Knock! Knock! Knock!
Just as Aoba was about to get up and leave, a series of rhythmic knocks sounded on the door.
For a moment, the two people inside the room looked at each other.
"It's so late, who could it be?", Yuhi Kurenai asked in a low voice.
Aoba's mouth twitched, 'How would I know?'
Even if he activated Kagura's Mind Eye, he could only sense that the one outside was a rather strong ninja.
But a ninja he didn't recognize.
"Then... should we open the door?"
'This is your house.'
"Kurenai, open up quickly, I saw your light is still on!", A vibrant female voice rang out.
"Anko?"
'Anko?'
'Orochimaru's student, Konoha's Special Jonin, future Mitarashi Sweet Potato?' [T/N: Seems like a Chinese pun]
"Do you need me to avoid this?"
"Avoid? Avoid what?", Yuhi Kurenai was a bit confused.
She had already walked to the door and opened it.
A lively, delicate round face appeared.
At this moment, Anko had not yet become the future Sweet Potato version, her curvaceous figure was quite alluring.
Her neat purple short hair was tied in a small ponytail, her light brown outer garment was matched with a mesh undershirt, one hand holding sake and dango, the other hand holding a skewer of dango which she was munching on.
"What were you doing, why did it take you so long to open the door?", Anko puffed her cheeks; the dango in her mouth hadn't even been swallowed yet.
"I was just... hmm?"
She had just stepped into the room when her words got stuck. Clearly, she hadn't expected someone else to be present.
"Kurenai... who is this?", Her mind was full of endless dango.
"Ah! I forgot to introduce, this is Aoba, a student from the Genin class I'm leading."
"Aoba? That name sounds so familiar, is he one of the newly graduated Genin?", Anko's eyes widened slightly, her pretty face showing shock and disbelief.
She walked over to Aoba and began circling around him while scrutinizing him.
"Uh... is there something wrong?", Being looked at like that, Aoba felt a bit awkward, not knowing what the other party wanted to do.
"Really unexpected...", Anko murmured softly, then looked toward Yuhi Kurenai, whose expression was a bit unnatural.
"Kurenai... he's more than ten years younger than you, right?"
"...Indeed."
"No wonder you never agreed to Asuma chasing you all those years, turns out you like younger guys."
"Huh?", Yuhi Kurenai's head felt a bit muddled, not knowing what Anko was talking about.
Anko stood in front of Aoba, her sudden stop made the netting over her chest jiggle a bit.
Then, she patted Aoba's shoulder apologetically, "Sorry for disturbing you two, I'll leave right away."
Saying that, Anko put down the sake and dango she was holding and turned to leave.
But she was blocked at the door by the somewhat exasperated Yuhi Kurenai.
"Anko! What nonsense are you talking about? He's just my student!"
"Just a student?", Anko blinked, "So you're bringing a male student, just a student, to your home in the middle of the night alone?"
Yuhi Kurenai's mouth twitched, "He's also Lady Tsunade's disciple, we just happened to meet downstairs and I invited him up to sit for a bit..."
After much explanation, Yuhi Kurenai finally cleared up the situation.
'Aoba... turns out he's the Hokage's disciple, no wonder the name sounded familiar.'
The three sat on the sofa. Anko's eyes sparkled as she looked at Aoba, then handed him a skewer of dango.
"First time meeting, have some dango."
She had only heard about him before, this was their first actual meeting.
"Thank you."
Aoba politely accepted the dango.
Seeing the situation settle, Yuhi Kurenai opened her mouth to ask.
"Anko, what brings you to me so late at night?"
Only then did Anko shift her gaze back to Kurenai, "I just got back and heard you became a Jonin in charge of a team, so I came over to celebrate with some food."
Saying that, Anko pointed to the dango and sake on the table, "See, I even brought the snacks."
"Just didn't expect to barge in on your date with little Aoba here."
Seeing the teasing look on Anko's face, Yuhi Kurenai couldn't help but rub her forehead. Sometimes she found this overly familiar friend a bit of a headache.
"Uh... if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now," This kind of situation was hard to handle. Aoba stood up again, preparing to leave.
But before he could take two steps, Anko grabbed him with one hand, still holding a skewer of dango in the other.
She rolled the dango into her mouth with her tongue and even playfully stuck out her pink tongue at Aoba.
'What a skillful tongue!'
"Is there something else?", Aoba stiffened his face; this was the first time he had seen such a nimble tongue.
Anko pulled Aoba to sit next to her, very naturally wrapping her arm around his shoulder.
Holding a skewer of dango, she brought it close to Aoba's mouth, "Don't be in such a rush to leave, big sis brought enough dango for three."
"Anko!", Yuhi Kurenai frowned slightly at her friend's behavior and couldn't help scolding her.
'That's my disciple's boyfriend!'
"Hehe!", Seeing Yuhi Kurenai's reaction, Anko's eyes flashed with a strange light, then she gave a "I know I'm wrong but I won't change" expression.
"Oh right, Kurenai, on my way over, I ran into Asuma. He was thinking of dropping by too, but I sent him away."
Yuhi Kurenai was taken aback, "Did he want something?"
"He wanted to ask you out."
"..."
Seeing Yuhi Kurenai silent, Anko continued to ask, "Seems like Asuma still wants to pursue you, what do you think?"
Yuhi Kurenai still didn't answer, and let out a sigh.
"What's wrong? I thought you two used to be pretty close?", Anko was a bit confused and glanced at Aoba sitting nearby.
'Did she really move on?'
"I haven't seen Asuma in years. Meeting him... feels like seeing a very familiar stranger. It's a bit awkward."
"Uh... I don't really get it," Anko scratched her head, eyes full of cluelessness.
"But if you don't want to go, I'll turn him down for you tomorrow."
Yuhi Kurenai nodded, "Then I'll trouble you. I still have to take them on a mission tomorrow..."
The two chatted more and more deeply. Even though there was a big age gap, they surprisingly had many shared topics.
Aoba just sat to the side, quietly eating dango and spectating.
.
.
.
After all the dango Anko brought was devoured, Aoba finally escaped the clutches of the two somewhat tipsy older ladies.
By the time he got back, it was already quite late.
———
[At Tsunade's Home]
Aoba sat on the sofa, while Karin was hanging off him wearing a pair of black thigh-high socks.
Her feet wrapped in black stockings gently pressed on his thigh, and her smooth hair kept brushing against his cheek.
It was tingly and numbing, like a little kitten scratching at his chest.
Tsunade glanced sideways at the two cuddling, curling her lips.
Shizune, on the other hand, looked at them with some dissatisfaction, she even knew to turn off the lights.
But this Karin showed no sense of restraint.
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