I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.
I OWN ALL THE OCs in this story.
This work is my own work and cannot be published by someone else without my consent.
CHAPTER 4
THE ACADEMY
Blessed.
Kushina felt blessed to have a brother like Naruto. Turns out he was not joking yesterday when he said he was gonna get them a new place to live.
He did, in fact, buy them a couple flats in an apartment.
Then there was also the fact that he bought them the COSTLIEST rooms, in the MOST EXPENSIVE apartments, in the RICHEST area of Konoha.
After pestering him about the matter, she got to know that he earned it all from gambling in one single night, and that the apartments didn't even put a dent in the amount of money he currently has.
At this point of time, Kushina was not even surprised by this as she now knew to expect the unexpected from Naruto.
'What's next, he has the powers of the Sage of Six Paths, pffft!'
Since it was a Sunday, Naruto and Kushina spent the entire morning moving in to their new flats, after getting the seal of approval from 'Goatee' oji-chan, who just seemed too tired to deal with them.
'Of course, the Uzumakis and their insane luck, why do I even bother to be concerned…'
After moving in, Naruto realized that he had no stuff, so he had to buy everything, from toiletries to ninja tools and from shinobi clothes to academy books. So he went for shopping.
And took Kushina with him.
—X—X—X—
Kushina has been staring at Naruto like he was the second coming of the sage for the past hour.
The reason was simple, this afternoon, he had dragged her to the shopping district, quickly bought all the supplies and clothes, after they were approved by Kushina, of course. Kushina was persistent in making sure Naruto's clothes were acceptable, her reason being "No way in hell is my brother going somewhere wearing absurd clothing 'ttebane. Imagine my blood wearing something as absurd as a bright orange jumpsuit. Yeah, that's not possible."
After Naruto bought everything for him, came Kushina's turn…
And of course, Kushina knew to expect the unexpected from Naruto, because that was exactly what he did.
He brought her EVERY DAMN THING she ever wanted. Every item she used to gaze at from the windows of the shops, wishing that she could have it, he bought it all. Everything she cast a longing look at, he bought it. From clothes to accessories, from expensive commodities to the most expensive katana in Konoha stores, it was all hers by the end of the day, and her new apartment had all the space to store them.
When Kushina asked why he was doing so much, he simply replied, "You are my family. What you want, you get. I just want to see you happy and safe imouto."
Safe to say, Kushina could never ask for something better in her life. Her brother was the best thing that had ever happened to her, besides salt ramen.
Ramen….it turns out Naruto loved ramen too, though not as much as her, and ever since he had gifted her the 'majestic 9 flavors of ramen delicacy supreme pack', she has been staring at him like he was the second coming of the sage.
—X—X—X—
"Kushina" Naruto called out, a hint of seriousness in his voice.
"hmm, what do you want Naruto-kun", Kushina replied still busy sorting out her new outfit for the academy.
"You are one of the last Uzumaki alive, as such, its my duty to ensure that you are strong enough to protect yourself and be more powerful than all previous heads."
Kushina turned towards him, sensing the seriousness in his voice. "Well, nii-san, I am the best at taijutsu in my class and have also beaten some of my seniors. Ninjutsu isn't taught until the final year of the academy. I absolutely suck at genjutsu, I can neither cast or dispel it."
Naruto hmm'ed in response. Kushina was a lot like him in this regard. Her taijutsu is excellent just like him, and she doesn't know any ninjutsu while he only knows the replacement technique and the basic henge. He faced the same problem at genjutsu like Kushina, but he solved the issue by creating seals that make him resistant to genjutsu. 'And with the rinnegan, I probably must be able to cast genjutsu' he mused.
"Very well, that is acceptable. For your genjutsu problem, I will create a seal that will make you immune to genjutsu, but because of your high chakra capacity, you will never be able to cast them."
Kushina was visibly stunned, "H-how is that possible? Last I checked, there is no Uzumaki seal capable of dispelling genjutsu.."
"You're right, there is no Uzumaki seal such as that. The seal I am going to give you is my own creation. I finished it a week before the invasion, so there was no time for the Uzukage to verify my seal and classify it as an Uzumaki seal. But this seal has been tested by a couple Uzumaki jonins and it works perfectly fine."
Kushina gaped at Naruto, "Your own seal. What level are you?"
Naruto puffed his chest in a child-like manner and replied, "I am a level 9 master. I will become level 10 in a couple years. Since my sealing teacher is dead, I will have to complete the next level by myself."
Naruto always acted proud and haughty when his sealing skill was mentioned. Perhaps it was because Shiroi ka-chan was a sealing legend and would always be overjoyed when Naruto made an advancement in sealing. That is why Naruto advanced so early, he just wanted to make his mother proud.
"WHAT! You are a level 9 master. I am a level 6 journeyman, and I thought I was the prodigy in sealing." Kushina replied a bit saddened and jealous of Naruto's skill.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I will hold off my training for level 10 and will teach you sealing. So that when you reach my level, we can both reach level 10 together."
This seemed to do the trick as Kushina's frown turned upside-down [sorry, couldn't help it] as she brightened up, "Really, you would do that just for me, nii-san?".
"Like I said, anything for you, imouto…" Naruto said as he prepared himself for what was about to come, as Kushina crashed into him, burying her head in his chest and repeatedly thanking him, while also giving him a big hug that probably cracked his ribs.
—X—X—X—
The next day, Naruto and Kushina were walking towards the academy. Naruto couldn't help but frown at the fact that Kushina seemed to constantly avoid his gaze and was acting all nervous and worried. Naruto couldn't help but feel that something was wrong at the academy. He didn't know what, but he will find the reason that is making his sister unhappy and completely erase it from existence.
—X—X—X—
Minato wouldn't admit it, but he knew that he was getting more and more worried for the red haired knucklehead in his class. He had been observing her for a long time. He saw all the times that she was bullied, and all the times she stood up for herself and beat up the bullies.
Minato admired Kushina, a lot. He knew he could stand up for her, but he also knew she was an independent and strong kunoichi who is strong enough to fight her own battles. But he will still keep observing her, just in case things go wrong.
He wished to be as bold and confident as her. He wanted to show his strength to the world, and have a family to protect with his strength. He also didn't mind the girl with the lovely red hair to be his future …
His thoughts were cut off, when the door opened, and entered a completely different red haired knucklehead. A good kind of different, the blond mused, blushing slightly.
—X—X—X—
The whole class turned deathly silent as Uzumaki Kushina entered the classroom. There was another student behind her but he was paid no mind. Every set of eyes in the room were wide as they were fixed upon the resident habanero of the class, Uzumaki Kushina.
Gone were her old looks consisting of simple shinobi clothes that only poor people could afford. In front of the class stood Uzumaki Kushina, with her new and improved look. She was sporting a baby blue t-shirt, made of the highest quality material, over which she wore an expensive light-magenta coloured yukata-styled jacket. Her pants had blue flames travelling up the sides of them as she stood facing the entire class in all her glory.
Her classmates all had various expressions on their faces. Some showed jealousy, some disbelief, and two of them showed happiness.
Eventually, most of her bullies settled on one expression, denial.
"Oi Tomato! What the hell is wrong with you? Where did you steal them from?" Said one boy as he laughed out loud.
"Yeah, you are still the stupid habanero, stop trying to look cool." Another one said.
"An outsider like you dares to steal from Konoha!" One boy yelled in rage as he made a motion to grab her hair.
—X—X—X—
Kushina feared that it would happen, and it was exactly what happened. Her classmates still refused to acknowledge her. She knew she should have beat them up the moment she was called tomato, but she knew that Naruto was watching and it broke her heart.
'Would nii-san think less of me? Or will he be bullied too?'
She was almost brought to tears when she was accused of stealing and couldn't move her head away from the hand that made an attempt to grab her hair. She just closed her eyes, accepting her fate with silent tears dripping down her cheeks.
However, the hand did not reach her as she heard a loud, resounding clap.
—X—X—X—
Minato was, in one word, enraged.
He knew Kushina didn't try her best to win others over, but she shouldn't need to. She is a member of the village who dreams to become the Hokage, the protector of the village. She should be respected for having such goals despite being an outsider.
When Kushina entered the class, Minato was sure that she should be accepted now. But she was being ridiculed and laughed at. The bullies crossed the line when they accused her of stealing. When he saw that Kushina was not making any move, he prepared to rush in to defend her. However, he was too late and the attack never reached her as it was stopped with a resounding clap, by another redhead.
—X—X—X-
Naruto watched in hidden fury as Kushina was ridiculed and being called names. 'Tomato, so that's why she is ashamed of her hair.'
However, all lines were crossed when they accused her of stealing. How dare they consider a gift from a brother to her beloved sister to be a stolen item. When Naruto saw that Kushina was going to be hit, his mind turned blank as he disappeared and reappeared next to Kushina, catching the bullies arm in his hand.
The bully was surprised when his attack was caught. He snarled and turned around, "Hey! What the hell's your proble.." He abruptly froze, seeing the cold golden eyes that were piercing his soul. He saw a flash of cold purple eyes with concentric rings, though it immediately disappeared. He almost wet his pants hearing the cold tone in which he spoke.
Naruto was seriously considering killing the boy, but he wanted to remain in the Hokage's good graces while he can. But that didn't mean he couldn't teach him a lesson. He took a quick glance towards the rest of the students, analyzing them, sending a curt nod towards the blonde boy who was about to come to Kushina's aid, who slowly nodded back in return.
Naruto again looked towards the bully, who seemed as if he would wet his pants any second. 'Pathetic!'. He tightened his grip on his arm and slowly began turning it around.
The whole class stayed silent as a sudden crack sound ran through the class, followed by the screaming of a boy.
Naruto didn't let go of his grip, inflicting more pain on the boy. He suddenly let go of his head and jumped. He launched a round-house kick at his head, effectively knocking him unconscious.
Naruto quickly appeared next to the boys who were bullying Kushina and proceeded to show the 2nd year academy students why even genin were afraid of his taijutsu.
After the bold display of his prowess, he looked towards the classroom in an enraged expression, which kept the class silent.
He proceeded to speak in the most chilling tone they had ever heard, "If any of you even thinks about BOTHERING Kushina, and god forbid, if you DARE lay a hand on her, I will end your shinobi career, right there and then."
The whole class was too frozen to move as Naruto gently grabbed Kushina's hand and led her to the last bench of the class.
—X—X—X—
Minato was inwardly, very happy, a little jealous and whole lot confused. He was happy that someone had stood up for Kushina, now she didn't have to be bullied and all her misery will finally come to a stop.
He was a little jealous that it was not him who saved her but someone else. 'Was I too late? Has Kushina already accepted someone else?' He thought, the nine-year old being worried for his love life. However, all his jealousy and confusion came to an end as he used his kekkai genkai to expand his hearing as he heard a soft 'Arigatou, nii-san'
'Thank god he is just his brother figure.' The blonde thought as the child's love life was saved.
[Minato's Kekkai Genkai will be explained in the next chapter. Don't worry, it will be very powerful.]
—X—X—X—
In the Hokage office, Hiruzen watched silently from his crystal ball at the display of power Naruto had just shown.
He was glad for the fact that Naruto had come to them. He was sure to become a strong shinobi, and if loyal to Konoha, would be a very valuable asset.
Though he didn't approve of violence in between the academy students, Hiruzen wasn't going to reprimand Naruto for it. Afterall, it was the boy who had made the first move.
AND, Naruto protected Kushina, which made Kushina happy. And everyone knew, that a happy jinchuriki was a stable and loyal jinchuriki.
However, he couldn't help but feel a little worried, 'It seems that Kushina is becoming loyal to Naruto instead of Konoha. I can't take Naruto from her or she would unleash her biju. I must somehow secure his loyalty to the village.'
—X—X—X—
The rest of the class had different reactions to the recent performance.
Shikaku, the resident lazy genius of the Nara clan, was too sleepy and tired to think about that, although he made sure to ponder on it in the future.
Tsume just…. licked her lips. And…. she kept licking it…
Mikoto was overjoyed, she always felt weak and guilty for not being able to defend Kushina, but finally, there was someone who would protect and cherish her, she made sure to get to know him later, as he almost looked as good as Fugaku.
Fugaku, meanwhile, was excited. He was excited at being able to compete with new and strong opponents. He seemed as good as, if not better, than Minato and him. And he was tempted to challenge him then and there.
—X—X—X—
Kushina, meanwhile, was struggling not to cry out of happiness.
It has finally come to an end. She would no longer be bullied anymore. The mere thought made her the happiest person on earth.
She was not even worried about gaining acceptance from her comrades anymore. As long as Naruto accepted her, she did not need anyone's acceptance.
When Naruto made his declaration, she felt like a precious person. 'I am a person precious to someone'. This thought kept giving her butterflies in the stomach.
And then, Naruto gently grabbed her hand and led her up the class. She felt like…like a princess. It was just like her fantasy, which has come true.
Life was truly looking good for one Uzumaki Kushina…