The Mysterious Lover

The Flying Thunder God Technique's light flashed and disappeared in an instant, Naruto and Satsuki's figures reappeared in Sand Village, or more precisely, at Gaara's house.

The living room was pitch black, with only the moonlight streaming in through the window casting a silvery glow on the floor. It was eerily quiet; it seemed Temari and Kankuro had already gone to their rooms to rest.

Naruto cautiously looked around and tiptoed. He didn't intend to wake the two siblings; he just wanted to give Gaara a surprise, show him the Ramen he had made himself, and then leave amidst his happy gaze.

It's that simple.

He carried the food box and headed towards Gaara's room. Satsuki followed behind him, her footsteps equally light and almost silent.

The corridor wasn't long, and we arrived quickly.

However, just as they approached the door, Naruto stopped in his tracks.

His body froze on the spot, the expectant smile on his face frozen in place.

"..."

Satsuki, standing behind him, also stopped.

She heard it.

Some very unnatural sounds came from the half-open door in front of us.

That was the sound of a kiss.

Wet, forceful, with an indescribable intensity. Not the kind of fleeting, superficial touch, but... the sound that only comes when two people are entangled together.

Satsuki's brows furrowed slightly.

Of course she recognized the sound. She and Naruto had shared countless nights and moments like this. She knew better than anyone what that sound meant.

So this guy has a girlfriend? And he even brought her home?

The thought flashed through Satsuki's mind, carrying a hint of indescribable emotion.

But if that's the case, she should be indifferent. Gaara has a lover or not, and who he's with, is his private matter; what does it have to do with her?

Why did she suddenly feel so irritable?

A feeling of unease welled up in her chest, dull and suffocating, making it hard for her to breathe. She didn't understand why, as if something inside her had been touched, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

She turned her head and looked at Naruto.

Naruto remained standing in the same spot, holding the food box, completely motionless as if he had been frozen in place.

Satsuki turned back and looked at the door.

A faint light shone through the crack in the door, probably from a bedside lamp or something similar. The sound continued, intermittent, occasionally interspersed with faint, indistinct murmurs.

None of this has anything to do with her.

Satsuki told herself, "Gaara kisses and who he's with is his own business."

But why... why did she feel like something of hers had been defiled?

The feeling was so intense, even though the most important person in my life was right beside me—yet that feeling lingered in my heart, impossible to shake off.

Naruto had no idea he would witness this scene. The sounds coming from inside the door continued intermittently, leaving his mind in a state of confusion.

But soon, some strange thoughts came to mind.

That's not right.

Naruto began searching his memories.

He had seen some clips of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations —not many, just bits and pieces—but he remembered some of the general plot points.

In his hazy recollection, Gaara seemed to have remained single until that period, never appearing in the lives of any women he could get close to. He even ended up having a son through adoption, whose name was something like... Shinki?

So, what's going on here?

Naruto was completely baffled.

What did I do that triggered a butterfly effect, causing Gaara to suddenly have a lover? And judging from the commotion, their relationship seems pretty good?

Naruto couldn't quite describe how he felt.

Regardless, tonight's Ramen delivery mission is off the table.

He thought somewhat awkwardly that he definitely couldn't knock on the door and ruin the atmosphere when the young couple was being all lovey-dovey. Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

Let's go back first.

Naruto turned around, preparing to call Satsuki to leave.

However, he saw that Satsuki had already turned around and walked in another direction down the corridor.

"Satsuki?" Naruto was taken aback for a moment, then quickly followed.

Satsuki didn't turn around, but simply raised her hand and pointed in a certain direction.

That's Kankuro's room.

Naruto immediately understood what she meant—to ask Kankuro about the background of Gaara's current lover.

To be honest, Naruto was quite curious too. When did Gaara get a lover? How come he had no idea? It was so sudden!

So he followed them.

However, to his surprise, when Satsuki walked up to Kankuro's door, he didn't even knock; he simply reached out and grabbed the doorknob.

"Satsuki? Aren't you going to knock?" Naruto asked in a low voice.

Satsuki didn't answer; she simply opened the door.

The room was empty; Kankuro was not there.

Naruto stood in the doorway, looking around in confusion. Where could Kankuro have gone so late? The living room was dark, and Temari's room was on the other side. He couldn't possibly be out for a walk in the middle of the night, could he?

As he was pondering this, he noticed that Satsuki's gaze was no longer on the center of the room.

Those black eyes were rapidly scanning every corner of the room, every item, every place where something might be hidden—a keen observation innate to the Uchiha Clan.

Soon, her gaze settled on a certain spot.

It was a vertical landscape painting, hanging on the wall on one side of the room.

The painting depicts traditional distant mountains and nearby waters, shrouded in mist, and looks rather scholarly. It clashes with the room filled with puppet parts and tools, and is not something that a rough-around-the-edges Puppet Master like Kankuro would be interested in.

Satsuki's eyes narrowed slightly.

She noticed that unnatural feeling at a glance.

Moreover, she had seen this design before.

Long ago, in the days before she was with Naruto, when she could only secretly admire him from the shadows, Satsuki once thought of installing a hidden door in her room.

She consulted many designs and studied many mechanisms, all with one purpose—to hide her possessive collection. Those photos, those old clothes, those things that belonged to Naruto, needed a place where no one could find them.

Although she didn't end up using that design, the principles behind those mechanisms and the ways they were hidden were already etched into her mind.

So at that moment, she recognized him immediately.

This painting, this location, this subtle sense of incongruity.

Satsuki stepped forward and stood in front of the image. Naruto looked at her without saying a word.

She raised her hand and placed her palm on the edge of the picture frame. Her fingers traced the ordinary carved patterns, searching for that specific spot, the point that would activate the mechanism.

A few seconds later.

"Snap."

A soft, almost inaudible mechanical sound rang out.

Using the right spot and the right amount of force, something slowly opened behind the landscape painting, much to Naruto's surprise.

It was a hidden door, concealed within the room's wall.