"—and then we ate the fish while watching the stars and Gramps told me a bunch of stories. I had no idea Gramps was the Hokage. It totally surprised me, ya know?"
Naruto's legs swung back and forth from where he sat on the edge of his bed, his bare feet almost reaching the floor. Mom was still smiling that warm smile that made his chest feel all fuzzy and light, listening to him with that same soft expression as Auntie Yuzu, like he was telling her the most important thing in the whole world.
He didn't understand how his mom came back—she said Toad Gramps found her in some hidden lab—but that wasn't important! All that mattered was that he could see his mom again and talk to her and hug her and be like all the other kids with their parents.
"That was two years ago, right?"
"Yep!" He nodded with a smile. "So much stuff happened since then."
"We still have plenty of time, sweetie. You can tell me everything."
Naruto looked down at his lap, face scrunching up in thought. There were lots of things… he wasn't sure where to begin. His head felt full of memories, and—
His eyes went wide.
He could just show her. All of it, just like Kurama showed him things with ninshū.
"Mom, um… what if I just showed you instead?"
His mom blinked. Her head tilted slightly, and he watched her think about it, her violet eyes going distant for a second.
"Show me?" A little surprise went into her voice. "You can do that?"
"Yep! The fox taught me! It's called ninshū. He does it all the time. It's way easier than talking." Naruto felt his excitement bubbling up, making the words come faster. "We just bump fists like before—"
He held out his hand, making a fist the way he'd done a hundred times before. His mom hesitated, just for a moment, before she mirrored him.
Their fists touched. And then their chakras.
He felt that familiar pull, a gentle tug at the edges of his consciousness, and then the link opened like a door.
The memories poured through like sunlight breaking through clouds.
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The first time he met old man Teuchi and ate ramen. It was so warm and tasted amazing…
The first proper talk he had with the fox, when he learned he still had family out there.
That big talk he had with Kurama when he learned his name. When he made his first friend… his partner…
The start of his Academy days, and how Kurama taught him lots of stuff about how to become an awesome ninja.
Learning how to walk on a tree for the first time, with Kurama cheering him on in his own grumpy way.
Training by the pond, his feet sinking into the mud at the bottom, and Kurama's gravelly laugh echoing through his head when he fell into the water for the hundredth time. The feeling of triumph when he finally stood, his legs shaking in exhaustion, on that mirror-flat surface for three whole seconds.
Shadow clones multiplying in the clearing, his own voice echoing back at him from dozens of copies of himself, all grinning in excitement. Toad Gramps crossing his arms with that exasperated look, shaking his head even though his eyes were laughing.
Sitting with Karin in the seal chamber while the fox told them stories about the past, his tails curling around them like the softest pillows in the world, warmer than any blanket.
Karin puffing up in that silly way of hers whenever she beat him at tree climbing. Hinata's shy little smile when they invited her to play hide and seek with them. Auntie Yuzu's warm smile when she brought them snacks.
All these memories tumbled together, fast and warm and real, in a way he couldn't ever put them into words.
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He pulled his hand back.
Mom's smile was still there, but it looked frozen on her face. Her eyes were huge, wide in a way he'd never seen before. Her hand hung in the air where their fists had touched, fingers still curled like she was holding onto something invisible.
She must be really surprised…
His eyes widened as he lowered his hand back to his lap. Aww, he forgot about that.
"And he also taught me how to play this cool game called Dungeon and Dragons!" he said, gesturing around with his hands. "It't really fun, but it needs more people to be even better. I tried with shadow clones, but it's not the same. Maybe we can play it later with Auntie Yuzu and Karin?"
Mom didn't answer. She also wasn't smiling anymore. Her eyes were staring past him, at something that wasn't there, and her forehead was scrunched up a little in that weird face she made the first time he'd told her about the fox.
That unpleasant feeling came back to his stomach. The one he didn't have a name for yet.
"Mom?" he asked, voice small and confused.
His mom blinked, her face twitching like she was waking up.
The smile returned to her face, soft just like before, reaching all the way to her eyes. But there was something else in her eyes now too. Something tired. Or sad. Or both?
"Ah, I'm sorry, sweetie. I was just thinking about what you showed me."
Naruto nodded, even though he wasn't sure what was there to think so hard about. It was just… the stuff he did this year.
"Do you wanna try playing this game later?"
"Of course, but first I need to have another talk with the fox."
Eh?
Naruto blinked in surprise. Again? His mom sure had a lot of stuff to talk about with Kurama. Were they friends, too?
"Are you friends with the fox, too?"
Mom's expression did something complicated. Something crossed her face so fast he almost missed it. Then it settled back into that soft smile.
"It's complicated, sweetie." She held up a hand. "Come on."
He did the same, her fingers still cold as they bumped fists. That familiar pulse of chakra followed as he reached out, connecting them just like before. And then he pulled her along, watching as her eyes glazed over and fluttered close.
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A flicker of amusement crossed my face as the familiar chakra entered my senses. I didn't move, just lay there in the shadows of my cage, tails coiled around me as the water rippled from her footsteps.
Still beautiful in that furious way, like a blade wrapped in silk. Her violet eyes find mine immediately, and there's no softness in them now. None of that fragile confusion from before. This is the woman who spent a hundred years keeping me pinned to molten rock. This is the woman who chose duty over mercy.
"Back so soon?"
Her warm chakra bristled, turning sharper and sour. "What do you think you're doing?" she spoke, her voice cold and clipped.
I cracked an eye open, meeting her glare. "Trying to sleep."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then you should be more specific." I pushed myself up slightly, a sage smile settling on my lips. "Communication is the key when it comes to understanding others." For stupid monkeys who couldn't use ninshū, at least.
She didn't rise to the bait. Her expression tightened, gaze narrowing.
"That." She stressed the word like it physically hurt to say. "I know what you're trying to do. You think you can turn Naruto against the village? To deceive him and make him open this seal for you? I won't let you—"
The laughter spilled before I could stop it. It rolled out of my throat, deep, gravelly, and harsh, bouncing off the walls as Kushina's glare turned scathing.
"You misunderstand, Kushina. I'm not trying to deceive the brat." I sat up fully, stretching my spine and unfurling my tails behind me deliberately slow. "I'm only trying to be the parent he's never had. I thought you'd be happy, as his mother, to know that someone cared about your son even when the whole village turned its back on him."
Her hands clenched at her hips, trembling faintly, and a flicker of satisfaction curled deep within me.
"You don't believe me?" I felt my smile widen, lips peeling back smugly. "Why don't you see for yourself?"
I snaked a hand between the bars, holding it out in front of her, fingers curled lazily. The invitation hung in the air for a painfully tense moment, deafening quiet filling the chamber.
Something unpleasant crossed her face as she stared at my fist. A sliver of hesitation. A hint of anger and fear. They mixed together, staining her features with something sour and bitter, though she didn't look any less beautiful.
She didn't move, just kept glaring at me in silent defiance, the willful bitch.
"No?" I lowered my arm, pulling it back inside the cage. "A shame. I was looking forward to showing you."
"You're not fooling me, Nine Tails. I know what you're like."
A low, amused hum vibrated in my throat. "Do you?"
Kushina didn't answer. She kept glaring at me stubbornly. I could see the gears turning behind those violet eyes. Trying to figure out if I'm lying? Heh.
A shame she didn't take the bait. Her reaction would've been delicious.
The quiet stretched, and I expected her to turn around and leave like before.
But then—
"Mom?"
Naruto's voice broke the tense silence from across the chamber, water rippling around his feet as he approached.
Kushina spun around so fast her red hair whipped and fluttered like a blood-red curtain.
The brat walked up to his mother, concern etched across his face. "Is everything okay? You were acting kinda weird earlier, and I know you said you're okay, but I was worried…"
"Don't worry, sweetie. I'm fine. Mommy was just a little surprised." She smiled warmly, the sight filling my chest with a tinge of something that felt both warm and made my chakra boil. "I finished my talk with the mean fox. We can go back and play that game."
"He's not mean," Naruto said immediately.
I hid a smirk in the darkness of my cage as Kushina frowned.
"Maybe he wasn't mean to you, but he was pretty mean to others."
"That's because they treated him badly."
"Well…" Kushina fumbled with her words as something sour crossed her face. "It's a bit more complicated than that. Come on, let's go back for now."
"Okay."
Kushina turned towards the exit, Naruto mirroring her after a moment.
"Hey, brat," I spoke up before they could leave, my gravelly voice giving them pause. "Have you finished your training?"
Naruto turned around with a dry look. "Yes, dad. I popped the shadow clones earlier."
Kushina froze, her eyes opened wide like she just got slapped. Emotion flashed across her face too fast to read, but her chakra was an open book. Shock, confusion, rage, and a hint of grief.
The brat didn't notice, too busy pretending to be a sour grape.
I barely held in my laughter, my tails swishing behind me like they had a mind of their own.
"Good. You're going to be the strongest genin when you graduate."
That got him to perk up, and he flashed me a grin. "Ya bet!"
Kushina kept standing there like a statue, staring dumbly at her brat. I savored the look on her face as much as I could.
Naruto finally noticed.
"Mom?" he said, tugging at her sleeve. "You're making that weird face again."
That finally snapped her out of it. "Sorry, sweetie. I was thinking to cook you my secret ramen recipe for tomorrow."
Nice save. An amused huff escaped me, and the bitch threw me another subtle glare, her hands clenched tightly at her side.
"Aw, yeah! I can't wait!"
The brat ate up the lie like ramen broth, and Kushina ruffled his hair, that sweet smile returning to her lips.
She turned away from the cage again, but Naruto paused, looking back and giving me a wave.
"See ya later, Kura—"
The brat caught himself mid-word, his smile turning sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head.
I gave an amused huff, flashing him a smirk. He could've fully slipped up, and it wouldn't have bothered me. Not when Kushina looked like a constipated Mona Lisa over there, subtly glaring daggers at me.
"We can talk later. I'm sure your mother would love to hear more about what you've been up to."
"For sure! She said she wanted to try DnD. We can have a game night with everyone. It'll be awesome!"
"Let me know when you're ready."
Playing Chinese Whispers with his shadow clones just so I could DM was annoying, but it was the best thing I could do right now.
Kushina threw me one last glare before they walked away, disappearing across the chamber. I lay back on the ground, closing my eyes with a satisfied sigh.
Nothing could ruin this day anymore.
A shame I couldn't take a picture. That stunned, disbelieving look on her face almost made all those years of torture worth it.
A low, harsh chuckle escaped me, bouncing off the cold walls of my quiet prison.
Cope and seethe, you bitch.
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Kushina stood at the edge of the balcony, her gaze wandering idly across the scenery. The village spread out below like a mosaic of lights, warm yellow squares still dotting the darkness this late. Her eyes flickered to the waxing moon, lingering for a moment, then drifting aimlessly to the Hokage rock.
That Nine Tails…
Talking to her like she was the bad guy.
She could still hear his smug voice echoing in her mind. I'm only trying to be the parent he's never had. Like it was her fault. Like she'd chosen to die and leave her son alone. Like he wasn't the one who tried to kill Naruto on that night, and—
She shook her head hard enough that her hair whipped across her shoulders, her hands gripping the balcony railing. No. She wasn't letting that bastard get inside her head. He was just trying to trick her. Like he did with her son. Like he always did—
The memories surfaced again, unbidden.
Her grip tightened until she felt the metal start to give.
She'd missed so much...
And now he was trying to take away from her what little she still had.
Something curled unpleasantly in her chest, but it was dull and distant. Like feeling pain through layers of cotton. This body was a twisted facsimile of life. Couldn't feel warmth or cold. Not even the ache that should've been crushing her ribs right now.
Her jaw tightened. She blinked away tears that wouldn't come.
It should've been her.
The one to comfort her son when the village blamed him.
The one to tell him stories about their clan, about his father, about everything he deserved to know.
The one to teach him about chakra and watch his face light up when he finally got it right.
The one to watch him grow and become an amazing young man.
It should've been her. Her and Minato. The family they'd planned for, the life they'd earned after surviving a war and saving the village and—
Yes, dad.
The words replayed in her mind like a stuck record. Again. And again. And agai—
A harsh breath exploded through her nose. Her teeth ground together so hard she heard them creak.
No.
The metal groaned weakly.
No.
That bastard had deceived her son. Acting like the father he never had, worming himself in Naruto's life like a parasite, all to lower the boy's guard. This was exactly what he did back then. Found the cracks and exploited them until he almost made her kill Minato.
A flash of angry heat sparked in her chest, the only warmth this hollow body could manage.
And now he brought her back just to torture her with images of the family she couldn't have. Rubbing it in her face that he'd been there when she couldn't. That petty, heartless, bastar—
"Ah. I didn't think I'd find you still awake."
The soft voice nearly made her jump in her skin, her hair fluttering in her vision as she spun around.
Yuzu stood in the doorway, her slender figure lit by the soft glow from inside the house. She wore a simple, violet nightgown, her red hair loose around her shoulders and a flicker of surprise painted across her face.
"Apologies if I'm intruding, Miss Kushina."
Another memory rose unbidden. This woman sitting in the seal chamber, smiling softly while that creature's tails curled around both children like he was some kind of benevolent guardian instead of the monster that destroyed half the village.
A faint, sour feeling twisted in Kushina's stomach.
This woman… How dare she play along with that charade. Did that bastard sink his claws in her too?
"It's fine. This is your house." The words came out sharper than she'd meant.
Yuzu didn't react. Brief silence stretched between them as the woman crossed the balcony, stopping an arm's length away. She looked out at the village with an expression Kushina couldn't quite read.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Kushina asked, forcing her voice softer.
"Sometimes."
"Nightmares?"
Yuzu gave a slow, hesitant nod. "I know I'm not there anymore, but…" A flicker of pain crossed her face before she smoothed it away. "It's hard to forget."
Kushina hid a grimace. She knew they brought her from Grass, but have things really been that bad for her?
"The Leaf is the safest and nicest village," Kushina said after a moment, mustering a small, reassuring smile. "You can rest assured here."
Yuzu gave a weak smile of her own, and they lapsed into silence. Kushina stared at the lights below, feeling that hollow emptiness where her lungs should've been working, where her heart should've been beating.
"I've been filling in as the head of the Uzumaki clan," Yuzu said after a while, her voice careful. "But now that you're back, you should be the one to—"
"I don't know how long I'll be around." Kushina shook her head. "This body of mine could suddenly fail and crumble apart. Let's keep things as they are for now."
Maybe it would. Maybe not. Though even if it did, she'd make sure that Hiruzen summoned her again. She would've been content with just spending a few days with her son, making what few memories she could before returning to the Pure Land.
But now...
She couldn't leave him at the mercy of that lying bastard. She had to stay and watch over him. She had to make sure that the Nine Tails wouldn't sink his claws even deeper into her son.
She'd rather avoid the clan politics, though. For now, at least.
All she wanted was to enjoy her newfound time with her son. She had to make up for all those years that she'd missed.
"If that's what you wish, Miss Kushina."
"Just call me Kushina." She turned to look at the other woman. "We're family, aren't we?"
Family.
Another dull pang stabbed at her chest, a ghost of pain this body could never feel.
A soft smile tugged at Yuzu's face. "Thank you for listening to me." Her gaze swept once more across the tranquil village, lingering on the distant monument and those four faces that always watched over everything. "I'll try to go back to sleep."
Minato…
Yuzu turned away and headed back inside, the door closing with a soft click.
Kushina felt a frown settle on her lips as she stood alone on the balcony again.
She turned back to the village, propping her arms on the railing as she stared at the distant lights dotting the darkness. Her hair rustled in a night breeze that she couldn't feel.
Was it chilly outside…?
A tired sigh escaped her.
This empty body didn't even need to rest.
Her nails scraped against the metal.
Tomorrow, she'd make him that ramen. The recipe she'd perfected back when she was pregnant, thinking of the day she could teach her son how to cook it himself. Tomorrow, she'd ask him more about his friends, his training, and his dreams.
The village lights burned in the distance like fireflies.
Her mouth quivered. Her eyes didn't sting. Her vision didn't blur with tears that she couldn't cry.
But something in her chest felt like it might break anyway.
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