The Tales of a Loved Ninja

Chapter Two

"Minato!" Jiraiya pulled him into a hug; you could see the smile spread deeply across his face.

Minato and Kushina had been inseparable for years; it came to no surprise of the village when they finally got married. You were surprised that the village wasn't in complete celebration of Kushina's pregnancy, but you hadn't heard a single person talk about it – not even Kakashi had said anything to you.

"Congratulations." You smiled at Kushina; you couldn't help but feel slightly awkward being here considering how significant this news was – and it wasn't like you were close with Minato or Kushina, you were just a teacher who happened to be dating the Fourth Hokage's sensei.

Jiraiya moved from the bear hug he was giving Minato and ran over to Kushina – placing his hands delicately on her plump stomach. You could see the slight glisten in his eyes as he spoke quietly to her; you could only imagine the advice he was giving her.

Minato walked over to you, "I'm sorry – this is probably a bit awkward for you." He laughed and moved his hands behind his head, stretching. "I, however, do have to ask a favor of you."

You migrated your attention away from Kushina and Jiraiya and turned to Minato, "Of course, Lord Fourth – what do you need?"

His face brightened up, "You can call me Minato here (y/n), no need to be so formal." He gave you a smile before continuing, "We can't let the village find out about Kushina's pregnancy so I must ask you that you keep this news between the four of us."

You nodded your head in agreement, "Of course, Minato. I can do that." You couldn't help but be curious as to why it was to be kept a secret, but you assumed if you needed to know that you would be told.

Kushina's laughter filled the room as Jiraiya turned away from her and walked towards the two of you. Minato gave you a slight nod of contentment and walked back over to Kushina, placing his arm gently around her back and whispering something into her ear.

"Isn't this great?" Jiraiya was beaming as he made his way back over to you.

"Mhm, it'll be fun to have a little Hokage running around the village." He threw his arms around you, placing you into a big hug; even picking you up slightly off the ground.

"Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes if you guys want to go ahead and settle at the table." Kushina smiled at the two of you, beaming with joy, before heading back to the kitchen.

Jiraiya leads the way to the dining room, pulling one of the chairs out to allow you to sit down first. He then took the chair beside you, Minato pulling out a chair across from him.

The atmosphere in the house had changed drastically since you first walked in; the once nervous energy had been completely replaced with the feeling of joy and celebration. You couldn't help but start smiling; even though you still found it awkward to be one of the very few people in the village to know of her pregnancy – the idea of a small Minato and Kushina running around was exciting. Plus, there was a chance that you would get to teach him once he got old enough to join the academy and you could only imagine that the child would be an incredible shinobi considering his parents.

You looked up at Minato to find him flipping through pages of a book; you tried to look closer at the cover and immediately noticed the author's name.

"Is that Jiraiya's book?" You looked at Jiraiya smiling, and then back at Minato.

"Yep! Tales of a Gutsy Ninja." He closed up the book and held it out to you, "Have you read it already?"

You happily took it from him, "No. He said he would get me a copy soon, but I haven't even been able to see it in person yet." You couldn't help but find yourself flipping through the pages.