"Burn down the orchard?"
Sen sat on the nose of the Second Hokage's statue on Kage Rock.
At those words, the lazy smile on his face vanished instantly.
Even the air around him seemed to lose most of its warmth, turning cold enough to ache deep in the bones.
"Has that brat gone stupid from being locked in that dark room? Forgotten who's in charge?"
Sen stood, the rock beneath his feet cracking with sharp crunches.
He leaped off the statue from dozens of meters up, drifting like a weightless leaf before landing steadily in front of Naruto.
White dust from his soles splashed all over Naruto's pant leg.
"Go tell Kakashi that if that brat dares touch even one of my trees..."
Sen dusted off his clothes and headed home without looking back, his voice as cold as shards of ice.
"I'll snap off those two hairy duck wings of his and have a barbecue stall grill them up for the dogs."
After sending the loudmouthed Naruto away.
Sen strolled back to his luxurious villa.
At dusk, the sunset painted the sky a fiery red, like an iron plate heated through in a furnace.
Sen lay on the lounge chair he had grown from rosewood in the courtyard.
He held a cup of freshly brewed hot tea, its rim still marked with yellow stains from years of tea residue.
"Phew..."
He blew on the steam rising from his tea and narrowed his eyes in contentment.
"Nothing beats lying down."
"Knock, knock, knock."
A soft, almost rhythmic knocking.
Broke the courtyard's silence.
Sen frowned, wondering what was going on.
Who has so little sense, coming over this late?
He walked over and pulled the heavy wooden gate open a crack.
Outside.
Stood someone whose appearance made Sen pause.
Kurenai Yuhi.