Chapter 2

Hizashi had been an exceptional student, and the 6 years of training had been just enough time to leave him in a state Hiruzen found acceptable. In fact he had taken to the position quite easily. Of course Hiruzen himself would be around to advise him if he needed it, but he doubted his services would be required beyond the occasional consultation.

Truthfully Hizashi enjoyed his new position, and the added release from the pressures of succession to the Head of the Hyuuga Clan. Although he assumed he would enjoy it just as much as being Hokage. The thing he was thankful to escape was the constant competitions against his brother, Hiashi. They were still close and soon Hiashi had recently taken his place as the Head of the Clan. Hizashi reminisced on the day he had been chosen, how he had tried to set his brother up for the lofty position. He smiled, only after his 4 years of training had he realized what it was that Hiruzen had seen in his speech that made him chose Hizashi over his brother.

It had been 8 years since that day, and though the tides of war had been receded, the intensity of skirmishes were increasing.

Uzushio was increasing their effort to push the borders of their costal territories further inland, invading both Konoha, and Suna's land. Though no formal agreement was made Suna and Konoha made it a point to stay out of each other's battles. Suna, whom was also dealing with Iwa did not want to add Konoha to its list. Konoha who was defending against attacks from both sides, Iwa to the East and Uzushio from the West, saw too much risk in taking on more enemies despite their strength.

Hizashi would need to review plans with his war counsel to bolster defenses. He had no plans to retaliate and take land from his enemies. His more peaceful take on the ever constant war was a sore point for the War Counsel. Danzo in particular was displeased with the fourth Hokage. His views were far more aggressive when it came to the Nations position in the world, and he viewed Hizashi's passivity in the current state of affairs as a weakness that dragged the whole of Konoha down.

The Fourth Hokage was not necessarily passive, if the situation called for it he would attack. However there would need to be significant gains, or an advantage of some kind. Even though Iwa and Uzushio were strong nations, they were not the only nations on the continent. There was also Kumo to consider, they kept a close eye on their neighbors waiting for any opening. Kiri though separated by the sea and Uzushio could not be counted out. They had been known to send out expeditionary forces to try and capture more land putting one of the other nations in the middle of a pincer formation.

If they were a bigger nation the tactic might work. The Fourth Hokage's own War Counsel in a recent session had obtained information that a civil war was brewing and advised that he send an infiltration force to instigate the civil war then invade during the aftermath. Doing this would give them an advantage over Uzushio and eliminate another nation.

Hizashi was unwilling to take this course of action. For him there was not enough reliable info and to many ways it could backfire.

His primary concern these days were with the internal affairs of the nation, and with his own clan. He had been meeting with his brother recently to discuss a plan to raise the Namikaze house. They were a loyal and selfless house currently who would support and raise up the Hyuuga. Hopefully over the years it would be a symbiotic relationship. To top it off they already had a representative in mind.

Hizashi had set up a meeting between himself, Hiashi and the current head of the Namikaze clan, for the next day so they could flesh out the details, for Minato Namikaze's "debut".

Minato however had plans for the night.

He had taken the shift of another shinobi, who promised to return the favor, that night. He proceeded on his route along the border of Uzushio's shore territories, scanning carefully as he moved through the forest. The night had been unusually calm, and to any other shinobi this would be an ill omen. He however was reveling in it, as he jumped through the trees, sometimes breaking through the ceiling of branches to stare at the star filled sky. As he continued his patrol he came across two seals facing each other at the base of a tree, no doubt there were more in the branches above.

So he crouched down to examine the seal and instantly recognized it. This was the work of an Uzumaki, and it had been crafted in such a way that had he not been looking for it he would not have known it was there. His blood rushed as the excitement he had kept pent up filled him. He had waited for this moment for a month.

Deliberately he passed between the two seals, tripping the proximity alert. He searched for clues as he moved following the subtle sign of the shinobi who had passed through to what could only be an Uzushio safe house or Hide out.

Eventually he came to what must have once been a hunting cabin. They were rare these days but a few still existed. Most food could be gathered around the major villages and cities.

Minato carefully scouted the area for traps and other shinobi before entering the house. The inside was bare and dirty with only an old carpet covering a section of the floor. Its purpose was obvious to Minato, concealment. He carefully removed the rug revealing a hatch that no doubt led to the basement and current occupant of the house.

This was it the moment he had carefully planned for and now it was time for action. For a single moment as he opened the hatch doubt crept into his mind. "Could I be walking into a trap?" Minato thought. For the moment he pushed his thoughts to the side he entered the hidden room.

The room was too dark to see and the air smelled stale, as though it had not been in use in some time. The room was empty and square with no rooms or doors leading off from the room he was in. He could see no movement and couldn't make out the shape of any people. He was safe it seemed, but that in and of itself was strange. All the signs pointed to someone having come here, but he had not seen any signs of that person leaving.

Minato pulled out a small flashlight from the equipment pouch on his hip and turned it on. Shinning the light around the room he saw only one thing, a discarded scroll. He walked over and picked it up opening it. There was a seal on it that had not been activated.

"Whomever it belonged to must have dropped it without noticing." Minato thought, "Might as well take a look." With that he placed it on the floor and fully extended it to examine its contents.

It seemed to be a storage scroll, but there was no indication of what was stored inside it. His knowledge of seals was also very limited, though he had had some lessons from an expert he knew. But after studying it for a few minutes it seemed like the way to activate it was to use chakra.

He decided to just see what it held, as he placed a hand on it and channeled his chakra through to the seal on the scroll. The seal activated releasing a cloud of smoke that filled the room. Minato could hear the noise of someone approaching him, then he was knocked flat. The smoke was starting to thin out. And he could make out the shape of a person crouching in the middle of the room.

"Well well little leaf it seems you have fallen into my trap! How unfortunate for you, but at least your last sight will be that of a beautiful woman." The mysterious woman proclaimed. With that she placed both of her palms on the stone floor of the room, activating two seals.

Bright yellow light filled the room, temporarily blinding Minato, then he was pinned to the ground. When his eyes adjusted to the light he was face to face with a woman with long red hair and a fox like mask, and a kunai at his throat.

"Shhh" said the kunoichi as she lifted her mask half way, moving closer to him. Then she smiled, and kissed him.

"That's not funny Kushina." Minato stated flatly. "May I get up now?"

She laughed as she stood up and moved back giving him space to stand. "Lighten up Minato, besides didn't you like your reward?"

"Reward for what" Minato said with a slight grin.

"You figured out how to activate the scroll all on your own, it looks like all my lessons are paying off" Kushina said with a wide smile. The smile dropped slightly as she said "but you know, you shouldn't just activate any seal you come across. You never know if it could be a trap."

"Well if I hadn't activated that scroll just now how would you have gotten out?" Minato replied.

"I had a plan! I can't believe you think that little of me." Kushina replied in a huff.

"Well you haven't always made the best decisions, remember how we met?"

"You said you wouldn't bring that up again!" Kushina shouted, her anger flared. Minato could feel the energy rolling off her. Perhaps he had gone too far, better to stop now before she really lost it.

Minato took this moment to look around the basement room and was surprised at what he saw. All the dust and smoke that had been hanging around the room was gone. In their place were torches in the corners of the room providing light and warmth. There was also a rug with a large blanket and a box.

"Wow this is really nice Kushina." Minato said in admiration. Immediately her mood improved, "Do you really think so? It's really nothing difficult I'm sure you could do it if you tried" she said with a slight blush.

"I do have one question though, what's in the box?"

"Come find out" she said as she moved over next to it and sat on the blanket. Minato took a seat next to her. Kushina grasped the sides of the lid and lifted revealing a couple of green glass bottles, and two lunch boxes. Minato pulled one out and examined its contents.

"Did you make this all yourself?"

"I had a little help from my cousin."

"I am really impressed, you've really out done yourself" Minato said planting a kiss on her cheek. She blushed more at his compliments and kiss.

"Let's eat already, then you can tell me how good I am at cooking."

The two ninja talked as they enjoyed their subterranean picnic together, laughing and smiling as the night moved on. The conversation began to take on a more serious tone, each one complaining about their nation, problems with other ninja they encountered, and finally their views on the war. It was a subject that always came up and eventually led to ways they could steer their nations towards peace.

"No matter what we do nothing will ever change if we don't first change the minds of the people." Minato stated.

"Of course, I know that but those petrified old trees running your village will never accept that. Besides that neither of us will ever be a Kage." Kushina retorted.

"We don't have to be, we can train the next generation and instill in them the ideals of peace. We can start the change that will shape the future."

"What about us" Kushina asked. She continued, "When will we be allowed to be together?"

"I once heard the Hokage say, that the wise man plants a seed knowing he will never rest under the shade of its tree. This is something bigger than us Kushina. This is about making a better place for the future generations. For our children!" Minato blushed in embarrassment at what he had said. "Well not that we will ever have any, that would be irresponsible and how would we even raise them. They would be shunned by both our villages." His speech trailed off when he saw Kushina's face. She looked upset and her eyes were starting to fill with tears.

"That doesn't mean we can't still be together, it will just be a little difficult. I mean weren't you telling me, the last time we were together that your cousin knows and is happy for you. I think I might even be able to get support from my sensei!" Minato was trying his best to calm her down but it didn't seem to be working. Tears were streaming from her eyes, she tried to bury her face in her hands to hide it but Minato had already seen.

So he did the only other thing he could think of, he wrapped his arms around her and tried to reassure her.

"Everything will be ok in the end we will always have each other. We just have to be careful."

"You should have thought about being careful last time we met!" This caught Minato off guard, he didn't want to believe what he was thinking. "I need to tell you something." Kushina said. Minato could feel a knot forming in his stomach, he was afraid of what she would say next.

"What is it, what did I do?" Minato asked. It took a few minutes but eventually she told him what was wrong.

"I'm pregnant."

Minato was not sure how to respond, it was a large pill to swallow. On one hand the idea of having a family together with Kushina, the most beautiful and one of the strongest kunoichi he knew, thrilled him. However there was no way this would be easy. If they were lucky he would be born with red hair like his mother, then she could say the baby's father was a comrade who had recently died. But what if he had Blonde hair and blue eyes? Would they accept him in her village, he highly doubted it. They wouldn't accept the baby in Konoha if they knew it was part Uzumaki, but he refused to leave Kushina behind.

He looked down at her and saw she had been studying his face, gauging his reaction to the news. He was a little embarrassed, the only look she could have seen was concern, without an ounce of joy. So he smiled, trying his best to give her comfort.

"This is great news, we will be a family!"

"Do you really think I would fall for that?" she said punching him in the gut. Her strike was heavier, he was sure, than she had intended it to be. Rubbing his stomach he replied as best he could.

"It will be difficult but we will make it work besides we have at least 8 more months to plan. I am sure with our two minds we can come up with a reasonable solution." In truth he wasn't sure at all what they would do. He didn't think running away was an acceptable solution, and he wasn't sure Kushina would want to leave her family for good like that. He as well still had plans he wanted to finish and hopefully they would lead to, or at least be the first steps towards peace.

"I hope you're right, what should we name him?" She asked, Minato chuckled.

"What makes you think it will be a Boy"

"I just have a feeling" she answered.

"We have plenty of time to come up with something. Whatever it is it has to have meaning."

"I love you Kushina, I will protect you no matter what."

"I love you too Minato, but I think it is me that will protect you. Do you have to leave soon?"

"No I have clones patrolling everything will be ok till morning." He said as they laid down under the blanket wrapped in each other's arms. The little time they had together on nights like this were the most precious moments to Minato. When the sun finally began to rise he left the safe house readjusting his clothes. The last thing he needed today was for someone to suspect something more than a quite patrol had happened.

He knew Kushina would have to leave soon as well so he didn't take his time and left to meet his clones on the way back so he could deliver an accurate report.