A first taste of forbidden fruit
Orochimaru was silent for a moment.
Looking at Miya's neck so close by, I really want to sink my teeth into it.
Indeed, it would not be difficult at all to verify whether Miya was telling the truth.
In that case...
"I'll verify it, and I'll give you what you want."
Although Orochimaru said he would verify it, he was already ninety-nine percent convinced.
"Good. I can cooperate whenever you need me to."
Standing so close to Orochimaru gave Miya the creeps, so he stepped back a few paces and replied with a smile.
A pair of snake eyes swept over Miya.
"I'll come find you in a couple of days."
With that, Orochimaru melted into the ground and vanished.
What a haul, what a haul!
After Orochimaru left, the smile on Miya's face grew even brighter.
Whistling, Miya left Training Ground 40 in high spirits.
That evening.
To congratulate Miya on graduating, Kurenai Yuhi and Rin Nohara each brought a bottle of good wine and found him at a barbecue restaurant.
Beautiful scenery, delicious food, beautiful women, and fine wine.
With all four together, not even immortals lived so happily.
Now this was living!
Raising his cup to the moon, Miya marveled inwardly.
As for alcohol, one of the three prohibitions for shinobi that Kurenai and Rin had always insisted on avoiding, they broke that rule tonight too.
Their first taste of forbidden fruit was pretty good!
Their heads grew dizzy.
As a result, Kurenai and Rin became so muddleheaded that they forgot when it was time to go home.
They stayed until late at night, when the barbecue restaurant closed.
Supporting Kurenai and Rin on either side of him, Miya left the restaurant and headed toward Kurenai's house, planning to take her home first.
Nestled against Miya, Kurenai and Rin had rosy little faces that were very pretty.
Wine did not make people drunk; people made themselves drunk.
They thought about pulling free of Miya's embrace, but their bodies were honest and had no desire to get up and leave his arms.
How could Miya not know what Kurenai and Rin were thinking? Their tense bodies had already betrayed their thoughts.
Outside Kurenai's front door.
A stern-faced middle-aged man stood there like a mountain, his crimson eyes, just like Kurenai's, giving away his identity at once.
Kurenai's father-Yūhi Shinku.
Miya noticed Yūhi Shinku standing at the door from a distance, but he was not afraid in the least.
He had hugged her, so what?
He was stealing his precious little girl.
As for Kurenai and Rin in Miya's arms, they had not seen Yūhi Shinku at all, let alone noticed the vein throbbing faintly on his forehead.
"Kurenai, aren't you going to get up?"
The three of them came before Yūhi Shinku, and before Miya could speak, Shinku could no longer contain his anger and let out a suppressed roar.
You beast!
His precious little girl was only eight, and already another man had her in his arms.
At that moment, Yūhi Shinku had the urge to tear Miya apart with his bare hands.
Especially when he saw that Miya had another girl in his arms.
A man like this isn't worth relying on.
At their first meeting, Yūhi Shinku had already sentenced Miya to death.
Suddenly hearing Yūhi Shinku's familiar voice, Kurenai hurriedly stood up out of Miya's arms. When she saw Shinku's furious face, she immediately had a bad feeling.
"D-D-Dad."
After stammering out a greeting to Yūhi Shinku, Kurenai lowered her head like an ostrich, her little face bright red as she shied away from looking him in the eye.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Rin, who had also stood up out of Miya's arms.
"Hello, Uncle!"
After leaving Miya's embrace, Rin also gave Yūhi Shinku a respectful bow as a junior.
"Hello, Uncle!"
Miya, on the other hand, merely smiled and greeted Yūhi Shinku calmly and composedly.
"Hello, Uncle!"
Rin seemed to think of something too and stole a glance at the ostrich-like Kurenai.
The moment their eyes met, the two girls secretly smiled.
"Hello!"
Although Yūhi Shinku was cursing Miya in his heart, he still had to maintain his dignity as an elder. After replying mildly, he called to Kurenai:
"Kurenai, get inside, now!"
Kurenai, who did not dare raise her head, answered softly, both shy and worried:
"Oh!"
Under Yūhi Shinku's intimidating presence, Kurenai hurried past him and stood in the doorway.
She looked back and shyly gave them an extremely cute smile.
At her silent farewell, Miya and Rin smiled brightly in return.
As Kurenai passed him, Yūhi Shinku sniffed the air, then said to Miya and Rin without a change in expression:
"It's already late. You two should hurry home too!"
Rin answered respectfully once more:
"Okay. Goodbye, Uncle!"
With that, Rin gave Miya no further chance to exchange glances with Kurenai. She took his hand, turned, and left.
"Goodbye, Uncle!"
Since he was planning to steal Kurenai away, Miya still said goodbye to Yūhi Shinku before Rin dragged him off.
After seeing Miya and Rin turn away, Yūhi Shinku quickly turned around as well and looked at Kurenai in the doorway, his face full of anger.
"Dad, I'm going inside first."
Like a startled little rabbit, Kurenai quickly ran inside.
But Yūhi Shinku was truly angry today, and this time he would not let Kurenai carry on as she pleased.
If he did not step in now, his precious little girl, whom he cherished too much to hit or scold, would soon turn the world upside down.
Family troubles should not be aired in public.
Yūhi Shinku wanted to teach his daughter a lesson without letting anyone else know, so he gently closed the door and hurried after her.
In the living room.
Facing Yūhi Shinku, whose angry face showed he had nowhere to vent his fury, Kurenai timidly lowered her head, not daring to speak.
"Kurenai, let me ask you."
"Did you drink alcohol today?"
Seeing his daughter like that, more than half of Yūhi Shinku's anger vanished at once.
He really could not bear to hit or scold her!
The way he acted made him a complete slave to his daughter!
"Dad, I..."
Should I admit it? Or not?
This is a very serious question!
Still, Kurenai had her ways of dealing with Yūhi Shinku.
She could make the tears flow whenever she pleased.
In an instant, Kurenai's eyes reddened as she kept her head lowered, letting her tears fall.
"You, what..."
Seeing Kurenai like that, Yūhi Shinku felt a surge of anger and raised his voice.
But before he finished speaking, he saw Kurenai crying and sobbing, and his newly hardened heart softened at once.
"Ah!!"
With a cry, Yūhi Shinku, slave to his daughter, immediately crouched down in front of Kurenai and pulled her into his arms.
"Don't cry, don't cry."
"My precious girl, don't cry."
"Daddy was wrong."