A/N: Ok, so this is my first fanfiction so frankly, this story probably sucks. However, unfortunately, this idea would not leave me alone. This chapter was hard to write… so (gulp).

Title: Predetermined Destiny

Pairings: NaruSaku

Summary: Naruto was different from most Hyugas. Because of that, he became the outcast of his clan. Dreams are shattered; hopes are lost. Naruto desperately tries to break free from the cage that holds him. And fly.

Disclaimer: Hmmm… there are many questions in life. Though one of them is NOT "Do I own Naruto?" Why, because I'm just a random American girl.

Talking- "I'm talking"

Thinking or flashback- 'I'm thinking'

Prologue: The Misunderstanding

Love involves a peculiar unfathomable combination

of understanding and misunderstanding.

-Diane Arbus

/-\/-\/-\

White.

That was how one would describe Konohagakure no Sato in this state. For blankets of snow was all the eye could see. Snow was a rare sight in Konoha, even in winter. Therefore, Uzumaki Kushina stood, hands clasped, with a look of adoration that sparkled in her violet orbs. In essence, it gave her the very image of a little girl, seeing something grand for the first time. She looked peaceful.

"Are you sure about this?" questioned a busty blonde kunoichi. A frown replaced bliss on the Kyubi container's features at the declaration.

"Positive. I have already received a confirmation from the old man himself," answered Uzumaki Kushina, her hands balled up into fists.

Tsunade arched a brow, "So sensei decided to let the prized Kyubi jinchuriki run free?"

Kushina snorted, though her eyes contrasted with her attitude. They were eyes that showed desperation.

"Well, the fact that I was traveling with you seemed to appease his worries," countered the red head.

A mocking smirk flitted across the medic nin's face," So what's the sudden urgency for your departure? I'm willing to bet all my money it's because of Minato."

Kushina let out an obviously artificial laugh, simultaneously slapping her sides. The phony laugh died down into giggles, "ME? Why would I leave Konoha to travel with you as an excuse to escape Minato? That's preposterous!" she cried out, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

Tsunade's smirk evolved into a sly one. "Oh! So the news about Minato's first date with Hikari didn't upset you at all?"

The Red Hot-blooded Habanero's content face instantly contorted into anger.

"WHAT?" Kushina bellowed. The anger radiating off her was palpable.

Tsunade held up in hands in defense," Calm down, it's not like they're serious yet."

So Minato and Hikari were finally together. She knew it was only a matter of time. What was this relationship trying to prove? To show that even though Hikari was already bound to marriage, nothing could stop Hikari's love for the Yellow Flash. It was all a load of bullshit. After all, there were no fairytale endings, especially if you were from that damned Hyuga clan.

For she once believed in such fairytales two months ago. When she believed Minato was her soul mate. The red head was so cheerful then. Though she knew, she could not blame Minato for their breakup, for it was her own misunderstanding that compelled it.

/-\/-\/-\

It was a beautiful summer day in Konohagakure. The sun set a shimmering gold glow upon the buildings. If one were to gaze at the sky, they would find an azure blue hue and white fluffy clouds that drifted lazily by. Uzumaki Kushina wandered aimlessly through town.

Laughter echoed through the streets. The Kyubi jinchuriki smiled at the sight of families together. A toddler's little hands grasped his parent's hands as they walked through the streets. It was truly a beautiful sight. The thought of Minato and herself walking hand and hand with their own child, took her breathe away.

She already had it all planned out. It would be a boy. Girls were too whiny to handle. Then teenage girls were terrifying… well at least everyone else considered her pretty damn scary at that age. Their child would look like his daddy, but would have her bubbly, radiant personality. Because honestly, what would be better than two Kushinas?

Lost in her own thoughts, she ran into an unsuspecting old man.

"Hey you whippersnapper?" the old man called out, shaking his cane in the air, "You young ninjas think you're so powerful, but you aren't even aware of your own surroundings!"

With a swift turn, the old man wobbled off, leaving behind a baffled Kushina.

More laughter caught her attention. It was not just any laughter, but laughter from her beloved. She was too busy fantasizing about the future to notice it before.

'Thank you old man.'

Minato was with his teammate, Hyuga Hikari. The first thought that registered in Kushina's mind was that they looked… so happy to be with each other. She then decided to take in the appearance of the Hyuga. Her pearly white eyes were shining with exuberance. Though there was, another emotion hidden the depths of eyes.

Love. It became obvious then that the Hyuga was in love with Namikaze Minato.

Her hair was in a high bun, leaving her side bangs to frame her face. Straight bangs covered her forehead, which effectively hid her cursed branch seal. Hikari was a typically pretty girl. That is what had Kushina worried.

On the other hand, maybe it was the trivial fact that they were standing outside of a flower shop, Minato, of course, holding the bouquet of flowers.

Violet eyes narrowed to slits. Just by looking at them, any bystander would call those to a couple. Was Minato on a… DATE? Could he be CHEATING on her? That notion made her blood boil. How dare that bitch seduce her boyfriend? She decided then that she would follow the two and find out for herself.

/-\/-\/-\

"Hikari? I know your grandmother is in the hospital and it's thoughtful to buy her flowers. Though I do pose a question, why do I have to carry them?" Minato asked nonchalantly.

Hikari waved him off, "Hey, who's buying your ramen? …That's right. So suck it up and be a man."

Minato sighed, as if holding flowers actually made him look anymore manly.

/-\/-\/-\

Hiding her chakra signature, Uzumaki Kushina stealthily weaved her way through the busy streets. What was a better way do hide you than blend in with the crowd?

The Kyubi jinchuriki's eyes darted around, looking for her two unsuspecting prey; until she realized they were out of sight.

'Well… shit.'

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door flap at Ichiraku's move. Minato loved ramen as much as she did, they had to be there. Taking precautions, Kushina henged into an average cilivan girl.

The Red Hot-blooded Habanero took a dramatic intake of breathe, it was now or never.

Sure enough, there sat her Minato-kun and the Hyuga bitch. She sneered at their casual conversation; they were talking about training! The flowers sat between the two 'lovers'. They did not even look at the cilivan with remarkably average features behind them.

'This would be too easy.'

"Welcome to Ichiraku's! What can I get for you?" Ichiraku Teuchi's voice called out.

"Alright! I was an extra large miso ramen, dattebane… I mean please!" Kushina sputtered out before quickly covered her mouth. She hoped that Minato was too busy chatting to notice her. She was wrong. For, out of the corner her eye she saw her lover's gaze on her.

Teuchi's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Wow, I've never had anyone order miso ramen before beside Uzumaki Kushina."

The 'brunette' cringed at his over-friendly tone of voice.

"You know… now that you mention it, Kushina-san was the one who recognized me to try it." was the 'brunette's' reply.

This, however, did not appease Teuchi's suspicion. Fortunately, he just shrugged and began to cook the ramen that the 'cilivan' girl ordered.

To say that the next twenty minutes were tedious was the understatement of the year. For the majority of the time, there was dead silence while everyone slurped their noodles. She took that back, she was the only one actually slurping her noodles down like a pig. Hikari was too well mannered to attempt such a thing.

'Damn Hyugas.'

Currently, Minato and Hikari were talking about their latest success on a mission. Surprisingly, Kushina was pleased with the boring small talk. There was no flirting, no holding hands, just small talk. This led to only one conclusion; their relationship was completely platonic.

However, the sight Kushina just witnessed through that theory out of the window. Her Minato-kun's face was at an uncomfortable distance from the Hyuga's own. Everything stopped. All the jinchuriki heard was her rapidly beating heart. They were about to kiss. She was right; Minato was cheating on her. She could not bear it… the one she loved did not return her feelings.

Not thinking twice, Uzumaki Kushina dashed out of the restaurant, leaving the door flap swaying in the wind.

/-\/-\/-\

(Meanwhile)

Minato was not positive, but he thought he saw a stray noodle on Hikari's face. To further investigate, he leaned in closer. He stayed that way for a while.

"What?" his teammate finally asked, a pink hue tinted her normally pale cheeks.

"I believe you have a noodle on your face."

Indeed she did, his eye-sight never failed him.

Hikari quickly wiped it away, "Now that wouldn't suffice as my status as a Hyuga."

Her nose crinkled up in disgust, vaguely reminding him of a pig. Not that he would tell her that. The yellow flash glanced at the swaying door flap. What had impelled that remarkably average cilivan to leave? Wait, the miso ramen, the dattebane, it could only be on person.

"Hikari?"

It seemed his fellow teammate was apprehensive of the situation also. Her byakugan was already searching for the suspicious character. The brunette's eyes widened at the results.

"It's… Kushina. I'd recognize that chakra anywhere."

'Just as I thought.'

Minato was known to be an observant person. He knew that Kushina was pissed right now. He also knew that when his beloved was pissed off, he would need to confront her quick. If not, there would be a blowout.

"Thanks for the meal. I gotta go," the future Hokage smiled sheepishly.

For the second time today, Namikaze Minato sighed.

'This was going to be a long night.'

/-\/-\/-\

Life sucked. Life sucked. Life thoroughly, thoroughly sucks.

Uzumaki Kushina thought it couldn't get any worse. That was, until she opened her apartment door to find Namikaze Minato drinking green tea. It was just what she wanted. Please do note the sarcasm.

"Ah! So you've decided to your lovely face," Minato greeted, taking another sip of his tea.

"You… YOU! At Ichiraku's…ramen… date… how the hell did you get here so fast?" Kushina seethed, her acrimony leaving her unable to form coherent sentences.

"Oh!" Minato realized, "You've never noticed? I placed one of my hiraishin seals behind one of your picture frames. You know, for instant access. While you were gone, I even had time to make this cup of¾"

The Yellow Flash had held out his tea cup to emphasize the point.

Big mistake.

In her anger, the Kyubi container smashed the tea cup on his leg. Consequently, littering the contents of the cup all over his pants; the porcelain shards left rips too. It undoubtedly must have pierced his flesh.

It must have stung.

"You think you can toy with me? You think you can just cheat on me? HUH?"

To Kushina, it felt simply wonderful to release that pent up anger. Out of all the women he could cheat on, he made a mistake by cheating on the Red Hot-blooded Habanero, dattebane!

Minato chuckled. CHUCKLED!

"With Hyuga Hikari? No, she's been engaged for awhile now. In fact, she's actually getting married in a couple of weeks," was the blonde's reply.

"IF she's getting married then WHY. DID. YOU. GO. ON. A. DATE. WITH. HER!"

Somehow, someway her lover managed to stay level-headed. If he was irritated, he didn't show it.

"We weren't on a date. We were merely celebrating our on our latest mission… as friends," he made sure to stress the word friends.

"But you bought her flowers! And… and you looked so happy!"

As if realization hit, Minato's eyes flashed with annoyance.

"We were picking up flowers for Hikari's sick grandmother. Just because I'm in a relationship with you doesn't mean I can't go spend a day with my own teammate!" he spat.

Kushina did not back down. Being as stubborn as a bull had its disadvantages. This was one of them.

"YES, yes it does!" was her retort.

Minato gritted his teeth.

"Besides, I'm sure you just had a fabulous time sucking face with YOUR TEAMMATE!"

There. She said it. There was no possible way he could counter that. That lying bastard would get what he deserved.

"I thought there was a stray noodle leftover on her face. I was confirming my thoughts by leaning in to get a better look. Kissing never crossed my mind nor did we actually kiss!"

The future Hokage was irritated, his facial expression showed that much. He was irate because he was falsely accused. He was irate because the one he loved distrusted him to this extent.

"Likely story, you lying son of a bitch! I hate people who lie like you! I HATE YOU!" was Kushina's malicious reply.

Minato stood up abruptly. The red head had managed to push his patience to the edge. Who did she think she was? Did he really give out the player vibe? Trust was essential, relationships were built on trust. Without it, relationships would crumble. It would crumble until all was left were the ruins. The blonde was aware of this.

"Kushina-chan, I'm in love with you. If you, of all people can't recognize that, then I don't think we can be together. I don't want a relationship guided by mistrust and deceit."

With that, the Yellow flash was about to walk out of Uzumaki Kushina's life. Though Kushina was not done yet, as soon as her newly dubbed ex-lover turned to leave, she managed to bellow out a last comment,

"I see! You were just waiting for a moment like this to break up with me! You wanted to be with that Hyuga bitch all along!"

With narrowed eyes, Namikaze Minato slammed the door in her face. He left Uzumaki Kushina alone to weep for the next two months.

/-\/-\/-\

"¾KUSHINA! KUSHINA!" bellowed the slug sannin, pulling the young women out of her reverie.

Kushina restlessly looked around at her current surroundings. Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees in a picture perfect begging position.

"Minato-kun! Come back!"

"Um… Kushina-san.," Kushina gazed up, "You kind of zoned out there."

That voice came from the youngest of the three, Shizune.

The Uzumaki shook her head absentmindedly. This young woman was depressed. Frankly speaking, it was disturbing to see the cheerful red head down. The words 'Kushina' and 'depressed' weren't commonly used in the same sentence. Tsunade had to get her out of this village.

"Alright, we're leaving Konoha for good. Now we look at the future, not the past." declared the blonde.

"Yes ma'am."

"Right."

Kushina looked back at the village for the last time. The breakup was all her fault. It was all just a big misunderstanding. Though, instead of confronting Minato, she chose to avoid him like the plague. Instead of moving on, finding a different man, she chose to stay home and sulk. They should be back together, for all couples had their quarrels. It only took her two months to realize that. Maybe… maybe this was her chance to move on, just like her ex-lover. Now it was her time to break free. She wouldn't have it any other way.

/-\/-\/-\

A/n: So… how was it? I promise my follow up chapters will be better. I promise. Anyway, reviews are appreciated. So review, review, and review! Thanks!