Chapter 3
Summary: Kushina Uzumaki survived the fateful night of the Nine-Tails' attack, albeit barely. Fifteen years later she wakes up, is reunited with her now teenaged son, and develops feelings for him that a mother should not have. What happens when the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero accidentally gets her hands on The Mask and what will she have in store for Naruto and Konoha? Who knows, but whatever it is, one thing is for certain: she'll look damn good doing whatever it is!
As usual, credit to my helper/co-author, ncpfan, for helping me out with this story.
Like I promised in the first chapter, The Mask will be introduced in this chapter. Enjoy!
Start of Chapter
Tsunade was performing her usual check-up on Kushina, as she had taken over the duties of monitoring the comatose woman upon herself from the moment Naruto had shown Kushina to her. Shortly after Naruto revealed the fiery redhead's existence to the new Hokage, Tsunade was able to diagnose and discern that although her physical injuries had been healed rather quickly and quite thoroughly, the fact that she had the Nine-Tails ripped out of her was what truly kept her from recovering.
Once she had discovered this, a theory began to form in her mind about possible treatment for the former jinchuuriki. Once she had worked out most of the details and even some of the medical formulae regarding her theory, she had asked Naruto to try and summon a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra. It wasn't easy, but between her and Jiraiya's skills, they were able to extract a small amount of the fox's chakra and seal it into Kushina. Once they did this, they released the stasis seals on her body, ready to place her back into stasis should she show signs of deterioration.
There had been nothing but good news ever since. Kushina had shown constant, steady and continual signs of recovery. It was a slow process, but the chances of Kushina waking up were much higher than before – in fact, she was certain that it was only a matter of time before Kushina would wake up, and she calculated a ninety percent chance for Kushina making a full recovery without any lasting harm or damage to her body.
She recorded Kushina's vital signs and looked at her patient. Tsunade gasped lightly as Kushina stirred ever so slightly and slowly opened her eyes. She could see that Kushina tried to say something, but having been in stasis for thirteen years and in a continued coma for almost two years after that, left her quite groggy and lethargic.
"Easy Kushina. I know you are confused and have many questions, but right now your body and mind both need time to adjust to consciousness again," Tsunade explained in a doctorly fashion, "You should be able to get out of bed within the next few days, thanks to your clan's vitality. Anyone else would've been stuck in bed longer, you know? I will fill you in on everything when your recovery is complete. In the meanwhile, I'll see to your needs."
Kushina slowly nodded her head, indicating she understood what Tsunade said and did as she was told.
*********** Line Break ***********
The next few days felt like an eternity to Kushina. She had followed Tsunade's orders – at first out of a lack of strength to disobey, but then begrudgingly and out of fear when Tsunade threatened not only to restrain her to the bed, but to also make sure she would require extra 'hospitalization' should she not follow her instructions to the letter – but that didn't mean boredom and curiosity weren't killing her! She had so many questions, and Tsunade still hadn't seen fit to answer any of them yet!
Her unsatisfied thirst for answers was threatening to drive her mad! She needed to know: How was she still alive? How long had she been out? What had happened in the village since? And the one question she wanted answered most of all: Was her baby alright, and where was he? The last thing she remembered was that horrible night…losing consciousness while feeding her newborn son. Her thoughts were interrupted as Tsunade entered the room, greeting her before performing her daily checkup.
After performing her scans and recording her vitals, Tsunade concluded everything was fine, "Kushina, I'm please to tell you that you are a picture of health. Now-"
Kushina jumped out of the hospital bed once she heard that, cutting Tsunade off as she yelled, "Finally! I've had enough of lying in bed for so long!"
"Stop complaining, it was just three days," Tsunade deadpanned, noting that Naruto definitely got his impatience from his mother, "Most people don't even get up in such little time."
"Now that I'm better, will you PLEASE tell me how I ended up here? How am I even alive after the fox has been ripped out of me? What's been going on? And where is my baby?" Kushina frantically asked, firing multiple questions at Tsunade at once.
Tsunade sighed, cursing her legendary bad luck as the duty to inform the young mother in front of her about everything that had happened fell upon her. One thing was for certain: Kushina's response was not going to be pretty when Tsunade broke the news to her.
"Alright, sit down and don't interrupt me," she said sternly and started at the beginning, "Now, as you probably remember, the Nine-Tails was extracted from you and you were impaled by the beast's claw, leaving you with a large hole in your stomach. Once again, you can thank the your clan's vitality for the fact you are still alive after all of that."
Kushina grimaced at the memory which was still so fresh in her mind.
"That said, even an Uzumaki could not have survived that," Tsunade said in a matter-of-fact tone, causing a feeling of discomfort to wash over Kushina, "In fact, when Sarutobi-sensei and Jiraiya found you, you were barely alive. They brought you to this secret facility and used fuinjutsu to place you into a stasis so your injuries could be healed in safety and over time, something that did not prove to be easy because of the Nine-Tails' extraction. It's only been over the last two years – since I got back to the village and became the Fifth Hokage – that your condition actually improved gradually until you finally woke up and that brings us here."
Seeing that Tsunade did not continue, Kushina asked the dreaded question she was afraid to ask, "How long…how long have I been here, Tsunade?"
Tsunade took a deep breath before dropping the bomb, "Over fifteen years…"
She winced at seeing the look of utter horror on Kushina's face. Nothing could have prepared the poor woman for this.
"FIFTEEN YEARS!?" Kushina screamed, before bringing her hands to her mouth as tears began to fall and involuntary, heaving sobs forced their way up from her throat. She had never been so happy as when she heard she was pregnant and that she was going to be a mother. For ten months, she had looked forward to showering her baby with her love, giving him the happy childhood she didn't have.
And now, as if Fate was playing a cruel trick on her, she learned that fifteen years had gone by as she laid in stasis?! Fifteen years! An entire childhood worth of precious, irreplaceable moments and priceless memories – gone, never having had the chance to be realized! Her baby had been without her all this time: without her to read him bedtime stories, to tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight, to cook him homemade meals like only a parent could, to bring and pick him up from school, to hold him when he was sad!
Her sobs quickly gave way to hysteric wails, "No…no…! NOOOOO! This can't be happening!"
Tsunade moved over and held her, trying to comfort the distraught her as wept uncontrollably, "I'm sorry, Kushina. I'm so sorry."
Almost half an hour went by before Kushina had cried herself hoarse and finally began to calm down somewhat.
"Who has been taking care of my Naru-chan?" Kushina asked with renewed trepidation, "Where is he now?! How is he living?! Is he even healthy, or happy?! Does he know about me?! Please tell me he doesn't hate me or think I abandoned him or anything like that!"
"NO!" Tsunade yelled out, prompting Kushina to stop talking as she reassured her, "Naruto knows everything about what happened to you. He's the one who showed me your body, and he was desperate to beg me to help you. His exact words were, "I just want my Mom".
Kushina breathed a sigh of near-ecstatic relief upon hearing that her son wanted her in his life that badly. She couldn't help the relieved smile that crossed her face, though her tears never stopped flowing.
"Now, Kushina," Tsunade began anew, once again garnering the redhead's attention, "Let me finish telling you the rest, okay?"
Kushina, noting the apologetic frown on Tsunade's face, asked with trepidation, "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
The look on Tsunade's face spoke confirmed her fears and Tsunade began to recount what she knew of how Naruto had been living. She told her how the village had treated him as a social pariah because they only saw him as the Nine-Tails itself. She explained how as a result of that, he grew up lonely with nobody to take care of him despite Hiruzen's efforts along with how and how Jiraiya was kept away from Konoha, unable to take care of her son.
For Kushina, it was like someone hit her in the face with a sledgehammer. Not only had her little maelstrom been bereft of his mother during his childhood – when he needed her the most – but he was lonely and unhappy too! And worst off all, it was all because of the village that she had come to call her home and because of her husband's…former-husband's naivety to trust the villagers – for which he sacrificed himself and condemned their son for – to treat him a hero.
Wiping her last tears away, a look of determination suddenly crossed over her face. "Please take me to my son, Tsunade…I have to see him…he needs me…I refuse to let him be alone and unhappy anymore!" Kushina demanded. The fifteen years they had lost were gone forever, but she would be damned if her baby boy had to go on like this for even one minute longer!
"Err, about that…Naruto is out of the village, on a training trip with Jiraiya. They will be back in a month though," Tsunade told her, "In the meantime, why don't you settle in your house again so that Naruto can move in right away with you when he's back? I'm sure it'll need some cleaning up and that Naruto's room needs refurnishing."
"Yes…I guess you're right. Maybe that will keep my busy while I'm waiting for my son."
Both women got up and Kushina followed after Tsunade as they headed towards her house. Kushina, suddenly remembering a small detail that Tsunade had mentioned that she had brushed to the side in light of wanting to hear about her son, stopped suddenly and stood stock-still.
Her eyes widened, she turned to Tsunade, and yelled out in shock, "WAIT A MINUTE! YOU'RE THE HOKAGE?!"
*********** Line Break ***********
The last month had been excruciatingly long to Kushina. No matter what she did, her mind kept wandering towards her son. Each day seemed to grow longer as the day of her son's return drew near, but today she would finally see her son! It was a very excited Kushina Uzumaki who was bouncing on her feet in eager anticipation as she waited with Tsunade in her office, cloaked under the Transparent Escape Jutsu to surprise Naruto as they had planned.
The sounds of loud footsteps and an even louder shout signaled that her torturous waiting had finally come to an end. Kushina's excitement escalated even further, threatening to overtake her completely, but it was accompanied by anxiety and worry. What if he thought she was weird? What if he didn't want to connect with her the way she wanted to connect with him? What if he thought he was too old to need his mother?!
"AUNTIE TSUNADE, I'M BACK!" Konoha's number one knucklehead shouted at the top of his lungs as he came running into Tsunade's office, slamming the doors open on his way.
It was all Kushina could do to keep from dispelling the camouflage jutsu she was under and take the young man before her in her arms on order to smother him in hugs and kisses. There he was, just a few yards away from her! He looked healthy, and very happy if that grin of his was anything to go by.
In an instant, she drank in every visible detail she could discern about him and sized him up. He was her son, there was no doubting that! He may have inherited his hair and his eyes from Minato, but he had her face, her smile, and most importantly, her wildly outspoken personality. And if what Tsunade had told her about him was accurate, he had also inherited her spirit and her values, as well.
"Naruto!" Tsunade exclaimed with a wide smile a split-second after he had greeted her. She immediately got up from her seat and pulled Naruto in a hug, which he eagerly returned, prompting her to moan with contentment and almost-motherly affection.
"Hehe, missed me?" Naruto asked with his trademark grin plastered on his face.
"Pfft, not at all! I was having the time of my life with an assistant who hides my sake and nothing but paperwork to look forward to every day for three years! Of course I missed you, you silly!" Tsunade said with mock indignation before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "It's good to have you back, Kiddo. Things just haven't been the same without you."
Taking a step back, she took in his physical appearance. His growth spurt had finally kicked in and he was wearing a new jumpsuit – one that was black and orange, more form-fitting and did she mention it was not completely orange? "My, my, you've really grown over the last two years," she smirked, "And I see Jiraiya managed to get you to tone down on the orange too."
"Yup, they can't call me a squirt now anymore or complain too much about the orange, y'know!" Naruto grinned before adopting a thoughtful expression and adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with orange…"
Tsunade smiled and placed a gentle hand on Naruto's cheek for a moment, "Glad to see you haven't changed. You're still the same boisterous and exuberant Naruto I know and love."
She went back to sit behind her desk and, once seated, asked, "So, how has your training trip been?"
"It was great!" Naruto crowed before squinting his eyes and putting his finger against his chin, looking like he was deep in thought, "Hmm, where to start…" he pondered for a moment before he began to sum up what he considered the important parts of the last two years, all the while using, "Well, I've learned a lot from Pervy Sage, we've been to a lot of places, and we actually got to make up for a lot of lost time."
"I'm glad to hear that, and I'm sure Jiraiya will tell me all about it," Tsunade said, frowning at the mention of Jiraiya, "Speaking of which, where is Jiraiya? Shouldn't he be with you?"
Naruto rolled his eyes, "You know him. He went off to do his 'research' the moment we entered the village."
Tsunade's eye twitched. Her teammate was not a bad person, but he could be infuriating at times! Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down, "Why am I not surprised? Ugh, no matter."
"So uhm…how is Mom doing? Is she doing any better?" Naruto asked with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness in his voice. After all these years, he was not expecting much improvement, but that didn't stop him from wishing and hoping.
"I was just about to mention that. Actually, her health has improved dramatically," Tsunade grinned before pointing behind him, "In fact, why don't you see for yourself?"
Kushina undid the cloaking jutsu as Naruto turned around. He stood frozen and wide-eyed in his spot and let out a loud gasp at the sight of his mother standing before him, tears running down her face, past her overjoyed smile. She reached her hands to him as she sniffled, looking at him with nothing but unadulterated adoration and love.
As she reached him, her hands made their way to his cheeks, caressing and exploring them as if to familiarize herself with the feel of her precious son's face. Naruto's voice box almost failed him as he only managed to ask a faint incredulous, "M-M-Mom? Is…is that you? Is this real…?"
In that instant, Kushina cast off all restraint and pulled him into a tight hug, her previously quiet tears now accompanied by loud sobs. Naruto brought his arms around Kushina's form and held her just as tightly. Kushina then proceeded to place her hands on each side of his neck and started kissing him all over his face with reckless abandon – his cheeks, his forehead, even his lips, ears and nose weren't safe from her kisses. He didn't care – in fact, it only made him even happier.
"Ruto-chan! My little Ruto-chan, my sweet little baby boy!" Kushina exclaimed joyfully, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for leaving you alone for so long!"
Naruto clutched his mother's form even closer as if she was the most precious thing in the world – which to him, she was – and his happy-go-lucky mask cracked, leaving behind a weeping boy who had finally met his mother after having been apart from her for far too long, "Mom, I've been dreaming of this day for ten long years! I can't believe you're finally awake and here! I've wanted to meet you for so long, y'know?"
"You said 'y'know'…you really are my child," Kushina remarked with a gentle laugh, "It's alright, my precious baby boy. I'm here now and I swear I will never leave you alone again. Never!"
Kushina pulled back once more, gently taking his face in her hands and just looking at him, studying every feature on what, to her, was his perfect face, "Look at you – so handsome and bright. And those whisker marks are so adorable."
"You're beautiful, too, Mom," Naruto told her, feeling the need to say something back.
She simply smiled as her hands caressed his face, strumming her fingers through his hair, coming down to his neck and bringing them back up to his cheeks once more. Like him, she was gazing upon him and handling him as though no greater treasure could be found in the world.
Tsunade smiled as she witnessed the heartwarming, long-overdue reunion between the mother and son in front of her, happy that she could have helped bring some happiness into Naruto's life now that he had his mother back. In all her days as a medic-nin, she had never healed a deeper wound. She felt profoundly satisfied in a way she never before had.
Seeing that Naruto and Kushina pulled apart, Naruto turned towards Tsunade and gave her a grateful hug, "Thank you. Thank you so much…this means the world to me!"
"I know, kiddo, and I was so glad to be able to do it for both of you. It's the least you deserve after the raw deal life has given you," Tsunade said with a warm smile.
"I guess I should go tidy my place up so Mom can move in," Naruto sheepishly said.
"Oh, no, no, mister. From now on, you'll be living in my home, our home, where you belong," Kushina said with a motherly smile.
Home. A place where he belonged. Naruto smiled at hearing that, "Alright! I'll go get my stuff from my apartment right away then!"
"No need, Kiddo. Your mother and I already took care of that for you," Tsunade grinned, "Now, why don't you two get out of here and take some time to get to know each other? Naruto, I'm granting you two weeks of leave so you can bond with your mother. I'll speak with Jiraiya so he can fill me in on the details of your training trip. You two deserve to spend some time together after so long."
"We will. Kami knows how much catching up we have to do. Thank you for everything, Tsunade," Kushina said before turning towards Naruto, "Sweetheart, let's go home. There's so much we have to talk about and do together."
Tsunade looked on as the pair of them left her office and headed home. She stood up and also left her office with an evil grin as she went to retrieve Jiraiya herself. She could have sent a shinobi to retrieve Jiraiya, but it would be so much more intimidating if she caught him red-handed as he was doing his "research" after all.
*********** Line Break ***********
Naruto had quickly taken a shine to his new home. To say it was an improvement compared to his apartment would be an understatement. While Kushina went to prepare dinner, Naruto took a shower as he was still somewhat sweaty, not having had the time to freshen up that day.
Kushina had just finished preparing dinner. This would be the first time her son would have a home-cooked meal and as such, she had made yakisoba. As she covered the table, Naruto came downstairs, having finished his shower and took a place that Kushina indicated at the table. He took in the scent of the food before quickly taking a bite.
"Mmm. This is delicious, Mom!" Naruto beamed with his mouth still full.
Kushina giggled at her son's antics. He was just as impatient as she was. I'm glad you think so, although you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full."
Naruto looked a little bit sheepish at that as he scratched the back of his head, "Hehe, sorry, it was just so good, I couldn't help myself."
Kushina assured him she understood and the two of them ate their meal. Once they finished eating, there was a moment of silence until Naruto broke the ice, "So, err…what exactly are we supposed to do?"
"What do you mean, Sweetheart?" Kushina asked, looking confused."
"Well, I don't really know how people in families are supposed to be, y'know? How are we supposed to talk to each other, or act around each other? What kinds of things should we talk about and what kinds of things should we not talk about? It's just…I don't really know what to do," Naruto said, speaking faster and more confused with each question, clearly belying just how lost he felt.
Understanding dawned upon Kushina and she gave him a reassuring smile, "Naruto-kun, this is just as new to me as it is to you. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been part of a family, but I've never been a mother before. I woke up last month expecting to be given a baby boy to nurse only to find out that my baby boy is almost sixteen years old, now."
"Sweetheart, there's no manual for how to be a family. Every family is different, they figure it out and go with whatever works for them," she said before taking one of Naruto's hands in hers and laying her other hand tenderly on his face, "And that's what we'll do: we'll figure out how to do this together, and we'll support each other as we learn. We'll laugh together, we'll cry together, we'll even fight with each other from time to time and make up afterwards. But what's most important is that we'll be close, we'll stay close, we'll draw even closer, and we'll grow and learn how to be OUR own family, together."
Unused to such intimate contact from a person he did not have to "win over" caused a faint blush to appear on Naruto's face. Naruto began to smile, his unease put to rest, "Yeah. I can do that. Thanks, Mom."
Over the next few hours, he and his mother began getting to know each other. It was somewhat awkward as neither knew where to begin, so they did it in a way they were familiar with: sharing their likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. From there on, the ball simply rolled. Grandpa Hiruzen had told him he really took after his mother, but he never imagined they were so much alike!
Kushina was also struck by how much Naruto took after her. The shape of his face aside, he looked much like Minato, but his personality was so much like hers, just like Tsunade had told her. As she listened to Naruto tell her about his life, she had to smile when he told her about his pranks, his missions, how much he liked ramen, and so forth.
But she also felt sadness despite not showing it. It was also clear that he had been so lonely when he spoke of how parents wouldn't let children play with him, how people believed he was a nine-tailed monster fox, how he was ostracized and given the short stick in the academy, how the village cracked down on him for failing to retrieve his friend-turned-traitor, and how his godfather was kept away from him. She could relate to the feeling of loneliness and isolation that he expressed to her, even if she didn't have it as bad as he did, or for as long.
She couldn't ponder on those thoughts for long as Naruto began to tell her about the prank he pulled before his third attempt at graduating. Hearing that he painted the Hokage Monument in a bright orange jumpsuit during bright day was golden!
"Really? You painted the Hokage Monument? And even painted whisker marks on the Fourth's face? That's so cool, y'know!" Kushina practically roared in laughter, looking she was almost falling out of her chair as she did so.
Naruto was happily laughing along – a true laugh – which Kushina noted was heartwarming, especially compared to the forced laughs he made when he tried to "laugh off" his feelings of pain and isolation.
Figuring it was her turn, Kushina began to tell about her life, like how she ended up in Konoha, how she became the Nine-Tails' second jinchuuriki after Mito Uzumaki, how she wanted to become the first female Hokage, how she was initially treated like an outsider by the other kids, how Kumo ninjas tried to kidnap her. She also told him of funnier things, like her own pranks and how she turned other kids who called her "tomato" into smashed tomatoes – earning the nickname "Red-Hot Habanero" as she did so.
And at Naruto's urging, she also told him about how she met his father and how she fell in love with him. Naruto listened intently to every word she said – from her first impression of his father until his rescue of her, and of his telling her that it was her red hair, their red thread of fate, that had led him to her and brought them together.
He was sporting a goofy grin, "That was really cool! But I can see why Dad loved your hair – it's really beautiful…like fiery threads of ruby, y'know!"
Kushina was somewhat surprised. Even though she didn't hate her hair anymore since the day Minato rescued her from those Kumo ninjas, it still flattered her to be complimented on it, and even more so, her son's sincerity when he called her red hair beautiful touched her. "Why thank you! That makes you the second person who has ever complimented my hair," Kushina said with a loving smile, "There are a few special words I've only bestowed on those who complimented my hair. Naruto-kun, will you accept them?"
Naruto, who was still grinning, nodded his head with much enthusiasm. "Uh-huh!"
"I love you."
Naruto gasped, his eyes went wide, and two silent tears escaped each of his tear ducts, "No one's…ever…said that to me, before," he told her tearfully as an ecstatic smile made its way across his face, "I love you, too, Mom! I love you so much!"
After another tearful hug that lasted several minutes, the two of them were able to relax once again. Three simple words that meant the world to him, especially because for once, he did not have to earn it – this was a mother's unconditional love. His grin turned into a true smile that almost threatened to split his face.
"Hey, Mom? I kinda forgot to ask in all the excitement, but err…who was my father by the way?" Naruto sheepishly asked before sighing and looking down at the table, "I mean, Grandpa explained to me why I couldn't be told about it because I was too young at the time and because Dad's Will stated that I'd have to be a chunin before being told, but I don't know how long that will take if the village keeps pulling the same crap they did two years ago…"
Kushina frowned. Tsunade had told her that despite Naruto's feats, he had been denied a promotion to chunin by the village – a promotion that was well-earned. He would end up being an eternal genin if the villagers had their way and the way they spat on his efforts and achievements angered her greatly. That said, she was also somewhat nervous about telling him who his father was as the truth can be more painful than any sword or jutsu, especially in this case.
She steeled herself as she made up her mind and decided to tell him, regardless of what her late husband's Will stated regarding the conditions of his being given that knowledge – his Will could kiss her merry butt, especially after all the harm that Minato's blind faith in the village had done to their, no…to HER son. The truth had been kept from him for far too long and she would be damned if she hurt him by denying him the basic right to know of his parentage.
"Your father's name was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage," Kushina said solemnly, prompting Naruto's head to snap in her direction, shock and horror written all over his face as he connected the dots.
Whatever joy Naruto felt at learning who his father was, paled next to feeling of hurt and betrayal at learning his father's identity. Grandpa Hiruzen had explained why the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Nine-Tails into him – although without revealing that they were related. He didn't like it, but he understood and grudgingly accepted it. Hell, if he were to guess, based on what he was told, his…father, probably sealed the Nine-Tails in him because he probably couldn't ask someone else to sacrifice their own child if he wasn't prepared to do so himself.
So yes, while he was peeved at his father being the same man who sealed the Nine-Tails in him, that wasn't what hurt him. What really hurt him was the fact that his father so blindly trusted the villagers to treat him right instead of having Naruto's own well-being in mind first and foremost by taking precautions in the event the villagers would see him as the monster fox itself.
His body trembled and tears began to well up in his eyes which were quickly followed by sobs. Kushina quickly moved over to hold him to her as he wept, trying to comfort him.
"I'm so sorry, Honey. I can only imagine how much you're hurting right now and how betrayed you must feel, but I can promise you one thing: I'm here now, and I won't ever leave you or hurt you. And I never go back on my word."
The Uzumaki duo remained like that for another fifteen minutes before Naruto's tears finally subsided. Kushina looked at her son with profound sadness as she cursed her late husband's foolishness, 'Minato, you idiot…look at what you have done to our boy.'
*********** Line Break ***********
As her son had just went out training with his team, Kushina busied herself with the household chores. She was doing the laundry until the doorbell rang and a familiar voice shouted, "Rise and shine, Naruto!" prompting her to go to the door, wondering who it was. When she opened the door, she saw it was Jiraiya, looking like he had seen a ghost.
"K-Kushina? Is…is that really you?" Jiraiya stammered in bewilderment and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Surely Tsunade would have told him if she had managed to fix Kushina up. Then again, she might not, considering how pissed she was when she caught him doing his research.
"You bet it is! It's good to see you again Jiraiya," Kushina greeted him with a warm smile of her own, giving the man who was practically family a hug, which he was content to return.
Still scarcely able to believe it, Jiraiya asked, "How? When?"
"Come on in! I'll tell you over some tea. We got so much to talk about!" Kushina said excitedly, practically dragging the toad sage with her. Jiraiya took place at the table as she served him a cup of tea. Helping herself to some tea, she sat down next to Jiraiya.
"So, how are you doing?" Kushina asked awkwardly, not really knowing where to begin.
"Heh, I can't really complain – I'm doing quite good actually. I got back from a fruitful training trip with your little knucklehead and the ladies still swoon before the gallant Jiraiya. And I just found out you are up and running," Jiraiya told her, "I mean, don't take this wrong, but after so long, it's almost too much to take in!"
"Yeah, I get that, considering how hopeless things looked," Kushina said, looking slightly downcast at the memory of the years she had lost in stasis and coma.
"Well, you're back again and that's what matters," Jiraiya said and put a hand on her shoulder as he tried to console her slightly. Seeing Kushina pushing the sad expression on her face, he informed her in a more serious tone, "Kushina…there are some other things I need to discuss with you."
"Hmm? What is it?" Kushina asked, wondering what bothered the toad sage.
"This is awkward, but I uhm…I was supposed to take care of Naruto, being his godfather and everything and I tried to, but well, things didn't go as planned, so I was not there during the boy's childhood because of-" Jiraiya awkwardly babbled, fidgeting as his voice became smaller, as if he expected an unpleasant reaction from Kushina.
"Jiraiya," Kushina said, interrupting Jiraiya and assured him she was not angry with him, "Tsunade already told me everything. I know it's not your fault and you tried your best. I'm not angry with you. If anyone's fault, it's that one-eyed war-hawk's."
Jiraiya let out an elated sigh of relief and scratched the back of his head, "Phew, and here I was afraid for a moment you'd blow up on me hehe."
"I'm not that bad," Kushina frowned, and relented when she saw Jiraiya deadpan, "…Okay, I've got a temper, but still!"
"Still, for what it's worth, Naruto and I have been able to spend a fair amount of quality time during our training trip," Jiraiya offered.
At the mention of her son and his training trip, she excitably said, "Oh, now that you mention it, I want to know everything about what my baby boy has learned and been up to on the road!" and began to fire one question after another in a fit of maternal worry, "Did he eat well? Did he brush his teeth everyday? You didn't let him gamble or drink alcohol, did you?"
Jiraiya held his hands up to gesture that everything was fine and reassured her, "He's fine. He took good care of himself and he did nothing you would disapprove of," and began to regale Kushina about Naruto's training trip, "Okay, the first place we visited was the Land of Hot Water…"
Kushina listened with rapt attention as Jiraiya told her everything her son had been up to, the he had learned, how he bonded with his godfather. Laughter could be heard through the Uzumaki household as the funnier happenings over the last couple of years were mentioned.
*********** Line Break ***********
Over the next several weeks, Naruto and Kushina had gotten to know each other rather well. Tsunade was able to announce to the village that Kushina Uzumaki had been in a coma since the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, and had come out of said coma a few weeks ago. The village took the announcement of Kushina's survival quite well, the announcement of Naruto being hers and Minato Namikaze's son…not so much.
When it was explained to them that it was the strain of giving birth to him, coupled with injuries she suffered as she and Minato Namikaze worked to save THEIR child's life and seal the Nine-Tails into him, they objected loudly, saying it was all a lie. The crowd themselves began to degenerate into baser emotions, and it looked as though they might start to get violent. The Hyuuga Police Force had hauled some of the more ornery citizens away and charged them with disturbing the peace. The rest of them got the hint, though it did nothing to lessen their hostility towards their jinchuriki as they also tried to put themselves into Kushina's good graces.
As they were seen together out in the village, Kushina would catch people glancing, pointing and whispering as she and Naruto walked by. During one such outing, a squad of three Hyuuga Policemen on patrol attempted to stop them and take Naruto into custody on some trumped-up charge – to which Kushina didn't at all take kindly. She took even less kindly to the fact that they were being exceedingly rough with Naruto, which prompted her to take action. One of those officers left that encounter with one less eye and a nasty scar, one left without a hand and with a mangled lower leg, and the third didn't leave with his life, as Kushina had sent one of her chains through the man's chest when he attempted to strike Naruto in his own chest with a Gentle Fist attack. Relations between the Hyuuga and the Uzumakis were noticeable strained after that, particularly since Tsunade endorsed Kushina's actions and had any and all potential charged against her dropped for the whole affair.
Other than the odd event such as that, they fell into their own routine: when not at home, Naruto continued to train and go out on missions, which left Kushina with a lot of time on her hands. During the month she was waiting for Naruto's return from his training trip, she had taken up the task of restoring the Uzumaki Temple and its grounds. Being Uzumaki Clan property, the village had not deemed it their responsibility to see to the property's upkeep, and it had been falling into disrepair since the day of Mito Uzumaki's passing.
It was on her way home from one such day of restoration work that a colorful flier caught her eye. It was an advertisement for ballroom dancing lessons at the Swinging Leaf, one of Konoha's ritzier and more popular nightclubs. The lessons were to take place the following morning at ten o'clock, and ending at five in the afternoon, just one hour before the club itself would open. The name of the agency offering the lessons was one that Kushina was familiar with, and she knew they weren't based in Konoha – which meant that she and Naruto could have some fun without being turned away due to Naruto's stigma, at the very least.
Seeing that it was priced quite reasonably for six hours of lessons with refreshments and a small lunch provided, she immediately made a detour on her route home – to the Swinging Leaf to sign her and Naruto up for ballroom dancing lessons. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, and Kami only knew how much she and her son needed to do something fun to simply enjoy themselves and forget about their troubles for a little while! Between the grief the village gave her son as they continued to treat him like a pariah, and her worries over his well-being, this looked like exactly what they needed.
That following morning found the two of them inside the Swinging Leaf, with nobody that either of them recognized – to both their relief. They were treated as courteously as anyone else, which caused both of them to relax. Naruto would savor this day as a day where he was treated like a normal human being by those around him, if only for a little while. Both he and his mother were very happy with the welcoming atmosphere Naruto got to experience, and very receptive to the lessons and teaching style of the instructors.
The most enjoyable part of the whole class was the last hour-and-a-half where, after the lessons were given for the dances, slow, soft music was played and those who were there could dance as they wished on the dance floor. Many would put their lessons to use, but others would simply use the time to hold each other and sway slowly to the music. This was what Naruto and Kushina found themselves doing, Kushina with her arms around Naruto's neck, Naruto with his arms around Kushina's waist, both of them smiling contently, lost in their own little world.
As they simply danced with each other, Kushina found herself getting lost in her son's eyes. Her breathing began to quicken, and she felt a flush begin to spread across her cheeks. His smile – the first true, genuine smile she'd ever seen on his face – seemed to lend a radiant brilliance to his face that she'd never seen on anyone else before. She noticed him frown slightly and tilt his head, asking her with a glance if she was alright. Touched as she was by his concern for her, she smiled at him reassuringly and nodded, leaning in and giving him a lingering kiss on his cheek. She could have sworn she heard his breath catch in his throat as she did this.
When the time came for them to leave, both of them thanked the instructors profusely for the lessons and for the experience they were able to share, leaving the instructors staring at them quizzically, wondering why two people were so grateful for a simple day of dancing instruction, as if they'd never before had fun in their lives. Kushina took Naruto's hand and strolled home with him, not noticing that she had interlocked her fingers with his. They both talked and laughed all the way home, and as this happened, Kushina began to realize that her feelings for Naruto were beginning to run far deeper than motherly instincts…she was becoming attracted to him as a man.
As she fretted over this in her mind, she didn't know that similar feelings were beginning to develop within the heart of the man whose hand she was currently holding.
*********** Line Break ***********
Kushina was resuming her work on restoring the Uzumaki Temple and grounds – an activity that helped her to deal with the energy that came from worry over her son. She just wished she could help him in some way. She was glad that he was finally over his senseless crush on his Kami-awful teammate Sakura, but he was at that age where he wanted someone to love him – someone that wasn't his mother. It worried her that while it was no secret that many women were physically attracted to him – she blushed slightly as she thought of him training without a shirt on – none of them wanted anything lasting with him for what she deemed to be good and right reasons!
Some of Naruto's female peers and even some among the twenty-somethings in the village talked about how they wouldn't mind going a round or two with him in the sheets, but they certainly wouldn't want to be seen with him in public. Remembering that made her grit her teeth. There was that Hinata Hyuuga girl, who seemed to have taken a liking to him, but she would never put Naruto's interests before those of her clan or her father – and they absolutely did not have Naruto's best interests at heart. Not at all.
But other than that, it was the usual – disdain, hatred, coldness – Naruto was a social pariah. And he absolutely did not deserve to be. He was the only reason those filthy, selfish, ungrateful people were still alive today! It was only his will that kept the Nine-Tails locked away and unable to escape to annihilate them all and vaporize the village. She sometimes wondered why Minato even bothered to save the village at all – he really had been so naive. And it was Naruto who was paying the price for that naivety now. She was grateful her husband was dead – because if he was still alive, there was no way she could have forgiven him for what Naruto had been through. It certainly helped her to let any lingering feelings of spousal love die along with him.
But therein lay the problem. She was now attracted to her son – in a way that she knew she shouldn't be. Granted, since she had been comatose for his entire childhood, they never got the chance to forge a proper mother/son bond, and they were doing the best they can to do that. They both loved each other – deeply – but it couldn't be defined as a love between a mother and her son. She really didn't know how it was for him, but for her, his resemblance to Minato made it easy for her to become drawn to him. The first time they had met was as adults, so their relationship was more like siblings or close, close friends with a bit of mother/son thrown in – and on her side at least, there was a definite romantic aspect to it…and that romantic aspect was growing.
While she knew it was Naruto's similarities to his father that initially attracted her, it was the differences that caused those feelings to deepen. It made her smile yet frightened her at the same time. Even though incest was practiced in clans – usually between siblings and cousins – so as to keep their bloodlines intact, there was no way that Konoha would condone her and Naruto together. What truly angered her, though, was that it had nothing to do with their being mother and child – except to those who truly cared about both of them. No, the truth would be that to Konoha, she was the 'revered' widow of the great Fourth Hokage, while Naruto was the village pariah and scapegoat, and in their minds, Naruto had no right to sully "Lady Namikaze's" good name and reputation with his advances or his presence – hell, they said things like that right now! And it disgusted her!
While the fear of Naruto coming to harm over such a relationship was certainly real enough, her biggest fear was that Naruto would be as disgusted with her as she was with the villagers if she was to reveal to him her feelings. There was also the fear that if things went bad, she would lose her son forever! And she still loved him as his mother – that, she simply couldn't help and it would never change!
But it was also her love as his mother and her desire to see him happy that, in a sense, drove her feelings for him in a romantic direction. She was the only woman somewhat close to his age – if being nine years older could be considered close – that would love him unconditionally, and love him for who he was alone, not what he could do for her. And even if there was no other reason, she was an Uzumaki, damn it! And an Uzumaki took care of their own, no matter what!
But Naruto wasn't raised as an Uzumaki. Naruto didn't know what the Uzumaki Clan was about, nor did he know what their philosophy and values were. She gritted her teeth even harder at the fact that Naruto was in fact not raised at all, much less as an Uzumaki! Konoha had forced him to raise himself! From what she knew, Jiraiya had been kept away from him through manipulation! And Tsunade hadn't ever been made aware of the fact that he was her son until Naruto had shown the renowned medic the bunker that had housed her comatose body!
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she reached for more debris to clean up only to find none! She had mindlessly removed the last of it as she had been lost in her thoughts. Now that she had finally cleared the last of the debris after months, she still had some energy she wanted to work off, and her mind was wandering too much right now for her to engage in training, so she started immediately looking for the remaining scattered masks and other articles of the Temple that were haphazardly strewn about.
She decided to place them in one of the storerooms until she could get some shelves in and figure out what to do with them. As she was placing some of the masks in said storeroom, her eye caught a particular mask that look very out of place in this temple. It resembled none of the porcelain/ceramic masks that represented the Shinigami, but instead it was carved from some kind of wood and had an iron band from the top of the mask down to where the nose would be.
"What's this doing here?" she muttered aloud, a confused yet intrigued frown adorning her features, "This isn't one of the Shinigami's relics."
She looked it over and turned it around to look at the inside of it. She saw a green luminescence that shifted from the left side of the mask to the right, and she could somehow feel its power. It was as if the mask was encouraging her to try it on! In an almost hypnotic fashion, she slowly brought the mask closer so that she could inspect it further.
Once it was only a few inches away from her face, it leaped out of her hands and pasted itself to her face with what felt like suction, releasing what appeared to be a puff of green smoke when it did so. The mask immediately began to grow and mutate, rubbery tendrils whipping out from its edges, circling around her head and melting together at the back, sealing the mask in place.
Kushina managed little more than a short surprised squeak before the mask began to writhe and contort like a lump of clay being kneaded along with a sound akin to balloons being twisted and bent by a conjurer. The metal bar that ran down the middle of the mask sunk into the mask as the mask's solid, yet inexplicably flexible, wooden texture began to soften until it was closer to semi-molten wax, brightening from a dull green into a bright lime green in the process and clamped itself down more firmly, molding itself to the contours of her face, and poured into her nostrils, lips and eyelids.
Oddly enough, despite the fact that her head was being bent and distorted, there was no pain. There was a burning sensation as the mask continued to shift and reform while squishing, pushing, and pulling on her head, but there was also a kind of perverse pleasure, prompting inarticulate moans and groans. She blindly reached behind her head as she tried to wrench the mask off, only to find that the edges of the mask had fused together – there was nothing to get hold of.
Green light and black smoke surrounded Kushina's body as her body suddenly began to spin around in a cyclonic manner, ever faster, until a few moments later her body was nothing more than a spinning blur that started to zoom through the Uzumaki Temple. Kushina screamed in fear and confusion, but her screams were muffled by the mask that had attached itself to her face and the loud noises caused by her whirling form. A flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder could be seen and heard as Kushina's skeleton was briefly illuminated. A few seconds later, the blurred orange and blue of the tee shirt and pants she usually wore when she was working to restore the temple shifted to what appeared to be a bright ruby red. Kushina's panicked screams also changed into moans of pleasure and cries of excitement and euphoria interspersed with an occasional high-pitched, maniacal giggle.
As abruptly as it started, the tornado stopped spinning with the sound of screeching car brakes and revealed a new, extremely well-endowed Kushina. She was dressed in a form-fitting ruby-red pantsuit ensemble that exuded style and flair with a tinge of cheesiness. Red high-heeled leather pumps led to red slacks and a matching suit jacket with coattails and a white corsage affixed to its lapel, and…she wore nothing underneath it! The two-button top did nothing to hide the vast valley of cleavage that she had no problem exposing! Her outfit was completed by a red wide-brimmed fedora hat.
Kushina grinned wildly and exclaimed the first thing that came into her mind, "Red hot, Baby! So red-hot it's SSSMOKIN'!"
What a rush! Never before had she felt so free! Free from restraint, free from inhibition, free from anything or anyone that would get in the way of her feelings and her desires! And these hot new duds were really snazzy as well! How many other women could pull off a bright ruby-red shirtless pantsuit the way she could…especially with her new magnificent rack?!
"HOLD THE PHONE!" she exclaimed to…herself, as nobody else was present, before adopting a strange grimace that one could only describe as an intensely-thoughtful expression, "If my fun bags have changed…what else looks different?! I THINK IT'S TIME TO FIND OUT! After all, I don't want to do anything to upset my adoring public, now, do I?"
She whirled in place before traveling like a speeding spinning top over to the bathroom in order to look in the mirror. The moment she stopped, she looked at her face.
The moment she saw herself staring back at her, her grin grew unnaturally wide as she greeted her reflection, "EEE-YOW! Hello there, Gorgeous! Where have YOU been all my life?!"
Her face was LIME GREEN and bizarre, and yet it somehow made her look…fabulous! Her features were all mostly recognizable, but they were more pronounced and slightly exaggerated from her normal skull structure – cheekbones sculpted and pointy, jaw stronger and more angular, chin jutted out and more squared, nose sharper, eyelashes longer, lips fuller. She stretched her cherry-red lips so she could get a look at her teeth – her mouth was wider, and her teeth were bigger, but they seemed to fit her face perfectly! And her eyes were still violet, but instead of their usual violet color, they were now the shade of bright amethysts, and they sparkled in the similar fashion! Sensual scarlet eyeshadow accentuated her amethyst-violet orbs, bringing the color of her eyes out further. Besides the change in color, her eyes were now bigger with the cornea remaining its normal size, and just like the rest of her new features, they perfectly fit her face! Her eyebrows had become featureless and pronounced, and she now sported chin and cheek dimples, and her hair – it was the same red, but instead of falling straight down, it now took on the appearance of a beautiful red mane of waves that flowed down her back! Oddly enough, though, all of her skin from the chin down was the same creamy peach complexion it always was. She reached up with her perfectly manicured hand, now brandishing cherry-red painted nails, to cup her cheek – her skin felt soft, warm and smooth, like a very fine rubber or rich moisturized skin. It felt natural, like her own face, but quicker to expression and animation!
And then, there was the rest of her body. Her bust had already been nothing to scoff at, but now her dirty pillows were even bigger than Tsunade's…and they were also shapelier and gravity-defying! Her hips were wider, and her butt was now downright spectacular – it was much bigger and protruded outward quite a bit without being the least bit fatty, her legs also seemed to have become shapelier as well. And not to mention her figure – her waistline had thinned into an hourglass-figure and her curves had become absolutely amazing! Kushina Uzumaki definitely liked what she saw!
"Let's see 'em call me 'Tomato' now!" she remarked before pouting her lips in yet another thoughtful expression and bringing her finger to her chin, "Actually…tomatoes are…succulent, juicy, sweet with just the right amount of tart AND SAVORY, and they can be served up and eaten in all kinds of ways…" and with a huge grin, she finished with, "…JUST LIKE ME!"
With a wink and a blown kiss at her reflection, Kushina zipped over to the exit of the temple and stopped just before stepping out, "Watch out, Konoha! Shina's a-comin' to town…" she quickly spun around, morphing clothes from the red pantsuit into a sexual version of an artist's costume: black beret atop her brilliant red mane, a white tunic that was splattered in paint worn open over a black-and-white striped crop top that barely contained her enormous globes, a red neck tie sash, red shorts that were so tight they might as well have been painted on, and black knee-high high-heel platform boots, holding a paintbrush in one hand and a paint palette in the other, "…and she's gonna paint it BRIGHT RED for her beautiful sexy Naru-Baby!"
She then turned around and looked back at the temple, seeing that there was still a lot of work to do to restore it.
With narrowed eyes and a furtive grin, she muttered, "But first…" before she made that familiar cross-fingered hand seal and created four shadow clones, all of whom were wearing the same green face as their creator, but were dressed in hard hats, brown construction-site jumpsuits and utility belts, while she unzipped herself from scalp to pelvis and stepped out of the unzipped skin dressed in a cherry-red skirt-suit with black stockings, a white silk blouse, red-rimmed glasses and her hair worn up in a professional manner. In one hand was a clipboard and in the other was a mechanical pencil.
"Girlfriends, this place needs a makeover," Kushina, now thinking of herself as Shina, instructed suggestively.
The four clones immediately started spinning around the temple, choosing corners of the temple to start their work. One of them was furiously working with a jackhammer, another seemed to be laying sheetrock and drywall that appeared out of thin air, the third was sawing wooden beams with a table saw, and the fourth was hammering nails into boards and creating shelves. Several minutes later, the property as a whole was completely renovated, both the grounds and the structure. A new protective outer wall had even been built and entry restricted using seals that would only allow three certain people entry: Naruto, Kushina and…SHINA!
The temple itself, while restored and expanded on the outside, looked completely different within. The walls were now red and orange, after hers and her favorite person's favorite colors. Shelves lined the walls with all of the Uzumaki masks proudly on display, also protected with seals that would only allow two/three certain Uzumakis to remove them. The floors were of flawless and varnished mahogany hardwood.
And of course, there were several side chambers as well. The first was a much more lavish bathroom, inlaid with gold faucets and fixtures, with a commode, sink, two-person sit-in shower and two-person hot tub, all of polished onyx. Then there was a fully-equipped kitchen that had any appliance or kitchen gadget that a chef could ever need, a private dining room, and a luxurious master bedroom suite with two walk-in closets and an enormous heart-shaped bed – only the best for her Naru-Baby. Satisfied with the current work, she could add additional floors and a basement later as the need for such presented themselves – it would only take a few minutes, after all.
The shadow clones dispelled, and Interior Designer Shina spun back into her pantsuit and fedora before spinning back to the temple entrance and, with a last inspecting glance at her work, shouting out, "OOOOH! Somebody STOP ME!"
Finally, bringing her arms up to her right shoulder and raising her left leg around the front of her body bent at the knee in a ready-to-run pose, she began to cyclone once more, this time leaving the temple and heading into Konoha proper! Oh, those stupid villagers who didn't love her Naru-Baby would never know what hit them!
End of Chapter
A/N:
And that marks the end of the prologue. Kushina has donned The Mask and transformed into her green-faced, uninhibited alter ego: Shina. I hope you guys like the way I'm portraying Kushina's masked persona so far and please let me know what you think of it.
One thing to keep in mind though is that as things currently stand, I can't promise fast updates here as I will have to juggle between two stories besides alternating between writing, gaming and whatever else life throws at me.