Naruto: The Last Prayer

Dango Blues

KURENAI

Despite the tickle of concern in the back of her mind, Kurenai is leisurely waiting in her favorite tea shop. It was his idea, which made her suspect, if anything, that he wanted her in a good mood. The question of why he wants her in an amiable mood doesn't fill her with a wonderful feeling. If she listens to her minor feeling of dread, it tells her clearly, 'he's trying to soften the blow,' which, at times, makes Kurenai hate her psychology training.

She's been working with her genin team—Hinata in particular—for a week now and though there hasn't been many setbacks, she hasn't witnessed any progress beyond what one might expect of heirs of great clans. Hinata, herself, barely speaks and when she does it's always clipped and hyper-formal. Even with the beautiful girl staying in her home, it's hard to get her to open up about much of anything.

The gruff, broad-shouldered Asuma arrives then, expressing minimal remorse in his usual non-cavalier manner. "Sorry I'm late."

The way his large frame casually settles for comfort rather than proper posture makes her smile as she comments, "so long as I don't see you reading a little orange book next time, I think I can forgive you."

He chuckles at the ludicrous insinuation before he orders the finest tea in the shop, something of a warning sign in her eyes, but she only smiles. He then tells her, "I just came from Hokage Tower. Princess Tomoko will be visiting the village."

Kurenai listens intently but her mind is moving a mile a minute. Being the son of the Hokage, who's also closely acquainted with the nation's Daimyo, the Lord of Fire country naturally entertained the notion of joining their families to strengthen their power; the Hokage's son with one of his daughters, princesses of Fire country.

It's the reason Asuma never truly connected with her, or at least that's what he told her. He wanted to spare her the unavoidable heartache should the whimsical Daimyo ever decide to follow through with his ideas of union-through-marriage. Kurenai told herself it made sense, and he informed her early on when they first started dating. It hadn't stopped him from being with other women but Kurenai was the only one that earned the heart of the truth from him. Though Asuma ended it before they had become too serious, Kurenai always held out hope that the gruff Sarutobi heir would finally be free to lead his own romantic life. So it hurt her every time she heard about one of his notable escapades or saw him with a loveless beauty of the night.

Never being one for a purely physical relationship with a man, Kurenai herself had tried to date others, shinobi and civilian alike. Unlike her dear friend Anko, Kurenai found it hard to connect emotionally as well as intellectually with anyone she may be seeing. She just couldn't help thinking about Asuma—couldn't help comparing whoever she was with to the smoking Jōnin. Couldn't help thinking, 'what was he doing? What would he think? Would it hurt him to see or hear about me with another man as much as it does her when she sees or hears about his relations?'

With her looks, Kurenai comes across many interested men. That was never the problem. She tried to focus on their positives and if the sex was good, the relationship would last longer. But after some time, she would always find faults with them, then fixate on that like a blaring red warning sign signaling the doom to come before ending it. It was almost like she was ending things with others so as to not hurt them in the same manner Asuma does in his relations. When she realized that, Kurenai had to stop. Consequently, the last time she had sex was a solid year ago, the exact time she decided to simply put forth all her abundant energy into being promoted to Jōnin.

More often than not, marriages among the elite were generally based on alliances for monetary gain or political maneuvering to avoid war. Marriage for love is a distant concern, if at all addressed. Happiness was not a reason to get married. And now a beautiful princess of Fire country is coming to the village, in all likelihood to meet her future husband, the same man that's already claimed Kurenai's heart. At Asuma's comment, Kurenai said nothing, raising her fragrant and scintillating tea to her lips for a sip.