Saying that, she was about to leave, but then was suddenly pulled back by someone.
"Aoba?"
Konan looked at Aoba in confusion.
"Konan-nee, since you're already here…"
"Ah?"
———
This time, after a long-lost training session, Aoba had finally let out all of his strength.
He didn't feel tired at all.
Although yesterday he had put on an appearance of not caring in front of Yakumo and the others, that was only because he had to give them a sense of security.
Up until now, he had finally gotten that sense of relief that belonged only to him.
Only now could he feel warmth and fulfillment through and through.
"Aoba, did something happen?"
Shizune finally couldn't hold back her question anymore.
"Mm."
Aoba repeated what he had just told Tsunade, then briefly explained it to her.
"Aoba…"
Shizune hugged Aoba's head with some heartache, letting him rest against her not-so-broad chest.
But in the end, Aoba was still chased out by Shizune.
"Anko is still in the village, go find her."
After saying this, Shizune just went back to sleep on her own.
On the side, Konan, still a bit drowsy, only heard the name Anko. She ran it once through her head, then gave up thinking.
Whatever. She only wanted to lie down right now.
Aoba had no choice but to sigh.
He had underestimated his own body a little. After three years of rest and recovery, just standing now, his strength was terrifying.
But what he was curious about was, could it be that Anko hadn't left the village at all during this time?
Last time, at Orochimaru's lab in the Land of Waves, they had taken quite a lot of money, and Anko had gotten a share.
With that money, Anko really could have lived a lazy, lying-flat life.
He mainly worried that if Anko completely slacked off, then even if she controlled her diet, she might still slowly get fat.
It wasn't that he couldn't stand seeing Anko fat, but that the image of Mitarashi Sweet Potato had already dug too deep into his mind.
He had a bit of a psychological shadow about it.
———
Carrying the thought that if Anko gained even a pound, he'd drag her into "conscious training" once, Aoba knocked on Anko's door.
The one who opened it was Isaribi, dressed in home clothes.
"Aoba?"
Isaribi was surprised. Clearly, Aoba, who used to be about the same height as her, had suddenly shot up taller than her by a whole head.
'Could this be Transformation Jutsu?'
"Long time no see, Isaribi."
Aoba smiled as he greeted her.
"Lo… long time no see, come in please!"
Isaribi snapped back to her senses and stepped aside.
Aoba walked in, only to be surprised to find Anko hadn't become a salted-fish.
At this moment, she was sitting with her legs propped up on the sofa. In one hand she was eating dango, in the other she was holding a book.
Clearly, from Isaribi's voice earlier, she had already known it was Aoba who had come.
But now she was just giving him a strange look.
"Coming to my house with Transformation Jutsu? What, are you afraid of being caught by your little girlfriends?"
"…"
Aoba couldn't help rolling his eyes. Only Anko would talk like this.
"But your Transformation Jutsu isn't really that good. You didn't even bother changing much. Isaribi could still tell right away."
Anko raised her brows, "Want me to teach you Transformation Jutsu, kid?"
"This isn't Transformation Jutsu, I really did grow this much."
Aoba casually explained, then walked over to Anko.
"Eh?"
Anko clearly froze for a moment, and even Isaribi, who was preparing tea, didn't quite get it.
Aoba had already sat down beside her, grabbing hold of one of her legs.
He was a little surprised. She didn't go out much and rarely dressed herself up, but this time she had carefully painted her toenails bright red.
"A ninja school textbook? Anko-nee, are you really planning to become a teacher?"
Aoba toyed with her foot in one hand, while picking up another book from the table with the other.
"Yeah. I don't really need money anymore, and I'm too lazy to do ninja missions. The teacher's salary is enough to support me and Isaribi."
Anko stretched lazily, her loose home clothes unable to hide her figure.
"Teachers still have exams now, right? Anko-nee, you can really sit down and study books?"
Although most ninja academy teachers were chunin who had stepped back from the front lines, to actually become a teacher you still had to be selected.
After all, they were raising the future of the village. They couldn't just let anyone take the role.
Aoba worried that with Anko's three-days-fishing-two-days-sunbathing personality, she wouldn't manage it.
"You looking down on me?", Anko glared at him.
"I'm at least a jonin, you know? These exam contents are easy for me. Besides, most of the academy curriculum was designed for the battlefield anyway."
"I was someone who retired from the ninja wars myself. Becoming a teacher will be a piece of cake."
"So awesome, huh. Looks like I really underestimated you, Anko-nee."
Aoba smiled as he replied, but his hand was already sliding along the curve of her leg.
Anko felt the change, hugged the half-eaten dango in her hands, and glared at him.
"I'm eating only this much today."
"…"
"I'm not trying to steal your dango."
When Aoba saw that her first reaction was to protect her dango, the corner of his mouth twitched, and for a moment he didn't even know how to respond.
This was just like one of those jokes he had heard before.
Hearing him, Anko also let out a sigh of relief.
'Scared me.'
'So he isn't going to steal my dango.'
"You said that last time too, then stole all my anko-dango and ate them."
Anko ground her teeth in anger.
"That's because last time you were sneaking food. You clearly promised me you'd control yourself, but you still secretly ate more."
Aoba looked at her with a "hate iron but can't turn to steel" face, "Do you really want to get fat and turn into a sweet potato?"
"You're the sweet potato! Haven't I already been controlling myself?"
Anko puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction, but though her words weren't happy, she really had been controlling her diet honestly.
Even though she usually acted rough and didn't care much about her image, secretly she had already started learning makeup knowledge from Kurenai.
The red nail polish on her toes was proof of that.
Wanting to keep up her pretty side. And during that kind of time, it would also feel better and more immersive.
Sometimes having a boyfriend was a hassle, but it couldn't be helped.
After all, there were two mouths to feed at home.
What if she got old one day?
Anko didn't think too much about it. What would happen when she got old? Whatever.
She only cared about the now. Anyway, she wasn't losing out.
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