Ino tried to pry Inner Sakura off Aoba like peeling something glued to him.
But compared to Inner Sakura who had monstrous strength, Ino's little bit of force was completely useless.
Aoba even felt like his ribs were about to be crushed by Inner Sakura.
Seeing the two of them still tugging like they were playing tug of war, Aoba had no choice but to just pull Ino over too.
If Ino wasn't pulling on Inner Sakura, naturally Inner Sakura wouldn't keep squeezing tighter.
He just seemed to have forgotten where they were.
"I don't know what kind of flowers the two customers are looking for?"
Yamanaka Rino walked up to them with a smile that wasn't a smile, her eyes not those of a shopkeeper welcoming customers but a butcher sizing up prey.
The kind of butcher that cuts.
Right in front of the girl's mother he was hugging her daughter left and right? So brazen already?
"Cough! Hello, Auntie, it's Yugao-nee who wants to buy flowers."
Aoba awkwardly let go of both girls.
Ino hid behind him, not daring to face her mother's eyes.
"I want to buy some flowers suitable to put in the bedroom."
Uzuki Yugao spoke up just in time to help Aoba out of the mess.
"Then please come this way. I'll introduce them to you."
Rino still kept her professional attitude and didn't make Ino do the job.
"Alright, the three of you chat for a bit."
Yugao said that to them and followed Rino to look at flowers.
Ino quickly grabbed both of them and ran behind the big tree outside the shop before finally breathing out in relief.
Her mom's eyes had been terrifying.
"Aoba, what happened to your mouth?"
Inner Sakura noticed the cut on his lower lip.
"That? I bumped it by accident."
Aoba said nonsense with a completely straight face.
Ino looked at it, then rolled her eyes.
One up and one down like that, how do you even bump yourself that way?
But Inner Sakura lifted her hand and poked lightly, asking with concern, "Does it hurt? Why didn't you use medical ninjutsu to heal it?"
Her tone was dripping with intention.
Even Ino was stunned, 'How do you even talk in that tone?'
She had been green-hatted.
But Aoba actually really liked it.
Where was anything green tea about this? This was obviously his sweetest, most considerate little sister-persona.
"Cough! It's just a small injury. No need for medical ninjutsu. It'll recover on its own."
Aoba tried to bury the topic immediately.
Both of them knew the truth.
Obviously the one who left that injury didn't allow him to heal it.
"I know a method that doesn't use medical ninjutsu but still heals fast."
Inner Sakura raised her hand.
"What is it?"
Ino asked curiously.
Aoba already knew what Inner Sakura wanted to do.
Inner Sakura hooked her arm around his neck and kissed him.
Aoba lowered his head to match her, and the two kissed wetly right then and there.
Ino's expression turned into a giant question mark.
Inner Sakura's flirty tone earlier had already stunned her, and now she was straight-up doing this right in front of her…
So shameless. Even she knew to hide and do it.
"Inner Sakura, what are you doing?"
Ino's brain rebooted and she questioned Inner Sakura on the spot.
Inner Sakura let go of Aoba's neck, looked playfully at Ino, and said a little breathlessly, "Ino, you didn't know? Saliva contains lots of growth factors and thrombin, it can stop bleeding and promote healing."
"You!"
Ino didn't even know how to argue back, so she just glared at Aoba.
"Ino…"
"Mine works too!"
Ino didn't let Aoba get a word in. She shoved Inner Sakura aside, wiped all the moisture off his lips with force, and kissed him herself.
Inner Sakura didn't complain, just shrugged helplessly.
Already not kids anymore, but Ino was still this jealous.
"..."
"Um… how long do you two plan to keep kissing?"
A cool, quiet girl's voice cut in, full of displeasure.
"!"
The two separated instantly. Uzuki Yugao was standing right next to them staring straight at them.
"Yugao-nee, you already picked out your flowers?", Aoba asked awkwardly.
Ino hid behind him, wiping her mouth carefully while glaring at Inner Sakura, who was covering her mouth and secretly laughing.
Yugao-nee had come over and she didn't remind her.
Inner Sakura was too evil. Sakura was better.
"Yeah, we can pick them up on the way home."
Yugao nodded lightly, then pulled Aoba to her side and looked teasingly at the two girls.
"Sorry, but Aoba belongs only to me this morning."
———
'That guy went to find Ino first again!'
Seeing them walk in, Tenten puffed up her cheeks behind the counter of her family's ninja tools shop.
"Why are you two still following us?"
Yugao looked at Ino and Sakura, who had followed her and Aoba inside, unable to help laughing.
"We're running low on ninja tools. Came to look around."
Ino dodged the question.
Long-haired Sakura also nodded timidly beside her.
At this point the personas had already switched back.
Just earlier, when Ino was about to interrogate Inner Sakura, the switch sprang on its own.
Inner Sakura's behavior had left Ino stewing in powerless fury for quite a while.
Later, when she asked why Sakura let Inner Sakura take over, she learned that it was compensation for helping her train the Yin Seal.
Which only made Ino even more unsure where to vent her anger.
Yugao just smiled and went to pick out tools.
Left standing aside, Aoba figured Yugao had probably been bullied hard by Konan and Shizune last night and came here to bully Ino and Sakura in return.
"Aoba!"
When he snapped out of his thoughts, Tenten was already in front of him puffing angrily.
"Tenten."
"Why did you go to Ino and Sakura first again?", Tenten questioned fiercely.
"Uh… I was actually on a date with Yugao-nee. We only stopped by Ino's flower shop to look at flowers."
Aoba looked completely innocent.
"This…"
Most of Tenten's anger fizzled out instantly.
She and Ino and Sakura had been getting crushed by Yugao since they were kids, and she was even Yugao's student now… so she could only puff up her cheeks and sulk.
Aoba, by now well-practiced, pulled her slender body into his arms and kissed her.
That shut down Tenten's brain long enough that she naturally wasn't angry anymore.
And now there was one more little tail following him and Yugao.
Yugao confirmed Aoba's suspicion by showing off their affection the whole way, forcing the three girls to just watch.
Honestly, their dagger-like stares made even Aoba uncomfortable.
He could only wait a couple days to figure out how to soothe them.
Luckily Yugao didn't suggest going to find Hinata and Yakumo as well, or Yakumo would probably suffer the most.
———
After lunch together, setting the next meeting time, Aoba finally felt relieved as he headed to the Hokage Building.
Right at the entrance, he happened to run into Kushina.
Kushina's eyes lit up. But she didn't greet him. She turned around and ran…
Aoba: "?"
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