—- CHAPTER 8 —
The Fence Sitter
The homes before entering the Yamanaka District were more boxy and rectangular, but after arriving, nearly all buildings were round and spherical. There were numerous archways along our way as we passed underneath. I searched the structures for where each archway came together at the top to see how the mason set each keystone.
Inoichi waited patiently for me to catch back up after noticing I got sidetracked inspecting the architectural engineering on display.
Purples, blues, greens, yellows, and oranges were painted or stained into the wood trim and supports of each building.
Out of curiosity I reached out and touched a wall, and it was porous and hard like concrete, but it had a film glossy coat of something on the outside and beneath that was more paint.
Despite not being close, one building towered over all the rest in our vicinity. There was a block fortress in the center of the district with a large church bell. Even from back here I could see a face of a clock near the top of the tower, and numerous sculptures were set along the beveled edges of the domed roof. Every window of this structure was stained glass adding to the air of catholicism in the area.
I rushed back noticing my chaperone turn down a cobbled walkway that led to a large house with beautiful rock walls and sparkling glitter dusted grout joints that snatched my attention. Transfixed, I watched the sparkles in the grout joints catch light as I walked. I admired the craftsmanship, aesthetics, and attention to detail that went into producing this work of art.
"Wooow."
There were statues carved from white marble displaying winged men and black obsidian statues of gargoyles with different animalistic features.
I stopped in my tracks not sure how to feel about this.
Inoichi reached out grabbing the handle to slide the door open.
I scurried up to him, clasping my hands behind me and shrinking behind Inoichi as the door slid open.
An inner panic born from the need to socialize with new people soon reared its ugly head.
What if they don't like me?
My grip tightened clenching my fingers together.
Meeting new people and holding a conversation feels foreign to me after what I escaped.
What if I leave a bad impression and they throw me right back into prison?
I gulped and my stomach dropped. Flashes of hot and cold were appearing in my hands. One second they were warm and sweaty, but then wet and icy the next. Blood rushed to my head and my vision blurred for a moment before returning to normal with a firm pulse of my heart thumping in my ears.
I looked down to see Ino's clothes that I was wearing and dreaded the potential negative reactions she could have.
My imagination showed me all of the ways this could crash and burn in failure, and despite the strong dose of negativity surging through my brain, I shook it off and gave myself encouragement.
It's out of my hands. I can only put my best foot forward!
I hyped myself up as I entered the door and slid it closed behind me.
The entrance was a narrow hall with glass paneled skylights running the length of the ceiling. There were shelves 6 stacks high of different shoes, sandals, slides, dress shoes, boots, high heels… any footwear you could imagine had to have been up on display here.
"Ino's using two shelves right now, but one of these will be yours." He pointed to the left as he walked and we spilled out into a large round room with two spiral staircases that wrapped around leading to the 2nd floor.
Unlike the exterior, the interior's palate was red hardwood floors, with gold painted walls. Ornaments and hunting trophies littered the wall's and tables.
A chandelier streamed a rainbow of colors as another skylight beamed it with the sun.
The flames of candles also burned and added motion to the room and caused the chandelier to dance with the reflection of fire.
"I've never seen a more beautiful home."
"Great, because it's yours now too." He winked, and I averted eye contact.
"Daddy?" A girl exclaimed running up to the 2nd story balcony and waving to us. "Hey there new girl!"
"I'm Mizuki! Nice to meet you!" I blurted out eager to get the introductions over with.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to run in the house?" Inoichi facepalmed. "You're setting a bad example for our guest."
Ino chuckled, and walked up to the rail at the peak of the staircase with a big happy smile. She sat her butt on the rail and slid down with impressive fluidity reaching the bottom with haste and landing on her feet.
"Tada!" Ino struck a pose. "If you listen to all his rules he's going to make you boring!" Ino took a finger and pulled her cheek exposing some of her eye socket.
"That's not very nice."
"I'm sorry, You just make up bad rules for no reason other than you can sometimes." Ino rebutled.
"I ALWAYS have my reasons, even if you don't like or agree with them sometimes."
"The way you make rules, I'd be worried all day about how to act properly! I'd never get anything done." Ino smiled then turned to me and winked. "Don't worry. I'll show you how things REALLY work around here, Mizuki. Oh—sorry. How rude of me. My name's Ino." She offered me her hand and with a slight hesitation I fought through and accepted.
I laughed not expecting this at all after how much I was stressing about how first impressions would go, but it appears I had nothing to worry about.
"Formalities are so exhausting." I agreed and lifted my hand to my mouth as if about to whisper something. Ino's eyes grew big and she shuffled over and leaned closer giggling deviously.
"You totally walked all over him and he barely reacted," I whispered.
"He makes it too easy." She whispered back and we both smiled at each other blushing.
"This is my lovely daughter Ino who still needs to learn some MANNERS. Mizuki, you're well behaved. You wouldn't mind teaching her a thing or two would you?"
"I can try, sir." I nodded to him.
"Traitor!" Ino's eyes narrowed. "I thought you said you hate formalities."
"Just because I hate them doesn't mean I can't use them for other people's benefit."
"Nope, you're a fence sitter and you don't know what you want, which is boring, but I forgive you because your taste in clothes is top notch!" Ino pulled at the hem of the dress I was wearing and flashed a cheesy grin.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"I've got a bunch and would love to share with you. If you want to borrow something just come see your big sister Ino." She stuck her thumb into her chest and shone with hospitality and compassion.
"Maybe I would be the big sister," I pressured her.
"… A fence sitter? Naaah, get out of here."
"What even is a fence sitter?" I asked.
"People who can't make up their mind. Hmmmmmmm… Do I want to play? Do I want to go home? Maybe I'll sit on this fence until I decide?" Ino acted out some dramatic sweeping movements as she spoke.
Inoichi clapped and seized the initiative to speak. "A fence sitter is someone who avoids picking a side so they can manipulate people from both sides. Words and definitions are important." He corrected Ino's definition.
"Uh-huh. Whatever. Either way it comes down to honesty. And if you can't be honest with yourself then you're plain boring." Ino blushed and tried to play it off like she didn't butcher the explanation.
"Then I'm definitely not a fence sitter." I pointed at her.
"You're not? Prove it. Tell me what you want to do— right now? Show me you can make your mind up." Ino challenged me and finished with an emphatic hum.
"—I want to go see the playhouse and theater troupe."
"So you can make your mind up! Okie—Watch this." Ino tapped me as she passed and then stood before Inoichi. "When you ask for money from an old man like this, it helps if you bat your eyes a few times. That butters him up." She demonstrated her technique in real time.
"Wha—"Inoichi threw his arms to the side in protest. "Old man? AND WHAT? So this is what you're thinking when you ask for money."
"I'm sorry. I'll… watch the shop on Saturday morning if I can have some money dad."
"Deal. That's my girl. Doesn't it feel better to earn it?"
Ino's smile widened from ear to ear. Her eyes closed and she cocked her head sideways like a sheep.
"Yeah, yeah. Responsibility and all." Ino rolled her eyes and accepted something from Inoichi and she slid it into a wrap on her leg. "Thank you!" Ino's cheerful vibes were being launched in all directions as she headed for the door.
"Don't let Mizuki out of your sight, okay Ino?"
"Okay."
"You promise?" Inoichi pressed.
"I promise! Can we go now?" Ino shifted her gaze between her dad and me a couple times before Inoichi closed his eyes and smiled sheepishly. "What am I going to do with you?"
"I'm going to grow up and one day you're going to be like "Wow! My daughter got so responsible all of a sudden! And she never is sarcastic or talks back anymore."
"Those last parts do not sound like my daughter." He argued, fighting back and stifling a chuckle.
"Exactly! See, I knew we would come to an agreement on this."
"Go tell your mother where you're going and introduce her to Mizuki."
"Okay!" Ino exclaimed and spun around.
I held my breath at the thought of another introduction.
"—Are we forgetting something?" Inoichi asked.
With the shift of topic I relaxed and let go of the breath I was holding.
"Oh!" A light of realization sparked in her eyes. "I almost forgot."
She waddled back and he squatted down.
She stood up on her toes and leaned in, planting a soft and swift peck on his lips. Before my brain could process what I witnessed she was already running back up to me.
"I love you!" She waved a hand over her shoulder to Inoichi and simultaneously grabbed my hand and led me through their home.
"I love you too princess. Be safe."
What the? —Umm… What?
Get your mind out of the gutter. This is a time honored Yamanaka tradition for departure.
Ino pulled me down snaking hallways before reaching a set of dutch doors with blurred fogged glass panes.
She threw one door open and pulled us inside interrupting a conversation and now becoming a center for attention.
"Hello! Everyone this is Mizuki, we're going to run to the playhouse soon but needed to come say say 'Hi' first" Ino pressed against my back, but I defiantly dug my heels into the floor and fought against her. "Don't be shy, when you walk into a room you have to own it." Ino somehow managed to slip from in front dragging me to behind me and pushing me closer to them.
"Hehehe." She cackled in my ear as she shoved me along.
"She's sooo adorable!" A grown woman with one long bang covering her left side of her face came up close. "How could anyone want to lock you up and throw away the key? Nonono. —and your skin and bones. What do you like to eat sweetie?"
"I'm not picky." I said.
"Fence sitter!" Ino called me out.
"That won't do. You tell me what you like and we'll have it even if I have to run to the market."
"This is my mom. Her name is Yuki. If you keep your eye on her you learn useful stuff." She closed her eyes and nodded her head like she was spitting facts.
"Haha. I do my best." Yuki handed the cook beside her a list. "This is all the inventory we're short on that I know about. If there's anything else you can think of add it to the list."
She turned back to us, and gave us her full attention again.
Ino spoke up "She won't stop until she gets what she wants either. I learned from the best." Ino gushed, but then switched back to her sarcasm and hit me with "You gunna take forever to decide on this too?"
"Ino! Rude! Apologize." Yuki barked.
"Sorry, Mizu?" Ino checked to see if we were on familiar terms, and she smiled and I nodded in acceptance.
"Everything is fine… I just… I love meat and pasta… and watermelon." I said.
"Watermelon. Huh? I guess they are pretty good but what kind of pasta are we talkin' here?" Ino's oppressive aura grew threefold before my eyes as if my non-specificity was driving her insane.
"I'm a cheese geek." I admitted, then the floodgates opened up. "I love garlic alfredo which is like a cheese roux of cream, butter, garlic, and parmesan."
"So all I need is parmesan cheese then. I'll fetch some and do my best to make it perfect love." She winked at me, and now I was starting to understand that the wink was a Yamanaka inner circle kind of thing.
"Don't worry. I'll be happy with anything." I stressed that they were going too far with their show of accomodation.
"No! Women in this family don't settle. We achieve."
"Tell her mom!" Ino cheered. "Listen up and it'll change your life."
"When you decide what you want out of life is when the work to see it happen can start." Yuki said.
"That is some wisdom," I nodded.
"Knowing what you want is half the battle." Yuki tapped her temple a couple times stressing the point. "—And right now I know I need to give you a big hug!"
The woman blitzed forward, wrapping me up and squeezing harder than I expected.
"Mmmmmmmmmmhm!" She hummed and after I returned her squeeze back she finally released me leaning back away. "See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
"No. Thank you Yuki-san." I bowed to the woman.
"She doesn't like formalities but she totally falls back on them when she's nervous." Ino observed.
What?! She's known me for like five minutes and she's already deconstructing me to an embarrassing degree. I even thought my poker face was serviceable… Yikes.
"I-I-" stammered as I struggled to formulate an argument, but then threw up my hands as if caught in the act. "Guilty as charged."
"Haha. Can't fight against my intuition." Ino copied her mom's gesture of tapping on her temple.
"That's my little girl." Yuki pressed forward and tickled Ino causing her to break her composure turning her to a hysterical laughing mess.
Ino backpedaled toward me and Yuki chased after. Ino flashed a plea for help my way, and I didn't have time to make a decision before she slipped past.
I refused to live up to the name of fence sitter and decided to become an active participant and run some interference.
I stalled in front of Yuki as she tried side-stepping to go around, but each time I mirrored her movements and canceled her out.
"Oh? I'm going to have two little delinquents working together now hmmm?"
"We're already like sisters!" Ino exclaimed in a giddy voice. "Yeah! Now I've got some backup." Ino flashed a wide grin at me. "Double the trouble."
"Dear Lord, I hope not." Yuki said before giggling and hiding her mouth with her hand.
"We're going to run. Love you." Ino ran up and kissed her mom goodbye with the same speed and nonchalance as I witnessed earlier.
She leaned her weight into me as she passed and kept walking. "Ya ready?"
"Yup!" I said, waving to the two women as we exited. "See you later."
When we got back to the hallway and closed the doors behind us, Ino snorted with laughter and held her guts for a second.
"See? It's more fun to just throw yourself into the deep end. That's how I learn."
"It's nice to get an idea of what you're getting into first, but yeah, you're probably right about the actual learning."
"Probably—srobably—actually—bleh!" Ino frowned. "Just say what you mean and mean what you say!"
"Huh?!" I asked, offended at this point.
"It's like you're using your words to walk on your tiptoes trying to be sneaky. Even if I don't like what you say, you might as well tell me anyway so at least we can understand each other."
"I like being specific when I talk to make sure there aren't misunderstandings. And besides, if I'm going to say something, I want to make sure I'm adding something of value."
"…Who decides if it's valuable?"
"Huh?" I asked.
"Don't 'huh?' me. You said you only talk if you have something valuable to say. Who decides if it's valuable?"
"Err…" I paused, understanding that she trapped me in a web of words, of my construction.
"See?" Ino smirked, victorious in the moment. "Deep down, you knew… that anyone can decide if what someone said is valuable."
I looked to my left, then right, dumbfounded on how she was cooking me with such skill and grace, making it look effortless.
"So since you can't tell before you say it, let's not be stingy with our words, especially amongst friends and family, because you never know when you might say something really important to them."
"You are right." I nodded, still stunned that this little girl was schooling my ass and there wasn't a single thing I could say to rebuke it.
"Don't 'you are right' me, did you even hear me when I was talking? Do you not even consider me a friend yet?"
"Of Course I do, I think—"
"I want to know how you feel." Ino's eyes watered up after seeing my blank stare in the headlights expression that I didn't know what to do and I was stuck in decision paralysis... "I'm sorry I'm so pushy. You probably think I'm annoying."
"You're awesome! And I love how you operate… but it's a really big change from what I'm used to and you might have to be patient with me for a while but I'm really good at figuring out how to adapt! Er— oh yeah! Duh I see you as a friend… I'm just weird."
"Not as a sister?" Ino pressed, pouting like a puppy.
"Why do you keep bringing that up?"
"Because don't you believe in Jesus too?"
"Yeah, the Son of God who died on the Cross for our sins."
"—Then we could adopt you if you wanted." Ino nodded her head as if this conversation topic was normal and wasn't way out in left field.
"Are all Yamanaka's Christians?" I asked.
"If I'm not talking to family I'm not supposed to say, and you aren't acting like family right now."
"…I can't betray my clan."
"Dad says they don't even believe in God."
"God says honor your mother and your father!" I barked back, not expecting it to be charged with so much emotion.
"Okay, I was out of line there. I'm not perfect and I bend the rules all the time. I'm sorry!"
She's… She's just like me? What?! How does she brush it off like it's nothing then?
"I'm sorry too. I think about the wrong stuff all the time even if I don't act on it anymore." I confided a secret that I could hardly believe I was willing to tell her, painting me in a bad light.
I wanted her to think better of me, but I was sharing a skeleton I would have rather left buried.
But against expectation, she smiled and we nodded at one another. "That was real. No tiptoeing there!" Her hand patted me on my head playful.
"And to think… I wouldn't have known I needed to be sorry if I didn't say it though. And we wouldn't have got to have this moment. That's why even when I mess up, I don't regret it," Inside Ino's eyes sparked a fire of defiance. "We dive deep and talk it through after… that's the Yamanaka way. Do you feel better now?"
"Yeah. Loads better actually. Thanks. I really needed to hear that. I never looked at it that way before. It's selfish to be quiet, especially if the people you're with want to talk."
"Now you're opening up. Just needed to warm you up a little." Ino nearly pinched her thumb and finger together but left a hairbreadth gap.
"Let's not be modest here. It took more than a little warming up. You are so outgoing and friendly. Thank you for cheering me up."
"Maybe next time I'm down you'll cheer me up now!" Ino's face moved with emotions, but her eyes remained still, and despite digging deep into my problems, I wasn't ready to consider unpackaging what she could have had going on.
Something inside me resonated with her words despite not knowing how to respond to her, and I found myself feeling like she was struggling with something and I didn't have any ideas how to be helpful to her.
"I'll try my hardest!" I promised her, completely out of character and without prior thought.
"Bahahaha." Ino laughed. "You were so serious. 'I'll try my hardest.'"
"Heyyy! I meant that!" I stressed putting my hands over my heart.
"I know— I know. I'm just teasing you silly." Ino broke into a run. "One of my friend's likes the playhouse too and she's the type to hold it against me forever if I left her out and didn't try inviting her."
"They sound a wee bit spiteful." I observed.
"That's how much she loves plays, especially when it comes to romances. She's a hopeless romantic." Ino giggled. "She'll be a little heartbreaker one day."
"That's not funny." I challenged her.
"Don't tell me you've already had your heart broken? OooOOOW you totally have! Well don't be shy fess up."
I hadn't even had the time to affirm or protest her shots in the dark but it was as if she KNEW when she finally landed and touched on something real.
"It's hard to explain, but I have had my heart broken before." I said.
"You poor thing. Whoever he is didn't deserve a beautiful flower like you."
"…Thanks." I said awkwardly.
"It was a girl?!" She gasped.
"Can you stop doing that?! You're making me uncomfortable. Are you reading my mind or something?" I deflected.
"Nope. Pure intuition, but It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. I'll never betray your trust."
I sighed. "Your intuition is scary." I admitted.
"Hehe. I like boys."
"I know I'm supposed to like boys."
"—but you like girls?"
"I don't even know anymore." I groaned.
"Fence sitter." We both spoke in unison.
"Haha. Now that you've seen it once it's creeping up everywhere. Huh?" Ino poked.
"I feel so personally called out."
"Good. Now you can do something about it." Ino smiled.
"And what should I do, oh great genius?"
"Uhhh…hmmm…" Ino drew blanks and I laughed thinking she would actually be able to spit out more wise life lessons like they were nothing.
"So I don't really understand romance too well yet." Ino admitted. "There's someone I kind of like, but I've only seen him once or twice, and it's just a stupid crush because he's kinda hot."
"Only seen him a couple of times and you already know you want him." I marveled at how simple Ino made things. "I'm jealous it's that fast for you."
Ino raised her hands up. "I want him, but he could do something weird and then I could change my mind. That's why you take risks so you can find out though. Sometimes it works out and the rest of the time we get unlucky."
"I see." I nodded along ash she continued talking.
Ino and I jogged while sharing stories and experiences as we went on our way to meet and fetch Sakura Haruno to join us.
—- Author's Notes —-
Put a lot more editing than I planned into this chapter. Hope you enjoyed.
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