Kushina Uzumaki

was a Konohagakure kunoichi who originated from Uzushiogakure's Uzumaki clan. She was the second jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails and the mother of Naruto Uzumaki.

Background
Born into the famed Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure, Kushina lived most of her youth being caught-up in war, making her seek for a daily "peace". At a young age she was sent to Konoha and enrolled in the Academy.

Wanting to make a strong first impression, she proclaimed to her class that she would be the first female Hokage. The other kids laughed at her statement, and began calling her because of her then-round face and fiery red hair. This prompted her to lash out and pummel the kids who teased her. This, in addition to her red hair flying wildly around her as she did so, earned her the nickname of.

Kushina was eventually told why she had to leave her home of Uzushio and go to Konoha; because of her special chakra, she was to be the next jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Kushina was terrified by the idea, but she was comforted by the Nine-Tails' then-current jinchūriki, Mito Uzumaki. Before the transfer was performed, Mito advised Kushina that love was the only way to tame the Nine-Tails and overcome its hate.

At some point in time, Kushina, now a genin, was kidnapped by Kumogakure who wanted to make use of her special chakra in order to gain control of the Nine-Tails. As they escorted her to Kumo, she secretly plucked and left behind strands of her red hair to mark her trail in the hopes that someone would find her. Minato Namikaze, one of her former classmates that Kushina believed to be a wimp, was the only one to pick up on this. After rescuing her, he informed her that he had always admired her red hair. Since Minato proved himself to be anything but a "wimp", accepted her, and liked the one thing she hated about herself, Kushina fell in love with him, now considering her red hair as the that had brought them together. Ultimately, Minato's reciprocated feelings helped her with overcoming the Nine-Tails.

As she grew up, Kushina became renowned for her beauty and unique ninjutsu style, including the fūinjutsu of her clan. At some point, Kushina married Minato. She was later present to witness her husband's reign as Fourth Hokage, being very exciting for him when first learning of it. During her ten-month jinchūriki-influenced pregnancy, she was secretly kept guarded by Minato's top student Kakashi Hatake under Minato's order. Midway through the pregnancy, the expecting-parents decided to name their unborn child "Naruto" after the main character of Jiraiya's first book. When Jiraiya asked if they were sure about it, stating that it was a name he had just came up with whilst eating a bowl of ramen one day, Kushina said that it was a beautiful name. They even approved of Jiraiya to be Naruto's godfather. Kushina also hoped that her son and her best friend Mikoto Uchiha's youngest son Sasuke would become friends in the future.

Because the seal keeping the Nine-Tails within Kushina's body would be at its weakest during childbirth, special arrangements were made. Kushina would leave the village in secret and give birth in a remote location. Minato would help maintain the seal and Anbu would guard the area. Soon after Naruto was born, however, they were found by a masked man. The masked man killed all of the Anbu, Biwako, Taji, and took the newborn baby Naruto hostage, threatening to kill him as well. Minato was able to take Naruto back, but this gave the masked ninja the chance to escape with Kushina. Wishing to use the Nine-Tails to destroy Konoha, the masked man released it from Kushina's body. The vitality inherent to the Uzumaki clan allowed her to survive the extraction, though greatly weakened by experience, the masked ninja tried to have the Nine-Tails finish Kushina off. She was saved by Minato and brought to Naruto, who she stayed with while Minato went to help in the village's defence.

To stop the Nine-Tails' attack, Minato was forced to bring it to Kushina and Naruto's location, and both of them to its. While still weakened, Kushina used her diminished chakra to restrain the Nine-Tails. Despite fearing the trauma would kill her in her current state, Kushina volunteered to have the Nine-Tails sealed back into her body so that it would die with her. Willing to sacrifice herself for Minato and Naruto; her thanks to them for giving her such a happy life. Minato suggested using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the Nine-Tails and sealing it into Naruto instead.

As this would also mean Minato's death, and consequently give Naruto a horrible and lonely life, Kushina naturally objected. Minato convinced her that it was for the best, and that doing this would also allow Kushina to see Naruto when he was older. After Minato sealed the Yin half of the Nine-Tails' chakra inside himself, the demon shrunk significantly, losing the chains. Realising the Hokage's intentions, the weakened Nine-Tails tried to kill Naruto, but both Minato and Kushina used their bodies to shield him. As Minato performed the sealing, and already at the point of death, Kushina told Naruto how much she loved him and gave him her best advice for the future; her final act in this world was to fill her son with as much of her love as possible. Minato then sealed the rest of their remaining chakra into Naruto. In the anime, before dying, the Third Hokage appeared. Kushina told Hiruzen the child's name and begged the elder to protect Naruto, dying shortly afterwards.

Personality
In her childhood, Kushina was a headstrong, impulsive, eccentric, and stubborn girl. According to Jiraiya, Kushina was also talkative and tomboyish. Tsunade noted that much of Naruto's personality, as well as his ninjutsu style were inherited from her. Kushina also had a verbal tic: when flustered or excited, she would end her sentences with, a trait she hoped wouldn't be passed down to Naruto (who also uses "you know", or "(da)ttebayo" (だ)ってばよ)) and her grandson (who uses "dattebasa" (だってばさ)). In the anime, it is shown that these traits are also how she hides her insecurities, such as having red hair, being a foreigner, and being Kurama's jinchūriki, along with being somewhat nervous.

As an adult, Kushina was very level-headed and cheerful with a noticeable sassy side to her. Despite her calm and kind nature, she retained her quick temper from childhood and occasionally lashed out violently at others if they angered her. She also was fearless, as her friend Mikoto was slightly surprised when Kushina showed anxiety over labour pains. Kushina was prone to worrying about her husband and unborn son, showing strong maternal instincts as she correctly predicted her child's future personality and gender well-before giving birth. In the anime, possibly derived from her over-excited personality, Kushina is shown to be a selective hearer.

Kushina deeply loved her family and was not afraid to sacrifice her life to stop the Nine-Tails, even taking the fox's deathblow meant for her newborn son. Though afraid of the harsh and cruel life Naruto would have to endure as an orphaned jinchūriki, she did as much as she could in her final moments to shower her son with love. She also cared deeply about Minato's students, thinking that Rin Nohara was adorable and would often hug and kiss her on the forehead. She also had friendly fights with Obito Uchiha, her favourite according to Minato.

Appearance
Kushina was a woman well-known for her beauty. She had a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, violet eyes, and the common Uzumaki red hair. It reached her ankles (waist in the anime) with should-length strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parts her hair to the left. Generally, she wore a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress with a wristband on her left wrist and standard shinobi sandals. While her style of clothing normally consisted of this, she has been seen wearing it in varying colors.

While on duty, she wore a blue forehead protector with her hair tied up in a high ponytail and strands at the sides of her face. Her attire consisted of a standard Konoha flak jacket over a black short-sleeved shirt and black form-fitting pants that reached her calves.

In her childhood, she had a round face, which, with her red hair naturally framing both sides of her face, made her look like a tomato. Her attire was a sleeveless kimono-style blouse that was yellow in colour and held closed with a green obi over a short-sleeved mesh shirt with a pair of dark blue shorts and brown shinobi sandals. In her adolescence, she wore a short-sleeved, tan kimono-like blouse with a dark embroidered border, held closed with a black obi, a dark skirt and stockings that stopped at her thighs along with the village's forehead protector and brown sandals.

Abilities
While admitting her original lack of skill in the art, Kushina became a high-ranking kunoichi famed for her unique ninjutsu style; even the Sannin recognised her prowess. Her nature transformations include Wind, Water, and Yin Release. While still an Academy student, Kushina proved to be a strong and fierce barehanded fighter, being able to beat several kids (even a genin in the anime) "half to death" for teasing her, earning the nickname.

Life Force and Chakra Abilities
As an Uzumaki, Kushina was blessed with a strong life-force, granting her tremendous chakra reserves, healing powers, longevity, stamina, and vitality. Ultimately, she survived the Nine-Tails' extraction minutes after giving birth, and still provided great aid to Minato on the battlefield shortly after her despite heavy exhaustion. Likewise, while still weakened, she did not die immediately from being impaled by the Nine-Tails' claw. Even by her clan's standards, Kushina possessed a powerful and special form of chakra that made her well-suited for becoming a jinchūriki, enhancing her reserves further.

Fūinjutsu
Kushina had great talent and advanced knowledge of the fūinjutsu; some of which she later taught to Minato. From her clan, she inherited sealing techniques to seal a tailed beast within a target, which can also be enhanced. With her chakra, Kushina could materialise Adamantine Sealing Chains, which were strong enough to restrain and subdue the Nine-Tails. She could also form a barrier in conjunction with these chains keeping all from entering, even the Third Hokage.

In the anime, within Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Kushina could perform the Four Red Yang Formation.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
During his training with Killer B at the Tailed Beast Temple to learn to control his tailed beast, Naruto was almost overwhelmed by the Nine-Tails' hatred, and began to undergo Version 2 transformation. Just as the hatred almost consumed him, he heard a small, clear voice speaking to him as Kushina appeared before him. Naruto initially believed that she was the Nine-Tails in disguise, and as he chided the "beast" for taking such a form, she hits him in the head. She then apologised for her short-temper, and the use of the word telling Naruto that she hoped that wasn't a trait he had inherited from her. Picking up on this and realising Kushina was his mother, Naruto started to cry and embraced her. His happiness halted the Nine-Tails' spreading influence and Kushina used her Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain the Nine-Tails in order to give them a chance to talk. As the chains emerged the Nine-Tails was surprised after recognising her chakra.

With the opportunity to speak more freely now, Kushina noted that her son had inherited her features and verbal tick, but thankfully got his father's hair colour, as well as eyes. Dismissing this, Naruto noted that she was beautiful and had he gotten her hair colour as well, he would have been really handsome. Her smiles of joy soon turned to ones of embarrassment, however, when asked how she and Minato fell in love. Nevertheless, Kushina told Naruto the story of how she had come to Konoha as a child and was almost kidnapped by Kumo-nin, but subsequently rescued by his father. Afterwards, she told Naruto the words that she reserved for people who complimented her hair, and with the words of love resonating throughout him, Naruto was able to break free of the beast's hatred. Kushina later watched on and helped Naruto extract and separate the Nine-Tails' chakra from its body noting that her son was a powerful fighter.

With her remaining time, she told him about the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha and how the beast came to be sealed within him. After her story was finished, she apologised for placing such a burden on him. Naruto replied that it didn't matter, for even though she and Minato weren't there to show their child love, he knew that they had loved him long before the Nine-Tails was sealed into him; thus, he didn't blame her and Minato for anything, and was happy to be their son. Overjoyed, Kushina tearfully hugged Naruto, and thanked him for letting her and Minato be his parents, before she completely faded away.

Legacy
More than anything, Kushina wanted to protect her newborn son Naruto. This was why she first objected to Minato's decision to seal the Nine-Tails into him. She did not want to impose the hardships that jinchūriki had to endure during their lives, and moreover did not want to leave her son an orphan should Minato carry out his plan which would also cost him his life and as such, Kushina wanted to sacrifice her own life and reseal the beast into herself. Ultimately agreeing to Minato's plan which would also protect their village, Kushina imparted her final words to Naruto by which he should live. She would later play an integral role in Naruto's success in taking control of the Nine-Tails; a power which was later heavily relied on for the success of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Also, Kushina is quite similar to her son Naruto in personality, as observed by both Kurama and her husband Minato. This became a source of strength and joy for Minato, giving him the heart to continue fighting with Naruto against his former student, Obito.

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
In the alternate timeline, Minato and Kushina have a son named Menma who is the parallel version of Naruto. Sometime after Menma was born, the Black Nine-Tails was removed from Kushina and sealed within her child. Unlike most the people Naruto and Sakura knew, Kushina's personality is essentially the same in this timeline; sweet and caring yet easily angered to violent outbursts. Also in this timeline, Kushina is alive alongside Minato, continuing to serve Konohagakure alongside her husband as ninja while also able to enjoy being parents, raising their son in a loving and stable lifestyle.

Unbeknownst to the couple, Menma later disappears, replaced by Naruto and the Sakura of the normal timeline who arrived in this world. When Kushina and Minato returned to the village after completing a mission, it shocked Naruto by their living presence. As Kushina's took "Menma's" attitude as expecting them to die on mission, Kushina slugged Naruto for the lack of confidence.

While Naruto decides to continue the act of being Menma to not raise problems, he refuses to get close to the parallel parents, viewing them as nothing but fakes. Kushina however refuses to let her son act so disrespectful, quickly intimidating Naruto into joining dinner. Later, during a mission to retrieve the Red Moon Scroll left by Jiraiya, Kushina without hesitation threw herself in the way to protect Naruto from an attack by the guarding Gamabunta. While annoyed at Naruto's reckless actions, she quickly showed how much she truly cared for her son's wellbeing with a tearful hug, finally making Naruto let the woman into his heart. The following night, Naruto celebrated Kushina's birthday with joy. Later, a masked man appeared with the desire to obtain the Red Moon Scroll. Showing his tremendous power, the masked man quickly defeated Kushina and several other Konoha-nin. When Sakura was kidnapped, Naruto voiced his desire to save her. Kushina and Minato however refused to let Naruto go after Sakura, fearing too much that he would die against the masked man. As Naruto realised the difference between this world and his true parents, that the couple here were more overprotective parents than trusting their child, Naruto made his true identity known before going after Sakura.

Later, Kushina and Minato went to help Naruto, still viewing him as an ally. Ultimately, the masked man was defeated and revealed to be the real Menma corrupted by the black Nine-Tails' malice. As Menma was freed and returned to normal, Kushina quickly rushed to check on her child. Naruto and Sakura said their goodbyes before they were returned to their own world as the technique that bound them to this world was broken.

Video Games
In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, Kushina is playable as a strolling character in Chapter 4 of the story mode. Also, Kushina is an assist character to Naruto during his battle against the Nine-Tails. In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, she is a fully playable character. Instead of shuriken and kunai, Kushina uses kitchen utensils as weapons, such as frying pans, ladles, wooden spoon. Her Ultimate Ninjutsu references the origin of her nickname "The Red-Hot Habanero" in which she in her awakened state unleashes her fury on the opponent beating them on the ground with a series of punches. If the opponent is Minato, he will call out her name, causing her to snap out of her angered state. She then playfully slaps him in embarrassment saying she was only joking, though her attack is still powerful enough to knock him away.

Trivia

 * Kushina's name was possibly inspired by the mythological, Susanoo's wife. When she was about to be devoured by the serpent Yamata no Orochi, Kushinada-hime was saved by Susanoo in exchange for becoming his wife. Susanoo transformed the girl into a comb and placed her in his hair, then defeated the serpent. He afterwards built a palace in Izumo where he married her.
 * Her husband's surname, Namikaze (波風 "waves and wind"), could also be a reference to this myth, as Susanoo was the god of the sea and storms.
 * As Kushina was nicknamed after a red pepper, and Minato was famed as the "Yellow Flash", Naruto's appropriate self-styled title of "Orange Hokage" refers to the fact that the colour orange is a mixture of both red and yellow.
 * On the cover of chapter 503, Kushina's hair resembles Kurama's tails.
 * She is one of only six jinchūriki known to not die from tailed beast extraction, along with Black Zetsu, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, Killer B, Obito Uchiha and her son Naruto Uzumaki. This was due to her clan's vitality to which she inherited.
 * Kushina mentions that her hair became her own "red thread of fate". The red string of fate, also referred to as the 'red thread of destiny', 'red thread of fate', and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese legend and is also used in Japanese legend. According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible red string around the ankles of men and women who are destined to be soul mates and will one day marry each other. Often, in Japanese culture, it is thought to be tied around the little finger. The two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of time, place or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break. This myth is similar to the Western concept of soul-mates or a twin flame.
 * In the Naruto character popularity polls, Kushina was ranked as the 21st most popular character in the 7th.
 * When first introduced in the anime, her eyes were depicted as violet-blue in colour and her hair was portrayed as a deep plum colour. This was corrected in subsequent episodes. However, in Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, both her first and second appearances were shown in Naruto's and Minato's stories respectively.
 * The shinobi outfit she wore in the anime is the same one her counterpart used in the Genjutsu World.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Kushina show that she was 145 cm when Minato saved her from Kumogakure.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Kushina's hobbies were pulling pranks and chatting.
 * Kushina's favourite food was salt ramen, while she disliked coffee and anything bitter.
 * Kushina didn't want to fight anyone in particular.
 * Kushina's favourite phrase was.
 * Kushina was apparently a very good cook, as Minato preferred her cooking the most.

Quotes

 * (As a child, when asked what her dream for the future was)
 * (To Kurama) "Neither of us have any sort of luck, do we? You keep the world at bay… but I keep you at bay." 
 * (To Jiraiya)
 * (To Minato) "Don't look so sad… Minato. I'm… I'm happy. Happy that you loved me. Happy that it's… our son's… birthday. Like… If I try to imagine surviving and the three of us… living together… I can't think of anything… beyond 'I'd be so happy.' If I had any regrets… It would be that I won't see Naruto grow up."
 * (Final words to baby Naruto) "Naruto… you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering. Remember who you are! Find a goal… a dream… and don't stop trying until it comes true. There's… there's so much more that I want to say… to teach you… I want to stay with you… I love you."
 * (To Naruto)
 * (To Naruto)
 * (To Naruto) "Thank you for letting me be your mother, and for letting Minato be your father. Thank you for being our son. Thank you… Thank you!"