When Saul returned to his house with Hinata, he was very surprised to see that it was completely untouched. The surrounding area had been destroyed, yet...
Saul and Hinata were about to approach to take a closer look. Hinata put a hand over his chest though, stopping him from walking forward.
"Saul-kun, wait."
She activated her Byakugan and scanned through the entire house. Then she narrowed her eyes.
"...There's some sort of seal on our door. I don't know what it is."
That's odd. His shadow clone, with Karin, was still inside of the house. He had not been dispelled or anything, so there had been no disturbance. He had not gone out to protect the surrounding area either, simply because he valued Karin more than anyone else around him. As long as she remained safe, Saul had been content to let the invaders do as they wished.
"Are there seals anywhere else but the door?"
"N-no..."
Saul informed his shadow clone of the situation outside by creating and dispelling a shadow clone to sync their memories. He and Karin came out of a window without any problems. His clone then went up to the door, curious, while the main body and Hinata stood at a safe distance away.
As the clone approached to open the door, the seal expanded and glowed yellow. Even Saul could see it now. The seal then burned itself away after the clone approached closer.
"T-that was the Sunagakure Symbol, right? The ones they wear on their headbands?"
Saul nodded.
"W-why would something like that be on our door?"
"I think I have some idea, Hinata. It seems a certain person was a little more sentimental than they let on."
"...?"
Saul didn't explain. Instead the clone dispelled itself and he walked inside the door without worrying too much. Hinata and Karin followed after him shortly after.
Later in the evening, Kurenai dropped by the house.
"Hey~! How are two of my favorite Genin!"
She sat on the couch, a little louder and much more open than she really was.
"Still alive, haha."
"That's it! That's the thing! It's good to be alive! What about you, Hinata?"
"..."
Hinata smiled politely in response, yet Saul could tell she was annoyed. Whenever Hinata was upset about something, she'd just go quiet. It was kind of adorable in a way, how she pouted like this. Saul ended up having to take care of her in situations like this though.
"Kurenai sensei, Hinata is doing just fine! How are you, though? Is everything alright?"
"Everything's alright with me! I'm just so happy the three of you are alive, you know~! I wanted to celebrate with Yakumo, but that girl shut the door in my face... Haha."
Kurenai wiped her eyes and smiled.
"How could you go to Yakumo first and not us? Aren't you just playing favorites?"
Saul said with a teasing grin, causing Kurenai to grin as well.
"Unlike you two, Yakumo actually has money! I can freeload off her without feeling bad, you know?"
*Tch*
"Ahahahaah!"
Something about his reaction Kurenai seemed to find incredibly funny. She kept laughing for a little while, only stopping once she started to cough. Kurenai cleared her throat after a little while.
"You got anything to drink? I'm thirsty."
"Of course. Karin, can you please get Kurenai-sensei a glass of water?"
"Yes ma-" *ahem* "Yes, Saul-kun."
Kurenai didn't seem to notice Karin's partial slip-up. Instead she had taken offense to him offering her water?
"Water? Don't you have any of the good stuff?"
"...If you want, I can ask for a cup of lemonade instead."
"The good stuff! Booze! Alcohol!"
"Even if I ever wasted my money on something like that, I certainly would not be sharing it with a freeloader like you."
Kurenai pointed a shaky finger at him, mouth wide open in shock. Her pupils were dilated; he just noticed.
"You! Whether it be you, Hinata, or even Yakumo, all of you do nothing but bully me! Can't your sensei catch a break!?"
"Awwww. Poor, poor, Kurenai-sensei. Do you need a hug?"
Saul said it in jest, but the woman completely stopped her antics and stared at him. He sighed internally and got up from the couch. The Third Hokage must have been like a surrogate father to her. He had all the reason to, considering Asuma's affections toward the woman. She had also lost her real father to the nine-tails.
Kurenai really just needed a hug, huh. Saul kept up his teasing mannerisms as he hugged the drunk woman, who was almost 13 years older than him, in a comforting embrace.
"There, there, Kurenai sensei. We'll only bully you a little bit in the future, ok?"
Her face was pressed close into his strong, muscular chest. It reminded her of their hug at the hospital. Saul was a man. A strong, capable man. She had been so proud of his performance in the Chunin exams, and yet... Why was she seeing him in this way? This was her Genin! For god's sake, Kurenai!
As she looked up at his face however, looking down at her and smiling teasingly, she couldn't help but feel a heat in her loins.
Kurenai pushed him away with a slight flush. It must've been the alcohol talking. This was her Genin! Her subordinate! She would never t-think about him like this, normally! She had just drank a lot before coming here, after all. Focus, focus! Kurenai began circulating her chakra to clear the fog around her mind.
"There will be no need for that." The woman spoke seriously, trying to project her motherly authority. "Actually, I came here for a good reason. Tomorrow is the day of the Lord Hokage's Funeral. He died while protecting the village from the invasion of Otogakure, Sunagakure, and Orochimaru. All the ninja must attend, and all ninja are to wear black clothing to mourn his death. Do you all understand?"
Hinata and Saul both nodded. "Yes Kurenai-sensei."
"Good. The funeral will be held tomorrow evening. You all have until then to prepare the proper clothing if you do not have it. And if you can't find anything - no one will know if you use the transformation Jutsu, aright? Just make sure to show the proper respect."
They nodded along again in affirmation. Kurenai gave a soft smile, then stood up.
"Thank you all again for having me."
"Kurenai." Saul deadpanned, "You weren't planning on leaving without even grabbing a bite to eat, first?"
The less formal form of address caught her off guard.
"I-I didn't actually plan to freeload off you guys. It was just a joke."
"Nonsense. Hinata's clone is in the middle of preparing your portion of dinner. Food is expensive. Are you really planning on letting our hospitality go to waste?"
"N-no."
"Then sit back down. Dinner will be ready shortly. I think some food in your stomach would be good for you."
"I'm fine, you know. You guys don't have to go through the trouble, really."
"And then what? Were you planning on going back home and drinking yourself into sleep? I can already smell the alcohol on your breath, you know."
Kurenai flushed. That was exactly what she had been planning on doing, actually.
"So what? Is your sensei not even allowed to have a few drinks to take the edge off?"
"Of course not. I'm the team doctor after all. If I say it's bad for your health it's bad for your health."
Kurenai felt a confusing mix of exasperation and warmth. Was she the one getting babied now? If so, she wouldn't make it easy for him.
Kurenai put her feet up on the table and stopped circulating her chakra so diligently, falling back into the natural buzz her chakra had been keeping back. She crossed her ankles and glared up at Saul arrogantly. It was really quite something. Kurenai was almost a different person when she was drunk.
"If you're the team doctor, then I'll be expecting you to take care of my hangovers from now on. Understand? Otherwise, I'm not letting you have a say about how much I do or don't drink."
"Fair enough."
That worked out for him. He wondered what else Kurenai would do tonight that he could tease her about later.
Author's Note: Asuma is not going to be happy... Lol. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the ch. The fanfic is going to start diverging from canon in terms of the plot from this point on more and more, so be on your toes!
Also if you can support me on SubscribeStar that would be great. Remember - the more supporters it has, the more chapters that will be written for everyone. I'd really appreciate your support!
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