Chapter 1

"Hair Length"

"Minato, be honest, why should you care heck about how long my hair is?"

This was one of the rare times she called him by his first name, most of the time it was "Namikaze the Numbskull" or "Nerdy Nami" or "Know-it-all Nami" or "Toe-kaze" , mixing the last parts of his names, or just "The tattle-tale", you take your pick.

"Minato-kun" or "Mini-kun" was usually just for spite, when she mimicked his annoying fan girls...of which he had many...

Why did his "perfect" hair and crystal blue eyes have to be so appealing? He couldn't help being terribly yellow-blond, dashing, and handsome! Ugghhh...life was not fair...

He hated those nicknames, and he most certainly was not a smart aleck (just happened to be a genius at ninjutsu...a "prodigy", his sensei had admitted it...once...), but the name calling made the moments she called him by his real one that more special.

"Well...uhh...it's..." Even for him, the smart, assured, never-let-his-cool-down guy, this question was awkward. She was so bluntly direct...like... "Really...bright...red."

"Your point...?" The head with short tomboyish strawberry hair, just an inch or two past her ears, with a left side part and side bangs, tilted; she was not following him. But he didn't really understand what he was saying either.

"It's just...an unusual color...and having it ragged...and short...and kind of in your face makes the shade less noticeable. Like the fact that it's grown more auburn."

Well, since he was intelligent, he could be blunt too. Stating the facts, or what he thought were the facts...

He could see the steam rising now. She did have such a short temper.

"DID YOU just DISS my HAIR!" She screamed. "And it is NOT ragged and" she pointed her finger at his chest, "IN-MY-FACE!" and poked him, hard, for each word, then blew a red strand out of her eyes.

Though he winced at the pain, he smirked at her flushed face. He did know how to get to her...how could he say it...he knew just how to..."push the buttons"...of his friend.

"No." he answered defensively. "I just described it...and it's true, it is short and it is getting a little darker...though I didn't have a problem with the color in the first place."

Being opinionated, he never saw anything he thought as wrong. Maybe that's why she called him smart-alecky...hmmm...

What he'd said wasn't completely what he thought though...he actually had been ...fascinated...maybe even...infatuated...by the color from the first time this Uzumaki, whirlpool-nation girl had entered Konoha.

It did perfectly complement her delicate, pale face, almost sprite like in its mischievousness...and the color of her eyes...

"Plus...I thought you weren't supposed to care...being 'completely immune to girly stuff' and all. You said it yourself to the guys last week."

Now he had her cornered, or at least, exposed. For what she truly was and always would be...a girl. It sometimes annoyed him how she ignored that obvious fact. Besides using the guys' bath house...she didn't go that far. Except for that one time, on a dare when...

"How did you remember what I said...ohhh...never mind..." She gave up with an exasperated "huff", then fumed when she saw the smug look on his face.

The only reason she learned anything willingly was to win an argument with him. She hated when she lost...and he gave her that look.

"You are so...Urrruuggh!" she raised her arm to give him a piece of her mind, of which, in his opinion, there was not much of...then paused in midair. "Waaait...did you just say that my hair was...darker...even...auburn?" Now she grinned at his flushed face.

Crud...why did he let that not-so-insulting comment slip? He slapped his forehead as she silently gloated, apparently enjoying his unusual discomfort. He was on the spot.

The best, and in his case, worst, and most delightful thing for a redhead to hear is that her hair is anything but what it is, a carroty red. Or in her case, a darker, silkier, more attractive, carroty red. It was hard to remember things like that when she was the only one in all of the leaf village, and maybe, the whole country. An unusual and fascinating color, but it suited her...and her vigor and strength. (and unpredictable fighting techniques...)

"Little ole tomboy me, making Mr. 'Mysterious Pretty Boy' blush...I'm flattered." She teased in a high pitched, girlish voice, so unlike her natural, slightly deeper, airy...and strangely beautiful voice. She could change the pitch with ease.

Though she pulled off the taunt coolly enough, her cheeks did turn a pink shade to match his. Maybe she wasn't making up everything she said she thought.

He did a thing he only did rarely...under extreme pressure...and instinctively rubbed the back of his head, cheeks still heating up. "Maybe I did say that...but I'm NOT...turning...red." He protested, gritting his teeth and ducking his head down to try and control the blood rushing to his face.

"Whatever you say..." She shrugged, rolling her eyes and walking past him. Suddenly she paused in mid stride, right by his hunched, embarrassed, humiliated figure.

Leaning over towards him, just slightly, she whispered in his ear, "But if you are turning red..." He felt a quick soft peck on his cheek and it sent an electric current through him, "keep doing it." She smirked. "The color suits you."

Then she wrinkled her nose. "You're cute when you slip up...Mini-kun."

After that, she casually skipped away, off the roof onto a hanging close line, balancing herself, and then acrobatically jumped off of it, propelling herself against a wall and flying from roof to roof.

Insulting him one minute, then bizarrely...flirting with him at the next? She always kept him on his toes. No matter how long he had known her, his friend, Uzumaki Kushina, he always knew what everyone was thinking or intending...except for her.

This time he could agree with her, though, as he watched the flickering red fade out of sight. But she had no idea how much the color red did suit him...maybe too much.

He sat there...dazed...

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Side note: Uzumaki Kushina is fun to write about, she's such a great character... and a red head! (look at chapter 382 and you'll see what I mean...)

and Namikaze Minato, Yondime Hokage, is SO COOL! (and pretty darn cute...though I'm not a husband stealer...yes, I do say they did get married!...Or just cross my fingers and hope... it is depressing, for Kplus shippers like me, how few...if ANY, ninja weddings there are!!)

I love both of these characters...in fact, I like the whole Uzumaki/Namikaze clan! It's fun to make stuff up about them...wish Minato and Kushina could have lived longer...and we could have known more about them.

I've kind of have some creative licence on the development of their characters, since there isn't much in the comics about them, and gave them their faults...(Geeze, they're still kids! Give them a break!)...like his pride (know-it-all-ness, since he's so smart) and her short temper (comes with the red hair...not to stereotype...[blond Naruto is an exception...) and they can be pretty annoying when you come down to it... Don't worry...they mellow with age. :)

And don't ask me how old they are...cuz I personally have NO idea...somewhere in their late/early teens???? oh well...