Kushina stood there amongst the dead and unconscious bodies of the enemies with a victorious smile on her face. She had been captured three days ago by Iwa ninja's and taken to some underground base. They had attempted to extract information out of her but she wouldn't budge and insulted them frequently which probably wasn't the best idea because it only caused her ore pain. But then again they didn't call her The Red-Hot Blooded Habanero for her mastery of emotions.

Her temper was probably the only reason she had managed to take them all down. They had brought her into the middle of the room, because the base was really just one big underground cavern, and given her an option: die or divulge her mission. She had chosen secret option number three and told him to bite her which earned a backhanded slap to her face.

They were all ready to kill her when one bastard suggested that they make her the entertainment instead. There were no objections that she could remember because her blood had started to boil. This was no way to treat a woman, enemy or not. The second she felt the restraints loosen she let out all her furry.

She didn't really remember the battle that followed only the blood and screams. And as she stood amidst the destruction she couldn't stop the smile on her face or the satisfactory nod of her head at a job well done. She was so pleased with herself in fact that she did a victory dance as she laughed.

She heard the rustle of clothing next to her and she looked down to see one of the men with red hair trying to push himself up. She halted all victory dance movement and pointed one finger at him while her other hand took position on her hip.

"Stay down." She said in a voice that made it clear that that was his only option.

XxX

Minato was worried; he and two others were on a rescue mission for none other than Kushina Uzumaki. In the midst of battle she had been captured and taken hostage. Luckily one of the leaf shinobi had seen the direction they had taken her and a scout was able to confirm her location. It had been three days and at this point in the war, Iwa wasn't taking many prisoners and the few they did take didn't last more than a week.

He had been fortunate that his other two teammates, Kakashi and Shibi Aburame, could keep up with the fast pace he set. He still wasn't sure why he was so worried to begin with, leaf ninja got captured nearly every day, he chalked it up that it was his mission and he was worried that they would lose another ninja to the war. That had to be it, right?

They finally arrived at the compound to find it completely deserted, the scout had said there were at least two visible guards at the entrance at all times. The fact that there weren't any now didn't bode well at all. Minato put a finger to the ground but felt no other presence.

With a silent hand signal he motioned for his team to move forward. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shibi's bugs fly from out of his high collard jacket and spread out to the surrounding area. The entrance wasn't exactly as hidden as a base should be but Minato wasn't one to complain as he led the team inside and began the decent.

After a moment or two the sound of a woman's laughing came to his ears, who the hell was laughing and why? As they drew closer he saw a light coming from the end of the tunnel and slowed down to conceal his presence. He was close enough now that he could see a few feet into the room, bodies were scattered everywhere and there was blood pooling around the bodies.

He pressed himself against the wall and peered into the room. What he did see was the thing he never would have expected. Kushina was in the middle of the cavern dancing and laughing. He pushed himself away from the wall and stood in the middle of the doorway, Shibi and Kakashi coming to stand next to him.

He flinched when he saw a man close to her try and to push himself up off the floor. He was about to through a kunai at the man but he saw Kushina had noticed him. She pointed one finger at him and placed her other hand on her hip.

"Stay down." She commanded him with narrowed eyes. The man nodded obediently and lay back down amongst his fallen comrades.

Minato couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. This girl was one of a kind; no wonder the Hokage didn't seem that worried about her.

She smiled and turned around to where her 'rescue' was standing. She jumped a little in surprise at seeing them before a light blush graced her cheeks.

"I see we aren't as needed as we first thought." He said with a chuckle.

She looked around at the devastation she had caused and gave a shy kind of grin. "They started it."

This caused Minato to laugh, he was of course the only one as in all the time he had known Shibi, and the man had never cracked a smile let alone laugh. It was hard to tell if Kakashi smiled behind his mask though the boy was always so serious he doubted he would find this funny.

"We should leave before reinforcements arrive." Shibi said in a raspy voice.

"Okay team let's move out." Minato said.

Shibi and Kakashi turned and began the trek back up the tunnel while he waited for Kushina to catch up with them. When she was only a few feet away he saw how tired and beat up she looked. She had been captured after a gruesome battle where she was the only survivor and then held as a prisoner by Iwa, who weren't known for being the most gentle. Frankly he was amazed that she had had the strength to defeat nearly twenty enemy shinobi and then have the energy for a victory dance of all things.

"Are you alright." He asked just before she stumbled forward.

He didn't even have to think about it as his reflexes acted on memory and instinct and he caught her just before she hit the floor.

"I've been better." She joked.

All Minato could do was shake his head and smile and in one swift movement he had swung her around and on to his back. She gasped at the sudden movement and he couldn't help it as his smile grew.

"I suppose warning me before you did that was too much to ask for?" she asked dryly.

"Would you have let me?" he countered.

She was silent for a moment before answering. "No."

They didn't say much else as he carried her out of the tunnel and into the fading sunlight. There he saw Kakashi and Shibi waiting, both as stoic as ever. He felt Kushina move forward on his back and lean in close to his ear.

"Do they ever smile?" she whispered into his ear and suppressed a shiver.

"Not that I've seen." He whispered back low enough to where only she could hear.

The rescue team jumped up to the trees as they began to make their escape out of enemy territory. It was about five minutes later that he realized Kushina had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. It was then that he promised himself to spend more time with her; this woman always had him guessing.