When Tenten and the others saw the two people standing at the door, their gazes turned sharp.
Looking at Terumi Mei in an apron, scenes of the two cooking together in the kitchen automatically played out in their minds.
"Aoba, morning. Has Yugao not gotten up yet?", Shizune saw Terumi Mei wearing an apron. Although she wasn't too pleased deep down, she didn't show it.
"Yugao-neesan is still sleeping. Probably won't wake up until later."
"Still sleeping?", Shizune found it a bit strange. In her impression, Yugao wasn't the type to sleep in.
"Alright, if there's anything, just talk to that brat. I still have to go to work at the Hokage building," Tsunade suddenly looked annoyed and brushed past the people surrounding her.
'Still not up? She must've pulled another all-nighter last night…'
'That little brat! There are outsiders present, and she doesn't know to be discreet?'
'Or did she think putting up a barrier would keep others from finding out?'
Shizune looked at Tsunade, who was rushing off to work, with an expression like the sun had risen in the west.
"Shizune, aren't you coming?", After walking for a bit, Tsunade stopped and glanced at Shizune.
"Oh, coming… Aoba, I'm heading off first," Snapping back to her senses, Shizune waved at Aoba and quickly caught up to Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, wait a moment!"
Aoba looked at the departing figures of Tsunade and Shizune, feeling strange inside.
'Tsunade-sensei… really seems jealous.'
Before he could think more about Tsunade's issue…
Tenten and the others had already swarmed into his house.
———
[In the Living Room]
Aoba and the girls sat together, chatting in low voices.
Terumi Mei had gone back to the kitchen to continue washing dishes. After all, it was a task she had taken on herself.
Naturally, she had to see it through.
But she was once again shocked, she had thought three was already Aoba's limit.
She didn't expect there to be two more, and they were even aware of each other.
"Aoba-nii, why is she washing the dishes?", Karin asked curiously, and the other girls also looked at him with curiosity.
"Because I made breakfast, so she offered to wash the dishes," Aoba explained.
"What? That's so unfair! I haven't eaten your cooking in so long!", Karin pouted.
Aoba couldn't help but reach out and pinch her cheek, "I'll cook for you all next time I get a chance. Speaking of which, the Chunin Exams are coming up soon. Have you all signed up?"
"Not yet. We haven't seen Yugao-neesan for several days. Aoba, do you know what she's been up to lately?", Tenten asked, looking puzzled.
"Yugao-neesan… she's been resting at home these days," Aoba felt a little guilty.
Could he say that Yugao-neesan had been doing "big do special do" every night and sleeping until noon the next day?
"Right, Tenten, you all came here today for something?"
Tenten didn't suspect anything. After all, Yugao living with Aoba wasn't exactly new.
She quickly shifted to the main topic.
"Aoba, we heard it from Karin, that woman definitely has ulterior motives toward you," As Tenten spoke, her eyes drifted intentionally or unintentionally toward Terumi Mei, who was washing dishes in the kitchen.
The other girls did the same, their gazes were filled with hostility and also envy.
That mature and curvy figure… it was something they didn't have yet.
"You don't need to worry about that. She's not my match. Even if she has bad intentions, it's useless. Besides, the teacher wouldn't let me keep an eye on her if it weren't safe."
"That's not it!", Ino said anxiously, "Aoba, that woman wants to seduce you and then take you away to Kirigakure!"
"This…", Aoba broke out in a cold sweat.
'This is the terrifying intuition of girls, huh?'
'They saw right through it in one glance.'
Based on what happened yesterday, he had already guessed Terumi Mei's goal.
But he definitely wasn't planning to go to Kirigakure or anything. Having her marry into Konoha would be acceptable, though.
"Don't worry. There's no way I'm going to Kirigakure with her," Aoba said seriously to the group.
"Really?"
"Of course! As long as you're in Konoha, I'll never leave Konoha."
———
[Shopping Street]
Terumi Mei and Aoba came here again, but this time, they were followed by two little tag-alongs.
Ino and Sakura.
To prevent Aoba from being seduced by Terumi Mei, the six girls had decided to take turns watching over Terumi Mei every day for the month during Aoba's missions.
After all, they knew very well. If all six went together, although they could have fun, they'd definitely end up fighting.
As for how the rotation was decided? Naturally, they drew lots, everyone's favorite method.
The four of them stopped in front of a storefront.
Terumi Mei looked calm, while Ino and Sakura's faces were already red. Aoba's expression was also a bit strange.
Ino pointed at Terumi Mei and shouted, "You… you shameless woman! You actually brought Aoba to this kind of store!"
It was a women's lingerie store.
Terumi Mei looked at the blushing girls with a teasing expression, "Even if we're ninjas, as women, it's normal to buy a few pieces of underwear. But you…"
Terumi Mei looked Ino up and down.
"W-What are you looking at?", Ino squirmed under her gaze.
Terumi Mei shook her head slightly and adjusted her heavy "assets."
"Ino-chan, if you keep wrapping yourself in bandages every day, it'll affect your development."
"W-What?", Ino looked like she'd been struck by lightning.
Terumi Mei shook her head again, smiling faintly as she walked up to Aoba.
"Little brother, want to come inside with big sis and take a look? I can give you a little bonus~", Terumi Mei stuck out her tongue and licked her lips, then whispered softly into his ear.
"What?", Aoba looked blankly at Terumi Mei, who blushed shyly yet still tried to seduce him.
He didn't feel especially tempted. On the contrary, she looked kind of cute.
"This is what I meant~ You seem quite interested," Terumi Mei used her finger with blue nail polish to flick her dress collar lightly—
—just enough for Aoba to catch a glimpse of light blue inside.
"You jerk, don't be so obvious with your pervy behavior!", Before Aoba could take a better look, Ino came rushing over and pushed Terumi Mei aside.
"Ahem… You go in and shop by yourself. We'll wait for you outside," Aoba quickly added, 'Now is definitely not the time to hesitate.'
"Really? What a pity," Terumi Mei shot a look at Ino, who was baring her teeth at her, pausing meaningfully at a certain spot with a disdainful gaze, and then walked into the lingerie store.
"Damn it!", Ino stomped angrily, then quickly became conflicted again.
———
A while later—
"Aoba… I'll go inside to keep an eye on her for you," Leaving that sentence, Ino ran into the lingerie store too.
Now only Aoba and Sakura were left outside.
Then, a warm little hand slipped into his palm.
Looking at Sakura's slightly flushed face, Aoba adjusted their hands and interlaced his fingers with hers.
"Sakura, how's that ninjutsu I taught you coming along?"
Sakura froze for a moment, then hesitated slightly, "I've basically mastered it…"
"Basically mastered it already… huh? You already almost got it?", Aoba looked at Sakura in surprise.
He had only given her the Spirit Transformation Technique considering she might have an inner personality.
He didn't expect her to learn it this quickly.
He remembered that among the original cast, only Kato Dan could use the Spirit Transformation Technique.
'Is Sakura's talent really that high?'
Sakura felt a little embarrassed under his gaze, but still nodded.
Actually, it wasn't exactly that she had learned it on her own. If it were just up to her, she probably wouldn't even have passed the basics yet.
But the other persona inside her had been helping her learn, day and night, so the progress was fast.
In fact, it was only after learning the Spirit Transformation Technique from Aoba that she realized she had another personality.
And that person… was even more eager to master the technique than she was.
Clearly up to no good.
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