"Aoba?"
Hearing that, Tenten's eyes lit up, and she looked at Aoba expectantly.
"Mm."
Aoba naturally nodded with a smile, but what he needed to handle wasn't just Konoha's work. He then said, "Tenten, go back to the office and wait for me a bit. I'll go to the Daimyo's residence to give some instructions, I'll be back very soon. Then I'll go have lunch with you."
"Eh?"
Tenten paused, almost forgetting about that, but she wasn't the kind of person to make unreasonable trouble. She knew that even though Aoba seemed to slack off every day now, with his current position, there were still quite a lot of things to handle.
"Then you're not allowed to be late. You've already taken my explosive tag!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Tenten left the Hokage's office with light steps.
"One explosive tag for a whole day, tsk! tsk!, that's really a good deal."
Now that only the two of them were left in the office, Shizune couldn't help but click her tongue softly and tease him.
Of course she knew about how Aoba had "tricked" a few little girls out of their pocket money since he was young.
After all, he had already moved into the Senju clan compound when he was six years old.
Back then, this guy even asked Naruto and Sasuke for "friendship fees." She just hadn't expected it to actually be clearly priced.
If this got out, it would probably be even more sensational than what happened with the Third Hokage back then.
After all, Aoba's current status was far higher than that of the Third Hokage.
Not only was he the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
In the future, he might even become the only Daimyo in the entire ninja world.
'A dignified Daimyo, yet in his early years he actually…'
"Ahem! That was all when we were kids."
Aoba laughed awkwardly.
Feeling the explosive tag in his arms, he suddenly had the strange sense of being hit by his own boomerang.
"Also, Shizune-nee, back then it wasn't one explosive tag for me to accompany Tenten for a day, it was tuition for teaching her shuriken throwing for a day."
Aoba added a reminder, "The nature of those two things is completely different."
"Is it? What's the difference?", Shizune tilted her head as she looked at him, "Isn't it all just exchanging labor for money?"
"Uh…"
Aoba opened his mouth, but for a moment, he couldn't find anything to refute that. He hadn't expected Shizune's thinking to be this open.
After a brief silence, he nodded and said with full agreement, "Shizune-nee, you're right!"
But as he spoke, he had already stood up and walked toward her.
"What are you doing?"
By the time Shizune noticed, Aoba was already standing behind her.
"I was just thinking that I'll have to trouble Shizune-nee for the next few days, so I wanted to make up for it a little in advance. I'll give you a proper massage to help you relax."
Aoba placed his hands on Shizune's shoulders. Lowering his head slightly, he could see the gentle rise of the small curves beneath her collar, the pale skin at the neckline.
"..."
Shizune looked completely helpless.
She knew this guy couldn't win the argument verbally, so he was planning to refute her in a more direct way.
After so many years together, she had already figured him out.
"I still have work to do."
"It's fine. Shizune-nee, just keep working. I won't disturb you."
The hands resting on her shoulders slowly moved, sliding deeper, until they touched her chest.
Shizune's body instantly stiffened, and a flush spread across her fair cheeks.
He said he wouldn't disturb her, but in a situation like this, how was she supposed to focus on reading documents?
She cast him a glance, full of charm.
"Aren't you going to the Daimyo's residence?"
"It's fine. Even after giving Shizune-nee a massage, it won't delay much time."
Aoba teased.
"!"
Shizune couldn't help twitching her lips. Even if her strength was a bit weaker, wasn't this guy being a little too arrogant?
"Shizune-nee?"
Aoba raised an eyebrow.
Because Shizune had directly slapped his hands away, then stood up.
Then she reached out and slowly grasped the hem of her tight skirt.
After that… she braced herself against the desk in front of her and turned back to glare at him.
"Hurry up!"
"?"
Aoba blinked.
Looks like Shizune-nee had really been provoked.
He had originally planned to move on to a leg massage after finishing with the shoulders.
But since she had taken the initiative to challenge him, he naturally accepted it gladly.
———
The battle ended after a few hours.
Aoba left in satisfaction, while Shizune sat back down and resumed her work.
Although she was a bit annoyed, this sparring session had remained at a restrained level.
After all, there was still work to be done.
At this moment, the black stockings and skirt she wore didn't look much different from before.
But only she herself knew how much energy had been expended and how much heat had been built up during that exchange.
Now, this kind of restrained "battle" no longer affected her work at all.
———
The affairs on the Land of Fire's side were actually even easier than those in Konoha.
After all, there was already a complete system in place over there. After checking the work situation and arranging a few matters, Aoba returned to the Hokage building before the lunch break.
This time, he went straight to Konan's office.
The three people in the office were each busy with their own tasks. Konan was, of course, seated at her desk.
Ajisai looked a bit troubled, while Tenten stood beside her, giving instructions.
When the three saw him appear, each reacted differently.
Konan's lips curved slightly, a faint smile appearing on her cool face as she had just begun to speak.
"Aoba…"
"Aoba, you're finally here!"
Before she could even finish, Tenten had already left Ajisai behind and ran over happily, grabbing his arm, looking even more excited than before.
"I didn't come that late, did I?"
Aoba skillfully rubbed the bun on top of her head.
"Mhm!"
Tenten nodded happily. She had just learned some great news from Konan-nee.
"Hokage-sama!"
After being stunned for a moment, Ajisai quickly stood up and bowed respectfully.
"You don't need to be so nervous."
Seeing how tense she looked, Aoba felt that if outsiders saw this, they might think he was the kind of strange boss who threatened subordinates with firing at the slightest disagreement and made them work late into the night.
"Mm…"
Ajisai nodded weakly.
Looks like it was pointless to say that.
Well, she had only just arrived. She would get used to it over time.
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