Mending The Past To A Better Future

Ch. 6 Be Our Guest

Naruto had ran to the flower shop before she began her trek to her parent's house. Iruka-sensei had taught her that when being invited to someone's house, it was always polite to bring a gift so flowers seemed like a sure fire way to go. Finding Minato's place hadn't been hard at all.

She hadn't been able to sense his chakra- he must have been actively trying to shield it, but Kurama who was still residing in her mother was making no efforts to stay on the low. After so many years of becoming familiarized with how the Kyuubi thought and worked, and how his chakra felt, it had been easy to sense Kushina. Not to mention that even if she had never known Kurama, a tailed beast made their presence known just how the energy seemed to radiate off of their general location.

She had even went out and bought some new black wide length pants with orange stripes circling the bottom. So there. She had tried. She was making an effort to be a gracious guest.

Dusk had fallen by the time Naruto made her way through the village, and vendors and food stands had all taken to lighting colored lanterns above their produce and wares. There was still the croak of wheels as merchants from neighboring villages sold their goods to those in the Hidden Leaf.

Kushina's chakra signature in itself was a pale purple, almost like the very center piece of lightning when it striked. However, her chakra was twisted and bearing the brunt of the Kyuubi, and his red and orange flare sparked Naru's senses within seconds. It made her a bit nostalgic, if not sad.

She'd had to seal herself before leaving her house. Naru had needed to surpress whatever remenants of Kyuubi chakra had been left behind after his... sacrifice. If Kushina's tailed beast stirred in response to her own, then they consequences to that would be astronomically terrible. Kurama would no doubt preach about it for a while, and it was sad he wouldn't regard her in the amiable way he had before.

Before she knew it, her hand was paused in front of the door knocker to her parent's apartment.

She had an internal debate with herself, flowers clenched in her hand firmly. Finally, she pulled back the knocker and tapped it against the wood three times. She barely had to wait ten seconds before the lock was being unlatched and firm but gentle hands were pulling her into the warm house that smelled like candles and food and home.

"Took you long enough! You were holding that knocker for like five years, dattebane! I thought you were going to turn around and leave! And oh! Are those flowers you have there Naruto-chan? Minato didn't tell me how polite and cute you were!" Came the same loudly enthusiastic voice from the Council meeting that had called out for Kakashi. This was her mother. Flaming hot hair was bouncing in her every step. Naruto let her arm be linked with Kushina's as she was dragged into the living room, not having spoke a single word. "Your eyes are so blue, dattebane! You'll be such a heartbreaker when you grow up!"

Minato laughed then, louder than Naru had ever heard it and her head snapped up. "Let her breath, Kushina," Minato said fondly, his eyes solely on his better half, eyes filled with apparent adoration and love. His jonin jacket was now discarded, leaving him in a matching blue pants and shirt. Kushina wore a green dress with a white shirt inside, and it was oddly motherly for someone who wasn't yet a mother. "We wouldn't want to scare off Naru-chan so quickly, now would we?" He winked at her.

Naruto visibly bristled. "It's nice to meet you, Kushina-chan. Thank you for inviting me."

Kushina squealed loudly, placing her hand on Naru's shoulders. "You're so cute! You and I are going to be best friends."

Ah. Okay then.

"Believe me, Naruto," Drawled a voice from behind her that had her posture slackening. "If she says it, it'll happen."