All the way, Hanabi clung to Aoba and refused to come down.
So Aoba had no choice but to keep holding her, occasionally buying some snacks to feed her.
Hyuga Natsu quietly followed beside them with her gentle manner. Whenever she noticed a bit of food at the corners of either of their mouths, she would immediately take out a handkerchief to wipe them clean.
The scene looked just like a young married couple out shopping with their child.
Only Fu, she had never seen such a bustling place. She was like an overexcited chihuahua, looking here and glancing there, unable to calm down at all.
Compared to Konoha, a "village" in name only but already practically a big city, Takigakure was a completely tiny village.
Such a remote place. Forget merchants, even people from other villages were almost nonexistent.
All daily necessities were purchased and distributed by the village uniformly.
If Aoba weren't watching her, she might have run off and disappeared already.
"Come to think of it, how did you two meet?"
Aoba shoved a lollipop into Fu's mouth to quiet her temporarily.
"I was waiting for you at the school gate, and little Hanabi came up to greet me on her own," Fu imitated Hanabi, sticking out her little tongue to lick the lollipop in her hand.
Sweet and tasty.
"Did Hanabi say anything bad about me?", Aoba suddenly asked.
"Hanabi would never say anything bad about Aoba-nii."
Hanabi looked up with pure eyes, her expression full of displeasure.
"Really?", Aoba pinched her cheek with a half-smile.
"Really!", Hanabi tried to shove her licked lollipop into Aoba's mouth.
But Aoba blocked her quickly.
Fu, meanwhile, fell into thought. She began using her small brain to think, 'The things Hanabi said earlier… are they considered "bad things"?'
'She said Aoba-sama is a big scumbag. Her older sister is Aoba-sama's girlfriend, Natsu-nee is also Aoba-sama's girlfriend, Shizune-nee at the Hokage building is also Aoba-sama's girlfriend.'
'And there are many other girls I haven't even met who are also his girlfriends.'
'Looked at this way, those aren't bad things at all.'
She just didn't know exactly how many girlfriends Aoba had.
'So complicated—'
'But thinking about it like that, it is pretty fun.'
After leaving Takigakure, even though it had only been one day, she had already made so many interesting friends.
Thinking that, Fu felt the lollipop in her mouth taste even sweeter, and her steps became more lively.
Aoba teased Hanabi a bit more, and the group reached a street corner not far from the Hyuga compound.
There, they ran into Hinata, who had been waiting.
Clearly, she'd noticed her little sister hadn't returned home for so long and had used her Byakugan to check.
Seeing each other again after a long time made the two of them genuinely happy.
Even without speaking a word, it felt hard for anyone else to interrupt.
This made Hanabi, who felt she was being ignored, very displeased.
She muttered softly, "Is Onee-san going to kiss Aoba-nii next?"
"Mmh!"
That was indeed what Hinata had originally had in mind when she decided to wait outside.
But suddenly being exposed by Hanabi made her feel embarrassed again.
Of course, Hinata would blush, Aoba just went straight in.
The bold display made Fu slap her hands over her eyes on the spot, only peeking through her fingers.
Natsu was already used to this, though she felt that she might someday be like Hinata too. She lowered her head, her ears burning red.
Hanabi could only puff up her cheeks and watch.
'Onee-san is getting more shameless by the day, so many people around, and she still does that.'
'She used to faint so easily before.'
'Aoba-nii's trai… teaching ability is way too strong.'
'But it is also very unfair, he kissed Onee-san, yet still refused to eat my lollipop.'
Aoba: 'That's way too much of a sentence.'
"Aoba-kun, did you drink?"
After they separated, Hinata savored things for a moment and suddenly asked curiously.
"Huh?"
Aoba blinked, "No, why?"
"Mm… it feels like there was a bit of alcohol smell," Hinata touched her lips lightly, confused.
Aoba realized immediately, Anko had been practically soaked in alcohol earlier. But he didn't panic at all. He simply smiled and said:
"Want to check again?"
Hinata glanced at the others and shook her head, cheeks pink.
"N-no, that's fine."
Even though she refused, Aoba still tapped her lips lightly before introducing them.
"Hinta, let me introduce you. This is a ninja from Takigakure, Fu."
"Hello! Can we be friends?", Fu perked up instantly when Aoba introduced her, returning to her usual cheerful self and offering her right hand.
Hinata froze for a moment, then recovered. After giving Aoba a faint look, she shook Fu's hand.
"Of course. I'm Hyuga Hinata."
"Hehe, great!"
Fu laughed happily. Today's experiences made her feel her goal of having a hundred friends seemed a bit too small.
Aoba pinched Hanabi's nose, still puffed up unhappily, then said, "Hinata, it's almost dinner time. I'll come see you next time."
"Mm."
Hinata nodded. She'd already regained enough energy for now.
———
"How did school feel today?", On the way back, Aoba bought two trays of takoyaki, handing one to Fu.
"It was really fun! This afternoon, I became friends with my whole class."
After speaking, Fu immediately stabbed a ball and popped it into her mouth.
"Mm!"
As expected, she scorched herself badly.
"So hot!"
She opened her mouth, little pink tongue sticking out. She actually looked pretty cute like that.
"That's not how you're supposed to eat it."
Aoba laughed and then went to buy a bottle of water, handing it to her.
"Rinse your mouth, that'll help."
Fu grabbed it right away and took several big gulps.
When the pain on her tongue eased, Aoba speared a ball that had already cooled a bit and held it out to her.
"This one's just right. Try it."
Fu looked a little awkward, hesitated, then carefully took a bite.
Her eyes lit up instantly.
Not nearly as hot as before, just the right temperature, and very delicious.
After that, she imitated Aoba's way of eating and finished the rest of the takoyaki.
The noise around them faded gradually with the wind.
The two of them had left the central shopping district and entered the Senju compound. The air around them grew quieter.
Aoba noticed her casting strange glances at him from time to time.
"Do you have some kind of question?"
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