A.N: I'm so glad there's people who actually took interest in this Fic! I'm aiming to update at least once a week. Maybe twice if I can get my school work done early. There's not much personal info I have to address to today other than it makes me incredibly excited to see this story have followers. Even if the number is low, it still means a lot as writing is usually something I do for myself - a hobby. My goal isn't to create a story for the number of views, or follows, but just for the fun of writing! And, I'm glad I can share it with you guys. :]
Anonymous & Nitinha56:
Thank you for for the review! I'm glad you think this story has potential. :D I had made a few minor changes, and corrected my mistakes, and that was AFTER you reviewed. So, it makes me giggle, in a good way, that you still liked it before I had made my corrections. I hope I can keep in touch with you; a follower. C:

IMPORTANT INFO: After rereading the Preview, again, I made a few minor changes! The only one that would serve any importance would be Maya's age. I had her be fifteen at first, but I lowered it to eleven.

- M. B

.Chapter 1.

Minato carried Maya upon his back. His arms being hooked around her thighs as her head rested over his shoulder. They've been traveling for a little over an hour now and they still had a good distance between them and the gates of Konoha. Honestly, he was relieved that they would be home soon. The mission they were on itself wasn't hard. A simple travel, repair, and getting rid of a few freebooters. It were the complications that made Minato want to give in to a good face palm and sigh; he had refrained himself from doing so as he usually would. A mission was expected to have complications, just as long as nobody had gotten seriously injured then all was good. Of course, injuries were also an inevitable circumstance in the line of work of shinobi.

Minato's blue hues watched his three students from behind being about a couple of feet behind them. Obito was ranting on about something that made Rin hold her closed palm over her mouth and chuckle while Kakashi had turned his head the other direction with an obvious sense of annoyance. This, right here, is what people misunderstood about ninja, specifically speaking of the younger shinobi. They were still kids no matter what type of occupation they may have. Granted, they're ninja so of course they're going to have to get their act strait during situations where they need to pull their brains together, but they still had a childhood. Some people assume the term 'ninja' is a single category; a whole other species in exaggerated terms. While others, mainly clients who have younger nin escorting or taking whatever the job may be, believe that because they are younger that they can't do their job well. Judgement was human nature, there's no way to really avoid it, but if you're able to deal and move past it then it builds character.

" Sensei, is that girl okay? I mean, she didn't even wake up when we were getting together all of our stuff earlier. Waaay earlier." Obito spun on his heel and began to walk backwards with his intertwined hands together being behind his head.

Minato's eyes focused on the Uchiha for a moment before he lifted his chin up a bit and glanced at Maya from his peripheral vision. " She's still breathing, so I would assume she's just tired." With a small heave he adjusted his grip on the girl. ' She's seems pretty out of it— it's likely it's from how low her chakra is.' Minato wasn't the only one thinking this, Rin also knew how low her chakra was and was most likely concerned about it. It wouldn't be a surprise if Kakashi had already picked up on it, and if he had then the only reason he wasn't saying anything was because he probably thought of Maya of some type of nuisance. Obito—was well, Obito. Something like this wouldn't be something he'd think of in this point of time.

" Well, you did say she was lost," Rin spoke up. " and we don't know how long she's been alone. My guess would be that she hasn't been able to get proper sleep, much less food." She suggested leaving out the chakra part.

Obito hummed in thought before smiling a toothy grin. " Then as future Hokage I'll be sure she gets the best of care!" he declared. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

" Do that to every freeloader we pick up, and Konoha will be in for a downfall." he paused as Obito's smile quickly faded into a vexed frown. " That's even if you somehow manage to become the Hokage."

" Hey! I will become Hokage and there's nothing wrong with being a little nice, you know! Plus, it's not like she's taking advantage of anything! Being a ninja isn't all about "the rules". You have to have some type of heart. Tch," The Uchiha crossed his arms and turned back forwards. " though I'm pretty sure you have none of the sort, scarecrow."

" Obito-san..." Rin murmured grimacing lightly already knew where this conversation was headed.

Kakashi huffed. " If being heartless can get the job done, then call me whatever you want. It's your idiocy and lack of judgment that will not only screw you up, but everyone and everything else around you. If you ask me, you becoming Hokage would be an unfor-"

" Kakashi." Minato rebuked. The tenderness the male's voice was now being temporarily replaced with admonish. All three of his students automatically reacted to their superior's tone resulting in everyone to slow in their walking, including Minato. Everyone, especially those three, knew that Minato hardly ever got mad and when he did it almost never ended well. Minato still held his composure with stern features. It wasn't rare for him to have to scold his team, mainly Obito and Kakashi, and he might as well stop this before it escalates to it's higher potential. Rin usually acted as a bystander. " It disappoints me to hear those words come out of your mouths," he scolded the two boys bluntly. " You guys are a team, if you're pointing out flaws in each other than it's your inability to get along. Obito, it's true, you lack in wisdom and discernment. You hold compassion for others which isn't a bad thing unless you get blinded by it." he paused. " Fortunately, I believe Maya here is no threat, so I appreciate your kindness towards her. However, I have several facts to back up my opinion while you act on what you see. Kakashi, your arrogance prevents you from thinking about the smaller things that may serve just as much importance as the obvious ones. In fact, it may change your idea on the situation. Obito holds too much compassion while you hold little. Coming off as steely could also make others, or a client feel uncomfortable." Soon after taking in an inhale, Minato held a smile that been proven worse than any old irritated look making the two boys straiten their backs. " With that being said, I hope the rest of this trip wont hold any negative comments, understood? Otherwise, I do believe we skipped out on last weeks training so that gives me plenty of reason to work you even harder next time."

" H-Hai!" Obito blurted.

" Hai..." The Hatake murmured; both boys felt a sense of indignity. Rin simply stood besides her sensei with somewhere near a hopeless look as she let out a small exhale.

Shortly after the small scene, the Konoha nin were soaring through the trees, jumping from branch to branch. Minato was surprised that Maya had still remained sleeping even after all this time, including his split moment raised voice. What had further raised his concerns were her breathing patterns. They had gotten more heaved and heavy. He could tell by how her chest was rising and falling against his back in shaky rhythms. It would settle and calm, but then happen again. Rin was a good medic, but he knew Maya's condition was something a higher level medic should look at. Giving the girl a quick glance before looking back ahead, Minato pumped more chakra into his legs and feet. The second his left foot made contact with a new branch he bent down and gave a good push resulting in gaining more distance at a faster rate. The rest of team Minato caught on with his uplift in speed and had sped up as well.

Skipping in a few more hours, both Rin and Minato had looks of strain and somewhat a pout. The whole trip had been silent, and Minato was starting to regret his earlier words.

' They needed to hear it, but— I didn't think they wouldn't talk all together. . .Then again, I should have expected this in the least.' The blonde's smile could only be defined as somewhat melancholic. Glancing to his left at Obito before to his right where Kakashi was, he could just feel the tension. ' Boys will be boys, I guess.. more specifically my boys.' Minato thought just before he heard that familiar foreign language again.

" Am I flying..?" The voice of Maya spoke in a light gruff from having just woken up. It was likely it had something to do with her chakra systems, but honestly the girl had always been the one to sleep in. Her brows furrowed together as she lifted her head slowly off of Minato's shoulder whom had given her a glance taking notice to her awakening. It took her a moment, looking around at her surroundings. The wind blew through her ochre hair, and they were seeming to pass up trees rather quickly, but it also didn't feel or look like they were on the ground. Once half lidded eyes were now big the moment she had looked down. Her brain had troubles comprehending what exactly was going on, but it certainly made way to tell her body to grip the nearest thing as tightly as she could. That nearest thing being a person, Minato. Her arms wrapped around his neck tightly as her legs did the same around his torso letting out a squeal. " W-Why ar-are we so high up?! Please put me down!" she begged frantically and rather comically, too.

Meanwhile, Minato had almost lost his footing due from the sudden death grip he was placed under releasing a choke from the back of his throat. For a girl who is seemingly as weak as she is she certainly had the strength to preform such a hold. Grimacing, he knew it would be pointless to try to calm her down through words, but her grip had yet to weaken. If you ask him, he would say it was pretty unnatural on how strong she was for someone in her condition. His pace slowed to a gradual stop landing on top of a large branch close to the trunk of the tree. With one hand being placed against the rough bark the blonde lifted his other and gently took hold of one of Maya's forearms beginning to pry it away with minor strength. To his relief, she had gotten the message and loosed her grip almost immediately with a small gasp following afterward.

" Everything okay, Minato-sensei?" Kakashi asked as he landed next to his teacher along with the other two. He had heard the girl speak in that foreign tongue again, and he would be lying if he wasn't in the least curious about it.

Minato took in a deep breath he was in dire need for. " Yeah, you three can continue on. I'll catch up when things are situated here." he replied as he grabbed both of Maya's wrists and slowly began to pull her off.

" Are you sure?"

" Hm." He nodded just before Obito gave Kakashi a good, hard pat against the shoulder as he took off once again.

" Hehehe, come on slow-poke! Someone's gotta lead!" The energetic boy snickered and teased Kakashi with a childish expression. The Hatake grew a twitch mark on his temple before taking off to get in the lead.

" It's not like you're the only one who knows how to get home, idiot. Anyway, we'll end up lost if you take the lead of anything." Kakashi took a short glance back at his sensei and Maya. " Humph."

Rin sighed. " At least they're talking again. . sort of. Anyway, are you sure everything is alright?" Her eyes shifted onto Maya who was now standing on the branch with her own feet keeping it light on her right one as she stayed close to Minato.

" We're fine, just go along with the others. Make sure they don't get into any trouble, Rin-chan." He smiled, and with that she was off. Beginning to feel something tighten around his arm, and hearing what sounded like a grunt of discomfort, Minato looked down to his side seeing the brunette shoot worried glances over the branch. It wasn't hard to figure out that the height they were in was making her uncomfortable. While Maya was worried about the distance between them and the Earth he was more concerned about her health. He would need to resume the pace he was in soon to get to Konoha in a time that would make himself content, but he needed to calm her down first. Being choked the whole way there wouldn't do much good. With a simple reach his palm made contact with her forehead without much of a warning resulting in the female to blink in confusion.

' She's burning up—and now that I look at it her cheeks are flushed as well. . . Rin was right, we have no idea how long she's been out here and how long she's been in the condition that she's in—Well, she's not dead, so I would say a few days in the least. Even so, she doesn't look all that dirty, much less scratched up.'

Luckily, he was able to get her to calm down, and through simple gestures, a soft smile included, he gained her trust and was back on track within no time. The other three, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito weren't too far ahead so it didn't take much time for him to catch up, either. There was minor talk between the group due to all of them being ready to be home already; a little chit-chat here and there was all. All the while Maya had stayed silent letting her head rest upon the blonde's shoulder. She couldn't understand what they were saying so there was no point in trying to talk. Her head was hurting anyway, and she was honestly surprised that all this moving didn't make her queasy. In fact, it probably made her feel better. The wind blew back her hair and brushed against her skin cooling her down. The natural scent in the atmosphere smelt fresh and tranquil. Almost as if she's never inhaled such clean and easy-to-breathe air. Unfortunately, as much as the wind and air did make her feel better she still carried an antagonizing head ache. Maybe sleeping it through could help, and to her make this trip go by a lot faster. It wasn't exactly comfortable being carried on someones back for a trip that was looking as long as this, either. It was rather embarrassing for her to have to be like this. She wasn't a child. She was young, yes, but having to be carried was something she wouldn't have mind if she was six, not eleven. It wasn't like there was any other alternative though. Not only did she have a wounded ankle, but she couldn't nearly match up with the speed these people were going in! Little did she know that this wasn't even half the speed of their full potential, especially Minato.

.. . .

Maya's headache was soon finalized as a high fever when Minato had checked her into the hospital after arriving in Konoha only moments ago. He himself couldn't stay there long considering a mission wouldn't fully be completed until he reported back in to the Hokage. Maya was hesitant for him to leave her in the room with the nurse, that being proved when she had grabbed onto his sleeve preventing him from taking another step towards the door. The brunette was already growing an attachment - a bond - with the man even if she hadn't realized that yet. Because of that lack of verbal communication Minato, or really anyone else, could carry with Maya he had to resort to body language. Using a soft tone could even be proven to help despite her not understanding what his words meant. It only took a few brief moments of smiling and an easy pat on her head to get Maya to somewhat settle to an ease. The brunette seemed to understand Minato's attempts to reassure her that she would be alright. She nodded her head and released his sleeve allowing him to leave. As soon as he left the room Maya frowned, but that quickly went away after seeing Rin walk in giving her a reassuring look.

Next up, reporting to the Sandaime. Hiruzen was generally an opened minded and understanding person, so Minato wasn't very doubtful that he would continue providing aid for the lost girl. Although, Maya's condition may spark an interest to the Sarutobi. Not only was her body holding up unusually well under the low conditions of chakra, but her foreign tongue was something Minato never heard of much less ever hear anyone else speaking it. Actually giving the report of details for their mission didn't take too long, the same as usual. Obito always had something extra to say which most of the time lead Kakashi to retort and correct. Kakashi and Obito were also there having arrived a bit earlier than Minato. Then came the little extra piece that ended up tagging along. The sensei allowed for the other two leave if they wished. They had done their part, and Minato knew that the boys were tired despite not wanting to come off like so. The two weren't hesitant at all to leave after giving a small nod and dismissing themselves from both superiors.

" I don't mean to be hasty, but I do have work to attend to. So, spit out what you have to say, Minato." said Hiruzen as he was currently filling out the remaining paperwork for the now completed mission attended by team Minato.

The blonde let out a small breath. " On the way back we found a girl."

" A girl?" he repeated, the situation not yet grabbing his attention all to much as his eyes remained on the several pieces of paper on his desk.

" Yes, she's maybe around ten or eleven, and as far as I know she's just lost. Well, not that I could really communicate with her properly."

" What information do you know about her so far? I hope enough to prove she's not a spy or threat to the village considering she's already here."

Minato let out a slightly awkward chuckle as his features softened into what seemed to be an apologetic smile after hearing the Hokage call out his motives. " Am I that predictable?"

" Only if you look hard enough, or in this case know you as much as I do." Hiruzen replied this time with his own hint of amusement.

" Right," he sighed softly. " Anyway, yes, I couldn't leave her out there to fend for herself. Her name is Kojiki Maya and she's currently in the hospital accompanied by Rin. She has a pretty serious fever, but she must have a large pain tolerance because she hardly showed that it was bothering her. Even so, she should be suffering from a lot more than that."

" And why do you say that?"

" Her chakra systems are lower than a civilian's. I mean to the point of almost being completely gone," Only now had the Hokage's eyes flicked up from his papers to the shinobi. " Yet, other than her fever and the sprang in her right ankle, nothing else seems to be wrong, but that gives me all the more reason to believe something is."

Hiruzen hummed in thought placing down his pen in the process of giving Minato more of his attention. " That does seem odd," he paused. " A seal, maybe?"

" That's what I thought, but I didn't detect one. I didn't psychically check her for any marks, so that could still be done just in case, but by grabbing her hand and briefly scanning her systems I couldn't pin-point anything other than her low chakra vitals." Crossing his arms and leaning his weight more on one leg than the other Minato let out a soft exhale. " I'm sure the hospital staff will pick up on something while she's there, so hopefully there will be more to lean on soon."

" This Kojiki girl sounds like she has a very durable body," Minato nodded in agreement. " But, even if her condition is by far better than what we would expect, I wouldn't doubt if she were to suddenly drop in health on day," he said. " Where did you find her?"

" Just last night while we were camping out near the Niigata river. So, you could imagine she was pretty close to the village. We didn't find anyone else nor did she make any indication she was waiting for someone."

" Hm. I wonder where she could've came from if she was already close to the village. It would pretty far for a young girl like this to travel by herself from one place to another with there being a large gap between Konoha and the nearest civil area." Certainly she couldn't have made it on her own this far. Minato would've mentioned something by now if she had any indication of being a ninja, but it was hard to believe that she was even alive if she wasn't skilled in any survival methods.

" There's another thing."

" Hm?"

" She's not native to our tongue."

Hiruzen blinked a few times. Not native? The five shinobi nations all generally spoke the same language, and it would be incredibly rare to find someone speaking otherwise. The Hokage's chuckle took Minato in slight surprise. " This lost girl sure knows how to raise questions. I'll have to be sure and give her a visit as soon as I can. By any chance are you familiar with her language at all with it?"

Minato shook his head. " No, unfortunately not. She's typically quiet, which I'm sure you could imagine why, and she's only spoken a few times. Believe me when I tell you that it's nothing like what you and I are used to," he chuckled almost humorlessly. Maya had only spoken a few times and they all had been in an exclaimed manner. " It sounded sort of harsh.." he muttered the side note to himself. Again, Maya had only verbally spoken when in shock so it was likely that whatever she had to say would sound differently if she were more calm. ' Maybe I could get her to teach me a few "kindly" words to blurt whenever I catch that mulicolor-eye'd ass that works down at the market flirting with Kushina again. That way she won't punch me for being rude to him since she nor he will understand what I'm saying.' he thought mischievously to himself. He loved Kushina, that was obvious, but she could really be clueless at times. She takes the "compliments" just as so‒compliments when they're really more than just polite comments. Minato internally sighed from his thoughts. ' No, that wouldn't be right. . . But it couldn't hurt to learn a few words, maybe a couple phrases.'

" What are you going to do with her?" Hiruzen's deep and raspy voice pulled the Namikaze out of his thoughts causing Minato to focus his eyes back on him rather than the wooden floorboards.

" Pardon?" Minato repeated not quite sure on what he was asking.

The Hokage let out an amused chuckle as he leaned back into his seat. " I'll allow her to stay in the village and receive the care she needs from the Konoha's hospital, but she'll need a place to stay and a tutor afterwards."

" A...tutor?"

" Of course, if she's really just some lost child then she'll need guidance and learn the language of the others around her." An extra silent note was passed through that phrase: It would also be required for her to be watched over until we can confirm she's no threat, and we can't have her in an orphanage just in case that's what's really going on.

Minato understood both what was said and what was subliminally passed. " Right, and who are you thinking of giving her to?"

" Well, I was considering you and Kushina-san for one." Minato's eyes grew slightly even though he should have expected that in the least. " I can talk to one of the academy employee's and find a suitable teacher that can focus on her speech, but I don't feel comfortable having her live on her own. That would be a dumb idea." he muttered. " So, maybe you and Kushina could provide her a home just until she's advanced enough to make it on her own. I'll pay for the expenses when that time comes, but for now it would be best if she could stay with someone who can watch her. You found her, so technically, she's your responsibility."

Minato felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple. ' That doesn't sound right...' The blonde let out a heavy exhale closing his eyes as he thought for a split second. " Right..I'll have to talk to Kushina first, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

" Please do. Now, if I do recall that wife of yours expected you back home thirty minutes ago." Minato tensed from the recollection. Kushina herself was a shinobi as well, but even so she still expected Minato to be back home on time as if no complications had interfered with the trip back. Nothing else was said other than a lift of the hand and a light wave in dismissal before the blonde was off in a yellow flash. Hiruzen let out an exhale before the lightest of smile's etched onto his lips. " They could use the practice with having a child around."

.. . .

Minato had appeared in front of his door step within a matter of seconds, and despite having the fear of the likely infuriated red-head being right behind it he still couldn't prevent his smile of just being home. With a small inhale and exhale he extended his hand towards the door knob about to grab it until it had swung open before his hand had gotten a chance to grip onto the metal knob. " Huh-Woah!" he was forced to take a few steps back from a body of weight suddenly throwing itself, or herself, at him and clinging on close.

" Minato! What took you so long?! I thought something had gone wrong, ttabane!" the red-headed jinchuuriki shouted as she had lifted her weight against him kicking her legs about.

Minato had to pull his head back a bit as his hands were placed on her waist trying to keep them both from falling. In the end he was able to keep on his feet and let out a slight chuckle. ' At least she isn't as mad as I thought.' " Ah, s-sorry about that. I had ran into a minor set back on the way home. I actually need to talk to you about that, too." By then he had gotten the female back on her own feet though his hands remained on her waist.

Kushina looked up to her husband with interest and general concern. " Set back?. . Like what? Is everything okay?"

" Yes, yes," he reassured not wanting her to get to creative with her thoughts on the many tragic ideals her mind had the potential of coming up with. " but let's talk about it inside." She nodded, but still had a concerned feature. Just as she was about to pull away he tightened his grip preventing her from doing so.

" Hm?"

" I'm happy to see you again, Kushina." The male smiled and tilted his head to the right as he looked down at her. Before she could speak up and return his comment with her own he had leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in for a sweet, simple kiss that lasted slightly longer than a simple kiss should have.

Kushina was left blushing, and just as she was about to give in and fall into the one of many luscious kisses Minato could provide very well, he had pulled away and quickly given her a peck on the forehead. She pouted and looked up to him with a puckered bottom lip. He responded by letting out a laugh then slipping around her and taking her by the hand pulling her into their household. He slipped his shoes off at the door step giving Kushina enough time to close it behind them.

" So," she had started up again as he began to lead them further into their house. " I'm guessing everything went okay, yeah? Despite your set back, or whatever."

" Ah, it went just as well as any other mission with the kids would go."

" Ohh, so the boys were plucking each others feathers again, eh?"

" Yeah.." he sighed soon letting her hand slip from his. He stretched his arms before letting them drop then giving his shoulders a roll. " They're just kids, they'll grow out of the phase sooner or later." He started to unzip his jounin vest revealing the navy blue shirt that laid under the olive green vest.

" Humph, I hope when we have kids they wont be constantly at each other's throats. Otherwise, I will seriously loose it! I already have enough trouble as it is dealing with Kakashi and Obito when they start to bicker, ttabane!" She crossed her arms in a huff.

Minato slipped off his vest and tossed it over the couch while replying, " I'm sure you'd be a good mother and find a way to deal with them without blowing your head off," he reassured.

" Ha, I'll believe it when I see it."

" Good thing I can have that arranged then." he smiled turning back to look at his wife whom had paused from walking to the kitchen. Minato caught onto her confusion which he had expected. " The minor set back I was talking about earlier was a girl."

". . . A girl? What's that supposed to mean, Minato..?" The females long, red locks slowly began to raise as her brain went to one of the most devastating, not to mention out of proportion, scenario.

Quickly putting his hands up in defense vindicating that he hadn't done anything close to what she had jumped to Minato stumbled over his words at first. " I-It's no-nothing like that! Come on, you know that's a ridiculous conclusion." The red-head had settled gradually but turned her head the other way. Minato sighed and placed his hands back down to his sides. " Anyway, we found her and I'm pretty sure she was lost. So, I brought her back to the village." His lifted his finger in a quick swift motion preventing her from speaking up again and accusing him further. " She's no older than eleven." That seemed to cool her steam rather quickly, her arms dropping to her sides as she turned her head back in his direction giving him her calm attention.

" Is she okay? Was she by herself?" Kushina couldn't help but to fall concerned in the least for the girl. It was a natural instinct she didn't take enough notice about to deduce that she would actually be a great mom. Kushina was compassionate, and a loving person when it all came down to it. Especially when it came to children. She just knew Kakashi and Obito enough to be able to complain about them even though she really loved the two brats.

" Hm-mh. I checked her into the hospital and she just has a fever and a sprang ankle for now, though her chakra vitals are low enough for her to be in the ICU." Kushina carried the same expression as the Hokage when he had told him. " But her body is holding up extremely well, so there's nothing to worry about just yet. I'm pretty sure she also doesn't understand what we're saying, and she does speak a different language. If and when she's ready to be checked out of the hospital, the Hokage asked me if we would be able to give her a home while she studies our language at the academy. Just until she can get a good grasp-"

" Yes!" Minato was stunned from the quick answer. " I mean," Kushina cleared her voice. " of course. I wouldn't mind opening our home to her. I can't just deny the offer now that it's been placed. "

" Are you sure? I could always talk to the Hokage and-"

" No, no! That's fine. I wouldn't mind having another girl around the house to hang out with while you're out on missions. But, who will watch her when I'm assigned to one?"

Minato didn't reply at first, having to recover from his small smile and amusement towards his wife and her excited attributes. " Well, if we're really going to take her in then we'll have to figure all that stuff out later." He walked up to the red-head and placed his hand on her shoulder. " You understand she is already eleven and not a baby whom will understand nothing that we have to say." Kushina huffed and shooed his hand away.

" Good, I don't have to change any diapers," she retorted even if she would be a bit more excited if they were taking in a younger child. Nonetheless, this could still be good practice for the future. " and the we can work through the whole language thing. How hard can it be?"

He lifted his head and opened his mouth in a silent ah, and chuckled grabbing her face with both hands and tilting her head up to look at him. His blue hues peered into hers. " Okay then. I'll inform the Hokage later about the decision."

She smiled and nodded placing her hand over his before lifting her other one and thumping it hard against the back of Minato's head. " You need to phrase your words differently! Do you have any idea how, " the minor set back being a girl" can sound?!" she scolded bringing that up again.

He sulked lightly as his head drooped feeling the back of his head sting from the thump. He had wanted to say something like, " It's not my fault you take things the wrong way," but he knew better than to put himself on a death sentence and had instead said, " Hai, hai, gomen.."

" Good, now hurry and clean up while I make lunch." she ordered before pulling his hands away from her face with very little effort and walking towards the kitchen once again. " Oh! And, do you know this girl's name?"

Minato started to drag his feet towards the bathroom rubbing the back of his head trying to ease the pain. Hissing lightly from the sting, he replied, " Kojiki Maya."

She heard the name and soon the bathroom door open and close. Kushina smiled to herself as she started to wash her hands. " I look forward to meeting you, Maya-chan."