"Cousin!"
"It's uncle!"
Akira touched Kushina's hair with affection. He felt inclined to change the tragic fate of this girl, who had already suffered so much in the original story.
However, Kushina seemed to see through Akira's gentle demeanor and mustered up the courage to retort, "You're not old at all!"
"Hahaha…"
Akira was immediately amused by little Kushina's reaction. He patted her head again and replied, "As for age, there's a slight difference between what you see and what actually is. I'm much older than you think. As for how old I am-that's staying secret."
Hearing Akira keep it from her made Kushina puff out her cheeks into a small pout. "Cousin's not even a girl!"
"But boys also have to know how to protect themselves when they're outside. If people knew my age, girls around that age might come to my house for blind dates. That would be way too much trouble."
"My cousin is fooling me again!"
"Haha, if you think so, then I guess I am."
Akira didn't continue teasing her and changed the subject instead.
"The Hokage said you'll be attending school in Konoha moving forward. I'll help you with enrollment. After that, you'll study here…"
Hearing this, Kushina didn't answer-instead she came to a stop.
Akira turned around, crouched down, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
His calm tone triggered tears to rise in Kushina's eyes.
"Will we… will we really not be able to go back to the Land of Whirlpools anymore?"
Watching her expression, Akira remembered that in this timeline, she was two years younger than in the original version. At six years old, being taken away from loving parents and grandparents would devastate any child. A girl her age might cry if her parents left for just one long trip-now she believed she was the only one left in her family. The fact that she hadn't cried until now showed strength.
Akira felt guilty for lying-but if he didn't keep up the illusion, dealing with Sarutobi Hiruzen and Black Zetsu would become impossible. He already had some idea of how the world was structured now. If he didn't follow Sarutobi's vision closely enough, Kushina might suffer the same fate again-and so might her son.
To keep everything under control and avoid repeating history, he'd have to keep deceiving her for now.
"I'm sorry. We won't be able to go back for now. I promise though-I'll take you back someday."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Promise me with a pinky swear!"
Little Kushina held out her small pinky finger and looked up at him with hope in her eyes.
Akira hooked it gently with his own.
"Pinky swear."
"It's settled?"
"It's settled!"
After locking the promise, Kushina jumped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.
"Uncle… thank you! You're a good man!"
Even though he'd just received the classic "nice guy" line, Akira didn't mind-she was only six years old afterall.
"I'm your cousin. If I don't look after you-who should? Let's not talk about sad things anymore. Let's go shopping for supplies before school starts. After that-I'll cook tonight."
Finally feeling she had someone who cared, Kushina smiled through her tears.
"Mm!"
Seeing that she had calmed down again, Akira relaxed and took her hand firmly in his own.
"Let's go!"
"Okay!"
---
After spending the afternoon shopping for school necessities with Kushina, Akira hosted a small welcome dinner at home for her.
Tsunade, Nawaki, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were also invited. Just like in the original story, Sarutobi Hiruzen had taken them as disciples. Akira figured the party would be livelier with everyone there-so he simply called them over too.
As for Tsunade's parents-they had died while traveling when they encountered bandits. The cause of death hardly needed explaining-some things hadn't changed across timelines.
It wasn't time for revenge just now. Akira had already collected their bodies and intended to resurrect them later on when timing allowed.
Though there weren't many guests present today, Nawaki and Jiraiya's antics kept everyone entertained-and made sure that today's star, Kushina, had fun even through the emotional haze that followed her arrival.
When the dinner finally ended and Tsunade-who had gotten drunk-was asleep on one side of the room and Orochimaru had dragged Jiraiya out over his shoulder, the house grew silent again.
After tucking Kushina and Nawaki into bed, Akira made his way into Mito's room alone.
Her home was protected by barriers that blocked outside surveillance-Akira reinforced one again after entering to ensure full privacy.
Once everything was secure, he turned his gaze toward the woman sitting on the bed.
Though only lit by lamplight now, Mito's face looked like that of someone no older than twenty. The diamond-shaped sigil on her smooth brow glowed faintly under the flickering light.
With no one else around-Akira dropped his disguise and reverted to his "Immortal Reincarnation" appearance. He then stepped forward and embraced Mito without hesitation.
Mito adjusted slightly in his arms to get comfortable again by instinct.
"Is everything in Whirlpool Country resolved?"
"Mhm."
Akira nodded before explaining further. "I sent most of them to Loulan-a few to Takigakure Village. Both have been sealed away from outsiders for years-so even if someone stumbles across them, they'll assume it's survivors of the Uzumaki clan hiding out somewhere. Besides-they're under Kakuzu's protection now."
Knowing that her scattered people were alive brought Mito some comfort. Despite decades of marriage in Konoha-she hadn't lost her connection to her homeland.
"That's good."
Her tone stayed light-but she asked another question quickly afterward.
"Brother Akira… do we really have to bring Kushina back here?"
"Yes-we do," Akira answered plainly. "Monkey didn't want me becoming the next Nine-Tails jinchūriki-so he made sure Whirlpool Country was attacked."
"But why are we afraid of him?"
Mito couldn't understand it. "With your power and reputation-it wouldn't be hard at all to replace him as Hokage. Why follow along with what he wants?"
Akira didn't respond immediately. He looked past her toward the window-toward the moon outside shimmering through layers of barrier seals.
"This is too complicated," he finally said without elaborating further. "Just know-I'd do nothing that would harm you."
"…Alright."
Mito accepted that much-even if she couldn't fully grasp it. She knew she wasn't as clever as Akira-and trusted him enough not to press on what he wasn't ready to say aloud.
"So what're you doing next?"
"Take Kushina to school-and take on my first disciple."
"Disciple?"
Her eyes widened-and she sat upright fully stunned.
They'd known each other for decades-and not once had he mentioned accepting disciples before now.
"Who could possibly be worthy of learning from you?"
"Just some civilian kid."
"A civilian boy?"
She looked skeptical now-not understanding how someone so isolated could even know about some random child outside Konoha's clan circles.
"Yup. Just a regular kid," Akira repeated calmly. "I took him in so Kushina could have someone around her age to keep her company."
"Well… I guess that makes sense," Mito said and laid back into his arms again. To her-Kushina already felt like family anyway… pampering her didn't seem wrong at this point anymore.
"What's that kid's name?"
"Minato Namikaze."
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