150 Cap 137: Where the hell are we?

"Ugh... my head hurts..." - Sasuke muttered as he held his forehead.

"I feel like my bugs are having a party in my skull..." - added Shino.

"Shouldn't you be out of control?" - Shikamaru asked irritably. "Your bugs shouldn't let you drink"

"You think I don't know that?" - said Shino as he looked at his friend - "I ordered a special alcohol, one that makes my bugs relax, it's a unique brew that's only accessible to my clan members"

"That makes sense..." - Neji said as he shook his head - "Has anyone seen Lee?"

"It's better that you don't know..." - said Choji, who was throwing up.

"What do you mean?" - asked the prodigy Hyuga as he frowned in annoyance.

"Look to it yourself," said Sasuke, who threw up next to the Akimichi boy.

"?" - Neji looked in confusion at the side where Sasuke was pointing, only to see Kiba and Lee hugging without their shirts. The two Genin were so close that one could tell they were a couple.

"Oh my god" - said Neji as he began to vomit. The image in front of him, along with the amount of alcohol he had drunk, had made him throw up everything he had eaten.

"Ugh..." - Kiba began to move nonchalantly at the smell of vomit, only to scream in terror when he saw how close he was to the green alien.

"?" - Lee opened his eyes slowly, only to notice how Kiba was just a few inches from his face - "What the fuck?!"

"Congratulations for coming out of the closet, Kiba" - said Kurama sarcastically as he looked at his friends.

"It's not what it looks like!" - exclaimed the Inuzuka in terror.

* * * * *

"Remind me never again to accept your proposals, you troublesome redhead..." - said Shikamaru, who was drinking an herbal tea - "Thank you very much for certain"

"It is the least I can do," Kurama replied as he shrugged.

"I feel like I have been hit on the forehead," the Uchiha muttered.

"That was my fault, when we were coming to this place, my clone dodged a speeding lady and I accidentally hit you on the head," said Kurama as Sasuke began to rage.

"And where the hell are we?" Kiba asked as he began to look around.

"The Forest of Death," replied Kurama calmly.

"What are we doing in the Forest of Death?" - asked Choji as he frowned.

"Don't you remember anything?" - Kurama asked in surprise.

The boys began to remember, only to grow pale when they remembered what had happened.

"You fucking redheaded asshole!" - Kiba roared as the others glared at Kurama.

"Don't look at me, I didn't force you to dance like strippers" - said Kurama as he shrugged.

"But you were the one who had the idea to go drinking!" - exclaimed Neji angrily. He, the Hyuga prodigy, reduced to a cheap fucking Striper, there was no greater disgrace.

"Yes, but I wasn't the one who was weak-willed and started drinking out of control," replied Kurama as he looked at the boys with disdain.

"As much as I hate to admit it and how much I want to hit Kurama, he is right," said Shikamaru as the others looked at him. "He offered us the idea but it was us who accepted, not to mention that it was us who continued, he told us to stop but we didn't listen"

"Thank you, at least one of you uses his head," nodded the redhead.

"But that doesn't take away the guilt you have in all this," said Shikamaru coolly.

"And I admit it, but I won't accept ALL the blame," snorted Kurama.

"We'd better leave this for another time, now we have to get back to Konoha," Neji said as he sighed regretfully.

The others nodded, though they still gave an annoying look to the redhead, who seemed to be enjoying the situation because he said something that left all the boys in the group unsettled - "By the way... the girls enjoyed your little dance".

"Fucking redheaded!" - roared the boys in fury and shame as they chased Kurama through the forest of death.

* * * * *

Another four days passed since the bar incident and Kurama was still staying at the hotel. He had to admit that having a little time for himself was a good thing even though he still missed the girls.

During this time, he began to think about the mistake he had made and how he could never make it again, because honestly he was still cursing himself for being so stupid and for letting himself be led by the words of an outsider.

During this time, Kushina came to visit with Mikoto so that he could discuss the incident of the Genin drinking, although they quickly put all that aside because in their society, it was not uncommon for the Genin to drink regardless of age.

Tsunade also came to visit him to remind him to bring the ingredients of Uzu no Kuni. Kurama had forgotten this because of everything that had happened, so he sent a clone immediately to get everything she needed.

Things were no longer so tense between Kurama and the girls at the Uzumaki Residence, though they were still a little uncomfortable, nothing that another week would not fix.

What surprised him most, however, was the fact that Temari and Kankuro had returned so that they could speak to him about Pakura, though he did not reveal any of the green-haired woman's story because that would be disrespectful to her.

Suna's brothers understood this and decided to put this aside in order to concentrate on things of greater international interest. They had come to make an alliance with Uzu no Kuni or rather, the Uzumaki Clan as the Land of the Whirlpool was not yet in a good state to be considered a potential ally, although over the years Kurama has been sending some Moku Bunshin to cleanse the area among other things to facilitate the reconstruction of the Uzumaki Homeland.

After finishing the negotiations and leaving some points marked, Temari and Kankuro left, but not before the girl gave him a kiss on the cheek and a wink as a sign of her interest.

Kurama had to admit that Temari was direct, though there was not yet much chemistry between the two.

* * * * *

Kurama was waking up again in his hotel room as he looked around, only to sigh when he saw that he was alone again - "I guess I better get up"

He quickly went to the bathroom and took a good shower before changing clothes, just to feel a familiar presence outside his room.

With a quick movement, he appeared at the door and opened it, only to see Mikoto outside - "Is something wrong, Miko-chan?"

"Yes... we need to talk about something important," said matriarch Uchiha as she entered the room, but not before making sure no one had followed her because it would be suspicious if she entered the room of a single boy.

When the two of them entered, she deactivated her Henge, showing her pregnant appearance and this brought a new wave of guilt to the redhead.

"Okay, I think that's enough of the guilt," said Mikoto as she shook her head. "What you did already happened, now you just have to make up for it and prevent it from happening again"

"I know," nodded the ginger as he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for what I did"

"We've already forgiven you" - replied Mikoto as she looked into his eyes - "Just... don't do it again... it brings back bad memories"

Kurama nodded weakly.

"We had better change the subject, I want to talk to you about it being time for us to tell Sasuke the truth," Mikoto said seriously.

Itachi had disappeared from Konoha and left great concerns for the inhabitants, especially Ayame, but this was resolved when a raven brought a letter to the brown-haired waitress.

Both Kurama and Mikoto knew that Itachi had 'defected' from Konoha to 'join' Akatsuki and Shikaku had approved. On paper, Itachi would become a traitor, but when the time was right, he would return as a hero, though all this would bring trouble for the loved ones of the elder Uchiha Brother, though this was not much of a problem knowing that the Uchiha Clan was an ally of the Uzumaki Clan.

"I understand... I was thinking the same thing myself" - said Kurama seriously - "I will give you Itachi's letter by the way"

"Do you have a letter from my baby?" - Mikoto asked in surprise as her expression changed to a frown - "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because it arrived last night," replied the ginger as he scratched his cheek.

"Ok... you're saved for now" - snorted the matriarch Uchiha.

"That snort in Sasuke and Itachi is a pain in the ass, but when you do it, it's adorable" - said Kurama with a big smile, just to see the woman blush slightly. The snorting for the Uchiha was like the verbal Tic that some Uzumaki had.

"Anyway, we better go talk to Sasuke-chan right away," Mikoto said as she shook her head.

"Ok," the redheaded man nodded with a small smile. At least one of the girls was treating him normally.