Chapter Text
The Second Shinobi War was nearing its end. After years of warfare every Hidden Village had exhausted their resources, both supplies and manpower.
15 year old Chunin Yukari Uchiha was currently deployed in Ame along with her Chunin teammate Minato Namikaze.
"We need to finish our mission, and meet Jiraiya-sensei at Border Station 31." Minato told his teammate.
Yukari only gave a nod before starting her run.
A battle the previous day had injured her throat, a Ame nin had not been quick enough to get a kunai to her head but was just able to chop her throat just before she could kill him.
Cheap shotting asshole.
Still she could move and fight as well as ever so what did it really matter that talking hurt? Minato was smart enough to understand her wild flails if the pain got too intense.
"We'll get you checked out as soon as we can, until then I'll do enough talking for the both of us!"
Yukari rolled her eyes at that before jumping to the nearest tall rock formation to get an overview of their surroundings.
Activating her Sharingan she looked to her right, noticing some movement above a nearby cave.
There. She nudged Minato and pointed towards the cave.
After giving her a nod the two Shinobi each dropped a marked kunai, one yellow and one purple.
The mission was to rescue a captured Genin team, they had been ambushed a week prior and their Jonin sensei had been found dead at the site. A Inuzuka had been able to track their scent up to a certain point. The rain in Ame made the trail go cold.
The two Chunin had searched the area for two days before finally narrowing down the area.
She could see only one person guarding the main entrance and with so little places to hide outside the cave she was confident that the rest were inside.
"I'll look inside, see how many we're expecting." Yukari said.
"Teleport back as soon as you feel like anything is about to go wrong"
Giving a nod Yukari performed hand seals before transforming.
'Transformation Jutsu'
With a puff of smoke Yukari had transformed into a black cat with grey lines and made her way to the cave entrance, slowing down once she got near.
The watchman definitely took notice of her but assumed it was just a cat trying to get shelter.
As Yukari entered the cave she stuck to the shadows as much as she could. They probably wouldn't expect a wet cat to be a Kunoichi in disguise but why take more risks than needed?
Going deeper into it she saw only four other Shinobi, all seemingly exhausted. Near the back of the cave she found what she's been looking for, the three Genin.
Standard team composition of two boys and one girl, one of the boys seemed more hurt than the other two.
Yukari moved closer to the captured kids, needing them to be more alert so when her and Minato head in they could react better.
One of the Ame nin finally noticed the cat inside their cave.
"The hell are you doing here cat?" the Shinobi asked out loud.
Deciding to ignore him completely, Yukari kept moving towards the kids.
"Hey don't f*cking ignore me!" he said before kicking Yukari towards the kids.
Her transformation wasn't a simple henge so it was in no danger of being dispelled however the kick still hurt as much as it would in her regular body.
"Stop leave it alone!" the girl said before reaching out and grabbing Yukari and holding her close to her chest.
"You want to take the cats place girlie?" the Ame shinobi said with a tone that shot him up to first on Yukari's kill list.
"Enough Takeo, we're moving out by tonight, I don't want to carry an unconscious brat." another Shinobi said.
With a huff, Takeo turned to start eating an apple.
Yukari believed that she had gotten the layout of the little camp well enough, and with only five enemies her and Minato could easily dispatch them with the element of surprise.
She gave a lick to the girl who had picked her up and proceeded to meow just loud enough to get the other two Genin to pay attention to her.
A paw was put down and Yukari's teleportation mark appeared on the cave floor.
As they turned around she gave a wink before teleporting back to Minato and dropping the transformation.
"Only four inside the cave. The kids are all the way in the back. I already set down my mark." She reported.
"Good I'll take down the guy on top first, after I drop down you go inside and we'll pincer them." He responded.
The mission had started.
Minato first moved towards the watchman and was able to get behind him without alerting him. Before he could notice Minato shoved his Kunai into the back of his neck, before kicking him off the top of the cave down to the entrance.
Yukari watched as the sound of a body hitting the floor sent the cave into a frenzy. As two Shinobi came out to see what had happened Minato teleported to the marked kunai still embedded in the neck of the dead one.
He was too quick as he easily dispatched another Ame nin before they could process what was going on.
With Minato heading in Yukari teleported to her own mark inside the cave. Just in time too as this "Takeo" had taken out a kunai and started to move to secure the hostages, Yukari was able to slash his neck before he got any closer to the Genin.
The remaining Ame nin unsheathed his sword and quickly went to kill the intruding Leaf Kunoichi.
Starting with a downward slash Yukari deflected the blade to the side before sending a quick kick to his right side, connecting with a grunt the staggered shinobi was pushed back a bit and tried to recover.
Yukari was not about to let that happen, as she quickly stepped on Takeo's fallen kunai and stuck it to the bottom of her foot with chakra. Making a kicking motion and dropping her chakra at the apex of the kick, the kunai went flying straight into the enemy's head.
Before she could turn to free the Genin a body went flying near her and smashed into the wall.
A circular hole had been created on his clothes.
Yukari started to clap as Minato walked into the cave.
"Looks like your new jutsu worked."
"Yeah it did! I've never tried it in an actual battle though so I'm glad it works outside of Kushina's mind!" he rambled.
Not knowing what the hell he was talking about, Yukari gave a classic thumbs up awkward smile combination, before turning to the confused children.
"I'm Yukari Uchiha and that's Minato Namikaze, we're Chunin sent to rescue your team." She introduced as she started to untie the bindings on the Genin, starting with the injured boy up front.
"What happened to Han-sensei! We were hit by some kind of sleeping poison and before we passed out he was fighting a few of them." The less injured boy on the right had asked.
Trying to keep her face as even as possible Yukari responded. "Right now we need to focus on getting you guys to the nearby border station. We'll tell you everything after we get back behind our own lines."
"So he's dead." The injured boy spoke as he struggled to stand up.
"Here let me help." Minato said as he assisted in supporting the boy's weight. "Can you run? Or do you want me to carry you?"
"I'm fine." Was the boy's response.
As the last bindings on the girl fell to the ground the group could hear the rain outside getting heavier.
"We'll use the rain to cover our escape, kid if you can't run fast enough Minato will carry you." Yukari said.
The boy gave a nod.
"Let's move out."
Whether it was stubbornness or pride powering him, the boy had managed to keep up with his teammates. And in only four hours the group had made it to the border station.
After escorting the injured Genin to the makeshift infirmary Minato and Yukari went to find their Sensei.
"He should have already been here..." Minato said
"Maybe he got held up by some pretty girl." Yukari shrugged.
"It hurts so much to hear my own student having so little faith in me!" a voice in a nearby hallway echoed.
Jiraiya-sensei ran up and gave his two students a bone crushing hug.
"Well, well from what I heard it's been another successful mission for my pupils! I have a feeling that a promotion to Jonin is waiting for both of you when we get back to Konoha."
"Haha, if that's true I think Kushina will be a little mad that I made Jonin right after she made Chunin." Minato said with his hand on the back of his head.
"Well she'll be mad at me for breathing the same air as you so I have nothing to worry about." Yukari jokes.
Well... joked was a bit of a strong word. After her attempted kidnapping, her unofficial relationship with Minato had bloomed. Caught in the crossfire was Minato's conventionally attractive Kunoichi teammate.
It started with evil glares whenever Yukari would hang out with Minato outside of the mission. It progressed into challenging Yukari with constant "sparring matches". The sharingan had saved Yukari's face plenty of times from the red heads fists.
"After the war is over we'll all hang out more often! Than she can get used to you." Minato said with a little laugh.
Ignoring making the pet familiarity training connotations Yukari turned to her Sensei.
"Are we heading back now or do you still want to wait until tomorrow?"
"Hmmm lets head back now, those kids won't be moving for a while and honestly I don't want to miss it when Sensei announces the end of the war." Jiraiya responded.
Agreeing with their teacher the two said their goodbyes to the Genin before heading out.
-
Yukari and Minato hadn't been friends back in the academy, in fact they never talked to each other.
When the two were put onto the same team, Yukari was worried about her future. Minato had gotten the highest grades in Academy history, and was top of the class in every field. While she on the other hand was just another Uchiha.
Her fear was that the Sensei in charge of their team would focus all his energy on the genius he was given, while ignoring or abandoning his other two Genin completely.
When she had met Jiraiya-sensei that first day and he asked about her dreams she couldn't answer. She had only ever thought about making her clan proud, when she stayed silent too long he moved on to Minato.
The genius had proclaimed that he wanted to become the Hokage. When Jiraiya's eyes lit up Yukari thought her fate was sealed, he had his apprentice and at best she would just be a hanger-on to the future Hokage.
During the bell test she had tried her hardest to take just one stupid bell from the Sannin, however he was far too skilled for someone as average as her.
After quite literally planting her face in the dirt he left to reposition. That's when Minato and Asahi had found her.
"Hey Yukari, I have a idea. If we all attack him at the same time at the very least one of us can take the bells." Minato said
"Go away."
"Huh?"
"I said go away... I'm sure you can get a bell on your own, genius." she sneered
"But I don't want to pass without you guys." he responded
"WHAT DOES IT MATTER!" She screamed. "You're going to be the apprentice of the great Toad Sage, I'm sure he'd rather just fail the two of us so he can teach you everything without any distractions!"
As she said that, she saw Asahi wince, maybe he had the same thoughts.
She started crying hard, not caring about the two boys in front watching her.
"Then I'll fail too." he responded
"What?"
"I don't want to pass without my teammates. Either all of Team 6 passes or none of us will pass." Minato stated
Yukari looked up, and she could see it. Minato wearing the full Hokage regalia standing over the village.
"If we help out Minato then Jiraiya can't just abandon us right? So you and me will prove we can be as strong as Minato." Asahi said more confidently than Yukari expected.
Minato and Asahi reached their hands out to help up their teammate. From that moment Team 6 was truly born.
Jiraiya appeared out of nowhere in a puff of smoke.
"Well now! Are you kids finally ready to fight The Great Jiraiya!"
"We'll use academy formation 3." Yukari stated before turning to her teammates a bit shocked at herself for giving an order so soon after crying.
All they did was nod.
The three rushed forward with Asahi going in front, Minato to the left and Yukari to the right. Minato threw some kunai at the Sage which he easily deflected, and in that moment Asahi went to tackle him.
With relative ease Jiraiya moved out of the way and redirected Asahi to the ground using his own momentum. Yukari took the chance to send a flying kick at Jiraiya's head, when he caught her foot with one hand she dropped her weight down to try and grab a bell.
Realizing what she was doing he threw her to the side, Yukari threw one more kunai at him which he had to deflect with his other hand.
She sent him a smirk as he suddenly realized he had forgotten about the quick Minato, who took the chance to grab both bells. With that the test was over and all three Genin cheered.
"Very good kiddos! Now Minato, who will you give the other bell to?" Their joy had turned to ash in a second.
Of course there's only two bells. He had said one of them was going back to the academy. Minato had arrived in front of Yukari with Asahi, the two were friends during the academy. While she on the other hand made it a point to ignore him, she even yelled at him when he first came to talk to her.
Why would he give her a bell?
Yukari looked straight at the ground, not wanting anyone to see the tears forming once again.
A bell was thrown in front of her, Yukari looked up in shock as Minato had thrown the other bell to Asahi.
"I couldn't have done it without them, they deserve to be Genin more than I do." Minato said
"NO! He came up with the idea of working together, and he's better than both of us he has to pass!" Yukari cried out, as much as she wanted to accept she didn't want to rob Minato of his dream to become Hokage.
"If Minato wasn't here we couldn't have gotten the bells, and Yukari chose the formation that got us the bells. If anyone doesn't deserve to pass it's me." Asahi said not accepting the bell either.
"No one is holding a bell. Which means you all would fail, are you guys really going to get sent back to the academy just because you don't want to be selfish?" Jiraiya asked
Yukari thought about taking the bell and passing. But she couldn't do it, she didn't deserve it.
After a second of silence and no one picking up the bell Jiraiya cleared his throat.
"Well then I Jiraiya declare.... That you all pass! Welcome to Team 6!" He declared loudly.
Silence lingered for a little before Yukari started to laugh, followed by Minato, followed by Asahi.
Later that day Jiraiya made the team pose for a picture.
The official portrait for Team 6.
-
"I'll go do the reports on the mission, you go ahead and meet up with your girlfriend Minato." Yukari said once they reached the main gate of Konoha.
"We're not... ugh fine go ahead but tomorrow meet me at our usual training ground I want you to learn the Rasengan." Minato said.
"That's what it's called? Who came up with that?" There's 0 chance that Minato came up with an actually cool name for a jutsu.
"Kushina did! Get that look off your face. I originally was going to call it the Halo Frozen Dessert Hair Whorl Jiraiya Twin Formula Sphere."
How does one even come up with that name? Only Minato Namikaze.
"Yeah you're banned from ever naming your own jutsu Minato, anyway tell Kushina I said hi!" Yukari said before she took off towards the Hokage tower.
After writing her report and giving it to the Sandaime, Yukari headed straight back to the Uchiha compound wanting to relax after the mission.
Once she reached her home she took off her shoes and announced "I'm home." she was only greeted by silence.
She went over to the living room to the pictures of her parents, replaced the burnt out incense and lit them. Before starting a prayer.
"Everything went fine on the mission. Minato tried out his new jutsu and it worked. We saved some Genin, and brought them back to a border station. They were in no shape to run back to Konoha, but hopefully the war does actually end soon so their trip back will be safe."
"I miss you both everyday. I swear I will avenge you both even if there is no war."
Finishing her prayer Yukari headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
After a shower she took a look in the mirror.
Like she would say in her moments of doubt she was a typical Uchiha. Long black hair that reached to her mid back with bangs that swept to the left. Obsidian black eyes, and a pretty face with a tattoo line of three small triangles underneath her left eye. Her fathers tattoo, she got it soon after his murder. She was a little shorter than Minato standing at about 5 '7 to his 5' 10 frame. She also was proud of her body, lithe and athletic, built for moving around plenty during a fight.
After washing her face she decided to head to bed early, wanting to give Minato her full attention while learning how to use his new jutsu.
"You're late! If Minato is taking the time to teach you a powerful jutsu the least you could do is show up early ya know!" Kushina practically yelled. Not exactly her fault that she has a naturally loud voice.
"I missed you too Kushina." Yukari replied before seeing Minato's kunai pack near her. Yukari teleported to one of her kunai in the pack and gave Kushina a big hug.
"How's my favorite Uzumaki!" She said as Kushina tried to wiggle her way out of the hug.
"Let go, you man stealing Uchiha!" Kushina said
"Oh so there is a man to steal?" Yukari released the hug after realizing what the red head had said.
Kushina's face turned almost as red as her hair, before she gave a huff and turned away.
"Alright alright, let's get started on how to use the Rasengan." Minato finally interjected after just watching the two.
A few hours pass with both Yukari and Kushina struggling to spin the gathered chakra in the correct way.
"Come on, there has to be some trick to this Minato." Yukari said getting a little frustrated at her lack of progress.
"If i tell you everything you won't learn anything!" Ugh when they were learning the Flying Raijin he had said the same thing when he got the hang of it first.
In Yukari's defense it only took her one more day to catch back up.
"I'm spinning it as fast as I can, are you sure you're teaching it right ya know?" Kushina said also not happy being in the same spot she was in when they started.
"You know I'm starting to think you guys don't trust me as a teacher." Minato said with fake hurt.
Yukari and Kushina looked at each other before giving a shrug and getting back to trying to spin the stupid chakra.
A little while later Jiraiya showed up suddenly.
"I've been looking everywhere for you guys! Oh Kushina-chan you're here too, good! I have some exciting news." The Sannin announced.
"What's happening Sensei?" Yukari asked.
All three Shinobi looked at the Sannin with bated breaths.
"The war is officially over! The Sandaime will make an announcement later this afternoon."
Yukari's heart started beating loudly, this war had gone on for most of her life. To hear that it was over was a little frightening.
She unconsciously grabbed both Minato and Kushina's hands. Both hands tightened, clearly they were on edge as well.
With one war over the future was wide open. Whether that is a good thing or not only time would tell.
