Several days later, Uzu sat on the ground in her room, staring intently at a piece of paper in front of her.

Alright … sit down in seiza (like, sitting with your butt on your foot soles? Just look it up) … prepare the ink … draw the foundation.

She picked up her brush, the one Tsunade had given her, and dipped it into the ink, making sure not to use too much but also not using too little.

For days now, she had been testing out the perfect amount of ink needed. Finally, she had figured it out, from now on, she just needed to guide her hands to follow her memory.

Thankfully, she had steady hands in this life … otherwise this would have been a lost cause.

Dipping the brush onto the paper, she drew a perfect circle.

The Uzumaki-style Fuuinjutsu foundation.

The explosion seals symbols were …

As she focused on which symbols to draw, she infused the chakra concentrated at the tip of her brush with images of destruction, fire and smoke.

Fuuinjutsu was all about the intent you have when drawing the various symbols.

There is no correct alphabet or one symbol for one thing.

You could draw whatever you wanted, as long as there was structure in your Seal and you properly infused enough intent into it, it would do what you wanted it to do.

However … things could go wrong if you were inattentive for even one second. If your intent wavered or changed during the drawing of the symbol, then it would fail. The seal could not be used.

Soon enough, a clean and structured explosion seal lay in front of her.

Looking at it, she knew that it was a perfect copy of the basic explosion seal symbols that was widely used in the ninja world. Just, she used the Uzumaki foundation instead of basic foundations other Fuuinjutsu-users used.

All beginners started by copying the symbols of seals that already existed before even trying to create their own.

Her goal was to create hundreds of explosion seals, so she could create them without thinking too much about it, so that only the intent of creating an explosion seal would be enough to create the same effect as imagining wide-spread destruction.

Another aspect of the Uzumaki seal foundation was that her seals would always be stronger and more stable than other seals because it was the heritage of hundreds of years of research. If it weren’t at least a bit stronger than normal Fuuinjutsu, then what was the use of being of Uzumaki heritage?

Carefully picking up the paper and laying it out to dry next to her, she started drawing the next seal.

Again, she started with the foundation before carefully infusing the next symbols. A few minutes later, a perfect copy of the earlier seal lay right next to it.

Not stopping even for a second, she started with the next seal.

Soon enough, the ground near her was covered in seals, there was no space left to lay down another, she needed to stop and let them dry.

With every seal she drew, she needed less time to complete it and thus also less chakra.

Every single one of these seals looked the same, as if they had been printed out. That’s the ability of the Uzumaki. Their affinity for Fuuinjutsu was real, so that even after only days of studying she was able to create tens of explosion seals in one session.

Slowly she got up from her seiza position and stretched her limbs.

Staring down at herself, she pulled down her black shorts that had slipped up her hips when she sat.

Making sure not to step onto any paper, she slowly moved out of her room and opened the door.

She made her way through the house, looking to just distract herself for a bit as she waited for the ink to dry.

It had taken her a good few hours to finish those seals and the special ink needed time to dry, so she had at least another few hours of time now to whatever.

“Mom?” She called out softly.

Nothing.

She sent out chakra waves to properly assess her surroundings.

What time is it anyway? She is probably still in the office or at the hospital.

She soon reached the living room and sure enough, it was already darkening outside.

Street lanterns turned on, lighting up the streets for various night activities shinobi and civilians liked doing.

She decided to meet her Mom to get some medical scrolls to study while waiting for the seals to dry.

Moving towards the seal door hidden deep inside the Hokage tower, she stopped to put on black sandals that showcased her red toenails.

While she didn’t exactly like sandals, she liked seeing her toenails that she literally did not need to paint. They stayed as they were at all times, they did not even grow.

Really, when they created this body, they really outdid themselves. I love it, this is perfect.

Her long red hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, swinging from side to side as she walked down the long corridors of the hidden Senju compound.

The Senju knew how to properly create a hidden place just for themselves … it’s a shame they are nearly extinct.

Undoing another seal door, she stepped through it and finally came out in a hidden part of the Hokage tower that only the Hokage had access to.

Walking through the archive, holding many forbidden jutsu and dangerous information, she finally came upon another door leading towards the Hokage’s office.

Sending out a wave of chakra, she assessed the current situation in the office.

Naruto? He seems tired …

Seeing that only her Mom, Naruto, Jiraiya, Shizune and a few loyal Anbu were close, she decided to enter the office, not caring about their topic of conversation.

As she opened the door and entered the office, she noticed that 4 pairs of eyes instantly focused on her.

She tilted her head at their surprised expressions.

Focusing on Naruto for a second, she noticed that his chakra was nearly depleted, clearly a sign of vigorous ninjutsu training. He probably trained a lot, or so she thought, seeing that his chakra reserves were so much bigger than her own.

During her Fuuinjutsu training, she used a lot of chakra as well, but the amount was so small compared to her already big reserves that it refilled by the time she started the next explosion seal.

She predicted that the amount of chakra she needed for more complicated and time-consuming seals would only increase exponentially.

I need to find more chakra to absorb … also, that pleasant feeling of completely devouring other people is … addictive. Her eyes widened slightly at the thought, before she smiled to herself.

Looking away from Naruto, she focused on Tsunade: “Mom, can you give me some medical scrolls? I don’t have anything to do.”

The woman’s surprised expression warped into one of gentle affection as she nodded. Tsunade looked at Shizune: “Give her the scrolls I prepared.”

Shizune quickly nodded and ran to a cupboard adjacent to the table, fishing out a few scrolls and hurrying over to Uzu to hand her the scrolls.

“Thanks.” Uzu said softly, looking at Shizune and Tsunade. They only smiled and looked back at Jiraiya and Naruto, intending to continue whatever they were doing previously.

Uzu carefully carried the scrolls and moved back to the hidden door, not forgetting to look back at Jiraiya and Naruto one last time.

A giggle escaped her lips as she looked at Jiraiya’s dumbfounded expression, he probably hasn’t heard about her and her Mom’s relationship yet.

Naruto had a soft smile on his face as he looked at her, but she could see the deep exhaustion in his eyes. His eyes held a certain amount of lifelessness in them, just like her own had in her past life.

Bags under his eyes, signifying a lack of sleep. Insomnia. Probably caused by nightmares. I mean, how would he not have nightmares …

In her time with Tsunade, she had heard about the treatment he had received in the village beginning from an early age.

And … honestly … it was so much worse than in canon.

Not much was known about his time in the orphanage, as if someone had deleted that information from the records. But there were many reports about the treatment he had received in the streets of Konoha.

Often adults ganged up on him to cut at him with knives and beat him severely so that several of his bones broke. Often, they just left him to bleed to death in some dark alley. For some reason, when these things happened, the Anbu that were supposed to protect him had always only found him after the attack had already stopped. As if someone was purposefully making sure that they could never save him. Or maybe they never even wanted to protect him. And what about Hiruzen …

And that wasn’t even all of it.

Even in my old world, I wondered just how he endured all that and still grew up to be the person that he was.

In this reality, however, he should have long broken down. I don’t even know how he can trust anyone … no, does he even trust anyone? Or does he just pretend that he does? Honestly, I do not know enough about him to have any real knowledge about his emotional state. And even if I knew about it, what could I do? I never understood how to care for others …

I always thought that meeting him would show me what the sun was like, but … it wasn’t him that did that. Mom was the one that … hugged me and cared for me, even if I don’t feel like talking, she patiently sits next to me and just spends time with me. She makes me feel safe and protected, which is something I always wanted.

I’ve realized far too late that this is what I needed in life. Genuine warmth and trust. Hugs. Affection that is openly shown. And something to do that actually catches my attention.

Losing myself in the art of Fuuinjutsu was the second-best thing that ever happened to me.

Uzu snapped out of her thoughts and decided to smile widely at Naruto before finally walking out of the office and into the hidden archive.

As she disappeared, she noticed his lingering gaze on her hips.

Pervert, she giggled softly.

After stepping through the door with a small smile on her face, it closed behind her and morphed to become a part of the wall that it was before.

…

She knew that whatever Naruto experienced was something that her own suffering could never compare to.

And she probably could never understand the pain that lingers on his soul. Those scars … the knowledge that no one will save you when you need them the most, those thoughts that were proven to be real so many times leave scars so deep that they may never heal.

Nobody was there for him when he needed them the most … and why? Well … because his father made him the vessel for everything that the village hated. Because the third Hokage failed to keep his promise to Naruto’s parents.

And that wasn’t even all … Uzu did not want to even imagine what happened in the Orphanage. Though, for the sake of understanding more about Naruto, she would love to know everything about him.

Concealing her presence, she walked through the forest. She decided that she would practice her Fuuinjutsu outside today.

She felt a familiar presence following her, trying hard to conceal his chakra, but her waves managed to capture his heartbeat either way … it was of no use to conceal only chakra against her.

Ignoring the Anbu, she continued walking, soon reaching a rather big lake.

Observing the surrounding area for a bit, she decided that this was the right place for today.

She reached into her pouch, pulling out one of her storage scrolls that she created herself.

“Release.” She mumbled, and a white blanket appeared on the ground next to her.

A low table, brush, ink and a stack of paper appeared next.

She reached down to take off her sandals and sat down on the white blanket.

Sitting down in her usual seiza, she closed her eyes, gathering her concentration.

She spent a few minutes thinking about which kind of seals she would create today.

She had already moved on from explosion seals and storage seals. They were the particularly easy ones.

She had even started creating custom versions of these particular seals.

The time needed for drying the seals bothered her, so she created a storage seal with the effect of accelerated time infused into it. Normally you want time to stand still in the storage scroll, so this was a personal seal. Her own creation. Though it was only a variation of a widely known seal, she had still felt joy upon achieving that. Joy at achieving something that she worked for was something that she did not experience in her previous life. It made her feel good about herself.

It had taken several times to create a seal that would automatically release dried papers, she just couldn’t be bothered to wait for every single paper to dry and properly count the time it needed. If it were left in there too long, the seal would fade and the paper would turn to dust, as all things do when the laws of time affect them too much.

Her storage scroll would only accept seals into it and would transfer them to another normal storage scroll once they finished drying. This way, she could continue drawing until she either ran out of papers, lost concentration or ran out of chakra.

It was efficient and worth the effort. She had several storage scrolls filled with enhanced explosion seals at home. She didn’t exactly know what to do with them as she would probably never need that many in her life.

She just drew them to gain more experience in her Fuuinjutsu. She needed to enhance her precision and muscle memory to new levels if she wanted to learn a higher level of Fuuinjutsu.

Today, however, she would start drawing silence seals that helped in concealing conversations or if used on people, they would silence their voice. Another seal she would start working on soon was the concealing seal. It helped in concealing the presence of items, buildings and stuff. It did not work that well on people though.

As the hours passed, she gradually changed her full storage scroll for a new empty one to continue creating seals.

As the sun slowly set, she felt a presence approach, making her raise her brush and nearly lose her concentration. Upon realizing who it was, however, she resumed her craft and finished the seal just as the presence arrived next to her.

She laid down her brush and raised her head to look at the young man standing next to her: “Naruto.”

He looked down at her with a small smile on his face before plopping down onto the white blanket.

His signature jacket was opened, revealing a fish-net shirt beneath it that helped stop knives from cutting into skin.

The shirt stuck snugly against his muscles, making them stand out.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt your drawing.”

She laughed softly: “Don’t worry, it’s alright. How are you?”

“I’m okay …” He said, not sounding very convincing at all.

He still had his signature smile on his face though, like a mask he never took off.

She looked at his face, noticing the bags below his eyes.

He is getting worse.

Uzu felt a cold feeling emerge deep inside of her … she did not want him to feel like this. She didn’t know if they could be … called friends, but she cared for him, that is something that she knew, even if she knew nothing else, that was something she was sure of.

She felt connected to him and seeing him like that, it hurt her.

Right, she could never understand his pain, but she at least wanted to try … helping him.

She knew that she had never managed to help anyone before, and she probably only caused more trouble and pain … but she meant well … most of the time.

In her old life, she was consumed by bitterness and hatred so deeply rooted inside of her that she hated everything and everyone around her. And if she didn’t hate others, then she hated herself. There were only these two options. Destroy others, which she lacked the strength and willpower for, or destroy herself … which she strangely loved and enjoyed. She relished in her own emotional pain, it was what brought her joy, it was the only thing that was real.

How dare coincidence force such a life upon me?

Why are they forcing me to live, when I never once wanted it?

Happiness is something that I’m just not fated to have … and if I can’t have that, then death is the only path available for me.

Why … how … do they deserve to have what they have? Luck? Really?

What a joke.

And … honestly … if I don’t hate, then what do I have left?

Or rather … what did I ever have, except for life, which is literally the last thing that I ever desired.

Snapping out of her spiraling mind, she looked back at Naruto, seeing his eyes slowly closing and his posture relaxing.

“Sleep.” She said softly.

He nodded before looking at her and saying weakly: “Will you take my hand?”

Without thinking much about it, she stretched out her hand and firmly interlocked her fingers with his, feeling the warmth of his calloused hand against her soft skin.

His hand reflected his effort at getting stronger. Calloused hands, while being a symbol of shinobi, were also a symbol of their effort and dedication.

She admired the people that had hands like that, but she equally liked her soft, unblemished skin, and seeing that she never used kunai, or any other weapon, she never got around to getting callouses anyway.

Her chains were much faster and easier to control. Blocking any kind of thrown weapon was easy for her, she did not need a kunai of her own to do that. She could easily capture swords with her chains too, never once had a weapon touched her. Well, not that she had fought many fights anyway … maybe she would regret this decision of not practicing with weapons later.

Sure, she had the muscle memory of using them implanted in her body, but she never once even held one in her hands, who knows how good she was with them in an actual fight.

Soon enough, Naruto fell asleep and she could hear his soft breathing next to her.

For hours, she held his hand and watched the peaceful expression he had on his face.

If she could at least make sure that he slept well, then she would gladly help. She wanted to witness the sun that he was supposed to be …

Though she also couldn’t deny that watching his handsome face wasn’t an alluring thing in itself, of course, she never let any of that show on her face.

As the sky gradually grew darker, the Anbu guard slowly walked towards her, letting her know that it was time to leave.

She looked at him and nodded, signifying that she would soon get up.

Taking another look at Naruto’s face, she reached out her free hand to gently stroke his hair, causing him to stir and open his eyes.

He looked at her with a questioning gaze.

“Sorry, I need to leave. I’ll be here again.” She said softly, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Letting go of his hand, she stood up, stretched and gathered her things.

She had achieved a lot today.

She filled several storage scrolls with useful seals and made sure that she would never run out of them.

To be honest, the seals she focused on were easy, she could learn them after a few tries and then easily create perfect copies from the blueprints saved in her mind.

She never forgot anything that she didn’t want to forget, which was clearly a feature of her enhanced physique.

She put on her shoes and looked at Naruto who yawned but seemed much more rested than before.

“Let’s go.” She said quietly, waiting for Naruto to follow her.

Silently, they returned to the streets of the village.

Upon reaching the Hokage tower’s entrance, Uzu stopped, looking at Naruto who walked next to her.

“Thank you … for staying with me and holding my hand.” He said, smiling at her … though, this smile seemed different. Because, even in the dark atmosphere of the night, his face seemed to light up and shine brightly.

It was a genuine smile, one she hadn’t seen from him before.

Seeing his genuine happiness, she couldn’t help but smile back at him as well.

How could she not, when she felt warm deep inside when looking at his smile.

Warm like the sun itself, she thought as she turned around and slowly stepped through the dark Hokage tower.

Until she turned around the corner, she could still feel his eyes glued to her back, like always, making her giggle.

Even though he is so deeply scarred and hurt … he is still able to care for someone. It’s admirable. I should really work on a seal that prevents nightmares, but how would I even go about creating something like that?

 

…

 

A/N: There we go, another chapter. Let me know what you think!