AN: Hello, just popping in from the afterlife here~ With a massive chapter that was started probably close to a year ago :D
In any case just a quick clarification for those that are just jumping in or those who are coming back but have already forgotten most of this time-travelling mess: Nanashi is Kushina, or Kushina is Nanashi - her new name in Kumogakure. Seeing as I write my chapter sections from different Points of View, I just wanted to clarify - when a section is from Fukai's point of view, he refers to Kushina as Nanashi, because that is how he knows her. When the section is from Toroi's point of view, he also refers to her as Nanashi, because that is how he now sees her, refusing to acknowledge she was someone else before. When the section is from Kushina's point of view, people still call her Nanashi, but she refers to herself as Kushina, because that is how she still sees herself, even if she has adopted a new name. Basically, if you see "Kushina", this is from her POV.
Anyway, with that out of the way - enjoy!
"If kunai made out of hardened steel with a density of 7.7 g/cm3 and weight of 310 grams is thrown at a target at a distance of twenty meters northward, on a clear day with maximum wind velocity of 10kmph eastward, what curvature if any should be applied to compensate for- oy! Nanashi! Are you even listening?! The paper's due in two days, Toroi-sensei might actually make us run laps around the island whole day if we don't-" Fukai started, waving the book around in what he thought was a thoroughly threatening manner.
"Yeah, yeah, listening. Totally, ya know." she muttered, but her eyes were fixed on the bucket of colourful liquid she had propped between her legs instead. Her arms were moving rhythmically, stirring the colours inside in a mix of vibrancy.
She had pulled the different coloured ink out of a storage seal on her wrist a few minutes ago, eagerly adding them to a small bucket of water she had hauled with them to the rooftop of their building. When asked about it, the girl had simply shrugged, dropping an ominous "you'll see, ya know."
"Oh yeah? And what was that last problem I just read?"
The girl rolled her eyes.
"Annoying 's what that problem was. Here, hold this."
She handed him the stick she had been using to stir and Fukai eyed it doubtfully, flicking off the ink.
"Why do you have all this coloured ink on you anyway?"
"Hey, don't forget you're talking to a seal master here, ya know."
The boy lifted an eyebrow.
"I wasn't aware sealing masters needed more than black ink."
"Fine; sealing artist. Most seals are boring, black ink everywhere. Fuin specialists don't even consider how much prettier their work would be if they just colour-coordinated some. Not to mention that by using different colours you could isolate the separate sections and group them according to the type of matrix you appl-"
"Alright! Alright, forget I asked!" Fukai interjected, throwing his hands up to stop yet another Fuinjutsu rant.
It hadn't taken him long to find out that his new teammate was, to put it frankly, an absolute nerd when it came to seals.
Nanashi grinned.
"One day, Fukai, I'll teach you basic seals and you'll see how cool they are, ya know. For example-" she started, rolling up her tunic's sleeve once more and tapping two fingers at her wrist. A poof, and a score of plain rubber balloons appeared in her hands, much to her proud delight. "-you can do this."
He had to admit that the seemingly inexhaustible source of materials that she had stored in nothingness did seem incredibly handy. He had been absolutely amazed – and often even annoyed – at the absurd amount of weapons and items she could will upon at any given time just by unlocking compartments of her own storage seal. Other times, he was just perplexed: many of the items she kept materialising were what he would classify as absolutely random and useless. The girl simply seemed to be an incorrigible hoarder.
"Ok, I get the ink. But balloons?" he asked for what was probably the umpteenth time.
"For powder traps."
"For powder- is that what you're making now?"
She grinned.
"Nope. Something much cooler, ya know."
He snorted, making a show of opening the book again and occupying his attention. But his eyes kept drifting back to Nanashi, who had now produced a ladle (he had already asked about that one, receiving an enthusiastic speech about cooking on the go) and was now scooping up the colourful mixture into the balloons before blowing some air into them and tying them off to form sloshy little rubber balls.
By the time she had emptied the whole bucket, a small pile of ink-filled balloons had amassed at her feet and Fukai had thoroughly given up his attempts to focus on his reading.
"This is the weirdest trap you've come up with so far."
The chuckle that came out of her sounded positively diabolical.
"Come on, help me load them up." she said, filling her arms with jiggly balloons.
"Where?"
But even as he was asking, he had made his way up to his feet, dutifully grabbing a handful of sloshy balloons as well and following the redhead to the edge of the rooftop. He didn't know when this had occurred – when had he started hanging onto her words, listening to her enthusiastic banter with such rapt attention? When had she started stealing his focus with her mere presence?
It wasn't surprising, he argued in his head, seeing as Nanashi's presence never meant a simple existence nearby – she was always in motion, chatting away enthusiastically, always doing, always involved in one odd activity or another. She didn't beg attention, she demanded it, like a beacon that flared in the night.
Which is exactly what she was doing right now as well, arranging her balloons on a rickety wooden plank attached to the wall with two diagonal sticks just over the rooftop edge – when had she even managed to construct this contraption? – before directing Fukai to do the same.
"I swear you make no sense, Nanashi." he said, shaking his head when she skipped back, filling her arms with the rest of the balloons and quickly returning to pile them on the wobbling plank.
"Sense is boring, ya know." she said, clapping her hands together to shake off the dust.
He was just about to contradict her, when the girl suddenly leaned over the rooftop edge, fingers digging in the stone threshold, sucking in a lungful of air.
"HELP! THE BEASTS ARE HERE!"
Her scream split the air, resounding over the yard like a boom.
Fukai felt the blood drain from his face, his muscles freezing in shock for all of a split second before he rushed to the edge of the rooftop as well, eyes scanning the forest in horror. But there was nothing, the treetops still and quiet, save for the chirp of the birds-
The door of the compound below them flew open with a bang, their guards stepping out in alarm-
There was a quiet hiss, the sizzle of a seal being activated and the sticks holding the rickety wooden platform fell aside limply with a pop. The plank lost its supports and folded inwards, falling down against the wall with a bang. And the ballons- the balloons plummeted right before his horrified eyes and-
There was a shout and the unmistakable sound of popping rubber and sloshing ink-
"Yes!" he heard Nanashi whisper through a muffled chuckle.
She had ducked, sitting behind the rooftop ledge, her back glued to the cement as her shoulders rocked in silent laughter. And meanwhile, Fukai had leaner over the edge, his eyes wide as saucers, glued to the two shinobi below, one of whom was covered from head to toe in a mess of neon-coloured ink. The other had managed to jump away, just barely, but her clothes hadn't been spared the splatter of excess paint.
And then, to his absolute mortification, they both looked up, locking furious eyes with him.
"FUKAI!" the man roared and the boy jumped back as if burned.
"Shit." was all he managed and then Nanashi's hand had wrapped about his wrist and the girl had pulled him through the trees in a mad shunshin just before the two guards on duty leapt up to the roof, spraying ink everywhere with each step, their face promising murder-
He swayed, disoriented, but the girl was pulling him forward in more shunshins, her laughter ringing about him like a bell with each jump.
"YOU ARE INSANE. ABSOLUTELY INSANE!" he shouted, the wind stealing his words as he raced along her through the tree tops.
The girl turned briefly towards him, a wide grin lodged on her face.
"Why, thank you!"
"It wasn't- What even was that?!"
"That, dear Fukai, was the art of pranking, ya know!" she called back, guiding him through the foliage with expert ease – it was like second nature to her, he realised, seeing her dive in tree-hopping with evident grace.
"But now they think I did it!"
"And so you did, accomplice of mine! Your hands were just as full of balloons!"
He could only stare, mouth hanging comically open until a stray twig whipped his cheek with a sting. The sound of footsteps behind them receded, their pursuers evidently giving up the chance for now, but Nanashi didn't pause. Her lithe footsteps carried them both forward, the speed clearly exhilarating for the girl as another peel of laughter bubbled up her throat and for a second Fukai was certain he could almost glimpse her joy – she was radiating it, her locks tossed madly by the wind, her eyes crinkled at the corners, mouth spread in the widest smile.
And before he knew it, without quite realising how, he was grinning too, so wide that he thought his cheeks might hurt.
"You'll be end of me, Nanashi!"
And somehow, he was certain his words were true, in one way or another. And he found himself delighted in that certainty indeed.
Fukai had started smiling more.
It was the first thing she noted as she eyed the boy across from her, now sitting down, casually leaned against a massive stone spike. He dug into his sandwich with relish, his lips turned up at the corners after hearing her complain (yet again) about "Kumo's damned piercing winds".
She had been the one to choose the massive stone spikes on the outskirts of the island as the ideal location for their impromptu lunch after the morning's sparring session. In truth, much as she had loved Konoha, living so far away from the sea had been hard at first all those years ago.
She had, after all, spent her first six years in constant proximity to the ocean, delighting in morning trips to gather seashells as fishermen cast their first nets, and in splashing games in the warm shallows at twilight, sunsets weaving pinks and ambers over the water surface for as far as the eye could see. Even years later, well in her twenties, she would sometimes wake with the sound of waves in her ears, the taste of sea salt almost tangible on her lips.
Now, in this strange past she had ended up in, having the chance to visit the coast whenever she wished on Kumo's mysterious island had turned out to be a small blessing, even if the Land of Lighting's sea was quite different to the one of home.
She had remembered Uzu's seas with their warmth, water shimmering in shades of emerald and turquoise beneath the golden sunrays. There was a certain vibrancy of colour permeating all of her memories, from the explosion of scarlet and purple across the horizon at dusk to the vivid coral reefs teeming with colourful fish.
Kumogakure's ocean, in comparison, seemed almost drained of colour, its deep icy waters seeming so very grey and austere at times, choppy surface always tossed by rough waves. The sea breeze, which she had once welcomed as a respite from the heat in Uzu, was crisp and biting here, tossing her hair madly about. And yet, the seabirds' song carried all the same on the wind, the air tasting of sea-salt with the high splashes of each wave.
There was beauty to this severe ocean too, and she reveled in it all the same.
"Wasn't that cold where you come from, huh?"
She paused, eyeing Fukai with a measured glance. They hadn't really spoken of her home before. Not because she was reluctant – the boy had simply never asked, most likely determined to erase the past and treat her as if she had begun her life anew upon joining their ranks.
"At first when I moved to Konoha, I thought winter was freezing. I had never seen snow before, ya know."
The dark-haired boy paused mid-bite staring at her in surprise.
"I thought you were from Konoha." he said finally, lips twisting with the slightest of grimaces – he really was uncomfortable addressing her past.
"I moved there when I was six."
"So… where were you from before that? A place without snow?" he asked incredulously, as if she had stated something quite unimaginable.
"An island. Our winter meant temperatures dropping to about 10 C degrees at most, which I thought was quite cold at the time." she explained and Fukai couldn't help his startled bark of a laugh.
"And I thought Firelanders were soft. You were positively spoiled on your island."
"Hey now! I'm not soft, ya know!" she countered, eyebrows mashing with a spark of annoyance.
"Oh Fukai, the wind here is piercing me to the bone, oh Fukai, I'll turn into an icicle, I'll drop dead any minute now~" he began, voice taking on a high-pitched note as he imitated her complaints in a rather overdramatic manner if she were to judge.
Kushina threw a sandwich wrapper at him, which he dodged through more laughter.
"Wind's no joke in my case, ya know! I mean, your hair's longer than most mind you, but try surviving blizzards with this much hair!" she said, tossing her considerable amount of ponytail over her shoulder.
Fukai shrugged, taking a bite of his own sandwich.
"Why don't you cut it?"
The casual question was asked evenly, innocently, but it caught her off-guard all the same, her breath leaving her in a huff. She opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out as her chest constricted at the thought.
A tremble ran through her fingers as she brushed a lock behind her ear, swallowing hard against the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.
It wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed her mind – she would need to disguise herself if she were ever admitted to Kumo proper. Perhaps cutting and dying her hair would be the easiest option – no one would be looking for a girl with short dark locks.
But…
Her hair was Uzushiogakure and the crimson of their spirals across their flags. Her hair was her mother, running a wooden comb through her mane while humming a tune; her hair was her father, lifting a little girl up above his head, blowing away red locks from his face animatedly as she giggled. Her hair was the Red Hot Habanero, crimson tresses flying all about through a childhood that had made her strong; her hair was Uzumaki Mito, patting her head fondly, reminiscing about her youth with the Uzumaki clan.
But perhaps most of all… her hair was Minato. Minato, who had once found her by collecting precious fiery locks. Minato, who had told her time and time again how much he loved her hair, brushing fingers through soft flames. Her hair was the red thread of fate that had linked them in another life.
Her hair was all the memories she held on to, from that other, precious life.
How could she cut it? How could she put it all behind? She had already given up so much… couldn't she keep at least this little part, selfishly, heedlessly, for herself?
She realised Fukai had stopped nibbling at his food and was watching her with lifted brows. She swallowed again, forcing a wobbly smile on her lips.
"It's alright. I'll handle it, ya know."
The boy shrugged again, unaware of the small tempest he had caused.
"Suit yourself. But we gotta toughen you up, you know. You think this is cold? Wait till you see Kumo's proper winter, high up in the mountain. It's like nothing you know."
She shivered just at the thought.
It had taken him the better part of half an hour to find her.
Fukai hadn't exactly intended to spend every free Sunday with his new teammate, but their tentative companionship had turned into something akin to a… friendship. Before long, they had ended up spending most of their days off together in one way or another.
They would sometimes study or explore what little space of the island was allowed to them; other times they would succumb to hobbies, enjoying their time separately in each other's company – he would read or hone weapons, while Nanashi worked on seals or wild pranks, or on knitting (of all things!), producing long needles and all sorts of colourful yarn from her storage seal. She had set about making outrageous hats and scarves for him and for Toroi-sensei and for all of the shinobi in their security detail – much to everyone's stifled mirth as she'd pick the most un-ninja-like colours, mixing bright reds with greens and azure blues with angry, eye-watering orange.
And yet, despite the absurdity of it all, the guards that had been a constant solemn presence in Fukai's life in the last few years, had now started smiling, shaking their heads fondly at them, or laughing merrily at Nanashi's gifts. They would often join them lately, especially when they were off-duty, playing casual games with the kids. Miyahara-san, he found out, enjoyed shogi well into the night, delighting in the bright redhead that was surprisingly well-versed (thanks to a friend back home, Nanashi had explained). Tamanaha-san and Saeki-san, who had always been so grim and stoic, were wholly different when presented with a set of cards and saké cups, descending into a lively teetering mess. Yasui-san liked cheating at dice games, his eyes glinting with mischief, while Ishida-san positively lit up when she took up a deck of Hanafuda cards.
And, all of them without exception seemed to be having the best of times when sharing Kumogakure games with a curious Nanashi, laughing at her outbursts about different rules and cheating as they compared popular entertainment with the Fireland version and learned about Konoha's pastimes too.
Even Toroi-sensei joined them occasionally, eyes gleaming dangerously as he obliterated everyone at every game of Two-ten-jack. It was at these moments, their sensei grinning over a cup of saké, staring down his opponent while the rest of their security guards laughed merrily at Nanashi's boisterous bets against her own sensei, that Fukai thought he finally grasped at a concept he had only heard of before and never quite understood – comradeship.
Yes, Sundays had somehow turned into a day of unexpected… joy. Which was why, when he suddenly found himself alone on a free day without even a trace of the merry redhead to be found, Fukai had been… disconcerted.
He had tried to ignore the nagging feeling, telling himself that everyone needed some time alone occasionally. But the hours had rolled by and, when Nanashi still hadn't appeared close to twilight, he had decided to go looking. Just in case, he told himself. It wasn't like he was worried. And he definitely wasn't annoyed at her for wasting a day they could have enjoyed together.
Definitely not.
He had finally located her atop the Waterfall of Truth, not too far from where they had once leapt in a desperate rush to escape Kong.
She was sitting under a tree, not far from the cliff edge, legs drawn up to her chest as her arms encircled them, chin resting on her knees. She had probably felt his approach, but she didn't move, her eyes fixed on the crimson glow of the setting sun ahead, the day bleeding out over the treetops, casting long shadows ahead. It had gilded the tips of her hair, now dancing languidly in the breeze, making them spark amber in its glow.
A lump formed in his throat as he watched her, even if he didn't quite know why. There was… something… about this girl that the Gods had deemed proper to throw into his life. Something he couldn't quite name.
All he knew was that she was sitting there now, aglow in twilight's colours, and yet her look was distant. Hollow. Devoid of light.
It was such a stark contrast to the happy trouble-maker he had gotten to know in the last few months that it was jarring, sending a chill down his spine.
He neared her slowly, taking a few measured steps, before his eyes flickered to the ground beside her where she had etched something in the dirt. His brow furrowed as he made out the crude outline of… a cake?
"Nanashi?"
"Hey Fukai." she said quietly, not turning back.
"Is-Is it your birthday?" he asked, knowing even as he said it that it wouldn't be true. She had etched candles on top of her crude cake drawing. Four, he counted – way too few.
Unsurprisingly, she shook her head.
He swallowed, suddenly at a loss for words. The wind had picked up with the coming of night, chilling him. He cast a look out at the dying sun, spending the last few minutes it took for the rays to dip below the horizon in silence.
"Do you… wanna head back with me? It's almost time for dinner."
"Nah. You go ahead, ya know. I'm not very hungry."
He shifted in one spot. She was right there and yet she seemed so far away all of a sudden, still as a statue, unreachable. And it was there, in her empty look and in her quiet tone, in her slumped shoulders and in the wobbling corners of her mouth, an emotion she must have bottled deep down up to this day – grief.
What had made it surface? Had he said or done something, had he ruined it all?
His eyes flickered to the cake again. What day was it today even? The 9th? No, the 10th of October? Whose birthday was it?
All of a sudden he felt very much unwelcome, an intruder out of his depth, woefully unprepared to console. He didn't know much of people, but he knew this sadness ran deeper than homesickness. Deeper than missing her folks.
This was loss.
He cleared his throat.
"I'll-I'll go."
The girl simply nodded, not budging an inch. He turned and left without another word.
"Tighten that section there!" she called up from under the tree and Fukai grunted, adjusting his legs over the thick tree branch before securing his grip once more, hands reaching to the outward rope. He worked quickly, pulling the strap in a tight knot.
"How's that?" he called down, chancing a glance at Nanashi.
She was sitting on the meadow below him, her legs crossed over the carpet of fallen leaves, hands deftly working at more ropes as she secured а thick wooden plank to the hanging ropes. She yanked at said ropes, testing their hold.
"It's perfect! Come down, ya know!"
The boy did just that, reaching her in a few chakra-infused leaps. Nanashi was just about finishing, giving her contraption a last assessing look. Sure enough, she had managed to turn the whole thing into a decent enough swing.
She tugged at the ropes a few more times, testing their strength with all of her weight, and, when it held, she turned to him, beaming.
"See! Tell me if it ain't the best swing you've seen, ya know!"
"It's gotta be." he said with an answering smile, although Fukai had to admit that he hadn't really seen too many swings at all. The competition pool was exceptionally shallow. "Remind me again… Why do we need a swing? I mean…"
He trailed off, not wanting to say the obvious. Swings were for kids. They were shinobi. Not to mention that it was the middle of Autumn and said swing would soon be unusable.
The girl rolled her eyes at him.
"Swings are awesome at any age and season." she said, as if having read his thoughts. "You'll see."
She lifted a leg, straddling the plank on both sides as she sat on the swing proper, her feet giving her the slightest sway against the ground. Her hands dove in her shoulder-slung bag, coming up with autumn wildflower petals – she had spent most of the morning collecting them from around the Falls. When he had asked her why on earth she needed this many flowers she had only grinned cockily, throwing a cryptic "you'll see!" his way.
Now he understood, watching her weave the flower stems through the ropes – she had decided her swing needed an extra… Nanashi touch.
He sat in the yellowing grass beside her, crossing his legs as he watched her at work. Her fingers moved quickly, deftly, a look of concentration on her face as she poked a tongue out between her lips and Fukai consciously choked back a laugh.
The afternoon wind had picked up in October, rustling through the canopy of yellowing leaves in a whisper, twirling them around, making sunspots dance over her skin. It made the freckles on her skin come to life, winking over her face and her shoulders, a constellation of fiery specs, matching the flame of her hair. And every now and then, a stray sunbeam would spark over her eyes, drawing colour out of the deep indigo.
Why hadn't he noticed before that her eyes blended purple in the light?
Fukai realised perhaps a beat too late that he was openly staring at her, his lips parted at the sudden realisation. Too late, the girl had already noticed and her fingers stilled amidst the flowers, turning to quirk an eyebrow at him. He quickly looked away, feeling his neck and his cheeks heat up.
"So what's up with swings then? Why are they so cool?" he asked quickly, hoping to get her talking as he usually did. Her ramblings were an excellent distraction.
To his surprise, the girl stayed quiet instead as she turned around to the rope on the other side, her fingers reaching for more wildflowers. A stray lock of hair fell over her face and she blew it back with a sigh.
"It reminds me of home, ya know." she said finally, after the silence stretched.
"You… had a swing in your house in Konoha?"
Nanashi shook her head.
"Not in Konoha. On… my island. My brother made it for me."
The boy swallowed back past the uncomfortable tightness in his throat. She had left her family, her friends, her village, her whole life… entrusting her future to them instead, on the hope that they could give her a shot at freedom and happiness.
What a disappointment this desolate island must be. What a disappointment her teammate, who didn't even know how to talk to friends. Would it help asking her questions? Would it be prying? Would his condolences sound like pity? She barely even knew him – why would she want to share anything with him at all? It's not like she had chosen to be his friend – she hadn't even had a choice.
Would they have been friends if they had met in Kumo where she could be friends with anyone she liked? Did she… regret meeting him? Did she regret being here?
Did she hang out with him out of pity?
The questions rattled inside his head mercilessly and he realised that he didn't want to know. The ugly thoughts twisted something cold and black inside his chest, clenched at his stomach with a viciousness he didn't know he was capable of.
But the silence was stretching, turning uncomfortable, howling in its emptiness. With an effort that he could only equate to going to battle, Fukai finally forced words up his throat.
"You-" he started, choked, tried again, "You have a brother?"
Her eyes were fixed on the flowers she was weaving through the ropes.
"I had a brother." she corrected, barely audibly, the autumn wind snatching her words. "Ryūjin."
And despite the sadness tucked in that single word, he could see the corners of her mouth twitch up as memories returned to her.
He gulped. Did she refer to her family in the past tense, because she had decided to leave that life behind? Or… Had he…?
"Younger?" he asked quietly, the image of a dirt-scribbled cake with four candles on it springing in his mind.
"Older. He had started his shinobi training already when…" she trailed off, swallowing once. "He could mould chakra better than anyone in his year, ya know. And he was brilliant with seals. He used to take me to the seashore after the academy's classes and the day's Fuin lessons with father. He'd try to show me, teach me how to mould chakra and skip over the crashing waves. And he would draw seals in the wet sand, using driftwood sticks. He'd always come up with something new to make me giggle, ya know. Sparks that swirled in the wind, turning turquoise with the seasalt, or shifting sands that warped in sandcastles, and water droplets that floated around us to catch the sunset light."
She was outlining shapes in the air with her hands, shaking wildflower petals all about as she tried to paint a picture of a precious memory.
And all the while Fukai found himself watching her quietly, hungrily, soaking up every word. The life she had had… it sounded beautiful.
"Sounds like he was quite the brother."
"He really was. I wanted nothing more than to be like him." she said, a laugh bubbling up her throat. "I was always chasing after him, ya know, begging him to take me along with his friends, on one of their adventures. I must have been such a menace."
"I'm sure he didn't think that."
The girl snorted.
"As if. He used to muss my hair and call me a flaming nuisance, ya know." she said through more laughter, prompting a chuckle from Fukai too.
"On second thought… he was onto something there."
Nanashi stuck her tongue out at him, which he just rolled his eyes at, more for show than anything else. This lively, teasing part of her, was much more familiar than the withdrawn girl he had glimpsed, shrouded in upsetting memories. He much preferred her jibes and smiles. But... She had shared with him, so he had to ask, right?
And yet the words were so hard to form. How could one even ask such a question? Fukai sure as hell didn't know.
"S-so- I mean- What happened to him?"
She shook her head. Her hands had abandoned the swing ropes, lying listlessly over the plank, her palms still full of wildflowers. Their petals stirred in the wind, trying to escape her grasp. And when Nanashi finally peeled her fingers away from them and met his look, the smile on her lips held every sadness.
"He died when he was nine. A stupid incident really. They had gone to the ruins, chakra diving."
"Wha- Chakra diving?" Fukai echoed, his eyebrows furrowing. He had never heard the term.
"Your oceans are far too cold to allow for the practice I assume. Or else you'd have to expend too much chakra to keep warm on top of it all. But back in my home… the waters of the eastern seas are warm almost all-year-round. The children often go cliff-diving or swimming in the lagoons. But everyone's favourite thing to do was to go diving to the underwater ruins. I mean, you know how children are."
"I do?" he parroted automatically, not entirely sure he did know.
Nanashi chuckled at that.
"There were all these stories, of lost treasures and relics and of old Fuinutsu art, long-forgotten, scribbled along the ruins walls. To a kid it meant riches and glory… and adventure."
He could almost picture it, the tales she painted so vividly. A whole underwater world, lost to time. Fukai couldn't lie to himself – it sounded appealing even now, even if he was fourteen already, almost a man in shinobi eyes.
"Ryūjin and his friends went there almost every week, even though the adults forbade it." Nanashi continued, "I begged him to take me along so many times, ya know. But he said it was too dangerous."
Her following laugh was short and bitter, her eyes lifting up to the deep blue of the Autumn sky peering through the tree branches.
"He was right of course. I didn't have the chakra for it. You see, chakra-diving involves lacing your lungs with chakra, absorbing large quantities of oxygen that is later slowly released in your blood-stream over time. It allows you to hold your breath for much longer, but it is quite taxing, ya know. Combined with a similar chakra-coating technique for your eyes that allows for clear sight under-water, it can sap a kid of their reserves in record time."
Fukai could only blink at her. He had heard of breathing exercises, meditation techniques that could slow your heart-rate considerably to make you consume as little oxygen as possible if you found yourself underwater for extended periods of time, but chakra-infusing your lungs? What sort of bat-shit insane island clan had she belonged to?
An image of half-people, half-fish swam up before his eyes and the boy consciously shook the thought away.
Ridiculous. Nanashi didn't have a tail. Or scales. But damn, if that hair wasn't unusual.
His eyes flickered to her neck on their own accord.
No gills.
Idiot.
"That- That's quite something. Could everyone in your home do it?"
"Pretty much. Standard occupation for islanders, you know? But most adults use it for free-dive fishing, or else shinobi apply it in fights. But the kids… Ryūjin and his friends used it to dive to one of the deeper ruins. It should have been fine – he had the large chakra stocks of my family. But well… his friends told my parents another girl overestimated. She started running out of air and panicked. Tried to swim directly up through the rock outcroppings and got wedged in the underwater cliff caves. My brother went after her."
Fukai could only stare at her in horror, picturing what would have happened next. The pressing darkness of the ocean and the narrow space. The impossibility of it all as their lungs burned, ears ringing as they ran out of air.
Nanashi shrugged, her voice deceptively even.
"He refused to leave her, or so the others said, ya know. Stayed with her until the end, trying to free her. They both never surfaced. The adults found their bodies in the caves later that night."
His mouth had gone incredibly dry.
"Nanashi… I'm so sorry." he managed, hands balling up in fists against his knees.
The words felt so woefully inadequate.
"Yeah… Me too." she whispered, her feet giving her a slight sway on her newly decorated swing. "You know, I think it was a part of the reason why my parents accepted Konoha's offer. I was the best-matched host for the Kyuubi, yes, but I don't know if even that would have been enough to convince my mother. But growing up in a different village, one away from the sea and those ruins… Well. Let's just say mom never once regretted leaving the water behind."
"But not you."
She turned to him in surprise, eyes widening.
"Not me?"
Fukai shrugged.
"You like the water, I think."
"How did you know?"
"You smile when you see the ocean."
She blinked before her lips broke in a grin.
"And swings, ya know."
"And swings." he agreed, pushing up on his feet, one hand dusting the dirt out of his pants. "So, is it ready?"
"Sure is." she said, shoving the rest of the flowers back in her bag. She seemed to have pushed the memories away along with the petals, her smile sitting most convincingly on her face.
"You know what? It really is the best swing I've seen." he said, casually throwing his hands behind his head.
And he meant it, if only because this one particular swing, now all adorned in twining autumn blooms, also held a smiling girl who had come to be his first true friend.
"Come on, let's give it a try." he said and Nanashi giggled excitedly, throwing her leg around so she could face forward.
He gave her a push, setting her to laughing as her hair went flying behind her, spilling all around with the breeze. It gleamed crimson with the sunrays spooling through the leaves, and Fukai could only grin as he beheld her, seemingly bathed in flames.
And he realised in that moment, that it wouldn't matter even if she had been half a fish herself or some other mythical monster of old – he would likely call her a friend and stand by her even if it meant his life.
"Get back down here, Nanashi! You'll catch your death!" Fukai called from below, his voice muffled with the raging wind.
Kushina only laughed, climbing ever higher up the massive stone spike. This one in particular was especially big, its circumference resembling that of a cart. The stone was icy below her fingertips, the cold seeping through the exposed skin of her fingerless gloves and she channeled a rush of chakra to her hands in an effort to keep them warm.
The wind was merciless near the top, picking up her ponytail and snapping it behind in a howl, doing its damned best to rip the scarf off her neck. It nipped at her exposed cheeks, likely turning them as ruddy as her locks, but she didn't care. With the coming of winter, Kumo's ocean had slowly transformed in a picture of haunted beauty, ever shrouded in icy stillness, the snow-laced fogs blurring the horizon ahead. And there, far to the north, the glint of ice caught the rays of the sun, a mosaic of ever-shifting glaciers announcing the coming of the cruel months ahead.
"Come on, kid. Let's head back home." came her sensei's voice, the man clearly done after their lengthy training session, impatient for a brew of hot tea at the base.
She grinned, climbing a step higher instead, craning her neck for a better glimpse – she didn't think she had ever climbed higher on the island, this particular vantage point giving her a good enough look of the northern-most part of the island, all the way down to the-
Kushina gasped, eyes widening in shock.
"We-" she started, the surprise choking out the words before she tried again. "We're moving!"
Her startled shout was met with silence, moments of stunned stillness as she channeled chakra to her soles, running up the rest of the length of the spike in two chakra-infused leaps, balancing herself at the very top, because she might have seen wrong, might have mistaken-
But sure enough, the water at the shore far below was churning wildly, white sea foam tossing in a choppy line ahead, similar to the line left behind a moving ship ploughing through the surface.
Strangely enough, Fukai and Toroi hadn't leapt up to confirm the impossible.
The girl threw a wide-eyed look back down, far below where her sensei and teammate waited.
"I think we're really moving, guys!"
"Get back down, girl." Toroi said, his voice laced with… resignation?
Kushina frowned, taking a few leaps down the icy stone spike before landing beside them in a rush.
Fukai had shoved his hands in his pockets, burying his face in the violet scarf she had knitted for him, eyeing her with mild surprise.
"We're moving! The whole damned island is moving, ya know!" she repeated, waving her hands around animatedly, thinking they may not have heard her. "I swear, I saw the water trail, it's true, it's-"
"You… You didn't know?" Fukai asked and the redhead stilled, her eyes shifting from the boy to the older man and back.
"It's a turtle." he offered after a few minutes of strained silence, when he saw their sensei was thoroughly disinterested in providing any information, shrugging a shoulder instead.
"What's a turtle?"
"The island."
Kushina blinked. Opened her mouth. Closed it. Blinked again.
"The island." she repeated incredulously, her breath puffing out in plumes of white in front of her, caught in the cold. "The island is a turtle."
"Yeap."
The laughter that escaped her was brief, startled, steeped in incredulity. No one else joined in.
"Wait, you're serious?!"
The older boy just nodded.
"I think… I think I need a minute to sit down." she said, finding her knees to be oddly wobbly all of a sudden.
She sagged back against the semi-frozen stone, her fingers twitching against the ground with the oddest sensation of instability.
"We can't be travelling on a turtle, ya know!"
"Why not?"
"Why- Why not?! Fukai! What if it dives? Or- or rolls?!"
"It won't." the boy insisted, crossing his arms stubbornly before his chest.
"How would you know?! Do you speak turtle?"
"He's never dived before."
"People say the same thing about volcanoes erupting until they do erupt, ya know."
Her sensei rolled his eyes, a sigh clawing up his throat as he leaned against the nearest stone pillar.
"'Suppose you'd have found out sooner or later." the main muttered, digging hands in his pockets. "'S called Genbu. It's ancient, older than any of us could guess at. And no, it won't roll, cuz it's sentient. It knows we're here."
Kushina's throat had gone incredibly dry as she very consciously stopped rubbing her hand against the stone pillar she was kneeling on.
"Why do you think Konoha never found out about the island's existence?" her sensei continued. "Even your old spy master of a sensei can't pinpoint a secret island's location if the island keeps moving."
"But… It's so massive, ya know. How can something so big even exist?"
"Is the Jinchuuriki of a Bijuu seriously asking me this question?" Toroi threw out, his lips quirking up at the corners.
"I've seen Kyuubi, ya know. In my mindscape." she hurried to amend as she noticed Toroi's eyebrow lift. "It's nowhere near as big. This… Genbu must be the largest creature to ever exist."
"Well, not counting Jyuubi." Fukai said with a chuckle.
Kushina turned a dubious look at him.
"Not counting… what?"
Fukai was now staring at her with open disbelief.
"Come now, you can't tell me in Konoha you've never heard-"
"The Jyuubi… as in ten-tails?"
"The very same. It's said to have been massive, way bigger than Genbu, so big it could block out the sun. Legend says that if it stood in the centre of the continent, its tails could stretch out to every nation, wreaking havoc-"
"It's a myth." Toroi-sensei explained with yet another eyeroll. "A scary story mothers tell their kids to stop them from experimenting with their chakra when they're too young and risk depleting their reserves fatally without realizing what they're doing. "Don't mould too much chakra or the Jyuubi will steal it and awaken and destroy the world." and other such nonsense."
"It is mentioned in the temple." Fukai retorted stubbornly. "I read the glyphs, near the back section that has been mostly destroyed."
"You were warned not to go there, the ceiling might collapse on your head any moment-" the Magnet user started sternly, but the boy interrupted again, a glint of stubbornness in his furrowed brow.
"But it did mention the Jyuubi."
Toroi waved a hand before his face dismissively.
"Monks believe in all sorts of magical nonsense. There's been no proof whatsoever that such a thing ever existed. Unless you wanna scare your little friend further, I suggest we let her comprehend the moving turtle before throwing boogie stories at her. Come, let's get warm at base before we freeze near Genbu's tail."
With that, the Magnet user pushed away from the stone pillar, heading towards the forest at the inner section of the island- no, the turtle- the turtle-island, Kushina thought, mind still struggling to wrap itself around the information.
"It could have existed." Fukai muttered under his breath, mouth set in a firm line as he set off after their sensei.
Kushina gulped, running her fingers over the massive stone spike one last time.
"Nice turtle. Kind turtle. Please don't roll over, ne?"
The notebook made a dull thunk as Ishida-san threw it on the table before Kushina and Fukai, tossing an ink pen along with it too. The girl quirked an eyebrow in between mouthfuls of her breakfast porridge.
"I'm leaving for the bimonthly supply run tomorrow morning. Note down if you need anything from the village."
Fukai shrugged beside her, clearly not at all interested.
"Books." she shot out straight away, before even having swallowed.
A chunk of porridge flew out of her mouth with the word, landing on the pristine white page and Ishida-san made a face of mild disgust.
Yasui's whistle reached them from somewhere down the large dining hall. He wasn't on duty today, enjoying a late breakfast as well after staying late last night to play dice against Toroi-sensei.
"Wait, did we finally find something Red doesn't have hammed up her storage seal?" he called out and Kushina rolled her eyes.
"Can't be. She's got books alright." Fukai said, a note of exasperation colouring his words, and Kushina had to suppress a giggle.
She had been hounding him with several different tomes on Sealing, trying to get him to learn at least the basics, seeing as they were often stuck inside on Sunday afternoons ever since the winter blizzards started.
"'Am not a walking library, ya know!" she protested as she finally swallowed the food down.
"Just a walking armoury." the boy next to her mumbled.
"Walking closet of useless shit more like." Yasui chimed in again and she chucked her own spoon at him.
He dodged through laughter.
"Next time you ask me for glue, I'll let you suffer your sole-less boots instead, ya know!"
"Hey now!"
"Which book do you need, kid?" Ishida-san broke in quickly before the whole thing turned in the day's typical argument.
Out of the corner of her eyes she could feel Fukai stealing sidelong glances at her, curious as well.
Careful now.
"Not a specific book, just… Anything about the founding of the villages? Legends, myths, these kinds of things. Maybe… ghost stories? Grave-robbing myths."
Anything about Madara Uchiha, she could have said, but the words were stuck in her throat. Asking outright was more than likely foolish. After all… she didn't really know their sentries, much as she enjoyed their company.
But she had to start from somewhere.
She could see Ishida-san weigh in the request, a small furrow appearing between her brows.
"Grave-robbing." the woman repeated sceptically.
"Kid's planning to murder us all. She's researching how to make it look like we were eaten by island ghosts."
"I'll surely start with you, Yasui!" Kushina shot back, much to the man's amusement.
"Can't even hit me with a spoon, Red. Better get books on how to aim like a real ninja."
"Why do you need these books exactly?" Ishida-san continued, not paying Yasui any heed at all.
Her question seemed friendly enough, but Kushina couldn't shake the feeling there was a note of genuine suspicion in the woman's question. It was to be expected, she figured – their sentries were nothing if not thorough.
The redhead shrugged, going for nonchalance.
"To pass the time. It's an interesting read."
"An interesting read about grave-robbing and ghosts."
"Yeap."
The older woman sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Very well. I'll see what I can do."
There was a shout, followed by an amused giggle and a sudden yelp. A plop followed, accompanied by the crunch of snow and Toroi sighed as he heard Nanashi's positively diabolical cackle.
He rounded the nearest tall tree only to find Fukai lying down on his back in the snow heaps that had gathered overnight all around the compound, a look of bewilderment on the older boy's face.
The mischievous little she-demon was standing next to him, laughing so hard she had bent forward, holding her stomach through a stitch, her blood-red hair standing out starkly against the bleached colours of the winter forest even when it was half tucked in beneath a massive scarf and a fluffy winter hat.
He was just about to intervene, scolding for who knows which time that his students needed to be a bit more serious with their training, when, to his biggest surprise, Fukai laughed as well.
Toroi could only stare in bewilderment as the boy's lips split in a genuine grin, mirth crinkling his eyes at the corners as he joined in the fun in a way that the Magnet User had never seen before. Lying there in the snow, happily defeated, an absurdly bright purple-and-orange scarf wrapped tightly around his neck (courtesy to Nanashi no doubt), Fukai was just… having fun. With a start Toroi realised that this might be the first time he had seen the Hachibi Jinchuuriki act as a kid.
Nanashi only laughed harder before plopping in the snow beside him, wiggling her arms and legs up and down through the slush.
"Look, it's a snow maiko!" she said as she hopped back up, pointing to the figure that she had formed in the snow with her own body.
Fukai sat up, quirking an eyebrow through more laughter.
"A what?"
"A snow maiko! See, these are her wide kimono sleeves and the skirts beneath!" she said critically, prompting more guffaws from the boy.
"You firelanders are weird." he said merrily only to be met with a snowball of a reply.
It splashed over his hair, making him pause.
"Why you little-"
Before he could quite believe his eyes, Toroi found himself the witness of a vicious snowball fight, the children's laughter echoing through the wizened woods. And instead of stopping them, the Magnet User leaned against the pine he was standing under, crossing his arms before his chest, simply watching. A part of him wondered how long it had been since any such sounds of mirth had rang out over Genbu's back.
Way too long.
And as he watched, a part of him eased at the sight. Perhaps, by year's end, they might be ready. Perhaps they could face the Waterfall of Truth after all.
"Gah!"
Her frustrated shout pierced the silence, startling a bird in a nearby tree into flight. Fukai looked up from the scroll he had been studying just in time to see Nanashi vehemently shut the book she had been reading before chucking it into the nearby shrubbery with force. It disappeared in the budding spring greens with the audible cracks of snapping branches.
The boy lifted a brow.
"Grave-robbing gone wrong?" he suggested only to be met with a freezing glare as the girl pushed up from the swing where she had been sitting to read.
"It's useless, all of it, ya know. All of these books, nothing to help, nothing! I've made no progress and it will all be the same, nothing will change-"
"Uuh…" was all his mind supplied him with when faced with her nonsensical outrage. "Progress with what exactly?"
"Nevermind." she bit out as she shoved her hands in her pockets, taking a step to leave.
"What about the book?" he asked as he got up to his feet as well, more a habit than anything else.
"Screw the book, ya know!"
"Ishida-san actually worked hard to get you all you requested-"
The girl made a sound of absolute annoyance as she trudged to the bush, diving in between the greens to fetch said item.
"There. Happy now?" she shot out, waving the tome around.
Myths and Legends of the Old Clans, the title read, and much as he tried, Fukai couldn't quite picture what could have possibly frustrated her so. He felt his eyebrows furrow as he crossed his arms before his chest.
"No. Not till you tell me what's up."
"Nothing's up!" she said, but the anger had coiled in her voice like a snake poised to strike.
"Bullshit. You've been acting like an ass whole week. Why are you so angry, huh?"
"I'm not. angry."
But the way the words hissed past her clenched teeth was thoroughly unconvincing.
"Uh-huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that. But I know you and I-"
A cruel laugh bubbled up her throat, short and so full of bite that he felt his neck redden in embarrassment.
"Know me, huh?"
And the sarcasm was layered so thick in her voice that he could have recoiled.
"I know enough. The rest I'm trying to figure out." he said, feeling his face flush up as well beneath her withering stare.
Her remark had made him feel stripped bare all of a sudden, stupid for even assuming otherwise.
It had been near a year since they had resided on Genbu, near a year of friendship. And he had gotten so used to his new teammate that at times he felt like he had known her for years, noticing small quirks that were now so Nanashi that he would recognise them even when half drunk or asleep.
But then there would be brief moments that would also remind him there was much beneath the surface, hidden expertly until he caught her off-guard. Like last week, when Fukai had decided to help her gather spring flowers for her swing and had returned with a handful of dandelions to weave through the ropes. Instead of the anticipated delight, however, he had been met with a look of shocked surprise, followed by the ghost of a smile, automatic on her lips. But her expression had been distant, withdrawn, her fingers fighting a tremble as she wrapped them about the blooms. For the rest of that day he had caught her, time and time again, glancing at the yellow flowers, trying her damn best to hide the forlorn look that had nestled in her eyes.
What did dandelions mean then? Why was she upset?
He had been curious at first, but at the moment all he could feel was ire. She had been alternating between melancholy and fuming annoyance for the better part of two weeks now, snapping at him and Toroi-sensei for the smallest things.
And Fukai had had enough.
"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, Nanashi. Why are you pissed at the book? Or is it something that I did?"
The girl rolled her eyes at that.
"It's not always about you, Fukai."
He felt his temper rise, anger bubbling below the surface, twisting his mouth in a grimace.
"So what then?"
"Just leave it, ya know." she said, making to step past him, but the boy blocked her path.
"No." he growled out. "Talk to me, damn it. I'm your teammate."
"That doesn't make you entitled to everything in my head, ya know!" the girl said, slicing the air with one hand as she did so.
"You're exasperating!"
"And you're nosey, ya know! Just leave me alone!"
He threw his arms up in frustration turning to go before he said something he would truly regret.
The dark was thick, unnerving, the kind only a new moon could bring forth. The whisper of the leaves outside reached her, the wind making the whole forest sway in hushed tones as the branches clacked dully over the wooden sides of the hut.
Kushina blinked, trying to orient herself in the too quiet house. Why had she come out here in the middle of the night? There had been something… something she had been looking for…
The realisation that she wasn't alone assaulted her all at once, rooting her to the spot, running icy fingers down her spine. She turned slowly, each move measured as her eyes fixed on the shadowy corner behind. Her sight took a second to adjust, to focus on the ghastly outline of the still figure.
The dim starlight peering through the furthest window was enough to outline his figure, a dull gleam betraying the metal bangs fastened around the sleeves. His eyes, near drained of their startling blue in the dark, had pinned her, following her every move.
She froze, hands balling in her own tunic. What… why was he here?
There was the faintest rustle of fabric and he moved, taking a step forward, eyes still fixed on her. Starlight silvered through his locks as he passed by the small window, nearing her in precise, deliberate moves.
There was something… not quite right about the sight of him, about the way her neck craned when he stopped before her, so much taller than he should have been, the way his jaw squared over the white column of his neck, and in the way his shoulders looked - so broad over a lean body corded with muscle-
This wasn't the child she had grown to know in this timeline. This was…
"Minato." she half-whispered and her own quiet voice was not the one of childhood.
She would have turned to the nearest mirror to confirm, but she found herself caught in his gaze, like a moth in a web. He was standing so near that she could almost feel the heat of his body, could smell the familiar scent of ink and ground pine needles that clung to his skin, could hear the whisper of his quiet breaths-
"W-what- what are you doing here? How-" she started, but the words were coming out raspy, breathless, dying out in the dark as she felt the back of his hand brush against her own, the warmth of the contact melting through her.
He didn't answer, his head tilting ever so slightly as he held her look, and the ghost of a shiver ran through her, her skin prickling, raising the fine hairs on the back of her neck. There was molten fire in that look – a headless, unrelenting light that made her catch her breath, a spark of heat blazing down her chest.
Before she knew it he was leaning closer, his head still tilted to one side, and his very proximity was like steel to flint, igniting her. His soft breath whispered against her temple as he lifted a hand up to brush a fiery lock behind her ear.
The ghost of his touch lingered, fingers barely brushing down her neck and her lips parted, eyes fluttering closed.
"Kushina…"
How much she had missed his voice, the thrill of her name on his lips, the sigh of it caressing the shell of her ear before he moved lower. His nose brushed down the side of her neck, his lips ever a breath away, and Kushina couldn't stop the frustrated sigh that climbed up her throat as her knees near wobbled at the sensation. Heat spread in her stomach, ebbing lower, pooling achingly between her legs. And he hadn't even touched her yet.
By the Gods, how much she had missed him. How long had it been? How much she needed this, needed him.
Her back arched, fingers finding the soft gold of his locks, twining through them with reckless abandon, just as his other hand found her waist, pulling her into him only to elicit a near-moan from her lips. She could feel him smile against the hollow of her neck before he moved back up to her ear, maddeningly slow.
"Kushina." he murmured again, his fingers moving through her tresses, pressing a feverish touch at the back of her neck. "Kushina."
His hand closed about her locks.
"Kushina. Why did you leave?"
It took her a moment to register the words, their meaning crashing furtively against the wall of pleasure that his mere presence had brought, but-
Her eyes flew open as she froze in his arms.
"M-Minato?"
"You left us all. Forgot us."
"N-no, I-"
"Why? To join another village? To bow before another Kage? Had you grown so tired of us all?"
Her heart had gone flying for all the wrong reasons, pulse crashing audibly in her ears. She tried to take a step away, but his fingers had twined mercilessly in her hair, pinning her in place. And when her eyes met his again, his look was full of icy disinterest.
Worse yet, there was disgust.
"Let go of me."
"Why? Ready to leave again? To betray us all?"
"It's not like that-" she started, pleading, but he only laughed – a bitter, pitiless sound.
She pulled back, making to wrestle away, but to her surprise he let her. She stumbled back, clutching at her hair, the shock of it all near-tangling her limbs.
And all the while he watched her, the cold calculating look of distrust twisting the face she so loved. All of a sudden she realised that it wasn't Minato standing before her anymore, but Konoha's Yellow Flash.
The thought struck her at the same time as the twist of his hand, metal catching the faint glint of the stars peeking through the window and horror filled her as she realised he was armed-
A soundless step, a flicker of movement, lighting fast, and pain erupted across her stomach as her eyes widened, caught in the blue of his narrowed look. She gasped, the air leaving her as he took a step back and her eyes drifted down on their own accord, falling on the three-pronged kunai, now embedded in her stomach to the hilt, and the blood dripping down her front, over her thighs and legs-
The horrified shout was stuck in her throat, coming out as a choked rasp instead as Kushina shot up in her own bed, sitting up in a fluid move. She was covered in cold sweat, damp sheets tangled about her feet, heart pounding against her ribcage as she took in her surroundings in a desperate sweep, trying to orient herself in the pressing darkness-
She was still in Kumo, on the island – which was a turtle, but an island, a turtle-island – in her own room. She lifted a trembling hand before her face, not even caring at the irony of the relief that swept through her as she realised her fingers were chapped and skinny and very much those of a twelve-year-old kid.
Her breath rattled past her teeth, the terror of the nightmare still clutching at her lungs as a very real pang of pain shot through her stomach. She curled up on herself in horror, her mind finally registering the metallic scent of blood in the room, just as she spotted the trickles of blood running down her legs, staining the sheets and the mattress. Her muscles seized up momentarily before her hand jumped to her midsection, looking for the imbedded blade-
There was nothing. Was she still dreaming? But the blood was real, the blood on her legs-
Oh. Oh.
She was an idiot. A teenage idiot.
AN: Well, well, doesn't it suck being a teenager sometimes? Comes with the whole lovely package of melancholy, anger and hormones and sudden desires and oh boy, what a mess :D Especially when coupled with intense guilt and fear of failure. Anyway, Kushina gets to figure it out once again, while poor Fukai suffers through her moods. I know it probably felt like a lot of filler chapter, but while yes, it is building a friendship that will later matter, the chapter is also laying down some important seedlings for future locations and developments of certain events around certain masked men~
In any case, I hope you enjoyed! Drop me a line if you will, I'm curious to know what you think might happen next~ And how and when she might get to meet Minato again :P
Glossary:
Hanafuda cards: also known as 'flower cards': a type of Japanese playing cards which have a depiction of plants, animals, birds, or man-made objects on the face of each card. The back side is usually plain, without a pattern or design of any kind, and traditionally colored either red or black. Hanafuda are used to play a variety of games including Koi-Koi and Hachi-Hachi
maiko: geisha apprentices that usually wore kimonos with very long wide sleeves (also, come on now, I couldn't call them snow angels in a culture that doesn't have "angels" in their religion. I literally pulled up a picture of a snow angel and tried to figure out what kind of Japanese figure it might look like :D