Baby of Mine ~Naruto short-story~

It hadn't been the best of days, and as far as Kushina was concerned it couldn't get any worse. Those kids in her class... It wasn't fair... It's not like she chose to have this hair. It was a common trait where she was from. But they just had to keep poking fun at her every which way. They always made her so angry! She looked down at the road as she thought about the boy she had mercilessly beat the snot out of. It's just that she had had enough of it all!

And it didn't help at all that one of the only people who didn't poke fun at her was laughing when they called her names. She had caught him red handed today and could remember the guilty face that Minato had shown. Why would he be guilty though? Or did he just not want to get beat up too? Yeah that sounded about right. So why did it seem to make her even more angry?

Kushina found herself jogging a bit, wanting to get home faster, and maybe so she could literally run away from her unwanted thoughts and problems. But the boy she had gotten into a fight with earlier stepped out with a terrible smirk, causing her to stop and glare a moment. What, did he want some more of something? But out from behind him came an older boy. An older boy who sported a Haite-ate. Kushina stood her ground though, even as the older boy stepped forward.

"So, you're the one that's always making my little brother cry?" He asked.

She pointed an accusing finger. "That's because he's always messing with me, ya know. Even though he's just a whimp."

The older boy looked down at his brother who looked away. But that didn't mean the older boy was going to stop. "I'm a genin. Pretty awesome huh? I have to teach the bad people who bully my little brother a lesson." He popped his knuckles and Kushina took off, hopping through the trees in an attempt to get away. But the genin was fast and even threw a kunai knife at her.

But Kushina wouldn't let that bother to much. She pushed off the tree where the kunai had stuck and rammed him with her arm. As she landed though she watched the genin hit the ground and disappear. A substitution! Quickly she turned around only to receive a hard backhand across the face and be kicked to the ground. The genin grabbed her by a fist full of her hair.

"Can't you even recognize a substitution jutsu? Looks like you're just a brat." Kushina gritted her teeth from the pain. "Man this thing is red. It looks like thread, all stiff and starchy. This hair is an eyesore!"

"Serves you right!" The little brat laughed.

Finally though, Kushina allowed her tears to fall. "I... I... I hate this hair too!" She screamed she stood and pulled forward, ignoring the pain from her hair being pulled. Finally, the strands in the genin's hand snapped and she truned, kicking, punching, sending him to the ground. As she beat at him she continued to let her tears fall. "But even if I don't like it, it's a part of me! There's no helping it, is there!" The little brat turned tail and ran as he watched his older brother being beaten by Kushina. Finally she got off the genin and whipped at her eyes.

"Outsider!" He yelled, throwing her hair strands at her face. "As if an outsider can become Hokage!" And he to turned and left. She knew what she was, she didn't need him telling her that. Looking upward, Kushina found that Minato had been watching the entire time from a perch in the tree, adding to her anger.

"So, you won't help me cause I'm an Outsider?!" She yelled. Minato was taken aback by her outburst and attempted to put in his reasoning for not helping her. But she wouldn't listen. "You think so too, don't you!" With that in the air, Kushina ran, ran as fast as she could away from him, away from what happened, away from her hurt feelings. But as she ran she crashed into someone, a very small someone.

The little girl was no older than six, with a thick mane of straight black hair that spilled and tangled with Kushina's red hair on the ground. As they both sat up, grimacing from the pain of the impact, the little girl quickly took in the color of the hair of the girl next to her and brightened. "Ahh! Pretty!" She gushed, crawling over and reaching for some of Kushina's hair, wanting to play with it. Kushina defended herself from the child when she saw what she was after. But the little girl only wanted to play with it and kept reaching for it. Eventually, Kushina let her grab hold of her hair. She's such a small kid, what could she do anyway.