Kushina woke up with a frown on her face and wondering why she was awake at all. And then she realized why when she heard someone pounding on her door. She rolled over to see her alarm clock; it was three in the morning. Someone had better be dying she thought as she rolled out of bed. Like a zombie from horror movies she trudged over to the door that was now shaking from the pounding.

She swung it open and glared out at the man who was leaning haphazardly against her door frame. She recognized him at once as Jiraiya and saw that he was clearly drunk, beyond drunk. It smelt like the man had been soaking in sake and she briefly wondered how he was even standing.

"Hey Minato!" he practically screamed.

Kushina was still half asleep and not amused in the slightest. "Wrong door pervert." She said and was debating whether to slam the door in his face and risk him breaking the door down in his drunken quest for Minato, or pointing him in the right direction.

She didn't get to choose either as Jiraiya choose secret option number three. He looked up at her for the first time before his eyes went wide and blood squirted out of his nose before he passed out. Kushina stood there for a moment wondering if he had died and even reached out with her foot to nudge him, he gave a twitch and she decided that it was that was the equivalent of taking his pulse.

Now she was faced with what to do with the unconscious man in the middle of her hall. She could leave him there or find someone to take care of him. She yawned and decided the first option was rather appealing. But once again she got neither option as the door across the hall opened and a man with spiky blonde hair opened his door, his eyes shut and mouth open wide in a yawn.

Kushina blinked a few times trying to clear the sleep from her eyes; this had to be a dream. Had she fallen asleep again? This moment was oddly reminiscent of the dream she had been having before being woken up, or had she really been awake at all? Maybe she was having a dream inside of a dream.

XxX

With a moan Minato had rolled out of bed when he heard his sensei shout his name from the hall. The man was probably wasted and didn't have the strength to make it back to his own place and so choose to crash on Manito's couch.

It was the middle of July and it had been the hottest month on record. So hot, that he had gone to bed naked and had had to stumble around in the dark to find a pair of pajama pants before opening his door. He gave a wide yawn as he continued into the hall but was rudely jolted awake as he tripped over something large in the hall.

He stumbled forward and tripped again on what he guessed to be a body, probably belonging to a certain white haired ninja he knew. He opened his eyes in time to see a woman with long red hair in his direct path of flight and didn't even have time to swear under his breath as he collided with her and knocked them both back into the darkness of her apartment.

He was now fully awake with his face firmly planted between a pair of breasts. The body beneath him was ridged and from his inappropriate proximity he could hear her heart beating faster then was normal. Not even trying to fight back the blush he lifted his head from her chest and pushed himself up on to his elbows. He hadn't yet gained the courage to look her in the face and so kept his head bowed which was probably a mistake because now he could see what she was wearing, which wasn't much.

Her night ware consisted of a tiny tank top and a pair of panties. He forced images of Jiraiya and toads into his mind to prevent making this situation any more embarrassing then it already was. He closed his eyes and made himself look up into the woman's face. She was beet red with her eyes closed tight; he noticed that her blush reached down past her face to her neck and chest.

He mentally scolded himself for following the path of the blush. He felt as if he needed to say something but he didn't know what. But then he remembered what he had promised himself to do the last time he saw her.

"My name's Minato Kamikaze." He blurted out. He was definitely not a smooth talker.

She opened her eyes to stare at him incredulously. She shifted under him and he tensed his body as he willed his blood to continue circulating to the rest of his body.

"Kushina Uzumaki." She said.

He gave her a nervous chuckle as he stood up. "Sorry I know that was random." He apologized as he reached a hand out to her to help her up. "Just thought we should be properly introduced since we keep running into each other."

She took his hand and he pulled her up. He looked down and saw her bare long legs and was reminded of the first time they had met when he could see clear up to her hip. He immediately looked back up to keep his mind from the gutter.

She was looking away from him and into the hall where Jiraiya still lay. "Does he do that often?" she asked him.

Minato grimaced. "Yeah more often than he should really." He said as his eyes rested on the undignified lump that was his sensei. "I should probably move him into my apartment."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kushina nod her head silently. He forced himself to keep his eyesight on her face and not drift to the rest of her body that was glistening with sweat in the moonlight. That last thought cemented his reason for making a hasty retreat in the guise of helping out his sensei.

"Well I'll see you later." He said, and not even looking back he left her apartment, closing the door behind him. He needed to hurry up and move Jiraiya onto his couch so he could take a cold shower.