The red-eyed princess
The red-eyed princess
"You know very well what happens when someone tries to endanger my loved ones" - answered Kurama coldly while he kept his eyes on the smoking Jonin - "You were present when I left Minato in the hospital"
"I know... but that doesn't change the fact that you are about to attack my son, Kurama-kun" - sighed Hiruzen as he showed himself to the group.
"You better listen to him, Monster," said Asuma with a condescending smile as she saw that her father had arrived but before she could continue, he felt how Kurama grabbed him by the neck - "You better be quiet because we adults are talking"
"Kurama Uzumaki, I order you to release Asuma Sarutobi!" - exclaimed old Sandaime when he saw his son being attacked.
". . ." - Kurama was only silent, he was standing still without moving a single muscle.
"Didn't you hear me?!" - Hiruzen shouted with growing concern.
"I see..." - the redheaded man muttered as he threw Asuma to the ground.
"Agh!" - the Jonin smoker could only complain of pain as he felt the force of the impact.
"Very well... I'll let him go this time..." - said Kurama as he looked at Hiruzen - "But I'm not going to do it because I'm afraid of you or because I'm following your orders like a puppet... no... you're very wrong if you think that... I'm doing it because I'm paying back the favor you did me..."
". . ." - Hiruzen only sighed with regret when he saw that his relationship with the Uzumaki... had been completely broken and that it was very likely that fixing it would be almost impossible.
"We, the Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure no Sato, request under law number 75, section 4, paragraph 7, that Konoha from now on, will take the location where we live as an international embassy" - said Kurama seriously - "As stipulated by law, We, the Uzumaki Clan will maintain our relationship as shinobis for Konoha but we will have the right to accept or decline any requests the Hokage gives us and at the same time, if we wish to withdraw from the village, we can do so without any form of blockade. This law applies to any Uzumaki who is born or any person who joins the clan through marriage or asylum"
"!" - people here were surprised that there was such a law but Hiruzen had a shocked look.
"Remember Sarutobi... If Asuma tries anything against a member of the Uzumaki Clan or any person under our protection, it will be considered an international attack and I will have free rein to punish him in the way I see fit, be it death, dismemberment of limbs or simply destroying his chakra system" - continued the redheaded man while he looked at young Sarutobi coldly - "I hope it got into your head, Asuma because the next time you try something stupid, not even your daddy can save you from my wrath"
That said, Kurama retired quietly.
Hiruzen only sighed regretfully as he thought of the pros and cons of the situation if he attacked the redhaired man, but after a time, he decided not to.
Kurama was a force of nature if he unleashed his full power and without any expert in Fuinjutsu, it would all be for nothing. Jiraiya could help him but he was sure he would refuse if he knew how it all originated and Kushina would side with the young redhead.
Hiruzen could only look at his son and think of how he had ended up like this.
"What did I do wrong when I raised you?" - he asked himself but no one would give him an answer.
"Hiruzen-sama... I ask permission to retire..." - Kurenai said seriously. She did not want to be one minute closer to the Hokage's son.
The old Sandaime knew about this so he agreed immediately, though he warned her not to say anything about what had happened.
"Asuma..." - Hiruzen muttered as he looked at his son - "Please... don't do anything stupid... don't mess with the Uzumaki or Kurenai from now on..."
"Why?!" - exclaimed Asuma angrily - "She belongs to me!"
"Son... human beings are nobody's property" - said Hiruzen with pain when he saw how much the kindly boy running after him had changed - "She has the right to decide what to do or not do"
"No! She belongs to me! I've waited for over 10 years!" - shouted Asuma without caring about his father's warnings - "And she'll be mine one way or another!"
Having said that, he proceeded to depart.
". . ." - Hiruzen was only silence as he watched his son retire or rather walk to certain death. Kurama only forgave him because he was paying Hiruzen for all the favors he had done for the Uzumaki Clan.
"Anbu..." - the Hokage muttered.
"Hai!" - exclaimed Neko and Karasu. The two had seen it all unfold because they were on guard for the Hokage.
"I want you to keep an eye on Asuma..." - ordered the Sandaime - "If he tries to do anything against Kurama or Kurenai, I want him knocked out and taken back to the Sarutobi residence... I will have another group of Anbus there to watch him."
"Hai!" - the Anbus quickly disappeared from the scene to follow the instructions of their superiors, who could only regret that it had ended this way
* * * * *
At this point, Kurama was walking toward his home. He no longer felt like going to training, so he decided to go home so that he could inform Kushina about the situation.
People were pushing their way in because they could tell that something had happened to the cheerful young man, after all, he had a cold look on his face.
"Kurama-kun, wait!" - Kurenai exclaimed as she ran after him.
Kurama glanced at her but did not stop.
"Please wait a second!" - the red-eyed kunoichi shouted again - "I want to talk to you!"
"What do you want..." - said Kurama coldly but quickly calmed down when he heard his tone - "I'm sorry Kurenai sensei... I'm sorry I'm taking it out on you..."
Kurenai just bit her lip - "No... I am the one who is sorry... if it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened..."
"You're wrong" - denied the redhead - "It's not your fault, but Asuma's..."
Kurama couldn't blame Kurenai for this situation since she was the victim.
"Thank you..." - murmured the kunoichi as she began to cry.
Kurama only looked at her for a few seconds and then sighed. Slowly he approached her and hugged her carefully.
"!" - Kurenai was surprised but quickly hugged her back.
Kurama understood that Kurenai needed to release some of the pain she was having, she needed someone to comfort her and help her through this difficult time or she would end up doing something stupid.
Kurenai was feeling safe right now, just as she did when she was a child and ran to her father because she was afraid. It was a feeling she had not felt in years, not since she had trained alongside Kushina.
Kurama was about to speak but noticed that the woman had fallen asleep.
"Maybe it's because she hadn't been able to rest because of all the things that had happened..." -Murmured the young redheaded man as he walked carefully so as not to wake her, not knowing that all this had been seen by Asuma that it had not been detected thanks to the great concentration of people around - "Shit! Shit shit shit shit!"
He was furious to see how HIS woman was now in the arms of the freak he hated so much - "Not only did you steal my brother's life, but you want to steal MY woman !"
"I'm not gonna let you do that !" - roared the Jonin as he pulled out his chakra blades but before he could do anything else, he froze when he felt the presence of someone behind him. He quickly turned around but was still knocked out by a second person.
"With this, our work is done..." - Neko said coolly. It was obvious that she didn't have any good intentions towards Asuma, after all, he had hurt her friend.
"I still don't understand how a guy like him was the brother of..." - Karasu muttered as he shook his head. The first-born of the Sarutobi Clan and Asuma's older brother was a kind person that everyone respected. He had helped many people without counting that he was one of the first to go out and fight when the Kyubi was attacking the Village and it was for that very reason that both he and his wife died.
"I don't know... I don't care to know either..." - Neko denied - "Now we'd better take him to the Sarutobi Residence... I don't want to have to see him again...
"Neither do I" - denied Karasu as he took the unconscious Jonin because it was obvious that Neko didn't want to touch him.
* * * * * * * * *
No one knew how much time had passed and Kurenai was opening her eyes again.
"Hmm~" - she had to admit, it was the best sleep she had had in years even though she didn't know when she fell asleep. Slowly she began to remember what had happened and was surprised to recall that she was hugging Kurama before she fell asleep.
"It's good to see you're awake now" - said a male voice that she knew quite well.
"K-K-K-K-Kurama-kun?!" - exclaimed Kurenai as she jumped, only to notice that she was sleeping with her head resting on the boy's leg but what made it worse was that she had drooled a little. Kurenai couldn't believe what had happened as her face turned bright red - "H-How?!"
"How come you're sleeping on my legs?" - Kurama asked in confusion - "It's simple... when we were hugging, you fell asleep and so as not to disturb you, I decided to let you rest"
"How long was I asleep?!" - asked the still-flushed Kunoichi
"About two hours" - replied the redhead.
"He saw me sleeping for two hours!" - shouted Kurenai in her thoughts as she looked at the boy.
"I think we'd better continue our conversation" - Kurama said with a smile.
"Oh... Okay" - the red-eyed kunoichi nodded as she blushed even more.
"Is something wrong?" - asked Kurama in surprise as he noticed the change in the woman's gaze.
"I-It's nothing" - Kurenai denied as she tried to calm her heart because she had to admit that after all that had happened and the attitude he had shown, she found the boy in front of her even better. If he could oppose the Hokage just because his son insulted his mother, all she could think about was what he would do if his girlfriend or fiancée was in a similar situation to hers.
"Hmm..." - Kurama could feel Kurenai's emotions starting to sprout and surround him and this was a clear sign that she was starting to develop feelings for him or at least a great interest that was changing to affection. He could understand why, as she was on the edge of the abyss and he was the only person who had reached out his hand to offer her help.
"Etto... Kurama-kun..." - Kurenai murmured sorrowfully.
"Yes?" - asked the red-headed man.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor... there is something I want to check" - said Kurenai with a red face.
Kurama looked at him for a few seconds and noticed that the woman's face had increased in tone but still nodded - "What do you need?"
"I want you to close your eyes for a moment" - Kurenai replied quietly.
". . ." - It didn't take a genius to know what would happen now because this was one of the most cliche scenes he knew. He was going to say something but sighed when he noticed the woman's look so he nodded again. Slowly he closed his eyes and waited a moment until after five minutes, he felt a sensation he knew quite well.
He opened his eyes again and saw how Kurenai was kissing him with her eyes closed and had to admit that the beauty of the woman was more apparent with how close she was. After a few minutes, the woman parted from the boy while she kept the blush on her face, slowly opened her eyes and noticed how Kurama was watching her - "I'm sorry... I just wanted to check..."
She could not control the intensity of her heartbeat at this point but it had been worth it. She had managed to check what she thought and it had been a success.
"I'm sorry about that..." - she apologized again but before she could continue talking, someone interrupted her - "I knew it would end up like this..."
"Ino-chan?!" - exclaimed Kurenai as her face lit up again. She turned in the direction of the voice and noticed that Ino was not alone because Hinata was by her side - ". . ."