"A mission from Lord Hokage, huh..." Kakashi tilted his head, looking at the mission scroll with his trademark dead-fish eyes.
Gai, who had just come over to challenge him to a duel, had also received the mission. His eyes were burning with a fire called fighting spirit.
"Yosh! Kakashi! It's rare for us to go on a mission together! So, let's have a duel! Whoever rescues Kurenai first wins, how about it?" Gai exclaimed excitedly.
"This mission isn't simple. A white-haired man in his early twenties with a Sharingan? And a half-face mask?" Kakashi reflexively touched his own mask. Sounds a lot like me. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were talking about me.
For some reason, he had a very bad feeling about this mission...
In the forest...
Uchiha Nagi ignored Kurenai and continued eating. Kurenai rustled as she changed her pants, then quickly used another towel and some drinking water to clean herself up.
While changing, she hesitated, wondering if she should take the opportunity to escape or ambush Uchiha Nagi. In the end, she shook her head. Her chakra was sealed, and he was acting so unconcerned, he was probably prepared for a surprise attack anyway.
On top of that, his current attitude was that of a perfect gentleman. Women have a weakness: when faced with a handsome man, their hostility automatically weakens...
Of course, the same is true for men. When they encounter a beautiful enemy, they subconsciously lower their guard...
Kurenai hesitated for a final moment, but ultimately chose to use the clean towel, wrapping it around her lower body before putting on the pair of men's pants.
After she was done, her face was red all the way to her ears, truly living up to her name, Kurenai—"Crimson." In a small, soft voice, she said, "I'm done..."
Without turning his head, Uchiha Nagi said, "If you're done, then come over. I'm not going to hurt you. Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink..."
Although a ninja could go for days without food or water, the feeling of an empty stomach was never pleasant. Kurenai hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she accepted Uchiha Nagi's food.
She picked up a bottle of water and began to drink. More than food, she needed water right now.
After what had just happened, in Kurenai's mind, Uchiha Nagi had transformed from a rogue ninja who slaughtered his own clan into a pitiful, persecuted man.
Sometimes, women are like that. They trust their intuition more. No, wait, she was still a girl...
"Where have you been these past two years, since you disappeared?" Kurenai asked, then immediately caught herself. Was it appropriate for her to be speaking so casually with a rogue ninja like Uchiha Nagi? She could be arrested and interrogated for this.
"I was rescued. I hid in a place where no one could find me, practicing my swordsmanship. Now that my skills have improved a bit, I came back to the ninja world to look around," Uchiha Nagi said with a smile.
"Then... the Uchiha clan... was it really not you and Itachi who killed them?" Kurenai asked curiously.
"You can decide that for yourself, but keep it to yourself. If you know too much, you might get dragged away by Root for questioning and end up branded as a rogue ninja," Uchiha Nagi said with a grin.
Kurenai froze. She understood. If Uchiha Nagi were to openly declare that the Third Hokage had persecuted him and murdered the Uchiha clan, hearing those words would do her no good. Everyone needed their fig leaf of plausible deniability; you couldn't just go tearing it off.
The thought that the kind-faced Third Hokage, who was always talking about the Will of Fire, might be the true culprit behind the Uchiha clan's destruction left Kurenai with a strange, unsettling feeling.
While the two of them sat in silence, Asuma and Anko, following the horse's tracks and the strands of hair Nagi had left behind, had already tracked them down.
Uchiha Nagi suddenly raised his head and closed his eyes, sensing his surroundings.
"Seventh Form: Spatial Perception..."
A faint smile touched his lips. He'd thought a whole team was coming, but it was just two people. And one of them was the little Anko he had slapped yesterday.
That feeling... so springy...
Swoosh—
"You villain! Let Kurenai go!"
Asuma leaped down, intending to rescue the woman he loved, only to be met with a baffling scene.
Kurenai wasn't tied up. She was sitting quietly next to Uchiha Nagi like a friend. The two of them were calmly eating roasted meat, while Kurenai sipped water from a bottle.
What was even more damning wasn't that Kurenai was sitting with the enemy, but that she was wearing a pair of men's pants.
Asuma glanced over and saw a pair of blood-stained pants lying on the ground nearby. They were women's pants. Next to them was a blood-stained towel.
Seeing this, Asuma's eyes nearly burst from their sockets, his face a mask of grief and fury. "Kurenai... you... you didn't..."
Anko Mitarashi was also stunned by the scene, her face contorting with rage as she glared at Uchiha Nagi. That damn pervert! He actually did that to Kurenai-nee...
Kurenai froze. She wasn't a sensory ninja, and with her chakra sealed, she hadn't noticed Asuma and Anko until they were right in front of her.
"Anko... Asuma..."
Then she saw the heartbroken expression on Asuma's face and followed his gaze. Her own face instantly turned beet red as she realized what they were thinking.
She immediately tried to explain. "Anko! Asuma! Don't misunderstand! That's my... no, it's not... Anyway, nothing happened between us!"
Kurenai's flustered explanation only served to deepen Asuma's misunderstanding.
With a voice full of sorrow and deep affection, Asuma said to Kurenai, "It's alright, Kurenai. I know it's not your fault. You were forced by this man."
He then turned to Uchiha Nagi, his eyes blazing with fury, his teeth clenched as if he wanted to tear him limb from limb.
At first, Uchiha Nagi watched this soap-opera-worthy scene with amusement. But then, seeing the green flames of jealousy raging in Asuma's eyes, a wicked idea sparked in his mind.
He reached over, took Kurenai by the head, and pulled her against his shoulder. Then, with his other hand, he extended his index and middle fingers and activated the sealing jutsu on her body, causing her to go limp, unable to stand, forced to lean against him.
"That's right, Asuma. Just as you see. I came here specifically for Kurenai. Kurenai and I are in love. Last night, we... well, we just couldn't help ourselves..."
"You... you're lying!" Kurenai's small fists beat against him, but with her chakra sealed, her blows were soft and completely harmless.
What Uchiha Nagi did next caught them all completely off guard. He grabbed Kurenai's head and pressed his lips to her brilliant red ones.
"Mmph... mmph...!" Kurenai's eyes flew wide open in disbelief. She was utterly stunned.
She wasn't the only one. Asuma and Anko were dumbfounded as well.
Pulling away from Kurenai's lips, Uchiha Nagi looked at Asuma provocatively. He licked the corner of his mouth as if savoring the moment.
"Asuma... Kurenai... is very... delectable..."