"Mom..."
This call overflowed from Naruto's throat uncontrollably. He had no idea what was going on at the moment, but the moment he was hugged tightly by this strange and familiar red-haired woman, a strange and extremely warm emotional torrent that he had never experienced in his life surged and flooded his entire heart.
It was a kind of maternal love that he had only glimpsed in dreams or from others, but never belonged to him... motherly love.
"Well... it's me..." Hearing this call, although Impure World Reincarnation's body could not shed real tears, Kushina's voice was full of tears and tenderness, "It's mom..."
She just continued to hug the child in her arms harder with her slightly trembling arms. The huge regret of not being able to witness the child's growth before her death seemed to be somewhat compensated at this moment.
Huge love and a deeper guilt for missing him throughout her childhood were intertwined and filled her soul.
Satsuki, who was standing aside, had already stood up, frowning. According to her usual personality, if she saw a strange woman suddenly hugging Naruto, her reaction would definitely be very fierce and rude.
However, when the red-haired woman spoke her first words, the strong emotion contained in those words made Satsuki instantly stunned.
Satsuki feels a sense of familiarity.
It wasn't until Naruto called out "Mom" that Satsuki suddenly determined what the emotion that felt familiar to her was - unreserved maternal love.
But...Naruto's mother?!
Satsuki's heart was filled with huge confusion and confusion. Wasn't Naruto an orphan since childhood? She grew up with Naruto. Not to mention having met his parents, even his parents' identities and names were never mentioned, as if they didn't exist at all.
And... isn't the woman in front of me a bit... too young?
The red-haired woman who hugged Naruto tightly looked like she was in her early twenties at most. Judging from Naruto's current age, the two of them did not look like a mother-child relationship. It might be more believable to say they were siblings.
What the hell is going on?
Thinking of this, doubts came to mind. Satsuki immediately stepped forward. While Kushina was still immersed in the sobs and excitement of the reunion, he stretched out his hand and separated the two tightly.
The embrace suddenly fell away, and Kushina raised his head blankly, looking at the black-haired girl who interrupted the embrace of mother and son with some confusion and confusion - this was exactly the girl she had seen when secretly following her in the afternoon, the girl who dared to face the entire village for Naruto and complained fiercely to him.
Why is she still at Naruto's house at this time?
"Wait? You said... you are Naruto's mother?"
Looking at Satsuki's wary eyes, Kushina carefully looked at the black-haired girl with exquisite appearance and cool temperament in front of her... She was so protective of Naruto, and now she is still at his house at this time... Could it be?!
A sudden suspicion emerged in her mind. Kushina immediately restrained her excitement, tried to show the gentlest side, and introduced herself. "Hello, this is the first time we meet. I am Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki."
She looked younger than that woman...Satsuki looked at the other person's face, which looked like she was only in her early twenties, and her doubts deepened. Just when she was about to continue asking, Naruto spoke.
"Well...Satsuki," Naruto's voice carried a complicated but certain meaning, and his eyes looking at Kushina were full of indescribable emotions, "Although it does look strange, she is indeed my mother... it can't be wrong."
Hearing his son's affirmative tone, the last trace of uncertainty in Kushina's heart fell away. It seems that when he was controlled and fought with Naruto, did he also recognize me?
Is it the resonance deep in the blood? Or the natural intuition between mother and child? However, she doesn't care at all how Naruto recognizes herself, as long as the recognition at this moment is real, that's enough.
Although at the end of the battle, the Naruto she saw seemed to be slightly more mature than he is now - the Naruto in this world knows balanced nutrition and is better developed than the original. So at least he is not the shortest Team 7.
Kushina was originally prepared to be interrogated in detail and need to explain exhaustively. However, what she didn't expect was that after Satsuki heard Naruto's personal confirmation, although Naruto's face showed an expression of extreme surprise for an instant, the doubts in his eyes quickly dissipated?!
She... just believed it?
Immediately afterwards, when Satsuki looked at Kushina again, the surprise in his eyes faded away, replaced by a more obvious dissatisfaction, even with... reproach.
"... So..." Satsuki's voice deepened, "Why... you have never been by Naruto's side in these years?"
Every time I think back to the isolation and cold eyes Naruto once suffered in the village, Satsuki can't help but feel angry and distressed.
At this moment, although she realized that the woman in front of her might take away some of Naruto's attention, deep down in her heart, her stronger desire was to hope that Naruto could have a happy childhood surrounded by maternal love. This question was asked for Naruto.
Kushina already knew about Naruto's childhood experience from what he saw in the afternoon, so he naturally understood the reason behind Satsuki's question at this moment and his deep sense of protection.
She looked at Satsuki, her eyes dimmed, and she replied with a bitter tone. "Because... I was already dead on the day Naruto was born. Therefore, my age and appearance were forever fixed at the moment when my life passed away."
She admired Satsuki's expression that was even more shocked than before due to this answer, and then made a jaw-dropping move. She raised her right hand, and then, under the gaze of Satsuki and Naruto, she broke off one of her fingers with a "bang"!
However, the expected dripping blood did not appear. The severed finger quickly turned into fine dust and dissipated in the air.
And where the broken finger was, new fingers were rapidly condensing from the dust and growing out at a speed visible to the naked eye, and returned to their original appearance in the blink of an eye.
"Did you see it? I also temporarily 'returned' to this world today because of some forbidden technique... but this is not a true resurrection. In this state, I can't even feel pain."
In the conversation and observation just now, Kushina also understood from the characteristics of Satsuki and the name Naruto called her, who this beautiful and distinctive girl is. Uchiha Clan's...Satsuki... could this be Mikoto's little daughter?!
This was a big surprise for Kushina. She remembered clearly that when she was pregnant with Naruto, she went to visit Mikoto Uchiha who had just given birth and saw the little Satsuki who was still in her infancy.
Because her relationship with Mikoto is so good, they even agreed that if she gave birth to a boy, they would order a doll for the two children...
Unexpectedly... the fate would continue in this way...
After finally explaining the most basic situation, Kushina no longer hesitated, stepped into the door, stretched out his hand again, and gently and lovingly embraced her, who was still a little dazed.
"... Mom... there are so many things I want to say to you."