Time passed by like a quiet river.
Kushina grew happier every day.
She had Dale to protect her, and soon, she found someone else who truly saw her.
One sunny day at the Academy, she was sitting alone under a large tree.
A boy with bright, spiky blonde hair and kind blue eyes walked up to her.
His name was Minato Namikaze.
“Hello,”
Minato said softly, smiling at her.
“Can I sit with you?”
Kushina looked away, touching her red hair nervously.
“Why?”
She asked defensively.
“Don’t you think I look weird? Everyone else makes fun of my hair.”
Minato sat down next to her.
He looked at her hair carefully, his blue eyes shining with simple honesty.
“No,”
Minato said gently.
“I think it is really beautiful. I like your hair. It looks like a bright, warm fire.”
Kushina’s eyes went wide.
Her cheeks turned as red as her hair.
Dale’s words suddenly echoed in her mind: *’One day, this red hair will lead you straight to the people who truly love you.’*
From that single conversation on, Kushina and Minato quickly became best friends.
They ate lunch together, trained together, and laughed together.
But outside the Academy walls, the ninja world was still dangerous.
One cold, windy night, three enemy ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village sneaked past the Leaf Village borders.
They knew about Kushina’s special Uzumaki chakra.
Their dark plan was to kidnap her in her sleep.
They moved silently over the rooftops, getting closer and closer to the Senju estate.
But they never even reached the garden walls.
Dale was sitting quietly on the porch, drinking hot tea.
With his natural Sage abilities, his senses were incredibly sharp.
He felt their violent, greedy energy from a mile away.
*Pop.*
Dale vanished from the porch.
High up on a dark roof, bright blue lightning flashed for just one single second.
There was no long fight.
There was no loud noise to wake up the village.
Dale used his Blink to appear right behind the three enemy ninjas.
He knocked all of them out cold with lightning-fast strikes before they could even draw their swords.
“No one touches my little sister,”
Dale whispered in the dark, his eyes completely cold and protective.
He tied the enemies up and dropped them off at the Hokage’s office.
Kushina slept perfectly safe in her warm bed.
She never even knew she was in danger.
In the original history of the world, Minato was supposed to save Kushina from those kidnappers.
He was supposed to find her by following a trail of her red hair.
That scary night was supposed to be the moment she fell in love with him.
Dale had completely changed that.
But even without the kidnapping, fate was still working its beautiful magic.
They didn’t need a scary rescue to bond.
They had quiet afternoons, shared secrets, and deep, honest conversations.
A few days later, Kushina brought Minato to the Senju estate to meet Dale properly.
“Big brother Dale!”
Kushina called out, her face glowing with pure happiness.
“This is Minato! He is the one I told you about!”
Minato bowed politely, looking at Dale with deep respect.
“It is an honor to meet you, Dale-sensei,”
Minato said respectfully.
“Kushina talks about how amazing you are all the time.”
Dale looked closely at the blonde boy.
He saw how Minato looked at Kushina—with soft, caring, and truly respectful eyes.
Dale smiled warmly.
“Welcome to our home, Minato,”
Dale said, bringing them both some sweet snacks.
He stepped back and watched them sit together on the porch, talking and laughing easily about their day.
Dale knew right then.
The red thread of fate was completely real.
Kushina and Minato were falling deeply in love with each other, not out of fear or a dramatic rescue, but out of a true, gentle, and unbreakable friendship.
He told Dale that the Hokage needed to see him immediately.
Dale quickly went to the Hokage’s office.
When he walked in, the room was very quiet.
Hiruzen was not smiling.
The old man sat behind his desk, looking deeply at a small, torn scroll.
His face was pale and full of heavy worry.
“You asked to see me, Lord Hokage?”
Dale asked, stepping closer to the desk.
Hiruzen slowly looked up.
He put his pipe down.
He didn’t even light it.
“Yes, Dale,”
Hiruzen said, his voice low and serious.
“I have a very important mission. It is a secret, and it is incredibly dangerous.”
Dale stood up straight.
He was ready.
“Tell me what to do.”
Hiruzen pushed the torn scroll across the desk.
“This message arrived an hour ago. It is from Uzushiogakure. The Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides.”
Dale recognized the name instantly.
“That is Mito and Kushina’s home,”
He said.
“The home of the Uzumaki clan.”
“Yes,”
Hiruzen nodded slowly.
“They are under heavy attack. Several hidden villages have joined forces to destroy them. The Uzumaki are strong, but there are too many enemies. They sent this message to ask the Leaf Village for help.”
Dale frowned.
“Then we have to go,”
Dale said firmly.
“We have to send our ninja to save them. They are our allies.”
Hiruzen closed his eyes.
A look of deep pain crossed his old face.
“I cannot,”
Hiruzen whispered sadly.
“The Second Ninja World War is at our borders. Every day, we fight to keep the Leaf Village safe. If I send an army to help Uzushiogakure, our own defenses will fall. Our village will be destroyed.”
Dale was silent.
He understood the terrible choice a leader had to make.
“But I cannot just abandon them,”
Hiruzen continued, opening his eyes.
They were sharp and focused now.
“I cannot let Mito’s family die. I need to send help. But I cannot send an army.”
Hiruzen stood up and looked straight into Dale’s eyes.
“I need someone who can travel faster than any normal ninja,”
The Hokage explained.
“I need someone who does not run out of chakra. Someone who is as strong as an entire army all by himself. Someone who can get there quickly and check the true situation.”
Dale understood exactly what the Hokage was saying.
“You want me to go,”
Dale said calmly.
“You are the ideal person for this task, Dale,”
Hiruzen told him honestly.
“Your ‘Blink’ jutsu makes you incredibly fast. Your Sage chakra gives you endless stamina. You can reach their island in a day, while a normal ninja would take a week.”
Hiruzen walked around the desk and put a heavy hand on Dale’s shoulder.
“I am asking you to run into a warzone alone. You do not have to accept.”
Dale didn’t even need to think about it.
He thought about Mito’s kind smile when she offered him tea.
He thought about Kushina’s bright red hair and her happy laughter on the porch.
“I accept,”
Dale said without any hesitation.
His voice was completely solid.
“Kushina and Mito are my family now. That makes the Uzumaki my family, too. I will go check on them, and I will save as many as I can.”
Hiruzen let out a long, shaky breath of relief.
“Thank you,”
The Hokage said softly.
“Please, be careful. Go quickly, and come back alive.”
Dale nodded.
Bright blue lightning began to spark around his feet.
“I will be back before you know it,” This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Dale promised.
*Pop.*
In a flash of light, Dale vanished from the office, racing toward the sea to save his family’s homeland.
Dale moved faster than the wind.
He used his lightning speed and his Blink jutsu over and over again.
It didn’t even take him a whole day to cross the land and reach the sea.
When he finally arrived at the island of Uzushiogakure, he saw a massive, glowing barrier covering the entire village.
It was a powerful Uzumaki seal.
It was designed to keep every single enemy out.
But when Dale stepped close to it, something amazing happened.
The ancient space-time seal inside his chest glowed warmly.
It acted like a master key.
The village barrier simply parted for him, letting him pass right through without a sound.
He stepped safely inside the hidden village.
Fortunately, the enemies had not broken the barrier yet.
Dale could see hundreds of enemy ninjas waiting just outside the glowing walls.
They were slowly breaking the outer defenses.
They seemed to know the secret paths that led inside.
The barrier would not hold them for much longer.
Before Dale could take another step, he was completely surrounded.
Ten warriors with bright red hair dropped down from the high walls.
They pointed sharp swords and glowing paper seals right at his neck.
“Stop right there!”
A tall man with a scarred face yelled angrily.
“How did you get inside the barrier without breaking it?! Who are you?!”
Dale did not raise his weapons.
He stayed completely calm.
He reached slowly into his pocket.
The warriors tensed, ready to strike and kill him.
But Dale just pulled out a small, heavy scroll.
It had a special, glowing red mark on it.
“My name is Dale,”
He said clearly, holding the scroll up so they could see.
“I came from the Hidden Leaf Village.”
The tall man’s eyes went wide.
He stared at the scroll.
He instantly recognized the powerful chakra on the seal.
It belonged to Lady Mito.
“Lower your weapons,”
The tall man quickly ordered his warriors.
He looked at Dale and let out a long, heavy breath of relief.
“You are the reinforcement from Konoha,”
The man said, his tired shoulders dropping.
“Thank the gods. We sent the message hoping the Hokage would hear us in time.”
But then, the man looked behind Dale.
He looked up at the empty sky and the quiet streets.
There was no one else.
No army.
No squads of elite fighters.
Just one single young man.
The tall man’s face twisted with deep confusion and sudden fear.
“Wait,”
The man said, his voice shaking.
“Where is the rest of the army? Why did Konoha just send you alone?”
Dale looked the man straight in the eyes.
“The Leaf Village is fighting its own war at the borders,”
Dale explained honestly.
“The Hokage could not spare an army without letting our own village fall.”
The Uzumaki warriors groaned.
Some looked down at the ground in pure despair.
“Then we are dead,”
One of the red-haired women whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“There are thousands of them outside. They know the paths to break the seal. One man cannot save us.”
Dale’s eyes grew cold and sharp.
Bright blue lightning began to spark violently along his arms, making the air buzz with a terrifying, heavy pressure.
“I am not just one normal man,”
Dale told them softly, his voice full of absolute confidence.
“Mito and Kushina are my family. That makes this village my family, too. And I promise you, nobody is going to die today.”