Roran's office building is a structure that combines both office and residential spaces.
The area used for living is at the top of the building.
As the hour hand on the clock on the office wall slowly moved, only Sara was still sound asleep in the office. The other two had long disappeared.
The coats and shirts that had been scattered all over the floor, along with the underwear and other close fitting clothes, had already been cleaned up.
The marks on the desk had also been wiped away.
And in a bedroom on the top floor, in a bathroom separated by a door, faint sounds of water and talking could be heard.
In a steamy space, the water in the bathtub rippled with clear waves, and rose petals giving off a sweet fragrance floated on the surface.
It made it impossible to see the unusual scene under the water.
Aoba was sitting behind Seramu, holding a towel in both hands and carefully wiping her smooth skin.
"Seramu, the thing we talked about before, how is your preparation going?"
"Hm?", Seramu wasn't in a hurry to get out. She leaned back with an easy, relaxed posture and rested her head on his chest.
Then she lifted an arm from under the water and reached out to pinch the boy's cheek. Her long black hair swayed slightly with the ripples on the surface.
"You mentioned a lot of things. Which one do you mean?"
"I'm talking about going to the Leaf. Didn't you say before that you wanted to go have a look?"
"That one…"
Seramu's expression turned a little hesitant, "Speaking of that, do the people in your family know about my relationship with you?"
"Do you want them to know?", Aoba answered very honestly.
Whether the relationship between them should be made public or not depended entirely on Seramu's own wishes.
Besides, he felt that even if they wanted to hide it, it wouldn't work. As soon as Tsunade and the others saw the Yin Seal on Seramu's forehead, they wouldn't even need to guess.
"Well, then I'll visit as the Queen of Roran. Tomorrow will be fine."
Their relationship was a little complicated. If she went over as his girlfriend, wouldn't she be outnumbered?
What if she got bullied?
But going as the Queen of Roran would be no problem.
"Alright. Then I'll come pick you up tomorrow. Is Sara coming too?"
"Sara? She still hasn't completed her study tasks!"
"Uh! Sara is still pretty young. Aren't you being a little too strict with her?"
"Strict? When I was thirt*en, I had already taken over Roran. If I weren't still a little uneasy about her, I would have passed the position of queen on to her long ago."
Aoba felt Seramu tug harder on his cheek. Clearly she wasn't happy about him speaking up for Sara, so he quickly explained.
"Times are different now."
Queens of Roran in the past usually didn't live past thirty because of the erosion from the Dragon Vein, so becoming queen at a young age was normal.
But now that the dragon vein erosion problem had been solved by Aoba, naturally she could hold the position for a few more years.
"Even so, I've already dedicated most of my life to Roran. Do you still want me to be tied down by this position?"
Seramu couldn't help letting out a sigh. Considering the twenty years she spent looking for Sara, she had already been Queen of Roran for nearly forty years.
Aoba froze for a moment when he heard that, then put down the towel in his hands and held her.
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking things through."
"Hmph! As long as you understand."
Seramu snorted lightly. Right after that, she suddenly remembered the conversation she had with Sara earlier and her eyes moved.
She turned around and faced Aoba directly.
"I actually have a way to make things a little easier for Sara."
"What way?", Aoba followed up on her words.
Seramu wrapped her arms around his neck, a playful smile on her face, "Tell me, how about we have a child?"
Aoba froze slightly. He clearly didn't expect Seramu to suddenly bring this up.
"You're sure?"
Seramu frowned a little and puffed her cheeks, "You don't want to have a child with me?"
Even though she was already a mother, the expression she sometimes showed really created a sharp contrast. In short, it was incredibly cute.
Aoba leaned in and kissed her, "That's not what I mean. I'm just wondering what we should say to Sara."
"We just tell her the truth. Besides, Sara should have already sensed what's going on between me and you."
Seramu had also noticed some odd behavior from Sara recently.
"For real?"
Aoba felt that even if their relationship ended up exposed, it would be normal. After all, sometimes Seramu really was a bit too loud.
And she didn't like to hide it.
If he hadn't activated his eye technique in time, Seramu would have already woken sleeping Sara just now.
"Who knows. Just let things happen naturally," Seramu looked completely unconcerned.
At first, she had planned to hide it from Sara for her whole life. But she suddenly realized that it was harder than she imagined.
Sara should forgive her.
After all, with so many rivals, Sara definitely needed a firm ally.
And besides, she was the one who came first, alright.
"It's just that if this happens—"
"Enough. This topic ends here."
Before the words left his mouth, Seramu pressed a finger to the boy's lips. She didn't want to keep going down this trail.
Aoba nodded cooperatively.
Seeing that, Seramu once again showed a satisfied smile.
Then she held onto the bathtub and turned around again, her knees bracing against the bottom under the water as she supported herself.
"You still have things to do tonight. Get up. Don't waste time."
"What?", Aoba felt this wasn't as simple as her telling him to "get up."
Seramu hooked a damp strand of hair off her cheek with her little finger, then stuck out her tongue to lick the corner of her mouth.
"Of course, since we started it, we should finish it."
"But didn't you say you still had work this afternoon?"
"It's fine. I'll just let Sara help out tonight."
"…"
———
"Mmm."
Sara woke up from her deep sleep feeling groggy, stretching without thinking. It felt like she hadn't slept this well in a long time.
Her mom hadn't woken her up early.
That felt strange.
Still stretching, Sara asked, "Mom, what time is it now?"
"It's already four in the afternoon."
The one who answered her was a familiar male voice.
Sara instantly bounced up from the sofa. Sitting on the opposite couch was the familiar boy, smiling at her.
"Sensei!"
Sara leaped forward in excitement and dove straight into his arms.
Aoba held her small body, feeling the little head rubbing back and forth against his chest. He couldn't help raising a hand to affectionately ruffle her hair.
After Sara absorbed enough energy, she slowly lifted her head and asked in a pouty voice.
"Sensei, you didn't come see me for so long. Were you spending time with Hanabi and the others?"
"How is that possible," Aoba refuted her, "I've actually had serious business lately."
"Really?", Sara straddled his thigh, looking doubtful.
"Really."
Aoba could only helplessly give a simple explanation of the Five Kage Summit.
When Sara heard it, it did sound like an important matter, so she instantly lost any reason to stay mad.
She went back to being clingy again.
"Sensei, can you tell me a story tonight?"
Sara liked falling asleep while listening to Aoba tell stories. And if it was a horror story, even better.
That way, she could pretend to be scared and then secretly...
It was just that a few times when she woke up in the middle of the night, he was never beside her, and she couldn't find any trace of him.
Her mother was the same, often not in her own room.
While thinking about this, Sara turned her head toward Seramu's direction.
She found that he was also looking at her with a smile.
Even though the fatigue on his face was obvious, for some reason he looked in much better shape overall.
Seramu noticed Sara looking at him and said directly, "That won't do. Aoba still has things to do tonight. He'll be leaving soon."
"Huh?", Sara immediately looked at Aoba, wanting a clear answer from him.
Aoba nodded helplessly, "If you weren't awake right now, I would have already left."
It was almost time for the Hokage Building to get off work.
Just in time to go find Uchiha Mikoto.
"Wha-what?"
Sara instantly pouted, "Then why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"You looked like you were sleeping so soundly, I felt bad waking you."
Aoba gently pinched her pout, keeping his strength in check so he wouldn't hurt her, then continued.
"But I'll come again tomorrow."
"Really?", Sara's face lit up with joy again.
Seramu found it amusing and couldn't help saying, "Tomorrow I'm going with Aoba to Konoha to visit his Sensei. You stay here and help me handle some work."
Crack!
Sara's expression froze, then shifted to a look on the verge of tears.
"I-I can't go?"
"If you go, who will handle Roran's work?"
"I can use shadow clones!"
"Hm?"
Seramu blinked. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier? But she still found an excuse, "Shadow clones aren't reliable enough. If something urgent happens, they won't be able to deal with it."
"If something urgent happens, then the shadow clone can just dispel itself. Once we know, Sensei can take us back immediately," Sara's mind worked fast, and she easily refuted Seramu's reasoning.
"…", Seramu was a bit speechless. Her daughter's brain only worked this quickly at times like this.
"Fine, then we'll all go. If anything really happens, I can get us back right away," Aoba also spoke up for Sara.
He also felt it wasn't great to leave Sara alone in Roran.
Seramu rolled her eyes, "Alright, alright, you two are clearly on the same side. I'm the bad guy now."
Good thing she had been satisfied just a moment ago, otherwise she wouldn't be so agreeable.
"No, Mom's the best."
Sara instantly changed her face and gave Seramu a sweet smile.
Seeing that, Seramu could only give a helpless smile.
Deep down, she actually felt a little guilty, because she had even felt a bit jealous of Sara.
Back then, she had waited alone for twenty years.
And Sara? She only had to blink her eyes, and at most waited these past ten days or so.
'Sigh!'
Seramu let out a soft sigh in her heart, then quickly adjusted her mood.
"Alright, since you're awake, come help me sort these documents. It'll be dinner soon."
"Huh? But Sensei's still here," Sara blinked.
Aoba picked her up, stroked her hair, and comforted her, "It's fine. I should get going anyway. I'll come pick you both up tomorrow."
"Alright."
Sara gave a light peck on Aoba's cheek, then trotted over to sit beside Seramu.
Aoba smiled, stood up from his seat, and said goodbye to the two of them.
"Then I'll be going first."
"Mm."
———
The afternoon passed in a blur.
[Hokage Building, Inside the Hokage's Office]
"Mikoto, is your workload stressful lately?", Tsunade glanced at the documents Uchiha Mikoto brought over and casually asked.
"Work? Not really stressful," Uchiha Mikoto didn't know why Tsunade suddenly asked this.
But she truly didn't feel any pressure from the current workload.
"If work isn't stressful, then did something happen in your personal life?"
"Huh? No!"
Uchiha Mikoto was confused, "Lady Tsunade, is something wrong?"
"Not really. I just noticed you seemed a bit absent-minded the past couple of days. I thought something happened, but it seems I misunderstood."
"Thank you for worrying about me, Lady Tsunade. I just haven't rested well these two days. I'll adjust soon."
Uchiha Mikoto smiled, but she felt a little guilty inside.
Because she had been thinking about the disciple of a certain someone these past two days, and she even got caught being absent-minded.
"I see. Then rest properly after work."
Tsunade nodded, then added one more sentence, "Right, be careful around Kushina these days. Try not to fool around with her too much."
"Huh?"
Whatever Aoba could think of, Tsunade naturally could too.
Uchiha Mikoto probably wouldn't do anything outrageous, but Kushina was a different matter.
Ever since her revival, relying on her undying body, she had practically unleashed her true nature completely.
She often did things that defied common sense.
———
'Be careful of Kushina?'
When Uchiha Mikoto returned to her office, her face was full of confusion. She didn't understand why Lady Tsunade would warn her to be careful of Kushina.
'Would Kushina harm me?'
"Mikoto, what are you thinking about?", Uchiha Mikoto seemed deep in thought, and only reacted two seconds after hearing Kushina's voice. She blinked as if waking from a dream, then raised her head to meet her eyes.
"Kushina? Why are you here?"
"Didn't you say we're eating at your place tonight? Naruto is with Sasuke right now, so I came to get you early."
Kushina also blinked, "You still hav
en't said why you're so distracted."
"Well, actually Aoba is coming too."
"What did you say?"
Uchiha Mikoto hadn't even finished when Kushina cut her off, grabbing her shoulders.
"This is so important! Why didn't you say it earlier?"
"I…"
"Forget it, this isn't the time. I forgot something at home. I need to go back!"
"Huh?"