Saul showed up at Yakiniku Q a late. He had been held up healing his final patient, so it had taken a while for him to finally show up. When he arrived, a sweating Kurenai and a relieved Yakumo greeted him. Of course, Hinata was the same as always, offering him a wide smile as she patted the seat next to her cutely. Saul sat down at her side.
She was dressed up in the latest fashion today. She wore a pink low cut blouse with a white, pleated skirt. Hinata knocked the outfit out of the park in particular, due to her humongous breasts. She blushed as she saw where he gazed.
"Sorry I'm late. How did shopping go for you two?"
Yakumo smiled weakly, glancing over at Hinata.
"Shopping was... fine. We picked out a bunch of outfits for Hinata and also got some groceries."
"Thank you for taking care of Hinata for me." He turned back to the black haired, blushing girl. "You look beautiful in your new outfit, you know."
Her face went even redder as she gazed up at Saul with love and adoration. Kurenai however, couldn't hold her tongue any longer.
"Why were you so late? Hinata was not happy. She-"
The girl glared at Kurenai to shut her up. He wondered what had happened.
"I actually was volunteering at the Hospital. They're really short staffed, you know? Everyone was really appreciative of my help."
"Saul-kun, can I come with you next time? I missed you so, so much."
This girl... Saul was touched, but he couldn't just have the girl follow him around all the time. Especially as he ramped up his 'activities' within Konoha.
"Sorry Hinata, but that wouldn't really be appropriate, right? Many patients have an expectation of privacy - they wouldn't be happy to be greeted by any 'tag-alongs' even if I know you wouldn't spread any secrets."
"As expected of Saul-kun, you're always so considerate~♥️" She leaned in closer, gazing at him with loving, affectionate eyes, "And how was your training, Saul-kun?"
He didn't tell her he had been training, though? Maybe it was just a guess. Saul decided to tease with a little probe, just in case.
"My training went great! I was able to figure out a technique of mine I've had in the works for a while, and I also ran into Naruto and Sakura."
Hinata's smile twitched at the mention of Sakura. She knew. She must have seen everything.
"Was she rude to you again, Saul-kun?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
He wasn't sure exactly what Hinata was thinking of, but it wouldn't be anything good. Surely she knew better than to do anything crazy, right? She was bothered though. Her untouched plate was visible proof of this.
"Sakura finally came around. I actually had quite a pleasant interaction with her, you know? She'll be paying me for advice on how to pursue Sasuke."
"Ok..."
Hinata finally began to eat, always gazing at him with a soft smile. Kurenai breathed a sigh of relief.
"She really cares about you, you know? Please try not to upset her so much."
"Of course. I always treat Hinata with sincerity, you know?"
The contented girl nodded along with his words.
Just then, a group of people also arrived at the BBQ. A black haired man with a spiky pony tail and a lazy expression, a chubby small eyed dude with an orange swirl on each cheek, and a blonde haired ponytailed woman with one side of her face covered by hair. They were led by a black haired messy man, with a cigar in his mouth.
He talked animatedly with the elderly manager whose name Saul had forgotten, before she pointed over at the table where Team Eight sat. His eyes lit up.
They were led over nearby by the elderly woman.
"Hey Kurenai. Here with your Genin too?"
The red eyed woman looked up at Asuma, giving him the refined 'polite' look he had seen on Yakumo towards Kurenai as of late. Now he knew where she got it from...
"It seems so, Asuma."
The hairy man sat down at the table next to them.
"Don't be a stranger, Kurenai. What's been going on? I didn't see you at the end of the exam gathering."
Visions flashed within Kurenai's head. Of Orochimaru, sitting on the chair in the mindscape of the Cursed seal. Reminiscing about Asuma's corruption in the war. Then how he later brutally broke her when they dared to try and challenge him.
Something about Orochimaru wasn't... Human anymore. He was stronger, faster than she and Anko could've ever imagined. She had thought she was stronger now, after just being promoted to Jonin. That battle made Kurenai realize the only thing about her that was Jonin was her Genjutsu. The distance between someone like her and Orochimaru was unfathomable.
She merely had the abilities of a special Jonin. Had Asuma had something to do with her recent promotion to Jonin, too? She was only recently promoted after he came back after all. Kurenai could accept many things, but this level of corruption was something she had only observed outside the village. It went against the very foundation of her belief in the will of fire.
"I was injured at the time, Asuma. I couldn't come."
"Injured? So bad you couldn't come? That was earlier today though, wasn't it? What happened?"
He gazed down at her right leg, which was still in a splint.
Kurenai sighed. She couldn't be bothered to explain this to Asuma right now. Maybe she would have, before she heard what she did from Orochimaru, but now... She ignored the question and changed the subject.
"Did your Genin pass the exams?"
Asuma got the hint. He put his arms around the shoulders of his three uncomfortable subordinates, laughing loudly.
"These guys are too green. They all got taken out by Kakashi's squad!"
Twirling her straw around in her glass of water disinterestedly, Kurenai responded politely,
"Is that so? Kakashi's team must be pretty strong, then."
"Nothing compared to yours though. Did you hear what your group of monsters did?"
Asuma took a puff of his cigarette.
"What?"
"They took out seven other teams within the second stage on the very first day, bare minimum. The talk around Konoha is that the former Hyuuga Clan Heiress was the one responsible." His eyes sharpened as he looked at the seemingly innocent girl sitting peacefully next to Saul, "Right now they're calling her the Byakugan Huntress, Hinata."
"Seven!?" Kurenai turned to her Genin in accusation, "You guys took out seven other teams!?"
Yakumo held her hands up in innocence. "I only fought one team who happened to get caught in my Genjutsu... But they were from Konoha, so I let them go. Saul and Hinata handled the rest."
Saul smiled and shrugged, "I just accompanied Hinata around the forest; I couldn't even see them before they were already in the range of her bow."
"Hinata... Is this true?"
"Kurenai-Sensei. You should know how important the current Chunin exams are to me." She giggled. "I won't let anyone get in my way."
"Right..."
"How'd you train them?" Asuma grinned, "You must have pulled out all the stops to train a team this strong."
Kurenai put her head in her hands. "Asuma. All I did was to try and teach them to be as safe as possible. How was I supposed to know they'd turn out like this?"
Saul teased in mock hurt, "You're not proud of us, Kurenai sensei?"
"Saul! You're literally the worst offender here! You're always doing whatever you want, and you even led Hinata astray!"
"Sensei. Should we talk about how much you owe me for healing you?"
Kurenai laughed, "How about you return the Jutsu I taught you first, and then we can talk about repayment."
As Asuma observed the interaction, his eyes narrowed. Kurenai was being a little too informal with the Genin she called Saul, right? He had known the woman to always take things seriously and never engage in banter.
"Kurenai. After our Genin are done with their meals, would you like to come out for a drink with me? You know, to catch up? It's been a long time."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Didn't you say you were too tired to give us training earlier?"
"Quiet loudmouth."
Shikamaru spoke up just then. "Sensei. You should avoid speaking to Ino like that in front of your crush. Won't it make a bad impression?"
Asuma blushed. "Shikamaru! What are you saying? She's my colleague!"
The Nara clan boy sighed in response, "How troublesome."
Before, Kurenai would have seen Asuma's embarrassment as something endearing, but now, all she felt was dread. How the hell was she supposed to reject her childhood friend? She knew he had done it all for her, but... The massive guilt from the revelation had tainted her once pure feelings towards the man.
"Well, I'm sorry Asuma, I don't think now would be a good time."
Asuma shot both Ino and Shikamaru a quick vengeful glare before looking back at Kurenai, scratching his head confusedly.
"Why not?"
"Well..." Kurenai struggled to come up with a reason.
Saul spoke up to cover for her, "Kurenai's leg is still in a splint. She got injured pretty badly actually; I wasn't able to fully heal her. Can you please give her some time to recover before tempting her to drink things like alcohol? It's bad for her health."
Kurenai nodded, "Exactly. Maybe next time, Asuma. Maybe you could give your Genin some late training instead?"
Asuma eyed his table dangerously, "Originally I wasn't planning to, but now that you mention it... These slackers really do need to be whipped into shape. I'll personally make sure they don't fail their next Chunin exams. That includes you, glutton."
Choji, who had been stuffing his face full, looked up at his Sensei with betrayal. He hadn't even done anything! Why was he being targeted as well!
Author's Note: Any guesses on what Hinata did? I'm not telling :P But the 'consequences' of his actions are coming next chapter. Look forward to it!
Also if you can support me on SubscribeStar that would be great. Still waiting on the first subscriber. Remember - more ch for everyone the more supporters it has.
subscribestar adult naruto-paradise-for-one ("." before adult and "/" after it)