Chapter 3

"This is just the best, isn't it?!" 

Kimiko looked up from her large, ramen filled bowl, chopsticks hanging limp between her fingers as she shrugged. "Me.," She mumbled, "It's just okay."

"Just okay?!" Kushina almost choked on her ramen, "What do ya mean 'just okay'?! Ramen is the stuff of GODS! It can't be 'just okay' dammit!"

Kimiko reeled her head back a bit at the older woman's display of passion, she knew Kushina liked ramen but she didn't know she liked it this much...maybe that's why Minato turned down the offer to join them at the Ichiraku Ramen stand.

"I'm flattered, Kushina-chan." Kimiko looked up at the sound of a hearty chuckle, finding a man standing behind the counter.

Dressed in a white cap and apron, and a wide grin, the ramen chef beamed down at his favourite customer. "But I don't think i'm that good."

"But ya are, Teuchi-san! You should really give yourself more credit, your ramen is THE best!" Kushina told him, throwing her arms up. "I ain't kiddin'!"

Teuchi just smiled, "Then, thank you." Before looking back at the sound of a giggle, Kimiko leaned forward on her stool to see a small child waddling forward, matching brown eyes and hair, with an innocent smile.

"Oh! Ayame-chan!" Kushina grinned at the sight of the toddler, "You've gotten so big! Before ya know it you'll be all grown up! Time flies sure does fly." She grinned. "I must be gettin' old."

Teuchi knelt down to pick up his daughter, turning back to Kushina. "She's already two now, maybe you and Minato-kun should consider settling down and starting a family?" 

Kushina went a little pink, scratching the back of her head with a sheepish smile. "Jeez, give me a break, Teuchi-san! I'm engaged to the guy, what more do ya want?"

He smiled, "A friend for Ayame-chan would be nice, and who is this? Another redhead?" Kimiko tilted her head up when all eyes turned to her.

"Ah!" Kushina threw her arm around Kimiko, "This is Kimiko! She's gonna be staying with me and Minato from now on!" She told her, grinning. "We're family, ya know?!"

"Family huh?" Teuchi nodded with a smile, "That's nice, and how old are you little one?"

Kimiko felt her eyebrow twitch. 'Little?...I ain't that young, ya arse!' But refrained from voicing such thoughts with a young child around.

"Five." Kimiko told him. "Turned a few months back."

"Five?" Teuchi smiled, "That means you'll be starting at the Academy soon, won't you? That's the entrance age now, isn't it? They just keep seeming to lower it year after year.."

"Academy?" Kimiko furrowed her brow. "What's that?"

Kushina looked back to Kimiko. "Ya don't know what the Academy is?!" She gaped, stunned.

"No or else I would've said." Kimiko looked up dully at the woman. Kushina just laughed, "The Academy is where ya train to become a shinobi! And you're right, Teuchi-san, they just keep lowering the age limit...I remember when it used to be ten, now five? What is the council thinking..."

The woman sighed and Teuchi smiled sympathetically, knowing the life of a shinobi must be hard. "But as for Ko-chan entering the Academy..." Kushina looked over to the girl, "Would ya want to?"

Kimiko just shrugged. "Dunno, never gave it thought, there weren't exactly any shinobi where I lived."

Teuchi smiled, "Well then maybe you should, becoming a shinobi and fighting for the village is a great honour, you know, and I always give discounts to hard working shinobi like Kushina-chan here."

Kushina grinned proudly, puffing out her chest. Kimiko just rolled her eyes, resting her chin on her hand as she mumbled, "Shinobi huh? I don't get what's so good 'bout being one anyway, isn't it too hyped? I ain't ever met a worth while shinobi before.."

Kushina frowned, before perking up. "But ya have! Me and Minato!"

"I get Minato-san but you?" Kimiko looked up to the woman, "Sorry, Kushina-san, but ya don't exactly look like the shinobi i've met."

"Cause ya met Kumo-nin and they're the worst!" Kushina told her, arms crossed. "And for ya information i'm a Jonin! See, vest and all!"

"Oh, so that's what the green thing is." 

"Shinobi?" Kimiko looked up at the new voice, a baby Ayame sucking on her thumb. "What a shinobi?"

Teuchi smiled down at his daughter, "Shinobi are heroes that rescue princesses from dragons and save countries from evil people!" Ayame beamed at the thought, "I be shinobi! I be shinobi!" Teuchi just smiled.

'Rescue princesses?' Kimiko looked down at her ramen. '...if only shinobi were really like that...then maybe my village wouldn't have...'

"Alright! Get that glum look of ya face!" Kushina stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "I'm gonna take ya somewhere!"

"But I thought we were going clothes shopping?" Kimiko questioned. That was the whole reason they were out here, with Kushina just stopping for lunch.

"We will," She grinned. "But first I gotta show ya something! C'mon!"

"But the ramen is—Wait where'd it all go?!" Kimiko gawked, staring down at both her and Kushina's empty bowls before turning to the grinning culprit herself, "Are ya even human?!"

Kushina just grinned, grabbing Kimiko's small wrist and slamming a few ryō onto the table. "Thanks, Teuchi-san!" She called out before dragging the girl off down the street.

Teuchi just smiled and waved as his favourite customer sprinted off.

::

"Kushina-san, where are we going?" Kimiko asked, staring dully at the back of the woman's head, her long red hair swaying in its pony tail as she jogged, dragging Kimiko behind her by the wrist.

Kushina glanced back with a grin, "It's a secret~!" She winked. "And it's just Kushina!" She added.

Kimiko sighed in annoyance, allowing the woman to continue dragging her along before she finally came to a stop. Kimiko looked up at the large building, blinking at its size. Grey and rather bland, it stood off to the eastern part of Konoha, aka the poorer area.

"What's this building?" Kimiko muttered, rubbing the wrist Kushina had finally released.

"It's an orphanage."

Kimiko's eyes widened a bit and Kushina chuckled, "Calm down, we ain't sending ya away." She grinned before her smile fell.

"It's...where children who've lost their homes and family from the war live.." Kushina said, her cheerful tone gone.

'War orphans?' Kimiko frowned. 'So...like me?'

"C'mon, I wanna show ya something." Kimiko didn't reply, following silently behind Kushina who led her into the building.

Once inside, Kushina bowed politely to the receptionist who nodded in greeting, shooting the confused Kimiko a kind smile before letting both Uzumaki pass through. Kimiko glanced inside the hundreds of rooms where there stayed more children than it could hold. 

Kimiko followed behind Kushina as they walked outside, leaving behind the gloomy grey walls in favour for the sunshine and lush gardens outside, where many children played.

"It's Kushina-neechan!" Kimiko looked up at the excited voice, spotting one toothless child pointing and grinning at the older Uzumaki.

"Kushina-neechan!"

"Welcome back, Kushina-neechan!"

"Kushina-neechan! We missed you!"

Kushina just grinned, knelling down as at least five or six orphans came rushing at her, she welcomed them with open arms, hugging some and ruffling others' hair. 

"Ne, Kushina-neechan, whose this?!" Asked one excited child, grinning widely and gesturing to Kimiko.

"Oh, this?" Kushina looked back to a startled Kimiko and grinned. "This is Kimiko!"

"Woah! Kimiko-neechan!" Kimiko was taken aback as several children started bouncing up and down in her face, throwing their arms up and trying to hug her.

"Ah-ah!" Kushina tutted, "What have I told ya 'bout manners?"

The children looked from Kushina and then to each other, before back up at Kimiko, together they bowed and chorused. "It's very nice to meet you, Kimiko-neechan!"

Kimiko just stared at the children who exchanged grins, Kushina huffed and waved her hand in dismissal. "Now ya lot run off! I gotta talk to Kimiko, grown up talk!"

"But Kimiko-neechan isn't that much older than us!" Said one boy.

Kushina just ruffled the boy's hair and smiled, "I know but Kimiko is a little shy. She needs some space, so go play, kay?"

"Only if Kushina-neechan and Kimiko-neechan promise to come play!"

Kushina grinned. "I promise!"

They turned to Kimiko who stared down silently at them, a few seconds ticked by before she gently nodded, muttering. "I promise." 

With this the children cheered, clapping their hands together and running off, pushing each other over on their way to the playground. Kushina just sighed, smirking in bemusement before looking back up at Kimiko.

"These little guys probably won't ever be adopted..." Kushina told Kimiko, watching her watch the children play. "They keep them separated from normal orphans, ya know? Cause these batches tend to have lose canons...coming from a rotten time and probably seeing horrible things...When ya got healthy, mental and psychological wise, kids in need of families versus ones with lots of problems...well ya can guess which ones people usually pick."

Kimiko just stared off, watching the one toothless child from earlier begin to play tag with the others.  

"It's horrible, I tell ya...but it's life." Kushina smiled sadly, looking off to the young children. "Ya heard what Teuchi-san said, 'bout shinobi rescuing princesses...I only wish it were like that..then maybe things like this wouldn't happen."

Kushina stood up, hands pocketed in Jonin vest. "We don't go recusing princesses or saving countries...but who we do save, is them."

Kimiko followed Kushina's extended arm, finger pointing at the children. "We fight for them...for every man, woman, and child...for the future, for everyone's future...we may not save princesses in castles but what we actually do is so much more important...we fight for kids like them, everywhere...not just here in Konoha. Kids outside there border, like ya were."

Kimiko looked up at Kushina's expression which held the upmost seriousness, the woman looked down at her. "I ain't as good as the Hokage at giving these speeches..." She admitted sheepishly. "But I know the basics...it's all about the Will of Fire, ever heard of it?"

Kimiko shook her head.

"Well it's like it says..it's a fire, deep within all of us...even ya, Ko-chan." Kushina smiled down at her. "It's the will, the passion to fight for the people ya love, the ones ya care most 'bout. See, everyone in the village is like one big family, we all look out for each other and we fight to protect each other. It's where we get out strength...from our passion to protect our loved ones. Cheesy, I know, but...it's true."

"It lives on in me.." Kushina smiled. "..and in you, Ko-chan."

Kimiko stared up at the older woman, not quite knowing what to say so Kushina just sighed. "I ain't trying to tell ya to become a shinobi...I ain't even gonna try convincing ya...I just.." She looked down, smiling sadly.

"...I want ya to know that there is more to being a shinobi than just hurting people...that not all shinobi are bad people and...that we don't all fight for the same reason, some of us...just want to protect our family and friends." Kushina smiled down at her.

She reached over and ruffled the girl's red hair. "So, ya don't ever have to become a shinobi...ya just have to know what it means to be one."

Kimiko felt the heavy hand on her head and sighed, staring off at the children. 'It's all for them huh...'

"Ne, Kimiko-neechan! Come play with us!"

"Yeah, c'mon, Kimiko-neechan!"

"Kimiko-neechan!"

Kimiko had a small smile on her face as she took a step forward, looking up at Kushina who just nodded, smiling, before taking off into a run towards the grinning children.

'I might not ever be a shinobi, but I think..I understand them better now.'

::

"I'm gonna be a shinobi!"

Kushina looked up from her scroll, head tilted slightly as she glanced over questioningly at the new arrival of Kimiko Uzumaki. Her dishevelled red hair and dripping wet clothes were enough to make a grin form on Kushina's face.

"Oh, why the sudden change in mind?" She asked, trying to hide her smile. "I thought ya decided not to?"

Kimiko took one look at the elder Uzumaki and huffed. "Reasons!" Before stomping off down the hall, dripping water the entire way.

"Hey! At least tell me something?"

Kimiko paused at her door, hand resting on the handle before gripping it tightly, opening it and yelling out.

"I hate Shisui Uchiha!"

And then slamming the door behind her. Kushina blinked, confused.

"..who?"

::