A series of drabbles and short stories - part 2.
Have something in a quasi-Valentine mood.

Brought to you thanks to the awesome song: "I Won't Make You" by Something Corporate.

I do not own Naruto.

OF HATRED AND LOVE

1.

It didn't take her much time to decide that she didn't like Minato.

She hated his blue eyes, sparkling with humour and intelligence, his honest face and that wide – and silly in her opinion – grin that often spread over his face. She had to admit that he was quite good-looking – only a blind person would have missed that fact – but in some way she hated him even more for that.

Minato was... too perfect.

Obviously, these weren't the only things she hated about him – her list would be much longer.

She wasn't a bad kunoichi herself – what she lacked in talent, she definitely exceeded in terms of stubbornness, determination and persistence. These traits combined with her ability to learn new things in a relatively short period of time made her a person who definitely stood out between the men of her own village.

Minato, however, was a genius. He was faster, smarter, and more thoughtful – simply better – and it always made her grind her teeth when she compared him to herself.

She spent long hours on watching him, pouting and thinking in what way she could defeat him. She put much effort and energy into her training, trying to be better than him and prove that a kunoichi from the Land of Whirlpools might be much more skilled than some boy from the Land of Fire. However, no matter how good she would become, she could never surpass him.

Maybe that was why she couldn't accept his gallantry and all these things he tried to do for her, like moving heavy objects or helping her with something that she could – or at least she thought she could – do herself. The common sense told her that he was doing what he would do for every girl being in her place. Her stupid pride, however, kept telling her that he was doing it, because he saw her as a weak person who had to be protected.

She thought that she had never needed such a protection and was determined to prove him that he was wrong, even if she was to kill herself in the process. She kept balancing on the line separating common sense and bravery from thoughtless, foolish actions, not once and twice risking her life just to prove that she could take care of herself.

She stopped doing that, however, when one of her attempts failed and Minato saved her from certain death. She swallowed her pride and thanked him, but her nails dug deep marks in the flesh of her hands when she was saying these words. For next few days she scowled every time she saw him, promising herself that a situation like that one would never happen again, and tried to ignore the trace of smile that flickered across his face every time he saw her behave in such a way.

2.

It took her some time to realize that despite being a genius, Minato didn't excel at everything.

He could have some flashy techniques, be quick at understanding things and so on, but even he had his weak points and happened to make mistakes.

When they sparred, he was a tough opponent. Every mistake she would make would be immediately used to his advantage; nothing would be overlooked. It made their fights more exciting and challenging and maybe that was why she loved sparring with him. Being as stubborn and persistent as she was, she had always fought to the end and never stopped trying to defeat him.

This time was not different.

A sly smile played across her face when she thought about using her new technique. Maybe she lacked the talent, but she definitely didn't lack creativity; within a few seconds the place filled with her clones, allowing her to hide between them.

He wasn't surprised at all – a good shinobi indeed. She saw a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth when he thought he found her and attacked. She also saw how his eyes widened in surprise and his jaw dropped slightly when the clone disappeared with a quiet "poof". She wouldn't have expected him to mistake her for a clone, but he did, and for a while as short as a blink of the eye he let his guard down. She used the opportunity immediately and within a few seconds she was standing behind him, pressing her kunai to his throat.

"Check-mate," she grinned at him.

He squinted at the kunai and shook his head, admitting his defeat.

He didn't fall for the trick again, but for a long time she kept remembering how she had managed to defeat him that time and every time she recalled that event her face broke into a silly grin. At the same time she tried to forget that when he had turned to her and smiled at her, her heart had leapt in her chest.

After all she still hated the man.

3.

It took her a few months to realize that Minato definitely wasn't perfect.

In a way it was quite amusing – he feared nothing and no one, but at the same time his behaviour could be somewhat awkward when he had to deal with girls.

She discovered it by accident, when he saw her changing her clothes. He turned back immediately and left the room, saying no word.

She stood still for a while, holding her blouse in her hands and looking at the door which closed behind his back. Well... Maybe indeed she exposed a bit of her naked body – maybe even a bit more than it was considered to be normal and decent – but why should anybody care? She shook her head and continued putting her clothes on, not really thinking about what had just happened.

When she met him later, he wasn't able look in her face and averted his look every time she glanced at him. He kept mumbling some apologies and, to her great amusement, when he spoke, his face and ears were as red as if he had spent too much time outside on a sunny day.

Something changed after that day. He never entered the room she was in without knocking first and she discovered that she might start liking him. She had to admit that he looked somewhat cute with his cheeks being completely red and with that embarrassed expression on his face.

4.

It took her a few more months to realize that she might have been wrong.

It wasn't that he behaved in an awkward way when he was around girls. He behaved like that only when he had to deal with her.

This simple realization made her feel somewhat upset.

Her hatred toward him had been long forgotten and although she would never admit that she liked Minato, she wouldn't deny it either. Maybe that was why she spent quite a lot of time on observing other girls and trying to figure out in what way she differed from them. Finally she decided that she should stop being such a tomboy and start to behave more girly.

One day she put on a dress – simply yet pretty – and instead of braiding her hair, she only combed and tied it loosely on the nape of her neck.

When she looked in the mirror to assess the effect of her efforts, she saw a girl that was not her. In some mysterious way the dress exposed her breasts and hips without making her look vulgar. The blue fabric of the dress made her skin a bit paler than it was in fact and deepened the colour of her amber eyes. Even the new hairstyle worked miracle, changing the shape of her face.

Definitely, the person in the mirror was pretty, but it was not her.

Quickly, before she could change her mind, she went outside, heading toward to the place in which she knew she would meet Minato.

In some way that change of style was success. It drew some attention to her – not quite unwanted yet not quite desired – and brought that special expression to Jiraiya's face. Somehow he managed to stop himself from drooling openly, but the approving look he gave her tinted her cheeks red. Minato, however, kept staring at her as if he had seen her for the first time in his life and wouldn't have said any word if Jiraiya hadn't reminded him about good manners.

For a short while Jiraiya kept observing them both, moving his eyes from her to Minato and smiling in the way that a loving father would smile while watching his beloved children. Finally he patted Minato's shoulder, murmured something that she couldn't hear, but what made Minato flush, and left, claiming that he had some important matter he had to cope with.

Later she kind of regretted that Jiraiya had left. All her attempts at making Minato feel more comfortable in her presence went down the drain in the end, as for the whole evening he kept unexpectedly quiet, darting some strange glances at her when he thought she couldn't see it.

When she came back home, she took off the dress and hid it deep in her wardrobe. The dress could be pretty and make her look like a real beauty, but it definitely didn't make a good impression on Minato if she was to judge it by the way he had behaved.

5.

It took her years to realize that she had fallen for him.

It was quite easy for her to fool herself for long months and pretend that her feelings for Minato had never been anything more than something that one could describe a close friendship.

She needed to see him talking with a pretty girl – slim and slender like a young willow if you want to know her opinion – to realize that what she felt was far away from friendship. For sure calling it in this way didn't explain why she felt as if somebody had hit her in her stomach after seeing how Minato smiled at that girl with long, dark hair.

She stood there for quite a few minutes, watching them both and fighting with mixed emotions she felt. Something grew inside of her. Something that she didn't like and understand. Something that clouded her vision and now was slowly killing her common sense.

She clenched her fists tightly, letting her nails dig deeply in the flesh of her hands. It took some effort to surpass the sudden urge to go there and do something nasty to both of them. For goodness sake, was she even allowed to condemn him for talking to some pretty girl? She wanted him for herself, but Minato had never been her.

The thought saddened her deeply. That was why she just stood there, closing her eyes and biting her lips in a poor attempt of ignoring the pain that shot through her chest all of sudden.

"Kushina, are you okay?"

She almost jumped when she heard his voice, and opened her eyes immediately. She regretted it just a few seconds later, as the last thing she wanted to see right now was Minato standing in front of her and looking at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"I'm fine," she declared and with some effort she summoned a forced smile to her face.

Minato didn't seem convinced.

"You don't look like fine at all," he remarked, watching her searchingly.

"I said I am," she snarled and tried to glare at him.

Well... the glare definitely didn't make any impression on him as Minato chuckled.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I was randomly passing by," she replied, trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible. "Who was that girl you talked to?"

Minato eyed her speculatively, making her feel rather uneasy.

"I'm pretty sure that Mrs. Uchiha would be glad to hear that she was called 'a girl'. Especially now, when her son is almost two years old," he replied, chuckling. "Jealous?"

Kushina stared at him, feeling how her jaw was about to drop, but quickly she regained her composure. "Jealous? About you?" She scowled at him, hoping that he didn't notice her previous reaction. "No way."

Minato watched her for a while, but said no word.

6.

It took her a few more months to realize that he loved her.

Months passed one by one and her feelings toward him kept growing stronger. Maybe that was why she decided to shield him with her own body when it became obvious that she wouldn't manage to protect in any other way.

At first she didn't feel anything, even the blade cutting through the flesh. She wobbled and the whole world around her swirled. Then pain appeared, coming together with severe nausea. The pain was excruciating, almost unbearable, but she preferred this than seeing Minato die in such a foolish way. The world around her kept swirling, slowly being covered by darkness. People kept moving, but for some reason they moved slowly, as if some mysterious technique she didn't know had slowed their movement. She fell, not really sure if she really heard somebody call her name and if it was only her imagination that made her believe that a pair of hands caught her body a short while before it was to hit the ground.

When she woke up, for a long while she stared at the white – and completely unknown to her – ceiling over the bed she was lying in. She tried to remember what had happened and why she was in the place she couldn't recognize, but for some reason her memory refused to cooperate.

Well... Actually it wasn't only her memory that refused to work properly; her body also didn't want to follow her will. She winced and looked around, letting her glance slide over the white walls and sparsely furnished interior. The place looked and smelled like some hospital, but why was she here?

It was then that she realized that somebody was holding her hand. She turned her head slightly to see the person better and with some surprise she realized that it was Minato sitting next to her bed and sleeping.

For some reason she couldn't resist watching him sleep. She couldn't deny that there was something heart-warming about this view – it even brought a gentle smile to her face. He was smiling, as if he dreamt about something pleasant, and despite the fact that his clothes were clean and neat, his face looked like he hadn't shaved it in a while.

Then one single thought popped up her mind. If she really was in the hospital, then Minato must have bribed somebody to be allowed to stay with her for all this time. The idea, however, was so absurd – really... this "I always do what the law says" man would never do such a thing – that it almost made her laugh. She'd rather expect him to persuade some nurse to let him stay here, but then again... why would he do such a thing for her?

She moved in the bed and unintentionally she must have woken him up. His fingers clutched on her wrist tightly, but not too tightly.

She glanced at him and was completely surprised by the look on his face. She couldn't remember if she had ever seen him so serious and determined.

"Would you, please, let go of my hand?" she uttered. She didn't really mind that he held her hand, but all of sudden the whole situation became somewhat awkward.

"I won't," he replied with determination clearly hearable in his voice. "If I did, you could do some stupid thing again. Something... like jumping between me and my enemy."

She gaped at him, finally remembering what had happened. Was it Minato that had brought her here? In that case... Was it a feeling of guilt that had forced him to stay with her? Unexpectedly the thought saddened her.

"Are you suggesting that I should have let them kill you back then?" She scowled at him in the reply.

Minato kept quiet for quite a while.

"Why did you do that?" he finally asked.

She eyed him speculatively for a few seconds. Was it only her imagination or his voice did shake a bit?

"And what do you suggest I should have done?" She replied. "Watch them kill the man I l... like?" she finished quickly, hoping that he didn't notice her hesitation while saying the last word. She was too close to revealing her real feelings toward him.

Minato didn't answer.

"I only did what everyone would do if they were in my place," she continued after a short while. "Wouldn't you do the same..."

She didn't manage to finish the sentence. She rather felt than actually saw Minato move and the next thing she realized was Minato kiss her. She blinked, completely surprised, but she didn't push him away. She wrapped her free hand around his neck and kissed him back.

She let herself get lost in that kiss. For a short while it was as if time had stopped its flow and the world around them could well not exist – she couldn't care less about it.

Finally Minato pulled away and wrapped his arm around her, hugging her tightly.

"Never do it again, you silly girl," he mumbled into her hair.

Kushina didn't reply – she didn't want to lie to him and they both knew that if only given a chance, she would do such a thing again. She didn't think he would accept it, but maybe he could understand.

She moved, trying to sit in a more comfortable way and with some amusement she noticed that he still was holding her hand.

"Minato..." she murmured, smiling. "Would you finally let go of my hand? For now I have no intention to go anywhere."

She snuggled into him and hid her face in his shirt. It didn't matter that somebody could enter the room and see them sitting together like that. It didn't matter that her wound was starting to hurt and that every nurse that would see them right now would probably scolded them both and then forbid Minato to see her until the wound had healed. In fact for that short while nothing and no one really mattered.

Except for Minato being there with her.

THE END

February 15th, 2009

Now... would you be so nice to say something? I mean the review :P