Chương 65: Chapter-66
"Thank you!" Naruto couldn't resist the urge to jump and hug the animal's rear end, but the creature only grunted and shook its head, causing the blonde to tumble. "Goodbye." He watched as the animal turned around, stomping its foot to create a path for his exit.
Excited, Naruto dashed to inform the girls that he had finally found a way out. Reaching the last curve and skidding to a stop, he realized they were in the midst of a private moment.
The three of them were bathing in a pond no larger than two meters wide, which forced them to stay close together.
Mai was washing her hair with the water barely reaching her waist, leaving her modest breasts exposed. With a bored look, she halted her hair stroking to observe the noisy boy a few meters away.
Azula continued to scrub her chest while sitting at the fountain's edge, her back to him, revealing her back and lower area, where Naruto's gaze lingered for several seconds.
And then there was Ty Lee, who, upon hearing the boy, turned around with an arch in her back as if she were made of rubber. She gazed at Naruto, who remained unusually quiet. Slowly, she turned back around, her face burning red.
"Did you find a way out?" she asked.
"Yes..."
"Thank goodness, I couldn't stand being here one more second." Naruto could clearly hear the splashing of water as each girl left the fountain, followed by the sound of their light footsteps and dressing. Almost five minutes passed until Naruto reached them, expecting some kind of fury.
"Weren't they angry?" Naruto really thought they might go berserk. He imagined them peeling his skin off to make a rug; that sounded like the least painful thing they could do.
"It was an accident?" Mai asked coldly, crossing her arms, her authoritarian posture becoming a habit.
"Yes, I described the exit thanks to a giant mole, and I got so excited that I came running, forgetting that you were there, well, you know." Naruto knew his explanation was hardly credible, so he simply smiled nervously.
"Well, it was just an accident."
"Wow."
"What?"
"I thought they were going to hit me."
"Hitting you would be a senseless barbaric act." Mai shrugged, not very concerned. "Besides... I know you won't say anything. A gentleman has no memory, does he?"
"I guess not."
"Good, because corpses don't talk either, so you better act like a gentleman. Don't you think that's better?"
This girl was scarier than Sakura. Nodding frantically, Naruto felt small and insignificant under Mai's cold and threatening gaze. He had to smile in the end, thinking to himself, "He's a good boy," as they continued toward the exit.
"Let's go to freedom, kitten!"
"Hey, get off!"
"No!" Ty Lee wrapped her arms and legs around Naruto, refusing to let go as they walked through the crystal-lit tunnel.
"Now you can walk without being hurt."
"I don't know, I still feel some pain in my back."
"You're lying to me, right?"
"Me? Of course not."
"..." With resignation, Naruto took the girl's legs to carry her on his back more comfortably. Ty Lee smiled and hugged him tighter.
"Hey, you smell like flowers and strawberries, like Mai!" She was delighted to smell the scent of the teenager's neck, causing him to stop in his tracks.
"It's just the soap."
"You smell like a girl!"
"You're not sure!"
"Yes, I am!" She smiled and nuzzled his neck, making him shiver. "I even feel like…" Her warm breath brushed Naruto's ear, making him freeze. "Eating you." She leaned in closer, gently biting his ear.
"That's it! Get off!"
"No!"
"Get down!"
"Make me!"
Mai and Azula walked at a slow pace behind them, observing how Naruto jumped and ran along the walls, trying everything to get Ty Lee to let go of him, without success as she clung to him like glue.
"Well, I'll let you go!" Naruto stopped in relief when it seemed the girl had given in. However, that wasn't the case. He was taken by surprise when she snaked around his body, somehow stopping him, and now he was the one carrying her. "Now I'll carry you!"
"Sounds good to me," he smiled as the girl in pink rode on his back. It would be the first time a girl carried him like that, and it seemed like fun. While the two of them played, behind them, the two girls had a moment of privacy.
"Are you surprised?" Mai looked beside her. It was the first time in two days that Azula had spoken to her.
"Surprised about what?"
"His way of being," Azula said doubtfully as she watched him cling to Ty Lee's back while they jumped and twirled in the air, their laughter echoing through the tunnel.
"It's interesting," they continued walking at a slow pace, both avoiding eye contact, but the conversation continued. "She has a way of being so happy and confident. It has an almost magnetic effect on him."
"They play and interact as if they've been friends for a lifetime," Azula muttered dryly, not missing how the two continued playing, with him now carrying her on his shoulders. "He even forms a bond with her..."
"Maybe," Mai admitted. Even if the boy was clumsy, foolish, and hyperactive, she liked him, much more than many people she had known all her life. "Do you still want him for yourself?"
"More than ever."
"Why?"
"Because that way of being is what holds him back," Azula's gaze grew colder and more threatening. "That smile, that kindness, his way of thinking – they are shackles that imprison his true potential. Just imagine him as someone more focused, serious, calculating, with an ambition for power, but..."
"More like you..." Mai couldn't help but interject. The idea of transforming the wonderful boy she was seeing – so happy and full of life, so pure – into someone like the princess was almost disgusting to her.
"..." Azula didn't respond to that; she just continued walking until all four saw the light at the end of the path. Reaching the exit, they all sighed with relief when they saw the orange sunset sky.
"Wow, what a great view." Naruto stared at the sun slowly setting on the horizon, with Ty Lee perched on his shoulders, equally delighted. Mai, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality when she noticed Azula's hands igniting with fire.
"I guess our peace treaty is over," the princess smiled as she faced the boy.
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PAT REON I'D:- Alzero ]
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