Kushina froze for a moment, then her face flushed as she complained, "What? No way! Takuya and Minato are just my classmates, my friends. I just don't want to lose the only two friends I've made because of this whole skipping grades thing."

Kushina, who had lost everything and had to start over, was extremely sensitive deep down. She desperately wanted to be accepted and have her own close friends. As for love... that wasn't even on her radar.

Sure, Takuya's teasing of Mikoto Uchiha annoyed her a bit, but what did that have to do with love?

"Alright, if that's how you feel, then go for it. I've got your back," Tsunade said with a sigh. The Third Hokage had already approved it—what could Tsunade do? Forbid Kushina from skipping grades? That would break the poor girl's heart.

"Yay, you're the best, Tsunade! How about I make you something to eat? You probably haven't had breakfast yet!" Kushina cheered, practically bouncing with excitement.

Tsunade gave a cold laugh, "Don't bother. Get that Takuya kid to cook for me instead—that might actually heal my wounded soul. But your cooking? No thanks."

Tsunade still hadn't recovered from the horror of the last meal Kushina had made. After that one experience, there was no way she was going back for seconds. Unless Kushina was making rice balls, she wanted no part of it.

"..."

Kushina's excitement deflated, turning into tears. Once again, she was rejected, though she had to admit her cooking skills were pretty terrible.

"I heard you applied to stay back a grade today?" Mikoto's mom asked, looking at her daughter.

Mikoto Uchiha awkwardly explained, "Well, I joked yesterday about wanting Takuya to graduate early so we could team up. But then Takuya took it seriously. He wants to be in the same grade as me, and when I suggested staying back a year, he said he'd apply for early graduation if I didn't."

"So I agreed to stay back."

Mikoto's mom smirked, "But that's not all I heard. Little Takuya told everyone at school that you promised to marry him when you grow up. Is that true?"

"Mom!!" Mikoto Uchiha stomped her foot in frustration.

Her mom laughed, "Takuya's a good kid. It's a shame he didn't rejoin the family; that was always his mother's wish. The clan elders... sigh..."

Mikoto pouted, thinking to herself, Even if the elders begged him to come back now, he probably wouldn't.

A genius who unlocked the double tomoe Sharingan before the age of seven... those old geezers would definitely regret it later. Mikoto decided not to share this news with her family. She didn't want them blabbing and causing unnecessary trouble for Takuya. When and if Takuya wanted to reveal his Sharingan, that was his decision to make.

"Stupid boy!" she fumed, remembering how Takuya had announced in front of all the teachers that she was going to marry him someday. That's so embarrassing.

Now the whole school was buzzing about it.

"Hey, Snowy, things seem pretty lively tonight."

Takuya couldn't sleep. Inside him, his little Nine-Tails, whom he had nicknamed "Snowy," was growing restless. The little guy was visibly expanding, as if all the accumulated chakra had finally reached a tipping point. As it broke through this limit, Snowy's body started swelling.

In no time, it had grown from the size of a buffalo to filling almost the entire room, and its chakra was surging like crazy. No tailed beast was small; even the Nine-Tails was just deceptively sleek. Compared to the world of Naruto's other nine-tailed beasts, Takuya's white Nine-Tails had always been the runt of the litter. But now, it was finally catching up.

It seemed that after breaking through the barrier, Snowy's growth rate was doubling. Takuya's question went unanswered as Snowy appeared to be in a rapid growth phase. As for the nickname "Snowy," that was Takuya's idea.

Kushina had a Nine-Tails inside her, and he had his own, a special white one. And since his Nine-Tails was female, he couldn't just call her Kurama or Nine-Tails. Snowy suited her just fine, especially given her color.

As Snowy grew, Takuya's own chakra became increasingly unstable. Thankfully, it didn't spread outside; otherwise, the ANBU would have been all over him. Explaining why he had Nine-Tails chakra in him would have been a nightmare.

Snowy's growth continued almost until dawn before finally slowing down. Takuya was utterly exhausted, having barely slept all night. His chakra had been in such turmoil that he felt completely drained, sporting dark circles under his eyes like some kind of panda.

"Morning, Takuya," Minato greeted him with a grin, already waiting outside his house. But when he noticed Takuya's panda eyes, he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, what happened to you last night? Couldn't sleep because you were so excited to be in the same class as Mikoto?"

"Did you stay up all night?" Minato teased, poking Takuya's side with a mischievous grin.

"Get lost," Takuya grumbled, shoving Minato away. Excited? Seriously? You think I'm that shallow? I'm so tired...

Groggy and half-awake, Takuya made his way to the higher-grade classroom, only to bump into Kushina at the door.

Minato looked puzzled, "Kushina, this is the upper-grade classroom. What are you doing here?"

"Because I skipped a grade too! There's no way you two are leaving me behind," Kushina declared, raising a tiny fist in mock anger.

Takuya: "..."

Minato: "..."

Having connections definitely made a difference. They had to jump through hoops and pass all sorts of exams to skip a grade, but Kushina? She just showed up.

"Morning, everyone," Uchiha Mikoto greeted them as she arrived at the classroom door, smiling as she walked in with Takuya.

Inside the classroom, when Kushina saw Takuya and Mikoto sitting together at the back, sharing breakfast, her smile faded.

"Kushina, what's wrong? Didn't you eat?" Minato asked, offering his lunchbox.

"Thanks, but I've already eaten," Kushina replied, declining Minato's offer as she walked into the classroom.

Minato scratched his head, confused. What's up with her? She was fine just a minute ago.

Deep inside Kushina, the Nine-Tails suddenly opened its eyes, shifting uncomfortably and causing the chains wrapped around it to clink and rattle.

"Uzumaki brat, loosen these chains a bit, and I'll tell you a secret."

Just a moment ago, when they were all close together, the Nine-Tails had caught a whiff of a familiar scent coming from Takuya. It was almost like another Nine-Tails—one whose chakra carried a faint, sweet fragrance. The Nine-Tails was baffled, wondering, When did my chakra start leaking? And why does it smell like that?