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The Bento Incident

The bento box was cute. It had pieces of fruit and vegetables shaped into little animals both real and imagined placed into scenes, onigiri carefully handled and seasoned with different flavours, and lots of fish to help fuel a shinobi throughout the day. Kushina stared at a particularly cute apple rabbit that was giving her the evil eye. One ear looked slightly bigger than the other and she debated if it was worth making a new one. She glanced at the clock and frowned. Not enough time.

Washing her hands, she tried to think of anything else she could put into the box. It was a new bento box too. A fancy one. With lacquer and gold and etchings and everything. Kushina had the Umino import it from one of the best artists she could find on the eastern coast. It had cost a small fortune- she had to live off of dried fish and rice for a month just to save up enough money.

And this particular lunch?

This was for Minato.

She hadn’t gotten around to removing the pile of discard fruit and onigiri on the counter that weren’t quite perfect enough to go into this bento. Hopefully, it would only have to be this perfect once.

Silently, she set the layers one on top of the other. The cloth she had chosen to wrap it in was covered in the Uzumaki swirls and was distinct to anyone in her family. They would understand when they saw it and hopefully not say anything until after she had gotten a response out of Minato.

After all, this beautiful bento was a marriage proposal.

In the old days, before Uzushio’s fall, her entire family would have prepared a feast. Then Minato and his family would come and Kushina would show how awesome she would be as a partner. Overall, it was a demonstration that Kushina would be a good head of the family she hoped to have with Minato.

But times had changed. Neither her or Minato had a family. Her parents died with Uzushiogakure, a pain dulled by time but never truly gone, and Minato had never known his parents. The custom was adapted and the giving of a bento box deemed appropriate. If accepted, it was a promise. A promise that as head of the family, she would always provide for her family and husband. Something only family got.

Tying the last knot, Kushina looked up when a blurry-eyed, yawning Obito stumbled into the kitchen space. He froze when he saw the carefully prepared bento and the pile of misshapen fruit and vegetables beside it. Blinking his one good eye, a faint smile crossed his face, “Huh.”

Kushina flushed and turned to her ward, “What?” She growled.

Wisely, Obito’s hands shot up in the universal ‘I mean no harm’. “Nothing! I’m just glad one of you is making a move, Kushina-nee. The doe-eye thing you two had going on was starting to get annoying.” He side-stepped, never turning his back on her, until he reached the other bento box she had made and snatched it. “Good luck!” and vanished into Kamui, the jackass.

“What did I say about using Kamui in the apartment!” Kushina grumbled to thin air. One of these days she was going to set her apartment a hair out of alignment in either time or space so Obito couldn’t friggin’ do that. It wouldn’t be that hard, either, she was closing in on the seals she’d need to do it. All Kushina really had left to do is pick a dimension she wanted to mess with and hope she didn’t punch a new hole in the universe as she did it. The thought occupied her mind as she grabbed the fancy bento and made her way to Team Minato’s favourite training ground.

Kushina didn’t do nervous. But her stomach rolled like it did before a big fight, the life and death kind, as she walked, her mind no longer focused on the ramifications of adjusting time and space or how it could affect her plants. What if Minato wasn’t there? What if he had already brought a lunch with him today- not that he ever did, his cooking skills were non-existent, but what if?

What if Minato didn’t want it?

It wasn’t unreasonable. Kushina was not a dainty, delicate woman the people of Konoha seemed to prefer. Even Mikoto had changed from the dangerous, deadly kunoichi Kushina could trust to have her back since their other teammate was useless and thought boys were better than girls. Now she was just a so-called dutiful wife and stay-at-home mother. Baby Itachi was adorable, but adorable enough to give up such a promising career as a battle kunoichi of Konoha? A jounin no less. Kushina remained unconvinced even though she knew it put a strain on her friendship with Mikoto.

But Minato was not the average Konoha citizen. For starters, he liked fuinjutsu, and understood them better than anyone outside of the Uzumaki; most people wrote the discipline off after explosion seals. He respected her, and her skills, and when he looked at her, he saw her and smiled at her regardless of her status as a foreigner and refugee. Heck, when they had a quiet moment together, he loved running his fingers through her long, bright red hair. The same hair others scorned and called the colour of fresh blood.

So, no. Minato was not average.

Her sandals hit the grass of training ground 7, just in time to watch Kakashi and Obito land a combo hit on Minato, held in place with some creative use doton courtesy of Rin. The ‘Minato’ vanished into a poof of smoke though, so while his team was getting better they weren’t quite there yet.

She glanced beside her to her boyfriend, who’s team still hadn’t caught on to her arrival, “They’re getting good.” Kushina said.

Minato grinned, bright and proud, hands resting in the pockets of his jounin vest. “Yeah. Their teamwork has come a long way from last year.” The smiled faded, just a little. “When I officially become Hokage, I won’t have much time for them. I hope I’ve prepared them enough.”

“Eh. Obito’s a cockroach, and no one will be able to kill him and even if they do I’ll know about it and take care of them myself.” She nodded to Rin, acting as peacemaker between her teammates as an argument broke out, “She’s a jinchuriki. Enough said there. And Kakashi’s too stubborn to die.”

“That shouldn’t have made me feel better.” Minato replied. Kushina shrugged, and slipped in a kiss on his cheek. He blushed and that stupid boyish grin of his returned.

“Here.” Kushina added, vaguely aware of the shouting increasing from the rest of Team Minato, and held up her fancy bento marriage proposal. “For you.”

The blond blinked in surprise and accepted and Kushina’s heart did not do a double backflip, nope. “For me? Thank you, Kushina. You didn’t have to do that.” He peered down at the bright blue cloth with red swirls.

The shouts were getting louder, until the sound of chirping birds was clearly present and Rin was screaming, “Sensei! They’re trying to kill each other! Again!”

Minato’s jounin face fell into place, he handed the bento back, and dashed to his youngest student while Rin was already on route to Obito, and there really wasn’t much hope for the training ground’s survival.

Kushina blinked once. Then twice. Before finally she let her gaze drop to the bento that had been returned to her. The perfect bento. The one she had gotten up at 4 to make for Minato. Her stomach dropped out and blood pounded in her ears. He had given it back. He had given it back. She swallowed thickly, ignoring the distant sounding shouts, and flash-stepped away.

She had been wrong.

He didn’t want her after all.

It was Mikoto who found her a week later in a darkened room. The Uchiha matriarch, like the good friend she was, took one look at the disaster that was Kushina’s living room, the empty instant ramen packets beside an overflowing garbage can, the dead houseplant in the corner, before crossing the floor - side-stepping some waylaid sealing materials- and flinged the curtains open. She turned, arms crossed, and beautiful face stern, to the pile of unrolled scrolls that came at least waist height on the petite woman and covered most of the floor. “Uzumaki. Come out before I make you.”

The pile shifted, and it let out a muffled, “No. Go away.”

Mikoto was a good friend though. Her eyes narrowed, and hints of red flickered in them for just a moment. “Don’t make me come get you.”

The scrolls didn’t move.

“Worse than a toddler,” Mikoto murmured to herself. She eyed the pile. A well placed Katon jutsu would take care of most of it and Kushina was fast enough that she wouldn’t be burned. Though, if those were scrolls on sealing and Mikoto burned them, Kushina would never let it go. Mikoto would be subjected to pouting and fake tears and other uncouth behaviour from the Uzumaki until she caved and took Kushina to Ichiraku’s or something. She’d have to think of something else.

There was one scroll that seemed wound around the others, perhaps the first one that had been opened. Finding one end, and then the other, Mikoto gave a chakra-reinforced heave and pulled the entire pile of scrolls off of her friend and tossed the knotted mess to the side.

Kushina hissed at the sudden loss of her makeshift shelter, and at the sunshine that blinded her for a moment batting at the light like it would make it go away. “Ugh! Mikoto! You’re so mean!”

Mikoto raised a brow and crossed her arms again, as if she was dealing with her toddler. Though Itachi was probably already better behaved at two than Kushina was as an adult. “I did warn you.” Her stern expression softened, “Obito, told me what happened.”

With a sudden sniffle, Kushina lowered the hand she had put up to block the sunlight in her eyes. Her red hair was mussed and probably knotted- a wayward ink brush was sticking out at an odd angle, and her face was red and blotchy, tear tracks clearly visible. The pajamas she wore had interesting combination of ramen broth and ink stains on it, and the slight shakes the woman had suggested Kushina had gone on a seal-creation bender instead of sleeping. “He gave the bento back.” Kushina said lamely.

Kushina was clearly not in a condition to hear the explanations Mikoto had lined up on why, in Konoha, using a bento to propose was a bad idea. The Uchiha sighed, and offered a hand, “Come on, let’s get you showered and dressed.”

“Why are you even here?” Kushina grumbled halfheartedly, taking the hand and pulling herself up. She looked even more rumpled standing and had, somehow, lost one of her slippers.

“Obito was worried. Particularly after he discovered he couldn’t Kamui into your apartment.” Mikoto raised a brow, “I don’t suppose that was because of whatever it was you were working on?”

The Uzumaki snorted, a bit of fire returning to her violet eyes. “I told him to stop doing that and he didn’t listen, so now I fixed it so he can’t. He has to use the window like everyone else.” Mikoto casted a wary look to her friend, and Kushina smirked, brushed a finger under her nose and with no small degree of cockiness said, “I took my apartment a step out of time. ‘Cause Obito-chan can only move through space, it frigs him up a bit.”

Mikoto gave a deep sigh as she pushed her friend into the small bathroom of the apartment, “Of course you did, Kushina. Why should I expect anything else?”

Obito stared at the apple slice, then back to the photo in the library book he had ‘borrowed’. The apple slice was supposed to look like a rabbit, like the one in the book. His looked like it was a rabbit that had died, come back to life, only to die again. He rubbed the palm of his hand into his face, and opened his eye again to confirm, yes, the apple slice still looked like a zombie rabbit. With a quick bat of his human hand, the rabbit flew to join the rest of its peers in the trash can of Kakashi’s apartment.

“Mah- I hope Mikoto-san is having better luck than I am.” Obito sighed again. Kushina made making bento boxes look easy- though the last time he had seen his adoptive big sister, she looked torn between bawling her eyes out and murdering someone- with Obito’s luck, it would have been him. As any promising shinobi would have when faced with a stronger opponent and no good reason to fight, Obito turned tail and fled.

Fleeing had been easy. Getting back in, as it turned out, was significantly more challenging. Trust Kushina to figure out how to stop a flippin’ super-awesome, god-like ability just out of spite.

He pulled another apple from the bag, and started slicing. “Okay. One more time, Obito. You got this. It’s just a cute rabbit apple slice. For Kushina-nee.”

He just had to wrap his practicing before the bastard got home from his mission. And then he had to figure out how to get Minato-sensei to present it to Kushina.

Even though he was sure this whole mess was Kakashi’s fault, Obito had to fix it.

The marketplace in Little Uzushio had blossomed at the end of the war, with more and more citizens of Konoha discovering the treasures and wares. It was a little unfortunate in a way, it felt like the atmosphere was being impeded on by the citizens brushing off the way the Uzushio merchants were inquiring about their health and families. It was customary for a new customer to receive a gift, and the merchant expected one back, because it was better to do business with friends than strangers Kushina had explained once to him with a shrug. Only many citizens didn’t come prepared to give a gift, and unintentionally soured a relationship before it had a chance to start. Maybe signage would help curb these slights against the Little Uzushio merchants- or a booklet even.

Most of the merchants knew him by sight now and waved their greetings. Minato nodded to each one as he saw them, but didn’t pause in his looking around. He did stop by his favorite fish stall with an attached grilling station- where a fresh catch of seafood would be carefully skewered - and they had fresh mackerel today. “Ah, Ikkaku-san! How are you doing?”

The brown-haired Umino blinked, before grinning up at him from under the shade of the stall’s cover, setting down his wooden tray of ice. “Hey, Minato-san! Haven’t seen you in a while, how have you been? Here for your usual?”

“Yes, please.” Minato sighed and eyed the whirling wave of the Umino clan on the back wall, “I’ve been busy. How about you? How is Iruka-kun making out in the academy?”

With a roll of his eyes, the fishmonger pulled out a special blend of spices that still had a great deal of flavour but lacked the heat of the usual Uzushio recipes to coat the skewered mackerel, “Oh. You know. Just pranking all the teachers. And the assistants. And anyone who happens to be walking by.” With a shake of his head, Ikkaku expertly set the spiced fish over the coals, “It’s getting to the point his mother and I are a little scared to ask him how his day went at school.”

Minato had actually been in the Hokage’s Office with Hiruzen when one such target, the headmaster for the academy, stormed into the room covered in eggs and flour, dragging Iruka by the scruff behind him. The meeting didn’t go well. Particularly when Hiruzen asked what evidence the headmaster had to prove it was Iruka and none could be provided. Afterall, the kid had learned from his first chew-out from the Hokage. Biting back his grin, Minato offered, “Well, he is going to be a great shinobi one day.” Adapt any of his pranks for more lethal means and Iruka’s career looked bright. Provided Iruka stopped telling people his feats.

“You really think so?” Ikkaku asked hopefully, flipping the skewers over to grill the other side, “Mah, that’s reassuring to hear that from you, Minato-san. Gives a father hope, you know.”

It made Minato uncomfortable to have a civilian give so much weight to his words, almost as much weight as a shinobi under his command would give. He smiled softly at the fishmonger, before blinking, “Ikkaku-san, have you seen Kushina lately?”

The brunette shook his head, handing the skewers over to Minato and accepting payment. “Sorry, I haven’t Kushina-hime lately. Maybe ask Mito-oba-sama? She is usually making her rounds in the market by now.”

“If I see her, I’ll ask. Thank you!” The first bite of fish was hot enough it almost burned Minato’s tongue, but oh so good. With each bite the fish flaked, perfectly cooked, and the skin was crispy and clean-tasting with hints of oak smoke. He had never been able to identify all the spices in any vendor’s food, merchants and food vendors could keep a secret as well as any shinobi Minato had met, but Ikkaku’s always seemed to taste the best. Even without the heat.

Finishing the fish, Minato tossed the sticks into a local garbage can and took the opportunity to observe the market. The lunchtime crowds hadn’t quite started, but the uptake on people was noticeable. There was a bubble though and it moved slowly through the crowd, the people parted before it like waves on a rock.

Minato knew of exactly one person who was afforded such unspoken respect. He slipped through the throng of people, and came up beside her.

Uzumaki Mito hadn’t changed much since he first met her years ago. Her hair had a few new streaks of grey in the darken maroon, and she used a hardwood cane, inscribed with seals. But her back was straight, and her eyes clear behind the small spectacles. Grey eyes glanced at him, assessed, then dismissed him in equal measure.

His lips twitched- just as he thought; being the successor to the mantle of Hokage just wasn’t enough to impress Mito. “Mito-oba-sama. It is good to see you well.”

“Minato-chan,” she replied gravely, “It is good to see you again. Hiruzen-chan says you are doing well with your new responsibilities.”

“I am fortunate to have his guidance.” Minato replied honestly, thinking of his predecessors, elected to a village in turmoil and war, their own predecessor dead or dying. Yes, Minato was lucky- there was a transition plan this time and hopeful it would prevent the power-grabbing that had taken place following the Shodaime and Nidaime’s reigns. He’d have to clean house when he came up- Danzo was proving himself to be a nuisance, always ready to lend a hand or provide an unwanted opinion and almost always around when Hiruzen was imparting important knowledge.

Then there were the elders- voices of wisdom from a different time. Hiruzen’s old teammates which had its own challenges. They would still have sway and influence- things that Minato would have to wrestle away from them very carefully. Assuming he could manage that in a timely fashion, he would then have to replace them. Mito would be an obvious choice…

“Hmm. I know that look.” Mito said suddenly, turning off the street to the bench hidden between stalls and taking a seat. She gestured for Minato to sit. He did. “My late husband always wore it after a council meeting. Or if the Senju elders were pestering him about something- usually me.”

It was hard to picture anyone objecting to Mito. “Really?” Minato asked, eyes out on the crowds moving in front of him. They seemed to not notice the duo sitting on the bench- odd considering how well known he was and that everyone in Little Uzushio always seemed to have a question for Mito to answer. Stretching his senses, he felt the work of seals- likely for concealment- probably hidden in the engravings of the bench’s legs. The way the Uzumaki chose to use their workings would never cease to amaze Minato.

Mito scoffed gracefully, “Of course. It was a different time, or perhaps not that different at all, and even though the Senju clan had arranged the marriage they were surprised I insisted on keeping my name as it is. I am an Uzumaki, and Uzumaki women always keep their name and their opinions.”

That casted a different light upon Mito’s marriage to Hashirama. Was that what he had to look forward to with Kushina? Kushina in a room with the elders? Oh boy. It was probably wrong of Minato to be excited to see that showdown. “The more I learn about the Uzumaki clan.” Minato said wistfully. “I’m not sure Konoha is ready to see Kushina face off with the elders.”

With a turn of her head, Mito frowned softly at him before it vanished. “You wish to marry Kushina-chan?”

“If she’ll have me.” Minato said, leaning back against the bench, “I can’t imagine being with anyone else- or wanting to. There’s no one else I’d rather have watch my back, in the field or council meeting.” He finished with a smile. “I was hoping to see her today, but I can’t seem to find her.”

“Hmm.” Mito said softly. “Did you know, Minato-chan, that many of Uzushio traditions are centered around food? All the major life celebrations have a corresponding meal for our people. Dinners are the most common- great feasts and other displays of the clan’s ability to support their members. Though Uzushiogakure became a coastal nation with strong trade, there was a time when food was scarce on the island. The land was difficult for growing, and fisherman had to compete with nature for their catch.

“In such conditions, food was used to show favour within and between families. A demonstration of who was prosperous and who was not. Though we no longer have to struggle to find food, the mentality never fully left our people.” Mito paused, standing up with a creak of bones. “Have a good day, Minato-chan.”

She started her shuffle back into the crowd, leaving Minato behind feeling like he had missed something very important.

“Okay- this is getting ridiculous, baka.” Kakashi declared upon his arrival into his kitchen, ANBU armour covered in dirt, and blood.

Obito, facedown on the floor, surrounded by even more library cookbooks opened to various recipes, grunted. He lifted up his head and flopped it on side to look at his teammate. “That’s it. I’ve doomed them. I won’t be able to fix this.”

Kakashi frowned and crouched down beside the Uchiha, poking him once, “What are you talking about?”

With surprising speed the Uchiha sat and up gripped his teammate by his vest, as if to shake him. Kakashi was kind enough to let him. “The bento box! Sensei gave it back! It’s hopeless!” Obito said, an alligator tear in his eye.

With a raised brow, and a taijutsu move that had definitely been picked up from Gai, Obito was flat out on the floor again with Kakashi pinning him. “Oi! Let me go, you bastard! I have to fix this!”

“Fix what?” Kakashi was unmoved. “And what does a bento have to do with it?”

“It’s Uzushio tradition! Kushina-nee was trying to propose to sensei with the bento box, the one he had to hand back because you were being an asshole!” Obito squirmed, “She thinks he doesn’t want to marry her!”

Silence reigned in the kitchen a long time before Kakashi helpful broke it, “If a bento box is a marriage proposal, how would you making a bento box help?”

“If sensei gives her a bento box, he is proposing to her!” Obito said, and gave up on getting free this time. He’d just have to get Kakashi back next time, as usual. “But sensei can’t cook, so if I make the bento he can take it and give it to Kushina-nee.”

Kakashi nodded in consideration before going straight for the kill. “Obito, you idiot. You can’t cook either.” He stood up, waiting until Obito was on his feet to add, “But Rin can.”

Alright. Kushina could admit that Itachi, all of two, was adorable- particularly if he was mimicking Fugaku’s serious expression. The kid was already showing signs that he would take after his mother in terms of looks, thank the goddesses. It wasn’t that Fugaku was ugly or anything, it was just that he was… Fugaku.

But the stay-at-home mom thing Mikoto had going on made a whole lot more sense when Kushina realized her friend was actually running things in the Uchiha compound. During Kushina’s short stay there a steady stream of Uchiha of coming and going with complaints, bills, and conflicts requiring a ruling- all of which Mikoto handled with her usual grace and Fugaku’s forged signature.

After wrestling an agreement to spar out of her friend, Kushina made her way out of the Uchiha compound. She waved as she passed various Uchiha, shockingly they waved back so her ‘adoption’ of Obito had apparently been mostly forgiven.

There was only a handful of side streets to traverse between an entrance to the compound and the marketplace that the Uzushio merchants had set up, and Kushina expertly weaved her way through the crowds. Her apartment needed a clean, and she still had to pick something up for supper, and she should probably track down Obito and drag him home.

None of her relatives whispered to each other as she passed by, they clearly weren’t aware of what had happened. Kushina figured that was for the best, she really didn’t want to explain to her aunties why her relationship of two-years had gone down the drain.

Why did he hand it back?

He hadn’t seemed the type to just have a fling, and when he started asking her for her opinion about whether or not he should accept the mantle of Hokage, she thought he was serious about them. About their future. Had she really been that wrong about him?

“Kushina!” She blinked and turned to face the man who dumped her. Minato was smiling, wearing that boyish grin of his like everything was right in the world. Like he hadn’t handed her proposal back to her.

The anger came back swiftly and all the tea and calmness Mikoto had been beaten into her flew out the window. Kushina scowled, stopping him cold in his tracks, smile faded. “Namikaze.” She greeted.

Minato flinched like she’d hit him. Good. “Kushina?”

Anger coloured her vision. He was going to pretend everything was alright between them? After he rejected her out of hand? Yeah. Like Kushina was going to let that stand. The Kyuubi grumbled his approval in the back of her mind. “I have somewhere to be.”

She stepped around him and kept going.

Minato was going to regret this. He hadn’t even asked yet and he already regretted thinking about asking. But it wasn’t like there were many people he could talk to about it.

The look Kushina gave him when finally managed to find her- and since when did she call him, ‘Namikaze’, like she was an Uchiha or Hyuuga? Sure, he had been busy these past few weeks… months, but they had talked about that when he was being considered for the position of Hokage. 

She had been so angry- well past the safe angry that was shouts and arm-waving to show her displeasure. Just a cool, simmering anger she normally reserved for Kiri shinobi- right before she gave them a very, very bad day.

Above all that though, Kushina looked hurt.

So there he was, outside of the bathhouses, wondering if it was too late to turn around. Or if there was any other way to fix this- whatever ‘this’ was. Probably not on both accounts.

The spiky white hair was unmistakable, particularly when it came from out of a bush and was accompanied by giggles. Minato couldn’t quite bite back his sigh, as he added loud enough for the area to hear. “Peeking is unbecoming for a shinobi of your calibre, Sensei.”

There was a screech from inside the woman’s side of the bath house, and sounds of hurried splashing abounded, and Minato stood back and watched the chaotic race from the bathhouse with vague satisfaction. It would have been funny if not for the reason why he had to do it.

“Che-” Jiraiya grumped, standing up to his impressive height, putting his spyglass away, “Trust my ungrateful brat of a student to ruin a perfectly good research session.” He added with a sniff.

“Hello to you too, Sensei.” Minato said with a roll of his eyes, heart not quite in their usual banter. “I assure you I wouldn’t do it unless I had to.”

Jiraiya, despite his efforts to convince his enemies otherwise, was not stupid. He took one look at Minato’s face, narrowed his eyes and promptly put an arm around Minato’s shoulder pulled him close as if to pull him along to the nearest pub. The closest Jiraiya ever got to a hug. “Well, you have my attention, O’Ungrateful Student. You can keep it with a round of sake tonight!”

Oh yes. Minato regretted this already. 

The bento Rin had created was beautiful.

She had listened carefully when Obito explained his plight, and prevented Kakashi from taking off like a scared chicken, before chastising the both of them. “Honestly,” Rin grumbled loudly, and her chakra felt a little more like the Isobu’s as she cracked the heads off of the jumbo shrimp for tempura and Obito definitely wasn’t blushing at the sight of his teammate in an apron, “If you two weren’t so pig-headed, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Kakashi, sentenced to chop the vegetables into cute shapes, made an noncommittal sound.  Obito, banished to peeling potatoes in the corner, brandished the peeler like a pointer to Kakashi, “What he said.”

Rin scoffed, and stabbed a carrot. Under her watchful eye, the bento was completed and looked like it belonged in those library books Obito had ‘borrowed’ and left lying around Kakashi’s apartment. She wrapped it delicately- even knotting a handle in it- before kicking them both out of her apartment so she could go to work at T&I. It was a shame the Isobu’s chakra made Rin’s own chakra too unstable for medical work- she had the same bedside manner as the rest of the medics and would have been a great fit at the hospital.

So there Obito was- on top of the world. Newly-made bento in hand, heading to the Hokage Tower because that was where Minato could be found most days, confident that the situation between Kushina and his sensei was going to be resolved. Kakashi had bailed, considering his part in the matter finished, leaving Obito on his own.

He was passing the Academy, whistling as he meandered close to the wall, when he heard the sound of a wire releasing. Instinct flared before his mind had caught up, and Obito went to move anywhere but where he was.

This was a mistake.

The trap was doubled in a move Obito normally associated with the Uzumaki youngsters, and someone had taken into account the average person would move away from the wall when they heard something. Any other time, and Obito would have approved. As it was, Obito was unprepared to dodge the balloon full of glue and the following bag of feathers.

Sadly, the bento box wasn’t either.

Obito stared at the remains of Rin’s beautiful, perfect bento box. Now covered in glue and feathers and definitely no longer usable. He spat out a feather. In the back of his mind, he knew he was a sight, and that if that had been an enemy attack he would be dead. Again. But it all paled compared to the fact the bento was ruined.

The bento was ruined.

Umino Iruka was a dead man. Obito narrowed his eye, and turned to glare at the Academy as if it was the offending perpetrator, and debated his chances of a plea of insanity when the police force caught him for killing an academy student. “Eh- Obito. You okay there?”

Slowly, Obito turned back to Jiraiya, who was eying him warily and coming from the direction of the Hokage Tower. “The bento is ruined.” Obito said emotionlessly. “And Umino Iruka is a dead man.”

The Sannin wisely didn’t touch Obito and had enough sense not to comment on the feathers. Or laugh. The glue was the quality super-strength stuff and Obito felt it slowly harden on his skin. “Right.” Jiraiya said.

“The bento is ruined.” Obito repeated, not really paying attention to the other man. “Kushina-nee is never going to marry Sensei.”

Jiraiya’s gaze turned hawklike, and he frowned at the younger man. “Repeat that.”

Obito blinked slowly. “The bento is ruined.”

“Not that part.” Jiraiya scowled, “The other part. With Kushina-hime in it.”

“Oh. She’s never going to marry Sensei now.” Obito looked down at the feather coated box in his hands. “Because the bento is ruined.”

Jiraiya opened his mouth. Then closed it. He shook his head and tried again. “Why is that?”

“The bento-“ The Sannin slapped a hand over the Uchiha’s mouth.

“I got that part. Why does a ruined bento mean that Kushina-hime and my student are done?” Obito got a funny look in his eye and Jiraiya lifted his hand away before it got licked.

“Because,” Obito began, “Sensei handed Kushina’s bento box back to her when she offered him one.”

There was silence on the street as Jiraiya visibly paled. “When you say ‘offered him one’, you don’t mean The One?”

Obito shook his head. “It was The Bento. Kushina-nee got up at 4 am for it.”

With a sharp exhale through his nose, Jiraiya landed a hand on Obito’s shoulder- unheeding of the multi-coloured feathers and glue now sticking to him. “Obito: you need to tell me everything.”

“... And then he acted like nothing was wrong! Like he hadn’t just dumped me!” Kushina finished with a growl, landing a particularly harsh kick against Mikoto’s guard. The Uchiha didn’t flinch with the blow, only grunting with the effort of bracing. Snake-like, her other hand came round to grip Kushina’s outstretched leg and toss the Uzumaki away. Kushina recovered with a control tumble, coming up on her feet and ready to launch at her friend again.

Mikoto, sharingan whirling slowly and never wavering from Kushina- her friend had an out of the box approach to fighting and the sheer strength to pull off whatever hairbrain stunt the she had come up with- and kept her guard up. “Have you considered that Minato has never gotten a bento box from anyone?” The Uchiha offered.

“Well, that’s the whole point!” Kushina countered, dashing forward, “If anyone else was giving him bento, we'd be having a very different conversation, ya know!”

It was a quick taijutsu battle from there- Kushina’s form was rough and unrefined, but startlingly effective against the unprepared. Mikoto was not unprepared though, and her taijutsu was strong enough to give Kushina trouble.

“No, Kushina.” Mikoto said, tossing her friend on to her back, settling a hand on her hip, “I mean, you’ve said he is an orphan. His parents would have never made him a bento. He just thinks that a bento is a lunch and not something special. And certainly not as special as the Uzumaki make them.”

“... You think so?” Kushina huffed, blowing her bangs from out of her eyes. “But then why give it back? He’s a good enough shinobi he could have held it and stopped Kakashi-chan and Obito-chan.”

Mikoto rolled her eyes. “That’s a weak excuse and you know it.” She sighed and held a hand out. “He was probably expecting you to be there when he turned around like any reasonable adult would.” Kushina accepted and was pulled to her feet. “You thought he was rejecting you and you panicked, Kushina. That’s okay. But, the question here is do you love Minato enough to give him another chance? Let him make it up to you?”

Kushina stared fearlessly into Mikoto’s Sharingan in a way that most Konoha shinobi didn’t and her brows furrowed. “Do you really think that’s what happened?”

“I know that’s what happened.” Mikoto confirmed with confidence. Only a fool didn’t see how head-over-heels Minato was about her best friend. “Now, what are are you going to do about that dorky Namikaze Minato?”

“He’s not dorky!”

“I rest my case.”

The dive bar Minato caught up with Jiraiya at was one he had never been to before. And if tonight was like any other time he had hung out with his Sensei after reaching Jounin, there was a distinct possibility that he wouldn’t be allowed back. The Sannin sat in a booth near the back, with sight lines on every entrance. He was grinning and it immediately set Minato on edge as he sat down across the man.

Jiraiya didn’t disappoint. “Oh Minato- why didn’t you just say you were having girl problems?”

Minato’s jaw dropped as Jiraiya slid a full cup of sake over to him. He recovered quickly. “How did you know that was what I wanted to talk to you about?”

“A little bird told me.” Jiraiya dismissed, “I can’t believe it, you’ve finally seen the light and are ready to learn the rest of my ways~“

Oh no. This really was happening. Minato’s face felt hot and he took a sip to settle his nerves. He took a breath, because yes, this conversation had to happen, “No, not quite. It’s just that… I think messed up things with Kushina.”

“No shit.” Jiraiya said without preamble, but no heat behind it. Minato winced anyway. “What do you know about the courting traditions of Uzushiogakure?”

“Uh-“ Minato’s mind flew to his conversation with Mito. A sinking feeling began to build. “It has something to do with food?”

“It has everything to do with food.” Jiraiya said. “Has Kushina-hime ever offered you food?” She hadn’t now that Minato thought about it. Kushina occasionally gave him snacks, delicious and often based from the coast, but any meals they had together had been at a stall or restaurant. In fact he had been surprised when she showed up to his team’s training session with a bento box for him. Kushina had never done that before and she had disappeared in the time it took him to sort out his team, taking the box with her...

Minato suddenly felt faint. He had forgotten about it, what with Obito and Kakashi trying to kill each other again... “She wanted to give me a bento. But it wasn’t just a bento box, was it?”

Jiraiya shook his head, and grasped his own cup and downed the contents in a single, smooth motion. He gave his student a harsh grin, “It was an Uzushio style of proposing. That you handed back.”

Minato nodded slowly, his mind slowly putting it all together and let his head fall forward into his hands with a thump. “Oh Sage. I’ve ruined everything.”

“Now there’s no need to be dramatic.” Jiraiya scoffed, “But if you still want to be a thing with Kushina, you need to fix it. Fast.” With a great deal of bravo, his sensei added, “Fortunately for you, I’m here.”

With a deep breath, Minato sat up. “Okay then. How do I fix it?”

“Well, food speaks the loudest with the Uzushio folk. You need to impress her with a supper that takes time. Like that bento probably took Kushina-hime to make.” Jiraiya scratched his chin, “Do you understand?”

Minato frowned, “But I don’t know how to cook-“

“You’re not listening.” Jiraiya shook his head. “It’s not about the quality, it’s the thought. What is her favourite meal? That’s a good place to start.”

The door was mocking her, she was sure of it.

Everytime Kushina lifted her hand to knock, it seemed to fall back just beyond her reach. She lifted up the invitation to confirm that yes, the supper was that day, and yes, the time was correct.

Screw-it. She was an Uzumaki: Kushina didn’t do nervous.

Minato opened the door before she finished the third knock. “You came.” He sounded surprised.

She frowned at him. “I said I would. I keep my promises, you know?” For the first time since she met him, Kushina waited to be invited in. The blond seemed thrown for a loop, not sure what to do when she didn’t go barging into his apartment. Friends and partners could do that, but Minato had gone and muddied the waters though. He blinked and clued in, eventually opening the door wide enough for it to be an invitation.

Kushina stepped past him and took her usual seat at the low-table. Minato fidgeted but ducked back into the galley kitchen, just beyond her view. It smelt pretty good and she half-wondered what take-out he had managed to reheat for their supper together.

There was clattering sounds from the kitchen and Kushina almost got up to help- because Minato was at best useless in the kitchen- but stuffed the thought away. Minato emerged with two bowls, looking somewhat harried and disheveled- like he had used his Hairaishinto travel from Suna to Kiri- and somehow looked sheepish as he set a bowl in front of her.

She blinked and stared at the bowl. It was ramen. The piles of toppings were somewhat scattered over the noodles, messy and there was definitely signs that the bowl had been overfilled at one point. The chashu was a little bit burnt- she could tell even without biting into it.

Minato sat across from her and stared with an expression she didn’t normally associate with him: nervousness.

Kushina came back to herself, “Did you make this?”

He coughed, blushing, “Everything but the noodles.”

She stared back at him. A warm fuzzy feeling was building in her stomach. “Oh?’ She said, almost lightheaded- Minato didn’t cook. His entire existence seemed to be sustained by take-out or whole vegetables. “Ramen takes two days to make.”

“I know.” Minato coughed and in a rush added, “But you’re worth every second of it.” His jaw snapped shut after, and his blush was bright, bright red- almost the same shade as her hair.

A smile broke out on her face, but was quickly replaced with a frown, “I’m still mad at you, ya know?”

Blond hair bounced as he nodded, “I know. Sensei told me about what the bento box means in Uzushio’s culture.” Minato paused, meeting her gaze square, “I’m sorry, Kushina. I didn’t know. If I had, I would have held onto it until my dying breath.”

Oh.

Oh.

Her face grew hot. “You want to marry me?’

Minato’s face was definitely the same colour as her hair. “Only if you’ll have me?”

Kushina smiled, looking down at the most wonderful bowl of ramen in the universe, picked up her chopsticks and dug in. The noodles were overcooked, and there could have been more oil to the seasoning, and the pork was definitely overcooked, but the flavours were pretty good.

“So,” Minato asked hesitantly, when she polished off the bowl, “is that a yes?”

Her knee-jerk reaction was to say, ‘well, duh’ she finished the offered food after all. But Minato wasn’t from Uzushio. So she bit her tongue, and went with the second option. Kushina set her chopsticks down beside her bowl, and stood up to walk around to where Minato sat, his own bowl of ramen only partially finished. With a thump, she sat down beside him, her leg touching his, and leaned in close to him, feeling his warmth and the smell of woods and the summer wind. “Yes, you dork.” Kushina said, kissing him on his cheek.

His blush didn’t fade, but he got a stupid grin on his face like he was the luckiest man in the world - which he was, thanks only to Kushina’s ability to forgive his transgression. A hand, scarred from training and fights, came up to play with her hair.

She laughed at his expression, all hope and awe, and kind of fell in love all over again.

Omake

A crumpled ball of paper hit Iruka square in the back of the head as he bent over to open his lunchbox. The academy student whirled in his seat, looking for the offending party but saw only his classmates enjoying their own lunches.

With a frown, he turned back to his lunch box and blinked. It had a moved a hair, just a hair. Maybe he had bumped it when he moved around? Iruka shrugged, cracked open the top, turned to tell Kotesu a joke, when something crawled on his hand. And then something else.

Almost shrieking in surprise, the Umino jumped from his seat and could only watch in horror as the cute carrot animals his mother had made multiplied into an unending wave of orange that crawled out of his bento and swarmed the classroom.

Outside on a tree branch, Jiraiya whistled appreciatively at the screams and shouts of the academy students. He had watched the creation of the seals, one for animation, the other for multiplication, but to see it in action was something else. “Don’t you think you went a little overboard?”

“Not a chance.” Obito countered, crouched beside him, “He pranked a ward of the Uzumaki.”

Jiraiya casted a sidelong glance at him. “Doesn’t that say more about you?”

Obito twitched. “Shut up.”