Kushina isn't quite made of fire, but with Kurama in her stomach, it often feels it. Kurama is fire and rage, anger in its basest form, and she knows that she's not supposed to be that. She's from Whirlpool, a land of water and wind and hurricanes, and she knows that she was supposed to be like them.
But she's not.
She's the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, and she's a raging forest fire, anger that settles in her stomach and roars alongside the demon in there. She fits in, here in Konoha, where fire natures are the most common, but it isn't her. It's him, and she hates how much he affects her.
It's wartime, though, and Kushina knows it's wartime, knows she'll be used, because she has the Kyuubi no Kitsune in her stomach, and Konoha cannot waste that. She hates, though, hates that they use her for what's in her stomach instead of for her own merits. Hates that they care for her chakra chains because of how well they hold Kurama and not for how well she wields them.
She's a tool; a weapon; a container. Nothing more, and nothing less.
(She's not okay with it, but she doesn't have to be.)
She's assigned to a Suna platoon, sent out on a cooperative mission to take out one of Iwa's supply lines. Other than her, there's another kunoichi and a pair of guys. Kushina's sure that they'll be no help, with the way they keep making moon-eyes at each other, but the kunoichi looks capable.
(Strong. Professional. Everything Kushina wishes she is, knows she can't be.)
It's okay, though. Kushina is more than enough for this mission herself, and with at least one person capable enough to actually help instead of make out with their partner, well. It's going to be a breeze.
"I'm Uzumaki Kushina," she says, holding a hand out to shake, because she may be angry, and she may think that most of her new squad is going to hold them back, but she's polite, sage dammit. She doesn't get a shake, but the kunoichi glances over at her, and her lips twitch, just a bit.
"Pakura," the kunoichi says, and it's distant in the same way Kushina's was. "Pleasure."
They'll be working together, though, so Kushina takes a chakra enhanced breath, memorises her new teammates so that she doesn't mistake them for enemies in the heat of it all. Pakura smells like fire and smoke and ash, scorched wood and burning sun, and her chakra feels the same. It's all too similar to Kurama's, all too similar to what Kushina's became, and she finds that she can't decide if she hates this new team or if she loves it.
But it doesn't matter, in the end, because they're professionals and they'll get the job done.
They have to.
The mission isn't all that long, but it's more difficult than Kushina had expected it to be. She sees Pakura—smudged with ash and blood—to her right, smells their pursuers behind them and their teammates somewhere to the left. She can't quite pinpoint where, with half her brain focused on keeping track of their pursuers and the other half on ensuring she doesn't brain herself falling from the trees, but she's at least aware they're alive and running.
Good.
She'd hate to have to explain to the Sandaime why she lost half her teammates.
See, the main problem with Kiri and Iwa teaming up is that they can't run to the water to escape the land. Sometimes that makes her want to cry; both because there's no respite and because she's from Whirlpool. She shouldn't fear the water.
Either way, she already knows they can't go for the water. Pakura's pretty, but she's Suna and fire-natured with a fire-based bloodline on top of that. She wouldn't survive if Kushina dragged her onto the water.
So their only choice, really, is to make for the closest allied hidden village as fast as possible—which, if Kushina's remembering correctly (and she probably is), is Suna.
"Pakura," she says, keeps her voice low, hears the hint of urgency as it creeps in, "You know this area better than me." Pakura acknowledges her with a short nod, silent agreement, and Kushina scowls. She likes Pakura—she's a gorgeous kunoichi, the kind of person Kushina would pick up at a bar if she was off-duty; all coiled danger and bright hair—but her personality leaves things to be desired. Sometimes.
It's professional, but it's irritatingly cold, and even before Kurama she'd liked brighter personalities better.
"I do," Pakura says, almost as if she's noticed Kushina's irritation at her silence. Kushina huffs, but accepts it, because they're running from enemy nin, which really isn't the best time to start an argument.
"Good," Kushina says, "because our best chance if we want to survive is getting to Suna."
Pakura glances at her, quick, eyes narrowed. It reveals her irritation, yeah, but it's also weirdly hot, and goddamnit Kushina, you're a professional.
"Follow me," she says, and it's only two words but it's almost the most she's said all mission. Needless to say, with Kiri and Iwa closing in behind them and someone that pretty telling her to follow her, Kushina doesn't hesitate for a second.
(Bad Kushina. Professional.)
They get to Suna in one piece, surprisingly. Not before Kushina takes out their followers, though. Pakura seems pissed, though, and Kushina isn't entirely sure why.
At least, she seems pissed up until she pushes Kushina up against a wall, smiles all teeth and poison, and leans in close. She's taller, just slightly, and Kushina feels surrounded—enclosed, but not quite trapped.
"You," Pakura says, and she's practically growling, sage, Kushina's attracted to her, "are the most distracting person I have ever met."
"Thank you!" Kushina replies, bright, because with Pakura looking at her like that there's only one way she could be distracting her, and Kushina's perfectly happy being that kind of distraction. "I try," she adds, just to be petty, and revels in Pakura's growl.
It's enough of a provocation, apparently, for Pakura to graduate from just shoving her against a wall to pinning her, taking Kushina's lips with her own.
Kushina grins, because they're both fire and ash and chakra, and they got back alive, and her blood is boiling, her chakra surging, and she can feel Pakura's rising to match even as a hand rises to tangle in her hair.
It's messy and dirty and relief after a mission, but it's more than enough.
(It's not love, but with Konoha's alliance with Suna, she thinks that they might be around each other enough for it to become something similar.)