The Swirling Tides

Chapter 17: The Kurama ANBU

When Kushina had told the others about creating a possible alliance with someone in Konoha, Natsumi had been one of the most surprised members of the group. During her stay in the village, she hadn't once seen someone who had reacted positively to their presence.

Sure there were the lustful stares, but those could hardly be considered positive. Behind those lustful feelings, the citizens of Konoha only harbored hatred and repulsion for the Uzumaki. In her more than two years of observing Konoha, not once had someone smiled at them without any ulterior motive.

And then her mother wanted to create an alliance with people like that? The very thought made her shiver. 'Yes there are a few people here who don't completely hate us, but they aren't our well-wishers either. Who might Kaa-chan be thinking of? Who would pick us over Konoha?'

Noticing it was almost time for them to leave, she rechecked her scrolls and supplies before making her way towards the rest of the family. She could feel their chakra signatures downstairs in the living room. 'Given we're all strong when it comes to individual strength, I doubt Kaa-chan is looking for independent shinobi or kunoichi. Most likely she will be going for a group of them to add to our numbers, probably a clan then.'

That brought another question up, which clan could Kushina see as a potential ally? 'Uchiha are gone, and Hyūga will never work alongside Nina. Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka are completely loyal to Konoha, so that's not an option either. Hm... perhaps one of the minor clans? But aren't they too weak to support us? And even so, every single clan here is either jealous of us or hates us for housing Naruto-kun... But if Kaa-chan thinks there is some clan good enough, I will have to trust her...'

"Natsu-chan!"

Startled, Natsumi turned to see Nina right behind her. 'I was sure she was downstairs with others... must have moved while I was lost in thoughts.' "Nina-san? What do you need?"

"I just wanted to tell you to be careful if you encounter any powerful enemies today. I don't mean to hurt your confidence but currently you're not on a level where you should be running independent. But of course, Kushina-san decided that we will be splitting up, at least for a few minutes. I want you to be careful when that happens, 'kay?"

As soon as she had nodded, Nina was gone with a shunshin no jutsu. 'Oookay... I'm pretty sure I can handle up to mid-jōnin level opponents, so if Nina-san is worried, we're messing with either the elite jōnins or ANBU...'

The thought made her uneasy, but if her mother and siblings trusted her to be able to handle it, she would have to trust herself as well. 'Nina-san will definitely watch me with her dōjutsu, but I'll still try my very best to honor her and Kaa-chan's time spent training me. Is this a test Kaa-chan? Hm... or maybe I'm just overthinking it.'

The thought of her training made her shudder. While Kushina was merciless with her training, Nina was positively brutal. Another thing that bothered her was the fact that Nina only trained her, and not Kasumi. 'It could be because she didn't ask for it, but I get the feeling that Nina-san only wants to teach me? Her interest in me is unusual, and I think Kaa-chan knows this too. Could it be because I'm not a standard Uzumaki girl because of my hair, like she isn't either because of her eyes?'

Regardless of the brutality, after her training Natsumi's confidence and skills shot up above and beyond what she ever thought she could possibly achieve. And throughout it all, Nina had been extremely patient and comforting with her flaws, such as low chakra capacity. The brutality was reserved for drilling the concepts into her, and not for ridiculing her.

That thought caused a frown to grace her face. It had taken her a while to understand the concept, but she had finally been able to find out the reason for her 'low' chakra reserves.