"Tonight?"
Aoba glanced at the sky outside the dango shop.
Shizune should be getting off work soon around this time. Mikoto and the others were watching over the Land of Fire's capital, and if anything urgent happened, they would notify him immediately.
"I don't have anything going on tonight. Do you have other plans?"
"That's great! Kurotsuchi said Iwagakure doesn't have hot springs, so we were planning to go soak in one together again tonight."
As Karin spoke, she happily threw an arm around Sakura's shoulders and continued, "I heard from Sakura that last time, Aoba-nii took her and Ino to the Land of Hot Water for a hot spring trip. Since you're free tonight, Aoba-nii, we're going too this time!"
"The Land of Hot Water?"
Karin's suggestion was immediately approved by Hinata, Tenten, Temari, and Fu.
They nodded eagerly.
Temari and Fu went without saying. Both of them more or less came from relatively poor places.
Hinata and Tenten hadn't been to the Land of Hot Water many times either, so naturally they wanted to go.
And when Aoba heard they just wanted to soak in a hot spring in the Land of Hot Water, he naturally had no objections.
However, just as he was about to nod in agreement, someone suddenly realized something was off.
BANG!
"Hold it right there!"
Kurotsuchi slapped her palm down on the middle of the table, the noise instantly drawing everyone's attention.
They all turned to look at her. Even Uchiha Hikari stopped eating and looked over curiously.
"What's wrong, Kurotsuchi?", Aoba asked in confusion, "If you're worried that hot springs in the Land of Hot Water are expensive, I can cover all expenses tonight."
"Cover your big-headed ghost!"
Kurotsuchi said indignantly. Was she someone who lacked that little bit of money now?
She had contracted an entire construction site's worth of concrete before, she had plenty of cash.
The problem was…
"You're not planning to soak in the same hot spring as us, are you?"
"What's wrong with that?"
But the one who responded wasn't Aoba. It was the collective puzzled gaze of Tenten and the others.
"..."
Kurotsuchi opened her mouth, only to realize that most of the girls present were basically Aoba's people.
Of course they wouldn't mind.
But she wasn't! Was she really supposed to take her clothes off in front of that guy Aoba? That was way too embarrassing!
"Fu, Hikari, what do you two think?"
Kurotsuchi could only look for allies to stand on the same front as her.
"Ah? Th-this… I think it's fine…"
When Fu saw Kurotsuchi looking at her, she immediately imagined the scene of soaking in the hot spring.
She quickly lowered her head, her face flushing red as she said, "I think hot springs are more fun when there are more friends."
Uchiha Hikari blinked, "Hot springs? I think I've heard of them before. Are they tasty?"
This one didn't even understand what was happening. She had only come out today to freeload food. If more people were eating, would there not be enough to go around?
"You guys…"
Kurotsuchi was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.
'Do I really have to…'
"Mm… For mixed bathing, you usually wear swimsuits."
After going around in such a big circle, how could Aoba not see what Kurotsuchi was worried about?
"Ah? Is… is that so?"
Kurotsuchi froze for a second. She really hadn't considered wearing a swimsuit in a hot spring.
"Otherwise, how did you think it worked?"
Aoba looked at her with a teasing expression.
Under his gaze, Kurotsuchi's cheeks reddened slightly, but she still stubbornly glared at him and said unhappily, "I've never done mixed bathing before, how would I know?"
"Alright, alright. It's getting late. If we're all going to soak together, let's go buy swimsuits first!"
Seeing that Kurotsuchi no longer objected, Temari timely reminded everyone.
"Okay!"
The group headed to a swimsuit shop.
Considering it was a girls' gathering, Aoba also went to the Land of Fire's capital to bring Yakumo over.
The situation in the capital had stabilized now; there wasn't much need for Yakumo to stay there.
After arriving at the swimsuit shop, Aoba casually picked out a pair of swim trunks and was basically done.
But the girls carefully selected theirs, occasionally coming over to ask for his opinion.
"Aoba-nii, which one do you think suits me?"
Karin appeared in front of him holding up two swimsuits.
Aoba looked at the ones she was holding up. He had intended to give a serious evaluation, but once he saw clearly what they were, his face immediately darkened.
"Be serious!"
A hand chop landed unceremoniously on Karin's head. Then Aoba snatched away the swimsuit that was practically made of a few strings and put it back.
"You're wearing this!"
He brought over a one-piece swimsuit for her.
Was she even fit to wear that other thing?
Maybe Hinata could pull it off.
Still, Aoba made a mental note of those two swimsuits. He could let Tsunade and Samui try them sometime.
"Fine."
Karin pouted. Though somewhat regretful, she didn't refuse.
After all, Aoba picked it.
After fussing around for nearly half an hour, everyone had finally chosen their swimsuits.
Aside from Karin being a little mischievous at the beginning, the others picked normal styles.
The sky outside had completely darkened, and the streets on both sides lit up one after another. Aoba took them and used Flying Thunder God to teleport everyone to the Land of Hot Water.
It was still the same hot spring inn as last time.
Snowy days were indeed perfect for soaking in hot springs.
When Aoba and the others arrived, he used a few special methods to successfully book an entire hot spring pool.
He quickly changed in the men's dressing room.
After coming out, he first used his dojutsu to confirm the surrounding safety, then replaced the pool with fresh spring water before entering first to wait.
On the girls' side, however, they were clearly slower, apparently delayed by something.
"Do I really have to wear this?"
Uchiha Hikari looked at the one-piece swimsuit in her hands, appearing somewhat restrained.
After all, she was from several hundred years ago, Hikari's personality was relatively conservative.
This was already the most conservative swimsuit she had chosen. Aside from her limbs, not much skin was exposed.
Still, she felt a bit unaccustomed. She had never worn something that revealed this much before.
'Or rather, does this even count as clothing?'
"It's fine, Hikari. We're all girls here."
Beside her, Temari comforted her while taking off her own clothes.
"What about Aoba?"
Hikari tilted her head and looked at her.
"Ah, well…"
Temari was momentarily speechless. She was already used to not wearing clothes in front of him, so she hadn't really thought about it.
At that moment, Yakumo's voice rang out again.
"You don't need to worry about that. Because when the time comes, Aoba's gaze will definitely be drawn to this."
"Ah! Yakumo, what are you doing?"
Before they could even shift their eyes, Hinata's cry rang out at the same time.
When they looked over, Hinata was already hunched over, covering her chest, her face full of embarrassment and annoyance.
Behind her, Yakumo had her hands slightly cupped in the air, her expression full of amazement.
"Hinata, you're still growing?"
As a ninja, Yakumo's judgment of size was naturally precise.
Though she had only grabbed for an instant just now, it was clearly more impressive than the last time at the cinema.
'At this rate, will they float up in the hot spring later?'
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