Water and Fire, Toru and Kurenai

"Hehe, you finally remembered my name."

Mei Terumi said with a smile.

"What is Kirigakure doing in the Land of Waves?" Toru changed the subject, asking as if casually.

Mei Terumi said, "I may be beautiful, but I'm not stupid, okay? Revealing something like that would get me punished by the village."

"Those two clauses don't seem to have anything to do with each other," Toru quipped.

"Don't worry about the details." Mei Terumi shook her head.

Only then did Toru take a close look at Mei Terumi. She truly was beautiful; her looks and Kurenai's each had their own merits, neither inferior to the other.

"The next time we meet might be on the battlefield." Though Toru did not know exactly what Kirigakure was plotting, he could infer that it was certainly related to the war brewing in the shinobi world.

"Then next time we meet, I won't hold back my Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique or Lava Release: Melting Apparition. You'd better be careful," Mei Terumi said.

Toru said, "Don't worry. You can't hurt me."

Mei Terumi was somewhat unconvinced, but since she was still bound by Toru, she could only endure it.

After quite a while, Mei Terumi sighed again. "War is too cruel. It's actually forcing me to kill a handsome guy."

"Walk faster. I don't want anything to happen to my companions." Toru changed the subject.

Mei Terumi gave Toru a deep look, then sighed. "That girl is really lucky. Fine, untie me. I'll run there with you, and you can tie me up again when we get close."

Toru agreed and softly said thank you.

"No need to thank me. I caused all of this in the first place."

Mei Terumi said.

At a natural bay in the Land of Waves, two groups were facing off.

Nara Shikaku and Sarutobi Asuma stood together, facing a large group of Mist shinobi.

"You Mist shinobi kidnapped one of Konoha's shinobi for no reason. Are you trying to start a war?"

Shikaku immediately used the accusation of starting a war to pressure the other side, gaining the upper hand in momentum.

Ao looked at the bound Kurenai and asked one of the Mist shinobi, "What happened?"

The Mist shinobi answered, "It was Miss Mei's order. She said she suspected the Konoha shinobi of something and told us to capture one for questioning."

Ao held his forehead and let out a long sigh before saying to Nara Shikaku, "We have no intention of starting a war. However, your village's shinobi must have done something that interfered with our village's mission, forcing our shinobi to take such action."

"Forced? You looked pretty proactive to me. We caused such a scene on our very first day in the Land of Waves." Nara Shikaku's tone turned sarcastic. "Your village is gathering forces in another country. What mission are you carrying out? Could it be that you're planning a surprise attack?"

Ao immediately denied it. "Nothing of the sort. However, the mission is confidential, so I cannot disclose it."

Just as the negotiations reached a stalemate, Toru arrived with Mei Terumi bound beside him.

"Kirigakure! You have one of our people, and now we have one of yours! If you're not deliberately trying to start a war, then we'll exchange hostages and let this end peacefully! Otherwise! Don't blame me for not showing mercy to a beautiful woman!"

As Toru spoke, he pressed a kunai hard against Mei Terumi's throat, with enough force to leave a bloody mark on her neck.

"Sorry. Bear with it."

Toru whispered from behind Mei Terumi.

Mei Terumi nodded slightly, then began shouting, "Save me!"

Several members of the Terumi Clan among the Mist shinobi instantly panicked. If their young lady died right in front of them, there would be no need to return to Kirigakure—they might as well jump into the sea.

Those clan members hurriedly demanded that Ao exchange the hostages.

Having no other choice, Ao said, "We exchange them at the same time. No going back on our word."

Toru swore, "We exchange them at the same time. No going back on our word."

Then Toru led Mei Terumi forward and faced the Mist shinobi holding Yuhi Kurenai, who remained unconscious and wrapped in a blanket.

"Goodbye."

After saying that, Toru pushed Mei Terumi toward the Mist shinobi, who also tossed Yuhi Kurenai to Toru.

Toru caught the blanket containing Kurenai and held her in his arms.

Kurenai groggily opened her eyes. "Mm...? It's Toru. I dreamed of you again... mm..."

Kurenai then closed her eyes again.

Holding Kurenai, Toru's heart finally settled.

Ao said to Shikaku, "This must all have been a misunderstanding. Konoha and Kirigakure should coexist peacefully and will never do anything to harm each other."

Shikaku also said, "That's right. We trust that Kirigakure, as one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, would never do something so despicable."

Shikaku's smile, combined with his words, carried an unmistakably sarcastic edge.

But Ao could not do anything to Shikaku. The two countries were in a delicate period, and even small actions could easily escalate tensions.

At the very least, Kirigakure was not yet prepared for war.

Thus, even though Kirigakure held an absolute numerical advantage, they could only let Toru and the others leave.

At the same time, Ao sent someone back to Kirigakure by ship to report the situation. "Tell them that Konoha has discovered our deployment and ask for instructions on what to do next."

Ao sighed. He had originally come to the Land of Waves to verify the feasibility of the Land of Water borrowing passage through it to attack the Land of Fire, yet this incident had occurred instead.

He did not know how Kirigakure's higher-ups would react.

At the inn, Toru apologized to the front desk over his earlier outburst. The clerk did not dare accept it and stood there trembling, clearly traumatized.

Shikaku took out a stack of banknotes and said, "This is compensation for the inn."

The clerk seemed not to have seen so much money at once in a long time. His eyes lit up, and he actually forgot to be afraid for the moment.

Toru rented another room for Yuhi Kurenai, then carried her inside and laid her on the bed.

As he tucked Kurenai in, Toru heard her say in a tiny voice, "Toru... where are you going...?"

Toru leaned down and lightly kissed Kurenai on the cheek. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

Kurenai nodded faintly, then fell still.

Toru leaned against Kurenai's bedside and slept there through the night.

Early the next morning, Kurenai groggily opened her eyes. She suddenly remembered that she seemed to have been attacked, and she shot upright.

Kurenai found herself still lying in an inn room and thought her hazy memories from yesterday had been a dream.

But then Kurenai saw Toru asleep on the floor beside her bed, and she instantly knew that none of what happened yesterday had been a dream.

That included someone suddenly breaking into her room, being forcibly drugged unconscious, seeing Toru's eyes through her haze, and also... the kiss on her cheek and the words, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

For some reason, Kurenai's eyes welled up. Tears fell drop by drop, and she hurriedly wiped them away in panic.

What Kurenai did not know was that Toru was already awake. He remained in the same position, a faint smile on his lips.

After Kurenai had composed herself, Toru pretended to wake up, turned to look at her, and asked, "Kurenai, were you crying?"

Kurenai frantically tried to wipe away her tears, only to find that they had already dried, leaving only her reddened eyes.

"I-I wasn't crying!"