Kushina was not having a good day. Her and her team had been attacked by a group of ninja from Mist; apparently the merchant they had been escorting was a little less than honest when he paid for her, Choza and Lee to escort him all the way to Rice Country. After much fighting between the Leaf and Mist shinobi and a few not so valid threats from Kushina to the merchant, they had finally straightened everything out. Currently Kushina was hitching a ride on Choza's back; during the misunderstanding one overzealous mist chunin had broken her leg. She had promptly knocked him out and dared his comrades to say anything about it, they didn't, and tensions were too high with the threat of another Great Ninja War looming over everyone's head.
"Are you sure you don't mind carrying me all the way back?" Kushina asked again for what must have been the hundredth time that day.
"I promise that you are not as heavy as you think you are." Choza said with a hearty chuckle that shook his whole body.
"Okay, but promise me you'll at least let me lean on you when we go through the main gate."
"Of course, Kushina." He said pleasantly.
The last time she had been carried through the main gate it had been a downright humiliating experience. She had been kidnapped by cloud shinobi when she was eleven for her special chakra that she wasn't allowed to talk about with anyone but the Hokage. The Kumo had wanted to turn her into the jailor for one of their tailed beasts, either the eight tails or the two tails, she wasn't sure. Minato Namikaze had been the only one to pick up on the trail of her red hair she had left behind; he had been the one who defeated all the cloud ninja and taken her back to the village, arms and feet still bound. He was the only reason most of the people in the village even recognized her. He was the hero who saved the former whirlpool ninja from the scary cloud ninja. Little did any of them know the nine tailed demon fox had been sealed inside of her sixth months prior to the whole nightmare.
Minato Namikaze was the bane of her existence, it seemed the only reason he was put on this earth was to always undermine and annoy her. When they were twelve, they both took the chunin exams and were the only ones out of all the ninja village's to pass. But no one remembered her, they only remember Namikaze and how amazing he was. Then he left on a training trip with Master Jiraiya for a few years and she thought that maybe, just maybe, it would finally be her time to shine. But even from hundreds of miles away, tales of his heroism still reached the village.
When he returned to the village four years ago when they were fifteen, she decided to stay as far away from him as she could and prayed they never got sent on a mission together. So far her prayers had been successful and she hoped it would stay that way, especially when she learned he had made jonin two years ago and she had only made it last month.
She had occasionally reconsidered letting her one sided rivalry with him go, but always decided against it. Even though he out shown her in every aspect of life as a shinobi, his greatness did cause her to push herself to her limits and beyond. It also didn't hurt that she was afraid that if she stopped hating him she would turn into a pathetic lovesick puppy like every other girl in Konoha. The way those girls followed him around the village with stars in their eyes made her sick and she refused to give in to their cult like behavior.
Kushina returned her attention to the road ahead and saw that they were close enough to the main gate for her to walk the rest of the way. "Okay Choza, this is where I get off." She said.
He and Lee stopped and she slid off of Choza's back. "Thanks for the ride."
"I'm just glad you finally accepted." He said with a smile.
"Yeah, I've never seen someone so stubborn." Lee commented good naturedly.
Kushina rolled her eyes at her teammates ribbing and slung an arm around Lee's neck so she wouldn't lose her balance. She would have liked to swing her other arm around Choza's neck but he was nearly two heads taller than her.
XxX
Minato had just finished a recon mission with Jiraiya and was now signing back in at the main gate while Jiraiya attempted to flirt with, what Minato was pretty sure was an underage girl. Some things never change. He finished signing his name and waited for his Sensei to do the same. The girl who Jiraiya had been flirting with gave him a once over, in return he gave a polite smile and turned away. That's when he saw her, Kushina Uzumaki.
He knew he was crazy but he had been drawn to her since their first days at the Academy. He didn't know why he always wanted to be near her when she did everything in her power to steer clear of him, did he have bad breath? Maybe the reason was because she was so beautiful and so strong. When they were younger she had been a little chubby, now that they were nineteen she was breathtaking.
She had grown her hair out even longer then their academy days and the few times he did see her, it was always up in a high ponytail. People had always made fun of her hair, saying it was the color of blood. He thought it was beautiful and vibrant, just like her. She had grown up so much from the last time he actually talked to her at their chunin exam; he was no longer the only one who couldn't keep his eyes off of her.
"Ready to go report to the Hokage?" Jiraiya asked, tearing him from his less than appropriate thoughts.
"Hm? Oh yes." He said turning around so he wouldn't be caught staring.
"Well, well, look what the cat drug in." Jiraiya's voice boomed and Minato knew he was doomed with no chance of escape.
He turned back around to see Kushina, Choza and a chunin he didn't know walk up to the sign in desk. It was then he noticed that Kushina had her arm around the chunin and when he looked down he saw that her leg had been wrapped and set with a splint, broken perhaps. She removed her arm from the chunin and leaned on the desk of support.
"Hello, Master Jiraiya, Minato, it is good to see you." Choza said with a wide smile.
"What do they feed you?" Jiraiya asked with a hearty chuckle and slapped Choza on the back.
Choza smiled and turned to Minato. "I heard you developed a new jutsu." Minato could always count on Choza to be polite and never lose his temper. It was one of the main reasons he liked being teamed up with him.
"Yeah, Jiraiya-sensei got me hooked on seals and I developed my own seal into a jutsu only I can do." He said liking the way Kushina looked up curiously from signing her name.
"That's amazing, how does it work?" Choza asked.
"Well basically I set a seal on either my three pronged kunai," He said and took one out to show Choza and the chunin who had come to stand next to him. "Or on a person or anywhere really, then I can transport to the seal no matter where it is." He gave a quick glance to Kushina to see if she was impressed but another of the chunin, possibly an Uchiha, behind the sign in desk had begun to chat her up.
"You truly are a prodigy." The chunin next to Choza said in awe.
"Unfortunately, I've taught you all I know about seals, if you want to learn any more you'll have to ask Kushina." Jiraiya said with a big smile.
He could have killed that old pervert. When he was ten, after a few weeks of being a genin, Jiraiya had discovered his crush on Kushina and had been giving him hell for it ever since. Apparently now he was trying his hand at matchmaking.
With agony, he turned to look at Kushina to see if she had caught on to his supposed great sensei setting them up. She had turned from the Uchiha and was looking over curiously.
"I didn't know you were a seal master, Kushina." Choza said.
"Are you kidding?" Jiraiya said. "It's in her blood, the Uzumaki Clan of Whirlpool is famous for their seals and I'm pretty sure you were the only heir to the main branch which means she's the most knowledgeable seal master you'll find."
"Whirlpool? I didn't know there was a Village Hidden in the Whirlpools." The chunin said. Minato fought back a flinch and desperately hopped for the chunin's sake that Kushina wasn't as volatile as she used to be. Kushina licked her lips and turned to the chunin. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Choza take a step back, no doubt having a flash back from the Academy days.
"The Whirlpool Village fell in the last Great Ninja War." she said calmly, her violet eyes dimming. "I'm all that's left of my great clan."
The chunin blushed and apologized for bringing up the painful memories.
"But Kushina, you came to Konoha before Uzu fell." Choza said with a look of confusion on his face, beside him Jiraiya tensed.
Minato himself had often wondered the same thing himself and had even asked Jiraiya about it once but he was firmly told to drop it and never talk about it again. That of course, made him want to know everything but respected Kushina's privacy and Jiraiya's wishes and dropped the subject.
"I came to train under my Great Aunt Mito Uzumaki." She said.
"Wait, Mito Uzumaki? As in the First Hokage's wife?" the Chunin asked.
"That's the one." She said and Minato could tell she was growing board with the subject.
Lucky for her Jiraiya's skills concerning women weren't totally lacking and he changed the subject. "Well it looks like you need to get to the hospital and have that leg looked at. Minato why don't you help her over there while the rest of us file our mission reports?" Minato kept his pleasant smile but on the inside he was plotting the Toad Saninn's untimely demise. "You can ask her for some tips in sealing while you walk."
"Sorry but I already promised Choza that I would treat him to BBQ for the ride back to the village." She said.
Kushina was quick witted and a great liar, unfortunately Choza wasn't and was caught off guard. "Y-yes." He said hesitantly.
It was obvious to everyone present that it was a lie but no one was going to call her on it, especially not Minato. "Well, it was nice to see you." He said politely before turning to Jiraiya. "We better get going Sensei."
Jiraiya looked like he wanted to protest but decided against it and started walking with Minato to the Hokage Tower. Minato would have a talk with his sensei later about playing matchmaker.
A/N
Okay I know I have a few other stories that need to be finished and I haven't forgotten about them I just needed to start this one to get it off my chest so I can finish the other two. Hope you enjoy, please review.