The Grievance

Night fell like an immense curtain of black velvet, slowly blanketing the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

Lights flickered on one by one, outlining the village's tranquil silhouette.

After a whole day of busy work at the Military Police Force, Uchiha Ling felt exhausted from the inside out.

It wasn't physical fatigue, but the mental strain of constantly having to calculate and maintain a delicate balance.

Uchiha Ling strolled along the now-quiet streets, the moonlight stretching his shadow long behind him.

Beneath the shadows of the taller buildings, Anbu occasionally flashed past like ghosts—a sight Uchiha Ling had long since grown used to.

He didn't return to the Uchiha Compound, whose spacious residence always felt a little too quiet. Instead, almost without thinking, he headed toward the place where the red-haired girl lived, warm as a flame and dazzling as the sun.

He arrived at the familiar window, through which spilled a warm, orange light.

Uchiha Ling didn't knock. Like a leaf blending into the night, he soundlessly pushed open the unlocked window and slipped into the room.

The instant he landed, a subtle yet immensely powerful surge of chakra locked onto him, heavy with wariness and menace.

"Who's there?!" a girl's crisp, sharp voice rang out, like that of a startled little beast.

But when she recognized the familiar figure and face, the tension in her chakra receded like a tide. In its place came undisguised delight, along with a hint of petulant reproach.

"Ling! You! Have you still not learned to use the front door?" Kushina planted her hands on her hips and glared at the uninvited boy, pretending to be angry.

She wore comfortable, light-colored home clothes, having taken off the ninja gear she wore when going out. Her long red hair flowed over her shoulders like molten lava, gleaming with a healthy, captivating sheen in the warm light.

Her bare face was clean and lovely. Her cheeks puffed up in annoyance, making her look even more like an adorable little fox that had been riled.

Seeing her like this, Uchiha Ling felt the gloom that had built up in his heart over the past few days lift a little.

Uchiha Ling's lips curved into a genuine, slightly lazy smile as he stepped closer.

"I missed you, so I came. The front door's too much trouble. I'd have to deal with any 'eyes and ears' that might be around."

Uchiha Ling stopped in front of Kushina. His voice was low, with a faint hoarseness that came from fatigue mingled with relief.

Uchiha Ling reached out naturally and gently brushed aside the rebellious red strand of hair that kept falling across her forehead.

His fingertips accidentally grazed her smooth, delicate skin. The warmth of her touch made his heart quiver.

Kushina's cheeks instantly flushed crimson, like ripe apples.

She complained, but her body didn't try to pull away. Instead, she was like a cat whose owner had finally come home, content to have its fur stroked.

Her clear, jade-green eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint, satisfied hum escaped her throat.

But the warm moment didn't last long. The sunlit smile in Kushina's eyes faded as if veiled by a passing cloud. A stubborn gloom and sadness quietly surfaced.

Kushina lowered her head and began fiddling with the hem of her pajamas. Her voice dropped, turning sullen.

"Ling, today I felt like there were a few more unfamiliar chakra signatures nearby." Kushina spoke softly, her voice laden with restrained hurt.

"This afternoon, I wanted to go buy some of the new chestnuts. I hadn't gone far down the street when I got the vague feeling someone was following me.

"They were hiding well, but I know that feeling of being watched. I couldn't be wrong."

She looked up. Her green eyes glistened with a sheen of tears, making them look even clearer, yet more vulnerable. "When Grandma Mito was still here, I knew people were protecting me, but it didn't feel so suffocating.

"Now it seems that no matter what I do, where I go, or who I talk to, it all gets written down. They say it's for the safety of the village and me."

She didn't finish, but Uchiha Ling understood the weight of the words she'd left unspoken.

As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, she had inherited Mito Uzumaki's duty. On the surface, she was still the same fiery, cheerful Uzumaki Kushina—the hero of Konoha.

But in truth, from the moment the Nine-Tails was sealed inside her, an invisible yet unbearably heavy shackle had been fastened around her.

That so-called "protection" was, in a sense, the highest level of "surveillance."

Kushina's freedom, her privacy, and the ordinary life she should have had as a young girl had all been taken from her to a great extent.

As Uchiha Ling listened to her, it felt as if an invisible hand had clenched around his heart, bringing a sharp, pinprick ache.

He didn't offer hollow reassurances like "It's for the village" or "You have to understand."

He'd heard those words too many times from the Third Hokage and the other village leaders.

Instead, he silently tightened his arms around her, pulling the girl who seemed so strong but was sensitive and tender inside more firmly and securely against his chest.

Kushina leaned into him willingly, burying her flushed cheek in the hollow of his solid, warm shoulder, as if it were the only haven where she could escape the storms outside.

Kushina greedily breathed in Uchiha Ling's reassuring scent—a mixture of clean soap and sunshine—as if only that could dispel the chill lingering in her heart.

"Sometimes I really feel like I'm locked inside a golden cage that's been made incredibly beautiful and incredibly strong."

Kushina's voice came muffled from his shoulder, carrying a barely perceptible, stifled sob. It brushed against Uchiha Ling's heart like a feather.

"Everyone praises how magnificent the cage is, how important it is. They say the bird inside is precious, a blessed creature whose very existence brings peace to the whole forest.

"But no one has ever asked the bird if it wants the cage, or if it wants to fly out and see the vast sky beyond it."

Kushina raised her head a little. Her eyes were already red, but she stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. "I really, really hate this. I hate being constrained every moment, without a shred of real freedom!"

Uchiha Ling could clearly feel her body trembling in his arms, and sense the hurt and resentment buried deep inside her, with nowhere to go.

Uchiha Ling tightened his arms around her tenderly, as if he could pass his strength to her and free her, at least for a little while, from those invisible restraints.