Author's Note: I apologize for the delay! Things have been pretty hectic for me these last couple of weeks with finals and school getting out and coming home and other stuff. But I'm back on it! Let's go!
Last Time:
"Naruto," Jiraiya spoke up and saw Naruto look towards him, "I think it would be best if you stayed out of this situation for the remainder of it, understood?"
"You can't be serious," Naruto argued.
"I'm very serious," Jiraiya responded. "Now that we know Baji is still in charge of Phoenix, we can only suspect that he'll whatever he can to get us to bow out and give him Konoha. You were too young to understand what happened the first time but all you need to know about back then was that Baji did things that were enough to make Minato want to drive off the deep end. Stay out of this for the remainder of this situation, do you understand me?"
Naruto opened his mouth to argue but the look Jiraiya shot him was enough to cause him to remain quiet. He sucked his teeth and leaned back in his seat and looked out the window at the passing city.
Opposites Attract: Chapter 14 – "The Two Sides of Namikaze Minato"
"The Light cannot exist without casting its Shadow. Those in the Shadows do what those in the Light cannot. Except, there are those who must function in both realms. That's where we come in."
This was a philosophy that Namikaze Minato carried with him ever since Jiraiya said it to him when he was ten years old and introduced him to the real order of things. It was the unspoken system of the cities and everyone knew their places and their roles to not disturb the order of things and keep the cities functioning like the well-oiled machines they were meant to be. He remembered the speech Jiraiya gave him that day and at times like this, it played through his head.
"So, what's the plan?" Kushina questioned as she reached over and placed a gentle hand on her husband's leg and squeezed.
"I need to have a talk with Kyosuke first," Minato answered without looking over to his wife. He took note of how quickly she removed her hand but he didn't let him faze him as he continued to weave in and out of Konoha's busy late-night Halloween traffic.
"Why do you need to speak with him?" Kushina asks, clearly annoyed.
"I doubt Kyosuke is going to keep pushing back once he realizes that it's Baji we're talking about here," Minato answered as he came to a smooth stop at a light and glanced over at her. "A temporary truce with him is going to help us find Baji since he'll be more than likely in our only blind spot and that's right beneath Kyosuke's nose."
"You know he's not going to want to see me," Kushina reminded him.
Minato sighed and looked forward again. "I'm aware but he's not going to have much of a choice this evening," he stated before pulling away from the light and continuing to make his way towards The Whirlpool.
The Whirlpool was the nickname for the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Wards within the City of Konoha. These were also the only three wards that didn't belong to Whirlwind and that was because it belonged to the Eternal Flame Yakuza. They controlled a majority of Konoha once upon a time and maintained their territories using extreme violence and showed very little remorse for anyone outside of the family. But that was years ago.
"I wish you would've warned me at least before deciding that we were going to go see him," Kushina muttered as she looked out the window at the passing city.
"Had I told you we were going to see him then you wouldn't have wanted to come," Minato explained as he reached over and took ahold of her hand. "We won't be there long."
"What makes you say that?" Kushina questioned. "There's no way in Hell Kyosuke is going to speak to you, let alone agree to a temporary truce. He may hate Baji but he hates you more."
Minato shrugged. "That may be true but I doubt he's going to disagree with me tonight."
Kushina looked at Minato and took note of the look in his eyes. She recognized it immediately and felt something within her at the familiar expression that came onto his face. His blue eyes that usually shone brighter than any clear day were dark as though a storm was brewing just behind his eyes. His expression had hardened and the aura he usually cast that was inviting and warm was gone. This was the Minato that won Kushina over when they were younger.
"Minato-kun," Kushina breathed and felt Minato tighten his grasp on her hand.
"Everything'll work out," Minato said coolly.
They drove in silence the remainder of the way. Kushina kept a tight grip on Minato's hand and used her left hand to gently rub his arm. She occasionally kissed his shoulder before resting her chin atop it and staring at him. She would admire him and smile to herself when he was able to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead and whisper sweet nothings to her. She wanted to enjoy this peace a little while longer but before she realized it, they were parked in front of the main estate of the Eternal Flame.
"Here we are," Minato announced as he looked at the front door with Kushina. He looked at her and watched as she continued to focus her eyes on the front doors. "We won't stay here too long," he declared as he brushed some of her hair out of the way of her neck and planted several gentle kisses against her skin. "Once we're done here, we'll check out Baji's old place and then we can head home."
Kushina bit her lip to suppress a moan but inhaled sharply as Minato's hand pulled up the skirt of her dress and placed his hand on her inner thigh. She placed a hand on the side of his neck before pulling his face up and pressing her lips against his. Minato replied to the kiss and easily took dominance as he placed his hand on the side of her neck. He brushed his thumb against the nape of her neck while they sat there and Kushina tried to muster whatever confidence she could to march up those steps and knock on the front door. But that wasn't going to be necessary.
There was a knock on the window and Kushina opened her eyes to spot a familiar face just outside. She pulled away and placed a hand on Minato's chest before nodding her head towards the window and seeing Minato look over and see what she saw.
Minato rolled down the window. "Kiyoshi."
"You two still making out in front of the house like y'all used to when y'all were young and in love?" the man named Kiyoshi teased before stepping away from the car and watching Minato step out. "What're you doing here Namikaze? And with Kushina nonetheless?"
"Kyosuke here?" Minato questioned as Kushina climbed out of the car and made her way around the car.
Kiyoshi shoved his hands in his pockets before looking at Kushina. "Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you're doing right now?"
"Is he home?" Kushina questioned as she crossed her arms and nodded her head towards the house.
Kiyoshi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's home. You're probably going to ruin his night since you're showing up unannounced like this."
"He wouldn't want us here even if we showed up after RSVPing to the Annual Black & White Party," Kushina argued as she walked alongside Kiyoshi and the two of them made their way to the front door with Minato trailing behind them. Kushina reached over and took ahold of a few strands of Kiyoshi's red hair that matched hers. "Your hair is longer."
"I'm growing it out," he answered as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door. He let the two of them in before shutting the door. "Let me go find him."
"No need," Minato said as he stood beside Kushina and focused his attention to the top of the extravagantly grand staircase decorated in maroon and gold. "Master Kyosuke, long time no see."
Standing at the top of the stairs was the current leader of the Eternal Flame Yakuza. Despite his age, he looked as though he was just a couple of years older than Minato but his spiky, fiery red hair that was tied up into a pony tail contained streaks of silver. His neck donned his trademark scar that many rumored was a result of his head being sewn back on after being cut off; this was clearly exaggerated but not far from the truth.
"Kiyoshi, what is this?" Kyosuke questioned as he remained at the top of the steps and placed his hands on the railing.
"Father," Kiyoshi addressed him before looking at Kushina and Minato. "They wanted to speak with you."
Kyosuke sucked his teeth as he fixed his attention on Kushina. "Kushina."
"Father," Kushina addressed him.
"Speak, and quickly," Kyosuke demanded. "I don't have much patience to deal with either of you."
"Then I'll get right to it then," Minato spoke. "I'm asking for a temporary truce so our people can enter into The Whirlpool freely in order to search for Watanabe Baji and deal with Phoenix."
"Do you really think I'd allow your people to wander into the little bit of land I have left?" Kyosuke snarled. "For all I know, you might take it upon yourselves to end this little war between our two families once and for all?"
Minato looked at Kyosuke for a moment before chuckling and rubbing the back of his head. "Kyosuke, I'm sorry. Let's face it, with or without your agreeance on this temporary truce, I'm going to have my people in The Whirlpool and searching for Baji and Phoenix members. And understand that if I hear about anybody from Eternal Flame touching any of my family, I'll come back here and remind you why I control a majority of Konoha."
Kyosuke grinded his teeth as he glared down at Minato. Despite the situation, it was clear that Minato was the one in charge. Him being at the house was just a courtesy.
Minato wore a slight smirk on his lips. "From the look on your face, it seems like I don't need to remind that the only reason you still have these three wards is because we're family," he stated before looking down at his watch and sucking his teeth. "We really did lose a lot of time in all that chaos at the ball. I'll have to call Deidara and Sasori to check out Baji's place. We can't be seen going into that part of town; people are going to talk."
"Always worried about that pristine image of yours," Kyosuke spat. "Tell me, how much longer do you think you'll be able to hide the fact that you run the largest Yakuza in Fire Country?"
"Kyosuke," Minato looked at him, "how do you think I've managed to keep it quiet for so long? Kushina and I run the largest Yakuza in Fire Country. Do you really think we limited ourselves to the City of Konoha?"
"Minato, we should get going," Kushina warned.
Minato nodded before placing a gentle kiss on her temple. He kissed her once more on her forehead and enjoyed the slight giggle she gave before looking at Kyosuke. "By the way, you should send your grandson a birthday present."
"We'll send something," Kiyoshi spoke up before Kyosuke said something that would set off both Minato and Kushina. He walked the two of them towards the door and opened it, a small smile on his face. "I'll see you around Kushina."
"Take care of yourself Kiyoshi," Kushina said as she patted her younger brother's cheek and stepped outside with Minato. As the door clicked behind them, Kushina tightened her grip on Minato's arm and they were halfway down the steps before they heard Minato's phone ring.
He answered as Kushina released his arm and he opened the passenger side door for her. "You find something?"
Kushina climbed into the passenger seat and let out a heavy sigh as the door closed. She looked back towards her old home and could see a light on in one of the upper rooms, the curtain pulled aside and a woman standing in the window. Kushina stared at her for a moment before the woman released the curtain and disappeared into the house.
"I was wondering where your mother was," Minato said as he climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. "Kakashi and Anko caught a Phoenix member distributing somewhere downtown. They're holding him until we get there."
"Is it someone we know?" Kushina questioned as Minato pulled away from the house.
"Maybe; Kakashi didn't give a name," Minato answered. "They're at Yahiko's Place right now."
Yahiko's Place was a back alley, hole-in-the-wall lounge bar located in the tourist hub of Western Konoha. Despite its location however, it was still one of the more popular bars in the city. Mainly amongst members of the Whirlwind Yakuza since it was exclusive to them outside of normal operating hours. So, when Kushina and Minato arrived, they weren't surprised to find their yakuza's suborganization of Akatsuki sitting around with drinks in their hands and still in their Halloween costumes.
"I'm enjoying these costumes," Kushina commented as she and Minato entered, all Akatsuki turning to them and raising their glasses with smiles and grins on their faces. "Yahiko-chan, you got new furniture?"
"Yeah," Yahiko said with a proud grin. "Do you like it?"
"I love it," Kushina said as she lovingly pinched Yahiko's cheek and affectionally pat the top of his head.
"Where's Kakashi and the others?" Minato questioned as he shook hands with Itachi before patting Konan on her shoulder.
"They're in the back," Yahiko answered.
"Thank you." Minato walked behind the bar and pass the kitchen and the storage of the bar. In the back lounge for employees, Minato found Kakashi, Anko, Obito, and Rin sitting around on the couches with a tied-up Phoenix member in the middle of the floor with a bag on his head.
"Who's this?" Kushina questioned as she stepped into the employee lounge and shut the door behind her.
"Says his name is Nakamura Ichiro," Kakashi answered as he stood up and removed the bag off the middle-aged man's head.
"One of the Nakamura Brothers?" Kushina said as she stood beside Minato and looked at the man. She folded her arms across her chest and recognized rugged man. "That's him. The oldest of the eight of them."
"I should've known it was your bastards that picked me up," Ichiro said as he spat on Minato's designer five thousand dollar loafers.
"I see you haven't changed much," Minato commented as he looked down on the spit on his shoes. "You still running around with Phoenix?"
"Of course not!" Ichiro countered. "Everyone knows that Phoenix has no place in Konoha. No one is stupid enough to run around underneath Phoenix's label with Whirlwind crawling all over the damn place."
Minato sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair before rubbing the back of his neck. "You know I don't like liars Ichiro. We already know that Baji is out and running around. And we know that Phoenix are the ones responsible for distributing Styx. So, tell me what I want to hear and you can go home unscathed."
Ichiro was silent.
"Silence? Really?" Minato said.
Kushina rolled her eyes as she stepped pass Ichiro and took a seat on the couch beside Kakashi. "You should've told him what he wanted to know Ichiro," Kushina said as Kakashi and Obito stood to their feet and pulled Ichiro to his feet while Minato began unbuttoning his white collared shirt.
"Wait! Minato, just wait!" Ichiro began to plead as Minato carefully laid out his shirt on the nearby table and remove his wedding ring. "You don't have to do all of this!"
"Oh, I'm not doing this because you decided to stay silent," Minato answered as he made his way back over to Ichiro and held his head up. "I'm doing this because you spit on my shoes."
To Be Continued…