First Posted 10/10/2014
This was actually one of the first pieces I wrote for this fic. I have a lot of love for this little lady. Probably a little too much. I can't wait to write her when she's a little older and getting into the action—I think you guys will love her too. :')
She was fourteen, and she still hadn't had a mission across the border. This was frustrating beyond all belief for the loud, unpredictable, blonde-haired, blue-eyed kunoichi with seemingly no shred of fear in her body, but she had to sit tight, listening over and over as her parents recited the tale of "The C-Rank gone wrong," also known as "The Story of Zabuza."
When Minako had been young, this story was exactly the reason she wanted to go on missions outside the country as soon as her feet could take her there. Pity that this story was also exactly the reason she did not get her wish.
Of course, being Minako, that did not stop her from trying. Getting grounded from missions altogether was about the only thing that stopped her continuous attempts to smuggle herself out with other teams on their own missions. And even then, it had only stopped her after she'd been grounded enough to miss out on over half her genin's teams missions in a year's time, leading to her jounin instructor nominating her two genin team mates—and not her— for the Chuunin Exams.
Dad understood her and suggested that her skills had been honed with her family for so long that perhaps, even without the missions backing her, she could qualify for the exams. Her mother, however, remained adamant that Minako was not ready. She had to "experience natural life lessons" and was still "too immature," which made Minako realize that the truly immature one here was her big idiot jerk mother.
After that natural lesson, her attempts to explore the outside world slowed down considerably.
But they never quite stopped.
Both Dad and Oniisan were particularly impressed when she managed to hitch a ride with an Inuzuka genin who had accidentally picked her henged form up instead of his actual medical pack that morning. She'd gotten all the way to the coast, where they were to board a ship bound for Kumogakure. What had stopped her journey overseas was not poor skill in suppressing her chakra signature but, as always, poor attitude. In her impatience with the Inuzuka who was scrambling to find his papers, she'd transformed back into herself, dug them out of his sack, thrown them into his face, and then punched him—all while berating him for being so disorganized.
That had gone over very poorly with their jounin instructor. It had also gone over very poorly with the Inuzuka, who now had no medical pack with which to treat his bloody nose. She'd been grounded from missions for two months after that.
So it was with extreme caution that Naruto and Sakura watched their very excited fourteen-year-old daughter prepare for her first mission abroad. Her new team (since her first set of team mates had moved on to chuunin status quite some time ago) consisted of a plump young platinum blonde girl of the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans, a quiet, serious boy who'd been second in his class despite having civilian parents, and Rock Lee, their jounin instructor. Minako was the oldest of the three genin, a full two years their senior.
"She's such a good nin, but I still don't know if she's ready," Sakura said quietly through her teeth as she smiled, trying to avoid Minako hearing her or reading her lips. Next to her, Naruto shrugged.
"She has the skill to be a chuunin already." He said in response, not lowering his voice as much as Sakura would have liked. Thankfully, Minako was too busy digging under her messy bed for her special kunai, the one Naruto had given her on her seventh birthday. Her first ninja tool.
"Her skills are great and have been for years, but she's so reckless," Sakura said, intending her daughter to hear this time. Her voice had taken on the edge of worry that Minako hated so much, and as if on cue, her head shot up from under the bed as she gave her mother a comically emphatic glare. Her short, blonde pigtails bounced with the jerking movement. With a snort, she buried herself back into the mess under her bed.
"I was too, Sakura-chan." Naruto grinned proudly.
"You had Kurama." She argued back. Then: "How many times? Honestly, how many times would you have died if it weren't for Kurama?" In the back of his mind, Naruto felt his ever-present companion bristle with pride, and the platonic fondness Kurama felt for Sakura washed over him in an odd way so that he felt two sets of emotions toward her simultaneously. Naruto encountered this problem only occasionally with his strong link to Kurama. Most of the time, having an open, empathic link to his bijuu partner had far more benefits than risks, but there was a line to be drawn.
Looking at his wife and finding her to be an "acceptable human thing" as she disrobed one night was just one example of where that line became absolutely imperative.
Annoyed with the connection at present, he severed it and pushed Kurama further back in his mind, hearing a low, amused chuckle issue forth in response.
"Don't feed his ego." Was what he quipped at her irately, the meaning of their argument already forgotten.
"YES!" Minako cried suddenly, stopping Sakura just as she opened her mouth to comment further. "Found it! Phew, I thought my baby got kidnapped!" She cradled the dirty, nicked up kunai to her cheek and then kissed it.
"Minako, don't put your mouth on that filthy thing." Sakura said, palm to her forehead and her lips twisted in disgust. "Do you have any idea how many microbes could be on there right now?" Minako stroked the thing, not regarding her mother in the least.
"Don't listen to her, baby. She just wants to hurt your feelings because that's the kind of nasty old hag she is." She cooed sweetly. Sakura's eyebrow twitched, and Naruto found himself suddenly grabbing her hand to squeeze in placation.
"Uh... we should have lunch before you go!" He burst out suddenly, turning to march toward the kitchen but stopping when his connection to Sakura's hand jerked him to a sudden halt. She stood like an immovable object, her brow dipped low over her eyes in anger.
"Minako..." She whispered, lips curling into an unamused, manic smile. "You will show respect to your mother, or you will wait another month to go on a mission like this." Naruto dropped his wife's hand and gestured at Minako, desperately attempting to garner her compliance. She rolled her eyes, arms crossed and stance confrontational. He was secretly glad when the cry of a baby several rooms away started up. He didn't wait to see what would happen between the two women of his life.
It was just two or so minutes later as he was finishing up with the diaper change that Minako stalked by the door behind him, muttering unhappily but otherwise submissive. Apparently she'd get to keep her mission this time.
Chronological Arc/Chapter List:
Confession: Chapters 33-37 (NaruSaku ages 18-19)
Let's Wait: Chapters 5-6 (NaruSaku ages 20-21)
Stealing First: Chapter 1 (NaruSaku ages 21-22)
The Uzusagis: Chapters 3-4 (Narusaku ages 21-40)
It'll Be Okay: Chapters 18-24 (NaruSaku ages 21-22)
The Godfathers: Chapters 13-14 (NaruSaku ages 22-23)
Momma's Boy: Chapter 27 (NaruSaku ages 24-25)
The Day Kakashi Tried: Chapter 2 (NaruSaku ages 25-26)
Kakashi Tries Again: Chapter 16 (NaruSaku ages 29-42)
A Tiny Crush: Chapter 25 (NaruSaku ages 33-35)
That Jutsu, Part 1: Chapter 8 (NaruSaku ages 37-38)
Bedtime Routine: Chapter 7 (NaruSaku ages 37-38)
That Jutsu, Part 2: Chapter 9 (NaruSaku ages 37-38)
Every Family Has One: Chapters 10-12 & 17 (NaruSaku ages 38-39) * You Are Here
A Terrible Dream: Chapter 32 (NaruSaku ages 38-39)
A Not-So-Tiny Crush: Chapters 26, 28, 30-31 (NaruSaku ages 42-44)
Teenage Girls: Chapter 15 (NaruSaku ages 44-45)