Disclaimer: I will never, ever, ever, ever own Naruto and all the characters. If I did, I wouldn't be writing on fanfiction about it.

Warnings: Some OOC-ness (because I think the way they act in the first part of this is way too funny), spoilers, spelling and grammar errors, and the like…

A/N: … Please don't kill me… I kind of lost my muse for a few months there but when I got it back, I couldn't find the time to write because of school and all its demands.

Enjoy the read!

oOo

Naruto smiled sheepishly as the door to his and Jiraiya's hotel room opened, coming face to face with an annoyed looking Jiraiya. He would be rubbing the back of his neck but his arms were full of groceries.

"Uh… I kind of… uh… left my key in the room…" The blond chuckled uneasily as the annoyed looked changed to a glare. Jiraiya was almost tempted to slam the door shut in the other man's face. Instead, he grumbled ("Not even a day in this village and he's already forgetting something") and left the door open, heading back to what he was doing before the pounding on the door disrupted him.

Kicking the door shut as he followed the older man in, Naruto rolled his eyes. It wasn't his fault that he forgot the key. He was practically kicked out the door to go and get the groceries, not getting the chance to see if he had everything.

He placed the bag on the counter in the mini-kitchen, not bothering to put any of it away as he walked to his self-proclaimed bed and collapsed on it. There was a soft groan then a soft rustling. Naruto figured that Jiraiya took upon himself to put everything away so they wouldn't get bad but he couldn't find the inclination to apologize; his mind was a little preoccupied.

From the kitchen, Naruto heard a small squawk as there was a pause in the rustling.

"All but one egg has been broken!" Jiraiya yelled in disbelief. "And you call yourself a ninja?!" A little smile played on Naruto's lips, a picture of a wide-eyed Jiraiya holding a yolk-covered carton of broken eggs.

"That's what you get for messing with Namikaze Minato!" He made the mistake of not opening his eyes during, or after, the proclamation as not even a minute later he felt a thick, gooey substance dripping on his face. Eyes opening wide, he found the white-haired man smirking over him with both hands, dripping from the yolk, held over his head.

"And that's what you get for messing with the one and only Jiraiya." Then, they were running fast as Naruto grabbed the carton of milk that hasn't been put away yet and chased the older man around the room. Eventually, he got to him, pouring most of the milk onto the man before Jiraiya got a hold of his wrist and somehow got it twisted in a way that the rest of it pour all over his head. Naruto got over his shock fast and grabbed both of Jiraiya's wrists (the hands still gooey from the yolk from earlier) and slammed the hands right into the owner's face.

Afterwards, they found themselves sticky, slimy, and wet. They couldn't stop the onslaught of laughter erupting from deep within as they fell to the ground. Both laughed at how ridiculous they just were. Just thinking about the ridiculousness that had transpired brought out a new wave of laughs.

Jiraiya tried speaking first, only able to get it out between deep breaths. "Yo-your hair… It's sh-shap-sha… It looks like it got mauled by a bear!" And he broke into another bout of laughter as he ruffled the blond hair, making it look worse than it did before.

Naruto's stomach ached as he tried to catch a breath. "It's n-not as bad as… the way yo-your fa-" He took a gulp, "-ace looked w-when I sho-shoved your hands…" Naruto couldn't even finish the sentence as he was consumed by his laughs.

In due time, they calmed down enough to have the sense to clean up the mess they made in the room. After they were done with that, they took turns washing up in the shower. Once they were finished with everything, they sat on their own beds, getting ready for an early night so they could get up early to train.

"So, why were all the eggs broken in the carton, anyway?" Jiraiya asked as he got under the covers.

"You said that one survived." Naruto replied, also getting in the covers.

The other male rolled his eyes. "Why were they broken, Minato?"

Naruto didn't answer right away. His mind went back to when he bumped into the girl in the market, the girl with the red hair and the same last name as him. "I bumped into a girl in the market and didn't think that anything had broken."

He could hear the sly smirk in the older man's voice. "A girl, huh? Was she hot?"

For some reason, Naruto felt scandalized at the question. "Jiraiya?!"

"What?" Jiraiya asked in mock-innocence.

Naruto just stuttered in his reply, not able to think of a response to that.

Jiraiya wasn't deterred by this as he continued with his questions. "Well, did you introduce yourself?"

Finally, Naruto found his voice again. "Uh… she kind of introduced herself first. She said her name was Uz-Uzumaki Kushina." His voice stuttered over the name. And he thought meeting Kakashi as a two year-old was going to be the weirdest things he'd find here. Well, there's his wake up call.

"Huh." Jiraiya's grunt took him out of his musings. "That's weird."

Blue eyes widened as Naruto's head turned toward Jiraiya, heart beating wildly. "W-what's weird?" Was his voice an octave higher than normal? Damn it!

Jiraiya shook his head slightly. "Nothing. Just that, we're in the Whirlpool Country. Heh. I wonder how many Uzumaki's are living here, then."

Feeling a wave of calm wash over him, Naruto took a deep, silent breath. Of course Jiraiya thought that was weird. Having the surname 'Uzumaki', which means 'whirlpool', in Whirlpool Country was definitely strange. Introductions would definitely be weird if Kushina were to introduce herself, "Hi, I'm a whirlpool from Whirlpool country!"

Though, that'd be weird no matter what country she said she's from.

Mentally shaking himself away from his confusing thoughts, Naruto grunted to Jiraiya's thought. He settled back down into his bed.

Jiraiya then sighed. "Oh well. Guess we'll cal it a night, then."

Pausing in his reply, Naruto asked the one question that was bugging the back of his mind. "Wait. Is that all you think is weird about that name?"

There's a short hum before a short "yep" was spoken from the person in the other bed. Then, a small "g' night" was heard.

Naruto replied with his own "g' night" before turning towards the wall closest to him, facing away from Jiraiya. He stared at the wall for a little while, thoughts flying through a few at a time until, finally, he was able to close his eyes.

oOo

They were at the bathhouse today, soaking it up and trying to relax. They've been traveling nonstop for the past few days and Naruto was glad they found a village or else something imaginable would have happened.

It probably wouldn't have been pretty.

Naruto was just relaxing against one of the rocks when he felt a small prickling in the back of his head traveling across, ever so slowly, to the front of his head. Before he had the chance to stop it, however, his mouth did what it usually did. It opened up and said the first thing that cam to his mind.

"You remember that time last week when you told me about my dad?" He saw Jiraiya inhale deeply before letting his breath out slowly. The old man opened his eyes and lolled his head facing the blond, head still relaxed on the rock behind him. He was too relaxed to speak up so Naruto took that as a sign to continue.

"Well, what about my mom?" He noticed how Jiraiya tensed up a bit at the question but quickly relaxed again as his head turned again to face the ceiling.

"What about her?" Jiraiya asked.

"What's her name?" Naruto asked back, not even hesitating.

A deafening silence followed his question. Naruto's ever-moving mouth didn't want to break it as he waited for an answer. Eventually, Jiraiya did answer, but it wasn't the answer Naruto was hoping for.

"Sorry, brat, but no can do."

Naruto gapes at the answer he received. "No way! Why not?"

The old man just shrugged. "Who knows?" Naruto was about to curse him out when Jiraiya continued. "But, I will tell you this. Your mom… she wasn't born in the Leaf Country."

The blond blinked. "Huh?"

"Your mom wasn't born in the Leaf Country. She was born in the Whirlpool Country"

Naruto's body jerked then he opened his eyes. Blearily, he noticed he was still in the hotel. He sat up as he yawned, remembering the dream he just had. Better put, it was a memory. Naruto remembered that day. After he found out that bit of information he began to scream at the old man for lying to him because 'there was no such thing as Whirlpool Country.' The reply he got back was: "none that you know of."

Sometimes, he really thought Jiraiya to be a really big jerk.

Speaking of… Naruto looked over to the other bed to find it unoccupied. That's when he heard the toilet flush. A few seconds later, the door leading to the bathroom opened up.

"Ah, you're up. Good, I don't have to try shaking you awake for a half hour." The 27 year-old stepped into the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Naruto smirked. "Can I have that one egg? Scrambled? Don't forget the toast."

Jiraiya just laughed an evil kind of laugh. "Too bad, brat. That egg is mine. Now, pick something else or you'll have to eat the cereal without milk."

Chuckling, the blond just shook his head and said that he'd have ramen, which was answered with an incredulous stare. He ignored it in favor of more pressing needs, like emptying his bladder. After, he went and had his ramen (waiting the three minutes for it to cook first) still ignoring the baffled stare of his companion/teacher.

"Sometimes, kid, I really don't understand you." Jiraiya sighed as he finished his breakfast of one egg, lots of toast, and a cup of tea.

"So I've been told."

oOo

Whatever happened to the saying about 'third time's the charm'? Well, Naruto was able to do this the second time, but now he wasn't sure if that counts anymore.

The first time he tried walking on top of water, Ebisu was teaching him. Now, it's understandable that he wasn't able to succeed on his first try because it was Ebisu. Going for it the second time was with Jiraiya. It took Naruto awhile but with his determination and Jiraiya's weird technique-thing that should have left bruises but didn't, he was able to get it.

Now, why Jiraiya thought it was a good idea to teach his "new" student chakra control by having him standing on water in a lake that's in a constant whirlpool is beyond his level of thinking. With the way the progress was going, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if this training takes longer than the first two put together.

The training almost made him wish for the older Jiraiya back.

Controlling his chakra once more and channeling it to his feet, Naruto took one careful step onto the water again and tried to evaluate how much more he'll need to stay above the water, fully. Eventually, he got it and tried placing his other foot next to the first. His balance is unsteady, the whirlpool making it harder to regain that sense of balance. It doesn't help that this was his eighth time trying, most of the time falling in then trying to swim back out against the powerful force of the water(first three times he was only able to get one foot on before it sunk in). He's past near exhausted! However, like he said earlier, his determination alone would save him, even if it seemed like he didn't have as much chakra as he did before.

He took a few steps, balance still a bit unsteady, but he's still fully above the water. So, he continues on a little more. Unfortunately, before he reached his seventh step, he fell into the waster half way. Naruto tried pulling himself back up, unsuccessfully as he fell all the way in. Instead of trying to pull himself up, he resorted to swimming back to the edge. It took him longer than the other times, but he got there all the same. He lied on his back, staring at the sky and knowing that Jiraiya has been watching from the shade of the tree the entire time. Closing his eyes, he took a small breather.

Suddenly, he noticed that the sun wasn't beating down on him anymore making the inside of his eyelids black instead of red. Opening his eyes, he noticed that it wasn't white hair cast down over the person's shoulder, but red hair.

"Ku- Uzumaki-san?" Naruto questioned. He squinted a bit to try to see her better.

"Hi, Namikaze-san!" The red-head chirped, giving him a little wave, too. She stepped back a bit as he stood up. Wringing out some water out of his shorts with one hand, he gave a meek smile and wave back to her. The blond was still uncertain about being around Kushina. After the introductions yesterday, he was hoping to not see her for a little while just to figure things out. It looked like luck wasn't on his side this time.

"So, what are you doing?" Kushina gestured to the damp shorts he was wearing as she asked.

"Training." Naruto answered as he looked back at the whirlpool in the lake. She followed his gaze.

"Ah. I remember doing all of that. Yeah, it wasn't that easy." She stated simply.

"Tell me about." The blond rubbed the back of his neck, facing the red-haired girl again. "What brings you around here?"

Kushina pointed toward a group of trees behind her. "I train everyday in a clearing not far from here. I was coming through here to wash up then head home." Naruto didn't notice before but looking closely at the girl's face, he could see a lot of dirt smudges and some small scrapes. He even saw that her hair was a mess.

"Oh. That's cool." Naruto wasn't really sure what to say to that.

Taking that as her queue, she bent down by the edge of the lake and began washing her face, neck, and arms. It didn't take her long until she was standing and facing Naruto again, smile wide.

"Well, then I guess I'll see you. Don't forget about our spar." She turned to leave, walking away before she stopped. "Oh, and I always find my life easier when I go with the flow." With that, she headed on out.

Giving a confused look at the redhead's back, he gave her another small wave. Then, he turned back to the lake, feeling like he could go one more time before calling it a day. In the corner of his eye, he noted that Jiraiya was still sitting under the tree, closing his eyes. That set Naruto back a bit. The older, and more perverted Jiraiya would have come up to Naruto right about now to get him to go on a date and such with her. Sighing, he went back to staring at the lake, the water flowing around in circles non-stop.

"I always find my life easier when I go with the flow."

A chuckle escaped his lips as he understood the reason for her cryptic, and (at the time) out of place, message. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated to channel his chakra down to his feet once more. Then, being as careful as he was before, he placed a foot on the water, facing it the way that the water was flowing. It took him a shorter time to evaluate how much chakra he needed this time. Putting his other foot next to the first, he began to walk with the flow.

It was working! He didn't feel like he was being pulled in every direction trying to walk. His walking was just as normal as if he was on the ground. Only, he could feel that his chakra was almost depleted. That's the sign that he had enough training and that he better get out soon or he'd have to swim out again.

Naruto walked away from the lake and headed toward the tree Jiraiya was under. He flopped down on the ground, lying down. That started the older man out of his light doze as he shifted his gaze to the blond.

"Did her advice help?" So, he was listening.

Naruto stuck his thumb up in the air.

oOo

Three days later, Naruto ran into Kushina in the market again. Only, it wasn't so literally this time.

"Hello, Namikaze-san!" Kushina greeted with a small smile.

"It's been awhile, Uzumaki-san, but, please, just call me Minato. I'm not one for formalities like that." Naruto greeted back, shifting the eggs to rest against his hip.

A small blush, barely noticeable, appeared on Kushina's cheeks. "Alright… Minato-kun…" Then, she recovered as she spoke some more, jumping on the tips of her toes as she did so. "I'll only call you by your first name if you call me by mine!"

The blond chuckled lightly at her antics. "Fair enough, Kushina-chan." He started walking towards the cash register again, waving at the redhead for her to follow. "So, are you doing anything for the rest of the day?" Naruto was glad he was facing away from her. He didn't want her to see the blush on his face. It sounded like he was asking her on a date!

"Um… nope!" Kushina answered. It seemed like she didn't catch onto what the question could have implied.

'That's good.' "Then, what do you say to a little spar after I bring this back to my ho-" He didn't get to finish as he found himself almost being tackled to the ground. Kushina had given him a tackle hug that really surprised him. It took him awhile to blink out of his surprise, but once he did, Kushina had separated herself from him. Her eyes were glowing in delight.

"Yes! That would be great! Since we have to go take care of our groceries, how about we meet at the training grounds you were in the other day? Okay? Okay, I'll see you in about a half hour!" She didn't even give him the chance to reply as she paid for the groceries ("Keep the change!") and dashed out of the store.

As Naruto went to go pay for the eggs and the milk, things that he and Jiraiya had to survive without for the past few days because of all the training they've done, he began wondering what he got himself into.

oOo

Naruto could feel Kushina's presence in the training field as he approached it. When he arrived, she was standing by the lake, staring at it.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting." The blond wondered as he stood beside Kushina. She just shook her head, mentioning that she only got there a few minutes ago. Then, there was silence. Not a silence that was awkward, but a silence that had a devilish intent in it. One second, the two teens were there, the next, they were gone. Their spar has begun.

The blue-eyed boy hid behind one tree, trying to find Kushina by her chakra. Her chakra was disguised pretty well, but her still found her. However, it was fluctuating.

One chuckle escaped under his breath. She was trying to trap him. Well, he's not going to fall for that. Naruto took a guess at how far she was, taking a kunai out of his pouch of arsenal. The girl was a decent amount of meters away from him. She was standing there, waiting for Naruto to come at her.

Crouching down, Naruto was about to jump off into that direction when he belatedly felt a surplus of chakra to his right. He blocked the kunai that was flying his way, a hand attached to it. There was short pause as they stared at each other, before they started going at it.

Kushina, still in the air, brought her leg up into a sweeping arch, trying to get at Naruto's face. He grabbed onto that leg with his other hand that wasn't holding the kunai, stopping her kick. Then, the blond brought his own leg up from the other side, letting go of her leg as he did so. Kushina, with her leg now free, pushed away using the two connected kunai before he could land his kick.

Not waiting one second after placing his foot back onto the tree branch, he jumped up after her, throwing his kunai. Kushina threw hers, deflecting both kunai to bury themselves into tree bark. Then, there was a parry a punches and kicks as they descended to the ground.

They come to a stalemate as one fatal punch met with another. Naruto smirked at Kushina, who smirked back at him. Then, they pushed off of the punch to jump down different trees to get to the ground. Their feet barely met the ground before they took off once more at each other. Kushina took out some shuriken, throwing them at her adversary. Taking out his kunai, Naruto deflected all but two as they sliced at his left shoulder. Nothing fatal, they weren't deep.

Only a few meters away from each other, Naruto threw the kunai at Kushina. She didn't have enough time to avoid it fully as it sliced at her upper leg, slightly. Not given much time to recover, she tried to block the punch aimed at her face with both of her arms crossed. The blow knocked her off balance as it pushed her backwards, but she regained that balance by doing a back flip, landing once more on her feet.

Naruto didn't even hesitate as he attacked her once more. However, this time, Kushina was ready.

oOo

"Aw. Do you really have to leave so soon?"

It was a couple days after Naruto and Kushina's first spar together. Naruto went to go and say bye today as he and Jiraiya were leaving the village. The other day he had told her that he was traveling with his teacher to different places so they could gather data and so he could get stronger. She was hoping at the time that he'd be staying for a long while.

Naruto grinned. "Yep! We have to go visit all the other villages and such."

The redhead pouted, looking over his shoulder. "Is that your teacher?" At Naruto's nod as he turned his head towards Jiraiya, who stood a few meters away, she continued in a softer voice, hoping the teacher in question wouldn't hear. "Is his hair naturally that color, or is he just old?" Turned out it wasn't quiet enough as there was an indignant "Oi!" from that direction.

Naruto laughed heartily, knowing how badly that got on Jiraiya's nerves. "Unfortunately for him, his hair is naturally that color. But, don't hesitate to call him old man; you have my permission to."

They said their goodbyes, another tackle hug coming from Kushina as she told him to visit again sometime. Naruto promised that he would. He waved to her behind his back as he went to join the white haired man up ahead. There was a punch to the head waiting for him when he did catch up, but he just laughed it off.

"She seemed like a really nice girl." Jiraiya mentioned as they exited the village, eyes waggling in that way of his that suggested something totally different. He received a cry of disgust and a punch to the arm at the implication.

"Right." Naruto just rolled his eyes as Jiraiya gave a full blown laugh. "So, where are we heading off to next?"

"Who knows?" Naruto was about to yell at Jiraiya for that phrase again, he hated when the older ninja used that phrase, but Jiraiya continued. "We have awhile before we go back home. It's best to take it one step at a time."

"Hmph. Yeah, it's best to just go with the flow, I guess." And they continued on talking about what they still had to do and eventually started arguing about who won the egg and milk rematch they had the other day as they walked on to their next destination.

oOo

Now that this chapter is done, I think that blue/purple link/button thing wants to be clicked. Thanks for reading and please review!