Taking That Next Step

A warm tangerine glow faintly illuminated my bedroom and stirred me awake.

I groaned something intangible, cheek pillowed in the comforting softness I laid on.

"I really needed that." I easily pushed myself up from my belly and that simple effortless motion alone granted me the realization that my movements weren't constricted by cases and bandages. In other words: "I didn't wake up from a coma." I looked up at a white ceiling I knew wasn't my original home or any hospital on my knees. "I'm still Rin."

I breathed shakily, grabbing a hold of Rin's kunai hoister tied to her right legging. "…And that's fine. Yup, completely and utterly fine." I set aside the hoister and stood on two sleepy, but otherwise stronger legs, "I vowed I would get stronger and not be a burden to Kakashi." Only I didn't have much of an idea of how I would go about accomplishing that without drawing suspicion. I had meta-knowledge on hand, but if Rin were to start pulling off Rasengans and Shadow Clones I knew how to learn it would earn me a swift visit to the Torture and Interrogation Department.

I really didn't want that.

I sighed, drifting over to the huge window of Rin's bedroom facing her front door from across the hallway. 'One step at a time, girl.' I told myself, looking out at downtown Konoha shaded by overgrown trees. Konoha really lived up to its name as The Village Hidden in the Leaves quite evidently. 'I'll start by going over the fundamentals again.' I decided as Rin's reflection stared back at me with my contemplative expression on the window's reflective surface.

Brown bangs usually hidden by her headband fell freely on her forehead, long strands touching her eyelashes like drops of rain. Two cinnamon-coloured irises held so much unsullied purity. Trademark tribal-like markings of her colour scheme coated each of her cheeks on a heart-shaped face.

Pretty girl, Rin. It was easy to see why Obito liked her.

My eyes locked on to the torn hole in my sleeved shirt. "Right, forgot about that." I grabbed the hem and rolled it up over my head, tossing it aside and leaving me in a lavender bra.

A set of light knocks rapped against my front door.

"Who could that be?" I wondered, picking up my top and drifting over to my closet. "Coming!" I declared to the person waiting on the other side of my door picking out another shirt and throwing it on. I tossed the ruined one I clutched in my hand in the bin in Rin's small kitchen while making my way over to the door, turning the doorknob and opening it to be greeted by a face I wasn't expecting but really should've.

A serene violet ocean flowed within her irises, symbolizing the calm benevolence she naturally seemed to exude on an unblemished complexion as fair-skinned as snow white herself, placed an oval-shaped face with a small nose and thin unpainted lips. A dazzling waterfall of crimson straightened hair streamed neatly along her back. A full dark olive-green dress with shoulder straps clad her body, contrasting the cloudy white collared blouse she wore underneath the dress.

I felt a seed of envy embed itself in my stomach seeing the natural beauty she possessed without the need to artificially enhance it with cosmetics.

"Kushina-san…" I gawked, formality exiting my mouth like someone leaving a party with their friend. I was a polite woman by nature and automatically remembering the Naruto world operated on Japan's customs made me instinctively attach an honorific to the older woman's name, even if she was technically just a year younger than me.

"Rin-chan!" She excitedly chirruped in a manner her son would resemble so much in 13 years, cuddling me. "I'm so glad you're safe, y'know! Kakashi-kun told me everything about how you almost got turned into a you-know-what! Oh, I'm just so relieved you came home safe and sound. Good thing he found you, huh?"

Wow, she could really talk a mile a minute. Well, it wasn't like I didn't see it coming. I distinctly recall Tsunade and Jiraiya discussing Naruto's heritage before the latter proudly marched off to his destiny battle with his student, Nagato. If Naruto got his looks from his father, then he inherited his personality from his mother, thus it was only natural Kushina would be a chatterbox.

"I'm okay, really," I said, letting myself sink into her motherly warmth. I pulled away, gesturing inside with a sweeping motion of my palm. "Please, come in." I tried not to let my eyes travel down to the plastic bag she held in a hand, forming two circular blocks stacked on top of each other by the looks of things.

"Oh, don't mind If I do," She stepped through the door and began removing her high heels.

"I'll go fetch you some slippers."

"Kay."

I climbed over the upraised step and found my way over to the brown door on the left wall of my hallway on memory, opening it to find a shelf of slippers. I retrieved a pair of dark-green slippers I thought Kushina might like (considering the similarly coloured long dress draped over her, the same one her spirit chakra thing wore in Naruto's mindscape) and a violet pair for myself. I lifted each heel, cladding a foot in a slipper in turn before shutting the door and jogging back to sensei's wife.

"Here you go," I said, propping them down neatly so she could slide into them without effort.

"Thank you kindly," She smiled.

"You're welcome," I smiled back with hands held below my waist. I pirouetted on a heel, casting her an inquisitive look. "Would you like some tea?"

"Tea sounds great right about now, thanks." Said Kushina and she tapped the round boxes concealed in her bag. "I brought you some food." Of course my stupid stomach chose that moment to remind me I had barely eaten anything other than Red Bean Soup since last night with a semi-loud grumble. Kushina's lips quirked up slightly while my ears pinkened.

"Thought you might be hungry when you woke up." She giggled.

"I was so tired I passed out when Kakashi brought me home," I explained, veering off right to the kitchen. It wasn't more of a kitchen; more like a small corridor space just outside my bedroom. It had a small green fridge with a freezer tucked in its narrow corner, a white microwave and a built-in stove. I found the cherry-blossomed flavoured tea leaves inside the upper cupboards, tiptoeing to reach it.

Maybe I should've left out the part of Kakashi carrying me home in his arms because Kushina spared no remorse in using it against me.

"Oh, he brought you home like a knight-in-shining armour, didn't he?" I could practically hear the cheeky smile n her voice, and my face reddened completely. She barked out a laugh, hand covering her mouth. "It was worth coming to check up on you just to see your reaction."

"Meanie," I said, grabbing Rin's Sakura petal-painted kettle and opening it up.

"I bet you liked Kakashi-kun carrying you like a dashing prince riding horseback really, huh?" Kushina wasn't letting me off the hook easily, though, tracking me to the sink and lightly digging into my ribs. "Come on!~ You can be honest with me, y'know?"

"I mean, maybe I would've got a chance too if that jerk hadn't run full pelt." I pointedly kept my gaze peeled from hers, turning on the hot water and filling up the kettle. I grumped, setting the kettle back down on my stovetop and switching on the gas, blue flames flickering to life like the true seeking orbs. "But nooo! He had to go as fast as he could." I turned an inflated cheek aside.

A roar of mirthful laughter bellowed from Kushina's slim stomach. "Sounds like you had it rough!"

A sigh followed me side-longing sensei's wife with a deadpan gaze who flicked a loose tear off her eyelid. "You said it." I crouched down and opened the bottom compartments, prying a see-through round teapot and placing it on the countertop beside the boiling kettle.

"Doesn't look like Kakashi-kun inherited any of Minato's gentleman traits, that's for sure." She snickered with mischief.

I blinked, "Sensei?"

She nodded brightly, "Uh-huh! Minato-sensei," she said with a playful edge suggesting she was still poking fun at her hubby over his license to teach. "Was really heroic, y'know?!" She clasped her hands together, violet eyes radiating joy, "Whooping in and saving me like a damsel-in-distress when the enemy ninja captured me for my clan genes. He was the only one to notice the trail I left cutting off snippets of my hair, y'know!?"

"So romantic." I cooed. Even if I had already heard the story both times in the manga and anime, hearing it from the right horse's mouth, beside the horse in the flesh and hearing her spirited passion for the beginning of her lovely romance with Minato hit different. I didn't have to try and sound excited; I genuinely was.

"Right?" Kushina's high energy was infectious, like she was an energizer battery running on caffeine, pumping her fists. "And that's not even the best part." A dreamy, nostalgic sheen glittered in her pupils. "He told me just how much he liked my red hair. My hair, that gave me so much trouble when I first moved to Konoha; Minato said he liked it." She crossed her hands over her heart. "Ever since I liked my hair."

"Sensei has good tastes."

"Right!?"

We shared a good-natured giggle between us, filling my apartment with sparkly, gleaming bright bubbles of our animated conversation. Kushina was (unsurprisingly) easy to talk to while we waited for the kettle to reach its boiling point telling me stories of those she beat up for daring to make fun of her hair. I already knew most of this from canon but it was still nice to hear it from her.

We soon sat down over two steamy warm cups of green and homemade bentos Kushina made at my low-standing table. I let Kushina have the legless chair in kind hospitality and gratitude for the mouth-watering feast she had gone out of her way to prepare and deliver for me.

We chorused a cheerful prayer of "Itadakimasu" and right dived in.

I inhaled, for a considerable second, chest inflating with bliss taking in the hot fragrance of Kushina's delectable homemade meat Udon by the looks of the paled yellow fatty noodles twirled in the box blanketed by dark-browned beef.

"Smells good," I said, picking up my chopsticks with little kitty designs emblazoned on them.

"Tastes even better, too," The red-haired lady assured confidently, twirling noodles around her chopsticks and scooping up a portion of meat atop of them and flying them into her mouth. Her face melted. "Mmmm!"

"I don't doubt it!" I copied her, skilfully weaving meat and noodles together and propping them on my carpet tongue ready to escort it down a luxurious ride through my throat. Flavours exploded delightfully in my mouth. "It's really good!"

"Told ya!"

"I never doubted you!"

We snickered, sampling a few bites of her deliciously mouth-watering Udon dish.

"So, Rin-chan." Kushina prompted, briefly lowering her chopsticks and bringing her cup to her lips, soothing her throat before continuing. "What do you plan to do now?"

I took another bite of food and a few sips of green tea. "I wanna get stronger."

"Oh." Interest capture the Jinchuuriki's gaze as she leaned forward on an elbow, "Do tell."

"There's not much to tell." I began to fidget my curled legs, head dropping. "I got kidnapped not once, but twice and both times came with dire consequences." I didn't look up to see Kushina's reaction, pressing on and clenching a fist over my heart. "If I had been stronger none of that would've happened." My voice lowered in volume. "Obito would still be with us."

"Oh, Rin-chan." She murmured with sympathy lacing her tone.

"And so!" I lifted my head, eyes ablaze with determination. "I wanna get stronger if only a little anyway." I turned my gaze briefly aside. "I can't be a burden to Kakashi anymore." Admitting just how far away I was from Kakashi in, well… anything gave me a greater appreciation for Sakura's arc of desperately wanting to bridge the gap between herself and her otherworldly powerful teammates. I still wished Sakura had been given an arc outside of Sasuke and Naruto so it didn't feel like she was leaning them as clutches for her own character, but I felt I could relate to her struggle for equal footing a bit.

A smile reached her eyes, arm lifting up in a spirited flex. "Right on, girl. That's the way, y'know!"

I smiled back gratefully, "Thanks."

"Do you have a plan in mind?" She asked, dropping her arm.

"Well, actually," I winked, fiddling my index fingers like a certain future Hyuga heiress. Kushina blinked. "I was hoping you could help me with that."

"Oh?"

A nod, fists pumping with an energy I didn't really feel. "I was hoping you could, maybe, sorta, I dunno, introduce me to sealing." My eyes panned around my room. "Since, well, y'know, that's your playground." I set my best puppy dog-eyed look on her stunned gaze with a wide grin. "So, would ya? Can you?"

"Rin-chan…" A whisper of my name curling through the air like a breeze preceded a small moment of silence. I squirmed, hoping she wouldn't shoot me down, hoping above all else that I hadn't drawn the ire of her suspicion. Rin's capture had severe repercussions, setting Obito on a path filled with only darkness, and although it hadn't been shown on screen/page, Obito's assumed death had impacted her greatly. Obviously, it would, because she was a human who shared a close bond with Obito formed in their adolescence. Even if her heart always belonged to the masked aloof, she still cared deeply for the Uchiha orphan as his best friend.

Seeing him assumedly buried alive had wrecked her with indescribable guilt.

"If I hadn't gotten captured!"

"If I hadn't been so weak!"

"Then Obito… Obito would still be…"

She had been plagued by such depressive thoughts on countless sleepless nights, knees pressed against her chest. I knew this better than anyone having inherited all of her thoughts and feelings. Indirectly causing Obito's 'alleged' death and leaving Kakashi all alone with her sacrifice were ranked as the bright young chunin's highest regrets.

"Well, how can I say no to that face?" Words flowed easily through Kushina's lips again and I jerked my head up, wide unbelieving eyes taking in the sight of her euphoric grin lending her the look of a fox even without whiskers. It was easy to see where Naruto would get his famous smile from.

"You mean?" I needed confirmation.

And she provided, albeit with a touch of sass, "Gotta warn you, though, I can be a strict drill sergeant."

I raced around the table and gave her a great big hug like an excited daughter and she easily caught me even without being pushed back the slightest bit. "Yay, you're the best, Kushina-san!"

"What kinda wife would I be if I didn't help my husband's adorable students, huh?" She said sincerely, hugging me back. "We can get started right after dinner, y'know."

I pulled away, "That's fine. I just woke up not too long ago anyway."

"Good thing I came when I did, huh?"

"Yeah! My sleeping schedule woulda been all messed up otherwise, so thanks, Kushina-sensei."

Her face went as bright as her hair.

"W-What!"

A snicker.

"Now we're even."

"Oh, is that how you wanna play it, huh?"

I grinned, feeling optimistic about the future even as Kushina's challenging stare promised vengeance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My front door made a small noise, giving way to a clicking sound when I pressed and turned the lock into the doorknob, now beneath the darkening purple sky, steaks of orange lacing through the thin clouds.

"Ready?!" Kushina asked with hands on hips.

"Aye, aye, sensei!" I saluted.

"Sensei, huh?" A finger shielded her giggling lips. "That's going to take some getting used to."

I beamed and followed Kushina down the small flight of steel stairs of my one-story apartment complex sandwiched between two other buildings near downtime Konoha. So, I didn't live near or in front of the Hokage monument the way others do when they transmigrate into Naruto. A pity, really, because the Mount Rushmore-inspired mountain would've made for a lovely sight to wake up to.

"Okay, if we're gonna do this I need to pick up some supplies at the weapon store first," Kushina declared.

"Got ya." A nod. "Lead the way."

She smiled, turning and motoring down the neatly swept road with a casual pace. I dogged my steps behind the taller lady, gaze panning around the colourful buildings of a limited height. I didn't get a chance to early on when Kakashi speed-sped me back home. (pouts) I wanted a moment to take in the sights. It wasn't every day a girl got 'isekaied' into Naruto of all places.

The buildings were much smaller than any establishments in England only reaching a max altitude of roughly two-story height. That was a lot to squeeze at considering the towering heights England's biggest buildings could reach. Our apartment complexes could easily rival a skyscraper. If I recall correctly, Konoha did have skyscrapers built in at some point at the end of the series, when the village no longer needed to be cloaked in the shadows of the leaves.

I suppressed a giggle. I was living through Konoha's history right now.

A short walk through the quietening archaic streets brought us to a store bearing images of a kunai and a shuriken on either side of its long red sign above written in characters that looked distinctly Chinese. I didn't know much of, well, anything about kanji and han characters, but I could tell one from the other.

Part of the benefit of frequenting both Japanese and Chinese-based restaurants in England, I suppose.

'I wonder if this is Tenten's family shop.' The fandom had long since speculated her family owned the weapon store she ran at the end of the series and she just inherited the business, often annoyingly giving her the unfitting fanon surname "Higurashi." What did she look like to people? Kagome's sister?

Tenten is a Chinese character and always was. Her aesthetics should be a dead giveaway to her ethical background. Tenten doesn't even have a last name canonically, but if she did, it certainly wouldn't be "Higurashi." It would be something akin to Lee, you know, who's also Chinese, hence the Chinese family name 'Lee.' Ugh.

"Won't be a minute." My newly appointed teacher beamed, winking. "Why don't you wait out here?"

I gave her a nod, "Okay." That was fine with me. Monitoring the place I would be calling 'home' for (hopefully) many odd years until I inevitably perished (again) took precedence right now. Kushina disappeared behind the wooden door with the sound of an entry bell ringing out and I went back to my observations. I caught the eye of a few elderly folks trudging by on geta sandals, adorned in traditional kimonos and yukatas, innately reminding me of Obito's helpful nature as I politely greeted them with a bow.

Another door opened across from me.

"Dude, I was this close to getting her number!"

"Get outta here, dude! You weren't even close."

Vibrant laughter echoed between a pair of senior shinobi if their iconic sleeveless green flex jackets awarded to all those who obtained the rank of Chunin was anything to go by, but that wasn't what stood out to me the most. No, that would have to be their hair crowning their heads. A large mane of electric blue shaped as Vegeta's hair contrasted with jade-green curly shoulder-length hair by the other, and somehow they rocked them naturally.

'I shouldn't be surprised.' I mused, watching the two stumbling down the street with a smile. 'I mean, this is a world where silver-haired kids are commonplace.'

"Well, whatever. Let's just find somewhere else to get shit-faced."

"I'm with you there!"

Saying they were tipsy would've been putting it mildly. They looked out of it already, barely holding themselves aloft with arms curled around each other's shoulders, I realized, gaze landing on Kushina's swirly red clan logo stitched onto the upper back of their flex jackets.

'I wonder if I'll ever see anyone approach Kushina.' I mean, it would make a moderate amount of sense for a retired veteran to come up and shake her hand in gratitude for all her clan did for the village. I always found it weird in canon that no one ever acknowledged Naruto's clanship, especially considering the allegedly deep bond shared between the Hidden Eddy Village and the Leaf Village; great enough that they still have their clan symbol on the backs of their flex jackets to this day.

Hating the Nine-Tails shouldn't supersede the Leaf Village's love for the Uzumaki clan. At the very least, I think the hatred of Naruto should be much more split down the middle than it was depicted.

The bell whistled behind me in the dawn dusk-lit air.

Turning, I greeted, "Oh, you're back.-" I froze.

Skin significantly paler and greyer than Kushina's healthy complexion awaited my horrified gaze. Golden-slitted pupils overflowing with sinister amusement caused a shiver to vibrate up my spine.

"Orochimaru…" I said lowly. Oh, crap. I forgot all about him. He didn't abandon the village until a few years after Minato's passing. The leaf headband keeping the bangs of his silky raven hair cascading down to his back out of his ringed eyes looked so wrong on his forehead, along with the rest of his standard Jounin attire.

"Hm?" I flinched and unwanted interest beheld his gaze like a predator eyeing its prey. "What is the matter, child?" He asked, a musical, baritone voice encompassing each word. My breathing quickened. He sounded exactly as he did in the dub, purring every sentence like steamy, hot sex. I was intimately reminded just how genuinely terrifying Orochimaru is and always was in the original Naruto.

"You seem awfully pale."

'You're one to talk.' I wanted to quip back at him but my tongue twisted in knots. I wasn't like Naruto or any other shounen protagonist for that matter. I couldn't fearlessly forge ahead, sassing powerful foes with indomitable determination. I'd love too, really; to be that reckless, but my self-preservation wouldn't allow it, "Who, me? No! Never. I don't even know the definition of the term really."

"Hmmm." He groaned in thought. "Is that so?" He lifted his hand, bringing it toward my ultra-sweaty face in a motion that halted my heart like a screeching train.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Then the crippling sensation of paralysis abated into a feeling of overwhelming calm with a rush of air blowing in front of me. I briefly wondered If he had taken me unconscious into his secret lair to conduct his Hashirama cloning experiments until he loosed a sound of intrigue, coloured with a courtesy that was just so like him. "Oh, if it isn't Kushina-kun."

My eyes peeled open with a startled gasp. "…Sensei." Kushina's green-covered back stood between me and my oppressor like a protective barrier, hands locked to her hips.

"Do whom do I owe the pleasure of an encounter with the last Uzumaki, hmm?"

"You better cut it out, Orochimaru!" I sensed thunder in her voice. "Don't bully, Rin-chan."

A slimy small laugh dripped from his tongue, "It appears you're mistaken. I was merely intrigued to see what had the girl so on edge."

"Yeah, you."

"I suppose that's fair," He conceded, allowing Kushina's quip to roll off his back like water on a duck's. "Well, then. I'll be taking my leave. I wouldn't dare risk inciting the wrath of the esteemed Red Hot-Blooded Habanero." Sarcasm sizzled from his lips like acid. "I'll be seeing you." He began to walk off, trying to steal a peek at me but Kushina blocked any path his line of sight had to me.

Only once had the scary snake man of legend disappeared into the horizon did I allow my breathing to resume normally, plummeting to my knees.

"Rin-chan!" She dropped to a knee beside me, warmly touching my shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Wah! That was really scary!" I sobbed.

Concern swam in sensei's eyes like a pool of lukewarm water, following her arms enclosing me. "There, there." She soothed, voice so gentle and kind. "It's okay to be afraid, y'know? It just means you're human." Bewilderment flooded my eyes in equal measure to the comfort Kushina suffused me with. "I'll protect you until you're strong enough to stand up to creepy jerks like Orochimaru, y'know."

And yet, I wouldn't remain under her protection for long because the end of her life was already drawing near.