When Kiyosuke said he was going to confess, Kurenai instantly perked up with interest. At her age, no girl could possibly be indifferent to the idea of romance.
She hadn't expected Kiyosuke to already have someone he liked.
Wait a minute—wasn't it perfectly normal for him to have someone he liked? After all, what he did during the Chūnin Exams had stunned everyone who saw it.
"You can go for it. But who are you going to confess to?"
Kurenai was curious—just who was the girl that could make Kiyosuke want to confess?
"You'll see when we get there."
Kiyosuke replied with a calm expression.
"Alright then."
Putting down her flower arrangement tools, Kurenai changed her shoes and followed him to a pond.
By the water sat a girl with long, straight black hair. Her back was slim and graceful.
Kiyosuke and Kurenai hid in the grass.
"That's her?" Kurenai whispered.
"Yup."
Kiyosuke's real body appeared, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers.
Asuma, standing beside him, looked utterly confused.
Wait, wasn't he the one who was supposed to confess? Why was Kiyosuke the one with the flowers now? Was he going to confess to Kurenai?
"Keep calm. I'll have you confess in a minute," Kiyosuke whispered in Asuma's ear, then smiled.
"Just wait a bit."
Before long, Rin, Kakashi, and Guy arrived. Even Anko had been dragged over by Kiyosuke.
Kakashi stared with his usual dead-fish eyes.
"What do you want? I'm finally on vacation, and Rin's always busy too."
Rin had recovered from her injuries, but since Naruto was still little, she wasn't very good at taking care of him yet. So she was still working at the Konoha Hospital and had a lot on her plate.
"Kiyosuke, do you want to have a youthful duel with me?"
Guy suddenly got fired up, not knowing what was happening.
"Seriously, I'm really busy. Orochimaru-sensei still has a bunch of experiments he needs me to prep for," Anko complained.
"I'm going to confess. I need your help."
Everyone looked at him like they'd seen a ghost.
"You?" — Kakashi.
"You have someone you like? Go for it, Kiyosuke!" — Rin.
"Ohhh! So this is the passion of youth! I'm fired up now!" — Gai.
"You're not going to fail, are you?" — Anko.
"Hey, hey! What's with those suspicious looks? It's just a confession! Let's go, come be my audience."
Kiyosuke held the roses high.
"Alright then."
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Guess we're supporting you."
"Kiyosuke, good luck!"
Everyone followed Kiyosuke to the pond.
The long-haired girl turned her head, revealing a beautiful face.
Seeing Kiyosuke, she stood up expressionlessly.
"Kiyosuke, what did you want to talk about?"
"Of course I'm here to confess. Miss Yoko, I've liked you for a long time. Please be my girlfriend! I'm begging you!"
He held out the flowers with sincerity.
Behind him, the others silently cheered him on.
"Sorry, Kiyosuke. You're a good guy."
The girl shook her head slightly, her expression unchanged.
Damn it—even if it was fake, why did it still hurt so much?!
Everyone showed a bit of sympathy.
Kiyosuke sighed.
"If that's the case, I won't push you, Miss Yoko."
"Sorry to make you go through this."
"It's fine. After all… I wasn't the one confessing today!"
You weren't? Then who?
Asuma's eyes lit up. A twist like this?
Kiyosuke shoved the bouquet into Asuma's hands, then kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel in front of Kurenai.
"The one confessing… is this guy!"
Poof!
"Miss Yoko" vanished in a puff of smoke—it had been a shadow clone all along.
Kurenai was still stunned.
That twist had come too fast.
"You idiot! Confess already!"
Kiyosuke smacked Asuma on the back in frustration.
Wincing in pain, Asuma quickly came to his senses, face serious and voice sincere.
"Kurenai, please say yes! I've always, always, always liked you!"
"Ah, I…"
Kurenai opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
A teammate she saw every day… liked her?
Ahhh, Asuma, you idiot! You could've at least picked a better place to confess!
Just as she was about to respond, a middle-aged ninja with a sword on his back walked over.
His horse-like face was long and stern, his whole body radiating menace.
Kiyosuke: "..."
Kurenai: "..."
Everyone else: "..."
Shinku put a hand on Asuma's shoulder, his tone grave.
"Asuma… you need to understand. Confessions like this can't be done so hastily! And besides, my Kurenai is still young. This isn't the time for her to be dating!"
Asuma: "..."
What now?!
I just confessed and ran into her dad?!
Help! Online! Urgent!
He looked to Kiyosuke for help—only to find Kiyosuke pretending to meditate, eyes closed, acting completely uninvolved.
Kiyosuke!
What the hell are you doing, Kiyosuke?!
Why are you just standing there?!
Aren't we supposed to be best friends?! Have you betrayed me?!
I rushed out of bed to help you, and now my body feels like mush! Sorry, Asuma!
OMO!
You bastard!
Asuma was dragged into the woods by Shinku.
Then came the screams.
Everyone: ㄟ(▔,▔)ㄏ
Kurenai couldn't help but laugh.
She picked up the fallen bouquet and turned to Kiyosuke.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?"
Only Kiyosuke could pull off something this outrageous.
"The confession part was my idea. But Shinku-sensei showing up? That wasn't on me."
He hadn't expected Shinku to show up at all.
Still, it worked out even better than he'd planned.
Now, whenever Kurenai thought of her dad, she'd think of Asuma getting beaten up—then she'd remember today's confession.
Worked like a charm!
At this point, Asuma should be shouting: Thanks for the assist, future father-in-law!
But obviously, he couldn't say that now.
He was a bit too busy being pummeled.
Wham! Bam!
"Alright, let's go. None of you had lunch yet, right? I'll treat you to some barbecue. Asuma's paying."
"Oh, let's go."
"Nothing else to see here."
"Kiyosuke, you really know how to stir things up."
"Hahaha, of course I do! Who am I? I'm Asakawa Kiyosuke!"
Kiyosuke laughed heartily and led everyone to the barbecue shop.
Asuma showed up later, his face bruised and swollen.
He looked around.
"Where's Kurenai?"
"She went home."
"Damn it! Kiyosuke, you bastard! You left me behind!"
"Hey, I didn't want to get caught and get beat up too! Asuma, you've got to understand—confessing isn't that simple!"
Kiyosuke's face turned serious.
"We accomplished our goal. Now, you just need to say goodbye to Kurenai properly."
"Say goodbye?"
Everyone looked at Asuma, confused.
Asuma said,
"I'm going to be protecting the daimyō… I might not be back for several years."
"Whaaat?!!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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