On My Mind ━━ Kakashi Hatake

25 ━ Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki

twenty-five, Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki

IZUMI LET OUT A SOFT GROAN THE MOMENT SHE AWOKE. The next sound that followed was a pained grunt at the sensation she was feeling near her stomach area. It felt as though her skin were ripped apart to reveal her innards beneath, her blood streaming out of her rapidly. All that only for her skin to be reconnected, keeping what was inside there again. Her clothes still felt damp, completely soaked through with whatever had been rushing out of her.

A soft green light was the first thing the brunette saw upon opening her cerulean eyes. It was a similar shade to mint, but not as saturated as the bright color was. It emitted from the hands of her friend and teammate who kneeled above Izumi, focus the only expression upon her harsh features.

"Sen?" mumbled Izumi, eyes fixated on her friend,

Sen's head snapped immediately to meet Izumi's gaze, worry swirling in her eyes. For a moment they held eye contact in silence before Sen focused on her medical jutsu again.

"What happened?" Izumi felt drowsy, her memories incomplete.

"You got stabbed."

What now?

Izumi could remember the way something sharp drove into the skin of her stomach, allowing for her to gasp in both shock and pain. She had stood on her feet, legs trembling, before she could feel herself falling towards the ground, her back roughly making contact with the hard surface.

"Oh."

Before Sen could scold her any further, Kushina-sensei appeared by the raven-haired's side, concerned violet eyes scanning over her student. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

All Izumi wanted to do was go home and then to the hospital, spend her time there and recover. But to do that, first, she needed to heave herself up onto her feet and march all the way back to the village, knees protesting in pain.

THE KONOHAN HOSPITAL BROUGHT COMFORT TO THE TWO SHINOBI. Months ago all members of the team had assumed for the second round of the Chuunin exams to be their greatest challenge, one they had difficulty overcoming. But as they sat in the room together, two of them lying in beds with bandages wrapped around their stomachs, their greatest challenge appeared to have just been overcome.

The door burst open to reveal the red-haired woman all three had grown to appreciate so much. In her hands she balanced two silver trays, various kinds of food pilled on top of each. Upon her entrance the careful balance was disturbed, the trays almost falling to the ground. Kushina made her way over to the table in the room and placed the trays down before another mishap could happen.

"How are you two?" Their sensei turned to look at both Chihiro and Izumi, a guilty expression on her features.

"Just fine, sensei. I already feel better." chirped Chihiro.

Izumi nodded in agreement. "I'm alright," Her stomach felt horrible still, but thanks to her teammate's early healing, worse injuries were impossible. "Thank you, Sen. I-"

"No worries." Sen cut her friend off with a far-away look glinting in her eyes, not fully present in the room

What was she thinking about?

"I just talked to your parents." With the sentence, Kushina managed to pull all the attention onto herself again.

Chihiro was alarmed. "What did they say?"

"They thanked me," For a moment, the woman was silent after speaking, biting her lip in thought. "For bringing you home, I mean. I should have done more-"

Izumi interrupted her sensei quickly before the woman could spiral further into negative thoughts. "You couldn't have, sensei."

"We were surrounded," added Chihiro, voice shaking from the fear of the memory.

"As your sensei, it was my job to protect."

Izumi intervened yet again. "You did your best. That's what matters."

Sen meanwhile focused on something completely different. With a determined look, she put a halt to the conversation, breaching into a new topic. "Sensei, what did they mean with you being the Jinchuuriki of Konoha?"

Kushina looked down, dejected. "I guess I owe you an explanation." She never hated being the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tails, all the love she was experiencing from the moment she was born kept her from doing so. No amount of love could save her from what her precious little students, the first she had taken under her wing, potentially thinking ill of her.

"Take your time, sensei." said Izumi from her spot in her hospital bed. She let out a small cough after speaking, though still smiling at the woman she had grown to adore.

Kushina smiled back wrily with her usual upbeat nature missing from the tug of her lips.

"This is classified information, so this cannot leave the room, under any circumstances."

All three of her students nodded, some warier than others. "Understood."

"When I was a child I was made the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails. Ever since that day, he has been sealed inside me," Kushina took a shaky breath. "The weird chakra you may have seen coming from me is the Kyubi chakra. Sometimes when I am angry it bursts out of me, I'm not sure why. I hope this doesn't affect how you see me." 'I wouldn't want that', the words were left unspoken but still hung in the air.

"Sensei, I don't think anything could change how we see you." Chihiro broke the small silence, speaking for himself and his teammates.

Izumi nodded in agreement hastily. "You will always be our amazing sensei, the best we could have gotten."

"When I first met you, I thought you were an idiot," began Sen, expression unreadable. "But I have grown to like you sensei and that won't change." A smile wormed its way onto the raven-haired's face.

Kushina sucked in a breath. They were her students, they were her kids, they were there for her. It seemed almost ethereal. Once Uzumaki Mito had told her in order to live happily as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyubi, she needed to not only feel love but also give love. Kushina now thought that being loved was another key. Feeling the love they gave her, their radiant smiles or tugs of lip when they looked at her, no signs of fear, disgust or anything similar gleaming in their eyes confirmed the thought. All of them pushed the hatred sealed within her. Kushina smiled brightly, all the guilt of yesterday vanishing in an instant.