I cosplayed Kushina Uzumaki (Naruto’s mother) this past weekend. I don’t get a lot of character recognition when I do this cosplay, because I’m not wearing the clothes that Kushina is depicted in for most of the show, a white blouse and a green jumper. But that’s okay. Because I need to play this mama like the badass that she is—and if that’s expressed in terms of clothing, then you gotta lose the jumper.

I wear Kushina in the clothing she wears as jounin, a member of the Leaf Village ninja ranks. That is, I wear her dressed as a soldier, which is what she was before she got pregnant. We all know that when it comes to feminism, Naruto is not especially progressive, and is sometimes downright infuriating. The cool thing about cosplay, and about fan art in general, is that we can sort of re-frame these female characters and cast light on their more powerful, independent aspects. And if we’re talking about power, Kushina has A LOT of it. Unlike Naruto, Kushina is able to contain the will of Kurama almost effortlessly. She’s a capable ninja, and, like Naruto, she’s ambitious—she wants to be Hokage, so she’s not quite as hopeless as poor Sakura, whose original and ultimate goal is to fuck Sasuke. And let’s not forget the best evidence of Kushina’s raw power which is that she GAVE BIRTH and then had enough chakra to help restrain Kurama and seal him inside of her newborn baby. And then she STILL had enough chakra for Minato to seal inside Naruto, enough to later have an hour long conversation with him, and then RESTRAIN KURAMA AGAIN. I’ve given birth, and that after that ordeal, I barely had enough energy to move, let alone magically contain an angry, immortal, fox spirit twice over.

Which brings me to that other kind of power that Kushina possesses. Her and Minato’s story resonates with me because in this weird, symbolic, purely emotional kind of way, Naruto’s entry into the world unfolds like the beginning of real life parenthood. Minato and Kushina are excited about Naruto. They carefully pick his name, they take ridiculous pains to bring him safely into the world, and then there he is! They have him! And everything is perfect and beautiful for about ten seconds, and then what? Chaos. Violence. Danger. Kushina fights her heart out. She knows she’s doomed, but this is the way that she has chosen to protect her baby, by protecting his home. They win the fight, and for their efforts, they are rewarded with the opportunity to blurt out all the hopes they have for Naruto. They give him what they know will be an enormous burden, having to believe that he can handle it, that he will overcome it. And then they die. That’s a bleak-ass metaphor for parenthood, and fantasy characters get to cop out with literal death, whereas real parents only let a portion of themselves die, keeping the better portion alive, and compelled to keep fighting. Still, bleak or not, flawed or not, I feel a connection this symbolic story, and to Kushina. To me, she represents ultimate mother-power, even if she if she is too often depicted doing Minato’s dishes.

And that’s why when I wear Kushina, I don’t wear the goddamn jumper. Her military dress is a better representation of the kind of power she has, and the kind of mother she is as well.

(Art credit to AgentWhiteHawk Art. Because, wow.)