A/N: This chapter is going to feature another EXHILARATING round of "Satsuki Suffering Severe Sexual Frustration". Everybody's favorite game, am I right?
Anyway, I think you'll all like this one. It'll be cute, though with some more serious undertones and foreshadowing.
Only 4 more chapters until things get spicy again
Time for Chapter 59
Enjoy!
Summer had held out as long as it could.
The warmth of the season lasting well into September had been a gift from nature, and while it felt ungrateful to lament the transition into gray skies and chilly temperatures, Naruto couldn't help but feel disappointed. The jacket around his shoulders was doing its job well enough, but it was a cold night. In part, it was his own fault. Days were still rather even temperature-wise, but nights had been frigid for weeks by this point.
"What happened to heat rising?" Naruto grumbled to himself as his legs dangled over the edge of the First Hokage's stone likeness. He didn't mind the cold much, but it was still inconvenient, and would likely shorten the amount of time he could tolerate being outside. Being a shut-in had never spelled good things for the Jinchuuriki, and as such, he had made a concerted effort throughout the years to dwell outdoors more often than not. He had disliked it at first, stares and jeers were an annoyance, but he had slowly learned to enjoy the experience for what it was.
As he stared out over the village from his high perch, Naruto caught sight of a flash of lightning far off in the distance. A sign of coming rain. No crack of thunder came, however, which suggested that the storm was a long way from Konoha. The village itself was recovering well from the pounding it had taken two weeks prior. The destroyed east entrance of the arena had been cleaned up and fixed, shops had been reopened, and infrastructure was being returned to form. It was heartening to watch unfold. Life would go on.
His mood dipped ever so slightly when he recalled the grim number of casualties suffered by Konoha. Early estimates had been near two thousand dead, but later analysis had revealed that the number was closer to twenty-five-hundred. Funerals had been a common sight since the invasion, and they were bound to continue for another few weeks. Even in victory, there was still grief to be seen all around. The sad reality of battle. If nothing else, the fact that all-out war had been evaded was worth a few drops of optimism. It had all been a one-off, from the looks of things.
Lost in his thoughts of recent events and the changing weather, Naruto did not notice the arrival of a new presence above his head on the peak of the rocky cliff. He was only snapped from his unaware trance when he was addressed directly.
"I should make a list of the places you hang out. Would make you easier to find."
Naruto craned his neck back and up, bringing Satsuki into view. She was standing at the edge of the higher cliff, wearing a black sweater. A moment after having been spotted, the girl hopped down from her elevated position, landing without a hitch behind Naruto on top of Hashirama Senju's head.
"It's pretty much just here and the training fields. I'm not hard to track down." Naruto said with a shrug as his teammate sat down next to him. Letting her own legs hang over the edge as his were, the Uchiha trifled with the sleeves of her sweater, which were just a touch long for her arms.
"I'll keep that in mind. Just hope I don't have to climb this thing too often. It takes a while." she said nonchalantly. Naruto poked her in the thigh.
"You've got the legs for it. I think you're just lazy." he countered. Satsuki huffed and knocked the side of her head against his lightly.
"Unlike men, women don't enjoy sweating." she said, her tone rather unserious. Naruto snickered a bit.
"Never thought I'd hear you call yourself basic." he joked. Satsuki puffed out her cheeks, but let the comment slide in favor of making actual conversation.
"I've never actually been up here. I hiked it halfway with my dad once, but we turned around when he twisted his ankle." she recalled. Naruto glanced up at the highest point of the cliff. It wasn't a mountain by any means, but it was certainly steep, and the trail was rough. Far from an easy climb for the inexperienced.
"I've been coming up here for a while. It's a nice view. Usually pretty quiet, too." he said, reminiscing a bit about the many afternoons he had spent watching over the village from the monument and marveling at how small everything looked from the height.
"Didn't you vandalize it once?" Satsuki asked, gesturing to the sculpted faces. Naruto laughed out loud at having been reminded of one of his proudest moments. Indeed, he was guilty as charged.
"Yeah, I painted the faces to make them look like clowns. Kind of amazing that I didn't get arrested for it." he confirmed. The raven-haired girl blinked a strand of hair out of her eyes as a chilly wind blew across the cliffside.
"If I remember right, we weren't even teenagers yet, so that probably explains it. I'm glad you don't do crap like that anymore, though. I don't wanna have to bail you out of prison." she joked. Naruto zipped up his jacket all the way to his throat.
"I got bored of that stuff a while ago. I was just doing it for attention." he said. Satsuki studied him for a moment.
"The attention was always negative, from what I saw." she pointed out. Nodding slightly, the blonde let his mind drift back to his earlier days.
"That didn't matter much to me. It was still an acknowledgement of some kind. That was all I wanted. To be…seen, y'know?" he said. Satsuki's left hand drifted over the stone and rested on his right.
"Well, I see you. So do Sensei and Shikamaru. Not much for numbers, but I think you've made some progress." she said encouragingly. Naruto smiled.
"I never said I wanted to be popular. You guys are enough for me. Especially you." he replied, leaning into his feelings more than usual with his latter clarification. Satsuki kicked her legs back and forth absently.
"You sleep in my bed half the time. We'd have a problem if I wasn't cutting it for you." she said humorously. For a time after the exchange, the pair said nothing, simply enjoying the company as the wind occasionally made them shiver.
"Do you still want to be Hokage, Naruto?" Satsuki asked after several minutes. The question was rather unexpected, as the topic had never once come up in the past. Taking a long look down at his village, Naruto pondered his answer.
"Yeah, I do. Just not too soon. I've gotta figure myself out before I can be a leader." he said. His dream of heading the village had changed in nature over the past several months. Initially, it had been a manifestation of his ego. His desire to be respected. Now, the position was attractive for completely different reasons. There was much that needed to change. He had yet to fully determine his path to the top, but he would follow what he found.
"I figured. No offense, but you'd burn this place to the ground if you got into office any time soon." Satsuki said bluntly. Naruto kicked her foot in response, earning the same treatment in retaliation.
"What do you wanna do?" the blonde asked curiously. The girl's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Quick as the reaction was, Naruto recognized his blunder immediately.
"We…don't have to talk about that. I shouldn't have asked." he added hastily. Satsuki's face softened somewhat as she gazed into the night sky.
"It's alright. You didn't mean any harm by it. To be honest, I'm not all that sure what I want outside of the obvious thing. I'm still figuring that out. I'm not too worried, though. I've still got time." she said. Naruto felt a small amount of internalized stress within him lessen. If her words were to be taken at face value, she was finally beginning to look beyond her unsavory mission.
"No matter what you choose to do, I'm pretty sure you'll do well. Hate to admit it, but you're kind of a genius." Naruto conceded. Satsuki smirked.
"Oh, I know. Always have." she replied haughtily. The Jinchuuriki rolled his eyes. For all that she had become significantly warmer with time, her ego was still very much intact.
"You're supposed to say 'thank you'." he chided her under his breath. He then felt her hand touch his cheek and turn his head to face her.
"How about I do this instead?" she said once they had established eye contact. A second later, she leaned in and fit her lips to his. Accepting the kiss after a moment of surprise, Naruto closed his eyes and leaned into her. Separating after a short while, the Uchiha leaned her weight on him. Throwing an arm over her shoulders, Naruto squeezed her.
"I never really took you for a physical person, honestly." he said. Satsuki reached across him and started fiddling with his free hand.
"I used to hug people a lot when I was a kid. I guess you just brought that back out of me." she hypothesized, slipping her arm around his back to staple them together. So close together, Naruto was struck by something he had noticed many weeks ago.
"You smell like vanilla." he said as the Uchiha continued to play with his fingers. Satsuki peeked out from under his arm.
"You said you liked it last time, so I'll take that as a compliment." she responded. Naruto flicked her on the nose playfully.
"It was. Makes this more comfortable." he said. An awkward chuckle then came from Satsuki, who appeared somewhat shy all of a sudden.
"Well, that's good to hear, because I might have stocked up on that body wash after you told me I smelled good." she revealed diffidently. Detecting her embarrassment, the blonde said no more. Several more minutes came and went, with little breaking up the silence.
"Can you come home with me tonight? My heating sucks right now." Satsuki eventually requested. Naruto gave her a droll look.
"You don't need to have a reason to invite me over. You can just ask." he said. The raven-haired girl groaned and buried her face in his stomach.
"It makes me sound desperate, though." she whined, now practically laying across him. Naruto patted her on the side of the head.
"You're reaching a little there. I think it's sweet that you like having me around." he said. Satsuki shifted and rolled over, leaving her head laying in his lap.
"You make me feel like such a…girl." she muttered, staring up at him with half-lidded eyes. Naruto tilted his head off to one side, barely hiding an amused grin.
"That's what you are, so I think you should loosen up." he shot back. Satsuki exhaled through her nose and sat up off of him. She then circled around to his back and latched on.
"And I think you should carry me home." she said, her chin resting on his shoulder. Having no particular issue with doing so, Naruto powered up to his feet with Satsuki in tow, hooking his arms under her legs to keep her supported.
"You really are lazy." he needled her, jumping up onto the precipice of the cliff as he spoke. The Uchiha draped her arms over his shoulders, taking grips on his jacket.
"I'll make you fall off the cliff." she threatened, her voice clear as a bell due to her face being right up against his ear. Setting out down the path toward the village below, Naruto simply carried her along.
"Your loss. You'll get cold."
Shikamaru still couldn't find the appeal in stargazing.
Though they shone brightly across the sky most nights, and constellations were fairly interesting in and of themselves, the Nara found them to be tremendously boring. They did nothing more than sit in place, unmoving and unchanging. Watching them was akin to staring at an elaborate wallpaper. Interesting for a few moments, but uninteresting past that point. As dull as he found the activity, he had been partaking in it for most of the past ninety minutes. Glancing to his left, Shikamaru once again found nothing but a look of relaxed contentment on Haku's face.
While he had possessed a fairly solid understanding of the girl's personality for quite some time, the past four days had uncovered new aspects to her. She had taken the liberty to drag him around the village for hours on end each day, and always stayed by his side until well past her curfew. In other words, he had now been exposed to her in multiple settings, and had far more to analyze. The conclusion he had come to was fairly predictable given who Haku Yuki was. She was a person of many different faces. Each one was genuine in its own way, but distinctly different from the rest.
For the most part, she was a complete goof. It was the one trait that permeated every impression she gave of herself. She balanced on every railing they came across, routinely went off-course to chase after stray cats, made faces at small children regularly, and walked barefoot half the time. Contrastingly, when they had entered cafe's for meals, her demeanor had shifted to one of refined etiquette. She had shown hints of such a side in her extremely formal treatment of his parents, but to see it elsewhere was quite interesting.
Even in such moments of elegance, she found ways to make light of the setting. She had frozen his water mid-sip more than once, and had pickpocketed enough tip money to pay for her own dessert off of an unaware waiter. The most prominent question of all throughout, from Shikamaru's perspective, was whether or not he enjoyed her as a whole. And as of the present moment, laying side by side with her on the roof of his house, he most certainly did. She was endlessly endearing for all her antics. For perhaps the first time, he didn't mind waking earlier than usual.
For such a clinical and deadly combatant, Haku was an incredibly sweet girl. Taking a longer look at her, Shikamaru sighed quietly.
'Kinda wish you weren't cute. You make fun of me constantly, and I can't even start to get mad.' he silently complained, though he hardly meant it. Before he could turn his gaze back up to the sky, Haku rolled onto her side and caught his eyes with her own.
"May I help you?" she asked teasingly. The Nara chewed his inner lip absently as her large brown eyes watched him ever-amused. In reality, he had nothing to say, but to reveal it would mean laying bare the truth that he enjoyed looking at her. Choosing to face such a revelation later rather than sooner, he allowed a conversation to begin.
"You still haven't told me much about yourself." he said, allowing her to connect the dots herself. It wasn't untrue. He had noted numerous times that the girl was particularly tight-lipped about her past dealings and experiences. Her reasons for silence were almost certainly sound, but what lay beneath the surface of who she was today fascinated the genin regardless. Flipping onto her back again, Haku sat up straight and crossed her legs. A distant look took over her features.
"There really isn't much to say. I can give you a short summary if you'd like, but most of it would ruin the mood." she said candidly. Joining her upright, Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.
"Whatever you're comfortable with. I'm just curious. No pressure at all." he reassured her. Haku took a moment to gather her thoughts, posting her hands behind her and leaning back.
"I lived in a small hamlet in the Land of Water. My family was a happy one, from what I remember. We were known for our unique chakra. As you've seen, my clan can manipulate ice. Or at least, we could." she began. Shikamaru pursed his lips. Her wording was not negative in and of itself, but it held grim possibilities.
"To make a long, complicated story short, we were caught in the middle of a conflict between two larger settlements who both feared our kekkei genkai. We were attacked, and all but me were killed. I'm not sure why they let me live. I think they assumed I would just freeze to death. I was young, and winter was harsh that year." the huntress continued, her tone emotionless and dull.
"I probably would have, if I hadn't been pulled out of the snow by Zabuza-sama. He never told me why he did it, but he saved me that day. He took me under his wing and gave me a purpose. It wasn't ideal, I knew that even back then, but I had no other choice." she said. The Nara felt an odd lump building in his throat.
"He was a harsh man. Gruff and mean, most of the time. But he was my father all the same. That's how I saw it, anyway. I don't think I was born a killer, but I did what I had to do to meet his standards. I served him faithfully, and in return, he taught me how to live. In his own brutal way, that is." Haku said, her eyes glued to the star formations above.
"Our relationship was never a happy one, but I always felt, deep down, that he did care for me. That might have just been wishful thinking on my part, though." she said, a thin sliver of emotion slipping through into her voice.
"As for everything else, it isn't worth discussing. I did his bidding, and all that such work entails. I cut my teeth on assassination and espionage, and I'd had a dozen brushes with death before my tenth birthday. It was a hellish way to live, but it made me strong. In the end, it all led me to you. And then you led me here." she concluded, taking a deep breath to compose herself upon finishing. Her eyes shifted over in his direction.
"That's all I'll say for now. You'll learn more in time." she said. Shikamaru nodded and processed the dense amount of information he had been presented with. As he sifted through it all, one aspect in particular stuck out to him. As he focused on it, he recalled something.
"Zabuza did care about you. I can guarantee that." he said, drawing an unconvinced look from Haku.
"And how is that, exactly?" she pressed. The genin turned his entire body to face her square-on. The huntress did the same, with uncharacteristic trepidation.
"After Naruto threw you off the bridge, my teacher put Zabuza down for the count. He was gonna kill him, I think. Before he could, Gato, the guy that hired you, showed up far off. Zabuza got up and told us to run. He wanted to kill his boss before kicking the bucket." he started. Haku smiled nostalgically.
"He always was petty." she said with a low chuckle, her eyes falling down to the shingles of the roof as she reminisced. In an action far more forward than he generally partook, Shikamaru reached out and turned her head back up by hand.
"Wanna know what he said to us, right before we bolted?" he asked. Haku hesitated momentarily, but soon nodded.
"He told us that you were still alive in the river. I used to think he was warning us, but looking back, I think…he knew. I think he knew that we'd been meeting up in the forest. He took a gamble on me still caring enough to act. It almost cost me my job, but it worked." the Nara revealed. Haku's eyes widened, becoming glassy and wet in an instant.
"You'd better not be lying to me." she whispered. Shikamaru shook his head and held her steady as she began to shake.
"Why do you think I was down by the river in the first place? I was looking for you." he said. The tears finally fell at his words, with the huntress covering her mouth and squeezing her eyes shut. Wasting no time, the Nara took hold of her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, which Haku returned with a forceful squeeze. Though she did not explain or speak at all, the source of her tears was clear. A potent mix of relief and grief.
"Hey, now you know. You were cared for, even if it wasn't in the nicest way. You've always meant something." Shikamaru said kindly. Haku dug her forehead into his shoulder, her grip on him tightening further. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but he cared little. He had seen her cry briefly in the Land of Waves, but with nowhere near the same force. Years of pent up emotion were being released at long last.
"Promise me something, please." Haku said after the sobs had subsided enough for her to speak. Making just enough space to meet him at eye-level again, the huntress laid her hands on both sides of his face.
"Don't die on me. I can't lose you too. I can't handle that." she said. Shikamaru's eyes drifted elsewhere for a moment, but quickly returned to her face.
"We don't exactly live safe lives. I'm gonna be in danger for most missions. It's just the way things are." he said carefully. Haku's disposition shifted from tearful to intense on a dime.
"Then know this. No matter what, where, or when, I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe. Even if that means defending you with my life." she said seriously. Shikamaru swallowed somewhat nervously. Her brittleness had been replaced by something quietly fierce shockingly quickly.
"Look, that's really sweet, but you don't have to–" he began. Halfway through, Haku silenced him by pressing a finger to his lips.
"This is not negotiable. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but my heart is set." she reiterated. Once her hand left his mouth, Shikamaru spoke.
"Let me ask you a question, then." he said. Haku held his gaze and gestured for him to continue.
"Are you doing this because you think you owe me something, or because you actually want to?" he asked. The huntress' reply was snappy and instant.
"The latter. I'm not putting you up on a pedestal, if that's what you're thinking. You frustrate me plenty, and you didn't exactly make my life simple by bringing me here. Trust me, I yelled at you plenty in my head when I first got here." she asserted. Her expression then grew gentler.
"I've made some friends in my platoon, and I've come to quite like it here, but above all else, before any duty I have to this village, I'm loyal to you. It may sound sudden, but…you gave me a second chance at life, and you make me very happy. If I have to bloody my hands to make sure you're still here with me, then that's what I'll do." she said softly. Shikamaru felt his face heat up.
His life had been crushingly mundane up until fairly recently in the grand scheme of things. He had been a wallflower. A fixture. The butt of many jokes. A poor student, an unambitious worker, and far from popular. In the space of months, his life had changed so drastically that Haku's declaration of macabre commitment almost felt perfectly normal. Life was wholly unpredictable.
"Alright. Would appreciate it if you still let me fend for myself for the most part." he said. Haku pulled his head down a few inches and gingerly kissed him on the forehead. She then stood up and stretched her arms above her head.
"No worries. I won't hover. But any threat to you that I'm close enough to address will be dealt with. I'm not one for mercy." she said, a dark glint in her eye. Shikamaru was once again reminded of how very contradictory the Anbu was as a personality. Both incredibly wholesome and starkly disturbing. A confusing mix to be sure, but not one he disliked. In a strange way, the contrast was intriguing. It gave him something to think about.
"You're kinda scary. In a good way, though." he said. Haku blew a strand of hair out of her face and stepped back.
"I can be quite mean, I will admit. Freezing your tongue to a straw wasn't my proudest moment." she confessed. She then took another step back, but did not bother to look behind her before doing so. As a result, her foot slipped off the edge of the roof. Wobbling twice, Haku fell with a surprised yelp. Scampering to the side of the roof, Shikamaru crouched and looked down at the lawn below. Haku was laying in a small mess of leaves with her hair splayed out under her.
"I'm okay!" she called up to him with an awkward thumbs-up. As she stood up and brushed the leaves from her sundress, Shikamaru couldn't help but smile.
Hot and cold, deadly and sweet, elegant and clumsy. She managed to be each at once.
Cleaning one's room was not meant to be a stressful activity.
It was boring as a rule, and rarely ever something worth looking forward to, but it rarely featured any actual pressure. As of right now, that was not the case for Satsuki Uchiha. She had managed to rope Naruto into aiding her in the cleanup, having promised him breaded chicken, which was currently baking in the oven. She was now beginning to think that the choice had been a mistake. Not for any practical reason. He was doing a fine job, but due to things far beyond his control or awareness.
It all stemmed from the fact that he had been wearing a tank top beneath his jacket, which he had removed quite some time ago. He was not dressed provocatively by any means, but it didn't matter. It was his arms. As with every other part of him that Satsuki had seen, they were not bulky, but she could see the definition all across them. Especially when he was forced to move something. It wasn't any help that she had slowly been coming to terms with how handsome she found him to be.
For the second time in less than a week, she was hot and bothered by him.
'It's not his fault you're a horny mess. Don't make it his problem.' she coached herself as she swept a pile of dust into the pan she was holding. The issue was, in no uncertain terms, she very much wanted to make it his problem. Given open consent and a closed door, she knew all too well that she would make a different kind of mess out of her room with him.
"Hey, where should I put this?"
Flinching at the sound of his voice, Satsuki sheepishly looked up from the floor and toward her teammate. The Jinchuuriki was holding up a hairbrush. Gears quickly turned in Satsuki's head. He was right near her bed, just at the edge of it, and he had been crawling on the floor. The horrible realization of what he was holding hit her in the back of the head like a stone. Scuttling across her room as quickly as she could manage, the Uchiha swiped the brush from Naruto's hands and tossed it up onto her desk.
"Up there works." she said with a forced smile. The Jinchuuriki blinked, clearly quite puzzled by her odd reaction, but he made no further comments. Satsuki then awkwardly slinked away back to her sweeper and dust pan, listlessly working away to clear away the embarrassment. As the minutes ticked away, she routinely stole looks at him from across the room.
'You snuggle this boy nightly. You kissed him two hours ago. It's not like he isn't into you. You can stare if you want to.' she thought to herself after her umpteenth rushed glance. Taking her own advice, Satsuki set her dustpan down and looked back toward Naruto again. He was seated on the floor, with a pile of assorted objects he had collected from around the room in front of him. Pencils, price tags, a few stray wrappers. Thankfully, nothing as alarming as the extra hairbrush he had discovered beneath her bed.
The area around him appeared quite clean and clear of blemishes. He looked quite proud of himself. Just as Satsuki began to find the sight innocently wholesome, Naruto yawned and leaned back with his arms tucked behind his head. The change in posture caused his tank top to pull up a few inches, revealing a hint of his midriff. It was a tiny glimpse, but the mere sight of more skin was enough to set the girl back on her inappropriate train of thought in an instant.
'I'm fucking hopeless.' she groaned to herself mentally. Before she could begin uncomfortably sulking once more, Naruto looked her way.
"Almost done? Because I'm pretty much finished." he said proudly, depositing his pile into the small trash bag the Uchiha had provided to him. It was all too much. His voice, his exposed arms, his ever-pleasant face. Holding herself together while he was asleep in her arms had been difficult enough, but with his attention firmly on her, Satsuki could feel her dam cracking.
"Y-Yeah, I'm done." she lied, nudging her dustpan under her desk with her foot. Naruto nodded and picked up his bag before jogging out of the room to dispose of it in the kitchen. Finally deciding to quit torturing herself, the Uchiha set her brain to work. During the blonde's thirty-odd seconds of absence, Satsuki threw together a ramshackle plot. It was flimsy, and it was transparent as could be, but she did not care. All she needed was an excuse to give him the initiative to touch her, and things would flow naturally from there.
When Naruto walked back into the room empty handed, Satsuki stood up and walked over to the edge of her bed and sat down.
"Ever given a shoulder massage, Naruto?" she asked as casually as she could manage. The blonde thought for a moment, and then shook his head.
"No, I haven't. Are you wanting one?" he replied. Whether he was playing along, or genuinely curious, the Uchiha could not tell.
"My shoulders and back are killing me. Have been all day, honestly. Getting rubbed sounds amazing right now." she said, well aware of how crude her wording was. For better or worse, Naruto did not appear to catch her innuendo.
"I can try if you want. I might suck at it, though." he offered. Satsuki smiled coyly and beckoned him over. For the life of her, she could not read the Jinchuuriki's body language or facial expression. As with everything else, though, what mattered more was the result. Scooting herself to the middle of her bed, Satsuki turned her back to Naruto.
"Don't be shy about it. Just do what you think will work." she said as the Jinchuuriki settled behind her. Once again, her words were intentionally suggestive, and once again, Naruto did not openly respond to them. The Uchiha was left with no room to complain, however, as the blonde's hands settled on her shoulders seconds later. He then began to gradually squeeze and massage her shoulders and upper back.
Leaning her head back, Satsuki's eyes fell half-lidded as her stiffness was slowly relieved from her upper half. Inexperience be damned, Naruto appeared to have a natural talent for massages.
"Am I doing this right?" he asked hopefully. Satsuki dug one of her canines into her bottom lip and pressed back into his hands.
"Perfect. You're doing great." she assured him. The massage continued for most of the next two minutes. In this time, it grew more and more difficult to accept any sort of end to the contact for Satsuki. She wanted more. She was throbbing between the legs and as warm as she'd ever been. When two minutes had passed, the Uchiha melted down onto her stomach.
"Are you alright?" Naruto asked densely. Satsuki turned her head against the sheets and eyed him from her peripheral vision.
"Feeling great. Want more." she muttered, tacking a double meaning onto her words. Frustratingly, but predictably, Naruto took the more milquetoast interpretation of her words and laid his hands on her upper back to resume massaging her. As enjoyable as the feeling continued to be, the sensation of being repeatedly pushed face-down into her bedsheets by the Jinchuuriki was driving Satsuki to the very edges of her sexual patience. Her nightgown was thin. She could feel the warmth of his hands through the fabric.
Finally, a minute later, the Uchiha snapped. Flipping over onto her back under him, the girl reached out and bunched up the front of his tank top. She then pulled him forward and crushed her lips to his. Any questions remaining about Naruto's headspace were silenced, as he took no time at all to meet her enthusiasm in equal measure and flatten her back down against the bed. He had been aware the entire time, but too indecisive to act.
Pulling their mouths apart to breathe, a messy trail of saliva hung between their lips. Satsuki kept hold of the front of his shirt and wrapped her legs around his waist, locking him in place.
"How long were you gonna make me wait, huh?" she hissed, thoroughly irritated by the implication that he had been ready and willing from the beginning. Naruto scratched the back of his head timidly.
"I didn't wanna jump the gun and make it weird." he admitted. Satsuki licked her lips clean and pulled his head down toward hers.
"Yeah, well now you've got me a little upset. This has sucked for me." she complained. A grin tugged at the corners of Naruto's mouth.
"Can I make it up to you?" he asked. The Uchiha used her grip on the sides of his face to turn his head up and expose his neck, which she then kissed hungrily. Once she was done marking his throat, she pressed her lips against his ear.
"Make me scream and I might forgive you." she whispered. Naruto answered her challenge by kissing her own neck, though much more delicately. The lack of force made no difference, the touch of his lips sent a shiver through her body.
"God, yes…" Satsuki breathed, squirming a bit under him as he trailed his lips down her neck and across her collarbone. Shrugging her shoulders inward, she managed to free herself from the straps of her nightgown.
"I don't really know what I'm doing." Naruto said honestly, sitting up between her legs. Satsuki reached up and touched his cheek.
"Neither do I. Let's figure it out." she suggested, exposing her bare chest to him as she wiggled further out of her dress. Any shyness she had ever felt in his presence had completely given way to raw lust. Staring wide-eyed for a moment, Naruto gave a small nod.
"Yeah, okay. Let's do that." he said dumbly. In an absolutely painful twist of bad timing, the pair was then sorely interrupted by a shrill ringing sound. Initially, both froze in place. Satsuki quickly realized what the sound was, and what was causing it.
"The chicken's still in the oven. That's the smoke alarm." she said, looking toward her cracked-open door. She then returned her attention to Naruto.
"I, uhm, kinda need to go turn all of that off." she said awkwardly. The blonde nodded and sat up straight again, taking his weight off of her. Unbinding her legs from around his waist, the raven-haired girl slowly rolled off the bed and pulled her nightgown back up onto her shoulders. Running down the hall, Satsuki quickly reached the kitchen.
As expected, there were small wisps of smoke rising from the oven. Throwing on a pair of mitts, the Uchiha opened it up and removed the badly burnt chicken from inside and set it on the counter. It took several minutes for the smoke to escape through open windows, and only when it was all filtered did the alarm die down and stop ringing. The moment things were situated again, Satsuki headed back for her room. As she walked down the hall, frustration kicked in. Things had finally fallen into place for a painful tension between them to be relieved, and something as trivial as an overcooked piece of meat had interrupted it all.
Worse yet, when she stepped through the door of her room, she saw Naruto. He looked some combination of embarrassed, uncertain, and dejected. Most likely, he had been riding high on his hormones, and having the moment ripped away from him had drained him of his energy. Beyond that, it had clearly taken much more mental energy for him to engage in the first place. He was still socially stunted. He looked exhausted.
Crossing the room slowly, Satsuki sat herself down next to him on the edge of the bed, and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"We don't have to start that up again. I understand." she said gently. Naruto gave her a sideways look and sighed tiredly.
"Don't take this like I didn't wanna do it. I did. I still do. I just…" he said. Before he could finish, Satsuki cut him off with a peck on the lips.
"You don't have to explain it to me. It's okay. I probably rushed it a little anyway." she said dismissively. She then crawled over to the pillows and slid under the covers.
"Now hit the lights and get over here. The only thing I'm gonna make you do is hold me." she said, trying to find some levity. Naruto nodded and made a quick round trip to the light switch and back, leaving the room in darkness by the time he returned to the bed. He then joined her beneath the covers, still wearing a look of silent shame.
Feeling rather guilty despite the entire blunder not having been any one person's fault, Satsuki hugged his abdomen and kissed him on the cheek.
"Get some sleep, 'kay?" she said. Naruto nodded and laid his head down on top of hers. Relieved that he was still receptive to physical affection, the Uchiha girl closed her eyes and nuzzled his shoulder.
'Note to self, dinner before sex."
A/N: Yeah, that's right. They got cockblocked by a smoke detector. An inanimate object ruined their special little moment of naked wrestle time.
Also, I know many of you are gonna complain, but TRUST me, getting interrupted by literally anything can seriously ruin the mood, especially when you're awkward and young.
I wanted to take a realistic look at how weird and embarrassing first times and near-misses can be. Lots of fiction WAY over-romanticize it. Usually, it's a really weird and tricky thing that doesn't always result in roses and orgasms.
And YES, before somebody points it out, Haku *does* kinda have Yandere tendencies here, but I think they actually make a degree of sense given her character and circumstances.
Leave me a review if you can. Like I said last chapter, reviews motivate me to keep a constant schedule :)
I love you all
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