I woke up in complete darkness, same as before. Only this time my "spherical vision" was almost completely cut off, and everything around me was suspiciously warm and damp.
But most noticeable of all, I was currently wrapped up inside a holy-shit level of powerful energy.
Did some creepy thing eat me? was the first thought that flashed through my mind, but I pretty much dismissed it right away.
I could clearly see my body had changed. It was smaller—shaped like a fetus, about five months along… To be honest, I'm no expert, but the transformation itself seemed pretty damn interesting. Even more interesting than another change I haven't mentioned yet: my, let's say, power had grown a lot.
I could feel the increase in my power almost in percentages: after ending up in that place, my soul had become more than 3.5 times stronger. But it was a weird metric—it somehow factored in not only the amount of energy, but also its density in some way I couldn't explain. If I multiplied both sensations together, it came out like the energy in my core had grown by about 6.5 times. Some weird bullshit.
Bullshit or not, going back to the main problem: apparently I was encased in energy that utterly dwarfed my own.
To feel it better, I tried to stick a cord of my own energy out past the edge of my body, to "look around" and "poke" things in a different way. But the moment it touched the outer energy, I jerked back from a scorching sense of hostility. Like I'd plunged my hands into weak acid, only with a very clear feeling that something was trying to erase me… not super hard, but the intent was there.
Still, I got some picture of things.
The thing containing me was soaked in this energy, but dozens of times more of it was flowing through what looked like its veins. A circulatory system? I couldn't even touch those properly—my soul energy got blown away almost instantly, not leaving me a chance. But one brush against a "vein" was enough for me to grasp the shape of that system, and I stopped thinking it looked like a blood vessel network at all—because it didn't. It also let me better gauge the power level of the creature I was currently inside… and if I'd had, say, three times less energy, then just in raw volume it would surpass me by four orders of magnitude. Ten. Thousand. Times.
That bit of information knocked me out of it for a few seconds. What kind of monster was I inside?.. Though, judging by my current situation, "imprisoned" wasn't exactly the right word.
Focusing, I carefully checked my own body again, this time a lot more consciously.
No, I mean, I did look human, right?
My eye snagged on something, but I shelved it for the moment. I was almost sure the body was human—just at some stage of development… and inside a womb. From that, I could conclude the creature I was inside of was technically my mother now. And I'd somehow ended up in a new body.
As for how it happened—in that part the logic chain got fuzzy: I'd been sucked into some space filled with energy I absorbed, and the cause of that was… my experiment to turn off the "backlight"? I can totally believe I missed something, and the cause-and-effect chain is anything but solid. But without more info I just have to work with what I've got.
So now I had at least some idea how I'd gotten here. And before moving on to "what now?", I went back to the thing that had caught my attention. When I focused on the energy system… of my mother, something at the edge of my awareness poked me—like I had something similar inside myself. To my surprise, by zeroing in on that thought and kind of projecting it into my soul energy, I started seeing a similar system in my own body more and more clearly.
Same as last time, as I changed my approach—using sensations to interact with the unknown—my mind started creaking. "Shifting" it into something I didn't understand to grope around for something I also didn't understand was, yeah, not exactly easy.
After a while, entirely new sensations from this new energy system began seeping into my mind. A slow, steady flow.
This new energy was oversaturated with a whole ocean of feelings I'd never had in my soul energy. If my power was like pure water, then this was like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of flavors and emotions, made of two currents: one warm, alive, the other colder, more spiritual.
I tried touching the new energy with my soul energy—but I just couldn't. My soul tendril passing through the new energy felt like brushing some barely-there fog. There was something there, but I had no idea if those sensations were even real or just my brain bullshitting me with phantom input.
Weird… My mother's energy, by comparison, had been harshly blocking and shredding my soul energy. I couldn't figure out why, other than, "well, this energy belongs to my body, so it doesn't mess with my soul." I just put that question aside for later. Maybe for never, heh.
This new energy system had a pretty funny shape, though. This little flame… Wait. Hold up.
I stared harder.
Froze.
Burned myself on my mother's system again while examining it.
Realized—and holy shit.
The chakra circulatory system from the anime Naruto. No fucking way.
Look how far I've fallen… I actually ended up as some isekai insert into the anime I used to be into in my past life. If I'd known, I would've prepped way better. What do I have in my memory? Right… the anime itself, though I watched it ages ago and probably forgot half of it, and a shit-ton of fanfics… What the hell was I doing with my past life?
Anyway, now I had to recall everything I knew about this world. Any info could be valuable… I must've really gone off the deep end if I'm treating this whole "transmigrated"—yeah, "transmigrated," since I haven't actually "reincarnated" yet—thing as something more or less normal.
Eh… Fine. If that's reality now, I've got to adapt. What do I remember about Naruto? Actually, a lot. Chakra in this world either appeared, or got concentrated, because of some failed attempt by two aliens to suck all life off the planet. They had some kind of falling out, and everything went to shit. That's if you believe the Naruto sequel anime—Boruto… which I really should've watched way more attentively. I don't remember anything besides the fact there were two aliens—a man and a woman. The second betrayed the first, took everything for herself, while the first had to run and hide for like a thousand years.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, one of the strongest beings in the world. The Rabbit Goddess, and probably a whole list of other terrifying titles I don't know. What matters is she's insanely strong… And a vague thought kept poking at me: comparing the power I felt from outside, it wasn't crazy to think she might actually be the mother of this physical body.
I reevaluated again.
No… Or rather, I wasn't sure. Yeah, a power almost four orders of magnitude higher than mine is insane. But it's not like I'm putting out mind-blowing numbers myself right now. I mean… for example, I'd managed to learn how to burp rainbows. I'm awesome, sure—but nowhere near omnipotent. Even if you multiplied my power by those three-thousand-something times, I kinda doubted it'd be enough for an Ōtsutsuki… Damn, if only the anime had detailed power stats for the characters. In numbers. That would be useful for me… But no, anime usually doesn't like "nerding out" with exact data. Although, if I remember right, I actually liked numbers. LitRPG was a pretty good genre, I was into it. Probably… If I live, I'll need to start systematizing the stuff I'm working with.
For now, I'm in a womb. Pretty much sure of that. I've got a fetal body that clearly shouldn't be able to think like this, but I can think just fine. And also…
I tried to wiggle the fingers on my hand, but only managed an awkward twitch with the whole arm. Yeah, I could feel my body. And judging by how it looked, I was going to be stuck here in the dark and this actually pretty pleasant warm dampness for a few more months.
So I'll spend that time replaying my memories about this world—Naruto and Boruto—and messing around with my soul energy inside my body. It's not getting out anyway—I'm basically sealed in.
What else is there to do? Guess I'll try moving my chakra. It's already flowing on its own, but maybe I can speed it up?
That's what I did for the time that followed. As it turned out pretty quickly, my new brain did work somehow, though it was probably only handling part of the thinking load. Because after maybe twenty minutes of entertaining myself, I felt tired. A different kind of tired, most likely physical, and I drifted off to sleep.
Sleeping in the womb turned out even nicer than… There. Nothing hurt, there was a pleasant feeling in my chest, and waking up wrapped in that softness was insanely good. Such a cozy, skin-tingling sensation—those first few times I didn't even want to wake up right away, just basked in the bliss over and over. But I couldn't stay like that forever, so I mixed it up with various energy exercises.
That's how the new cycles of a very pleasant existence began…
Over the months, I got used not only to my new state, but also to the one who was my whole world. I didn't know her name, hadn't seen her face, but I felt her. I felt joy in the slight stir of energy around me, fatigue in the steady slowing of her heartbeat, the muffled laughter coming from outside. It all became so familiar, so dear and calming.
Until it was time to be born.
AAHHHHHH!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! I screamed in my head as my mother's insides painfully clenched around me, trying to push me out.
"OH GOD, IT HURTS S-O-O-O-O-O-O-O MUCH!" A muffled female voice with incomprehensible moans reached me. The voice that had become so familiar and warm over the past months was now filled with searing agony.
Then my head was hit by an unpleasant cold, and the air stabbed through my hair like needles.
And life had been so good until now. Comfortable, nothing extra I had to do…
The outside world decided not to wait for me to make my own way out. I realized that when I felt something put on the crown of my head and then, somehow grabbing onto it, start to pull.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" my mother screamed.
Yeah, I'm freaking out too!
It felt like they weren't being very gentle with me, prioritizing speed over care.
A couple seconds later I reflexively opened my mouth and inhaled, and my lungs were hit with the unpleasant cold of air. Sounds got way louder, another scream from my mother rang in my ears like a damn alarm. Light—something I hadn't seen in so long—slammed into my eyes like burning knives, making me squeeze them shut even tighter.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
With that last scream, still pounding in my ears like a death knell, I was pulled out completely. Breathing was hard, my whole body was shaking from the strain…
Mom, you still alive in there? I asked mentally, kind of worried. Not that anyone could hear me. Everything felt like a blur; people were fussing around me, but I couldn't really sense anything properly.
Very soon, after a feeling of warm moisture, they apparently washed me. At the same time, everything around me started getting clearer. Sounds became distinguishable, though not any more understandable. My mind was mush; I couldn't process my surroundings properly.
"He's not crying?" They lifted me again onto… hands?… that slowly started forming a black-and-white picture in my mind.
I can see with my soul again? What's with the lack of color?
"He's breathing. It's all right, Kushina-chan."
My soul vision slowly expanded, letting me see more of the woman holding me: looked about sixty, loose robe, steady grip.
Another half second and I saw, very close—maybe a meter away—a girl of about twenty. She was also in a robe, something like a medical gown, and a cap. I still couldn't see color properly, but at least I could make out shapes inside the expanding sphere of vision.
No fucking way I'm being born again. Life was so much better last time when I didn't remember these sensations, flashed through my head.
After a bit more time, they moved me to a young woman lying on a table-bed, looking horribly exhausted. I couldn't tell the color, but she had long, straight hair.
"N-Naruto… Haaaah… I finally get to see you." They brought me up to her face. The ringing in my ears was slowly fading, and I started catching individual words. But that didn't help me much—I couldn't understand the language…
Sorry, but it was way nicer inside you. Ugh… screw this.
"Look, I'm a father! Ha-ha!" A guy around twenty, standing next to my mother's bed, was saying something while wiping away tears. He had medium-length spiky hair that fell down in two locks at the sides.
I don't get a word you're saying, but… thanks, I guess.
I reflexively reached for the girl's face. My body was so fragile. But I'd been with this woman for so long. That pleasant feeling in my chest when I looked at her? Was that… love?
"Childbirth has tired you out, I know, Kushina. But we need to completely seal the Kyuubi…" the guy said again, in words I still couldn't understand.
Wait. Just now Mom said "Naruto" while looking at me? And one of the words aimed at her was "Kushina"? And yeah, my body had those lines on the cheeks. Just great… So I'm Uzumaki Naruto now, huh…
"O-okay."
I focused on what the guy was doing. He put his hands on my mother's stomach, which, I now noticed, was covered with strange lines and circles of energy.
While I was lost in thought, the old lady who'd brought me to Mom carried me away again, stepping aside with the younger assistant.
Millimeter by millimeter, my vision kept spreading, soon reaching about three meters out. I don't think I could even control it… it was so hard to fit everything into my mental grip. I could see both women beside me more clearly now, as well as my mother and, as I now had to assume, my father. Minato—I remembered his name—kept doing something with the seal, making it fold in and get sucked inside.
My thoughts were cut off by a wave of unpleasant feeling.
I remembered that Naruto's birthday in the anime turned into a tragedy—both his parents died. But my mind was like frozen jelly, refusing to flow the right way and give me the mental images of why exactly it happened.
Instead, a dull ache started growing in my chest from a simple fact: the woman whose heartbeat had been my world these past months would soon die.
Floating away from the world, I suddenly felt like something metaphorical grabbed me and yanked me back into reality.
A picture started burning itself into my numb mind: a huge hand of a cloaked figure hanging over my face. In front of us, in slow motion, the older and younger women were falling. Their throats were slit, and I saw in crazy detail how the blood burst out of them under pressure.
With a heavy thud their bodies hit the floor, splattering it with blood.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" my scream, full of horror, echoed through the room. Goosebumps raced over my skin, my heart exploded into a frantic beat, the thudding echoing through my whole body. The nightmarish image of the murdered women wouldn't leave my head; I watched the sticky pool of blood spreading under them, and no matter how I tried, I couldn't "close my eyes" in my own mind.
"M-mph…!" A huge hand grabbed my head, muffling me. My whole being was flooded with anxiety. On reflex, tendrils of soul energy—what I'd been training with all this time—shot out of me, trying to stab into whoever had grabbed me. They just broke apart uselessly on his skin. His own chakra, circulating under it, was an unbreakable wall to my weak power. He didn't even react, like nothing had happened at all.
"Fourth Hokage… Minato. Step away from the jinchuriki," a deep, chilling voice rumbled above me. "Or your son dies."
"Wait! C-calm down," Minato backed away from Kushina, raising his hands in a placating gesture. But at her pained cry he immediately looked back— the beast inside the seal was breaking loose.
"You'd better follow your own advice," the intruder said, taking his hand off my frozen face and, with an imperceptible movement, pulling a kunai out of his sleeve. "I am perfectly calm."
Let me go, you fucking psycho piece of shit! was all I could do—scream mentally. I was on the edge of a full-blown meltdown. And to my surprise, he did let me go… by tossing me up, right into the path of the falling steel blade!
"AAAAAAH!"
"Naruto!" my mother shouted, turning toward me.
Swish
A hard jolt—and suddenly I was in the arms of Minato, who was crouched on the wall(!!).
Kshhhhh—my swaddling was now covered in ominously sizzling paper tags with kanji on them. This time my brain worked properly, instantly recognizing that those tags were about to blow like a grenade.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!" I screamed, doing my best to convey, Dad, save my ass!
The world smeared, my body got crushed by pressure for a moment, and then we were already out on a nighttime clearing, without the blanket. Less than a second later, an eardrum-busting explosion thundered behind us. The small stone building blew apart into shards of rock.
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" I screamed again, fully realizing what had just happened.
"You're not hurt… Shhh… easy," he tried to calm me. "It's okay…"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" My scream was carrying a whole bunch of meanings, most of them insults. I wanted to say: You inbred runt of a hyena and a buttfucked skunk, what the FUCK are you doing?! Mom was still in there! You got her killed, you dumbfuck! You couldn't throw that fucking blanket somewhere else?! Outside, for fuck's sake?! Like, literally into that fucking forest right in front of us?!
But I cut off my internal rant when it hit me that I couldn't see my mother or that shinobi in the smashed house. It was like they'd just vanished… Unlike the old lady and the young girl.
A lump rose in my throat as I focused again on their mangled bodies. Even under the pile of stones, I could still see them through the obstacles.
Before I could start throwing up from the sight, all my guts clenched and flipped over several times. With a soft pop of air, we moved to some room made mostly of stone and beams. The lump went back down, so nothing came out of my mouth. I noticed lots of gear bags around, and a three-pronged kunai hung from the ceiling.
"I have to save your mother before it's too late," he said, quickly laying me down on a bed that had been set up there. "Wait here a bit. You'll be safe here…"
Whoosh—saying that, the man who was apparently my father—most likely blond—vanished.
I'm out of non-swear words. What a fucking day…
For a moment, silence settled in my head. One more realization…
Fuck. And this still isn't the end. Next they're going to seal the Nine-Tailed Fox into me. My parents are going to die. And I'm about to get up close and personal with the God of Death.
My brain throbbed from the effort. I wanted to figure out how to escape this. But nothing came to mind. I really did not want to meet that scary-ass freak of a god…
A few seconds passed, panic still gnawing at me, when with a heavy clap of air my father appeared—with my mother in his arms.
She's alive… relief fluttered inside me… before bitterness washed through my insides from helpless despair. But not for long…
"W-why?" she asked something, and the man laid her down next to me, but she immediately pulled me close.
"No matter what happens, stay with Naruto," he said, quickly opening one of the cabinets and pulling out a cloak with flames along the bottom and kanji on the back.
"You won't even have time to blink before I'm back," he finished, then vanished in a flash.
"Good luck… Minato… Thank you…" Kushina barely murmured. "Naruto…"
She hugged me a little tighter.
My body, which had been on the edge of madness, somehow started to calm down.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump
The sound of her heart, so familiar… so soothing…
I hadn't even noticed how long it had been with me, or how close it had become.
Seconds ticked by as I lay there with my mother. Explosions boomed from outside, the air grew thick with something heavy that made me shiver in fear of the inevitable. At the same time, I felt myself being wrapped up by an energy that had grown much warmer. My mother's chakra, still just as mighty, but now a lot more gentle. Over time I felt it more and more clearly on me, subconsciously calming down further.
After a few more minutes, with another soft clap of air, we were moved again. Mom was back in Dad's arms, and I was in hers. Together we found ourselves at the edge of a nighttime forest.
"Let's put up a barrier," Minato suggested tiredly.
"My chakra is almost depleted…" Kushina said, and the air vibrated with released energy. Incredibly fast, expanding chains burst from her back. The air filled with the clanging of links. I couldn't see where they went—they left my sphere of vision—but I heard clearly:
"G-R-A-A-A-A-A!!!" came the helpless roar of the strongest tailed beast, and the ground beneath us shook. It was bound, not a shred of hope left.
I was feeling something similar. Something was about to happen… something that could very well end with my death… Or maybe Minato wouldn't summon the Shinigami after all?
My body started trembling with fear again.
Kushina almost collapsed, but Minato caught her—after first smoothly taking me so he wouldn't crush me.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, I didn't mean to wake you…" Kushina's soothing voice reached me. It didn't really help.
Then they started talking about something.
"Kushina…"
"I'll drag the Kyuubi back inside… and die with it still in me…" She drew a sharp breath. "That'll keep it from coming back for a while…"
Minato sighed heavily at her words, looking at my mother with pain in his eyes.
"Thank you… khh," two thin streams of blood ran from the corners of her lips. "For everything…"
"Kushina, you…" tears began gathering in my father's eyes. "You made me your husband… You made me the Fourth Hokage… You made me this boy's father… And I…"
"Don't be sad… Minato. I… I'm happy," a strained smile appeared on Kushina's face. "Happy that it's our son's birthday."
She took a heavy breath.
"If I regret anything… it's that I won't get to see Naruto grow up."
Minato's expression darkened even more. His head dropped, and a shadow slid over his face.
"Kushina, you don't have to take the fox with you," he said, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts. "We can use what's left of our chakra to see Naruto one more time."
"…Huh?" Mom looked at him in surprise.
"I'll use the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and seal half of the Kyuubi into Naruto. Sealing the whole bijuu is insanely hard… Right now it's physically and conceptually impossible. So I'll seal the other half inside myself…"
"But that's impossible for a non-jinchuriki! Wait, no! You can only do that if you use…"
"The Reaper Death Seal…" he confirmed grimly. "I can't let the bijuu be reborn without a jinchuriki. The balance of the tailed beasts between the villages would be ruined."
Images from the past flashed before the Fourth Hokage's eyes. Him listening to a man with long spiky hair and two lines under his eyes:
"You know, you really might be the child of prophecy."
"What child?" a younger Minato had asked back then.
"One day, in the near future, the shinobi world will be in danger."
And the child of prophecy will save it… echoed in the blond's thoughts now.
Kushina stared at Minato in shock.
"I know what you want to say… But Jiraiya-sensei said a revolution is coming to the shinobi world. And with it, great danger!" His eyes met hers again. "And today I learned two things. First: that masked man who attacked us—he's the herald of that danger. And Naruto will be the one to stop him. A jinchuriki who'll bring light to our future. I just… know it."
Somewhere in the distance, there was the rustle of something landing.
"But… Minato—"
Ignoring her attempt to stop him, my father gently set me down on the ground, then stood and ran through a series of hand seals.
"Just believe in him. After all, he's our son."
That's it… flashed through my head as I braced for the worst. Completely out of hope, I didn't even try to resist.
After the last seal, a strange silhouette slipped out of Minato's body, only to have its hair grabbed and yanked by a huge figure. With my soul vision, I watched an extremely thin being, vaguely human-shaped. Dressed in a baggy robe, with very long hair, and horns jutting from its head. In its hands, the God of Death held a short tanto; its clawed hands pulled open its own clothes. In one palm, it clutched a string of beads.
And… nothing? I noted with faint surprise that nothing was happening to me. Huh… I'd thought this "god" would be something like a guardian of the world who wouldn't tolerate a foreign soul… Guess I shouldn't have read those fanfics… got my expectations all twisted. I focused on the thing that had appeared. So what are you, then? I can't feel your soul. Where is it…? You pulled that thing out of my father… but I don't feel a soul in it either.
"As soon as I'm done with the tailed beast, I'll seal your chakra into Naruto too. You'll meet a grown-up Naruto faster than you think… The time will come when he tries to control the Kyuubi's power. When that happens, I want you there beside him—to help."
"He's our son… That's exactly why I don't want him to bear such a heavy burden alone."
"…"
"But why the Reaper Death Seal? You don't have to die… just so I can see him for a few minutes." Kushina's voice began to crack. "I wanted you to stay with him… to raise him!"
"…"
"…Why? Why are you sacrificing Naruto for the balance of the bijuu? For the village… and the country… Why are you sacrificing yourself for me?"
"Turning your back on your village and country… is no better than abandoning your own child," Minato's voice took on a calm certainty. He was sure of what he was saying. "You know that. You remember what happened to your village. You know the pain of growing up without a home… And you know that we're a family… of shinobi."
Kushina's eyes filled with conflicting emotions.
"Besides," Minato spread his hands a little, "even if I survived, I could never replace you."
"…" Her eyes widened in surprise.
"There are things Naruto needs to know, things I could never tell him myself. That's a mother's duty, and I want you to fulfill it. Even if you only get a few moments…" His eyes narrowed seriously. "I'm not doing this only for you… but for Naruto. Dying to make your son's life better… that's a father's duty."
"The Reaper Death Seal… It can't be?!" a hoarse voice, already tinged with age, shouted. It was a shinobi in a black jumpsuit, a helmet with protection, and a steel plate on his back. In his hands he gripped a thick staff.
He shot a sharp look at the Nine-Tails wrapped in chains, and at the dome that had it trapped, with a pair of shinobi inside. Glowing golden chains ran along the perimeter of the dome, forming the barrier.
"What's going on, Third-sama?!" asked one of the two ninja who had just arrived.
"We're too late. They've put a barrier around the Kyuubi!" The old man stepped up and pressed a hand to the invisible force field. "No way through…"
The beads wrapped around the God of Death's arm, and it became covered in black markings. The arm lengthened, spearing through the belly of Minato's soul, then through the stomach of his real body, and shot toward the tailed beast.
Circling the beast, the arm sprouted countless mouths and hands, sinking into its flesh.
"R-R-A-A-A-A!!!" the Nine-Tails roared. "Damn you, Fourth Hokage!"
"It's shrinking," said the third shinobi by the barrier, watching the huge beast. The chains no longer held it, now hanging with a loud clatter.
"I can't believe he actually used that technique…" the Third Hokage said. "But the fox is still here. He didn't seal it all!"
My mind sank into empty melancholy. My parents were saying something… but I couldn't understand them.
I don't remember my old parents… and now I have to lose the new ones.
So empty…
A fox's head grew out of the head of my father's soul-that-wasn't-a-soul… Eh… that's probably supposed to be funny.
Minato formed a few signs, and an altar with candles appeared beside us. Guess it's time…
Kushina coughed as Minato laid me on the summoned platform.
From the distance came the loud rattling of chains.
"Kushina, help me!" my father shouted, and from my point of view, both of my parents blurred into motion.
"R-R-R-A-A-A!!!" The roar of the Nine-Tails drowned out the crunch of tearing flesh. Minato and Kushina, shielding me with their backs, had stopped the descending claw of the Kyuubi.
The world around me dimmed. A heavy cold filled my body. Only the corners of my eyes burned with the warmth of falling tears.
Through a muffling haze, I heard a commotion; some long toad appeared, but I didn't pay attention. My whole focus was locked on yet another pair of torn bodies. And seeing these hurt much, much worse.
Drip
A drop of warm blood slid down the claw and landed on my stomach. It forced me to focus on the face it belonged to.
"N-Naruto…" blood dripped from her chin, staining her clothes in a pattern like red roses, "don't be a picky eater… eat a lot and grow up to be a big, strong boy! H-ha…"
Beads of sweat dotted her face; every word cost her a huge effort.
"Take a bath every day… go to bed early and sleep well! Make friends… as many as you like… But first make sure they're real friends… people you can trust… Just a few is enough!"
Kushina smiled sincerely, closing her eyes for a moment.
"And study your ninjutsu… I was never good at it. Maybe you'll do better. Everyone's good at something and bad at something else. Don't get upset if you can't do everything. Listen to your teachers at the academy… and remember: avoid the three shinobi taboos… don't borrow money if you can help it. Save what you earn on missions. Don't drink alcohol until you're twenty. And don't drink too much, or you'll wreck your body."
She paused briefly.
"As for women… Well, I'm a woman myself, so I don't really know what to tell you. But one day you'll want to get yourself a girlfriend… Just try not to pick a weirdo… Try to find someone like your mom…"
"And a fourth warning…" Minato's voice came from behind Kushina. "Watch out for Jiraiya-sensei!"
"…Ha… hu," a weak laugh escaped her. "Naruto, you're going to face a lot of pain and suffering… Remember who you are! Find yourself a goal… a dream! And don't stop until you reach it!"
"…"
"I'm sorry, Minato… That used up all our time…"
"It's… all right," my father said, smiling wider, even with just one eye open. "Listen to your chatty mom…"
With Minato's last words, everything was drowned in white light. The Eight Trigrams Seal had been activated.
_____
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