Chapter 94: Temari’s Training [1]

Chapter 94

Temari did not come to his room that day.

Kael had expected as much. Getting under the defenses of someone like her was never going to be simple. She was sharp, proud, and already half in love with a boy who treated most conversations like a chore. The system’s two-day timer still ticked in the corner of his vision, but he refused to force the issue. Pushing too hard too soon would only make her dig in harder.

Instead, the ones who did show up were Sakura and Ino.

They arrived not long after sunset, slipping into his room with the quiet familiarity of people who already knew the shape of his bed and the sound of the lock. Kael did not waste time with talk. He pulled them both close, kissed them in turn, and spent the next hour making sure neither of them had the energy to stay. By the time he finished, Sakura’s legs were trembling and Ino could barely keep her eyes open. He walked them back to their own room, watched them collapse onto the shared futon, and returned alone. The village night was still young, but his senses kept whispering that whatever waited in Suna would drain more than just chakra. Rest came first.

While he slept, the others went out.

Temari joined them for a while—Shikamaru, Choji, Kankurō, even a few Sand genin who wanted to hear Leaf stories. The conversation drifted the way night conversations always did, from missions to food to who was seeing whom. Someone mentioned that Naruto and Ino were official now. Temari’s eyebrows rose. She looked at Ino, who immediately found the ground very interesting and mumbled something about it just happening. Temari wanted to press, wanted advice on how a relationship even started when the other person seemed determined to treat every feeling like a drag, but Ino’s shyness was a wall. The thought of Naruto’s earlier offer floated back to her. He had seen through her in a single glance. Maybe he really did know something.

Later, long after the others had returned to the inn and the halls had gone quiet, a soft knock sounded at Kael’s door.

He woke at once, senses sharp. For a second he thought it would be Ino or Sakura again, or that his earlier plan with Temari had already failed and he would need a new one. He crossed the room, slid the door open a hand’s width, and found Temari standing in the corridor.

She wore a simple dark top and loose pants instead of her usual battle gear. Her four pigtails were still tied, but looser than during the day. Her expression sat somewhere between determination and uncertainty.

"You said you would help me," she said. "Give advice."

Kael’s mouth curved. "Yeah. Come on in."

She stepped past him. He closed the door and slid the lock. Temari’s eyes flicked to the latch.

"Why are you closing the door?"

"Just making sure no one else hears us." He kept his tone light. "Some of this might not be the kind of talk you want floating down the hall."

It was the first time she had ever been alone in a room with a man who was not family or a direct superior. The realization sat heavy in the air between them. Kael gestured toward the low table and the cushions. She sat, spine straight, hands resting on her knees. He sat across from her, close enough to speak quietly.

"So," he said. "What do you want to know?"

Temari hesitated. The words came out slower than usual, stripped of their usual edge. "You knew I liked Shikamaru. No one else knew. I never told anyone. How did you know?"

Kael shrugged one shoulder. "You can say I felt it. I’m kind of a love teacher of sorts. I can feel those things."

She did not question the claim. Maybe the desert night made strange statements easier to accept. Maybe she simply wanted the answer more than she wanted to argue about how he got it.

"So how can I approach him?" she asked.

Kael’s eyes glinted with quiet mischief. "You know a man’s love starts from much farther down."

Temari’s brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Okay," he said, voice dropping. "I’m going to talk not so safely now. If you feel discomfort, tell me. All right?"

She gave a short nod.

"You have to conquer a person’s lust to win his heart."

The confusion on her face deepened. "You’re talking about sex, right?"

"Yes."

Temari’s cheeks colored, but her voice stayed steady. "You know I’m not a child. You can talk naturally."

"Okay." Kael leaned forward a little. "But sex alone is not enough. Any woman can give him that. If you want to win his heart, you have to be the best you have to be different."

She listened the way a student listens to a sensei explaining a new jutsu—focused, serious, already turning the words over for weak points. "How can I become the best?"

"For that you need practice."

Temari’s eyes narrowed. "How can I get experience without being with him?"

Kael smiled, slow and deliberate. "Who said you can gain experience by only fucking him?"

He reached into the pack beside the bed and drew out a blank scroll. With two quick tugs he tore several long pages free, rolled them loosely, and tossed the bundle across the table so it landed in front of her.

"Suck it," he said. "And show me your technique."

Temari stared at the rolled paper as if it had grown teeth. The room felt suddenly smaller. Outside, the desert wind brushed sand against the window. Inside, the only sound was the quiet creak of the floorboards under the low table.

She did not leave. She did not shout. She simply looked from the scroll to Kael’s face, measuring, calculating, the same way she measured an opponent’s stance before a fight. The timer in Kael’s vision kept ticking, steady and patient. Two days. One night already half gone.

Temari’s fingers closed around the paper.

"Fine," she said, voice low. "Show me what you mean by technique."

Kael’s smile widened just a fraction. The real lesson was about to begin.

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Give me power!!! 😏