Chapter 438 Ch438. Temari And Konan

As Rei and Konan walked around without a care, being ignored by every enemy or allied ninja thanks to Rei's seals, Temari suddenly landed in front of them.

"Rei!" She lunged forward, engulfing Rei in a hug and making him raise an eyebrow at her.

Rei briefly glanced towards Konan but the woman just covered her mouth and went, "Ufufu," while giving Rei a knowing yet provocative look, 'you are starting to go down a dangerous path, husband.' Konan teased him through their mental connection, shrewdly looking at Temari. 'They are getting younger and younger by the year.'

Rei's eyebrow twitched, 'Hmph, don't be jealous.' He sent her the mental picture of him showing her his tongue.

Konan's smile widened at that. 'Jealous? Not at all, dear. Some things can be offered only by an experienced woman.' She lightly said, subtly licking her lips and winking at Rei. 'We both know you would never swap me for a younger model. Simply because there is no younger model better than me.'

'Arrogant much?' Rei quipped with an inward chuckle as he finally returned Temari's hug, rubbing her back a bit.

Konan just smugly but in jest replied, 'Not enough.'

Rei chuckled and inclined his head downward, looking at Temari, "Shouldn't you be helping Pakura?" He instantly felt the girl in his arms stiffen briefly before she once again relaxed.

'I guess that answers my question.' He mused.

"Lady Pakura 's fine." Temari reluctantly mumbled and looked up, her eyes full of innocence staring straight into Rei's amused gaze with conviction. "There is nobody who could pose a threat to her."

Rei's lips twitched upwards at that, "And you think I am in danger?" He raised an eyebrow at her in a questioning way. He was really interested in what answer would come out of her.

Temari pursed her lips at that, and her eyes wandered around as if trying to find a good answer to Rei's question. A moment of silence followed since finding an answer to that was clearly harder than Temari thought.

When Rei was about to think he would not get an answer, Temari suddenly turned back towards him and said, "I am not here to protect you. I am here to be protected by you!"

She said it with such a straight face that Rei got momentarily speechless while Konan burst out laughing at his slightly gaping expression.

But Temari was not done yet, "See all those wea-, uh... dangerous ninjas around? What could a genin like me do against them? I need my big tough protector!"

Konan was finding it hard to stop laughing at Rei's misfortune but she decided to add her own salt into the wound, "She got you there, mighty hero."

Rei closed his eyes and sighed as he rubbed his forehead, "You couldn't have thought up something less cringe? Or at least not say it in front of Konan? I will be teased for months for this."

"I know, but..." Temari shuffled a bit in Rei's arms, a guilty glint flashing through her eyes, "it was for the greater good!"

"What?" Rei furrowed his eyebrows as Temari pulled apart from him and took a few steps back.

"There. It's my win. He was totally surprised. I hope you will fulfill your part of the deal." Temari cutely narrowed her eyes at Konan.

"Sure," Konan offhandedly said, and just completely ignored Temari as she amusedly watched the realization start to register in Rei's brain.

"You already roped her into your schemes to embarrass me?" Rei turned towards Konan with apprehension.

This was not the first time he experienced something like this. Konan regularly roped his other wives into things like this. Frankly, Rei had a suspicion the woman loved his retaliation. After all, she had a small but well-hidden masochistic streak in her.

Seeing his expression, Konan giggled, "Well, you know what they say. The younger they start..." She unrepentantly shrugged.

Konan was too used to him and Rei realized no matter what he said, she wouldn't care much nor would he be able to make her feel guilty. That's why he turned towards Temari. "And you went with it?"

Temari embarrassedly fidgeted under his gaze and rubbed her hands together... but her voice held strong conviction and her eyes were steady and resolved, "The reward was too good to pass."

"Damn, you really know how to find them." Konan quipped, amused by the fact Temari was so straightforward. She was starting to like the girl more and more.

To be honest, Konan thought the girl would fit right in. Tsunade, Ringo, Mei, Pakura, and Kaguya... none of them were shy or reserved. They were all women who knew what they wanted in life. Now that Konan had a better look at Temari and how she acted, she could see why Rei was interested in her.

'So that's why he doesn't show any interest in my apprentices.' Konan inwardly frowned, imagining Izumi and her shy, awkward, and clumsy self...

Not that Konan didn't try to help the girl with it. But the end result was simply making Izumi innocently and cluelessly cruel during combat while her clumsiness outside of it didn't improve at all.

Konan was many things, at most of them she could brag to be the best in the world, but a psychologist she was not.

'So Rei likes his women more assertive, huh? I guess you learn something new every day.' Konan inwardly thought. After so many years, she noticed only now. It was wonderful how surprising life could still be.

To give her credit, these were the easily overlooked things... and then there was Mei.

Even if it didn't seem like Mei was assertive, that girl was the most devious and evil of them all. She was so devious, she hadn't even realized it yet.

Like... her hobby is creating world-ending Jutsu. Who does that!?

Then again, she was practically raised by Konan and Rei so... 'I'd better not go down that line of thoughts.' Konan hummed. 'Our parenting skills are depressing.'

"What did you even promise her for this?" Rei's exasperated voice pulled Konan from her thoughts.

Konan blinked and tried to reorient herself a bit, "Ah, I promised her an uninterrupted week with you." She said, still a bit distracted by random thoughts.

Rei frowned at that and glanced at Temari. "Without asking me first?" His question clearly made Temari a bit nervous but he grabbed her hand to calm her down and show her he wasn't against spending time with her. It was just that he still had quite a few projects to finish and the sooner he did that, the better.

"It's not like you can't do your stuff during that week. I haven't promised her anything concerning yourself. If she wants to get you in bed, she will have to seduce you herself." Konan shrugged, "The 'uninterrupted' part only applies to myself and my sisters." She explained further.

If it was like that then Rei guessed it was fine. Nothing different from normal for him. He built quite a bit of resistance to seduction attempts over the years. That was the sad consequence of having multiple loving wives all the while enjoying something as time-consuming as fuinjutsu research.

But still... he was curious. "How will you persuade my other girls to go with this? I don't think they will be happy about it." He didn't need a catfight in the house. Nor did he want to deal with pouty Mei or stabby Ringo.

"Oh, that." Konan deviously smiled. Naturally, she had it all thought out. "I won the bet."

"The bet?" Rei tilted his head for a bit before a realization struck him. But that shouldn't be... "But Uzushio did not win the finals." He confusedly stated and Konan smirked.

"Tsunade is not the only one who can cheat. You remember the seal you made for our bets that locks our choices so they can't be changed?" She asked and Rei nodded, "I just used the little you managed to pound into me about fuinjutsu to delay the locking mechanism and snuck in another choice of mine right before the seal closed. I chose the finals will be interrupted and nobody would win." She mirthfully giggled, "Not my problem Tsunade imitated my first choice."

Rei was surprised at her shrewdness but he had to admit, it was fair. It's not like she competed against civilians.

And while Rei was amusedly musing about the reactions of his other wives to the loss they had yet no idea about, Temari seemed to gain a newfound appreciation for Konan. While Lady Pakura would always be first for Temari, Konan seemed really cool too!

Of course, Konan did notice it and inwardly grinned. After all, it wouldn't do for a wife of Rei to not look up to her in some way.

'All according to the plan.' She thought in satisfaction.

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Author Note:

For those who didn't understand as it can be a bit confusing, I guess... this happened before Temari was called by Pakura and I will make it clear in the next chapter.

Another thing... sorry guys, this is more of a slice of life without much action. When I started writing this chapter, I planned to write something filled with action, progress the plot, and all... but in the end, I wrote it like this because I felt like it.