Caught in the Whirlpool
Part XIII
The silence that followed her declaration sounded as loud as a roaring tempest. The air temperature in the room felt like it plummeted as it thickened with raw-edged tension. Minato stood perfectly still by the wall photograph as nervous sweat started to make his skin prickle.
Oh, she's pissed…
Very cautiously, he looked at everyone else, but their eyes were all fixed on Kushina and he seemed forgotten for the moment. Akane no longer looked like she was about to burst into tears; instead, she appeared completely confused, like someone had told her that one plus two equaled purple. The twins blinked, but were so stunned that their eyelids were out of sync. Asuka was clearly startled, but her frosty demeanor remained firmly in place. Arashi frowned, shocked and suspicious. And Kenjiro's response was completely unreadable—the stony mask of an expression that he'd worn during the gym match was back in place.
"…Minato Namikaze is your fiancé," Kenjiro stated rather than asked, sounding horribly loud in the silence.
"Yes," Kushina replied sharply.
"You're his source!" Arashi snapped. "That's why he did so well against Dad. You told him—"
"I didn't tell him anything about the gym!" Kushina retorted. "I didn't even know that he was going to be here since nobody that I asked about the fight cared enough to find out the challenger's name!"
"Then how come he did so well against Dad on his first try?" Arashi challenged.
Kushina rolled her eyes. "Gee, I dunno, maybe because he's officially the toughest trainer in his country?"
Arashi looked like he wanted to keep arguing but didn't seem to have an answer to her statement.
Asuka put down the tray of onigiri that she'd been holding on the center of the table before returning her full attention to Kushina. "You've done better than I had hoped. He has no issue with that child of yours?"
"No," Kushina replied with a dark glare.
"Good," Asuka nodded. "Honesty is always important in any relationship."
The look that Kushina gave the older woman should have incinerated her on the spot, but Asuka seemed oblivious to it.
"Now all that remains is for the two of you to seek Kenjiro's permission to wed and—"
"No," Kushina interrupted her aunt harshly. "We don't need his permission to do anything!"
Minato winced.
"Kushina!" Asuka scolded. "Your father needs to approve your choice of husband—"
"As far as I'm concerned, he's waived his rights to have any say in my life when he shoved my letters into the back of his closet instead of reading them!" Kushina shot back.
He didn't read her letters? Minato frowned. He wasn't the least bit curious as to how she was doing? If I hadn't heard a word from Naruto in years beyond brief postcards, I'd tear open any letter and read it right at the mailbox!
Asuka scowled. "Well, I've read those letters of yours, and I'm glad that Kenjiro never opened a single envelope. I'm sure that your exceedingly poor life choices would've broken his heart." The old woman shook her head sadly. "Anyway, your father needs to independently approve this decision of yours since you've proven to have bad taste in men in the past."
"You didn't read my letters!" Kushina snarled, jumping to her feet fast enough to knock over her chair and slammed her fists on the tabletop. "You just skimmed them, picked a few scandalous key points, and made up your own sordid story of my mistakes! I wasn't abandoned by my boyfriend when I got pregnant; I left him—because of you! All of your harping on how I was wrong and unwomanly made me feel like I wasn't good enough for him, and when I got knocked up I was terrified that I was going to ruin his life so I ran away!"
Then the red-headed woman whirled on her silent, stone-faced father.
"And you didn't help any!" she cried, jabbing an accusing finger in his direction. "When I was really little, I always made you so uncomfortable that I felt unwanted. So I tried imitating my brothers and that seemed to satisfy you…until Aunt Asuka and Akane moved in and then everything about me was wrong! She tried to hammer me into being a carbon copy of Akane and you backed up everything that she said and every decision that she made. What I felt, what I wanted, didn't mean anything to you—all that was important was that I turned out the way that Aunt Asuka said that I should!"
Her eyes blazed as she stared down her parent.
"When I finally reached out to you for some advice I was ignored." She slammed a fist on the table again. "I was never anything to be proud of, only a reason to be ashamed! I was always wrong, I was never right—I was a mistake!"
As she stood there trembling with rage, Minato chewed the inside of his cheek in concern.
I always knew that she had difficulty with her family, but this…this is beyond anything that I ever imagined. No wonder she never did anything more than send the occasional postcard when we were on the road. If my family was like this I don't think I'd want to call them on the phone either.
"…Are you done throwing a temper tantrum and blaming everyone else for your own mistakes?" Asuka asked coolly, arms folded over her chest in a posture of disapproval. "Or can we return to acting like adults?"
"I'm done," Kushina muttered quietly, tearing her burning glare away from her aunt.
"Excellent," Asuka said with a wintry little smile. "Now let us calm down and eat lunch before it gets cold after which our guest can properly ask Kenjiro for your hand so we can start discussing wedding plans—"
Kushina stalked out of the dining room without a word and slammed the back door shut, cutting off the old woman's sentence.
Minato hesitated only a few seconds before following her. Making sure that she was okay was far more important than making a good impression on her family. They seemed quite convinced that she was seriously flawed and he just couldn't agree with them. Kushina was just fine the way that she was.
He exited the house just in time to catch her vanishing around the corner of the building, heading towards the interior of the island. He had to jog to catch up with her long angry strides and it took some effort to stop her and pull her into an embrace. Her angry tears soaked through the shoulder of his shirts while he rubbed her back soothingly.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was coming," he whispered. "I called your house but all I got was the answering machine. I should've called Professor Sarutobi and had him pass you my message."
"I hate this place!" Kushina sniffled as she clung to his white flame-trimmed shirt. "I hate it so much!"
He pulled her closer and rested his cheek against the top of her head.
"…Can I stay with you?" she asked as she slowly calmed down. "I've been stuck on the pull-out couch-bed since all the good hotels' rooms were all reserved."
"Of course," Minato said. "Let's go find some lunch and pick up your things later."
"Okay," she nodded into his chest. "I know a few good places… How about ramen?"
"Ramen sounds great," he smiled and gently steered her towards Uzu Town. "Let's get out of here…"
Kenjiro sat stock still in his seat, stony and impassive. As a young man he'd been hot-headed, impulsive, and reckless, charging into situations half-cocked. He'd learned to slow down and force himself to wait, to think things over and act slowly and deliberately. That had evolved into his gym leader's mask and it had long served him well.
"She still hasn't learned to respect her elders!" Asuka huffed and set the knocked-over chair back on its legs.
"She's so angry," Ichi-Tora murmured.
"So very angry," Ni-Tora agreed quietly.
Akane sank down in her seat, dazed and silent.
Arashi took an onigiri from the platter and nibbled at it sullenly.
"How she managed to attract such a handsome, polite, and talented man I have no idea," Asuka fussed. "Surely there are plenty of other women of a gentler disposition that would gladly become his wife!"
Kenshin chose that moment to return to the house. He trudged in through the front door, tired and angry as he always was when forced to deal with his ex-wife. But the moment he walked into the dining room he caught on to the radically altered mood and looked around in confusion.
"Did I miss something?"
"I'll tell you later," Kenjiro told him. "Sit down before the food gets cold."
"Where did Namikaze go?" Kenshin asked as he settled into his customary seat.
"He left," Kenjiro said simply. "Start passing the onigiri around."
"Why?" Kenshin wondered as the stuffed rice balls were sent around the table.
"He went after your sister," Asuka replied stiffly and shook her head. "Throwing temper tantrums in her thirties—how shameful!"
"Enough, Asuka," Kenjiro warned.
"I hope that you have a talk with her, Kenjiro, since she clearly has no interest in listening to me," Asuka continued. "She can't just go on disregarding traditions and proper behavior. It embarrasses the family!"
"Enough, I said," he repeated a bit more sharply. "She's a grown woman and no longer bound to obey me or you. She'll do what she wants no matter what anyone else says. Now this subject is closed. Let's eat."
Asuka didn't want to stop, but she bowed to his authority as the head of household and family patriarch and held her tongue…for the time being.
"I guess I missed a lot," Kenshin sighed.
The meal commenced in subdued silence.
Now that I have no more pressing business, Kenjiro decided as Asuka brought out the main dish, I'll see about reading these letters…
"It sounds like a very interesting fight," his uncle remarked. "It's a pity that I didn't attend."
"Well it was filmed," Shun shrugged as they walked down the street. "It'll probably be on television sometime soon, so it's all a matter of finding out what channel and what time."
Uncle Goro was one of Shun's favorite relatives. He had never given Shun a hint of grief over Sharky, not even in jest, and had provided him with a nice and legal job and a place to live. For all his strong suspicions that his uncle had his fingers in the black market, it was hard to imagine the man as a major figure. Uncle Goro could be a bit demanding of his employees, but he was a bit chubby, a bit short, balding, and he wore half-moon spectacles. He looked more like an accountant or a librarian than someone dangerous or intimidating.
"Record it for me if you find it," Goro requested. "I don't watch much TV; not enough time to waste on it."
"Sure," Shun nodded agreeably. "If I find it."
They were on their way to Shun's favorite restaurant for lunch. Since neither of them had much talent for cooking anything more sophisticated than a sandwich or a scrambled egg, they tended to eat out a lot. And since Shun didn't have a lot of extra money lying around he mainly depended on his uncle to cover most of the bill, and he was fortunate that his relative was generous.
"What do you think of Katsuro's new dragon?" Goro asked.
"I'm reserving judgment until I see it evolve," Shun shrugged. "Right now it doesn't look like much…but then again, most base forms aren't terribly impressive."
"True," his uncle nodded. "And what of his claims that some trainer robbed him of a pokémon?"
"Whether it's true or not, I'm not terribly sympathetic," Shun answered honestly. "I know that he treats his pokémon better than his human friends—otherwise his charizard or salamence would've eaten him by now—but I'm sure that whatever he lost is better off with this thief that he's moaning about."
"That boy gets away with far too much," Goro sighed and shook his head. "His father doesn't see much problem with what Katsuro does and, his mother is sure that he'll grow out of it. Katsuro reminds me of old Takeshi…with a whole lot less talent and ambition."
Shun made a noise of agreement. He'd never met the old champion when he'd been alive, but he knew that his uncle had dealt with Takeshi several times. So if his Uncle Goro said that Katsuro was a weak reincarnation of Takeshi, then—
Eh?
Walking on the far side of the street in the opposite direction was the foreign champion…and Kushina Uzumaki. She looked tired and stressed and only half-aware of where she was. And he had his arm looped around her waist like he owned her.
What does he think he's doing? Shun wondered with a frown. Doesn't he know that she's engaged?
"Is something wrong?" his uncle asked.
"I'm going to check something out," Shun said. "Get a good table for us."
"Alright. Don't take too long," Goro warned. "I plan on ordering right away."
"Got it," Shun grinned and reversed direction and cut across the street to catch up with his targets. "Hey," he said when he caught even with them, "what's going on?"
"Hmm?" The Uzumaki woman startled and seemed to come out of her daze. "What?"
"Can we help you?" the foreigner inquired with a faint hint of a frown.
"I was just wondering if everything was alright," Shun said.
"I'm great," Kushina replied in a tone of voice that was far from convincing. "Now please leave, I don't have the patience to deal with you right now."
Shun blinked, taken aback. "But…"
"But what?" the red-headed woman snapped.
"It looks like he's taking advantage of you," Shun blurted out, flustered by her irritated attitude.
Her eyes spit sparks. "He's not; not that it's any of your business. Now leave!"
"She's had a bad morning," the foreign man explained apologetically and gently nudged the woman into walking again while Shun remained rooted to the spot, very confused. "Is he a friend of yours?"
"He's barely an acquaintance," Kushina growled to her foreign companion. "But he keeps talking to me like he's an old friend of mine, and it's really getting on my nerves. If he doesn't quit it, I just might punch him in the face."
"Kushina…"
And then the pair was too far away from him to hear a word.
Shun lingered there for a minute more before slowly turning around and heading for the restaurant where his uncle was waiting for him.
What's going on? he wondered, frowning in deep thought. Could she be cheating on her fiancé? Or…is he the fiancé that she claims to have?
Inaho lay on her motel bed and wished for a quick death. Two short but extremely turbulent boat rides back-to-back multiplied the effects on her guts exponentially. Getting to see Minato Namikaze battle in person barely seemed to be worth it now that she was suffering from the consequences.
The room that she'd managed to rent was barely habitable. There were splotchy water stains on the ceiling, cracks in the walls, stains on every surface, a nasty smell with no clear source, and she was sure that the whole building was infested with mice and cockroaches. If she had the stomach for camping—and didn't feel like she was currently dying—she would've passed on the motel and toughed it out in the wilderness outside of town. But she was no nature girl so she had to deal with this…and all the creepy men that hit on her believing her to be a prostitute because she was staying here.
Maybe once the sports reporters and cameramen move on, I'll be able to get into a civilized hotel for a few days to recover before I'm stuck braving the ferry rides back to the mainland.
Inaho groaned and threw an arm over her eyes and yet again cursed this hellish country that completely lacked an airport, which would allow her to come and go with no ill effects.
Once I leave this place, she vowed, I'm never, ever coming back!
Kushina half-leaned against Minato as they strolled down one of the dirt trails that led out of town and felt content. A few nice bowls of ramen and then several skewers of dango had eased her black mood some. And now that she was with Minato almost a mile away from anyone else in Uzu no Kuni she finally felt relaxed. All the tension that had plagued her from the moment that she'd set foot back on the shores of her childhood home was finally gone.
"So where are we going?" Minato asked her.
"A nice private place where there won't be any busybodies to bother us," Kushina replied.
A soft snort greeted her remark and she frowned slightly at Kyuubi. Minato had set the ninetales free shortly after they'd left the town limits and the fire fox trotted at his side, opposite of her. And so far, the pokémon hadn't acknowledged that Kushina was even there.
"I swear that Kyuubi has something against me," she complained.
"No she doesn't," Minato said. "She's just not used to you."
"You've been saying that for months," Kushina sighed.
The ninetales had never done anything overt that would signal her dislike, but Kushina was sure that the fox didn't approve of her. Kyuubi completely ignored her presence and wouldn't listen to Kushina unless Minato had instructed her to. When the fire-breathing fox deigned to notice Kushina's presence it was as if the monster was looking down on her. If Kyuubi caught Kushina cuddling with Minato the ninetales would either seek his attention or try and crawl between them so that Kushina was no longer touching her fiancé.
"She'll warm up to you," Minato insisted.
"Yes and ordinary, bacon-producing pigs fly," she grumbled.
Minato shook his head in mild exasperation. "So, really, where are we going, and why did you insist on buying these extra boxes of dango?"
"We're going to the Sealed Shrine where I am going to introduce you to Kyuumaru," Kushina informed him.
"Who's Kyuumaru?" he asked.
"You'll see," Kushina smirked. "But when we get closer you'll have to put Kyuubi away."
"Why?"
"Kyuumaru can be a little unpredictable, especially with strangers around, so it's just a precaution," she explained.
Minato furrowed his brow. "Wouldn't it be safer to keep Kyuubi around, then?"
"Kyuumaru is a lot less tolerant of strange pokémon than he is of strange humans," she shrugged.
"Hmm…" Minato ran a hand through his blond hair. "So…what's this Sealed Shrine place?"
"It's some restored ancient ruins of unknown origins," Kushina replied. "Probably a religious site from some lost faith or cult. There's no recognizable writing that anyone's been able to find."
"Interesting," Minato nodded. "So no one will be out there? No researchers or sight-seers?"
"Nope," she said. "The only time that people are likely to go up there is during certain holidays to pay respects to the ancients and pray for good fortune. An ancestor of mine studied the place as a hobby, but nobody with any formal training has ever visited it as far as I know."
He nodded thoughtfully. "…So, why the extra dango?"
"Gifts for Kyuumaru," she responded. "He's the official unofficial guardian of the site and has been for most of his life. Visitors always bring him food since he never leaves to forage for himself and to reward him for his service."
"So he's some kind of pokémon…" Minato mused. "And he sounds like a long-lived one. …A dragon?"
"Nope," Kushina grinned. "His friend Ryuuza was a dragon, but he's outlived that dragonair."
"Hmm…a non-dragon that's outlived a dragon," he said. "That narrows it down quite a bit. And based on the name Kyuumaru it sounds like he's a—"
A few feet ahead of them a clump of brush rustled and a ninetales stepped into view. He had the uncommon coloration of solid yellow without the orange tail tips—but not the ultra-rare pelt that Demon demonstrated—and a red-and-white-striped rope tied around his neck in a bow. The instant that he appeared, Kushina froze in complete shock.
We're still a quarter mile away from the shrine—what's he doing out here?
Kyuubi immediately placed herself directly in front of Minato and growled a warning to the other fox. Kyuumaru didn't react well to whatever she'd said and started to bristle and lash his nine tails as he snarled back. They went back and forth several times and Kushina grew alarmed.
"Call Kyuubi back," she instructed Minato. "I'll try and calm Kyuumaru down. Something must be wrong; he shouldn't be all the way out here."
"Alright," he agreed and reached for Kyuubi's pokéball—
With a howl Kyuumaru charged and slammed into Kyuubi before she could halt him with an extrasensory blast. The two ninetales immediately dissolved into a snarling ball of yellow fur that didn't seem to have a beginning or end, which made it impossible to try and separate them. They clawed and snapped at each other and sprayed each other with red-hot embers which did little more than set some dried grass on fire since they both had the flash fire ability.
They're trying to kill each other! she realized with horror, almost crushing the dango carton against her chest. What the hell am I supposed to do?