"Kurenai—"
"Anko, do you know how long I waited for you at the shopping street?"
Anko opened the door, but before she could even speak, Kurenai cut her off.
Clenching her fist, Kurenai smiled sweetly at her, "If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, how about I make you have nightmares for a whole week?"
"Sorry, I was wrong!", Anko immediately apologized, then added seriously, "I had a reason!"
"What reason? If it's something like oversleeping, then don't even bother saying it," Kurenai's eyes narrowed.
Anko looked a little embarrassed, "Although, it really was oversleeping…"
Kurenai had already started forming hand seals.
Anko quickly continued, "But I had a reason for oversleeping!"
"Speak!"
Kurenai's face was expressionless. If she had been left waiting outside for nearly three hours over a lame excuse, she really would give Anko an unforgettable lesson.
"Kurenai, look at this!", Anko turned around, exposing the back of her neck to Kurenai.
"What?", Kurenai frowned and peered at it. At first she didn't notice, but after looking carefully, she suddenly gasped.
"Your curse mark is gone?"
"Mm!"
Anko nodded happily, her expression excited, "It was undone last night."
"Congratulations, Anko."
Kurenai sincerely blessed her.
As her best friend, of course she knew how much Anko had suffered over the years because of that curse mark.
Now that it was undone, it meant she had finally been freed from her painful past.
The resentment Kurenai had felt over being stood up melted away, though new doubts rose in her heart.
"But how did it suddenly get undone? Even Tsunade-sama couldn't do it before."
"Come in first, I'll explain."
Anko grinned and pulled Kurenai inside.
"Mm?"
But as soon as Kurenai stepped in, she smelled cooking, and the sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen.
Her brows furrowed slightly, "There's someone else in your house?"
"Mm, yeah," Anko nodded.
"Who?", Kurenai suddenly realized the problem.
"Go see for yourself," Anko said casually.
Kurenai went straight to the kitchen, and there she saw Aoba cooking in an apron. She froze.
"Kurenai-nee, it's lunchtime, want to stay and eat with us?", Aoba greeted her openly.
"What are you doing in Anko's house?", Kurenai's brain couldn't quite process it.
Before Aoba could reply, Anko's dissatisfied voice rang out, "What? Aoba can go to your house but not mine?"
"That's not what I meant, it's just that you right now…", Kurenai turned to look at Anko.
Aoba being in Anko's house she could still accept, but the problem was Anko's outfit.
She was only wearing a loose shirt.
'Alone together like this, could it be Anko has already… done it?'
"After the curse mark was undone yesterday, I fainted. I just woke up, took a shower. Oh right, it was Aoba who helped undo it," Anko lied smoothly with a natural expression.
Aoba couldn't help glancing at her, 'What is that supposed to mean?'
"I see," That explanation, Kurenai could accept. Anko still had a faint special fragrance on her, so she probably had just showered.
As for her outfit, maybe it was just one of her quirks acting up again.
"Aoba, thank you for helping Anko undo the curse mark."
She formally thanked him. But with this, Anko was probably completely done for.
"Anko-nee is my friend too. Kurenai-nee, you both wait a bit, lunch will be ready soon," Aoba just smiled and waved it off.
"Mm," Kurenai nodded and walked to the living room.
But when she saw Anko heading into the kitchen again, she frowned, "Anko, you…"
Anko: "I still have something to discuss with Aoba."
"Then your clothes?", Kurenai couldn't help reminding her.
"I'll change in a bit," Anko gave her a wink.
"Fine."
Kurenai helplessly went to the living room, but when she saw the battered sofa, she fell into silence again.
'Could it be there was a fight here last night?'
'Probably not. More likely, undoing the curse mark has been painful.'
Kurenai picked up a torn piece of Kurenai cloth from the corner.
She could already picture Anko struggling on the sofa last night.
With no choice, she started tidying up.
———
[In the Kitchen]
Anko had already stolen a fierce kiss from Aoba.
"Anko-nee, why didn't you tell Kurenai-nee about us?"
"Why would I? Isn't it more exciting this way?", Anko laughed like a kid who just found a new toy.
"This…", Aoba couldn't understand her way of thinking.
"Alright," Anko licked the corner of his mouth and smiled, "Let's keep it secret for now. Maybe I can even help you win Kurenai over."
Aoba's mouth twitched, "There's nothing between me and Kurenai-nee."
"Hehe," Anko just smiled.
———
"You're planning to go to the Land of Sea together?", After hearing the explanation, Kurenai asked.
"Mm. In a couple days I'll ask Tsunade-sama for permission. Since it involves Orochimaru's experiments, it needs to be taken seriously," Anko nodded.
Kurenai thought for a moment, then looked at Aoba, "Should we take a mission there too? After all, if you're not around, our squad can't accept missions for now."
If it was just Anko and Aoba going, who knew what would happen?
If Anko ended up driving Aoba away, how could she explain that to Yakumo and the others?
Aoba set down his chopsticks and thought, "How about letting Temari temporarily join for a while?"
"Temari?"
Kurenai blinked, "That fiancee of yours?"
"Mm," Aoba nodded, "Temari has the strength of a chunin candidate, she won't drag you down."
Kurenai stared at him, "I'm not worried about being dragged down. At worst we'd just take simpler missions."
"I'm asking, aren't you worried they'll fight?"
Aoba: "They'll all live together sooner or later. Better to start getting used to each other now."
"…", Kurenai didn't even know what to say.
"Kurenai," At this moment, Anko tugged her sleeve and winked.
What kind of best friend wouldn't understand?
Kurenai rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache, then sighed helplessly, "If things blow up, I'm not taking responsibility."
"They probably won't fight."
Aoba knew Yakumo and Hinata's personalities well.
If it were Ino every day though, then yeah, that'd be a disaster.
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