"Hey, Gaara?"

Gaara turned his head up from his work to face his elder sister Temari, who was holding a large pad of papers.

"What is it? I'm nose-deep in work, so please make it quick."

"Hold your horses, Gaara. The last time you were impatient you and Naruto got drunk and I found you both in a motel room h…"

"Finish that sentence and I'll crush you with my sand."

"Fine… but you still lost your v…"

Gaara gave her a stern look that read 'if-you-finish-that-sentence-I-will-slit-your-throat-in-your-sleep.'

"Moving on… I've discovered an interesting piece of information in the records downstairs."

"How does this concern me?"

"Actually, it's more about our mother. You see, I was looking through her records and found out that she was best friends with a woman named Kushina."

"Yes, and?"

"Her full name is Kushina Uzumaki of the Uzumaki clan. She's Naruto's mother."

"Our mother was friends with Naruto's mother? Pray tell me how that's possible."

"Ah-ha, so our dear Kazekage is forgetting his precious work to listen to his sister telling a story about his mother? This ought to go in the history books."

"Just tell me, Temari…"

Temari stuck her tongue out at Gaara, who frowned in response. "Well, over twenty years ago, Kushina and her teammates were assigned a mission to guard the outskirts of Suna…"

…..

...she didn't want the mission at first, but when her sensei insisted that it was their duty, she complied and went along with the team to Suna. When she arrived, she didn't like the attention she was receiving from the guards…

"Hey, you're Konoha ninja. What are you doing here?" one of the Suna guards asked Kushina's group.

"It's alright, we're here to protect the borders of Suna," replied the Jonin sensei. "It's a mission from the Hokage."

Another guard sneered. "Does your Hokage doubt that we can handle ourselves? We've got this under control, so you Konoha ninja can leave."

"I'm sorry, but it's the Hokage's orders that we stand guard here for three days. Only after this period will we leave."

The first guard scowled. "To think we've stooped so low as to need help from Konoha to guard our own village… it disgusts me. Fine, you ninja can stay here for a while, but only if you promise not to interrupt our work."

"Trust me," Kushina interjected, throwing a glare at the rude guard. "We won't."

The guard didn't seem to get Kushina's assurance, and proceeded to stare blankly into the desert. Kushina's teammate Akitoki placed his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from attacking the guard. She calmed down and took her position next to the rude guard, who glared at her before returning to his old position.

"Why would Konoha send little weaklings like you to guard our village? It doesn't seem right to me."

Kushina clenched her fists before breathing slowly to keep her temper down. "We're not weak, we're just young. We could say the same to you Suna ninja, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, two years ago you sent a team of new Genin to keep watch on our own village. This and that seem oddly close, don't you think?"

The guard crossed his arms and frowned at the adolescent. "Suna ninja are much more capable of fighting than you Konoha ninja. In fact, we've produced some of the best fighters the world has ever seen."

"Yes, but Konoha holds the record for most powerful ninja ever created. If you paid attention during school, you'd have already known that. Now shut up and stand guard. If I'm not mistaken, it was you that told us not to interfere with your work."

The guard, sensing his defeat, turned back to gaze at the empty, lifeless desert.

"Mori."

Kushina faced the guard questioningly. "What's that?"

"My name is Mori. And yours is…?"

"Kushina."

Mori smirked a bit before slumping back into his post.

Kushina turned to Akitoki, who gave her a thumbs-up for keeping her hot temper down to a minimum.

She smiled at him and sat back to watch out for enemies coming near.

…..

…shortly after making 'friends' with Mori, Kushina and her sensei were the only ones left at the guard post, since the other guards had left for the day. Mori insisted that Kushina get some rest, but she kindly passed and stood her ground. Akitoki also tried to get Kushina to rent a hotel room, but she wouldn't budge. It was then that her sensei decided to stay out there with her. Once he had fallen asleep, Kushina met a strange wandering girl…

Kushina crossed her arms behind her head and put her feet over her post. It wasn't that she was bored; it was that standing was uncomfortable even for a ninja.

Suddenly, she saw a figure in the shadows. She instinctively threw a kunai in the direction of the shadow, and was surprised to see a cowering girl backing away. When Kushina got closer to her, she backed away even farther. Against her hot-headed nature, she let her standing position go looser and she spoke in a soothing voice.

"Hi there, my name is Kushina," she introduced herself to the strange girl politely. "I'm from Konoha. The Hokage insisted that we come here to guard the village. Are you a Kunoichi?"

The girl shook her head. "I… don't want to hurt people. Even if they're bad people, I can't stand the thought of hurting them."

"That's a bit odd. Then are you a villager here?"

She nodded and stepped into the light. Kushina was mildly surprised to see that though she was much shorter than her, she appeared to be around the same age as her. She wore a standard Suna civilian outfit consisting of a baggy dark red dress, black shoes, and a light yellow scarf. She had sandy brown hair and dark blue eyes. Though she seemed to be a typical civilian girl, one could say with ease that she had a strangely kind face.

"Yes… my name is Karura. You're a ninja, aren't you?"

Kushina nodded. "Yeah, I'm the future Hokage, ya know!"

Karura giggled. "Ya know?"

The redhead blushed as bright as her hair. "Sorry… when I get excited I get strange speech habits, ya know?"

"You said it again!"

"Curse me and my tomato-head!"

Karura kept laughing and Kushina couldn't help but feel happiness for reasons unknown.

…..

…Kushina and Karura continued to chat, sharing their varying experiences with one another. Eventually, the two began to recognize the other to be a close friend. Soon, however, the two got an unexpected visitor…

"So you have a brother? No fair! I've always wanted a sibling…" Kushina ranted. Karura didn't care-she liked Kushina's voice.

"You can have Yashamaru if you want. He's pretty annoying sometimes…"

"Is he a civilian also?"

"No, he's training to be a Shinobi. I tried to talk him out of it, but he told me he wanted to become a medic."

"Can't he be a medic anyway?"

"He also told me he wanted to be a 'cool medic'."

"…your brother sounds really strange, ya know?"

"You have no idea," Karura beamed.

"Well well, what have we here?"

Kushina and Karura's attention snapped to the west, where they spotted a single burly man approaching them.

"We've got two little girls here… you'll both do just fine," the man said, licking his grotesque lips perversely.

Karura ducked behind Kushina and refused to make eye contact with the man. Kushina, on the other hand, cracked her knuckles. "There's no way I'd ever let someone as rotten as you lay a single fungus-ridden hand on either of us, ya know!"

The man smiled grimly, showing yellow and black teeth which made Kushina want to vomit. "You're mistaken honey, because I'm going to make you come with me. I'm going to sell you to a nice man who'll… make you happy."

At this point, Karura vomited from behind Kushina, who ran her fingers through her hair comfortingly. "You disgust me…"

"Oh, a feisty one, aren't you? No matter. You're not a Kunoichi, so you couldn't possibly hurt an elite such as myself."

It was only then that Kushina realized that she hadn't worn her hitai-ate to the mission. She put on the act of being afraid. When the burly man saw this, he approached her lecherously. At the last second, Kushina delivered a chakra-pumped kick to his gut, sending him over four hundred meters backward. She raced toward him, not giving him a chance to get up. She gave him a right uppercut, sending him into the air. When he began to fall back down, Kushina pumped her fist into the air. He landed on her fist and began to cough up blood. She then punched the ground with the man still on her fist, creating a gaping chasm in the earth. When the dust cleared, Kushina could be seen standing defiantly over the grotesque man, who was now bloody and battered.

"Like I said: you're not coming anywhere near either of us."

"You… you bitch… you… tomato girl…"

Kushina's ears perked up. "What… did you call me?"

"Tomato girl… bitch… you… what did…"

Kushina's normally kind and beautiful face scrunched up in pure rage as she punched the man in the stomach once more, creating cracks twice their initial size. Karura, who had been watching the scene in awe, applauded Kushina for her triumphant win when she began to walk back to her post.

"Well done, Kushina," the Jonin sensei complimented. "I knew you had great strength, but that was just plain ridiculous."

Kushina blushed at the praise and sat down next to Kushina, who clung to her like a lifeline.

…..

…after the strange encounter with the man, Mori returned to his place alongside Akitoki. Upon their arrival, they managed to force Kushina from her position, telling her that she'd earned a day off due to her hard work. Karura followed closely behind her, as she was still wary about traveling alone…

"Hey, do you Suna people eat ramen?" Kushina inquired from her sandy friend.

"Of course we do!" Karura answered. "We just don't have too many ramen stands… I love ramen, so my family thinks I'm weird. Do you think I'm weird?"

"Far from it, ya know. I'm totally in love with ramen myself, so we're really similar!"

Karura continued to hold Kushina's arm admiringly. "If you want to get some ramen, I can show you one of my favorite stands. I'm a little bit hungry myself, so I wouldn't mind going."

"Ah, there's one nearby? Awesome! But wait… I didn't bring any money with me…"

"That's alright; I have enough money for us both. Come on!" Karura insisted, dragging Kushina by her arm to the ramen stand. When they got there, Kushina was amazed at how many customers were there. She could've sworn that the entire Suna population was in that single tent.

Karura pulled Kushina inside by her arm and shoved her into a seat. She took the chair across from her and passed her a slip of paper with all the different flavorings and combinations of ramen on it.

"My favorite is the pork ramen," Karura explained. "It's a bit sweet, but that's what I like about it."

"I see… what would you recommend for someone who likes spicier things?"

"I'd say the beef and miso combo. I don't know what kind of spices they put in there, but it makes my tongue tingle."

Kushina smirked and put her paper down. "Then that's what I'll have!"

Karura put her own paper down and put on a face to match Kushina's. "I'm going to try the chicken this time. I haven't before because it's a bit strange to eat something like a chicken, but something's telling me that I might like it."

Before Kushina could say anything, a cute waitress visited their table and took their orders. She returned five minutes later with large bowls of piping hot soup. She placed each bowl in front of the correct recipient and strode off, thanking them for eating there. When Karura took a bite, her face turned pink and she began to shovel it into her mouth so fast that Kushina could barely see her hands. She sighed and took a bite of her own ramen. Once she did, she also turned pink and began to shovel heaping forkfuls into her own mouth. Within twenty minutes, both of them had finished seven bowls each. The waitress returned and took Karura's money before bowing politely and taking their bowls to the kitchen.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Kushina raved, following Karura back into the dusty streets of Suna. "I've definitely got to go back in there sometime!"

Karura flicked Kushina in the forehead. "Come on, you've got to calm down or you'll get a stomachache."

Kushina shivered before grinning. "So, where are you taking me next? I haven't seen much, so I want to see everything I possibly can!"

Karura smiled and took Kushina's arm.

…..

"…and that's about all I can find right now," Temari said, flipping through the dusty pages. "If you want, I can go back into the records vault tomorrow so I can find more about our mom."

Gaara nodded solemnly in approval-on the inside he was pondering the story his sister had told him-, sending Temari her cue to leave. She complied, but stopped in the doorway.

"Is it really that hard to mention that you and Naruto w…"

Gaara closed the door with his sand and returned to his paperwork.

…..

Sorry it's a bit short, but it'll get longer in later chapters.

Okay, just a few things:

*No, I'm not going to give the name of Kushina's sensei. (This is because I can't think of a clever name… haha…)

*This takes place shortly after Naruto's arrival back in Konoha.

*Kushina has Tsunade-approved strength, woohoo!

*So does Naruto, but just in this fic XD (Has a thing for effeminate!Naruto with super-strength, ultra-speed, and long, LONG hair)

So… yeah… the cliché thing of 'REVIEW PLEASE OR I'LL STOP WRITING' but without the 'or I'll stop writing'. Oh, and pairings will be GaaMei and NaruHina as the main ones.

If there are any suggestions about pairings, I'm all ears…

Late disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, but I'm sure you already know that.

Sakura gone!