Naruto: The Prince of Lust

Again, without a thought, she snorts at his quip while he smiles. Shaking her head, she casually replies, "no apologies necessary."

Naruto returns his attention to the Suna heiress to ask, "so you wanted to talk about something personal?"

Lighting up at the subject, Temari answers "I do. Can we go somewhere private?"@@novelbin@@

"Sure," he returns looking around the wide trail leading to the training grounds. He hums a moment before snapping his fingers and proclaiming, "there's a place close by I like to go to." Temari and Naruto walk into the forest talking about their day and some of the best meals they've ever had. By the time they reach an out of place waterfall in a field surrounded by forest, Temari is certain Naruto is addicted to ramen.

The sound of rushing water intensifies the closer they get and soon Temari can feel a light mist of moisture on her skin. There are a total of three hidden waterfalls near Sunagakura, none are as large, loud, or spectacular as this. When they stop at the ravine, Temari wonders around the straight branch stretching the length of the falling water at the halfway point.

"This way," Naruto calls out, leaping on the water. She follows him as he searches for something specific. When he stops, she doesn't understand why he tells her, "hold on," before he scoops her up and jumps straight at the waterfall. Holding him around his neck, her brain tells her not to worry before they break the rushing wall of water and land inside a cave. He sets her down before walking to some towels. Handing her one, she scans the room for any threats before taking stock of the simple furnishing in the mildly large room. There's a coffee table a few two sleeping bags and a carousel heater. It would be a square room if not for the rounded walls.

As Naruto asks, "how's this?" Temari is thrilled by the very wide whitish-blue wall of water.

"Aside from being wet," Temari begins, toweling herself off. "It's beautiful… and certainly private. Thank you."

He waves her off before asking over the rushing sound of the nearby waterfall, "so what's up?"

Releasing her wet pigtails, Temari is drying her hair as she hesitates to begin. "Um, can I be honest with you?" Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

"Always," he assures her, sitting on a soft pad by the table.

"Because I don't know what's going to happen with this Omiai, I'm nervous," she restlessly admits. Walking around the room and sitting on the padding opposite him at the table, she tells him, "I generally enjoy engaging my mind with random experiments like probability statistics or card games. It feels nice when I assess all the relevant variables to a given situation then accurately predict a future outcome. It's one of my strengths and I'm proud of it, but, I don't know how this—between us—will end. It's a lot."

"Yeah, it's pretty bonkers," Naruto agrees, then adds, "but, if it makes you feel better, I know how it'll end."

With a tilt of her wet head and suspiciously amused eyes, she responds, "oh?"

"Yup," he returns with his signature smile before answering, "it'll end how we want it to. As long as we understand one another, I think it'll be alright."

"Then I think we should talk about that," Temari says, leading him to her planned topic. "We've spoken in front of our respective leaders and officials, but it's just us now, and I feel we should discover what this means without the politics."

Nodding, Naruto says, "yeah, I like that," quickly asserting, "I don't know about you but I definitely want to be friends, no matter what."

"I'd like that too," Temari forces herself to lie. In her heart she couldn't care less if she were friends or not, however, she hates the deception. She's already noticed that he's a nice and open person and the more he continues to be that way the more she wishes he was an asshole. As he is, she feels like she's leading a lovably peaceful cow to the slaughterhouse. Her emotional training taught her that this feeling is just the humanity within her desiring to preserve the sanctity of life, however, she can't listen to that part of her now. Her mission is as hard as it is clear.

Temari then asks Naruto, "have you ever heard of a Love Map?" Shaking his blond locks, no, he leans his elbows on the table as she answers, "when you share your life with someone, I think it's important to show how much you care. Think of it as training. Rather than just saying you train every day, you physically show it. Little things, like hugs or notes, to big things like goals or anniversaries; it's nice to feel how much you're cared for and loved."

Looking at her in wonder, as if picturing that kind of life, Naruto warmly expresses, "that sounds nice."

"Yeah, right?" Temari agrees before continuing. "So this meticulous attention to showing how important someone is, rather than saying it, is called a Love Map. Being able to write down the map of your partner's likes, dislikes, hobbies, goals, and habits. It's important to any strong relationship."

"Yeah, I think so too," Naruto offers, recalling his own examples of this attention. "Like how I know when my sensei is worried about something without her saying anything, or when Sakura is about to quote a book or when Ichraku's is out of pork noodles by how many people are outside of the stand."

"Uh… yes," Temari agrees with reluctance. In her mind, she's just happy he understands the concept. "Though I was referring specifically to romantic partnerships, the theory is essentially the same. All of those examples, however, need one thing to survive, time. It takes time to know those small details but when you take the time and patience to do this, it can lead any couple to become… emotionally intelligent, which is vital to a long-lasting relationship."

"Cool," Naruto answers. "A Love Map makes a lot of sense now," he adds with wonder and deep thought. "Can you use this with anyone you know or does it have to be with the person you're dating?"

"Uh, I don't see why it couldn't work with your friends," she presumes.

"Cool," he replies. "I used to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make friends but I never heard about mapping out that stuff."

"Happy to help," she quips. Looking out into the mesmerizing fuzz of rushing water, she voices over the cold water, "so, I'm saying all this because I… and this is really embarrassing to admit, but, I want to experience growing such a connection to someone. Not just anyone either. I want to learn about my Love Map with a partner of my choosing."

Quirking his brow, he asks, "like a boyfriend?"

"I'll probably be married before I ever have a boyfriend and I doubt I'll have much of an option as to who I marry," Temari assertively remarks. "But I did choose you, and despite the odds, Otou-sama agreed. So, since we're here, rather than be down about it, why not make the most of it and build a Love Map of my own? If you and I don't work out months later, that's fine, but right now… I know you said you want to be friends, and so do I, but-" Temari clears her throat and can already feel her cheeks blushing as she struggles to say, "I want to experience things with someone I chose… rather than someone my father has me marry."

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