Summary: How Usagi handles her first experience of Konoha.
AN: Disclaimer in chapter 1
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...ooO Triumphant Return 2 Ooo...
Usagi flinched as she edged closer to Minato, wrapping her arm around his in a subconscious attempt for stability. She did not like all these eyes upon her. She might have craved attention in her teenage years but she was too used to the anonymity of being a Senshi. She was not used to civilians knowing of her and her abilities.
"Did you have to tell them about me?" She muttered softly.
Minato chuckled and managed to tug his arm free from her strangling grip. After flexing it he wrapped the limb around her shoulders drawing her close. "They don't know about all your abilities. It is part of the classified reports only the Hokage and Council may read, and perhaps a few shinobis and ANBU with the necessary clearance and need-to-know."
"Then why are they looking at me like that?" Usagi hissed feeling very agitated.
Minato shrugged. "You are a beautiful woman Usa. They have never seen you before and you are not a kunoichi. They are curious to know why you are returning with a squad that has been on the frontlines."
Usagi turned her face to brush her lips against his flak vest, to hide from the very avid sexual interest she was sensing. She was not used to getting that when she wasn't in her Senshi or Royal transformations. Usagi knew she was attractive but she had lived in a time were exposed flesh was the norm, promiscuity was indicated with attitude, words, and behavior. Usagi might have dressed in short skirts but she never went looking for sex. Her boy crazy days were just that and as much as she might have vowed her interest in Motoki and the others nothing serious had ever happened. Once she found out about Serenity and Endymion she had been committed to the one she had perceived as her soulmate, to Chiba Mamoru, the one who made her dance like a puppet, the one who dropped her to unbelievable depths of despair, the one who betrayed her.
"I don't like this." She whispered. "I want to hide and have a bath. They are making me feel… icky."
Minato frowned and looked more closely. And he saw what Usagi felt. The overwhelming male interest in a pretty female. The interest from several clan scions who more than likely heard about her healing kekkai genkai from the clan reps to the Council.
A flame of anger surged to life as his killing intent leaked unconsciously. The civilians froze. The shinobis looked around warily for the threat. The hi-level ones caught his gaze for seconds before they broke and looked away first.
Satisfied Minato looked down at the golden head leaning against him. He could see strands of silver and platinum in the golden strands. Channeling her unique power bleached the pigment from her hair and eyes. He remembered Queen Selenity, Usagis soul mother; she had pure silver hair and gray eyes flecked with purple. Minato wondered if one day Usagi would look very much like the long dead queen. He felt a surge of gratitude and anger against the deceased queen; gratitude for saving her daughters soul, for bringing Usagi into his life, and anger for manipulating her daughter, for the artificial soul-bond that tormented Usagi during her Sailor Moon days, that kept her loyal and yearning for Endymions reincarnation. He was so very grateful Usagi had found the strength to break free, to destroy all ties cast upon her, to find her way home, to him.
Sensing her uneasy tension he spoke to reassure her.
"Sandaime-sama will not harm you. He is like a grandfather to all of Konoha. It is the Council that cannot be trusted but their hands are tied since you are in my care."
Usagi shrugged. "There will always be those who want more power. They will want to know everything about me."
"They can want but it doesn't mean they'll get." Minato smiled grimly. "Shinobis have the right to keep secrets about kekkai genkai and clan techniques. As much as the Council will scream I plan on keeping Hiraishin no jutsu as a clan technique. Something I will only teach to any children I might have or adopt."
Usagi blinked. "They won't try to force it out of me?"
"The Council might try to seduce or steal it from of you." Minato corrected. "If they try anything else the Shinobi Clans will scream for their blood. But you must be wary of the Clans as well. I'm certain most of them have heard of your healing abilities. They will definitely send their sons and nephews to court you."
Usagi wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I don't know any of them! The shinobis from the outpost are like family! I could never marry any of them!"
Minato blinked. "All of them? You aren't interested in dating any of them? Yotsubishi Saitou seemed very interested in you. He spent a lot of time in the medics tent."
Usagi was taken aback. "Saitou-san? I thought he was just clumsy."
Minato snorted at the idea. Yotsubishi Saitou was a kenjutsu and taijutsu expert. He rarely got injured in practice spars in his specialties unless he planned to. The bastard had easily figured out Usagi was a soft touch for sob stories about being clumsy, especially since she had been very klutzy during her teens and early fighting days.
"Don't be silly Usa-chan. Yotsubishi wanted to spend time with you so he would deliberately get injured during practice spars."
Usagi stilled and flushed. Then she growled softly digging her nails into the palms of her hands to draw blood.
"I'm going to hurt him! Next time he needs healing I will sensitize his nerves instead of numbing them!"
Minato made a mental note to warn Saitou to avoid Usagi in the near future. It wouldn't do to loose a competent shinobi simply because he didn't have the nerve to be honest with a woman he was interested in.
And then his mood sagged. Almost immediately she sensed it.
"What is wrong Minato-kun?"
"Kushina."
Usagi stilled. Minato had told her about his hopeless crush on Uzumaki Kushina. It had originated during his chuunin days when he first met the Uzi no Kuni survivor. Ever since that first meeting Minato had chased after the kunoichi with the determination of a boy set on his first love.
And she had toyed with him, made him dance on puppet strings, knowingly or unknowingly Usagi did not know. Anger filled her heart, ire against the unknown kunoichi who was more than happy to abuse Minatos good nature, to go around dating other men while always returning to the dependable Namikaze when the relationship crashed. And then when she finally decided to give him a shot she did an about face without giving him the chance to change her mind.
Usagi stopped and pulled out from under his arm to move and stand facing him.
Minato blinked down at the shorter female looking up with blazing blue eyes. Absently he noted purple flecks in the sapphire pools. She looked very pretty with her lips pressed tightly together, her chin lifted up aggressively. Then her next actions surprised Minato though he would be forever grateful for the rest of his life.
She grabbed the loops in his flak vest and tugged down with surprising strength. He barely managed to keep his forehead from smashing into hers, bare centimeters between them. Her eyes were stormy and challenging as she spoke.
"Forget about her. Think about me."
And then she tugged Hard.
His lips came down on hers.
Usagi nearly panicked when he didn't respond. Pushing down on modesty and common sense she parted her lips and allowed her tongue to dart out and taste the slight salt of his skin and the spices of the hard candy he liked to chew on. Then his lips parted and he began to respond. Usagi nearly felt her knees buckle, a soft moan escaping as he began exploring the inside of her mouth. Her hands loosened their grip and her arms shifted to wind around his neck, to twist her small hands in the long spikey strands of blonde hair.
Minato was taken aback by his response to her. He had originally planned on breaking the kiss as quickly as possible, but something sparked his interest. Usagi was one of his oldest friends, someone who he trusted deeply despite all the years they had been apart. She had opened her mind and soul to him, to show him things that gave him power and leverage over her, in order to earn that trust. She had fought to stay by his side and refused to abandon his people because they Mattered. And she wanted him. Minato was too honest to deny her interest sated some primitive masculine part of him that wanted to be desired, needed, trusted by a female, by a lover.
His hands moved, one to rest at the small of her back, the other slid up her spine to cup the nape of her neck to subtly shift the angle of her head, to guide the kiss into more intimate waters as he briefly abandoned her mouth to taste her skin, to test the resilient flesh of one ear lobe and leave teeth marks just under her jaw.
They finally parted, breathing harshly, eyes dilated, hearts racing.
At that very moment Namikaze Minato abandoned old dreams and reached for new ones.
"I won't let go. If you leave I will follow you." He whispered.
She smiled warmly. "You won't have to. I'll stay with you forever."
- - -
Some distance away Urameshi Ishida cursed as he slapped two wads of ryou into the waiting hands of Haruno Yuriko and Yuuhi Keiko.
"Damnit!" He cursed. "Why couldn't the taichou be a gentleman for another week!?!"
Keiko smiled smugly as she fanned the bundle of notes before tucking it into her pouch.
"Usagi-chan didn't make a move before now because the taichou was too stressed about the potential attacks."
"But everyone knows about Uzumaki-san and her yo-yo relationship with the taichou. Usagi-chan was not going to wait and watch that kunoichi re-sink her claws into Minato-taichou." Yuriko explained.
Ishida groaned. "I know that! But I thought neither of them would make a move until the debriefing was over! I never believed Usagi would be so bold to make the first move in such a public setting!"
Yuriko giggled. "Usagi-chan wanted to announce her claim on Minato-taichou in a very public fashion. But honestly I don't think it is going to stop the clans from sending suitors to court her." She smirked. "Want to make a bet on how long before the taichou blows and gives them and the Council the smack down?"
Ishida scowled. "No. At the rate I'm going I'm not going to win betting against you two in matters concerning those two. Why don't you set up a pool and I'll bet on what you bet."
Keiko pouted. "You're no fun Ishida-kun!"
"We're in Konoha now Keiko-chan. I'm sure you can find plenty of suckers around every corner to lure into making bets they'll never win."
The genjutsu expert smirked. "So you admit you are a sucker."
Ishida sighed. "Only when it comes to betting against you in human relationships. Give me good old fashioned poker and then I'm king."
Yuriko laughed. "How much are you in for?"
"Five thousand ryou per pool up to thirty thousand ryou." Ishida answered promptly.
The two kunoichis glanced at each other and responded in unison. "Deal."
...ooOoo...
TBC…
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AN: Sorry for all you Kushina fans, just not going to happen in this fanfic of mine.
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