"Kurenai? Someone Kazan knows?"
Uchiha Hikari stopped short. The other woman must have recognized her. That was why she had reacted with such hostility.
Hikari's attack might even have hurt someone close to her.
Feeling guilty, she said to Kurenai Yuhi, "I'm sorry. I know an apology isn't nearly enough, but I'm running out of time!"
With that, she picked up another dumpling and started eating.
And Kurenai?
She pulled Anko over and sat down.
Of course Kurenai recognized Uchiha Hikari. What she couldn't understand was why Kazan was having tea and snacks with her.
Had they bonded over their fight?
Stories were full of that sort of thing: two people fought, then became friends.
But how could Kurenai allow that?
"Kazan, she's..."
"She's the one."
Kazan grabbed the teapot, took a swig, and briefly told them what had happened.
Suddenly, Uchiha Hikari felt the hostility vanish.
When she looked at Kurenai Yuhi again, the sharpness in her eyes was gone. In its place was sympathy.
Hikari was so young, yet Kazan was about to execute her.
Kazan could hear Kurenai's thoughts, but he couldn't understand her.
A moment ago, her hostility had nearly shot through the roof. She'd looked ready to kill anyone who dared steal her man.
Yet after a few words, all she felt was pity.
It made no sense at all.
After that, things became much simpler.
Their group of two became a group of four.
Kurenai and Anko took Uchiha Hikari all around Konoha, told her about its people and customs, and bought her plenty of gifts.
A rush of feeling unlike anything she had known overwhelmed her, and she couldn't help asking, "Are we... friends?"
Kurenai and Anko froze, then smiled. "Of course. We're both your friends, Hikari!"
Friends...
The word felt so unfamiliar,