Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

קгєץ
By : Sessakag
Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata
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Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto series just this story.
Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Chapter Eighteen
Date Part III
GRWHer

✧༶☽-ˋˏHιɳαƚαˎˊ-☾༶✧

March 25, 2012

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have had that last glass of wine…’
It was a hazy conclusion she’d come to in the last thirty seconds.
Or rather, had finally solidified in her mind in the last thirty seconds.
She’d had this exact thought twice before now, but lost it in savory sips of sweetened wine. Without a glass in her hand, the mental warning had finally taken root, although, it didn’t really matter at the moment.
She couldn’t physically hold another flute of the intoxicating brew even if she wanted to.
It’d been little more than a handful of minutes after she’d chosen her Beauty Package—as Megumi called it—and emptied the final wine glass she shouldn’t have had, that she subsequently found herself surrounded by a group of women who’d divided themselves up by cosmetic tasks, each one a single component of the main goal: Preparing her for the final act of her date.
Rather than taking turns, the women were working simultaneously.
Something Hinata thought should have been chaotic, but from the way they moved around her and each other with ease, it was clear they’d done this enough times to avoid collisions.
There were five women total—-excluding Megumi who’d left shortly after washing her hair.
Ren, a newlywed young woman with short brown hair and an infectious smile had been introduced as one of Hinata’s right hand masseuse and nail stylist. She’d just finished smoothing the delicate bones in her hand, then kneading and massaging pleasant smelling moisturizer from the back to her palm. Working from knuckles up to her finger tips, until the slightly roughed work hand she was used to felt as soft as a butterfly’s wings. Setting aside the moisturizer, Ren had slid over a high, squared desk on wheels topped with everything needed to replicate the nail design Hinata picked out onto the freshly filed and acrylic topped nails of her right hand and was currently, carefully painting the bare nails.
Opposite to her was Kaori, another newlywed with bouncy black curls and a quiet disposition, had been designated Hinata’s left hand masseuse and nail stylist. The demure curly top had performed the same routine with her left hand as Ren had with her right, the two women’s massage style so in sync Hinata had felt as if the two were clones of each other or, at the very least, shared a mind—a thought that had sent her into a round of hiccuping, wine-flavored giggles.
Kaori also had a workstation on wheels and was working diligently on the nails of her left hand.
Hinata wasn’t worried about the finished product.
With their seemingly hive mind connection, she was convinced no one would be able to tell that two different people worked on her nails.
Tsuki, a third newlywed with a brown pixie cut and prominent dimples, had been assigned as her right foot masseuse and toenail stylist. The short foot massage she’d given her had nearly sent the overworked waitress to a place of peace and happiness only found in Nirvana. From calves to knee hollows, shins to each individual toe, Tsuki rolled away each and every twelve hour shift Hinata spent on her feet. After ending the heavenly massage far too early, Tsuki had taken up the nail file now, and was filing away with a steady, but vigorous motion.
Akane was the other half of the pedicure team, treating her left foot to the same slice of paradise as Tsuki had her right. Painfully slender with shoulder length midnight hair, she seemed to be as stern as Megumi had been when snapping orders to the women around her, and although Akane technically wasn’t a newlywed, she wasn’t far from it, having been married just over two years.
Hinata was sure the group of women were playing some kind of trick on her, because the final woman, Airi, was also married, though she’d been wedded going on four years now. A bubbly, albeit nosy woman with dark brown locks and a quick grin, she was the assistant hair stylists to Megumi and the reason why Hinata knew every single woman in the room was married, what their husbands were like, and why they were currently discussing Hinata’s dating life.
Or rather, lack there of.
“Your first time? Truly, Satō-san?” Ren prodded, dabbing another blot of black polish on her nails from the bottle sat atop her portable work station.
“Mhm,” Hinata hummed, her bashful nod a touch sluggish.
“I don’t believe it,” Tsuki interjected, glancing up from her toenail filing, “beautiful woman like yourself, you must have had boatloads of boys lining up for a date when you were a young girl.”
Hinata shook her head with a giggle, then pressed herself back into the chair as the room spun a little.
A soft snort left her lips at the whirling sensation, the sound bringing a round of mirth from the women around her.
She’d been so far away from boys as a young girl it wasn’t funny…
…or actually it was funny.
Why?
She hadn’t the slightest clue at the moment.
“Someone’s enjoying her wine,” the assistant hair stylist teased as she squeezed a thick white liquid into her hands that smelled of fresh strawberries & sweetened cream.
Hinata was enjoying the wine, but, maybe a little too much.
She was feeling incredibly floaty right now.
Floaty and relaxed and super giggly.
She’d had the passing thought that maybe she should cut back on the tasty fermented brew before, but every time she got near the bottom of her diamond encrusted flute, one of the Eden Bay staffers around her re-filled it-
Gentle fingers that felt like pure magic, glided through her long hair.
Hinata fairly melted in her chair as Airi started a heavenly scalp massage, “so silky and smooth, and so long. Your hair is so beautiful, Satō-san.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, rosy pink happiness dusting her cheeks.
“Don’t leave us in suspense, Satō-san, tell us how you went from never dating to dating the infamous Uzumaki-san?” Ren prodded.
Droopy eyed and curious, Hinata listed towards Ren like a nosy kitten; Airi—fingers still caught in her hair—-silently followed the motion, “infamous?”
“Of course,” Ren replied, brown brows creasing, “you do know Uzumaki-san is a-”
“Very successful business man,” Tsuki cut in, gesturing dramatically with the nail file for emphasis, “and a very important client. Every time he sails with us, it puts Captain Disonasu all in a tizzy.”
Kaori’s giggle was small but contagious, spreading throughout the group of beauticians—minus Akane.
Hinata joined in even though she was sure they were laughing at some inside joke she wasn’t privy to.
“He gets all sweaty and flustered, starts barking orders and micro manging. Sends us a flood of email reminders that he expects two hundred percent excellent customer service during Uzumaki-san’s visits,” Airi joined in, exasperation and humor in her voice.
“If Uzumaki-san says jump, do not ask how high just start jumping,” Ren, Tsuki and Airi mimicked in unison.
Another round of laughter—excluding Akane again.
“You’d think Uzumaki-san was an official world leader the way he behaves,” the assistant hair stylist chortled.
It was rude to speak about the captain this way, but Hinata couldn’t help the trill of mirth that left her lips.
She secretly agreed with that description—though she’d never say it aloud—-and not just for the captain.
The Eden Bay staff in general scrambled and bent over backwards to make sure Naruto was comfortable, enjoying himself and had everything he asked for as soon as humanly possible.
They catered to him like royalty.
Like a blue blood Main House Hyuuga.
“Annoying thought it may be,” she continued, “its understandable. Uzumaki-san’s not a client you’d wanna piss off.”
“Airi,” Akane admonished, gently wiping the white residue of her vigorous nail filing away with a cloth she’d draped over her forearm as she spoke, “this isn’t appropriate conversation to have with a client.”
“Oh come on, Akane, it’s just a little girl talk,” the hair assistant dismissed, the eye roll apparent in her tone, “we’re building rapport.”
“It’s not appropriate to girl talk with clients,” the slender woman insisted.
“She said we could ask her personal questions,” Ren chimed in.
This was true.
Two—or was it three?—glasses of wine deep, and Hinata’s apprehension of the ritzy, overtly opulent and expensive back drop of her date with an obscenely wealthy older male stranger, had melded into a giddy, somewhat carefree excitement for a new experience with the most attractive, most handsome, most dreamy man she’d ever met in her entire life.
Buzzed and bubbly, Hinata didn’t object to their curious questions.
She was happy as a cat with cream to chit chat about her whirlwind journey into the dating world right now.
“That doesn’t give us leave to ask them,” Akane insisted, “especially of a VIP guest. The rules are different for-”
“You’re such a stick in the mud, Akane. We’re just making conversation,” Airi huffed.
“Maybe…we should just finish our tasks,” Kaori tepidly suggested.
“We can do that and talk.”
“Not if it invades our client’s privacy,” Akane argued.
The group—excluding the timid Kaori—-descended into a round of do’s and don’ts.
Professionalism and rapport.
Hinata listened to the exchange with a growing puffy-cheeked pout.
She didn’t want them to fight, but she did like girl talk and these ladies sounded like they knew secret Naruto facts she didn’t know.
She wanted to know too…
Lower lip puckered, droopy eyed and listing forward along with Airi’s hair tangled fingers, Hinata added her own pouty plea to the battle, “but I really don’t mind, Akane-san.”
Another stern head shake from the thin woman, “it’s rude, Satō-san.”
“N-Naruto told me once that certain things are rude only if the other person cares…”
What possessed her to repeat his words, she didn’t know, but…it seem liked a good time to use them.
Although, that wasn’t exactly what he said…
…and she was missing at least one profanity in that sentence.
There was also the fact that Naruto hadn’t been talking about chit chat between clients and beauticians, rather, her embarrassing habit of staring at his face scars and body art when they first met.
Still…
It worked for him, maybe it’d work for her?
“Wise words from a wise man,” Ren declared with a decisive nod.
“That good enough for you, Akane?” Airi questioned.
It wasn’t.
Anyone with eyes could see on her face it wasn’t, however, Akane conceded with, “if those are Uzumaki-san words, I’d never dream of going against them.”
That took the puff from Hinata’s cheeks, and the pout from her lip.
Maybe she shouldn’t have pressed the issue.
Whatever these ladies knew about Naruto, Hinata could ask him herself, or maybe he’d even volunteer the information without her saying anything at all, perhaps he’d even tell her far more than the beauticians knew.
She’d rather take that chance than make Akane feel bad.
“Come on, Akane, lighten up. It’s not every day we get to mingle with one of Uzumaki-san’s dates,” Ren goaded.
That snapped her out of her slump.
Naruto told her he’d never-
“One of…but…this is the first time he’s ever had a date…” Kaori murmured.
“Exactly!” her right hand masseuse fairly squealed, “this is big! Uzumaki-san doesn’t bring women with him unless they’re part of his security team. He doesn’t keep women, he doesn’t date women. Year after year, interview after interview, Uzumaki-san has always rejected the possibility that he’d ever settle down with a woman, let alone date one. Now, out of the blue, he’s dating a gorgeous, mystery woman no one’s ever seen or heard of? Aren’t you just a little bit curious as to what changed his mind, Akane? Don’t you wanna know how two people that have never dated before both decided to date each other?”
So many things caught and held in her mind.
Clearly, Naruto was some level of famous to have been interviewed by a publication, to have his dating views and behavior be public knowledge and discussed like celebrity gossip.
She couldn’t even begin to decide how she felt about that.
Maybe it was a good thing her head was full of bubbles right now, because the impact of that knowledge was surely landing softer than it should have.
A nugget of anxiety had tried to pop those bubbles, but nosy kitten curiosity was holding it at bay.
There was another takeaway she knew exactly how she felt about it.
Naruto hadn’t lied to her.
He truly had never dated, never had a girlfriend, and had had no desire for either…
…until her.
The realization had her dizzy with pleasure, buzzing with embarrassed fiery-cheeked delight, fluttering with anxious tummy knots and belly butterflies knowing she’d been the one to somehow change his mind.
Akane shook her head, her tone firm as she said, “it’s none of our business, Airi.”
The slam of a door startled everyone, and brought an abrupt end to the conversation.
All eyes swung to the woman standing in front of it.
Stone faced and narrow eyed, the Head stylist’s displeasure was loudly etched into her frown, her silence wrapping around the room like…
Like…
Like some kind of restrictive wrap around thing Hinata’s floaty mind couldn’t name at the moment.
But she could tell that look meant somebody was in trouble.
It reminded her too much of an angry Dorm Sister to mean anything else.
“Such gossip,” Megumi chastised as she moved into the room, holding something in her hand, “and with Uzumaki-san’s honored guest at that,” the dark clouds cleared as she gave the guest in question a pleasant smile, “here, Satō-san, complimentary earbuds to go with your pre-zest before we apply your makeup.”
In Megumi’s outstretched palm was a small open case with two pretty lavender earbuds resting inside.
Hinata didn’t have a chance to say a word in the time it took for Megumi to notch the buds against her eardrum, and for Kaori and Ren to place freshly sliced cucumbers on her eyes.
Her defense of the beauticians quieted before it could begin.
Music filled her left ear.
The right was silent.
She might have said something about the malfunctioning ear piece had Megumi not started talking immediately after.
Eavesdropping was one of those naughty habits the Dorm Sisters hadn’t been able to curtail in her.
Although it’d gotten her in hot water often, not just with the Dorm Sisters and Dorm Mistress, but in the walls of the Divine Court itself, Hinata had never tried to curtail it herself either.
The amount of trouble it got her into was nothing compared to the amount of trouble it got her out of.
She’d long since decided it was a necessary survival skill…
…though in this instance, it was pure nosiness.
“…and from what I walked in on, it seems you ladies are in need of a quick refresh of expectations,” Megumi was saying, her voice sharp and hard, completely at odds with the nice, smiling, and overtly accommodating woman of two seconds ago, “return to your duties, listen closely and mind your words going forward.”
A choirs of ‘yes ma’am’ reverberated around her.
All date-prep activity resumed, and another set of fingers joined Airi’s in her hair.
Megumi.
Confirmed by the location Megumi’s voice came from next; behind and to the right of Hinata’s ear.
“You ladies are here because you meet an important, last minute requirement among a slew of personally requested restrictions Uzumaki-san sent over concerning his guest. All but two of you were pulled from gen pop, and are used to working the public floor, however, I will remind you that you are currently temporary VIP staff, and your behavior must reflect the standards we expect of all full time VIP staff. Fraternizing with our betters is strictly prohibited. As Akane, the most senior VIP staffer here has stated, our client’s business is none of our business, whether they are consenting to sharing it or not. Soliciting them for information is not only highly unprofessional, it is grounds for immediate termination.”
Hinata nearly forget she wasn’t a participant of this conversation, just barely stopping herself from pleading their cases to Megumi.
She hadn’t realized ‘girl talk’ with a client was this serious an offense.
She felt even guiltier using Naruto’s words to push the issue.
She wasn’t anybody’s ‘better’ in way—-she was certain these beauticians made more in a day than she did in a month.
If she got one of these kind women fired, she didn’t know what she’d do.
“Being as this is many of you ladies first—and last for some—time working the VIP floor, I’ll let this infraction pass with a verbal warning, but know, there won’t be another in the future. Should anything remotely close to this incident happen again, you will be removed from the floor, immediately terminated and returned to shore as earliest as can be arranged.”
Hinata exhaled silently.
‘No more ‘building rapport’ with the staff,’ she silently promised herself and the Eden Bay staff.
“I’d also remind you of the NDA’s you signed. Anything that occurs in these suites, on this yacht, on any form of Eden Bay property, is not to be shared with tabloids, gossip mills or journalists, nor disseminated over pillow talk with your significant others. We will enforce every letter of the NDA, however, as you all should know, the legal system will be the least of your worries should Uzumaki-san find out his business is being discussed anywhere other than your own thoughts, and even then I would implore you not to think them too loudly.”
Hinata had a general understanding of privacy laws and enforcing them, and sure, Naruto had a right to privacy just like anybody else but Megumi made it sound so ominous.
“Do we all understand each other?”
Another round of ‘yes ma’am’s circled.
There was a brief pause, a slight tension, then the Head stylist moved on to the next order of business.
“Now, have any of you ladies heard from Akiko?” Megumi questioned, “Shiri and I have looked for her and sent multiple calls over com. She needs to finish making the minor adjustment Shiri ordered so the gown will be ready as soon as Satō-san’s finished here.”
Shiri…
The name buzzed in her head a few times before it clicked.
Shiri, if she remembered correctly, was the touchy feely woman Naruto left her with to pick out an evening dress.
The one who’d introduced her to the sweet wine…
A throat cleared, then Ren spoke up, thought she sound reluctant to speak, “she said there was a call for a replacement tailor in the King’s suite, so she went to fill in-”
“Why didn’t you stop her?” Megumi admonished in a snapped whisper, “that little fool. She’s going to get herself ki-” a brief pause, then, “fired. I told her to stay away from him. She can’t be in those suites. The restriction for the King’s suite are the same as here with the genders specifications reversed. Why didn’t she send Yuta? He’s the assigned King suite tailor tonight.”
“She couldn’t even if she wanted to,” this from Tsuki, “I heard he got himself…fired by the bossman himself for not following the rules.”
A pregnant pause, then Kaori’s quiet question, “h-how could he have known-”
“You know how he knew, you think the new security system that went up yesterday was-”
“Airi,” Megumi chastised, “enough. I’ll send someone to recover Akiko if…possible. For now, focus on finishing up. We’re already behind schedule and we don’t want to keep Uzumaki-san waiting.”
‘Yes ma’am’s’, then silence broken only be Megumi’s coded, low spoken orders into what Hinata assumed was an ear piece radio.
After, there was nothing but the sound of beauticians hard at work, and the single soothing tune in her left ear.
-
Just shy of an hour later, Hinata’s long dark hair was shiny, scented and weaved in loose, intricate loops piled regally atop her crown in complex patterns that were held together and kept in place by cosmic themed, diamond—not rhinestone—lined pins and mini clutches.
Vivid gold stars, big and small, threaded through gleaming black strands, surrounded the full moon centerpiece clip holding most of the style together.
She’d kept her makeup light, blushing as she recalled Naruto’s opinionated suggestion earlier.
‘You’re fuckin gorgeous, you don’t need that shit covering it up.’
His profanity laced but incredibly sweet compliment of her facial features had made it a bit challenging to apply the makeup, seeing as the scarlet flush of her skin made it difficult to see the full effects of the eyeshadow and brief attempt to dab color on her cheeks because all she could think about was his word in the deep rasp of his voice in that moment.
They’d nixed the blush entirely.
She naturally—regularly—-pinked her own cheeks, adding blush would be overkill according to Megumi.
Refusing the full faced package—face primer, concealer, foundation, contour, fake lashes, eyebrow filing and shaping, settling spray and other things that made her head spin——Hinata had been left with the basics.
Though, the basics were too spectacular to be called basic in her opinion.
Charcoal winged eyeliner emphasized her pale doe eyes, sparkling silver eyeshadow blended seamlessly with a darker shade that grew pitch black the further it moved towards the outer corner of her eyelids, and a bloody lipstick that made her look sensual and a touch sinister.
Like a vampire queen that’d painted her mouth with the life force of her victim.
It looked shiny and wet.
Rare Blood - Deep Red Creamy Lipstick was it’s official name.
Hinata didn’t know much about makeup, having rarely worn it as an adult and prohibited as an early adolescent, she’d left many of the decisions to Megumi’s expertise. The results were nothing she would have ever thought to choose for herself, nothing her cosmetic inexperience could create on it’s own, and yet, she found the combination exciting and entrancing.
She looked…beautiful.
Darkly ethereal and mysterious.
Feminine and even…sexy—although her face broke out in scarlet radiance to say that even to herself.
Now she stood atop a dressing platform surrounded by mirrors, two women, Shiri and Yume, hard at work draping her body in the burnt orange and black fabric of the dress Shiri picked out in careful layers.
Like the beauticians, they worked in tandem like hive mind twins.
As she was dressed, and adjusted, apprehension began to rear it’s ugly head.
Hinata wasn’t sure if her buzz was wearing off or if seeing how much skin the gown would leave exposed was finally permeating her bubble, but she found herself second guessing Shiri’s suggested evening gown more and more as time passed.
It was a beautiful garment to be sure.
The cosmos etched into yards of velvety soft fabric.
The bodice was something Shiri called a Plunging Sweetheart Cut.
Sleeveless with a worryingly steep plunge between her breasts, the sharply rounded edges of the heart-shaped bust clung to her hefty mounds like a second skin, creating the embarrassing appearance that the entire ensemble was held up by her ample bosom. She wasn’t wearing a bra, something that left her feeling exposed and underdressed, but there was thin padding on the inside that sort of felt like one, and if she didn’t think too deeply, she could pretend it was.
The colors were eye catching, and yet subtle and tenebrous.
Like the hazy, caliginous remnants of a nova explosion, the bodice was a combination of a burnt orange starburst and violent faded crimson streaks bled across an onyx night sky that tapered down the cinched waistline and flared out into a midnight curtain of rippling lace that would trail when she walked.
Pinpricks of sparkling silver twinkled among the inky blackness of her skirt, gleaming miniature gems that glittered beneath the florescent light like thousands of winking stars.
She hadn’t asked, but she had the sinking feeling the mini shards weren’t rhinestones.
That just one of these shiny cosmic jewels could pay her rent for at least six months.
It was the most breathtaking, yet scandalous article of clothing she’d ever worn in her life.
At the time Shiri suggested it, Hinata had been thrumming with happy vibes courtesy of the fermented grape juice that tasted like sweet nectar alongside the cheese platter offered to her during the evening gown pre-selection that helped narrow down the number of gowns from a staggering six hundred to a mind-blowing fifty. One glass and she’d felt daring and amiable to testing the waters with something that would have sent her parents into a conservatism conniption.
Now, she was the one on the edge of a full on prudish panic.
“Liquid courage, Satō-san.”
A new flute of burgundy sweetness and Shiri’s encouraging smile grabbed her attention.
Hinata shook her head at the glass, “I shouldn’t-”
“Nonsense. This is a night of romance and fun, of freedom and new experiences. Carpe diem,” she winked, unknowingly echoed Kiba’s earlier advice as she pressed the glass towards her, “live a little.”
Hinata took the glass, but didn’t drink, saying instead, “Shiri-san, a-about this dress-”
“Gorgeous is it not? I knew the moment I saw it that it was perfect for you. You’re going to drive Uzumaki-san wild and, perhaps, old Shiri will get a nice tip for her efforts,” leaning in, the tailor’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, “I have it on good authority that orange is his favorite color, and that he has a fondness for the cosmos. Although, judging by the nail color you chose, perhaps you already knew that first tidbit of Uzumaki-san lore, ne?”
Hinata’s cheeks lit up like a match.
Was she really that obvious?
Rather than admit what they both knew, the blushing young waitress took a guilty sip of wine.
She may as well have confessed, her non-answer drew mirth from the tailor all the same.
“Not to worry, my dear, for the First Course, you’ll be safely tucked away in your cape,” Shiri told her, pinpointing the source of Hinata’s discomfort.
Yume approached, holding out a dark, sequin patterned stretch of fabric that flirted heavily with translucency and would no doubt trail further than her dress.
“We wouldn’t want the splendor of this masterpiece revealed too soon.”
Shiri confiscated her wine as Yume draped and arranged the garment.
Shifting and subtly folding the cloth, Yume worked until her worrisome cleavage was obscured by interesting patterns and the darkness of the robe. Slipping the garment around until her naked arms were a silvery blur of unblemished skin beneath a black film, and the mostly translucent material blended harmoniously with the gown.
Moving to the front, Yume carefully hitched the hooks that would keep it together, her hands and body awkwardly held away.
Hinata didn’t know if this was professionalism taken to the extreme, or an aversion to her personally.
Neither woman seemed to want to touch her in any capacity, or look at her too long.
Shiri, who’d been a bit touchy feely when Naruto dropped her off, had dressed her with a careful detachment that made Hinata feel like fragile glass a gentle breeze could shatter, or a leper thought to be highly, dangerously contagious.
She hadn’t said anything, not wanting to start trouble, especially after what happened with the beauticians.
But she’d been left confused and mildly bothered by the change.
She could only wonder in silence if she’d misstepped somehow and offended the women, or perhaps Megumi had given them the same dressing down she’d given the beauticians earlier.
“I can guarantee,” Shiri continued, handing her back the fermented brew, “by the Second Course, a little cleavage will be the last thing on your mind. Uzumaki-san will make sure of that.”
Flustered and flushed, Hinata reclaimed the glass with little thought, her mind awhirl with what ‘Uzumaki-san’ would do to keep her from thinking about the abundant amount of skin her gown left uncovered.
Hot Pants Hinata had several ideas at the ready, many of which bared far more skin than her dress did-
“-simple tonight,” Shiri was saying as Yume, a dark haired, dark eyed woman Hinata suspected was mute seeing as she hadn’t uttered a single word since her arrival, wheeled a fancy case of glassed in glittering jewelry towards them, “a string of diamonds, a few rings, hmmmmm, perhaps a bracelet wouldn’t be remiss. Yume, bring me the ring’s case, platinum.”
The rocks beneath that glass were blinding, and looked terrifyingly authentic.
Surely…
Surely they weren’t thinking of draping a dirt poor, poverty wallowing, illegal immigrant waitress in real diamonds and platinum gold.
The case opened, and Shiri reached in for a ‘string of diamonds’ that consisted of two rows of precious, sparkling, 100% real, transparent crystalline carbon gemstones strung together with luminously polished white platinum gold arranged in a choker.
Hinata herself nearly choked as Shiri stood on a small step ladder and fastened the duel lines of diamonds and slivered gold to her throat.
She couldn’t possibly wear something so outrageously expensive!
What if she broke them, or lost them, or accidentally forgot to return them and got arrested for stealing!
“S-Shiri-san-”
“You look stressed, dear,” Shiri frowned, stepping back, “relax, Satō-san, take a few sips of wine and breathe.”
“B-but-”
“Satō-san,” the tailor interrupted before clearing her throat a bit nervously, that easy air of hospitality overshadowed with something closer to disquiet, “Uzumaki-san has tasked us, the Eden Bay staff, with the honor of preparing you for your upcoming dinner date and ensuring that process is one of comfort and relaxation. It wouldn’t…please him to know we’ve made this process stressful for you.”
She was shaking her head before the other woman finished, “you and all of the Eden Bay staff have been wonderful, if I’m feeling stressed it’s from my own personal worries, not anything you’ve done. I…I’m just not used to all of,” she gestured to herself, the heavy weight of diamonds at her throat, “this…”
Not just because she’d been living below the poverty line for a number of years.
Leaving her homeland and the traditions of her people behind didn’t mean those values, no matter how absurd, had left her.
Excess without prayer, without Divine blessing was always a whisper guilt in the back of her mind.
“What you’re feeling is normal and completely understandable.”
She startled at that, worried she’d spoken her thoughts aloud.
Surprised pale met patient green.
Shiri’s smile had returned, and her next words put the young waitress at ease that her thoughts remained hers, “I’ve served the extremely wealthy for nearly two decades and I have yet to grow used to the day to day extravagance, and that’s okay, Satō-san. It’s okay to take things one moment to the next, to struggle to process this new world you’ve found yourself a part of, if only for a night.”
Naruto made it sound as though he wanted far more than a single night, something permanent and impossible, but…she kept that little tidbit to herself.
“I don’t want to overstep my bound but, if you’d like, I’ve some advice.”
“Of course.”
“You’re a young, beautiful woman who’s caught the attention of a handsome, successful, man. Enjoy being where many women would kill to be,” the middle aged tailor winked.
That didn’t really help, but she nodded anyways.
“Take a sip, darling,” Shiri encouraged, perhaps seeing on her face her advice hadn’t quite hit the mark.
Raising the flute to her lips, Hinata sipped just enough for that warm bloom in her belly to expand to her chest, determined to keep the land of floaty giggles at bay for the rest of the night.
Tipsy Hinata had already gotten herself in enough trouble as it was, or rather, the beauticians.
Call her crazy but…she didn’t think it’d be good to mix Tipsy Hinata with Hot Pants Hinata who was sure to make an appearance when Naruto returned…
“Now, take a breath,” her tailor instructed as Hinata lowered the glass.
She inhaled, held it a beat.
“And release.”
Exhaling, Hinata let her eyes slide close as her lungs compressed.
“Good,” Shiri hummed, coaxing her eyes back open, “better?”
No.
“Yes.”
“Good, we’re almost there, dear, just a few more finishing touches, shoes, a spritz of something sultry and elusive and then it’s off to dazzle Uzumaki-san.”
Despite her stomach dropping at that announcement, a drumbeat born of something other than anxiety started a wild beat in her chest.
Yume returned holding rows of rings, earrings and glittering bracelets inside a a fancy display container.
Hinata kept her face as neutral as possible as Shiri pointed to one band of glittering, diamond platinum gold band after another, instructing her on which ring went where. Three rings on her left hand—two of which were designed to rest on the midsection of her finger, right before the last knuckle—all the fingers on her right hand, including her thumb, sported gleaming rings, three of which were placed midway like the left.
Some were nebula oriented, others generic patterns of vines, each one dotted with glittering jewels.
Just when she thought it was over, Shiri singled out a bracelet that was a match for the choker at her throat, though this time, there was only one row of precious gems.
Last but not least, dangling, shiny earrings that clipped comfortably to her un-pierced ears.
Her footwear for tonight was no less extravagant.
Pitch black, gem embedded, lace up gladiator heels that she hoped would stay as comfy as they felt now. While the idea of scuffing or snapping the laces of the shoes was a worry, Hinata was glad the heel was no taller than what she’d have picked the few times Ino got her to wear heels. She felt balanced and secure for…at least while standing still, though she was hopeful she wouldn’t make a fool of herself when she walked.
Finally, something sultry and elusive was spritzed on each of her ‘pulse points’ as Shiri called them.
Behind her ears, the hollow of the throat, each wrist and the cradle of her elbows.
Once finished, Shiri took a more subtle scent, sprayed the air and had Hinata walk through it.
“A masterpiece,” the older tailor declared, gesturing to one of the full length mirrors behind her.
Hinata turned with care, though she’d worn heels before, she wasn’t exactly a veteran. Unlike Ino who could sprint in stiletto, and probably complete a military obstacle course in nine inch heels.
Her first look into the reflective glass took her breath away.
She stared.
The woman in the mirror stared back, moonstone eyes surprised…disbelieving.
Was this…really her?
Despite the voluptuous cloak draped over her slender shoulders, the hazy splendor of her dress was apparent, perhaps even more spectacular due to the mysterious obscurity. Her skin was a radiant milky white purity that seemed to glow below the darkness of the fabric. Flashes of nebulous color drew the eye, glimpses of glinting silver stars and mere whispers of feminine curves were temptations all their own.
What couldn’t be seen but visually inferred a tantalizing mystery Shiri thought her date would be keen to unravel.
The dark, bloody tenor of her lipstick emphasized and outlined the lushness of her lips, contrasting sharply with the glittery silverly-black eye shadow that brightened her pale eyes and emphasized the shadowy fullness of her lashes.
Together, they gave her a look of wicked sensuality that the innocence of her moonstone eyes ruined.
The polished jewelry that had her toeing the line of panic was luminous and shining, the combination of their brilliant clarity casting her in a queenly effulgence.
Lending her a regal elegance stolen straight from the Divine Mother.
Beautiful…
Delicate…
Darkly alluring…
Gone was the downtrodden waitress in the washed out dress, in her place was a dazzling woman that wouldn’t look out of place at a wealthy man’s side.
Totality of her prompted a crazy thought, that maybe…
Maybe…
Maybe for a night, she could be this woman reflected back at her.
“I’ll let Uzumaki-san know you’re ready,” Shiri announced at her back.
Was she ready?
Did she really have a choice not to be?
Tonight was happening…
-
…maybe?
Was it possible to be stood up for a date on a superyacht mid-voyage?
Hinata wondered if she’d become the first.
Well, not stood up exactly, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but she’d been waiting for close to fifteen minutes now, with no sign or word of Naruto.
It was sort of funny.
Ino had never been on time for a date in her life, her justification being that women notoriously took longer in the beauty process than men, and it was an unspoken rule among the ‘dating community’ that females were going to need that extra fifteen or twenty to get that last curl to curl or to redo that eyebrow that wasn’t quite lining up with the other one.
The thought of Naruto needing more time to fluff a stubborn blonde spike of his voluminous mane or pluck an out of place brow hair had sent her into giggles for two of her almost fifteen minutes.
Surprising considering how nervous she still was about everything.
With time on her hands and the whirlwind of getting dressed over, she’d had nothing and no one to distract her.
Shiri and Yume were just in the other room cleaning up and putting away their tailoring tools after escorting her to an armchair in the sitting room of her suite.
She’d been given a touch up to her wine, but Hinata hadn’t taken even a sip.
She wasn’t feeling nearly as floaty as she’d been half an hour ago, but knew she was potentially a few swallows of fermented grape juice away from it if she wasn’t careful.
If she was meeting up with Naruto soon, she needed her wits about her.
Not just because she wasn’t too keen on making a fool of herself in front of him.
If only that was all she had to worry about, unfortunately, there were far more dangerous things than taking a tumble at his feet.
Thought that’d be bad enough alone.
From the moment they met, it was undeniably apparent that this scarred Adonis had a natural talent for coaxing her to share things best kept to herself, easily, effortless, and more scarily, while she was stone cold sober.
Hinata didn’t want to even think about what she’d let slip through wine-flavored giggles.
It was best she-
The opening of a door sent her heart into a gallop…
…that quickly dropped to a slow trot as the new arrival walked into the sitting room with her.
It wasn’t at all who she expected.
For one, this unknown visitor was a woman she’d never seen before.
She was beautiful, this red eyed, shaggy haired guest.
One of Naruto’s personal security guards judging by the all black ensemble and the worn orange bracelet around her left wrist.
Bright pink tinged her cheeks as she thought about her own current homages to Naruto’s favorite color.
“Good evening, Satō-san. Please excuse the intrusion.”
Flat…hollow…listless, this woman’s voice was nearly painful to hear.
It chilled the blush from her cheeks in an instant.
Their eyes caught, and Hinata couldn’t help but recognize them, to truly see them as she hadn’t when she walked in the room.
They were Hyuuga Branch eyes, or rather, the Branch women the Branch Hyuuga whispered about.
The young women chosen to serve the clergy for a time and returned to their families with eyes like this woman’s-
“Thorn,” the woman announced, then explained further at Hinata’s questioning look, “I’m a part of Uzumaki-san’s personal security team, as such, we go by code names as a safety precaution. Mine is Thorn.”
“Oh, I see,” though she didn’t really, but what did she knew about the protocols of private security, “nice to meet you, Thorn.”
“Likewise,” Thorn replied with a demure nod before continuing, “due to unforeseen delays, Uzumaki-san is running a bit behind and apologizes for the wait.”
It was apparent from the silence that followed, Thorn had no intention of detailing what those ‘unforeseen delays’ consisted of, and Hinata didn’t feel comfortable pushing for more information given Thorn’s frosty demeanor.
Though, she was curious…
“Oh…okay,” she murmured instead.
“He’s sent me to escort you upstairs to your meeting area. By the time we arrive, he’ll be there.”
That gallop from earlier took off in her chest again.
She wasn’t going to be the first woman in history to be stood up at sea.
In theory, the realization should fill her with relief and confidence that Naruto hadn’t come to his senses and tossed the underprivileged waitress aside last minute, but there wasn’t much room in her mind for anything other than the anxiety inducing announcement that the date was still on.
“If you’re ready, Satō-san,” Thorn prompted.
“O-oh, of course,” Hinata replied, rising from her comfy chair, ripples of fabric following.
She was slightly wobbling on her heels and the stream of cosmic train left her a little paranoid they’d get caught under those unstable stilettos. Moving cautiously, Hinata followed Thorn through the sitting room, and out into the entryway.
“Your clutch, Satō-san!”
Both women stopped and turned as Shiri jogged from the styling room, a small clutch purse in hand.
Black, with a diagonal swath of dark red coloring that started in the top right corner and ended in the lower left corner of the little purse, the clutch was strapless, cute and demure.
“I took the liberty of transferring the contents of your purse inside this one, I hope you don’t mind,” the tailor told her as she handed over the bag, “we’ve sent the purse you came in with to the bag check-in station for safe keeping until we return to the resort.”
“Thank you, Shiri-san,” Hinata murmured.
With a smile and a bow, Shiri said her goodbye with a simple, “have a wonderful evening.”
-
Her heart was a wild sprint in her chest, thundering in her ears as the elevator chute finally stopped.
Gathering her skirts in her free hand, Hinata followed her silent companion through the metal doors and out into the corridor.
The elevator ride had been mildly uncomfortable, Thorn had been as quiet as a graveyard leaving Hinata fighting the urge to fill the loud silence with idle chatter. Being reserved as she was, Hinata rarely ever felt the compulsion, that she did in this instance was a testament to the awkwardness of the situation. She’d settled instead for sifting through th clutch Shiri gave her, making sure her phone, bus pass, fake ID and crumpled yen for the ride home were present.
All was accounted for, even her six month old mints had made the transfer.
Kiba-kun had sent her two text messages—one a ‘girlfriend check-in—-that she hadn’t gotten a chance to finish answering before the chute dinged.
Thorn led her around a corner and into a long corridor.
“The Dome is just up ahead, it’s where you’ll meet Uzumaki-san,” Thorn announced, gesturing in the direction of the French vanilla doors that were red velvet roped off and guarded by Eden Bay security up ahead, “Captain Disonasu is scheduled to give the First Course pre-presentation to VIP members tonight, after, you’ll disembark to Paradise Island.”
It wasn’t a long journey to the Dome, but Hinata silently wished it was.
She needed more time to prepare her heart, to steady her nerves and fortify her defenses against tall, blonde, scarfaced Adonis’ with a special quirk for knocking down her strongest walls with nothing more than a glance of his bright blue eyes and pearly white smile.
“I-I’ve heard that phrase a few times from Shiri-san, but she didn’t go into detail about these ‘courses’.”
“As a VIP guest, you’ve been enrolled in the Eden Bay Three Course Experience tonight. First Course will be appetizers, wine and a music composition, the Second Course is dinner and live entertainment, last but not least, the Final Course features dessert and dancing.”
She was both surprised and not.
With how dressed up she’d gotten, Hinata had been expecting not much more than a fancy dinner and perhaps a dance, the schedule Thorn laid out was far more fleshed out and certainly more busy.
A familiar tug-of-war started in his tummy.
Excitement battling unease.
Anticipation vs anxiety.
Dancing was a sin Hinata and her fellow dormmates indulged in when the Dorm Sister went to bed at night.
It was something she loved, though…she wasn’t sure if she wanted to do it front of so many people. It wasn’t just potentially embarrassing, it tugged on that little nugget of shame and guilt that always came with stepping outside the bounds of her family’s traditions.
To dance in public, with a man at that, one her parents would never in million years approve of let alone abide in her presence, was an even bigger offense than the mostly harmless routines the dorm girls put together. And if she thought about it too deeply about it, if she let her thoughts and feelings run to the past life she’d left behind, she could swear she felt the Dorm Sisters eyes on her neck even now, their pearly gazes disapproving and stern along the walls of the corridor.
Shaking her head and straightening her spine, Hinata pushed the sensation as far down as she could.
The past had no place in her world anymore.
She was in charge of her own life, she got to choose what she would and wouldn’t do.
She had to remember that-
“Here we are.”
Yanked out of her impromptu pep-talk, Hinata stopped short as they came to a halt while the security guard unhooked the red rope, then opened the doors with a grand flourish…
…presenting a problem Hinata couldn’t have seen coming.
Inside was winter wonderland of decor and fashion with the exception of a few pastel dresses and tan suits standing out among the snowy sea; in her cosmic gown, Hinata stood out like a sore thumb.
She hadn’t thought to ask if there was a dress code or even a theme for tonight.
If a memo about either had gone out, neither she, nor her entire Beauty Package team had gotten it.
Hinata shrank back as the snow flock turned curious eyes to her, the men craning their necks to run their eyes over her face and dress, the women whispering and giggling to each other behind gloved hands and decorative fans. The room exploded into noise, voice and chatter filling the wide space, all, no doubt, about the foolish young woman who’d own midnight cosmos to an all white party.
Face igniting, shoulders hunching, Hinata took another step back.
How had this happened?
Was this a mistake, or worse…a prank at her expense?
Did Naruto know?
If he did or not, there was no way she could stay here looking the way she did.
“T-Thorn, I don’t think I’m…dressed properly for this,” she admitted, voice trailing off into a whisper as a hush fell over the crowd of onlookers.
Despite her overwhelming desire to fade into the background, Hinata took a peek at the party goers, her shy eyes searching for the reason behind the volume decrease.
Several people looked behind them, at the tables pushed to the far wall.
A glimpse of blonde rose above the throng, then a face she hadn’t known longer than a week but would recognize anywhere appeared.
Naruto.
He moved.
Then…that white sea began to shift, parting straight down the middle for a dark storm.
A golden wolf wrapped in darkness striding among sheep.
She wasn’t prepared…
…but she comforted herself with the reality that nothing could have prepared her for Naruto Uzumaki in formal wear.
He wasn’t playing fair, and she had to stop expecting him to.
From his pitch black suit and burnt orange suit vest that set him as far apart from the white part as she was, to his slicked back golden locks that amplified the vivid sharpness of blue eyes and honed his vulpine scarred features into something masculine and devastating, her blonde veteran had dressed with weaponization in mind.
Every choice he’d made was lethal, each aspect of his style tonight a blatant threat.
He was determined to plow through her defenses and wreak havoc on her senses.
He was through the thicket before her mind could kick into gear as fast as her heart had, moving with confidence and perhaps a touch of arrogance across the wide stretch of shiny tile that separated them.
Thorn was gone before she even thought to look for her.
Awestruck as she was, Hinata only realized she’d left when Naruto reached her and tuned her into the reality that she was standing alone.
That turbulent aura hit her first.
That chaotic intensity that whipped around him like a never ending storm, that wild electrifying magnetism that drew her to him with the grip of a gravitational pull.
Then his sent.
Something woodsy and mysterious, enthralling.
Despite the little height her heels gave her, Hinata tipped her head back, and back some more as he neared.
She wasn’t sure if it was the suite, or lingering wine buzz, but she felt like he’d grown taller, more imposing, that the shadow cast by his towering form stretched longer.
She felt small and infinitely delicate, even more so than she had at any point of their interactions.
He reached out with a tatted hand, sending the rings on his fingers glittering beneath the florescent lights.
Hinata held her breath as he cupped her chin, traced the underside of her lip, then wrapped his other arm around her waist.
His head dipped as he pulled her close, his sapphire gaze demanding the totality of her attention.
She gave it to him without a thought of resistance, before she could make the conscious choice to or not; losing herself in their sharp, smoldering intensity, certain his eyes truly were the twin blue flames they looked like because she felt their heat like a blazing furnace against her flesh.
The Dome and the people in it fell away, fading in the face of his radiance.
A flush broke out across her cheeks, though it wasn’t embarrassment that colored them.
Hot Pants Hinata came alive in an instant.
A familiar, Naruto-induced ache started between her thighs, nipples hardening against the bra she wasn’t wearing.
He hadn’t said a word to her, nor had he taken his eyes off her.
From her hair, to her face, to her mouth, down her dress and back again, he seemed to be consuming as much of her as he could, greedy for every part of her ensemble as she had been his.
“I-It’s rude to stare,” she teasingly, shyly admonished, dipping her head but peering up through dark lashes.
The intensity in his eyes sharpened as he clapped back, “you shouldn’t be so fuckin’ gorgeous then.”
She listed a bit, blushing brightly as she murmured, “y-you think I’m pretty?”
“Fuck no,” he snorted, leaning into her space until his mouth was pressed right against that spot near her ear that made her shiver, “I said gorgeous for a reason, baby. You’re so fuckin far passed pretty, shit should be illegal.”
Volcano cheeked, Hinata ducked her head and whispered a compliment of her own, “I-I think you’re handsome, t-too…i-illegally so.”
His chuckle rumbled his chest and hers as he pulled her flush against him, his words a dark promise, “if you’re holding the cuffs and keys, I’d do life without parole for you, ‘ttebayo. Lock me away, baby.”
Flirting, she was quickly learning, was a double edge sword.
-
Laters!
Sessakag~
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קгєץ	By : Sessakag Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata Views: 11105 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto series just this story.

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