Year 4
Two years after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, a four year old Nozomi stood next to her mother in the fruit stall. She looked in curiosity, as many shinobi walked past her- each with different symbols on their headbands.
“Kaa-san why are there so many foreign shinobi in the village?” Kushin tore her eyes away from the apples she was observing to look at her daughter.
“They’re here for the Chunin Exams dear…” Kushina paused as she made eye contact with a Kiri shinobi. Even though she knows she shouldn’t… she can’t help the feeling of animosity that rises within her when she remembers the villages that had attacked her clan…
Nozomi felt her mother’s grip tightened in hers slightly, “This year they are being held in Konoha, genin teams from hidden villages will come here in hopes of passing and being promoted to Chunin.”
-
It was Sunday afternoon and despite the village being busy with holding the exams, Minato by the grace of kami had managed to finish just enough paperwork- plus an obscene amount begging to Shikaku that allowed him to be begrudgingly sent home.
Speaking of exams, the influx of foreign shinobi, specifically Iwa, had Minato on his toes. Despite it being two years past- he knows that the effects of the war is what truly lasts, and well he knows that he’s not exactly loved by Iwa.
He has no doubt that they will try something, after all it was a surprise at all that they had entered a team. You could never be too safe after all…
Hence the reason he was in such a rush to go home, Minato had the most ingenious idea. He had spent the past couple of nights and any spare time he had creating a bracelet with his Hiraishin seal albeit a little altered, for his daughter. He had meticulously engineered it so that the seal would serve as a way for Nozomi to channel chakra in it to call him to her ( well technically he could just teleport to the seal but he has a feeling that would ruin the autonomy for Nozomi-) , or if he channeled chakra into his end of the seal it would teleport her to him. Through his end of the seal he could also feel the emotions or rather pulses in Nozomi’s chakra that indicated any distress. This at the very least calmed him just enough- to stop him from just swaddling Nozomi to his chest and carrying her everywhere, even if she was too old for that now.
-
Nozomi sat patiently in the chair across from her beaming father, his smile was starting to scare her. “Nozomi I have a present for you! But I’m going to need your help…”
Minato opened his desk and pulled out a jar of special sealing ink, a careful ratio of blood, chakra and ink. He poured a small amount into a dish and gestured for Nozomi's hand.
“Okay Nozomi, you’ve been practicing fuuinjutsu with your kaa-chan recently, correct?” Nozomi nodded her head, excitement growing- because she hasn’t really spent much time with father recently, nonetheless sat down and learned any sealing from him. Her mother was currently responsible for most of her sealing and chakra knowledge.
“I'm going to need you to channel a bit of your chakra into this dish, you already know how right? I’ll tell you when to stop,” Minato smiled at the determined glint in his daughter’s eyes.
Nozomi focused and hovered her finger above the dish of ink and watched as her chakra began to flow into it. After a couple seconds Minato spoke, “That should be enough Nozo-chan.”
She quickly retracted her hand and ceased her flow of chakra, scared that she would mess up her father’s sealing process.
Her father fumbled around his desk- this time pulling out a small bracelet. It was a simple silver chain with a smooth plate of metal in the middle, adorned with a little charm in the shape of an Uzumaki spiral. Nozomi furrowed her brows in confusion, “What’s that Tou-chan?”
“I had this bracelet made by the same man who makes my kunai, however I requested that it’s material be chakra conductive metal…” and Nozomi watched as her father pressed chakra to it and the blade gained a faint layer of blue. He removed his finger and so did the blue haze, instead Minato dipped a brush in ink and began to inscribe the seal he had meticulously created over the past few days. She couldn’t help but watch in awe, because just like her mother- they inked their seals with certainty behind every stroke. A confidence that Nozomi hopes to achieve one day.
Few minutes later, and Minato completes the seal with a bright smile, “Alright Nozomi here goes nothing!”
He sits up straighter in his chair and forms the ram seal- “Fuuin!”
Nozomi feels rather than sees, the air in the room had seemed to rush right through her- and suddenly it was gone as quick as it happened. The seal had seemed to melt itself into the metal, creating an engraving.
Minato reached over and gently held her wrist and clasped the bracelet on, “Try channeling chakra to it!”
She touched a finger to it and channeled a bit of her chakra into it and watched as the bracelet gained a small blue hue. Her father raised his left wrist to her, and a seal identical to the one on his wrist appeared. When she pulled back her chakra, the blue glow faded- as well as the seal on her father’s wrist, “Tou-chan you have a seal too?”
He nodded, “My seal is connected to your bracelet, through this I can feel your chakra and location so I’ll know if you’re ever in trouble” subtly leaving out the fact that he can pull her through the seal if he ever chose to.
“And if you ever need me- all you have to do is channel chakra to it!” leaving out the fact that if he wanted to he could also just jump to that seal anytime he was worried.
“It’s just like you’re kunai!” Nozomi beamed because Tou-chan’s teleportation jutsu was the coolest! She jumped from her seat and engulfed her father in the tightest hug she could muster. Minato smiled into her red hair, responded in kind as he held his daughter close. He hasn’t been able to spend much time with her recently which has left him feeling horrible, and since when did Nozomi get so tall that her shoulders met the edge of his desk?
It felt like just yesterday Nozomi was across from him standing on the tips of her toes as she made grabby hands reaching for the frog summon on his desk.
“I’m glad you like it Nozomi.”
-
With the Chunin Exams in full swing, Konoha was vibrant and full of excitement. Tourists and villagers alike were all geared up for the third stage of the exams, no doubt betting on the winners of one on one battles. Though Tiger refuses to participate in something so barbaric as gambling on future shinobi, the field was to be treated with respect and dignity-
Tiger sighed as Nozomi glanced at him again in a way that she thinks is discreet.
Despite finally taking outside the village missions, he was called back because a certain someone had been asking for him.
“Oi! Nozomi-hime don’t think that I don’t see what you’re planning…”
Ever since Kushina-sama has started introducing Nozomi to more difficult chakra exercises, the kid has taken to her lessons quite seriously.
Her mother was away grocery-shopping and that means Tiger and Hound were stuck on babysitting-duty.
“Yo Hound, why don’t you just summon your dogs so she doesn’t go off running again-”
“Hn.” Kakashi turned his head away, ignoring him and wow this guy is just a complete stick in the mud.
He shook his head eyes back on his charge-
“Eh?”
Kakashi scoffed, “You fucking idiot.”
Tiger followed Hound as he jumped to the rooftops already on the chase.
-
This. was. so. fun.
Avoiding a sea of lava, and hide and seek became some of Nozomi’s favorite pastimes. She has recently found something that was quite possibly even more thrilling- leading her two favorite shadows on a wild goose chase.
She recently learned how to imitate the chakra of small animals, making her signature virtually unnoticeable.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she weaved in between buildings, maybe if she’s quick enough she’ll make it to the Uchiha compound to boast to Itachi how-
Nozomi falls to the ground as she bumps into something really hard, knocking her down on the ground.
“Oh? It’s just a little kid-” a raspy voice began then faltered. She lifted her head to see a genin team with their Jonin sensei. She opened her mouth to apologize but then she saw the symbols on their headbands-
Iwagakure, the village hidden in the stone.
The only reason she knew is because mother had practically ingrained into her the symbols of the hidden villages, and told her specifically to avoid this one at all costs.
Their sensei was a tall imposing man, and his shadow loomed over her as he sneered, “That’s the Hokage’s brat, the one we were told to look out for.”
The only girl in the team raised an eyebrow, “She doesn’t even look like him!”
The one with the raspy voice from earlier, who looked eerily similar to the girl- chuckled bitterly, “Probably looks like her bitch mother.”
Behind the two of them, a boy with black hair and green eyes was seething. The Hokage had killed his parents in cold-blood leaving them to die choking on their own blood. Making him an orphan, something his two teammates liked to make fun of him about; because in their words his parents were too weak to protect their own village, that meant they were failures as shinobi. He couldn’t even say anything, much less do anything- they were the Tsuchikage’s grandchildren… that made them untouchable. The one thing he could do though was kill this fucking brat, and hopefully make the Hokage feel a pain even worse than his.
He pushed his teammates aside and picked up Nozomi by the collar of her shirt, snarling in her face.
Nozomi shook, desperately trying to shrink away- retreating her chakra into herself as much as she could. The boy’s killing intent was uncomfortable, so much it felt like sludge against her skin.
“You’re the spawn of the fucking devil! I’m gonna kill you for what you’ve done to my family!” He roared and pulled a kunai from his pouch.
Nozomi writhed around and channeled as much chakra as she could into the bracelet on her left wrist, closed her eyes and steeled herself because she’s going to die at the hands of some boy she had never even met or done anything to .
She feels the tip of the kunai nick her just above the jugular- but then she’s pulled back.
Warily, she opens her eyes and realizes she’s being cradled in the arms of Hound with Tiger right in front of her.
“Looks like we came just in time Nozomi-hime” Tiger’s hand flashed green as he ran a medical diagnostic jutsu on her neck. After detecting an absence of poison, he heals the thankfully small and shallow cut on the girl’s neck. Nozomi was too distracted by her father’s chakra honed into a fine point, exuding an authority she had never seen him use before.
“Hokage-sama seems to have it handled though. Isn’t that right Hound?” Tiger moves to the side slightly to see her father and a couple of ANBU capacitate the Iwa team. Minato places a chakra suppressant seal on their foreheads.
He turns to ANBU agent closest to him, “Monkey, take them to T&I immediately.” His tone left no room for argument, as he tried to restrain rage bubbling underneath his skin.
“Hai! Hokage-sama!” the ANBU agents bowed and disappeared along with the team of Iwa nin.
Nozomi watched as her father walked closer to her, Tiger moving to her side.
Minato looked at his daughter with a hard gaze, giving a nod for Kakashi to hand her off to him.
Nozomi gave a little smirk- provoking a bone-crushing hug from her father.
“Kami Nozo-chan! I was so worried when you channeled so much chakra into your seal. Imagine my horror when I found out you were about to be stabbed- by an Iwa nin of all people. What were you thinking? Running away from the house like that! Don’t think you’re safe yet, because wait until your mother hears about this- Yup! You’re grounded for the rest of your life-”
Tiger and Hound sweatdropped, because for some reason this was kind of embarrassing.
-
Nozomi sighed in resignation because cross the dinner table was a red-faced Kushina, whom was looking at her daughter with steam practically coming out her ears.
“I’m sorry kaa-san, tou-san…” Nozomi bowed her head deeply. The last she had apologized so deeply was when she spilled sealing ink all over the new dress mother had bought her. I mean it did lead to the requirement of an apron for future fuuinjutsu lessons, but it had an absorption seal of her own creation! Mother was still pretty pissed though…
Kushina deflated, because at the end of the day the real fault lies with the Iwa genin that had taken a knife to a child of Konoha. While she could feel for the orphaned kid with the hate born from the result of war- this was her kid we’re talking about here. Somehow she had to explain to her kid, why that boy did what he did.
“Nozomi, did that boy say anything to you?”
She sat in silence for a bit before deciding to speak, “He said I was the spawn of the devil- and that he’d kill me for what I’ve done to his family.”
Both her parents were silent, but Minato was completely still. No matter how much he wants to believe that his actions in war were justified, it seems the consequences were determined to follow him.
“Nozomi, you remember how me and kaa-san sometimes had to leave and you’d stay with Biwako-sama?” Nozomi nodded.
“Since me and kaa-san are shinobi… We were off fighting in the Third Shinobi war. Shinobi from other villages, Iwa, Kiri, Kumo…” Minato trailed off and decided to just bite the bullet.
“Being a shinobi, means we had to take the lives of other shinobi who wanted to hurt us and the village.”
Nozomi’s face went carefully blank, because in her mind she tried to picture her parents killing other people like that genin team- like that kid’s parents…
She really didn’t like the image that appeared in her mind.
“Tou-san…”
Minato looked away from his current staring competition he had with his wife, begging with his eyes for her to take control of the conversation.
Consequences.
“What is it Nozo-chan?”
“Did you kill his parents?” she asked with all the seriousness she could muster.
“Yes” her father responded immediately, fixing her with an intense stare.
“In order to attain peace for the village, I killed many Iwa shinobi. Iwa shinobi took the lives of many people dear to me, my own students Obito and Rin.” Minato’s hand fisted underneath the table.
Nozomi thought of the picture of the two kids in the picture frame sat on her father’s desk. A distant memory of a giggly girl and a boisterous boy foggy at the edges but she can almost recall it.
“While I am sorry for the families of the other shinobi. I do not regret what I had to do to protect mine. If the war had gone on for even longer… even more people would have died.” He watched the understanding reconcile in Nozomi’s mind.
Kushina took a deep breath and spoke up, “Nozo-chan do you remember how I told you our clan was so powerful other villages banded together to destroy it?”
She nodded, “Yes, you said people of our clan were either killed or kidnapped.”
Her parents both sweatdropped at the casualness in which Nozomi spoke.
“Well…in that same sense, that boy and many other shinobi view your father as a person that is very powerful and poses a danger to them, and that is why they tried to hurt you. When they see you, they are reminded of the helplessness they experienced at the hands of someone much more powerful.”
“But I didn’t do anything-” Nozomi spluttered, because she wasn’t even ready to spar or learn any ninjutsu yet! How could she be someone that’s powerful?
“I know dear, but for us shinobi grief is something that can never be easily let go of, especially when we find a way to do something about it. Sometimes it doesn’t matter that you can do anything, just the fact you are your father’s daughter is enough of a reason for some people”
Kushina steeled herself for what she’ll say next, “I know this because I myself have the same amount of hate for Kiri-nin. They ravaged my compound and cut down my family in front of their eyes. Even now I get so angry! Even though I know the shinobi I’m looking at probably wasn’t even around when it happened, the symbol on their headband it just doesn’t-”
Kushina began to feel the tremors beginning in her hands and shoved them away before Nozomi could see , or at least she thought.
Her daughter rounded the table and held her shaking hand in hers, and Kushina could just laugh right now at the sight of the daughter that she was supposed to be comforting.
“Kaa-san.”
Her daughter looked at her with the same look in her eyes that Minato did when he was addressing his shinobi. A responsibility that no four year old was ready to bear, and she had done this to her child. Kami help her, this was not in mind when she thought of revitalizing her clan-
“I’ll get stronger! I’ll protect you from the people trying to hurt us!” Her parents giggled at the absurd amount of sincerity in her voice.
“Oi Nozo-chan it sounds like you want to be Hokage-”
“No I don’t! That hat looks funny…”
-
After their serious talk last night, Kushina had made Nozomi’s favorite spicy curry for dinner.
She ate so many servings it was pretty ridiculous even for an Uzumaki.
Maybe she did go a little overboard last night… her mother’s words echoing in her mind.
“ Nozo-chan! Just because you don’t feel the spice now- Doesn’t mean you won’t feel it later!”
She dashed to the bathroom.
-
Minato sat in his office reading the T&I report of the Iwa team, in regards to that… there wasn’t much for him to do as while he wished there could be some sort of punishment. It was practically impossible with two of the genin being the Tsuchikage’s grandchildren.
Their Jonin-sensei had agreed, at least somewhat amicably, that the genin responsible would be disqualified from participating in the last stage of the exams. It was better that than gearing up for another shinobi war- even if it tasted bitter in his mouth.
“Hm?”
Minato watched as the seal on his left wrist flashed, signaling Nozomi’s distress.
Without question he teleported to Nozomi’s seal- which was at home?
In front of him was an exasperated Kushina standing outside the bathroom door, “That girl I swear-”
“What happened?” Minato asked, his concern was slightly abated by his wife’s reaction.
“She ate too much curry last night, more than she usually does. I mean I love that she loves my cooking that much! As expected since I am a world class Uzumaki chef- Anyway, she’s probably taking the most massive shit in her four-year old life!” Kushina braced herself on her knees, trying not to keel over laughing.
Minato sweatdropped- because of course that would be the reason for his daughter’s distress…