Chapter 68: Last Night's Deep Sleep

"Thank you for your hard work today," Shishou said as he gently tucked Eri into bed. She looked exhausted but had a content smile on her face.

"This is what I should do," Eri replied, her cheeks flushed with a touch of red.

"You should rest now," Shishou said with a smile, lightly pinching her cheek.

"Mm," Eri murmured softly as she closed her eyes, clearly exhausted but happy.

As Shishou left the room, he turned to Priestess Miroku and said, "Miroku, I'll have to trouble you to take care of them for a while. I need to head back."

Miroku felt a pang of reluctance but nodded calmly. "I understand."

Next, Shishou approached Tsunade. "You and Shizune should stay here for a while. We'll talk more later."

Tsunade nodded, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. She had many questions for Shishou, sensing that he held many secrets.

From his storage scroll, Shishou took out two handheld gaming devices and handed them to Karin and Aoi, who beamed with excitement. These were the latest models from the Land of Fire, a rarity in the Land of Demons.

With a final look around, Shishou activated the Flying Thunder God technique and returned to Huo Yuan City. It was late at night, and Mikoto had already gone to bed.

Quietly, Shishou slipped into Mikoto's room. He climbed into bed without disturbing her and wrapped his arms around her sleeping form, letting out a tired yawn as he quickly fell into a deep sleep. He hadn't slept properly in days and was utterly exhausted.

The next morning, Shishou woke up early, feeling refreshed from the deep sleep. Despite waking up, he was reluctant to leave the warmth of his bed and the comfortable embrace of the person next to him. He opened his eyes and saw Mikoto sitting up beside him, looking at him with a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?" Shishou asked, confused.

Mikoto's expression grew more conflicted, and she seemed on the verge of saying something but hesitated. Shishou felt increasingly puzzled.

Wait a minute! If Mikoto is sitting in front of me, then who am I holding?

Realization struck Shishou as he glanced down at the person in his arms. Green hair, smooth back... Pakura!

The room was warm, and Pakura's face was flushed as she slept soundly, seemingly lost in a pleasant dream. One of Shishou's hands rested on her chest, and he was suddenly very aware of where it was.

"This..." Shishou was stunned.

"She's waking up..." Mikoto whispered, seeing Pakura's eyelashes flutter.

With a jolt, Shishou used the Flying Thunder God technique to disappear from the room. As he vanished, Pakura lost her support and woke up, stretching lazily.

"Mikoto, why are you up so early?" Pakura asked, scratching her head.

"Hehe, it's already late. We should get up," Mikoto replied, breathing a sigh of relief that Shishou had left and giving a slightly awkward explanation.

"Is it?" Pakura sat up, stretching and showing off her graceful figure. "I had such a good sleep last night. I'll go check if the kids are up."

Pakura dressed and left the room. She was the instructor for the young Uchiha, guiding them after Izumi and Yugao left for their training in the Land of Iron. She had spent the night with Mikoto after a late return from inspecting the city's casino operations.

"Wait, we need to check on the mining company today," Mikoto called, quickly following Pakura. With Izumi and Yugao away, she and Pakura had taken over managing Shishou's businesses.

After they left, Shishou emerged from a nearby room, exhaling heavily. He was grateful he had been too exhausted the night before to do anything inappropriate and relieved that Pakura had not noticed him. If she had, she might have left, something Shishou couldn't afford. Pakura was a valuable and skilled ninja, not to mention incredibly beautiful.

Still, the memory of the accidental touch lingered.

"The feel was quite nice..." he mused.

"Are you still reminiscing about it?" Mikoto's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She had returned to the room and was giving him a cold look.

"Last night wasn't intentional," Shishou explained, feeling sheepish. "I didn't expect her to be in your room."

"Hmph!" Mikoto huffed, sitting down at her vanity to brush her hair, ignoring Shishou. She knew it wasn't intentional, but that didn't make it less upsetting.

"No woman likes seeing her man get close to another woman," she thought.

"Let me help," Shishou offered, taking the brush from Mikoto's hand. Her hair was long, black, and smooth, flowing like silk.

"You know how to brush hair?" Mikoto asked, surprised.

"How hard can it be?" Shishou replied.

"Hmph~" Mikoto snorted again, though a smile tugged at her lips.

After a few moments, she realized Shishou was just brushing her hair repetitively without much skill. Annoyed, she took the brush back and shooed him away. "This isn't how you brush hair!"

She shut the door behind him, leaving Shishou to scratch his head in confusion. "What's so complicated about brushing hair?"

Shrugging off the incident, Shishou decided to take a stroll around the estate. The weather was nice, and he thought of heading to the training room when he saw Pakura approaching.

"Shishou, you're here today?" Pakura greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah, I just got back this morning," Shishou replied, feeling a bit awkward.

"Oh?" Pakura raised an eyebrow. "I thought you came back last night."

As she walked past, a pleasant fragrance lingered in the air, leaving Shishou standing there, stunned.

"..."