"A canary in a gilded cage."
"Eh? What?"
"I mean you—you're like a canary kept in a cage. You look glamorous, but in reality, you have no freedom at all."
Kushina had told him and Mikoto herself that she'd been chosen as the next Nine-Tails jinchuriki, so Yuzuru had no concern about bringing it up.
At his words, Kushina froze.
Then her lips puckered and her eyes went wet.
"You… what do you know? I've already prepared myself to accept that fate."
"I came to Konoha for this very reason in the first place!"
"Do you like that fate?" Yuzuru asked evenly.
"What does liking it change?"
"If you don't like it, then resist."
Yuzuru pressed a hand to the top of her head and raised his voice. "Why accept someone else's arrangement? Why can't you do what you want?"
"Blindly compromising will only lead to others oppressing you even more."
"They're already restricting you from leaving the village before you even become jinchuriki. After you do—then what?"
"Will you be monitored even while you sleep? Will you have to report to the Hokage just to go out shopping?"
"There are things Lady Mito should have told you."
That was all it took. The grievances she'd been holding back flooded out. Tears spilled down Kushina's cheeks as she murmured, "But… I want everyone's acknowledgment…"
"Why care so much about other people's eyes?" Yuzuru snorted. "Does their approval really matter?"
"Approval bought by compromise—will that make you happy?"
Looking into his dark eyes, Kushina felt strength drain from her limbs.
She sank into a crouch, burying her head in her arms, and sobbed. "I… I don't want to be a jinchuriki. I don't want to be watched every moment. I want to go outside on missions with my comrades like everyone else…"
"But… I really don't know what to do…"
She was young, and the Land of Whirlpools had been destroyed. Even if she hated the path laid out for her, she didn't know how to resist—much less have the power.
Hearing her finally voice what was in her heart, Yuzuru's tone softened.
He sighed and sat beside her. "Kushina, those who truly acknowledge you won't force you to do anything."
"Take us Uchiha. Most villagers dislike us. So what?"
"Should we change ourselves to win their approval?"
"An Uchiha who plays politics and smiles at everyone—would that still be Uchiha?"
Kushina couldn't help lifting her head to think—and suddenly laughed through her tears.
"What is it?" Yuzuru asked, puzzled.
"Nothing. I just pictured you smiling sweetly at everyone. It felt… wrong," she said, shaking her head.
"Exactly." Yuzuru smiled. "Kushina, what do you actually want?"
"I want lots and lots of friends," she said softly. "I want to do the things shinobi are meant to do. I don't want to be monitored for every little thing…"
"But if I don't become the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, a lot of people might be hurt—some might even die…"
"Yuzuru, what do you think I should do?"
"Answers like that never come from someone else's mouth. You'll have to figure it out yourself."
It was a deliberately vague reply.
As things stood, she clearly rejected becoming a jinchuriki. But the so-called Will of Fire had seeped into her, and moral obligations had boxed her in, so she accepted it in silence.
Which meant this: if he could make her completely disillusioned with Sarutobi Hiruzen and that creed, she wouldn't keep wavering.
And then his plan to whisk her away would be much easier.
Yes.
After all these days together, Yuzuru had decided to take Kushina with them when the clan relocates.
He was fated to be an enemy of Sarutobi and the rest, and he had no intention of leaving behind a perfect Nine-Tails counter as Konoha's combat power.
The day Sarutobi realized the Uchiha and the future Nine-Tails jinchuriki had both vanished… those expressions would be priceless.
He could hardly wait.
But Yuzuru wasn't in a hurry.
Kushina had lived in the village for years, under Sarutobi's subtle influence. A few sentences wouldn't undo that.
Today, he only meant to pry open a hairline crack in her heart.
When the time came, that tiny crack would be enough to trigger an earthquake that toppled everything.
Because, if he remembered right, something outrageously unfair would happen to Kushina before long.
With a nudge, she'd be thoroughly disillusioned with the village leadership.
"What about you?" Kushina bumped his shoulder, snapping him from his thoughts. "What's your dream?"
Yuzuru considered, then said firmly, "To become strong enough that everyone I care about can live freely, exactly as they wish."
"Never worrying about money. Never being coerced by force."
"Even if I have to defy the whole world."
The air itself seemed to still.
Kushina could hear the resolve in his voice.
'Everyone he cares about… living freely.'
'Even if he has to defy the world…'
She repeated the words, heart thudding faster.
Who were the people Yuzuru cared about?
If she was one of them… could he make it possible for her to do what she wanted?
One thought after another flickered through her mind…
Yuzuru reached out and brushed away the last traces of moisture on her cheek.
Kushina jolted as if waking from a dream.
She took two quick steps back, like a startled rabbit, and headed for the door.
"Yuzuru, don't tell Mikoto about today."
She blurted it out, her face going scarlet, and ran without looking back.
Yuzuru shook his head with a smile.
He hadn't been trying to take advantage; the moment had simply carried them along.
—
Hokage Building.
Hokage Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Kushina walking down the street within a crystal ball, his pipe clicking softly between his teeth.
Just then, the office door swung open under a rough hand, and a man with narrow eyes in a black-gray kimono stepped inside.
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