"Aoba, with Hinata watching outside, doesn't it feel even more exciting?", Yakumo knew Hinata was right outside, yet she boldly wrapped her arms around Aoba's neck.
Feeling the softness pressing against his chest, the knocking at the door grew even more urgent.
If he didn't open it soon, Hinata might just break the door down.
Aoba shot Yakumo a glare and quickly pulled his hand away.
"I'm going to open the door. Put your clothes back on."
"Oh!"
Yakumo pouted and reluctantly slipped her clothes back on, dragging it out.
She'd been holding back for so long.
Aoba opened the door, and sure enough, it was Hinata standing there.
Before he could even greet her, she darted inside, her gaze locked on Yakumo, who hadn't quite finished dressing.
"Ah! Hinata, how could you peek at me changing!", Yakumo immediately hugged her chest with both hands, putting on a shy expression.
"You! Always sneaking around!", Hinata's Byakugan snapped open, veins bulging at her temples, as if she might unleash a Gentle Fist strike right then and there.
"I wasn't! I just wanted to take a bath in Aoba's room," Yakumo looked all innocent.
Hinata was so furious her cheeks puffed out. She pointed at Yakumo, her voice trembling, "I... I clearly saw you holding Aoba-kun's hand just now... So shameless!"
"Hinata, want to join too?", Yakumo suddenly shot back.
"What?", Hinata's mind froze.
The thought of Aoba-kun putting his hand there made steam nearly burst from her head.
Even Aoba was a little surprised. He hadn't seen Hinata in full "steam engine" mode for a long time.
"Then let's all go together!"
Without another word, Yakumo grabbed Hinata's hand.
"I—", Before Hinata could finish, Yakumo dragged her straight into the bathroom.
"I meant a bath. What were you imagining?"
"Ugh! Yakumo, you're too much! Ah! Don't pull at my clothes!"
"Huh? No, Hinata, you're the one going too far, being so dramatic!"
"You—"
Hearing the two girls quarrel inside the bathroom, Aoba couldn't help rubbing his forehead helplessly.
He'd just wanted a bath himself. After days trekking through the desert, he was covered in sand.
And maybe it was the hot, dry climate of Sunagakure, but his nose suddenly felt parched, as if he were overheating.
With no way to cool off, he could only sit on the sofa and close his eyes to rest.
He didn't know how long had passed when he caught a whiff of fragrance.
Opening his eyes, he saw Hinata and Yakumo's delicate faces, both tinged with shy pink.
They'd just finished bathing. Their pale skin now glowed faintly rosy, beads of water still clinging to their hair.
"You're done?", Aoba asked without thinking.
"Sorry, Aoba-kun, we took up your bath time," Hinata said softly, embarrassed.
Yakumo leaned close, pressing her cheek against his, "As compensation, I can scrub your back. Not with chakra, with my hands."
At her words, Aoba's eyes instinctively flicked to her small curves, then shifted to Hinata's grand, towering ones.
The difference was obvious.
"Mm?"
"Forget it. You two should rest in your own rooms."
Before Yakumo could explode, Aoba slipped into the bathroom and locked the door.
"Ugh!", Yakumo ground her teeth. Unable to vent her frustration at Aoba, she turned her gaze on Hinata.
"You... what do you want to do?", Hinata instinctively covered her chest.
'That is meant for Aoba-kun...'
"Damn you, Hinata, I'm going to flatten you!", Yakumo pounced at her.
But Hinata easily flipped her onto the bed.
A genjutsu kunoichi could never outmatch a taijutsu kunoichi in close combat.
The two scuffled noisily.
When Aoba came out of the bathroom, the first thing he saw was the pair sprawled on his bed, clothes in disarray, fast asleep.
He couldn't help but smile wryly and shook his head, pulling the blanket over their bare midriffs. He didn't disturb them, just sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest again.
———
Time crept by, and as dusk fell, the noise outside roused the three of them.
Aoba, Yakumo, and Hinata all opened their eyes almost at the same time.
"Mm~ how long was I out?", Yakumo mumbled sleepily.
Beside her, Hinata rubbed her eyes and shook her head, "I don't know."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Urgent knocks rattled the door, followed by Kurenai's anxious voice.
"Aoba! Something's happened!"
"Kurenai-nee, what is it?"
Aoba pushed the door open.
"Outside... huh?"
Kurenai hadn't even finished her sentence when her eyes suddenly widened.
She froze, staring into the room.
"Sensei, what's going on?"
Yakumo and Hinata both came to stand behind Aoba, asking what had happened.
But the two of them were still disheveled, looking as if they'd just woken up. In an instant, Kurenai's imagination supplied at least eighteen different "scenes."
"You... you two, why are you in Aoba's room?"
"We came to take a bath, then dozed off."
Yakumo explained with a yawn.
"Bath? Sleep?"
The images in Kurenai's mind grew even more vivid, her face flushed, "You... you..."
"Kurenai-nee, don't overthink it. Nothing happened. Just tell us what's going on."
Seeing her misunderstanding deepening, Aoba quickly cut her off.
"How do you know what I was imagining?"
Kurenai blinked, then quickly came back to her senses under Yakumo and Hinata's strange stares, "Right, outside, there are a lot of Sunagakure villagers causing trouble."
"Causing trouble?"
Aoba, hearing the noisy shouts, had already guessed. He stepped out first.
"Let's go take a look!"
"Okay."
Yakumo and Hinata hurried to straighten their clothes and followed behind.
When they went out, they indeed saw dozens of Sunagakure villagers crowding the street, holding banners and shouting loudly.
"Sunagakure belongs to Sunagakure villagers! Konoha's merchants get out!"
"Konoha merchants get out!"
The ones behind this weren't fools. They targeted Konoha's merchants, not shinobi, and used only words, not fists.
After all, if they demanded Konoha shinobi leave, that would mean breaking the treaty, and then the jinchūriki would come knocking.
But this alone was enough to cause serious trouble for the merchants trying to run businesses.
No wonder so many shops were closed.
Aoba also spotted Temari and Maki up front, trying to explain to the crowd.
And he could feel hidden eyes watching from the shadows.
'So the Sunagakure higher-ups already know of our arrival.'
'They want to see how I would react?'
Heh. If it were someone who followed rules, they'd have to swallow this bitter pill.
But Aoba had never known what "rules" were.
He stepped forward, striding to the very front.
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