‘His very nice stomach and shoulder,’ the thought flitted through her brain. She swallowed, trying to ignore exactly how warm and comfortable he was beneath her. The memory of Naruto fresh from the shower, damp and barefoot, collided hard against the feel of him now: warm and male.
‘What are you thinking?’ she berated herself. ‘It’s Naruto!’ Yet, the argument wasn’t nearly as convincing as it had been in the past.
“You know you can come and talk to me when you need, right Sakura?” His voice was surprisingly serious. “If something is bothering you, you shouldn’t hold it in.”
Finding her bearings, she snorted. “Pot calling the kettle black?”
He chuckled, his body vibrating. “It’s different for me. I just beat stuff up. Sometimes you need to talk about it. So I want you to know you can come and talk to me about anything, ‘kay?”
When had Naruto grown up?
“I’ll remember,” she promised.
“Good,” she could almost hear the smile in his voice. “Now, I can’t actually do anything about the stress of your job, but I can help in other ways.”
“Huh?”
The next few seconds were very confusing as she found herself sitting on the floor between Naruto’s knees, his strong fingers digging into the stiff muscles of her neck and shoulders. Eyes closing in bliss, she groaned as his knuckles bit into a particularly tense muscle. She had forgotten how good he was at this.
“Damn, Sakura,” he grunted. “You feel like a brick.”
Head lolling forward, she made a noise of agreement. It was too much effort to talk when he was doing those lovely, lovely things with his fingers. She wasn’t sure when she started to dose, but the sudden motion of being lifted startled her awake.
“Naruto?”
“Yah?”
“I can walk.”
“You can work on that skill tomorrow.” He suggested, flicking the covers back with one hand, holding her easily with the other before setting her down. Smiling at her, his face catching the moonlight, his blue eyes danced. “Good night, Sakura-chan.”
She watched him leave with sleepy eyes, wondering why she was fighting a prick of disappointment