Presents


With cheeks as red as her hair, still unable to breath properly, Kushina was in a mix between either frowning with awkwardness or smiling like a fool.

It had started so simply: a simple request, a petty denial, immature sulking and finally, a present. Or rather, it had started with a present, had it not? Kushina sighed as she sat down on the soft grass of the training grounds – how different the same place could be with the presence of someone else – as she pieced together the latest events.


"Kushina, could you give me a hand?" Minato asked in rather strangled voice from beside her.

Still wearing her training gear, Kushina pretended she hadn't heard him. She'd felt his presence miles away and while initially she'd been curious why Minato would come to the training grounds without hiraishing at all, Kushina instantly frowned when she noticed what was in his hands.

Valentine presents from practically every girl of the village, kunoichi or not. It happened yearly and of course this time around it wouldn't be any different. She didn't even know why this was bothering her now, after all this time – except, she actually knew why.

Stupid feelings, keeping her from being the effective kunoichi she so longed to be.

If it had been any other day, the kunoichi would've been glad to help the blond out, especially because Minato never asked for any help. The awed expression he would do whenever she showed him just how capable and responsible she could be at times or how she was getting better at her ninjutsus – mostly thanks to him, though – and his heartfelt thanks were enough to warm her heart.

Said heart however, felt quite cold at the moment.

"K- Kushina?" He asked pathetically, unsure of what to do. The pile of presents was abnormally tall and it was a wonder how he was still standing.

"Yes?" Her voice was abnormally high and sweet. Her amethyst-colored eyes glanced at his blue ones – well, what was visible of them, anyway. "What ever could you want, Minato?"

"J- just a little help with these things, if you don't mind… they're quite heavy." He glanced to the pile of presents as if to make a point – as if she hadn't already seen that amount of garbage before.

Kushina sighed irritably and glared at the blond ninja. It was pathetic; Minato was barely keeping his balance, with his arms were full with pink-colored boxes and high-quality ninja gear. Teen genius and the fastest runner in the village, he still wasn't superman. Still, because you could never be too sure with Minato; or with herself, for that matter.

Kushina was proud to exhibit her newly acquired rank of kunoichi, even if she got it the same time as everyone else. Her graduation had been a blast and she was more than happy to be perceived as a true ninja by her fellow peers and the hateful villagers. She didn't hate the villagers though; she just disliked the way they looked at her.

But she grew to ignore the looks and be proud of herself with the help of her friends. And especially with Minato's help. Not that it mattered much now. He was obviously too busy with his pile of presents from his admirers to even notice how she had changed. How they had changed.

She couldn't even see her face amidst all that mess. He didn't look like he was going to be able to hold all those neatly wrapped presents much longer, though.

"Kushina, I'll give you half if you want." Minato pleaded in an attempt to get her help. "Heck, I'll give all of this to you! So please, help me out!"

For a second there, she almost gave in. Free candy was always a treat, regardless if you were six or sixteen. She could feel the sweet taste of those chocolates already, but she remembered who had cooked those chocolates –and for whom it was cooked. Her resolve was quickly back and she replied acidly:

"I don't want any of it, Minato! You should've considered this before you accepted all these presents from those girls!"

"But Kushina, you know I can't help it! They gave this to me as a present of graduation and I could only thank them and take it!"

Oh, the ever so kind Minato. Such a pushover, she thought bitterly.

"But it's way too much, can't you give me a hand?" His legs were trembling now. "I can't even attempt to Hiraishin with all this!"

She had enough of this. Not only was her best friend and love interest –ugh, how she hated that term. Couldn't Mikoto come up with something more awesome for what Minato was to Kushina than a silly teenager expression? – too much of a pushover to deny those gifts which he would obviously not eat since he disliked candy, Minato was also showing off how popular he was. Even if it was all done unintentionally, it was enough to rile her up.

"Well, that's too bad." And with that, she was up.

She turned around without another word and started to walk away. After a few steps later she heard a sound of something fallen and a moan. Despite her childish anger, her first instinct was to turn back and run back to him. Kushina would never deny helping someone in trouble, and that had been one of her biggest problems in missions – she risked herself way too much for a ninja. But then again, she didn't care. If someone needed her, she would be there.

She would be there for someone in trouble, wouldn't she? Then why didn't she help Minato when he asked her in one of those few rare times? Because of jealousy, that's why.

It was silly; she knew that. It was only spiteful jealousy, but she just couldn't take the fact those girls so freely gave him all those things while she couldn't even attempt to give him a kunai. Her guilt only furthered when she saw him on the floor, pathetically under that pile of rainbow-colored presents. At least she'd have given him a present with his favorite color, blue. The sight was even more pathetic than when Minato had been standing up and Kushina hated seeing him so helpless. Swallowing her pride, she marched up to him and offered him her hand without a word.

Taking the hint that she was angry, Minato only nodded appreciatively and held out her hand. Both of them were standing face to face: Kushina with a glare and Minato with a confused expression. The presents lay forgotten on the grass.

Kushina, still ashamed of her early behavior, decided to break the silence.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what came over me," Actually, she did. "But it was mean and wrong. I- I…" Ugh, how come whenever she actually had to say something she'd just get stuck? Her voice only seemed to work for shouting, apparently. Kushina frowned. Taking a deep breath, she whispered the words, "I- I'm sorry, Minato."

Despite all this, the blue-eyed teen only smiled at her. Minato nodded with understanding forgiveness and she was thankful.

Kushina didn't even know why she'd get so nervous all the time she was with him. Minato never got truly mad – and definitely not at her – but she still in a completely unbecoming manner for a kunoichi. For God's sake, she was a member of the Uzumaki clan; there should be nothing out there that could instill fear in her (aside from Kyuubi, that is). And still, she feared Minato – or rather, feared losing him.

Kushina shook her head quickly. She wouldn't allow herself to go back to the sad days after she arrived at Konoha, alone and scared. Wasn't that the reason she was training so hard, to become someone capable of taking care of herself?

"These are…" He didn't complete the phrase, still lost in happy bewilderment.

"Kunais, yes. But they're not just normal kunais! I used some jutsus that I learned from Lady Mito to make them more resistant. Courtesy of the Uzumaki clan." Kushina added with a wink.

This was a present Minato was sure to like; she knew that from all the time they'd spent together during the last years. His favorite weapons were kunais and lately he'd spend hours just throwing them around in an open field, trying to develop a jutsu. Kushina was still curious what type of jutsu it could be, but she was confident in Minato's abilities: it'd be a blast, for sure.

So of course she'd expected a happy reaction from him, contrary to his meek smiles to those neatly wrapped presents. Kushina expected one of his gorgeous smiles, as bright as the sun, and hopefully a hug. Both things happened, to her joy. What she didn't expect, however, was the last bit that happened between them before Minato dashed off with his Hiraishin to get rid of the presents thrown in the ground (he'd give them to his sensei as a thanks for his countless lessons in the past).

What happened, as Kushina still recalled with cheeks as red as her hair, was just after the warm hug Minato gave her.

"Thank you so much, Kushina!" He showed her another breathtaking smile. "Your present, it was… perfect! Really, the best present I've received in my life!"

She took his words as heartfelt thanks with a smile, but didn't think much of it. That is, until-

"You understand me so well – as I understand you," Both of them exchanged a thankful smile.

What surprised her – and surprisingly, him as well, as she'd later find out – was what followed next. Minato, still smiling, added with a wink, "And that's one of the things I love so much about you."

Kushina only had the time to see another one of his bright smiles before he faded, 'hiraishing' with all those presents in hand.


Love? As in, like-like-love? Her mind was still a jumble of feelings and thoughts – so unbecoming of a ninja, Kushina berated herself.

She still didn't know if she should either be frowning with awkwardness or smiling like a fool. Apparently, her body knew it better than her as she felt the corner of her lips twitching into a silly smile.

Kushina didn't understand love at all, but she also couldn't label her feelings for Minato as a simple crush – leave that to those annoying fangirls of his – they knew each other too well, trusted in each other too much for it to be just that. Minato was her best friend, but their bond was different than her own bond with Mikoto.

It was too soon to find out. She was only sixteen after all. There was no need to rush into unknown things and start proclaiming like a mad poet about things she didn't even know – yet. They could take it slow, on their own rhythm, and go discovering things along the way. And while she was afraid of what this might mean, she also couldn't imagine a life without the smiling fool she'd come to miss every day. Kushina smiled softly as she touched her hairclip – her first present from Minato.

Taking a deep breath, the redheaded kunoichi got up and stood waiting for that familiar blond hair appear within her sight.


A/N: The next updates will (hopefully) be much sooner. Thanks for sticking around and see you in the next chapter,

Fieldings