Tsunade was sitting in the chair while Sarutobi stood over her glaring. Sarutobi was probably the calmest and most reasonable person she'd ever known. It was a rare thing to ever see him really truly angry. But when he did get angry it was all the more frightening for being such a rare event. Sitting there she didn't feel like an adult and a mighty ninja, she felt like a little girl about to get scolded.

"What were you thinking?!" Sarutobi yelled at her. "He almost died Tsunade! If I hadn't shown up when I did you almost certainly would have killed him!"

It was true; she'd only stopped when the Hokage had personally ordered her to. Prior to that a couple unfortunate ANBU tried to pull her off of him. She would have to visit them in the hospital and tend to their wounds, that was only fair. They'd only been doing their jobs after all.

"He was peeping…" she tried to defend herself.

"I don't care!" Sarutobi roared. "If you'd beaten him unconscious I would accept that. But what you did was completely out of line with the offense. Were you trying to kill him?"

"Maybe a little," she muttered. By the wave of killer intent that hit her she knew that had been the wrong answer.

"I have had enough of your constant bickering and fighting, the two of you are as much children as when you first became my students. But even for you Tsunade this was too much!" He began pacing furiously back and forth. "And what makes it even worse was you instigated a foreign diplomat into helping you attack your own teammate."

"I didn't have to convince her to do anything," Tsunade said. "She was angry too and had just as much reason to punish that pervert as I did."

He stopped pacing and turned his full attention on her. She immediately regretted her words and wished she'd just kept her big mouth shut. "She is a foreign dignitary here on a diplomatic mission and she attacked one of the Sannin in public with a sword! Do you begin to see how that might be a problem?!"

Well at least she only used the flat of her sword; she didn't actually cut anything off. Too bad. "Where is Kushina now?"

"I decided to try and pretend her involvement never happened. Right now she has someone else acting as her escort. As for you…"

Tsunade sat there and accepted her sensei's anger. As much as she hated to admit it he was right. No matter how vile and perverted the act the bastard hadn't deserved to almost die. Skinning him and putting him in a barrel of salt, now that would have been a fitting punishment.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kushina looked over to her escort. "Thank you soooo much for helping me find my way." She spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Kakashi turned to send her a flat look; she could just imagine the scowl hidden beneath that mask. "You needn't thank me, I simply carrying out an order from the Hokage. It's not as though I want to help you. A ninja carries out his duty regardless of any personal feeling or bias. That is the nineteenth rule of…"

"Ninja conduct," Kushina cut him off. "I know, we have heard of them even in Whirlpool."

"I would never guess that given the way you behave."

"What? You mean as though I were a real live flesh and blood person?" She shook her head. "Life is too short and too precious not to take a chance now and again."

"Don't you care what others think of you? Don't you care about your reputation?"

"Nope," she said happily. "I know my own worth, so who gives a damn what others think?"

He glared at her and her pleased grin. "But a ninja's reputation is everything! It determines your place within the village and how others see you! How can you be so cavalier about something so important?"

"You don't get it Kakashi," she said. "It doesn't matter what others think about you because in the end the only person you really have to satisfy is yourself. If you waste your time worrying what others think you'll never find happiness or satisfaction."

Her playful words seemed to mock everything he believed in. She's so stupid, he thought. She's never seen what happens when people judge someone a disgrace. The way it eats out the soul like a cancer. "Someone like you doesn't deserve to be with a great man like sensei."

She laughed. "See? Since I don't give a damn what you or anyone else thinks that makes life so much easier."

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaede was in a room polishing some of the silver. Despite her age and her senior position she still liked to keep busy with the many tasks required in a mansion. She was interrupted by one of the maids.

"Kaede-san, we have guests coming up the walkway."

Kaede looked up from her work. If they were already coming up the walkway they had to be either on official business or associates of the master's. "And who is visiting?"

"Kakashi-san and a guest, some foreigner named Kushina."

A foreigner? That was certainly unusual. Few foreigners were allowed into the village given wartime security. No foreigner had visited the Namikaze mansion in years. "Well then, I suppose I should welcome them."

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi was relaxed, if bored, as he sat there sipping tea and nibbling on some sweet bread. As was his habit when he ate in public he managed to keep his face hidden. He'd been here to his sensei's home many times before and knew Kaede well. Interestingly though Kushina seemed to be fidgeting a bit as she sat across from the woman in the maid's dress. Heh, so much for not caring about the opinion of others.

Kushina was sitting in a chair sipping tea directly across from Kaede, a tiny little old woman in a maid's uniform. Kaede was sitting there with her hands in her lap, her face an unreadable mask, her brown eyes silently judging her. Kushina was feeling a little worried about what the old woman was thinking. Walking up the path Kakashi had described her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Kaede will probably be the one to greet us," he'd said. "She is the head servant of the Namikaze household. You should try very hard to make a good impression with her."

"Oh? Why's that?" The Uzumaki did not have servants. Everything within the family compound was handled by members of the clan.

"Because sensei trusts her judgment completely. His mother died when he was four and she was the one who mainly raised him. He sees her more like a surrogate mother than like a servant."

He sees her like a mother? That was certainly good to know. "Thank you for the information." She eyed him suspiciously. "Why give me a warning though?"

"A ninja carries out his duty regardless of any personal feeling or bias," he told her. "For the moment my mission is to act as your escort and guide. Part of my responsibility is to help you avoid unnecessary trouble."

She slowly nodded. Maybe there was something to say about someone trying to live up to the principles of the ninja code.

"Besides," Kakashi added. "I have faith that Kaede will see right through you no matter what you do."

"Gee thanks." Yes, she thought. There's something to be said but not much.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Again I apologize that Minato-sama is not present." Kaede said suddenly. "He should be back from the Hyuuga estate shortly."

"Oh no problem," Kushina tried to smile. "It's not as though he knew I was coming."

"You wear the symbol of the village hidden in the Whirlpool; I presume that you met the master during his time there."

She nodded feeling a bit impressed. Many of the local ninja had not known the symbol on her hitai-ite. "Yes, I was his escort while he was there."

Kaede picked up her own tea cup and took a sip. Her eyes never left Kushina. "Have you come here on business then?"

"Ah, not… not exactly."

"Oh?" The woman took another sip and let the word just hang there in the air.

Kushina felt the unaccountable desire to squirm underneath that nonblinking gaze. "Well… Minato-kun promised me a tour of the rose garden."

The response produced an eyeblink and the tiniest reaction on the old woman's face. "Did he? Well you should feel honored, the Namikaze rose gardens are famous throughout the Land of Fire. To be offered a private tour of them is most unusual."

She tried to relax a bit. "I do feel very honored."

"Of course you are far from the first woman who he has ever shown around them."

"Heh, well, I don't suppose that's too surprising."

Kaede nodded slightly. "Though you will be the first foreign woman he has ever invited. Is there any reason in particular that Minato-sama extended the invitation?"

She recalled exactly what she'd said to him after their very passionate, very public kiss. 'I am going to visit you one day to see that rose garden… If you marry anyone before then I swear to kami I'll kill you.' Technically she supposed he'd never actually invited her, she'd invited herself. "Nothing comes to mind."

"Oh? Does that mean you are not the woman he shared a public kiss with before leaving Whirlpool?"

Her face instantly turned a deep shade of red. "Ah, uhm, Minato-kun told you about that?"

"No, but it is a rumor that has been circulating since his return to the village."

Great, caught in a lie. "I consider that to be a private matter between Minato and me."

"If you wished it to be private then you should not have chosen a public forum."

As an ANBU she'd conducted her share of interrogations. Right now it felt like she was on the wrong end of one. Fortunately she received a reprieve as the door opened and the master of the house entered. He saw his two guests and Kaede. He froze and stared at the beautiful red haired kunoichi.

"Kushina! What are you doing here?"

She jumped to her feet and ran over to him. "Tour, rose garden, now."

"O.k., but, ah…"

She grabbed his hand and dragged right back out the door before he could argue with her.

XXXXXXXXXX

They were sitting on a simple wooden bench surrounded on all sides by six foot tall bushes. The bushed were in full bloom displaying a breath taking variety of colors. Not just red but white, pink, yellow, and even some rare blue roses were on display. Even more amazing than the sight was the perfumed scent of all the flowers. It seemed to completely full the air and to sweeten each breath. The height of the bushed also provided a marvelous feeling of privacy. Though they could still be seen from the second and third story windows facing their direction.

Minato was smiling and rubbing the back of his head. "I hope Kaede wasn't too bad, she's sort of protective of me."

"I hadn't noticed," she said dryly. She let out a deep breath. "It's all right; Kakashi tells me she's sort of a mom to you so I guess it's natural for her to be a little mistrusting."

"So how long ago did you get here?"

"About two hours."

"What do you think of Konoha so far?"

"The word, 'impressive' comes to mind. Everything from the size of the village to the monument and even the size of the forest that surrounds it is amazing." She nodded to the mansion that towed above them. "Oh and this place isn't too shabby either. Though some of the people could be a bit friendlier, I got a lot of ugly stares on my way to speak with your Hokage."

"I'm very sorry about that," Minato said sincerely. "We seem to have enemies on all sides so the villagers tend to feel a little besieged sometimes. It wasn't that way before the war and I'm sure it won't be after. But for right now…" he shrugged helplessly.

"I understand and it's all right. Though I'm disappointed about one other thing."

"What's that?"

She skooched over so she was sitting right up against him. "Well, I'm a little disappointed in you Minato-kun honey. Here you've got this beautiful woman whose come hundreds of miles to see you all alone in this secluded spot and you haven't even tried anything yet."

He slowly slid an arm around her back. "I thought you came here on a diplomatic mission to meet with the Hokage."

She winked. "That's just a front for my real objective."

He began to lean in closer. "Which is?"

"Making you mine of course."

His lips pulled back to reveal a teasing smile. "I think I should warn you, a lot of women have tried that and failed." He continued to lean in and began to pull her closer as well.

"Minato-kun honey," she whispered as their mouths drew near. "I'm not like any other woman you've ever met."

And with that they began to kiss amid the roses.