Naruto was pacing anxiously, unsure whether it was because the Nine-Tails of this world had been unsealed, but the Nine-Tails inside him was growing increasingly restless.
When he heard that trembling voice call his name, his first reaction was that the red-haired woman was talking to him—what did she need? Only afterward did it strike him: how did this beautiful red-haired woman even know his name?
But then he realized she wasn't looking at him at all. She was looking at the baby in her arms.
Sasuke and Sakura froze.
Before, they'd been too far away, and the woman had been surrounded by Minato's three students, so they hadn't gotten a clear look at the baby. But once the three of them rushed to the bedside, they finally saw it.
The infant held in the arms of the Fourth Hokage's wife had golden hair—and whiskers like a little beast.
Young Kakashi and young Obito turned toward Naruto with expressions that could only be described as overwhelming shock. Nothing else could capture the way they looked or what they were feeling.
Sasuke and Sakura's eyes flew wide open. They stared at the Naruto Uzumaki standing beside them—the Naruto they knew so well.
"D-did we hear that wrong?" Sakura's voice trembled. She was terrified that Naruto might cling to that hope only to have it crushed if they had misheard.
She turned to the person she was more familiar with, Rin Nohara. "This… this lady…" She didn't even know how to address this beautiful red-haired woman.
Rin knew she couldn't hide it anymore. So she didn't.
She revealed everything.
She wanted Kushina to see Naruto all grown up in her final moments. She wanted to tell her that Naruto would overcome everything and grow up strong. She also wanted… to give this brave, warm, adorable boy a chance to meet his mother.
"....."
But seeing Kushina's life slipping away before her eyes, tears gathered in Rin's own. She wanted to introduce Kushina to Naruto with a smile, but the weight of reality and the sorrow in her heart made it impossible for this strong, gentle twelve-year-old girl to pretend she was cheerful.
She managed a small, trembling smile—one that could make anyone watching tear up—and motioned for Naruto to come closer.
Because she was maintaining Kushina's remaining life force, Rin was standing closest to her.
Naruto hurried to Rin's side, confusion and a faint hurt flickering in his dazed eyes.
Picking up from where Sakura had faltered earlier, Rin said softly to him, "Kushina-san was Minato-sensei's girlfriend, though I guess 'wife' fits better now. Her full name is… Kushina Uzumaki."
"!!"
Sasuke and Sakura whipped their heads toward Naruto. Obito and young Kakashi did the same.
"Then…"
Rin guided Naruto forward so that the moment Kushina lifted her eyes, she would see him.
She didn't have to say a word.
The instant Kushina Uzumaki saw twelve-year-old Naruto Uzumaki, tears began to spill down her cheeks in great, trembling drops.
"Naruto!"
Her tone left no room for doubt.
The usually loud, slightly socially anxious little Naruto trembled, his lips quivering as he whispered, "Sis… are you my mom?"
Kushina let out a choked laugh, tears spilling down her cheeks. Part of her cried because she knew she probably wouldn't get to stay by Minato and Naruto's side in the future. The other part… she couldn't tell whether this dazed, silly look of his came from her, or from Minato.
And that soft, earnest nature… was there a bit of Obito in there too?
After getting her answer, Naruto couldn't hold himself together anymore. He even forgot the far bigger bombshell—that he was the Fourth Hokage's son.
Pressing his lips shut, Naruto slowly edged closer, inch by inch, until he gently leaned against Kushina Uzumaki. Only a bit of skin touched; he was afraid even a little pressure might hurt her.
"I've always… really wanted to meet you…"
Kushina stroked his golden hair. She cried silently, tears falling like rain.
Rin could clearly sense Kushina's fading life force, pouring out chakra as if she were squeezing out the very last of herself to hold on.
Like every Medical-nin desperately trying to save the person they cherished most, yet doomed to live with regret.
Rin's grief spread to Obito and the young Kakashi. They stood off to the side, unable to do anything, fists pressed against the wall as they fought to rein in their pain and guilt.
Her emotions also reached Naruto. This lonely boy, meeting his birth mother for the first time, stared at her fragile form with trembling fear.
He asked Rin why his mom looked even paler and weaker than before.
Rin bit her lip, unable to tell him the truth.
When Naruto asked again, panicked and angry, his voice rose sharply.
That cry startled the sleeping baby Naruto awake.
The newborn's loud wail snapped Naruto back to his senses.
"......"
Yeah… if his mom were still alive…
How could she have let him grow up alone?
If his dad were still alive…
How could he have become the target of the whole village's hatred? The Nine-Tails Demon Fox who killed the Fourth Hokage?
His ice-blue eyes were filled with despair…
He was only twelve, and he had never felt such helplessness.
"......"
The air grew heavy with unspoken sorrow. Tears, pain, and fury all pointed toward one person—
The masked man.
The Nine-Tails' roar shook Konoha and reached them where they stood.
In the middle of his despair, Naruto felt it—a resonance. The Nine-Tails inside him was also clawing to break free of its Jinchūriki.
Just like during the fight with Haku on the Great Naruto Bridge, crimson Tailed Beast chakra began spilling out of him! A low, feral growl rumbled from his throat! His pupils stretched toward a beast's slit! His fangs and nails grew rapidly with a sharp creak!
"This is the Nine-Tails' chakra?!"
Kushina finally understood: after she and Minato died, Konoha couldn't find another Uzumaki suitable for the role, so they sealed the Nine-Tails into her newborn son.
Her hatred for the masked man—maybe even for Konoha—gave this dying woman enough strength to force herself upright. She wrapped her arms tightly around the child.
"Why?! How could they turn you into a Jinchūriki?!"
Kushina held the twelve-year-old Naruto Uzumaki, tears streaming endlessly as she cried out in grief, fury, and aching love.
Naruto froze when Kushina suddenly hugged him. His near-beast state steadied a little, but the Nine-Tails tried to seize control of his body.
But the Nine-Tails underestimated how much Kushina meant to him. No matter how it whispered in his mind, trying to make him attack, Naruto stayed rigid in her arms—only his muffled, animalistic growls escaped, tightening everyone's chest.
Kushina's will surged—she absolutely would not die now. She would not leave Naruto alone in this world.
Golden chains burst from the red-haired woman's back, shimmering with sacred light as they bound the two together.
Beside them, the newborn, barely an hour old, cried loudly.
This powerful Kekkei Genkai forced the Nine-Tails within Naruto to settle down.
Sakura was so moved by the scene that she burst into tears as well.
Once Sasuke recovered from the initial shock, he quickly connected the dots: Naruto was the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki; this red-haired woman had once been the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki; they were mother and son of the same clan; and the masked man's goal was the Nine-Tails.
He asked whether Kushina's condition was caused by the Nine-Tails.
Rin Nohara wasn't sure—she knew too little about Tailed Beasts.
"This is the fate of a Jinchūriki who loses their Tailed Beast," Kushina said quietly. "That's why I never wanted Naruto to bear this fate. And once the village learns what a Jinchūriki truly is, fear, rejection, and hatred shift from the beast… to the host."
Her voice was faint, barely audible after using the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Even so, she looked toward the dark-haired boy before her and gave him a gentle smile.
"You're… Sasuke-kun, right?"
Sasuke froze.
He didn't remember ever giving his name.
Before he could react, Kushina added,
"Sasuke-kun, you're just as handsome as you were back then~"
"....."
Huh?!!
...
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