"?"
Uchiha Hikari looked at Fuu in confusion.
She didn't quite understand what the other girl was trying to do.
The two of them were "outsiders." They weren't Aoba's girlfriends, nor were they that guy's ninja weapons. Staying here seemed a little inappropriate.
As for why the term ninja weapon popped into her head at this moment, it was because once, when Yugito and Kin were arguing, Yugito said something like Kin was just one of Aoba's shameless ninja weapons.
Kin not only didn't refute it, she even seemed to have let her.
After that, Uchiha Hikari curiously went to ask Kin about it. Only several months later did she finally learn the exact meaning of the term.
And then she suddenly remembered the first time she met Aoba, when she loudly questioned whether he intended to treat her as a ninja weapon too.
And she had said it in front of a lot of people.
As someone from several hundred years ago, she experienced for the first time what it meant to "die socially."
Every time Uchiha Hikari thought about this, and also about the expression Aoba had when he heard what she said back then, no matter how hard she tried to act calm, she couldn't stop feeling a bit embarrassed.
Now there was a bit of that feeling again, though there was even more confusion.
'Then why did Fuu stop me? Could it be that she wants to become Aoba's girlfriend, or his ninja weapon?'
A storm of thoughts was raging inside Uchiha Hikari's small head.
"Uh…"
Fuu, who had originally been stuffing potato chips into Uchiha Hikari's mouth, now felt a little embarrassed under the other girl's gaze.
The reason she blocked Uchiha Hikari's mouth with a potato chip earlier was actually completely instinctive.
She was genuinely happy that Aoba didn't treat her like an outsider at all, so she wanted to stay and listen to the arrangements that would follow.
There was one thing Fuu had always understood very clearly.
Even though she had come to this house and lived here for a year or two, she knew that she didn't really belong here, just like Kurotsuchi.
Kurotsuchi had stayed here only because she had argued with her family and run away from home, so she borrowed a place here to live. Once the conflict was resolved, she left.
Although Fuu wasn't here for the same reason, she was still only staying here temporarily.
The reason she originally came here was because the Akatsuki organization posed a threat to the jinchuriki.
But now even the leader of Akatsuki had joined Konoha. The threat from Akatsuki had already disappeared long ago.
In truth, she had already lost any reason to continue staying in this house.
Logically speaking, she should have left already.
So although Aoba and the village chief had never told her to return to Takigakure or anything like that, Fuu had always been worried deep down.
She worried about what she should do if she could no longer stay here.
It wasn't that she had no feelings for Takigakure anymore.
It was because all her friends were here.
In Takigakure she was a jinchuriki, like a walking bomb.
Aside from the village chief Shibuki, the other villagers would all keep their distance when they saw her. She had no friends at all.
But even Shibuki, as the village chief, couldn't stay with her all the time.
That was why on the very first day she arrived in Konoha, she set a goal for herself to make a hundred friends.
But now she no longer pursued the so-called hundred friends, because she already had real friends.
If she returned to Takigakure, she was confident that her friendships with Kurotsuchi, Karin, Temari, Uchiha Hikari, and the others wouldn't be affected.
But in the end, they wouldn't be around her anymore.
She would return to those lonely days when she spent every day by herself.
She didn't want to go back.
That was why Aoba recognizing her as part of this family made her feel happy, and also relieved.
As for… As for marrying Aoba or something… After being influenced every day by people like Karin, if he really had that kind of intention, Fuu actually wouldn't mind.
After all, she didn't have anyone she liked.
As long as she could stay with her friends every day and live happily, that was enough.
Besides, he was also her first friend in Konoha.
He was the first one who took her to the amusement park.
The first one who accompanied her while she walked around Konoha shopping... the first always felt a little different.
Thinking of this, a faint blush rose on Fuu's bronze-colored cheeks.
But obviously she couldn't just explain all this to Uchiha Hikari.
She leaned close to Uchiha Hikari's ear and whispered softly, "Hikari, we're Kurotsuchi's important friends. Kurotsuchi is Aoba's fiancee. Right now she's not here, so as her good friends, we definitely need to stay and help her think things through."
"Don't you think?"
"Mm…"
Uchiha Hikari chewed up the potato chip in two or three bites and swallowed it.
She felt that Fuu definitely wasn't thinking exactly like that.
But as good friends, she certainly couldn't expose her.
So she nodded and gave up the idea she had earlier.
However, a moment later she opened her mouth again and gestured toward Fuu.
"?", Fuu was slightly stunned, but quickly understood.
She smiled helplessly, then picked up some potato chips from the pile of snacks in front of her and began feeding her.
Since she needed to keep Hikari quiet, she obviously had to use something else to block her mouth.
Uchiha Hikari also ate with complete peace of mind.
The cute interaction between the two girls naturally didn't escape the notice of the others.
Aside from Tsunade, who was currently being threatened by Aoba, everyone else couldn't help but smile knowingly.
When Uchiha Hikari had first moved in, she had a cold personality. She rarely smiled and hardly showed any other expressions, so many people felt she might be difficult to get along with.
But after spending time with her, they realized she wasn't cold at all. She was just a bit slow-witted, and with her love of snacks, she was starting to show signs of turning into something like a pet.
As for Fuu's sudden action, everyone's feelings were a little complicated, but it didn't seem like a big deal.
After all, they had seen it happen right in front of them. That was still better than some wild woman outside.
Seeing that their exchange was over, Aoba drew his attention back again.
He turned toward Yugao and answered the question she had asked earlier.
"Yes, it's the wedding between us. I'm planning to hold it after we unify the ninja world and stabilize the situation. But if we hold them separately, it might take a lot of time and be quite troublesome. So I was thinking… how about everyone doing it together?"
"Together?"
The girls who had been excited after hearing the first half about marriage couldn't help but freeze when they heard the second half.
Under normal circumstances, no one would want to hold a wedding together with others.
But after thinking about it carefully, if they held them separately, it really would be troublesome, since there were so many people.
They couldn't possibly hold weddings continuously for several years, right?
Then what would the people later in line think?
And from Aoba's perspective, this was undoubtedly the best option.
It wouldn't put him in a difficult position.
But marriage was a major event that happened once in a lifetime, so naturally some people still didn't want to share it.
Yugao, Shizune, Konan, Yugito, and Temari exchanged glances.
They had already been long-time partners. With just one look, they could see what each other was thinking.
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