shocking. The girl was a powerhouse and Hinata had never seen anything like it. She was also told by the clone to take her training seriously if she ever wanted to improve. They had been sparring for a while now and all Hinata had done was dodge the attacks and put her hands in front of her, possibly out of fear, the clone had let her get away with such tactics so far but it seemed that her time was up.

"Do not lose focus in battle! You will get yourself killed!" The clone said as she rushed to the surprised Hyuuga girl.

Hinata couldn't stop nor dodge the punch that came to her stomach which sent her flying into the air and hitting the ground hard. She coughed and her body shook in obvious pain.

"Stand up!" The clone ordered.

Hinata couldn't follow as her body continued to shake, it felt like she was sparring with her father all over again, she really wanted to cry.

"You are a strong kunoichi. You can do this Hinata. Stand up!" The clone motivated.

Hinata slowly moved her body, her mid-section was still in pain and she didn't think she could stand after just one punch. She really was hopeless. She quickly took a glance and was surprised to notice Naruto actually looking at her and she blushed. She didn't know what it was, she really couldn't put it into words but the thought of her crush looking at her sent a huge surge into her body. She screwed her face into that of determination and slowly, albeit with difficulty, stood on her feet. Her legs were shaking and she struggled to dull the pain.

"... We are done for the day," the clone said when she saw that Hinata could not take anymore. She noticed the look Hinata sent past her, but she did not know what the girl was looking at since she didn't follow her gaze, whatever it was, maybe a recollection of memory, she wasn't sure, but it helped Hinata find inner strength, momentarily.

Her legs gave out on her and Hinata fell, but she was grabbed and held before she even touched the ground and when she looked up she noticed Kushina's clone smiling at her.

"You have a lot to improve from Hinata. You fear too much and you're indecisive in your actions and that is a huge disadvantage. You're afraid to attack me and we really need to work on that, it's the only way to improve you skills among other things. Never underestimate your enemy and get distracted, you would be unviting defeat if you did so," the clone said as she started healing the depressed heiress.

"But I am proud of you. When you stood up it showed me how determined you are. It showed me how much you're willing to improve no matter how much the pain. You did well today Hinata, well done," the clone said comfortingly.

Hinata looked at the clone in shock, she didn't think she did that well, hell she thought she did horribly, like her father would say, but it seemed that Kushina thought differently. She felt...happy, she rarely got any praise and it felt good not to be scolded or called weak for once.

"Well, you guys are free to go," the clone said and then popped.

"Did you enjoy the training?" Naruko asked curiously.

She didn't do much, just a light spar in which she was easily defeated but she couldn't help the warm feeling in her heart as she said, "Yes, I did."

They made their way to the real Kushina, although Hinata was using Naruko as some sort of shield from Naruto but Naruko didn't mind. Kushina was still in the process of teaching Naruto the basics of chakra and its uses.

"...so I've got hundreds of outlet spots in my body called chakra points?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Exactly, it is these specific points that allows the usage of chakra within your body, every individual point effects your chakra flow, it is very important to keep this in mind when you are in battle," Kushina said seriously.

"Kaasan, Hinata and I are finished," Naruko said tentatively, she didn't want to disrupt her brothers training.

"Good, You guys head home and Naruko?" Kushina called.

"Yes?" Naruko said.

"Don't wait up for me," Kushina said and she knew Naruko would understand.

"Right, good luck Onii-san," Naruko said

"Thanks," Naruto muttered, he wasn't angry at her and he hoped he didn't sound like a jerk earlier. He was caught off guard when Naruko smiled softly at him and said her goodbyes as she left with Hinata.

"You mean so much to her you know. She envies you greatly," Kushina said, watching her daughter leave.

"Why would she envy me when she's got all the power," Naruto said and tried to bite down the self disappointment.

"She told me that you're stronger than her, not physically of course but mentally. She told me that if she had the same upbringing as you did then she would have snapped a long time ago. She envies you and your inner strength. You're her role model, even before she met you," Kushina said honestly.

"She doesn't know what I've been through," Naruto said matter of factly.

"True, but she can guess and she looks up to you for being so strong," Kushina said.

Naruto was surprised to hear that, it sounded too weird to believe, Naruko was stronger than him and she thought if him as a role model? Her statement also reminded him of his past and he frowned, "I never asked for a harsh life."

Kushina flinched at that.

"I know so-Naruto, I can't even begin to tell how sorry I am," Kushina said regretfully.

"It doesn't matter how many times you apologise sensei, it doesn't change what I've been through, what I've endured. You can't take away twelve years of hell with just some stupid apology with stupid excuses. You left me to rot," Naruto spat the last part, he was getting angry now the more he thought about it.

"I know Naruto and I now it was unfair but we honestly didn't leave you alone. We trusted you to be in the care of your godparents but they ended up betraying us," Kushina said sadly.

"That's all you got? I've heard better! You left me in the hands of other people, when you could've taken me with you to wherever the hell you went! No letters? Nothing to tell me that you were even alive and then all of a sudden you just come back and expect me to be loving son who had dreamed of meetings his parents one day? Fat chance!" Naruto said angrily.

Kushina paused when she she registered something specific that Naruto said and her eyes widened. Why didn't she remember it sooner?

"...We did send you letters, and presents, every month for the past twelve years," Kushina said confusedly.

"Oh and somehow they never got to me? Cut the crap and let's get back to training," Naruto gritted out and looked away from her.

Kushina was borderline confused at this point. She and Minato had sent hundreds of letters and scrolls with presence to Konoha specifically. The letters never had their names on them but they did highlight the fact they were all from Naruto's parents, no further details on their identities so people wouldn't come after Naruto because of their anger towards Minato. They even had monthly replies from Jiraiya on Naruto's well-being and for them not to worry at all, they honestly thought they had made the right decision in trusting the two Sannin, but it was all a lie. So where did the presents go? Something was definitely amiss and Kushina had to figure out what the hell was happening around here.

"Hey boss, we're done," one of Naruto's bunshin said.

"Boss?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Right, you may leave now," Kushina cut in, they needed to continue.

The three clones simultaneously popped and Naruto was hit with so much information at once that he momentarily got dizzy and lost his balance but he was caught gently.

"It's okay, it's okay," Kushina cooed softly, she knew this would happen when the clones popped, he still wasn't used to the effects, so she continued to hold him steady until he got his wits back.

Once he got his thoughts in process he quickly moved away from Kushina's hold.

"So... Have you learned anything?" Kushina asked.

"...Yeah," Naruto said while rubbing his head in discomfort, it was quite a rush.

"Good, now before I teach you a jutsu I need to first teach you tree and water walking. Are you ready?" Kushina asked seriously. She would leave out the subject of the gifts and letters for now.

"...I'm ready," Naruto said seriously. He was hoping to learn a jutsu already but after getting so much information from his clones he actually wanted to know more of what Kushina was going to teach him.

From there Kushina started to teach him tree climbing and although it was a difficult start he was able to get the hang of it pretty quickly in a few hours, water walking was a different story altogether however. Where tree walking required concentration to attach one's feet to a tree, which was a solidified and stationary object, water walking required someone to put constant and even distribution of chakra to their feet in order to stay afloat on water, which was and object in constant motion. So far Naruto was having difficulty in this exercise because he didn't know how to keep an even amount of chakra in his footing. It was very late at night now but the training was not finished yet.

"Again," Kushina ordered when she saw him come out of the water, after he fell inside for the twentieth time.

"*Huff! Huff! Huff!*...Right!" Naruto said tiredly as he made his way back to land and started the process all over again.

"Remember...constant and even distribution," Kushina reminded.

Naruto stood near the pond and focused as much as he could on his feet, they started to glow, he closed his eyes to focus. Kushina wasn't holding back and taking him to his very limits. She wasn't worried about exhausting him to the extent of missing missions, Team seven would be off the next day anyway.

Naruto took a few steps forward but he started to sink almost immediately.

"Focus Naruto!" Kushina commanded.

Naruto concentrated harder and felt his feet lift. When he looked down he saw that his feet were actually on the surface of the water.

"I..did it," Naruto said softly and in surprise when he noticed that he wasn't sinking.

"I did it!" Naruto said gleefully. He felt really proud himself.

Kushina had been analysing Naruto's training since the beginning in she was surprised with many things. He had huge reserves of chakra if he could summon shadow clones, he had amazing stamina if he could last this long without succumbing to exhaustion. The more she looked at it, the more she realised that Naruto truly was a prodigy, it took Naruko days to tree and water walk while it took Naruto only a few hours, he had so much promise and she planned on capitalizing on that.

"So... The jutsu sensei," Naruto said tiredly. He was so exhausted that he was struggling to focus.

"You did well Naruto and you made me proud...but I don't think teaching you a new jutsu when you're so exhausted would be a good idea," Kushina said as she looked at his form.

"I'm ready!" Naruto said confidently and tried his best to hide his fatigue.

"...Well, alright, if you feel up to it. I'm going to be teaching you the Rasengan, it takes a lot of practice and you won't get it the first-" Kushina stopped talking when she saw Naruto faint from exhaustion. She was just buying herself some time so he could fall asleep. She knew a lot of jutsu, and planned to teach him everyone of them, but in all honesty she didn't know how to do the Rasengan properly, it would be Minato's job to teach him that. She sighed and picked him up gently.

She went to Naruto's apartment and put him to bed, she tucked him in and kissed him gently on the forehead.

"Goodnight Sochi, I love you," Kushina said softly and then left his apartment.

Minato was in his bedroom, which was in the Namikaze estate, waiting for his wife to come home. Naruko had already told him that Kushina said not to wait for her because she was training Naruto, but he didn't want to sleep until he saw her. He knew he couldn't see Naruto yet, the boy had enough problems trying to adjust to his mother and he would only complicate things further... He knew he was acting like a coward but he was focusing more on the logical aspect of the situation instead of just manning up.

"Were you waiting for me to come home Minato-kun?" He was so out of it that he actually jerked in surprise and saw Kushina, who was already in her nightgown.

"Yeah, hehehe sorry," Minato said sheepishly.

"*Sigh* It's okay, I was actually hoping that you would be awake when I came home," Kushina said honestly.

"How did the day go?" Minato asked.

"It went quite well and Naruto made a lot of progress. I'm going to start teaching him some jutsu," Kushina said.

"Already? Are sure that he's ready for such a step?" Minato asked curiously.

"I'm positive. You should have seen him today, so strong and so determined... He may not like me but you can never stop a mother from being so proud... Kami Minato I love him so much that it hurts, knowing that I made so many mistakes and that he had to suffer for it. It's so painful to look at him and know that I can never hold him in my arms, knowing that he will never call me Kaa-san!" Kushina choked out as she sobbed. All those emotion coming to the surface and the mother couldn't hide them.

"Kushina-chan, we were both responsible so don't be too hard on yourself. We will get through this, we'll get our son back. We will sort out this dreadful village for what they put him through. I maybe Hokage but after what they did to Naruto I refuse to put these people first, only my family deserve such, especially Naruto," Minato said as he wiped away his wife's tears.

"When will you teach him the Rasengan?" Kushina asked.

"When the time is right," Minato said careful.

"When will you go to him?" Kushina asked with a frown.

"When the two of you have sorted things out first," Minato said.

"But Min-"

"I know what you're going to say, that I shouldn't wait, but hear me out first. You're his mother, you cared for him so much and it was my idea to trust Jiraiya and Tsunade in the first place. It was my decision to separate from him and that wasn't fair to you or the children. You deserve this, to make a connection with him, to be there for him and I would only disrupt the bonding by being involved," Minato said sadly.

"Minato-kun... Stop talking crap," Kushina said to the surprised Hokage.

"We were both involved in the decision to leave him here, you're not the only one to blame for that and you shouldn't distance yourself just because you think you'd be doing us a favour. Naruto needs BOTH of us, not just me. He needs to know that we're there for him no matter what. Even if he despises us, we need to show him that we love him to no end," Kushina said.

"Yeah, I guess so, but not yet. I still have a lot to sort out in this village," Minato said with irritation at the thought of Konoha.

"Okay, I discovered something important today," Kushina said.

"What?" Minato asked.

"Naruto had never received anything from us, not even a letter," Kushina said.

"...How is that possible? Jiraiya told us-

"Jiraiya was never here when we left remember, all of his letters on Naruto's upbringing was a lie," Kushina said.

"Right, I forgot about that. No wonder Naruto's mad at us, after not getting any word from us until we came back here, that's just so horrible, we were so careless," Minato said looking down.

"Find him, find both of them," Kushina said seriously.

"What?" Minato asked confusedly.

"Find Jiraiya and Tsunade. I can't stand this anymore, those two have a lot to answer for before I kill them," Kushina said with a scowl.

"Try not to kill them too quickly," Minato said.

"No promises," Kushina said seriously.