The Greek Kunoichi
Chapter 1: From birth to three years old.
Author's notes: Wow! Thank you very much for all those favourites and followers! I am still amazed by the answer my stories have after the mitigate way my challenges were received. Well, let's continue this shall we! We will be reviewing things of the manga/anime for a while with a few changes here and here to accommodate the fact that Kushina survived that terrible night. Naruto won't be as alone as before and will be able to develop more normally with the love of her mother, but she wouldn't be Naruto without a few of our favorite Shinobi quirks. On with the show then.
Sending a quick prayer to her divine parents to reassure them; because in her critical state she could hear their voices, her Mama saying to hold on, that a woman was able to take more pain than a man and how cute her little granddaughter was. But even that calm was a facade, poorly hiding how worried she was. Her Papa was projecting his image, sitting on his throne, his trident clenched into his right hand, his sea green eyes burning with power, with the desire to be there, to get rid himself of the madman who attacked his family but unable to due to the Ancient Laws and the fact that he was incapable to manifest himself into Konoha. He was telling her that he was boosting her Uzumaki regeneration to make her hold on to life until help would arrive, telling her to beg for water! Into the waters of life, she would be safe, into the waters of life; she would live to see another day and heal to go back to her daughter.
She followed Hiruzen as quickly as possible, but she was near death and giving birth about a week ago, that had taken a lot on her, even with her demigod nature and Uzumaki life force. It would take time to get back to her previous level of fitness. The Professor was astute enough to slow his pace down for Kushina's sake, giving a kind smile and returning the salutes of the villagers who walked past them. Of course, Hiruzen might have followed Minato's dying wish and told the populace of the sacrifice his daughter had made for them, but why reveal her own secret when there's no need? As they walked, he talked into a low voice
"I thought about giving your daughter only your surname. Minato made a considerable number of enemies during the third war; I wouldn't want an Iwa (Stone, the five great villages' names are often shortened.) assassin trying to cash a bounty upon Naruto's head. I know that you have enemies of your own, Kami! Believe me, but Minato was always more high profile, been the Yondaime Hokage (Fourth Fire Shadow) and the Kiroi Senko (The Yellow Flash, Minato's Bingo book moniker.) but the decision will be yours. As it is, I already passed a decree forbidding the current generation to pass what happened with the Kyuubi (Nine Tails) to the next, on pain of death. Only you, I and little Naruto when she's old enough to understand will have the permission to reveal this information."
Kushina knew the old monkey was doing his best to make sure the village recovers quickly and a stop gap on the sensitive information was a must in this instance. They were a military oriented village after all. Civilians could moan and bitch all they wanted, the Hokage was the ultimate authority in Konoha. His word was law. Kushina though Uncle Zeus-Sama could learn a few tricks from Hiruzen. In her head, she heard the low chuckle from her father. Seems he was piggybacking in her mind for a while longer. She usually doesn't mind, it was funny to have a secret conversation and on the god's side, he was watching the world through a mortal's eyes. Though he usually get out of there quickly when she was feeling amorous. That though hit her hard and made her shed a few tears. Her husband was gone. She wasn't a weak woman or anything like a princess waiting for her knight in shining armour. She was an independent woman and a serious and competent Kunoichi (Female ninja), but Minato was the love of her life. It was okay to mourn, but she mustn't forget to live, for her daughter's sake at least. They were quickly hushed inside a bland building which doesn't attire the attention once they arrived at destination.
After both being submitted to a chakra signature check-up by a sensor to be sure they were who they where, Hiruzen and Kushina were ushered toward the nursery. As quick as she could with her soreness and her exhaustion, Kushina burst into the room, creating a few adamantine sealing chains to throw a poor Kakashi out of her way and precipitated herself toward the crib in which her baby girl was sleeping. Losing control over her emotions, she took Naruto into her arms; press her against her bosoms, then slid sitting to the ground as soon as she was against the wall. Kushina was crying in relief to at last have her baby into her arms. She almost went to Uncle Hades-Sama's Realm to join her husband. She almost lost her chance to be a mother. She lost her husband! By the gods, she was a wreck! But at least, she was a live wreck. She could rebuild herself in time. Taking hold of herself and seeing as the A.N.B.U (Ninja Black Ops operative) and the Hokage had given her some time to grieve, she look closely at her precious daughter. She was beautiful! The light blonde fuzz on her head showed her that she had inherited Minato's hair. Her pale skin showed that she would be fair skinned for a while. Her chubby cheeks were marked with whiskers like birthmarks, a sign of been born from a female Jinchūriki and being with Kurama in her womb for a ten months pregnancy. Her eyes weren't settled yet, she was too young. Moving the blanket she was covered with and opening her footie pyjama, she saw the seal tattooed on her stomach. It would fade when her chakra circulatory system would start to filter Yang Kurama's chakra into her body.
For Kushina, it didn't matter. Naruto was alive, healthy and whole. Everything else could wait. Seeing her daughter fussing and going for her breasts, she was about to loosen her blouse when she heard it. It, being the sound of perverted giggling. If she didn't know better, she would swear that Uncle Zeus-Sama faded and then reincarnated into Jiraiya. She was praying every deity she knew of, from Order and Chaos to Athena's Owl, Glaucus to not let them meet. The Apocalypse resulting of the unity in bromance of the Super Perverts was not something the world could endure in her humble opinion. That thought earned her a deep belly laugh from her father and the incontrollable giggling of her mother. Considering seriously between beating Jiraiya to a pulp and feeding her daughter, she chose the latter. With a smile so pure and innocent toward the hidden Jiraiya that it was anything but, she then showed a skill that she managed only before her pregnancy become too advanced for any taxing jutsus. She disappeared in a yellow flash of light. Flabbergasted, Jiraiya dropped his invisibility jutsu and stared where the wife of his deceased student stood a second ago with his goddaughter. In a forlorn voice, he then asked aloud
"I'm screwed aren't I? "
Hiruzen and the A.N.B.U all nodded. The Toad Hermit then let out a high pitched whine and after started to complain.
"It's not fair! I was sooo close to see her breasts, then she decided to be a tease and ditch me! It could have been a beautiful scene into my next book! A mother who give her child her love! No, no, better work it out a bit more hmmm..."
Jiraiya sat there a while, mumbling to himself, obvious to anything else. Kakashi, having recovered by being tossed away like a rag doll, was the last one to let the perverted hermit to his thoughts. He also could grieve when he could take the time to do it. They still had to clear the rubble left by the attack of the Kyuubi, count and bury their dead and rebuild. Also make a strong front for their rivals. It wouldn't do to let them know that they were weakened. Even with his personal lost, he firmly believes into the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire is an ideal, a belief that love is the key to peace. For each and every Shinobi, the Village must come first. The entire Village is your family and you always protect family. After all, peace is an ideal worth working towards it. What no one knew, not even Kushina, was the fact that Konoha was so much focused on The Will of Fire; it gave enough strength to Hestia to give reassurances and feeling of home to each and every hearth.
Time passes far too quickly when you are the mother of an enthusiastic and full of energy toddler, which were Kushina's thoughts. After taking the time to heal from her brush with death and from giving birth, she was mightily surprised that she could still bear children. After all, Kurama's claw plowed trough her womb. Maybe the situation was dire enough for Artemis-Sama to intervene? She was the goddess of childbirth after all. Well, no matter. It's not like there was a line of candidates to chose for and to be frank, she was not over Minato quite yet. After thinking deeply about her situation and seeing the cold wrath of the village simmering by seeing the reminder of what they lost every other day, even if it was mitigated by the fact that the girl was the daughter of their beloved Yondaime Hokage, she decided to pack and head out back toward Uzu. What she never told any living soul on Delos, was the fact that she has contracted supernatural architects from the Gods' home to restore the civilian villages to make the archipelago flourish once more. It cost her all her stash of drachmas and quite a few favors but with the help of Poseidon's court, everything was done for a reasonable price. It seems that the residents of Atlantis wanted their vacation hot spot back. And if it gave Amphitrite and Poseidon the chance to visit their daughter and their granddaughter at the same time, well they would take the plunge. Uzushiogakure No Sato would never be brought back. That hidden village was destroyed because of fear of what they could do if they started a campaign to extend their territory. Thus to be the devil's advocate, the Uzumaki were crazy with some seals. One made to call the aid of Thanatos-Sama is something not done every day. Though, even if Hiruzen let them go, she did have to swear on the River Styx to come back with Naruto to Konoha when she would be twelve years old to enrol her into the Konoha Shinobi Corps. Her word was good, but as Hokage, he needed something to insure that one of his best Kunoichis would come back to active service. Naruto was to be a kunoichi after all. It was impossible to not enrol her, with her pedigree and the fact that she was a Jinchūriki was marking her as a human weapon even if she would not be treated like that. It was a sad fact that a leader had to make difficult decisions, sometimes even impossible ones. A Shinobi was a human being but also weapon of the Village it serves.
It funny how Fate works, because Hitomi Hyuuga, one of her best friends growing up in Konoha, was with her in Uzu No Kuni, on the main island, with her young daughter Hinata, who was making fast friends with Naruto and the locals children, the kidnap attempt by the ambassador of Kumo (Cloud) sent to Konoha to sign a peace treaty was foiled and exposed. The Head Ninja was captured when he tried to break into the House housing Hiashi and his family. Of course, nobody told the would be kidnapper that all he would find into that house was Hiashi and his younger twin brother, Hizashi , accompanied by his young son Neji, putting the past behind them and trying to move forward as a united family once more. It would be an understatement to say that been interrupted was not a good thing. Once the intruder was hit with the Gentle Fist style to the point of closing forcefully all his chakra coils, he was knocked out, forcefully bound and dragged to the Torture and Interrogation department headed by Ibiki Morino. Another though hit her, try to arrange a meeting between Uncle Hades-Sama and Ibiki to let them trade torture tips. They would get along fabulously.
Needless to say that the guy spilled the beans but due to his ambassador status, they couldn't just execute him and be done with it. No, they had to make Kumo own up for what they tried to pull. Needless to say, the peace treaty did not remain but after cooler heads prevailed, they concluded a detente. The "You stay out of my way, I'll do the same" kind of deal. It was good seeing Hitomi again though. Time was still passing and the wounds were healing, but when she tried to teach Naruto how to read, she discovered something unexpected. Something very starting that made her famous temper rise to the maximum. Her daughter, her precious and vivacious little Naruto was a Greek demigod! She was dyslexic and hyperactive. The hyperactivity she first though it was her Uzumaki genes enhanced by Yang Kurama's chakra filtering through her system since she was born. Her brain was hardwired for ancient Greek. She did a test with a text in Latin, just in case she was Roman. Yes, she was aware of the two castes of demigods. How could she not when she rescued one last year from drowning. How a son of Vulcan managed to get on Delos and to Uzu No Kuni, she had no idea. He didn't seem to have a clue either, poor guy. Until Lupa herself somehow showed up and came to take him back to Camp Jupiter. The funny thing is that as hardcore the Wolf Goddess could be, she totally felled in love with Naruto to the point of acting like a pet dog for her all day long! A Wolf Goddess playing fetch! Back to the subject at hand, don't get her wrong, she was glad to share something more with her child, but to find out that her husband had been a God and did not see fit to tell her when she told him she was a twice blessed demigod, daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite, was making her very mad.
Knowing that the gods were shape shifters, she couldn't base herself on Minato's physique to deduce which god to strangle. She wasn't the kind of woman to which you conceive a child with then go to the next conquest! They had married legally and their union blessed by her parents, who promised to report it to Aunt Hera-Sama! It doesn't make any sense. She has seen him bleed before. The Fates only knew how many times she patched him up when he was working on a new seal or on that Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere) technique of his, his blood was red. A god blood was golden. She knew that, she had punched one in the face with Yin Kurama's chakra the other day because the jerk decided to cop a feel of her ass! The pact permitting immortals and mortals to live side by side in Uzu No Kuni was in exchange of respect given and true worship, the gods must take a physical aspect as close as human as possible and restrain themselves to the Shinobi equal of their rank into Poseidon's Court. The god she punched was somewhere in the middle since he was of chuunin level when she had given him a lesson he would not forget anytime soon. Well, having dealt with this as she was growing, she now knew how to teach her daughter. Yes, good plan. Teach Naruto how to read, and then plan for "Minato's" lesson. You don't want to tempt the anger of the Red Hot Habanero. If he was still with them, she would deny him sex for at least a month and would make him sleep on the couch. After he took his beating like a man that is, you got to have your priorities straight. Beating first, no sex for a month and sleeping on the couch, second.
Somewhere on Olympus, Apollo suddenly stopped antagonizing Artemis, letting her slipping away. He sneezed violently and then started to shiver in fright. What in Tartarus? What could make his godly body react like that? Zeus was busier grovelling to Hera's feet after siring another demigod and thus breaking his oath than nagging him about something. Uncle P was down there in Atlantis doing his kingly duties and Uncle H was doing his undead thing down in the Underworld. With the Big Three not on his case, who could frighten so much the strongest son of Zeus? Suddenly, he was engulfed into a halo of light and out of it came Roman Mode Apollo in a smart business suit. Smirking at the situation his other self was in, for he was remembering Kushina, but as she was his other side Greek wife with a Greek child, he was in the clear. He was Roman yes, but even a man of his ego was not stupid enough to forget that woman. As a Twice blessed demigod of Poseidon and his wife and a Kunoichi of Delos to boot not to mention mother of one of his precious daughters, she could make his immortal life very uncomfortable in the near future. Going straight to business, he then sent a message with his godly phone to Hermes, warning him of a really funny future event that would put Greek mode Apollo in really hot water. That would be an entertainment he wouldn't want to miss and to please be sure to prepare to film it then distribute copies of said film to both pantheons. Of course, he then paid in advance with a generous tip to do this service for a Roman and also to keep his mouth shut. Satisfied of his plot, he let Greek Mode Apollo take back the driver seat to wait patiently for the show that would be coming in a decade or so.
Back on Delos, Uzu No Kuni, life was going pretty well. Naruto was really like a younger Kushina but with Minato's coloring. She was just now running away after a successful prank. Kushina wasn't trying to curb it as so much to direct it. That was pure evasion training and critical thinking training. The consequences if she got caught were related to what would happen if she failed a mission in the future. By how colorful the people were as they were pursuing her, she must have set paint bombs or water balloons with paint. But wait, there was a real mob forming behind the few people pursuing her daughter. Frowning, she was about to use shunshin (Body Flicker technique) but when she saw the wild mop of white hair, she just knew it was Jiraiya who got caught trying to peep on the woman bathing in the hot springs. She was glad that her house here had indoor plumbing and western style doors with locks and a western bath with a shower head. So Jiraiya was in town huh. He was probably here because he wanted to see Naruto or to have an update on this quiet corner of the continent. She was glad that it was summer, the majority of the sea Immortals came around in winter and since the Mist was outside the country, at large in the ocean, hiding them from the rest of the world, Pervy Sage would know something was going on with those strangers. She was in no mood to explain the world outside and the Gods who are ruling it to him. She debated if she wanted to save him or not for a while, but her pondering was in vain, for Naruto redirected her pursuers towards Jiraiya by running toward him.
Jiraiya was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair usually tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" which denotes his affiliation with Mount Myōboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the left side of his nose. Jiraiya wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armour that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional Japanese geta (wooden sandals), a red haori with two simple yellow circles on each side, and a scroll on his back. He also had a tattoo in his left palm. Once Naruto and her pursuers where in front of Jiraiya, the little girl gave him a vulpine smirk, jumped above his head, using it as a springboard with her feet, making him stumble and get caught by his own pursuers, while the child managed to run towards her mother. Jiraiya only had time to scowl, grumble about ill mannered urchins before he was caught and start getting a beating. During that time, Kushina took Naruto home with her for her lessons. Well, as much as possible for her hyperactive three years old daughter. In their walk back, she then prompted the girl to ignore Jiraiya's shouts of pain. That man was invincible, plain and simple. Hmm, maybe she could test his resistance by setting up to peep upon Artemis-Sama or another goddess? Some time as a deer or another beast would do him good. Once a little further away from the mob and Jiraiya's punishment, she then prompted Naruto to deconstruct her prank. Once done, she then helped her realize what she did wrong and what she could have done better. Not to forget what she did right and prise her for a good result. It was important to give a child positive reinforcement after all. With a proud smile, Kushina made multiple pass with her hand into Naruto's growing blonde hair.
"Mommy loves you so much Naruto. You are becoming more beautiful each day!"
She then proceed to take her into her arms for cuddle time and a bunch of kisses on her cheeks and her neck, making the little girl giggle and laugh. A beautiful sound. When they arrived home, they realized that they had a visitor sitting serenely on a kitchen chair, sipping a cup of tea infused with a cloud of nectar. The man has black hair, a neatly trimmed black beard, a deep tan, and sea-green eyes that were surrounded by sun-crinkles that told one he was prone to smiling. His hands are also scarred like an old-time fisherman's. When casual (which is almost always), he wore Birkenstocks (leather sandals), khaki Bermuda shorts, a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it (or any other Hawaiian shirt), and a cap decorated with fishing lures which says "Neptune's Lucky Fishing Hat." When seeing him, Naruto's eyes got big and round; she let out a big happy squeal and yelled
"Granddad! Granddad! You came, you came!"
She then took an accidental chakra enhanced leap to run forwards into her smiling and laughing grandfather's arms that caught her easily. After a big happy belly laugh he then answered
"Of course I came! I couldn't not keep my promise to my little maelstrom can I? I love this country. Great beaches, the ocean is clean, good fish to catch, the people are amazing and most of all, the family is always happy to see me!"
Kushina loved every moment of it and observed the scene with a big smile before walking to her father and deposing a big smooch on his cheek. Poseidon was a great father and a doting grandfather. Every time her father came to visit, her daughter would be excited. Something really cliqued between them. They had complicity rarely seen between a god and a demigod. It would be a subject of conversation to talk about when Naruto would be in bed. No need to spoil this visit with something that serious with Naruto too young to understand yet.