Kushina screws up

5 January 983 AR

Itachi moved on autopilot as he jumped from roof to roof. A few months ago Shisui began to teach him many of the skills that a ninja has to know. His mother forbade his father from training him, but that prohibition doesn't prevent Itachi from training on his own or him having someone else's help.

Since Shisui is forced to watch over him 24/7 until he starts the Academy... The chunin told Itachi about his mission in the second month of their friendship, at first Itachi was quite upset. He thought Shisui only befriended him to entertain himself during this boring mission, those doubts disappeared very quickly.

The heir knew Shisui well enough to know that the older boy would never do such a thing, Shisui would never fake a friendship (with him. Mikoto is Shisui`s godmother and their families are pretty close. With other people... If the situation, the mission, required it... That's another story).

One of the things he taught him is how to run ninja-style, through forests and cities. The technique was quite simple, Itachi mastered it in a few weeks (unaware that most students take more than a year to learn it).

It consists of molding the chakra before landing to cushion the impact on the legs, crouching, using chakra to propel yourself, and jumping. The training of this technique began after learning to mold chakra to increase physical stats (strength, speed...).

The first step was to jump from the ground and land in a lake from a dock (the water cushions the fall so Itachi just had to focus on learning how to jump with chakra propelling him).

The second step was learning to land, for that Itachi had to jump from higher and higher places (starting by jumping from a chair and increasing the height until jumping from dozens of meters high).

The third step was to jump from the ground to a tree branch, Itachi had to learn precision (jump in the right place) and momentum (use the right amount of chakra for each distance).

Once he mastered the basics Shisui taught him more advanced things like push off with one leg (resembling more of a bound and covering the same distance but making the process quicker) or using less chakra to cross greater distances. Or how to change direction mid-jump. The latter required a lot of training in aerial maneuvers.

Another thing Shisui taught him was parkour. That is another of the basic skills that a ninja has to master, and it is without a doubt Itachi's favorite.

After mastering these two things the two begin to play Catch/Hide-and-seek with a twist. The hunter has to close his eyes for a minute while the prey flees and finds a place to hide. Finding the prey is not enough, the hunter has to catch him to win. The time limit is 4 hours, if the hunter doesn't catch the prey in that time he loses.

Itachi loves that game.

The boy tries very hard to become someone fast enough to beat Shisui, because he knows that in his current state the chunin always goes easy on him. Currently the two of them are playing that game, Shisui is the hunter and Itachi is looking for a good place to hide.

Jumping past a store he sees a familiar figure, her bright red hair making her stand out in the crowd like a tomato in a box of cucumbers (Itachi knows never to use the word "tomato" in her presence, the reaction always is... "enthusiastic").

Itachi lands a few feet from her.

"Kushina-oba."

"Itachi-kun!" Kushina reaches down and picks him up in her arms, hugging him tightly and crushing her cheek against his. "It's been so long since I last saw you, dattebane! My cute and adorable godbaby!"

Uzumaki Kushina is a close friend of Uchiha Mikoto, and Itachi`s godmother. The two ninjas have known each other for many years, when Kushina became a chunin at age eleven she was assigned to the squad led by Mikoto, who had just become a jonin. The two became good friends, having many things in common such as a love of Kenjutsu (which they both mastered). In the war they fought side by side on the border with Kiri and became an infamous duo.

Their bond is one very rare and very precious. Itachi smiles slightly as he compares the bond between his mother and godmother to his and his best friend`. There are many similarities, the energetic and enthusiastic friend, and the serene and calm one.

`The sun and the moon` he thinks absently as he tries to escape from the embrace of his godmother, which is suffocating him more and more.

"Cant breathe" he manages to say.

"Sorry, dattebane!" Kushina relax her grip and rubs the back of her head with an embarrassed smile. "It's just been soo long since I saw you!"

Itachi is being held in her arms (arm) and blushing a little, he is used to being held in someone's arms but it is a bit embarrassing.

"Kushina-oba, we saw each other at the New year celebration." Itachi looks at her with a raised eyebrow, the jonin just laughs and says proudly:

"5 days without seeing my godson is too long! We should spend more time together!"

Itachi just sighs, he knows that reasoning with people as energetic as Kushina is a lost cause. The boy just adds her attitude to another of the oddities of this world, here people with eccentric personalities are quite common.

"I'm training with Shisui, if you help me hide from him we can spend the whole day together." There is no rule that prevents Itachi from seeking someone's help to win the game.

Kushina's face lights up and she smiles slyly.

"I know the perfect place to hide, dattebane!" Kushina tightens her hold on Itachi and in a blink of an eye they are gone.

Itachi swallows hard and concentrates his senses so as not to get dizzy. They are currently moving at high speeds, jonin speed. The world seems like a blur around him.

`It's like I'm in a car traveling down the highway!` One of the things that surprises Itachi the most is that even though Kushina is jumping from one building to another he doesn't feel like he's on a carnival ride (Itachi thought that moving at these speeds will feel like riding on some carnival ride). If it wasn't for the wind or the world changing in a blur Itachi couldn't tell they were moving at all.

`This is the skill of a jonin, every movement is smooth and fluid. I expected moving at this speed would feel like driving a regular car down a country road or something like being in a ride of an amusement park. But no, Kushina-oba is really strong.`

After a few minutes Kushina stopped in front of a small ramen stall. It only has six chairs and it looks pretty rudimentary.

"I always wanted to take you here, dattebane!" Kushina sits him down on a chair and she sits next to him. "Ohayo Teuchi-san!"

"Welcome Kushina!" yelled a male voice from the back of the stall. Some noises are heard, something falling and that same voice cursing.

"Oi! Watch your language! If my precious godson learns bad words because of you, you will pay, dattebane!" Kushina's strands of hair stand up in something like nine tails and the aura around her darkens.

Itachi backs away a bit, but he has nowhere to move without falling off the chair.

`Scary` he makes a mental note not to get on his godmother's bad side.

"Godson?" A man in his thirties comes out the door at the back of the stall. He is somewhat short, with dark hair and eyes and a more tanned complexion. Nothing in his appearance stands out, nor in his clothes.

Teuchi looks at him and his eyes widen in recognition.

"Is that Uchiha Itachi?! The heir to the Uchiha clan? Kushina, why didn't you tell me you will bring such an esteemed customer!" The man scolds Kushina.

"Oi, don't look at my godson like he's a Ryo sack with legs!" The aura around Kushina darkens even more and the man takes a step back, sweat pouring down his forehead.

"No, no. You're right! But if the heir to the Uchiha clan likes my ramen," Teuchi whispers the last sentence and Itachi sees Ryo's symbol reflected in his eyes.

"Last warning old man!" Kushina raises her right fist and Teuchi laughs nervously and apologizes.

"Sorry. Sorry." He clears his throat. "What do you want? I just received a shipment of fresh and good quality pork. I would recommend the Tonkotsu ramen!" The cook's tone is jovial and friendly.

All impressions of him being some greedy businessman disappears from Itachi's mind.

`Kushina-oba wouldn't be close to someone like that` Itachi thinks, he knows Kushina is a good judge of character.

"What do you want to eat Itachi-kun?" The threatening aura disappears and Kushina looks at him with a warm smile.

Itachi has only eaten ramen a couple of times in this life (and none in his previous life) so he has no preferences. Since the chef recommended Tonkotsu ramen...

"Tonkotsu ramen" He replies after looking over the menu.

"One Tonkotsu ramen! And you, Kushina?"

"The usual." She answers. "What do you want to drink, Itachi-kun? They have tea, water-." She lists a dozen drinks.

In the end Itachi decides on a cup of tea. It's the middle of winter and Konoha is covered by snow, so the temperature is very cold. Therefore a hot drink is more preferable, and Itachi loves green tea.

"And Kushina," Teuchi turns to the redhead after serving them their drinks. "Stop calling me old man! I'm only 30 years old!"

"Bah, you already have gray hair so…" Kushina shrugs and takes a sip of tea.

Teuchi turns around and starts making the ramen muttering something about disrespectful brats.

"Have you been a regular client here for a long time?" Itachi asks, curious about his godmother's relationship with the chef.

"From day one, dattebane!" The Uzumaki responds proudly. "I have known Teuchi for many years. The old man traveled the world before the war to learn different techniques for making ramen. During a mission I saved him from some ronin and we have been friends ever since."

"That was over ten years ago." The chef joins the conversation. "Back then Kushina was a boisterous brat who never knew how to shut up. Hahaha come to think of it, that didn't change."

Kushina seemed about to jump onto the counter and strangle the chef but hearing his godson laugh she froze in her chair, turned her head and saw an angelic sight.

Itachi was laughing, his eyes were shining and his cheeks were rosy.

`An angel!` Teuchi and Kushina thought.

Half an hour later, after finishing his ramen Itachi looked around and frowned.

"Something wrong?" Kushina asked.

"We're not hiding, we're at an outdoor ramen stall. How come Shisui hasn't found me yet?"

Kushina laughs and ruffles his hair.

"Because as soon as we entered I put a barrier around the stall." She explains with a fox-like smirk. "Shisui-kun may be a genius but I'm a Fuinjutsu Master, dattebane! He's still a hundred years away from seeing through my barriers!" She beams with pride.

"A barrier?" Itachi focuses his senses but doesn't feel anything out of the ordinary. `Is this the skill of a Fuinjutsu Master? I didn't feel or see anything. When did she put up the barrier? And how? `Itachi goes through the memories of almost an hour ago without identifying the moment when his godmother put up the barrier.

"Fuinjutsu is something very advanced for you, Itachi-kun. But if you want I can teach you the basics, you might be a Fuinjutsu prodigy, dattebane!"

Itachi quickly nods his head.

He doesn't know much about Fuinjutsu, only that it is a ninja art that consists of creating seals for different purposes. He may not be talented in that field, but even learning the basics would be a great help in his ninja career.

"Step one to become a Fuinjutsu Master: learn calligraphy!" The redhead smiles brightly. "Luckily I always carry Fuinjutsu supplies with me, so we can start now!"

Kushina lifts a sleeve and Itachi sees several tattoos on her arm(' No tattoos, seals' he notices), after touching one a scroll comes out of nowhere. She opens the scroll, inside it there are many seals, from one of them she takes out a calligraphy kit.

"Are you going to practice calligraphy here?" Teuchi asks them, Kushina nods her head. "This is a ramen stand! Not a school! And with that barrier of yours no more customers can get in! Do you want to ruin me?"

"Stop dramatizing, old man. You won't be broke for a few hours without customers. Besides, you owe me, dattebane!"

"How so?"

"I'm your best client! I eat more ramen than 50 people put together, dattebane!"

Itachi has to agree with his godmother, in the time he ate one bowl of ramen she ate twelve. Twelve!

`Does she have a black hole in her tummy? Twelve bowls is more than the human stomach can handle- Nevermind, just another quirk of this world.`

***

Several hours later the two leave the ramen stall heading to Itachi's house. It's 5 and it was already getting dark so Kushina decided to walk him home. She wanted to carry Itachi in her arms but the boy insisted on walking, but in the end he agreed to go hand in hand.

Along the way Kushina was telling him some stories from when she was learning Fuinjutsu.

"-but it will be different. I never had a little sibling. So you must be very careful and don't practice Fuinjutsu alone without supervision, Itachi-kun! Or you could blow up part of your house and harm your little brother!"

Itachi freezes and looks at her like a deer in headlights.

"Little brother?" he whispered.

"Could be a little sister too!" Kushina adds. "Mikoto-chan isn't even a month pregnant yet and those things can't be known until-" The redhead looked at her godson when she realized that he isn't moving an inch.

Seeing his shocked face she realized her mistake.

"You didn't know?! Mikoto is gonna kill me, dattebane!"