Scarlet
We set up camp paces away from the litany of bodies we had created in the battle where we met. Kushina was older than me, by a bit, but we were both adults, and both strong ninja, so we treat each other amicably.
I can't say I wasn't attracted to her, wasn't a little disappointed when I had to sleep so I couldn't stay up and watch her as she took the first shift. She was so perfect in my eyes, the elegance, the tasteful red, the brutality. Watching her move, her smile, her fight made me feel elation. I was addicted to her.
I slept though, as did she, and though the temptation was strong, I chose not to watch her sleeping face, instead holding steady, protecting her as much as I was myself.
When night passed we talked over a fire (and It had been so long since I had felt the warmth of a immolated bundle of thatch and sticks, so long since I hadn't eaten ration packs), discussing who we were over mouthfuls of rabbit stew, carrots and cabbage and meat warming up my stomach.
"How is ANBU?"
I let the question stay in my mind as the stew stayed on my tongue, savouring it like I did her every word.
"Was. I finished my mission years ago, and was left stranded, my team dead."
Her eyes looked sad. Sad for me.
"Sorry about your team. Did you care for them?"
"Yes. They… were like a family to me."
Kushina looked down, pulled their legs to their chest.
"I lost my family once."
"Ah, yeah, the Uzumaki."
"So I understand what it feels like. To lose people."
We were silent a while after.
"Why are you out here?"
She looked stunned I had even asked, wide eyes.
"Oh, well. It's a little embarrassing."
"If I can help with the mission you should tell me-"
"No, no. Nothing like that. I just… got carried away. A caravan I was escorting got hit by an Iwa squad, I chased them, killed them, reinforcements came, I killed them, so on. Eventually I ended up here. I just got lost."
I would have been looking at her deadpan if the mask didn't already do that for me.
"Honestly, your capacity for destruction is impressive."
She looked bored by that statement, as if she had heard it a million times.
"That way you dance with your blades, twin hold. I have never seen anything like it. When those ribbons of red burst out and scatter over your body, it looks magnificent."
Her cheeks turned red, even if it was obscured by the flame of the fire.
"Nobody has ever described my fighting like that."
She smiled at me.
"Hey ANBU, wanna be friends?"
…
I jumped into the air, pulling my legs back like a coiled spring, then unleashing them in an ariel drop kick, sending the jonin back through the air, lined up just right for one of Kushina's twin katana to slice through him, bisecting him with the strength of her and the blade. Red slick liquid shot out, coating her left arm, but she didn't care, just kept cutting.
[Jonin assist: 7500xp]
I kept moving too, slamming an axe kick through a man's spine, killing the poor bastard instantly, rolling, unsheathing a kunai, and launching it so hard it made a sonic boom, punching a massive hole through a kunoichi's torso on impact, sending her flying back like she had been hit by a shotgun's blast.
[Chunin killed: 2500xp] [Jonin killed: 12500xp]
A leg came swiping from underneath, so I hopped up, stomping down on the attacking appendage, using it as a platform for a reverse roundhouse strong enough to take of the man's screaming head. Still spinning from the kick, I flashed through handsigns, a blast of lightning shooting from my palm, impacting and dancing from man to man to woman, killing 3 in quick succession.
[Jonin killed: 12500xp] [Chunin killed: 2500xp] [Chunin killed: 2500xp] [Chunin killed: 2500xp]
My eyes flickered back to Kushina, who had sliced and diced through her opponents too. The battlefield had became silent again.
"Kushina. I think that's all of the reinforcements."
"Yeah, until they send more." She said, not dejected or tired, but smiling. Grinning, all teeth.
We retreated, through an outcrop of rocks to a small stream, where we stripped down and started washing our clothes. I wasn't a prude and Kushina certainly wasn't either, but she started laughing suddenly.
"ANBU-san, why is your mask still on?"
My hand went up to it, the once pristine art now marred with scars of cuts and marks, and blackened by fire, hadn't left my face since meeting her. Since leaving ANBU.
I sighed, then released the seal that kept it on my face, throwing it to the shore, out of the water I was knelt down in.
"Force of habit." I said, face now open to the world.
Yet Kushina was just looking at me, a peculiar look on her stunned face.
"You're a very pretty man."
I would have blushed if I hadn't gone through all the things I had, so I simply smiled back at her.
"And you are a beautiful woman."
She sputtered and turned away, suddenly aware she was in front of me and naked.
She was a strange woman too.
It was only naked did I notice the number of scars on my body.
Kushina had none. I think I knew why.
…
"What's ya name then?"
We had spent a number of days together, so I was stunned with the realisation that I had yet to tell her what I was called. Underneath the mask anyway.
"Kizashi. Haruno Kizashi. I'm an orphan, so they named me after my hair. Like spring cherry blossoms."
"That's cute. My father named me, my mother died in childbirth. He said that I was a miraculous red-haired surprise, so he named me after all three. Kushina. I just happened to fit the Uzumaki, maelstrom, part later."
We had spawned a couple of clones, though Kushina could manage a lot more than me. They stood watch, allowing us to relax, if only for a bit.
She was combing her hair. She brought her hair care tools in a seal, as well as most of her supplies. She washed my hair, then brushed it, and I was suddenly made aware of the long shaggy mess it was. I started cutting locks of it away, and in time I looked more groomed, more well-kept. I shaved the pink haired beard that had grown out too, revealing my chiselled jawline (That might sound like me having an ego, but I was genuinely attractive). Kushina seemed to like the look, shooting me glances every now again, tinged with smiles of giddy glee. I couldn't pretend I wasn't doing the same though.
"It's a nice name. It fits you well."
Kushina smiled, wide and filled with teeth.
"You have any buddies back in Konoha?"
Did I even want to go back? The question hit my mind a split second, before I ignored it and answered.
"No. I wasn't the most sociable ninja when I was younger."
"Yeah. I had a bunch of friends back then, but my best friend was Namikaze Minato. Now he's famous, but back then he was just the student of Jiraya, that old perv, though I guess you wouldn't have heard of him yet."
Minato. I hadn't given him much thought, if any, even back then, but I knew he would be something important. He was always destined to.
"No, but I met him once. I was 12, he was 13, we had just lost both of our squads. We could have bonded, I think, over loss, over having sannin as teachers, over being smart, but we never did."
"Wait! You were taught by a sannin?"
Ah, thoughts of that past. I always seemed to look back in sorrow at them, but somehow Kushina restored those haunting memories. Where I once looked at everything with regret, now shined new possibilities from her green gaze. I looked into the sky, a sad smile on my lips
"Yes. Orochimaru, the most infamous and, if you'll believe it, the most eccentric. He was a… difficult taskmaster, probably sent me to ANBU to get rid of me. But…"
Kushina leaned forward, waiting on every word.
"But… He was the closest thing to a father I have had in this life, no matter how cruel he was. I understood him, as did he me. I feel like I was closer to him in mind than I would be to any other human being. If he can even be considered one."
The pretty red head knelt down close to me, our bodies nearly touching, a precipice nearly crossed.
"Ever been in love?"
The question felt probing, like it was looking for the answer for about 15 other questions.
"Never felt someone understood me enough. Even when people broke down the barriers I put up, they never could get close enough."
"I kind of get that. Nobody from Konoha, not even Minato really got all my eccentricities."
She put her slender, soft hand on my shoulder.
"I think I understand how you feel." I said, looking into her eyes.
She laughed a little, more amused than anything.
"Oh, so you think you get me. Understand how I feel, what I want?"
I looked her straight in the eye.
"I don't claim to be able to read minds, but I know how people work. And I pay enough attention to way your eyes flicker, your lips move, your hands touch to know that you want something."
"Oh? And that is?"
I smiled, devilish.
"You want a hug."
She pouted, then tackled me to the ground in a kiss. Our mouths smashed together, tongues dancing as they tried to fight for dominance, a mad scramble as we moaned and groaned, licking each other's gums and teeth. Then our lips separated.
"Idiot, I want a lot more than a hug." She spoke, out of breath.
Then we kissed again.
…
A/N: Apologies for the delay, I believe it has been about 6 days, which is below par for me. However, this one will be a double feature, with a lemon releasing tomorrow. It will be a separate chapter for those who don't wish to read that kind of stuff.
Kizashi for all intents and purposes has put a lot of his importance and though on Kushina's shoulders. It makes sense, she is the first person he has met in years that wasn't trying to kill him, but is she up to the task? Well yeah, she's Kushina Uzumaki. She can get through anything.
Her and Minato being together was informed primarily by her saying "I fell in love when we were 12", but between then and having Naruto we basically have no basis to say they were even together during that time. It is feasible to love multiple people over time, to drift away from people, to have feelings that go unreciprocated. Know that Kushina no longer at this point in time things of Minato as a romantic interest or partner, more like a childhood crush and friend.
I will admit my plans for the story have changed somewhat from that last chapter's reception, though the divergence is limited right now. Kushina and Kizashi don't think they love each other, yet, but they are both young attractive people, who trust each other. This will build in the future.
Oh, and about the names in case people are wondering, I used a translation tool (google) to find the numerous alternate meanings for Kizashi and Kushina. Kizashi's name is a throwaway, but it basically means "Great things to come" or an "omen". By definition, ominous.
Kushina is more developed. It can mean "mysterious, wonderful, miraculous", "suddenly, instantly" or "Crimson deep red". You can see how Kushina's birth could have been all 3. That was just a small amount of backstory to make Kushina seem more like a human being outside of Kizashi's life. This is something new. Where a person has meant more to him that what he knew from the anime (Orochimaru) or what he could have assumed (ANBU)