My Story
"It was the first day I came to the Hidden Leaf Village…." Kushina started, remembering back to the day. "That's when I first met your father, Minato."
A young girl with red hair that flowed down to her mid back stood in front of a class room. She looked around nervously, not knowing what she was going to expect here. It was her first time in this village, and despite her arguments, it was her new home.
The girl looked around the class room once more and found a quiet boy with yellow spiked hair sitting to her far left, looking at her with a blank face. She felt herself become even more nervous and before she could stop herself, she was screaming.
"I'm Kushina Uzumaki, ya know!" She quickly placed her hand over her mouth, embarrassed that she had screamed that. Suddenly everyone in the classroom was talking about her.
"Look at the color of her hair!"
"How can anyone have hair like that?"
"How do you get it that red?"
Kushina reached up and touched her hair, listening to them talk about her.
"Her hair's really weird."
"I wouldn't go out with hair like that"
"Hey!" The sensei yelled, "Be quiet! Settle down!" He tried to get the attention of his students, but nothing seemed to work.
Kushina balled her hands into a fist as she felt herself begin to tremble. She didn't like that they were talking about her like this, and she was going to prove to them that they were all wrong. "I'm…" she whispered to herself before screaming. "I'm going to become the village's first female Hokage!"
Everyone in the classroom suddenly went quiet. Kushina looked around the room for anyone who had to say something, but no one did. Then in the corner of her eye, she noticed someone stand up. She looked to find the kid with the yellow spiked hair stand up, his fist to his chest.
"I want to become a great Hokage who will be admired by everyone in the village too!" He said with a smile on his face. Kushina stared at him, not sure if he was joking and making fun of her or if he was serious.
"A Hokage who is admired by everyone in the village, huh." Naruto said as he looked down, remembering that that too was his dream.
"Back then, he wasn't very manly and didn't look too dependable. " Kushina explained. "So, I didn't take Minato seriously or believe for a minute that he could become Hokage."
"Why not?" Naruto asked as he looked up at her. "Dad looked so strong."
"You're right." She said as she stared down at her hands that were resting in her lap. "But back then, I was young and very ignorant." Kushina then laughed to herself at the thought. When she looked up, Naruto was staring at her questioningly, not sure why she was laughing. "But I sure was arrogant, having moved from another village and announcing that I was going to become the Hokage." Kushina said as she shook her finger at him. Then she looked away and continued. "After that, I started getting teased by the boys. They nicknamed me…"
"Tomato!" A boy yelled while he pointed at her. They were now standing in the back of the classroom during break and a bunch of boys and surrounded her. "From today, we're going to call you Tomato! You have a fat, round face with red hair. Just like a tomato!"
"As if a tomato can become Hokage!" Another boy said as he joined in.
"I hate tomatoes!"
"I never eat it in my salad!" said another boy.
"A tomato that everyone hates could never be accepted as the Hokage!" As the last boy said this, they all began to laugh. Kushina, who had been looking straight forward, while trying to ignore all of them. She looked to the side were the boy named Minato was sitting and she found that both him and his friend were looking up at her with a curious face.
"So that's it!" Naruto said as he figured it out. "I'll bet it was Dad who protected you from those bullies!"
"No, you're dead wrong!" Kushina said as she clenched her fist. "Tomato…I grudgingly accepted being called that name. It was embarrassing, but it fit me perfectly."
A boy screamed out and yelled. "You're getting redder and riper!" He then reached up and began to pull on her hair saying. "It's the Tomato Festival! It's time to harvest!"
Suddenly Kushina grabbed the kids arm and squeezed it tightly.
"Who're you calling Tomato?"She said in a threatening voice. The boy released her hair as she continued. "Now you listen…I hate tomatoes too, ya know!" Kushina gripped the boy hands tighter and spun him around, knocking all of the other boys around her away from her. Everyone in the classroom looked up to see what was going on. Kushina let go of the boy's hand, which caused him to landed on the ground a few feet away from her. She then jumped on him and screamed. "Keep calling me Tomato and you're going to get it, ya know!" all the while hitting him in the head with her fists. She then looked up at Minato who was laughing. She glared at him and held up her fist before suddenly screaming "What are you laughing at!"
Minato looked scared for a moment before looking towards the front of the class quickly. When he thought it was safe, he glanced back at her.
"I always beat those bullies at their own game." Kushina said with a smile as she tightened her fist that was held up. "And I turned them into smashed tomatoes." Naruto looked at her wearily as she continued. "The girl with long red hair who beat the boys half to death. As expected, I was stuck with a new nickname…
"The Red-Hot Habanero!"
"Kiba and Shikamaru were always saying that their mothers are really scary." Naruto mumbled to himself as he watched her.
Kushina calmed down and looked back down at her hands which were now resting in her lap once again. "Always fighting." She mumbled to herself. "Naturally, I always won these fights as the Red-Hot Habanero, but…."
Kushina ran down the path that had beautiful cherry trees on both side. She was on her way to met a boy who had told her that he wanted to fight her and show her that she wasn't that strong. She was running a little late, but when she looked down the path a little, she noticed him standing up against a tree, waiting for her. It was one of the kids that had given her, her first nick name, tomato. As she got closer, she began to slow down as another figure appeared next to the kid. She came to a complete stop in front of them, and waited for someone to say something.
"Are you the one who's always making my kid brother cry?" asked the older one as he stepped out and over to her. She balled her hands in a fist as she realized what was happening.
"That's because he's always messing with me, ya know!" She said as she pointed at him. The younger brother looked shocked from a moment, like she was lying, but said nothing. "And he's such a wimp!"
The older brother looked down on the younger brother, who just looked away and tried to act cool.
"I'm a genin! Cool, huh?"The older brother said, changing the subject. Kushina was surprised by this, but it didn't last. "I have to teach anyone who bullies my kid brother a lesson." The older brother began to crack his knuckles as he approached her, step by step. Kushina got in a defense position, not sure of what to expect before she decided to bolted. She jumped up to a tree limb and began to jump to others. The genin followed close behind her, not letting her get away. When he wasn't catching up to her, he decided to try something different. He stopped on a tree branch and pulled out a kunai. He threw it at her while she was in midair, but it just flew right past her and hit the tree ahead of her.
"A really kunai?" Kushina said as she saw it hit the tree. She landed on the tree next to it and pressed her feet up against the bark of the tree before she shot back towards the stupid genin. He was already mid jump, coming at her when she bent her arm and slammed it against his neck, hooking him in her lock. He was so stunned by the force of the blow, he immediately began to fall towards the ground.
Kushina landed on her feet a few feet away and when she turned around to see him fall, he had transformed into a log. Suddenly, something hit her on the neck from behind, causing her to fall towards the ground. She tried to get up and get away, but her body wasn't listening to her. Something then grabbed her hair and yanked her up, making her sit on her knees.
"You can't even recognize a Substitution Jutsu?" The genin said as he laughed. His younger brother came over and got in front of her to watch. "You're still just a kid!" Then the genin noticed something. "Your hair's so red…and it's stiff like thread. Hair like this is ugly!"
The younger brother then began to laugh as he said. "Serves you right!" Then he stopped when he noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks. The two brothers froze from a moment, not sure what to do.
"I…" Kushina said through her tears. "I don't like my hair either!" She then stood up and began to pull away, not caring that the genin was not letting go of her hair. She just continued to pull and pull away until her hair that he was holding ripped away from her and she was finally free.
Kushina turned around and punched the genin, and again and again. She even jumped in the air and used her foot to slap him to the ground. The younger brother began to back away as she got on top of the genin and slammed her fists over and over against his face.
"But..." she yelled as she refused to let up on her punches. "Even with hair like this, I'm still me!" She screamed as the tears slowed down a bit. "What choice do I have!" she screamed as the younger brother turned and ran away, scared out of his mind of what she might do to him.
"It's the Red-Hot Habanero!" he screamed as he ran even faster.
Kushina stood up and got off of the genin, her breath hard and fast. She wiped away the remaining tear as the genin sat up and wiped away some blood.
"Outsider!" he screamed at her before getting up. Kushina looked at him, hurt and regret filling her. "As if an outsider can become the Hokage!" he yelled at her one last time before walking away. Kushina watched him go for sometime before suddenly feeling a presence near her. She looked up to a cherry blossom tree branch were she found Minato watching her.
"You're not going to help me because I'm an outsider!" She yelled up at him, trying to get rid of the anger she had left. She hated it here and she hated her red hair. It was all because of that that she was in this mess.
"I.." Minato tried to say when he saw her, but she just cut him off.
"I bet you agree with them too!" She yelled at him. Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them and instead of staying, she turned and ran off, leaving him to stay in the tree watching her go.
Kushina ran as fast as she could down the cherry blossom path, trying to wipe away the tears that were spilling. As she slowed down, she looked up to find the three heads of the Hokages up on the cliff.
"It's because I don't want to be an outsider…" She said. "It's because I want this village to be my home…That's the only reason why I said that. Who would want to become the Hokage anyway!"
Hey everyone! This is the second chapter to "My Story" I hope you are all enjoying it, because I think this is one of the funnest stories I have written so far. (Don't tell the Ghost Hunt people). I love this story between Minato and Kushina because it is soo sad, but so amazing, and I hope you all enjoy it too.
I don't not, under any circumstance, own Naruto. All rights go to the Author; Masashi Kishimoto
