Kurenai Yuhi: You Should Apologize to Takasaki

A gentle touch traveled from Kurenai Yuhi's fingertips to Takasaki's palm.

As expected of a mature woman's hand.

That was Takasaki's first reaction.

Unlike the shyness in Hinata's fingertips or the easygoing openness of Ino's palms, when Takasaki touched Kurenai Yuhi's palm, he felt the gentle charm of a woman transitioning from her youth into maturity.

It was as if, from this mere touch of fingertips, he could sense that Kurenai Yuhi held many hidden worries in her heart.

Waiting only for someone to peel back her defenses layer by layer and listen to her gentle inner voice.

The problem was, Takasaki had no mind for such things at the moment.

What student caught cheating on a final exam would have the headspace to ponder romantic notions?

He waited to be reprimanded by Kurenai Yuhi.

But the next second, a warm, soft sensation flashed across his palm.

Hm?

Before Takasaki could react, he saw Kurenai Yuhi lowering her head, carefully examining his palm: "Where is the cheat sheet? Student Takasaki's right palm is very clean."

Takasaki's right palm was as clean as if it had been scrubbed with facial cleanser.

Forget handwriting; there wasn't even a speck of dust.

Kurenai Yuhi tilted her head to look at Sakura Haruno: "Sakura, did you see wrong?"

What?!

The gazes of the other students in the classroom turned suspicious.

"That's impossible, I saw it with my own eyes," Sakura's tone turned incredulous.

Hinata looked at Takasaki's clean palm, feeling a sense of relief while simultaneously falling into deep thought.

She did not believe Sakura had seen wrong.

Because she had previously seen Ino personally write the cheat sheet on Takasaki's palm.

Why would the cheat sheet disappear?

It must have been Takasaki's doing.

It must be that Takasaki-kun used some special ninjutsu to erase the cheat sheet without anyone noticing the moment Kurenai Yuhi checked his palm, Hinata thought to herself.

Only this reason could explain it.

While the other students in the class thought Takasaki was a dead-last, Hinata knew very well that Takasaki's strength was formidable.

At the very least, his strength in ninjutsu was high; he had long since mastered the Three Body Technique, but he was simply low-key and unwilling to show it.

Previously, at her family's estate, Takasaki had even used the Three Body Technique to easily toy with Neji three times.

Therefore.

Takasaki must have mastered other ninjutsu as well.

At this moment.

Takasaki did not know that his image in Hinata's mind had become even more mysterious.

He was currently wondering why the cheat sheet on his palm had vanished.

After all, he knew very well that he hadn't done it.

To remove the ink from his palm, wouldn't one need at least a Water Style technique to do it?

Yet, the only ninjutsu he could use right now was the Three Body Technique; he didn't know Water Style at all.

Suddenly, Takasaki seemed to realize something: Kurenai Yuhi knew Water Style!

And.

Just a moment ago, there had been a warm, soft sensation transmitted from Kurenai Yuhi's palm to his.

Kurenai Yuhi was helping him!

Something clicked in Takasaki's mind, and he looked up at Kurenai Yuhi.

Kurenai Yuhi, however, was not looking at Takasaki, but continued to tilt her head and say to Sakura: "Sakura, come over and take a closer look. Cheating on an exam is a serious matter; you mustn't speak nonsense."

In the eyes of the other students, Kurenai Yuhi was merely holding Takasaki's hand, her gaze never meeting his, her attitude impossibly impartial.

Only Takasaki himself knew.

While Kurenai Yuhi pressed against his palm, the pad of her index finger was rubbing against his palm rhythmically, as if to soothe him, and also as if to tell him: I am here, don't be afraid.

Kurenai Yuhi's hand feels so comfortable, that was the most genuine feeling in Takasaki's heart right now.

The key was, why would Kurenai Yuhi help him?

Takasaki couldn't figure it out.

He would consider this favor a debt he owed to Kurenai Yuhi.

If he wanted to know the reason, he would have to wait until the exam was over and ask her in private.

"Takasaki didn't cheat? There aren't any notes on his palm?" Sakura Haruno stood up, unable to believe her eyes.

She leaned over to peer at Takasaki's right palm.

There was indeed no writing there.

That shouldn't be right.

She had seen Ino write the notes on Takasaki's right palm with her own eyes.

Could she have remembered wrong? Had Ino actually written them on Takasaki's left palm?

Sakura Haruno pointed at Takasaki's left hand. "Let me see your left hand."

Takasaki turned his left hand over without hesitation; there was no writing there either.

Sakura Haruno froze in her seat, her expression deeply troubled.

Takasaki, for his part, said nothing.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to defend himself, but rather that he felt guilty, so he simply chose to remain silent.

His demeanor—being wrongly accused yet offering no defense—caused the contempt in the eyes of his other classmates to diminish significantly.

Some even felt a sense of sympathy for Takasaki.

Takasaki was clearly being framed; Kurenai Yuhi could testify to that.

Hinata felt her heart settle.

While Ino silently breathed a sigh of relief, she was filled with immense confusion.

What on earth had happened?

She had written the notes on Takasaki's hand before the exam, so she knew for a fact that Takasaki wasn't being wrongly accused. But why hadn't Kurenai Yuhi discovered them?

How had Takasaki managed it?

Ino didn't think to attribute it to ninjutsu.

Hinata did consider ninjutsu, though she assumed Takasaki had performed it himself.

Who could have guessed that a teacher would help a student cheat?

Even Takasaki himself hadn't expected it.

If Asuma hadn't gone out for a smoke and had been in the classroom instead, his keen sensitivity to chakra would have naturally allowed him to detect the traces of ninjutsu through the chakra gradually dissipating from Takasaki's palm.

As it happened, he was outside smoking, pondering how he could hurry up and hold Kurenai Yuhi's hand.

Never mind noticing the commotion in the exam hall.

He hadn't even realized that Takasaki had been touching his girlfriend's hand for nearly a minute.

Ino buried her head in her work.

Also burying his head in his work was Naruto.

To be precise, Naruto was burying his head in cheating; taking advantage of the fact that the entire exam hall's attention was fixed on Takasaki, he seized the moment to copy the notes on his hand, frantically writing out the answers.

At the same time, Naruto felt a sense of relief.

It was fortunate that his seat was quite far from Sakura's.

If he had been sitting next to her, she might have been the one reporting him instead.

Of course, Naruto was also puzzled as to how the notes on Takasaki's hand had vanished.

"I'm sorry, Kurenai Yuhi-sensei, I was mistaken." Sakura Haruno looked somewhat dejected.

"You don't need to apologize to me; you should apologize to Takasaki." Kurenai Yuhi gently placed Takasaki's palm back onto the desk.