Red Riot - Chapter 39.5 - Interlude - Minato and Kushina

Minato Namikaze:- Chunin of Konoha, applicant at the Hot Springs Chunin Exams.

Mikoto Uchiha:Chunin of Konoha, has specialty in infiltration and information extraction. Friends with Kushina Uzumaki

Mina Uchiha - Chunin of Konoha. Attempted to genjutsu Matsu during the Semifinals when she suspected him of using poison on her and Minato. 

Tsume Inuzuka:- Chunin of Konoha, member of the Inuzuka clan. Fierce kunoichi. Friends with Kushina Uzumaki

Kushina Uzumaki:- Genin of Konoha. Student to Mito Uzumaki

Hiruzen Sarutobi:- The Third Hokage

Akuma Sarutobi:- Son of the third Hokage. Lost in the preliminary bouts against Kenta Nogawa aka Sharkbait. 

Jiraiya:- One of the Sannin of Konoha. Sensei to Minato, Denkai, and Macha. Jonin.

Matsu Uzumaki:- person of high interest to other Shinobi Villages. Recently promoted Jonin that was about to turn 12 but on a technicality was 11 when he was promoted. Medical/Taijutsu/Ninjutsu/Sensory speciality 

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The second Mizukage and trickster Lord of Kirigakure. Master of Illusions and torment 

Mu:- The second Tsuchikage. Hated Gengetsu. Perished in the battle of Steam aka Gengetsu’s Triumph. 

Onoki:- The third Tsuchikage. Flight abilities along with erasure jutsu. 

______________

A plume of smoke heralded a set of explosive tags going off while further back, a rock wall shot above the trees. The occasional forest fire also sparked up, causing people to either extinguish it or avoid the area entirely.

Minato couldn’t see much from the hill they’d claimed for themselves, even with how he was positioned high in a tree, but what he could see was telling a story.

A story of sudden, violent death.

Explosions rippled through the forest, turning it into plains in moments. 

Overhead, a speck flicked back and forth, with the occasional section of forest vanishing a few moments later.

It… was kind of terrifying to witness what some of the strongest shinobi in the world could muster.

And that wasn’t even getting into the giant clam summon that was spitting waves and high-pressure geysers of water.

When that thing had been summoned, the Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, who Minato had met on numerous occasions thanks to his sensei being his student, had sat up and paid attention before ordering them to move back another kilometre.

That had gotten a stir among the others, and people had considered objecting only for a look at the Hokage’s stern expression to have them lift up their observation camp and move away.

He’d been right to move as a few minutes later a blast from the clam had cut through the forest, easily hitting the distance they’d been sitting at.

Many of the non-believers had gone white at the realisation that they’d been within range.

“Confirmed that we have Fuguki Suikizan fighting with a squad of Iwa nin… and they’re dead,” reported a Hyuga dutifully. “Confirmed kills for Joro Nanashi and Hime Toga, both had active bounties.”

“Position?” remarked a clerk with an almost bored expression. 

Typically, the Hyuga that was watching the conflict would rattle off position and distance from their location, giving everyone a good idea where the bodies fell.

“Don’t bother,” the Hyuga announced. “Fuguki is sealing them up, it seems he noticed that they had a bounty on their heads.”

“Hmmm, rather mercenary of him to do that in the midst of combat,” mused one of the analysts. 

“He’s only doing it when the chance presents itself or if the pay our is above a C rank mission, otherwise he’s letting them fall where he kills them,” retorted another.

Minato and the other chunin that had been brought along shifted. Part of the ‘honour’ of coming for this observation mission was that when the battle was over and the two sides retreated to lick their wounds they’d be sent to scavenge up the remains.

Or to claim them for science. There was always interest in various Kekkei Genkai research after all and any advantage that could be gleaned from the dead bodies of the fallen would mean the living get to continue for a while longer.

Minato was quite sure Akuma Sarutobi not being promoted, nor included on this mission was quite the snub. It was nice that Hirzuen had seemingly washed his hands of his son for the moment, but Minato expected Akuma would be assigned other ‘choice’ missions to potentially prove himself and recoup his prestige.

“Got an Iwa squad making contact with Ameyuri’s squad!” called another Hyuga and Minato straightened, causing a huff of amusement from Jiraiya at his reaction. 

They’d been able to get a solid read on most of the squads that had set out and Ameyuri’s squad was of particular interest due to Matsu Uzumaki being on it.

The boy… well other shinobi, Minato supposed. It didn’t feel right calling someone only a year older than him ‘man’ yet.  

Matsu was an interesting figure. 

He’d done some impressive things, according to the intel they had of him. The youngest Jonin in Kirigakure’s history with notable skills listed against his name.

Medical jutsu alone was impressive; the fact that he had nin and taijutsu on there as well was concerning. Taijutsu with the ability to use the Gates. Minato still wasn’t sure how he’d done it. There had to be a trick of some sort.

The item that was currently causing a bit of a stir among some of the Konoha shinobi was that Matsu had demonstrated the use of the Shadow Clone jutsu. A jutsu that other Villages had supposedly only started attempting to recreate.

That Kiri had achieved it, and that once more Matsu had it was creating a disturbing trend. 

Matsu was being considered a serious target due to his potential as a Jutsu creator, or in this case, re-creator.

He’d used the clones rather well to obfuscate where he and his team truly were while also leading Onoki off on a wild chase. Sadly whatever Matsu had been leading Onoki towards was out of sight of even the vaunted Byakugan. 

For that alone he’d gained the Tactics label on his BINGO book.

The four students he’d claimed should have been relegated to barely completing D rank missions, it had seemed. 

And here they were, with less than a year’s training being promoted and in Midori Terumi’s case, winning the Chunin Exams.

Minato ran a finger over the small cut that he’d used to summon Gamasura. He’d reopened it a few times now, just to make sure it scarred his otherwise unblemished skin.

He wanted a visual reminder going forward, and this was his way of remembering a companion that had fallen. It should help when he visited Mt Myobuku and paid his respects to Gamasura’s family. 

“Head up kid,” Jiraiya said as he nudged Minato’s shoulder.

Minato nodded, listening carefully as Ameyuri’s squad fought with various foes. The battle itself played out on the map with small explosions in the forest showing off counters.

“Three Kiri nin fell, two are injured but Matsu is healing them up,” reported the Hyuga clinically.

“Hmmm, put down that he has a sizeable chakra reserve as well,” said Hiruzen.

“Sensei?” Jiraya questioned.

Hiruzen glanced at his student and smiled lightly. “He’s been fighting for a while now and his methods are quite chakra intensive. For all that he is a prodigy, he is showing his youth. Extended combat requires more efficient methods. You need to conserve yourself. It is a marathon, not a sprint!” 

Minato made a mental note of that, and he could see that he wasn’t the only one considering it as the other young shinobi who had come along all nodded their heads.

Tsume grumbled from next to Minato. “This sucks, I can barely see or smell anything!”

Mikoto smirked from her slightly more elevated branch, her crimson eyes flicking this way and that. “Speak for yourself.”

Minato coughed. “You can hear things though yes?” he prompted, playing the peacemaker lest he find himself in the middle of a dog-cat fight.

Tsume grunted. “Yeah, but the explosions don’t make it much fun. Also, there’s just a lot of swearing and shouting going on. Nothing mission-critical like plans or anything,” she grumbled.

An older Inuzuka huffed. “You brats really thought you were coming along cause we needed you? This is about showing you how true shinobi combat unfolds. It’s violent and quick most times!”

Minato coughed and smiled towards Chojiro Inuzuka. “Most times? Was there an incident where it dragged out?”

“Battle of Rain,” Chojiro grunted. He made sure to bow his head towards Jiraiya as he mentioned this and Jiraiya waved a dismissive hand. 

Minato continued to listen to the various points of intel. It was boring but there were definite moments where gems of knowledge were dropped into their laps.

Like how Fuguki Suikizan could use the Samaehada to drain his opponents of chakra if he ever started to tire, they learned how Matsu knew how to set bones, or how he fought with clever tactics but when swarmed he had attacks that caused widespread devastation. 

He also appeared to be something of a sensor, as he directed the group he ran with whenever Onoki began turning towards them.

Mikoto scowled at this information. “How difficult is it to sense Onoki?” she asked.

That got a snort of contempt from a few of the Hyuga while other nin who had bandages over their eyes to help them focus on their chakra senses, hummed thoughtfully. 

“It’s easy!” claimed the Hyuga.

“It… is due to his positioning. They know he’s up in the air so there’s only one signature they have to look for and Onoki is… not exactly being subtle.”

This comment was underscored by another part of the forest vanishing.

Mikoto relaxed at that. Minato and Tsume shot her interested looks, but she ignored them both. Minato made another note of that. It seemed like nothing, but he’d encountered enough little things in his life to know how big they could become over time.

Paying attention to the little details was how he got where he was.

Like how being calm helps with circling chakra. 

If you were mad or happy, it resulted in more wasted chakra. It could certainly draw more chakra forth from your coils but for control maintaining a calm state of being was best.

Or how some kids favoured savoury over sweet snacks. Having both handy for each group worked in the academy and got him a lot of friends who would often share little insights when asked about their own success.

And slowly but surely, he’d been able to gather more and more insights on how to be better.

It was how he’d noticed how his opponent in the first stage of the third exam had been more focused on a girl in the crowd than on who he was facing. 

It was how he noticed that whenever the Hyuga raised their voices or moved too quickly, Sumire would twitch.

Not a full-blown flinch. That would draw too much attention. 

It was the smallest of things, but Minato noticed. He kept it in the back of his mind, wondering if Sumire wasn’t the only Hyuga that was treated this way.

That she, a member of the branch house of the Hyuga, who had the skills to attempt the chunin exams, felt this way, might there be others higher ranked?

It was worth investigating for future interactions. Perhaps those higher-ranked shinobi might need an ear to talk to.

If he wanted to be Hokage, he needed to understand the clans of Konoha.

“Contact! Gengetsu is using a large tidal wave!” a trio of Hyuga announced.

The second of the trio frowned. “There’s a lot of interference for some reason. I’m seeing a lot… No, my mistake,” the man said with a shake of his head. “Is this an illusion or real damage? The Kiri nin are fleeing like it is…”

The first stiffened. “Mu saw through the Clam’s illusion! Only it wasn’t one! It was the actual Clam with Gnegetsu on it!”

Another Hyuga scoffed. “Took his time about it!” 

Jiraiya turned slowly to stare at that Hyuga. “You’re saying that like you could have seen through it? Wasn’t it invisible to the senses?”

The man opened his mouth to retort only to blanch when he realised most of the camp was listening in, just waiting for him to gainsay Jiraiya in front of his teacher, the Third Hokage.

The Hyuga bowed his head and muttered an apology.

Minato spotted the way he clenched his fists. Hmmm, worth remembering that this man would be difficult if he ever had to run a mission with him.

“Gengetsu is down! He hit Mu with something! It was a puzzle of water from close range!” another called. 

Another made a face. “There’s… a lot of blood in the water, most of it is… What’s left of Mu.”

Hiruzen frowned. “Hmm, interesting. Gengetsu is not known for his close combat abilities.” 

“Sir it appeared similar to the jutsu Midori Terumi used against the Toad summon!” reported a Hyuga

Minato clenched his fists. Did that mean this was going to become a widespread jutsu among Kiri nin? 

“Ah, now that is interesting,” the Hiruzen stated thoughtfully.

One of the analysts twitched. “Does this mean he’s the source of the jutsu and that he shared it with Matsu and his students? Was the Mudanin system they announced a ruse to make us lower our expectations of the shinobi attending these Chunin exams?” he said in a rapid-fire manner.

“No,” Hiruzen said with a shake of his head. “Gengetsu does not share his toys.” He rubbed his goatee in thought. “This is a jutsu Matsu created, and Gengetsu witnessed the power of. I suspect he might have even snuck into a few training sessions the students performed. A jutsu that strong, he would have wanted in his arsenal.”

“Urgh a dirty jutsu thief!” growled Chojiro Inuzuka. He missed how Mikoto and a few other Uchiha shot him annoyed looks while others nodded in agreement.

Hiruzen turned to an elderly Uchiha who stood at his side. “You mentioned you couldn’t copy that jutsu correct?”

“No Lord Hokage, it had no handseals to copy it was a masterful expression of chakra control!” replied the man.

“Come now Kagami, we’re both students of the second. Call me Hiruzen,” remarked Hiruzen.

“As you say sir,” replied Kagami Uchiha with a smirk.

“Gengetsu is injured! I have him flat on his back! He’s critically injured! An arm and a leg are missing!”

Jiraiya laughed. “Ha! They both are going to bite it! It’s going to be a good day!” 

Minato smiled as the mood in the camp rose.

He heard a soft gasp only for another Hyuga to curse. “Matsu Uzumaki is still alive and approaching Gengetsu!”

“He’s no threat!” replied another. “He’s most likely going to kill Gengetsu himself. Kiri nin are blood thirsty like that!”

There was a tense second where everyone held their breath waiting for the confirmed death of Gengetsu.

“... he’s healing him,” reported one of the Hyuga. And just like that, the embers of joy were doused.

Jiraiya cursed and stabbed a hand towards the distant swamp that had emerged from this battle. “Get the advance squads in there! This is our best shot at making sure Gengetsu dies! Go!” he ordered and a message was sent.

Hiruzen, rather than give an order just sighed. “It is too late, we needed men in the field fighting if we wanted to truly shift the scales.”

“Don’t talk like that Sensei, we can still make sure he dies!” Jiraiya barked only to cough and bow his head as Hirzuen turned and stared at Jiraiya. “Sorry sensei.”

Hiruzen waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter. I understand you’re tense. This… was certainly a fraught situation. But today it seems to be Gengetsu’s triumph. He made just enough moves to make it through. He will be weakened, but if we were to truly exert ourselves, we would be overcommitting.”

“Sensei, allow me to go,” Jiraiya said, stepping close. 

The camp tensed and Minato knew that everyone close by was listening intently as student and teacher spoke to each other.

“No Jiraiya. Hanzo the Salamander might know your limits, but I don’t want the rest of the shinobi world to know.”

“I don’t care about them! Let them know!’ Jiraiya snapped. “This is Gengetsu! We can finish him off here!” 

Hiruzen hummed. “No. We know Gengetsu, I’m not sure who will crawl their way up from Kiri’s depths. Call back the troops, I suspect they’ve already fallen into Gengetsu’s illusions,” the Hokage stated firmly.

One of the Hyuga nodded. “They appear to be changing course and are indeed fighting with a cluster of Kumo shinobi…”

Jiriaya clicked his tongue but relented. 

Minato allowed himself to relax. As much as he didn’t want Gengetsu to remain alive, he hadn’t enjoyed the idea of his sensei risking himself.

The man still had so much to teach him.

The Hyuga began reporting changes with people retreating from the field, only for groupings of Kiri shinobi to start converging on Gengetsu and Matsu’s position.

Hiruzen made a gesture. “Adjust Matsu’s profile. List him as highly pragmatic and resourceful. Advanced Tactics and Strategy for the next print. I shall depart now. Jiraiya, you and I need to talk.”

Minato stood ready to follow his sensei, only for Jiraiya to make a face and to wave him off. 

Oh, it was going to be one of those conversations. 

As the Student-teacher pair departed, Tsume whistled. “Shouldn’t have tried to speak over the Hokage like that.”

Minato nodded. “No, not in public like he did.”

Tsume sighed. “Guess we’re still on shit kicker duty even with making chunin,” she said, fingering the vest she was now wearing.

Minato grunted in reply, his mind turned to the various interactions that had played out along with everything he’d learned as he worked to memorise all of them.

When the Chunin and Genin were ordered out, Minato saw that Sumire Hyuga was flagging straight away.

“Stupid girl, did you have your Byakugan active the whole time? You’re practically spent! Urgh! Return to the camp. We’ll discuss this later!” snapped an older Hyuga.

Sumire bowed her head and slipped away with only Minato watching her.

From there, the collection of corpses that had been left behind was easy enough until they started to encounter Steam and Kumo nin in greater numbers. The first was easy to handle with a simple wave. The second needed longer stares with kunai held in hand, ready in case they decided to fight.

The interactions became tenser the longer the mission ran and soon an order to fall back was given. 

Minato handed his pile of corpse scrolls to an older chunin without comment before following the group as they began to trek home.

They were an hour into their run with Minato chewing on a ration bar when Jiraiya dropped down next to him.

His face was like granite, and his eyes were flinty. Whatever mission the Hokage had given him, Jiraiya hadn’t liked it. “Hey kid.”

Minato perked up instantly. “Sensei! I have some ideas for our next training session with our team and I was hoping to run them by you! I think next time Dekai and Macha can make it but I also have some idea for myself—”

“Kid. I ain’t gonna be able to do that,” Jiraiya sighed. “We need to talk.”

Oh dear, that wasn’t good.

It wasn’t. 

Jiraiya proceeded to tell him that Team Six was disbanding and that Minato would have to look after himself and the others. Minato made sure to control his expression so as to not show his displeasure. 

Dekai and Macha were… well he’d find a way to make use of them he supposed.

The greater loss was that of his sensei on an extended Mission.

The man didn’t say much, but the way his lips tightened and his eyes hardened, Minato suspected he was returning to the Land of Rain.

Damn, there went so many of his plans. Minato felt a wave of sadness wash over him.

This Chunin Exams had not turned out how he’d hoped it would. He’d been promoted but so many of his plans were being set back.

______________

Kushina bounced from foot to foot just out of sight of the main gate. She didn’t want to seem eager to see her friends, so she wasn’t waiting at the gates like everyone else. She just happened to be passing by, was all. 

Yeah, that worked. They’d believe that, yeah?

There was a sound of greetings being shouted and laughter as the Konoha group that had gone to the Land of Hot springs returned.

Kushina gave herself a three-count and strode around the corner, affecting a casual look before her face flickered with surprise.

She stopped dead in her tracks at the shit eating grin on Tsume and her ninken’s face.

“Been there long?” Tsume growled knowingly as she tapped her nose.

“Shit!” Kushina swore only to readjust by lancing a finger into the other Kunoichi’s face. “I mean, fuck you! I was just stopping to admire the clouds and was walking by!” 

Tsume made a show of looking at the clear blue sky. “Uhuh, is that so? You’re pretty shit at lies for a kunoichi you know?”

Kushina growled. “Oh fuck off! Welcome home, and congratulations for becoming a chunin!” she said, dropping the attitude to give one of her friends the praise she deserved.

Tsume chuckled. “Heh, thanks. Sorry you didn’t get to compete. I think you’d have been promoted as well. Some of the competition was a joke.”

“Some of them?” called another voice and Kushina grinned as Mikoto slid up to them. “And remind me how far you got?” 

Tsume coughed something that sounded like ‘first round of the third stage..’ quietly, only for her to glare at Mikoto. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, it was a bad match up!” 

“Oh! Are you gonna fight? Go on do it! Throw down! You’re both Chunin now!” Kushina urged, making mock punching gestures.”Fight fight fight!” she cheered.

Mikoto and Tsume both gave her flat looks and she giggled. Mission accomplished! Her friend wouldn’t fight now! She cheered to herself. 

Tsume huffed. “Oh, by the way, your cousin is hot Kushina.”

Kushina blinked. Then she tilted her head and blinked again. “Uhmmm what?” she asked.

Mikoto glanced away in a far too casual manner. “She means Matsu Uzumaki, the Kiri Jonin responsible for teaching the Genin who won the entire event.” 

“Jonin?” Kushina repeated cluelessly. Was he old? No that didn’t make any sense!

Mikoto produced a black book with the word BINGO on front. Huh Mikoto had one of these? Neat! She hadn’t been allowed one despite it being a cool addition for some people. 

Guess that’s what she gets for spending most of her time trying to learn as much as she could from Mito rather than being out in the field.

Kushina flipped to the Kirigakure section only to find herself staring at a somewhat familiar face.

“Uncle Arashi?” she whispered.

Tsume blinked. “Ho shit? Is he actually your cousin?”

“I mean… he has the hair for it,” Kushina replied. “And we are a clan,” she added with a ‘you know how it is’ gesture, which earned nods from both girls.

Kushina’s eyes flicked over the list of skills. Medical Jutsu? Ninjutsu? Taijutsu? Advanced Tactics and Strategy? Poison user? Witnessed in the field in the Land of Wind during the Second Shinobi war? Youngest Jonin since Kirigakure’s founding? Rated as a B level threat?

“Is he strong?” she asked, her eyes flicking up to Mikoto and Tsume.

Both nodded. “He shrugged off a genjutsu from my cousin like it was nothing,” Mikoto supplied.

Kushina stiffened. “Wait, did Konoha get into a fight with Kiri forces? There’s been a rumour going around of a big battle!”

Tsume shook her head. “Nah. He got tested and swatted a runt down is all.” Mikoto shot Tsume a glare which the wilder girl ignored. “He was observed taking part in the fight though, only it wasn’t us and them. It was them and Iwa.”

Tsume leaned in. “The Mizukage and Tsuchikage got into a fight to the death. Only the Mizukage limped away!” 

A clawed tapped a finger on Matsu’s profile. “Thing is the Mizukage shouldn’t have managed even that! Except someone healed him up!” Tsume stated with a conspiratorial wink.

Kushina hissed in surprise. “Woooooah!” She stared at the picture of her cousin. Hmmm, he was kind of pretty like Minato but there was a slight ruggedness to him cause of how his nose wasn’t perfectly straight. 

Then something that the girls had said earlier registered. “Wait! You said a Kiri nin won the Exams? So that means Minato lost right?”

Tsume and Mikoto both blinked but nodded.

Kushina pumped her fist. “Ha! Suck it Minato! You cocky, pretty boy!” 

Mikoto slumped and Tsume chuckled. “You do realise it could be considered treason to support another Shinobi over one of ours, right?”

“Nuh uh! It’s just… teasing is all,” Kushina said with a dismissive flap of her hand.

 She began to lean to the side, going first to the left, and then to the right. “So where is he? I need to rub it in his face! If I’d been there, I’d have won the whole thing!” 

Tsume chuckled and pointed down the street. “He’s probably gone to mope; he was pretty down after everything went down.”

That caused Kushina to lose some of the wind in her sails. “Eh? He was sad? He’s usually so…” she pretended to make a cool face.

“Constipated?” Tsume asked.

Kushina kicked some dirt at her friend. “No, he’s got this look that makes it look like he’s coasting through life!”

Mikoto huffed a laugh as Kushina turned. “Come on, I need to rub his loss in his face!”

Minato wasn’t hard to find. His sunflower yellow blond hair stood out as he walked rather slowly down the road. Kushina intercepted him with a grin. “Sooo I heard you lost?”

“Hmmm, oh hello, Kushina,” Minato replied blandly with a fixed smile that was lacking any of his usual sparkle.

Kushina stared at him. “Oh wow, it’s worse than I thought. Here, let’s get some ramen!” she said, bumping him into the Ichiraku ramen stand.

Minato gave her a dull look. “You want me to eat Ramen. Is this how you cheer people up?” 

“Nope! I just want to enjoy the gloating twice as much!” she said as she gave an order for three ramen bowls for herself and two more for her friends. “It’s your shout for this, remember cause you lost the bet!”

Minato huffed. “I’m pretty sure that was a one-sided agreement with you shouting that if I lost I owed you a bowl of ramen.” He glanced at Old man Ichiraku. “A single bowl,” he remarked.

“Hmmmm is that how you remember it?” Kushina said, claiming her favourite stool which let her watch the ramen get made. “Guess you’re not as smart as you thought. Makes sense considering you lost.”

Tsume and Mikto claimed their own seats, watching Minato stand there awkwardly. 

Old man Ichiraku, with his white moustache twitching with amusement, held out his hand for payment.

Minato sighed and added another bowl to the order, but handed over the money. 

Kushina smirked. Hehe! Perfect! She hadn’t agreed to anything if he’d won, so this worked out perfect for her. 

Minato sat in his chair with a slump, causing Kushina to feel… a tiny bit bad.

“What’s crawled up your butt and died?” she asked. “Don’t go expecting pity from me, that will make the ramen taste bad!” she declared.

Tsume huffed. “His toad died.”

Kushina blinked. “Eh?”

Mikoto snorted. “Minato realised that he had an advantage going into the fighting portion of the exams with the ability to summon toads. It was a jutsu that let him call up stronger warriors who could handle anything the others could throw at him.”

Kushina scowled. That sounded cheap!

Mikoto regaled Kushina with how Minato had skated past the first few rounds only for things to go wrong on the final day when he and his opponent got poisoned. 

“At that point, Mina Uchiha had been touted as the favourite only for her chakra control to be lost.” Mikoto looked particularly annoyed by this but Tsume just rolled her eyes.

“She fought hard, but Minato emerged the victor,” Mikoto said. “From there Midori Terumi was called in to fight, but the Aburame slotted to face her forfeited as he’d used up all of his swarm against the Iwa nin.”

“Wasted it getting vengeance,” Tsume muttered.

Mikoto nodded and Kushina flicked her eyes between the two. She’d have to hear more about that later, as it sounded interesting, but for now, she continued to slurp her ramen noodles quietly and listen.

“So, Minato and Midori end up getting dragged into a fight way earlier than most people were expecting due to Mu the Tsuchikage complaining. This resutled in Minato’s chakra control still being shot. He tried to summon a toad to compensate for it, only for it to fail. This happened a few times with Minato barely escaping, only to finally commit as much chakra as he could to the summon. And it worked cause he summoned this big toad that caught the Kiri kunoichi in its tongue, where it started to swallow her.”

Kushina paused in eating her noodles and shot Minato a look. That was gross, but okay, solid tactic, but something she’d tease Minato about later.

“Only for Midori not to quit and use this jutsu that she and other students of your cousin used to blow the Toad’s head off!” Tsume added in suddenly. 

Tsume made a swiping action with a clawed hand. “She rolled out of its corpse and beat Minato while he was still stunned!”

Kushina swallowed her meal and turned to Minato. “Sorry your frog died,” she said with a bow of her head.

“They're not… oh, whatever,” Minato said with a roll of his eyes.

Kushina eyed him.” So you’re sad you lost, and your summon died yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”

Minato eyed her. “I was going to train, but my sensei got called away for a long-term mission.”

“Eh, sounds like quitter talk,” Kushina replied. “Hey pops add another two ramen bowls to Minato’s tab!” she announced, ignoring the exasperated look from the boy while her friends tittered.

“Are you done?” he grunted.

Kushina shrugged. “Eh, I’ll call it a pouting tax! You’re bummed out cause you’re not doing anything worthwhile about your problem. Sometimes you can’t do nothing. Believe me I know!” 

She nodded and leaned back as she considered what to say next. Right now Mito, couldn’t leave her bed so all Kushina’s lessons had to be inside with her conditioning being handed off to cousin Tsunade. 

Speaking of which…

Kushina waved a hand about in front of her. “Sometimes there’s stuff in life you can't do anything about. Like this whole thing with my cousin living in a foreign Village and being a kick ass ninja that everyone’s going to want to beat up. It sucks! There’s going to be a line of other people looking to do it so I’ll have to wait until I get my shot at him to straighten him out!”

She raised a fist. “I’ll just give him a few of these and he’ll turn good!” she declared.

Tsume snorted into her bowl of ramen. “Man, I missed your brand of stupid Kushina. It sometimes almost makes sense!” 

“You mean my genius!” Kushina replied smugly as another bowl of ramen appeared before her. 

Mikoto shook her head. “Well, you’re going to have your work cut out for you. Matsu Uzumaki isn’t someone you can face head-on. He’s strong and more than able to handle a few blows.”

“So I’ll just be stronger! Then it won’t matter!’ Kushina replied with another dismissive wave of her hand.

“That’s your answer?” Minato chuckled. “Don’t worry about the small stuff and get stronger?” he asked.

Kushina pointed at him. “This guy gets it, now pay your tab you bum!” she crowed.

Minato chuckled, but he paid. Oddly enough, he had a glint in his eyes now. “Thanks for the pep talk Kushina. I needed this.”

Kushina glanced around the side of her bowl as he swaggered away. What part of what she’d said had been a pep talk?

She glanced at Tsume, who shrugged. “Eh, boys are still dumb.”

Mikoto just sighed and shook her head.

Kushina shrugged and went back to her ramen. It was good that she had a cousin… who was alive, and that he was strong. 

But he was now on her list of people she had to beat up to make a name for herself!

Didn’t matter how strong he got, it would just make it all the more impressive when she beat him up!

And then afterwards she might treat him to some ramen if he was good.

She finished her bowl and nodded. It was a plan she could believe in!

She just knew when she told Granny Mito about it later, she’d love it!

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A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support!

I hope you enjoyed this insight into Minato and Kushina with the various interactions and insights into the world around them.