"Yugito, what's with your appearance?"
After hugging her for a while, Samui finally pushed Yugito away gently and voiced her question. Her hair color was almost brighter than hers now.
"Aoba said that if I went out looking like my usual self, it might cause panic, so he told me to use a transformation jutsu to disguise myself a bit," Yugito wiped the corner of her eyes as she explained.
Hearing that, Samui nodded in sudden realization, "So that's why. Back during the Chunin Exams, a lot of people saw you in your tailed-beast form. If you didn't use a transformation jutsu, it could indeed cause unnecessary trouble."
Yugito raised the snacks she was holding and said happily, "Let's find a place to sit down, eat, and talk!"
"Then let's just go straight to our office."
Mabui suggested.
With permission from Aoba and Tsunade, Yugito didn't encounter any obstacles when entering the Hokage building.
"So this is where you two work, huh? It's a lot nicer than I imagined."
As soon as she entered the office, Yugito started looking around curiously. Seeing the two desks piled with documents, she felt it wasn't all that different from the Hidden Cloud Village.
Mabui tilted her head curiously, "And what exactly did you imagine our workplace looked like?"
"Well..."
In Yugito's mind surfaced the image she used to imagine, Samui and Mabui working in a room that looked like a prison cell, with several ANBU watching them from behind, and if they didn't finish their work, they wouldn't get to eat.
When she voiced this thought, Mabui and Samui both burst into laughter.
"Every time I didn't listen, Aoba would say things like, 'You don't want Samui and Mabui to be buried in endless work, do you?' So I thought you two were living a pretty tough life."
Yugito pouted as she explained.
"Honestly, we were pretty surprised too."
Mabui stopped laughing and spoke seriously, "Originally, we thought they'd just make us handle some minor affairs. We didn't expect Konoha to have no reservations at all. They treat us the same as any other Konoha shinobi. The current Hokage, and Aoba too, are both really bold ninja."
But Samui, hearing that, couldn't help but purse her lips, "Aoba is fine, but I feel like that Hokage is targeting me. My workload is always way heavier than yours, Mabui."
"Ahaha! Maybe there's some other reason?"
Mabui laughed awkwardly, her gaze unintentionally drifting toward Samui's chest.
This might be a battle between the two great mountains of the shinobi world... something she herself was destined never to understand.
"Who knows."
Samui rolled her eyes, "Anyway, aside from not being allowed to leave Konoha, our lives aren't that different from when we were in the Hidden Cloud."
"But you, Yugito, how have you been lately? Everything okay?"
"I...", Yugito froze for a moment, then suddenly started complaining, "You don't know how awful Aoba is! He makes me wear weird clothes every day, and he loves teasing me..."
Finally having two close friends she could vent to, Yugito completely opened up with her complaints.
At first, Samui and Mabui listened thinking Yugito had been living a tough life. But by the end, they realized she was basically showing off.
All she had to do every day was wear a maid outfit, say a few harmless things in the morning, and then she could just relax comfortably, with no worries about food or money.
They glanced at the snacks Yugito had brought. She must have gone shopping in the commercial district before coming here.
After being a maid for a while, she looked even healthier than she had back in the Cloud.
Unlike her, they worked nonstop from morning till night, often having to work overtime. Forget shopping; even getting a bit of extra rest was a luxury.
Yugito's life right now... was exactly the life they had dreamed of.
Now they were bitterly envious.
After venting for quite a while, Yugito finally stopped. But when she looked at her two good friends, she froze.
At that moment, Samui and Mabui both had faces full of resentment.
"Don't you two also think Aoba is an awful guy?"
Yugito thought they were angry on her behalf, sharing her frustration.
She didn't realize that what she was seeing was the resentment of overworked people.
"Yugito, since your life is so 'hard,' how about we switch for a bit?", Samui suddenly said.
"Eh?"
Yugito blinked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Mabui grabbed Yugito's clueless face with a forced smile, "We'll go be Aoba's maids, and you come do our work. That way you won't have to suffer every day."
"No way!"
Yugito's reaction turned sharp all of a sudden. She refused immediately without hesitation.
Her outburst made Samui and Mabui both stare at her in surprise.
Only after speaking did Yugito realize her reaction had been too strong, so she hurried to explain, "It's just... I don't know how to handle village affairs, and besides, Aoba is a total perverted scumbag. If you go, it'll be dangerous!"
"Then that's all the more reason we can't let you face him alone!"
Mabui put on an indignant expression and glanced meaningfully at Samui.
"Samui, next time we see Aoba, let's tell him about this. As long as he lets Yugito go, we'll agree to anything!"
Samui paused, understanding immediately that Mabui was trying to test Yugito.
With just a glance, the two shared a silent understanding.
"You're right. We can't just sit by and watch Yugito suffer without doing anything. Next time we see Aoba, I'll talk to him about it."
"Maybe let's not... that guy definitely won't agree."
Yugito hurried to stop them, trying to change their minds.
She couldn't just watch her two good friends jump straight into the fire pit.
"Didn't you say Aoba's a big pervert?"
Mabui said, "Then let Samui go talk to him. If he's really as lus*tful as you say, maybe he'll agree right away."
As she said that, her gaze deliberately lingered on a certain spot.
Yugito followed her line of sight, and her mood instantly sank. That same uncomfortable feeling she'd had earlier when seeing Ino came back, she bit her lip and looked at them both with a hurt, resentful expression.
"Absolutely not!"
Samui and Mabui looked at each other, both helpless.
The situation was already obvious, no need to test further.
"Yugito... don't tell me you've fallen for Aoba?"