Chapter 56: Kurenai's Jealousy

(Saizkuma Island)

It was bright morning, as the shining rays of the sun slowly started to fall on the plains of the beautiful islands. The bright golden lights destroying the darkness of the night and enlightening the lives of the people by marking the beginning of a new day.

In a small room of a luxury motel, a beautiful woman slowly opened the window. Cool gusts of winds quickly seeped through the open space, easily hitting her face and making her dark hair flow wildly in the air.

Kurenai smiled a little, when she saw the streets full with people, even when it was only 7 in the morning.

Kakashi had been absolutely right when he said that Saizkuma Islands never slept, and life continued to bolster in the area whether it was day or night. After all, it was one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the entire fire country.

She suppressed a small yawn as her fingers gently rubbed her eyes, guess she was still getting used to the peaceful life.

She had just arrived in this beautiful place last night, and already she was in love with it. However, she also knew the main reason behind her arrival in this place.

Naruto.

It was going to be a difficult task of finding her boyfriend/lover in a place crawling with at least 1,00,000 people. But she was a ninja, and on top of that she was his girlfriend. That did give her certain advantages in her search, as she was aware of some of the espionage techniques Naruto used in unknown territories during mission.

Grabbing a handmade sketch from a nearby table, she turned around and went straight towards the bathroom.

It would be a cold day in hell, before she went on a tiresome search without a hot bath in the bathtub.

It was good to be rich!

Nono was surprised when a badly bleeding Naruto stumbled through her front door, his eyes were practically crying tears of blood while his was body was having violent fits and continuously coughing up blood.

She immediately rushed to his side, and quickly took him straight towards his room where they came face to face with a mortified Tsunade.

The blonde Sannin was busy in her final stages of finishing the clone eye which they were making for Naruto. But she completely set everything aside, and rushed towards the boy as Nono made him lie down on his bed.

"I'm...(pant)...tired" hissed the boy, as Tsunade immediately started healing his eyes.

"Of course you are, just what kind of mess did you put yourself in this time?" asked Nono tersely, making the boy chuckle.

"Victory...at...any...cost..." replied Naruto proudly, and flinched when Tsunade glared at him.

"That kind of ideology will get you killed. Survival is also an important prospect of a mission, what good is the success if you're not alive to see it?" asked Tsunade harshly, as she finished healing his eyes.

The damage was extensive and he would be needing that surgery within a month or two or suffer the fate of total blindness. While they could eradicate the virus killing him within 2-3 weeks of time, if the boy was able to survive till then.

"Root...didn't teach...that..."

These were the boy's last words before he slipped into a peaceful sleep, Tsunade's gaze lingered on her nephew. While it was true that they were getting closer, but it didn't diminish the fact that she knew slim to nothing about his past.

Just what kind of person would allow this much damage to their body for the sake of a mission?

More than that, the words that she heard from Naruto scared her.

"Victory at any cost"

The boy simply didn't care if he was alive to witness the good things he had done for Konoha and his loved ones, as long as he was able to give them a secure future.

She saw Nono gently caressing his cheek, Tsunade was jealous of the nun. The woman had something with Naruto, which she being his aunt was still not able to develop.

"You will get your chance to prove your love and loyalty to him, Tsuande-sama" said Nono knowingly, completely surprising the blonde Sannin.

"How do you-"

The younger nun silently walked passed her, but just stopped at the exit of the room.

"He only trusts a person once, don't disappoint him when the time comes"

(Few Hours Later)

The sound of birds chirping slowly awakened him from his deep slumber. Opening his eyes, he found himself safely tucked in his bed, his bed sheets were not stained with blood and smelt clean and fresh. Taking a few deep breaths, he slowly got up and drank water from a glass that was placed on a nearby table beside his bed.

His bleeding had stopped, and there was no sign of damage on any part of his body.

"You should be more careful..." advised Kurama, and was deeply concerned with the boy's condition.

Naruto had simply not left any stone unturned to get Gaara on his side, going as far as to use his already fading Mangekyo eyes. And fighting with the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, even if his body was deteriorating in health with every passing day.

The Biju was certainly relieved when Gaara helped his partner in escaping, by creating quite a distraction. Apparently, the boy's control over sand had increased tremendously due to being able to control Shukaku's power, thanks to Naruto.

The red head had caused havoc in one of the districts, diverting almost every Suna ninja along with the Kazekage to his position while Naruto stealthily escaped from the shadows.

"It can't be helped, I had to get Gaara on my side. By winning his trust, I have effectively placed a spy deep within Suna's ranks..." explained Naruto, while slowly walking towards his cupboard.

Opening the piece of furniture, he selected a light grey colored shirt and blue colored shorts. He had barely finished adjusting his face mask, when a crow landed near his window.

A tired sigh escaped from his lips, as he simply gave a weak nod to the bird making it disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Leave it to Itachi, to ruin my evening..." muttered Naruto in dissatisfaction

"What are you going to tell him?" questioned Kurama curiously, while Naruto tucked his sword in a small sheath and hung the weapon on his back.

"The situation in Suna, their military buildup, alertness level, the weapons caches and some other stuff" answered Naruto seriously,

"What about Gaara, and the deal you made with him?" asked Kurama hesitantly, and flinched when Naruto glared at him.

"That is none of his business, we're partners and not friends. It is unhealthy to reveal all your secrets to someone whom you've just known for the past few months..." said Naruto harshly, completely silencing his partner.

Quickly cutting off the connection, he simply performed a set of hand seals before disappearing in a quick shunshin.

Kurenai tiredly sat on a small bench of a garden, silently drinking a popular soft drink she simply watched the people enjoying around with their families, friends, lovers, etc.

She was currently dressed in a dark black t-shirt, and blue shorts both of which she just purchased a few hours ago. The island was a gold mine for shoppers, and for those who seeked entertainment. And yet she had not been able to find a lead on Naruto, despite searching for 5 continous hours.

The raven idly wondered just how much efforts Naruto had undertaken in order to cover his tracks, but then again this was a mission far above the ones which they completed as Team 7. Even then, she was absolutely sure that he would be using the henge of which she had made a sketch.

She blinked in surprise when one of her shadow clones dispelled, as images of a large 7 storey multi cuisine restaurant stared appearing inside her mind.

Scanning the nearby areas, Kurenai was easily able to identify the giant structure of the restaurant located on the far east side from her position.

Now that she thought about it, that place would easily make a great scouting position and could be a gold mine for collecting information. People in this island were generally too loud mouthed and gossip was like a daily virus that had affected every person that had ever lived or arrived here for entertainment.

Casting a quick glance to her stash, she verified that she had enough currency as nothing in the world ever came for free.

Not even information.

Well, she could use her good looks to charm a lot of men and get what she wanted but that would attract too much attention towards her. As if she already didn't have enough perverts looking at her like a piece of meat to be enjoyed.

Besides, the whole point was to be discreet in order to maintain Naruto's cover and not jeopardize his mission.

Finishing her soft drink, she quickly took off towards the direction the restaurant was situated in. A newly found excitement arose in her heart, as her hope to meet Naruto was reinforced. Gone was the tired expression on her face, and in turn was replaced by a vibrant smile as she finished her journey.

And was now standing in front of the large restaurant. It sure as hell didn't look cheap, and a small part of her felt a little uneasy as another possibility for Naruto's visit to this place came in her mind.

"No, he won't do that..." thought Kurenai confidently, as she entered the restaurant.

While her clothing was certainly odd in comparison to the people dining in the place, it didn't stop most of the men from ogling at her. Before they were harshly scolded by their female companions, who in turned glared daggers at her.

Instead of feeling assaulted, she simply got a smirk on her face and swayed her hips a little just to make the already fuming females more jealous.

Oh, she was definitely going to enjoy this vacation a lot.

Walking straight towards the reception area, she was greeted by a young red head woman. She appeared to be in her mid-20's and was giving her a warm, welcoming smile.

"How may I help you, miss?" questioned the woman politely, but freezed when Kurenai's simply raised one finger towards her.

When she was sure the woman was in her genjutsu, Kurenai decided to start her investigation while keeping an eye on her surroundings. She slowly slipped the sketch from her pouch and offered it to the hypnotized receptionist.

"Have you seen this boy here?" asked Kurenai quickly, and was surprised when she received a positive nod.

"Yes, his name's Yoshida. He frequently visits here with a girl..." answered the receptionist passively, the woman had no idea what was happening to her or why she was divulging client information to a mere civilian.

Kurenai's eyes narrowed on the last part, the anxiety and nervousness returning back with full force as a small part of her heart suddenly felt quite insecure.

Surely, Naruto would not bring just any woman to such an expensive restaurant. Maybe it was for the sake of his mission, or...

Her heart sank on the mere thought of that dreadful possibility. It was fair to say that their last meeting in Wave didn't let them part on a happier note, and she had fully slammed him quite hard for his mistakes. Had she been too harsh on him?

Did he really move on? Was he in love with someone else?

She needed answers now!

"This girl, does she have a name?" asked Kurenai icily, as the receptionist became silent for a few seconds before her face lit up like a Christmas tree, further adding to Kurenai's frustration.

"Yeah, her name was Haku..."

The woman certainly blanched when Kurenai gave a very sweet smile to her...

"Get me the videotapes, please. And be discreet..." commanded Kurenai, as the receptionist simply gave a faithful nod and went towards the back corridor of the restaurant.

Meanwhile, the genjutsu mistress was feeling a series of emotions passing through her heart ranging from- anger, jealousy, suspicion, fear, and many more negative emotions.

What troubled her was that she had never felt like this before in her entire life. She knew Naruto was handsome and kind, and if only the females of Konoha had not considered him a pariah they would have known how wonderful he was.

Did someone else realize the diamond which Naruto was? Now that he was out of the village and had adopted an entire new identity it only raised her fears, that he had moved on or at least trying to move on from his dark past in Konoha.

But he was supposed to be hers.

Whatever problems they were facing, they could have sorted it out. Then why did he start seeing another woman...

Was she more beautiful than her? Did those two really get along well?

Her rational mind was advising her to calm down as all of this could just be another one of Naruto's acts for the sake of his mission, but her heart was quite another story. She felt betrayed...

She and Naruto had been through so much together, shared each other's pain, been each other's support for years. They were friends, partners, lovers, and so much more.

He certainly wouldn't throw it all away for another woman?

So many questions with no answers in sight. However her misery was temporarily stopped, when the receptionist returned with a single videotape and secretly passed it back to her.

Kurenai gave the woman a gracious tip and booked a table for two for the next day in order to make her visit seem genuine, which the receptionist was more than happy to register.

As she walked out of the restaurant, a strange sense of anger started rising in her.

If anything went wrong...

...then the world would have one less Uchiha to deal with