Chapter 30: The Shadow over Insumasu
Part 7: *Angry Fox Noises*
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When I got out of shower, I saw a pair of blue colored hakama left on the bed of the guestroom where I am residing for the time being.
"Put it on and follow me," said Konami from behind the door.
I wore the hakama with a slight annoyance, not really sure how to tie up the belt and all. As I looked into the mirror, I found myself to look quite shabby.
Eh, whatever.
As I went out of my room, Konami looked over me and scoffed. "Did you Leaf nins has no concept of how to properly fit a simple traditional clothes like this?"
You tell me, bitch. Unlike you Water folks and your fancy ass japanese fashion, me and my Konoha brethren prefer to just wear simple t-shirts when not working. Hell, have you looked at our character designs? Its pretty trash. I was like the weirdo looking all cool with my tactical armor and sleek cap and hoodie and sash.
"Urghhh, typical Leaves. Always all about simplicity over presentation."
Dafak? Can you read my mind?
"No, that's your weird psychic clan thing. You just have a really easy face to read."
What did you mean I have an easy to read face? I have been told that I have the best poker face in Konoha!
"If you are the best then your villagers should not go to any casino ever."
Hah! Yea sure. You're the real freak here. I bet you're so into me that you can read my heart like the proper soulmate you really are.
"Why you….", Konami pinched both my cheeks which is totally in poker conditions.
How the hell did you read my thoughts just from my face?!! I had completely turned off my emotive facial muscles so that no one can read my expressions! I am the perfect picture of a Dandere! The male incarnation of Ayanami Rei! You're a mindreader aren't you.
"What did you mean you're a Dandere you ADHD brat?!! I never met someone with thought process as chaotic as you!!"
We ended up wrestling on the floor. If anyone asked, I totally did not cop a feel while at it. Makoto Hotaru is completely innocent and is not the kind of dude that take advantage of fair ladies, during wrestling.
"As if you are innocent! You are a complete horndog! I've been keeping quite this whole time but since the moment we met your brain is full with stupid fantasies of 'dating that cute fox chick'! That's it! I'm killing you!"
Turn off your mindreading technique, bitch! You are invading my privacy!
"I told you you just have a stupidly obvious face you moron!!!"
GAAHHHH!!!!
)))))))
Haku must have really not wanting to deal with our bullshit, coz she just put on her mask and scold Konami over her totally unprofessional attitude.
"No, Konami. You can't kill our master's guest.", Haku decline Konami's request to sent me to death via spontaneous combustion once again.
"But he is a complete pervert and a sexual harasser! And he grabbed my chest!"
Haku tilted her head toward me.
"What? We're wrestling. Grabbing is the name of the game."
"I don't see it, Konami. Sir Makoto has the dignity of a proper gentleman."
Heh.
"Just look at his face! That is the face of the worst deviant in the Five Great Nations!"
Haku looked at my face intently.
"I really don't see it. Konami, if you want to flirt, you can do it later after sir Makoto dine with our master. For now, fit his hakama properly and send him to the mayor's manor.", she then left both of us.
"Ghhhh…", Konami can only cringe in despair. "Fine, now stand up. I despise you but I will make you presentable."
I am the picture perfect of a-!
"And stop doing monologue in your head all the time. Its very annoying to look at it in your face.", she pouted at me angrily as she tie up my belt.
Then don't look me in the face if you don't want to read my thought process so much.
She pouted harder.
Man she's so cute.
Okay now she's really pouting angrily. Konami has entered Stage 3 Angry Pouting.
Hah. You can't resist looking at my bishounen face aren't you.
Konami proceed to choke me.
Totally worth it.
)))))))
"Konami. If you really want to flirt, please do so after the dinner.", Kama Itachi scolds Konami over her second murder attempt of me.
"But! But!"
"No buts. You are the same age as Makoto here, so we figure its best to have you as his escort for his duration of stay here. I know its fun that you finally have a kid the same age as you to play for once but stay patient, okay?", Kama Itachi, who is totally not Uchiha Itachi, pat Konami's head.
"Ghhhh.", once again, Konami can do nothing but cringe in despair.
Bullying Konami is gonna be so much fun.
))))))
after surviving three more murder attempts from Konami, I finally reached Tazuna's manor. Konami left me be and says she has better shit to do, like burning a lot of shadows. Man, what a pyromaniac.
And crap, she can read my thoughts through my face somehow. That's gonna be a problem.
Gotta keep your toes, Hotaru.
"You're a bit late, Makoto."
Zabuza, dressed up in a full yakuza kimono were sitting cross legged by the dining table ah, guess we're going traditional for this dinner.
"Sorry, Zabuza. Messing around with Konami is a bit distracting. Hah."
Zabuza nods.
"I think you're both a bit too early to start mating, but if you do, please use protection. It would be inconvenient for me to pause her training if she conceived a child."
Wow, okay. Remember, Makoto Hotaru. Ninja society operates on a different view of maturity. Mating around as 12 years olds are perfectly okay for some reason.
"Fret not, Zabuza. That is weird, even for me."
"I see. Just so you know, Konami may not in direct lineage to Lord Kurama, being the child of a branch family. But, the Kitsune clan is the prestigious clan of the most feared Dai-Youkai. It would not do if you were to treat her as a common fling."
"Heee….", come to think about it, this is a good chance to dig up some lore. "Konoha doesn't really cover much about the Dai-Youkai in the academy syllabus. Tell me, what is the Dai-Youkai anyway?
Zabuza took a sip of tea.
"Hmph.. konoha. Ever the control freak they are. Well, Makoto, the Dai-Youkai is the equivalent of Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Think of the continent as being split to eight portion, with Lord Kurama's castle serves as the center. Except for Lord Kurama, all the other eight Dai-Youkai has control over 8 directions. Shukaku of the West. Son Goku of the Northwest. Kokuo of the Southwest. Chomei of the North. Gyuuki of the Northeast. Matatabi of the East. Isobu of the Southeast. Saiken of the South. And lastly,
Kurama of the Central Plain."
The Central Plain being the vast plain at the center of Land of Fire, where no human had dared to venture into.
"I heard that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha 12 years ago. What's the story on your side?"
Zabuza chuckles. "That's close to treason, don't you think. It is not wise to question the stories of your lord."
"I hold only a professional amount of allegiance to Konoha I am planning to leave the moment I finished my mandatory service."
"Hooo… you do realize no one really quit a shinobi village, right? Is this why you approach young Konami? To seek refuge under a distant relative of The Lord of Central Plain?"
I sip on the tea. Yuck. Why the hell you monsters drink this disgusting thing without milk and sugar?
"Nah. I just flirt around with Konami coz I fall for her right then and there."
"Your heartbeats says otherwise."
"If you didn't notice yet, Zabuza, I have perfect control over my heart. And other parts of my body function. I'm sure your spies have told you what I can do."
"Oh sure. Quite an interesting report I had received. You are famous, for a nobody.", Zabuza pour in another glass of tea for me. Oh, you're just torturing me, aren't you.
"To answer your question, Yondaime Hokage, back when he was still a wee chuunin lad, had eloped with Lord Kurama's Hanyo daughter, Uzumaki Kushina. Despite having mate and conceived a child with a human himself, Lord Kurama was against Lady Kushina's marriage to Namikaze Minato, as a man who despite had reached the pinnacle of shinobi he may be, he is still the son of a fisherman. For a dozen years however, despite his disagreement, Lord Kurama did not pursue his daughter. He simply disowned her."
That had my eyebrows raised up. If that's the case, why did Kurama suddenly attacked Konoha?
"I know what you're thinking. Why then Lord Kurama had suddenly changed his mind and attempted to reclaim his daughter 12 years ago? Unfortunately, very few know why, and I am not one of them. Perhaps none of us will. What we do know was that it ended in a tragedy. Both Lady Kushina and Yondaime Hokage perished on that night, and Lord Kurama since then had went into hibernation in his castle, refusing to wake up."
So Kyuubi didn't die fighting Yondaime like in canon, but had simply went to hibernate in grief. That means Naruto wasn't a Jinchuriki, but is instead a Kitsune youkai.
"hmm, that's interesting. Us in Konoha was simply told that a random 9 tailed fox just suddenly attacked us out of nowhere."
"Hmph. Human's folly. If Lord Kurama really wanted to destroy your puny village, he could have done so with a single swipe of his tail. He is the strongest Youkai of all. With a swish of his tail, he caused hurricane, tsunami and earthquake. With a single breath, he burned an entire country. Lord Kurama's power is beyond our comprehension. The fact your village had been left mostly intact proves how delicate he had controlled himself that night. Even in his rage."
Wow, okay. This fanfic really hyped up the Nine Dai-Youkai powerlevel huh?
"Forgive me for being late."
We faced toward the entrance door, and Tazuna enter thr dining room.
Holy crap, Tazuna looks like a yakuza boss! Aren't you supposed to be a mere bridgebuilder or something?!!
Since Gato is a super CEO now, I guess the fanfic had to balance out and make Tazuna into a Yakuza boss. Fucker look handsome as fuk for an old man.
"Now then, lets us enjoy our food, and then we'll talk", Tazuna grins.
))))))))
"So, Gato wants to check up on me huh. Silly old coot."
Tazuna sips his sake as we leisurely drinks. Well, him and Zabuza that is. I'm just sipping my torture material, green tea. Urrgghh.
"You sounded like you know Gato well.", I commented
"Know well? Hah! Try forever! Bastard was my childhood friend!"
Oh wow, okay. Didn't expect that.
"Back in the day when this land was called Whirlpool Country instead of Wave, Gato always screams on top of the mayor house. 'I will become the Uzukage!!', he declares."
I spit my tea out. Gato wants to be the Uzukage?!! What the fuck?!
"Well, before he could even apply to the academy however, Uzushio had fallen, destroyed by the wrath of Dai-Youkai Gyuuki and Dai-Youkai Isobu. Had it not had been Dai-Youkai Kurama intervene at the last minute, there will be no Wave at all. Only pile of rocks under the sea."
Tazuna sip another cup of sake.
"Gato had changed his dream that day. And no, he still have great interest in the ninja arts. But he no longer want to play ninja. Not that he has any talent for it to begin with. No, Gato dreams to rebuild the old glories of Whirlpool through using Ninjutsu as means of building a new civilization."
Holy hell, why the fuck Gato is so well developed as a character now? He sounds so awesome.
"If that's the case, why are you against Gato from developing the land?"
"Because he pursued progress so much that he tramples on the spirit of the land!", Tazuna smashed the coffee table with his fist.
"I told him, we can't just develop rapidly without honoring the land! Gato abandoned dignity for the sake of progress. He hired crook rogue ninjas to build his city, and then he invite slaves to take the jobs that should be belong to our people. He cut down nature without honoring the gods, and he drove our people out with his rising property value! And look what happens now!"
Tazuna spread his hands wide, as we listen the occasional screams of terror and roars being drowned out by Konami's flame.
"This is the wrath of the gods! Shadow monsters lurks among us now, and murder our people every night. Had it not been the generous help of our friend, Momochi Zabuza, this town would have been wiped out a long time ago. Other villages and towns deeper inland however, are not so fortunate. Thousands had been driven out of their home to escape the shadows, but the shadows will keep pursue them. And the shadows will haunt Wave, until Gato finally steps down his tower of arrogance and beg for forgiveness from the gods!"
I see.
"So Tazuna, you have no idea how the Hyakki Yakou rises in Insumasu island?"
"No, I do not. I simply suspects it is gods retribution for Gato's act of insolence. Of course, I have no proof whatsoever."
"Interesting."
Zabuza then speaks, "Then, Makoto, what do you ought to do now that you hear Tazuna's side of the story?"
"Well. I will be staying here for awhile.", I swirl the tea in my cup
I want to mess around with Konami.
))))))))
"urhhh, go away .. I'm trying to sleep."
"shhh, don't mind me. I'm just want to pet your fluffy tail."
"Stupid… harasser…."
Konami dozed off anyway. And I pat her fluffy tail as she went asleep on the sofa. She had been staying up all night burning away all the shadows trying to breach the ice walls surrounding the town.
"What a good friend you two are ", Itachi commented as she sew her torn kimono.
"Say Itachi, is Konami that good at reading faces?"
"ah, she must be doing that silly trick to you, huh.", she chuckles. "You know that they say that eyes are the windows of your soul. Kitsune are some of the youkai clans that is adept at reading your souls through your eyes. That's why Konami always know what you think, even if you have complete control over your expression."
Hah, I knew it. Mindreading!
"she says you have the most honest eyes she had ever seen."
I looked deadpan at Itachi. Really? Man, Konami must need glasses if she thinks I have honest eyes. I bullshit as easily as I breathe.
Itachi just chuckles over my disbelief.
"Us youkai is always sensitive to eyes. Even if we can't read souls like a Kitsune, eyes can still reveal a lot of things about you. And I agree. You have an honest pair of eyes, Makoto Hotaru."
I snorted. "You guys sounds like you want to eat my eyeballs."
Itachi just smirks. Well shit.
"Do you know why Youkai eat Human, Makoto?"
"coz we're delicious?"
"That's to put it too simple. To be exact, we taste the life you lived as seasonings that enriched your flesh and bones. As Humans lived the most interesting and complex life, full of emotions and memories, it made your entire existence as the pinnacle of luxury food. There's a reason why Youkai preferred to eat children and good people over the bad, evil ones. People who lived good, fulfilling life taste the greatest. And people who lived a life of corruption and resentment taste the worst. Humans are… addictive."
"You sounded like you knew what's its like to eat human."
"I do."
I didn't fidget over Itachi admittance. I kinda expected it anyway.
"Do you not hate me, Makoto."
"Heck do I know. I don't have enough of a bleeding heart to care about who's poor bastards you used to eat."
Itachi hums and continues her sewing.
Hmm… let's try stroke Konami fluffy tail to the base.
Heheh. This is nice.
"Whoa!", Konami suddenly turns and lunged at me and we began to wrestle on the floor, as she once again tries to kill me.
"Just let me sleep you perverted moron!", angry fox is doing angry fox noises.
"Ahahahahah!"
You know what, controlling my expressions is useless anyway since Konami can always tell what I thought in my head. So lets just cut it loose for once.
"hahahhahaha!!", I laughed as I wrestle with Konami.