11: Incident

Seiji is a calm, composed, and quite intelligent boy for his age. He often preferred spending his time petting his arrogant companion, Kay. He had never felt the need for company; his social interactions were quite scarce, and his only regular visitor was Kurenai.

Kurenai was something like a "mother" to Seiji, though he would never say it out loud, as, at his young age, he was quite sensitive about the death of his mother.

Kurenai had taken it upon herself to teach him the proper social concepts for his age. Concepts like friendship, brotherhood, family, responsibility, and loyalty were taught to him by Kurenai. She saw him as a piece of the man she had once loved and would continue to love for a long time.

However, there were things Kurenai didn't feel comfortable teaching the boy. Seiji knew about "love" or "marriage," but to him, they were just adult things. Kurenai couldn't teach Seiji how to handle women and their feelings, so Seiji didn't understand things like "jealousy."

Moreover, Kurenai knew it would be a disaster for the village... for families with daughters, if Seiji ever learned... the art of seduction, just like his father. A formidable skill that, on her lonely nights, Kurenai still remembered with longing.

Kurenai could only pray for the future... At least, Seiji seemed like a calm boy and a bit slow in those matters.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Kurenai turned her gaze to Naruko. She couldn't reconcile the girl's current appearance with her previous demeanor. During the time she had spent with Kurenai, Naruko was a quiet and reserved girl. She seemed like a female version of her father, with her calm and collected appearance. However, seeing her now... it seemed the Uzumaki clan genes were quite strong in the girl, just like her mother.

Naruko had pushed Satsuki away from Seiji, clinging tightly to him while giving the young Uchiha a fierce look.

"Why were you playing with her? Aren't we family? Why are you bringing strangers home?"

Naruko interrogated Seiji with a resentful look. In her eyes, Seiji was being bad. After bringing her to his home and calling her family... was he now bringing another girl in her absence?

Seiji, for his part, was confused and didn't understand the situation.

'What's wrong with the world...?'

Satsuki, after recovering from the surprise, approached furiously.

"So what if we played together? Besides, I'm not a stranger, I'm his friend. Can't Seiji have other friends?"

Satsuki couldn't let herself be intimidated by Naruko. She was Seiji's friend, and she couldn't accept Naruko's attitude, which seemed to think Seiji was her property.

"NO, Seiji said I'm his family, so he doesn't need someone like you... besides, you're ugly."

Kurenai shook her head, realizing Naruko had no arguments other than her discomfort.

Satsuki, on the other hand, blushed with anger upon hearing the insult.

"Hmph, family, you say? At least I'm better than you. You're just like a little sister, right? I'm a kunoichi, and Seiji and I will be training together, unlike you... dumb blonde."

Seiji decided to try to calm the situation.

"Hey, calm down..."

"SHUT UP!" (x2)

Seiji fell silent with a pitiful expression.

"Useless!"

"Ugly!"

"Stupid!"

Naruko and Satsuki continued insulting each other for a while. At some point, Kurenai had taken a seat while eating snacks, watching the argument.

Seiji didn't know what to do, deciding to just observe for the moment.

Suddenly, a heavy atmosphere filled the area. Quickly, Kurenai stood up, alert.

"Grrr."

Kay's back arched, and he growled angrily while looking at Naruko.

Silence fell over the place. Then, all eyes turned to Naruko. Her hair began to rise, and a crimson aura started to surround her body.

"Shit!"

Kurenai cursed as she understood the situation. The Kyūbi's power was manifesting, and worse, there was no one capable of containing Naruko.

The only ones with experience in this area were Minato and Kushina, but both were dead. Besides, there was no ninja in Konoha skilled enough in Fūinjutsu; Kasuya, the last capable one, had also passed away.

Kurenai had to think fast, or the whole situation could go to hell. Not only could Seiji get hurt, who was like a son to her, but there was also Satsuki, the daughter of Fugaku, the Uchiha clan's patriarch. The last thing Konoha needed was to worsen the political situation with the Uchiha, on top of losing their jinchūriki.

Kurenai thought about what the problem was... She looked at Seiji, who seemed to have understood the issue, and then at Satsuki, who had no idea about the current problem.

She thought and quickly came up with a solution, though she wasn't sure if it would work.

"Seiji, quick, give Naruko a hug."

Seiji looked at her for a second but quickly obeyed.

Seiji ran to Naruko, hugging her tightly against his chest, trying to calm her down.

"Calm down, you're my family, and you'll always be important to me. If you're worried about falling behind, you can train with us."

Seiji whispered affectionately into Naruko's ear. The crimson aura of the Kyūbi began to fade, leaving only Naruko, who rubbed her face against Seiji.

Naruko turned her face to Satsuki and gave her an arrogant smile.

Satsuki trembled with anger, shouting furiously:

"Damn it!"

Kurenai looked at the situation with dead eyes. In her eyes, Seiji was too good at comforting Naruko for someone who had never been taught how to handle women.

Blood is thicker than water. Seiji was proof of that. Kurenai thought that, wherever Kasuya was, he would be proud of his son.

"Well... Who's hungry?"

Kurenai asked as she entered the house, planning to take a bath and relax for the rest of the day.

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If you're enjoying the reading, please leave me a comment. I would also appreciate some power stones.

Author: Hi guys, here's your author. I wanted to apologize, as I might not be able to publish two chapters, I only have this one, haha. I don't have time to write, even though I really enjoy it.

Problems with work, real life sucks, especially in Latin America...

On another note, has anyone here read Lord of the Mysteries? I finished the first part a while ago, but I'm not fully convinced by the second part.

Should I give it a chance?