Edo Tensei Kushina

Menma opened the scroll and whispered, "Release!" Suddenly, with a poof, a mass of unidentifiable tissue appeared on the scroll.

Some time ago, when Menma and Naruto visited to pay their respects to Minato and Kushina during the day, Menma had quietly left a Flying Thunder God Mark, preparing to take action once night fell.

It was a dark and windy night, with moonlight spilling coldly over the Konoha cemetery. The surroundings were so quiet that only the rustling of wind through the grass could be heard.

After the guards finished their patrol, Menma used the Flying Thunder God to arrive before Kushina's tombstone, where he obtained a small sample of her tissue.

After all, who would expect a child to come grave-robbing in the middle of the night, let alone rob the grave of his own biological parents?

Although Menma's soul was that of a reincarnated person, his body was undoubtedly the child of Kushina and Minato. During the days spent living with Naruto, he had subconsciously accepted the fact that Kushina and Minato were his true parents.

Menma picked up the scroll, placed it beside Yamanaka Fu, and began to weave hand signs. His hands moved rapidly, finally clapping together as he shouted, "Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu!"

At that moment, a mysterious force gradually enveloped Yamanaka Fu. He regained consciousness, but found himself unable to resist. With a scream, the surroundings returned to silence. Menma stood where he was, watching the scene without moving.

Just then, a woman in maternity clothes with long red hair appeared before Menma.

Menma said softly, "Release!" He immediately lifted the restraints, and the woman before him instantly regained her awareness.

"I died, didn't I? How is this..." She looked at her hands in surprise and glanced around.

At this moment, Menma and Kushina met eyes, gazing at each other.

"You... are... Naruto? Or Menma?" Kushina looked at the child before her, recognizing him at a glance as one of her two sons.

"Mom... Mom, I'm Menma." Menma shed tears involuntarily, standing frozen in place.

Seeing this, Kushina immediately turned gentle, walked up to Menma, and stroked his head.

"You were such tiny babies when I closed my eyes, and now that I open them, you've grown so big. How have you and Naruto been these years that we were gone? Have you been eating well, are you picky eaters, did you go to bed on time..." Kushina rambled on.

Menma could no longer hold it back; he threw himself into Kushina's arms and burst into tears.

In his previous life, his mother had passed away early in a car accident. Meeting Kushina this time, he felt that long-lost maternal love once again.

Kushina watched Menma sobbing in her arms, feeling a deep ache in her heart, and couldn't help but shed a few tears herself.

It was often said that an Impure World Reincarnation body could not cry, but a father could, and in truth, a mother could too.

"You and Naruto must have been so lonely without your father and mother all these years. I'm sorry, Menma, for causing you such pain. It was our fault as parents. I hope you can forgive your father and me." With that, Kushina wiped away her tears and knelt down to wipe the tears from Menma's face.

"You child, why are you crying the moment we meet? You're making me want to cry too. Shouldn't we smile when we meet? Come on, be happy, give me a smile," Kushina said gently.

"I've been thinking of you all these years. Every night before I sleep, I hope to dream of you. I never expected you to... I... I missed you so much, Mom." Menma looked at Kushina through his tears, the face from his memories gradually overlapping with the Kushina before him.

Kushina hugged Menma tightly. "I'm sorry, Menma... I'm sorry, I've failed you both." Kushina stopped hiding her emotions and cried as she spoke to Menma.

After a long while, Kushina wiped her tears and looked at Menma, asking, "Menma, where is your brother, Naruto?"

"Brother is sleeping at home. Tonight, people from Root snuck into our house to try and kidnap him, but luckily I noticed something was wrong. To keep him from suspecting anything, I had my Shadow Clone stay with him while I waited for them in his room. I knew their target was him because they couldn't beat me—or more accurately, they couldn't beat Kurama..."

Menma spoke incessantly, telling Kushina everything that had happened that night, including his plan to use the Impure World Reincarnation on her, the Nine-Tails' rampage, and all the events that had transpired recently.

Kushina listened quietly to Menma's story without interrupting.

"Mom, I'll take you to see Brother, but only for a glimpse. It's too early for a formal reunion. In 25 days, it will be our 4th birthday, and I want you to appear then to give him a surprise," Menma explained his plan.

"A 4th birthday, 25 days away," Kushina sighed. She didn't want to mention that this was also the anniversary of her and Minato's deaths, lest Menma become even sadder.

"Tomorrow is Kakashi's 18th birthday. Tomorrow night, after everyone leaves, I want you to talk to him," Menma continued.

"If there's nothing else, just stay at Kakashi's place for now. Don't come out, and don't let Brother find out. If you miss us, come back to see us at night." With that, Menma handed Kushina a kunai marked with his Flying Thunder God Mark.

"As long as you inject your chakra into it, I'll be able to sense it, and I'll use the Flying Thunder God to bring you back," Menma added.

"But Mom, you must promise me—you absolutely cannot let Brother see you, or my birthday surprise will be ruined," Menma emphasized repeatedly.

"Alright, alright, I understand. Let's go home first; I really want to see Naruto now," Kushina agreed.

"Yeah." Menma took Kushina's hand and activated the Flying Thunder God, and the two returned directly to Menma's room.

Menma walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and took off his dirty socks.

"It's settled, you can't let Brother find out. If he wakes up, hide in the third-floor storage room; he usually doesn't go up there," Menma repeated.

After saying this, Menma lay down beside Naruto, who was fast asleep and unaware of the current situation.

Kushina came to the bedside, looked at Naruto with a kind expression, and reached out to gently stroke his hair.

She stood up and came to Menma. "Menma, go to sleep. You must be exhausted today, get some rest." Kushina patted Menma's back gently, just like she was lulling a baby to sleep.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows, and dust motes danced in the light. Naruto woke up, stretched, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and looked at Menma, who was still asleep.

"Hey, Menma, get up. The sun is already high up," Naruto shook Menma, trying to wake him.

"You're so noisy." Menma didn't even open his eyes, pulling the covers over his head to continue sleeping.

"There's just no helping you." Naruto said as he got dressed.

"You're awake. Come and have breakfast," an unfamiliar woman said as she pushed the door open.

Menma was startled and sat up immediately, looking at the newcomer in surprise. It was indeed Kushina, but she had used the Transformation Technique so she could stay by Naruto and Menma's side without ruining the birthday surprise Menma had planned.

"Um... who are you, Auntie? Why are you in our house?" Naruto asked.

"Oh! I'm the nanny arranged by the Hokage. You can just call me Auntie Ku," Kushina said.

"So that's how it is," Naruto said, looking thoughtful.

Menma continued to stare blankly at the person he had never seen before, though he knew this was the Transformation Technique used by Kushina.

"Alright, hurry down and eat breakfast," Kushina called out to the two of them.

Menma immediately got up to change his clothes. While changing, he noticed that the dirty socks he had taken off the night before were no longer on the floor. After taking a clean pair from the closet and washing up, he went downstairs with Naruto.

The two arrived at the dining table and sat down. Breakfast was simple: a glass of milk, a bowl of noodles, and a fried egg. The table was located by the window, and the sunlight shining on the food made it look quite tempting.

"Looks delicious! I'm digging in," Naruto said.

"I'm digging in too," Menma said.

Both took a large mouthful of noodles, then suddenly, they both froze.

"What's wrong? Is it not good?" Kushina asked, looking at the two of them with a strange expression.

Menma shook his head, a pained expression on his face, and continued to shovel the noodles into his mouth. He knew all about the Red Hot Habanero; he didn't even want to imagine the terrifying scene that would unfold if she suddenly lost her temper.

Naruto, not thinking that far ahead, spoke up: "It's not just 'not good,' it's terrible. The noodles are overcooked, there's way too much salt, it's incredibly salty, and this egg..." Naruto began to list the problems with the breakfast one by one.

Menma didn't even lift his head, finishing his food rapidly with his mouth stuffed full, then grabbed the milk and downed it. His movements were fluid and extremely swift.

Naruto and Kushina looked at Menma with strange expressions.

"I'm finished. I'm heading out."

With that, Menma ran out without looking back, leaving Kushina and Naruto standing there in the house, bewildered.

"What is up with that guy Menma? Seriously." Just as he said this, Naruto suddenly felt a murderous aura behind him.

"Is it really that hard to eat? Then why was Menma eating it with such gusto? I think you're just being a picky eater." Although Kushina spoke with a calm tone and expression, the murderous aura told Naruto that if he didn't finish his breakfast, he might get beaten up.

Thinking of this, Naruto swallowed hard, I'll just have to risk it, he thought, and began to shovel the noodles into his mouth as well. He finished the egg, drank the milk, and then scrambled out just as hurriedly as Menma had.

"That's how it should be. How can you be a picky eater? Tell Menma to remember to come home for lunch," Kushina said, watching Naruto prepare to leave.

"I... I got it, Auntie Ku," Naruto replied, then headed out.

"Going out so early, I wonder what they're going to do. I really want to know," Kushina said, beginning to clear the table.

Outside, Naruto hadn't walked far before he spotted Menma.

"Hey, Menma, you jerk, how could you just leave me behind?" Naruto said as he ran over.

Once he got closer, Naruto realized that Menma had vomited up all of his breakfast.

"So you ended up throwing it all up anyway? If I'd known, I wouldn't have forced myself to swallow it," Naruto complained.

"The fact that you could swallow that taste... you're the real deal," Menma said, giving Naruto a thumbs-up while still retching.

"No good, I need to eat something to settle my stomach," Menma said, heading toward the streets of Konoha.

"Hey, Menma, Auntie Ku said we have to come home for lunch today," Naruto said painfully.

"What? We have to go back for lunch too? I have to go back and make it clear to her that we'll be eating out all day today. We'll just say it's because of Kakashi-sensei's 18th birthday. Yeah, that's what we'll say." With that, Menma turned and ran back toward the house.

"Menma, you jerk, wait for me!" Naruto shouted, chasing after him.