"Kiyosuke, I'm leaving Konoha."
This was the first thing Asuma said to Kiyosuke when they met in the morning.
Kiyosuke was completely stunned.
What was going on? Why did Asuma want to leave Konoha? Did he really willing to leave Hong?
"Are you still asleep?" Kiyosuke asked.
"No! I'm wide awake. You're the one who's half - asleep, aren't you?" Asuma looked at Kiyosuke speechlessly. He was still in his pajamas, hugging a quilt.
"You know that? What time is it now? It's half past seven. I'm on vacation. Can you let me sleep for a while?" Kiyosuke shouted, holding an alarm clock.
"Sorry!"
"Wait for me a moment."
Kiyosuke got up, changed his clothes, washed up, and cooked a bowl of instant noodles with two eggs added!
"Tell me, what's going on with you?"
"The most important thing for the village isn't the Hokage!" Asuma said out of the blue.
Kiyosuke understood. Considering Asuma's age, he was probably in his rebellious phase. He must have had an argument with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Listen, are you sure you want to go outside?"
"Yes. I'm going to be one of the people protecting the Daimyo. I'll go to the capital of the Fire Country to protect him," Asuma said.
Originally, Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to send Anbu to protect the Daimyo of the Fire Country, but due to the attempted assassination by Danzo, it was temporarily put on hold. They decided to select some ninjas from the village to go to the capital of the Fire Country to protect the Daimyo.
"You... slurp slurp... have you considered... slurp slurp... Hong?" Kiyosuke said, his words a bit slurred as he ate the noodles.
"Hong? What about Hong?"
"Nothing. It's just that if you're not here, there'll be a gap in Hong's life. What if a handsome, good - tempered guy who suits her taste shows up? Hmm?"
"Ah..."
Asuma was at a loss for words. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll wish her well!"
Kiyosuke:???
What the hell? Are you really like this? No, based on how much he usually cares about Hong, he should be more likely to stay when faced with this situation. What's going on?
Then Asuma said, "The guy you mentioned, there's probably only you in Konoha, Kiyosuke. If it's you, you can definitely make Hong happy, right? I'll wish you two well!"
"..." Kiyosuke was eating instant noodles. He gave Asuma a thumbs - up, quickly finished his noodles, wiped his mouth, and then slapped Asuma on the head, scolding, "You bastard! What do you take me for? If I had any thoughts about Hong, would it still be your turn? She'd be my girlfriend by now! What kind of person do you think I am?!"
"Ah, I..." Asuma said awkwardly, "Sorry, I just..."
He was flustered.
Kiyosuke let go of him and said, "I don't care what you said to your old man. If you really want to leave Konoha, say goodbye to Hong properly! Express your feelings. Otherwise, when you come back, Hong might already have a child, and you still haven't even said you like her."
"You, you mean confessing?"
"What else?" Kiyosuke sat down, crossed his hands, put his chin on them, and looked serious. "Asuma, remember, my dates are already scheduled for years to come."
Asuma opened his mouth, wanting to refute at first, but then he thought it made a lot of sense. This guy could even pick up girls during the Chunin Exams. He's a role model!
Maybe, with his guidance, his relationship with Hong...
"If it's successful, Kiyosuke, you'll be my savior. You'll preside over my wedding with Hong!"
He's thinking about the wedding even before confessing?
Are you a VIP member of Taobao? Did Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei become sworn brothers in your mouth?
But well, might as well give him a hand.
"Are you sure you want to go to the capital of the Fire Country?"
"Yes! I've made up my mind! Even my old man can't stop me! That's final!" Asuma thumped his chest.
Kiyosuke thought for a while. This guy would become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Daimyo in the future, wearing the Fire Crest, which showed his excellence. If he wanted to go, let him go. Anyway, it wasn't him who would marry Hong in the future.
It was his own choice, and he had to go through with it, even if it was with tears.
Asuma was the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. He both admired and had prejudices against his father. He didn't want to follow the path his father had planned for him and decided to leave Konoha to see the outside world and find out the differences between the Hokage and the Daimyo.
"Come on, go home and change into some proper clothes. Then go find Hong."
"Confess directly?"
"Of course," Kiyosuke said matter - of - factly. "You've known Hong for a long time. She sees you as a comrade, and maybe she doesn't think of you as someone she can date. So, you need to confess first to change her fixed impression of you. Even if you leave, she'll still think of you. Over time, the possibility of your friendship turning into love will increase greatly."
Learned something new. Is this the big shot who can pick up girls during the Chunin Exams?
Asuma secretly regretted that he hadn't learned from him all this time. What on earth had he missed?
"Hey, what kind of look is that?!"
"The look at a playboy! Kiyosuke, you might end up like Jiraiya - jiji in the future!"
"Don't compare me to that pervert!" Kiyosuke shouted.
"By the way, isn't your date from Sunagakure? Will she really come?"
"I don't know," Kiyosuke said with a smile. "Who knows? If she's willing to come, I'll accompany her. If not, I won't force her."
He didn't know if Yugure had survived. Also, he hadn't heard of any feud between Sunagakure and Kirigakure during the Third Great Ninja War.
He shook his head, not dwelling on this matter any longer.
Kiyosuke said, "You go back first and change into more formal clothes. I'll go to the flower shop to buy you some flowers and make an appointment with Hong for you by the way."
"Really?"
"Don't you trust me?"
"I do."
Asuma rushed home to change his clothes. Biwa, who was recuperating at home, looked at her son in confusion and said, "Asuma, what are you going to do? You just changed your clothes this morning. Why are you changing again? It's so troublesome to wash them."
"Mom, I'm going to find you a daughter - in - law. That's it. I'm leaving. She's waiting for me!"
Biwa:???
"Daughter - in - law? Has my son really reached that age?"
Kiyosuke came to a flower shop and asked, "Do you have roses? For a confession."
"Yes," the flower shop 老板娘 said, holding a newborn baby in her arms. She picked up a bunch of roses and smiled. "This one is quite suitable."
"Oh, it looks great," Kiyosuke said. He took the roses, paid, and sent a shadow clone to find Hong.
Hong was arranging flowers at home. Seeing Kiyosuke, she asked in confusion, "Kiyosuke, what do you want from me?"
"A big thing," the shadow clone said seriously. "I like a girl and I'm going to confess to her today. Hong, could you help me judge? Come with me and give me a hand, okay?"