79: Surrounding and Confounding

"Mmmpphh!?!"

Uzumaki Kushina was by no means weak. That being said, when she found herself suddenly squeezed into a hug, arms pinned by her sides and face pressed into thick and fluffy fabric, her already-strained lungs decided that breathing was no longer possible.

Still fresh from combat, her body's subconscious reaction was of course to push away and well... breathe again.

But much to Kushina's surprise, she could not break free of the arms enveloping her. The broad embrace wrapped her solidly, not even budging in the slightest. Yet even so, in those instants she felt neither fear nor panic.

Instead, Kushina felt much of her weight being shifted and supported as her battle-weary muscles fell somewhat limp. Her ears took in the sounds of a quiet heartbeat, and the warmth of the embrace shielded her from the brisk and biting wintry air.

The warm darkness obscuring her vision seemed so much a lie compared to the adrenaline-rush of combat she had known moments prior. She wasn't sure if it was her fatigue, oxygen-deprivation getting to her, something else, or a combination of the previous, but she couldn't help but lean into the support offered by this person's shoulders.

It held a... rather unexpectedly firm strength, to be sure.

Huh? She was definitely running low on air. Her head was beginning to spin.

"-whuh? So what if there's another kid, we won't get a better chance than now-..!" an approaching voice sounded, muddled by her lightheaded haze.

The recognition of which again wrenched Kushina's oxygen-deprived confusion back in another direction. That confusion led her to replay the last few moments in her mind's eye.

The last image to cross her eyes before abruptly entering her current fluffy predicament was a final few remaining foes charging towards her, which couldn't have been more than a few seconds ago! But off in the distance... yes, at the same time Kushina had first caught sight of a newcomer arriving. Someone with a face she'd never seen before, but who was clearly a fellow member of the Uzumaki Clan. A girl around Kushina's age, with a blank expression and sharp eyes just... looming behind everyone with a piercingly intent gaze.

A gaze that was locked onto Kushina.

It had stunned her for a moment. For a few fractions of a shred of an instant then, Kushina had frozen, sensing a recognition which shone in those eyes. A recognition which told a story of its own, along with an understanding and confused pain, but somehow one that displayed an immediate connection nonetheless. Something deeper, like an instinct within Kushina on a level before even words or greetings were exchanged.

Eyes bearing the look of someone who cared, an ally.

And that had made her hesitate again.

For another tiny instant following this, the exhausted Kushina had felt some relief — the joy of reinforcements arriving. She felt an intense glee at the idea of someone having noticed her being ambushed and coming to help, sneaking up behind these remaining trash-brat punks to take them down.

At least, that was what she thought would happen.

But no, instead the newcomer had blitzed right up to Kushina way faster than any of them had time to react to, leading to her... err, present predicament.

Kushina flinched from within the other girl's arms, her shoulders tensing and the muscles in her limbs flaring up in protest.

This was no time to think! Whoever this newcomer was, even if Kushina somehow managed to avoid suffocating in her grasp, suddenly embracing her in the middle of a fight was still going to get them both beaten up! And by some know-nothing jealous crybabies at that! Such a result was unacceptable, especially after she'd fought so hard already!

But just as her returning desperation was finally overflowing into panic, her vision whirled and her lungs finally took in a deep fresh breath. Glancing down, the newcomer's arm looping her waist had spun Kushina around in a half circle so as to place them side-by-side, again with much of Kushina's weight still leaning onto the taller girl's shoulder.

Thus suddenly reoriented, a dizzied Kushina snapped her head up to locate any remaining threats.

"This is what you get for standing in our way, damn arrogant outsiders!"

Her eyesight adjusted just in time to afford a clear view of a genin boy's fist whoosh past her face from the side.

In reaction, Kushina's gaze flicked up and to the side, where the punch and nasally yell had come from, and towards her fellow Uzumaki as well.

Getting a close-up look, she watched as drafts of air from the failed punch caused the long tresses of maroon hair framing the newcomer's face to flutter around. Yet despite the near-miss, the taller girl's expression remained completely undaunted. Blank and humorless, even.

"Do you insist on playing around?"

Kushina's eyes widened and the nape of her neck bristled slightly upon hearing the other girl's voice for the first time, a smooth and deeper voice, words spoken in a low and uninterested tone. Her violet eyes held no mirth, only a barely-contained intensity.

"Settle down."

With those commanding words, in the instants where the momentum of their attacker's failed strike carried him forward, the taller Uzumaki girl stamped down on the front of his ankle, hard enough to halt him mid-charge.

Kushina could swear she heard the sound of tendons tearing as the genin boy lurched forward, off-balance. As he fell, face contorting in agony, the Uzumaki newcomer swiped her extended foot backwards to further trip the boy. In a split-second follow-up, her free arm rammed elbow-first into the boy's spine, viciously slamming his face into the pavement.

It made a viscerally satisfying sound, the dull clank of his Konoha hitai-ate resounding loudly as he remained motionless where he landed.

Kushina, even worn out as she was, mused for a few stunned moments at the brutal efficiency of the takedown. A glint of bright red flashed in the corner of her eyes though, drawing her attention to an armband on the taller girl's left shoulder, one bearing the symbol of Uzushio, the crest of the Uzumaki clan. The mark of someone on official Uzushio business...

Relief again bloomed inside Kushina at the realization that this newcomer had indeed come to her defense, and was capable in a fight. More than capable...

"Big talk it is, calling us arrogant when ya' can't even take two hits, y'know!" she muttered a taunt at the fallen figure in subdued awe, her verbal quirk slipping out as her eyes lingered on the unconscious genin sprawled at her feet. She didn't recognize him, so he must've been one of her classmates' older siblings or something. But even as a genin, he got floored1Ahah... g-get it? floored? into the ground. hhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!I wrote this unironically and now I'm being tormented with puns. in seconds, so he was probably beneath her notice anyway.

There was something to think about there, but rustling movement forced her attention back up to her surroundings.

Two more bruised boys following behind the now-felled genin sped up slightly, their faces sporting stupidly enraged looks as they bellowed incoherently. At a glance she recognized them as Sakata and Noboru, the loudmouth class flunkies who failed out of the Academy last year and got their asses beat bad by Kushina herself back in the day.

The three other remaining younger boys approaching from different angles all had a clearer view of what just happened and they instead began skidding to a halt, fear in their eyes. It was just like Noboru and Sakata, the 'twin boulders' as the Academy students dubbed them for their chunky statures and thick heads, to be both late to the fight and too stupid to know when to stop. Repeat offenders who never learned their lessons, they were.

Kushina knew these two in particular for how satisfying and useful they were at demonstrating what happened to those who tried bullying her back when she'd first arrived in Konoha. She hadn't seen them around for months now, but her clenched fists recalled well how much force it took to break their meaty noses back then.

The memories of which got Kushina's blood pumping and she stood up straight again, readying herself to take on anyone else who still dared try to fight her, together with her impromptu ally and clansmen. The unfamiliar feeling of a comrade by her side seemed to provide powerful re-invigoration, as the throbbing pain in her limbs and stomach faded from attention and her aching fists clenched ever tighter.

"Come on, bring it! You little shits had nothing on me before, but you'll never take us together, don't y'know!2Kushina's verbal tic ["(da)ttebane" \ (だ)ってばね ] is hard to translate, but as a colloquialism is pretty similar to a variety of English phrases. It comes out when she's nervous, excited, angry, or embarrassed. Because Japanese conveys a lot with inflection as well, I chose to vary it slightly depending on the energy of the sentence. Something like ('ttebane?) would be like saying ("y'know?"), where as adding the ("da") sound ("(da)ttebane!") would be like ("don't cha'know!" [sic]). "

But Kushina had not even a chance to act. The arm around her waist disappeared, and with it so did a bit of the vigor she felt.

With a seemingly casual leap, her as-yet-unnamed comrade closed the several-meter distance to the pair of furious flunkies still charging at them. The pudgier-looking one in the lead, Noboru, took a swing at her, but she crouched under it. Kushina watched as the other Uzumaki girl ducked even farther under the boy's center of gravity. With one hand reaching under his still-outstretched elbow, and the other placed just below his sternum, she twisted into a throw, utilizing the unprepared meathead's own momentum to launch him into the air.

Kushina gaped as the chunky boy nearly thrice her weight screamed a pathetic wail as he flew overhead all the way to perfectly impact the group of brats who were still skidding to a halt in the other direction. They were all promptly squashed under his bulky frame.

But snapping her attention back to her impromptu ally, she watched as the taller redhead followed through on her throw by dropping her hands to the ground and continuing the twisting motion into a full rotation with her legs. Her legs which, outstretched like a scythe, swept the remaining Sakata's own legs right out from under him. She punctuated this by springing back up on her feet and delivering a chop with the side of her palm directly to the falling Sakata's throat, slamming him as well back-first into the cobbled pavement.

The sounds of Sakata's wheezing and choking on the ground merged with the moans and groans of all the other children on this terrace segment of the road.

Kushina shook her head faintly in a double take, fists dropping to her sides as it slowly dawned on her that the only boys left who could still stand were just taken out at once.

But what drew Kushina's eyes more was the completely blank look on the face of the girl who had done it all, as if she wasn't even paying attention to how she'd done it. So distant was the look in her eyes that Kushina half wondered if the girl had acted purely on instinct.

The intensity of her words and the swift brutality of her counterattacks clashed with the vacant, expressionless distraction that embodied her face.

Kushina knew how to brawl, and heavens knew she had plenty of practice against Academy students like this. So much so that she honestly believed she'd have been able to take on everyone who challenged her here and still win.

But... it would still have taken all of her energy and focus, especially in her current condition. But this older girl who came to her aid, she... she just wiped them out so fast! Even now, her fellow Uzumaki just stood quietly with elegant form, her waist-length hair fluttering gently as she scanned over all the fallen and unconscious kids. It was so, soo..!

"What was thaaat?! So cool! You took them down all at once, y'know!" Kushina could no longer contain her excitement. The exhaustion from her prior fights would likely come back to hit her later, but what just happened had apparently given her a second wind.

Kushina's sudden outburst drowned out the moaning and groaning around, simultaneously causing the other Uzumaki girl to flinch, one hand twitching towards something around her neck before falling back to her side. When she turned around to face Kushina fully, her expression had softened from firm blankness into something more confused,

"I- , yes? But you beat most of them already? These ones were just in the way..." Her voice was again low and smooth, serious like Lady Mito's often was. But Kushina imagined there was almost a note of disappointment in those words.

Waaah, so cool!

Gesturing around at the vanquished brats all around the two of them, a fiery Kushina stuttered over her words as she dashed closer,

"Well yeah, but, not- not like that! No, well er, wait I mean, thanks for helping me out with that!"

Wait, something was supposed to come before this, right? Oh yeah, introductions. This awesome onee-san3Most simply, 'elder sister' or a respectful way of addressing any young lady. Implies a certain sense or desire for familiarity or closeness. had her back in brawl and now Kushina needed to know more!

"My name's Kushina, but what about you, onee-san?" she gushed out gleefully, before pausing after being met with a profoundly stunned look and raised eyebrows. Huh? The other girl was taller than Kushina and had this mature aura to her, so she was probably older, right?

"Err... onee-san, right?" she finished, hesitantly, trepidation tinging her tone. Back home in Uzushio, she'd heard about a pair of androgynous older bros with strange dressing habits, and Kushina would not have a hard time at all believing more of her clansmen had similarly eccentric pastimes. The Uzumaki were fundamentally intense people.

"I- sorry, my name is Sumika, Uzumaki Sumika." her shoulders relaxed again and she strode a few steps even closer to Kushina, close enough that she had to tilt her head down for their gazes to meet. Her face shone with a small smile and softened eyes as she seemed to search for words.

Eventually the older girl settled on, "It is... I'm glad to meet you Kushina...-san?"Her tone held palpable sincerity, but hints of uncertainty.

Kushina, for her part, was overjoyed. Both at having confirmed Sumika's name and at the warm response. She was sure they'd get along great!

"You don't have to be so stiff, people close to me just call me Kushina! We're practically family, aren't we?"

This seemed to have a deep affect on Sumika, because the taller girl looked like she'd just realized something obvious. A short silence persisted as the older girl formed the syllables of Kushina's name with her lips several times, before eventually saying,

"Kushina, then..." she looked as if she were mulling around with how it felt to call her that, before adding, "Just call me Sumika, as well..."

More than pleased with this permission, Kushina beamed a wide smile, taking Sumika's hands into her own, "Sure thing, Sumika-nee!"

A moment of pleasant warmth shared between their skin, but the sensation slowly sparked a new flare of pain in Kushina's scraped and battered hands, making her wince.

Sumika evidently noticed, eyeing the scrapes and bruises with concern, "Kushina? Are you hurt anywhere else? Can you tell me what happened... before I arrived?"

Smile slipping from her lips, Kushina hunched over slightly as the mention of being hurt elsewhere caused the throbbing and burning pain on her stomach to return to her senses.

"What happened? Uhhh well, to be honest... I mostly just reacted. I was ambushed by a bunch of losers on my way home..."

Which, now that she thought about it while cooling off from her adrenaline rush, was more than a little strange.

This being the latter half of what would hopefully be her final year in Konoha's Academy, Kushina had noticed a collection of the vanquished bullies, seniors, and their bottom-feeder cronies that she'd accumulated over her years in the Academy all lurking around and seemingly planning something.

That plan had today been revealed to be ambushing her... in some kind of group revenge?

Kushina had scoffed at them outwardly and held her head high, but internally she couldn't help but wonder how they had timed it so... suspiciously well, given her recent condition and the recovery period Lady Mito had prescribed. Had they just proverbially smelled blood and seized on an opportunity at random? The did all seem somewhat disorderly since the start...

Again, on a good day Kushina knew she could take them down, or at least give them a hell of a bad time. She'd had years to build up her reputation as a fierce brawler among the Academy students. Years of training... and thirty or so students, flunkies, or their sympathetic older siblings weren't going to be enough against her. There was a reason she was planning to graduate having spent only two full years in the Academy.

But now was the worst time for Kushina, the seal placed upon her abdomen still taut and sore, occasionally stressing her chakra. Lady Mito had encouraged her that her previous level of stability and control would return as the seal settled, but the whole matter was still to be kept with the strictest secrecy.

She could fight for who-knows-how-long now still, but all the same, she would get tired facing so many opponents, and it would probably strain her recovery too. Even if most of them weren't exactly the Academy's the best and brightest.

Regardless, of course Uzumaki Kushina, the Academy's infamous Hot-blooded Habanero herself, would face them all head-on and pummel them into remembering why they feared her!

And pummel them she had, most of her fellow Academy students standing no chance against her superior strength and stamina. Only a few of the Academy graduates, now genin, gave her any trouble at all. And even then, that was mostly because they were using the younger kids as bait and distractions to take potshots at her! Like weaklings and cowards would!

That had only made Kushina angrier, and soon the blood pounding in her ears her led her on a berserker's streak, and then, well Sumika had arrived.

Relaying as much to Sumika through jumbled mutters made the whole situation stew around in her mind even more.

Had she really acted differently enough to seem weak? Her long-cultivated reputation as a brawler ought to have protected her longer than this, given just how fierce that reputation was. But really, so many brats had suddenly thought it a good idea to get revenge?

Or.... had they somehow been tipped off that she was weakened now? Or instead, had word gotten out that Lady Mito was arranging for someone to be with and guard Kushina now that she solely bore the responsibilities of a jinchūriki? If so, then it might just have been desperation or something, since once she had someone 'officially' watching her back, then she'd never be an easy target again.

A guard..? Watching her back...?

Kushina's eyes widened as somehow things all started clicking into place.

If someone like Sumika had so readily intervened, then-!

"Wait, wait — Sumika, are you the one Mito-sama sent?!"

The older girl glanced up the hill toward the clan's mask temple before tilting her head with a hesitant, "Uh, Yes...?"