Tsunade, who had originally no interest in joining their conversation, lifted her head when she heard Aoba's words, silently watching the two of them.
"Um… I'll pay rent," Kurotsuchi said weakly, raising her hand.
"With Aoba's money?", Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"I'll pay him back as soon as I start earning money!", Kurotsuchi puffed her cheeks. She was only borrowing because she didn't have money, not because she didn't intend to pay it back.
Although she couldn't take on missions, since she had only run away from home and hadn't defected to another village, there were still other ways to earn money in Konoha besides missions.
Tsunade stared at her for a while before finally nodding, "I don't mind letting you stay in the Senju compound. In fact, I can even waive your rent."
"Really? Thank you so much, Lady Tsunade!"
Kurotsuchi instantly went from listless to full of life again.
"Don't get too excited yet. I have one condition."
"Please say it, Lady Tsunade."
"From now on, you are not allowed to use my relationship with Aoba to threaten him anymore."
"Eh?", Kurotsuchi's mouth hung open. She'd been planning to live off that secret for the rest of her life.
"What's wrong? You have a problem with that?", Tsunade narrowed her eyes again.
"N–no problem…", Although her housing issue had been solved, Kurotsuchi didn't feel particularly happy.
If she couldn't use that secret to threaten Aoba anymore, it felt like her life suddenly lost a lot of its fun.
And so, the matter of Kurotsuchi's temporary stay in Konoha was casually settled right there at the dinner table.
After dinner, Aoba went to the residence prepared for Kirigakure.
Standing guard at the entrance, Zabuza and Haku said nothing when they saw him. They just nodded silently and stepped aside to let him in.
When Aoba pushed open the door to Mei Terumi's living room, he was greeted by the sight of a certain mature woman sitting cross-legged on the sofa.
Beside her was a plate of soup dumplings. In one hand, she held a dumpling ready to go into her mouth; with the other, she was ungracefully scratching her foot. Her eyes were glued with great interest to the novel in her hand.
The Land of Iron was a very traditional country, with almost no entertainment of any kind.
That novel was something Mei had brought from Kirigakure.
It was just that… her current appearance really wasn't all that elegant.
Aoba: "?"
Mei Terumi: "!"
The air instantly froze.
"Ahem! Mei-nee, you haven't had dinner yet?", Aoba scratched his cheek awkwardly.
After a few seconds of silence, Mei's beautiful eyes widened. She switched the dumpling to her other hand and threw it straight at the door.
The dumpling flew through the air like a perfectly thrown shuriken, heading straight for Aoba, but he calmly caught it midair and popped it into his mouth.
"It's sweet?", he said after a bite.
"Pervert! That's because the dumpling is supposed to be sweet!", Mei snapped furiously, patting the sofa beside her.
"Come here. Sit."
Aoba obediently complied and sat down next to her.
The moment he did, a pair of legs landed in his lap.
"Now, taste again. Is it sweet?", Mei said, her voice carrying a dangerous tone.
"…"
Aoba's face darkened, "Mei-nee, I'm not a pervert."
"Heh!", Mei sneered.
Aoba said nothing more, instead pressing his thumbs into the pressure points on her feet, helping ease her fatigue from the day.
Mei's expression softened considerably, but she hadn't forgotten how he'd abandoned her earlier that day. Her voice turned sharp.
"Why didn't you come keep me company this afternoon? Why'd you go off with Tsunade?"
"I was discussing the situation with Kumogakure with my teacher…", Aoba explained what he and Tsunade had talked about.
Upon hearing it, the cloudiness on Mei's face vanished, replaced by surprise.
"Even if we set aside sending the Eight-Tails to Konoha, they'd never agree to the ninja base proposal," she said.
A ninja base involved village sovereignty, far more humiliating for Kumogakure than even losing a tailed beast.
"Then it's up to them," Aoba said calmly, "Whether the Eight-Tails gets in trouble or not has nothing to do with us."
He intentionally left out some details. It was true they had discussed it, but when, and where, was something he didn't need to elaborate on.
"I see. That Fourth Raikage really is obnoxious," Mei muttered, nodding in agreement and pouting slightly.
"Well, fine. In that case, I'll forgive you. But…", Her tone suddenly changed, "You're still not getting away without punishment!"
"?"
'If punishment's unavoidable, what exactly am I being forgiven for?', Aoba thought.
Before he could ask, Mei twisted her body and pushed him down onto the sofa, her beautiful face glowing with a wild, arrogant grin.
"Aoba, your big sister here recently developed a brand-new jutsu based on my Kekkei Genkai. Want to see it?"
Aoba blinked, "What kind of jutsu?"
Mei smiled wickedly, "Most jutsu are created by stimulating chakra inside the body, changing its nature, and then releasing it through the mouth. As long as I control the temperature and properties of my Lava Release and Boil Release just right."
"Wait, don't tell me…"
Aoba's eyes widened. He wasn't exactly ignorant about such things.
Mei's smile faded, her expression turning deadly serious.
"Tonight, only one of us is walking out of this house!"
Honestly, Aoba had seen this coming.
When it came to this sort of thing, Mei's enthusiasm far exceeded that of any other woman. The first thing she did whenever they met was always… well, that.
But tonight was clearly more intense than usual.
Throughout the ordeal, Aoba remained on edge. If Mei ever lost control of her jutsu, he'd end up paying dearly for it.
Under such tense conditions, his combat ability was definitely weaker than usual.
Fortunately, the final battleground was not actually upon the scorching fields of Boil and Lava Release.
And, as usual, the result was Mei's crushing defeat.
Now she lay sprawled across the sofa, limbs limp, her chest rising and falling heavily, completely exhausted.
Still, compared to her usual post-battle state, her face was unusually flushed this time, especially her cheeks, slightly red and swollen as if from using her jutsu too long.
"Mei-nee, drink some water."
Aoba sat beside her, holding a cup of water. He helped her up from her collapsed position, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, and brought the cup to her lips.
Mei gulped down every last drop, easing the numbness in her mouth, then exhaled deeply.
"Damn it… I can't believe I still lost. I really thought this new jutsu would finally grind the iron rod into a needle!"
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