Naruto:Blast to the Past

Chapter 37: Pleasure before Duty

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"Hmm…."- Bijuu
"Hmm…."- Flashback

Chapter 37:
Pleasure before Duty

Kushina was not a happy girl at the moment. But that was evident by the frown that was etched on her face. It had nothing to do with her team either. For the most part, they had been working on becoming more open to one another as per their sensei's request. The training still sucked, though. At least to Kushina it did. It was pretty much only team building exercises. That wasn't to say that they didn't work on their individual skills. Because they did. But it was mostly the former. And to Kushina, it felt like she wasn't going anywhere. That was why she put twice the effort on her training whenever she had the time at her house. They did have a training dojo and a specious backyard in which to do so. It was one of the benefits of being part of a shinobi family.

But none of that really mattered to Kushina at the moment. She was much more concerned with what she had learned a few days ago since Naruto and his team returned from their mission. And that was the fact that Naruto and Aika were now dating. Kushina had no idea how that could have happened, but it had. And worse, it left her with this foul mood, something that she still couldn't comprehend. She couldn't like that idiot. There was just no way. Even so, she was mad, especially at Aika. And there was no other explanation for this other than that. That didn't mean that she had to accept it…..right?

It was something that Kazumi picked up on as she stood behind her sitting daughter in the same place where she and Naruto had had tea after he had fought Kaito. The woman was here for two reasons. One of them was to console her daughter since she could already see what was troubling her. Her daughter hadn't wanted to explain anything to her the last time that she had asked, but Kazumi was sharp. It didn't take that much thinking to figure it out. The other reason, though…..

"Do you want to talk about it?" the Uzumaki matriarch asked in a soft tone as she sat down next to her only daughter.

Kushina didn't respond as she stared aimlessly at the clouds up in the sky. It was around noon, but no one was home right now other than them. Her father was at the office as usual with Naruto and Kaito having left the house early since this was their first day off ever since they had become a team. Usually it meant that they could sleep in, but apparently they each had things to do that required them to be up and about at such an early hour.

Looking at her mother a moment later, Kushina realized that she was the one person whom she couldn't lie to about this, no matter how much she wanted to.

"It's just not fair….."

Kazumi sighed, both in relief and sadness. Relief because her daughter was being truthful to her and sadness because she had to go through this. Kazumi didn't know how to feel about this really. As far as she was concerned, she saw no problems if Naruto and her daughter did date. Even if she had come to love the young blond as her own, Kazumi realized that biologically he was not her son. And by default, he wasn't biologically Kushina's brother. Her husband, though…he would probably freak out. But that was true for any boy that Kushina decided to date. So it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But…

"It might not be fair," Kazumi began, choosing her words carefully, "but this was something that Naruto chose as well. You have to see things from his perspective, honey. As far as he's concerned, you're not interested in him that way. You didn't eaxctly express your feeling all that well."

Kushina knew that that was true. In the academy, anyone in her class could see that Aika had feelings for Naruto. Even if she was just as friendly with Haru, the other girls could see that she didn't shine the same way as when she was with the whiskered blond. Nor did she really care to hide it all that much either, even if she thought that she did. As far as they could see it anyway. Kushina, however, preferred to always keep some distance between her and the blond. They were good friends at home, but at the academy they had gone their separate ways. But that was just an impulse on Kushina's part. That impulse had caused this moment, though. And she didn't like it.