"Hikari, I’m here!"
Just as Kamizuki Hikari was lost in thought, the lovely Aya approached him with a gift in hand.
"You’re too kind! You really didn’t have to bring anything." Hikari said, though his hands were already reaching out to take the gift from her.
"Tch, you’re so shaless!"
Aya rolled her eyes at him before glancing at the person in charge of registering gifts—who seed to have dozed off.
Wait a minute... Given Hikari’s usual personality, shouldn’t he have dragged the Ino-Shika-Cho trio along this ti? Where were they?
"Asuma’s back, so I’m free again. Now we can go back to enjoying romantic evenings together, just the two of us—Ow!"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Aya would never admit that she actually agreed with him. Seeing the unfamiliar children nearby, she couldn’t help but blush.
"Alright, alright, my bad. These kids are from the neighboring village. Could you save so face in front of them?" Hikari gently took Aya’s hand, speaking in a soft, coaxing tone.
"Fine, I’ll let you off this ti."
Aya set the gift down. "The shop’s still busy, so I won’t stay for dinner."
"No problem. Whenever you’re free, co over to my place. I’ll cook for you myself. How’s that sound?"
Another delicate eye roll, conveying both exasperation and affection.
"If you could just speak properly, I might actually consider visiting your place."
Thinking about how long they’d known each other, Aya couldn’t help but feel conflicted. Hikari was unpredictable—sotis polite and gentlemanly, other tis shalessly perverted.
She had no idea which version of him was the real one.
For a modest beauty like Aya, she preferred the courteous and refined Hikari. That version of him made her feel safe.
"Then it’s settled!"
Hikari waved as he watched Aya leave.
Turning back, he saw Kankurō and Temari staring at Aya’s retreating figure.
"Isn’t that the girl from the ran shop? And this guy’s behavior... feels kinda scummy."
Thanks to Kamizuki Hikari, the term "scumbag" had officially entered the shinobi world. Because of his influence, the entire world now knew what a "scumbag man" and a "green tea girl" ant.
(TL Note: A term referring to manipulative won who hide behind an innocent facade.)
"Scummy? ? Didn’t you see how smoothly I handled that?" Hikari looked at Temari, his face serious as he defended himself.
Temari instinctively took a step back under his gaze, but rembering she represented Sunagakure, she forced herself to stand her ground.
"Um, senior... what should we call you?"
As the eldest daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, Temari knew how to handle social situations.
"Kamizuki Hikari, Chunin of Konoha. If you’d like, you can call ’Hikari Onii-chan’. If not, ’Hikari-senpai’ is fine too."
Temari pretended she didn’t hear that first suggestion. No way would she ever like a guy as scummy as Kamizuki Hikari.
"Hikari-senpai, what did you do to Gaara earlier? Why is he sleeping so soundly?"
"You really wanna know?" Hikari’s expression turned serious, making Temari tense up.
"Y-Yes... Is there a problem? If it’s related to Konoha’s secrets, just forget I asked!"
Honestly, looking at Hikari’s carefree deanor, Temari couldn’t imagine him being soone privy to village secrets. In her mind, a true Konoha elite would be soone like Hatake Kakashi—a legendary shinobi, ruthless to enemies but caring toward allies.
If Hikari knew what Temari was thinking, he’d probably drag her to witness the infamous "Kakashi’s Lonely Night" scene to show her just how terrifying a lonely, single man could be.
"Well..." Hikari began.
Temari and Kankurō leaned in, ears perked.
"You can think about it slowly!"
With that, Hikari pointed at the tables and chairs. "Keep an eye on things. If anything goes missing, no dinner for you, got it?"
Kankurō & Temari: Seriously?! We’re guests here! Is this how Konoha treats visitors?!
Temari’s gaze drifted to the donation box nearby, wondering if she should grab the gift money they’d contributed and bolt with Gaara.
"Hey... do you think Gaara’s weakness is having his hair touched?"
After observing Gaara for a while, Kankurō voiced his theory in a hushed tone.
"That... doesn’t seem likely." Temari stared at Gaara’s peaceful sleeping face, her fingers twitching slightly.
"Only one way to find out!"
True to his words, Kankurō reached out toward Gaara’s head.
Closer... closer... almost touching those red locks...
So exciting!
"What do you think you’re doing?"
Gaara’s eyes snapped open, staring coldly at the hand hovering near his head. He contemplated whether to break Kankurō’s fingers.
"Uh... I saw a bug on you. Was just gonna brush it off!" Kankurō lied smoothly before shooting Temari a desperate look.
’Sis, help out here. I can’t handle this guy.’
Temari wanted to slap her idiot brother.
’You rush in when he’s asleep, but now that he’s awake, you dump him on ? I ought to have Kamatari slice you into ten pieces!’
Despite her irritation, she still reached out toward Gaara’s hair.
"Gaara, earlier when you were sleeping so well... was it because of your hair—"
"No."
Before she could finish, Gaara shut her down.
Seeing Temari’s awkwardly suspended hand, Gaara hesitated for a mont before taking her wrist and placing her palm on his head.
Temari instinctively ran her fingers through his red hair, marveling at its softness. She couldn’t help but gloat internally.
This was Gaara’s hair! Who else can say they’ve touched it? Hah!
"Done yet?" Gaara deadpanned. He’d never t soone so brazenly pushy.
"Heh heh..."
Temari chuckled sheepishly before withdrawing her hand.
"Then why did you fall asleep so easily when Hikari-senpai touched your head?"
"Maybe because Shukaku cald down." Though Gaara was impatient, the fact that these two were his only remaining family—especially Temari’s genuine care for him—made him lower his guard slightly.
"After that man touched my head, Shukaku quickly settled down. The beast beca strangely docile. For the first ti, I felt... at peace. That’s why I fell asleep."
For soone who had suffered from chronic insomnia, a good sleep was nothing short of a miracle.
In fact, Gaara was already considering whether to kidnap Kamizuki Hikari and take him back to Sunagakure when they left.
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Read 40 advanced Chapters on my P@treon.
/KakuzuTL
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