Icha Icha Spa

"Kushina!" Mikoto called, making the red head glance up from her phone. "You're next client is here."

"Tell him I'll be there in a minute." She called, finishing the email she had been writing. She had never thought of herself as someone who was vengeful, but if that bastard wanted to cheat on her, she wasn't about to let him go that easily. She was sure to show his new girlfriend just how much of a jealous, selfish and incompetent bastard that guy was. True, sending a box full of rats to her apartment as a food for the snake she had bought her a few days before, was child's play. If she wanted she could have come up with better far more sophisticated prank, but she was tired and that bastard didn't deserve that much of her time and gray matter, so she went with the first time that came to mind. That new girl of his could take it as she wanted.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like tell him yourself?" Mikoto asked, forcing Kushina to look up from her phone. There was a sly smile on her face.

"What?" Kushina asked, looking at her friend with suspicion.

Mikoto just winked at her and disappeared through the door. Kushina raised an eyebrow and got up from the couch. Her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend would have to wait. Putting on her crocks, Kushina tied her hair up in a high pony tail, exiting the workers lounge and entering the lobby of the spa. She had been working here since May, something she never thought she would ultimately do. She had always joked around with Mikoto that her job was one step behind being a real prostitute, for which she had received a punch on the shoulder from her long time friend.

"I'm a masseuse." Mikoto had corrected, glaring at her.

"Borderline, one hundred percent slut." Kushina smiled, looking at her friend from the corner of her eye. "You are one step away from sleeping with your clients."

"That would never happen." Mikoto laughed, waving her hand in front of her. "Most of the Icha Icha Spa clients are women, and as much as I think you are the most beautiful woman I haven't hated yet, I don't swing that way and you know it. Besides, my boss would kill me. Well…" she put her finger on her chin, thinking of the white haired pervert that ran the spa. "He would film us first and then kill me."

"You know, now that I really think about it, I've never met your boss before." Kushina asked, putting a egg roll on her mouth. "You're always saying how much of a pervert he is; how he spies on his clients; how he's always dropping at the massage rooms while you are with a client to try and catch as much as he can, but the few times I've been there I have never seen him around."

Mikoto laughed, blowing on her cappuccino. "That's because you've never been to the sauna. He divided the men and women rooms with a wooden wall for a reason. He hangs in there all the time hoping to catch a glimpse of the naked women next to him."

"Wait, you just said the sauna?" Kushina asked, thinking back on the last time she had been there. "If I remember correctly the men's sauna is broken is it not? There's a sign a the door."

"And who do you think put it there?"

Kushina shuddered. "I still don't know how you work there."

Mikoto's eyes softened. "Jiraiya is really not that bad. He's really laid back, pays well and being a woman employer has its perks."

Kushina raised her eyebrow. "Don't tell me…"

"No!" Mikoto half yelled half laughed. "No!"

"Then?"

"Look," Mikoto sighed, putting her half empty cup back on the table. "You said you are looking for a high paying job to help you pay for your studies." Kushina nodded, closing her eyes slightly. She could almost tell where Mikoto was going. "Jiraiya is a really reasonable guy. He would let you continue with your class schedule and pay you full time. You could move out of that dumpster you call an apartment and continue to study what you love without Enji getting in your way. Wasn't that what you came to Tokyo for? Finding independence?"

Kushina almost spit on her water. "You want me to become a call girl?"

A few people near by looked at them, but Mikoto ignored them. She was past the age where she cared what other people thought of her. "I told you, I don't sleep with my clients."

"But I'll have to."

"No," Mikoto sighed, reaching for her bag behind her seat. "You just have to take a mini course of how to do a full body massage. It won't take more than three months and you can do it as soon as you are done with this semester."

"You want me to spend my vacation days learning how to be a slut for money?" Kushina teased, knowing Mikoto would call her on that.

"Kushina," Mikoto warned, handling her a brochure of the Icha Icha Spa. "It's great pay and great hours. I could put a good word for your with Jiraiya-sama. I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to hire you."

Kushina looked down at the brochure in her hand. The entrance of a traditional Japanese bath house was plastered on the front page, with the words Icha Icha Spa at the bottom. She had visited Mikoto at work many times and had taken a massage from her, having a slight idea of what the job ensured. She knew that Mikoto wouldn't work on a whore house, that fish she called a boyfriend would flip out before he let any of the male clients even consider looking at Mikoto and she was sure that was the reason she had stopped taking male clients, but Kushina still hesitated. It wasn't about the job title itself, she just had a thing with touching other people's private parts. Granted, she wouldn't actually be touching them, but it was close enough. On the other hand, Mikoto lived in a nice neighborhood, in a two bedroom apartment that had a little garden, and more importantly alone. Kushina had taken a roommate out of necessity, but she was sure that the next time that bastard brought another one of his slut friends over to look through her underwear drawer she was going to kill someone. Again. Surely she could come to terms with touching other people for money.

"How much is the pay?" Kushina asked, finally looking up from the page.

Three months later she was hired instantly by the owner. Literally. She'd come through the door on the interview day and before she could even sit down and mentally prepare herself to answer questions like 'why do you see yourself as a masseuse?' the white haired old man behind the desk (which Mikoto later pointed was Jiraiya, the owner) he'd pointed a finger at her and yelled, 'When can you start?'

"It's your looks," Mikoto laughed explaining to Kushina the strange behavior of their employer. "He's a sucker for foreign women."

"What?" Kushina asked, a sweat drop on her head. She had been born to Ireland parents, which explained her red hair and green eyes, but she had come to Japan when she was barely one and had never left. Calling her foreign, even thought it was technically true, was more bizarre than calling Fugaku sweet (which Kushina still didn't understand what Mikoto saw in him).

"You should see the woman he drools for," Mikoto laughed, discreetly pointing toward a blond sitting at the end of the couch, clearly waiting for her turn. "She's American but has lived her most of her life. For what I can gather they are old friends and he's asked her out every time he's gotten a chance but she's rejected him every time."

Kushina looked back at her friend. "Well she's beautiful."

"That's not all." Mikoto pointed at her chest.

They both laughed, which caused the blond women to look up from her magazine. Her eyes rested first on Mikoto only to pass through Kushina, lingering a bit longer on the red head. Kushina raised an eyebrow, but before she could walk up to the busty woman and ask her what her problem was, she was called.

"Tsunade-sama?" Haru, a soft spoken, dark haired and pearled eye masseuse called for her, forcing the blond woman to tear her eyes off Kushina.

Once she was through the door and out of ear shot, Kushina turned to her friend. "What the hell was that?"

Mikoto just shrugged.

Kushina could complain, tease and make fun of her line of work, but there was one thing she would never openly admit; her new work was great. She chose her own schedules, her clients and she couldn't complain about her pay. It was enough to cover her studies and her house living. Granted, it was a closet size apartment, but it had gotten her out of her ex-boyfriend's house and off that creep of her roommate. Really, that was more than she could have asked for. And as much as she hated to admit it; she was happy there, yes Jiraiya was a little getting used to, but for the most part her work consisted on making other people relax and throw blatant compliments to get bigger tips. She had learned to know what each person wanted to hear, which granted her better and bigger tips. Life was good and she'd talked herself into working there until she could save enough to buy herslef a decent apartment, until:

"No!" Kushina yelled in a whisper. "There is no way I'm taking that bastard again."

Mikoto raised an eyebrow. Leave it to Kushina to react in the complete opposite way of a normal human being. "You know most girls would kill to be in your shoes."

"Then let them be in my shoes!" Kushina whispered, hiding her face with her hand and trying her best not to look at him. He seemed too busy with his book to actually notice her.

"You know I can't do that," Mikoto smiled at a passing client, before glaring at her friend. She would never be able to understand Uzuamki Kushina. "He's asked for your specifically."

"The tell him I'm busy!" Kushina panicked, dodging behind the plant Mikoto had a her desk. "Tell him I'm not here, tell him I got hand cancer and I'm unable to give massages anymore! Better yet, tell him I've left the country to join the traveling masseuse association, TMA!"

"TMA?" Mikoto asked, looking at Kushina like she had three heads.

"It's exists!" Kushina slammed her fist on the table, causing the blond to look up from his book unbeknown to Kushina. "Their website only ends in .org, not .com."

".org?" Mikoto asked, still not getting what the big fuzz was about. Minato, the client Kushina was supposed to massage, was gorgeous. With blue eyes, blond hair and tanned skin, he almost looked Australian, which Mikoto would later learn was true, for his mother was Australian and his father Japanese. Something she had learned by chatting him up. He usually came once a week and most girls fought over who had to honor to massage him this time, but for some reason he only asked for Kushina, something she had been fine the few first times before her crazy persona took over.

He'd appeared one day with a coupon on his hands. It was clear this was his first time in a spa and had now idea what to do next, so when he came over and asked her how gift coupons worked, Mikoto (who had been entranced by his blue eyes) put on the biggest smile she could, opening her mouth to answer but her boss interrupted her.

"Minato!" Jiraiya called, waving toward the blond. "You are finally here! And here I thought you would never take my invitation over the sauna room." He winked.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato bowed in respect. Mikoto looked at between them trying to decide how they knew each other. "Tsunade-sama gave me a gift coupon. Said a massage would help me with my back pain."

Jiraya waved his hand dismissively. "The steam will take care of that. Let me show you the best view we have on Icha Icha Day Spa." He winked again, making Mikoto and Minato sweat drop.

"A massage is fine." Minato turned to Mikoto, "whomever's free."

Mikoto scanned the massage schedules. "Kushina-"

"Kushina!" Jiraiya smiled, waving her forward. She had been casually walking toward the kitchen to get better phone signal before Jiraya spotter her. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest. He might be her boss, but she had never met someone she had less respect for in her entire life. "Ero-senin."

Jiraiya sweat dropped, his smile turning a little tense. "How many times have I've asked you not to call me that?"

"What do you want? I'm on my break." Kushina turned her head to the side, looking over at Minato who hadn't blinked once since she had walked over.

"You'll be taking Minato." He motioned for his student to walk forward. "He's my favorite student!"

Kushina looked over at Minato, but seemed unfazed, instead turning back to glare at her boss. "Student of what? That boring novel you are writing?"

"It's not boring!" Jiraya glared, crossing his arms over his chest imitating her. "I'll be a best seller and Tsunade will have no choice but to dump that girl face bastard and finally accept my invitation for drinks! You know how women dig a man with money."

"Who'd want to read about your made up love life?" Kushina asked, rolling her eyes at her boss. He had once given her sample to read, claiming he wanted to know 'what a real woman thought' but the next time he asked her about it, Kushina told him quite candidly that she had forgotten the script at the park, unread. He would have to extend her another one, preferably a digital one.

"It's my only copy!" Jiraiya put his hands on his hair.

"Serves you right! A book that boring would never be published."

After some bantering from both sides, Minato was finally shown the massage room, which he happily followed after wards with another appointment the following week with Kushina. And the week after that. And the week after that. It hadn't been until the fifth time that Minato returned that Kushina had started to act strange. Forgetting appointments, running late, muttering to herself and taking her anger on the coffee mugs they stored in their private kitchen. It was like Kushina had been replaced by a love sick maniac, something Mikoto knew couldn't possibly be true. When Kushina liked someone she pursued them until she got them wrapped around her finger, she wasn't the type to seat quietly waiting for the guy to make his move. Yet, Kushina's reaction to today's appointment was strange, she knew she had it with Minato. She had been the one that filed it in.

Mikoto looked at her panicked friend and decided to ask her. "Kushina could it be that-"

"Uzumaki-san." Both Mikoto and Kushina turned to their left, surprised that Minato was standing just a few feet away with a gentle smile on his face. He never took his eyes off Kushina but he nodded toward Mikoto as a salute. "I'm a little early, I hope you don't mind."

Kushina looked panicked at her friend, who just raised her eyebrow. "Minato," she forced a smile, it was creepy. Looking between Minato and Mikoto, Kushina ventured to lie between her teeth. "Mikoto here was just telling me that I'll be busy for the next three hours. You see, I have this overseas client who only comes once a month and books me for three sessions, so as you see I won't be able to-"

"Oh no, Kushina," Mikoto smiled a Minato, but turned to her. "He called this morning. Canceled. His flight was delayed and he won't be able to come this month."

Kushina turned to Mikoto in surprise. "But I just talked to him-"

"-and his wife confirmed." Mikoto smiled at Kushina, gaining a glare from her friend and a questioning look from Minato. "You whole afternoon just opened up."

Minato turned to her, concerned. "If you are busy then we can reschedule."

"None sense." Mikoto clapped her hands, walking away from her desk and pushing Minato and Kushina through the door. "Kushina is perfectly happy to accommodate you. Isn't that right Kushina?"

Kushina just glared daggers at her friend.

"My, if looks could kill." Mikoto laughed, making Minato turn back to her in question. "Nothing, never mind." She waved her hand. "Enjoy yourself."

Before Kushina could even open her mouth to yell at her friend, Minato smiled a Kushina and extended his hand before her. "After you." He smiled, never taking his eyes off the red head.

Kushina glared at her friend once again and sighed, leading the path toward her massage room.

It wasn't that Kushina hated Minato. She liked him fine. He was…nice. He was a great client. Never complained. Gave her great tips. She'd never had a problem with him since he'd started coming to her almost two months ago. The problems was she wasn't single then. She knew that Mikoto and Haru and all the other girls thought she was unfazed by Minato's looks. They weren't wrong. She wasn't. Past tense. Ever since that bastard of Enji had cheated on her, it was like the blinders she had been wearing that whole first months he had come over had dropped. At first Minato was another client to her. A great client she might add. Nice, chatted with her, was always in a good mood. He loved massaging him. Rubbing people was boring so she marveled on the chance to get to tell him about her life and loved the few times he actually opened up and told her about his life. He was an orphan, like her. Had never met his mother and had had a difficult relationship with his father. Had left his family home at fourteen and had been illegally adopted by Jiraya, which although he respected, didn't even follow his line of perverted hobbies. He actually worked in the government. Was an active assistant to the actual prime minister and planned to run for office in the future.

"I just want the best for my country, y'know?" he sighed. "And with the recent baby kidnappings and all. I just know that there's more to it but Sarutobi-sama won't act. If we don't catch that bastard soon, who know what'll happen?"

She had liked him after that.

The problems had started after she had caught Enji and that slut of a slut in bed together. Obviously, he had fed her the typical excuses: it was only one time, she means nothing to me, why are you so mad? I was just trying something new. Bastard. After that it was like Kushina had finally started to look at Minato for what he really was, the most handsome man to have live on earth. She was happy that she was able to touch him with good reason. He had an incredible body, what with six packs and a great booty, who wouldn't want to bite that ass once in a while? Problem was, Kushina had finally started to realize after a while that she couldn't get him out of her head, meaning she had developed a crush on him. Be any other guy, she would have pursued him until he begged her for mercy twice. But Minato being her client was a different matter. There weren't strict rules over sleeping with clients outside of the spa. Everyone had their own personal life and as much as Jiraiya liked to brag about his to anyone that paid an ear, most of it private, having a nice thick line between personal and work. If Kushina started sleeping with Minato while he was still her client, that would bring her emotional problems. She could do casual, as long as she never saw the dude ever again. Minato coming over and requesting to get a massage from her every week would cause her to over think the relationship and develop feelings for someone who she knew she had no future with. Kushina? Dating the next prime minister? Please! She had better luck bringing her dead parents back to life.

Lucky for her, or unlucky for her, she was free to let her mind wonder. Something that had developed into sexual fantasies for the past couple of sessions. She had been able to control herself the first few times, but every time he took his shirt off and put on that tiny towel around his waist, well, lets just say that it took Kushina all she had not to jump on him. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to keep her restrain near him.

"So did you tun in last night?" Minato asked, laying face up on the table.

"Huh?" Kushina turned around, massaging her hands with the cream she had put on. She was greeted by his perfect abs, she turned around instantly, hoping he wouldn't notice her deep blush. "Oh ah, the speech you gave on family security. Yes, I saw it."

"What'd you think?" Minato asked, closing his eyes.

Kushina looked over her shoulder and sighed silently in relief. Now he would be able to see her red face. "It was… really boring."

"Boring?" Minato asked, opening an eye to look at her which she quickly covered with her hand.

"You are supposed to be relaxed!" Kushina quickly amended laying a hot towel over his eyes. "Think of this as a surprise. You don't exactly want to peek inside, now do you?"

God she wasn't making any sense! Now all she had to do was will her hands to start massaging his body. She laid them over his stomach a few times, twitching, but finally decided to start with his shoulders. That way she could focus on his covered face and not his six pack.

"I would if it were you inside." He smiled, making Kushina hesitate for a minute. Did he really mean that? Or was he just saying it to get in her pants. She continued rubbing his shoulders and forcing herself to get back on topic.

"Look if you want people to care about something as sensitive as home abuse you have to make it seem like they can be the heroes in an uncalled for situation. You can't really expect people to magically change their habits without some kind of reward for themselves."

Minato was silent for a while which worried her. That silence gave her head enough space to start forming one of her many fantasies about him. He needed to start talking soon or she would have to slide her hands down his shoulders, over his stomach, down the towel and slowly grasp his-

"Is sad that we've evolved in such a way that makes us cognitive incapable of serving others without expecting some kind of reward." Minato finally spoke, breaking Kushina out of her thoughts only to realize she had actually moved herself near his towel. It seemed her body had started following her mind. She quickly moved toward his stomach, forcing herself to be present. As long as there was conversation she could focus on that and not on how much she wanted to kiss him.

"I don't think we've evolved to be that way," Kushina muttered, feeling the back of her neck start to sweat. She would have to do a better job than that to keep herself in line. "I think we are genetically programmed to be that way. Otherwise our basic instinct of survival would have killed us a long time ago. One can't survive in this cruel world without some selfishness."

"What do you mean?" Minato asked.

"Well it hasn't been proven yet, but as far as we know we've evolved from animals, which mean that before we were human we were something else." Kushina moved herself to his feet once she caught herself, for the third time, trying to massage the area near his towel. "If we've survived this long it means that there has been something holding us onto survival. Something that has forced us to better ourselves and our way of living to eliminate all possible threats, granting a long survival. That can't be a coincidence. There has to be something in our DNA that programs us to always look for the better offer. Other wise how are we even here?"

Minato was silent for a long time which annoyed Kushina. As long as he was talking she could concentrate on that, not on how much she wanted to pull that towel off him and have her way with him. It would be so easy. He was naked already. All she had to do was take off her pants and panties put him in her mouth for a few minutes before he was hard enough to her taste and slowly lay down on him, using her hand to slide-

"So, you are saying that the selfish gene that's in has allowed us to come up with better ideas to better our way of living?"

Kushina was a little disoriented for a while, but she shook her head straight, blinking a few times before walking over to the counter and quickly splashing water on her face. She needed to get a grip on herself.

"Kushina?" she heard Minato ask, making her look over her shoulder. He had sat up, sliding the towel down a enough for Kushina to slightly see- "Are you ok?" he asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah," she replied, her voice hoarse. She cleared it and put on the best smile on her face. "Yes, sorry. This new cream I bought, I think I'm getting allergic to it. It keeps making my eyes water."

"Oh, do you want me to-"

"No!" Kushina said a little too quickly, pushing him back on the table and pulling the hot towel over his face once more. Last thing she needed was for him to stand up. "Just relax. I'll change to oil this time."

"Ok." Minato said slowly, obviously taken back by her reaction, but didn't comment. He continued talking but Kushina wasn't listening. This was going to be a long hour.

"Thank you," Minato smiled warmly down at her, his blue eyes soft.

"Yeah don't worry about it," Kushina muttered averting her gaze from him.

"Same time next week?" he asked, scratching the back of his head with this hands.

Kushina waved and muttered something unintelligently, turning on her heels so she could go back to her massage room. She needed her vibrator, now.

"See you next week then," he waved, turning to Mikoto to pay for his appointment.