A/N: Hello guys, I'm sorry it took so long to write this chapter. I hope you're doing well. I'm sorry to tell you this but nothing really happens in this chapter, I mean nothing exiting. I'm happy to finally get to introduce you to Dan and Shizune, I loved writing the part at the Senju's. You'll have to read the chapter to find out more.


Information Area

Dan Senju is not originally a part of the Senju clan but he decided to join Tsunade's clan when he married her so that she could keep her name and her council seat as the head of the Senju clan. He is 34 years old and a jounin of the Leaf village. He loves his family dearly and is a good-hearted man.

Shizune Senju is the daughter of Tsunade and Dan. She is 7 years old, has brown hair and goes to the ninja academy. Her dream is to become a medical ninja like her mother. She is a little shy and loves to hug people.

Teuchi Ichiraku is the owner of the ramen stand 'Ichiraku Ramen'. He is 26 years old and his wife is very pregnant and is due to give birth any day.


Chapter 11 – Talks and Visits

Minato forgot all about having a talk with Kushina when he got back from a day's work. Kushina had, in the mean time, been downstairs in the kitchen to get some food and was completely full; hence she didn't join him for dinner (not that she had done so the previous evening).

The next morning Minato simply forgot about Kushina because he was busy with planning out the training that he would go through with his students the next day (he had therefore given his squad a day off to rest and prepare).

So the blonde got quite a shock when he saw the red-haired woman sit in his sofa when he entered the living room, he hadn't seen her for quite some time so he had completely forgotten that she was in his house. She looked slightly uncomfortable but she was trying to smile.

"Oh, hello Kushina," the blonde said awkwardly, not knowing how to react to this.

"Can we…" Kushina hesitated for a moment before continuing. She sighed. "Can we sit down and talk for a while?"

Minato was a little taken aback by that unexpected question but he nodded and sat down next to her. He looked at the Uzumaki questioningly.

"Well," Kushina started awkwardly, "I'd like to apologize for my behavior the last couple of days".

Minato wondered if this was act-the-opposite-way-you-normally-would-day, was she actually apologizing?

"I've been unfair to you," Kushina continued, "I know that you have been through near the same thing that I have and I refused to even look at you and yet you still allow me to live here, I'm truly sorry".

"Don't apologize," Minato said, "I should have known how you felt and have left you be from the start, your situation is much harder than mine, I still have my birth village and my birth home, compared to you I am very lucky".

"I know," Kushina said, "and I envy you for that but my family would have been ashamed of my behavior, I acted the opposite of the way the wanted me to".

Minato looked at her questioningly.

"I had a dream about them before, when I was with Jiraiya," the redhead explained. And then the next ten minutes were spent telling Minato about her dream.

"That's quite a dream," the blonde said when she was finished.

Kushina nodded. "Yes, it felt so real, like I was really there with them".

"I think I understand," Minato told her, "And I think you're right, maybe our loved ones are with us, watching over us as we continue our life, making sure that we live it and enjoy it, maybe it was more than just an ordinary dream".

"Maybe," Kushina agreed, happy that he seemed to understand.

"So how are you feeling now?" Minato asked her carefully, still unsure if it was a good idea to ask this question.

"I'm better now when I've told you," Kushina told him honestly. "I'm glad I have someone like you to talk to, someone who understands".

Minato almost blushed at that comment.

"And I'm glad you didn't just leave me be," the redhead added, giving her blonde friend an honest smile.

Minato gave her a smile in return. He was glad she seemed to be doing better.

"Want to grab some lunch together? We could get ramen, it's been quite a while since you've been outside," he suggested.

Kushina smiled. "I'd like that".


The next day Minato went to meet his team to train with them. Minato had offered her to come along so that she could meet his squad but she had declined because she didn't want to get in the way of their training. Instead she had decided to go visit Tsunade and her family. Minato had told her that Wednesday, which it just happened to be that day, was her day off.

Minato had followed her to the Senju mansion before he went off to meet his students. The mansion was huge. Why did all the people in the Leaf village seem to be so rich?

Tsunade welcomed her with open arms when she entered the mansion. It was odd for Kushina to be in such a big estate, Tsunade even had butlers and maids.

Tsunade asked her to join her for tea in her living room, which Kushina gladly agreed to. The living room was way bigger than Minato's but Minato wasn't as rich as Tsunade, who came from the very clan that helped build the Leaf village, her grandfather had been the First Hokage and her granduncle had followed in his footsteps, plus Tsunade was leading the hospital and made pretty good money herself.

Tea was lovely. She and Tsunade did mostly small talk in the beginning since both of them couldn't find anything to really talk about; or that was until the necklace around Tsunade's neck caught Kushina's attention.

Tsunade told her that the necklace had belonged to her grandfather, the First Hokage.

When Tsunade's husband, Dan, came home she and Kushina were in the middle of a discussion about the war.

Tsunade immediately jumped up from the couch and hugged Dan very close to her. Kushina wondered how much Dan likes these kinds of hugs, especially since Tsunade had rather large breasts.

Dan just laughed at his wife's way of welcoming him back from another mission and returned the hug.

When the two of them broke the embrace Tsunade cleared her throat and introduced Kushina to her husband. Dan took Kushina's hand and kissed it. Kushina didn't really know how to react to Dan's gesture, being a tomboy she didn't really like kisses but she ignored it and said politely, "It's nice to meet you Dan".

Kushina stayed, to Tsunade's delight, for lunch with the Senjus. After lunch Tsunade insisted on giving her a tour around the mansion. Kushina couldn't stop gasping when Tsunade showed her the biggest rooms. Though Tsunade told her that there was a room with jewelry that belonged to the women of the clan that had been passed down through generations, that she didn't show to anybody. Kushina didn't mind, she didn't like jewelry and she didn't need to see anything else to know how rich the Senju clan was.

After the tour they returned to the living room to see Shizune, Tsunade's daughter, home. The seven-year-old brunette embraced her mother in a bear hug.

Kushina's face saddened when she saw it. She was reminded of the mother that she no longer had and hence she turned her face away from the happy reunion.

When Tsunade had let go of her daughter Kushina told her that she had to go.

All the members of the Senju family were sad to hear that but they told her to come again soon and Shizune hugged her before she left. When Kushina looked down at her in surprise Shizune blushed and ran back to her parents and Dan picked her up and sat her in his lap. Kushina smiled slightly. She already adored the little brunette.


She took her time walking back to Minato's. The streets weren't so crowded and no one was paying her any attention so she just let the tears escape her eyes. It was better to get it over with before she came home to Minato. She couldn't help it, seeing Tsunade embrace her daughter like that had brought back painful memories. Her mother had always been the one who cared the most about her and the one who understood her best. She had loved her mother dearly and her death had been much harder on her than the deaths of her other family members. Seeing her mother die before her eyes had changed her, a part of her had died along with her family and country.

When she entered Minato's house a happy blonde greeted her. "Hello Kushina," Minato said with a huge grin on his face.

"Hello," Kushina said awkwardly, wondering why Minato was in such a good mood. "What's up?"

"I'm just so happy, my students are really making progress, they have come so far, and they have really improved a lot since I first started teaching them. I'm so proud of them".

"Well that's good to hear," Kushina said.

"How was your day with Tsunade?" he asked her.

"It was good," Kushina simply said. "Do you mind cooking the dinner yourself tonight? I'm going early to bed".

"You're not going to bed now are you?" the blonde asked.

Kushina nodded.

"But it's only 4 o'clock".

Kushina didn't answer; she had already gone up the stairs and into her room. That night Kushina cried herself to sleep.


The next morning was normal. Neither Minato nor Kushina said a word to the other during breakfast.

After breakfast Minato went to the backyard to do some training. Kushina stayed in the living room to read some of Minato's books. It surprised her how many books he actually had. There were all different kinds of novels, even romance novels. Kushina wondered if Minato actually read them or if they had belonged to his mother.

Kushina didn't know which book to choose; she didn't know any of the titles.

After reading the summary on the backside on some books she settled for a romance. She had never liked romance that much but she thought the book seemed interesting.

Suddenly she heard Minato's voice calling her name. She looked up from the book, which she had now read half way through, and it was a thick book by the way.

"What is it, Minato?" she asked.

"How would you like dinner tonight?" the blonde asked her.

"Dinner?" Kushina hadn't given it one single thought. "I don't know, isn't it a little early to think about that yet?"

"Early?" Minato wondered, "it's half past six".

Kushina's eyes widened. "Really?" Had she been so busy reading that time had simply flown away?

"Yes, really," Minato said. "It's okay if you don't feel like cooking tonight, we can go out".

Kushina smiled. Minato was so nice and understanding.

"Can we go to Ichiraku's?"

"I don't think eating too much ramen is good for your health but okay".


"Two miso ramen, one of them with extra pork," Minato told the chef when he and Kushina had sat down on their stools.

Teuchi grunted in response and went to his stove.

Minato noticed the change in the man's behavior. Teuchi always used to be so cheerful and welcoming towards costumers, though this was not the case at the moment. He didn't even turn around to face them when he heard them enter the stand.

"Something wrong Teuchi?" the blonde asked carefully, not sure if it was within his rights to ask this question.

For a long while Teuchi said nothing, he just cooked the noodles, poured some soup into two bowls and added all the necessary things and then set them down in front of them.

Kushina grabbed a pair of chopsticks immediately and dug into the food but she ate slower than normal, wondering, like Minato, what was wrong with the chef.

Minato also ate some of his food but he stopped after one mouthful and put his chopsticks down and went to stare at the stand owner.

After a minute more of silence Teuchi sighed. ""My wife went into labor a couple of hours ago".

"Well congratulations," Minato said, smiling. "But shouldn't you be by her side then instead of working?"

"She didn't want me to stay with her," Teuchi said, "she told me to keep working and not worry about her, we need the money she said, but I just can't stop worrying and wondering whether she is alright or not".

Minato nodded. "I can understand that".

When Minato and Kushina finished their meal, Kushina only ate one bowl to Minato's big surprise but also relief, Minato paid Teuchi and they both congratulated him and gave him their best wishes for his wife and child.

"I didn't even know Teuchi had a wife," Kushina said to Minato when they were walking home.

Minato nodded. "Neither did I".

"Let's hope that all goes well for his wife," Kushina said.

Minato agreed once again. "Yeah, let's hope that".


The next day the ramen stand was closed. Minato didn't think so much about it and went to another restaurant to get lunch, he just assumed that Teuchi wanted to spend some quality time with his wife and newborn child. That was normal, he would want a couple of days off too if it was his wife who had just given birth. But like mentioned before, he didn't think too much about it and he wasn't married himself either so he just let it pass.

Kushina spent the day in Minato's house, reading his books. Minato didn't try to force her into any activities since he could understand perfectly that she would need some time alone since he had experienced the same kind of loss that she had, only that hers was far greater. He was just glad that she was eating and speaking again.

He was still training with his squad, he had decided to not go on missions with them for the time being and instead focus on training them and maybe teach them some new jutsu. He had even lent Rin one of Tsunade's medical books, which she greatly appreciated. He still smiled when he thought of the moment he had given her the book, she looked like she wanted to shower him with hugs and kisses. Well, it was good that she was eager to learn.

Kakashi on the other hand seemed to underestimate him as a sensei. He didn't seem eager to train with him or his teammates at all. Minato wondered why the Hokage had put him in charge of Kakashi Hatake.

Obito was eager to learn like Rin but he talked too much and concentrated too little. He also had difficulty with hiding his emotions, if Kakashi insulted him he would yell and defend himself, if he hurt himself he would cry and if he failed he would be very frustrated and give loud yells of complaint.

Being a sensei was not easy.

Kushina had with a smile on her face listened to his long babbling about his students and their progress. He wondered if she was actually interested or if she was just being nice, probably the latter.

When the evening came Minato was the one who cooked the supper since Kushina was rather busy with reading his books. He couldn't blame her; they were really good and he also wanted to keep her in a good mood and hence he had let her read, he also feared that if she started cooking she would get really bored and then her thoughts would start to wander back to her family and her country. And besides, he knew how annoying it could be to be disturbed when reading a really good book.

Well he had practically been a bookworm his entire life, learning to read at an early age and since then he had often been spotted with a book in his hands or sitting somewhere quiet reading a book, completely lost in his own little imaginary world, his surroundings forgotten.

He was currently making pasta with meat sauce, a dish that had been his father's favorite and hence his mother had made it rather often and Minato came to like it and hence he had asked his mother to teach him to make it since he was planning back then to move into an apartment on his own so that his ninja life wouldn't bother his parents when he would get home late or something like that and he would have to learn how to make his own dinner.

Minato was a good cook actually, sure Kushina was better, mostly women were the master cooks in a family but since he was living alone he would have to learn it and he had been an excellent student. The ones who had taught him was Mikoto, his old teammate from his genin days, she was an Uchiha and hence she was skilled in cooking and housekeeping since Uchihas were very old-fashioned, meaning that women were the ones staying home, cleaning the house and cooking the food and taking care of the children, Mikoto was lucky to be a ninja, and a jounin at that, she had told him that she had been close to death when she was little, not too long before her academy years, and her mother had insisted that she was taught how to defend herself since she didn't want to lose her. Minato was glad that her mother did that, because she was a good friend to him and the chances that he would have met and befriended her outside the academy weren't that big.

His mother, of course, had also taught him a few things about cooking. She was a patient woman who was gentle by nature, she never scolded him for making mistakes, thus ruining the food, and she just told him to run along while she cleaned up his mess. Minato missed her very much; the memory of her often brought tears to his eyes, though not so much anymore, as his sensei used to say, time heals all wounds. And he was right, as the time passed he grew better at handling the loss of his parents and he almost never shed one tear.

When he was done with the cooking he went back into the living room where Kushina was. She was not on the sofa anymore, he noticed, she was currently standing in front of the bookshelves, looking through varies books.

Minato cleared his throat and the redhead turned around to face him.

"Finished the book already?" he asked her, a very wide grin plastered on his face.

Kushina nodded with a smile.

"Well that's good to hear," Minato said, "so what did you read this time?"

"Romeo and Juliet," she answered.

"Ah," the blonde said. "That's a great story although very sad, most people cry when they read it".

"Well I didn't," Kushina said, by the tone in her voice it sounded like she was insulted. Well Kushina did have other more tragic things to cry over, so why would she bother to shed a tear over something so unimportant as a novel?

"Well I'm glad I don't have to disturb you in the middle of a novel then, supper's ready," Minato announced.

"Great," Kushina said, "be right there, is the table set yet?"

"Oh, no," Minato said.

"Well then I'll be in the kitchen in two minutes," the Uzumaki said, now continuing to search through the various rows of books.

Minato sighed and left her and went to set the table.


A/N: I hope this chapter was satisfying and not too boring. Remember to review because I really want to know what you think of this. AND! You can review even if you don't have an acount, I accept anonymous reviews.