Disclaimer:

I do not own Naruto. Naruto is by Masashi Kishimoto.

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Boys, Sake and Good Fortunes

Blues

Shikaku dangled lazily on a fat branch of the old sakura tree at the corner of the front grounds of the academy, watching with much amusement his classmates as they move around, chattering and laughing and playing. Minato was sitting next to him, laughing at Shikaku's commentaries.

"Then there's the doujutsu brats," Shikaku announced in splendid imitation of the pompous manner of his subjects.

Fugaku Uchiha was walking side by side with the Hyuuga twins. Nine-year olds walking tall and grand, like little emperors. The others kids deliberately moved out of the way, cowed by the mere presence of the three. Reasonable enough, considering that all three of them are from prestigious, powerful clans of the village and two of them, Fugaku and Hiashi, are groomed to be the next clan heads of the Uchiha and the Hyuuga respectively. Plus, at the moment at least, they don't look very friendly enough.

Shikaku slumped back to his former position and his tone back to his lazy manner as he complained on their unnecessary pride. He threw them another inquisitive look. "School bullies." he concluded.

Minato was watching the three as well. They weren't the nicest but they are nice. Not entirely nice but they aren't really so frightening, and they do speak, contrary to popular beliefs that they glare to communicate. And, he can't seem to place how they became school bullies. So Minato turned his watching eyes to Shikaku, "How so?"

"Look." Shikaku nodded to the direction of the three. The other kids, even the older students, were moving out of their way – like parting of the Red Sea.

"Not their fault those kids get intimidated." Minato countered easily. "And that's not counted as bullying."

"With three people glaring to you like this," Shikaku turned to Minato with an Uchiha glare, "Any seven year old is bound to get intimidated."

Minato laughed. "One, those kids aren't all seven years old. And two, I think you do it a point better than Fugaku."

Shikaku shrugged and continued watching the three, still disgusted by their self-important air. "If you get want you want with a glare, that's counted as bullying."

"They haven't beat up anyone, or demanded anybody's lunch thus far." Minato said, already shifting his attention to another group of students arriving in the school grounds.

"So who do you consider bully?" Shikaku heard his brain make a trumping sound. "Kushina?"

Minato's face screwed in annoyance. He forgot the group of students he was watching earlier and turned to Shikaku with his own menacing glare.

"With a glare like that, you rival those brats."

"Kushina was bullied. How dare you say she is the bully!"

Shikaku watched Minato curiously. The blond boy is perhaps the nicest classmate he has, always calm and collected and nice and kind. Shikaku decided this is a feat – to have Minato glare to him like this, and a curious occurrence as well considering what brought about the glare. He struggled to keep the triumphant grin threatening to spread across his face. "She beat half of the class' male in our first year. You said bullies beat up their classmates."

"She did so because they weren't nice to her." Minato felt angry. Kushina is an orphan from an ally village and she had lost too many things. He thought it was too much that the kids weren't nice to her and for Shikaku to think he, Minato, considers Kushina a bully, it is the worst. It was a terribly disgusting thought. "Why call someone 'tomato' for fun." he seethed.

"She did look like one."

Minato's eyes changed.

Shikaku never thought about it, but now he did – Minato's cool blue eyes can be fierce and piercing. The clear color of his eyes is a striking contrast of his expression. Shikaku actually felt scared of him. He always suspected it but he never really realized it is much - to Minato, Kushina is a sensitive topic. His friend tended to stand up for people, but stand up is understatement to what he does for Kushina. "Well, she got a new nickname now."

"Red hot blooded hanabero is not any better." Minato replied in annoyance.

"I didn't mean that." Shikaku smiled widely and clapped Minato's back, who looked at him in confusion, his clear light sapphire eyes softening. The Nara laughed loudly as he nudged the Namikaze playfully, "Bet our classmates won't believe I can get Namikaze Minato angry."

Minato chuckled lowly and glared at his friend, but this glare, Shikaku assumed, is one that means no danger.

They continued their playful observations, pointing out to another group of boys who were too short for their years and another group who were chatting too loudly that Minato and Shikaku stopped talking. Then a group of girls, some of them their classmates, entered the school grounds and Minato retreated in his place. Shikaku smiled at Minato's small attempt of hiding himself.

"Still haven't get used to your popularity?"

"It isn't popularity." Minato exhaled exasperated. "They're insane."

"Fangirls at such an age. Wow!" Shikaku's amazement wasn't all sarcarsm. "Lightened up. Few achieve that feat."

"Not the feat I'd want to make."

Shikaku hooted loudly and Minato made a hushing noise. Shikaku continued to laugh but muted the sound and Minato found it funny that he started to laugh as well.

"I'm not kidding here and take no offense on this okey?" Shikaku started, as soon as the girls got out of sight, probably hunting Minato in the classroom, "I think their dislike of Kushina isn't entirely because she's a foreigner, an orphan, harsh, tomboyish and that."

Minato threw him a questioning look while noting the reasons Shikaku noted.

"You," Shikaku glanced at Minato, his young voice firm and sure, "…are always around Kushina."

Minato found the thought bizarre. How could he be the reason for that?

Shikaku continued commenting in another group of students and a teacher who looked like he just woke up but Minato was busy contemplating. Perhaps a good ten minutes of monotonous notes and observations, Shikaku stopped to check on Minato. "Oi."

Minato's voice was unbelieving. "They're jealous of Kushina?"

"It took you that long to realize?"

"Why?"

"Simple. You like* Kushina."

Minato blushed fiercely at Shikaku's matter-of-fact statement.

Shikaku grinned wide at Minato's blushing face. "I'm your friend so I know, but I don't think our classmates have figured it out yet."

Minato ran his fingers through his hair uneasily.

"Perhaps all they see is you're talking and hanging out with her often. Quite too often."

Minato fell silent. Shikaku was not feeling devilish enough to continue his little torture and sat there as silent as a shadow. Until, of course, Kushina appeared at the school gate, laughing with Mikoto, one of her very few friends.

"Talk of the devil and she appears." Shikaku muttered with a leering grin. He glanced at Minato who was still silent. Shikaku wondered which point of the earlier conversation is currently rendering Minato contemplative – the he likes Kushina part or the Kushina is a victim of his fangirls' passion. As Kushina walked closer, Shikaku whistled playfully to catch Minato's attention. Minato glanced at him and Shikaku announced, "Then there's the red-haired muse."

Minato followed Shikaku's gaze and saw Kushina. He jolted upright. It was the new nickname Shikaku mentioned earlier! He glared at Shikaku. "Shut up Nara."

'Red-haired muse of Minato' is the full nickname of Kushina to Minato's few closest friends and the boy kept blushing at the nickname, unfortunately, encouraging his friends. Though Kushina haven't learned of the name. None of his friends would dare use any 'new' nickname for her, near her. Not after Kushina pummelled half of the class' males for calling her 'tomato'.

Shikaku laughed loudly. "Aren't you going to meet her?"

Minato did not miss the teasing tone and narrowed his eyes at him but Shikaku was too happy to be affected.

"Oh there's Chouza and Inoichi!" Shikaku jumped out of his position before even finishing his sentence. He landed with a quiet thud on the grasses and turned to Minato with wide grin that the blond boy didn't really like. "See you later!"

Minato nodded at him with still narrowed eyes. Then again, the boy must have been getting even with him, considering how he led their little gang on taunting Shikaku with the loud, nagging, short-haired Yoshino the other day. He sighed loudly and shook his head as his friend ran to his favourite group of people. He jumped out of his position too and before he can help it, he walked towards Kushina.

The red-haired saw him right away and waved cheerfully at him, grinning widely. "Oi Minato!"

He waved back as he approached her. "Good morning!"

"Oh yeah!"Kushina brushed her nose with her fingers in embarrassment, "I forgot. Good morning!"

Minato laughed. Mikoto was grinning her own girlish smirk as she slipped off her company silently, proving how well she will be a stealth kunoichi in the future.

Neither Kushina nor Minato noticed Mikoto's absence as they walked together, sharing stories and laughing at them. It was when Kushina saw Mikoto several meters ahead of them, talking to the "doujutsu brats", that Kushina did notice.

"How come Mikoto got there before us?" she asked abruptly, cutting Minato in mid-speech about a new ramen house he saw this morning.

"Huh?"

"She was walking beside me earlier!"

Minato thought Kushina looked pretty – wide-eyed in bewilderment.

"Ne Minato." Kushina turned to him too suddenly that she was centimetres away from him. "How did she got there?"

Minato fought hard against his blood vessels as he flushed red. It took him five seconds, before his face turned back to normal and he managed to blurt out a reply. "I don't know."

Kushina only realized their proximity when Minato spoke. His lips almost touched her's as he spoke, and she turned away as fast as she did earlier. Her face grew surprisingly hot, her blush rivalling the color of her hair.

Shikaku was whistling and Chouza was laughing. Inoichi was watching the same thing. All of them were spectator to Minato and Kushina walking together. And Minato will later thank all the stars in heaven for the three weren't too keen yet to see the little exchange between them.

"He hangs out a lot with her doesn't he?" Chouza mused loudly as he munched his chips quite as loud.

"That's a dumb question Chouza."

"It's stating the obvious at least." Inoichi nodded to himself.

Chouza couldn't help the wide grin spreading in his face. "At least he can hold himself well in front of a troublesome woman."

It was the retort for him wasn't it, Shikaku thought mournfully. "She isn't the only troublesome woman here."

"Exactly." chorused the two.

In silence, Shikaku cursed Minato again. If it wasn't for his genius of a friend…

It took several beats before Minato and Kushina spoke at the same time, trying to dispel the awkward moment; thereby leading to another awkward moment. Kushina forced a laugh which Minato answered with an awkward laugh but a laugh nonetheless, and soon, they were back to school kids talking and laughing together.

Their audience got over their torture to Shikaku as well and were back to observing Minato and Kushina.

"They'll be the most colourful couple Konoha will ever have."

Chouza and Inoichi laughed together, as if on cue.

"They do look good together though." Chouza noted.

"And they complement each other quite well." Inoichi added just as the three of them moved to a certain shortcut.

"A red-haired and a yellow-haired." said Chouza, in his most serious matter-of-fact tone.

"It doesn't get any better than that, ne?"

"Bet their child will be too colourful for his own good."

The three now stationed themselves strategically at the side of the door of their classroom.

"Bet their child will be too much for himself. His genes will be a riot." corrected Shikaku, to which the other two didn't manage to express their agreement as an approaching Kushina waved at them.

The three looked too casual that Minato and Kushina missed the grins in their faces as they passed by them.

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A/N:

*Like here is 'like' in some nine-year old point of view, okey? Not the like as we older kids understand it. They're nine. They cannot be thinking of that yet.

This story was inspired by my grade school cousins' narratives about their friends at school. And sorry for making Minato blush too often. It was for fun and I thought it was cute.

To all students, because what we learn in school is more than what is taught by the teacher