All of her life had been leading up to this. Her chakra chains were about to break as the Fox tried to escape the sealing. Most of his Yin chakra had been sealed inside her. The Yang had been sealed entirely in her tiny son.

Suddenly, she felt her stomach being pierced by the claw...right as something else yanked at her from the pit of her navel. The sealing was incomplete, but most of the chakra had been sealed into her. About 75 to 80 percent of the chakra was now inside her.

She felt like her body was being squeezed into a space far too small for her body. Her bones and body were being squished into something much smaller. She could feel it changing, and she didn't like it one bit.

The only thing that didn't change were her chakra coils...and her personality.

Finally that awful sensation stopped, and she could barely see something.

She was inside some odd summoning circle and she could smell blood not her own. Before her was an old man and a dour man with greasy black hair. She felt like she had been torn up and put back together in an entirely different way, and she was pissed.

"It would appear the ritual was successful, Severus."

"Not quite. She appears to be suffering from some sort of injury. Should I take her to Pomphrey?"

"Do it. Just make sure she is ready for the new school year in time to be sorted."

"As you wish..." the greasy man grumbled. It was clear that while he held some measure of respect for the man, he didn't like working with him.

She blacked out, unable to stay awake.

Poppy Pomphrey was not a woman to be crossed when there were injured students around. So when the potions master came in with a red haired girl barely a first year with possible internal bleeding, she pushed him out of the way and went to work.

The girl had severe internal bleeding, several ruptured organs, and extreme magical drain. Not to mention what appeared to be backlash.

"What the hell happened to this girl?!" she demanded.

"Albus couldn't find the Potter girl, so he went and found a ritual to bring her to us. At most she should have had some magical drain..."

"This girl looks like she had a run in with Bellatrix Lestrange armed with curses to destroy internal organs! What the bloody hell sort of ritual did you two do?!"

"I have no idea which one he used. All I know is that it brings the person specified here and drains the core in the process. If you want to yell at anyone yell at him. He's the one who was in charge of the damn ritual. I just supplied the potion."

Poppy prepared to really light into the Headmaster. The girl could have died if left alone after such a dangerous ritual! Though the sheer speed her body took in the potions and repaired itself was almost impossible. She could only assume that the girl's magic was working on overdrive.

She woke up feeling like hell. Her chakra had gone into healing overdrive...and she felt like she had had a nasty hangover...only without the buzz of the night before.

"What the hell?!" she growled.

When she looked down at her body, she nearly started cursing up a storm.

Her body had reverted to that of an eleven year old girl! All those years spent as a kunoichi, all that hell she spent during puberty...

AND SHE HAD TO START ALL OVER?!

Someone was going to pay for this outrage!

Suddenly a woman who felt like Tsunade only less frightening appeared. It took a few seconds to realize where she was, even if the place was very under equipped. Not a single electronic to be seen, but plenty of medicinal smells.

She hated being in hospitals!

"Who the hell are you and what happened to me?!" she growled.

The nurse clicked her tongue in disapproval, though considering how she ended up here she didn't blame the girl for being angry.

"My name is Madam Pomphrey...as for what happened, the headmaster was foolish enough to perform a dangerous ritual without thinking about the consequences to for the other people."

"Then where am I? I know I'm no where near my home," she asked.

"You are in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in Scotland. Can I at least have your name?"

Poppy knew full well that while the ritual brought the Potter's lost daughter here, she may not call herself that anymore.

"It's Kushina. Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina. Also called the Red Hot-Blooded Habernaro, but that's mostly a nickname," said Kushina.

It took her a week to get used to the fact that she wasn't able to go home immediately...and that the date was almost six years in the future. Her son would be five, turning six in October.

And she was stuck halfway across the world because some old geezer wanted her to play the part of a girl that went missing ten years ago after taking out the resident Orochimaru.

(His name was Moldy-something, but once Snape described him she immediately linked his name to an Orochimaru wannabe that didn't have half the Snake Sannin's charm.)

Her body had regressed to her eleven year old self, which according to Snape was what her age was supposed to be in the first place. Apparently her odd chakra (which was part of the reason why she had been chosen to hold the Kyuubi in the first place) had taken her at least twenty years in the past...and that was part of the reason why her body had taken a lot of strain.

She had to time travel to get here! Coupled with the fact that she had taken heavy damage when the Fox had impaled her (which was the internal damage Poppy had to treat rather quickly) and she had been near death.

Kushina had at least gotten them to quit calling her Potter. She vaguely remembered the odd lightning scar they spoke of, but a few hours after the Kyuubi had been placed in her that thing had healed over with a foul smell and a hiss.

"Are you ready to get your supplies?" asked Snape.

"Just drop me off at that bank. I can ask for directions, and I really see no need to waste your precious time brewing medicines showing me around."

Snape, once he got over the shock of her rough personality, grew to like her as a student. Kushina loved gardening as a hobby and her cooking skills had become very good when she first had to cook her own meals. (That was roughly when she moved to Konoha.) The fact that she at least respected his privacy more than the old man did only put her higher in his regard.

Though he really pitied the old fool when he tries to make a move. The girl had a natural occulmency barrier in her mind, and she had the ability to shrug off suggestions like no one he had ever met. When she mentioned her ability to overthrow most poisons, he had subtly tested it with her permission...and discovered that Kushina had a natural immunity to most potions other than ones that healed.

Which meant any love or compulsion potions would be useless.

Snape told her how to use the floo, and gave her a second small pouch so she could use it back to his office. As far as the old man knew, he had left with the girl.

He trusted her to handle Diagon Alley on her own.

Kushina walked into the bank, and set off half the alarms. Apparently the goblins were well aware of demons (like the Kyuubi) and by walking in with almost all of the Fox's Yin chakra she had set them off.

Once the goblins took her aside, they were very surprised when a potion test revealed that not only was she the missing Potter girl, but she had a large amount of demonic energy in her! However once she demonstrated that the demonic energy didn't affect her in any way aside from a small boost, they calmed down enough to help her with her banking.

Kushina left with a large bag of gold placed in a seal that would allow her to withdraw what she needed without having to haul the bag everywhere. The goblins had been very interested in her sealing ability...so she gave them her copy of a beginning Seal Master book.

She walked into the bookstore and quickly became disgusted with how the magicals portrayed her. Really, a Bishoujo who would save them no matter what? And she didn't have such ridiculous looking green eyes. Sure they were jade, but they weren't that idealized! And the mere thought of her wearing glasses (apparently everyone expected her to be as nearsighted as her father...she had corrective surgery under Tsunade to fix that before she became a genin!) annoyed her greatly.

She did leave after buying more than the required books, using a slight henge to get around the issue of her being too young to buy some of them. She could only hope the fiction romance novels were better than the Icha Icha crap Jiraiya sold...the man couldn't proofread to safe his life!

Her next stop was Knockturn Alley. Someone had told her that Ollivander sold pre-made wands and that simply didn't appeal to her. She wanted custom, not one that this Ministry could trace.

Her KI alone kept some of the shadier people away, and she cheerfully bantered with some of the so called Dark Creatures about the books in the stores. They seemed surprised that an obvious pure blood bothered to speak to them as equals.

Because of that one of them directed her to a small shop that sold custom wands, though at a slightly higher price.

"Come in, come in. Ah, I didn't expect the Potter child to visit my shop for her first wand...or should I say the Princess of Whirlpool?" said the woman cheerfully.

"I prefer the other title, actually," she admitted.

"Very well, Misses Uzumaki, let's find your true wand shall we?"

Kushina went through various wand woods, only to settle on a block that came from a blessed cherry blossom tree that bloomed all year round inside a haunted mansion. Rumors had it that the mansion was occupied by demons of all ranks. Her core was fur from the tail of a demon thief called Youko Kurama, which had vanished back in his homeland ten years ago. To that Kushina added a link of her chakra chain that she used to restrain the Kyuubi.

Once it was done, the wand was exactly nine inches long and polished to a red shine. Kushina could feel the Kyuubi chakra being pulled into the core, and with a wave a tiny fox ghost appeared. She grinned, and for the first time felt at ease with her new body.

"If I were you deary, I would get a wand at Ollivanders just to keep that meddling old man out of your way. Knowing him he used your blood to make brother wand to the one the Sannin wannabe has," advised the woman.

"Thanks for the tip. I didn't know it was possible for brother wands to be made."

"Indeed. Having two wands with the same core from the same source causes the Priori Incantatem effect, and cancels each other out every time."

"Good thing I don't rely on wands to kill people," said Kushina.

She went into the other wand store and got the wand the other shopkeeper mentioned. This one felt like a discordant note to her, so she decided not to use it unless she had to. If the old man had used her blood from when she was an infant, he had no idea that it had changed since then.

For starters, the residual proteins from being pregnant had altered it slightly, and since she had given birth mere hours before being pulled through time they were still present...and according to Tsunade would be for at least a month after. Not to mention the Kyuubi, which had altered it even more. Her blood wasn't too different from her infant self, but it was enough to cause problems with her second wand.

And the fact that she got it while the proteins from carrying Naruto for nine months were still present when it first bonded to her...yeah, she would be lucky if the thing misfired.

Before she made the trip back, all her new purchases inside the seals she had on her (the shopkeepers had all be suitably impressed with them), she stopped by the pet shop. Most animals (notably cats...like that damn Tora who would die a painful death if Kushina had to catch the $&&%#%^#^$% thing one more time...) couldn't stand her because of the fox.

Like clockwork most of the animals (barring snakes for some odd reason) went nuts when she came anywhere near the store. She sighed, and decided to try the Owl Emporium two stores down.

All the owls went berserk, screeching for all they were worth...except for one lone bird. A beautiful snowy white owl calmly flew to her, and sat on her shoulder.

"How much for the owl?" she asked.

"Five galleons. Eight if you want a deluxe care set," said the man gruffly. Whatever the girl was, she was bothering his birds.

Kushina handed over eight gold coins and left with her new pet. Hopefully she could train it to be her nin animal.

She had always wanted one, but the Fox kept her from getting one. Even that brat Kakashi's dogs didn't like her, and had to gradually get used to her presence.

"What should I call you... I know! How about Mito, after my grandmother and one of the strongest females I know?"

The newly named Mito hooted and nuzzled her long crimson red hair. She knew the moment the girl stepped into her store that this was her master. She could ignore the foul magic she had stored in her body, as long as it meant that she wouldn't have to suffer the fools who tried to buy her.

Mito flew on ahead as Kushina went through the floo to Snape's office.

"Perfect timing. The old man was about to send someone to get us for dinner."

Kushina smirked. Ever since Snape showed her the House Elves, they had had Eastern style food for her. Most of the crap they served students were barely fit to be fed to the dogs with how greasy it was!

Kushina waited impatiently for the other first years to show up. Since the old man didn't want her to try and escape and find her home, he had had her stay in the castle until the school started.

Kushina didn't bother to tell the man that his worries were currently unfounded. She had received a very shocking message in her dreams from the same God of Death that had been about to devour her Minato and send her to the peaceful realms.

Flashback

Kushina knew something was up when she found herself in Konoha...with a few odd changes. People walked past her without seeing her.

"What the hell?"

"Hello Uzumaki Kushina. Enjoying the view?"

She turned to find Shinigami-sama standing there amused. She quickly bowed in respect.

"Shinigami-sama. Why am I here?"

"I have a proposition for you...one that would prove mutually beneficial to both of us. Should you agree I will insure that you get home alive and mostly unharmed."

"What's the mission?" she asked seriously.

Shinigami-sama smiled.

"A few centuries ago I gave up three items of my own making to three brothers. They have been causing more trouble than they are worth, and I want them returned. If you can retrieve all three, I will send you home."

"Am I supposed to do this alone?"

"Not at all. You will receive help from home, though it will take until the next year to show up. If you can amuse me in the process I will even grant you the ability to send letters to your son," said Shinigami-sama.

Kushina weighed her options. On one hand, this was her best chance to get home alive. On the other hand, this was the God of Death. Maybe if she did what he asked he would bring back her husband!

"You have a deal. What are these items?"

"A cloak of invisibility, a wand that can never be defeated in magical battles, and a stone that raises the souls of the dead so that they may communicate with the living."

Kushina stared at him.

"Seriously? Why such odd items?"

"I granted three brothers one boon each, and that was what they chose. Only one of them had any sense. The others died shortly after."

"I will not fail you Shinigami-sama. May I ask...is it alright if I have the power to speak to the Hokage? He'll need to know about this mission so I can return home without trouble."

Shinigami-sama smiled and waved his hand. A book appeared before her and another on the desk of the Hokage...right where his head was. The old man had fallen asleep doing paperwork again.

Kushina watched with glee as the old man's eyes widened when he read the report. She woke up the next morning with the book and started to write a report like it was a spying mission.

Flashback end

Kushina took a deep breath and said "Well, here goes nothing. Let's see how these sheep handle a real Fox!"