161"You want me to banish one of my most talented genin, why?" Kushina growled. She tamped down on her anger. If she ever found out who had leaked her son's condition, that person would wish they could flee to the deepest hell.
"Err, the Lord Third passed a law. . ." one of the group of merchants mumbled.
"Fine!" she said, "I will give you a pardon for breaking the Third's Law, for this meeting only."
Another of the merchants said, "If the boy were banished we wouldn't have to fear the demon anymore."
She pushed down the impulse to send them all to Ibiki. Why did she have to deal with this on her first day on the job? "I know you're speaking from ignorance—otherwise you would not utter such treasonous words."
"Treason, Lady Hokage? Surely not. It would only benefit. . ." the second merchant tried to explain.
"When the destruction of Konoha would result from it—how could it not be treason?"
"Well, maybe we should kill. . ." the first merchant started but then shrank in on himself as she glared at him.
"Do you really have so little faith in my husband's work that you would kill or banish an innocent boy?"
"It's not that we don't trust the Lord Fourth's work," said a third merchant, "but isn't it better to be safe than sorry? And don't the needs of the village outweigh one boy?"
She stood up and leaned over her desk. "I'm only going to say this to one group of you—so pass it to the others in your faction: attempts to kill or drive away Uzumaki Naruto will be punished as treason by execution."
She sat down. "Since I'm feeling generous, I'll even explain why—although I really shouldn't have to. The Kyuubi was set against Konoha by a man. As far as we know, that man is still alive. My husband wasn't able to kill him. If we banished Naruto, that man would rip the Kyuubi from him and would likely send it against Konoha again. If you killed Naruto, the Kyuubi would either be released, or more likely, would dissipate for nine years before reforming in that exact same place that Naruto died!"
She had had Shadow Clones tear through Grandma Mito and the First's notes on the Tailed Beasts when she had arrived back in Konoha. She was now thankful that she had not tried to kill the Kyuubi by tying it to her as she died. This was something she should have studied a long time ago, but in her pride she had not seen the need. With her son being the one it was sealed in, however, she took a much greater interest.
"You should be grateful that Naruto is such a kind-hearted young man. Most people, when treated with the kind of social isolation he has been, would turn out more like that Gaara kid from Suna that I've heard rampaged during the Chuunin Exams. You'll find that I'm a lot less lenient about this kind of nonsense than the Third was. Get out of my sight!"
"Lady Hokage, if you were a man, I would totally have your babies!" proclaimed Mitarashi Anko as she crushed Kushina in a hug, relieved to have her curse seal gone.
Kushina blanched.
Tsunade started laughing so hard she nearly fell over.
Jiraiya just looked confused at why Tsunade had lost control so badly.
Kushina stood in front of the Memorial Stone. Many of Konoha's ninjas were also present.
"It is with great sadness, that I strike a name from our Memorial Stone. I once thought of Uchiha Obito as a little brother. I don't know how he survived the Kannabi Bridge mission or why he betrayed us, but he was without a doubt responsible for the Kyuubi Attack 13 years ago—including the death of his sensei, Namikaze Minato, and many others. For this betrayal, Uchiha Obito is stricken from the Memorial and entered into our Bingo Book as an S-Class missing nin."
Kushina approached Kakashi, who was standing in front of the Memorial Stone.
"How could he do it?" Kakashi said. Kushina could tell he was barely holding on. "He was the most loyal person I've ever met. If you weren't the one saying it, I would never believe it. I don't think anyone could fool your chakra senses into thinking they were someone else."
"I don't know Kakashi," she replied soberly. "I suspect someone tortured him into madness. If he weren't captured, he would have returned not long after the mission." She had hated him intensely when she first awoke in Nerima, but she had had time to think since then and now her hate had lessened some.
"If he isn't in his right mind, why did you do this?" he asked, pointing to the Memorial.
"Well, if he's not dead, he can't be on the Memorial, can he?" she responded "I also needed to put him in the Bingo Book—crazy or not."
"Do you think he can be saved?" he asked hopefully.
"I really don't know," she answered honestly.
"The people are never going to forgive him," he said sadly.
"I know," she said. "Things can never go back to the way they were—that's the nature of life. We can only move forward."
"Kushina, you said Konatsu was a kunoichi!" yelled Jiraiya.
"He is," Kushina said calmly.
"A kunoichi is a woman! By definition!" he returned.
"Not when you're as talented at it as Konatsu is," she replied. "He was trained in the female ninja arts from a young age by his step family."
"You set me up!"
"Of course I did," she returned. "And if you weren't such a perv, you never would have fallen for it."
"No, Jiraiya," said Kushina. "You can ask Naruto to be your apprentice, but I won't allow him to go on a three-year training trip."
"It's the perfect time for it," protested Jiraiya. "My sources say that Akatsuki will be quiet for the next three years while they wait for the Sanbi to reform."
"I just barely got my son back," she said. "No long missions for him. Besides, there's a lot that I need to teach him, too."
"I can't stay in Konoha. You need my spy network running at its peak performance."
"You mean there are too many hot springs you need to visit," she said snidely. "Look, from what I remember, you prefer to teach with a light hand anyway. Leave some things for him and give him a few lessons before you go. Come back every few months to check on him. I know most of the skills you would be teaching him to start with. If he has questions, I can answer them for him."
Susuke stormed off the training field.
"Why do you keep baiting him, Mom?" Naruto asked.
"His father was my teammate. I have experience beating the emo out of an Uchiha. You have to demolish their pride before you can make any headway."
"What if you drive him away before you manage it?" her son asked worriedly.
"Where would he go?" she responded. "Who else can help him get his revenge? Orochimaru is dead. He knows that Itachi had help and the evidence points to it being Obito. He'll put up with it."
Kushina dodged an Earth Spear. She was currently in her male form and wearing a Fox ANBU mask. She had assigned herself an A-Rank mission taking out an Iwa missing nin as a test case for her alternate identity, which wasn't going to be Saotome Ranma—too many in Konoha remembered that name. She was having a tougher time than she should because she could not use her chains, high-level combat seals, her husband's distinctive techniques, or her own distinctive taijutsu attacks. Her Water techniques were also out due to the curse. Why was she doing this again? Ah, yes. The challenge. She grinned and pulled out a chakra-conductive kunai and charged it with Wind chakra. With a laugh she dived for the missing nin.
"Lady Hokage," the Boar ANBU said, "someone approached the gate seeking asylum. She says she has information on Oto."
"Very well. I'll see her. Send for Anko as well."
About fifteen minutes later, Anko walked in. Five minutes after that, a red-haired young woman of 13 or 14 was escorted in by two ANBU. She extended her chakra senses. The girl's chakra was denser than normal and had some of the same characteristics that Mito, Tsunade, and Naruto's chakra had. A cousin perhaps?
"I understand that you wish to claim asylum in exchange for some information on Oto?" Kushina asked.
"I do," said the girl.
Kushina could sense the girl extending her chakra. The girl gasped.
"I am the Fifth Hokage, Namikaze Kushina," she said, "but my maiden name is Uzumaki. What's your name, cousin?"
"I'm Uzumaki Karin," she said quietly.
"Why did you chose to come here, Karin," she asked.
"Well, I was here for the Chuunin Exams, representing Kusa. My mother and I took refuge there when I was very young. She died seven years ago, after being worked to death healing their ninja. I had no desire to suffer the same fate, so I never returned after the exam since my team didn't survive. I decided to come back here, after leaving Oto, because I was saved in the second exam in the Forest of Death by one of your genin. Since I had nowhere else to go, I decided to come here."
"Who was the genin?" Kushina asked.
"I never got his name, but he was very skilled. He had dark hair and eyes and a smile to die for." Karin sighed.
Kushina thought that could have been her godson until the bit about the smile. She smiled at the girl who was probably a cousin. "This is Mitarashi Anko, she will ask you some questions, and then we can decide on whether to grant you asylum."
"Well?" Kushina asked Anko.
"She didn't know a lot about Oto. According to her, she's only been there a few months. Orochimaru must have brought her there right before he tangled with you. According to her, things are pretty lawless there and Oto is hemorrhaging ninja left and right. A guy named Kaguya Kimimaro held things together until he died from some type of illness. Evidently Orochimaru had singled her out to lead some experiments, but she never got involved because he disappeared."
"What do you think of her?" she asked.
"From her description of her abilities, she's a support ninja. She can heal by having someone bite her, she's an accomplished sensor, and she can do your chains. We'd need to test her to find out more. As for her as a person, she didn't get too enmeshed with Orochimaru and she has a weak grudge against Kusa due to her mother's death. Her moral compass isn't real strong and she's somewhat flighty, but I don't see anything too wrong with her. Medical has passed her."
"Okay, Karin," Kushina said, smiling. "I've decided to grant your petition. You'll have a six-month probation, before you're integrated into our forces if you want to remain a ninja. Since you're family, you can stay with me and my family at the Senju compound. Just be aware that there are always ANBU there due to my position."
Kushina was running in her male form. She heard Anko yelling behind her. She had been returning from a mission and had heard a familiar perverted giggling coming from the hot springs. She had forgotten that she was currently male and the resulting mix up had made her a target as well as Jiraiya. Using Hiraishin would raise questions she would rather not answer, so she kept running.
Kushina saw an alert on her desk. Two high-level foreign chakra signatures had passed through Konoha's upgraded sensor net. She took note of the area and signaled two ANBU to approach her. She used the Hiraishin to get to the general area with the ANBU. She recognized the chakra signature of one of them—Uchiha Itachi. The other was very strong—almost her level and had a companion chakra source linked to it. She filled her companions in on the threat.
They followed them at a distance. She could tell they were heading to the Senju compound. They stopped across the street from the gate.
"Stay here and provide support if I need it," she told the ANBU quietly. She recognized the other as Hoshigaki Kisame, an S-Rank missing nin from Kiri, from the Bingo Book.
She closed her eyes. She was very familiar with fighting Uchiha, having fought many times with Fugaku and more recently her godson, who was getting quite good. Itachi's chakra signature was muted, but not enough to escape her senses. His companion's was like a bonfire. She could "see" their outlines and some of their chakra clung to the ground near them as well as their clothes and tools. Her chakra senses were not as good as the Byakugan or even her own eyes, but good enough for her to fight.
"Oh, Itachi-chan," she said too sweetly. "I've been meaning to have a chat with you for some time. You've been very naughty. Don't think I won't pull you over my knee and give your bottom the tanning of your life! I did it when you were three and I'll do it again." She let her chakra flair and felt her hair start to writhe. "Auntie Kushina looks upon matricide very poorly, Itachi-chan."
Itachi fled. She allowed a smirk to reach her lips. Some reactions were too instinctive to overcome casually.
"What?! Itachi?!" Kisame exclaimed. Too shocked to do anything, but gape after his companion, Kisame was totally unprepared when she flashed behind him and slammed a kunai into his spine, just above the shoulders. She had Hiraishin markers surrounding the compound. An idea came to mind that could potentially allow her to make the village into a huge Hiraishin seal.
She had pushed down her pride and practiced the Hiraishin until she could do it as well as Minato. When she was 16, in either life, she would have played with her foe before finishing him off. She had too many responsibilities now to goof around. She yanked out the kunai and used a minor Fire technique to cauterize the wound.
"Take him to Ibiki," she said.
"What about Itachi?" asked the Hawk ANBU.
"Someone else called dibs. Let him go."
Tsunade walked into Kushina's office wearing a smirk.
"I've heard about an interesting betting pool," the older woman said.
"Oh?"
"A bunch of kunoichi have a pool regarding ANBU Fox's identity," Tsunade said. "It seems the consensus is that he's quite the hunk."
Kushina sighed. "It's a burden that he's had to live with all his life."
"Admit it," Tsunade said. "Sometimes you change just so you can stare into those deep blue eyes."
"I admit nothing!"
"How do you keep getting into these messes as a male?" Tsunade asked.
"It happens when I'm female too," Kushina responded. "I just abuse my position and reputation to get out of it."
"Sabaku no Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, has been kidnapped," Kushina said. "Kakashi, I want you to take your team to Suna and render aid. I'll be sending Gai's team as backup."
Kakashi looked at Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. They each nodded at him.
"We'll leave within 30 minutes," he said.
"We didn't get there in time, Mom," Naruto told her soberly. "Old Lady Chiyo sacrificed herself to bring him back."
"At least we avenged him," said Sasuke. "Sasori and Deidara won't be bothering anyone, any longer."
"Did we really avenge him if he's not dead any longer?" Naruto wondered aloud.
"Of course we did, Dead Last," Sasuke said. "You don't need to be dead to require vengeance."
Sasuke stood with Naruto, Sakura, and Karin. They were about to leave on the mission that Sasuke had been training for almost his whole life.
"Summon me with the marker when you're ready to face off with him," Kushina commanded her godson.
"I thought you said I was ready," Sasuke growled.
"You are," she responded. "I just have questions for him. Something about that whole business stinks to the highest heaven. Don't worry, I'll let you fight him."
"You don't have to die, Itachi," Kushina said. "I can get you to Tsunade in an instant."
"Let me find peace, Aunt Kushina, Sasuke," Itachi murmured. "I don't deserve to live, nor do I want to."
Uchiha Itachi took his last breath. Itachi had ignored her questions until Sasuke and he were both on the verge of collapse. He had told them of Danzou's forgery of the command to wipe out the Uchiha and the old man's possession of Shishui's eye. He had told them of "Madara's"—it had to be Obito—help in wiping out his clan. She was not sure how deep Homura and Koharu's involvement in this was, but Danzou had overstepped himself.
Kushina killed Danzou for the fourth time. He was a crafty old war hawk. He had almost gotten her a couple of times. She killed him for the fifth time. It looked like he had five more Sharingan eyes left in his prosthetic plus the one in his head.
Yamanaka Inoichi said, "They have definite signs of tampering in their minds. It's not anything damaging, just compulsions to go along with Danzou at specific times in the past. They could probably continue to function in their roles without Danzou here, but I wouldn't risk it."
Kushina was okay with that. She had been looking for an excuse to retire Homura and Koharu without looking like an ingrate. She figured that Tsunade and Shikaku would make good replacements.
"What about the Root members that survived?"
"Most of them will require extensive rehabilitation just to function in society, but there are several that should eventually make it into the ninja forces."
"I wanted him, Godmother!" Sasuke yelled at Kushina.
"I let you go after Itachi because that was mostly clan business," she replied. "Danzou was infringing on the Hokage's Office, so he was my responsibility."
"How do I get my vengeance now?" he yelled.
"Vengeance won't bring them back, Sasuke."
"Don't tell me that! I know you want Obito's head on a plate!"
"I did," she said seriously, "and I admit that I would take it if given the chance, but now I want answers more. And more than that, I want my family to be safe. If they're safe by someone else's hand, then I will be content."
Sasuke's face was still twisted into a snarl.
"Do you need more lessons, Godson?" Kushina asked too sweetly.
"Ah, no. I'm good."
Kushina comforted her bawling son. They were both standing off to the side as Sakura and Tsunade worked on Hinata.
"She took the blade for me, Mom," he said. "That insane priest was going to cut me, but she pushed me out of the way. She told me she loved me as he was cutting himself and the wounds were appearing on her due to his forbidden technique."
He quieted down. "I lost it, Mom. I went to eight tails and tore him to pieces. The Fox was getting loose, but Dad came to my seal—or at least something like a Shadow Clone of him did. He fixed the seal and told me I was doing great. He also told me that one of your clones was in the seal too."
"I'm glad you got to meet him, Naruto," she said hugging him closer.
"She'll be okay, Naruto," said Tsunade. "It'll take a few weeks, but she'll make a full recovery."
"Thanks, Auntie," he said. "It's too bad that freak with the masks got away."
"I have to go," Jiraiya said. "As far as I can tell, only Naruto and the Hachibi's jinchuuriki are left. All signs are pointing to Ame and my old students. The rumors say that Akatsuki's leader has the Rinnegan."
"Take it," Kushina held out a Hiraishin kunai to Jiraiya. "I don't want you dying over this. Yes, we need information on Ame, but we need you more."
"Ah, I didn't know you cared, Kushina."
"Of course, I care," she said. "So does Naruto and even Tsunade—although she'll never admit it."
"Okay," he said, taking the kunai. "Don't expect me to use it unless, I'm on death's door."
"Hold on, Old Perv," Kushina murmured.
Jiraiya was not looking good. He was missing an arm and on the verge of chakra exhaustion.
She could sense six identical chakra signatures closing on them.
She flashed straight to the Konoha Hospital.
The perimeter alarm notified Kushina of six strong unidentified ninja crossing the detection wards. She was glad that Naruto was with the Toads learning Sage Mode. She flashed to the area that they were approaching. The chakra signature matched the person from Ame. From what Jiraiya had said they were all his student Nagato—only he called himself Pain—but that none of the six he'd seen had been the real Nagato. Jiraiya said that what one of the bodies saw, they all saw. The chakra was familiar, in the same way that Karin's was when they first met. She could feel tendrils of chakra heading away from the bodies out of the city. The chakra was densest where small rods pierced the bodies.
She was grateful that her experiments with making the entire village into a Hiraishin tag had worked. According to the list of abilities that Jiraiya had compiled, at least one of the bodies would be problematic if she had to throw kunais and another might be able to negate her chains. All she needed to do was wait for them to enter the village proper. She had to get them all at once, since one of them could revive the others.
The six jumped the wall. She flashed between the six, decapitating them all within a second.
"Why would my cousin come to kill my son?" Kushina asked Nagato's crippled form. Konan stood beside him. "Does family mean nothing to you?"
"It is regrettable," he said, "but his sacrifice will bring peace."
"Ah, Jiraiya's dream," she said. "My husband and my son both studied under him, so I know it well. I would think fulfilling Jiraiya's dream would not require his death. Did your sensei mean so little to you?"
"That too is regrettable," he said, "but as a god, I am above human ties."
Kushina snorted. "I killed a god when I was 16, to save my son and my people I will do it again."
"So peace means nothing to you?" he asked.
"Tell me how collecting the Tailed Beasts will bring peace."
He told her how the small nations suffer because of the big and how his parents and his best friend had died for the great nations' peace. He spoke of the plan to build a weapon so terrible that the pain of its use would scare everyone into peace.
She snorted. "It's only know to a few, but I was actually born on another world, because my grandmother found her way from her to there. Using her notes, I came here by accident. In that world, they actually have a weapon as terrible as what you describe, but it didn't bring peace, not really. What it brought was détente and cold war. The small nations were used in proxy wars and actually suffered more as they became surrogates for the great nations' politics. But even that only happened because all the great nations had the terrible weapon. With only one, you will only have tyranny and terror. My home world has also seen that on scales larger than the Elemental Nations. Your plan will never work."
"What alternative do you offer, then?" he asked.
"Rather than suffering bringing everyone together, why not love and understanding?"
"How can that happen in the current world?" he asked dismissively.
"I'm not saying it will be easy," she said. "If it were, someone would have already done it. Do you know that Jiraiya wrote a book about you?"
"I know what types of books Jiraiya-sensei writes," he said, disgusted.
"No, this was his first book—Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja—no smut in it at all. It was my husband's favorite book. I liked it too. We named our son, Naruto, after the main character. Jiraiya never was good at coming up with names. I'll send you a copy."
She looked at him, "You will be going home, won't you, Cousin?"
He sighed. "Yes, I suppose I will. You won't have anything to worry from me or mine anymore, but I don't think that will matter to some of Akatsuki."
She handed a Hiraishin kunai to Konan. "Channel chakra into this if you need to contact me."
"He killed him!" Konan sobbed. She had summoned Kushina and then collapsed into her arms. "Madara killed him and took his eyes."
"Obito," Kushina said.
"What?"
"The man you know as Tobi or Madara is really Uchiha Obito—one of my husband's students that went missing about 20 years ago after a mission gone bad. He orchestrated the Kyuubi attack in Konoha 17 years ago and much of what has gone wrong in the world since."
Kushina was awoken by one of her alarm seals. This specific one she had developed with Kakashi's help to detect the use of a certain intangibility and phasing technique. She felt a familiar and hated chakra signature. 'Obito,' she thought. He was in Naruto's room. She created a Shadow Clone and then flashed there. She felt the Shadow Clone activate a certain seal on the house. She smiled and closed her eyes.
"Hello, Obito," she said in a too sweet manner as she palmed a chakra-conductive kunai. "I'd invite you for tea, but I'm afraid that you wore out your welcome the last time I saw you."
Naruto started up from his sleep. She gestured him to get out of bed. He sprang out and fumbled for his kunai pouch.
"How could you?!" she yelled. "Minato treated you like a son! And you spit in his face and betrayed him!"
"He betrayed me first!" Obito yelled. "Where was he when I needed him? Where was he when Kakashi killed Rin? With the Tailed Beasts I can create a world where everything is perfect—where Rin is alive. . ."
"Do you think Rin will want to be with you after all you've done?" she said. "She sacrificed herself to save Konoha and all you've done is to try and destroy her sacrifice."
"No!" he yelled. "She'll have to like me. I won't let her not like me! With the Infinite Tsukuyomi she'll have to like me!"
"You want to cast a genjutsu on the whole world?" she asked incredulously. "You think that will fix everything? You're insane."
"Enough talk!" he snarled. He tried to do a technique, but nothing happened. In that moment of surprise, Kushina channeled Wind Chakra into her kunai and stabbed the extended Wind blade through his heart.
"Surprised?" she taunted. "You should know better than to try the same trick twice with me. No intangibility for you!"
Kushina stood next to her mom and Ukyo. In front of her, Naruto was kneeling next to Hinata. Hiashi, Hanabi, and Neji stood behind Hinata. The two young people were sharing the ceremonial wedding sake.
As the wedding ceremony ended, Nodoka whispered to Kushina, "I wish I could have been at yours."
"I know, Mom," she said. "And I wish Minato could be at this one."
Kushina stood next to the hospital bed where Hinata was holding her grandson, Boruto. Naruto took him from his wife and handed him to her. "Hey, Mom," he said. "Meet your grandson."
Kushina's eyes leaked a little. "Hello, Little Bolt. Welcome to the world."
Kushina was once again in the hospital. This time Hinata had given birth to a girl, Himawari. The mother and baby were resting. Boruto was with his great grandma. She and Naruto were talking quietly.
"You know, Son," she said. "I've been thinking of retiring. You know anyone interested in my job?"
Kushina sat in the renovated Uzumaki Mask Temple staring at the Shinigami Mask. The only reason she hadn't used it to release Minato and the other Hokage's souls was that she did not know what would happen with the yin half of the Kyuubi. Amazingly, Naruto had managed to make peace with the yang half of the Kyuubi in him, but that did not mean that the yin half would honor that.
At 90, biologically, Kushina was ready to be done. She had seen her great-great-grandchildren born. Her health while still good for her age, was deteriorating. Tsunade, her mother, Ukyo, Shampoo, Konatsu, and even Shizune had all been dead for several years. She thought she missed Tsu-chan the most, other than Minato. She stood next to Naruto inside the Mask Temple.
Naruto had long retired as Hokage, also. Konohamaru had followed him and in turn been replaced by Boruto. Boruto had retired and been replaced by a woman she did not know and whose name she could not remember.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Mom?" Naruto asked, sadly. "We could have it done on a criminal."
"Peace, Son. I want to be the one who frees him," she said. "I know it's silly, but I want it to be me. I've lived a good long life. I miss him and Tsu-chan and the rest. I'm ready."
"Okay. Boruto is ready to seal the yin Kyuubi into Minato, if necessary—using a different seal than mine, of course."
She smiled at her great-great-grandson's name. She placed the mask on her face and picked up a tanto. She slit her belly. She could feel the souls leaving through the wound in her stomach. She thought she could feel Minato's soul linger for a moment.
Blackness claimed her.
Author's Note: (added) This is the end. Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. There were some complaints when Orochimaru died too easily and I'm sure there will be more for the epilogue, but I don't think the Naruto villains would be much of a challenge for a mature Ranma/Kushina fusion's skillset. I'm also not much into long drawn out fights, so I didn't want to draw them out.
