Dramatic Lighting
The days passed by.
Kushina started to visit Minori at that earlier time. She would always see Keiichi stalking up to the stall and grabbing his lunch.
He completely ignored her, for the most part. As much as the 6 year old could, anyway.
Kushina would never pause in her attempt to grab his attention. Forcing her way in front of him, stealing Minori’s focus, sticking out a foot to try and trip him. Though, that last one never really worked. Without fail, she’d always call out a goodbye, reveling in the flinch and clenched fists that came after.
She decided they were friends, he was gonna have to deal with it.
One day, Minori shared a thought. She said Kushina and Keiichi were alike, just a little.
In simpler terms, she shared when Kushina’s jaw outright dropped, he was too smart, too grown up for his own generation. A natural genius, unlike Kushina’s situation.
At that, Kushina stared in the direction Keiichi left in silence.
She got into another routine. Every few weeks Shig and Chikako would come back from their missions, they’d teach and play with her. After so much practice, Kushina got better and better at reading and writing and, to her absolute joy, chakra control.
She struggled on each of them. Her hands not moving the way she wanted them to, most of the words stubbornly floating around the page, and the chakra not going where she wanted it to go.
Otherwise, Kushina was left at Ren’s, no matter how unreluctantly. Shig, and Chikako when she returned, did not have a lot of people in Uzushio who’d they’d trust to look after their daughter. It made Kushina feel fuzzy when she eavesdropped on that conversation.
Plus, Kushina’s puppy eyes were hard to fight against. She’d keep that in mind.
“Tou-san really chewed you out, didn’t he Ren-chan~?” Kushina had giggled when she saw his more ruffled than usual look. It was after Shig left her there again, tearfully; not sparing Ren from his death glare afterwards.
Thankfully with her improving chakra control, Kushina mostly graduated from the theoretical lessons of Fuinjutsu. Ren moved her onto painstakingly copying seals with a brush.
It was then that she understood what the brush and ink in her house were really for. It was ironic, she mused, but wondered how much the Uzumaki knew about sealing to have it as a normal household appliance.
Probably the biggest motivation for sitting there for hours copying seals that didn’t even work was how cool Ren looked while quickly drawing them out. She wanted to be exactly like that, exactly like him. Kushina wouldn’t tell him that, obviously. He didn’t deserve a single mutter of admiration from her. It was payback for all the names he called her.
Much to her father’s ire, Ren continued to let her out on her own. Kushina not only visited Minori and Keiichi, but at some point she decided to explore her home in more detail. She ran through the streets, seeing the sights and hidey holes she could make her way to if she ever wanted to cause trouble. When seeing the people on the streets, she’d always smile, while they smiled back.
Kushina loved Uzushio. Both it and its people were so very bright. At least, excluding all the cranky old people. But that was the same anywhere you went.
In her travels, Kushina found the supposed Ninja Academy Minori said Keiichi attended.
A month, it had taken her.
While peering at the building from behind a nearby tree, she could only look on in revulsion. That was a place where children were being trained into soldiers.
She didn’t understand.
The girl’s thoughts were cut off when a single sided shouting match passed way through her ears. Kushina caught sight of a familiar figure and an unfamiliar one when she turned toward the commotion. Keiichi was with another couple of boys, one of which was the perpetrator of the noise.
From afar, Kushina could see Keiichi’s stoic face. He was quiet, a blank expression that, in her eyes, almost looked like a scowl. He didn’t flinch when saliva was spat on his face, only whipped it away with a frown.
Inching closer, Kushina could distinguish the loud sound into legible words.
“Like you know anything, bastard! Ninja are amazing. You can’t even get close to the greatness that’s expected! I bet you're just scared!!!” the boy shouted. He was shorter than Keiichi, making for a pathetic picture in Kushina’s opinion. The boy looked every part of a child.
Keiichi sighed, body in a position as if he had just been walking by. “All I said was that your supposed ‘Ninja Adventures’ didn’t exist. Ninja don’t play around.” Though the tone was disinterested, Kushina could feel the contempt behind his words.
The children bristled like cats, looking ready to pounce.
Kushina acted on instinct when she ran over. She didn’t really want them to get into trouble for a petty fight. She knew Keiichi’s words were antagonizing, they were on two different points of a belief and neither side would admit they were wrong. They were children, how else would they react?
Though, she had a feeling Keiichi would dominate them in a fight. Was that thought normal?
“Nii-san!” Kushina latched onto Keiichi’s arm, eyes the epitome of innocence. She was even shorter than the short boy, cuter too. It added to her charm. Keiichi looked down at her with wide, disgusted eyes.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “We gotta go, gonna be late! Come on!”
The girl dragged him away, giving a cute bow of farewell to the startled boys. They left the premise of the academy with Kushina silently snickering at her performance. She didn’t think her act as a little sister would be questioned. Appearance wise, at the least. Most everyone had red hair, what would they know better?
Though, they were all technically cousins, weren’t they?
“Wait, wait!” Keiichi called. He only snapped out of his daze once they reached one of the river fronts.
Kushina turned to her companion and tilted her head in confusion.
“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” She didn’t know why he was bringing it up at that point. They were already halfway across town. But, she still waited for the rest of his probably boring speech. “I didn’t need your help, so why’d you butt in? I’m sure you would have sided with them if you knew what it was about,” he grumbled.
Kushina just stared at the scowl he didn’t hide anymore. Was he stupid? From that she took away that it wasn’t the first time something like that happened. She’s sure he got reprimanded for it.
Kushina frowned. “What, that ninja aren’t all cool? That it isn't some amazing fantasy job?” Kushina’s expression was void of the faux innocence she’d had before. Keiichi was stunned out of his lothment. “I only sided with who I thought was right and made sure he wouldn’t get dragged into a fight. You're welcome, but I guess you didn’t want it.” She turned her back and started on her way home— er back to Ren’s house.
It was clear Keiichi’s mind was whirling to catch up. She didn’t blame him, she was probably one of the only kids her age who didn’t want to be a ninja. Kushina walked away slowly, preventing herself from taking a glance back.
“So—” he was cut off.
“Yes. I know what ninja do, and I don’t wanna be one.”
Keiichi clenched his teeth, his bangs shadowing his downturned eyes. “You don’t have a choice. Your dad’s one, isn’t—” Kushina cut him off again.
“I don’t want to become one, but I will become one.” Kushina spun back around to show him her second favorite pose. Hands on her hips, chin up, and a determined grin that showed off her canines. “I’m gonna protect my home. I’m gonna protect everyone I love. It’s my life, I choose where it goes. So I’m choosing who to kill for, dattebane!”
She saw Keiichi’s eyes draw to her, the force no doubt doubled by the outline of the setting sun. Kushina saw a spark in his eye. She knew he was starting to like her, it was inevitable.
“Don’t worry Chi-chan, I love you too!”
Oh wait, maybe not.
◌◌◌◌◌◌◌◌◌
The next day, when she visited Minori at the usual time, Keiichi stomped up to the stand in a familiar fashion.
He snatched his lunch before turning to bash an outstretched finger into Kushina’s forehead. “After class, go to the academy.” And he walked off.
Kushina absently rubbed her forehead while both her and Minori watched him leave, a slump mixed into his strides.
“What happened with you two?” Minori questioned.
Kushina giggled. “He’s in denial~!”
◌◌◌◌◌◌◌◌◌
Kushina did as asked, sitting by the entrance of the academy. Rocking on her heels, she took the time to get a better look around.
The building itself was like most other buildings in Uzushio, just bigger and flatter. There were a lot of open fields around it, trees dotting every once and a while. It was pretty close to the cliffside, there being a huge shadow cast when the sun was in the right place.
It was so open that she could easily see some of the ‘classrooms’.
Talk about secrecy.
The door flung open, snapping Kushina out of her analysis. A mob of children ran out the doors, many headed towards the area opposite of Kushina, where a handful of parents, she’d assume, were waiting.
Kushina chose to wait under the tree she’d hid behind the previous day. It was away from all the guardians and away from the mob of freed children. She liked the quiet of her spot.
“Pipsqueak,” Keiichi acknowledged her.
“Chi-chan,” Kushina smiled back.
The boy grunted, still peeved the nickname stuck, and began to move away.
“Follow me.”
Kushina watched him stuff his hands in his pockets, as she noticed he so loved to do, and look as disinterested as possible. She continued to grin as she waddled after him.
They walked longer than expected, eventually ending up in another spot of greenery. It was out of view from the town, a hill and clearly planted trees in the way. There was a water source nearby, a couple of rocks too, but otherwise there wasn’t much to see. It just looked like a park to her.
“Alright.” While she wasn’t looking, Keiichi climbed one of the bigger rocks. He observed her from above with a smirk. “You're becoming a ninja to protect those you love, right?” A hesitant nod. “Well, then. I’ll give you a head start.”
Keiichi’s smirk turned sharp. Kushina started to regret her leap of friendship.