As we know, each ninja clan has its own unique characteristics and genetic traits that are distinct from other clans. For example, the Hatake clan and the Inuzuka clan both have the characteristics of being closely connected to and bonded with animals, specifically wolves and dogs.
The hierarchy within these clans mimics the hierarchy seen in packs of dogs and wolves, with leaders, healers, and protectors. Both clans also have a genetic advantage in possessing heightened senses similar to those of dogs and wolves.
Other clans, such as the Nara clan known for their intelligence, the Uchiha clan with their Sharingan eyes, and the Uzumaki clan, each have their own genetic traits as well.
The Uzumaki clan, in addition to their distinct red hair, is renowned for their strong affinity for chakra. The amount of personal chakra within their bodies always exceeds the normal production level of an average person or non-Uzumaki.
The advantage of this excessive chakra production is that they can easily use jutsu that require a significant amount of chakra. Furthermore, after expending large amounts of chakra, the Uzumaki clan members can quickly replenish the chakra they have utilized, much faster than the average person who has depleted their chakra.
This makes them formidable and highly skilled in battles.
However, there are drawbacks to the Uzumaki clan's genetic trait of rapidly producing a large amount of chakra. They struggle with controlling the flow of chakra within their bodies.
Additionally, outside of life-or-death situations, members of the Uzumaki clan find it challenging to contain the chakra within their bodies. If the chakra is held for too long, it can lead to an overload where they lose control of their emotions and behave aggressively, resembling wild animals.
In the Uzumaki clan, children are taught to occasionally release their chakra into the air. There are two possible outcomes when Uzumaki individuals release their pent-up chakra.
Firstly, they may become a beacon of chakra, where their chakra becomes visible and shoots upwards, significantly increasing their physical strength.
Alternatively, they may become natural sensors, releasing an explosion of chakra from their bodies, allowing them to easily sense their surroundings.
Unfortunately, Kushina, being of noble birth in the Uzumaki clan, possesses both of these chakra release modes within her. The mode she exhibits depends on her emotions.
When she experiences extreme anger, the pent-up chakra within her body flies out, causing her long red hair to float in the air and her physical strength to multiply.
When feeling nervous or scared, Kushina's chakra spreads throughout her body, enabling her to sense her surroundings as far as her chakra extends from her body.
Currently, she is feeling a sense of panic and anxiety as Kushina can feel her chakra spreading across the entire city after bottling it up for a whole day. This overwhelms Kushina's head, causing her to crouch down on the floor amidst the bustling crowd in Sendai. She holds her head, feeling slightly lightheaded.
Kushina can sense the curious gazes of passersby directed at her strange appearance, crouching in the middle of the road. She can also feel the presence of peculiar and deformed creatures, scattered throughout the corners of Sendai, that seemingly go unnoticed by ordinary civilians.
These creatures feel unnatural and exude a negative energy that makes Kushina feel nauseous and even dizzier when she imagines the foul odour emanating from that negative energy.
Whatever it is, it's not chakra energy, and Kushina despises it.
"Excuse me, are you alright? Do you need any help?" a woman standing nearby asks.
Kushina looks up from burying her face in her lap and sees a woman about her age, with short black spiky hair, extending her hand towards Kushina to help her stand up.
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"It's going to be fine", she said.
"I will not go for too long", she said.
"You're gonna have great bonding time with your son", she said.
'What a damn liar' Toji thought, recalling his wife's words before she left.
His wife had just told him an hour ago that she was going to the supermarket, leaving him alone with their 7-month-old son, Megumi, inside their apartment. But now, Megumi suddenly woke up from his usual long nap, contrary to his baby habits of snoozing like a champ.
Toji and his wife had been worried before, thinking something might be wrong with their baby, who could sleep all day without a care in the world. They even took him to the doctor to make sure he wasn't sick or experiencing any strange conditions.
The doctor just chuckled and said, "Oh no, don't worry! Your son doesn't have any health issues. He just has a hobby of sleeping."
But here they were, 30 minutes after his wife left, and Megumi woke up, crying loudly and startling Toji, who was watching TV in the living room.
Toji immediately jumped to conclusions, thinking that some sort of curse must have entered Megumi's room. He quickly retrieved his secret stash of cursed weapons hidden behind the closet and kicked open the door, causing the hinges to come loose in the process.
BAMM.
Toji's body finally relaxed as he saw that nothing strange had entered his son's room. He approached his crying baby in the crib. Toji sniffed his son, relieved to find no signs of a dirty diaper or any accidents. So why was his son still crying?
"Hey, kiddo. Are you hungry?" Toji asked, staring at his son, Megumi, lying on the baby bed. Megumi paused for a moment before bursting into even louder cries, making Toji's ears ring.
At that moment, Toji wished he didn't have any heavenly restrictions because his son's cries were as loud as an average person watching a movie in a cinema, seriously, so fucking loud!
For the next 30 minutes, Toji felt desperate. He had tried every step in the "Parenting For Idiots" book that his wife had impulsively bought. But nothing seemed to calm Megumi down.
Toji had tried every single step outlined in the book, from singing lullabies to attempting to bottle-feed little Megumi. He even resorted to swinging him around in his arms like a deranged helicopter parent and trying to distract him with shiny objects.
But, by the way, things were going, Toji wondered if the book was actually written by a troll.
Just when he thought he had a brilliant idea, he covered his face with his hands, revealing it in a grand "peekaboo" fashion, hoping to surprise his son into silence.
Megumi went quiet for a moment, staring at Toji's face, which was now annoyingly close to his own. Toji thought he had cracked the code to soothe his fussy son.
Little did he know that Megumi's pallid face was a precursor to a projectile vomit episode.
And guess where it landed?
Right on Toji's face!
"OH, FUCK ME!" grumbled Toji, wearing an impressive new accessory of his son's vomit.
Immediately, he sprinted to the bathroom, desperately trying to wash off the pungent odour that was piercing his nostrils.
He frantically scrubbed his face and gargled as if his life depended on it.
Finally, feeling somewhat human again, Toji reluctantly returned to his son, who was still wailing at a decibel only dogs could hear. He felt utterly perplexed and utterly defeated, unsure of what to do next.
Honestly, he'd rather take on a special-grade curse in battle than deal with his son's ceaseless cries since his wife went grocery shopping for their dinner.
"...Yuna, please, hurry back," Toji whispered, sitting in the living room of their apartment, cradling their son in his arms.
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"Here, have some water," Yuna offered to the red-haired woman she had helped, who was now sitting on a nearby park bench.
"Thanks a bunch!" exclaimed the red-haired woman, gulping down the water as if she hadn't had a drink in days.
Yuna observed the woman's appearance. It was like she had stepped out of a Tokyo fashion magazine – a stunning face, long red hair that looked like it had been dipped in crimson dye, and violet eyes that perfectly matched her beauty.
"Are you okay, dattebane?" the woman asked, noticing Yuna's mesmerized expression. Yuna blushed as she realized she had been staring.
"I-I'm sorry for staring at you like that," stammered Yuna, her cheeks turning even redder.
"What? Why are you apologizing to me? I should be the one apologizing for causing you trouble, dattebane!" exclaimed the red-haired woman.
"No, no! You didn't cause me any trouble. I was just concerned when I saw you squatting in the middle of the crowded street. I thought you were having a panic attack. Are you feeling unwell?" Yuna asked.
The woman fell silent and pursed her lips, deep in thought. "I'm not sick, but I do feel anxious. It's my first time visiting such a huge city, dattebane," she replied with a smile directed at Yuna.
Yuna was quite taken aback by the woman's statement. "You never been to Sendai before? Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?" Yuna inquired curiously.
"Oh, I live with my family on the outskirts of Sendai. It takes around 30 minutes to use this amazing contraption with six wheels and a long body frame. Hmm, what's it called again? Oh, I forgot," the woman replied.
"Wait, are you talking about taking a bus to get here?" Yuna asked, slightly bewildered by the woman's lack of familiarity with buses.
"Yes, that right, Bus! I took the bus to get here, dattebane!" the woman exclaimed enthusiastically.
It was the first time in Yuna's life that she came across someone her age who had never heard of a bus. Even her old neighbours knew what a bus was. Yuna shook her head, trying not to dwell too deeply on the thought.
Perhaps this woman rarely ventured out of her small village. So, when she found herself in a bustling city filled with people, the woman experienced a panic attack.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here amid big ol' Sendai?" Yuna asked, flashing a gentle smile.
The woman's enthusiasm was palpable as she rummaged through her crossbody bag and handed Yuna a rolled-up piece of paper. Yuna carefully unravelled it and read its contents.
"You wanna go to buy groceries, am I right?" Yuna whispered softly when she realized the piece of paper she held in her hands was a shopping list for the supermarket.
This time, it was the woman's face that turned as red as a tomato, not Yuna's. She lowered her head in embarrassment, looking incredibly cute in her shy demeanour. Yuna couldn't help but smile at the sight, thinking,
'Adorable'
"W-well, I kinda got confused about where to go and what to do... so I just stood there," the woman stammered, blushing even more. It was her first time venturing into the big city, and she had no clue where to shop. Yuna chuckled softly, feeling both sympathetic and amused by the woman's story.
"You know you just in luck, because I also need to buy groceries for my family," Yuna said.
"You want to go grocery shopping too?? Can I go with you, dattebane?! Please!!" the woman exclaimed with sparkling violet eyes, brimming with excitement. Yuna enthusiastically nodded her head in response.
"Well, lucky for both of us then! Thank you, dattebane!" the woman suddenly threw her arms around Yuna in a tight embrace, expressing her gratitude.
Yuna couldn't believe that she was suddenly being embraced like this. Essentially, she was being hugged by a stranger in the middle of a city park. But despite being partially strangers to each other, Yuna felt the warmth of the woman's hug as if she was being embraced by a longtime friend.
"Come on, let's go!" the woman exclaimed with a wide smile, eagerly pulling Yuna's hand to run out of the park.
"Wait, you're going the wrong way!" Yuna realized they were actually running in the opposite direction, towards the supermarket.
"Oops, sorry, dattebane!" the woman said, stopping abruptly and pulling Yuna's hand to run in the opposite direction.
"I still don't know your name, yet," Yuna gasped as she was being dragged along by this woman she had just met. Suddenly, the woman stopped running, causing Yuna to accidentally bump into her back.
"I am so sorry for that, dattebane! Is your nose okay?! I'm also sorry for not telling you my name yet," the woman looked genuinely concerned about Yuna's well-being. Yuna couldn't help but chuckle softly as the woman's facial expression, which she found hilarious, examined her nose like a doctor.
"Don't worry about my nose, I'm perfectly fine," Yuna replied, smiling at the woman.
"Well, thank goodness for that! I thought I'd have to compensate you! I can't afford that, dattebane!" the woman sighs in relief, realizing that Yuna's face is unharmed. The woman's antics tickled Yuna's funny bone, making her burst into laughter.
"If you hadn't introduced yourself, I might have asked for compensation," Yuna said mischievously, jokingly. The woman understood Yuna's playful tone and joined in laughter.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you my name... Allow me to introduce myself, I am Uzumaki Kushina, but you can just call me Kushina. Nice to meet you, dattebane!" When Kushina introduced herself to Yuna, the sunlight seemed to radiate from her, making her look like an angel descending from heaven to earth.
"...My name is Yuna, nice to meet you too," Yuna said, her cheeks blushing and a gentle smile on her face.
It felt as though she had finally found herself a best friend from a stranger.
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