Misplaced Princess

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own. I am happy to take advice and especially suggestions from readers while continuing the story!  I'd really like your opinions on the future of the story!

Thinking

Emphasis

Biju, etc. speaking

Biju, etc. thinking

Naruto couldn't have felt more guilty if she'd tried.

Her mother obviously hadn't taken her disappearance well, and now… Now, she was truly scared for her life.

I killed her before by just being born, and now I finally have a chance to know and love her, and I've hurt her so badly! There was no way to make up for what she'd done: running away like that from her family: a REAL family, and now… And now…

"What are those tears for, Naru-chan?" Kushina asked as she lay in bed with Naruto; her daughter was as close to the far side of her bed as possible. She was terribly worried about her. The girl would only respond to questions briefly, although Minato-kun said that she'd been upfront and helpful during her initial debriefing. Maybe these tears were a good sign? Maybe she'd finally have a breakthrough with her?

"Ah! I'm sorry, Kushina-sama," Naruto said. For everything. She didn't deserve to call her mother anymore: she'd hurt her, and…

"Don't hurt my feelings and be bratty! Calling me by my name, with an honorific on top?" Kushina scolded playfully.  "Che! If anyone gets to be bratty in this house it's me, and I suppose Kakashi-kun because he was born a brat," she continued while considering her own words all the while. "It's been almost a week, Naru-chan. You NEED to talk about what happened to you."

Naruto felt her fingernails tear into the flesh of her palms as she gritted her teeth. "I already gave a verbal summation of events that transpired in the ROOT bases. I gave an abbreviated written report that highlighted information important to the village, plus anything that I could remember from my interactions with ROOT members and bases I was held in, plus our memories of being moved between said bases."

Kushina gawked at her daughter. That was the most that she'd spoken at one time since being back at home (and under house arrest,) but it was the way she spoke that shocked her. How could she describe it?
1. Professional.
2. Clipped.
3. Very Un-Uzumaki-like: yes that was the best way to put it.
4. Finally, it reminded her of dealing with "Robot Kakashi." Yes, dealing with Kakashi-kun's mood after his father, her sensei, passed, was very much like this. He was like that for years, until Obito-kun…

Oh, Obito. How could you? Kushina suddenly wanted to bury her head under the covers again and never come out: so much had happened since the day that was supposed to only be the happiest of their lives. It still was in so many ways, but...

"May I ask a question?"

"Oh," Kushina wiped her hands over her entire face, hoping that her dear daughter didn't see her being so forlorn - or the tears that she was about to shed. Dealing with post-pregnancy hormones was a bitch, plus all these terrible things had happened, too. "You can ask me anything, Naru-chan!" She watched as her daughter seemed to stiffen, and wondered if she should stop calling her by that nickname. She was about to ask if calling her "Naru-chan" bothered her when she saw the girl slump and turn away.

"I'm sorry I took him away from you," Naruto said softly.

"What? Who? Naruto," Kushina cried, ''What are you talking about? That's not a question!"

Naruto took in a deep breath and held back the smile that threatened to form on her lips at her mother's... everything! "If I hadn't been born, you would still have Kurama…"

"Brat."

"...and I never even had a bruise or scar," she lamented, talking quickly, although Naru knew what she just said sounded odd. She was sure that some people - girls, especially - would give an awful lot of ryo to be able to say the same. "Were you the same before? Before the extraction, did he always… keep you well?"

"Well, yes," Kushina said, a little puzzled by her daughter's questions. "I'm assuming you mean the Kyuubi keeping me well?" Seeing Naruto's quick nod, she continued.

"Being an Uzumaki has advantages in that department, of course, but before I took over jinchuuriki duties for Lady Mito, Tsunade-hime's grandmother, I think I may have gotten sick once or twice? OH! And see this scar?" Kushina asked as she pulled up her nightgown to show Naruto her hip bone. "I got this when I was training with my cousin when I was 6 back in Uzushio. I have a few more, but that was the deepest one: the one I'm most proud of, since I later... well, I wasn't able to get any more of them. ...Now, why are you asking all of this?"

"No reason," Naruto said guiltily. She was glad that Kushina didn't bring up her use of Kurama's name… so far. He'd be really pissed at her.

"We don't lie to each other," Kushina said harshly. Seeing Naruto flinch, though, she felt bad. She had to get through to her somehow, though. "Did I ever tell you about the time that I was kidnapped by Kumo nins? As terrifying as it was - and as horribly helpless I felt as they took me away - so much good came out of it."

"Tou-san said that's when he 'finally caught your attention.'"

"Oh, he certainly did! And Naru-chaaan," she said teasingly, making her daughter turn toward her with a wary look on her face, "did Kakashi-kun or your father find you first?" Kushina was only trying to needle her daughter into beginning to discuss what happened to her, so was surprised when the girl grabbed the ends of her long blonde hair and pulled it down hard.

"That's… that's irrelevant, 'ttebayo," Naru replied in a bitter whisper. Still grasping her hair, she turned toward her mother. "And if it weren't for me, you'd be okay."

"Naru-chan! That's not…"

"You would've healed thanks to the Kyuubi, you wouldn't have gotten weaker again because I ran off like an idiot…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! You are my FAMILY, Naru-chan! I lost - I lost everyone when I was a child," she said painfully.  "Sure, Tsunade-chan was out there somewhere, drowning in her pain, but I hardly knew her back then - and absolutely everyone else was gone! I - I always wanted a family, Naru. Even when I was a very little girl and had a huge, loving family, I wanted one of my own someday," she said wistfully.  "Maybe it's because I had such a large family..."

"It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it?! Huh?!" 

Naruto felt a deep chill down to her bones as those furious words that had been yelled echoed in her mind. She actually trembled when she heard Kurama growl slow and menacingly and wondered if he'd heard them, too.

"...Granted, when I came here, I was more interested in proving myself. I even wanted to be Hokage to get the recognition I wanted," Kushina groaned and stared up at her bedroom ceiling.

"I did that, too, before... But you don't become the Hokage to be acknowledged by everyone. The one who is acknowledged by everyone becomes the Hokage," Naruto said, shocking both of them. She heard Kurama chuckle in his mindscape, although he really didn't sound at all pleased about what she'd just said. "I believe someone said that to me once," she said as her entire head suddenly pounded along with her chakra coils. I don't remember who it was that said that, either. Weird.

"Those are wise words, Naru-chan," Kushina said sincerely.

"Well, they're obviously not mine then," Naruto said as she scratched her scalp, forcing herself not to hold her head because of the pain she was feeling in case her mother realized that she was hurting. She didn't want her to worry about her. Recognizing that she was still holding on to a lot of her hair with the other hand, however, she let it go but didn't know what to do with her hands. The silence in the room was suffocating for her. Maybe I should just go...

Why wouldn't her feet move? She sighed: Naru knew very well why. She was scared to be away from her sick mother. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine!"

"I thought you said we didn't lie to each other," Naruto said critically.

"Che! Using my own words against me," Kushina replied in an annoyed voice before switching to a bright happy one almost immediately. "Good work, Naru!" She laughed brightly before groaning and putting her hands on her abdomen. "Alright my little maelstrom, I'll tell you the truth if you tell me the truth. But you have to go first." Her daughter considered it for a long time: the very adult expression Naruto was making as she continued to look at her made Kushina a bit uncomfortable.

"I suppose that's acceptable," Naruto eventually said. Kushina had the nerve to laugh at her, which just irritated Naruto to no end. "I feel... embarrassed. Like a failure - a true dobe." 

Whoa: that was Teme's voice I had in my head before. It was clear to her now that she compared it to the way Sasuke always called her a "dobe."

At first, Naru appreciated Kushina not immediately countering her feelings, then began feeling worse and worse as she thought that her mother agreed with her - that she was a big loser.

"You've been through something terrible," Kushina sighed as she leaned down into her pillows again. "They say it's normal to feel that way, either before you begin to heal or even..."

"I've always felt that way," Naruto admitted, then covered her mouth. She couldn't believe she had just said that, even though it was true. "Gomen! Haha. Sorry about that. We're talking about you, ne? You have to tell the truth now, about how you're feeling!" Naruto gave one of her big goofy smiles and hoped that her mother couldn't see how fake it was.

"Hmph. Alright: considering that Tsunade-chan didn't know if I'd even make it, I feel fantastic! HOWEVER, if I don't consider that, then I feel crappy. And you running off didn't help anything," Kushina admitted. "I know your father told you why we didn't plan to tell the public that you're our daughter, but we were going to talk to you about it first! Honestly, Tsunade can be such a PAIN," she said as she pulled down a fist. "Hey. Look at me."

Naruto looked up with big sad eyes but found it too difficult to look directly into her mother's amethyst eyes. "I'm glad you admitted it. I hurt everyone by pulling that stunt."

"You're 13, Naruto! For heaven's sake, give yourself a break!" She swatted her daughter's hand. "I was your age when I got kidnapped, and that was my fault - although it was really Kumo's, just like the fault with what happened to you lies with Danzo and ROOT. My situation back then could have started a war," she said before smiling at her daughter wickedly.  "My turn! Are you ready? This one is serious, and I'm going to make you talk about it: it's the Uzumaki way."

Naruto had had just about enough of Uzumaki this and that. The "Uzumaki way" seemed to be anything that Tsunade and her mother came up with on the fly - and most of it was embarrassing. Plus her mother's pseudo mood swings were a little exhausting!   "Umm, what is it you want to know?"

"Your father said he found you naked with a log," Kushina said plainly. Naruto made a furious little squeak and jumped off the bed, before squatting down in the corner of the room.

"That's not true. I mean yeah: the LOG," Naruto rolled her eyes dramatically, remembering how Kakashi had substituted with the log. What a weirdo... Oh, but of course, I... She turned red remembering that she'd kissed Kakashi. Or his mask. Whatever. She began scratching at her neck and shoulder, "I had a gown, but I'd just... you know: dropped it a little. It was just bad timing."

"Then why are you so red?"

"Who wants to be found near naked?! That's all," Naruto lied. She shivered when she thought about what she'd heard her parents talking about when she went downstairs to get a cup of tea for her fried nerves. That Danzo asshat was still on the loose, and his minions were in disarray, with most having possibly gone rogue. God, I made such a mess of things... Poor Tou-san!

Kushina gave her daughter a sad look. "Naruto, did someone touch you?"

"No," Naru said firmly, then shuddered when she thought of that geezer's hands on her. If she was being a "big girl" about it, she told herself that she could see how the fuckmummy was just examining her like she heard Ino and Sakura talking about doctors doing, maybe. What was gross and made it even more wrong was the lust or whatever it was that she'd felt from him days earlier.

What a gross person. "I... sense things, I think. I sometimes... I get almost overwhelmed by how people feel. Is that... crazy? I mean, the Kyuubi says that he can sense negative emotions? But I feel more than that, 'ttebane."

I also hated his hands on me, no matter what his intentions were.

Kushina considered that as she watched her daughter fidget. She still hadn't made eye contact with her, and that told her some of what she needed to know. Tsunade could check out the rest. She took a deep breath, "Granny Mito had an ability called the Mind's Eye of Kagura, or she had at least a version of it. She could sense emotions and intent, even before she became a jinchuuriki. Your father and I are - or were, in my case - sensors, so it would make sense that you would be one, too," she let her know.  When she thought about Naru's ability more, she had a serious question.

"It doesn't hurt when you use your chakra to sense where others are?"

Naruto thought about it and only knew that it never hurt before she got the extra fox and came to this time. Since then, she hadn't tried to expand her senses and wasn't quite sure how she even did it in the first place. She finally shrugged her shoulders, not knowing one way or the other.

"We can train that and you can tell us how you feel, I suppose," Kushina said as she scratched her neck.  Naruto's little habit was a little contagious, it seemed. Looking back at her daughter, for the first time since they got her back, she saw the light dance in her eyes, but she also looked a little doubtful. "Yes, I'm serious!"

"Awesome.  Thanks m- ano, Kush-," Naruto began before shaking her head.  "Thank you."

"Tsunade," Kushina interrupted the exam she was getting an hour later. She really wanted back out of bed, but Tsunade was being a bully about it, and the flu she'd caught wasn't winning her any points with the woman. "I want you to give Naru-chan a full exam."

"What did she say?" Tsunade asked in an angry tone as she used her iryo-ninjutsu to monitor her cousin's vitals and damaged chakra coils.

"She won't say anything concrete. But we need to know. If, Kami-forbid, one of those bastards touched her, I want to know who and I want to put them on trial before I kill him with my bare hands."

Tsunade agreed to her request wholeheartedly.

Naruto tried to jump out the window when she saw another hospital gown, even though this one was designed for adolescent civilians and had snaps instead of ties, plus little duckies and pink stripes all over it. Unfortunately for her, the window was sealed with something really strong, because she just bounced back off of it.

A half-hour later, Tsunade was sporting a black eye from a vicious kick the brat had given her, even though the exam didn't require invasive techniques! Naruto acted unfamiliar with basic iryo-ninjutsu and apparently had a thing against "green see-through blobs" and "tingly" sensations.

"You damn brat," Tsunade growled as she began to heal her face. "You're physically fine - outside of your chakra coils, which are still being strained. Are you in pain? When was the last time you took pain medicine? I've told you before that it's better to keep pain at a low-to-moderate level than risking it spiking, where it's harder to get under control again," she stated after rapid-firing questions at the girl.

"I'm fine - and I... don't know, really," Naruto said sort of honestly. Her bedroom door slammed open and there stood the Pervy Sage who was smiling like a loon. He couldn't dodge all three things that were thrown at him at the same time. Sadly, Naru only hit him with her pillow.

"You don't go barging into a girl's bedroom, 'ttebane!"

"And you'd better not say it, Pervert!" Tsunade added. "I don't want to hear it!"

Naruto tried to get her racing heart under control, something that she'd had to do a lot lately. "The Pervert" had nearly scared her out of her skin, and she barely listened to the adults as they continued to argue. They seemed to have forgotten all about her yet they were in her room! "Ya know, I felt a lot better when I unleashed those bijuu bombs," she said, bringing the argument in her room to a stop. "It's just like Kyuubi-sama said: it helped." The Sannin eventually began talking with and over each other again, but Naruto just turned on her side, making sure to face them, and feigned closing her eyes and going to sleep. It's not like they'd listen to her anyway.

I don't want to take any more pain medicine. Even if I'm stuck inside, for now, they make me feel woozy, and even then my coils still hurt.

"So," Jiraiya said, waking his goddaughter up. Naruto gasped and realized that she was sweating and shaking all over. Jiraiya held up his hands as if he was surrendering and stayed seated on an orange poof that looked incredibly tiny compared to his huge self. "You said that you tried it? A bijuu bomb?" He already knew of course; there were few things that left devastation as those did.

Naru rubbed her eyes and yawned despite trying not to, once again regretting how badly she'd been sleeping lately. "Yeah. I managed to set two of them off, but the second one was really bad. It was my first time doing it, and I kinda screwed up the second one. The - uhh - the first one felt great, ya know: like a huge release!  But the second one? Not so good, but I think it's because I forced it out really fast." Naruto glanced at the Sage but quickly looked away from meeting his eyes. "No one wants to talk to me about this, 'ttebayo. No one on our side got hurt by me, did they?"

Jiraiya looked at his goddaughter for a long time. She looked terrible, and it was no wonder why. He'd tracked down his more reclusive teammate and heard some horror stories about what Danzo had planned for the girl had she remained there. It was sickening. Even Orochimaru found Danzo's plans repulsive, and that was saying something, considering how far he went with his desire for the truth of the universe or whatever the hell he was into at any given moment. "No, as a matter of fact. There have been no reports of damage, outside two ROOT bases being demolished, and as far as your father and I are concerned? Fuck 'em!"

"Right," Naruto said in relief. After a couple of minutes, she tried to make another plea. "Kyuubi-sama said he'd handle the trajectory and stuff so that no one would get hurt. Well, he wanted to make that Danzo guy pay, too. We could do it again, ya know."

"Alright!" Jiraiya clapped his hands loudly after a beat. "Let's talk about consent!"

"What?! Consent for what?" Naruto asked innocently. She also thought that they were talking about bijuu bombs, so what the heck?

"Look, your father should have this talk with you, but I saw how he tried with Kakashi-brat, and he's hopeless. Your father's hopelessness makes me, particularly, look bad as both his sensei and a super pervert."

Pacing back and forth across Naru's room with his hands behind his back now, he failed to see her jaw drop at that comment. 

Honestly, why did Tou-san pick "Super Pervert-san?" to be my godfather?!

"Consent is... saying no. Or saying yes, which is also very important! Yes indeed," Jiraiya said to himself. "No means no, and yes means yes!"

"Fascinating," Naruto drawled sarcastically, "I never knew."

Jiraiya flipped around quickly, startling Naru who held her blanket up as if it were a shield. "This is important interpersonal relationship stuff, kid! That includes sexual stuff and pre-relationship stuff! And even friend, comrade, or just passer-by stuff!" Seeing her complete lack of reaction, Jiraiya continued. "First off, never be afraid to say no when you don't want to be touched, even if it's something friendly. Or say 'stop' if you want someone to... discontinue something - yeah: that's a good way of putting it!"

"Two, if someone says that they don't want YOU to touch them, then don't, but don't get all aggravated with them about it: it's that person's right." Naruto finally nodded her head and looked as if she was taking this all in. "Oh, here's something else: if you see someone that's uncomfortable with how another person's touching or trying to touch them, encourage them to speak up for themselves. Hmm, I've seen it before, and I like to interfere," he added darkly. "So what if they get pissed off?! We're ninjas! Aaaand they say it's important for children never to be forced to touch anyone: I mean who wants forced grandma kisses, anyway?" he muttered with disgust.

Naruto was getting a little confused and didn't know exactly where all of this was suddenly coming from. She thought she did at first and THAT made HER uncomfortable, so maybe she should've told Jiraiya-sama no, or to stop it, or to shut up, but then his verbal barrage ventured away from where she thought he was going. Also, if she had a grandma, it might be nice to get hugs and kisses, but she supposed it should be her decision to accept them, even if it would make her pretend grandma sad.

"I guess the most important thing is to trust your gut," Jiraiya slapped his abs, before pointing at his temple, "your head, ALL your senses, and always use your words, okay? Oh, and there's some other stuff about 'it's okay to talk about your body' and 'your body's your own, changes are normal,' yada yada yada..."

"What if someone doesn't listen?" Naruto asked before regretting it when she saw her godfather's nostrils flare. Then he smiled at her and tousled her hair, making her slap his hand away. "STOP, please discontinue messing with my hair, old man!"

"Very good! See what a genius sensei I am?" Jiraiya said with a beaming smile. Naruto nodded and laughed a bit for the first time since she'd been back home.

"Wait a minute! You didn't ask for permission to ruffle my hair in the middle of a lesson on - what did you call it - consent? You're a terrible sensei!"

"Ha! See how much you've learned, young grasshopper? That's thanks to me!"

Naruto pouted at him before outrage hit her.  "Wait just a... Peeping on unsuspecting women is totally not getting their consent!" Jiraiya looked at the door before nodding at her, and Naruto thought he looked a little younger with the way his face reddened.

"Can you keep a secret, hime?" Jiraiya asked quietly.

"I guess... Yes, okay. Of course, I can, ya big perv."

"I never peep on unsuspecting women; I'd never considered doing that! The women I 'scout' have been forewarned of my illustrious presence before they ever enter the baths. Now don't tell anyone!"

"So wait?! Do they KNOW that you're there? ...But do they know that you'll be watching them? 'Cause Tsunade-baa-chan told me that I should never go to the baths when you're in town!"

"Bah! I have a reputation to uphold: that's why this is a secret, gaki! Plus with the books you've mentioned, secrecy is paramount for those women, too."

"But they're being bigger perverts than you!"

"How dare you! I'm hurt," Jiraiya put his hand over his heart and pouted like a little kid. "And they're probably not perverts at all, Naruto. They probably simply aren't getting enough attention in their lives, or are maybe lonely. OR perhaps, they're just exhibitionists; I don't mind. They've given consent to be watched and are relaxed and happy, and I happily watch them, something I've consented to do. And don't call Tsunade 'granny.' I don't want you to die."

Naruto's face lit up in embarrassment. She didn't know quite why she nearly always called her beautiful and young-looking relative that, but Jiraiya was right: she needed to knock it off. She only blushed harder as she remembered possibly doing something terrible. "Umm, this consent stuff has to include kissing, right?"

"Ohhhhh? Did that Genma-brat try to kiss you, Naru-chan? I'll have a word with him," Jiraiya exclaimed.

"What?! No! I - ahem. What do you do if you've accidentally kissed someone without their permission?"

For a moment, the Toad Sage tried to figure out how to "accidentally" kiss a person, but his curiosity won out. "REEEEally?" Jiraiya asked, trying and nearly failing NOT to pull out the notebook he wrote his fantastic story ideas in. "Well, I suppose you start by apologizing, kid, but I'd better be there to make sure you do it right!" He could've danced a jig when Naru nodded her head in acquiescence to his outstanding idea. He really wanted to see who the kid that his goddaughter kissed was. She's only been here for a few weeks! She's a fast little thing! 

On the one hand and as a pervert, he was proud of her for that, on the other hand - the hand of a godfather - he'd have to keep a closer eye on her. "As soon as you're off house arrest, we can go over and see this little pun- er, boy, and you can apologize to him."

"But he's right next door," Naruto said as she pointed toward Kakashi's room, her whole face flushed as she admitted it.

Jiraiya howled with laughter. "Oh, Kami! Is that why you were holding a log?! That would be just like him!" Seeing her face turn nearly purple with embarrassment and probably anger, he realized that his joke was right on point. "Sorry, sorry. Hey, maybe we should skip the apology and do some training, whaddya say?"

"I'd like that! And hey! Shouldn't you totally NOT be teasing me about this stuff, Oh Wise Sage?"

"Ha! You can forget about that, kid. As a godfather and a super pervert, I'm within my rights to tease you about things."

Naruto found out a few minutes later that not only was she on house arrest, but she was also grounded and not allowed to train. She had never been grounded before, and really hated it - even more than being arrested, something she'd experienced many times.

"If you care about her so much, you should tell her the truth," the newer, full-sized fox commented.

"Tch. It just figures that when you finally speak, I'm forced to listen," Kurama stated with a glare at his other "whole" self across from him before closing his eyes. At least he was no longer behind a sealed cage door.

The larger fox stared at him for some time before speaking. "Tch. Father's seal loosened somewhat when you two pulled that little stunt of yours. Before that, I had attempted to bestow my knowledge upon your pitiful self, but you either were not able or refused to hear me. Feeling even more pathetic, are you now?"

"Not at all," Kurama sneered. "If anyone is pathetic, it's you: clinging on to your hatred shows your inherent weakness. Doing it despite knowing Father's will makes you even worse."

The other fox laughed spitefully, glad that their jailor was involved in something undoubtedly stupid and not here with them. "You care for her as if she's your kit. You SAY that she's your kit, and yet you're allowing her to use YOUR chakra which means you'll be the one to leave her. I, as you can see, shall remain."

Yes, Kurama had been afraid of that, but it was more important to get Naruto out of that hell-hole, not to mention getting her into fighting shape ASAP. Realizing that he lost a little more of his chakra thanks to his glorious bijuu bombs wasn't a complete surprise, but certainly wasn't welcome news. "She's worth it. She's the one Father was talking about; you have seen what happened, you have seen my memories, and still, you resent her!"

"I loathe her," the fox said, drawing out the word. "I know you believe what you've shown me, but I have not experienced it. Perhaps you succumbed to genjutsu."

"Right," Kurama said sarcastically, although that gave him an idea.  He'd always been the smartest of his siblings. "Although Isobu succumbed to one... We need to find him soon to ensure that he does not do so again." He paused and shook back his ears, enjoying the additional room he had now that he wasn't fully caged. "And by the way," he said darkly, "better helping her than being controlled again by an Uchiha," he spat the clan's name as if it was poison. "Madara is still out there! I aided you in destroying that one-eyed fool. You will help her, in return. We will not be manipulated into that blasted statue again!"

Jiraiya enjoyed watching his goddaughter and Sakumo's brat blush and avoid eye contact with each other: teenage drama was adorable, and he decided then and there to make his second book in the Icha-Icha series one full of teenage angst.  Everyone could relate to it, after all.  He rolled his eyes at his oblivious Hokage/student's questions to the two teens at dinner; Minato was worried they were mad at each other. Kushina looked like the cat that caught the canary, though, as she watched the two teens, and Tsunade was glaring at all of them as they ate ramen from Ichiraku.

"When can I train, Tou-san?"

"When you're off house arrest and your mother says that you're no longer grounded," Minato said absently. He was not going to look up and give in to the puppy-eyes jutsu that his daughter had so obviously mastered, plus this was one of the few nights wherein Kushina allowed him to bring his work to the table.

"Kaa-chan?" Naruto asked with big sad eyes. Her mother burst out laughing.

"Gomen, gomen. You're just so CUTE Naru-chan! Don't you think so, Kakashi-kun?" Kakashi began coughing as he shook his head no, and Naruto's eyes teared up from the embarrassment she spoke with Jiraiya about earlier. "Gah! I wasn't the one to ground you! Keeping an Uzumaki tied down indoors always leads to chaos," she said as she lifted her finger as if stating a shinobi rule.

"Agreed," Tsunade said, remembering all her red-haired cousins' antics.

"I think we've had enough chaos for now, and she wasn't grounded before," Minato said simply as he then took another bite of his ramen as he read a rather boring report.

The guilt in Naruto's heart was overwhelming. She asked to be excused and pushed her bowl to her mother, who took it while scowling at her father. Kami, she was screwing up everything - even her parents' relationship! Once in her room, Naruto tried to think of anything she could do to make up for all of the trouble she was causing. She almost immediately began to fall asleep again but woke up with a start when her mother entered the room.

"Don't let your father get you down, Naru-chan. He's trying to be the disciplinarian here, but we all know that's me, right?" Kushina asked, smiling brightly. She then sneezed repeatedly, and Naruto helped her sit down and offered her some tissues from the nearby bathroom. "Goodness! What? You look scared silly, sweety."

"I don't really know what to do when someone's sick," Naruto said as she rolled the ends of her hair again.

"There's nothing really to do.  Not for me anyway, right now. I'll be fine I promise!" Kushina exclaimed at seeing Naruto's scared, sad little face.

"Can I ask you a question?" Seeing her mother nod, Naruto's mind seemed to fill with questions she never had the answer to and had always wondered about. Some of those things were too embarrassing to talk about - and she really didn't want to relive any part of her cave experience - plus one question had been really bugging her.

"Tou-san said… Well, he said you always had faith that I was… me. Why? How do you know I'm not an imposter? What about all that underneath the underneath stuff? Shouldn't you have had me tested and tortured and stuff? They talked about that department at the Academy, and it doesn't make sense that you would just believe some rando teenager was your newborn daughter." Naruto had been looking at her hands, but finally found the courage to look her mother in the eyes to get the truth from her.

The thoughtful smile on Kushina's face was so full of love that it made it hard for Naruto to breathe or even swallow.

"Hmm. I tried to explain it to your silly father, but words cannot fully describe the love a mother has for her child, Naruto." She sighed deeply and felt happy that she could still smile as she thought back on that night. "I was able to hold you for several minutes in the midst of that catastrophe, and at that time, I was so afraid that we all might die." She cradled her hands close to her, almost reenacting how she'd held her newborn daughter in that safehouse Minato brought her to after the Kyuubi had been torn from her. "I just wanted to memorize your smell, your sweet little face. The way your tiny fingers curled around mine," she said, just barely holding her finger out. Naruto unconsciously wrapped her fingers around it once again as she listened to her mother's beautiful voice.

"I don't remember exactly what I said to you, but I remember your big blue eyes, pink little whiskered cheeks, and that little tuft of your father's hair," she continued with a faraway look.  "When your father laid you down to seal the Kyuubi into you, I was exhausted, but still watching. I only looked back at - well, never mind that; what's more important is that the last thing I saw was you lying there, on top of the cradle, covered with... blood, and I - I thought the worst."

"Because your baby was gone?" Naruto asked almost angelically.

"I saw my baby and thought she was," Kushina shook her head as her tears choked her, "I didn't think she was... doing well. I can't even say it." Seeing the lack of comprehension on Naruto's face, she tried again as she allowed the tears to fall. "I saw that my little baby was a pre-teen or teenage girl, and she was in trouble. Now, I know what you're thinking: 'how can she just accept that,' ne? Well, I'm an Uzumaki, and even though your father is not, he uses space-time fuuinjutsu every day. Seals are wondrous, Naruto, and nearly anything is possible through the art of fuuinjutsu. Before I was taken away, I saw you lying there: your blonde hair in that bright shade that only you and Minato share, the little marks on your cheeks! ...I knew you were mine the moment I saw you, and that was without considering fuuinjutsu."

"Thank you, Kaa-chan."

For the first time since escaping Danzo, Naruto slept well that night.