Her name was Kana.
Chūnin-level specialist. Tactical advisor to the Hokage. Thirty-two years old.Elegant. Smart. Loyal.
Married to a jōnin known for his stoic sense of honor and lack of affection. Respected. Traditional.
And cold.
She was the kind of woman people praised with distance—graceful, competent, never loud. The kind of woman whose strength was always measured, never unleashed.
Until she saw Naruto Uzumaki walk into the war council chamber for the first time.
He didn't belong there yet. He wasn't a councilor. He wasn't old enough. But Tsunade brought him anyway—to listen, she said. To observe.
Kana noticed him before he spoke.
No... before he even moved.
He sat at the table like he already owned the chair. Not out of arrogance—but out of undeniable presence. His gaze didn't shift. He didn't fidget. He absorbed everything. Silently. Unshakable.
And when he did speak—calm, confident, devastatingly clear—Kana's fingers curled on the table without her realizing it.
After that, she saw him everywhere.
Passing through the training grounds, bare arms gleaming with sweat. Walking alone through the market, silent and unreadable. At the Hokage Tower, nodding to Tsunade, the two exchanging words as equals despite the gap in age and rank.
Kana noticed the women watching him.She wasn't jealous.She wasn't interested.
She was curious.
That's what she told herself.
But curiosity became obsession.
Her husband never noticed.
He still kissed her forehead instead of her lips. Still asked about logistics, not her day. Still came home from missions exhausted and cold, collapsing onto the futon without even looking at her.
She loved him.She thought she did.But lately, she started measuring.
And every measure came up short...next to Naruto.
It started with a conversation.
Late evening. Mission records. She and Naruto were assigned to review ANBU dispatches from the border.
She sat across from him in the records hall, candlelight flickering against scrolls and maps.
He said nothing at first.
Then—
"You were married young," he said.
She looked up, startled.
"…I was."
"You still wear the ring, but you don't touch it."
Her lips parted.
"You watch people," she said quietly.
"I watch everything."
A pause.
"You look at me like you're studying a weapon," she said.
"I'm not," Naruto replied.
"I'm flattered."
"I don't study weapons," he added. "I study weak points."
Her breath caught.
And for the first time in years, Kana remembered what it felt like to have her knees tremble.
The next time she saw him, it was deliberate.
She brought extra scrolls. Stayed later. Asked his opinion on things she already knew.
She told herself it was for efficiency.
He didn't call her out.
He just kept watching her.
And she knew—he knew what she was doing.
Then came the night she snapped.
Rain poured through the village. Her husband hadn't come home. Again. No message. No warning.
She stood in her apartment, staring at the cold futon.
Then she walked.
No umbrella.
Just a cloak.
Straight to the tower.
She told herself she had a document Naruto needed to see.
That's what she'd say if anyone asked.
But when she reached his door and saw the faint glow beneath it…
Her heart thundered.
She knocked once.
The door opened.
He didn't look surprised.
He stepped aside.
She entered.
Soaked. Shaking. Quiet.
He closed the door.
She didn't speak.
She pulled her hood back. Hair soaked. Eyes burning.
"I shouldn't be here," she said.
"Then why are you?"
"Because I don't feel like a woman anymore," she whispered. "I feel like a function. A fixture. Something dependable. But not… touched."
He didn't speak.
He just walked toward her.
Her breath hitched.
"I'm married."
"I know."
"You're younger than me."
"I know."
"I shouldn't want this."
"But you do."
She looked up at him.
And the ache broke through her eyes.
"I just want someone to look at me like I'm alive."
Naruto stepped closer.
"You are."
She trembled.
He didn't kiss her.
He reached up, took her hand, and placed it on his chest.
His heartbeat. Slow. Steady. Solid.
"Feel that?" he said.
She nodded.
"You don't need to be lonely to deserve warmth."
She tried to speak.
But she cried instead.
And Naruto… just held her.
Strong. Quiet. Unflinching.
They didn't sleep together that night.
Not yet.
But she stayed.
In his arms.
Wrapped in silence and stormlight and the ache of everything she hadn't felt in years.
And when she left before dawn—no lipstick, no perfume, just breathless and undone—
Naruto said only one thing:
"Next time, come because you want to burn."