readbooksol Chapter 385 Undercurrents
Chapter 385 Undercurrents
Behind the bustling temple fair, a slightly elevated hillside quietly overlooks the brightly lit venue below. In stark contrast to the lively atmosphere below, this place is serene, quiet, and devoid of a single person.
This was the viewing spot that Sasuke had chosen in advance. Naruto glanced down and saw that the generally considered best viewing area still had many empty seats and wasn't full.
Perhaps, Satsuki simply prefers this quiet environment. Naruto thought to himself, but a thought lingered in his mind: watching fireworks side by side on a secluded hillside was just like something out of an anime… and a really cliché one at that.
"Look, it's starting."
Satsuki's voice rang out beside him, as he pointed to the night sky. The words had barely left his lips—
"Whoosh—Bang!"
The first firework, accompanied by a crisp sound of rising into the air, suddenly burst into bloom at the highest point of the deep night sky!
In an instant, the dazzling light, like an inverted waterfall, illuminated half the sky as if it were daytime, with tiny specks of light trailing long streaks as they slowly fell.
Then, a second, a third... fireworks of all colors rose into the sky one after another, vying to splash colors across the huge canvas of the heavens.
Each explosion was accompanied by faint gasps and exclamations from the crowd below, and each burst of light briefly illuminated the two figures standing side by side.
Naruto looked up at the sky, his gaze following the fleeting yet dazzling brilliance of the light. But as he looked, his gaze involuntarily and slowly shifted to Sasuke beside him.
The flickering light of the fireworks illuminated her profile, outlining a soft contour. Her dark eyes were intently reflecting the dazzling display, shimmering with a light more captivating than any of the fireworks. A gentle night breeze stirred the strands of hair at her temples, and the hem of her black yukata swayed slightly in the wind.
It's really beautiful... no matter which direction you look at it from.
Naruto quietly sighed in his heart.
His life experiences and understanding, what he sees before him, is the reality he comprehends. Not to mention what Nine-Tails once mentioned about "this might be the second time."
In his mind, the girl in front of him, who had grown up with him, had always been Uchiha Satsuki.
Just like those Spider-Men—Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, Penny Parker, Peter Burke, Takuya Yamashiro…
They have different identities, appearances, genders, and even races, but at their core, they are all "Spider-Man".
Using this analogy might not be the most appropriate, but Naruto feels there's a connection.
At this moment, the allure of the fireworks was rapidly fading. Naruto's attention had been completely drawn to the people around him.
Satsuki's affection for him—or rather, the value displayed by the bond level system that only he could "see"—was already "too high to be calculable."
So, how should this feeling be described?
All Naruto knew was that whenever he realized that Satsuki liked him a lot, perhaps much more than just "liked" him, his heart would involuntarily leap with joy.
Even a selfish, intense thought would often surface: that he hoped her gaze would always be fixed on him, that he would be the only one in her world.
Possessiveness, protectiveness, and perhaps even a hint of controlling desire that he himself might not be willing to admit... Naruto clearly felt that these emotions in his heart, which might not be considered "virtues" in traditional understanding, were becoming more and more intense and harder to ignore as time went by and his feelings deepened.
How should I bring it up with Satsuki then?
The thought arose without warning. Less than a year had passed since they had agreed upon "that time."
Once the time comes, as an openly engaged couple, their relationship will inevitably need to enter a new phase...
Thinking of this, Naruto felt his heart suddenly race, blood rush to his cheeks, and even breathing became difficult. He subconsciously looked away and gazed at the sky again, trying to use the noise of the fireworks to mask the turmoil in his heart.
Finally, the last cluster of dazzling fireworks completely dissipated in the night sky, leaving only a faint smell of sulfur and the gradually dimming starlight.
The temple fair below also came to an end, and the noisy crowds began to disperse in twos and threes. Except for a few food stalls that were preparing to stay open all night to attract drinkers, most vendors had already begun to pack up their stalls quickly.
"It's over... Let's go home." Naruto turned his gaze away from the sky and said softly.
"Yes," Zuo Yue nodded, her gaze still lingering on the now empty night sky, as if confirming something, "Today... was very happy."
Her tone was calm, but a hint of trepidation and anticipation lingered in her heart. Today was the first time she had arrived later than Naruto for an appointment... and this was no accident. She silently hoped that her carefully planned "little arrangement" would not be in vain.
The two slowly descended the simple stone steps laid out among the trees on the hillside. All around was quiet, save for the chirping of insects in the summer night air.
"Tick-tock".
A cool touch landed unexpectedly on Naruto's head. He instinctively reached out to touch it, feeling a dampness on his fingertips.
"Splash—!"
Before he could react, the fine rain suddenly intensified, turning into a torrential downpour that poured down without any buffer.
The rain came suddenly and violently, but that's not too unexpected in the summer.
Naruto almost instinctively wanted to mobilize his chakra and use the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly bring Sasuke back home. However, the moment the thought crossed his mind, Sasuke grabbed his hand tightly.
Zuo Yue pulled him along and ran deeper into the woods ahead, without any intention of using ninjutsu.
Naruto immediately understood—from the moment he stepped out of the house to the moment he returned home, he would not use any ninjutsu or chakra techniques.
It seems that Satsuki doesn't want to use ninjutsu?
The two ran through the increasingly heavy rain, quickly becoming soaked. Fortunately, a large tree with exceptionally dense and lush foliage appeared ahead of them.
They quickly took shelter under a tree, temporarily avoiding the direct impact of the rain. Fortunately, there was no thunder or lightning at that moment, otherwise, taking shelter under the tree would have been more dangerous.
"Looks like my luck wasn't very good just now. It just had to rain on the way back," Satsuki said, wiping the rain off her face with the back of her hand.
"But the rain only started after the entire festival was over and the fireworks were all finished," Naruto immediately comforted him. "Otherwise, the fireworks festival might have been canceled. Thinking about it that way, we're actually quite lucky."
"Hmm...that's true." Satsuki accepted this, but then clicked her tongue softly, looked down at herself, and said, "Really, I'm completely soaked..."
Her yukata and hair were soaked through, clinging to her body and outlining her increasingly shapely figure. Fortunately, the summer night temperature wasn't low, so she wouldn't catch a cold.
She began to tidy her wet, long hair, brushing away the strands that clung to her cheeks and neck.
However, the next action made Naruto freeze instantly.
Satsuki casually bent down, grabbed the soaking wet fabric of her yukata with both hands, and lifted it up a bit without a care, then began to wring out the rainwater trapped in the garment.
This action inevitably drew Naruto's gaze to what lay beneath her yukata—from her smooth, white skin… to the barely visible contours of her body, enveloped in the same thin, damp fabric…
"?!"
Naruto turned his head sharply, his heart pounding uncontrollably. Although, objectively speaking, the extent to which Sasuke lifted her clothes wasn't particularly excessive, and only her legs were exposed, her unguarded and unashamed posture, along with the even more impactful image in her soaked clothes and dim light, was far too much for Naruto to handle.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Satsuki stopped what she was doing, noticed his unusual behavior, and looked at him with concern. "Are you feeling unwell? Did you catch a cold from being in the rain?"
"No, no..." Naruto's ears burned, his voice was a little dry, and he still turned his head away, not daring to look at her. "That... you... you showed yourself... next time... don't do this in public."
"There's no one else here," Satsuki replied matter-of-factly. "Besides, it's just wringing out clothes, it's just showing my legs."
She seemed to think Naruto's reaction was a bit excessive, so she added a sentence, her voice slightly lower, but with a more direct meaning.
"Not to mention... this is a place you can look at anyway."
The overly direct and suggestive words stimulated Naruto even more, causing his neck to flush red.
"No...don't say that..." Naruto barely managed a whisper in response, trying to calm his racing heart. "Let's...let the rain stop...let's go quickly..."
Seeing Naruto's clearly shocked, embarrassed, and adorable reaction, Satsuki finally nodded obediently and said nothing more.
"..."
Satsuki's other hand, which was hanging by her side, suddenly pressed down hard on her outstretched hand, which was trying to reach out and touch something. Her knuckles turned slightly white from the force.
Her pupils trembled slightly in the dim light, and her breathing became involuntarily rapid and shallow. Naruto's blond hair, which looked even more limp after being wet, and his reaction earlier—an embarrassment and shyness mixed with obvious interest and wavering—all of this constantly stimulated and stirred the desire for "possession" within Satsuki's heart.
A burning, almost painful desire surged wildly within her, pushing her to go even further. The threads of reason were becoming increasingly fragile under the pull of desire.
Zuo Yue closed her eyes, took a deep, yet restrained breath, and slowly exhaled, trying to cool her almost boiling blood with the cool night breeze and the moisture of the rain.
Wait a little longer...
She kept repeating the same thing to herself, her nails digging into her palms.
Soon... the time will be up.
When that appointed day arrives, when everything is legitimate, when the constraints are lifted... she will no longer need to suppress herself like this.
The sound of rain pattering down masked her slightly disordered breathing and the subtle trembling of her fingertips. When she reopened her eyes, the almost obsessive heat deep within them had been forcibly suppressed, replaced by a thin layer of seemingly calm ice.