I honestly didn't expect that I would end up meeting someone like Kushina, nor that I would end up being on her list of future advisers once she became Hokage, but that was life, full of surprises.
I had to admit, I was a little tempted to change my plans a little, to see if I could get her elected as Hokage.
It would be difficult; the current elders and other old fools in charge would be heavily against it, but that didn't mean it was impossible.
It would require the clans to support her. It would be those clans who, in large part, would force Hiruzen to step down.
So they could also push their own candidate forward, while Hiruzen no doubt had a lot of say in who would sit on the chair after him, it wasn't certain.
While Tobirama had indeed placed Hiruzen on the seat without consulting anyone, and in essence, Hiruzen could do the same, it would be… difficult to say the least.
I knew some parts of what had happened after Tobirama's death, some of the backroom dealings that ensured he managed to sit securely on that seat. Because, it wasn't a smooth ride, and only the war that followed allowed him to even have a chance to sit there.
If not for that, the clans would have put their own person in charge, which was also why the Senju clan ended up suffering so badly during that war, so badly, in fact, they weren't able to offer a candidate.
This all happened after I was reborn as Yuki, so I couldn't be sure, but even the clan was feeling that an awful lot of coincidences happened around that time.
Hiruzen wasn't all that popular among the other clans.
The two Senju brothers had always put Konoha first, and while that did sometimes hurt the interests of the clans, they accepted that, but with Hiruzen… it wasn't that simple.
He still did put Konoha first, but after that, it was himself and his personal interests, such as his own clan… something the other clans didn't really approve of.
Not that he didn't have allies, many of the smaller clans were on his side, but that wouldn't last for long, when the war reached its end, he would lose much of his support, not all, but enough that he had to step down.
So the question was, could I somehow push the Hyūga clan into supporting Kushina? And could she have a real chance?
It wouldn't be easy; she would need the Uchiha as well, which was possible given her friendship with Mikoto.
Beyond that, she needed Minato to be Hiruzen's candidate, and then she needed him to step aside and promote her; that way, it would be impossible for Hiruzen to pick someone else.
It wouldn't be a sure deal, but with the Hyūga and Uchiha and Hiruzen's own candidate, and throw in the Inuzuka and maybe a few other clans? She could have a chance.
It would be a lot of work, getting all the clans to support her, and it would be far from an easy task. Hiruzen would do his best to stop it. Likely by helping Danzo and Orochimaru, after all, one was still his student, which was better than an outsider in his mind.
Yet beyond the difficulty and the chances were the costs.
My current plan was to seek out Zetsu soon and begin the next phase of my plan for my perfect resurrection. If I were to help Kushina become Hokage, that would be impossible, at least for another ten years.
If that were to happen, I would have to marry Hiashi, and likely have no choice but to give birth to children… something I really didn't want to do after what happened with the last two.
Not leaving Konoha… it was a mess, I admit, my current life here was a mess, my marriage with Hiashi, and my affair with Koji… it was all such a mess, and worse yet, my plan was just to run from it all.
Maybe I was the villain all along?
Still, I didn't think I would get to know this many important people, people who would one way or another play a big role in the future.
So far, it was pretty much limited to the Hyūga clan, and mostly to Hiashi himself, but now? I was building bonds with many others, such as Tsume, the mother of Kiba. More importantly, the mothers of both Naruto and Sasuke, Mikoto and Kushina.
Those two would be the reincarnations of my grandchildren… funny how the world worked.
Still, I had to admit, they were good people. Kushina was lively, as was Tsume, both wild and filled with life as well as kindness. Mikoto, too, was kind, gentle, and sweet.
Honestly, I struggled to understand how such a sweet woman could give birth to a monster like Itachi.
Few people disgusted me more than him, he really was just a horrible person, and I had met many such people.
But this world, it was one that respected blood; family was everything here, it was something everyone learned from the moment they were born, all clans, every family enforced it.
Family was everything, your blood was important, you lived and died for your family, you respected it, it was close to worship of your background, your family, and clan.
Despite shinobi being killers, few would go so far as to kill their family; it just wasn't done. In all of Naruto, I couldn't think of another person but Itachi who killed his own family, at least not on purpose.
Haku had killed his father, but that wasn't really the same, he didn't know, didn't control that.
But Itachi? Even after watching this world for centuries, no single person was as twisted as he was.
Countless people had done horrible things, war crimes weren't few, torture of war prisoners was normal, and rape was common. But killing your family? Rare.
Killing your entire clan, men, women, and children, young and old?
I had never seen it on the scale of which would be done by that boy… it was nothing short of impressive how Hiruzen and Danzo had brainwashed him.
I stood from my seat, abandoning the last of my tea to cool untouched on the windowsill.
Konoha might have been bathed in golden light, the faint sounds of children playing echoing from the training fields nearby, but none of it reached my heart. Not today.
My mind was spinning, not from politics—well, not just from politics—but from the weight of what I had become.
I was a Hyūga kunoichi, a clan treasure, engaged to a man I didn't love, having an affair with a boy I might love too much… and somewhere beneath it all, I was still her.
Kaguya.
And the time was coming when I would need to choose.
Not between Koji and Hiashi.
Not between war and peace.
But between this life… and the next.
Because if I stayed much longer, if I helped Kushina take the Hokage seat, if I kept growing these connections—these feelings—I wouldn't be able to walk away when the time came. And that… would doom everything.
Because the return of Kaguya was unstoppable, Zetzu wouldn't sit still until my body escaped the moon, and when that happened, that part of me would seek me out.
Like a clone going rogue, I would eliminate myself. I knew that; I knew myself enough to understand that.
I clenched my fist as I once more steeled myself, steeled my heart; everything was for the future. Once I was whole and free, even then it wouldn't be too late to decide what to do, at that point, at my full power? I could do anything I wanted.
A soft knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.
A brief surge of chakra to my eyes allowed me to check who it was and find out why they were here.
"Yes, Mom."
The door was opened, and my mother poked her head in. "Yuki dear, you have guests."
"I saw," I answered with a smile. "Let me go out and entertain them." I quickly followed her out of my room and into the living room, where my newest friends were waiting.
The scent of jasmine, roasted chestnuts, and wet dog hit me as I stepped into the room.
Kushina was the first to look up. She was sprawled across the far couch like she owned the place, legs tucked beneath her and a tea cup balanced on her knee. Her hair caught the light like a flickering flame.
Tsume stood by the window, arms crossed, eyes sharp, scanning the room like it might hold enemies. A half-eaten rice cracker dangled from her lips.
Mikoto sat upright with perfect posture, her expression calm but tired. She offered me a small, genuine smile as I entered. She was the only one who acted like the clan would expect of its guests.
"Princess returns," Tsume drawled. "Thought you might've fallen asleep on your mountain of scrolls."
"I don't nap during the day," I replied smoothly, taking the open seat between Mikoto and Kushina. "Unlike dogs."
"Watch it," Tsume said with a grin. "I bite."
"I don't doubt it, bunch of barbarians the lot of you." I said, pouring myself a cup of tea.
She snorted in return, "Right, not every one of us is a stick up your ass kind of pricks."
No sooner had she spoken than Mikoto elbowed her in the side, coughing politely while pointing sneakily towards my mother, reminding the young Inuzuka Alpha that there was someone else, someone older here.
She instantly got a bit embarrassed, after all, it was one thing chatting among friends, but another thing entirely to call out someone's clan to their face; it was rude, and even Tsume knew that.
"Oh, no need to act like that, you were simply telling the truth, though it's one thing to think it, another thing to say it out loud, and the men of our clan… they are just the kind of stick up with bum types that would dislike hearing it said." My mother said, playing along with a laugh.
They all three stared at my mom for a bit, then looked back and forth between us.
"Damn, now I know where you get your sense of humor from," Tsume said with a grin.
"Enough about how cool my mother is. Why are you guys here?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Mikoto is getting married, since that bastard Fukagu knocked a child in her, they will get married." Tsume answered.
"Oh my! Marriage! And the child? How exciting!" my mother exclaimed, and she rushed over and gripped Mikoto's hands. "I still remember when I was pregnant with Yuki, it was the best and worst time of my life."
Mikoto flushed just slightly, her usual composure cracking beneath my mother's enthusiastic grip. "It wasn't exactly planned."
"Oh, nonsense," my mother said, still holding her hands. "Sometimes the best things in life aren't. A wedding and a child? What a blessing. The Hyūga will have to send a proper gift."
I let out a breath through my nose. "Uchiha Fukagu is the next head of the Uchiha clan, for the main family will no doubt send a proper gift, both for the marriage and for your child, to show off the clan's wealth and all that."
"When is it? The marriage? My dear Yuki isn't getting married until some time after the war ends, and who knows how long that will take?" My mother asked.
Her words caused Tsume to cast a look at me. She didn't say anything, but I knew what she was thinking. She was no doubt thinking about Koji, and his chances at getting my hand from Hiashi.
As another further clan leader, Tsume might act like a barbarian, but she understood clan politics, she knew what it would take, and likely doubted Koji's chances, yet she still hoped for him, because he was family.
"Say, Tsume, can I come by to visit your clan? It's hardly fair if only you come here to visit me." I decided to ask while Mikoto and my mother started chatting away.
The Inuzuka clan's future matriarch grinned widely. "I'm sure it isn't just me you want to visit."
I rolled my eyes, "I will take that as a yes."
"Go right ahead, I will let Koji know to expect you." She teased.
(End of chapter)
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