Time to meet the parents! [During the summer holidays at Kushina's house. Open to anyone who'd be there, I guess :)]

Minato just... hung around and looked at the decorations. Since he was pretty much full and all. And knew better than to disturb her when she was eating.

Finally, she ate the rest, and with a content sigh, leant back in the chair.

"Full?" he asked her, smiling as always when he saw her eat.

Small, quick nods, a smile on her lips. "Mm. Damn it's been long since mum made that."

"It was awesome," he said. "She's a really good cook."

"Mm. She is." a small smile. "You should try her ramen, too. There's a reason I'm obsessed with it, 'ttebane!" she grinned, and impulsively leant over to kiss him.

She was so cute when she gushed over food that it was impossible not to kiss her back enthusiastically, right there, even though he was rather aware of the motherly eyes upon them.

Haneul, however, just smiled a secret smile as she loaded the dishwasher, glad to see her daughter this happy again.

A small grin against his lips. "Hmm. I really should show you the garden. 'S so peaceful at this hour."

Minato was a little taken aback. "Uh, sure!" He didn't know she had any interest in gardens, but whatever she wanted, he happily went along with.

"Great!" with a grin, she pulled him up to a stand and out of the room, into the hallway.

He just let himself be pulled after and put on his shoes when they reached the hall. "Is it a big garden?"

"Well, for one in the city, yeah, it's big." she smiled. "One of the things Dad specifically looked for. Mum loves to tend the garden, and well, I like to train out there." she said, pulling her own shoes on before walking to the back door.

"Cool. We used to live in a house with a big garden. That was nice," he said, trudging after her.

She nodded then went out the door, looking at him with a smile to see his reaction to the pathway, now, archway you stepped into first of all.

"Woah," he stood and stared in awe. "This is.. nice." He wasn't used to gardens, neither at the school nor at home. He'd forgotten how nice they were to be in.

She grinned. "Mum planned it with the landscape architect when we moved in. Got a gardener to put everything here, and now, well. She just tends it very often."

"It's cool. I like the... Uhm. Everything. That one's nice." He pointed at something purple.

A small smile. "I want to show you my favorite corner, though."

"Sure." He took her hand and let her pull him along.

When they rounded the corner after the archway, there was big bushed and a few trees everywhere. She led him over to the corner with one of the biggest trees - under which there was a bench.

"Wow," he said, duly impressed. "This is nice. Cosy." Yeah, not very many words in the male vocabulary for gardens. "And relaxing. Like, zen. Y'know."

She nodded, smiling brightly as she sat down on the bench. "And rather private. Can't be seen from the house, here."

He caught on straight away - and blushed. "Uhm..." Was this where she used to bring her other boyfriends? Yeah, probably, and he had to fucking deal with that. He sat down next to her and laid a casual arm around her shoulders.

A content smile as she snuggled in against his side, kissing his neck with a pleased sigh following.

He breathed in the scent of her hair and started relaxing for the first time in weeks.