Saying that her brothers took the whole bingo book thing well would have been a lie, but they were so sure that nothing would happen to her because of her powers that they just shrugged. Apparently, they were the kind of people who thought it was only a matter of time before she appeared in that damn book.
"It was obvious, Seina," Sasuke said cheekily. "You're the only jonin in the village at your age. Just that alone has drawn a lot of attention from certain people. Just like my brother did."
Seina snorted when she heard him. Their lack of concern actually brightened her day. Another thing that also lifted her spirits at the start of September was reading the nearly finished novel she was writing for Kakashi thanks to her clones. Was she cheating? Yes. Was anyone going to find out? No. They had handwritten almost 600 pages, so she knew that typed, it should be around 400. She took advantage of her alone time during the first weekend of September to start reading the first draft from where she had left off almost ten days ago.
After reading it for the first time and tweaking the small details she wasn't entirely happy with, she would have to rewrite it neatly in her best handwriting. Then, she would have to reread it to add the right emotions and sensations to the words according to the story. Lastly, she would create the cover and add a small bookmark ribbon so Kakashi could keep track of where he left off. It would be more decorative than anything since Kakashi never forgot anything, but it was the thought that counted.
As she thought about everything she had to do, another incredible idea came to her. She could place a subtle spell, similar to a Confundus, so that once he finished reading it, he would forget the plot. That way, he could reread the book a thousand times as if it were the first time. This would make her runes and sensory spells more valuable with each new reading. Honestly, she was a damn genius.
"Nee-chan! Are you ever coming out of your study?" Naruto exclaimed. "Didn't you say you were going to train every day?"
Seina opened the window so they could hear her.
"This is important too," she rolled her eyes. Then, seeing Kakashi on the lounge chair next to her brother, reading a book, she spoke to Naruto mentally. "I'm making Kakashi's gift."
"Really? What is it?"
"You'll see."
She shut the window abruptly, ending the conversation despite Naruto's indignant shouts, and went back to what she was doing. She made a lot of progress on the gift over the weekend, but she realized she would have to hurry to finish it if she didn't want to be rushing at the last minute.
Kakashi was sent on a mission that same afternoon, while Sasuke left on Sunday, leaving just Naruto and her alone. They trained hard all morning until they were finally exhausted.
"We could go visit Karin. We haven't seen her in a while," Naruto suggested.
"That's true."
Curiously, Karin wasn't home, so they went for a walk around the village instead. They talked about their recent missions and how it felt to be a chunin. Naruto, of course, was thrilled.
"I felt pressure to rank up, you know?" he confessed. "I wanted to catch up to you and, at the same time, stop doing stupid missions."
"Honestly, you and Sasuke didn't have that many low-rank missions even when you were genin."
"But it's not the same," Naruto insisted. "We were genin, and you were a jonin. Now we're only one rank below you. I feel like we're closer to being a team again."
"I know," she nodded. Then, smiling, she praised her brother. "You're becoming really mature, Naru."
"How could I not?" he said, alluding to their bond. "Actually, I like it because thanks to you, I know that everything I feel and everything other people feel has an explanation."
"Of course. Life seems less dangerous, chaotic, and difficult when you have the knowledge to navigate it."
Naruto shook his head, blowing out a small affectionate laugh at her words. That was exactly what being a teenager and growing into an adult was about—maturing. Life stopped feeling like a Turkish drama, and emotional balance finally arrived. She remembered her first adolescence with a bit of dread. Fortunately, her second adolescence was completely different. Maybe because she was truly an adult now, and most things that used to make her furious now just rolled off her back.
The walk around the village led to Naruto spontaneously buying Kakashi a gift—a yukata for the Christmas festival. Everyone had a new one except him. Seina had to suppress an amused laugh as she tried to imagine Kakashi in traditional Japanese clothing when it was obvious that modern-style clothes were his favourite. Probably because of their comfort and efficiency.
"What do you think Sasuke bought him?"
"I don't think he's bought anything yet. Soon enough, he'll come crawling for help."
They both burst into laughter at the thought.
The next day, she was sent on a relatively nearby mission. As she walked toward the village gate, she thought she caught a glimpse of Jiraiya's tall, white-haired figure out of the corner of her eye. She turned to check, but he was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging, she left the village and headed toward the southern base to deliver confidential documents. She wasn't in the mood to train with the other chunin like every Monday, so she took her time, losing a couple of hours while flying toward the secret base. Even so, she returned to Konoha before their training ended.
"Seina-nee! You're just in time for the last genjutsu training session!"
"Honestly, I'm just going to lie down and watch you guys train for a bit—I just got back from a mission."
Shikamaru chuckled.
"Seina, no! Now lazy Shikamaru will have an excuse to do nothing!" Ino exclaimed.
"Skipping one hour before lunch won't kill him," she yawned lazily.
She lay down on the grass under the shade of a tree, and Shikamaru lay down beside her without saying a word. In the end, only the most stubborn ones kept training, like Naruto, Lee, and Ino—the latter purely out of spite. Even Kiba, who loved to stay active all the time, stopped training to play with Akamaru, with genuinely enthusiastic help from Hinata and Tenten. Sasuke, lying on her other side, clicked his tongue as he watched Naruto fool around with Lee.
"This idiot."
The only one missing was Chouji, who was on a mission while they all enjoyed doing nothing—including Shino and Neji.
That same afternoon, after lunch, she ran into Kakashi leaving the Hokage's tower. From his furrowed brow, she knew something was going on or had happened during his mission. Still, since they were in public, she simply smiled in his direction.
"Hey, guys. Have you finished eating with your friends?"
"Yeah. In fact, we were just heading home."
They said goodbye to the others and walked calmly through the village toward their house.
"Do you want to go watch a movie?" Kakashi asked suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at him, confused. Seeing their reaction, the jonin raised his hands as if he were being held at gunpoint.
"What? I know how to have fun too!"
Naruto laughed in his face while Sasuke and she stared at him in disbelief. Kakashi rolled his eyes at their reaction.
"Fine by me," she said before they could keep teasing him.
"What do you want to watch?"
"I have no idea."
As soon as Naruto realized he was serious, he got super excited about doing something together outside of the house. Normally, they spent their time training, playing board games, or swimming, but they had never gone to the movies with Kakashi. In fact, the last movie they had seen together—some film about a Snow Princess—was only because Naruto had insisted, as the protagonist had been one of their clients. Kakashi, however, had slipped away before they could trap him into going. Sasuke, meanwhile, couldn't have cared less.
They ended up watching a horror movie. Seina had to stifle her laughter several times as she heard Naruto's terrified screams—Naruto, a qualified mid-ranked ninja with a literal demon inside him. Every time Sasuke heard his screams, he couldn't hold back a chuckle before mocking him. Meanwhile, Kakashi was shaking with silent laughter on her right side, covering his face with one hand to keep from laughing out loud.
"This isn't what I had in mind, but I like it," the jonin whispered in her ear.
"AAAAAH! DAMN IT! WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST TURN ON THE LIGHT WHEN THEY'RE EXPLORING A HAUNTED HOUSE?! I swear I'm gonna have a heart attack!"
"SHHH!"
She heard Sasuke's next laugh, followed by Kakashi's chuckle right in her ear, which he couldn't suppress. Seina spent the entire two-hour movie with a huge grin on her face. Ironically, the only one who seemed incapable of enjoying the film was Naruto—the same person who had been the most excited about watching it. When they left the small theatre, her brother was pale, while Sasuke was grinning.
"I'm never watching a horror movie again."
"It wasn't that bad, Naru."
Sasuke and Kakashi both let out small laughs, the jonin trying—and failing—to cover his amusement with a cough. Naruto shot them a glare, crossing his arms as he stomped toward the house.
"I didn't expect Naruto to be so scared of horror movies," Kakashi admitted when the other two had gone to bed. "That was… eye-opening."
"You mean incredibly entertaining," she corrected. Kakashi chuckled at her words.
"You're awful—you know that? He's your own brother."
"Exactly. No one has more right to mess with him than I do," she grinned, watching as Sasuke continued teasing Naruto upstairs.
Suddenly, Kakashi caught her off guard, lifting her up like a sack of potatoes before smacking her lightly on the butt, making her let out a surprised laugh.
"Like I said. You're awful."
He tossed her onto the couch and threw a pillow at her face. Seina moved her hand, sending the pillow flying back at him at full speed. Kakashi dodged it—then dodged it again when she tried to hit him a second time. Seina laughed when she finally managed to land a blow to his face with a stuffed animal she had conjured out of nowhere.
"Not to mention, a cheater."
He grabbed one of her bare feet and started tickling her. Seina had to suppress another scream of laughter, writhing on the couch as she played around with Kakashi like a schoolgirl. After a while, when she couldn't take it anymore, he stopped abruptly. She lay there, catching her breath with a huge smile on her face.
"Do you give up?"
"Those words don't exist in my vocabulary," she teased.
Still, Kakashi seemed to take it more seriously than she had intended.
"I know," he said, then leaned over her on the couch, placing his hands on either side of her face. "And I'm glad that's the case."
Suddenly, the mood shifted. He looked at her intently, his unmasked face inches from hers. His exposed eyes—so different from each other—traced her features as if he were seeing her for the first time.
"Can I kiss you?" he whispered when his gaze inevitably landed on her lips.
"You don't even have to ask," she replied.
She lifted her hand, burying it gently in his silky hair and pulling him down. She felt—more than saw—his lips brushing against hers with the softness of a butterfly landing on a flower. Their noses grazed each other, and his hair tickled her forehead. He kissed her once, twice, three, four times… She couldn't resist wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. All she had to do was arch her back slightly to press her chest against his, but before she could, he pulled away from her lips slowly.
"We should go to sleep."
Seina nodded, speechless. Why couldn't she just tell him she loved him outright? She climbed the stairs, feeling as if every chance to say those words slipped through her fingers like water. She lay on her bed, covering her face as she realized yet another moment had passed her by.
"Could it be that a part of you knows that if you told him you love him, the wait would become even longer and more torturous…? First, you promised to distance yourself from him physically, and now you find yourself kissing him whenever you can."
"You're right."
"The only way to stop crossing the line you're playing with is to avoid certain things… like kissing him less innocently than you do or telling him you love him."
Kurama was quite right. They had kissed quite a few times, hugged, caressed... but it had never been in a... sexual way. She had never brushed Kakashi's tongue against hers, never touched her breasts or pressed his erection against her when, that time, Kakashi couldn't help his body's sexual reaction. If she crossed any of those lines, there would be no going back. And even though they both knew she was an adult mentally speaking, she wasn't physically. No one else knew her true age except for Naruto and Sasuke.
What she didn't want was for Kakashi to lose his good reputation just because they couldn't wait long enough to be together simply because they were both aroused. She wasn't selfish enough to potentially cause him that kind of pain just to be with her. No. She wouldn't allow it. She loved him and wanted the best for him, even if that meant not being together for a while until they could be together fully.
"Incredible," she said to Kurama. "I'm going to have to let off steam more often unless I want to jump on him."
"Don't tell me… You're bored, aren't you?" Kurama asked in exasperation when he realized what she was about to do.
"Let's just say yes…"
Kurama went to sleep with a disgusted grunt.
Meanwhile, she made sure the door was locked and all the spells were active before taking off her clothes completely, leaving herself naked. She examined herself from head to toe, lying on the bed. She saw her rather generous breasts for her age, her increasingly developed hips, her pale skin, and her body growing more slender by the day. She caressed herself, closing her eyes. She pinched a nipple, arching her body at the pain and pleasure that shook her, and massaged one breast as she slowly reached with her right hand to where she needed it most.
She suddenly remembered one of the secret books in the Black library. A book on sex magic that she had first read with a flushed face when she was only 19, when she had stumbled upon it by chance while renovating Grimauld Place. She closed her eyes as she visualised her magic until she found it. Then she pulled at it until it surged through every pore of her skin, enveloping her like an attentive lover. It was like feeling a thousand tongues licking her skin. Her face, her neck, her breasts, her stomach, her thighs... Her legs began to tremble as she felt his electrifying magic caress her entire body. Seina used her free hand to caress her clitoris, that great unknown to many men, and some women.
She was so aroused by what had happened on the couch that it didn't take long for her to cum. The first time. Part of her, however, couldn't get enough. She rolled over on the bed, leaning her naked torso against the silk sheets and lifting her hips to expose all of her wet sex, at the same time conjuring up a toy to her liking. Almost by mistake, she moulded her chakra simultaneously with her magic and, stifling a startled cry, realised that the fusion of the two seemed to give her magic more consistency. If what she had felt on her sex before had felt like the caress of a feather, now it was like the feel of fingers running over her skin. This time it was less ghostly in texture and felt more like flesh and blood. Warm, soft, but dense like the real thing.
Seina bit down on a pillow. She grabbed the sheets with one hand, biting the pillow even harder to silence her screams and moans, even though it wasn't necessary, and reached between her legs again. She was literally dripping. She touched her clitoris again, but then, with interest, she moved her fingers to her vagina. She moaned with pleasure for the umpteenth time when she noticed how open she was from the penis-shaped toy penetrating her. She didn't know what it was, but she needed something else. She tossed the dildo to her side with a growl of rage and shoved a couple of fingers inside herself, feeling its magic rubbing over and over again with her hand and making her hair stand on end.
Still unsatisfied, Seina lifted her torso as best she could off the bed, holding herself up on her arms, and reached for the dildo next to her again, unconsciously encouraging it. She thrust it in again, feeling it like flesh and blood, and then shifted her hips until she found a rhythm that worked to give herself the most pleasure possible, to make the sudden lunges of her animated magical toy as deep and powerful as possible. That was just what she needed. Her nipples rubbed on the sheet again and again with each thrust. She was so wet that with each thrust she could hear the wet sound of her new toy sliding into her fluid-soaked pussy.
She howled suddenly, as she was overcome with emotion, and fell face-first onto the mattress as she came once again.
"Just what I needed."
She knew she urgently needed a bath, but she only managed to clean everything with a wave of her hand and put on her clothes before collapsing from exhaustion.
She woke up the next morning, Tuesday, as if she had recovered all the lost sleep of the year. She felt amazing. Of course, she had to shower and clean everything again, but as soon as she walked downstairs—arriving last, by the way—she knew Kakashi had noticed. He paused for a second before setting a glass on the table and then lifted his head in her direction. She could see a clear glint of mischief and excitement in his grey eye.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked innocently.
"Oh, yes. Great."
"Mhmm... I'm glad."
Sasuke looked at them, his eyelids still heavy with sleep, a mix of confusion and suspicion in his gaze. Kakashi barely said another word during breakfast, but he did run his foot slowly, deliberately, along her ankle under the table. Naruto suddenly sat up straight.
"Look. Someone's got a mission."
Seina didn't even get up. She opened the window with a flick of her hand. The summon landed on the table, so Sasuke grabbed the note.
"...We have a mission."
"Who?"
"The three of us," he said with a slight smile.
"Really?!" Naruto exclaimed from his seat beside her. "Let me see!"
"I'm going to get dressed... and finish waking up," Sasuke said, tossing the note to Naruto and getting up from his seat. "See you in a bit."
"It's true, Seina-nee!"
"Go on up if you want. I'll clean up here in a moment."
She stood up, levitating Sasuke and Naruto's empty plates and sending them to the kitchen. She heard Kakashi silently get up behind her, following her like a shadow. She didn't turn around, but she felt him leaning in, inhaling her scent.
"I don't even want to imagine how you'll smell in a few years if you already smell like this now."
She turned to get dressed, noticing how his pupils were dilated with excitement. She saw him pull his mask back over his face. Shaking her head, she swallowed to steady herself, but she caught a glimpse of his erection in his pants from the corner of her eye.
"See you later," she said, giving him a light kiss on the cheek and tracing a seductive finger down his chest.
She watched as he tried to recover by staring out the kitchen window into the backyard. She climbed the stairs without feeling the slightest bit guilty. Seina wasn't the only one playing with fire. Kakashi could have gone to his room, but instead, he had chosen to come closer, knowing exactly what would happen.
She got dressed as quickly as possible, brushed her teeth, and gathered her things before slipping out the window.
"What do you guys think we'll have to do?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"No idea."
"The sooner we get to Tsunade-sama's office, the sooner we'll find out."
It was as if someone had lit a firecracker under Naruto. She grabbed both of them by the wrists, ignoring their indignant protests, and dragged them toward the Hokage's tower. The moment the secretary saw them approaching at a fast pace, she stood up from her seat and knocked on her master's door.
"Come in."
"Old lady!" Naruto called out, bursting through the door. He narrowly dodged the battered stapler. "What's our mission?"
"Na-ru-to! I've told you a thousand times not to call me that!" the Hokage hissed. Then, as if giving up, she massaged her temple and sighed. "Here. The scroll with the information. Seina, you're the leader. Your mission is to investigate an alleged child trafficking ring near the Land of Waves. Rescue the children. Now, get out of my sight, brats."
Seina suppressed a laugh. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar of his vest and dragged him out. They headed toward the nearest village entrance, discussing what they expected to find.
"Well, we better get there as soon as possible," she said, raising both arms so they could grab onto her.
She used the hiraishin to teleport them near the Land of Waves. Sasuke and Naruto checked that they were alone, despite the pre-set seals in those coordinates, while she opened the document.
"There doesn't seem to be much information," she thought aloud. "So far, about 18 children have disappeared in the last two weeks."
"Idiots," Sasuke scoffed. "What a way to draw attention."
"Yeah, this doesn't seem like a ninja's doing."
"Or at least, not a smart ninja's."
"Or maybe the ninjas involved are just really confident," she shrugged. "From what we know, we have a disappearance pattern on the map. I'll try to locate the missing children with my tracking spell."
The arrow spun in multiple directions as if unsure where to go. Sasuke and Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Why is it acting like that?" Naruto asked.
"Looks like they're not all in the same place."
"Try the kidnappers."
The arrow did the same thing again, this time pointing in a completely different direction that didn't match the children's location.
"It's clear we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Something weird is going on here. We should start by questioning the families."
"Yosh! Our first A-rank team mission begins!"
"This way."
"Are you going to announce everything we do?" Sasuke sighed, not even looking at Naruto as he followed her.
"Of course not!"
"Shh," she hushed them. "Now is not the time for your loud arguments."
"Of course not!" Naruto said mentally, opening the link just to argue with Sasuke.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored him mentally as well. Seeing that neither of them was responding and that Seina was already focused on the mission, Naruto calmed down and stopped picking fights with Sasuke. She just hoped the peace would last for at least a few hours.