Kushina lived, but she got a bit paranoid

Kushina Uzumaki, wife of the fallen Fourth Hokage, was unsure of what to do. For the past 18 years she had dutifully raised her son, making a strong, capable, and respectful man like she and her husband wanted. She had made it abundantly clear to Hiruzen and the councils that if even a whisper of Naruto being a Jinchuriki or him being made a weapon was uttered, she'd butcher the lot of them and make the village step up or take command herself if necessary.

That had lasted about a year before Hiruzen had had to cleanse his advisors and the civilians of the idiots and schemers there and Mikoto had done her part and removed her husband and the elders of the clan that wanted to use their eyes to make biju into their weapons. Breaking the seals on Root was laughably easy and they now served as a dedicate security **** for Konoha that operated solely to defend the village, their programing in Root too ingrained to make them capable of normal jobs and missions, but it opened up the regular Anbu to being able to handle more of the higher ranked missions without sacrificing village security in the wake of cleaning up from the fox's rampage.

She'd also made sure to take the mask of Shinigami from the Uzumaki Shrine and used it both to send her husband to the proper afterlife but also to give the other half of Kurama's chakra to Naruto to make sure he had complete control and balance of power. Call her paranoid, call her a worrywart, or whatever but the fact that her son had been kidnapped, used as a shield, covered in dozens of paper bombs, and was held hostage within an hour of being born made her instincts and desires go into overdrive to making sure he was well protected and ready to stop anything coming at him.

She didn't take missions or do anything actively, but she did train and stay in shape to ensure that she could properly teach Naruto and her god children.

She also improved security around her home and ensured that there were seals that targeted those that had the Sharingan in case that masked asshole ever came back. She read Mikoto and her immediate family into the seals so they'd not be harmed, but no other Uchiha was read into it and never would be as far as she was concerned.

She'd also taken Minato's two students, Rin and Kakisha, under her wing and made them stronger and better, but she also made sure that their loyalty was to her and Naruto first and foremost before anyone else. Kushina knew there'd be times where Naruto would be out of her sight and she couldn't depend on Mikoto to watch him 24/7 so she needed more, hence the two surviving women of her husband's students and even Tsunade was used to a point.

The Senju woman that was Mito's granddaughter had been a bit of a wanderer and planned to leave shortly after coming back to check on Kushina and Naruto following the fox rampage. Kushina wasn't having that, knowing that having Tsunade close by and ready should any complications arise for herself or Naruto meant that she HAD to stay.

Keeping Naruto safe, competent, and happy was her only goal and plan.

As such, anything morally wrong or questionable or anything that she'd have hesitated to do once upon a time was doable if it added to that.

So she'd put a seal on Tsunade after getting her deadass drunk, one that made her loyal and devoted to Kushina and Naruto to ensure she was there and ready to help and serve if necessary.

The influence would also make sure that Tsunade trained Shizune to be loyal and devoted to Naruto and her since having an extra healer and skilled poison user was always a plus.

However, now for all of her plans and goals, she was at an impasse and problem moment.

What was it?

Naruto was going to join the Ninja Academy soon and that meant he'd be out in the field away from her and those she'd made sure were loyal and dedicated to his happiness and protection. Even if she arranged it to have him on a team full of people she trusted, it would take one stray kunai, one moment of poor attention, one single instance of making a mistake, and he'd die and she'd be alone and back to where she was trying to stay away from.

But she couldn't talk him out of it, no matter what she tried he was determined to join the ninja forces, rise through the ranks, and become Hokage and lead the village like his father had done.

She had to think of something to stop him and make him see that being in the village was better since he could run things without actually being Hokage. Kushina practically did already since Hiruzen wasn't going to cross her; and that was without his wife ensuring he behaved since she was basically a servant of Kushina's in all but name; the Root were practically her personal army, she was close to the clan heads, the civilians were scared shitless of her, and she had control of quite a few competent shinobi and kunoichi to make anything happen that she wanted.

There was no reason to go through all of that and risk his life when he could have authority and control and power without getting that much of a risk.

She was tempted to question if the fox was the cause, but knew it wasn't. She had specifically crafted that seal painstakingly from Mito, Hashirama, Tobirama, and her own clan's notes to make it so Naruto got all the power and uses of the Fox's power without any possible influence being passed. It actually allowed Naruto to influence the fox, meaning that what was a big ball of hatred fueled chakra could become a submissive and obedient pet of chakra after the years of Naruto putting his own influence into the seal, something Kushina made him do to ensure the fox was a friend and ally not a problem.

So that left her with the dilemma of what the fuck she could do to ensure her son didn't follow this path because no way in hell was she going to put a seal on him. Firstly because of the seal holding Kurama would NOT react well to that kind of seal and two, she could never imagine making her baby her **** in all but name and forcing him to give up his dream and goals.

It was one thing if she talked or convinced him, it was something else if she somehow MADE him do it.

So what could she do?

What argument could she pull or give to convince her son to not join the academy?

What could she offer her son?

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Her 18 year old son...

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Was she really considering this?

Was it worth it?

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Yes.

Anything was worth it for Naruto.

Anything was worth paying or doing if it meant her son was safe, happy, and satisfied.

She needed to get to work and get things ready.

She had an argument and offer to deliver to convince him and she had to ensure it was perfect.