Chapter summary: "I'll get you something that'll make you feel better!" She smiles again, and she can see the corner of his mouth twitch like he's trying to smile, but his eyes are still so red and raw and he looks so sad. But he's trying. And really, Kushina can't ask for much more.
It's barely morning when Kushina ventures out of her and Minato's room to check on the little boy.
She knocks quietly on the door, opens it and sneaks her head around the gap.
The boy crouches in the corner of the bedroom, skinny, knobbly knees to his chest. His hair falls into his face, and he squeezes his eyes shut.
He buries his face in his lap and wraps his arms around himself and once again Kushina is at a loss.
It's not like dealing with shinobi with frazzled nerves and chronic nightmares. She can't comfort him in that way. Can't give him statistics and advice for dealing with mission fallout and help him put it all in perspective. He is just a little boy who doesn't even remember his life before Orochimaru. He's just a little boy thrust into a big world he barely remembers.
She can't treat this little one like her own son either. She can't appease him with hugs and soft-spoken words. He's not a veteran shinobi, but he's not an innocent little boy either. He's been through far too much for that.
And he still doesn't have a name.
The council meeting that night had gone just as Kushina had expected, they got the boy to stay with them under the pretence that the Hokage and Kyuubi Jinchuuriki were likely the best option to help the child learn the Mokuton (supposing that he has it) – a jutsu that hasn't been seen since the first Hokage.
And Kushina's always been scary when she wants to be – and she'd be damned if she was going to let this little one be tossed around and poked and prodded and reduced to nothing but 'Orochimaru's experiment' while the bright little person on the inside slowly dwindled away to nothing.
The boy is with her now, and it will take a lot of work to help this tiny little thing get on his feet again, but she's Kushina. So, she'll find a way.
She crouches in front of him, resting her hands on her knees and smiling gently. He likes it when she smiles and tries to copy her facial expressions so there's no need to show him negative ones all the time, he'll start frowning unnecessarily otherwise.
She taps him on the shoulder very gently, and he slowly lifts his head up just enough so he can see her.
She shoots him a grin, and she sees the whites of knuckles fade as he wiggles his toes.
"Do you not feel well?" she asks. The last few hours have seen him freed from the experiment tank, thrust in front of the council and discussed as though he weren't there and dumped into the care of two people who're strangers. If anything, he's been handling it better than she had expected.
He nods but doesn't uncurl himself. Kushina gently grasps his hands in her own and pulls him up to his feet, slowly and gently, giving him the option to resist.
He stands in front of her and twists his hands together and looks around the room again as though it will disappear at any moment.
The bed is still made and it's obvious he didn't sleep in it. His big eyes are slightly red and swollen.
He's been crying.
Kushina intertwines their fingers together and pulls him out of the bedroom.
"That's okay, you're doing such a good job, you know?" she squeezes his hand even as he shoots her a doubtful look.
She guides them to the kitchen and pats the chair at the table in prompting. He climbs up and shuffles on the seat, unsure what to do with himself.
It makes Kushina's chest ache in a way she never expected. It makes her want to burst into tears right then and there because there were sixty children in those tanks. Sixty little babies whose parents would cry over every night, and the child sitting on the chair, twisting his fingers in nervousness and what is probably fear as well, watched them all die in front of him.
There's nothing anyone can say to make that okay. There is no jutsu worth the lives and suffering of all those children and there's nothing that can make all the nightmares that the child in front her is doomed to endure seem worth it.
"I'll get you something that'll make you feel better!" She smiles again, and she can see the corner of his mouth twitch like he's trying to smile, but his eyes are still so red and raw and he looks so sad. But he's trying. And really, Kushina can't ask for much more.
She dashes off to the kitchen. It's still early so Naruto won't be awake for a little while yet and it might be a little too early to make breakfast by normal standards, but maybe something sweet will make the boy smile more.
She pulls out milk from the cupboard before remembering the small chocolates in the fridge she'd bought the other day. Naruto had tried to eat all of them and then cried when Minato had taken them away.
Such small children are ever so fussy but extremely adorable.
They really shouldn't be having chocolate before breakfast, but the little one may not even remember what chocolate is and there's such hopelessness in his eyes, if anyone deserves a chocolate, it's him.
She opens the fridge and grabs four chocolates, two for each of them, and heads back to the table.
He's tucked his knees up on to the chair, his chin resting on his them and his hands wrapped around his ankles. His eyes stare ahead at nothing. He looks so sad it hurts.
Kushina makes her way over to the table and sits down next to him.
"Hold out your hand" Kushina says, holding out her own with the chocolates
He blinks and his eyes focus on her again, he frowns slightly at her, head tilted in confusion.
Kushina smiles and nods encouragingly. He untangles his limbs, crossing his legs and holding out his hands cupped together.
Kushina carefully drops the two small chocolates into his hands. He looks at them, looks up at Kushina and looks down at the chocolates cupped oh so carefully in his hands. He opens mouth, closes it again and frowns.
Kushina doesn't say anything, letting him work through words at his own pace. He'd previously learnt to talk, but being stuck in a tank for who knows how long wasn't the environment for normal development and growth.
He's forgotten a lot about his previous life, it seems. Can't remember who he was or his parents or friends and Kushina can't decide if that's better or worse.
He lets out a soft hum and looks up at Kushina with a shocking amount of determination in his eyes.
"What are they?"
His voice is still hoarse and scratchy from too long neglecting it, but the pride that wells up in Kushina's chest regardless.
"They're chocolates!" she pops on into her mouth, nodding at him to do the same.
He carefully shuffles the chocolates onto one hand with a focus usually reserved for the battlefield and picks one of them up and inspects it closely.
He looks back over at Kushina, and she nods him along. He puts the chocolate in his mouth and chews. His face is blank as he chews for a moment and Kushina remains silent as he processes the new information.
He's not expressive in the way normal children are, but Kushina watches his posture straighten and there's an excited glint in his eyes that tells her all she needs to know.
He pops the second one into his mouth and chews, glancing up at Kushina every few seconds. He's still so unsure, like he's doing everything wrong.
Kushina reaches out and pats his head. He instinctively ducks, but he peaks up at her and pulls together a lopsided smile.
She can't and doesn't try to fight her own widening smile, hurting her cheeks as the little one grins back.
A soft cry interrupts them and he jerks in his seat and looks at Kushina with wide, terrified eyes. He reaches out and grasps her night shirt in his hand.
"Sad" he says as he tugs "you gotta help." He's frowning at her, lips pulled into a tight line and there's underlying distress in his voice.
Kushina grasps his tiny fist in her own and ducks to his eye level. His hand trembles in her own, and she wanders not for the first time what it was like to live in that tank, what it was like to watch those other children die.
Did they scream? Did they cry?
Did this little one cry when they died? Did he want to die too?
"Don't worry," Kushina says, and she untangles his fist from her clothes and holds his hand "that's my son, Naruto. Do you wanna help me make him stop crying?"
He looks at her for a long moment, still scared. "I'm not good" he says at last. He shakes his head and his shoulders slump.
Kushina rubs a hand on his back and tries to ignore how he jerks from the touch. He looks down at his feet, wiggling his toes.
"I think you're good, you know" she says as gently as she can. Naruto will have to hold on for a few more moments.
He shakes his head, refusing to look up. "All dead," he says "can't help." He sakes head again and folds in on himself.
Kushina's chest aches and it takes every ounce of willpower not to grab the small child, hold him against his chest and never let go. That won't help him though, so she rubs small circles on his back, holds his hand and prays that she can help this little boy.
"I think you're plenty good, in fact I know you're good. I'll show you!" She pulls both of them off the seat and towards Naruto's bedroom.
One hand loosely grips Kushina's own, the other fisted in the small night shirt. The frown in his face is so severe, Kushina gives his hand a gentle squeeze, and he looks up at her startled. She smiles at him and he can't bring himself to smile back just yet but the tenseness in his shoulders loosen slightly.
They arrive in Naruto's room and Kushina lets go of his hand and walks over to the cot. Naruto lets out a little noise of discomfort as he sees her and waves his arms up at her. Kushina picks him up and holds him against her chest, bouncing him slightly.
She turns around and knees down, beckoning the boy to come closer. He moves forward cautiously glancing between Kushina and Naruto. Eventually he reaches her and he's staring at Naruto with wide, shocked eyes as Naruto cries against Kushina's shoulder.
She gestures for him to sit down and he complies, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Kushina sits down and manoeuvres Naruto onto his lap.
He tenses but wraps his arms around Naruto all the same.
Naruto stops crying, looking up at him with curious eyes. Naruto reaches up one tiny, chubby hand and places it firmly on the boy's cheek.
The two stare at each other for a moment before Naruto ends the silence with a smile and gurgling sounds.
Kushina giggles into her hand as the boy's eyes become impossibly wide and Kushina thanks the heavens that her plan worked. Naruto generally takes well to people, and this little boy seems to be one of them.
He glances up at Kushina and she smiles at him "See? I told you you're good, you know!"
The corner of the boy's mouth twitches upwards, and he jumps as Naruto pats him a little too hard on the cheek. Kushina giggles again and wishes Minato was here witness this. He's been at the Hokage office all night, hopefully he'll come back for lunch.
"Hey, I can't keep calling you 'little one'" Kushina says because the boy still doesn't have a name and she's thought long and hard about it. "How about 'Tenzou'?"
The boy blinks and looks down at little Naruto sitting comfortably in his arms. He works his lips around the word experimentally.
"You don't have to decide now!" Kushina says reaching out to run her hand through Naruto's hair. "It's up to you, kiddo."
He quickly shakes his head and frowns very hard. "Tenzou…" he says, and for a moment he looks distant but he looks up at Kushina and gives her the biggest smile he can muster "Really like it! Thank you!"
He looks down at Naruto and Naruto stares back at him, fully captivated "I'm Tenzou!" he says a little too loudly. Naruto giggles and pats Tenzou's cheek again.
Heavenly creation is what Tenzou means and she'll tell him that one day, when he'll believe the weight of her words, when Tenzou can see he's more than just a temporary placement in this household.
But for now, the name it's self is more than enough for Tenzou to take in.
Minato's going to be so upset he missed out on this, Kushina thinks and grins to herself. Well, she just has to make the most of having two of her boys to herself.
"Well, It's breakfast time! Let's have cereal, Tenzou!" Kushina says, Naruto waves his arms in agreement and Tenzou grins back at her.
They've only been a family for a day, but Kushina's going to make sure they're the best damn family Tenzou could wish for.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
I have a few ideas for more chapters but let me know what you think!
