Danzo Again

Josuke really liked a line from a great poet.

"I searched for him a thousand times among the crowd. Then, when I turned back, there he was, standing where the lights had faded."

He had thought it was merely the fancy of some great poet, never imagining that today, at this very moment, right here—

Josuke felt the very same way.

She sat outside in the courtyard, dressed in a kimono and surrounded by blooming flowers like a fairy among them. In her hands was a flower wreath, nearly finished.

"Ino."

Josuke called out.

Outside the courtyard.

Ino froze.

She turned around in disbelief.

It was him.

Her eyes were filled with shock and surprise. There was no mistaking it—it was him.

"Josuke."

Ino hurriedly got to her feet and returned indoors from the flowerbeds, her wooden sandals thudding across the floorboards.

Closer, and closer still.

Ino threw herself into that warm embrace.

She clung tightly to his back, afraid that he would vanish and leave her in the very next second.

Only after feeling that it was all real did Ino finally relax a little.

Josuke said nothing. He simply quietly embraced the girl he wanted to protect.

Somehow, at some point, that place in his heart had been completely filled by the girl, leaving no room for anything else.

The inescapable fate had shrouded Josuke and his brother.

Fortunately, Josuke had her companionship, her concern, and her encouragement.

The three years he spent training with Jiraiya had been the three years Josuke missed her most deeply. Sometimes, he even wondered whether what he was doing was really right.

And then there was after he had defected.

The girl had remained just as wholehearted as before, trusting him completely.

"Ino~"

Josuke gently stroked Ino's beautiful hair with one hand. It was so soft and smooth, and Ino seemed to like it when he did this.

(Just to mention it here, Josuke and Ino had never confessed to each other. Their relationship was rather strange now.)

Ino's face was full of happiness.

Josuke was really so gentle. Ino felt as though she were the happiest woman in the world.

Her eyes relaxed and slowly closed as she enjoyed Josuke's caress.

"What is it~⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄"

Josuke closed his eyes and gently rested his head beside Ino's ear.

"I missed you~"

Thank you, Ino. It wasn't that I met you at the best time of my life—it was because of you that I came to have the best time of my life.

Josuke only silently said those words in his heart.

"Me too."

The two of them leaned against each other like that until...

Grrr.

Josuke's stomach was growling.

QAQ

How embarrassing.

Ino burst out laughing.

"You're hungry, aren't you~"

She patted Josuke's little head.

"I'm hungry too, actually. How about I make you something to eat?"

Come to think of it, it was already noon. Of course he would be hungry.

But speaking of which, it seemed like he had forgotten something.

Think about it.

Right, I remembered.

"Ino-chan, speaking of which... what happened to my room?"

Swish!

Ino's face immediately turned red.

She didn't dare look at Josuke.

"Um, Josuke, I'll go make dinner first~"

Ino dodged the question, preparing to slip into the kitchen.

Please provide the Chinese text you would like me to translate. I am ready to process it according to your instructions.

There was definitely something going on. Josuke directly blocked Ino's path.

"Talk. If you don't tell me today, I'm not letting you in."

Josuke wrapped an arm around Ino's slender waist.

"No, no."

Ino made a poking gesture, looking adorably fierce.

Not talking?

Looks like he needed to enforce some household rules. Otherwise, who knew who would be the boss of this house in the future?

"Are you gonna talk or not~"

As he spoke, he wrapped both arms around Ino's waist, pressed his chin against her back, and began drawing circles on her back with his chin.

(Interested readers can give it a try. It works like a charm.)

Wait, what?

"Hahaha..."

"No... you... let me go~..."

At first, Ino only found it pleasant, but as Josuke gradually escalated things, it started to tickle—far more stimulating than ordinary tickling.

"Not letting go. Are you gonna tell me~"

Just you wait, hmph.

"Alright~ alright~ I'll tell you..."

Ino couldn't take it anymore. If this continued, Josuke would tickle her to death.

Only after hearing Ino's answer did Josuke let her go.

Ino was now utterly limp, collapsed in Josuke's arms like a puddle of liquid. Whatever Ino felt, Josuke was having the time of his life.

"You're awful~"

Ino lightly pounded Josuke's chest with her little fists. Why did that only make Josuke more excited?

"Actually... it's..."

"What is it?"

"I bought the Uchiha Clan Land."

At that moment, Josuke felt as though five bolts of lightning had struck him.

"Th-That's impossible, isn't it?"

Seeing Josuke's incredulous expression, Ino remembered that she had felt exactly the same way at the time.

"At first, I couldn't believe it either. But guess who was in charge of it?"

A bad feeling rose in Josuke's heart.

"Who?"

"Danzo."

Aminos, Danzo, fuck your ancestors.

But now that the property was in Ino's hands, there had to be some twist to this. Josuke remembered that the Uchiha Clan Land seemed to disappear later on.

"Danzo gathered the major Konoha clans to discuss auctioning off the Uchiha Clan Land. In truth, nobody wanted to take on that hot potato."

"After all, two S-rank Rogue Ninja had come from the Uchiha. Who knew what would happen next?"

After saying that, Ino glanced at Josuke. Rogue Ninja were so handsome—what was she supposed to do?

Josuke nodded. If the purchase had been made by the Konoha rookies he knew, he might not have been that angry. At most, he would negotiate with them and see whether he could buy it back. But since Ino had gotten it~ didn't that make it his?

As for anyone else, Josuke might have directly summoned a Gundam and crushed them to death.

"And then?"

"And then, I bought it at an extremely low price. I couldn't let your home fall into someone else's hands, could I~"

You really were a good person.

After listening to Ino-chan's explanation, Josuke more or less understood what had happened. He didn't blame Ino-chan; on the contrary, he should be thanking her for keeping his home from falling into thieves' hands.

But that didn't seem to be the main issue.

"Then what's with the flowers at our place?"

Our place??

It sounded a little off, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

"You mean those flowers?"

Ino-chan straightened her appearance.

"I planted them. What do you think? Pretty, right?"

Josuke nodded. He had indeed been stunned at first. He was grateful to Ino-chan.

She had completely changed the desolate atmosphere within the Uchiha Clan Land.

"Those flowers are sold at our family's flower shop. Seeing so much empty space here, I planted flowers all over it. Sorry... I went ahead and did it on my own..."

"It's fine. I really like them."

But none of that was the main point.

(￣_,￣ )

"So, Ino-chan... can you tell me about my room now?"

Well, she couldn't avoid it forever.