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Twenty Times Kushina Defied All Odds

Chapter 1

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Uzumaki Kushina stares death in the face as early as the day of her birth.

She's born abnormally small, weighing in at only four pounds and six ounces. As if that isn't worrisome enough, while most newborns scream and cry immediately after birth, newborn Kushina simply stares straight ahead.

It's enough to make her own parents shiver when she fixes them in her unblinking purple-eyed gaze. But what scares them isn't the fact that her stare is so singular and intense—to the point that it becomes something a baby so young shouldn't even be capable of—what scares them is that her mouth moves like she's trying to scream, her face contorting in ways that speak of absolute misery.

Not once does she actually scream.

Her parents panic.

Uzumaki Arashi uses every bit of his authority as clan-head to rouse all the healers within fifty miles. They come in droves to answer the call of the undisputed lord of Uzushio.

They poke and prod. Kushina squirms.

They check her breathing and heartbeat. Kushina vomits when they do.

All night she gets worse and worse to the point where not a single one of them believes she'll last till morning.

In a rage, Arashi throws them all out and warns to them never to show their faces in front of him again. He and his wife try everything they can think of, every old-wife's tale and every breakthrough discovery, but nothing seems to work.

Kushina remains in her perpetual state of silent screaming.

Nothing changes for hours.

To his shame, Arashi is about to give up when someone comes knocking loudly at the door to his house. With despairing motions, he makes to swing open the door and tell whoever it is that his family is in mourning, only to freeze when a shock of greying red hair and intricate hairpins greet his befuddled gaze.

Uzumaki Mito, still beautiful and strong at an age where most would be confined to a bed, beams at her grand-nephew. "Ah, Arashi-kun! You look so big and strong, and—" She trails off when she sees the soullessness in his eyes.

With a frown, Mito marches in and closes the door behind her.

As soon as Arashi tells his great-aunt that his daughter would very likely not live to see the morning sun, Mito bursts into action.

Seven blood seals, three obscure medical jutsu, and five hours later, Kushina is declared an adorable healthy baby. She's also the loudest thing that Mito has ever seen.

Tears streaming down their faces, Kushina's parents take her from Mito's arms. Their expressions radiate pure joy as they hug their wailing daughter tightly. Mito actually has to hold back tears of her own as her nephew and his wife coo at the child they thought they'd lost with voices that break with sheer relief.

"Our Kushina-chan. Our precious little Kushina-chan." Arashi can't stop himself from choking up.

His wife's teary smile is more than a match for what he feels inside as she whispers, "We'll always love and be there for you."

It's a promise that will never fade away.

Arashi feels this lump in his throat that just won't go away, but he pays it no mind. Feeling like the luckiest man alive, he kisses the top of Kushina's head.

"Always."

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Author's Note: I've had this laying around for almost a year, and I finally decided to post before I completely forgot about it. Basically, this is one of those 'Twenty Times' stories. This is the first of twenty chapters, starting with Kushina's birth, then ending with her death (and perhaps beyond).