Rei woke up to a warm and squishy sensation on his chest, spreading a comfortable feeling through his body. Groggily opening his eyes, the very first thing that greeted him was a sight of auburn hair messily covering most of his and Mei's upper body like a blanket.

In a sudden bout of nostalgia, he remembered the small, androgynous, filthy, and hungry kid he saved from being beaten in the streets of Kirigakure... Rei couldn't help but admire the mind-boggling beauty Mei became. ​​

'Was it already so long?' He idly thought as his hand started absentmindedly caressing Mei's hair. 'Geez, I sound like an old geezer. Now that I mentioned it… how old am I again?' Sigh escaped his lips before they spread into an indulgent smile as he felt the warm Mei's body stir.

Mei slowly lifted her cheek from his chest, looking still half-asleep as her dull gaze landed on Rei's face and her body again relaxed, putting the full weight of her impressive bust back onto Rei's chest.

"Somebody is an eager early riser, I see." Mei quietly teased, "Poking a sleeping Lady so hard." Before Rei could even properly register what his willful vixen said, her lips needily descended on his, gently administering tender greetings.

Rei's arms subconsciously circled Mei's body, landing on her back as he pulled her closer. For a moment, the world ceased to exist for the two lovers who forgot themselves in each other's embrace.

Finally separating, Rei appreciatively swept Mei's form with his eyes before licking his lips, "To be honest, waking up to the tantalizing feeling of your bare chest... anybody would 'rise' to the opportunity." His lips stretched into an honest smile. Mei didn't have the energy to clean and clothe themselves after their nightly activities yesterday and unfortunately or fortunately for Rei, she decided his body is the best pillow she could ask for and refused to let go. Therefore, both slept completely naked.

"Sucks to be them, then. I already decided only you are invited to enjoy my benefits," She purred and started kissing Rei's chest.

Enjoying the feeling for a moment, Rei reluctantly sighed and put his hand on Rei's head, stopping her. "We should get up or we will stay in bed for the rest of the day like the previous two days. I swear you are far too good at keeping me here."

"I had a marvelous teacher." Mei giggled and tried to continue with her kisses but Rei stopped her by relocating his hand on her forehead.

"Uh-oh." He smirked, causing Mei to cutely pout in a last vain attempt at tempting Rei to stay in bed. "I for one didn't forget having to construct you a separate place where you can experiment with Jutsu. Come on, rise and shine, dear. If I don't finish it now, I fear the next time I return home it will be just a pile of ash."

Mei reluctantly obeyed, mentally grumbling, 'I am not that bad, am I?'

...

After breakfast with all his girls present at home, Rei found out Konan was busy with the Biri-Biri company since Tsunade took a vacation, Ringo was in the middle of weapon development, and Pakura was neck-deep in paperwork for the new academy. In the end, it was again just him and Mei for the day, much to the redhead's delight.

Packing a picnic basket, Rei and Mei were on their way to the edge of their dimension in order to set up a new training ground for more hazardous techniques. The edge of Rei's dimension was still covered in thick forest where even the smallest vines were thicker than a tree trunk in the normal world. Only after an hour of traversing through the dense jungle at jonin speed did Rei stop, satisfied with the place.

"I think we are far enough from the middle of the dimension." He said to Mei, before gesturing to trees with a nod, "Would you mind clearing the place up?"

Mei beamed at the request for destruction and Rei instantly felt the air around them thicken without any visible change, causing him to cover himself in earth chakra in order to prevent damage. In a mild surprise, he watched as the incredibly tough trees full of nature energy slowly started to ignite out of nowhere, bursting with fire.

'Overkill much?' He mentally deadpanned. It would take at least elite chunin to even scratch the trees in his dimension. With the amount of nature energy coursing through them at any given moment, it would be a damn miracle if they caught fire after being subjected to at the very least B-rank fire Jutsu. It was a testament to Mei's proficiency at Fire Elemental Chakra. It was clear to Rei that Mei only did it this way to show off for him.

Goodnaturedly rolling his eyes, Rei patted Mei's head, "I see you made significant progress since the last time we trained together." He sincerely praised, making Mei proudly beam at him and engulf him in a hug while the jungle around them burned in wild all-consuming unquenchable deep crimson flames.

'Sigh. As if it wasn't enough she could melt the world. Now she just had to find a way how to burn it to the cinders too. She is starting to get a bit too creative with her Steam Release. An invisible mist that makes things ignite with special flames. That's a bit too close to Amaterasu. I wonder how hard it would be to extinguish these flames.' Rei inwardly lamented while observing the raging inferno of red. 'Poor Ao, the next time she visits Kirigakure in order to help Ringo with something, the guy will be scarred for life.'

Much to Rei's amusement, Ao and Mei had exactly the same relationship as they did in anime. Mei might not be the fifth Mizukage but every time she is in Kirigakure, Ao spouts some kind of misunderstood remark and Mei threatens to melt him. Unfortunately for Ao, Rei taught Mei that empty threats have no meaning. 'Poor Ao, indeed.'

Setting the basket on the ground, Rei created an air barrier in-between himself and Mei and the burning place around them in preparation for their picnic.

"No fair." Mei huffed when she saw that the barrier of air had no nature energy in it whatsoever, "You clearly figured out my flames burn the nature energy in the surrounding at first glance. That's cheating! To think it could be negated so easily." She mumbled.

Rei snorted, "I and Tsunade are two best Senjutsu users far and wide. What did you expect? But... honestly, anyone who is unable to eliminate the nature energy from the surroundings would be fucked beyond belief against these flames of yours. The whole planet is seeping with nature energy, non-stop producing it." He shook his head. Mei again created something outrageous. "I already created a nature-energy-less air bubble encompassing a few kilometers around us to control what exactly burns. Wouldn't want you to torch my entire dimension on a whim."

"That's unnecessary. I have total control of these flames." Mei proudly proclaimed before noticing Rei's unconvinced look, "What? Don't look at me like that! I can learn from my mistakes too, you know!? The last time I destroyed our house was just an accident!"

"You don't say." Rei quietly said as his lips twitched upward before the volume of his voice rose, "I am so proud! For the first time since I met you, Mei, you showed some responsibility!" Rei quipped with mock tears.

"I blame your teachings for my destructive tendencies." Mei cheerfully replied in good humor.

"You flatter me. But enough of that," Rei approached Mei and put his arms around her waist, leading her to sit down on the blanket, "I would like to hear what's going on in my village."

Their picnic amidst hellish forest fire started as all semblance of cheerfulness drained from Mei's face, leaving only a serious and indifferent facade behind. Anyone who knew the excitable and childish Mei would be shocked, but same as all his girls, Mei too had her own role in Rei's village.

After all, with how she usually acted, it was entirely too easy to forget she too was a kunoichi.