"Ayame-nee, how did you know Aoba and I are getting married?"
"...", That sudden sentence made Ayame, who had been about to tease them a bit more, freeze for a moment.
'Did I even ask you about that?'
She looked at Tenten, who was sitting there obediently, feeling a bit speechless.
For a second, she even suspected whether the girl in front of her was actually Ino or Karin using a transformation jutsu.
After all, among the girls, only those two mischievous ones liked to show off like this.
But soon she realized another point in Tenten's words, something that seemed to be the real key.
Her eyes widened, and she looked at Aoba, who was sitting calmly beside Tenten without denying it, and asked in a low voice, somewhat in disbelief, "Aoba, you're really going to marry Tenten?"
"Mm, at the latest within a year, we'll hold the wedding. When the time comes, I'll send invitations to you, Ayame-nee, and Uncle Teuchi. You have to come," Aoba said it very openly.
After knowing each other for so many years, Ayame wasn't an outsider to him.
She was the second person in the ninja world he called "big sister." When he was little, he came here often to freeload food and drinks.
Besides, something like getting married wasn't something that had to be hidden from others.
It was just that things weren't fully prepared yet, so it wasn't convenient to announce it widely in the village. For now, telling those close to him was enough.
"This…"
Ayame opened her mouth. After getting Aoba's confirmation, she didn't know what to say for a moment.
A strange sense of things changing washed over her.
It felt like the little boy who used to stand in front of her calling her "big sister" had suddenly grown into a man who could hold up the sky.
She had felt this way when Aoba became Hokage and a daimyo. Now that he was getting married, that feeling came back again.
She even started thinking, 'Will his children come to Ichiraku Ramen in the future? And will I be able to tell them some stories about their father from back then?'
'For example, how their father used to "trick" girls out of their pocket money when he was young.'
'Or how, in Konoha, the one who actually ate the most ramen wasn't the Akimichi clan, but the soft and gentle-looking little Hinata.'
She held quite a lot of "dirt" on these boys and girls from when they were young.
"Ayame-nee?", Seeing Ayame suddenly spacing out, Aoba called out softly.
"Mm?", Ayame snapped back to her senses and looked at him again, "What is it?"
"Nothing. You suddenly zoned out. I thought you didn't want to come to our wedding," Aoba said it half-jokingly.
"How could that be," Ayame rolled her eyes at him, then leaned her head closer between the two of them and lowered her voice, "But if it's just the two of you getting married, won't Yugao and the others come crash the wedding?"
"...", Tenten didn't speak, only glanced at Aoba with a faint look.
"Ahem! As long as everyone gets married together, there won't be a problem," Aoba replied with a straight face.
"?"
After hearing that, a question mark practically popped up over Ayame's head.
Marrying many people was already shocking enough, let alone doing it all at once.
But Ayame also noticed another odd point.
"If so many people are getting married together, how big would the invitation have to be to fit all those names?"
"Ah… if one isn't enough, then just use two, right?", Aoba shrugged. As long as you don't limit your thinking, there are always more solutions than problems.
"..."
Ayame couldn't help but twitch her lips. This was the first time she'd heard of wedding invitations being sent in pairs.
"Speaking of which, Ayame-nee, are you not planning to get married in the future?"
Since they were already talking about marriage, Tenten asked about Ayame's own plans.
"Me?"
Being suddenly asked something like this, Ayame froze briefly, then let out a long sigh, "I'm busy from morning till night every day, can't even stop for a moment. Where would I find the time to think about getting married?"
"I see…"
Hearing that, Tenten didn't continue the topic. After all, if there wasn't someone she liked, it didn't really matter if she didn't get married.
There were quite a few ninjas in Konoha who didn't plan to marry in the future either.
While chatting about everyday things, after finishing their ramen, Aoba and Tenten didn't stay in the shop for long.
After all, there were only so many seats in the ramen shop. Even though Ayame and Teuchi wouldn't say anything, they still didn't want to cause trouble for them.
As the two of them left, Teuchi, who had been quietly making ramen in the back the whole time, suddenly stopped.
"Is it really because you're too busy that you don't have time to think about getting married?"
"Mm?"
Ayame, who was tidying up bowls and chopsticks, paused slightly, then put her hands on her hips and looked at him with annoyance, "Of course. Just look at how many customers we get every day. I'm running around all day by myself, how would I have time to think about that?"
"I see…"
"Huh? Old man, what do you see?"
———
On the other side—
"Where are we going next?"
After leaving the ramen shop, Aoba asked Tenten about their next stop.
"Hehe! Just follow me and you'll see!"
Tenten didn't answer directly. She glanced back at him, then grabbed his hand and started running down the streets of Konoha.
Both of them were ninjas, so there was no way they would bump into anyone.
Aoba stayed right behind her, not leaving even a step, curious to see where she was taking him.
But as they ran, they gradually moved away from the residential area.
Looking at the cherry blossoms dancing all around and the increasingly lush cherry blossom forest, Aoba seemed to realize something.
Logically, it wasn't the season for such full-bloom cherry blossoms, but this area had been created by a company that hired ninjas to use ninjutsu.
Besides being a place for people to admire, it was also used as a wedding venue.
Tenten pulled him into the sea of cherry blossom trees and finally stopped at the edge of an open plaza.
The weather today was quite nice. On the plaza, a couple was holding their wedding.
"Tenten…"
Looking at the newlyweds standing in blessings, Aoba could feel Tenten's grip on his hand tighten.
"Aoba…"
"Mm."
"Even though there are many things where I'm not the first… I want to be the first person to wear a wedding dress and walk into the ceremony with you."
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