Hokage: Ryo’s Path

In the noise made by everyone, Kushina looked at Minato’s smile, and could only feel disbelief

She sorted out her red hair that was flowting with the winds, recalling her past with Minato, and smiling discreetly.

When Kushina first came to Konoha, she was attracted by the massive figures on the Hokage Rock, and that ignited her dream of becoming Hokage.

The 1st time she caught Minato’s eye was at the academy.

In class, her self-introduction got her ridiculed by all students, not only because of her distinct fashion of speaking, but also because of her distant dreams.

Minato was the only one in class to recognize her dream. Therefore, she had a good impression on the boy with the golden hair and big smile.

Children are always curious and aggressive towards anything different. The children never saw anything like Kushina’s bright hair.

Therefore, they started to tease her about her looks, calling her a Tomato, and some of them even reached for her hair.

Being an Uzumaki, from an early age, Kushina had amazing amounts of Chakra. Her peers were no opponents of her.

After getting beat, the kids did not give up, and kept mocking her hair color and teasing her again and again, enjoying angering her.

With them teasing her again and again, Kushina hated her red hair more and more. Whenever someone laughed at her because of it, she made them pay with her fists.

Minato was watching all of this, but never helped her. This changed her impression little by little.

For over a year, Kushina quarreled with her teammates. In the end, one of them couldn’t just stand being beat by her again and again, and ended up bringing his brother, a Genin who had just graduated, to beat her up.

Despite this, Kushina still managed to immerge victorious. This gave the Red-Hot Habanero a reputation that made everyone afraid to bully her.

A few years later, she and Minato graduated. Minato joined team Jiraya, while Kushina was focused more on practicing the Uzumaki’s Fuinjutsu.

What she did know was that after graduation, Minato kept an eye on her secretly.

One day, as she was returning home, she found a Cloud Ninja ambush.

She was taken away by the Ninjas who took her by surprise, but she secretly tore off her hair little by little, leaving a red hair trail behind her without them noticing. However, no one noticed her absence until they reached the borders of the fire country.

As she gradually fell in despair, a figure emerged from the darkness under the dark clouds blocking the moonlight, killing the Cloud Ninjas.

“Are you hurt?”, “I came to rescue you!”

Seeing Minato, Kushina’s tense nerves finally were loose, and she collapsed to the ground. He immediately rushed over to her, picking her up from the ground.

In the moonlight, Kushina saw her red hair in Minato’s hands.

“Such beautiful hair, I immediately noticed.”

It was at that moment that Minato took over her heart, not leaving place for anyone else.

“Ne san, are you okay? You face is so red!” Ryo interrupted Kushina’s thoughts.

“I’m fine! I just remembered some things…” Kushina quickly shook her head.

Since the succession ceremony was about one and a half months away, Minaro asked everyone to help him pick a day for the wedding ceremony.

Jiraya had been Minato’s Sensei since his graduations. Moreover, both Minato and Kushina were orphans, and such responsibilities that usually went to the parents fell to him.

Although usually carefree, he was serious and discussed the matter with everyone as this was his apprentice’s once-in-a-lifetime big night.

Eventually, September 16th was picked to be the wedding day. Being that the choice was made on august 26, 20 days remained for preparations. (T/N: Actually 21…. But whatever XD)

Far from his usual habits, Jiraya also took responsibility for the wedding preparations.

Minato went to the 3rd’s office informing him that he was going to get married, and proposed that the Hokage himself should take some time off for preparations. The 3rd very happily agreed.

Since Ninjas usually went in and out of the 3rd’s office regularly, when Minato and the 3rd were talking, several people heard of the news.

The 3rd did not make the matter confidential, since it was a happy event, and it didn’t bother if it would be spread out.

Even in the Narutoverse, people love talking about celebrities, and the biggest one in Konoha was certainly the upcoming Hokage, Minato!

“Hey, did you hear that Minato is about to get married soon?”

“What? Are you sure this is not fake news??”

“Of course it is true; my neighbor was at the Hokage’s office. He heard it.”

The news was spread through the village, and in just a few minutes, everyone in Konoha’s streets knew of the news that Minato was about to get married.

The villagers of Konoha sent their blessings to their upcoming Hokage, and everyone was immersed in happiness.

After the news reached the Hatake clan, Kakashi left his place.

He was going to the Memorial Stone, wanting to tell Obito the news.

“Obito, did you hear? Sensei is going to marry Kushina Ne san. I want to give them a special gift.” Kakashi had just reached the Stone when he heard Rin’s voice.

He did not show his face, but instead stood on the side and listened quietly.

“Alright, Obito! I am leaving. I’ll see next time when I finish preparing the gift.” After finishing her words, Rin left.

Kakashi approached the stone, and stood quietly. What he wanted to tell Obito was already conveyed by Rin.

The next day, after picking up a C-Rank mission related to the Wave Country, Rin left Konoha alone.

Her plan was to make a polished shell necklace to Kushina. Since the wedding was approaching, she decided to go to a nearby beach to collect Seashells.

As soon as she left the village, the Zetsu watching the gate started tracing her.

He quietly approached her, and then used the wind to get his spores upon her body.

After the spores were attached to her, White disappeared into the ground and returned to the pit reporting to Madara.

“Madara sama, Madara sama! The young girl that Obito likes has left Konoha, and she’s now going towards the Wave country.” Zetsu immerged from the ground yelling to Madara.

“Wave Country? Well fitting. Zetsu, guide the Mist Ninjas to capture her! My plan should start!”

“Yes! Madara sama!”