4

"Kushina-chan, it seems you have great sensory capabilities even by our clan's standards. It makes me wonder if you have our clan's Mind's Eye of the Kagura as well?" Mito saw how Kushina was not surprised by Tsunade's arrival. She also had this ability.

Kushina only smiled in response, not confirming or denying Mito's words. Mind Eye of the Kagura is only the tip of the iceberg of her sensory prowess. In time Mito will discover just how outrageous Kushina's talent is.

They watched Tsunade walk into the living room, Kushina is glad she can finally build a relationship with the blonde woman instead of watching from a distance. 

Tsunade noticed a young red-haired child sitting at the table across from her grandmother in the living room. She became shocked internally at the amount of chakra within Kushina. 'This kid has more chakra than me and old man Sarutobi! Who is she?'

"Welcome back home Tsuna-chan! How was your day?  Your brother has yet to return home." Mito greeted her eldest and precious grandchild with a warm smile. 

Tsunade felt warm seeing her grandmother's smile and reaction. Even now as an adult, Mito still tends to spoil her with familial affection. "My day was fine until that idiot Jiraiya annoyed me with his peeking again. By the way grandma, who is this girl?"

"I was just about to introduce you to her, this sweet girl is Uzumaki Kushina. She's an orphan who came to Konoha to apply for citizenship. The old monkey called me in his office to introduce me to her after approving her request for citizenship. I decided to take her in as my new granddaughter. So I want you to be her big sister from now on Tsuna, I will inform Nawaki he is her brother when he returns." Mito told Tsunade with a bit of excitement in her voice.

Tsunade looked at her grandmother with a raised eyebrow.  A big sister to some random kid? She can tell something else is going on. But it doesn't seem like anything to worry about. She is glad not all of the members of the Uzumaki Clan seemed to have been killed off apparently. She can also tell how happy her grandmother is about it judging by her tone. 

"Well, I don't really mind. It's nice to meet you Kushina-san." Tsunade said.

"You can just call me Kushina, it's nice to meet you as well." Kushina replied with a small grin.

"Then you can call me either Tsunade, Tsuna or big sis. So are you a survivor of Uzushio?" Tsunade asked as she joined them at the table.

Tsunade at this stage is only 23 years old.

"In a way you could say that, but I was neither born or raised in Uzushio. I grew up in an unknown continent not too far from the elemental nations." Kushina answered.

"Really?" Tsunade was surprised.

"Yeah, basically my parents didn't want to raise me in an environment where war was coming. So they left Uzushio during the beginning stages of my mother's pregnancy." Kushina said.

As the conversation between the three flow, almost two hours later Nawaki showed up and was introduced to Kushina.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

'Finally, I've been looking forward to this moment for years now!' Kushina thought to herself excitedly. 

The young Uzumaki is standing in front of the legendary Ichiraku Ramen or Ramen Ichiraku! Ever since being born in the Naruto universe, she's been waiting for the day to finally eat the food of the gods as described by Naruto himself.

Taking a deep breath, she walked forward and moved one of the covers to step inside the legendary establishment. Let it be known that quite a number of prominent characters were fans of Ichiraku in the Naruto series. Including the original Kushina herself with her favorite being salt ramen. 

From her knowledge, the ramen restaurant should have been open for a few years now. 

She noted that she's currently the only one here as she took a seat. Kushina picked up what looked like a menu and looked it over. A minute later, a man and a woman came from the back and greeted her. The man looked like a younger version of Teuchi, as for the woman she looked like an older version of Teuchi's daughter Ayame. 

""Welcome to Ramen Ichiraku!"" Teuchi and his wife Aria said together.

Kushina nodded. "Thank you, this is my first time here and I've heard great reviews about your restaurant."

"Haha, are you new to the village little lady? There aren't many with your hair color around Konoha." Teuchi asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, I just became a new resident recently. Luckily I was taken in by Mito-sama." Kushina replied politely.

"Mito-sama? I see, you do share a similar hair color with her. It's no surprise she took you in, she's known all throughout the village for her kindness." Aria smiled. 

"Have you already decided on your order, little lady?" Teuchi asked. He saw the menu in Kushina's hands when he and his wife came out to the front.

"I do, but I plan on having more than one bowl. So for the first one can you surprise me? My name is Kushina by the way, Uzumaki Kushina." Kushina introduced herself. 

"My name is Teuchi and she's my wife Aria, since you're new to Konoha and this is your first time here. Your first order will be on the house." Teuchi declared as he began to work on Kushina's order. 

"Thank you for your kindness Teuchi-san, Aria-san." Kushina gave a small nod of her head in thanks.

"Don't worry about it, we tend to do this for new customers from time to time. Today you just happen to be the lucky one." Aria waved off her thanks. "Now, judging by your appearance you seem to be the age of an academy student. I know you said you recently became a resident here in the village, do you plan on joining the academy Kushina-san?" She usually strikes up conversation with customers to get to know them better.

"Yeah, I will be joining in about a month. I want to be a shinobi and make a name for myself. I already know I'll have to work harder than anybody in order to be truly accepted as a comrade. I'm an outsider, so I expect people to give me a hard time over it sooner or later." Kushina said.

"A shinobi huh? You do seem pretty strong for a kid." Aria got a similar vibe from Kushina that she sometimes gets from certain shinobi that stop by for ramen. "And unfortunately you may be right about people giving you a hard time, especially kids, sometimes kids can be very cruel." 

"I won't let it bother me though, I know their tune will change once I start to gain a reputation." Kushina stated confidently.

As if she will let herself be affected by the negative opinion of a bunch of two-faced sheep. If kids or adults want to have a problem with her then they better be prepared to be punched in the face if they go too far.

"I wish you the best, not to be rude but are you an orphan?" Aria wondered.

"Yeah my parents died several years ago in their sleep. I've been on my own up until a few days ago." The young Uzumaki replied casually.

A few days have passed since she arrived in Konoha. She hasn't done much other than hang out at the Senju Clan residence with Mito. Sometimes Tsunade and Nawaki as well when they are home. Just two days ago Nawaki and Tsunade gave her an official tour around the village. 

During these days she sensed an hidden Anbu squad silently watching her from a distance. She paid them no mind for the most part. Surprisingly though, she has yet to sense any Root member spying on her.

Kushina figured either Danzo doesn't know about her yet, which is highly unlikely, or he's waiting for a moment where she's alone like she is now. Either way, she'll handle Danzo at a later time. He'll never be a threat to her.

Honestly she had asked Mito and Tsunade to accompany her to the ramen shop but both declined. Tsunade had something to do and Mito was not hungry. Nawaki had left home right after breakfast earlier. 

"Oh my, I'm sorry to hear that." Aria felt a bit of guilt for asking.

Kushina shook her head. "Don't apologize, I've long come to terms with their departure." Quickly changing the subject, she asked Aria. "So how long have you two been together?" 

"Hmmm almost 8 years and still going, I've been with my Teuchi-kun since we were teenagers." Aria proudly stated. 

As they were talking, Teuchi finished Kushina's order and placed it in front of her. "Here you go kid, see how you like it." 

Judging by how the smell of it is going through her nostrils, she believes she'll enjoy this delicious looking bowl of ramen. Actually part of her feels like the ramen looks a bit familiar. 

"Thank you Teuchi-san." Then she clapped her hands together. "Itadakimasu!" She picked up a pair of chopsticks and took her first bite.

After swallowing the noodles, her eyes lit up. "Miso! I see it's miso with pork. It's very good." She complimented.

Who would have thought her first bowl of ramen would be Naruto's favorite? Teuchi indeed surprised Kushina.

"Oh? You got it pretty quick. Yep it's miso with pork." Teuchi nodded. "Glad you like it kid!" Teuchi chuckled seeing how focused Kushina is on her bowl.

Of course she maintained her manners.

In little time, she finished her first bowl. "Another one please!" Kushina asked.

"Coming right up!" Teuchi said, going back to whip up another bowl.

Aria giggled. "I get the feeling you will quickly become a regular at our little shop Kushina-san."

"Believe me, I definitely will be. You guys do take out right?" Kushina questioned.