When the fireworks faded away, that spectacular and dazzling scene from just now felt like a lively dream.
Short-lived, but deeply memorable.
The villagers who had originally packed the Hokage Rock shoulder to shoulder began to slowly disperse.
Aoba, along with the girls who were still wanting more, also left with the crowd.
However, after getting home and taking a shower, he was left a bit dumbfounded.
He had originally thought tonight would be a night of everyone sleeping together under one blanket.
But after coming back, everyone went back to their own rooms.
"Aoba, today is already the New Year."
Temari was wearing only a light pale-yellow gauze dress. The inner layer beneath was faintly visible. Her short hair hung loose, still a little wet, with a few strands stuck to her moist cheeks.
Paired with the pitiful, obedient look she had right now, her lowered brows, and the faint fragrance that kept drifting into his nose, Aoba felt his brain stop listening to him.
Aoba naturally knew what Temari was talking about.
Before he could answer, Kin, who had been keeping her head down on the other side, suddenly threw herself into his arms, spreading her arms wide and hugging him tightly.
"Lord Aoba…"
Kin's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
This reaction made Aoba instinctively feel that something was off, because her body temperature was also frighteningly high.
"Kin?"
Aoba held the girl's scorching face, hot like a furnace, and lifted her chin to make her look up.
'Sure enough, something isn't right.'
The flush on her face spread down along her neck and into the sheer fabric, her eyes unfocused, pupils moist.
'This reaction…'
Aoba seemed to understand what was going on.
He looked at Temari and discovered that she had somehow taken out a small blue medicine bottle.
"Temari…"
He had originally wanted to try to stop her, but after Temari blinked at him, she tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp.
He had seen this medicine before. Konan and Shizune had both used it, and even Kushina had used it, though that time it was for Uchiha Mikoto.
It was something meant to add a little fun between couples, harmless to the body. And then there was one more warm little heater in his arms.
"Konan-nee said that drinking this medicine can reduce a lot of the pain," Temari curled up in Aoba's arms, her small face already an unnatural crimson, her voice short and hurried.
The medicine took effect the moment it hit her stomach.
"You drank too much," Aoba helplessly held her flushed little face, "A small amount really does work like that, but if you drink this much, you're going to suffer quite a bit later."
"It's… it's fine!"
———
And because of the stimulation from the medicine, plus the wondrous effects of the Sage Body, if calculated by normal timing, the time to wake up should have been around noon.
'Chakra really is amazing.'
But under the influence of the sealing space, when Temari woke up from her deep sleep, it was only the next morning.
Sunlight streamed through the window, shining on her bright and beautiful face like a flower after rain, glittering brilliantly.
Her eyelashes trembled lightly as she slowly opened her eyes.
When she first woke up, her memories were still a little blurry. After a moment, scenes from before she lost consciousness began playing back in her mind.
"Mm~"
Temari rubbed her eyes in confusion. Those images still left her a bit dazed, as if she couldn't quite believe that had really been her.
'Medicine really shouldn't be drunk carelessly.'
"Awake? Does your body feel uncomfortable anywhere?", A gentle voice sounded, pulling Temari back from her daze.
She lifted her head and met Aoba's eyes, gentle like water.
For a moment, she was completely transfixed.
Now that things were already over, her mind naturally began to fill with all kinds of thoughts.
It had been almost two years since she entered Konoha. A lot had happened in those two years, and many things had changed.
Among them, the biggest change might have been her.
Their engagement had been arranged under special circumstances.
If at the beginning, Temari had only become Aoba's fiancee with the mindset of sacrificing herself for the village, then now, it might have come from the heart.
Life over these two years had subtly changed too many things.
Having to take care of her problematic younger brothers since childhood had made her mature early. Combined with her identity in Konoha, it had also made her understand many things far earlier than others.
She often envied Kin. Even though Kin was a maid, in her eyes, compared to herself, Kin was actually the carefree one.
A bit silly and slow, every day only needing to think about getting rewards from Aoba, even if those rewards were often not very proper.
But she had many things to consider, because she still carried Sunagakure on her shoulders.
And now, she could finally let out a breath of relief.
Because last night...
Thinking of this, Temari's face instantly turned red again.
And Aoba, seeing Temari staring at him without saying a word from just now, then suddenly blushing, was also a bit confused.
After all, he didn't have mind-reading abilities and couldn't possibly know what she was thinking.
But he also knew that at a time like this, there was no need for him to say any touching words. He simply reached out and wrapped his arm around the girl's slender, smooth waist.
After a slight pause, Temari also buried her face in his chest.
Neither of them spoke, quietly enjoying this moment of peace.
After a while of tender closeness, Temari finally came back to herself.
She suddenly realized a problem, poked her head out from his arms, and looked toward Aoba's other side.
Seeing the empty bed, she blinked in confusion.
"Where's Kin?"
How did she wake up to find only herself left?
"As for Kin, she got up to prepare breakfast," Aoba explained rather helplessly.
He had originally wanted Kin to rest a bit more and planned to prepare breakfast himself, but she had directly pressed him back onto the bed, saying that this was a wife's duty.
If he was even a little more firm in his attitude, she would immediately put on a teary, aggrieved expression.
Leaving him with no way to deal with it.
Maybe it was because of her biological clock, or maybe because she was used to staying in the sealing space.
When it reached her usual waking time, Kin naturally woke up.
It was also thanks to his Sage Body, plus Kin's own traits which were already different from ordinary people, so even waking up early, Kin didn't show any discomfort at all.
She even "handled her routine duties".
"Kin… really is amazing!"
Hearing this, Temari couldn't help but sigh sincerely.
Recalling last night's memories, it seemed that she would have to restart the ninja training she had neglected for quite some time.
At the very least, she couldn't be at the bottom.
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