Chapter 207: A Stolen Kiss
The moon, which the Japanese call Gekko (月光), was high and bright, casting the quiet Konoha streets in silver.
Under its glow, Yūhi Kurenai's profile had soft, gentle lines. Her red eyes, usually so sharp and perceptive, seemed to hold a thousand unspoken, shy words.
She had been so certain he would be angry about her following him. Instead, he had simply... accepted it. And now they were just walking.
"Kurenai."
Uchiha Akira spoke, his voice a calm note in the stillness.
"Hm?" she replied, almost a whisper, startled.
"You are a good woman."
Kurenai's heart gave a sudden, painful leap. It felt as if it had stopped, then restarted at double speed.
She looked up, her red eyes meeting Akira's deep, dark ones. In the moonlight, she couldn't quite read his expression.
"Gentle," he continued, his gaze steady, "kind, strong, and... very beautiful."
Kurenai's breathing began to quicken. The air felt too thin, too charged.
She shyly, and quickly, lowered her head, her long black hair falling forward to hide the blush she knew was creeping up her neck.
In this ambiguous, charged atmosphere, neither of them speaking...
Unconsciously, the two had already arrived at Kurenai's doorstep.
It was a small and exquisite, traditional-style house, set back from the road, with various flowers and plants filling the yard. It was quiet, modest, and very much her.
"We're here," Akira said, stopping at the gate.
"Mm..." Kurenai responded, her head still down.
But she showed no intention of entering.
She simply stood there, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes, her knuckles white.
A long, awkward, heavy moment passed.
Finally...
Kurenai suddenly looked up. Her face was a mask of sheer, desperate resolve.
"Akira."
Kurenai called his name. Not "Hokage-sama." Not "Akira-sama." Just... Akira.
Then, before he could react, before his analytical mind could process the shift...
She stood on her tiptoes.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down just slightly.
And, to Uchiha Akira's genuine surprise, she pressed her soft, warm lips against his.
It was a fleeting kiss. A mere touch and release. Incredibly chaste, yet earth-shatteringly bold.
The second it was over, Kurenai's face, which had been pale with determination, exploded into a red so deep it looked like it might bleed.
She dared not look at Uchiha Akira again.
She released him, turned, fumbled with the latch, and practically ran into her yard.
The door slammed shut.
The lock clicked.
Uchiha Akira stood there, alone in the moonlight.
He slowly, unconsciously, reached up and gently touched his lips.
A faint, soft sensation... and a delicate, feminine fragrance... it seemed to linger.
He shook his head, a helpless, almost... doting smile appearing on his face.
He looked at the closed yard gate, as if he could see the woman on the other side, cowering against the wood, her heart pounding.
"Good night, Kurenai," Akira said softly to the door.
Then, he turned, and his form disappeared into the night.
Behind the yard gate...
Kurenai Yūhi leaned against the solid wood, her back pressed hard against it.
She slowly slid to the ground, her legs giving out.
Her heart was still pounding. THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. It was so loud, she was sure he could hear it from the street.
Just now...
What had she just done?
She had actually... actually proactively... kissed Akira!
Kurenai buried her burning-hot face deep in her knees.
Shame, like a tidal wave, engulfed her.
But, deep within the shame, a hint of secret, terrifying joy and an uncontrollable sweetness quietly emerged.
The morning sun, bright and unforgiving, streamed through a gap in the window, casting a bright, judgmental spot of light on the tatami mat.
Kurenai Yūhi slowly opened her eyes.
Her head felt fuzzy.
Last night...
Fragmented memories flashed in her mind.
The dim streetlights... the quiet street...
Uchiha Akira's face, exceptionally clear, handsome, and dangerous in the Gekko.
And...
a warm... soft...
...touch.
Kurenai's body stiffened. Her sleepiness vanished instantly.
What... WHAT HAD SHE DONE LAST NIGHT?!
"AH—!"
Kurenai suddenly sat up from her futon, a small, horrified shriek escaping her.
She covered her burning cheeks with both hands.
I KISSED HIM!
She had actually, proactively, kissed Uchiha Akira!
The Godaime Hokage of Konoha Village!
The Head of the Uchiha Clan!
The man at the absolute pinnacle of power in the Shinobi World!
What was I thinking at the time?!
Was I carried away by the moonlight? Was my mind swayed by his... his few, unintentional compliments?!
It's over...
Kurenai buried her face in her knees, her body curling into a ball of pure, agonizing mortification.
I am going to die of shame.
What would Akira think of me?
A frivolous, casual woman?
A shameless, desperate woman who actively threw herself at him?
How... how will I ever face him again?
Countless questions, like a tangled, thorny mess, churned wildly in Kurenai's mind, giving her a splitting headache.
She couldn't even imagine how she would face him. And she had to! She had to go to the Hokage Office to report on her work today!
"Ding-dong—"
The doorbell suddenly rang, its cheerful, jarring sound making Kurenai—who was deep in her self-pity—jump violently.
Who?!
Who would it be so early?!
A terrible, cold dread filled her.
Could it be... HIM?!
She tiptoed to the door, her heart hammering, and peered through the peephole.
Standing outside the door was not Uchiha Akira.
Instead, it was Shizune, looking utterly helpless and carrying a massive pile of fresh ingredients...
...and beside her...
...was Tsunade.
Tsunade was looking as if she was about to charge into battle, her face full of a terrifying, manic fighting spirit.
"KURENAI! OPEN THE DOOR! I KNOW YOU'RE HOME!"
Tsunade's loud, booming voice was clearly audible even through the thick, solid door.
Kurenai took a deep breath. She was a Jōnin. She had faced S-rank threats. She could handle this.
(Maybe).
She tidied her messy night-clothes and her hair, forced out a somewhat natural (she hoped) smile, and opened the door.
"Lady Tsunade, Shizune, good morning."
"Good morning, my foot!" Tsunade bustled in, not even waiting for an invitation. She forcefully slammed the ingredients she was carrying onto Kurenai's clean kitchen table.
"Today, I, Tsunade... will redeem myself here!"
Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips, her gaze burning as she looked at Kurenai.
"I'm going to show you with your own eyes what real cooking is! I've figured out my mistake!"
Shizune followed behind, her expression more dismal than crying. She gave Kurenai a single, hopeless look that said, "Fend for yourself. And... I'm sorry for your kitchen."
Kurenai looked at the pile of top-grade, expensive ingredients... then at Tsunade's "succeed or die trying" stance...
And for a moment, she actually forgot her earlier, heart-stopping troubles.
"Lady Tsunade, what is this..."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Tsunade pushed Kurenai into a chair. "You just sit here today and watch! Watch a master at work!"
With that, Tsunade, full of bravado, charged into Kurenai's small, pristine, and dearly-loved kitchen.
Clang!
Smash!
WHUMP!
Soon, a clattering and banging, like a demolition site, erupted from the kitchen.
Shizune covered her face in despair.
It's over. After her own kitchen... now Kurenai's kitchen will probably...
Kurenai watched the scene, her eye twitching. She listened to the... commotion... from her kitchen, her mouth twitching involuntarily.
She suddenly felt that her "little incident" from last night—the one she thought was a life-ending catastrophe...
...compared to the actual disaster about to unfold in her house...
...seemed not so hard to accept after all.
An hour later, in the kitchen, Tsunade was staring at a pot of strangely colored, ominous-smelling, quivering goo, deep in self-doubt.
Shizune, meanwhile, was tearfully cleaning up a massive egg-and-flour mess on the floor.
For Kurenai, that past hour had been more thrilling, and more terrifying, than an S-rank mission.
Finally, Kurenai, in a daze, fled her own kitchen, leaving Tsunade and Shizune to "clean up."
Work, however, still had to continue.
Hokage Office.
Kurenai stood outside the door, her hand raising... and lowering... and raising again.
She dared not go in.
The thought of facing Uchiha Akira, after last night, made her heart pound uncontrollably, and her cheeks began to flush a deep, painful red.
Get a grip! You are a Jōnin of Konoha!
Eventually, Kurenai gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and pushed open the door.
The office was quiet, with only the rustling of papers.
Uchiha Akira was sitting at his desk, head down, reviewing documents. The outline of his profile, sharp and focused, was exceptionally clear in the morning sunlight.
Kurenai, her head down like a child who had done something wrong, quickly walked to the desk.
She placed a scroll on the table, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"Hokage... Hokage-sama. This is the... the latest mission completion report."
Having said that, her mission "complete," Kurenai turned to flee.
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