AN: Note to RETURNING readers: the previous chapters have been edited to fix stylistic mistakes (time has not been kind to them I fear), but I have also altered small continuation errors and changed a few scenes, particularly in chapter 3. It might be worth checking it out if you'd like to stay up-to-date.
There was a dull humming in her head, getting louder by the second. Kushina groaned, trying to bring a hand up to her temple, but it seemed to be tangled in some sort of fabric. She was lying on something hard, cold seeping through her clothes, chilling her. The hum about her grew, noise cascading up into a boom, sounding suspiciously much like the roar of a waterfall-
Her eyes flashed open at once as realization came and she shot up in a sitting position at once, senses strummed out in high alert.
Alive. She was alive.
For now.
The first thing that pinned her attention was the cascading wall of water up ahead, the obvious source of the thunderous sound. But she seemed to be on the other side of the falls, inside a massive cavern, her eyes sweeping the construction in startled awe.
Its dome-shaped ceiling stretched far above, all adorned in ancient mosaics. The images ran along it and down the walls, depicting Tailed Beasts in combat and Kushina quickly recognised the Matatabi and the Gyūki – the Bijū granted to Kumogakure years ago. There were holes amidst the imagery, water gushing out of them to form smaller waterfalls all around, collecting in an intricate pattern of canals across the ornate floors, all of them flowing down to join the lake of the main waterfall ahead.
Amidst them all ran a pathway, framed by two lines of large headless statues, leading from the falls to three pyramidal-shaped shrine constructs that sparked recognition. She had seen something similar once, or rather the remains of it, long ago, in a different life.
Was it a Tailed Beast Temple? She didn't know Kumogakure had one so well-preserved.
She had been laid out beside one such headless statue, over a pile of blankets. Another soft fabric covered her form, likely to ward off the chill. And even though it was almost impossible to tell how long it had been since that surprising attack by the Raikage – the lying bastard – it would have been at least a day, judging by the fact her hair and clothes were dry despite the plunge through falling water.
That, and it also appeared to be near twilight, the curtain of cascading water catching the rays of the setting sun on the other side.
"Finally awake, are you? Good." Someone said from across, drawing her attention back from her dumb-struck exploration, and she jumped, not having heard them appear over the roar of the falls.
A man was leaning against one of the statues, his arms casually crossed before his chest as he studied her with curious eyes. He was wearing a standard Kumogakure uniform, corresponding forehead protector tied over his brow, and Kushina realised he had probably been one of the Raikage's team who had gathered around the falls in the morning, but she had been so nervous that she had paid them all very little mind.
This one was tanned, his broad face boasting chiselled features with a prominent cleft chin, all framed by sideburns which went up to a mop of dull purplish hair. There was… something… about his appearance that seemed oddly familiar, as if a memory was scratching on the surface, trying to make itself known.
She bolted up to her feet at the sight of him, the blanket falling to one side, forgotten.
"Relax, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you. Heck, if I wanted to, I would have done so while you slept. Or just let the hypothermia do its job I s'pose." he said calmly, scratching at one sideburn.
"I've been hearing that a lot lately and yet all I get for it is punches in the stomach, ya know." she growled out and the man grinned.
"Well… About that. You see, Raikage-sama had no choice there."
"No choice?! How about choosing to honour his word, huh? He promised me I'd be one of you and then he says I must die, ya know!"
"And you have. To the rest of the world, the Third Raikage killed Kushina Uzumaki yesterday at dawn, extracting the Kyūbi and laying claim on it for Kumogakure." the man said as he pushed away from the wall, taking a few steps to where her makeshift cot had been put up and sitting cross-legged before her.
"What…?"
"It was needed, you must realize. Your village… well, you'd know best, but Konohagakure are a stubborn bunch. They would have never stopped trying to get you back. He eliminated that risk." the man said with a shrug, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
And perhaps it was – there was reason in what he said. She knew her teammates and she knew her sensei – they would never give up on her, no matter the deals she struck. And perhaps, deep down, there had been a selfish part of her that had hoped they would succeed – that they would get her out and she wouldn't have to make this dreadful choice of having a life without them.
But now? Oh Gods, what had the Raikage done?
Her knees had grown unsteady and she folded down, plopping on the floor ungracefully, staring at the man through wide eyes.
"They… They won't believe I'm dead, ya know."
"Oh they will. You are one of us now, girl, and you will come to learn this for yourself, but there is nothing Raikage-sama does without a reason. Your death was just as public as it needed to be."
"But… but it was only him and his men-"
"One of whom is a spy for Konoha. Raikage-sama has suspected it for a while now, but he could never find exactly who the mole was."
She licked dry lips.
"And now?"
The man's answering smile was sharp, almost predatorial.
"Now we have a pretty good guess. The Raikage sold it well, made it look like he extracted the damn thing. I even produced a clone of your likeness to burn to a crisp while this cave masked your chakra signature – it's one of its neater features. And, just as expected, someone's clone left the island later that day to report to your old sensei. It was disguised of course, but we're almost certain who sent it out, fear not."
Kushina could only stare. How simple, how brilliant the Raikage's terrible plan had been – make a show of killing her, letting Konoha's own plant attest to the fact while Kumo caught him for doing just that.
Something else in the man's gleeful tale caught her attention and she latched onto the words with a dry throat.
"To report to my old sensei, you said?" she croaked, carefully wiping her face of emotion.
Jiraiya had come.
Of course he would come. She had been certain.
What would he do now upon learning of her death? Would he come still, to make certain? Would he blame himself like Minato had once blamed himself for Obito and Rin?
Guilt descended upon her hungrily, clawing at her chest. Her defection would have been one thing – a failure for a teacher to a certain extent, perhaps, but ultimately it would have been her choice in the end. But her death? Losing a student could blow a hole through one's heart, she had seen it first-hand.
And what of her friends? What of Minato? Oh Gods, what of her parents, losing a second child now?
Why did it pain her so viciously all of a sudden; how was it different to her defecting, in terms of their loss?
Because it screams permanence. Because they've forced you to make it permanent. This is it. It's done.
Perhaps it was better this way; keeping her name clean and untarnished. Let them cherish the memory of a girl who had lived passionately and loved fiercely; a girl who would never betray her home. Let them face it and burry it. Burry her. Let them move on with time.
Her one hand was trembling as she swallowed past the lump in her throat. The shinobi across from her seemed to be oblivious to her musings, carrying on with light-hearted abandon.
"Your old sensei, yes. Jiraiya of the Sannin, are we wrong? Came running right after you, the old codger. Brought some kids with him too as far as we know. Funny choice, that, for a mission of this magnitude. Although our scouts admit they've been dreadfully good at avoiding proper detect-"
She had jumped up to her feet again without quite realising it, her hands balling into fists as she clenched her teeth under a furrowed brow. It was as if he had drawn a match against an oil-soaked wick, igniting her.
Jiraiya had brought her teammates – had brought Minato – to Kumo. Kumo, who knew they were here; who could attack them and kill them. Surely Jiraiya wouldn't let that happen.
Surely-
"Ah." the man said, watching her closely with a semi-disinterested look. There was an air of thinly-veiled nonchalance to everything he did and said, and she realised that she didn't like him at all. "Your old team, I assume?"
She remained pointedly silent.
"You care for them."
"Of course I do, ya know! If you think I'd just flip a switch and forget everyone I knew just because I said I'd join you-"
"Good." he cut her off curtly. "Caring for your team is good. I wasn't sure Jinchūriki had it in them to be honest."
Kushina could only stare, uncertain whether she had heard him right. And it wasn't the words that had shocked her so much – she was sure there were plenty of people in Konoha who shared the sentiment – but rather the fact that he had said them out loud, his brazen honesty unsettling her.
"Of course we do! We care as much as anyone else, we're just human, ya know!"
"Well then, just human," he started, the words somehow coming out mocking, "you can sit back down and relax. Your team are safe, for now. Killing them would get us nowhere – we need them to spread the tale of your demise after all."
He draped a hand over one knee, leaning over almost conspiratorially as his lips split in a cocky grin.
"But, if your dear old sensei decides to come seeking retribution for your death, I'll personally make sure he gets what's coming."
She wanted to scoff at the arrogant words – this man had one heck of an ego to calmly claim he'd take Jiraiya of the Sannin on in a fight – but there was something about him, something that stilled the derisive snort in her throat.
Instead, she measured him with a long look.
"Who are you?"
"Toroi Yoichi, at your service." the man said with a mocking smile, bowing his head once.
Her eyes widened. She knew him, of course she did, the memory coming back to her with sudden clarity – an outdated grainy image of this man adorning Konoha's Bingo Books during the war, the captions warning of encounter, the words under the picture inked in sharp strokes: "Kill on Sight". Worse yet, she knew his status was no exaggeration. Minato himself had fought the man, in a lifetime of another time.
"Toroi of the Magnet Release." she whispered quietly and he lifted an eyebrow in response.
"Oho, you've heard of me? Good, no further introductions needed on my part. How about you then, girl?"
She frowned.
"Don't pretend you don't know who I am, ya know."
"I don't believe I do, no."
She gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"I'm Kushina Uzu-"
"No." the man growled out quietly, fixing her with a stern look. "Konoha's Kushina Uzumaki died yesterday, losing her Bijū."
With that he gestured to her forehead and for the first time since waking up Kushina realised that it was bare as her fingers shot up in instinct, looking for a forehead protector that was no longer there.
"It burned down. Most of it anyway, along with your convincing corpse. Had to have some tangible proof now, didn't we? 'Sides, you don't need it no more. You're Kumogakure now. And you need a new name. So, I ask again: who are you, girl?"
She swallowed.
The roar of the falls was deafening up ahead, its moisture dampening her clothes, gluing them to her skin, chilling her.
Who was she?
She had been her mother's "little troublemaker" and her father's "fierce spark". She had been the academy's "Tomato" and Konoha's "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero", a tangle of red hair and flying fists. She had been her team's unpredictable "Wild Card". She had been Minato's dream for a different life; the wife of Konoha's Yondaime Hokage and the mother of his child.
But throughout it all she had been Kushina Uzumaki, of the Eddies and the Leaf.
She had been fervently, proudly, unwaveringly true to herself.
Who was she now, taking all of that away? What was left?
A sense of hollowness had filled her, echoing dully on the inside. And all of a sudden, she felt like a shadow licking at the edges of an existence that had burned too bright.
The brighter the light burns, the longer its shadow stretches, Shikaku had said once, a lifetime ago, a wry smile dancing on his lips as he accepted Minato's offer to serve as his strategist and councillor.
He had meant something else entirely, but the words rang through her mind, striking home. Kushina Uzumaki had burned brightly, a flame that blazed with a fierce light. It was her turn to be a shadow now – to be no one at all – and see how far she could go.
It was sometime in the middle of the night when someone shook her awake and she started, bolting up from the bed.
Toroi had escorted her back to the military compound at the heart of the island late in the evening, showing her to her room and instructing her to get some rest to prepare for the long day ahead. But it wasn't the Magnet User standing over her right now, nor anyone she had already met since her kidnapping.
The newcomer was tall, dressed in the same pristine Kumogakure Uniform, his forehead protector sawn into a headscarf that covered a shaved head. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed in a frown over close-set eyes, thin lips pursed into a harsh line.
"Get up."
She could feel her own eyebrows knot in confusion and annoyance. Could anyone make up their mind about what they wanted with her? Join us, die, rest, get up, what was wrong with Kumogakure shinobi and their ever-changing moods?
"What is it now, ya know?"
"Raikage-sama needs a word with you. Come."
She squashed down the urge to curse dear old Raikage-sama out loud as she swung her feet off the bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"And who are you then, his night lackey?"
"Jinei." he answered simply and she rolled her eyes as she padded to the door to strap her sandals in place.
"Hurry up." the man prompted and she huffed out a sound between irritation and indignance.
"I'm not a wind-up toy, ya know. You can't just spring me out of bed and expect me to be chirpy."
Jinei didn't comment, pushing her out in the corridor roughly and marching down the halls in a soundless step. He was in a rush, she could tell, his hastened pace requiring a near-skip in her case in order to keep up. The doors raced past them on her right, the windows mirroring them on the left, and Kushina couldn't help noticing the occasional glances the man threw behind his back, sweeping the way they had come from.
A niggling sense of worry spread down her form, a feeling that something wasn't right.
"Where are we go-" she started, but he cut her off, grabbing her hand and yanking her sideways as they reached the door leading outside that she had found a few days prior.
It opened easily, unbarred, allowing the scent of the night air in and the sounds of the crickets without. The man paused briefly, throwing a long look around before giving her hand a tug.
Alarm bells were ringing in her head already – why would there be no guards? If the Raikage knew Jiraiya was in the Land of Lightning, wouldn't he post people around, just in case? He had a whole squad after all – were they with him, somewhere outside, near another waterfall of doom?
"We need to go through the forest, but your chakra is bound with a seal." Jinei explained and she felt like rolling her eyes – as if she didn't know about the seal, feeling it acutely still. "It will be faster – safer – if I carry you, alright?"
"I swear if he attempts to kill me again, we're done, ya know." she said drily and the man's lips twisted in an odd grimace.
"No one will try to kill you again. I promise."
There was something odd in his tight voice as he bent down and scooped her up in his arms, like her weight was no more than a doll's. Before she could ask, he had jumped ahead through the trees soundlessly, the foliage turning into a blur around, and her hands latched onto his collar in instinct. She caught glimpses of branches appearing gnarled in the snippets of moonlight filtering through, like wizened fingers stretching outward before being left behind.
She had to suppress a shiver.
By the time they stopped again they had exited the forest, Jinei taking chakra-infused leaps amongst massive oval boulders, their jagged shape thinning out at the edges to resemble spikes – a most unnatural construction that she eyed with no small amount of awe. He planted his feet firmly over one such massive stone spike, gingerly letting her slide out of his grasp until she found her footing, and she had to squash an irrational bout of instability as she felt the rough rock below her feet, knowing that she couldn't secure her balance with chakra across its surface.
The distant sound of waves could be heard ahead, the gentle sway of the ocean easily discernible for one grown beside its shores, and Kushina craned her neck to try and catch a glimpse on the other side of the net of rocky spikes.
Jinei seemed to be of a similar inclination - he leapt up on a neighbouring sharpened boulder, which was jutting high up in the air. She watched him direct a speculative look every which way, clearly surveying their surroundings much better than her. But there was something about the fidgety way in which he moved, and the nervous edge to his look which bordered on mad worry.
In her intent scrutiny it was impossible to miss how he wiped moist palms at his trousers, a drop of sweat coming down the side of his jaw; and then, suddenly, it all clicked into place.
The ocean. His fear. His mad dash through the woods.
Her eyes widened as she sucked in a sharp breath, just as the man jumped back down across from her.
"You're not taking me to the Raikage, are you?"
Jinei's throat bobbed as he swallowed once.
"No. I'm getting you out. I would have done so sooner, had I known what he'd do. I really thought we had more time, but he- I thought you died- We need to get you out before he tries again. The island is surrounded by a barrier, they'll know as soon as we cross it, but there aren't many nin stationed here and the borders are poorly manned. They aren't around and it will take them time to catch up. I'll carry you over the water surface, but when we reach the mainland we have to hide our tracks. With any luck, we can cross into the Land of Frost before-"
"You're Konoha's plant." she blurted out, staring at him incredulously.
She could see his eyebrows twitch at her words, the surprise spelling itself across his face.
"How- How did you know that-"
She took a tentative step back, her heart hammering in her chest. A sick sense of dread was unfurling in her stomach, cold and heavy in her gut.
This was wrong.
Because she knew, without a doubt, what would happen next. The lack of guards suddenly made too much sense. What had Toroi said? That they were almost certain who the spy was. Almost.
One last move remained, the final step with which to catch their mouse.
And she had been the bait.
That was why he had brought her back to the military compound, practically parading her through the main yard, making sure every Kumogakure shinobi stationed on the island saw her; making sure they knew she was alive.
"Jinei-san." she muttered out, a rush of adrenaline surging through her as she threw a panicked look around. "You can't-"
"We're running out of time. We need to go, now. Don't you want to go home?"
Her heart stuttered unevenly in her chest. Home. He could take her home.
But this was a trap. He'd get them both killed.
"Jinei-san. They know there's a spy. The Raikage pretended to kill me, just to lure you out. This- This is a set-up, you need to-"
The thin swish of air reached her just as a kunai shot out of the trees behind them, sailing harmlessly past her head, twirling her locks in its wake as it pinpointed Jinei mercilessly. The man reacted in instinct, bringing his own weapon up to block and the clang of metal echoed through the upturned rocky spikes, before he flicked the enemy's kunai aside in a swift move. It clattered across the stones, slipping off one side.
Kushina jumped to the side, as much as the limited space allowed her, her eyes scanning the trees behind her frantically, her breath caught in her lungs. A curse left Jinei's lips as he took a fighting stance a few steps down the rock, one kunai lifted before his face.
"Quickly now. Let's go." he said, extending a hand to her.
Kushina didn't budge, staring at his palm as if it were a snake poising to bite.
The spy hesitated, confusion flashing through his look.
"Uzumaki-san…?" he muttered just as a man stepped out in between the trees, his steps resounding down the stone with a blatant demonstration of the lack of need to silence his moves.
The third Raikage stood before them, his wide-sleeved coat flapping madly in the sea breeze, his eyes fixed on Jinei with cold steel-edged threat.
Kushina felt her stomach drop.
No matter how good a spy, when faced with the Third Raikage, Jinei was as good as a dead man walking. He seemed to know it too, beads of sweat coming down his face as he took a scraping step forward, placing himself between Kushina and the newcomer.
"The girl had nothing to do with this. For Gods' sake, she's just a child. Don't harm her." the man urged, his voice dipping in desperation.
Her heart clenched at the sight, his plea like a punch to her gut. Even now, when faced with his inevitable death, Jinei would put her first. He had risked everything – his position, the village's spy network advantage, his life – just to get her out.
Her breathing had picked up, sweat breaking out at the back of her neck, hands opening and closing out of fists.
Had she caused this? Had Jinei lived in her timeline? Had she ended a life short?
"Harm her? The girl is one of us now. I would never harm my own. Unless they betray me."
There was a flicker of movement, a glimpse of a shift ahead, the air stirring soundlessly as a zinging charge zapped through the very opening around, electrifying the tips of her hair; and then the Raikage had zoomed across the empty field, near as fast as Minato had ever been, back in her time. One moment he was standing by the tree line, the next he was before Jinei, lightning crackling dangerously across his arm- his arm which had gone through the younger man's stomach in a single swift move, piercing him where he stood. The acrid smell of charred flesh reached her and Kushina felt herself gag, pushing bile back down.
Jinei coughed up blood.
"I- I was never one of yours." he spat out weakly and the Raikage snarled, flinging his arm aside and proper tossing the man to one side, releasing his forearm with a sickening squelching sound.
Jinei's body hit the side of the rocky spike like a sack of flour and Kushina could only stare in horror as he slid down its edge, his form crashing in another sharp boulder ten feet below where he remained motionless.
A scream had lodged itself in her throat, impossibly stuck behind stiff lips.
The Raikage simply turned around, striding ahead in a furious gait.
"Toroi. Bring her."
She felt numb, staring at Jinei's body through wide eyes, her lips opening and closing without a sound coming out. And as she watched, the man's fingers twitched, reaching blindly at something-
She took a step forward without thinking just as a hand wrapped about her arm, pulling her back.
"Let off." she snarled, wrenching her arm out of Toroi's grasp, directing a furious look up at the Magnet User. He didn't flinch one bit. "He risked everything thinking he was saving a kid that needed help. Even you have to admit there's honour in that, ya know. Let me thank him. Let me send him off."
He regarded her flatly, his heavy-lidded eyes boring into her as if looking for the answer of a riddle she hadn't heard posed. Finally he relented, nodding once.
The climb down was awkward, her jumps semi-stilted without the aid of chakra, taking her the better part of five minutes to reach the lower spike on which the man had collapsed. His breaths, when she finally got to him, were weak and laboured, blood oozing out his lips through wet chokes. The wound on his stomach had formed a pool of red around his form.
She bit her lip, fighting the sting to her eyes as she gently flipped him around.
"U-Uzumaki-san." he choked out, his eyes wandering about as if unable to affix her.
"I'm here. I'm- Jinei-san…" she whispered, finding his large hand with her small childish grip.
"Find- Find-"
"Don't speak, ya know, you're in pain, you-"
"No." the man said stubbornly, his cold hand gripping her fingers with a strength she didn't know a dying man could possess. "Find. The Black Lotus. The special tea. Tell her. Tell her the leaves whisper even in adversity."
He coughed, more streaks of blood coming down his chin, gleaming near-black in the night.
"What-"
"She will find. Jiraiya-sama. Get you out. The leaves whisper, even in adversity. Say it."
"Jinei-san-"
"Say it."
There were tears coming down her cheeks, the sea breeze drying them against her skin.
"The leaves whisper even in adversity." she murmured, biting her lip to stop it from trembling.
"Yes… They do, don't they?" he said weakly as his lips lifted up in a serene smile. "I can hear them even now. Konoha's forests. They sound- beautiful."
"Yes." She choked out, bending her chin low, eyes squeezing shut as his grip went slack in her hold. "Yes. They do, ya know."
It was close to noon when Fukai finally made his way to the Raikage's office, as instructed in the morning.
He squared his shoulders, throwing his head back as he wiped sweaty palms at his sides. He really shouldn't be so on edge with the man – the Raikage was his own uncle for Gods' sake – but Fukai couldn't shake off the feeling that every time the brawny man looked at him, he saw nothing but a failure walking, his piercing light grey eyes screaming his disappointment at Fukai's every step.
The boy gritted his teeth, pushing the door open in one swift move. It flung aside more forcefully than intended, banging in the wall behind, and three pairs of curious eyes fixed him upon his unintendedly grand entry.
Fukai felt himself flush.
"Fukai. Good of you to finally join us." The Raikage grumbled out in a tone that said you're late in every syllable.
He sometimes forgot that when his uncle said to be somewhere at a specific time, the man really meant to be there at least quarter of an hour early or else he would consider you tardy for all of time.
Fukai seemed to have fallen firmly into that category. He sighed.
"Raikage-sama. I was told you had need of me."
He took a few steps in, straightening before the man, hands clasped behind his back, but as formal as he was attempting to be, he couldn't help himself from throwing brief glances at the youngest occupant of the room who was now standing beside him.
Kyūbi's Jinchūriki stared straight ahead at the Raikage, carefully void of emotions. She had pulled her hair – her ridiculous amount of hair – in a practical ponytail, leaving two fiery locks to frame her face and hide it from detailed scrutiny.
On her other side, Toroi of the Magnet Release had leaned against a wall, eyeing the two kids speculatively. Fukai felt like groaning. He had never really liked the man much, his snide comments never failing to ignite a spark of fury inside.
"Fukai, I'd like you to meet Nanashi. She will be your partner in training on the island for the foreseeable future." The Raikage explained calmly, gesturing at the girl.
The Jinchūriki – Nanashi – threw the boy a quick side-glance, nodding once at him.
Fukai frowned.
"Partners? But uncle, she said she'd been brought here against her will-"
"Nanashi-" the Raikage cut him off with a grumble, "-has had a change of heart. She's happy to earn her place amongst Kumogakure's ranks. This is where her path begins. With yours. If things go well, you'll return to the village in a year or two, fully in control. A squad of jōnin will remain here to guard you meanwhile. Toroi Yoichi will also stay – as your instructor, for the time-being."
"What?!"
He was only mildly surprised to find that he and the red-haired girl had asked the same question together in one voice, her disbelief matching his own well.
And when Fukai glanced sideways at the stoic man, the Magnet User's grin was sharp and full of promises of torture.
"Well then, ducklings. Time for some training, don't you think?"
AN: I have arisen from the dead~ Alright, maybe not so much for most of you since you've probably noticed I have been quite active with my other story for the last few years. Still, as I stated in the last chapter of HiaB, I've never quite forgotten this little obsession of mine for which I had planned most thoroughly – the ideas live in me, wanting to be told. I had planned on returning to it once I finished HiaB (a finished project under my belt – the very dream!), but I've decided I would like to try and be consistent on both fronts. Therefore, I will strive to update both as regularly as I can.
So, without further ado – I have returned to Beyond and Back Again! I do so love this work and the unpredictability it brings (to hell with canon here, I say!) and I'm so very grateful for all the lovely reviews I've received lately and over the years, encouraging me to one day return and continue this work. Well, the day has come! Welcome back or welcome, to new readers – I hope you enjoy the ride! As always, your comments, thoughts and wild guesses as to what might happen next are always very welcome! It's so very lovely to hear from you guys! Feel free to drop a line!
A small spoiler of upcoming chapters: the following few chapters won't go into too much detail (some crucial scenes excluded), and will likely span over a period of time of a couple of years, introducing new characters and relationships with time. Worry not, Minato hasn't been forgotten, but for all of you Minato-lovers out there (like myself), I'm sorry to disappoint – he'll appear again (gloriously so) but in some time. I hope you can bear with the wait!
Notes on the text:
1. Nanashi – Kushina's new name is significant here. It means "Nameless", or "one without a name", since she decided that she would be "no one of significance" this time around.
2. Toroi is a real person from canon – he appeared briefly during the Fourth Shinobi World War as an Edo Tensei and everyone seemed terrified of him (and for good reason I guess – he had Magnet Release, a bloodline limit that seemed particularly scary indeed). I have no idea when he lived or how he died and there's no comprehensive information about it either, so off I go appropriating as I will. He was also on screen for a very short period of time, which meant very little demonstration of character. So away I go, chiselling at his personality as I see fit, I hope it sounds fine!
3. I apologise, but I did warn in advance – this story might hold some spoilers for HiaB as Kushina actively remembers things from her past life, which I have based on events as I imagined them in HiaB (you could say BaBa is a continuation to HiaB in a way!) – case in point, Minato's fight with Toroi which hasn't happened in HiaB yet as Kumo are just joining the war now in that particular story.
4. Fukai's name is listed as both Blue B and Fukai in the Naruto wiki and the way I'm approaching it is the following – he is still Fukai, not appointed A's partner (taking on the name B and the clarification of "Blue B") until he demonstrates he's in control of his Jinchūriki. For now, he's simply Fukai. His character is also largely based on my own musings, since very little of his personality was demonstrated in canon, and what little was shown was mainly when he was already a bitter adult. I claim room for change here.
With that out of the way~ I hope you guys enjoyed!
Ja ne~
Glossary:
Matatabi: The Two-Tails
Gyūki: The Eight-Tails