A/N: Well I told you guys this one would be up sooner than the other chapters.

OMG WE NOW KNOW WHAT KUSHINA LOOKS LIKE. OMG. She didn't exactly look like what I expected.

TSBasilisk, I never thought about that point. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Over christmas break, which started today, I will finish up Kushina's part of the story (2 chapters) and post it as a double special thing. So new year, new part. Nothing much else to say.

Read and review please!

Chapter 5- I've Missed You

Nine Jounin walked in the door. A girl raised her hand. "Maduko-sensei, there are ten teams but only nine senseis. Where's the last one?" Maduko checked off each name to see who was missing.

A young man with a pair of binoculars looked through them to a group of ladies in the hot springs, or a certain blonde to be exact. He gave a perverted giggle and a minor nosebleed when he got a particularly good view of her huge "goodies" as he liked to call them. She turned around and he quickly escaped to avoid being seen, as she would kill him if she ever found out he was peeping. The man checked his watch, cursed and ran off.
The classroom door slammed open and a white long haired Jounin skidded into the room. "Sorry I'm late Maduko-san. I got held up."

Kushina raised an eyebrow at this new arrival. 'I feel so bad for whoever is gonna get this guy as their sensei. He's clearly a pervert.' She observed the dried lines if blood under his nose.

"Glad you could make it, Jiraya-san. I was about to announce what team you were assigned to, which will be Team 3."

"AHAHAHAHA!!" Kushina fell out of her seat and clutched her stomach, laughing so hard she thought she was going to die. "Minato, haha, good, ha, good luck with him." She said when she had gotten up from the floor.

A vein popped on Jiraya's forehead. "Hey!! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh nothing, pervert."

"WHY YOU LITTLE…!" yell Jiraiya only to stop when Maduko put a hand on Jiraya's shoulder.

"Calm down Jiraya-san. She gets to me too, so just ignore it. Now go take your team."

"Fine! Come on guys, let's go." He left the room with Minato and co. in tow.

Over the course of the day and the next, both Kushina's and Minato's teams stayed together through their individual tests. Within the first year of being an official ninja, Kushina had been on 136 D-ranked missions, 129 of which were successful and 5 C-ranked missions, all of them successful. From those, 12 were with Minato or his team. When they were together on a mission, Minato didn't look away when he spoke to Sumiko and he didn't blush anymore either. It seemed he had outgrown that little childhood crush.

The Chuunin exams were coming around, and this time, she was allowed to participate in them in Suna after being denied the chance twice. Kushina had never been to the Sand village, but she could clam she had when she came back a Chuunin. Minato was made a Chuunin in the last exams after a spectacular fight with a Cloud Genin.

It was shortly after when the Dynamic Duo were assigned their first C-ranked mission together, the first pebble was placed that would change the course if the river.

Minato sat up in his sleeping bag because his bladder was about to burst. He went out of the tent into the woods to do his business, not noticing that someone else's sleeping bag was empty as well.

The boy was coming back from his business when he saw Kushina sitting up in a tree, her back to the trunk and plucking petals off of a flower, like she had done all those years ago. She sat so her head was toward the moon, its light outlining her slim figure. Part because he was half asleep, part because of the moonlight, in Minato's eyes, Kushina looked more than a friend, more than a girl. She looked like something surreal, like a goddess from the heavens.

"Hey Kushina," he called up to her. "Why are you up?"

"Can't sleep."

Minato jumped up onto the branch and sat in front of her. "Can I join you?"

"Sure." Kushina got up from her spot and motioned for him to sit where he had been. He moved and she sank into his arms, up against his chest.

"The moon is really bright tonight." Minato commented.

"Mmm." Just then, something came up inside of Kushina, something she had never felt before. It felt like butterflies in her stomach. It wasn't a bad feeling, she knew that.

Minato felt safe there with her, safer than he had felt for a long time he felt safe enough to fall asleep, locking the fourteen year old girl in place, with his head on her shoulder and his arms around her, but she didn't mind. Kushina liked it there.

In the morning, Jiraya was the first one up. This was one of his sane mornings when he wasn't thinking of girls in the hot springs. Walking around, he saw something out of place, something in a tree. Jiraya walked closer and saw Minato and Kushina up in the tree, asleep in each others arms. They, together, gave off a feeling of serenity and calmness he rarely saw in couples.

'I better not disturb them.' And the Jounin walked back to camp.

The rising sun reached through the trees and hit Minato's eyes. He groaned and turned his head the other way, but he had already woken Kushina up. She yawned and stretched, stood up and saw Minato trying to stay asleep, smirking at his efforts. She crouched down and poked him on the forehead. "Good morning sleepyhead."

"…No…get…up." The blonde sleep talked.

Kushina giggled and ruffled his hair. "C'mon, time to go."

Back at camp, Jiraya saw the two emerge from the trees together. He turned towards them and grinned.

"Oi! What're you smiling at, Ero-sensei?" Kushina said warningly. Jiraya just grinned even wider, shook his head and turned away.

(A Few Years Later, Kushina is 16)

"98, 99, 3000 yen. Good, I do have enough to buy my own apartment. Then to decorate it, I'll need 900, which I also have saved up. I guess… I guess I can move. Kushina was on her bed, counting her saving up, seeing if she had enough to buy her own place. "I'll tell Minato-kun, Natsumi-chan and Tetsuo-san later."

(At the dinner table later that night)

Kushina put down her chopsticks. "Guys, I have an announcement to make."

"Go on."

"I am planning to get my own apartment."

Natsumi sighed. "I knew this would happen someday." She stood up. "Stay right here." The woman left and returned with a small wooden box. "Kushina, this is your fund for your own place that we started when you started to go to the academy. Here, take it." She passed the box to Kushina. "It's yours to keep. Use it how you want."

Kushina couldn't find any words to say that could express her thanks. She just stared at the box.

"When do you plan to move?" Tetsuo asked.

"Within the next month or two. I have to scan through the newspaper ads and look at a few places first."

After dinner had been cleaned up, Minato, though not in a rough and hostile way, pinned Kushina against the wall in the upstairs hallway, his arm supporting him. "How-how long have you been thinking about this?"

Kushina saw concern and sadness in his eyes, something she had never seen before. "Ever since I turned 16. Why?"

'For a couple months now…' Minato thought.

"If you move, I'll feel like I've lost you because to me, you're more than my best friend, more than someone who's like my sister. Kushina, you're just…more. I feel safe and calm around you. I don't want to lose that feeling." Minato looked down, unable to meet her eyes.

"Minato, I can't go back now. I've told your mom and dad, I've been saving money, I want and I need to do this. I can't live here forever. I'm not even a real part of your family."

His eyes shot up at that last statement. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that. You're as much a part of this family as I am."

"You're right, it was a bad thought." He released her and they walked towards their rooms.

"If you can't be here, can I be with you there?"

Kushina paused at her doorway. "We'll see."

(Later that Week)

"Aargh, Sumiko, I don't know what to do with him! I want to let him live with me, but something is telling me no. I don't know…" Sumiko and Kushina were at a café like they were every Friday.

Sumiko tapped her finger on her chin. "Well, if it was me, I would live alone for a bit, maybe 6 months or more, and then I would let him move in because, well, you two have lived together under one roof for almost all your lives. I would want to be alone and not to have to see him every single day, because breaks are always nice."

The redhead sighed. "Thanks Sumiko. I knew I could always rely on your brain since it always seems to turn out perfectly." And it sure did since Minato agreed, albeit solemnly, but still happy that she accepted.

After Kushina had found a place not far from the village gates and moved in, she hardly saw the boy anymore. She after the first few weeks also felt that loneliness and emptiness that he had described all that time ago in the hall. She finally sent out a letter to him after those months were up, inviting him to come and move in with her.

When the day came, Kushina sat on her couch, waiting for him to arrive. Normally, Sumiko would be here with her to help him move, but she was on a B-ranked mission to deliver a scroll to one of the fire daimyo's advisors.

After waiting for what seemed like hours, the doorbell finally rang. Kushina got up and opened the door and found Minato there as expected. What she did not expect was for Minato to lift her up, to which she squeaked, and firmly plant a kiss on her lips. Suddenly, she felt some sort of odd rush urging her to go on that she didn't understand. When she finally did, before she could do anything, Minato had put her down. He broke contact and whispered in her ear, "You won't ever believe how much I missed you Kushina. You won't ever believe."

The girl just stood there, dumbfounded at what had just happened. 'Did he…Did Minato just…' Before she could complete that thought, she fainted and fell with a thud.

"Kushina?" Minato kneeled down to her. "Kushina!" 'I think I went a bit too far.'

(7 Months Later, Kushina is now 17)

April was coming around and that meant the Sakura festival was too. Kushina went to Sumiko's house to get ready for this once a year event. Minato was back at the apartment putting on a light blue kimono embroidered with dragons. He and Kushina agreed to meet at a certain tree, and they did. When he saw her, one word in his mind could describe her: beautiful. She wore a red kimono embroidered with phoenixes. Her hair that usually reached down to about her mid back was tied up on a bun secured with a very nice pair of hair sticks, leaving the front of her hair hanging out in front of her face.

He on the other hand, looked REALLY cute to Kushina. Without his forehead protector holding his wild hair back, it hung just above his eyes. As she walked up to him, she noticed how tall he had become. She only came up to his shoulder whereas a few years ago, they were roughly the same height.

The Jounin offered his arm. "Shall we go?"

She hooked her arm around his. "Of course." They spent the night playing those carnival games, listening to traditional music and walking around, enjoying themselves.

Eventually, both of their feet got tired and they sat down on a bench underneath a blooming sakura tree. The moon reached through the petals, spotting the two's heads with dots of light.

He mumbled. "The moon is bright tonight."

Kushina smirked at that. It brought her back to that mission that they had had together as Chuunin. The memory just suddenly clicked something inside her head. Her hand slowly slid across the seat of the bench towards Minato's, unsure of what it was doing. Hell, she herself didn't know what was happening. All she knew was that if she let this moment go, she would regret it later for her whole life. She touched it and he looked down at it, wonder and countless thanks in his eyes. "I think… I think I'm ready Minato, and only if you are."

That night, the two seventeen-year-olds made a decision to get together, a life changing and ultimately, a decision that changed the course of history.

(One Year Later, Minato and Kushina are both now 18)

Sching

Thunk thunk thunk thunk

Minato created a one- hand seal, and was gone in a flash. He silently and instantly transported to the spots he had just thrown the special kunai. He cut off the dummies head the second he appeared with the kunai and went straight onto the next one.

When all four of the dummies were "killed", Minato went back to the same place he started and managed to stand for a moment before falling to his hands and knees, panting heavily. 'Good.' He thought. 'I'm getting better. I didn't faint this time.'

(Another Year Later)

The couple was walking together through the streets of Konoha to the Sandaime's office. "Kushina-chan, what the coolest and most powerful jutsu you have ever seen?"

The teenage girl sorted through her memories of past missions. She decided on a B-ranked water jutsu but another, more faded memory came out of the dark in her mind. "I can't remember exactly where, I think it was, yeah, it was my old clan, and they had a technique. It required no hand seals, which is pretty efficient if I must say so. I saw Tsuzei-kun, my Grandfather perform it once in front of me. It was a spinning ball of chakra that could plow through almost anything. I think it was called Rasengan. Judging by today's standards, it would be a very high A-ranked jutsu."

"Sounds simple enough. Maybe I can recreate it after I master Hiarishin no Jutsu, of course."

"By the way, how's that one coming along?"

"Good. I can teleport twelve times without passing out." Said Minato as they were by that time both at the gates.

"State your purpose." said one of the guards. This was due process, even if he knew who these two were.

"Come by request of Hokage-sama." replied the blonde.

The guard nodded. "Go through."

Up in the Hokage office, Minato got some startling news. "You want me to be WHAT!?"

"I'm going to retire in a few years, so I am warning you beforehand. During my last year, you are going to be alongside me, learning how to fill out forms and paperwork, learning how to logically and learning what to do if the village is under attack" Sarutobi said.

Minato slammed his hand down on the Hokage's desk. "Sarutobi-san, I know it was and still is my life goal to become Hokage, but at my age? I don't think I'm ready! I'm too young! And besides, you're still strong and healthy, you have another ten years at least!" he yelled angrily.

"Stop Minato. Listen to the logic behind my decision. One, I picked you because of Orochimaru. He gives me a bad feeling that he would use his place as Hokage to do other things, so you are the only candidate left. Two, I am past my prime and I'm not as strong as I used to be. Three, you have a strong will of fire, the strongest one I have seen in a decade. You will do well in passing that onto your future children and the future children of Konoha as its Hokage."

Minato paced as Kushina just stood there calmly, soaking up this news. "Calm down Minato-kun. He said a few years, not a few weeks. You have time to plan things out."

The blonde stopped and took her hands in his. "Its just that I'm so shocked, Kushina-chan. I didn't expect this to happen so soon. I'm not even twenty and I'm told I'm going to be the Yondaime."

"So?" Sarutobi injected. "I was told I was going to be the next Hokage by the Shodaime and Nidaime when I was fourteen, five years younger than you are now. I was actually more confused than shocked." He chuckled at the memory. "Until my last year in office, tell only the ones you trust with your lives of this. At the beginning of that last year, I will announce it to the village. You are dismissed." The teens bowed and left.

Eventually, only Hiashi, Fugaku, Sumiko, Minato's parents and even Jiraya were told of Minato's future. The Hyuuga and Uchiha merely congratulated him, though Sumiko, Tetsuo and Natsumi jumped on the Hokage-to-be and were extremely happy for him.

The pervert, on the other hand gave a knowing smile when it reached his ears and said "There was no way you couldn't become Hokage anyways, especially the way you said it during the bell test when you were tied to the post. I remember you were so pissed because you were the number one rookie but you still ended up there."

Minato, again, proved that he was a worthy Hokage to be when after many months of practicing, he perfected the Hiarishin no Jutsu. He began to work on his next project, the Rasengan.

A/N: My mom is reallly mad at me becuase I'm failing history and she doesn't want me writing these stories. Oh well. I'm a rebel. I defy the rules. Mwahaha. Anyways, what does history have to do with creating the concept art for video games? (Which is what I'm going to be) Exactly. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Celebrate! I've hit the 10,000 word mark for this story! Yay!

Next Chapters:

1- The re-created Rasengan is completed after lots fo hard work, and Kakashi, Rin and last but not least, Obito enter the stage. Special things happen on top of the Hokage Monument too.

2- Kushina gets a wierd sickness that can't be cured, but the cause is a good thing? How is that possible?

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