Chapter 486: Maid
Uzumaki Naruto felt he'd fallen into an extremely peculiar state.
This should be trouble, right? He thought hazily. But if it was trouble, it must be the world's most blissful kind.
He didn't understand why, when clearly Uchiha Satsuki maintained such an icy facade before others—cold gaze, distant tone, projecting an arrogant "stay away from me" attitude toward everyone.
Yet why...
Could maxing out favorability really transform an ice queen like this?!
Naruto sneakily lifted his eyelids, then dropped them quickly, cheeks burning like freshly served ramen.
Before him, Uchiha Satsuki stood wearing that outfit... that outfit he'd only briefly fantasized about moments ago.
The situation began when Satsuki spotted an exceptionally refined shop on the commercial street, its window displaying cute menus and dolls.
A maid cafe.
Satsuki stopped walking.
She stood at the shop entrance, expressionlessly staring at that bell-adorned glass door for a very long time. Then, just as Naruto expected her to declare it "boring" and turn away, she quietly picked up a pamphlet from the promotional rack by the entrance.
Naruto leaned over for a glimpse, then saw Satsuki's ears turn completely red.
That pamphlet featured girls in black and white lace-trimmed long dresses, smiling with hands folded before them, the caption reading—"Welcome home, Master."
Satsuki said nothing, only letting her gaze linger especially long on that dress's details. Lace headband, knee-length hem, pure white over-knee socks, round-toed loafers...
Naruto watched her slightly flushed profile, his brain heating up as he involuntarily imagined—if Satsuki wore this outfit...
Then Satsuki wore it.
At this moment, Uchiha Satsuki stood before him wearing exactly that outfit.
It was an extremely classic Japanese-style maid dress.
The black dress was adorned with pure white lace ruffles, the fluffy knee-length hem swaying slightly with her breathing.
A pure white apron tied at her chest formed an exquisite bow. Lace cuffs gathered at her wrists, gently enclosing slender wrists.
On her legs were brand new, finely textured pure white over-knee socks. The stockings wrapped snugly around proportioned, slender calves, creating a shallow indentation just above her knees. Black loafers completed the ensemble.
Uchiha Satsuki tilted her head slightly, gazing at him with eyes misted with gentle moisture.
She still seemed unaccustomed to this outfit, fingers lightly pinching the hem's edge, yet that nervousness carried careful anticipation.
"...How is it, Naruto?" Her voice held barely perceptible testing. "This outfit... how do I look wearing it?"
Naruto opened his mouth, discovering he couldn't produce sound.
I'm going to die.
That was the first thought surfacing in his mind.
Then Satsuki interpreted something from his silence. She gathered courage, folding her hands before herself like in the pamphlet, lowering her head slightly.
"...Master. Welcome home."
"Is this right? Does Naruto... like this?"
Buzz—
Naruto's vision suddenly went black.
When he finally recovered his sight, he found himself leaning against the sofa back. I'm dying. Really going to die.
But... totally worth it!
He screamed this internally, face only growing redder, heat spreading to his neck.
Satsuki watched him quietly.
Watching those azure eyes grow moist and dazed because of her, watching his cheeks flush with sunset-like color, watching his completely defenseless appearance of soul departure from one "Master."
...I've reached my limit.
Satsuki's throat rolled lightly.
Her gaze slid from Naruto's reddened eye corners to his slightly pressed lips from nervousness, then to the slightly open collar revealing that small patch of skin flushed from rising body temperature.
She wanted to do something. Very much wanted to.
But Naruto seemed... not to have that kind of impulse yet?
He only blushed, dazedly watching her like a feline creature given too much catnip, limply collapsed on the sofa, eyes unfocused yet satisfied.
Were there too many times earlier...?
Satsuki mentally calculated. From the amusement park to the movie theater to the bridal shop, from the dinosaur garden to the commercial street to this suddenly appearing maid cafe... Today had indeed already been...
She lightly bit her lower lip.
But I still want to be a bit greedier.
The private room's lighting was perfectly soft—warm with slight amber tones, wrapping the entire space in a languid yet intimate atmosphere.
On the sofa, Uzumaki Naruto sank into soft cushions in completely relaxed posture. Then Satsuki moved.
She didn't speak, only quietly stepped forward one step, naturally and smoothly—practiced—leaning into Naruto's embrace.
Movements flowing, she turned slightly sideways, shoulder blades against his chest, the back of her head finding his neck's hollow, her entire form fitting seamlessly into that arc exclusively hers.
Naruto's arms reacted faster than his consciousness.
The instant sensation arrived, he instinctively tightened his embrace, firmly circling Satsuki in his arms. His palm pressed against her side waist. Through that thin maid dress fabric, familiar softness and warmth continuously transmitted.
The maid outfit's lace decorations brushed his chin, ticklish, carrying Satsuki's cool yet inexplicably sweet scent.
"...How does it feel, Naruto?"
A muffled voice came from his embrace. Satsuki didn't raise her head, only buried her face at his collarbone, eyelashes lightly sweeping his skin.
"Eh...?"
Naruto froze, looking down at Satsuki in his arms. She slightly raised her eyelids, those pure black eyes gazing up quietly from below, eyelash shadows trembling gently in warm light.
Feel... referring to what?
The outfit? Today's date? Or—
Naruto realized what she was asking.
He looked at the jet-black hair held by a pure white headband so close, feeling the familiar softness already imprinted in his body's memory within his embrace.
"...Mm." His voice filled with attachment. "Very familiar... very reassuring."
This was truth.
No matter what clothes Satsuki wore, whether she used "Uchiha Satsuki's" cool posture or "Master's" shy tone today, as long as he held her like this, that sense of security overflowing from his soul's depths never changed.
That was his wife. His warmth belonging only to him.
However, the next moment, that warmth withdrew.
Satsuki supported herself against his chest, sitting up cleanly and decisively, then retreated from his embrace.
Naruto's arms still maintained their encircling posture, frozen mid-air, embrace empty. That sense of security just filling his entire chest suddenly collapsed.
He blinked bewilderedly, watching Satsuki stand before the sofa, looking down at him from above.
"I," she began, voice carrying undeniable solemnity, "actually very much hope Naruto can maintain... constant freshness toward me."
Naruto hadn't yet digested this statement's meaning.
"Pop."
A soft sound of chakra bursting forth.
Beside Satsuki, two identical figures appeared from nowhere. Shadow clones.
But the scene unfolding next made Naruto's eyes widen.
The Satsuki on the left, compared to the original, had grown taller. Previously slender girlish contours were replaced by gentler curves—rounded shoulders, full and ample chest, yet still-slender waist outlining mature feminine voluptuousness.
Her features had also changed. Still that face making Naruto's heart race, but the eyes shed girlish innocence, settling into gentle, embracing, reassuring maternal warmth.
The slightly upturned eye corners softened, lips holding a faint smile, radiating an aura that made one want to rely on her, to act spoiled.
The Satsuki on the right went to the opposite extreme.
Height reduced, shrinking from over five-seven to only reaching Naruto's chest. That beautiful face shed sharp edges, eyes curved, cheeks puffed with baby fat, entire presence emanating innocent puppy-like cuteness.
She wore the exact same maid outfit as the original—but that hem clearly dragged several inches longer, over-knee socks loosely bunched at her knees.
Naruto only glanced once.
No way! Looking further will definitely create guilt!
He whipped his face away, ears red enough to drip blood.
This was Satsuki's ability. She could fix her appearance and physique at any time point she desired.
Nineteen-year-old Uchiha Satsuki, twenty-three-year-old Uchiha Satsuki, thirty-year-old Uchiha Satsuki... even earlier...
No no no that's absolutely not allowed—! Naruto shook his head vigorously, flinging certain dangerous images from his mind.
In other words.
The current Satsuki, not yet nineteen, could already let him experience in advance—the future Satsuki who'd shed innocence, settling into gentle embrace, as a "young wife."
Plus the other... legal loli.
Naruto fiercely, forcefully clenched his fists.
Three Satsukis slowly surrounded him.
The left one's steps were leisurely and elegant, hem swaying lightly with her stride, that gentle smile at her lips inexplicably reminding Naruto of how Mikoto-san looked at him.
The right one minced forward in tiny running steps, stepping on her maid dress hem multiple times, softly murmuring "Naruto, Naruto."
And the original in the center—nearly nineteen, wearing the maid outfit, cheeks still flushed from that earlier "Master" address.
Gazing at him with black eyes filled with anticipation and something more dangerous, quietly, persistently.
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