A Matter of Age

*Author Note*

I wanted to finish the conversation this chapter, but I had a busy day today, so I decided to post another short chapter and just finish the conversation tomorrow instead.

*End of Author Note*

It took Yuna about two hours to finish telling her story to Hinata and Anko. Obviously, she did not tell them every little detail, and just gave them a rough outline instead. If she wanted to tell them every single detail, it would simply take too much time. As Yuna previously said, she no longer thought much about her previous life, but if Hinata and Anko wanted to know more about it, she wouldn't mind telling them more stories about it either.

After Yuna finished her story, Anko looked at her completely dumbfounded. As one of the people closest to Yuna, she had a pretty good understanding of how abnormal Yuna occasionally was. Up until now, she never thought about it too deeply and just credited it to Yuna having an incredible perception or simply being a monstrous genius. Now, however, after hearing the story about Yuna's previous life, and a lot of things made much more sense. Especially her insane abilities in combat and her skills in reading and tricking people.

While Anko was digesting what she just heard, Hinata did something similar but thought about a completely different part of the story.

'N-No way! What's with that insane harem size? T-There is no way I will allow it to grow to that size! T-Ten, n-no fifteen. I won't allow more than fifteen...b-but Yuna had much more in her previous life. Will she really be satisfied with just fifteen? F-Fine, twenty! Twenty is the absolute maximum I will allow!'

Seeing Hinata and Anko in distress, Yuna couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Hehe, any questions?"

An awkward silence followed Yuna's questions, but a short while later Anko managed to gather her wits and ask what she wanted to ask.

"Y-You...lived for a very long time, didn't you? Although you never explicitly told us for how long you stayed in different places for, considering how much you have experienced, you should have lived for a very long time, right?"

"Correct, I have lived far, far longer than even Kurama. I doubt that Hinata could notice any change after she started cultivating the techniques, I gave you two but you, Anko, might have noticed that your body is feeling more comfortable day by day. Cultivation increases one's lifespan, and although the effects aren't that great at the start, I'm pretty sure you should have already gained a few dozen extra years by now. That means that your current age of 25, which was equivalent to around one-third of your remaining lifespan, turned into one-fourth or maybe even one-fifth of your remaining lifespan, which obviously makes you feel younger."

Hinata and Anko's eyes widened in surprise when they heard what Yuna just said. If Yuna's claim was true, it would mean that they could easily reach the age of one hundred, something that almost no one in the shinobi world could do.

Yuna scanned the duo's expression and chuckled yet again.

"I know what you are thinking, but it seems you weren't listening to me properly, so I will say it again: Cultivation increases one's lifespan, and although the effects aren't that great at the START, I'm pretty sure you should have already gained a few dozen extra years by now. Tell me Hinata, Anko, do you think you have, in regards to cultivation, made a lot of advancements so far?"

Hinata and Anko looked at Yuna in disbelief, but moments later, both of their faces paled in shock.

"Hehe, seems like you got what I mean. You just started cultivating a few months ago and you already gained a few dozens of years. I think it is pretty obvious what I mean right? Living dozen of years longer? That's insignificant. Even one hundred years is no big deal if you continue advancing in your cultivation."

Hinata and Anko both sank into deep contemplation when they heard Yuna's words. They predicted that they will have to go through a plethora of unique situations when they decided to be together with Yuna, but they certainly didn't expect the situation to be this ridiculous. If a few months of cultivating could already prolong their lives for dozens of years, wouldn't that mean that they would live forever? Even more importantly, wouldn't that mean that Yuna already has lived forever?

Yet again Hinata and Anko paled in shock as they looked at Yuna in disbelief. The moment they met Yuna's gaze, they couldn't help but avert their eyes.

"What's wrong? Are you suddenly afraid of me because you know my real age? Is the only reason you have grown to like me because I was the same age or younger than you?"

After hearing Yuna's accusation, the duo looked up in shock and wanted to deny Yuna's claim. They expected Yuna to have a hurt expression when they looked at her again, but instead of that, she had a smirk on her face.

"Hehe, that's right. In our relationship, age is of no importance. Up until now, Anko was the odd one out, and now, that position has switched from her to me. Whether one of us is 20 or 200 years old, never mattered from the start."

Hinata and Anko heaved a sigh of relief when they heard Yuna's argumentation. Both of them never really thought about it, but Anko was indeed almost twice as old as Hinata and despite that, they got along rather well and even if they had a conflict, the cause of these conflicts was never caused by the difference in their age.

Although Yuna's age is on a whole other level, so far Hinata and Anko got along with her without a problem, which meant that they might as well not bother with that point. It might take some time to get used to their new knowledge about Yuna, but now that they have talked with Yuna about it, neither Hinata nor Anko believed that it will cause any major friction between the trio.