His blood was up.
Their eyes met.
Naruto stood there in an open blue bathrobe, the heat from his bath still rising off his muscles. His hair was damp and dripping.
He swept Mitaraishi Anko into his arms. "Business is business, and personal matters are personal. I've always kept the two separate."
Soft and hard tactics alike had left her dumbfounded. Anko stiffened in shock, then broke free. "Naruto, what are you doing?"
Anko was bold and carefree, but she'd never had any experience with men. She always kept things proper with her colleagues, too.
"You're an adult. Don't make me spell everything out for you!" Naruto's gaze was full of hunger as it roamed over the curves she could barely conceal beneath her clothes.
Anko felt his gaze scorching her skin. "You're still a kid!"
"Enough!" Naruto threw off the covers and appeared in front of the five-foot-five Anko in an instant, wrapping both arms around her well-trained waist.
They were almost the same height, facing each other.
Naruto recalled their first clash during the Chunin Ninja Exams. Anko remembered it, too.
Now Naruto's resolve was even stronger than it had been then, and his respect for Anko, both inside and out, was all the greater.
"Examiner Mitaraishi."
"Hmm?"
"I can't hold back anymore... Give yourself to me." Naruto stepped closer, his eyes burning with earnestness. "I'll take responsibility for you."
Anko shoved Naruto away and shouted, her face scarlet and her hands on her hips, "Kid! Have you lost your mind?"
Naruto was actually twenty-two years old, but the only thing that could count as romantic experience was his relationship with Haruno Sakura—and that had been an utter failure.
He'd sincerely confessed his feelings, only to be rejected. Defeat weighed on him, and he returned to the bed