Chapter 3: Attraction?

Karin stood in front of the huge mirror that was placed at a corner of her room. She had brought it from her apartment. Some weeks back with Naruto's help she had unpacked the boxes he had brought from her apartment. Karin had not registered the amount of things Naruto had packed till that day. To say he had packed almost her whole house was an understatement. True she didn't have that much furniture yet it seemed too much especially given the little time they had disposed of. When she had voice her astonishment Naruto had just scratched her head and a goofy smile had splayed his lips when he had admitted using clones to pack as much as he could because he didn't know what to keep and what to leave. Karin recognized he'd done his best given the fact she'd given him no help. During that period she was still on the border between consciousness and unconsciousness. Nevertheless, they'd done the selection together; displaying some of her stuff in the various rooms of the apartment and to Karin's great surprise everything fitted perfectly as if they had been meant to be that way. Despite his sunny and exuberating nature Naruto kept his deco simple so Karin's sober but feminine furniture enlightened the austere and masculine apartment. The result was good-looking and welcoming, just like Naruto. Each day that passed Karin became more and more convinced that she could have found no better husband than Naruto given the circumstances. Every day she discovered one aspect of his character that pleasantly surprised her; as a matter of fact surprise was the word that seemed to always come back where Naruto was concerned.

According to what Sasuke used to tell her, the idea of Naruto she had was that of a blonde short chubby loud naïve boy, with limited intelligence and a predisposition to always get himself into trouble. Now she knew him better she found out that all of this was fundamentally wrong. On the outside Naruto seemed to suit that description but when you got closer you were confronted with another truth. Naruto was one of the most sensitive and kindest persons she had ever met. He was incapable of deceit and selfishness. He might seem naïve but he was very aware of the perfidy and wickedness of men, though he did not allow it to affect his judgment; he gave everybody he found worthy a chance regardless of who they were. He didn't sweeten the truth to please but he didn't depict an awful picture of reality either. He called a cat a cat and voiced his opinion loud, but he was not just a loud mouth. The term seemed pejorative. Karin preferred to think of him as a straight forward person. A little bit passionate at times but passion could not be considered a flaw when it was justified. As for his supposed limited capacities Naruto was not that thick he was just too impulsive; the plan he'd come up with to save her from the hands of the council was a good example of what he could do when he gave reflection a try. As for his physical appearance Karin, had nothing to complain about Naruto was by far one of the sexiest guys she'd ever met. He was tall, lean from his face till his body but that didn't conceal he had perfectly toned muscles where they were required. She'd gotten a glimpse of his tight abs once and she could testify there was no extra flesh or fat tissue on that washboard abdomen. Apart from having a perfect body he had the matching face; deep catching cerulean eyes, lips meant only to be kissed and blonde spikes that shone like his sunny personality. Even the whisker marks on his face were sexy. Not to mention the enormous amount of dark chakra that radiated from his body. Yes in many ways Naruto was the perfect man and she was very lucky to have him; though right now she still didn't seem to realize the exact measure of his worth.

But Karin knew below that cover there was someone incredibly hurt and tormented. Though he put on the sunny boy mask most of the time she knew he had wounds inside that were still bleeding and hurting. His affair with Sakura was no secret to Karin. It was of public knowledge that he'd loved her from childhood and that she had dumped him in favor of Sasuke. Though he feigned indifference Karin knew, that betrayal had hurt him more than he let show. At times she perceived shadows in his eyes especially in those moments he thought he was alone ad nobody saw. Those moments she forgot her own pain and she felt so connected to him that she wished she could take him in her arms and cuddle him till he felt better. She wished she could help him exorcise the demons from his past and help him move on the way he helped her, too. But how could she do that when she could barely help herself? How could she help him when he kept her at a safe distance from him even when he was sweet and caring? He eluded intimate questions, by answering them evasively or changing the topic with a dexterity he must have acquired with a lot of practice. When he'd done that she'd understood his childhood too had been far from happy, perhaps because he was the jinchuriki of the demon that had almost destroyed the entirety of Konoha 21 years ago. Having been a victim of the resentment of the villagers she could imagine what it should have been like especially for the little orphaned boy he must have been.

Karin was cut out of her reflections by the sound of knocking at the door. She started up as her mind assessed she was still in front of her mirror half dressed. She was looking for something fitting to wear but it was getting a little bit difficult. Her tummy had grown a little bigger over the last month. It was no more so flat but round and taut. It could have passed unnoticed otherwise if not of the fact she'd lost a little weight and she was all bones, so the slightest bump seemed over exaggerated. Though she knew it should be the least of her concerns at the moment, and she could be considered vain Karin couldn't help but feel self-conscious especially when she lived with a cutie like Naruto. When she stood next to him she felt awkward and shapeless. Though he was kind and gentle she could see he was insensible to her looks and that stung a little. When had she fallen from the status of hot chick to that of scarecrow? The bump as she called it was definitely not helping her.

- "Karin?" Naruto's voice rose from behind the door.

- "minute please!"

- "That will make… Thirty one minutes", Naruto said as if he was consulting a watch, impatience clearly leaking in his voice. I'm almost dying!

Karin could not resent him for that. He had come back from the training grounds an hour before. Since then he had not had a meal. They should have been dining but in the course of fixing diner Karin had stained her gown and she had wanted to change before the meal. That was thirty minutes ago. Naruto being the gentleman he was refused to start when she was not around:

- "I'm coming"; she repeated putting a dress hastily.

- "Come quick because…"

Naruto's sentence remained in suspense as Karin opened the door.

- "Here I'm I why don't you eat me you big bad wolf", she yelled irritated.

Naruto didn't respond as his eyes were glued to her bosom. She had surely put her dress in haste because she had omitted to close some buttons and a lacy fabric of her pink bra escaped from her cleavage revealing more pale skin than necessary for his mental stability. Karin furrowed her eyebrows as she saw the drowsy expression on his face.

- "T-There's a piece of…."

- "It was just a joke", she scolded. But then her eyes caught his gaze and a deep flush spread from her cheeks to her collarbone and down to her breasts as she gasped petrified.

Naruto started up emerging from his lethargy. Realizing what had just happened a big swear escaped from his mouth:

- "Damn! Karin I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude. I …"

- "You…It's…"she stuttered short of words.

- "S-sorry. Really sorry".

Instinctively she turned on her heels and slammed the door at his nose.

- "Damn!" He growled looking at the closed door! Fuck! With that he turned his heels.

Karin stayed leaning against the door listening to Naruto's steps sounds dying in the corridor as her heart beat like an African drum. Her whole body trembled at the memory of what had just happened a few moments ago. The look in Naruto's eyes when he'd looked at her cleavage had been far from been disgusted by the bite marks that patterned her neck till the top of her breasts. It hadn't been innocent either; gleams of lust and desire had fired his usually cool cerulean eyes. If she'd reacted so excessively it was because she had been taken aback to see such a primal desire in his eyes and moreover… because she had liked the feeling it had given to her. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to feel wanted and for a moment she had been startled to realize she still loved the feeling despite what had happened to her. She'd been freaked by her own feelings freaked by the fact that for one infinitesimal moment she'd wanted Naruto not just looking but touching. And she had felt disappointed when he had not. Gosh! She was getting over reactive and hyper sensitive because of the hormones nothing else. Perhaps Naruto had not even lusted over her perhaps it was just a fruit of her imagination. In that case how did she get to face him without feeling embarrassed by her behavior? How was she going to deal with crazy hormones of hers?

"Calm down Karin, she admonished herself. What just happened is something natural. It happens when two people of the opposite sex get attracted to each other as a result of two months cohabitation. You don't need to get worked up for nothing. Breathe and take back your cool. You're a fighter you can face this."

She took two deep breaths before opening the door making sure she had readjusted her place before going out this time. With determined steps she marched towards the corridor.

Naruto was pacing in the living room like a lion in a cage. Damn! Damn! He kept up repeating. What had just happened should have never been. He was supposed to have Karin's trust; she was supposed to see him as her rock, her hero! And the only thing good he found to do was drool in front of a little piece of creamy skin and lacy bra. For God's sake he was not a little boy he should have better control over himself. He'd seen women's garments and nudity an uncountable number of times before. When he dated Sakura he'd had the opportunity to see her half naked like a hundred times. He'd even seen Karin totally naked in fact he had undressed her! So that small piece of lace and some millimeters of skin should have had no effect on him. But damn it had. This should be a case of advanced sexual frustration. But damn it! He was a man and sometimes he was subject to primal carnal needs. He'd assured Karin he was never going to compel her to satisfy his carnal urges and he had meant it. The only problem was he had not taking account of the fact that leaving with her in such proximity was going to generate an attraction he could not control. For some time now he had started feeling attracted towards his roommate/wife. First she was a very beautiful woman with her long crimson hair, her plump pink lips and her crimson eyes. Though she was very thin- skinny- there was something fragile about her which sprung his protective instinct. And the changes her pregnancy operated on her body didn't aid his peace of mind. Her breasts were getting bigger her hips broaden, making her feminine and awesomely attractive. He caught himself wishing he could cuddle her against his chest breath in the scent of her hair taste those tempting lips of hers…

"Kami Sama"! he had to stop thinking of this kind of things. Karin was still fragile because of her misfortune. Even if she yielded to him it would be more because of confusion than anything. He couldn't take advantage of her weak emotional state to get sexual satisfaction. Even if the thought of her kept her awake all night with a painful hard on, a cold shower could not suppress. There was no way he was going to baffle his marriage vows even if it was one of convenience and there was no way he was coming back on his word to Karin. That would make him lesser than the rogues who had initiated this situation. Right now he'd better come up with a story to explain his shameful behavior before she thought he was not different from them. And this time around his brain better work fast…

He quickly spun around and marched towards the corridor determined to set things clear. At the same moment Karin was resolutely marching towards him so inevitably they bumped into each other.

- "Sorry", they exclaimed at the same time. "I-I…"

- "You first", he said

- "No you".

- "Of course not go ahead".

- "It's ok"

- "Fine", he cut getting irritated by all this courtesy. "I'm sorry for the way I embarrassed you, it wasn't my intention".

- "I know and I'm sorry because I was been over reactive".

- "It's normal I can understand. After what you've been through…"

- "Naruto…"

- "Don't worry I'm not judging you. I just want to assure you I don't have such intentions towards you. I'll rather kill myself instead".

Even if his words were meant to reassure her, they made the effect of a cold bucket of water to Karin. True enough it had been an embarrassing and awkward moment but it she had also felt flattered by his desire for her. In fact she had planned to tell him that it was nothing to fuss about, since she felt a little bit the same…It was just as good she had not spoken first how stupid she would have looked right now.

- "It's ok I don't think we'll need to get to that", she joked half-heartedly.

- "I hope not".

- "I think we could have diner now", she said quickly.

- "Hmm… okay. Didn't you have something to tell me"? He emphasized irritating Karin a little more;

- "No forget about it", she cut a little too drily.

- "Fine", he replied puzzled by her sudden change in behavior but said nothing.

They took diner in silence still feeling a little bit uneasy. When Naruto proposed to wash the dishes Karin did not insist. Instead she performed a strategic retreat to her room for the night, pretending she was a little bit tired. As she left Naruto let out a little swear. Now that his desire had been lightened he was going to have a hard time repressing it. Throughout the meal he had found it difficult to look at her without thinking of her half naked breast. He feared even an anodyne action like passing her salt would betray his turmoil. If he felt this hot already what were the next months going to look like? Not to talk about the next years… He was going to be a man and stay strong. From now on he will train more and perhaps accept a couple of missions to ease this sexual tension and if it was not enough then he'd pray death take him quick. Because he doubted he could ever stop feeling attracted to Karin. Heavens help him he was lusting over his wife!