"Shizune-nee, thank you for your hard work."
Opening the Hokage office door, Aoba saw Shizune standing guard, cheeks flushed but still steadfast.
"Me? Hard work?"
Shizune paused, then a cold smile crossed her face, "Heh! You two in the office were the ones who really worked hard. After all, I only stood outside for a bit. Unlike you and Lady Tsunade, you probably learned a lot of new things, right?"
Shizune rattled off a whole string of sarcastic remarks.
Aoba had nothing to argue with and could only lower his head and admit his fault.
"Sorry, Shizune-nee"
"Hmph!"
Seeing his sincere apology, Shizune's expression softened considerably.
After all, this is the Hokage building.
Even though she was full of anger, she knew this wasn't the time to vent.
She wasn't Tsunade; she was only a secretary and couldn't act at will.
Shizune returned to the Hokage office.
Everything was back to normal, but Tsunade's languid, sultry look after being indulged could not be faked.
Those two had actually done something quite excessive in the sacred Hokage office.
Her gaze was then drawn to a test tube placed on the desk.
She could tell at a glance what was in the tube.
"Tsunade, how can you just leave this thing on the desk?"
"You mean this?"
Tsunade waved the test tube and said casually, "This is what I'll be taking to the lab for research later. What's wrong with leaving it here?"
Aoba's expression turned odd because he remembered Tsunade's embarrassed face when she took it out earlier.
"Sensei, if there's nothing else, I'll head off."
"Mm."
Tsunade waved it off. She didn't want to think too much right now.
"Shizune-nee…"
Aoba had intended to greet Shizune, but the way her mouth was pursed so high could hold a soy sauce bottle.
He couldn't stand to see that expression.
He stepped up to soothe her grievance.
Tsunade watched and merely pursed her lips, then pretended not to notice.
As everyone knows, proper exercise improves one's mood.
And Tsunade, having just exercised, was clearly in a good mood.
She used to drown her sorrows in drink, but over the past year she found another way that soothed her even more.
Shizune was a mix of embarrassed and angry, her expression growing more coquettish.
When her lips were released, even her breathing felt a little rushed.
"Shizune-nee, you're so cute."
Aoba thought her little expression was adorable and cupped her face to kiss her again.
Shizune angrily pushed him away, hands on his chest, "I'm the elder sister here. Don't tease me!"
When they were kids, she was the one teasing him for being cute.
Now that he'd grown taller he kept calling her cute.
Worse, he'd say things like "small and cute." Infuriating.
"Even cuter now."
Aoba smiled, "Shizune-nee, I'll come find you after I get back from Aunt Mikoto's place tonight."
"You're going to Mikoto's?"
Shizune wanted to say more, but when she heard he was going to Uchiha Mikoto's, she froze.
"Any problem?", Aoba found Shizune's behavior odd.
He often went to Mikoto's for dinner; she'd never acted like this before.
"Did she invite you?", Shizune asked.
"Mm," Aoba nodded.
Shizune thought for a moment, "Well… there's no real problem, but Mikoto has seemed weird these past few days."
"Weird? In what way?"
"I can't say for sure. The last few times I went to see her, she seemed distracted. I thought she had something bothering her, but when I asked she wouldn't say... Oh!"
She suddenly remembered something and added oddly, "This morning she asked me some questions about you."
"Questions about me?"
Aoba was more puzzled, 'Doesn't Mikoto already know about him?'
They'd been together so many years. What didn't she know about him?
He didn't hide much; even many private things Mikoto knew.
"What did she ask?"
Shizune's expression grew even stranger. She'd almost forgotten to mention it in her anger.
"She asked about your views on older women."
"Huh?"
Aoba blinked, looking baffled, "That depends on how old 'older' is."
"What about someone like Lady Tsunade?", Shizune suddenly asked, tempting fate.
No surprise, Tsunade's lazy gaze snapped sharp.
She stared straight at Shizune.
Shizune instinctively shrank her neck and pushed Aoba in front of her.
With Shizune's retreat, Tsunade's eyes fell on Aoba, eyes full of meaning.
She wanted to see how this brat would answer.
Aoba: "…"
He felt this was an undeserved trouble.
Feeling Tsunade's gaze, he swallowed.
"She's different. Sensei is someone I like, so to me Sensei will always be twenty."
"Hmph!"
Tsunade snorted in satisfaction. She knew he was flattering her, but she was pleased.
Shizune pouted and didn't dare push further. If she did, Tsunade would surely deal with her after Aoba left.
"Anyway, when you go to Mikoto's, be careful."
"Was Mikoto just asking simple questions? No need to worry too much, right?", Aoba evaded.
Shizune shot him a look, "Are you still playing dumb? Don't you know why Mikoto asked that?"
"Ahem!"
Called out on his thoughts, Aoba felt embarrassed.
Mikoto had thought she hid her feelings well.
At first the women thought she treated Aoba like a child.
Only after Aoba gave her the yin seal did they gradually realize otherwise.
"Mm, I think you should be more careful."
Tsunade also nodded solemnly.
"Why?"
Aoba didn't expect Tsunade to say that.
"Well… because yesterday when Kushina came to my place she took a bottle of rather strange medicine with her…"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[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.