They were on their favorite bench having another protracted make out session in the rose garden. She was curled up on his lap with his lips and tongue teasing her mouth. One of his hands was resting on her ass while he was playing with her breasts with the other. Some of the shyness she'd had to deal with was starting to slip away. The way he was touching her was staring to really turn her on. Even though they were outside she was thinking about pulling down her body suit. At least enough to give him free access to her breasts.

"Minato-kun honey," she said in a naughty voice. "How about I…"

"Minato!" A man's voice called as a ninja in an owl's mask suddenly materialized right in front of them.

"What?" Instinctively Minato jumped to his feet.

With the unfortunate fact of dumping Kushina out of his lap and onto the ground. "Hey! Could you be a little more careful?" She scrambled up to her feet and sent him an annoyed look.

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, sorry about that."

"Please forgive this interruption Minato-san," the ANBU bowed his head in apology. "But you are ordered to the Tower immediately to take part in an emergency meeting."

"An emergency meeting?" Minato asked. "What's going on? Has something happened?"

"I am sorry Minato-san but I can say no more." The ANBU performed a hand sign and was gone in a swirl of wind and leaves."

He turned to her apologetically. "I'm sorry, but unscheduled meetings are never about good news. I have to go."

"I understand," she was ANBU herself and knew that a ninja's duty had to take priority over everything else. She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll return to Tsunade's home. See me whenever you can."

"I will," he promised. He vanished in a flash of yellow light.

XXXXXXXXXX

Only twenty ninja were assembled to meet with their Hokage. These were the Jonin elite of the village. They were the commanders who would lead Sarutobi's forces out into battle. Every one of them were battle hardened and experienced in all the harsh lessons of war. They represented the best of the best. And among their ranks three stood before all the rest.

Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Minato waited calmly in front of the other Jonin.

"Thank you all for answering the summons so swiftly," Sarutobi said with his usual relaxed air. "I have just received word that two huge new attacks have been launched by the forces of Iwa. In both Grass and Rain country they are driving to break into Fire country and bring this war onto our own soil. This must be prevented at all cost."

"Ku, ku, ku," Orochimaru sounded pleased. "Finally a chance to beat them completely and win a total victory."

Tsunade turned to him with an annoyed sneer. "You sound damn happy. You do realize that we're going to lose more people don't you?"

"Of course," he said pleasantly. "After all, if you want to eat bacon you have to kill the hog. Such squeamish nature Tsunade, it really doesn't belong in a ninja you know."

"I've seen as much bloodshed as you Orochimaru," Tsunade said hotly. "I've seen enough pointless death to not want to see more."

"Hmmm, well perhaps you should stay here where it's safe then. I will fight for the glory of my village."

"I'll go out and fight too," Tsunade said. "But unlike you I'll be doing it to try and save lives."

"Whatever our views it is our duty to fight the enemies of our village," Minato said trying to ease some of the tension. Lately the two old teammates had been growing further and further apart. The comradeship of their youth was slowly being forgotten. "Hokage-sama since we are facing attack on two fronts is there any chance of reinforcement from out army in Wind?"

The Hokage slowly shook his head back. "I'm afraid not, I dare not pull any more forces from there until the war with Suna in settled. I do have hope that they will be ready to sue for peace soon."

Orochimaru snorted. "We have been hearing that for weeks but the Suna nin are still fighting." Though he was the only one to say it the nods from most of the others only proved they thought they same. Even Tsunade did not try and disagree.

"They may truly be at the end of their strength," Sarutobi said. "I have reports that the Suna civilians have begun riots and are even burning their possessions as a sign they are ready for peace."

"Ku, ku, ku," Orochimaru laughed lightly. "Too bad the Council of Wind doesn't feel the same." With the disappearance of the Third Kazekage the Council had taken power and were trying to prosecute the war. But without the power and leadership of the Kazekage Suna's forces had been getting worn down by the superior power of Leaf. But as long as the war continued though Konoha had no choice but to keep a large army down in Wind country.

"Well even without reinforcement from Wind we should still have enough to stop them." Minato said.

"Of course," Tsunade smiled. "Why don't we just have Minato here stand in front of the Rock forces? They'll retreat on sight and that will be the end of it."

The good natured laughter from the other Jonins showed how much they appreciated the little joke. They all took great pride in the fact that Minato was so feared by Iwa that they had a retreat on sight order for him.

Along among them Orochimaru did not laugh. "I doubt we can depend on our enemies being that cowardly. We may actually have to fight Tsunade."

"We will indeed have to fight," Sarutobi agreed. "It would have been good had all the Sannin been available for this." He sent Tsunade a pointed look. "But we will have to deal with the enemy with what is available. I have complete faith in all of you and in the Will of Fire which I know drives each of you. I know that the village will never be conquered so long as our ninja are ready to do whatever they must to protect our beloved Konoha."

Every ninja present nodded their agreement with their Hokage's words.

With that done he began issuing assignments to the commanders. "Orochimaru, I am giving you overall command of all forces in Rain. I trust you to lead our forces to victory."

Orochimaru bowed low. "I thank you for this trust and promise you will not be disappointed Hokage-sama."

"Tsunade, I know your feelings. Feel free to act as medical nin with our army. Save as many lives as you can. Every ninja is precious to me and to this village."

Tsunade nodded. "Yes Hokage-sama." She was very happy with the assignment. She would much rather use her skills saving lives instead of taking them. She also knew that she would keep close to Dan's unit, just in case.

"Minato, you will be in over all command of our forces in Grass. Beyond that I am counting on you personally to act as a reinforcement to our forces there."

Minato bowed. "Yes Hokage-sama."

Orochimaru glanced in Minato's direction. How interesting, we will both be generals in our theaters of operation. He glanced at his former teacher and current Hokage. Is this one of your little tests Sarutobi-sensei? That's fine; I've always exceeded in passing your tests. I'll show you how much stronger a leader I truly am.

"Also Minato, I think the time has finally come to promote Kakashi to Jonin. I have a specific mission in mind for him and the others in your squad."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Minato answered. He still had some concerns about Kakashi's ability to lead. But if the Hokage wanted to promote him Minato did not feel they were good enough reasons to try and argue against it.

Sarutobi continued to issue assignments to the commanders present. Of the twenty present fifteen were ordered to Rain and only five to Grass. It was obvious he was relying heavily on Minato's skill to win the day.

With the assignments made they were all informed they would have to leave early the next morning.

XXXXXXXXXX

"We'll meet at our regular sport at 6 a.m." Minato told his team. Obito and Rin looked a bit nervous at the prospect of heavy action. Kakashi took the news, as well as his promotion, in stride.

Kakashi looked over at Obito. "This is important so can you try and not be late?"

"Shut up jerk," Obito said. "I won't be late."

"We'll see," Kakashi said dryly. "Is there anything else sensei?"

"No," Minato shook his head. "Just get a good night's sleep and be ready to go long and hard for the next few days."

Kakashi nodded and shunshinned away.

"Hey Obito," Rin said excitedly. "Tomorrow let's give Kakashi his gifts to celebrate his promotion!" She looked at Minato. "You too sensei!"

Minato smiled and nodded. "Sure."

"Gifts?" Obito asked with a frown. "Did we agree to do that?"

"Obito don't tell me you haven't gotten him anything! We've been planning this for weeks! I've made my gift for him by hand, if you haven't gotten him anything yet go to the shops and buy him something!"

"O.k. fine," he said wearily. "I'll be sure to get him something before I go home."

"Do you promise?" Rin asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, yeah I promise!" Obito headed off feeling annoyed not only with Kakashi's promotion but with Rin's insistence that it be celebrated.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune said excitedly.

Tsunade smiled at the twelve year old niece of her lover. "Hello Shizune-chan, how are your advanced classes coming?"

"Really well," Shizune said excitedly. "I really like studying biology and anatomy. I'll graduate soon; you haven't forgotten your promise have you?"

Tsunade reached down and rubbed the top of the little girl's. "Of course not, if you pass all your advanced classes then I'll take you as my apprentice and teach you to be a medic nin."

"Yeah!" Shizune said excitedly and turned to her uncle. "Did you hear that uncle Dan I'm going to be a super medic nin just like Lady Tsunade!"

"I'm sure you will," he said.

"Shizune honey, could you go home on your own? I'd like to have some time with Dan-kun."

"Sure, see you later uncles Dan, Lady Tsunade!"

The two adults watched as the young girl ran off.

"I pray this damn war is over before she graduates," Tsunade said.

Dan looked at her. It was easy to see her mood was much more serious than usual. "Something wrong?"

She nodded. "You'll be getting orders soon to go to Rain country, a major fight is brewing."

"I see, in that case," he reached out and pulled her into his arms. "Want to have our usual good bye before I leave?"

"Well I'll be leaving too, but yes, I can't think of a better way to spend our last night in the village."

XXXXXXXXXX

"What did you say?" Kushina asked with a blush.

"Dan and I will be having sex in my room." Tsunade said. "If you disturb us for any reason short of an enemy invasion I will have to kill you. This is not an exaggeration. This is not a joke. If you disturb me and my man… dead. Are we clear?"

"Ah sure," Kushina said feeling embarrassed. "So the two of you are going out on a mission?"

"That's right, but it won't be just us most of the ninja in the village will be leaving tomorrow morning."

She felt a sudden fear grab hold of her heart. "What about Minato?"

"Him too," Tsunade said.

"Excuse me, I have to go somewhere." Kushina left in a hurry.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sarutobi frowned and shook his head. "No, absolutely not, and that is final."

"But why not?" Kushina pleaded. "I'm a skilled ninja and I've fought the rock nins more times than I can count. I could be a help to your forces."

"I do not doubt that," Sarutobi said. "But at the moment you are a diplomat here on behalf of your village. While you are here your safety is my responsibility. I cannot send you into battle."

"The plan was always to have me join with the Whirlpool army once it arrived," Kushina pointed out. "I was always going to fight the damn rock nins."

"That may well be so. But at that point you would no longer have been a diplomat; you would have become a soldier again. So long as you are a diplomat I cannot allow you to fight."

Nothing Kushina could say would budge him from that point of view.

XXXXXXXXXX

When she had finally given up ion convincing the Hokage it was already late at night. She went to the Namikaze mansion where Minato was already in bed resting up for the difficult days ahead. She asked the servant who greeted her at the door to take her to Minato's room. She was not surprised when he brought her to the same room she had been to last time. She was also not surprised to find Kaede seated outside the door, this time knitting.

The head servant set aside her work and rose to her feet. "Greetings Kushina-san, the master is already asleep. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Kushina straightened her back and took a deep breath. "I hear that Minato-kun is about to leave on a very dangerous assignment."

"That seems to be the case," Kaede agreed calmly.

"He… he may be hurt or… or even worse."

"That is always the case with each mission," Kaede replied solemnly. "Such is the fate of shinobi."

"I… I would like to… ah give him something. A gift." Damn this is embarrassing! Talking to Kaede about this really felt like she was talking to Minato-kun's mom.

"A gift?" Kaede said coolly. She extended her hand. "Please give it to me and I assure you he will get it before he departs.

Kushina could feel her face start to go red. She dug her heel into the floor and pressed her index fingers together. "Ah, it's ah… not that sort of gift."

"Oh really?" Kaede said calmly. "What sort of gift is it?"

"It's ah, well, I sorta want to ah, give him," she gulped. "Me." The last word came out in a small voice.

Kaede just stood there looking at her with that expressionless face. "I see, is that all?"

Kushina's jaw dropped. "Is that all?!"

"Do you imagine you are the first woman to come here offering herself to Minato-sama prior to a dangerous mission? Some nights I have had to deal with two or three of them."

Kushina just stood there shocked.

"So was there anything else?"

She looked down defeated. "No, I guess not, I just wanted to spend the night making love to him."

The door to the room suddenly opened and there was Minato standing in a robe.

Kaede turned about, real surprise obvious on her face. "Minato-sama," she bowed to him. "Can I help with something?"

Minato looked uneasy and was rubbing the back of his head. "Kaede, if you don't mind, just for tonight, could you not watch my door?"

Kaede quickly wiped the surprise from her face and gave him a second bow as she gathered her knitting things. "As you wish Minato-sama." She turned to leave. "Please do try and get some sleep tonight."

Kushina stood there as though rooted to the spot.

Minato remained in the doorways grinning art her uncomfortably.

Finally he was the one to speak. "So are you going to give me that gift?"

"Yeah," she entered his room and shut the door.

They began kissing and groping as they made their way over to the bed. His robe dropped to the floor revealing he had nothing else on. It took a bit more effort for Kushina to get her bodysuit off but she finally managed it. With his strong hands he placed her on his bed and climbed in on top of her. His mouth began to lick and then suck her breasts while his hands roamed all over her body including the spot between her legs.

"This… this is my first time," she gasped. The way he was licking her was starting to feel really good. "Please be gentle with me."

He brought his face up and kissed her. "This is my first time too," he told her.

"I love you Minato-kun honey," she said to him suddenly desperate that he know. "I really truly love you."

He stopped for a moment and just smiled at her with that big smile that she loved. "And I love you Kushina-chan, my red haired girl."

He brought his lips down on hers and sealed his words with a kiss.

XXXXXXXXXX

Early the next morning Minato walked outside to find all his servants lined up waiting for him. This was a tradition whenever he left on a mission. As he left each servant wished him luck.

Kaede was the last on e in the line and the last to bow and wish him luck. "Come home safely Minato-sama, all our prayers and hopes go with you."

"Thank you Kaede, and ah, about last night…"

"Minato-sama," Kaede said politely. "You are master of this house; you do not have to explain anything to me."

"Thank you Kaede," he said with relief.

"And I do suppose that twenty years is a long time to be a virgin."

"Yes," he got moving quickly trying to hide his embarrassment.

A little ways past the servants Kushina waited patiently. "You better come back safe, otherwise I'm going to the afterlife and track you down."

He smiled and put his arms around her. "A ninja can't ever promise to return, I can only promise to do my best to come back to you."

"I guess that will have to do." Together they kissed right out in the open.

After that Minato was gone to meet his team.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kushina stood there sadly once he had gone.

"There is no need to be sad," Kaede said as she approached her. "Minato-sama has never lost a fight or a battle. He will certainly return again safe and sound."

Kushina managed a weak smile. "I'm sure he will."

"Do you know the first thing he always eats whenever he returns is my special ramen?" Kaede told her. "I am the only one who knows how to make it, it is a family recipe and I have never shared it with anyone."

Kushina nodded. "He's told me about it, he really loves the ramen you make for him."

"Would you like me to teach you how to make it?"

"Really?" Kushina looked at the woman.

Kaede nodded with her usual passive expression. "I am not getting any younger and someone will have to make it for him when I am gone."

Kushina turned to the maid and bowed to her. "Kaede-san, I would be most greatly honored if you would teach me how to make your ramen."

"I am glad to hear that Kushina," the old woman said. "Now come with me and I'll show you all that you need to know."