"?"
Kaguya's sudden and bold statement left everyone present, including Aoba, stunned for a moment.
She definitely wasn't the only one who had thought about it, but no one else would have said it so directly.
Nobody expected Kaguya's personality to utter words like that. Even Aoba hadn't expected it.
After all, she used to get shy just from a hug. Now she had jumped straight to having a child, 'Isn't this moving a little too fast?'
'Or did something affect her?'
"Kaguya, don't you think this is a little too sudden?"
Aoba gave a light cough and still wanted to know why she had suddenly started thinking this way.
"..."
Kaguya also noticed the strange looks everyone was giving her.
The calm expression she had been maintaining gradually turned red.
She had read a great deal by now, so she naturally knew that if she and Aoba had a child together, it definitely wouldn't grow out of a tree the way Hagoromo and Hamura had.
Instead, they would have to do that kind of thing, then she would become pregnant and give birth.
That really was embarrassing, but...
Kaguya's expression became firm again, "But I want a child too. Is that not allowed?"
Hiss!
Everyone could feel the determination coming from Kaguya.
After recovering from her surprise, Tsunade also glanced at Shizune beside her with a look that seemed to say she wasn't living up to expectations.
"..."
Shizune chose not to comment.
To be fair, Tsunade's thoughts were somewhat similar to Anko's.
She also wanted Shizune to have a child with Aoba, then let her play with... let her help take care of it.
After all, Aoba had practically grown up under her care.
When he was little, he had been fairly cute.
Back then, she could knead him however she liked. Even when he got angry, all he could do was puff up and glare. He had no way to resist.
But after growing up, everything had reversed.
Now she was the one getting pushed around.
This could count as indirect revenge.
Besides that, after tilting her head and thinking for a while, Uchiha Hikari also glanced at Fu, who was standing beside her in shock.
"?"
Fu came back to her senses and looked back at Uchiha Hikari.
'Why are you looking at me, Hikari?'
'Nothing. I just think Kaguya is amazing.'
'?'
The two communicated through looks, relying on the understanding they had built over time.
But Fu still didn't understand why Hikari had suddenly looked at her.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Hikari had already withdrawn her gaze.
There wasn't any special reason she had looked at Fu.
She was just curious.
Even someone as shy as Kaguya could boldly say something like wanting a child.
But Fu, who was much more outgoing, seemed to have been avoiding the issue the whole time.
As for how she knew Fu was avoiding it, it was naturally because she occasionally heard some strange sleep talk whenever she went to wake her up.
Of course, to protect Fu's pride, she had never told her about it.
Aoba naturally had no idea about the strange exchange between the two girls. His attention remained on Otsutsuki Kaguya.
Judging by her behavior, she might really have been affected by something.
'Did she remember Hagoromo and Hamura when they were little, causing her motherly instincts to overflow?'
'That isn't impossible.'
"Let's wait until we get back this afternoon and talk about it properly in private. Otherwise, breakfast is going to get cold."
Aoba was also giving Kaguya some time to think. After all, having a child was an important matter and couldn't be decided carelessly.
"Mmm~"
Kaguya had no intention of forcing Aoba right here and now.
At the very least, she could wait until nightfall.
After that small interruption ended, everyone resumed breakfast.
However, the pregnant Kurenai had clearly become everyone's favorite.
Whenever something required getting up, whoever was sitting nearby would instinctively help her.
That left Kurenai herself not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
And Aoba even wanted her to stay home instead of going to the Hokage Building.
That made Kurenai even more speechless.
It felt like he was worrying too much.
In the end, Tsunade offered a suggestion. Considering Kurenai's physical condition and mental well-being, she could continue going to work as usual during the first three months, just with half the normal workload.
It would be better to stay home later when her belly became larger.
Otherwise, if she stayed home starting now, she would probably be growing weeds by the end of ten months.
After thinking it over, Aoba also felt that was more appropriate.
Still, whether Kurenai worked or not would be entirely up to her.
But once they arrived at the Hokage Building, things became even livelier.
Home wasn't too bad since Karin and Anko were the only particularly energetic ones.
Yugao and Shizune were much steadier than those two. But over here, Tenten, Ino, Sakura, and Yakumo all gathered around Kurenai the moment she entered the office.
All of them wanted to listen to the baby in her belly. But it had only been a few days, so how could they possibly hear anything?
Kurenai felt like she had turned into a giant panda.
In short, even though her workload had become much lighter that day, the office was clearly more lively than usual.
It continued like that until it was almost time to get off work.
Over the past few days, Aoba had been leaving a little early to take Kaguya around Konoha so she could gradually adapt to modern life.
Today, he also brought Kurenai home early before going to find Kaguya.
It was the perfect chance to ask why she had suddenly wanted a child.
But Kaguya didn't seem interested in going out today.
When Aoba entered her room, she was sitting upright on the edge of the bed, both hands clenched together on her lap. Her face was completely red, yet her expression was unusually serious.
The contrast was striking, and what she said was even more surprising than usual.
"Aoba, let's make a baby!"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Aoba couldn't stop himself from coughing after hearing that.
Earlier in the day, she had only said she wanted a child. The sun hadn't even set yet, and she was already ready to start making one. There was nothing to criticize about her ability to take action.