Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Riko had known from the beginning that the life she’d made in Uzushiogakure was probably too good to last, in her experience nothing good ever did, so she wasn’t surprised when it fell apart, even if it was another devastating blow.

It had started off fairly normally, just another day at the academy. She’d recently turned nine, and Kushina was eight. The two of them were the top two in the academy, with Riko in the top spot due mostly to experience and maturity.

Kushina had been called out of the classroom by a stern faced instructor, which wasn’t all that surprising, after all she did tend to pull pranks once in a while all on her own, usually after Riko advised her against it, and she usually got caught too.

Normally she would have been amused, but Riko had been feeling off all day, as if something bad was coming, and when she’d reached for her teacup this morning the handle had cracked off, a bad omen. She’d hidden it from Kushina, who was extremely superstitious by pretending a bout of clumsiness and dropping the entire cup, smashing it to pieces.

The other redhead had laughed, after all it was usually her breaking things, not Riko, and this was a welcome change. Still Riko had, had a hard time fighting the ball of dread building in her gut as the day wore on, which had led to her being rather antsy during class.

Luckily the instructor had excused her behavior as she was normally very well behaved, but it had caused Kushina to give her some odd looks as she nervously tapped her finger rhythmically against the desk.

With Kushina gone she hadn’t been able to fake being able to pay attention to the lecture and had kept her eyes firmly on the door to the classroom waiting for her best friend and pseudo little sister to come back in with the sheepish look she always got when she was caught and lectured about one of her pranks.

Thanks to her inattention to the lecture she heard the pounding footsteps, and didn’t jump like the others did when the door slid open with a loud bang, and she was already out of her seat and halfway down the stairs when Kushina flew at her knocking them both to the ground.

Riko winced as her back hit the stairs, and she was sure there would be bruises tomorrow, but she ignored that in favor of wrapping her arms around Kushina and hugging the girl back tightly gently cradling the back of her head as she buried her face in Riko’s neck and sobbed.

She was babbling something between sobs that Riko couldn’t quite make out as she clung to her with all her strength. Confused and feeling helpless Riko glanced around to see everyone staring at the pair of them, some whispering curiously, but no one, not even the instructor seemed to know what was going on. What she did know was that this had nothing to do with a prank, and a fist of dread wrapped around her heart and squeezed even as she carefully rocked back and forth trying to soothe her friend.

“Ah Kushina-hime there you are,” it was the same instructor who’d taken her away in the first place, looking rather relieved. Apparently Kushina had run away from whatever they’d told her and straight to Riko.

“No, no, no I won’t go! You can’t take me!” Kushina managed to sob out clinging tighter to Riko.

Instantly on alert, with Yasuhina’s warnings about kidnapping attempts ringing in her ears Riko pulled Kushina up and behind her, drawing kunai with practiced ease and holding it extended in front of her body, ready to fight if need be to protect her fellow redhead.

She didn’t know it, but she made a rather terrifying picture despite her age, her still somewhat childish features set in a stony mask and her emerald green eyes glowing dangerously. Neither of the instructors doubted for a moment that she’d use that kunai, and with no hesitation or mercy if they moved to try to take the other girl away.

“Riko-san please put the kunai down, we’re not trying to hurt or take Kushina-hime,” her own instructor tried, attempting to coax her out of that ready stance at least. Riko sneered and opened her mouth to respond only to be cut off.

“What is going on here?” The man in the doorway asked his voice calm and commanding. Riko recognized him instantly, this was the Uzukage Ashina Uzumaki the second, named after the first Ashina who was the first Uzukage and the most famous head of the Uzumaki clan. He was also Kushina’s grandfather.

Riko herself had only met the man once or twice when he popped in to see Yasuhina and Kushina, and despite being considered family by both she’d still tried to make herself scarce. Not because she was intimidated, but because he gave her the same feeling as Dumbledore once had. She had no doubts he was a good leader, but she wasn’t sure if he made a very good father or grandfather. She had no doubts he would sacrifice anything and anyone for his “greater good” even if that anyone included his family.

Still she thought Kushina would relax when he arrived, not whimper and clutch her tighter. Sliding her kunai back into the holster on her leg she let the two instructors babble the explanation to the Uzukage while she kept an eye on his face.

He looked more tired than she remembered, his shoulders slumped a little wearily as he nodded in understanding to the two instructors, and not nearly as imposing as he usually did.

“I apologize for the misunderstanding,” the Uzukage told the instructor solemnly, “If you’ll excuse us, I’ll take both Kushina-chan and Riko-san.”

“Of course Uzukage-sama,” the instructor replied bowing politely and gesturing for the two girls to follow the village leader out of the room.

Riko glanced at Kushina, who was still crying softly into her shoulder and sighed, giving the second instructor a sharp glare when he tried to approach she instead crouched down and lifted Kushina on piggyback style. Luckily despite their being nearly the same size Riko was quite strong, and could enhance her muscles with chakra.

Keeping a firm grip on her friend who was sniffling into her hair she walked out the door, following the Uzukage to his office, which luckily wasn’t actually that far away.

The man took a seat behind his desk and motioned for the instructor, who’d followed them to the tower, to leave, while Riko gently set Kushina down then pulled both of them into the chair opposite the Uzukage’s desk, allowing the younger girl to sit in her lap and clutch her tightly, wrapping her own arms around her in an attempt to bring her comfort before turning her gaze on the Uzukage silently demanding answers from the man.

Aishina took in the two small girls sitting across from him, and bit back a tired sigh. He didn’t want to do this unfortunately he had no choice. He was the Uzukage, and as such he had to do what was best for his village as a whole.

“I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this Riko-san, but Yasuhina-chan is no longer with us. Her mission went poorly, we were given bad information,” he paused trying to swallow the anger and bitterness at that and continued, “Yasuhina-chan saved the lives of her comrades, but was forced to give her own in the process.”

He determinedly didn’t flinch when Kushina wailed heartbrokenly, and instead kept his eyes on the little girl his daughter had rescued over three years ago as her emerald eyes blew wide with surprise, shock over taking her features as he heard her breath catch in her throat.

Riko automatically clutched Kushina tighter as she tried to process that information, hugging the little girl who had started sobbing again and burying her face in her ruby red locks. She took a few shuddering breaths trying to process what he’d told her, and slowly forced herself to breathe deeply and evenly.

Luckily she had practice at shoving the grief down, because right now Kushina really needed her to be the strong one, and so though her heart was trying to protest no!no!no! and her head was screaming why?why?why? she ruthlessly quashed it down taking on her persona as the General of the Light Army who had been the one to defeat the worst dark lord the wizarding world had ever seen to keep herself from breaking down until later, taking one last breath, inhaling the comforting childish scent of Kushina, a mix of ramen, the strawberries of her shampoo, with the unnatural scent of salt water mixed in before turning her eyes back to the Uzukage.

Aishina had almost panicked when he saw that Riko was about to cry as well. He was hardly equipped to handle one crying child let alone two of them. He floundered for a moment, but was quickly shocked out of it when she lifted her head to look at him again.

While her eyes were suspiciously bright and shiny not a single tear fell, and they had a steely cold look in them. Her face looked like it had been carved from stone, grim, stubborn, determined, and her spine straightened though she continued to hold tightly to his granddaughter, If he didn’t know better he’d say he was looking into the face of one of his seasoned Jōnin who’d just lost a comrade rather than a young orphan child of nine years who’d lost a mother figure.

“What will happen to Kushina and I?” she demanded, her voice cold, calm, collected, and absolutely commanding as if she were the one in charge and she expected to be answered quickly and truthfully, “Why does she think someone is going to take her away?”

Aishina wonderingly found himself answering her without even pausing to consider if he should or not, “That would be because of a deal we have with Konoha and Kushina-chan’s special chakra. When she was born we made a deal with my great Aunt Mito, one of the few born in the clan with the same type of chakra as Kushina-chan, that when she was old enough she would go to Konoha to be a Konoha ninja and learn important things from Mito-sama. With Yasuhina-chan gone, now is the best time to send her, that way Mito-sama could become her guardian and ensure she is looked after while we fulfill our obligation to Konoha.”

“I see,” it was said flatly in a tone that said she clearly did not see, and he saw quite clearly the judgment and accusation in those sharp verdant eyes, that pricked his already sore conscience deeply, for essentially sending away his grandchild to a place where she’d have little to no support right after loosing her mother.

“Is there no one else who can go? No other arrangements that can be made?” she probed her eyes locked on his, as if she could see the answer there if she looked hard enough.

“No, there is no one else and I’m afraid this is the best option. She must go eventually, and there were already plans to send her this year, it was only Yasuhina-chan’s insistence that kept her here this long,” he admitted tiredly.

“Very well, when do we leave, and what of Yasuhina-oba-san’s funeral?” the girl asked her tone still flat and icy cold.

“Ah, Riko-san I’m afraid you weren’t included in Kushina-chan’s leaving,” Aishina pointed out, trying to be gentle.

“Then with all due respect Uzukage-sama figure out how to include me, because where Shina-chan goes, I go,” Riko informed him bluntly. Normally she would’ve been a bit more polite to the man, seeing as he was the village leader, and was quite a bit more powerful than she was, but he had just told her he was planning to send his only grandchild away to a foreign village with no support because it was convenient for him now that Yasuhina was dead.

Admittedly there was probably more to it than that, but she wasn’t feeling charitable or reasonable at the moment, and no one was going to separate her from Kushina, not when she so obviously needed her support.

“I’m sorry Riko-san but that’s just not possible, you’re a valuable asset to our village, a kunoichi in training…”

Riko’s snort interrupted him and he paused unsure whether to be angry or impressed by the sheer gall of the girl, “Valuable asset am I? That’s a new one. Maybe you should try telling your people that instead of letting them whisper how much of an outsider I am behind my back. As for being a kunoichi, the only reason I became a kunoichi was because Yasuhina-oba-san told me it was one of the best ways for me to be able to protect those precious to me. I think it should be very obvious to you that the only person in the village I care for is sitting right here with me, and the rest can go burn to ash for all I care. Why should they matter to me when they treat me like dirt? It will get even worse now that Yasuhina-oba-san isn’t around to protect me anymore, so I doubt my feelings for them will change.”

“So you’re saying you would drop out of the academy if you are left here? Even if it means you will no longer be welcome in Uzushiogakure?” Aishina prompted startled.

“Gladly, in fact I would be happy to take the first boat out of Uzushiogakure, after all Konoha has a history of taking in refugees,” Riko told him, “Besides you wouldn’t want to keep me as a ninja, knowing already I hold no love for you or your village. If there is one thing I respect about you it is that you put your village first, allowing power to someone who has no loyalty to the village at all is a bad idea all around and now that you know I’m not loyal to anyone but Kushina-chan keeping me around at all is a bad idea. I suppose you could kill me, that would be the third option after all, while I am a child I have no doubt some of your ninja have done it before.”

“You can’t!” Kushina shrieked horrified pulling her tearstained face from Riko’s neck to stare wide eyed at her grandfather, “You can’t take away Riko-chan too! I won’t let you! I won’t go anywhere without Riko-chan she’s the only family I’ve got you know!”

Aishina closed his eyes so neither child would see the grief that had caused him, to know his only grandchild would choose Riko over him, considered her family, was one of the most painful realizations he’d ever had. He had already lost his daughter, and it appeared his granddaughter was essentially already lost to him as well.

Unfortunately he couldn’t blame her. The times he’d gotten to see her were few and far between, even less than he’d been able to see Yasuhina when she was a little girl, mostly because his role as Uzukage claimed most of his time, especially with the war going on right now.

He couldn’t even fault her choice of family member as it was very obvious Riko was fiercely loyal to Kushina, and it was obvious the only one who would’ve had a hope of keeping her in the village with Kushina gone was Yasuhina, and he wasn’t all that sure that his daughter would have done it, perhaps even insisting on sending Riko with Kushina anyway so she wouldn’t be so alone in Konoha.

A part of him wondered if his clever daughter hadn’t planned on her going from the moment Kushina had befriended the other girl. She had certainly been sly enough and farsighted enough to do it.

“Very well, Riko-san, you may go with Kushina-chan to Konoha. You will leave in three days after Yasuhina-chan’s funeral. Someone will be by to let you know the details and provide you with storage scrolls so you may take your things more easily. Yasuhina left everything to the two of you, so take anything you want from the house now, as it is very likely you will not return for a long, long time,” he told the girls tiredly, watching as they both relaxed and Riko lost the hard edge in her eyes and the two hugged each other tightly in relief. They apparently recognized his words as a dismissal and left without a fuss, heading to their home, though not before thanking him and bowing politely.

Once they were gone from the room he allowed himself to slump in his seat and massaged his temples wearily. They were truly loosing an asset in Riko. The girl was incredibly bright, talented, able to keep up with Kushina despite the other girl’s special chakra and Uzumaki vitality, and much stronger physically than her small size would indicate.

He was sure she’d make a formidable kunoichi in the future, perhaps on par with Mito herself, and no doubt she would be a valuable asset to both his granddaughter and the Leaf village.

It wouldn’t be until after Yasuhina’s funeral when the two girls were on their way to Konoha along with their Jōnin escort that Aishina would reflect on how truly brilliant and cunning Riko actually was. No matter how much he’d thought he was in control of the situation back when they’d met in his office, from the moment she’d straightened up with that flinty look in her eye she had been leading him around by the nose.

There was never really any doubt she was going to go with Kushina. No matter how much it was true Riko knew that admitting that she wasn’t loyal to the village or the Uzukage but Kushina herself was a potentially bad idea and could land her in a lot of trouble. Instead she’d used it, and the fact that she was an outsider to give him only three options, let her go with Kushina, allow her to drop from the academy and leave Uzushiogakure so she could follow Kushina, or kill her for her disloyalty so that she didn’t become a threat in the future from within the village or without.

With Kushina there in the room she’d been able to use his granddaughter’s own protectiveness and attachment to ensure she wasn’t killed, because Kushina was the only one who could fulfill the task in Konoha and they couldn’t allow for her to be disloyal to the village, which she surely would be if Riko was killed because of it.

Then the second option was more effort on both their parts, but would end up with her, with Kushina in the end anyway, which made it obsolete, and finally there was the option she wanted, to go with Kushina, which she’d made the only viable option by taking a calculated risk and banking on Kushina’s attachment to her.

It was masterfully done, and Aishina had to admire the manipulation even if he had been the one manipulated, and by a nine year old no less! As Uzukage he mourned the loss of such a valuable asset to his village, but as a grandfather he felt a kind of relief knowing Kushina had that manipulative cunning along with all Riko’s other impressive abilities, on her side, working to keep her safe, which is why he decided in the end not to inform the Hokage or Mito of any of her abilities.

Alliance or not Kushina was still his granddaughter, and while it might not always seem that way he did love her deeply. He may not have been able to do much for her growing up, but he could allow Riko free reign to work on her behalf without cautious, wary eyes keeping watch over her. Instead he would tell them it had been the plan all along to send Riko too, and to think of her as a bonus as she was a valuable asset and he was sad to lose her. It was all true after all, and a part of him couldn’t wait to see what kind of kunoichi she turned out to be. He found he was actually looking forward to it, as he signed and stamped the letter to the Hokage with his personal seal officially granting Riko the Uzumaki name.

The journey to Konoha passed quickly and quietly with the two girls taking the short journey to grieve the loss of Yasuhina, and Kushina to grieve leaving the village she’d loved. For the first few nights up until the funeral itself Riko had allowed herself to grieve, crying quietly at night while Kushina sobbed into her shoulder until the two of them managed to subside and work on packing things away.

It had been slow going, especially since they had limited space, and neither girl wanted to leave anything behind. Still sacrifices had been made, none of the heavy furniture had come with, though they’d taken all the scrolls and artwork, and anything with specific sentimental value. Still it had helped some, and by the time Yasuhina’s funeral came Riko was dry eyed and steady, a strong presence for Kushina to lean on.

On the road Kushina had been quiet and obedient, not at all like the Kushina she knew, but Riko knew better than to push, just allowing the other girl time to grieve, and comfort when she sought it. She wasn’t even surprised anymore when Kushina crawled into her bed in the middle of the night looking for reassurance that she wasn’t alone.

By the time the Konoha gates came into view though Riko was starting to get worried. It was okay to grieve, healthy even, but Kushina was hardly speaking, and hardly eating. It was time to start living again, and if Kushina needed a kick in the pants to get to it, then Riko, who’d had to be kicked out of her grief herself, would do it with a smile even if it made the other redhead upset with her, because she owed it to Yasuhina to keep Kushina from grieving her life away.

Before that though she would need to get them settled into Konoha, easier said than done, especially when someone was once again trying to separate her and Kushina.

“Kushina-san I really must insist you come with me so we can talk privately,” the Hokage was a formidable man, Riko could tell just looking at him that he was at the very least equal to the Uzukage. Unfortunately for him Kushina in a stubborn mood was completely unmovable, and in a strange village there was no way she was going to let go of the one thing that was familiar and comforting.

Riko looked up at the Hokage who looked torn between exasperation and sympathy for Kushina who was clinging to her like a limpet shaking her head vigorously at the idea of being separated from her.

However Riko had the feeling that whatever the Hokage was going to say was pretty important. She had a feeling he was going to explain more fully why they needed Kushina in the village. The Uzukage said it was for their alliance, and she believed that at least, however she didn’t believe it was simply to learn from the only other Uzumaki in the village. There was more to it than that, something to do with Kushina’s special chakra. What it could be she didn’t know, but she was anxious to find out. After all it was hard to protect her pseudo sister from plans if she didn’t actually know what those plans were.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew many things, for which he was called the Kami no Shinobi, unfortunately dealing with obstinate little girls was not something he knew. The closest he’d come was teaching his genin, and while Tsunade could out stubborn most people she had also been raised to respect the ninja of the leaf village and follow orders. Kushina and her friend were not raised in the Leaf Village and so did not have the same sense of awe for him as most children their age would.

He sighed glancing at the other child curiously. Riko Uzumaki was completely unexpected. They’d been planning for Kushina’s arrival practically since her chakra had been unlocked and discovered to be the kind necessary to take over for Lady Mito, having Riko here threw a wrench in things.

However Ashina the Uzukage had insisted she was quite a boon, and if he could earn her loyalty she would make a superb kunoichi. If he hadn’t had Ashina’s word on it he probably would’ve doubted it, after all Riko looked more like a doll than a Kunoichi.

She was a petite little thing, an inch or two shorter than Kushina with a warm honey toned complexion, wide beautiful green eyes, dainty features, a slim build, and exotic hair that reminded him vividly of dancing flames. Both she and Kushina would be quite beautiful when they grew up, but while Kushina looked robust, Riko looked more breakable.

Still, experience told him that one couldn’t judge by appearance alone, especially with Kunoichi. He just wondered what exactly his fellow kage had seen in this girl child that had impressed him so.

He watched as the girl sighed, hugging Kushina tightly, and he could understand why Aishina had sent her along with his granddaughter. The gentle affection and care for the other girl was nearly palpable, and it was clear Kushina felt she could count on Riko to protect her. It was obvious just looking at the two of them together they were very close.

“I promise that once we talk you can return to Riko, Kushina, but what I must tell you is very secret, and you must decide whether or not you want Riko to know,” he tried again.

“Riko is my Aneki,” Kushina told him stubbornly narrowing her violet eyes at him defiantly, “Anything you want to tell me you can tell her too you know.”

Hiruzen sighed and admitted defeat. His instincts were telling him that the moment he got done telling her Kushina would run straight to Riko to tell her anyway, so he might as well tell them both.

Explaining to an eight year old child and her protective older sister figure that she was expected to become the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was a thankless task. He wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or sad that it didn’t take much to explain it, as the two of them were very bright.

Knowing that Kushina at least would never agree without reason he also went on to explain what would happen if Kyuubi were to be freed, like it would be upon Mito’s death if not sealed into Kushina, the lives lost and the potential destruction. A part of him felt guilty that he had to play upon their sympathies and manipulate them, but it had to be done, for the safety of not just this village but the entirety of fire country should the Kyuubi get loose.

He did try to soothe some fears by telling them what he knew of the process, and assuring them Kushina wouldn’t have to do it right away, that she had some time, perhaps even until she graduated from the academy, to get used to the idea.

He watched as the two girls took in the news, trying and failing to push the guilt away, as both girls were looking very pale, and Kushina looked positively terrified.

“And you’re sure there’s no one else?” Riko demanded anxiously, hugging Kushina tightly, “Can’t someone else take her place? Can’t I?”

“I’m afraid only someone with Kushina’s special chakra can contain the Kyuubi, though your loyalty is admirable,” Hiruzen told the girl as gently as he could. He was truly impressed with how devoted Riko was to Kushina, it was that type of loyalty and friendship the Leaf village tried to cultivate among teammates and comrades to foster loyalty to the village itself.

There was a determined spark in Riko’s eyes that allowed him to begin to understand what it was that Aishina saw in her. Despite her petite stature it seemed Riko had a stubborn will that reminded him strongly of Konoha’s will of fire.

Riko turned to the younger girl gently brushing her ruby hair out of her eyes and wriggling out of her tight hold so she could look her in the eye, turning her towards herself so that she had her back to the Hokage.

“Well Kushi-chan? What do you want to do?” She asked her, gently but firmly.

“What do you mean?” Kushina asked hesitantly looking worriedly up at the one person she trusted with all her heart.

“Do you want to be the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune?” Riko asked solemnly. She knew deep down where this conversation would end, she knew Kushina too well, she knew what she’d choose in the end. Still she could do her best to make that choice as painless as possible.

“I can choose?” Kushina asked confused and wondering, turning trying to glance behind her at the Hokage for confirmation of this surprising fact only to have her best friend grab her chin and force her to keep looking straight into Riko’s intense emerald eyes.

“There is always a choice Kushina,” Riko told her friend solemnly running an affectionate hand through the soft ruby locks, “You can choose to say no, and not become Jinchuuriki, they cannot force you. If they did it would likely make you very resentful, from what I understand of jinchuuriki from the very little I happened upon in the library in Uzu jinchuuriki are very, very powerful. Very few ninja can match the power of a jinchuuriki when they use the demon’s power, having a jinchuuriki resentful of their home could mean losing a valuable asset if he or she ran away, or because you are an Uzumaki and jinchuuriki are created with seals, it’s even possible you could unleash the demon all on your own if you didn’t want it inside you, which would make forcing you to become jinchuuriki a very bad idea.”

Behind Kushina she could see the Hokage becoming more than a bit alarmed, so she raised a finger behind Kushina’s back signaling him to give her just a minute. He gave her a sharp look but nodded for her to continue.

“But Hokage-sama said that people could die you know,” Kushina told her quietly, looking up at her worriedly.

Riko nodded, “He is probably right, people will die if that’s the path you choose to take, but it likely won’t be anyone you know. After all this isn’t your village, these people are strangers to us.”

“But! What kind of choice is that? If I don’t do it, then people will die you know!” Kushina asked her confused and hurt. Why would Riko tell her she had a choice when really there wasn’t a real choice at all?

“I never said it is a good choice Kushina, it is simply that, a choice,” Riko told her calmly, “A wise man once told me that sometimes we have to choose between what is right and what is easy. Personally I believe that sentencing an innocent eight year old child to the life and responsibilities of a jinchuuriki is neither right nor easy, and I think people should have spent more time looking for another way, because they had no guarantees someone like you with special chakra would come along at all, and Mito-sama was never going to live forever. Unfortunately the situation is what it is, and we must deal with it because it’s too late to do anything about it.”

Kushina nodded her understanding, slowly mulling it over in her head as Riko waited patiently finally she asked, “What would you do Aneki?”

Riko smiled wryly and shook her head, “Oh no you don’t Kushina, this is your decision and yours alone. I won’t influence you either way. However no matter what you choose in the end I want you to know that I will support you and be proud of you either way, and I’m sure Yasuhina-oba-san would feel the same way.”

Kushina’s lips trembled and she nodded, feeling a strange sense of relief at Riko’s words, taking comfort in them as she mulled over her decision before finally nodding in acceptance, “I’ll do it. I can’t let those people die just because I’m scared and don’t want to.”

“Are you sure?” Riko prompted seriously, searching the younger girl’s eyes for any hesitation, “Understand that what you are doing makes you a hero, that it is a sacrifice on your part, a very big one, and one most people will never even know about. In fact there’s a good chance people will resent you, both of us for that matter, and treat us badly because we are outsiders here, not knowing or appreciating what you’ve done for them.”

“I’m sure Aneki,” Kushina told her firmly nodding her head for emphasis, “I have to protect them, they’re going to be my people, my village, and even if they try to treat me like an outsider I still have you, and we’ll make friends too who will be worth protecting. I’m going to be a ninja Aneki, it doesn’t matter if it’s here or in Uzu I’ve got to protect my precious people, because that’s my nindo, my ninja way you know!”

Riko nodded in acceptance having known from the beginning that this was what she’d choose and pulled the other girl into a hug, “And I will protect you, and any other precious people we come across, because you are my precious baby sister and I am so very proud of you.”

Hiruzen watched feeling both weary and very, very proud of the two young girls in front of him. He could almost see the will of fire glowing brightly in both of them as they strove to protect that which was truly precious.

He’d been more than a little nervous at first when Riko had presented Kushina with the option of not taking on the Kyuubi, especially since her reasoning was sound. If Kushina had wanted too, she really could have turned them down and they would’ve been left with no options because the risk of her turning the Kyuubi against them would’ve been far too great.

Still it appeared Riko had, had Kushina’s best interests at heart, and by giving her the choice in the matter, even though as Kushina had said it wasn’t a very good one, she’d still gotten to choose her fate instead of feeling like she was being used. It would make her that much more determined to both accept the burden they would be bestowing on her, and to carry it with grace and acceptance.

Riko was wise far beyond her years and obviously very, very intelligent. He could see now why Aishina had been so sorry to lose her. If he could find a way to ensure the slight girl be as loyal to Konoha as she obviously was to Kushina the village would surely benefit.

Luckily he didn’t think he would have to worry too much about that, as Konoha was founded on the idea that fostering bonds makes you strong, and that ninja should be able to rely on, and trust their teammates unconditionally.

Knowing that he found himself eager to see what the two girls would do in the years to come, and what they would make of Konoha’s Academy, especially since the heirs to most of the major clans would be in their same class. It was something to look forward too, and he made note to himself to keep an eye on the two of them to see how far they’d go.

Mito Uzumaki was the oldest person, ninja or wizard she’d ever met, older even than Albus Dumbledore had been when he was killed by Snape. If she was honest with herself Riko was a little intimidated by her, because despite her age, Mito, like Dumbledore, radiated a kind of vitality and life that belied her frail looking body. Her eyes were also sharp and aware, clearly nothing of her mind had diminished either.

Upon seeing the two girls the woman offered a kind smile gesturing for them to come closer to her, which they did after Kushina sent a nervous glance at Riko first to confirm they should.

Luckily despite her somewhat austere and dignified appearance Mito was very warm and welcoming, and after peering into her eyes to gauge her trustworthiness Riko was surprised to feel positive feelings toward the woman, the same amount she’d felt for Yasuhina before she’d gotten to know her.

She’d also tested that gift on the Hokage earlier, but hadn’t gotten anything, maybe a small positive feeling, but not enough to really be of note, so she was surprised at the much stronger reaction to Mito, even if it wasn’t nearly as strong as the one she’d had meeting Kushina for the first time.

The two of them settled easily into talking to the ancient Uzumaki, who was filling them in on all she thought they might need to know before heading off to the ninja academy in a few days time.

It turned out that Mito was a very good storyteller, and listening to her talk about the history of Konoha, and her own early days in Uzushiogakure kept even Kushina occupied. Riko was also fascinated, having never really spent the time to study all that much history before.

She’d never really liked or been interested in history, mostly because professor Binns had killed any interest she might have had with his long droning, useless classes on the Goblin rebellions. Now she was kind of regretting it, wondering about how much she’d missed out on due to her lack of interest.

The time passed quickly and before the two of them knew it, it was time for dinner. Feeling more comfortable with the situation Riko left Kushina with Mito exchanging stories about the pranks they’d successfully, and sometimes not so successfully pulled on the different people they’d known, volunteering herself to make dinner, even promising them homemade ramen to celebrate their first night in Konoha much to Mito’s joy. Apparently Mito and Kushina shared not only a penchant for mischief but the ability to be an absolute hazard in the kitchen and a deep love of ramen.

Lips twitching in amusement Riko set about her task, relieved that this part of coming to Konoha at least wasn’t nearly as bad as she was expecting. Mito was nothing like Aishina and obviously already adored Kushina and was willing to spend a great deal of time with her.

Unfortunately despite her apparent vitality both Mito and the Hokage apparently thought she wouldn’t be living too far past their time in the academy. Riko was a more than a bit worried about what would happen when the kindly woman passed away. She hoped Kushina wouldn’t take it as badly as she was still taking Yasuhina’s death, especially since just being around Mito had pulled her out of her funk, not completely, but enough that she was talking again, even if that wasn’t with her normal exuberance.

She tried to tell herself that it would be different, because with Mito, Kushina would be expecting her to pass away, and wouldn’t be taken by surprise, unfortunately she wasn’t sure that would help. She’d noticed that when her friend decided to love someone, she did it with her whole heart, happily giving away pieces that she would never dream of taking back.

Riko couldn’t really complain about it, as it was what had encouraged Kushina to befriend her in the first place, but that didn’t stop her from fretting about her friend getting her heart broken over and over again.

Annoyed with the gloomy direction of her thoughts Riko turned to the other thing that was bothering her, the fact that Kushina had decided in the end that she would become the jinchuuriki to the most powerful of the tailed beasts. If she was completely honest with herself, a large part of her had wanted Kushina to say no to allowing the Kyuubi to be sealed inside of her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care about innocent people dying, but, as she had told Aishina, she cared much more about Kushina dying, and a taking in a tailed beast was incredibly dangerous, not only because of the dangers from the demon itself, but also because it made her a target for other villages, even more than she already had been with just her special chakra.

Heaving a sigh Riko absently stirred the ramen wondering what she could do about it. Not much really, other than what she had already planned on doing, which was to get as strong as possible in order to protect her little sister, which of course meant training, and a lot of hard work, luckily she was sure she was up to the challenge. She’d been a damn fine witch, and she’d be an even better kunoichi!

Feeling better now that she had things settled in her mind she called Kushina and Mito to dinner, smiling wryly as the two of them nearly trampled her to get to the table and began to scarf the ramen she’d made faster than she’d once thought possible murmuring compliments to her in between bites. Luckily she was used to Kushina’s infamous appetite, especially when it came to ramen and had made more than enough, with both Mito and Kushina cheering at the idea of leftover ramen tomorrow.

Looking at the two of them Riko had a moment to wonder if she hadn’t just created a ramen demanding monster between the two of them before sighing and dismissing it, at least they were happy.

“Wake up!” the cheerful command along with the impact of the pillow on her head stirred Kushina from her dreams with an annoyed groan. Blinking open heavy eyelids she glanced up and saw Riko looming above her with an obscenely joyful smile on her face offset by the slightly masochistic sparkle in her eyes.

“What time is it?” Kushina moaned glancing around in search of a clock to tell her the time only to remember they hadn’t really gotten around to getting one yet, as they’d only just arrived in Konoha yesterday.

“Time for you to be awake, so get up, get dressed, and meet me in the kitchen in five minutes or else,” Riko threatened entirely too happily for Kushina.

Unfortunately time had taught her that not rolling out of bed when Riko told her too yielded very unpleasant consequences, like ice water, being dumped off the mattress, or on one very memorable occasion a plethora of sea slugs, common to the coasts of Uzu in her bed.

Groaning and muttering about evil sisters who liked to wake others at ungodly hours she stumbled about getting ready, automatically pulling on the clothes they wore for their morning exercise regime without really even noticing.

Just as promised Riko was waiting for her in the kitchen looking wide awake as she munched on a granola bar. She tossed one to Kushina who took it and downed it quickly by habit before following Riko out the door.

Outside Riko began at a slow steady jog that got faster and faster until they were eating up ground at a steady pace. Kushina automatically followed a half step behind on her right, a habit formed from over three years of letting Riko lead during their morning runs around Uzushiogakure.

The wind on her face, and the smell of the fresh morning air slowly woke her tired brain enough that she began to understand what was happening, apparently her aneki had decided it was time to start up their training regime again. A part of her wanted to protest, she didn’t want to do this right now, she just wanted to sleep and do her best not to do anything that might remind her of her kaa-san, especially not the morning workout routine the three of them had done together for years, and that she and her kaa-san had been doing even before Riko joined them.

Unfortunately this was a new city, and Kushina hadn’t been awake enough to register where she was or where she was going, which meant she had no choice but to continue to follow unless she wanted to risk getting hopelessly lost. It was something Riko obviously already knew, and had probably counted on, including the fact that Kushina wouldn’t yet be comfortable asking the villagers for directions back either.

Thus she was stuck, and she certainly wasn’t happy about it, she was hurt that Riko would do this to her, and upset that it was reminding her so much of her mother. Not knowing what to do with those emotions eventually led her to anger and her legs began pumping faster and faster, with Riko easily matching and outpacing her, which only seemed to add to her anger and frustration.

They ran, and ran, and ran, all the way through Konoha to the base of the Hokage monument, and then they began to run the stairs up, up, up. When they finally reached the top Kushina was too tired to be angry anymore, and even if she’d wanted to rant and rave at Riko for her betrayal she wouldn’t have had the air to do it.

Instead she focused on taking deep lungful’s of air and walking at a measured pace on the platform that sat on top of the heads of the Hokage, keeping an eye on Riko who was doing much the same, only she wasn’t quite as worn out as Kushina was.

Once they’d both cooled down some Riko walked to the fence that rimmed the platform and jumped over it gesturing for Kushina to follow her. The other redhead only hesitated for a moment before jumping the fence as well and joining her.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air Riko made her way carefully to the head of Hashirama Senju and sank down, arranging herself in a tailor’s seat facing out towards the village and patting the spot next to her for Kushina.

“Before you and Yasuhina-oba-san took me in I was an orphan, you already knew that, but before now I’m not sure you thought about what it really meant. I don’t think you’ve ever understood how much it meant to me that you walked right up and offered me your hand, a place in your family,” Riko began quietly staring out over the village.

Kushina started in surprise, this was not at all what she had been expecting. Riko never talked about her family, or her time before the orphanage really at all. She knew from her mother that Riko had been found in the middle of a very bad battle, when Kumogakure had once again launched a strike at Uzu, but that’s all she really knew about the past of the girl she claimed as sister.

To be honest she’d never really given it much thought, Riko was right about that, but it was mostly because every time she thought about it and mentioned it to her friend Riko tended to go quiet, and would get that sad deadened look in her eyes, which Kushina had immediately shied away from because she’d promised herself she would never be the reason her friend had that look, the same lost look her mother had, had on occasion.

It hadn’t mattered too much to her that Riko didn’t want to share, because Riko was Riko and Kushina trusted her implicitly. Every time she’d found herself contemplating Riko’s past she’d shoved it forcefully out of her mind out of loyalty to her friend and to that promise.

“I guess what I’m trying to tell you Kushi-chan, is that I know how it feels, to lose someone you love because it’s something I’ve experienced before. I get it, you’re hurting, and missing her, maybe even a little angry at her for dying the way she did and leaving you behind. I understand, I’ve been there, done that,” Riko continued into the still early morning silence.

“It hurts, sometimes it feels like there’s a giant hole in your chest where your heart was and you want to rant and scream and cry because she didn’t deserve to die, because there was so much you wanted her to see, so many things you wanted to say and do with her and now she’s gone and you’ll never get the chance to, that sound about right?”

Kushina nodded hesitantly hugging her knees to her chest and listening, just listening because she suddenly realized that Riko really had done this before, as an orphan she had lost both her parents before she even got to Uzu and unlike her Riko didn’t have any other family to help her out, she didn’t have a sister, or a grandfather, or a newly discovered great-great-great aunt. She had been all alone.

“That hurt that you get every time you think about her, every time you turn around to say something to her only to remember she’s not there or wonder if she might like something, it never really does go away,” Riko told her tiredly, thinking of all the people she’d lost and indulging herself for a few seconds, letting herself feel their loss and the pain that’d caused her.

“But you see, the world goes on, even if you don’t think it should because your world has irrevocably changed, people will continue to live, the tides will still come in and out and the sun will still rise and set,” Riko nodded towards the first rays of light peeking over the horizon and the people beginning to stir far below them.

“And you will continue to live too, day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year until you realize that, the hurt isn’t as bad anymore. It’s still there, but its no where near as strong and it only pops up once in a while instead of consuming your life like it did at the beginning, and one day sooner than you think you’ll be able to look back on those happy memories you have with her and smile and remember her with fondness too,” she heaved a sigh leaning back and bracing herself on her hands as she watched light filter over the land below them.

“Until that day you take it a day at a time, and remember that Yasuhina-oba-san wouldn’t have wanted you to be sad, or to suffer because of her, you push on and remember the lessons that she gave you and respect them and her memory, you train hard and get strong so that next time someone precious to you is in trouble maybe you’ll be strong enough to be there beside them to keep them from harm, do your best to make her proud,” Kushina nodded slowly scrubbing away the tears that had started to dribble down her cheeks.

“It’ll be hard, especially at first, but I’ll help you push through and I won’t let you forget her either because she was special to me too, not as much or in the same ways as she was to you, but I still miss her just the same,” Riko admitted quietly.

Sniffling Kushina scooted closer to her and lay her head on Riko’s shoulder, taking comfort as the other girl gently petted her hair. It was quiet and peaceful watching the sunrise together on the top of the Hokage monument, and Kushina wondered if maybe they should make this their new tradition here in Konoha together.

After a long moment she hesitantly broke the silence because the curiosity had begun to eat her ever since Riko had mentioned them earlier, “Aneki, what were your parents like?”

Riko fought a flinch, knowing she’d invited this upon herself she chose her words carefully, trying to give Kushina as much information as she could without having to lie to her.

“My tou-chan was a strong man, someone who always believed in fighting for his ideals, and a big prankster. He loved to laugh and tell jokes. It got on my kaa-chan’s nerves sometimes, drove her up the wall really, but he adored her, had ever since the first moment he met her, and she learned to love him too. He was also pretty protective of the two of us, always careful, the one thing he always took seriously was our safety,” or at least, that’s what she’d gleaned from Remus and Sirius when they’d talked about him.

“My kaa-chan, she was beautiful. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone told me she was related to the Uzumaki she had the right hair for it,” Riko told her shooting the other redhead a smile and gently tugging one of her ruby red locks, “They always told me I looked just like her when I was her age, and I remember her eyes were the same as mine, exact same color, shape, everything.”

“She was also warm and loving and fiercely protective of us,” Riko turned her gaze back out over the village smiling softly at the memory of the woman who’d loved her more than life, “She had a fierce temper too, fiery and passionate, however when she did get angry it never lasted very long.”

“They sound nice,” Kushina told her quietly before offering, “I never knew tou-chan, he died before I was born, and I never asked kaa-san about him too much because it made her really sad, but I know he was strong, and brave and he loved me and his village, but that’s about all. I wish I’d met him, or that I’d asked to know more about him. I sometimes wonder what he’d think of me. Kaa-san always said he would’ve adored me, but it would’ve been nice to hear it from him you know.”

“Aishina-ojiji-san told me he died a hero, protecting the village he loved, that’s why I want to protect people too the way he and kaa-san did, you know,” Kushina admitted quietly, “Do you think they would’ve approved of me taking over for Mito-oba-san?”

“I think that they would’ve been a little sad that you need to take on such a heavy burden, the same way I’m sad, but I also think they’d be immensely proud of you, you’re a hero Shina-chan for doing this, even if no one but you, me, Mito-sama, and Hokage-sama ever know or acknowledge it. I want you to remember that,” Riko pondered for a minute then decided to keep going with her confession of her past. She thought it might help Kushina.

“My parents died protecting me,” Kushina jerked startled at the confession and turned to look at her Aneki in surprise.

“There was a man looking for me, because he heard I had a special power, my parents went into hiding to try and keep me safe,” Riko continued stoutly ignoring Kushina’s shocked stare, “They only told their very close and most trusted friends, where they were going in order to keep it secret, these friends had been close to my tou-chan almost all their lives just like you and me, they were best friends but one of them desperately wanted power and the man looking for me was very powerful, and so he told the man where to find us in the hope of getting some of his power for himself.”

“How could he do that? They trusted him you know!” Kushina gasped horrified. She couldn’t even comprehend betraying her very best friend, she would die first.

“He wasn’t like you and me Shina-chan. He was weak, and greedy, a cowardly power hungry sycophant who didn’t hold his friendship with my tou-chan as sacred and precious the way my tou-chan did with him,” Riko explained bitterly. Pettigrew was long gone now of course, she’d killed him herself to avenge her parents and Sirius and she hoped he had gone straight to hell, the little rat deserved it.

“The powerful man found us, my parents weren’t expecting it, they thought they were safe, so they weren’t even armed,” Kushina was surprised and angry on her friend’s behalf, appalled that anyone could have betrayed her family like this.

“My tou-chan yelled at my kaa-san to take me and run, he would try to hold him off, even though he knew he would die, and my kaa-chan,” Riko paused and took a deep breath to steady herself. She was surprised at how emotional she was getting, but if she thought about it, this was really the first time she was telling the story to someone of her own free will, absently noting that her ability to bottle things up was probably extremely unhealthy, “My kaa-chan knew she couldn’t escape so she took me upstairs and put me in my bed, and started to mutter under her breath, gathering her chakra.”

“Now you need to understand this next part I only figured out recently Shina-chan, and it’s something I hope you will never tell anyone,” Riko warned waiting for Kushina’s nod and her quiet ‘I promise’, “I think what she did was something of a very advanced sealing array or the equivalent of it, but she didn’t have enough power for it.”

“The man came in the room and he tried to get my kaa-chan to move away, he wasn’t going to kill her he just wanted me, wanted to get rid of my special power so I never became a threat to him, you must know Shina-chan that life is a force even more potent than chakra and willing sacrifice has a certain power all its own,” she explained grimly, “I have no doubt there are seals out there that require the willing sacrifice of the creator in order to work properly and this is what my kaa-chan did.”

“He killed her, right in front of me, and that powered my protection, but he didn’t know that, so he turned to me, intent on killing me, but my kaa-chan’s protection was too strong, powered with her sacrifice he could not touch me, the moment he tried he was blown to pieces, and then I was alone,” Riko explained quietly, allowing Kushina to wrap her arms around her in a comforting embrace.

Kushina had the feeling there was more to it than that, like how Riko got to wherever her parents had been hiding her to the place her mother found her, and how she got to be good at some of the things she did automatically like cooking or cleaning, or how the man knew about Riko’s ability in the first place when it wasn’t something that would’ve been spread around.

However she knew better than to push, and she felt honored that Riko had shared even as much as she had with her, especially when she knew her own kaa-san had asked the other girl about it before and Riko had refused to respond.

She knew Riko trusted her, and adored her more than anyone else in the entire world, it was something she truly appreciated, and she promised herself she would never, never betray her best friend, just as she knew Riko would never betray her.

Together the two watched the sun as it finished coming up over the horizon, casting its rays on their new home, and admiring its beauty, each lost in thought but appreciating that neither of them were alone right now, they had each other, and while it would be a long while yet before Kushina got over the death of her mother, she’d taken the first steps today, and that was what mattered.