The following story is brought to you by Jill's strange and slightly demented mind. The ideas within are all her own, though Kishimoto Masashi owns the characters. Take My Hand is owned by Simple Plan (or probably just one of their members but I don't feel like looking it up because I just want to write my darn story!).

This is not a songfic. I would kill myself before I wrote a serious one of those. They bug me. This is, instead, a Fic Inspired by a Song, which I think is much better and more creative.

It helps if you've listened to the song first. Dedicated to EeBee-kohai, whom I love even though she left me for a week. Boohoo.

Take My Hand

Minato and Kushina raced through the streets, laughing as the rain poured down on them from the dark sky above. The stars were not visible tonight, but the glowing lights of the few convenience stores in Konoha provided some light to make the rain drops stand out even more as they fell on Minato's tan skin and Kushina's vibrant red hair.

Minato grabbed the girl's hand, and dragged her under the cover of a store's tarpaulin. Still laughing, they huddled close, watching lightning spark across the sky.

"We sure picked the right time to go for a walk," Kushina laughed, brushing her wet hair away from her face.

Minato laughed and hugged her to him—for warmth, he assured himself. "Yeah. It'll stop soon."

"Pft," Kushina scoffed. "Who's worried about a little rain like that? We are ninja, right? Come on!" she cheered, wriggling away from his grasp, and grabbing onto his hand securely. She pulled him out from under the cover with her, and began running through the streets again.

Minato laughed at her as she jumped into a puddle, splashing him with the muddy water up to his waist. "Hey!" He jumped in after her and they began a puddle fight, laughing like little kids instead of the jounin-ranked shinobi they really were. The fact that they were both in their twenties would also have been worrying for those who were out and paying attention, but Minato and Kushina didn't care.

Kushina suddenly darted away, and Minato rushed after her. "Kushina!" he yelled, smiling stupidly.

She turned around and danced towards him, literally, as she skipped gracefully over the puddles.

Of course, being Kushina, she ruined the moment by kicking a huge puddle of water towards him, and as Minato stood spluttering and trying to get the rainy and gritty substance out of his mouth, he wondered if he should forgive her this time. "Ah, why not?" he asked himself, then shunshined forward to grab her around the waist.

"Cheater! You can't use ninjutsu when you play in the rain!" Kushina yelped in protest as he lifted her bridal style.

"Let's go home now," he said quietly, but she heard him despite the rain.

"Okay," she agreed, tilting her head back to drink in the rain drops. Then she smiled mischievously. "We're going to have to do something to prevent a cold after all."

Minato, being the shy guy he was, promptly went bright red at the suggestion and wavered on his feet, about to faint. Luckily, Kushina had the sense to quickly switch their positions and shunshin home.

AN: This was originally a NaruHina story, because they are who I picture doing the above every time I hear this song, but I think it fits Minato and Kushina really well, too. And in fact, that idea occurred to me as soon as I started writing.

Wow, I've written fluff! I feel so accomplished! This is literally the first gushy thing I've ever written. And I probably murdered it but oh well. I feel WAF inside. =)