Sweat soaked Kushina's neck and a few sparse drops made their way down her face as she stared up at the clock. She had exactly two hours to complete the test, and her first hour was already up. Luckily, she had already managed to get through about ¾ of the test without really having that much difficulty. They've all been about the history and culture of Konoha. Each and every single one. Minato...you are really something else, you know that?

If it wasn't for him, she would have failed it miserably. His lectures while she was in the hospital, being so recent, were the only things she remembered while taking the test and it allowed her to basically get them all right, or at least she thought. Some she was a little shady on, but for the most part, she knew pretty much all of them. She reminded herself to hug Minato the next time she saw him, and probably smack him for recommending her for Jounin without even talking to her about it first.

She finished her test and went out into the Hokage chamber again. She handed the test to the Third and he put it on his desk before addressing her again.

"Kushina Uzumaki. You have finished the written portion of the test. It has taken you approximately one hour and twenty seven minutes to do so. There are two more phases of the test that you must pass before you can become a shinobi of the Jounin rank. You may return to your place of residence for now, and we shall summon you when the time comes. We will be scoring your test, all 150 questions, and get the results back to you. If you pass, you will be summoned. If you fail, you will have to try again in two years minimum time. Thank you, you may leave."

Kushina bowed and began to make her way out. Her sweating had stopped, but now the waiting began. She knew she passed, but did she really? She had no way to be sure until she saw her scores right in front of her, down on paper, officially.

"One more thing Kushina," the old Hokage said, causing her to turn and listen respectfully. "The next phase of the test requires you to perform some very physically grueling tasks. You should best be prepared for it."

The lights suddenly dimmed over the three leaders and they were lost from her view, but she murmured a respectful thank you and within a few minutes found herself at the entrance to the giant government building. The night really was quiet, all the residents, even the night owls, finally asleep in their beds. She scanned the rooftops to see if she could spot any patrolling ANBU. She knew they were there. Minato had told her in his lectures that they patrolled Konoha 24/7.

She was impressed, however. Out of every time she had searched, she had really only spotted one of them on one occasion. And that time she might have been seeing things. She searched for a few minutes, but did not manage to spot one. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed for the hotel. She was tired, and she had to make sure her body was ready.

*************

Minato crept from tree to tree, keeping clear of the campsite. At least a dozen mist shinobi watched over their four Whirlpool captives, who all looked in pretty rough shape. Mist ninja were never gentle with their catch. Minato threw a few small shuriken at the closest Mist shinobi, who fell with a small groan. The camp immediately went loud.

"What the hell was that?"

"They came from the woods! We're under attack!"

"They came from that direction! Get up there and find out who's responsible for this!"

All the mist shinobi started moving in his direction. The captives were tied up and apparently and gagged in the middle of the camp. There was one guard. Minato flashed to the other side of the camp as the mist shinobi poured into the other side of the forest where they thought he was. A quick handsign detonated the exploding tags there, taking out most of their force. The lone guard yelled out to see if anyone was left. No answer.

Minato slowly walked out of the forest and into the camp. The guard drew his kunai and tossed it up a few times, laughing.

"You think you're pretty damn clever don't you." He said in a raspy voice.

He blinked in surprise when the kunai did not land in his hand. Minato pressed the cold blade to his throat.

"You're sloppy." Minato said in his ear.

"It....it can't be. You're...." The man stammered, but Minato pressed a fist into his back, forcing him to go to the ground.

"Get out of my sight. Go back to your Mizukage. Tell him the Yellow Flash sent you." Minato whispered, keeping his voice deadly.

He released the guard and the man tripped a few times as he stumbled out of the camp in fear. Minato turned to the hostages, who were looking at him as if he was the messiah. He moved towards them to untie them. A kunai sped towards him from the forest, and he dodged, bringing up his kunai to block a few incoming shuriken. A figure flipped over his head and landed directly behind him. He spun and brought up his kunai to block a slash from whoever was attacking him, but the enemy's kunai caught his sleeve, creating a clean slice on his arm.

He leapt back to get a good look at his attacker. The man was tall and slim, but with a slight tone to his muscle. He wore a Jounin vest with the sleeves cut off and his blue hair was kept in check only by the Kirigakure headband latched around his head. His eyes were cold. Minato could tell he was used to killing and probably did a lot of it.

"The Yellow Flash eh? You certainly know who you are. You scared that guy back there pretty bad." The man said, his voice smooth and quick, like a viper.

"You're not too bad yourself actually. You managed to nick me." Minato said, smiling.

"It'll be a lot worse if you don't leave the hostages and get out of here right now." The man replied, smiling himself.

"You're really cocky for a second rate Mist Jounin. That small cut is all you'll get." Minato said, moving to stand in front of the hostages.

"Why is that? Do you have some magical speed you're not telling me about? You seemed pretty slow before." The mist ninja said, moving towards him with his kunai raised.

"Because you let me get close enough to finish this fight before it really even started." Minato said, disappearing and reappearing right behind the man.

The mist ninja looked down at the seal planted on his hip and curse aloud. Minato sliced through the man's throat and pushed his struggling body away. The man's gurgles sounded for another few minutes as Minato worked to untie the hostages. He took out their gags. Three were little more than children, and the other seemed to be their team leader. A Jounin, by the look of him. He came up and almost hugged Minato.

"Thank you so much. You were truly brilliant. How can we ever repay you?" The man said tearfully, gripping Minato's arms in endless gratitude.

"Please...don't thank me, thank the Hokage. He's the one that located you guys. I'm just the middle man." Minato said, putting on his trademark grin.

*************

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Minato's got saving people down to an art by now, for sure. More to come soon guys. Thank you for reviewing! I love all people who review! Honestly, if I could give you an endless supply of cookies for reviewing, I would.