Infamy – 汚名

22

"I have to go," Rinto murmured, eyes latching onto something far ahead from where we stood. Abruptly it shocked me out of my dazed thoughts of

I squinted at him, hands going to my hips immediately in dismay, "But I need to stay in contact with you."

He gave me a long suffering look before sighing, "You should easily be able to ask about that from Ichigo-san or Yuka-san. They are the best people to find much of anyone."

I blinked before knocking my knuckles lightly to my forehead, "Right, my bad."

Rinto shifted uncomfortably on his feet, grimacing as if he had no idea what to say next before he released a slight sigh. Moments later he reached into the thigh holster, only to provide what looked to be spare bandages. "I'm…sorry."

I waved him off easily with a small smile, "It's fine. This is nothing, really, and I can heal myself so it's better that you keep those bandages."

He hesitated before nodding, "Sorry."

Then, like the speed of light, he vanished. The only trace that he had ever been there, as it turns out, was the impact zone of fall.

Best to hurry back to Minato before he can ask too many questions.

ARC 3 – Part 2 – Fire Flower

Minato

"Getting utensils shouldn't take this long, should it?" Minato asked, more to himself than anything else as he eyed the way Kakashi scowled up at him with his pinched, tight expression. The young nin turned to look in the direction the redhead had gone, his brows tightening up as tight as the imaginary hand in Minato's innards.

"She probably got lost," the silver-haired nin said simply even as his voice shook in that barely noticeable way that showcased only a brave facade, standing up firmly as action replaced anything else. He looked to Minato expectantly, who mirrored the boy's motions, brushing off his pants before holding his hand out to Nagato. The boy took it and looked rather surprised when the blonde took the chance to wrench the redhead up from his place, swinging him around and bringing the young redhead to rest on his back all in the matter of seconds.

"Let's go find her then," Minato ordered, attempting to keep the itch to hiraishin his way to Kushina at bay as he gave them all a tight smile that he tried to pass off as calm.

With his senses piqued to be alerted, Minato took off, chakra pumping his motions before he realized Kakashi's slower speeds. Refusing to lose any ground or time, not when Kushina was possibly in danger, the blonde snatched the silver haired nin right off of his feet, adding him onto his back. Just barely catching Kakashi's scowling eyes, Minato added to his speed, feeling his chakra flow within his warming body.

It took him mere seconds to fly through the open beach before springing into the trees, following the chakra signature he had come to know as well as his own. His heart pounded rigorously in his chest, his vision clouding in his haze of worry before he gave his head a strict jerk.

Kushina could handle anything that came her way. And if she couldn't, she would at least last long enough for him to arrive.

The minutes it took him to finally locate his redheaded fox—a name he had taken to calling her fondly in his head—we're akin to some sort of hell before his eyes rested on the impact zone of a crushed in tree.

Blinking, he spotted the specks of blood and the strands of her long red hair before spotting the sheepish looking girl, standing with her fingers to her forehead.

"Hi," she softly mumbled out, coming to bite her lower lip in an almost hesitant manner, "I ended up in an altercation with this guy named Rinto but it turned out fine." Kushina chuckled lightly as the silence continued in Minato's haste to observe the scene in hopes of making sense of things, "No need to be so worried."

Minato scowled just at hearing those words leaving her lips, the sound of them feeling wrong, like the grating noise of kunai clashing with one another. He sighed, lowering his eyes to her knees.

It was then that he noticed how shaky her stance was, the weakness that was fully expressed in the way that she ended up leaning against the tree to her right.

"Let's talk about that later, okay?" Minato settled on saying before setting both Nagato and Kakashi down to come closer. With a low growl in his throat, he touched the dried blood gingerly, something in his gut tightening up as it happened. He very nearly cringed at the thought of witnessing how the entire thing had gone down. He couldn't even bare to look at the tree she had clearly hit without either wanting to puke or murder someone.

"How did you possibly get so hurt?" Minato asked bitterly, frowning down at her blood encrusted forehead before he gently ran his fingers through her mane of hair, in search of the wound.

"I was…stupid," Kushina admitted, laughing a little to herself, "I wasn't expecting him to go on the offense the way he did. He had seemed mostly intent on out running me."

He gazed at her dubiously, grinding his teeth together the more he learned about what happened, "I…I'm sorry."

"Ah, for what?" Mirth was clear to see in her eyes, as if her getting hurt was a mere joke to be shared around the campfire.

His fingers clenched into a fist before he finally managed to bite out a reply, "I wasn't there to protect you, like I was meant to be."

A light blush colored her cheeks at that, in stark contrast to her abnormally pale skin, "But…I…Oh my."

Unaware of it himself, his face heated up in quick response, "W-What?" He inwardly cursed himself for stuttering over such a simple word.

Kushina brought her hands to her face and gave a bright smile, one that showed the pretty teeth that usually hid behind her close lipped shows of approval. Minato's heart tightened to an almost painful way as he recalled a similar smile that had made him fall so deeply in love with her. Now all that was missing was…

Just then a breeze flew into the air, whipping at her hair as the mass of it floated up in a mad flurry of strands and locks. She fruitlessly attempted to keep it at bay with a hand to hold it away from her face, but it was only that image in his head, calling up unbidden thoughts of wrapping his fingers into the plush of her untamable mane.

His vision centered only on that, losing any sense or logic that could be had.

In fact, it took his breath away, at the thought of watching her hair be splayed like the wild beauty of a flower. Except, with the passion and heat he regarded her with, he could only imagine that it would be much like looking at a fire flower.

"I mean…you just looked so cool for a moment there. I wasn't expecting that," Kushina finally said as the wind died down. She smiled big for a second time, "I'm no match for you, huh?"

Don't you have it the other way around? The words never left his lips as he swallowed them desperately, postponing any answer that he could have possibly formulated.

Instead, he gave a nod and tugged her into his arms, hoping she couldn't feel the mass that was his beating heart in his chest. "Let's just eat lunch, okay?"

With a tiny gasp, followed by a giddy giggle, Kushina nodded into the crook of his shoulder.

He shivered with some sort of confusing feeling as her breath caressed his neck before her lips lingered far too close to his collarbone.

Minato swallowed thickly before giving her head one last soft pat, stepping away from her in an attempt to reign his conscious back in. His only desire was to stop the buzzing, strangely pleasant, feeling that sprouted and sprung away from the heat she had left in that moment of shared space.

His eyes shifted over to Nagato and Kakashi, noting the awkward way both of them acted and the slight tinge of red in the younger Uzumaki's cheeks.

Minato moved his hands to cover his lower face before coughing out, "Food?"

They all quickly nodded.

Quietly, he attempted to knock away that worry that began to impede on his usually good mood.

His heart continued to be with guilt and love, hand in hand.

ARC 3 – Part 2 – Fire Flower

Kushina

"So you've found out about it?" Ichigo asked, smiling placidly and calmly, looking to be almost passive as he rolled up the scroll he had been looking at before I'd oh-so giddily bounced into the room.

"Not going to ask why I dared to interrupt your important work, leader of an unnamed organization?" I settled on saying in response before padding my way over to his low table and kneeling before him, reaching out a fist to knock my knuckles against his shoulder. "You're too cool, you know that?"

Ichigo laughed, eyes brightening before he shook his head, "Actually, the majority of the group is run by Yuka, if you must know. I'm too busy these days with picking up some of Wataru-san's leftovers." His expression turned sheepish as he brushed at the back of his head in a manner I would usually assign to Kenma.

"Woah," I breathed, thinking back to the character of the purple headed girl. So, apparently, not only was she a hardass—a cold hearted bitch really—but now she was a sub leader to a group that basically did its best to bring justice to places that lacked it.

Sort of like what the Ame Orphans had eventually become…but what I had sort of just broken up.

I blinked as the realization hit me.

Because of my intervention…that would mean that Nagato wouldn't ever join Yahiko and Konan in a trio…but then, Jiraiya still wanted to train them all together. Which was strange, the way it could work out. Maybe stuff like fate, the stuff of what Jiraiya would talk about, was in fact a very real thing…

"Yes, Yuka is very cool, don't you think?" Ichigo murmured out, bringing me back to the present.

I blinked once more before grinning slyly at him, "Are you and Yuka a thing? Will I get to see your children any time soon?"

Ichigo quickly laughed it off, shaking his head in an almost bitter fashion as he hid the obvious distress with a forceful smile, "Ah, I wouldn't think so. She and Rintarou are very difficult to make sense of and I'm fairly certain I'd have no chance. You know how things go for me, Kushina. I get too busy for such things. I'm certain that she'd be very unhappy with me."

"Rintarou…?" I asked, focusing in on that one part.

"Oh, I meant to say Rinto," Ichigo murmured, a red flush growing on his cheeks, "Rintarou is his full name, and I always forget that he prefers to keep that a secret."

I withheld a snort at the surprising show and hint of puerility.

"Well…I was always under the impression that you'd never get married anyway. I mean, you always seem so unruffled, so I didn't even think you'd reply that way. I'm sort of speechless," I murmured out awkwardly, scratching at my nose.

Ichigo chuckled, "I guess it's because I always assumed I'd be married to you for the sake of a heir while we each had a lover on the side—but I've been reading a lot of Jiraiya's novels lately and that might be why."

I snickered at the thought of having Minato as my mistress, "He'd get so jealous."

It was an offhanded comment but Ichigo picked up on it immediately, eyes narrowing slightly as the corners of his lips raised.

"So I noticed how you are with that blonde boy, Namikaze-san." Ichigo was quick to give a sly smile, "I'm happy that you have found him, my cousin. I am sure your feelings for him are returned, Kushina."

Giddily, I latched my fingers into my hair, "Yes. I'm also very sure about that."

"I'm glad you can find happiness," Ichigo said, reaching his hand out to stop my fingers in their habitual strokes. His eyes met mine, looking to be as blue as I had ever seen them, "I think you deserve only the best, after all you have lost."

I nodded, feeling a smile slowly spread its way across my face like the blossoming of a summertime flower, "I still haven't been, you know. Not much of a good daughter to them, am I?"

Ichigo merely shook his head before tilting it to the side, as if deliberating on what to say. Before long, he finally settled on, in a soft breezy voice, "I never met my mother, but I do remember yours. She was the type to…understand something like that. Just don't take too long, okay? I'm certain that she misses you."

"I know," I breathed out slowly, nodding firmly, "I get it, I get it. I'll go today."

ARC 3 – Part 2 – Fire Flower

"I'll go with you," Minato murmured stubbornly as soon as I had announced where I would be headed off to.

I blinked, cocking my head to the side in thought before giving a tiny nod, "Ok. But…why?"

His eyes widened as if he had no idea what I had meant with my question. His cheeks light up in color before understanding filled his expression. "You're…I…I need to introduce myself to your parents."

Chuckling, I elbowed him in the stomach with a playful snicker, "Gonna ask to marry me?"

Minato's flesh reacted just the way I had been hoping—lighting up like the lanterns of a festival. He was quiet for a moment before he softly mumbled out, scratching at the back of his head, "We can come back later for that. For now I just need to let them know that I will do my best not to make any more mistakes, and that I will keep you safe. Something…like that…I'm sure they would want to know."

We can come back later for that…

Focusing on the words that echoed in my head, feeling my heart beat pick up in pace and my ears start to burn with heat, I quietly nodded. Then I swallowed thickly, reaching a hand out quickly to tug him closer to my side before I leaned up for a quick peck on the cheek. He froze as I pulled away slowly.

Biting my lip, I looked at him hesitantly, "Stuff like that…is alright now, isn't it?"

Minato turned away, placing a hand to his lower jaw before he slowly gave his muffled reply, "I don't know…if my heart could take that…"

Eyes widening, I looked around the hallway we stood in before grinning devilishly.

"Can't handle it, you say?" I asked, voice pointedly soft as I tiptoed closer to his side. Smoothly, I deliberately placed a finger on the back of his hand, snickering privately to myself when he so openly stiffened. Noticing the way his eyes shifted to look at me, locking onto my every moment, I grinned.

Wasting not even a single breath or moment, I slipped and snagged my finger underneath his palm before gently moving the blockage out of my path. The only reaction I seemed to get from him then was the hitch in his breath, accompanied shortly by a small patch of hair moving by way of my breath.

I blinked, only then realizing how close I had gotten to him. But I couldn't move way. By then, his eyes were on mine and I was seeing only the purest shades of blue in my scope of vision. But it wasn't only that…flecks of green dotted in his eyes in such tiny details that it could have been that I was the only person close enough to him to know about them.

Biting my lips, I breathed in his scent before closing the sensitive gap, leaning my forehead to his shoulder.

"I…"I started, surprised at feeling the barest hints of wetness behind my eyelids. Afraid of a tremor to my voice, I swallowed, smiling into his neck and bringing my arms to wrap around his waist, "would want to do stuff like this every day, so prepare yourself for me. Okay?"

He was motionless for a few more seconds but when he finally moved, Minato brought his hand to my chin, tilting my face up to gaze at him once more.

The blonde teen smiled, innocent in his gaze but feverish in the way he felt to the touch, "Please, Kushina, understand that…my heart couldn't withstand anything more than this."

He had more to say. I could feel it.

But he was afraid… Of what?

Brows creasing, I pushed past the sudden pain in my chest to whisper out to him softly, "Minato, I think this is leading to you saying that we need to talk about something."

He took in a soft breath, hand coming up to gently trail over my brow, "About your past life…I've been thinking."

I nearly choked, blood in my veins nearly freezing, "Wh-what about it?"

There was no rhyme or reason to be afraid of such simple words but I couldn't help it. Years of attempting to shake the shadow of the previous Kushina left me breathless against the fight it had taken me to finally claim this life as mine.

If he were to saying something from my worst nightmares…

"What was she like? Were we happy?"

My heart seized and I shut my eyes tightly before pressing my head firmly in the crook of his neck.

"Kushina," Minato murmured softly, "please look at me."

Whimpering pathetically, I shook my head and fought off the shivers that wanted to run up my spine and wrack my body.

At my resistance, he shifted his body and slipped through my grasp with the speed that was true to his moniker. Then, before I could barely make a sound, Minato had us face to face on the ground. His hand traced the scars on my hand in the next moment that I took to blink before I finally met his gaze, stunned.

"It may be silly, but it's something that bothers me, okay? I want you to diligently listen to me," Minato explained to me firmly as I gave three slow and hesitant nods, dumbfounded. He swallowed, sighing before running his fingers through his hair as if it were an issue he honestly had fretted over in the moments previous.

"Say it," I whispered, still too shocked from the shift in mood.

He released a grunting groan, looking down at our newly entwined hands and mumbling out, "The…character version of me…was he, uh, cooler than I am in real life?"

"S-Say again?"

His cheeks brightened in color before he met my eyes, "I meant to say, do you like me as I am now, or was he cooler?" Minato sighed, looking away, "I know it's silly, but I'm afraid that the closer we become, you'll only become dissuaded." At my blank silence, he went on shakily, "I just, I just don't want to be the only one happy."

Furiously blinking away the sudden jolt of tears that wanted to spring to the surface, I heatedly shook my head in response to his outlandish worries. "You're thinking the way a stupid person would!"

Because that's how I used to think.

Minato looked slightly offended before giving a slight shake to his head, "I'm sorry."

"No," I murmured, noticing the tiny light bit of hurt in his eyes, "no, you don't understand. It's useless to think like that when we're already together." My voice turned matter of fact, steely almost, before I determinedly stood on the tips of my toes and placed my lips to his. Then, as boldly as I could muster the courage, I pulled his lower lip into my mouth before roughly biting into the soft flesh.

He yelped, pulling away with his eyes wide.

I only gazed at him with the self-satisfaction of a well-fed cat, "Punishment."

"Ahem," a sudden voice bounced into my hearing range.

I turned, a bit flustered, to see Kenma standing at the end of the hall all dressed up in…a kimono.

"Pfft—."

"It's illegal to laugh!" Kenma instantly said, his cheeks flaming with the heat of his embarrassment.

"Why are you even dressed like that?" Minato asked, having reigned in his composure with his usual sincerely golden smile. It would have looked as if nothing had ever happened between us hadn't it been for the traces of smeared blood on his lower lip, imprints of teeth clear to see.

I kept my private smug hidden deep as I faced Kenma with curiosity in my eyes, "Yeah, why so formal?"

Kenma gave me a squinted look, eyeing the blood on Minato before releasing a heavy sigh, "You'd find out eventually but…I've been requested to appear for an omiai."

I blinked, instantly shocked, "Omi—omiai!? You're getting married?"

He laughed, before nodding absentmindedly, "No. I…turned her down. Because I already have someone…" His expression turned far away, fingers tightening and clenching up.

"Who!?" I demanded to know, rushing forward in my excitement.

Kenma's reaction turned strange, his expression faltering before he released a chuckle that was so unlike himself that I had to do a double take, "I can't exactly say, Kushina."

Frowning, I relented in my pestering, taking in the air around him.

Whoever Kenma was involved with, I just hoped they treated him right.

"Well, okay," I mumbled, scratching at my head before looking back at Minato, who nodded in understanding, "but I actually came here for Wataru-san. Is he here?"

"He's in his room, I believe," Kenma explained, tilting his head to the side, looking at us curiously. "Why?"

"We're looking for directions to the memorial," I explained, "and now that I have my sash," I gestured glamorously to the red cloth that wrapped around my chest, being paired with a protective layer of mesh and bandages underneath, "I can enter into the library too, so I was planning to kill two birds with one stone."

Kenma instantly eyed my chest, "What happened to your kimono and obi? What about more protection?"

Unable to fully explain the real reason, I simply rolled my eyes and noted, "Not even caring about the memorial thing?"

"Tch, you always were an idiot. I can't say I'm surprised," Kenma went on before looking to Minato, "What does the boyfriend think?"

The blonde shifted uncomfortably in his footsteps before straightening his pose and confidently giving his patented pacifying smiles, "Kushina is very well capable of taking care of herself."

He couldn't have looked surer in his words than now.

I quickly found myself grinning, and restraining the bounce to my feet.

Kenma looked at him for a moment before releasing a sigh, "I guess that's true."

"Anyway, we'll talk to you later, cousin," I cheerfully announced, before reaching down to clasp my hand in Minato's, jerking him forward with me and down the hall, bypassing Kenma easily.

"Don't forget to tell Arisa-san about the new boyfriend!" Kenma called back, laughter in his voice.

My cheeks turned red, but I grinned all the same, looking back at him to send him an affirming nod.

With that said and done, I tugged Minato along down the hall, passing by sliding paper doors as our feet silently moved over wooden path. The trees swayed in the sea breeze and the salted scent lingered in the air amidst the persistent sweet aroma that drifted from the blooming sakura trees, just as patches of fallen petals coated the ground we walked on. The sunset was pretty, a deep red mixed with the brilliance of azure and auburn in the sky.

With the influence of the nature around us, I breathe in the fresh air and find myself relaxing considerably, my footsteps slowing to a stroll.

"I'll miss this place when we head back to Konoha," I murmured softly, my hand tightening on Minato's as I thought of the future, the absence of my cousins and the rest of my family. I hadn't thought about it a whole lot during my stay here, but…it hit hard then.

I was going to leave soon, and it would be the last time I ever got to see it this way.

I paused in my steps and almost instantly, Minato's other hand found its way to my cheek, wiping away tears I hadn't even known were there.

"I know it's too soon to cry over such a silly thing," I murmured, turning to face Minato.

The blonde boy merely smiled kindly, eyes soft, "Kushina, don't worry. We'll be back."

I blinked, surprised before realizing how dumbfounded I looked. The sudden humor in the situation struck me as I released a burst of laugh, "You know me so well! I'm sure my parents would have loved to meet you."

My laughter died out as a quiet, thoughtful mood settled over me.

There was so much I had come to regret, so much I had come to learn from. So many 'what ifs'.

I should have treasured my parents more. I should have claimed this life as my own sooner.

I could have…saved so many more lives.

If only I hadn't been so mindless, so closed off to change.

Could I say, with confidence, that I had done anything right? Sure I could alter things, but what if all I had done turned to be wrong? The only good thing I had done was bringing Nagato into my life, but then, there was another issue that came hand in hand with that.

What if Nagato was in more danger now than before? His eyes…I couldn't even definitively say how to train them. How Jiraiya had known in the manga was beyond me.

But Yahiko and Konan had followed, by some sort of strange chance. So that had to mean something. It had to. Then did that mean I should enlist Jiraiya's help after all?

Humorously, I looked to Minato, "Would you leave our kid with Jiraiya-sensei?"

His face didn't redden like I would have thought it would, as he seemed to seriously reflect on the question. The Namikaze titled his head to the side, before slowly nodding, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Sensei is often times mislabeled as irresponsible or as lazy and merely perverted. But it actually acts as a deflector. He strategically showcases unattractive features to avoid either making deep connections or being able to miss out on taking a lot of responsibilities for his actions. But I think children are good for him," Minato chuckled, "after all, I've seen how he is with his new students. He certainly does his best for them. So yes, I would trust him with our children."

I nodded, before returning to my thoughts, feeling my footsteps picking up pace.

"I should find a scroll that uses a seal to inflict agonizing pain. Just in case."

"If there isn't one that we can find, let's create one together."

Our laughter filled the hall before we stumbled up to the door that I had become familiar with through all the times I'd come to visit for refreshing lessons so that I could gain my sash. Through that time, Wataru and I had gotten on fairly friendly terms.

I slammed the sliding door open.

"I need help!"

Wataru instantly sat up in his seat, obviously wiping off drool and peeling away the inked paper that had stuck to his face from his interrupted nap. He rubbed his eyes before squinting, "Kushina-chan? What is it?"

"I want into the scroll room and directions to the memorial stone," I requested, tone simple and lighthearted.

"The first will be simple but the second one," Wataru sighed, "I believe you're clear on the customs of our people with memorials, and how I can't exactly give you the exact coordinates."

I chewed on my bottom lip before sighing out, "I know. We have to prove our spirit and love is real. We have to show that we can properly remember our loved ones by using our will to live. But at the very least you should give me a starting point."

Wataru nodded before standing up, scratching at his darker, auburn hair, "Go into the Ushinatta Forest and look for the symbol, the crest of our clan. From there, I think it should be easy for someone of your caliber to find it."

I hid my first reaction to swallow. But nevertheless, instant feelings of hesitancy bloomed in my chest as I recalled the tales my mother had told me, long ago in quiet nights, her voice and cadence matching the soft sweet chirps of the crickets and cicadas.

The forest always seemed to hold up to its name, being so expansively thick, that it was easy to become lost. In fact, it had gotten to the point that there was a strict gate restraining lower ranked individuals without going in on one of the scheduled tours.

But being that I was a master at the arts of fuinjutsu, well…there was a bit of a bad omen involved if someone with the obvious power borrowed the strength of ours.

The entire reason for the class structure, in the eyes of our founders, was for there to be a leader that could step up and lead the ones weaker in skill or in health.

Because of my circumstances of being a Konoha operative, I never did get that training that most Uzumaki got in the forest. Now, I was going in blind because of it.

All because tradition held such a great importance to us.

"Can you handle it?" Wataru suddenly asked, probably reading into my silence. I didn't waste even a second more before adopting a new brave façade.

"Of course I can handle it!" I replied with, grinning a smile that I hoped didn't look too false, "But first…let's check out some scrolls that we'll probably be needing."

ARC 3 – Part 2 – Fire Flower – End

Japanese Terms:

Omiai (お見合い) – marriage interview

Ushinatta (失った) – lost

A/N:

I turned seventeen ten days ago.

It's been a month and I'm sorry about that (I'm even a year older OTL). Updates are slowing down to when I am able to upload instead of the weekly updates, as I'm sure you can see with this horribly late chapter.

Also, I'm changing the title of this story! This may be confusing but the reason is because Infamy was created with an anti-hero in mind, and well, this story certainly didn't develop into one. Thus, the word infamy doesn't exactly fit and can be a bit misleading. You guys can send in ideas for the change if you want, but I'm thinking the new title will either be A Tiny Ripple or Fire Flower and I am running a poll on my profile with just those two options, unless someone sends in something that's spectacularly awesome (and they will be credited) that can be added.

That's all for now, please review and tell me what you think! I survive purely on reviews to get me through these trying times.