After spending an afternoon shopping with Sakura and Karin, near dusk they happened to run into Uzumaki Kasui, just getting off work.
Aoba told Karin to go home with Kasui, while he headed to the Hokage building.
Luckily, Tsunade and the others hadn't left work yet.
"Brat!", For some reason, Tsunade's mood seemed bad, leaving Aoba a bit baffled.
"Sensei…"
He hadn't even finished speaking before she cut him off coldly.
"Why didn't you tell me in advance about Anko?"
"Uh… did Anko-nee already come here?"
'Wasn't she supposed to be buying a sofa? Why did she come to Tsunade again?'
"Tsunade-sama, Aoba must have had his reasons for not telling you," Shizune quickly tried to mediate from the side.
Though she had been a bit upset yesterday when Aoba didn't come to her, once she knew the reason, she let it go.
After hearing Shizune's words, Tsunade's expression eased slightly, "What reason?"
Aoba said seriously, "Sensei, the curse mark on Anko-nee was just a half-developed one. I only undid it after I confirmed there was no danger."
"You confirmed it was safe, so that means it really was safe?", Tsunade glared at him.
"…"
Aoba muttered under his breath, "Then can Sensei completely guarantee safety?"
BANG!
His head took a punch.
"Sorry, Sensei."
Aoba's attitude of admitting fault was good, attitude only, though.
Tsunade couldn't do much, "Don't let it happen again."
"Understood! Next time for sure!", Aoba put on a serious face.
"…"
The corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched, "Next time for sure… meaning you'll keep doing it."
"Speak, why did you come here at this time? Don't tell me it's about that matter Anko mentioned?"
Aoba: "Did Anko-nee already tell you about the Land of the Sea?"
Tsunade nodded, "You leave in two days. The mission is to destroy one of Orochimaru's labs. Just the two of you."
As she spoke, she gave Aoba a meaningful glance, "There's nothing between you two, right?"
"No!", Aoba answered firmly.
"Then be careful. Go early, return early," Tsunade stretched, her alluring cleavage fully on display.
Which made Aoba want to "play ball" again.
"Aoba~", Shizune's ghostly voice sounded, making Aoba instantly pull back his gaze.
Of course, Tsunade noticed too, a mocking smile tugging her lips.
'What a lu—sty brat!'
"Anything else? We're about to get off work."
Aoba remembered his real business, "Sensei, do you have blueprints for chakra armor?"
Tsunade raised her brows slightly, "You want to study that?"
Aoba explained, "Tenten's very interested in this kind of thing. I want to give her a set."
"Heh! How generous. You just keep giving your little girlfriends things," Tsunade sneered.
"It's just that Tenten has talent in this area. If she studies it and makes progress, it's also good for the village, isn't it?", Aoba explained with a smile.
Tsunade spun her chair, turning her back, "Shizune, take him to get a copy."
"Okay," Shizune walked to Aoba's side, tugging his hand and leading him out.
At that moment, Tsunade reminded, "Hurry, it's almost quitting time."
"Yes," Shizune suppressed a laugh.
———
"Haha," Only after leaving the office did Shizune burst into giggles.
"Shizune-nee, what are you laughing at?", Aoba looked at the suddenly laughing Shizune, confused.
Shizune shook her head, leaned close to Aoba's ear, and whispered, "Aoba, Tsunade-sama was jealous, you know."
"What?", Aoba was stunned.
Seeing his completely clueless look, Shizune oddly explained, "You've never given Tsunade-sama anything, but those little girlfriends of yours keep getting gifts one after another."
"This… I get it."
Aoba's mouth twitched. Maybe he really did need to prepare some rings like Nagato.
"Don't forget about me, too."
Shizune unhappily tugged his ear.
———
When Aoba got to the ninja tools shop, the place was still brightly lit.
Shops like this in Konoha usually stayed open until late at night.
But at this time, only Tenten was inside, sitting on a chair behind the counter, absentmindedly fiddling with kunai under the light.
"What are you thinking about?"
A soft yet bright voice sounded at her ear. Tenten instinctively looked up at the visitor, her eyes lighting up.
"Aoba…"
The girl's delighted voice lasted only a brief instant, before she quickly turned her head away.
"What's wrong?"
Aoba walked around to face her, "The moment I knew you were back, I came right to find you."
"Really?"
Tenten tapped the counter with her kunai, resting her chin on the other hand, "Then who was that person shopping all afternoon with Sakura and Karin?"
Aoba raised a brow, "You saw? Then why didn't you come find me?"
Tenten didn't look at him, "I heard it from a customer."
"So… Tenten doesn't want to see me now?", Aoba asked.
"Don't want to!", Tenten puffed her cheeks angrily.
"I see. Then I'll go."
"Eh?", Tenten was stunned. By the time she came back to her senses, Aoba had already disappeared.
She hurriedly rushed out the door, but under the dim streetlights she didn't find the figure she wanted.
"That bastard!", Tenten bit her lip and cursed under her breath.
Suddenly, a hand reached from behind and grabbed her in a tight embrace.
"Got you."
"Mm!"
Tenten jumped, and when she realized it was Aoba, she said unhappily, "Didn't you leave? What are you doing here?"
"I was afraid if I left, someone might cry."
Aoba wiped at the corners of her eyes, which were slightly red.
"Who's crying?", Tenten struggled furiously, "Let me go, you jerk!"
"Okay," Though Aoba said it, he didn't actually move.
"Bad guy!", Tenten stopped resisting.
The two snuggled for a while, then Aoba suddenly said, "Tenten, I have something for you."
Aoba handed her the chakra armor blueprints.
"What's this?", Tenten curiously took the papers and looked through them, quickly becoming completely absorbed.
———
After leaving the ninja tools shop, Aoba also stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop.
Ino wasn't there. Apparently she'd taken a commission related to a daimyo.
It would be some time before she returned.
A bit embarrassed under Yamanaka Rino's strange gaze, he bought a few bouquets of flowers, planning to give them to Tsunade and the others.
Before giving out rings, he'd use flowers to show his feelings first.
Tsunade's mood did improve a lot after seeing the flowers.
Sneaking around behind Shizune's back, he almost ended up cosplaying a "Homelander moment."
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