Chapter II: A new life

The Tokubetsu Jonin Anko Mitarashi was a rather eccentric person, Naruko found out. They had spent the entire day going through Shinobi duties, Narukos assignments and her abilities. When Anko began speaking about her new position Naruko had paled. She would begin working for the "Torture and Interrogation Division", T . Anko would be assigned to introduce her to everyone and then instruct her in the art of physical torture, while the head of the division, a Jonin by the name of Ibiki Morino, would introduce her to psychology. Naruko was uncomfortable about her new position at first, not wanting to cause unnecessary harm to others, but after Anko explained to her how she would be able to cause harm to people worse than trash like rapists and mass murderers, she was quickly on board. They were right now sitting in the most popular Dango stand in Konoha, a shop Naruko had always wanted to visit, but was never allowed to when she was still Menma. After getting a recommendation from Anko, she happily munched on some Dango while the two Tokubetsu Jonin chatted about their pasts.

"So let me get this straight. You are the new clan head of the Uzumaki clan, you have been taken care off by the old man since you were little and you are now strong enough to defend yourself from the CRA?" asked Anko, while becoming disgusted when she spoke about the breeding program.

"That is correct Anko-san."

Anko shook her hands in front of Naruko while saying: "Oh please, Naru-chan, just call me Anko-chan please. I hate being formal." Which made Naruko smile, she herself being uncomfortable with the ideas of formalities when they weren't necessary.

"So now you know my past, what about you?"

"Well…I grew up as an orphan, relying on stipends from Konoha. It wasn't a great time, but I somehow became enrolled in the academy. I graduated at the age of twelve and became an official Genin, being assigned to a team under the Snake-teme Orochimaru." Here her expression shifted into utter hatred "The bastard led me into rice country, where he used me for his sick experiments, abandoning me right after…the village…they started to hate me for his crimes…I have only a handful of people I can even call friends…I don't even know why I tell you this…you must hate me now…"

Naruko quickly shot forward without thinking. Here was a woman with an equally bad past, being somewhat scorned by the village. Naruko just needed to hug her, and Anko was far to stunned by the action. "Don't worry, Anko-chan, you are not responsible for the Snake-teme and his treachery. I promise that as long as you don't betray me, we will stay friends."

Hearing that, Anko began to tear up, it had been a long time since anyone wanted to be her friend, sure, Kurenai Yuhi, Yugao Uzuki and Hana Inuzuka were her friends, but that was the extend of it as most Shinobi and civilians just avoided her, fearing repercussions.

After Naruko removed herself from Anko, they just sat in the store, enjoying Dango and the comfortable silence that had settled between them. After about 10 minutes, Naruko spoke up again.

"You know…thanks for trusting me enough to tell me about your former Sensei…I have been betrayed in a similar yet different fashion not too long ago…someone that acted as a teacher to me…he assaulted and raped…me after I came back from a rather…exhausting mission…Jiji was livid…if I hadn't killed the teme myself, Jiji would have seen to execute him…" she said, while a few tears escaped her eyes

Anko was stunned silent. What Orochimaru had done to her was bad, but at least he never raped her. This time it was Anko hugging the 16-year-old, before they once again returned to silence. It was another 10 minutes before they were joined by a raven-haired woman with beautiful red eyes.

"Hey Nai-chan, how was your mission?" asked Anko, while the red-eyed woman looked at Naruko in bewilderment.

"It was fine, nothing I couldn't handle. Who is the woman?"

"My name is Naruko Uzumaki, new Tokubetsu Jonin of the leaf and a new friend of Anko-chan, and you?" holding out her right hand for the woman to shake it, Naruko waited for her response. After a second of contemplating Narukos words, the raven-haired beauty gave her a serene smile, while shacking her hand.

"I am Chunin Kurenai Yuhi, it's always nice to meet someone that does not scorn Anko-chan."

"Yeah, I would never judge someone because of the actions of others."

The three of them continued to chat all throughout the evening, being joined later by the Chunin Hana Inuzuka and her 3 Ninken, as well as Yugao Uzuki, a member of Anbu and the last member of the group being known as the four "Ice Queens" of Konoha. They quickly hit it off well with Naruko, Kurenai liking her because of their shared hatred for perverts and rapists as well as Narukos acceptance of Anko. Hana felt like she could quickly become Narukos friend, because the Tokubetsu Jonin was trusted by her dogs, who cuddled up to Naruko throughout the evening. Yugao liked Naruko not only because they shared a love for Kenjutsu, but she also saw her former Sensei, Kushina Uzumaki, in Naruko, and was happy to become friends with the new clan head.

1 month later.

Naruko was currently sitting in the waiting room of the Shinobi hospital, being accompanied by her best friend Anko, while waiting for the results of her blood test. She, of course, already knew the outcome, but she needed to play her part as to not rouse any suspicion. While she waited, she couldn't help but think about everything that had happened in the last month.

Her integration in the T department was quite successful, with their leader giving her constant praise on how sadistic the young woman could be with their prisoners, while always showing enough restraint, something he told her she should teach to Anko, as the "Snake Mistress" always had trouble holding back in interrogation, especially when their prisoners had a connection to Orochimaru. Inoichi Yamanaka, another Jonin of the department also taught her how to play with the minds of her charges, another field in which Naruko had shown to be quite successful.

When she thought about her new job, she couldn't help but remember the day she saw the cursed seal on Anko for the first time. Being a seal mistress, she made it her primary objective to get rid of the accursed thing people called a seal. For a seal mistress like her, it was nothing less than heretical to design a seal meant to corrupt not only the targets mind, but also their Chakra, all the while holding a piece of Orochimarus soul inside. It took her 2 weeks of studying the seal every evening, while the pair ate Dango at their favourite stand, but she had finally found a way to permanently destroy the seal. All it took was for Naruko to realize that the seal was, in fact, 3 different seals. One seal was meant to hold the fragment of Orochimarus soul. Another part was meant to inject the Chakra network with nature Chakra with a vile touch. The last part was designed to receive Chakra from the seals creator, and act in a similar style as the "Caged Bird Seal" of the Hyuga clan, it would attack the pain receptors of the body, to bring the subject massive pain. When Naruko found that out, she quickly started by breaking the seal up, she first removed the "Soul" part, which negated the negative influence of the nature Chakra being pumped into the host. She then destroyed the "Pain" part and finally the "Chakra" part afterwards. The whole thing lasted no longer than 5 minutes, and once she was done, Anko felt stronger than ever. They later realized that the seal was also meant to stop the hosts Chakra reserves from increasing, even blocking parts of them, clearly meant so Orochimaru didn't have to fear his targets.

On the council front, Naruko found herself quickly being given everything the Uzumaki clan owned. It should have made her happy, if it wasn't for the simple fact that they did so, to prevent Menma from inheriting it. They even had the nerve to tell Naruko that the "Kyubi Brat" may someday come to slaughter Naruko to gain what he would surely perceive as his. It took all her self-control to not slaughter the whole civilian council, something she was sure, no one would stop her from doing. While it would have given her some closure, it could've also made everyone suspicious of her. When Naruko asked why Menma had a claim to the Uzumaki assets, they told her that he was named an honorary Uzumaki by the Sandaime, to honour the sacrifice of Kushina Uzumaki. Those deceitful little shits even had the gal to discredit 'his' heritage. Naruko, presenting herself as the typical Uzumaki, wanted proof that her former self was not, in fact, family. She threatened them, if she found out that they mistreated him, she would rain down hell upon the council. Sufficed to say, the life of her alter ego had somehow improved over the month, and Naruko allowed her Ketsu Bunshin to life in a house in the Uzumaki compound, something the council couldn't stop her from doing, and they quickly adapted to the new situation, planning to kill the 'boy' once he was out on mission and could not be protected. When they asked Naruko if she would train the 'boy', she answered that she would make 'him' her apprentice once he made it to the rank of Chunin, something that would of course never happen, as Naruko would make sure that her former self would die in the Chunin exams once 'he' graduated. When the Sandaime brought up the matter of the merger with the Namikaze family, the council was delighted to deprive the "Demon Child" of another part of 'his' heritage and accepted under 2 conditions. One was that Menma would never learn any techniques the Yondaime possessed and two, the Namikaze wealth, which was only topped by the Uzumaki wealth, would be donated to the village, with Naruko being allowed to choose the sectors, which she quickly decided on. Most of the money would go into funding a number of new orphanages around Konoha, as they were always in high demand. The rest of the money, Naruko begrudgingly gave to the civilian sectors of Konoha, which would go a long way in establishing positive relations between the civilian populace and the Uzumaki clan. When the matter of the CRA came up, Naruko quickly refused, stating that the council would be unable to enact the act on an unwilling Tokubetsu Jonin, which the council accepted.

All in all, Narukos life had taken a drastic turn for the best, even if it left a bitter aftertaste, considering that everything happened because of the bastard that had assaulted her.

"Uzumaki-sama?" she hadn't even realized that her doctor, a woman by the name of Keiko, had entered the waiting room, to take Naruko to talk about the test results. After Anko had shaken her out of her thoughts, the 2 women followed Keiko to her office, where they took their seats.

"Keiko-san, how please don't call me Uzumaki-sama, I may be a clan head, but I hate being addressed as sama."

"Of course, Uzumaki-san, I guess it is fine with you that Anko-san stays in the room, while we discuss the results?"

Taking the hand of her best friend, and lightly squeezing it, Naruko just nodded.

"Alright, after you informed me of your missed period, and the fact that you had been…assaulted…I took a blood test to confirm my suspicions…I need to ask this question, before we take a look at the results…IF you turn out to be pregnant, will you keep the child?"

Without a second of hesitation, Naruko immediately said: "Yes! I never had a real family, and I would never blame the child for what that teme did! And despite everything, I would be immensely happy if it turns out I am pregnant."

Anko, already knowing that Naruko would keep the child if she was pregnant, couldn't help but still be shocked. It was one thing to talk, but another to go through with it, but hearing her tone right now, she was sure her best friend wouldn't change her decision.

"In that case, let me take a look at the test."

Shuffling through the papers, the doctor started to smile, knowing that her patient would be happy.

"Well, I have some good news then, you are 5 weeks pregnant, Uzumaki-san."

Despite already knowing the outcome, Naruko still shone as bright as the sun hearing it. Yes, her night terrors haunted her, but she was sure, that she could overcome everything, even if it was only for her soon to be child. Getting up, she immediately hugged Anko, before doing the same to her bewildered doctor, apologizing right after and being told to not worry. It seemed like many women did that once they learned of their pregnancies.

8 months later.

Whoever said childbirth was great, clearly sucked ass. Naruko concluded that when the labour pain began and seemed to only get worse as time went on.

As if the last 8 months weren't bad enough.

The first 4 months, Naruko could at least continue to work in T , although she had become far more sadistic as the months flew by. Many of her charges started to talk even before she started, seeing the woman in her mood swings, and not wanting to be subjected to it any longer. One of them, a missing Nin from Iwagakure, who killed a cell off Genin and their Sensei, even got as far as saying that he would rather go toe too toe against the Yondaime Hokage than face Naruko any longer. His comment didn't help him much, as Naruko quickly showed him why she became the most feared interrogator in the department. The poor guy was left mind broken and would never again leave the psychiatric prison, he had been incarcerated in, ever again.

The next 4 months were pure horror. She couldn't train, couldn't work and was practically confined within her compound with the only time she left it was when she went to get Dango. At least this happened until the last 2 months. She had become so heavy that walking was far to tiresome for the otherwise hyperactive Kunoichi. Thank Kami for Kurenai and her daily foot massages. The red-eyed Chunin became somewhat off an older sister to Naruko, always spoiling her rotten, and constantly monitoring Naruko, but she wasn't the only one.

Hana, after 3 months off learning more about medicine and pregnancies, had begun to examine Naruko every week. The Inuzuka woman wanted the baby and its mother to be in perfect health. Her constant pestering made Naruko exploded many times. Even worse was the fact that she refused to tell Naruko the gender of her child and even hid the ultrasound pictures from the Uzumaki clan head. At least she did until Naruko threatened to send Anko, Kurenai and Yugao after her if she didn't hand over the pictures.

It was Anko that had the honour of informing Naruko of her childs gender. It was a boy and Naruko knew who to name him after. Naruko had always recognized Sakumo Hatake, the "White Fang", as one off the leafs greatest heroes, and had decided that she would name her child after him, if it turned out to be a boy. Yugao couldn't help but laugh about the fact that Naruko would name her child after her former Anbu captains father, but she also admired Naruko for the fact that she would put comrades before any mission. When asked about the name of the child if it had been a girl, Naruko confessed to wanting to name it Kushina, after her 'Idol'. Naruko would've loved to tell her friends about her former life, but she just could not risk it, especially when the life off her unborn son could be threatened.

Her adoptive grandfather assigned Yugao as her personal Anbu guard for the last 3 months of the pregnancy, ensuring that Naruko at least wouldn't go insane from being hauled up in her house all the time.

"AHHHHHHHHHH! GOD DAMIT! ANKO-CHAN! I…AHHH…I NEED YOU TO CONTACT…IBIKI…I NEED SOMEONE TO TORTURE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

Why did it need to hurt so much. Naruko was in almost unbearable pain. She had always been proud of her high pain tolerance, but right now, she felt like someone was ripping her apart. Anko winced, when Naruko once again screamed while squeezing Ankos right hand like there was no tomorrow.

Why was Anko there?

Simple. Naruko had decided to name Anko her sons godmother. Anko had been her first and best friend, and she wouldn't have it any other way. When she informed her 4 friends, the group didn't take it badly. Kurenai and Yugao had already guessed as much, and Hana had already challenged Anko to a duel of honour for the godmotherhood. Anko, having grown much stronger since the removal of the Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven), easily bested her, but they agreed to never mention that and let Naruko decided on who would be Sakumos godmother. Anko had cried tears of joy for 30 minutes straight and would continue to do so from time to time for the next few weeks. When Yugao realized that Naruko had gone into labour, she rushed Naruko into the hospital and used a seal Naruko had designed for emergencies to inform the other "Ice Queens" as well as the Sandaime Hokage, who had been named the childs godfather. While Hiruzen could not be personally present, he had still sent Enma the monkey boss summons to protect Naruko in childbirth.

'Don't worry Naru-chan, it will soon be over, just hold on for a little more.'

'FUCK YOU RAMA-TOU-CHAN!'

The fox, in his infinite wisdom, decided not to infuriate the screaming woman any further, instead sending waves off his Chakra into her body to try and lessen the pain at least a little.

'Thank god she improved the seal with the permission of Shinigami-sama…otherwise I couldn't send her my Chakra…the people around her would immediately recognize it…'

The fox had used the whole pregnancy to strengthen not only Naruko, but also little Sakumo. His gift for the boy would be a strong additional bloodline that the fox decided to entrust him and his mother with. His action clearly paid off, when Naruko let out another blood boiling scream, and the next time she opened her eyes, they had turned a metallic purple with six black rings around the black pupil. The trauma of childbirth having awakened Kuramas gift. Sakumo would awaken his Rinnegan once he learned how to use Chakra. The fox decided to teach Naruko on how to deactivate her eyes later, right now she was far to occupied with screaming her lungs out, although Kurama could feel that she was nearly at the end of her ordeal and would soon hold her son in her arms.

And the fox was correct in his assumption. With one final push, Naruko finally felt the pain lessen, and the next thing she heard made her heart skip a beat.

The cries of a newborn, no, the cries of her son.

Kurama decided to forcefully deactivate her eyes, so her son would see her original purple ones, once he was handed to Naruko. A matter that didn't take long, Hana quickly laying the newborn next to his mother, who turned to the side, to gaze at her son. It was in the moment he opened his purple eyes, that Naruko finally understood why so many describe childbirth as something wonderful. Seeing her son for the first time made the pain more than worth it, and the way her son now looked into her eyes made her heart flutter.

"Hey there…little Sakumo Uzumaki…my little prince…"