"What do you want to eat tonight?"
While Samui was helping clean up the aftermath, Aoba straightened his slightly messy clothes and asked what she wanted for dinner.
"Mmm~ Is Lord Aoba going to cook himself?"
Samui's eyes lit up with surprise as she asked somewhat indistinctly.
"Mm. So just say whatever you want to eat."
Aoba smiled and gently pinched her slightly puffed cheek.
After giving this little secretary who dared question the Hokage a small punishment, it was only natural to give her a reward too.
Maybe that was what they called the stick and the carrot.
"As for me, anything is fine. Whatever Lord Aoba cooks will be delicious," Samui nodded.
"..."
With such a thoughtful little secretary, Aoba could only pat her head again.
Then he helped her replenish her chakra once more.
———
Evening arrived.
In front of the Hokage Tower—
It was already after work.
"Ajisai, I'll take you to buy some daily necessities first, then I'll show you where you'll be staying from now on," Konan said to Ajisai.
From now on, Ajisai would officially be working at the Hokage Tower.
Anyone who worked there was generally assigned a dormitory by Konoha, and the conditions were quite decent.
Actually, if she just told Tsunade, Ajisai could move into the Senju clan grounds as well.
But she had no such plan.
"Alright…"
Ajisai hesitated, as if she wanted to say something.
Now that the two of them were alone, without anyone else around, there was a question she had been holding in for a long time.
"Is there something you want to ask?", Konan saw through her.
"I…"
"Let's go check on Ino first."
"Mm. I wonder if she was injured."
"They said she needs to rest for two days, but it feels a bit strange…"
"...", Ajisai's words were interrupted.
Standing at the entrance, they both heard the noisy chatter of several girls coming from inside the Hokage Tower.
Konan and Ajisai turned around.
Sure enough, it was Tenten, Sakura, Hinata, and the others.
"Konan-nee, Ajisai."
The girls greeted them.
"Hello," Ajisai replied obediently.
Tenten had already introduced everyone to her earlier while showing her around, so they all knew each other now.
Konan nodded at them and asked, "From what I just heard, is Ino injured?"
When Aoba explained things to Sakura earlier, she hadn't been there and didn't know the details.
"I'm not sure. Aoba said after the mission Ino wasn't feeling well and needs to rest for two days, so we're going to check on her."
Sakura explained.
"Hmm? Rest for two days?", After a brief pause, Konan instantly understood.
A strange look flashed across her cool face.
"Ahem! I see. Then go ahead. Just remember not to be late for work tomorrow."
"Huh? Oh. We know."
The sudden reminder caught them off guard, but they nodded and left together.
Watching the group, Konan couldn't help worrying a little for Ino.
Hopefully she'd be fine.
"Konan-sama…", Ajisai called softly.
Konan came back to her senses.
"Let's go. I'll take you to the commercial street."
"Mm."
"By the way, what were you going to ask earlier?"
"Well…"
Ajisai hesitated but finally asked,
"Konan-sama, I just wanted to know… how many girlfriends does Hokage-sama have?"
"Ah… well, all the girls you saw today are. As for the others, you'll find out later," Konan hadn't expected that question, but she didn't hide it.
First, there was no need to hide it.
Second, she wanted to scare this girl a little and keep her at a distance from Aoba. She was willing to look after her as someone from the same homeland.
But she didn't want more sisters appearing at home out of nowhere.
Ajisai was indeed stunned by that answer.
She held out her hand and started counting on her fingers.
'One, two, three, four, five, six…'
Slowly, her worldview was completely refreshed.
———
On the other side, the girls heading toward Ino's house gradually gathered together.
"Weren't we going to see Ino?"
Hinata didn't understand why Yakumo suddenly pulled her aside. Pure as she was, she hadn't realized the issue yet.
Over the years, although she had been slightly influenced by Yakumo's not-so-innocent imagination, she was still the most innocent among them.
"Hinata, you're too naive. Haven't you figured it out? Ino wasn't injured at all," Yakumo said with frustration.
Of course, she was also a bit frustrated with herself.
'Damn it! I tried several times to sneak ahead and get ahead of Tenten, Ino, and Sakura, but I always get interrupted.'
'And yet Ino, that little blonde, overtook me? Why? How?'
"Huh?", Hinata blinked.
"Then why does Ino need two days of rest?"
"As for why, only Temari, who's experienced it herself, can tell us."
Karin pointed the finger at Temari, who was trying hard to make herself less noticeable.
Temari's pretty face turned slightly red.
"I… how would I know?"
"That's true. Temari didn't rest for two days. She even tried to run away back then, but Hinata caught her in the end."
Sakura suddenly remembered.
"Huh?"
Hearing her name, Hinata froze again. Then she recalled why she had chased Temari back then and instantly understood.
"So… you mean Ino needs to rest because she did it with Aoba?"
The one who exclaimed wasn't Hinata.
It was Tenten.
Like Hinata, she hadn't realized it at first, she just hadn't said it out loud.
"..."
Yakumo, Sakura, and Karin hadn't expected there to be an even bigger airhead among them.
But now everyone understood.
"So why does Ino need two days, but Temari didn't?"
Sakura looked curiously at Temari, who seemed a bit at a loss.
"Well…"
"Could it be that Ino's just too weak?", Karin guessed.
"I mean, she totally looks like a newbie."
"M-Maybe," Temari forced a smile.
She felt a little embarrassed to say that she'd had help back then, while Ino had probably faced it alone.
"But she might also be pretending to be sick. Either way, we'll know once we get there."
Yakumo said with a mischievous look.
The others understood immediately and marched toward Ino's house with determination.
They had originally been going out of concern.
But now, they were on full on investigation mode.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.