She ran and shut the door behind her, heart beating a mile a minute; her cheeks flushed a deep crimson that matched the colour of her hair. The lock clicked, and she sighed in relief when the realisation that she was safe – alone – washed over her. Her eyes were wide – enhancing the abnormal violet colour – and her chest heaved in exertion. Some kunoichi she was – she could run for miles and miles without losing breath, yet as soon as a situation such as the one she was currently in arose, she was like a civilian!
She groaned and fisted her hands in her hair, pulling fiercely at the waterfall of blood she was so attached to. Another thing his fault. Yet again! The red strands cascaded down her back in gentle waves all the way to her thighs. The thought of cutting it had crossed her mind, but her heart rebelled immediately, betraying the promise she made herself that she would not have anyone controlling her life. For gods sakes, she only didn't want to cut it because he said he liked it; once! One damn time he says he thinks her hair is beautiful, and now it rules her whole life.
How dare he do this to her! It was his fault, she was certain! How dare he… he… force her to like him! There was absolutely no way this was decided by herself! So what if he saved her life from those cloud ninja in the academy! So what if his hair was no longer girly! So what if he looked rather… well…
She gave a small scream. This was infecting her! She couldn't like like him! She just couldn't! She didn't! She thought he was stupid and flaky and everything a boy shouldn't be like; and she had told him so many times! Why was this happening? Just because his smile made him look ho- no! She would not finish that thought, even if he was cu- no!
She groaned again and slowly let go of her hair. He had awakened so much confusion she had no idea how to process! Like, she hadn't liked him whatsoever in the academy! Just because she was almost a chunin didn't mean anything had changed. Even if she had been eleven then… and was fourteen now…
That was it! It was clearly hormones talking here! That was it – just her growing up! She would just have to deal with all this stuff in her genes, then everything would go back to normal, where he was annoying, she was awesome, and the world was black and white again. Simple.
Somehow she had a feeling it might be slightly more difficult than that, especially considering the questions to top all questions he had just asked her. Why the hell did he have to ask her out to have dango with him anyway? It was, like, against all the rules they used while around each other. When she had said so, he had gained some colour on his cheeks before stating he was only asking, and it wasn't as if it were a date or anything.
Like hell it wasn't.
Kushina wasn't nearly as obnoxious and oblivious as she pretended to be – it simply threw people off when she decided to be herself later on. So when the blond had asked her out, she had instantly known his motives, but became very frustrated with herself when the anger she felt she should didn't appear, instead an overwhelming pulse of embarrassment coursed through her and – oh my god, was that happiness?
She pushed herself off of the door to her apartment and walked steadily over the carpet to her room, leaving her boots behind at the door. Inside, she changed into a plain white sleeveless blouse and matching three quarter legs. She moved like an automaton, not registering her movements until she sat down on her bed with her notebook in her right hand, along with a pencil. She blinked a few times to try and clear her mind of the chaotic thoughts that swirled around it her head like the namesake of the country she originated from. It bashed of the insides of her brain, and soon she felt a headache begin to come on. Somehow, she wasn't surprised by the small volume of guilt that bubbled up in her chest – she had just left him standing there alone with no answer.
She shook her head, pulling an excess strand out of her face and ripping out two new sheets and grabbing a pencil that lay on her desk at the side of her bed. She let go of the items, and watched as the papers fluttered to the floor and the pencil hit it with a quiet 'clunk'.
She stood and swiftly sat down cross-legged. Her hair was flicked over her shoulders and she changed her position to lying on her front, with her ankles crossed up in the air. The floor was smooth, sanded wooden planks that fitted together perfectly, and gave no discomfort to the girl on them.
She lifted the pencil and pulled on of the sheets over – but both of them came. She positioned them in front of her, and her hand gripped the pencil determinedly. Right. She didn't care if he had been left there alone. It was his fault for asking her anyway. She would now concentrate to her sealing studies, and would put all thoughts of that boy out of her mind. Completely.
She began to slowly but surely sketch out the lines for a storing seal, and when the familiar pattern began to emerge, she let her mind drift off, unaware she was still moving her hand.
That boy – serious, why did she like him? He had been soon infuriating during the academy and had been on of the main reasons her speech tick came out of its hiding place. Even when she had hated him, she had always been so nervous around him – she had hidden it well over the years. He was an unknown entity – she hated things that confused and puzzled her. It made life complicated. Oh, maybe she should ask someone for help about this. It was all so annoying.
But the thought of asking someone about this made it all so much more embarrassing. There was no way she could let someone know about her problem regarding him! It would be the end of her fearsome reputation – albeit her iffy one – of being notorious. She was a person who inspired fear into academy students, genin and chunin alike! And she was pretty sure Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin was frightened of her too after she joined forces with his teammate to beat the crap out of him that day in the hot springs. Yes, she was pretty sure he had not been paying attention to her – he was a pervert not a paedophile, and she didn't have anything worth looking at yet – but it was still the principle of the thing!
She could not tell anyone, not even Tsunade. The woman had become a very respected sister figure to her after Granny Mito had introduced her, but the woman was away now, and she couldn't be bothered finding her to tell her. Too much work.
If only Granny Mito was still here! She knew for certain she could have told the woman, as she had understood everything. Kushina grinned as she thought back to when Granny Mito had told her about the First. Really, Granny Mito had been totally awesome if she had told him he was weird because of his hair. But the woman had always been cool. Even when they had been away to transfer the fox, she had been calm and warm until the end. She was missed a lot by Kushina.
But Granny Mito had married the man she had mocked. Kushina wasn't sure what to think about this. She really didn't want to believe in all that 'fated' and 'mystic' crap, but it seemed to be pointing that way. Mito had mocked, then becomes friends with, then married the First. Kushina had mocked, had become very sort-of friends with him – would it continue?
She really didn't want to think about it. But she was being tempted severely to go to his apartment just to say that 'yes, she did accept his offer'.
She groaned and blushed when she noticed exactly what was happening on her piece of paper. Good god, this was it! It seemed her emotions were made up, and were waited rather impatiently for her brain to catch up.
She flung the pencil hard into the wall where the lead broke, and ran to the hall to put on her shoes. She would give him a chance. But it would be on her terms.
As the door slammed, a piece of paper moved with the breeze it created, and settled comfortably on the middle of the floor.
On the centre of it, was an extraordinarily good sketch of Minato Namikaze.
Hope you like!
Inspired By: Kushina by Nivalis70 on Deviantart. The link is on my profile.