Kurama! I'll Come See You Again in a Couple of Days

" Kushina, do you want to come up and rest for a while too?"

Seeing Kushina's exhausted face and reddened eyes, Mirai Uzumaki invited her over.

Kushina's face instantly turned crimson, and even the tips of her ears felt hot...

Mirai is inviting me to lie in the same bed as him?

T-This, this, this won't do!

We're still so young. We can't have a baby this early!

Steam began to rise from Kushina's head.

Mirai Uzumaki looked at her strangely. What's this girl thinking about again? Her brain's about to overload!

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Go to sleep properly!" Mirai forcefully carried Kushina onto the bed and tucked her in.

"Okaaay—" Kushina obediently curled up in his arms, feeling nothing but warmth and comfort.

Forget it, I won't think about it. Worst case, I'll just have a child for Mirai.

Held in Mirai's arms, Kushina let her thoughts run wild and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Mirai took a closer look. Her delicate little face carried a faint trace of sorrow, with tears still clinging to her lashes...

Even in her dreams, she seemed unable to rest peacefully.

"Get some good sleep. Everything will pass," he murmured inwardly, gently patting Kushina's back as though soothing a child to sleep.

Before long, Kushina's furrowed brows relaxed, and her expression eased considerably.

The next day, Mirai completed the discharge procedures.

Kushina stayed by his side, never leaving him for even a step.

Tsunade came to pick them up. Seeing that his complexion had recovered somewhat, she said nothing, merely reaching out and roughly rubbing his head.

"Let's go home." Tsunade's voice was a little hoarse. "Tomorrow is Grandma's funeral."

Mirai froze for a moment.

The agonizing pain he had thought had passed still left behind an indelible ache.

But the dead were gone, and the living still had to move forward.

Mirai took a deep breath and walked out of Konoha Hospital.

Sunlight fell across his shoulders, as though driving away a trace of darkness.

It rained lightly on the day of the funeral. The rain fell fine and endlessly, and the gray sky seemed to be shedding tears for someone as well.

All levels of the village's leadership had come.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore formal black attire. His pipe was tucked away in his clothes, unlit, while his hat was pulled low.

Behind him stood officials of every rank, along with the heads of the major clans.

They stood neatly in the back rows, their expressions solemn.

Almost all of the younger generation had come as well.

Tsunade stood at the very front of the family section, dressed entirely in black, her eyes frighteningly red.

The two children, Nawaki and Kushina, wailed uncontrollably. Mirai was doing a little better, standing silently to the side as rain streamed down his cheeks, impossible to tell apart from anything else.

Behind them stood Konoha's elite shinobi, including Jiraiya and Orochimaru...

The dead had passed on, but the living still had to keep living well!

The day after the funeral, Mirai returned to school.

When he and Kushina entered the classroom, the noisy chatter fell silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes turned toward them.

The transfer of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was a secret and would not be made public.

But news of Mito Uzumaki's funeral had already spread throughout the village.

No one dared ask too much. Even the troublemakers who had once been hit by his Adamantine Sealing Chains sat honestly in their seats, and some even lowered their heads when they saw him enter.

"Mirai!" Minato Namikaze was the first to stand, quickly making his way over.

The blond boy's face was full of sincere concern as he looked Mirai over. "Are you... okay? I heard that Lady Mito..."

"Yeah." Mirai nodded. "I'm fine. I've sorted myself out."

Minato opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. He only patted Mirai's shoulder firmly, carrying the unspoken meaning of I'm here for you.

Izumi Uchiha also walked over. She stood before Mirai in silence for several seconds, then turned her face away and said so quietly it was almost inaudible, "My condolences."

Mirai looked at her. "Thank you."

The tips of Zhili's ears reddened slightly. Then she quickly returned to her seat, pretending nothing had happened.

The atmosphere in the class was a little strange. Several girls wanted to come over and comfort him, but after seeing Mirai's expression, they ultimately gave up on the idea.

Mirai sat down, then turned to Minato in the row ahead of him. "I'm planning to graduate early."

Minato froze. "Huh?"

"There's nothing left to learn at the Ninja Academy." Mirai leaned against the back of his chair, his gaze calm. "I've already learned what I need to learn. Staying in a greenhouse any longer would just be a waste of time."

But as he said that, he was thinking about something else. Nawaki was going to die this year.

He remembered it clearly. In the original story, Nawaki died during a mission after stepping into an Explosive Tag trap.

That was when Tsunade completely broke down. Along with Kato Dan's later death, it caused her to develop hemophobia and waste half her life away.

He wanted to change that, not for some grand cause. He simply didn't want to see the carefree Sister Tsunade become like she was later on. He didn't want to see her lose all her money gambling or become too afraid to hold a scalpel again.

So he had to graduate early if he wanted a chance to prevent that death.

Minato Namikaze looked at Mirai, a hint of gravity in his azure eyes.

He felt that Mirai had changed somehow, as if something that had been suppressed for a long time was about to be completely unleashed!

"Then I want to graduate early too." A voice came from beside them.

Mirai turned his head and saw Kushina standing in front of him. Her red hair was still a little messy, and the swelling around her eyes had not fully faded, but her expression was exceptionally serious.

"If you graduate early, I will too," she repeated, clenching her fists. "I won't slack off anymore."

Mirai looked at her for a long while, then smiled. "All right."

"Then count me in too." Minato scratched his head and showed his signature sunny smile. "I mastered the Three Body Technique ages ago anyway, and I still want to keep chasing after you, Mirai!"

He then looked toward the black-haired girl with long straight hair who had remained silent in the corner. "What about you, Zhili?"

Izumi Uchiha had been leaning by the window reading. When she heard Minato call her name, she turned a page without even lifting her head. "It's only graduation. I was already planning to take it early this year. If you all want to go together, I don't mind."

Kushina muttered softly, "Why does she have to do everything with us..."

Zhili seemed not to hear her, though the finger turning the page paused for less than half a second.

"Then it's settled." Mirai stood up and looked out at the sky, clear again after the rain. "Tomorrow, we'll go to Kishimoto CC and apply for the early graduation assessment."

"Yeah!"

During class, Mirai appeared to be spacing out, but he had actually immersed himself in his inner world and arrived outside the Nine-Tails' sealed cage.

"Hey, Kurama. Have you thought about helping me become a Perfect Jinchuriki?"

The Nine-Tails stared at Mirai as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Evil Uzumaki brat, this old man will never submit!"

A wicked smile curled across Mirai's lips. "Is that so? Perfect. I haven't been in a very good mood lately, so you've come to me at just the right time!"

"Wait a second! What are you going to do?!"

"God Tree, drain him!"

An invisible root locked onto the Nine-Tails once again, leaving him utterly unable to struggle.

The next moment, the Nine-Tails' miserable screams rang out again. "Aah—Uzumaki brat! This old man hasn't even recovered the chakra you drained last time! Stop it already!"

Mirai remained expressionless, completely unmoved by the Nine-Tails' wails.

Only after draining another tenth of the Nine-Tails' chakra did he finally smile in satisfaction.

Not bad. The God Tree had grown a great deal taller again!

But to the Nine-Tails, that smile looked a little disturbingly deranged.

"Kurama, work hard on recovering your chakra. I'll come see you again in a couple of days!"

"Don't come over here!" The Nine-Tails' face was full of despair.