Wronged

The night, like a vast velvet curtain of ink, slowly descended to shroud the entire Hidden Leaf Village.

Lights flickered on one by one, tracing the tranquil silhouette of the village.

Having finished a long, busy day at the Military Police Force, Uchiha Ling felt a fatigue that seeped from his bones.

This exhaustion did not stem from physical labor, but from the mental strain of constantly maintaining calculations and balance.

Uchiha Ling strolled along the thinning streets, the moonlight stretching his shadow long and thin.

Beneath the shadows of the high-rise buildings, the figures of Anbu occasionally flickered past like ghosts—a sight Uchiha Ling had long since grown accustomed to.

He did not return to the spacious yet perpetually cold Uchiha Compound mansion; instead, his footsteps drifted involuntarily toward the direction of the red-haired girl who possessed a warmth like flame and a radiance like sunlight.

Arriving before that familiar window, a warm orange glow spilled from within.

Uchiha Ling did not knock; instead, like a leaf merging into the night, he pushed open the unlocked window with light, silent movements and slipped into the room.

Almost the moment his feet touched the floor, an obscure yet immensely powerful surge of chakra locked onto him, heavy with vigilance and pressure.

"Who?!" The girl's crisp, sharp voice rang out, like a startled young beast.

But upon seeing the familiar figure and face of the intruder, that taut chakra receded like a receding tide, replaced by undisguised surprise and a hint of coquettish resentment.

"Ling! You guy! Still haven't learned how to use the front door?" Uzumaki Kushina stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the uninvited youth with feigned anger.

She wore comfortable, light-colored loungewear, having shed her usual ninja gear. Her long red hair, like flowing lava, cascaded loosely over her shoulders, shimmering with a healthy, captivating luster under the warm light.

Her unadorned face was clean and pretty, and the way her cheeks puffed out in slight annoyance made her look all the more like a cute, irritated little fox.

Watching her, the gloom that had accumulated in Uchiha Ling's heart over the past few days seemed to dissipate under the influence of her vivid expressions.

Uchiha Ling's lips curled upward, forming a genuine, slightly lazy smile as he stepped forward.

"I missed you, so I came. Using the front door is too much trouble, and I'd have to deal with the 'eyes and ears' that might be lurking."

Uchiha Ling walked up to Uzumaki Kushina, his voice low and carrying a trace of imperceptible hoarseness—the result of fatigue and relaxation intertwining.

He reached out naturally, his fingertips gently brushing aside a stray lock of red hair that always insisted on falling over her forehead.

As his fingertips inadvertently brushed her smooth, delicate skin, the warm sensation made his heart tremble slightly.

A flush instantly bloomed on Uzumaki Kushina's cheeks, turning them the color of ripe apples.

Though she continued to grumble, her body was honest; she made no move to dodge, instead leaning in like a cat that had finally waited for its owner to return and was now being stroked.

She narrowed her jade-green, crystal-clear eyes, letting out an almost inaudible, satisfied hum from her throat.

However, this cozy atmosphere did not last long. The sunlight-bright smile in Uzumaki Kushina's eyes dimmed as if veiled by light clouds, and a trace of lingering, heavy gloom surfaced.

Uzumaki Kushina lowered her head, fiddling with the hem of her pajamas, her voice dropping into a sullen, dejected tone.

"Ling, today, I felt like there were more unfamiliar chakra signatures nearby again," Uzumaki Kushina whispered, her tone laced with suppressed grievance.

"I wanted to go buy some of the new chestnuts this afternoon, but I hadn't even gone far from this street before I felt like someone was following me.

Even though they hid themselves well, I couldn't be mistaken about that feeling of being locked onto by a gaze."

She looked up, her green eyes misting over, making them appear more crystalline yet more fragile. "When Mito Grandma was still here, even though I knew people were protecting me, it didn't feel this suffocating.

Now, it seems like everything I do, everywhere I go, and every word I speak to anyone is being recorded. All under the guise of the village's safety and my own."

She didn't finish her sentence, but Uchiha Ling fully understood the weight contained in her unspoken words.

Becoming the Nine-Tails jinchuriki and inheriting the mission of Mito Uzumaki, she appeared to be the same sharp-tongued, cheerful, and lively Uzumaki Kushina—a hero of the Hidden Leaf.

But in reality, from the moment the Nine-Tails was sealed within her, an invisible yet immensely heavy shackle had been firmly locked upon her.

Those so-called "protections" were, to a certain extent, the highest level of "surveillance."

Uzumaki Kushina's freedom, her privacy, and the life she should have had as an ordinary girl had been largely stripped away from that moment on.

Listening to her, Uchiha Ling felt as if his heart were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, sparking a dense, sharp pain.

He did not immediately offer those pale, hollow words of comfort, such as "this is for the village" or "you need to understand."

He had heard those empty phrases from the Third Hokage and other high-ranking officials far too often.

Instead, he silently tightened his arms, pulling this girl—who appeared strong but was sensitive and soft at heart—more firmly and tangibly into his embrace.

Uzumaki Kushina leaned in submissively, burying her flushed cheek deep into the crook of his solid, warm shoulder, as if it were the only harbor where she could escape the storms of the outside world.

She greedily drank in the reassuring scent of Uchiha Ling—a mix of clean soap and the smell of sunlight—as if only this could dispel the lingering chill in her heart.

"Sometimes I really feel like I'm trapped in a golden cage that's been crafted to be incredibly exquisite and equally unbreakable."

Uzumaki Kushina's voice came muffled from his shoulder, carrying a trace of suppressed, imperceptible sobbing that scratched at Uchiha Ling's heart like a feather.

"Everyone praises how magnificent and important this cage is, and praises how precious the bird inside is—an auspicious sign existing for the peace of the entire forest.

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

Uzumaki Kushina lifted her head slightly, her eyes already reddened, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall. "I really, really hate this. I hate this feeling of being bound every single moment, without a shred of true freedom!"

Uchiha Ling could clearly feel the slight trembling of the body in his arms, as well as the grievance and unwillingness buried deep within her heart.

Uchiha Ling tightened his arms around her, aching for her, as if he could transmit his own strength to her and temporarily rescue her from those invisible shackles.