Yours and Mine
Prologue: Perfect World
"Fight!! Fight for the honor of the village!! Fight to survive!!" Battle cries rang out, nearly drowned out by the crackling of the flames that started engulfing some of the nearby houses. Women and children screamed fearfully, for their lives and the lives of the ones they loved. The light drizzle wasn't enough to extinguish the fire, and the flames only created another problem the shinobi had to face.. Bodies were lying everywhere, both those of the villagers and those who protected the villagers. Weapons lay scattered everywhere on the ground as the drizzle slowly washed the blood off the metal and onto the already damp soil. The sound of weapons clashing also rang out throughout the rather small village.
"We can't hold him off!! Let the women and children escape!!"
Huff... huff.. huff... A large figure burst through some of the flames, swiftly darting through the charred building, moving as best he could with the injury on his leg, but that didn't stop him from moving as fast as he could to escape this village and save the life of his sister. Almost as soon as he was about to set foot outside the boundaries of the village, he was struck in the back with a large fuuma shuriken, causing him to topple forward from being hit by the shuriken. No other weapons or jutsus came after him, the enemy thinking that the shuriken had been enough for the already injured nin.
He coughed violently, slowly squirming to get to his feet, limping into the foliage and out of the village's sight, where he lowered onto one knee, slowly placing the girl he was carrying down on the ground. In the light of the flames, she looked to be half-conscious, blood dripping down from the sides of her hitai-ate and out of the corners of her mouth. Red-brown hued eyes looked up at the man whom carried her, half clouded from unconsciousness.
"Nii-san... I..."
"It's okay..." The brother breathed, placing his other knee on the ground and pulling her into an embrace, coughing up some blood onto her shoulder before he pulled away without bothering to wipe the blood from his lips, raising his hands and looking down at the fingerless gloves that covered them. He silently pulled them off, taking his younger sister's hand and placing the gloves on her palm, gently pushing her fingers closed around them.
"Take them... I know how much you like them since okaa-san made them..." The shinobi forced a grin, even though he was suffering from pain from his injuries.. Even though she was half-conscious, her eyes widened a bit.
"Nii-san..! Don't..!"
"I'm sorry... But please, live on..." He staggered to his feet, coughing up more blood before he looked over at the flames that had begun to spread further. The girl groaned, forcing herself to her own feet as she took hold of her brother's flak vest.
"Nii-san, please... dont..." Her brother looked down at her, before he placed his palm on her bloodied temple, his hand glowing green for a few seconds. The blood slowly stopped dripping from her head, but she still felt light-headed from the bloodloss. He placed both hands on her shoulders, mostly to support himself from falling.
"Please live on..."
"Nii-san..! Please..."
"I've healed the wound in your head... You should be able to get away and hide in the forest for a while... Maybe even in the Hi no Kuni if you get far enough..." Her brother rasped, coughing a bit more, forcing him to stop talking. The coughing ceased, and he continued on the best he could. "Join another ninja village... This village is finished. This country is finished... The daimyo who runs the... country was slain yesterday... Then the enemy moved on to the village..."
He bent his knees at this, lowering down to her height, pulling her into a final embrace. "Live on... 'Shina... I love you." Her eyes widened at the last three words, before tears welled up in her eyes.
"No, nii-san..." She choked, but her brother already pulled out of the embrace, turning around and heading back in the direction of the village. Kushina tried to stumbled after him, but he turned around looked at her with a pleading look.
"Please, Kushina... Live on... Fight on, knowing that you are probably the last of the Uzu Kuni." He clenched his fist, before he ran back into the flame-lit village, his silhouette disappearing from sight. Kushina was sobbing by now, but she quickly turned around, running in the opposite direction of the village. Her fist clenched around her brother's goodbye gift, running until she couldn't see the orange hue the flames created. She kept running and running, before she could no more, finally she slowed down to a walk, continuing on through the dark night...
Chapter I: Life
"Hehehe... Chuunin, already, eh? C'mon, let's celebrate tonight; I'll buy the drinks, alright?" Jiraiya grinned, wrapping his arm around the blonde Chuunin's shoulders, his other hand roughly rubbing the blonde's spikey hair. Minato yelped a bit and squirmed to get out of the small, playful headlock, but he still grinned anyway.
"No.. Not yet."
"Eh? We're not gonna celebrate tonight? Then when?" Jiraiya questioned, looking down at his student, lowering the hand that was rubbing Minato's head. Minato kept grinning, raising one of his hands and pointing to himself with his thumb.
"When I become a Jounin. Then we can celebrate, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato stated, causing Jiraiya to blink again. The white-haired Jounin smirked a bit, trying to stifle some snickers.
"Jounin? Geez..."
"What's that supposed to mean, sensei?" Minato questioned, his grin fading at his sensei's words. Jiraiya shook his head before Minato would start frowning rather than grinning.
"You just made Chuunin this morning and already you're shooting to become a Jounin. You just don't stop, do you?"
"Of course not! Just watch, I'll be the strongest shinobi in this village!" Minato grinned once more, shrugging Jiraiya's arm off his shoulders and jogging ahead a few steps, before turning around and walking backwards so that he still faced his sensei. "So that means you have to keep training me, alright, sensei?"
Jiraiya scratched his head. "You might as well get trained by Hokage-sama instead of me."
"Th-that'd be rude of me, sensei..." Minato mumbled, shifting his blue gaze to the ground. "Being trained by Hokage-sama? Sensei's good enough since he was student of Hokage-sama..."
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"But he has paper work, sensei... oi, you're just trying to weasel your way out of training me, aren't you?!" Minato growled, pointing rather boldly at the white-haired sannin. Jiraiya rose his hands up to chest level, sighing a bit.
"Alright, you caught me. Is tomorrow alright with you? And lower your finger, we're in public." Jiraiya ordered, which Minato did with a simple nod.
"Tomorrow, then. I guess I'll have to find something to do today."
"What, you're not going to train yourself?" Jiraiya questioned with some surprise mixed in his tone. Minato shrugged. "We're going to be training tomorrow, so I might as well rest up today."
"That's not like you, but it's your choice, Minato." The sensei of the two shrugged. Minato shrugged once more in response, before slipping his hands into his pockets and turning around to face the direction he was walking in. He wasn't paying much attention when he turned, so he nearly walked right into someone. But Minato spun around this person, narrowly avoiding physical contact.
"Whoa.. Sorry."
"Oh. Uh. It's alright. I guess. Whatever..." The girl mumbled, scratching her red-hair which was tied up into a small, high ponytail. Minato blinked as he examined her, noting a hitai-ate other than Konoha's adorning her neck. It was probably foreign or from a smaller country, since the symbol was swirled- much like Konoha's -but with a few more added lines surrounding the swirled circle.
"You're not from here... Are you lost, perhaps?" Minato questioned. The red-head rose a brow and folded her arms.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious. And of course I'm lost. This place is freakin' huge. I don't get how you people can't get lost in a village this size." She muttered, red-brown hued eyes looking over to her left, where Jiraiya's footsteps came as he approached the two of them. Jiraiya blinked, looking down at the kunoichi with his hands casually in his pockets.
"Oh? A foreign kunoichi, have we? Where're your parents? Or your team?" Jiraiya questioned, black eyes shifted from her to around the streets, unable to find anyone who seemed to be missing a kunoichi.
"I don't have any of both... That's why I'm here, 'tebayo."
Jiraiya returned his gaze back down to the kunoichi. "What do you mean? ..." He squatted down so he was below eye level with the two younger shinobis, tilting his head upwards to meet her gaze. He glimpsed at her hitai-ate for a moment, then returned his sight to her eyes once more. "Uzu no Kuni, am I correct?"
"Yea. Got it right, old man."
"Just because I have white hair doesn't label me as old, does it?" Jiraiya growled, looking rather annoyed at this. The kunoichi only frowned back, sharpening her eyes into daggers and glaring back at him. Minato laughed nervously, pushing his way between the two and breaking their small glaring contest.
"Haha... Now, now.. Why are you here, miss... Uh.." Minato looked over at her confusedly. She just snorted, but she pointed to herself with her thumb.
"Uzumaki Kushina, dattebayo." She introduced with a slight smirk. "Kunoichi of the... former... Whirlpool Country..." Kushina trailed off, a look of sadness filling her red-hued eyes as she looked down and away from the two. Her shoulders stiffened a bit and she slid her right hand into the pocket of her dusty black pants, fingering at the contents of her pocket silently. "..."
"... It's just as I thought." Jiraiya sighed wearily, raising one of his hands to scratch his spikey white hair. "So the rumors were true; The Uzu Country has fallen. How?"
"What business is it of yours?!" Kushina snapped, glaring at him. She threw out her lower lip a bit, pulling her hands out of her pockets and folding her arms across her chest. "I don't have to tell every damn person who comes along and asks me what happened to my village!"
"..." Minato just stared at her, allowing her to blow off some steam. Kushina's shoulders rose and fell in shallow pants for a few seconds before she bit her lower lip, clenching her fists as she pulled her folded arms down, keeping them balled into fists by her sides.
"... Just tell me where the Hokage's Tower is already..." She muttered. Jiraiya rolled his eyes a bit, but made sure it wasn't visible to her, and he got up.
"Well, it looks like you have something to do today, Minato." Jiraiya slipped his hands back into his pockets, turning to the blonde. "Why dont'cha take her over to the Hokage Tower? I'm sure if we just give her directions she'll probably get lost..." He added, backing up to avoid the kick that Kushina sent his way. She huffed a bit, but didn't say anything, obviously agreeing with the Gama Sannin. Minato blinked his blue eyes, before he smiled and nodded, tilting his head slightly to look down at Kushina.
"Alright, Sensei... Is that alright with you, Uzumaki-san?"
"... Whatever, 'tebayo..." Kushina muttered, avoiding his gaze. "... Call me Kushina, blondy."
... "blondy"... Minato laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head with embarassment. "Ah... Alright, Kushina-san... the Hokage Tower is over this way." He said, walking around Jiraiya and looking back at her. Kushina glanced over at Jiraiya, keeping her red-brown gaze on him for a bit before walking around him, snorting a bit as she walked after Minato. Jiraiya wearily looked over his shoulder, a brow risen. He shrugged a bit, beginning to walk in the opposite direction. Tomboy.
"... Your sensei's got some issues, blondy." Kushina muttered, breaking the silence that hung in the air between the two. Minato looked sideways at her, before returning his gaze to the front, grinning a bit.
"He can be weird, but once you get to know him, he's really cool. ... Although, he can be..." Minato trailed off, causing Kushina to raise a brow as she looked at him. "... He can be what?"
"Uhh. Nevermind." Minato shook his head.
"Whatever you say, blondy."
"..." Minato laughed a little nervously again. "Etou... My name's not "blondy"..."
"Well maybe if you actually told me your name, I wouldn't have to call you blondy, blondy..!" Kushina retorted, obviously knowing that Minato would say something similiar to what he said previously.
"... Gomen." Minato rubbed the back of his his neck, before extending his other hand, halting in the middle of the street. "Namikaze Minato, desu."
Kushina blinked, halting beside him and gingerly taking his hand anyway, though she could probably care less. "Namikaze? You mean like those troublemakers? Doesn't suit you..." She muttered a bit, releasing his hand and lowering it down to her sides. Minato blinked.
"Oh... No... It could be written in alot of ways."
"... So you go by "ocean wind"? Whatever, 'tebayo." She shrugged. Minato stifled a shrug, beginning to walk again with Kushina at his side.
"... Why do you say "dattebayo" at the end of your sentences?" Minato couldn't help but question. Kushina looked him over. "Why is your hair so unnaturally blonde?" She just questioned back. Minato's eye twitched, but he decided to let it slide. After all, sensei left him to guide Kushina to the Hokage Tower.
Kushina snorted at his lack of response, glancing around a bit, taking in the sights while unconsciously weaving around the people in the streets and following Minato. The blonde kept glancing over at her to make sure he didn't lose her in the crowd, before tilting his gaze upwards slightly towards the red Hokage tower, before he entered the door and up the stairs, leading her inside.
"... Oi, is this the place, dattebayo?" Kushina questioned. Minato only nodded, continuing to lead her down a couple of hallways. He halted in front of one of the doors, using the back of his knuckles to knock on the door, moving his hand down to turn the doorknob and then entering.
"Hokage-sama...? There's a kunoichi from the Uzu no Kuni..." Minato explained as he pushed the door open wider, entering with Kushina following. The Sandaime Hokage was sitting in the back of the room behind a fairly large desk and and a few equally large-size stacks of papers and scrolls cluttered ontop it. Sarutobi looked up from one of the paperworks, before placing his writing tool back into a small vial of black ink.
"From the Uzu Kuni, you say...?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Minato nodded, closing the door shut behind Kushina, before standing by the door and folding his arms behind his back casually. Kushina cautiously walked toward the desk, stopping atleast a few paces in front of the Hokage, fidgeting rather nervously. Minato sighed inwardly, stepping forward to place his hand on Kushina's shoulder and pulled it upwards, straightening her back, and then using his foot to push Kushina's own feet together. Kushina didn't seem to notice that Minato helped her out, clearing her throat a bit and standing straight. Sarutobi looked rather amused as Minato backed away to the front of the room.
"... So then, miss. Tell me why you are here."
"H.. Hai, Hokage-sama." Kushina nodded. "Uhm..." She slouched a bit, her gaze trailing away. "... Well, sir.. My Country was recently destroyed..." She started, rubbing the back of her neck as she frowned sadly. "I couldn't see who the opposing shinobi were... Though they were probably from Iwa or Kumo... But anyways, Hokage-sama...! Please allow me to join the village!" Kushina turned to him, bowing rather low. "I think some of the surviving villagers have gone off to join other ninja villages, probably water-based ones like Kiri or Taki or Ame... But small villages like that might...!" She didn't finished, still bowed practically at a 90 degree angle. "Please, Hokage-sama!! I don't have a home since my family was and most of my friends are dead!"
"..." Sarutobi placed his arms on his desk, folding his hands together and looking at Kushina's bowed form. "What kind of Hokage would I be if I turned a homeless kunoichi away?"
Kushina tore her gaze away from the floor and raising her head slightly, not raising from her bow, to peer up at the Sandaime Hokage. "Then...?"
"Of course you may join, miss."
Kushina rose fully from her bow, red-brown eyes filled with joy. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Hokage-sama!" She bowed once more. Sarutobi smiled a bit.
"Of course you'd have to find an apartment of your own.. Tell me, what level ninja are you?"
"Uh.. Only genin, Hokage-sama..." Kushina mumbled. "I was going to be promoted to Chuunin a couple of weeks ago, but..." She trailed off, knowing that Sarutobi would get the rest. The Sandaime nodded. "Ah... Then I guess we should promote you as a Konoha Chuunin then."
"Really?"
"Unless you want to still be a genin..."
"Oh. Uh. No, sir..."
A slight silence filled the air as Kushina stopped mumbling. Sarutobi started shifting through some paperwork and the drawers on his desk. Kushina remained silent, allowing him to search for whatever he was looking for. Sarutobi finally straightened himself, pulling out a few slips of paper as he did, using his hand to motion for the red-haired kunoichi to step forward, which she did gingerly. Sarutobi turned the paper around so that it was right-side up for her, placing it on a cleared part of the desk in front of her.
"As a new ninja of Konohagakure, we'll need your information. Fill out as much as you can, unless you want to be called in often to fill in the gaps."
"Oh, no sir.." Kushina nodded, carefully taking a writing tool and filling it out, lowering onto her knees and writing her information down. Minato and Sarutobi exchanged subtle glances every now and then, though they were just acknowledgement that Minato was still in the room. Gingerly, Kushina stood up, eyes rolling over the paper as she scanned the slips of paper, making sure she got most of the information down.
"I.. think I got it all, dayo..."
Sarutobi nodded, reaching out and taking the paperwork, pulling it towards himself and reading the information.
"Uzumaki Kushina...?"
"Hai."
"..." Sarutobi paused as he thought for a moment. ... So she's using her former country's name as her surname to remind herself?... "Very well, Kushina. For about the first week or so, you won't be assigned any missions... And it should give you enough time to find an apartment for you to live in... Between all that, you should explore the village a bit, become familiar with it." Sarutobi spoke rather unconsciously while his eyes kept scanning the slips of paper.
"Err..." Kushina placed the writing tool back on the desk, getting to her feet and backing up a few steps, brushing some of the dust off her knees. "Well, Hokage-sama... The village itself is rather big..."
Sarutobi's eyes left the writing, looking over the paper and at the kunoichi. "... Well, I suppose it is, isn't it? If you've lived here your whole life you'd think it was rather small..." He chuckled a bit. "Then how about Minato show you around? He lead you here, did he not?"
Minato blinked. He barely caught what the Sandaime had said, since his thoughts had trailed off for a bit. But Kushina repeated what Sandaime said, so he wasn't completely lost.
"Blondy?" Kushina was looking back at him. "You alright with keeping me from getting lost?"
"Uh. Sure."
"Thank you, Minato." Sarutobi nodded. "Sorry for giving you a D-rank type mission on the day you become Chuunin..."
"Oi oi, don't make it sound like I'm a client, 'cuz I'm not paying, dattebayo..." Kushina forgot her place, frowning as she pointed to herself with her thumb, red-brown eyes calmly glaring at Minato. The newly appointed Chuunin blinked his blue eyes, before nodding slowly.
"Hai...?"
Sarutobi blinked at Kushina's sudden change in personality, but he smiled a bit. "Very well."
"Arigatou, Hokage-sama, dayo." Kushina bowed a bit, but she turned around with a wave, walking towards the door.
"Let's go, blondy. Showing me to the food stands would be nice, first of all..." Kushina muttered, placing her hand on the doorknob and turning it, pulling the door open and walking out. Minato sighed inwardly, but he bowed in respect to Sarutobi, leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Sarutobi snickered a bit.
""Blondy"..."
"Maa, blondy. Dango shops. There are some here, right?" Kushina questioned almost as soon as they set foot on the streets outside the Hokage Tower, the kunoichi's arms raising and folding behind her head as she followed Minato. Minato sighed a bit.
"Kushina-san, it's Minato..."
"Sorry, Minato-blondy." The Chuunin's eye twitched a bit, but he wouldn't let it slide this time.
"Just Minato would be nice, Kushina-san..."
"Aw, why not? Blondy suits you perfectly." Kushina took a couple of big steps to catch up, unfolding her arms from behind her head and taking a strand of Minato's hair. "Yellow. Blonde. Blondy. Or would you rather be called sunshine?" Kushina snickered, releasing his hair and lowering her arm back down to her side. "Sunshine fits you good, too. The way your hair is spiked..."
Minato sweatdropped, a few anime horror lines visible under one of his blue eyes. "Err... I'm fine with blondy.." He admitted with a sigh. Kushina smirked smugly.
"Alright. Where's the nearest dango shop, 'tebayo?" She questioned, raising her hand once more to poke him in the cheek just to irritate him. Minato just allowed her to poke him, waiting for the kunoichi to finish and then sighing. He nodded towards one direction, continuing towards where he pointed.
"There's a really nice one with good tea just around the block."
Kushina nodded, walking after him. "And where're the training grounds?"
"One thing at a time, Kushina-san..." Minato stifled a sigh, trying not to sound rude. "I'll show you all the important parts of the village, we have all day." He sort of forced a smile, looking back at her. The kunoichi blinked, but snorted, tossing her head a bit.
"Sorry, dayo..."
"No need to apologize..." The blonde shrugged. The rest of the walk was quiet except for the sound of other villagers speaking amongst themselves, as well as salesmen yelling to catch people's attention. Finally, Minato turned his head and tilted his head slightly to look down at Kushina, then looking over at the dango stand. Kushina followed his gaze, but grinned a bit.
"Finally... I haven't had a decent snack or meal in days..." She muttered, walking into the shop with Minato at her side. One of the waiters looked up when he heard the brush of the cloth hanging above the doorway sound, before smiling.
"Ah, Minato-kun, it's been a while." The waiter spoke with a smile. "You here for a quick take-out for training? ... Or on a date?"
"Cork it, happy-go-lucky." Kushina growled, though she could feel her face redden a bit. "And since you're here, happy-go-lucky, make it a take-out, will you, blondy?" She growled once more, this time directing it to Minato. The Chuunin sighed inwardly, but nodded at the waiter, a thin line of blush visible on his face from being ordered around and from the thought of the two of them being on a date. So early when they met eachother? No...
"We'll have a few dango sticks and some tea in bottles, if you have any..." Minato muttered a bit. The waiter only smirked, but nodded before turning around and walking into the backrooms to get the order. Kushina glared sideways at him, her lower lip thrown out a bit.
Minato could only guess what to say to try and get rid of the evil look on her face. "...I'm sorry..."
"Whatever..." Kushina muttered. She turned on her heels, beginning to walk outside. "I'll be waiting, I don't want to see the happy-go-lucky guy." Minato nodded wearily with a sigh, just standing in the shop while waiting for the waiter to return. He did a few moments later, handing the blonde Chuunin a couple of small plastic containers as well as two bamboo canteens. Minato easily took the food and beverages in one hand, his other hand beginning to dig through his pocket. The waiter stopped him.
"Oh, it's on the house, Minato-kun." He smiled. "You were made Chuunin today, right? It might not be much, but think of it as a congratulatory gift."
Blue eyes looked up at this, but Minato grinned and bowed. "Arigatou!"
The waiter only grinned. "You're welcome. No run along. Your date's waiting."
"Dammit, I can still hear you from here!!" Kushina growled into the shop. "He's only showing me around this village, dattebayo!"
Minato sighed at this, straightening himself and turning around to walk outside. "Hai, hai, Kushina-san. He gets the point..." He mumbled. Kushina only frowned at the waiter when he waved, before huffing and turning to walk down the streets.
"... The training grounds first..."
"Hai, hai."
"Whoa, geez! This is your guys' training grounds?!" Kushina immediately hopped onto the fence, which rattled when she perched ontop one of the poles with steady balance. She raised her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun, squinting to see how far she could see. Minato just hopped over the fence without so much as having to use his hands, landing easily on the other side and looking up at her.
"No, it's only one of the many. There's a good-sized forest within the villages walls." He explained. Kushina stared down at him, before looking up at the training ground.
"Geez, this place is huge. Our village was just a speck compared to here..." She muttered, hopping down from the fence with a grunt. Minato only laughed nervously, turning to walk with Kushina trailing after him. A few moments later, Kushina could hear the sound of a stream flowing nearby. The kunoichi looked over at Minato.
"No way, you guys have streams in the training grounds?"
Minato smiled a bit, nodding. "Hai."
Kushina glanced at him a bit, then trailed off towards the direction of the where she could hear the currents. Minato watched her as he walked towards the three stumps. He looked over at the three, familiar wooden stumps for a moment, remembering the first time Jiraiya brought his genin team here. Shaking his head, he placed the food and canteens in the shade of the stumps before he jumped onto the stumps, settling down on one of them.
Kushina just kept walking over towards the stream and stepped onto its surface without so much as pausing, even for a brief moment. The kunoichi walked out to the middle of the stream, folding her arms behind her back as she enjoyed the presence of water beneath her feet. All was silent in the training grounds except for the sound of the wind breezing between the trees and the currents being interrupted by Kushina's feet. After a few moments, she turned around, stepping off the water's surface and walking over to the blonde Chuunin.
"I'm gonna eat. Hungry." She mumbled, lowering down and taking one of the plastic cases and canteens. She jumped onto one of the other stumps next to Minato, opening the cases and taking one of the dango sticks. Minato nodded at this, jumping down from the stump and taking his own food, standing up and just leaning against the stump. Kushina looked around as she ate her first dango in a while. She examined all of the trees, noting that a few of them had some horizontal cuts going up the bark. Kushina pointed to it, looking over at Minato.
"The tree-climbing exercise?" Kushina guessed, and Minato nodded. He swallowed oneo fhis dango so he could speak.
"Yeah, it's the most basic chakra-molding exercises. Same with the leaf on the forehead and the water-walking, which you pretty much got covered already."
"Well, yeah, why not?" The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "I lived in the Uzu Kuni... Whirlpool equals water, dattebayo."
Minato blinked at this, but smiled nervously. "Ha ha... I suppose you're right, Kushina-san..." Silence filled the air once more as they continued eating, the two occasionally taking sips of their tea to wash down the food. Kushina left one of her dango sticks in the case, closing it and deciding to save it for later. She patted her hands a bit and jumping down from the tree stump.
"Since I'm going to be living here, I might as well practice the tree-climbing exercise... right?" Kushina muttered, glancing back at him. Minato blinked, the dango stick in his mouth as he nodded. Kushina turned her head back towards the trees, approaching them. She titled her head to look at the other trees, before looking at the tree she stood in front of and pulled a kunai from her holster, which Minato noted was on her left thigh rather than her right. Minato shifted, keeping the finished dango stick in his mouth as he watched, supervising. Kushina just raised her hands in the seal of the ram to concentrate, ignoring Minato's gaze on her back. After a few moments, Kushina opened her eyes and ran up the tree.
Minato watched her, impressed that she was able to go more than half-way up the tree on her first go.
Kushina scowled as her foot slipped, swiftly swinging her arm to create a cut on the tree. Instinctively, she grabbed a branch of the tree, gasping inwardly when the branch snapped. "Shit!"
The Uzu nin blinked when she didn't feel the pain of her back coming in hard contact with the ground. Instead, she felt a pair of arms under her legs and back, bridal style, she thought.
"Kushina-san! Are you alright..?!" Minato asked worriedly, blue eyes also filled with worry as he looked down at her. Kushina paused for a moment, but frowned and pushed his chest, ordering him to put her down, which he did promptly. Kushina tried to shrug off the fact that he caught her by brushing her clothing, ridding it of dust as she turned her back to him to also try and hide the red that tinted her cheeks.
"I'm fine..." She muttered, withdrawing her kunai to her holster. Kushina turned around, being sure to avoid looking at him, and walked over to the stumps, taking her extra food and canteen.
"... I'm.. gonna go find a place with an available apartment." Kushina growled when she sensed that Minato was following her. Minato blinked at this, but nodded.
"Want me to help?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Ah, alright then..." Minato nodded once more. "See you around, then?"
"Uh. Yeah. Sure." Kushina muttered, raising her hand in a farewell wave without looking at him as she started to walk towards the exit of the training grounds. Minato just watched her for a moment, then cupped one of his hands to his mouth.
"Don't be afraid to come find me if you need any help!!" He called.
Kushina's gaze moved to the corner of her eyes, but she didn't turn her head. ... Stupid blondy...
Author(ess)'s notes:
Kilala: Hullo there! If you're down here, then I assume you've finished reading the first chapter of my MinatoxKushina fic! That makes me happy that you've read it! ;-;
But anyways, I'm not sure how long this fanfiction will be, but I'd be happy if you stuck with it, atleast half-way!
Of course, we don't know much about Kushina, much less, what she looks like... But the way Jiraiya and Tsunade were talking about her in chapter 367, she came to the village when she was young... And they said "former" whirlpool country, so.. Yeah. -nodnod-
Major Edit, zomg: Yey, the fic's being beta'd now by Shinsei Kuro. D: Arigatou, ne, danna?