RiaN Chapter 08 (Patreon)

I was three now. Growing up in a ninja world was similar to growing up in a normal world. The biggest difference is the feats of strength you’d see people doing. There wasn’t much in the way of convenience jutsu, but seeing someone lift a couch to clean underneath it was fairly common, especially because most of our maids were Uzumaki civilians.

Uzumaki were naturally stronger than others, even if they weren’t ninja. When they became ninja, they grew even stronger than that. I had learned something that was never in Naruto. Ninjas could strengthen their bodies by cycling chakra throughout. From what I understood, it was something that had already been tested and had no negative effects, even on children as young as five.

I had started cycling already, it would allow my body to naturally grow its chakra channels when I could do it instinctively. I was able to move around now, was even able to walk around as long as I stayed in the Uzumaki section. They didn’t have a compound, instead, it was a normal section of the village inside a defense formation.

Anyone without Uzumaki blood could only enter and exit at certain points of the formation; otherwise, they’d get zapped by lightning, and that was only the first defense of the formation. Each layer bypassed would get more and more dangerous. The reason I was walking around was that I was looking for someone, and after weeks of looking, I finally found him. Naruto Namikaze lived in our formation.

The firstborn was supposed to be named after the more influential clan, but with Minato dead, his clan name would have died out with him, so Kushina decided to let him take his father's clan name. He was just an average boy in this timeline, he had the fox sealed inside him, but everyone knew the truth, and if anyone tried to bully him, they’d have to deal with the Uzumaki first.

There wasn’t a cock sucker who should have died decades earlier from attempting to assassinate the Hokage running around weakening Konoha from the inside in this timeline. Danzo had died before the second war even happened. That’s why the Senju still existed, that’s why the Uzumaki were around, and that’s why the Uchiha wouldn’t be wiped out. The removal of one man made the world so much better, and that was only for Konoha; the entire world shifted toward the better with his death.

I moved toward him before I stopped. I was so focused on meeting him that I didn’t think of what to say when I finally did meet him. ‘Hello, fellow child. I’m definitely not an adult man in a toddler's body. I’ve been searching for you specifically to hang out with.’ Yea, that wouldn’t work… Let’s just go with something he’d expect an Uzumaki to say. “Man, I’m really craving some ramen. I heard Ichiraku Ramen will sometimes give kids free bowls. Maybe I should go hang out around there.”

As I speak to myself out loud, not only do I get his attention, but also the crowd of adults quiet down. Naruto was the only child around as he asks. “Hey, kid, is what you said true?” I move forward and hold my hand out to shake as I tell him. “It’s worth trying, and my name is Tama.” We walked to Ichiraku as I was just happy to finally meet him. He didn’t seem like a depressed boy yet, but who knew how different he would be once school finally started.

…

“Mama, I’m home! I brought a friend.” Naruto took off his sandals as he made his way further into the house. I could hear someone in the kitchen washing dishes. “Oh, I didn’t make enough for all of us to eat, Naruto. You should have asked before bringing someone over, you know?” She came out while drying her hand and… She looked sickly.

Large bags under her eyes as her skin was a sickly pale. Her hair wasn’t eh vibrant red the Uzumaki were known for but a shade more toward white. Her life force must have been heavily depleted from having the nine-tails removed. The yin chakra might have been causing problems to her body the same way that the yang side messed with Naruto’s chakra control.

Her Uzumaki body was working overtime to keep her alive. It’s already been years since the attack, so I was just surprised she was still alive if this was the outcome of having half the fox put back inside her. A soft smile donned her face as she spoke. “Oh, I see you’ve noticed my appearance. It is worth it to stay by my son's side.” 

I could see the tiredness behind her appearance. She wasn’t long for this world. The village is most likely desperately searching for a replacement vessel for her. For some reason, I was pulled toward her. I moved on instinct as I asked. “Can you bend down, please?” She looked confused but still followed the whim of a child.

My hand reached forward, and as it touched her forehead, I was no longer in their living room but in a dark prison looking at the nine-tailed fox. Except this wasn’t the yang part; this was the yin fox. He went from looking bored to noticing me and standing up. “Hmm, why is a young child here?” I look around before warily speaking myself.

“I’m not sure myself. I just know I need to be here; something is compelling me to do so in order to fix what’s wrong with her.” The gigantic fox gave me a toothy smile. “Boy, maybe you should come past this seal and see if you can fix something on this side. I did exactly what he told me to. He didn’t wait to pounce on me; the moment we made contact, I felt my core start to fill as a portion of him was ripped away and absorbed into me.

Not only did I weaken the fox inside of Kushina, but a portion of the beast's yin energy was also converted to yang. The imbalance wasn’t fixed, but it would alleviate some of the problems in her body; the chakra imbalance wouldn’t be sending her to an early grave. I was unceremoniously kicked out of Kushina’s soul space. As I fell backward, she passed out.

Naruto asked in a panic. “What did you do to my mom?!” I just looked, worried myself at the unconscious girl. Before I could say anything, she woke up. A sudden lightness to her appearance as she sat up. “Wow, that was a good power nap. I feel heaps better. Thank you…” She waited for one of us to tell her my name. “Tama.”

The weariness mostly wiped off her face, she smiled again. This time, it didn’t feel nearly as forced. “Well, Tama. Do you know what you did to make me feel so much better?” I smiled before I tried to explain. “I think I stole some of the jinchuriki’s chakra. In the process, I converted a portion of the yin chakra the tailed beast created into yang, which helped fix the imbalance in your body.” Her smile grew wide before she spoke again. “Maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone you can do this. Otherwise, they might try to steal you for their own village.”