Chapter 2

MOUNTAIN GRAVEYARD

Surrounded by a forest full of trees and gigantic skeletons, was an abandoned mine that led to an enormous cave.

Inside the cave were ancient ruins that were currently inhabited by two figures, amid a heated argument. 

"Because of your arrogance and carelessness, you almost died." Hissed the first figure in a deep intimidating voice.

It was a green-haired, two-toned humanoid figure. The left half was an eerie white with a yellow eye and human-like face, while the right half was pitch black with no facial features except a yellow circle for an eye. 

There was also a venus flytrap-like extension coming out their sides enveloping their head and upper body. This was Zetsu, both of his halves were separate entities that had their separate thoughts.

"Your spine was shattered along with the lower ribs. Your kidneys, liver, intestines and stomach were also ruptured." Continued the figure but this time with a higher-pitched teasing voice.

"Let's not forget the blood loss, If it weren't for the modifications done to your body you wouldn't be breathing let alone walking." They berated in a deep voice once again.

"Would you stop reminding me of that, I get it already." Grunted the second figure. 

He had spiky black hairs and a single sharingan could be seen through the lone eye-opening on an orange mask with black flame-like markings. He was wearing a hooded purple-lined black clock. 

"No! You don't get it. And we will keep reminding you until you do. This was the perfect opportunity to kill both Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki but you failed to complete it."  Berated Zetsu.

The masked man gritted his teeth at the mention of his failure. 

But, as much he would like to deny, he did fail to fully accomplish the mission. It was necessary to take them out as soon as possible. 

Minato Namikaze was a once in several generations prodigy and one of the most dangerous men in the world during his lifetime. With his unparalleled genius and skills, there was no doubt that he would have been an obstruction in the plan.

And despite her retirement, Kushina was one of the most powerful and skilled kunoichis. If anything, in certain ways she can be more dangerous than her husband with her unrivalled skills in fuinjutsu and mastery of Uzumaki hidden ninjutsu.

If she were able to master Kyuubi's power, she would have become even more dangerous. 

And this was the perfect opportunity to prevent it from happening.

The goal was to remove the Kyuubi from its previous jinchuuriki Kushina which would ultimately kill her and if possible, also eliminate the Yellow Flash.

But not everything went as planned. He had underestimated Kushina and her Uzumaki blood.

"Not only did the Uzumaki survive but she has also told everyone about you. They are now aware of our plan to capture Kyuubi." Reminded Zetsu

"You are not Obito anymore. Now that you have taken the mantle of Madara Uchiha, start acting like him."

"You don't have to worry about that. Obito Uchiha is dead, all that remains is Tobi." The person now named Tobi assured. 

"Regarding the Uzumaki, I'll take care of her in due time. First I want to know what has happened in Konoha." He said.

"See that you do," said Zetsu before explaining.

"There was a council meeting between all the clan heads and higher-ranking members. We don't know what happened in there but we suspect that she has told everyone what happened that night, considering how tight-lipped and tense all of them are."

"Finally, the third hokage has decided to recall both Tsunade and Jiraiya after the death of Danzo by the hands of Orochimaru." They finished.

"Hmmm, keep monitoring Konoha. For now, I have something to do." Said Tobi before vanishing in a swirl originating from his sharingan.

KONOHAGAKURE, ONE YEAR LATER

Over the past year, things in Konohagakure have started to get back to normal. Even though the inhabitants of the great hidden village were still reeling from the recent unfortunate events.

A lot of people lost their families and friends in the Kyuubi attack. Then they had to go through another tragedy.

Almost every citizen of Konoha was alarmed when Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, student of the third Hokage and a war hero who had participated in the last two great wars, was found experimenting on the people. 

A lot of his victims were from Konoha itself including orphan children, homeless people and even shinobi who had vanished in mysterious circumstances.

He had even experimented on the village elder Danzo Shimura and killed him in the process before fleeing.

Fortunately for those in Konoha, they had some good news after the recent disasters. People were relieved to know that Tsunade Senju was back in Konoha along with Jiraiya. The other two of Hokage's students.

While it didn't lessen the pain of loss, people were feeling a lot safer with their presence in the village.

HOKAGE OFFICE

A lot of people thought that being the Hokage was a great honour, that the position signifies absolute authority. They desire that power but what they never think of is the responsibilities and hardships that come with it. 

To be Hokage is not an easy task, one must be willing to send loyal and diligent shinobi to missions knowing that they may never return, even if they are friends or family members. 

To think about the village as a whole even if a few have to be sacrificed for it and much more.

Unknown to all except less than a handful of people, Hiruzen Sarutobi never desired to be in this position. 

His sensei and the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju before his death had given him the responsibility to lead the village before he had gone to stall the entire Kinkaku squad and give his students a chance to escape.

In his duration of leadership, he had made a lot of immoral and regrettable decisions. 

After passing the position on to Minato, he was hoping that he would be able to spend the rest of his life with his family peacefully. Something that he couldn't do because of his responsibilities as the Hokage. 

Perhaps even make up for the sins he had committed in the name of the greater good.

Unfortunately, it was not to be and now he is forced into this position once again. Now with more work than ever.

It's been almost a year of his second tenure as the Hokage and there were very few days of rest. 

As if losing his wife wasn't enough, he also had to deal with the murder of his old friend and the betrayal from his most favoured student.

Learning that his student, the one he treated like his own son, has been performing inhumane experiments on the village residents and was most likely responsible for his friend's death was gut-wrenching. 

Despite all of that, he had no time to grieve. There was an enormous amount of work to be done. 

One of the first was to calm down the masses. As expected, citizens of Konoha were shaken up by the events and needed to be reassured. 

The shinobi were more resilient and were used to having their lives on the line so it didn't take long for most of them to regain their composure. 

This wasn't to say that they were unfazed by it, they were just better at handling it, more so than the civilians. 

But the civilians, for them this was the first time they had seen so much death and destruction, right in their home no less. The place where they felt safest. It was jarring, to say the least.

Feeling the brunt of sheer malice and power radiated by the Kyuubi up close and losing their loved ones had left a great impression on them.

Many had broken down in hysterics and started accusing and blaming the village leadership and shinobi, spurring the other terrified and grief-ridden people. The situation had almost blown into a mass riot.

It took a lot of effort from his shinobi and a healthy dose of killing intent from him to stop them from getting out of hand, before any more lives were lost.

After reassuring them that they were safe and that the situation had been dealt with, he went on to manage the aftermath. It was by no means an easy task but it was his responsibility as the former Hokage to guide them.

Even when he learned of his old friend's demise, he had no time to mourn.

Since then he had been working relentlessly to manage the village. This also gave him a chance to make some changes that weren't possible before.

After a tiring discussion with the clan head and Elders, it was decided that the Uchiha Military Police will now also be accepting members that are not from their clan.

The Uchiha would still be in charge for the most part when it comes to internal security but they will be working with shinobi from Hyūga, Aburame and Inuzuka clan supporting them. 

This would not only lessen the workload on them but also help improve their image in the eyes of other clans.

Furthermore, seeing them work with those not of their clan would also alleviate the suspicion towards the Uchiha clan and put the villagers at ease.

He had also appointed Fugaku Uchiha as his advisor to include the clan in governing the village.

Of course, not everyone was happy with it. 

But he thought it was necessary to improve the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village.

There was no doubt that the village would need them with the recent losses as well as facing this new and powerful enemy.

Though it didn't mean that he hadn't taken any countermeasures if it turned out that they were responsible for the Kyuubi attack.

This way not only they can watch over the Uchiha without antagonising them but also keep them happy by including them in the village governing body.

Another change he made was establishing a proper medical school. Seeing a lot of people lose their lives due to the lack of sufficient medical personnel, made him regret not agreeing to Tsunade's request. 

But to do that he needed Tsunade back in the village to train the staff so he had ordered Jiraiya to track down and bring her back to the village.

They had come back though it was clear that his only female student had not come willingly. The glare she had sent towards him said it all, however after some convincing and strict words from him she had agreed to start her medical training programme.  

The curriculum for Shinobi Academy was also changed to raise the quality of shinobi. It would be a lot harder and follow the wartime curriculum with a few changes.

While this would reduce the number of shinobi that pass from the academy, those that pass would be better prepared for the upcoming hardships. 

Regarding the failed students, they will be reevaluated and if they prove themselves competent, they'll be allowed to either graduate or be assigned to the Konoha Military Police Force as junior recruits.

With them having the chance to later join the shinobi force if they proved to be capable enough.

Even now he is working on many changes that would bring Konoha back to its former strength and hopefully better than ever.

As he was sitting in his office doing his paperwork he heard the door open. 

Lifting his head he saw his former teammates enter the office and released a frustrated sigh. 

'This is going to be annoying.' He thought.

"Homura, Koharu, how can I help you?" He asked in a dry voice, getting a frown from both of them. 

Oh, he knew why they were here, he just didn't want to deal with them right now. How he wished for them to do something to help the village instead of bothering him while he was working.

Sensing his irritation, Homura skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the reason for their visit.

"Do you believe it's wise to assign Fugaku Uchiha, Danzo's position in the council?" He questioned.

"With the Uchiha clan's loyalty already under suspicion, we can't give them more power over Konoha," Koharu added.

Hiruzen rubbed his forehead, he was getting tired of it. 

Looking towards them he said, "That's exactly why it needs to be done. Isolating them or treating them with blatant suspicion will only create mistrust between the village and the clan."

"And don't forget that even after months of investigation there's no clear evidence that suggests the Uchiha clan's involvement in the attack." Finished the Hokage.

"But there's also no evidence that proves their innocence." Argued Homura, while Koharu nodded in agreement.

"I'm aware of that and I won't change my mind so don't argue with me." He warned, "and I hope you two won't do anything that would create problems, with the village weakened we don't need any more internal conflict."

They frowned at the warning but didn't press ahead and instead chose to change the topic. 

"Any new information about Orochimaru?" Koharu asked, "ever since he has fled the village we have no idea of his whereabouts. He's too dangerous to be left alone and we also need him to tell us what he and Danzo had been doing." 

This was something they had discovered not long after the incident. 

During the investigation, they had found evidence that proved Danzo and Orochimaru had been collaborating in secret. Something they have been keeping a secret from everyone else, it won't do well if people found out that one of Konoha's highest-ranking officials has been colluding with the traitor. 

This made Danzo's murder all the more confusing. 

For what reason would Orochimaru kill him? And at such an inappropriate time and place too, when he was in ROOT headquarters surrounded by ROOT operatives despite knowing that they were fiercely loyal to their leader.

During the autopsy traces of a powerful and quick-acting poison were found in his bloodstream. But the poison was different from the one snake sannin was known to use.

There was also the arm that was attached to Danzo. It belonged to a boy named Shin, who was found in a cell not far from the lab.

He wasn't the only one, there were many people imprisoned there, a lot of them being Konoha citizens. 

It was clear that most of them had been experimented on. There were also numerous dead bodies, some intact while some had their organs missing.

If that wasn't enough they went as far as to desecrate the grave of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju to get his DNA for the experiments.

It was clear that both of them were working with each other. While Orochimaru performed those ghastly experiments, Danzo provided him with the resources.

Hence, it didn't make sense as to why Orochimaru would kill his biggest supporter. 

Another strange and rather concerning matter was the absence of some of the ROOT operatives. Not long after Danzo's death, a lot of ROOT operatives seem to have vanished into thin air. 

If anything, it appeared as if someone else was responsible for the death of his old friend and was using the Snake Sannin as a scapegoat. 

"Jiraiya is looking into it, his last message said that he will be returning to the village soon. Maybe he has found some information and if you are needed then you will be informed, don't worry about it." He stated while politely asking them to leave.

They seemed to get it and took their leave without much fuss.

A few minutes after they left, Hiruzen turned towards the windows, "You can come out now, Jiraiya." 

"Damn it! I can never hide from you, can I Sensei?" Came an exuberant reply just before the window slid open and a man entered the office through it.

He was a man of tall and imposing stature in his forties. He had long white hair tied into a low ponytail and red markings around her eyes.

He was another one of Sanin and one of his students. 

"I have known you since you were 10 years old, I doubt there's anything you can do that would surprise me." Waved the Hokage with a smile. 

"You just wait, one day I'll get you." Challenged Jiraiya.

"We'll see my boy," he released a short chuckle before all the humour vanished from his face. "Now, tell me, did you find anything?"

Similarly, the goofy smile Jiraiya had on his face seemed to evaporate as he released a sigh.

Staring out of the window, he said, "It wasn't easy, it took me three months before I finally managed to track him down in the Grass country."

FLASHBACK

"Why would you do this Orochimaru? Why betray the village, betray us?" Questioned a panting Jiraiya.

Standing ahead of him was his former teammate and friend still dressed in his jonin uniform.

"Kukuku…You'll always be a simple person, Jiraiya." Replied Orochimaru with a chuckle, "Whatever you are thinking, it won't work. Because you would never understand my goals."

This only served to frustrate Jiraiya, "Then tell me! What kind of goals involves inhumane experiments on innocents and murder of Konoha's citizen? Why did you do it and why kill Danzo?" 

"You're too much of a fool to get it anyway so why should I bother wasting my time. And regarding Danzo, why would I kill him when he was working with me?" Said Orochimaru before his lips curled into a sly smile, "but I do remember a peculiar seal appearing on his neck before his death, it had a distinct spiral shape."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at what the rogue Sanin was insinuating before his expression changed to anger.

"I have had enough, if you won't come with me on your own then I'd take you by force and make you tell the truth." He launched himself at his now rogue teammate, though suspiciously Orochimaru didn't make a move and left himself open to the attack.

Jiraiya soon discovered why, as his former teammate turned into mud signifying that he had been talking to a mud clone this whole time and the real snake Sanin has long been gone.

FLASHBACK END

"After that, I couldn't find him anywhere, he is very good at hiding and seems to always be on the move." He admitted.

"He has always been a slippery one." mumbled the Hokage in agreement.

Jiraiya turned towards him, "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"It's hard to say, he could be telling the truth or just playing his usual mind games." Answered Hiruzen.

Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow, "I hear a 'but' coming."  

"Perceptive as always," Hiruzen shook his head, "the fact is that we can't rule out the possibility that it was indeed her."

"If what he had said is true, that is he didn't kill Danzo and saw a spiral seal on his neck, then Kushina is the most likely suspect."

"When she had attacked him in the council room, she had the perfect opportunity to apply the seal on him and Danzo was not someone who would allow others to come close to him."

"Not only is Kushina the only one alive who is skilled enough to apply a seal with a touch without anyone knowing about it, but she's also far more shrewd and insightful than people give her credit for." he finished.

"But what reason would she have to kill Danzo? She didn't even know him that much, hell! she barely even interacted with him." Asked Jiraiya with scepticism.

Hiruzen frowned, "Perhaps she knew something we don't or just considered him a threat to herself and above all, her children. Maybe she didn't want him trying to turn her children into weapons, whatever her reason was we don't know yet."

"I was afraid of that," sighed Jiraiya, "So, what if she did do it? You can't be thinking of punishing her, are you?" he said in a slightly confrontational tone, making it obvious that he won't allow it to happen.

"You don't need to worry," waved off the Hokage, "Ignoring the fact that all I have against her are mere speculations and words of a rogue-nin who is known to play mind games, even if she was the one who did it, her action has only helped the village but she still needs to be warned and monitored."

"We can't have her go around murdering Konoha councilmen no matter how justified it is."  He added.

What remained unsaid is that even if he wanted to, he couldn't do anything without facing severe backlash. There was no credible evidence that proved her guilty and the village needed her now more than ever.

Her skills, sealing business and financial as well as economic power were not something that could be replaced. The less said about political power and the combined wealth of knowledge of the Uzumaki and Senju clan she had under her control, the better. 

Bottom line was that he can't do anything to her. By eliminating Danzo she has also removed the only person with the power, resources and audacity to go against her.

"I believe, I don't need to tell you that this must remain between us, it's better if it doesn't go out." Said the Hokage.

Jiraiya just nodded his head and left the office by jumping through the window.

UZUMAKI RESIDENCE

For one Kushina Uzumaki, life has started to get better.

While there will always be a hole in her heart that could never be filled after the loss of Minato, spending time and taking care of her precious children has prevented her from losing herself to grief.

They were the lights of her life that never failed to brighten her up. Whether it was their smile, their giggle or even their cries for food and attention, they always made her feel warm and content.

She'll always remember the moments fondly when they had smiled for the first time. Their first giggle, their first words, first steps and the first time they had called her 'Mama', everything gave her a new reason to keep smiling every day.

Menma's rambunctiousness and tendency to get in trouble amuses her every time. She still laughs whenever she recalls that one time he had accidentally flipped the laundry basket over him. Then spent the next half an hour crawling around the living room along with the basket still on top of him. 

Later, seemingly getting bored of it he had tried to get out of it and started crying when he failed to do so. And that was just one such incident.

Kana -despite being calmer than her twin- was at times too curious for her own good and wasn't above getting herself in trouble as well. Though not as much as Menma.

Safe to say that there wasn't a boring day in her life. 

That didn't mean it was easy. Raising two infants was a harrowing task, especially when you don't have someone to help you. And considering how rowdy the twin-tiny-terrors were, it was a very demanding task. 

Anyone that denies it will find themselves buried in a pile of dirty diapers.

Both of her children were also very energetic. They were almost always active while awake but as expected of newborns, their sleep cycle was a nightmare to deal with. Oftentimes one of them would wake the other with their crying which led to both of them crying.

They also have a habit of getting hungry and spoiling their diapers at the same time. 

Thankfully, they weren't too difficult to deal with, except for those few times when they just cried for seemingly no reason at all. 

At first, she couldn't help but be worried sick over them but after consulting Doctors and experienced mothers, she found that it was quite usual.

It's still hard for her when her children cry but she can handle it better than before.

They just needed to be fed frequently, sometimes every couple of hours. Which also meant a lot of dirty diapers. That and some attention from her and they were mostly content.

Fortunately, Shadow clone jutsu turned out to be a godsend. Bless the second Hokage for making such a handy jutsu. Because of it, she was able to handle everything.

Of course, there was some fatigue due to the jutsu but it wasn't significant enough to bother much.

It was a good thing she could ask Mikoto and Tsume for advice, having gone through it twice the Uchiha and Inuzuka matriarch respectively were a great help. They would often visit each others' homes to talk about their children and just gossip most of the time while watching the kids play.

They were not the only ones, other clan matriarchs would also join them.  

Also helped that she wasn't the only one to become a mother, some of her academy batchmates are also going through motherhood. Meeting them and listening to their experiences of raising their children made it a lot easier.

Then there was also Kakashi, who had returned from his mission a week after the incident. 

The thought of her husband's last surviving brought a frown to her face. A few days after the incident it was discovered that Kakashi was the possible source of the information leak. 

She remembers the day clearly.

HOKAGE OFFICE, ONE WEEK AFTER THE KYUUBI ATTACK

Kushina or rather a shadow clone of her was marching down the bleak and dull hall of Konoha ANBU base right beneath the Hokage's office, well at least one of them. 

There were many bases spread all over, not only Konoha but also The Land Of Fire, that could be used anytime they were needed.

Currently, she was heading to the Interrogation room.

She was called by the Hokage half an hour ago, regarding some new information that the Konoha T&I department had found.

It was something she had never expected to hear. 

To say that the atmosphere in the room was tense would be an understatement. 

FLASHBACK

Kushina, Hokage and Inoichi Yamanaka were standing in the Observation Room separated from the Interrogation room by a two-way mirror. They were looking at one Kakashi Hatake, he was currently cuffed to the suspect chair with his chakra sealed to prevent him from escaping.

Though it didn't appear that it was needed, just from his slumped posture and hopeless aura surrounding him, it was clear that he had no intention of escaping. He seems to have lost all hope.

Opening a certain page from the file he was holding in his hand, the Inoichi started reporting, "As admitted by Kakashi Hatake himself, he had spoken the details about Kushina Uzumaki's pregnancy and the subsequent labour time out-loud in the open when talking to Obito Uchiha's grave." 

"Though we aren't certain, it's quite possible that someone was present at the moment who learned of the information." He finished and took a glance at Kushina.

Her stone-faced expression and tightened fist were a clear indication that she was far from happy.

The Hokage hummed, a frown visible on his wizened face.

Facing Inoichi, he said, "I would like to hear your opinion on Kakashi's mental state." 

"Because of his childhood trauma of his father committing suicide and suffering from survivor's guilt due to Obito Uchiha's sacrifice, that was further heightened by Rin Nohara"s death, Kakashi had been spending most of his free time standing in front of Obito's grave." Began Inoichi.

"Often speaking out loud to the grave about his day to day activity, something that is rather common for people to cope with the loss of a close person. However, in this case, it has only served to burrow him deeper into the past mistakes and regrets."

"From the earlier reports of Team Minato, it is clear that both Obito and Kakashi had a slightly adversarial relationship even to the end, yet Kakashi has granted him the adulated status of 'best friend'. He has even assumed facets of his former teammate's personality to keep him …alive, in a way."

"Going through all of this at the young age of 14, his mental health was already terrible but now…" He exhaled.

"Now, with Minato's death and the possibility that he may be the one responsible for it, has thrown him deeper into guilt and self-loathing.." 

Hearing the door open both the Hokage and Yamanaka clan head turned to see Kushina leaving the observation room and heading to the interrogation room. It only took them a moment to realise her intention.

Afraid of what she would do to Kakashi, Inoichi rushed at her and grabbed her wrist, making her glare at him.

"Unhand me." She demanded.

"Kushina, just listen to me. Don't do something rash, if you don't deal with this carefully there will be no coming back." He didn't say anything else and let go of her hand.

She turned and continued ahead.

FLASHBACK END

Entering the interrogation room, she walked up to Kakashi. 

Seeing a flash of red on his peripheral, he raised his head to look at her.

As she raised her hand towards him, he flinched a bit but didn't make a move and just looked straight at her with remorse, regret, shame, self-hatred and finally acceptance clear in his eyes. 

Kakashi closed his eyes waiting to be struck or even killed. He had it coming for all the mistakes he had made.

However, he was surprised when instead of the pain he was expecting, all he felt was the warmth of an embrace.

She didn't say anything, just kept holding onto him and patted his head in comfort. He stood there frozen for a few moments, before tears welled in his eyes and he buried his head into her shoulder, returning the hug.

"It's alright, it wasn't your fault. None of it is, so don't blame yourself." She consoled him.

Despite wanting to deny the statement with his entire being he couldn't say anything as his body was wracked with sobs. 

PRESENT TIME

In the end, they had no proof that the Masked man did learn of the information from hearing Kakashi speak and even if he did, Kakashi wasn't aware of the exact location the birth would take place. Signifying that the masked had some other sources of information.

However, voicing classified information in the open was still actionable.

Hence, it was decided that Kakashi would be put off duty and demoted to the rank of Chunin and put under the constant watch of an experienced Jonin for three years.

In that period he will undergo regular therapy sessions until he is deemed fit for duty by the therapist.

She couldn't deny that she had been furious at him but considering what he had gone through at such a young age, she had chosen to give him a chance.

Having already lost almost everyone she loved, she didn't want to lose him as well. Not even to her own bitterness over a mistake he had made.

Hence, after some time she had forgiven him. He was, after all, still a child.

Not only was he Minato's last living student but also something of a younger brother to her. Ever since the death of his father, Sakumo Hatake, he had been under Minato's care. And being Minato's girlfriend and later his wife, she has spent more than enough time with him to consider him a sibling of sorts.  

He had no other living relatives and after the death of his teammates, all he had were She and Minato.

Knowing that the incident had hit him hard as well, she didn't want him to be alone anymore, Kushina had convinced (read: ordered) him to spend time with the kids. 

She had hoped that it would help him and was proven right. More often than not he has a smile on his face while playing with Menma and Kana. 

Being in the children's presence and the therapy sessions have started to show their results. Though he is far from fully recovered, there was some improvement. 

He was smiling a bit more, acting less aloof and has reduced the time he spent at Obito's grave to a significant degree. 

At this point, he has almost become a permanent resident with his own room in the house. 

Menma and Kana also liked him and enjoyed spending time with him. They had even given him a cute name. Not being able to say Kakashi properly, they just called him 'Kashii'. It was adorable and she never forgot to remind him of that. 

Presently, they were cleaning up after Menma's and Kana's first birthday party. 

Not a lot of people were invited. Mostly the Clan heads, their spouses and children. Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Tsunade and Shizune were also invited along with some of Kakashi's former batchmates. 

It was a nice affair. With the adults talking and drinking while the children played. Of course, they had Itachi, Hana and Kushina's shadow clone watching over them, along with a few girls from Kakashi's generation. 

Like most young girls, they were immediately taken by their cuteness and were excited to meet and play with so many kids. However, they soon learned that it was not all fun and games. Much to the amusement of the adults. 

All the guests have left for their home and both the tiny troublemakers were all tuckered out.

This just left Her and Kakashi to clean up everything.

As she was cleaning the table, her eyes fell on Kakashi and she remembered something.

"So... did you have some possibly interesting talk to any of the girls?" queried Kushina with a smirk.

Not expecting such a question, he sputtered for a moment, "wha-where did that come from?"

A teasing smile appeared on her face, "oh you know, you are 15 now. At your age, most boys start getting more interested in girls."

"Well, I'm not one of them." He denied turning his head away.

She raised an eyebrow, "Is that so, then what about Jiraiya's novels that you have been reading?"

"That's different, I read them for the story." He said stubbornly. 

However, the look on her face clearly showed how unconvinced she was.

Suddenly an explosion rang out and vibrations were felt, putting them both on alert. 

The house was being attacked, fortunately, she had lined the entire house with special seals that absorbed and distributed the chakra and kinetic energy of the attacks. 

They had protected the house and immediately activated the emergency security measures. 

The walls and floor lit up, with glowing intricate lines of fuinjutsu and a barrier appearing around the house. 

She rushed to the kids' room with Kakashi not far behind her. As soon as she entered, she looked around to make sure no one else was there.

Looking over the cribs, she was instantly filled with relief when she found them still asleep. The one-way sound suppression seal in the room has done its work and prevented them from waking up.

Just to make sure that no one else was inside, she weaved a set of hand signs and put her hands on the wall beside the door. 

The moment she channelled her chakra, a seal appeared on the wall. 

From the seal, lines of kanji started to emerge and moved towards the centre of the room before a glowing circular seal formed. From it, a three-dimensional, transparent image of the whole compound and the land surrounding it, floating in the centre of the room. With various glowing dots in the image at different locations.

Kakashi looked at it in wonder, having never seen such a thing. Removing his headband, he analysed the image with his sharingan, learning that it was genjutsu that was projecting the real-time information of the whole compound from the seal. It was amazing, to say the least.

He looked on as Kushina brought her hands in front of her and moved them apart as if she was stretching something. With the motion of her hands, the image of the house zoomed in.  

Inside the house, four blue dots could be seen, each with a name hovering over it -It was them, he realised- close to each other in a room while the rest of the house was empty. Signifying that they were the only ones inside.

Now, having confirmed that the house was secure and the children were safe and no one else was in, she could assess the situation.

Her focus went to the red dots surrounding the house. There were a lot of them, almost 50 or so. 

To find more about them, she uses her sensory ability, confirming that in terms of chakra reserves there were about three dozen Jonin level and a dozen High-Chunin level shinobi just outside the house. 

From their emotions and how refined their chakra felt they were likely ANBU of some sort.

'ROOT, most likely with how muted their emotions are. But how did they enter the perimeter of the compound without tripping the security seal'

The whole compound was surrounded by proximity seals and a detection barrier. If someone tried to enter without permission it would alert everyone in the house.

There's only one way they could have done it without tripping them, teleportation.

Her eyes narrowed with fury. There's no doubt, this was all His doing.

That was the only explanation that made sense, it's very likely that he has taken control of some ROOT shinobi and is using them as a distraction.

Unfortunately for him, she had been preparing for him or anyone that tries to harm her family. 

One of the most important things she had done was to make sure that her children would be safe from him by making a special barrier that prevents the use of space-time ninjutsu. It was always active, encompassing the house.

The way space-time ninjutsu works is by using chakra to unravel the quantum strings that space-time is composed of and stretch and twist them into the desired shape to open a breach between two points. Usually, it required some kind of connection to the other point, whether it be a fuinjutsu marker/beacon, some chakra of the user or even a memory.

But the initial steps were all the same. The barrier stops them from happening by hindering or reversing the change brought in the fabric of space-time, rendering the technique useless.    

To disable or get past it, he would have to either disable or overpower the barrier. However, only she could disable it and to overpower the barrier, it would take significantly more chakra than what is being used to maintain it. Which was, a lot. 

Over the last 9 months ever since it was completed, she has been pouring chakra into it every single day. And by reducing the area it covered, she was able to increase its effectiveness even more. Now, no one could teleport inside or the immediate vicinity of the house. 

And physically entering it was also impossible, only She and those she allowed can enter the house.

But first, she has some pest control to do and exterminate the rats in her yard. It seems as more have appeared, now numbering almost 100. Not that it'd change anything, she'll show them why the Uzumaki and their fuinjutsu were so feared.

She motioned the floating image to zoom out, showing the land around the house along with the red dots(enemies) and several small green circles scattered on the ground. There were also two large yellow concentric circles with the house at their centre as if forming a series of invisible boundaries. 

The smaller one was just big enough to cover the house, whereas the larger one covered the whole compound and more. 

Kakashi watched as she once again weaved a peculiar set of hand signs that he hadn't seen before. Suddenly the yellow concentric circles lit up and created two layers of spherical barriers with only half of them visible above the ground, trapping the enemy between two barriers. 

Outside the house, the ROOT shinobi were attempting to break through the walls of the house by throwing barrages of ninjutsu at it, while their comrades surrounded the house and blocked any escape routes. But there was no effect, no matter what they threw at it, the walls remained unscratched.

Realising that it was protected by fuinjutsu, they moved closer to try to disable it when out of nowhere, a double-layered domed barrier emerged from the ground. Trapping them between the two layers and preventing them from reaching the house or getting out of the compound.

A few of them who were the farthest, near or outside the largest circle, were able to escape. The rest however weren't so lucky as they were suddenly struck by an onslaught of various elements.

First, they were attacked by numerous sharp spikes coming out of the ground that impaled several of them, ripping through their bodies and breaking their bones, killing some of them and injuring even more. The rest attempted to escape the barriers but it was futile.

All of a sudden, several seals lit up on the ground and started spewing white-hot flames. If that wasn't enough the speed of the wind increased and it wasn't the ordinary kind, they realised as they felt it cut into their skin and clothes. 

Despite their emotional conditioning, they couldn't stop the terror they felt when both of the raging and volatile elements combined and became even more fierce. Those closer to the fire seals were instantly incinerated. 

The remaining ones tried everything they could to avoid it, some of them creating earth walls or water walls, while a handful of them used earth style to dive into the ground for safety. 

It was all in vain, those that stayed on the surface died a horrific death, even the walls created from earth and water couldn't protect them long from the sharp-scorching winds that sliced and burned through them until only their charred remains were left.  

The few who had fled underneath were saved but not for long. After a few minutes, the need for air forced them to come up, only to find themselves submerged in water and experience an intense amount of pressure.  

Then came the lightning, frying their nerves and cooking them from inside out.

And just like that, within just a few minutes all of them were slaughtered. All that remained was the burned, singed, sliced and mangled corpses floating in ashy and muddy water, trapped between the two spheres. Striking fear into the hearts of the remaining ROOT shinobi and even the Konoha ANBU squad that had just arrived to investigate the ruckus.

It was a frightening sight that could make even a hardened shinobi backstep.

Even Kakashi wasn't exempt from the fear, never had he thought that Kushina could be so terrifying and ruthless. He had been watching it all happening from the windows in the room and to say he was surprised would be an understatement.

Ever since he had known her, she has always been like a kind, loving and outgoing older sister figure not just to him but also Obito and Rin. It was hard for him to associate that kind and fun-loving person to the one standing before him, who has just wiped out more than 60 anbu level shinobi with barely a few gestures of her hands and no sign of remorse or hesitation.

He then turned to look at the image and saw what looked like four grey dots near the compound. They stayed still for a bit before starting clashing with the red ones. Rushing to the window, he found that they were the Konoha ANBU patrol unit and knew that they would get overwhelmed by the superior number of the enemy.

Just as he was about to ask Kushina for permission to go and help them, he heard a popping sound and saw that she had created a shadow clone and somehow, changed her clothes. She was wearing something similar to the ANBU uniform. 

One of them went to the display and started doing something with it while -who he assumed was the real one-  was examining her gear.

She then handed him a pouch filled with the standard shinobi gear and an old Jonin vest saying, "keep them with you and look after the kids, my shadow clone will stay with you to make sure all three of you are safe. I'm going outside to help the ANBU." 

"Let me come with you." He said, not wanting her to go alone.

"No! You are going to stay here." She refused while still looking over her gear.

"But why? I can take care of myself." Insisted Kakashi.

She sighed and turned to him, putting her hand on his shoulder she said, "I know you can but this is not about just that. I want you to stay here and protect the kids, I can't leave them alone with just a shadow clone. Even with the barrier, I don't want to take any chances."

Hearing that he reluctantly accepted to stay, as the safety of children was more important but it still didn't stop him from worrying. Everyone he has ever loved has died and he feared that the same thing would happen to her.

He watched as she made hand signs, the same ones he had seen his Sensei perform sometimes, and vanished. Hiraishin, he realised. He didn't know she could use it.

OUTSIDE

The ANBU team composed of Swallow, Lemur, Monkey and Panther were patrolling the village as usual when they heard explosions resounding not far from them. 

As they went closer they realised who lived here, all of them had been debriefed about the wife of the Fourth Hokage and the Head of the Uzumaki clan. They knew that a team was already assigned to watch over it yet there was no sign of them.

It took them a few minutes to reach the place and what they saw when arriving there, surprised them. 

There were dozens of ROOT shinobi scattered all around looking at what appeared to be a transparent dome filled with water. But that was not all, there were mangled and burned bodies of more ROOT floating in that dark water filthy with blood, ash and dirt.

Even in their years of service in the shadows, they had never seen such a sight. Swallow, the team leader, was ashamed of himself when he almost took a step back. His teammates, however, weren't able to stop themselves before they suppressed their fear and collected themselves. 

'Alright, pay attention.' He signed with his hand, making them focus on him while keeping an eye on the ROOT.

Assessing the situation, he discerned that the barrier seemed stable and the rogues couldn't do anything so there was no need to hurry, but he had no idea how long it would last. There were 37 enemy shinobi against just 4 of them, so attacking them head-on is unlikely to end in their favour.

And their closest backup would take some time to reach so he decided to utilise a wait and see approach. The moment the barrier drops or they try something, He and his team will attack them. 

'Formation delta 35, ROOT attacking VIP, eliminate ROOT, protect VIP' He ordered his team through hand signs. Understanding the plan, all of them hid their presence to their best and waited. Lemur, who was a member of the Yamanaka clan, used his clan's ninjutsu to call for backup.

Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned. They were just waiting when they saw one of the ROOT turn to look in their direction as if looking for something. 

It took a split second for them to register that he had either become aware that someone was watching or could sense something. Opting not to take any chances, he ordered his team to attack them and take them by surprise. Hopefully, they can hold on until reinforcements arrive.

Not wasting any time they attacked from behind.

Lemur used his clan jutsu to confuse the four closest to them while Monkey fired a fire style jutsu, killing them.  

At the same time, Panther threw several kunai at two ROOTs that were close to each other, with pinpoint accuracy, nailing both of them in the back of the neck. Meanwhile, Swallow blitzed the one who was looking at them and decapitated him in the blink of an eye before stabbing the one standing behind his now dead comrade in the heart.   

The remaining ROOT were brought out of their previous shock and fear as they heard the noise, looking behind them they saw a squad of Konoha ANBU killing their comrades. Immediately they sprung into action, some of them going straight towards the ANBU while others opted to go for the flanks by circling around them.

The ANBU however, retreated into the trees instead of facing them hoping to take advantage of the cover. But it didn't go as they planned.

Knowing that the village would have been alerted by now anyway, the ROOT decided to forgo subtlety and started to use ninjutsu. Rather than going into the trees to follow the ANBU, six of them weaved hand signs in unison and slammed their hands on the ground.

The ground shook and the area ANBU were hiding in was upturned, as the ground broke into chunks of rocks and soil. The trees were also levelled, ridding them of their cover and forcing them to come out.

Now, Swallow and his team had no choice but to face them out in the open. They stood back to back while facing the enemy shinobi that surrounded them.

Suddenly they were attacked by a Fireball, making them split into two pairs. 

Swallow and Panther found themselves assaulted by kunai and shuriken, despite being caught off guard they deflected most of them. Only receiving a few cuts. 

They didn't get any relief as four ROOT came at them with their swords. 

Swallow deflected a swing coming at his throat from the front before ducking under another one from his back and kicking the enemy behind him right into the stomach. Throwing him away.

He simultaneously tackled the one in front of him and slammed him into the ground stunning him and before he could get his bearings, Swallow punched him in the throat. 

But before he could finish the downed shinobi, his senses warned him and he rolled out of the way, and not a moment too soon.

As another ROOT brought down his sword exactly where he had been, not even stopping the sword even when it stabbed into his comrade. He simply removed the sword, ignoring the dying man and continued towards the ANBU as two more ROOT joined him.

Swallow scowled behind his mask and prepared himself, taking out a kunai with his right hand while holding onto his tanto in his left as they attacked him together.

In spite of their willingness to sacrifice their comrade the three of them worked well with each other and kept him under pressure.

He was having trouble blocking and deflecting their attacks, every time he tried to take out one of them, others would attack him. Seeing that it wasn't working he jumped back to try a different approach. 

Then suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back. 

Looking behind him with the corner of his eye, he saw another ROOT shinobi with his hand extended in a throwing motion.   

In his distracted state, he couldn't properly dodge the attack coming from his front. Before he knew it he was hit by a Water style: water bullet and felt his bones creak as he was sent rolling on the ground, away from his squadmates. 

Even when he stopped, he had trouble getting up, his right shoulder, 3 ribs and left arm had been broken. 

He could do nothing but watch as they prepared him to finish him off with exploding tags tied to kunai. However before they could throw them, they were suddenly impaled by glowing chains with kunai-like tips right through their hearts and the tags in their hands exploded, killing them. 

"Don't move, your squad will be here in a moment." He heard a feminine voice order him. As the smoke and dirt cleared he saw that it was none other than Kushina Uzumaki who had saved him.

He just breathed out and relaxed, doing as he was told. Even though he shouldn't be taking orders from anyone else except for the Hokage, he chose not to defy her.

And just like what she had said, a couple of minutes later his squad arrived. Each of them looked like they had gone through a wringer, they were each sporting cuts, bruises and burn marks all over their body. 

With Panther, Lemur and Monkey

They were having trouble facing the superior numbers of the enemy. While they had succeeded in eliminating a few ROOT, eventually they had been overwhelmed. They would have died multiple times, if not for the all-too-convenient fuinjutsu traps that kept killing the ROOT and saving them. 

They realised that whoever had laid those traps were watching them. They decided to think about it later as there were still more than a dozen or so ROOT that were alive, so they chose to regroup.

Soon coming across each other, they started searching for their leader and found him lying injured on the ground with Kushina Uzumaki standing near him. It didn't take long for them to connect the dots and come to the conclusion that she was most likely the one responsible for the dome filled with corpses and also the traps that had saved them.

Panther hurried by Swallow's side and started treating him with medical ninjutsu, while Monkey and Lemur stood guard. 

Just as they were about to ask her for more information regarding this whole situation, the ROOT shinobi arrived.

They had stayed back to assess them, using their comrades to learn more about them and some were still trying to break the barriers. Though, now that Kushina was outside they switched their priorities.

The ANBU readied themselves to fight them.

But, "All of you, stay here get yourself treated, I'll handle the rest." Said Kushina as she walked towards the enemy.

Before any of them could say anything, she blasted off so fast that she appeared to be a red blur even to them. When she appeared within their sight once again, her fist was buried into the masked face of a ROOT operative. There was a loud sickening crunch as both the mask and face caved in from the intense force of the punch and the now-dead operative's body was launched back.

The two who were standing beside the first one couldn't even react before golden glowing chains with sharp edges sprouted from her back and tore them apart.

Seeing her kill the three of them so effortlessly, the rest of them moved away from her.

On the other hand, the ANBU were left stupefied. None of them had expected this from the widowed wife of Fourth Hokage. 

What followed next could only be considered a massacre.  

She formed a set of hand signs and released a Wind style: Great breakthrough, creating a wind so forceful that it even gouged out the soil and launched stones at high speed. 

The gashes it left showed that it also contained sharpened wind blades.

Some of them formed an Earth style: Earth wall to protect themselves while the rest were pelted by stones and thrown off their feet. Some of them even received deep cuts because of the blades. 

It also kicked up a large dust cloud blinding them. 

Not caring about the visibility, Kushina jumped right into it. 

Inside the cloud of dust, one ROOT shinobi was steadying himself. The wall he had made, saved him from the brunt of the attack but it didn't last long and had exploded into chunks. 

He was barely able to protect his vital organs from being hit by a rock.

As he looked around, disoriented and tried to sense what was going on, he felt a kunai slide into his throat. 

He fell to his knees, releasing a gurgle as he choked on his own blood. 

And he wasn't the only one, his fellow rogue shinobi shared the same fate.

By the time the dust settled, only Kushina was seen standing with the bleeding corpses of ROOT shinobi scattered around her.

Suddenly, three ROOT operatives jumped out of the ground armed with kunais and tantos. Two from the front and one from the back.

Yet, the moment they came close to stabbing her, her hair lengthened and spread out, covering her entirely. 

Their weapons, instead of cutting through the hair, just bounced off of it, releasing sparks. And before they knew it, the hair turned into spikes, skewering them.

She then released the technique which she had learned from Jiraiya and allowed her hair to get back to its original state.

She frowned as could still sense a few of them hiding. Channelling chakra through her feet, she created her Adamantine sealing chains from her soles and making them burrow through the ground. 

The hidden shinobi were caught off guard when all of a sudden, chains came out from beneath and went through their lower jaw into their skull. They were dead before they knew it. 

"Show yourself, I know you're there." She called out while reeling the chains in, confusing the ANBU squad, making them wonder who she was talking to.

Their question was answered when a man wearing a dark cloak and a spiral mask with just one eyehole appeared out of thin air. 

He stood on the branch of a tree, one of the few that remained standing.

"A fantastic performance. As expected from a descendant of the great Uzumaki clan." He applauded. Not even reacting when she threw several kunais at him, he simply let them phase through him and bury them into the tree trunk behind him.

"You seem pretty happy for someone who has failed." She scoffed, "and do you really believe that I wouldn't realise this was all your doing?"

"And how did your attempts to break into the house go? Hope you weren't disappointed" She said sarcastically.

"Just a bit, I never thought someone would be able to render my jutsu ineffective even if it is just a specific area. It was quite a surprise." He admitted, "but for how long can you protect them? Sooner or later, Kyuubi will be mine."

Suddenly, Kushina was behind him with kunai in her hands, ready to cut him down, only for her to pass through his back and come out from his front.

The moment she fully phased through, he tried to stab her in the back with a kama but was forced to make himself intangible once again, as the Adamantine sealing chains came out of her back. Leaving them both unharmed.

Though it seems that she had been expecting it to happen and the moment she was far enough, a seal lit up on the tree he was standing on. It exploded violently hurling sharp pieces and splinters of wood everywhere. 

Kushina turned midair and landed on the ground facing where the tree used to be. She narrowed her eyes knowing that it wouldn't have been enough to take him out.

She was proven right not even a moment later, as she sensed him appear on another tree.

She could tell that he was aware of the traps she had laid and was intentionally avoiding the ground.

"Ho? you also learned Hiraishin just like that annoying Tobirama and Minato, I must commend you on that." He said, impressed.

"Nonetheless, you won't be able to stop me from getting what I want." Declared the Masked Man as an eerie glow appeared in his lone eye.

"Hmmm? Strange…" he mused. His attempt to put her in a genjutsu failed as his chakra just bounced off of her, unable to penetrate. 

Now that he looked closely, he could see a dense shell of chakra covering her like a second skin.

"What? Your fancy eye isn't working anymore?" She mocked with a smirk on her face.

'This is getting annoying.' He thought. Realising that she has been prepared for him, much more than he had expected. Choosing to avoid risk, he decided to leave.

"I have once again underestimated you. However, I must take my leave as I have no intention of facing an Uzumaki on their prepared battleground and I have a prior appointment." A black swirl emerged from his eyes and he was sucked into it.

Yet, before he could vanish completely she threw a kunai at him which left a cut on his arm and the bloodied kunai dropped to the ground. Which was picked up by Kushina and sealed into her wrist.

She also picked up the kunais she had thrown at him in the beginning. Though they looked like any other kunai, they were far from ordinary. Intricate seals were carved onto them and covered with another layer of metal to keep them indistinguishable from others.

The seals had one specific task, to record the change in space-time. She had created them to find the nature of his teleportation and intangibility ninjutsu. 

To defeat him she must figure out how his jutsu worked. So far, there were only two weaknesses she could find.

First, he can't attack and phase through objects at the same time and second, he is tangible while teleporting.

This seal would give her better insight to stop him.

At that moment, the backup Lemur had called for, arrived. And what they saw looked like a scene ripped straight from a nightmare. 

There were bodies strewn all around them and even floating inside of the giant dome filled with water. With Kushina standing in the middle of it while the Swallow and his team were on the side of the destroyed field treating their injuries.

LATER THAT NIGHT

Kushina was in the study/office looking at the glowing images and information floating above the table.

She was looking at recordings of her fight against the Masked Man and information she had collected.

Whatever that jutsu was, it was linked to his sharingan and a separate dimension that he could access through it.

Another interesting thing she discovered was that both the teleportation and intangibility were the same. But she would need more time to fully analyse its workings and weaknesses.

Right now, she needs rest. Today was far more hectic than she could have foreseen. 

It had taken them an hour to clear up everything and repair the damage. Thanks to a little fuinjutsu it wasn't as tiresome as it could have been. 

Hiruzen had also come with his stooges to investigate the whole incident. 

She had given him the report as well as handed over the kunai with the Masked Man's blood. Something that they were happy about. 

Now they had a clue that could help them find his identity. 

Though their happiness was dampened by the loss of the ANBU squad assigned to guard her house, who were found dead and the many ROOT shinobi, that were mind-controlled.

Finally, after the whole thing was over she returned to the kids. Only for them to wake up, demanding food.

After feeding them, she went to the bed. But despite being tired she just couldn't sleep.

Which led to her looking over the information she had collected.

She also got to test Hiraishin in battle today, it was good to know that she could use it properly. 

Though she was still far from mastering to the extent Minato had. At most she could make three or four simultaneous jumps before she started to feel nausea.

And it took some time for her to get her bearings after every jump, unlike her husband who could instantly attack or defend without wasting any time.

Though with time, she is confident that she'll master it.

Just when she was thinking about going back to bed, she felt a presence in the kids' room. Her heart leapt into her throat as she instantly teleported to their room. 

As soon as she arrived, she looked at the crib and saw someone standing there, looking at the kids. 

'No no no, how could this happen? The barrier is still intact.' She thought, panicked and confused. 

With the lights off, all she could see was a silhouette of a man with spiky hair. 

She approached him silently with a kunai in her hand, hoping to kill him before he could lay a hand on Menma and Kana.

However, "You don't have to worry, I won't harm them." He spoke in a baritone. He sounded young, maybe a few years younger than her.

Seeing no need for a stealthy approach and not taking any chances, she launched her chains at him. 

But before the sharpened tips of her adamantine chains could pierce him, they froze, as if held by an unknown force just a few inches away from him. Bathing the room with their soft golden light.

He didn't say anything, just turned to look at her, making her stop breathing. In the low light of her chains, she could finally make out some details.

It wasn't the masked man, but someone else.

Her knees felt weak and the chains went slack as she started at a familiar face and hairstyle.

"M-Minato?" She breathed out as tears gathered in her eyes, then she noticed some differences in the facial features.

More specifically the eyes, while they were the same shade of blue she remembered. Their appearance was strange. 

Instead of just the iris, the entire eye was blue and had several black rings all over it, with the three innermost rings having three tomoe in each of them. 

He also had whisker-like marks on his face, just like her children.

Even though he did look a lot like Minato, she realized, it wasn't him that was standing before her.

"No, you're not him." Her face twisted into a snarl, "who are you?" She demanded loudly.