Title: Louder than Words

Summary: It's the worst sort of cliché, but it just became my life. Here's hoping I survive it. OC SI

Author's Notes: The only people who are aware that Minori uses they/them pronouns are Oono Akihiro and Rie. In private, the two use those pronouns to refer to Minori.

*Warnings for slurs out the wazoo, sexual assault/harassment, and other equally unpleasant things.


Chapter Seven:

Ostracism

[...exclusion by general consent from common privileges or social acceptance...]


The sun shone with a dazzling brightness in the almost offensively blue sky as I walked to the downtown area of Konoha, Naruto in tow. Whispers tracked along behind us, and though I couldn't pinpoint just who said what, I heard plenty enough of it.

"The demon's whore…"

"How can the Hokage permit such a thing?"

"That foreign freak!"

My mouth twisted into a scowl, and I brushed a hand over Naruto's bright hair, keeping the motions gentle as I did so. Defiantly gentle, in the wake of the filth I'd grown used to hearing in the past week.

I ducked out of the way as a rotten tomato was launched at my head from a well-dressed urchin, one who sneered at me when my eyes snapped to his position. My fingers tapped a soundless tune on the fabric of my bag, and I chuckled when flames set the boy's feet to dancing.

Naruto's hands curled in the fabric of my skirts, and I smiled down at him.

"Let's get out of the foul air, eh, Naru-chan? Can't be good for either of us, now can it?" My voice was loud and rang with deliberate insult through the air.

As I saw several people react to it – reddening faces, puffed up chests, clenched fists – I laughed and swung Naruto up, propping him on the hip that didn't have my trusty bag resting against it.

I entered the park near my apartment, cutting through it rather than going by the residential area. It was part of my new routine for heading home after training with Gai, and allowed me to circumvent a great deal of the snide comments that had become a part of life.

"Minori."

Haruki faded out of the shadows in front of me, and Naruto buried his face in my neck.

"It's Kaname-san, shinobi-san," I corrected, noting the way her eyes flicked to Naruto with a cold hate that I still was not used to.

Haruki blinked, and stared at me, looking shocked for a moment.

I nearly rolled my eyes. After the fight we'd had a few days ago, did she really expect anything different?

"Do you honestly think I would permit someone who tried to take my child away from me to remain on a first name basis with me?" I asked in a calm, outright polite tone. "Do you honestly believe, because I can't think even you would be that stupid, that someone went behind my back and who accused a four year old of seducing me to the Hokage would ever be permitted such liberties?"

"Minori, I was just-" Haruki's face grew agitated, and if I wasn't so enraged, I would have been amused at how flustered the normally stoic kunoichi was.

"I told you before, you are not my friend, and you no longer have a right to call me by my name. It is Kaname-san, shinobi-san, and I expect you to address me as such. Good day to you," I said, and made to move around her.

But she stepped back in front of me, and something went cold and trembling in my stomach. Fear fluttered like moths beating against my ribcage.

I did not like being caged in.

"Minori…Kaname-san, I was just worried about you," Haruki said, her eyes pleading.

I surreptitiously let Naruto slide down my side, and tucked him behind me. My flames danced right below my skin, ready for a fight.

"Worried about me? Don't make me laugh," I said flatly. "You were scared, and just using me as an excuse to overlook your own fears, let's not get things mixed up here."

"Caring for that demon, Min-Kaname-san, you have to understand why I-" Haruki stopped and backed off.

I could feel flames at my hands, and flames coiling around my head, as the anger twisted inside me.

"Get the fuck away from us right fucking now, you goddamn coward." I barely recognized the voice that echoed out of me. "Or I will kill you. Am I clear?"

It was as though a blind shuttered down over Haruki's face, right on the heels of something that flashed like regret.

"You're as much a demon as it is," she spat, and my rage calmed in the face of her fear.

I smiled.

"Took you long enough to realize it. Now get the fuck away from us, shinobi."

Haruki shunshined away, and I rested a hand on Naruto's head.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked me, his eyes so blue and wide.

"I'm fine, Naru-chan. Just had to take out the trash," I told him, and laughed.

If the sound was bitter, he didn't comment on it.


"Y…You're cutting back my hours."

This meeting with Yamamoto Mayumi was going in a very different direction than my last one had. The woman had not an ounce of good will on her face, her dark eyes colder than ice.

You should have expected this, I chastised myself through the blank shock.

Hadn't Matsuda called me a "stupid chit" when I'd messed up on shelving yesterday, when normally she would have corrected me and gone about her way? Hadn't I heard the comments made in my wake by my co-workers?

And I knew that people had stopped coming into the Library since Naruto had started living with me.

But. But.

The Library – Back Home and here in Konoha – had been like my sanctuaries. I'd always been on good terms with the librarians, and it.

I just.

I didn't understand.

(But the thing was, I did understand.)

"And you will be moved to the back of the library to work on restocking and such things. And of course, the privileges you were given will be revoked, and you will no longer be permitted to linger past normal opening hours," Yamamoto said, her voice impeccably cool.

I swallowed the shock and the trembling anger.

"I understand, Yamamoto-san," I said, just as coolly. "May I be dismissed?"

"Go," the woman said, and I stood from my chair, and made for the door. But as my hand rested on the wood, I heard the old hag's voice again.

"I had such high hopes for you, Kaname," she said. "I had never believed someone like you would fall in with such a…bad crowd."

I closed my eyes.

"Shows you never knew me at all," I said with a studied calm, and left the room. As I trotted down the stairs, a very familiar voice called out to me.

"Hey, Minori-chan!" An arm was slung around my shoulders, drawing me close to a body that stunk of sweat, lust, and alcohol.

"Get your hand off me," I snarled at Morioka Kunio.

The greasy haired man drew back with a mockingly wounded expression, his ridiculously thin lips spread in an expression of utterly fake hurt.

Men with thin lips were the most unattractive ever.

"Why, Minori-chan, you shouldn't be so rude! After all, I did hear that you were having some trouble, and I just wanted to help you," He said, with a lecherous smile.

I knew men like him. They were the worst of the worst, and always on the lookout for a desperate lay they could coerce into bed. Whether handsome or…more like Kunio, they were all the same.

Without Matsuda to protect me, and with the implicit disregard of the Head Librarian (not to mention the rest of Konoha), it was obvious Kunio thought I would be a desperate and insultingly easy lay.

Out of patience with everything, my normally long and rarely roused temper on a hair trigger, I moved.

I twisted out of the man's grip, reached up and back, yanking his arm up behind his back. I slammed him forward, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Touch me again, and I will break every bone in your body, you stupid fuck," I hissed.

I was tired and past of dealing with this sort of nonsense. And gods above, I would have to wait about a decade before any of it would change and these shitheads would see Naruto as the hero he truly was?

Fucking hell.

Kunio squealed in pain as I kept the pressure up on his arm. I made a vague mental note to tell Gai how well his lessons in how to escape an enemy hold had played out in real life, even though this rat wasn't, say, an actual enemy shinobi.

I heard footsteps, and promptly released the rat. He fell to the ground and I stepped away. I walked down the rest of the stairs and out into the hallway, passing by Orino Kaori as I did so.

"Kaname-san!" she called, and I stopped, looking back at her. She shrank away as my eyes met hers.

"What is it, Orino-san?" I asked the woman who had taken over Susumu's spot after he had left.

She looked a bit lost for a second. If I hadn't still been boiling with rage, I would have taken a chance to smile at her and to set her at ease.

It hadn't been easy for the very pretty woman, especially with Kunio fuming over her promotion, but she'd done it, and done it well. Any other day, I would have admired at that as I had always done.

But now, I was tired and angry and just a little disheartened.

"…Nothing, Kaname-san," she said, and I continued on my way.

With my back turned, I didn't see the way she sighed, and put a hand on her heart.

And I didn't hear the whisper of "I'm sorry," that followed in my wake.


"Teuchi-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto! He's never had ramen before, and I thought it would be best to start him off with the best of the best!" I chirped.

Naruto, from his perch on my back, waved hesitantly at the man I had become good friends with.

Teuchi stopped, and looked at Naruto. Something flickered over his face, too fast for me to properly catch, but I did see curiosity before he smiled.

"Ah, welcome, Naruto-kun. Your Kaa-chan has told me a lot about you," Teuchi said, and I could practically feel Naruto freeze up on my back.

I wasn't doing much better, myself.

We hadn't decided what name Naruto would call me, and it hadn't been important, but-

Jesus H. Christ, this felt weird.

Why are you so surprised? Amaruq asked. You care for him, and considering all you have done to protect him, including the agreement you have entered in with him, it is a reasonable thing to assume.

At least he's not calling you Naru-chan's Tou-chan! Dorje said cheerfully. I'd've decked someone if they tried to call me that!

Teuchi was watching me carefully. "Are you all right, Minori-kun?"

I took a deep breath, feeling Naruto's fingers curl into my shirt.

In for a penny, in for a pound, I thought, and my own fingers trembled.

"What sort of K-Kaa-chan would I be, if I didn't show my own son the best ramen in all of the Land of Fire, eh?" I said with a shaky smile.

Teuchi's smile grew. "I hope you'll become as good a customer as your Kaa-chan is, Naruto-kun!" he said as I sat Naruto on the stool next to mine.

But the moment I sat beside him, he leaned into my side.

"What ramen would you like, Naru-chan?" I asked softly, feeling more than a little raw on the inside, and knowing that Naruto was feeling much the same. "I normally get tonkatsu ramen, but I think you might like miso. How does that sound?"

Naruto nodded shyly, and I wanted to sigh. Poor kid.

Even after a week with me, his clinginess wasn't showing any signs of abating.

I certainly didn't mind, but when placed alongside the ever-lingering images of the loud prankster I was accustomed to thinking of whenever I thought of Uzumaki Naruto, it was a bit jarring. To say the least.

Just give him time, Abhaidev rumbled. He is still young, and you are his only stable anchor in an unstable sea. He will find himself, and find his path in turn.

I sure hoped so.

Shouldn't Amaruq be the one with the water themed adages? I asked with returning good humor.

There was a sound of protest from deep within my mind, and I chuckled.

"Something funny?" Teuchi asked, and I shook my head.

"Just remembered something. So, Naruto, how is it?"

Naruto gave me a starry-eyed look. "It's the best!"

Teuchi laughed. "Good to hear it, kiddo. Want another bowl?"

"Can I, K-" my pint-sized bratling stumbled over the word, "Kaa-chan? Can I?"

I had to start watching my money like a hawk. I had to really start watching my money, in the wake of my hours being decimated by that old hag, while I was searching for another job to supplement my pay.

But.

I looked at Naruto, and he had a little bit of noodle still clinging to his cheek. His eyes were bright and huge with enjoyment, and I realized that this was the first time I'd seen him smile without shadows.

Exasperation, amusement, lingering bits of anger, fear, pain, and something warm and overwhelming all churned together in my belly, making it impossible to do anything but smile back at him.

"One more bowl, and that's all," I told him, and grinned at Teuchi when Naruto cheered.


I carried Naruto home amidst the scornful looks, and Naruto's face was wet against my neck as someone called "Whore!" as we passed.

"Why do they say those things to you, Kaa-chan?" he asked.

"People are pretty dumb, Naru-chan, especially when they don't understand something," I told him, feeling weary all the way to my marrow.

"I'll make them stop," he said, much later, as I was tucking him into the brand new bed I'd bought for him, and cursed and swore over in the room off the bathroom. The room that had Gama-chan and Jinbe-chan (a whale shark I was pretty sure Naruto liked just because I adored it) and all of his new toys sitting proudly on the shelves. The room with the orange lamp that was a little dented, but had rather sloppy stencils of green frogs on it.

"Make who stop, Naru-chan?" I asked, a little distracted in the midst of the tale of how Monkey D. Luffy saved the mystical land of Skypiea.

(It wasn't as though I knew many stories as well as I knew One Piece, after all. And a growing kid deserved lots of stories. After all, that was how I'd grown up, with all the stories Mom had told me.)

"The people who say bad things. I'll make them stop."

I stopped and looked down at him, and what I saw in his blue eyes made me pause.

"I'll become the Hokage, and they'll all realize how stupid they were to hate us," Naruto said, with determination in every word. His eyes shone with it, and I felt something far deeper than I'd ever felt when this child had just been a picture on a page.

"It'll take a lot of work," I said instead, and Naruto promptly clambered up onto my lap.

"I can do it, Kaa-chan. I'll be a hero like Luffy!"

He was just so earnest, and so determined about it, that I could feel my eyes growing wet.

"Heh," I chuckled, and buried my face in his soft hair. "I know you can, Naru-chan."


"Welcome back, Naruto-chan!" Rie called out, and Naruto's face lit up as Rie's children Junichi, Osamu, and Naoko poured out from behind their mother's skirts.

I let him slide down, to be tackled by the exuberant children and promptly born off to go on some adventure in the backyard of the Oono family compound.

Rie had welcomed Naruto with open arms, and it had been with her and her children that Naruto had found a temporary home for when I was out working or training.

Junichi, Osamu, and Naoko possessed exactly none of the fear and bias that other children in the village had been taught by their parents. Naoko, the defacto leader among her brothers and the servants' children they ran amuck with, had taken to the much younger Naruto with zeal.

I knew that the three had been ostracized themselves, for the color of their skin.

With the Hyūga Incident still in the hearts and minds of the people of Konoha, any person who even remotely looked like a Kumo-nin (meaning anyone with dark skin) was treated with suspicion and sometimes outright contempt, though Rie's longstanding years of service to the village gave her some leeway.

And she also had her deceptively quiet husband to protect her.

One hand wrapped around my shoulders, Rie led me into the living room, and I could have groaned in relief as the lovely air-conditioned coolness swept over me.

Even though it was leading into October, Konoha could still get hot as absolute balls some days. Shouldn't have being a damned firebender removed some of my aversion to heat? It was annoying.

"My love, guess whose come to visit," Rie called out, pushing open the sliding door.

"Ah, Kaname-kun!" Oono Akihiro sat in the living room, a cup of tea on the table in front of him, along with several sheaves of paper he had been pouring over. He gave Rie a long kiss when she bent over him, and kissed her hand when she placed it on his cheek.

My friend moved out of the room, with a promise to bring more tea in a little bit.

The textile merchant was an ordinary looking fellow for a resident of Konoha and the Land of Fire, with long brown hair pulled neatly back, dark brown eyes, pale skin, and soft hands. His clothing was neat and expensive, made of silk and embroidered tastefully.

Few people would have realized just how dangerous the man lying behind those kind eyes actually was.

The missing fingers on his impeccably cared for hands were the first clue I'd had that this was not just some soft merchant.

The way he defended his wife from people who made rude comments was yet another.

"So," I said, taking my seat across from him, as I had done every Wednesday, at this same exact time, for the past two months. "Who have you driven to bankruptcy today, Akihiro-sensei?"

The man chuckled politely. "Why, you think so little of me, Kaname-kun. I've done nothing of the sort."

"So you're going to do it tomorrow, then?"

He smirked. "That's not polite, Kaname-kun."

I smirked right back. "Am I wrong?"

He tsked, and set aside the papers.

"So, Kaname-kun, I've heard that you have been having some difficulties at work."

My mouth turned down at the edges, despite my best efforts.

"Putting it a bit mildly, aren't you?" I said in a very mild sort of tone.

I had been on the receiving end of what felt like the puerile middle-school bullying campaign from hell, courtesy of Kunio and his cronies, and some idiots that had easily bowed to his posturing. Nails on my seat, books being outright destroyed, nasty rumors galore, my clothes being ruined by paint and less pleasant things, and the fucking sexual harassment.

My fire had nearly gotten out of control at least twice, though thankfully that had put an end to the outright sexual harassment. The comments and lecherous sneers on everything from my weight to how good I had to be in bed – "because fat bitches have to be good in bed, elsewise no one'll fuck em!" – had not ceased, no matter how many flames I knocked around.

I'd heard someone saying that Yamamoto even approved of it, considering she thought I needed to be taken down a peg or two or better yet, run out of the Library entirely. Rumor or not, I had been utterly pissed. And my pride, as hidden as it was, had been severely damaged.

I would stick it out and shove my success in all of those jackasses' faces.

(Though if I had another job, one that was better, that would be…that would be even better a thing. The best revenge was living well, after all.)

Akihiro's face was a study in quiet patience and worry as I looked back up at him.

"Have you not found another job?" He asked.

"I've been looking but it's…difficult," I said quietly.

I had been taking some money in on the side by watching Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, some days, but that was only occasional work at best. I had been looking for other jobs, at restaurants, every single store in Konoha, even caretaking jobs.

I'd even gone to Moriko, to see if she would know a job that I could apply for.

My fingers tightened on my pants as I remembered just how that conversation had gone.

-…"Perhaps you would be better suited at a brothel, girl, since the life of a noblewoman is obviously beyond you. I was willing to entertain your deviancy in regards to my daughter, but it seems-"

The tea set crashed to the ground, the table overturned in an instant as I shot to my feet. No. This was the final straw.

I was not going to sit here and let her berate me, just because she didn't approve of me adopting Naru-chan!

"How about you go fuck yourself, you overblown hag?" I shot out, and had the utmost satisfaction of watching her face go milk-white in shock

"Why I never-"

"I don't have to put up with this, and I sure as hell don't have to put up with you," I said. "Thank you for the training, but I feel like our time together has come to an end."

Fire danced at my fingertips.

"You stupid girl, you need me-"

"Need you? Need you?" I laughed. The thought was hysterical. "I don't need you, and your idiotic lessons. I put up with you and your thrice-cursed noblewoman's training because I didn't think I had another choice. But I do. And you can go hang, you fucking bitch."

I whirled out of the room, haloed in fire.

The people before me parted like the Red Sea before the hands of Moses, and I smiled as I strode past them.…-

I was still rather darkly pleased at the thoughts of how that meeting had gone.

Sure, it had essentially pissed off every single Sarutobi except for the Hokage, but it had been loads of fun.

The merchant sighed.

"You certainly don't make things easy on yourself, do you, Kaname-kun?"

I shrugged. "Maa, if the rest of the world simply stopped being stupid as all hell, maybe I could, then."

"I may actually have a job for you, Kaname-kun, if you'd be interested. I have a relative working there now, and I know her boss is known for being accepting, as far as shinobi can be accepting."

"Oho?" I leaned back, my eyebrows raising, and grinned at Rie as she set a can of sweet juice down in front of me.

"Stop trying to corrupt Kaname-kun, Akihiro," Rie scolded teasingly, and Akihiro laughed.

"Why, my darling, I'm doing nothing of the sort," he said. "You know my cousin's sister-in-law?"

"I have no idea who you're talking about," Rie said wryly. "I don't have your memory for names."

"Just for chemicals, right?"

"Shush, you."

"As cute as the two of you are, I am rather curious about this job offer, Akihiro-sensei," I interrupted.

Honestly, these two were like high-school sweethearts. I hoped that – if I ever got married – I could have something like that.

(Preferably with someone who had more of Rie's shape than Akihiro's, but in a place like Konoha, that was doubtful.)

"Ah, yes. Kaname-kun, I have a relative who works with the Kōshō Buntai. I'd be willing to vouch for you, if you'd like to meet with her," Akihiro said.

I blinked.

"The…Negotiations Squad?" I said, feeling a bit confused.

"Technically they're known as the Kiki to Kin'yū Kōshō-bu, but they use the shorter name for expediency's sake. Minori-kun, they negotiate with other villages, and when important missions need a re-ranking and change of parameters they negotiate with the people who gave the mission, and in similar situations. They also are occasional liaisons to the Daimyō, I do believe," Rie said, and looked at Akihiro. "My husband, are you sure?"

The…Crisis and Financial Negotiations Section?

I'd sure as hell never heard of that before.

"They would do well there, I am certain. And with Kaname-kun as a Kōshōjin, they would find themselves nigh untouchable. Also, those who have shinobi training are preferred, so they have that as another advantage," Akihiro said, and turned to me. "Would you be willing to talk with Azami, Kaname-kun? She would explain more than I can."

I blinked again, then shrugged. What the hell. "Sure. Can I take Naru-chan?"

If I was really going to do this, I would make damn sure going in that there would be no stupidity – if I even got the job in the first place.

And was this Kōshō Buntai like the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit that I remembered from Back Home?

Neat stuff.

"That shouldn't be a problem. Azami's boss is…well, rather different," Akihiro said wryly.

What did I care?

If it got me away from the Library, if it got me out of sight of the jackasses that comprised 90% of this town's population, if it gave me enough to continue providing for Naruto, if it gave me back my sense of pride in my work – the man could be this world's version of Doflamingo Donquixote, and I wouldn't have batted an eye.

"I'll be fine," I said. "It's not like I'm probably ever going to be of importance to him, after all."


He is interested in the girl.

So sue him.

He convinces himself that it is because she is an unknown and that even the Yamanaka Clan head had been unable to find out much about her. He convinces himself that it is because of her powers, and her ability to troll practically every ANBU assigned to her almost to tears.

He does not think about the way she holds Minato's son when he has nightmares, the way she defends him when the villagers sneer at them both, the way she cares for him. As he cannot.

(Will not, to be more accurate – but he does not think about that)

It is fascinating, to see how the girl reacts. How the girl tries to prank him and fumes when she fails.

(He does not think about the way she laughs, the light gilding her dark hair like it had done with Obito's, the way she smiled at Gai like Rin had – quiet amusement and nothing spiteful.)

The Hokage smiles knowingly when he reports, and Wolf grows hot under his collar – almost flustered, he might think, but surely not. Not him. Not he who has been in ANBU since he was fourteen, not he who is an ANBU Captain.

He is better than that.

A small part of him - one that sounds like Minato and Rin and maybe even a little bit like his father – says you are jealous of her. It says too, you are fascinated by her. It says last, you wish you could-

But he pushes it down, pushes it away as he has gotten so good at doing.

The Hokage tells him once more that if she is a threat to Konoha – to Naruto – that she must die. If she does this solely to influence Naruto, she must be removed.

He will. He will kill her without a thought. Then he will go home and wash his hands of her blood, if it comes to that.

And he will not think of the girl who reminds him of Rin and Obito, who sings to Minato's son like he can vaguely – so distantly – remember his father doing for him. He will not.

(But you do.)