Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

ᗰOᑎᔕTEᖇ	By : Sessakag Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female > Naruto/Hinata Views: 44706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 36
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- 38
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Love and Drama

April 28, 2010
Naruto landed softly on the grassy knoll, eying his feral friend as he approached. His normal greeting didn’t come. With his sense of smell, he knew Kiba was aware he was there. Akamaru wandered over to him, whining for a petting.
“Hey there, Akamaru,” he greeted the canine, running his fingers over his furry head.
Even still, the shaggy haired man didn’t stir, didn’t turn around or acknowledge his presence. Raising a brow, he studied the Inuzuka currently ignoring him.
‘What’s his problem?’
He couldn’t think of a single reason for him to be getting the cold shoulder. They hadn’t even talked about Sasuke yet, and if he had already heard from street talk that the Uchiha was back, the hot headed ninja would’ve showed up at his apartment spoiling for a fight. That hadn’t happened so he had no clue what had the guy so moody…and ignoring him.
Shrugging, the clone bent and picked up a small rock. Testing its heft and looking over its shape. He nodded sagely to himself, drew his arm back and let it fly.
It landed with a satisfying thunk.
“Ouch!” the hound using shinobi howled, throwing a death glare over his shoulder as he rubbed the top left of the back of his head, “the hell’s your damn problem Naruto?!”
“I should be asking you that. You’re the one sitting there all moody, ignoring me. What crawled up your ass?” the blonde questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
With annoyance and something angrier panting his face, Kiba turned away again. Confusion bloomed. Something had happened. Kiba was never really this standoffish and that rock should’ve had the man on his feet ready to throw down.
What had happened?
Just as he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, the Inuzuka made it crystal clear.
“Get lost. Hinata beat you to the punch. She already told me that piece of shit is back. Keep him away from me and I’ll try not to crash your party beating his face in.”
Naruto stiffened with insult that quickly melded into exasperation.
“Kiba-”
“You’re not gettin’ any more outta me than that, Naruto,” he threw out, scowling over his shoulder, “and you’re only gettin’ that cause Hinata asked! Be grateful, douche.”
‘He’s sweet on her.’
Irritation pursed his lips.
Like he reasoned earlier, Kiba hadn’t displayed anything more than friendship around his Princess, and if he still harbored a crush, he was keeping it to himself.
However, that didn’t mean he wanted reminders.
“Whatever,” he sighed, “I am grateful, but really Kiba. Do me a solid, keep your temper in check. I’m not the only one that’ll be upset. Its Hinata’s party too. She’s already taking a risk letting me invite Sasuke considering how some of you guys feel about him, so if you can’t do it for my sake, do it for hers. I don’t want me inviting him to make a gathering that’s supposed to be special be a disaster for her, especially since she’s planning the whole thing. I don’t want her upset ‘ttebayo.”
Definitely not now. She had enough on her plate and more to come next week. All he wanted was for them to have fun, celebrate their coming union and bask in the happy well wishes of the people they had grown up with, fought along side, and cried all sorts of different tears with.
“You think I want her upset?” Kiba spat, “I know what it’d mean to ruin her- you guy’s…engagement party.”
Blonde brows crinkled.
Why’d he say it like that?
“I already said I’d try. I’m not saying that as a way to cover my ass while planning to doing something stupid, I’m saying it because I don’t know what I’ll do in that guy’s presence,” he declared, “I don’t like him. At all. Can’t stand hearing his name let alone looking at his face, so if you don’t want me to go then fine, no hard feelings, but if I’m coming then that’s all I can promise.”
“I want you there, Kiba.”
“Then there ain’t shit else to talk about,”
Naruto frowned.
Clearly there was a lot of shit to talk about, but it’d be lost on his friend. Kiba might well be one of those people he couldn’t convince to see the new Sasuke right away, if at all, and while it disappointed him to no end, he couldn’t make the hound nin feel differently just by talking at him. If a change was ever going to happen, it’d take time and action on Sasuke’s part.
For now though, it was enough just to get the clock ticking on the time it’d take to heal old wounds.
“Right,” he sighed, “well, when Hinata’s finished planning the party, I’ll let you know where and when. Later.”
xxxxxx
“Sasuke-kun.”
Naruto’s eyes opened as he processed the last memory of his clones. His team had finally exhausted both the patience of their sensei and his best friend half an hour ago and had wandered off to do whatever teens were into now days. After collecting the food containers, and re-bundling them, he and Sasuke had been headed back into the heart of the village, with the plan of ditching the containers at his apartment before heading out again.
They both stopped short and turned to the familiar voice.
“Oh, hey Sakura-chan,” he greeted.
She turned emerald orbs onto him. There was several somethings within them he recognized. Determination, smoldering anger and hesitant hope.
She was here to confront their former teammate.
“Hey Naruto,” she returned, then turned her eyes to the man beside him, “we need to talk, Sasuke-kun,”
It was too blunt to misconstrue. It wasn’t a statement, it was a demand. One he knew would be coming sometime soon after their initial face to face. Composed though she may have seemed, he knew she was more than pissed yesterday. He didn’t need any form of senjutsu to feel it radiating from her form even now.
“Uh, I’ll let you guys get to it then. I’ll be at training ground 8, Sasuke.”
He had a feeling the one armed Uchiha would need the solace of fist to fist venting after they were finished.
xxxxxx
Her heart was pounding, as it always did when she looked at this handsome man that had been her dream for so many years. But it wasn’t the same thumping. This was the drumbeat of a woman, not the pitter patter of a naive young girl. Without a word, she turned and headed down a nearby alley, and just as silent, he trailed after her. The reached a fairly empty park and took a seat on a bench far from the milling people. They sat with less than arms length between them, and yet it felt to her as though the distance was much larger.
He wasn’t going to start this long overdue conversation, nor had she really expected him to.
That wasn’t the Sasuke she knew.
The Sasuke that broke her heart day after day.
“You didn’t read my letters and you didn’t send me a single one,” she began, “why?”
His dark head was turned to the side, gazing off into the distance, but from the side profile, she could glean a few things from it. He looked remote and unapproachable, but contemplative.
He was listening, she knew.
He was thinking, she knew.
But he wasn’t sharing whatever went on behind those mismatched eyes. When he didn’t answer, she threw another question into the quiet.
“Do I really mean that little to you?”
“You know the answer to that.”
“Then help me to understand because despite the fact that you’re saying very little, you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth.”
Already, the anger was rising. Before seeking him out, Sakura had resolved to keep her cool. To approach this situation with the maturity she had acquired over the years, and yet here it was. Bubbling to the surface with little provocation, crashing through her veins with enough fire to quickly burn away her patience.
“You want me to believe that you care about me, but you won’t bother remaining in touch. You care about me but you leave without saying goodbye. You care about me but you only came back to drop off a scroll. What the hell does care mean to you, Sasuke?”
He was quiet again, and it was killing her.
It was hard for him to speak openly about his feelings. She understood that. Sasuke had always been a quiet guy, his walls were always high, insurmountable for seemingly everyone but the blonde haired future Hokage. She was trying to give him space to express himself, to clear up the miscommunication that formed the foundation of the relationship between the two of them. But how hard was it to say something, anything at all?
What was it that held the words in his throat.
What would it take for him to be open with her?
She didn’t know…but she couldn’t wait anymore. She couldn’t sit here and agonize over small gestures and long silences in an effort to put together a picture he held all the pieces to.
Instead, she asked a question that should be so simple to answer.
“What do you want from me, Sasuke?” she questioned softly, “friendship or…more than that?”
There was another pause between them before he spoke.
“Give me…time, before I answer-”
It spiked abruptly, exploding within the confines of her brain, and this time, there was no holding it back…that anger she’d been nursing for some time.
“How much time do you need, Sasuke?! You’ve had years, years to think about it and I’m not just talking about the most recent time you left!” she burst, “if you’ve had that much time to think about this that long and still need more time then clearly you’re no longer thinking. What you’re doing now is stalling. What you’re doing now is wasting my time!”
Fists clenched, she fought the burn behind her eyes as she spoke her next words. She took a breath and gave voice to the lie she desperately wished were true.
“I’m a big girl now, I can take rejection.”
He turned and for the first time since they reached the park bench, he looked right at her.
“At each of those intervals,” he murmured, “there were other circumstances standing in the way of contemplating anything other than what was in front of me. When we were children, it was revenge, when I returned during the war, it was revolution, and now, it’s repentance.”
“The first two I understand, those I can let go, but that last one,” she turned blazing, earnest orbs to him, “that last one you don’t have to do alone. Let me be there for you at some point. Let me in.”
She reached for his hand beneath his cloak.
“Let me show you what I’ve been trying to show you for years…” she whispered, unable to stifled the tremor in her voice, “…Sasuke…I love you. You don’t have to do this by yourself. Let me help you. Let me carry the burden with you this time.”
Dark orbs gleaming with some emotion she couldn’t put name to, his fingers closed over hers. The pressure felt reassuring, the connection of that simple gesture a balm to the bruised organ currently thundering in her chest.
He felt it…he had to.
“Give me time…Sakura.”
There was a beat, a pause between them as she gazed into his mismatched eyes…
And then…
She slowly, deliberately extracted her hand from his.
xxxxxx
“That’s it?! Are you kidding me?”
Hinata startled, then turned her gaze to the platinum blonde that spoke. Seated at the table at Sakura’s house along side Tenten and Ino, the conversation had gone over her head.
A guilty flush pained her cheeks.
It was so hard to pay attention after what had happen in the forest. She had almost convinced herself on her way to Sakura’s house that she had only…imagined it all and yet…
Goosebumps pebbled her flesh. She rubbed trembling hands along her arm, trying without success to remove the gripping chill against her skin. This feeling…this fear, it was real. She wasn’t paranoid, or overstressed.
She was in her right mind.
It had happened…
Hadn’t it?
Denying it felt as though she was lying to herself but acknowledging it…felt worse than living a lie.
“How much time does he need?” Ino raged, “another decade?”
Startled again, Hinata tuned her ears back to the conversation and willed her brain to pay attention.
“Enough is enough, Sakura,” the blonde kunoichi declare, “drop his ass! You’ve been on his damn clock for way too long! I get it, as much as I don’t like him, he’s still hot, and the whole tall, dark and mysterious thing is titillating, but he’s not the only man in the world! There’s upwards of 7 billion people on this floating rock we call Earth, pick somebody else! Anyone!”
Tenten nodded quietly.
“All you’ve gotten out of chasing him is more pain and less to stick around for. Drop. Him.”
“It’s not that easy…” the pinkette murmured.
“I know that,” she replied, reaching for her hand across the coffee table, “it wouldn’t truly be love it was. But it can be done. You’re not the first woman to go through this and as long as there are idiotic men, you damn sure won’t be the last. You don’t have to do it all right now, but let this be the start. Close the door and starting moving forward.”
Tenten nodded again.
“You’d be doing yourself a favor,” the weapons expert chimed in, “you’ve had your romantic life on hold forever, waiting for even the slightest bit of affection on his part. You’re too great a woman to waste so much of your life for so little.”
Sakura looked morosely at the kitchen table, the brightness in her pretty green eyes leaving little doubt that the tough, spunky woman was fighting tears.
“You think so too, Hinata?” she asked as she stared at the hardwood, her voice threadbare.
“I…”
She didn’t really know herself, what Sakura should think or do. She had no place telling anyone to move on when she herself had waited for her love for nearly the whole of her life, so she knew what the other woman was going through, but…Sasuke and Naruto were two different men. Their situations, while parallel, were totally different as well. Naruto hadn’t know of her feelings until a few years ago…Sasuke had known from the beginning. She couldn’t offer an opinion either way. Not only did she not fully know the situation, she felt uncomfortable judging either way.
To her…
It wasn’t her place…but she did want to support her friend.
“I…can’t rightly say, Sakura-san. I don’t truly know the circumstances between you two…and I feel as though…only you can decide to what to do next. I’m sorry…” she murmured, “I wish I could be of more help.”
A small smile crossed her friend’s lips.
“What are you saying, Hinata? Just having you here helps me tremendously.”
Finally, she meet the eyes of the group at large. Her lip trembled as she spoke.
“Really…you guys…I don’t…know what I’d do without you.”
The tears finally began to fall. Ino was up and around the table in an instant, enfolding the weeping woman in her arms.
“Really,” she wept softly, “thank you…”
They spent a while comforting her and even longer trying to cheer her. The sun was setting when the group began to disperse.
Hinata wander towards Tenten as they filed from the house.
“Umm…Tenten?”
The brunette stopped, her brown eyes questioning.
“D-Do you mind…walking me home?”
Brows crinkling, Tenten gave her a confused look.
“Ahh, I-I mean if…it wouldn’t be too much trouble… I-If you’d rather not I under-”
“No it’s fine, I don’t mind. You know I have to pass you guy’s apartment on the way home anyway. It’s just…” she studied the other woman, “it everything okay?”
Hinata swallowed, but forced herself to make her stiff lips turn upward in what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“I-I’m fine, I just…wanted c-company…”
Tenten gave her another inquiring look but didn’t press. The two started walking.
She couldn’t walk alone, not after her scary experience in the forest. And she couldn’t tell her friend the truth.
How could she?
She didn’t even know the whole truth herself.
xxxxxx
He was filthy and a bit bruised. Sasuke had certainly been in a rotten mood. He hadn’t wanted to talk about. All he wanted was to fight.
And that’s what they did.
For hours.
It was late. Far later than he’d planned on getting home. He’d left Sasuke just as filthy but seemingly content for the moment. Naruto had suggested they head back to his house, but the moody Uchiha had turned him down. Saying he wanted to sit for a while and ‘clear his head’. The blonde, though curious about the exchange between him Sakura, had held his tongue and conceded to his friend’s wishes, promising to leave the house key under the mat for him.
Now, he placed said key under the mat after opening the door, then trudged inside.
He sighed, happy to be home.
He was just about to bend and unlace his sandals when a dark figure rose from the couch in the living room. She was on him before he realized what was happening, pressing her body against his dirty chest.
“Hinata?” he sputtered, “you’re gonna get mud on you, dattebayo.”
He reach down to distance her from the filth, but the tremors stopped him. She sucked in a breath, her little fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt in a silent plea for comfort. He gave it to her, soiled clothes be damned.
He wrapped his arms around her, smoothing dusty hands up and down her back.
“Hinata?” he prompted gently, “what’s wrong? What happened?”
She shook her head.
“I just…had a hard day…” she whispered, sinking deeper into the embrace, “I’m alright now, Naruto-kun.”
He frowned but kept his silence. She’d relapsed probably. Either into sadness or guilt. Her earlier confidence had fooled them both. It had been too soon for him to leave her side. He’d not make that mistake again.
He was leaving a clone with her whenever possible.
xxxxxx
May 1, 2010
“Thank you, Sakura-san,” Hinata murmured, “it’s lovely.”
Hinata studied the intricate style in the hand held mirror Sakura passed her. It was prefect for the dress she was wearing and the light makeup was tasteful and professionally applied.
“Alright Hinata, its either Sakura or Sakura-chan. Naruto and I might not be related but that big lug is the closest thing to a sibling I’ll ever have. You and I are pretty much sister-in-laws now,” she gave the other woman a smile that turned sour a beat later, “Let’s pass on the Sakura-chan though, it gives me Naruto vibes.”
“Same with me!” Ino called out, raising her hand like they were still in grade school.
“Add me to the list too, Hinata,” Tenten added, “formalities gotta go. We’ve known each other too long for all that.”
She smiled.
“Alright.”
Tonight was the planned engagement party and the group had agreed to get ready together. It was the first time in days Naruto hadn’t been at her side since he’d gotten home caked in the remnants of an intense sparing session with Sasuke and had his distraught fiancée throw herself on him.
She truly couldn’t help it.
That night…after having Tenten walk her home, she’d reasoned that the moment she returned to their little love nest, she’d feel better…safe. How wrong she had been. Sitting in their apartment….alone…wishing, praying her favorite blonde would step through that door soon…
She had been more than scared.
Petrified.
Literally petrified. She’d turned on every light in the apartment, closed every door she could and still, the shadows had seemed too large.
The silence too loud.
The moment her lover stepped through that door, it was as if true light had flooded their empty home. The dark corners around her had been banished beneath his sapphire gaze. She knew he was under the impression she had been having one of her depressive episodes, and she hadn’t corrected him. She wasn’t sure what had happened earlier and the last thing she wanted to do was make him worry that she not only had something strange in her chakra network, but that she was also hallucinating. Instead, she’d taken the comfort he freely offered, soaking it up and banishing the frigid fear in her heart. She felt better afterwards, and the days he spent with her following that incident had done wonders to calm her mind.
She felt more in control of herself…however, she’d made a vow. If it happened again, she was going to tell him. Once…once might be her mind playing a trick on her, twice…there’d be no mistake.
No way to tell herself she was imagining things.
“Ahhh, if you had some earrings, it’d really complete that smexy kitten look you’ve got going on.” Ino commented, leaning over her shoulder.
“S-Smexy?” Hinata blushed.
Having spent so much time around the social butterfly, she knew exactly what the word meant. The group chuckled.
“Ever think about piercing these?” Ino continued, tugging at one of her ears.
She shook her head. The thought had never even crossed her mind. She turned her head left and right, trying to imagine how she’d look with sparkly bits on her ears.
“No, never.”
“Why not try clip ons before taking the plunge?”
“Alright.”
Why not?
She peered back into the mirror, starting into the milky orbs that were her eyes. She lingered, watching them as they stared back at them. Transfixed in a way she had never been before. There was something different…
But…
They were her eyes…
They were…
Her mind hazed and the incoherent thoughts ground to a halt. Emptiness filled her psyche, and the pupiless orbs she knew so well held her rapt attention.
Seconds passed…
A minute went by…
Then two…
“-nata.”
Warm pressure found her naked shoulder.
“You ready Hinata?”
She turned, meeting emerald orbs. Sakura gave her an amused look.
“I know, I know, you look amazing, I did a really good job on your makeup, and even better with your hair, but if we don’t leave now, we’re gonna be late for your party.”
She blinked, her preoccupation with her reflection rapidly dissolving from her conscious memories. The fog cleared. She smiled up at her friend, set the mirror down then stood.
She certainly didn’t want to be late.
xxxxxx
Congratulations To The Future Mr and Mrs. Uzumaki.
The banner brought an emotional lump to his throat.
Soon, ‘the future’ in that sentence would be gone.
“It’s wonderful,” the woman at his side breathed, “Shou-san did an amazing job.”
Garbed in a one shoulder alabaster dress that wrapped around her body like the tightest glove, his fiancée had taken great care with her appearance. While the dress touched her cute toes, the slit on the left side bared a tantalizing amount of leg, the arm that was sleeved wasn’t really a sleeve at all. A small gathering of thin cloth that left her arm as bare as the other. Against the startling white, her half of their heart shone especially bright. Her luscious hair had been pulled back from her left temple and gathered on the right in some elaborate twist entwined with pretty white clips, while the other unconstrained volume lay gleaming along her curved spine. Her dainty feet were encased in some strappy heels he’d only seen in their closet, never on her feet.
Stilettos the box had named them.
When their sex life made a return, he’d beg her to wear them again, minus clothing and let him-
“Oh look Naruto-kun!”
He followed her finger across the wide expanse of the room. The hardwood floors were unmarred and gleaming. Orange and lavender drapes twined, crisscrossed and dipped from the ceiling. Beautiful chandeliers were fitted with lavender bulbs, their dim light lending the atmosphere gentle intimacy, while the dance floor and thudding music bespoke a festive aura. Beyond the designated dancing space, a three tables, divided in left, middle and right were tastefully decorated and covered by stark white cloth. Each seat was already set with empty plates, glasses and several small buckets holding ice and wine awaited in between the table clutter. It wasn’t that, that held her attention. It was the Uzumaki crest hanging behind the two seats of honor. It was something so simple, so small among the boisterous lavender and orange decorations, the buffet boasting food that made his mouth water, the lively music and picturesque venue, but to him, it meant everything.
And she knew it did.
This was to be their crest and while he’d never really though about his clan or it’s origins, the symbol meant something to him now that he was older, wiser and even more so in that moment.
There was pride in that red swirl.
Connection and possession.
This was his lineage, and with the woman at his side, it was to begin its regrowth. They would be as one the moment their vows were exchanged.
Konoha’s Uzumaki’s.
“Soon, Naruto-kun,”
The softly spoken words tore his gaze from the crest.
Love.
Adoration.
Anticipation.
It was all there and an infinite more in her moon colored depths. And he, Hero of the Shinobi World, was powerless to resist their call. He leaned down, fusing their mouths, sliding him tongue along hers in a bid to taste the emotions in her eyes within the warmth of her mouth. He wrapped his arms about her lush form and brought her flush to him. There was so much he wanted to tell her, so much he wanted express, so much churning inside him that he couldn’t possibly put voice to.
She had to know it, right?
She had to feel at least a tenth of the intensity inside his aching soul through the connection of their lips, right?
“Alright you two lovebirds, enough with the kissy face!” Tenten called out, “time to party!”
He barely heard the words. He could only feel the woman destined to be his pressed against his chest. Could only hear the thundering of his heart pounding in his ears.
A hard tug on his arm effectively separated their lips with a reluctant smack.
“Alright already!” Sakura growled without heat, “let the woman breathe! You gotta have the wedding first, and your happy ass is already jumping to the honeymoon!”
The abrupt disconnection left him a little annoyed. He didn’t like being separated from his Princess on the best of days, having it happen now of all times was irritating.
They were having a moment!
One in which they both realized the reality of what their upcoming union would entail.
Togetherness.
Happiness.
Unity.
Family.
So many amazing days and nights were in their future, a plethora of joyful memories to add to the ones already in his heart. Thinking about it was overwhelming, for both of them. That’s why they were kissing. That’s why he’d held her with no intention of letting go. The physical contact stemmed the emotional intensity, it relieved the pressure inside his chest, allowing him to breathe rather than be swept away in its strong current.
That kiss had been more than a lovebird kiss.
He half glared, half pouted at the perpetrator.
Gowned in a vibrant violet, spaghetti strap ensemble that hugged her lithe figure before flaring at its hem in frilly cloth, Sakura painted a pretty and elegant picture. Fancy dinner and party ready all at once. Her pink hair circled her uranium in a neat braid and was pinned in the back with that black magic his own woman used.
Bobby pins, she called them.
He still wanted to know…
Who the hell was Bobby anyway?
“Don’t give me that face,” his former teammate huffed, “we all know you two are Konoha’s number one lovebirds, but at least wait until everyone’s eaten and half way to shit faced before you start your make-out marathon. We don’t have all night to wait around for you to take your hands off her of your own volition.”
“Screw waiting all night, we don’t have enough days in the year to wait for that,” Ino chirped as she passed by, “he’d glue her to his chest if he could. You know how it goes with those two.”
Deep velvet gown trailing behind her, the blonde Yamanaka made for a very flamboyant picture. While long in the back, the deep v-shaped front and back dress ended right above her knees. Her long platinum hair was curled at the ends, but swept away from her face with the invisible pens Sakura had used as well.
Pout on full display, Naruto sighed then stuck his hands in his pockets. His own ensemble was more formal than the one he’d met his mother-in-law to be in. Crisp black dress shirt that, while comfortable, held more starch than any of his clothes, molded to the muscles lining his arms and torso, and again, though comfortable, his orange trousers didn’t have fake creases this time. He was dressed to impressed, or so Hinata had said when she showed up with her girlfriends.
He was the one impressed.
That glossy crimson on her plush lips…and the dusky red on her eyelids, she was beautiful without any of it, but even he realized how it snagged and held his gaze in those places he loved, quite frequently.
She fairly glowed among the dazzling, elaborate decorations surrounding them. Her cheeks held a happy flush, her eyes were alight and twinkling, and while she remained her modest, cute self, there was an excited energy radiating from her petite form.
His Princess was very happy.
And he really wanted to make sure it stayed that way.
Glancing around the room, his cobalt orbs jumped from one friend to another, hoping to read the atmosphere in their body language and expressions.
As expected, Sasuke stood off to the side, watching the group with an air of impassivity. Even from a distance, he could glean the discomfort in the tension lining his shoulders. Garbed in a dark shirt, light gray over vest and fancy slacks of the same color, his bestie had foregone the cloak he usually wore, leaving his empty sleeve on full display.
Lee, finally wearing something other than green spandex, was clothed in a simple forest colored suit. He stood talking animately to Sai, who was, unsurprisingly decked out in black from head to toe. Black dress shirt nearly all the men in the gathering seemed to have chosen, and black pants.
Choji, sporting a suit in a sedate but charming shade of red, stood next to Shikamaru who had kept it just as simple as he had with tan trousers and a long sleeved navy shirt. While those two were laughing and smiling, their third companion was doing neither.
Kiba looked like he’d rather be somewhere else and wearing something else.
His feral friend hated formal wear. Though he wasn’t glaring at Sasuke the way the blonde expected, he could tell the Inuzuka was far from enjoying himself. While he knew Kiba would have an attitude if he spent too much time in proximity to Sasuke, he had at least expected him to be pointedly, obnoxiously ignoring Sasuke and asking where the drinks were by now.
Even if he was irritated, he wasn’t one to let a good pass him by.
‘What crawled up his ass?’ he questioned internally as he had a few days ago.
“This place is awesome!” Tenten chirped next to Hinata, “you did a really good job with the decorations and this venue is amazing!”
It was kind of strange to see the kunoichi in a dress and minus her two signature buns. The straps were no thicker than that of a tank top, and though looser than the other women among the party, the salmon colored silk suited the feminine curl of her hair.
“Thanks Tenten,” the most beautiful woman in the world answered.
Naruto turned back to his people watching, two people in particular drawing his scrutiny. Sakura had broken from Ino and moved to Sasuke. From what he could see, she gave a very subdued greeting then breezed by him.
Again, he frowned.
Sasuke hadn’t said a word about what happened between the two, but the strength behind his fist, the cold hard fire in his eyes had fairly screamed that whatever it was hadn’t gone well. Even if Sasuke’s dower mood in the days following hadn’t been a huge red flag, Sakura’s continued absence certainly was. Not once had she come to his apartment to catch up with their old friend.
It concerned him, their behavior.
Soft fingers curled around his.
“It’ll be okay, Naruto-kun. They need time to figure out…what they want from each other,” Hinata assured him.
He gave her hand a tender squeeze, then a small smile.
He hoped she was right.
“Let’s go you two!” Ino called out, hand on hip.
She gestured to the table behind her.
“Guests of honor sit first. Move it current and future Uzumaki!”
He grinned. Hand and hand with the love of his life, Naruto led her to the seats of honor right beneath the Uzumaki crest.
Their intimate group crowded the tables and in short fashion, found their name tags and were seated at the long, decorated tables, a glass and various plates in front of them. The table on the left held Ino, Sai, Tenten and Lee. The one on the right held Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba and an empty spot where Shino was supposed to sit. In the longer, fancier, middle table, Sakura, Hinata, himself, Sasuke in that order. No one seemed to be glaring daggers at the quietly observing Uchiha, but more than half the table seemed to be actively ignoring his mere existence. It hurt him to see his friend shunned but…there was nothing he could do. Everyone except Shino was here, he’d gotten his request and no one was fighting right now. They were all being civil, he had no right to ask for more.
Pushing that aside, he resolved to enjoy this special moment with his family.
A waitress filled their glasses before rounding the table with the bottle and the moment she finished, the most lively of their female group did what she did best.
Got the party started.
“Congratulations to the future Uzumaki’s!” Ino cheered loudly from her end, raising her glass and startling her boyfriend in the process, “woohoo! You go Hinata! You finally got him!”
“I-Ino-chan!” his fiancée sputtered, face colored in embarrassment.
Naruto could only laugh at that. She had him deeper than anyone in the world knew. He may have been late to the party, but he was more than making up for that lack.
“Don’t get all shy on us now, Hyuuga! That’s your man now! You worked your ass off for that ring! Own it!”
The other women in attendance as well as Lee nodded their heads in agreement.
“Too late to back out now, Naruto!” Ino joked, “diamonds don’t come off!”
Like he’d ever even contemplate backing out. He’d been dying to be eternally tied to the woman next to him for years. Even now he was impatient.
“Oh please!” Tenten joined in, “that guy would’ve married Hinata five minutes after he proposed if he had the choice!”
“Actually, it would’ve been closer to two minutes,” Naruto corrected then shrugged, “but you know how it is, formalities and shit.”
Several laughs erupted around the table and though her face was beet red, Hinata giggled too.
“Whipped!” Ino declared.
“And loving every second of it dattebayo!” he returned.
“Congratulations, Naruto-kun! Hinata-san!” Lee exclaimed, raising his own glass, “may your marriage be filled to the brim with passion and bursting with everlasting youth!”
“Thanks bushy brow,” the groom-to-be grinned.
“Thank you, Lee-san,” the bride-to-be smiled.
“Good luck Hinata,” Shikamaru winked, “this troublesome knuckle head is all yours now.”
“Pft. Now? I been hers a long time ago,” the troublesome knucklehead responded with a roll of his eyes, “I thought you were smart Nara. Took a whole engagement party for you to figure that out?”
“You guys should know by now that that goof ball isn’t the least bit embarrassed that he’s obsessed with Hinata,” Sakura huffed, “he’s sickeningly in love and all you’re doing is telling him what he already knows.”
“Exactly,” the Jinchuuriki nodded, “Sakura gets it.”
“Whatever, billboard brow,” the Yamanaka dismissed, “we all realized that pretty soon after these two lovebirds became official. It’s still entertaining making fun of him over it and listening to the ridiculous shit that comes out of his mouth. Come on Sakura, let us laugh at him! Its more for us than him!”
The group laughed.
“She’s gotta point,” Tenten agreed, “it is fun listening to his nonsense, especially since he’s dead serious about it.”
Sakura rolled her eyes before waving a hand.
“Then have at it, Ino-pig, God forbid I stand in the way of a good time.”
“When do we eat?”
“Choji!” Ino glared, “at least offer congratulations before demanding food!”
Chastened, but rubbing his grumbling belly, the Akimichi spoke again.
“Ah, yeah, congratulations you two.”
“Thanks,” Naruto chuckled.
“Thank you Choji.” Hinata chortled.
“I’ve been reading a new book,” Sai pipped up, “How to be a Good Husband, and it says-”
“Here we go,” Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes.
“Sai sweetheart,” his girlfriend began, placing a hand to his arm, amusement in her depths, “not at the party.”
“Oh,” the painter murmured, “well then, I wish you all the best, Coc-”
“Not that either, honey,” his girlfriend warned, death in her depths.
With a placid smile that looked pained, undoubtedly due to the claw curled fingers Ino had dug into the socially dangerous man’s arm, Sai dropped the nickname that often saw his Jinchuuriki friend correcting his behavior with bodily harm.
“Uh, Naruto, Hinata-san,” Sai finished.
Though saved by the Yamanaka, Naruto’s cheeks burned as he and the female at his side thanked the reckless mouth nin.
Sai just didn’t know when to damn quit!
“Kiba!” Tenten prompted, “you’re usually just as loud as Ino, why are you so quiet over there? Aren’t you gonna say a few words?”
Several eyes turned his way.
“Yeah…congratulations,” Kiba muttered, downing the contents in his glass.
Lavender and sapphire clouded with confusion. Others with knowing censure.
“Uhh, thanks Kiba,” Naruto replied, blonde brows crinkled.
Sasuke wasn’t anywhere near him, nor had the one armed male made his presence even moderately known. Was he seriously still gonna mope?
Naruto sighed.
Moping Kiba or fighting Kiba, he’d have to make due with the former.
“Thank you, Kiba-kun.”
“Congratulations.”
Though it suddenly got very quiet and very uncomfortable, Naruto turned pearly whites on the mismatched eyed man next to him.
“Thanks Sasuke.”
“Thank you, Sasuke-san.”
He needed to move this right along before things got ugly. He sought for lightheartedness.
“Now we can eat Choji!” the jonin announced.
The waiter that poured their drinks moved, disappearing behind an employee door and returning with several other waitress, waiters and covered dishes.
“I had the caterer make your favorites and if you’re still hungry after, the buffet is open,” Hinata announced to the group.
In true Choji fashion, the spiky haired chubby cheered.
“Don’t go crazy, Choji,” Shikamaru cautioned good naturedly, “you eat all the pudding again, Ino's gonna break you in half.”
“That’s right! You touch that pudding before I get some and it’s over for you!” their teammate threated from across the room.
From there, the celebration was in full swing. Laughter, jokes, drinking and the recounting of fond memories. While only himself and Hinata spoke at length with Sasuke, the atmosphere seemed playful and jovial…
Kiba though…he was awfully quiet…
At least at first.
As he downed glass after glass, weird shit started coming out of his mouth. Whenever they joked about the oblivious fool he’d been or how Hinata fainted constantly just seeing his face in their youth, the Inuzuka’s comments were almost…mocking.
Some seemingly annoyed.
By the time the first few of their inner circle started pairing off for the dance floor, Shikamaru had seemingly resolved to figure out what Kiba’s issue was…and by the way he grabbed the back of his collar, he wasn’t giving the feral, clearly tipsy man a choice. Blonde brows crinkled, cobalt orbs contemplative Naruto watched as the two men shuffled over to the furthest left exit of the three sets of terrace doors, opened them and disappeared into the night.
“I’m gonna go get some air.”
He turned his head to the speaker on the opposite side of him. Looking over Hinata’s dark head, he met his friend’s gaze.
She looked a bit off too.
“Okay, Sakura-chan.”
Wine glass in hand, she took the terrace doors furtherest right. Not even a full moment after she too was enveloped within the darkness beyond, movement brought his gaze back to his left. Sasuke made no excuse, nor explained where he was going. He merely got up, and followed after the pinkette out the same doors.
“N-Naruto-kun?”
He swung his gaze to Hinata. She looked shy and a tad bit embarrassed. She was bumping her fingers and looking too adorable for his sanity.
“Will you…dance with me?”
His eyes softened. He didn’t know squat shit about dancing, but…
“Anything for you Princess,” he grinned.
xxxxxx
“Sakura.”
She turned.
From the look on her face she hadn’t expected him to follow her. He’d been avoiding her for the last few days, but then again, she had done the same. A moment passed between them before composure bloomed on her face. She turned her back to him again, gazing at the gently trickling fountain a distance away.
He moved then stood next to her as she sipped her wine.
It wasn’t a comfortable silence.
It was loud.
Gnawing.
Filled to the brim with tension.
“Sakura,” he began, his voice low but steady as he gazed out into the distance, “I can’t be…what you need.”
The crashing of glass was thunderous in the quiet of the night. He had expected an outburst from the fiery pinkette and the sound didn’t warrant a glance or illicit a response. The words that followed, however, ensnared his gaze and attention.
“What the hell would you know about what I need, Sasuke?” she yelled, “Instead of trying to me what I need, why don’t you just come out and say it! I’m not what you need, because you sure as hell don’t have a clue about what I need! You’d have to pay attention to me for five minutes to figure that out! You’d have to read my letters to figure that out! Clearly, I’m the one that’s lacking! You haven’t asked me what I need. You just decided you couldn’t provide it so why don’t you quit beating around the bush and tell me the truth to my face!”
Rage swirled within her emerald depths. That wasn’t what gave him pause. It was the moisture that froze him. There were glistening droplets hovering in the corner of her eyes.
“You don’t want me! Stop avoiding it! Stop running away and just say it.”
It wasn’t just the tears she held back. Beneath the pale moonlight, he could see she was trembling. He wanted to open his mouth, to deny her accusations, but nothing came out. His lips wouldn’t part, his voice was lodged in his throat.
“Enough…I’ve had enough, Sasuke-kun. This is done.”
She brushed by him, and he reached out, grabbing her hand.
xxxxxx
She turned, snatching her hand from his grip in the process.
In the days following their initial meeting, she hadn’t sought him out again. There’d been too much on her mind, too much she hadn’t had time to resolve within herself. She hadn’t decided what her next move should be. Continue to wait and risk becoming a waiting fool, or close the lid on her childhood love and move on once and for all. She’d spent their days apart, ping ponging from one side to the other. Finally, she knew what choice she had to make.
It was the only one he would let her make.
“I said enough! I’m not wasting another day, another second, hoping you’ll look my way! I won’t send you another letter and I sure as hell won’t be bothering you again! We’ll be friends and nothing more. I can’t make you want me and I’m tired of breaking my back trying to!”
“Sakura-”
“What?!” the distressed pinkette snapped.
“It’s not a matter of not wanting…”
“Then what the hell is it?” she demanded.
He was quiet a beat, then closed his eyes as he admitted the same truth he’d given Naruto.
“There are things I have to do…things I need to atone for before I can-”
“Bullshit.”
His eyes opened and snapped to weepy green.
“That’s bullshit…Sasuke. You’ve paid for what you did twice over. You suffered through a childhood of torment before that. Who atoned for that? Atonement doesn’t mean you reject everything life has to offer. A home. Friends…Love. You don’t have to throw all that away trying to correct your past mistakes. Short of time travel there’s no way you can do that. The past is the past. What happened, happened.”
She moved towards him, emerald orbs gleaming.
“I do understand…” he replied, “but if I’m to have those things, if I’m to be worthy of them, I have to-”
“You don’t have to kill your soul to right your wrongs. Don’t you know that by now?” she asked, “the memories will you punish, the scorn from the people that don’t understand will punish you.”
She reached for his empty sleeve, emotion burning her throat.
“This…this will punish you. With all this pain, there’s no reason, no need to hurt yourself. There’s no need to keep running from this second chance at life, at walking down the right path.”
She swallowed.
“Even if that path…doesn’t lead to me, you deserve to walk it, Sasuke. You’ve walked through hell…for a very long time,” she continued, her voice hushed, “when are you going make the choice to get off that path to nowhere? When will you stop looking into darkness and turn towards the light? Why are you so afraid of being happy?”
xxxxxx
“Mendokusē,” Shikamaru muttered, dragging the Inuzuka by the scruff of his collar and out the terrace doors. He fought the pulled, swinging his free arm in an effort to unlatch his grip while working to avoid spilling the glass he’d managed to snag on the way out, in his other hand. The annoyed brainiac fairly tossed him out into the private garden.
“Oi, the hell are you doing Shikamaru?!” Kiba exclaimed, righting himself.
“You’re acting like an idiot,” Shikamaru informed him, “what’s the matter with you?”
Cheeks burning, Kiba glared out into the night. He was aware he was acting like a dumbass. He already knew that. He didn’t need anybody to tell him that.
“Nothing…”
“Sure as hell doesn’t look like nothing,” the man negated, fishing in his pocket.
“It’s nothing!” he growled, “it wasn’t back then and it sure as shit ain’t now!”
“What are you saying, Kiba?” Shikamaru sighed.
Kiba glared stubbornly out into the night as the flick of a lighter rang in his ears, and soon after the acrid scent of smoke wafted by his nose. A few puffs passed within the silence before Shikamaru spoke again.
“What about Tamaki? I thought you loved her.”
“I do,” the Inuzuka murmured, “I’m not saying I don’t.”
“Then what are you trying to say?”
Anger furrowed his brows. What the fuck was he saying? Just what was it he was confessing to?
And why?
Why now?
What the hell did it matter?
His jaw tightened. It mattered because it was eating away at him. This demon had once again reared its ugly head inside his heart and he wanted it purged. He wanted to put it back where it had been for so long, where he’d tucked it the moment those two had become more than friends.
“I don’t know, alright?” he snapped, tunneling a hand through his shaggy hair, “I don’t fucking know!”
They lapsed into silence as he ran both hands roughly up and down his face.
“Fuck,” he swore, “I don’t know why I can’t just let this shit die. Its been dead long before I decided it was dead…it’s just…for a long time…Hinata’s been…I’ve always…”
He didn’t want to say it. Even drunk as he was, he couldn’t say it. He had no business saying that. Thinking that.
It was over.
Done.
And to be honest, there was nothing to be ‘over’, it had never been in the first damn place.
“Its too late, Kiba…it’s been too late even before we graduated the academy. You know what she was like then, how she-”
“I don’t need a fuckin recap!”
They had been on the same team for years, he’d had a front row seat to watch how she was then. He didn’t want to remember that shit. It was in his face now more than ever. Why visit the past when the shadow it cast in the present was much larger than it had been back then?
“I already know…its just…this wedding shit is fucking with my head,” he admitted quietly, “its always been an eventually…it still is, but…not the way it was a year ago, hell, even a month ago. It just kinda…hit me when I saw her after that idiot told us he proposed. Its different hearing it than actually seeing it, learned that the hard way. Seeing it on her finger…”
He remembered that twinkle. It gleamed on the hand she used to grab his arm when she pleaded with him to keep his temper in check at their engagement party. Those cheerful diamonds had been a blow to his chest. That beautiful face beseeching him…those pretty eyes he always found so hard to say no to. All of it had hit him at once and he was still reeling.
“I can understand how you feel,” Shikamaru said after he quieted, “but…it’s gotta stop. You’re only hurting yourself, and if you’re not careful, you’re gonna hurt other people.”
“I know that,” he growled, tossing his wine glass.
The ensuing crash was mildly satisfying.
“Then act like it.”
His teeth clenched, frustration beating at his temples.
How in the flying fuck was he supposed to do that?
xxxxxx
Naruto grinned for the thousandth time that night. He felt as though his face was about to split in half from the strain and yet he didn’t give two shits.
He twirled her again, eliciting a pearl of laughter.
This dancing thing wasn’t all that hard, and it certainly wasn’t as bad as he’d expected to be. It was fun, at least it was after the first few minutes it took him to find his rhythm. Hinata was twenty times better than him at it, but he was learning quickly. Damn sure quicker than he’d learned the Rasengan. It was hard not to figure out. Her luminous face, the booming music resounding in his ears, the laughing people dancing around him, it was a heady combination. Dancing was a powerful intoxicant that seemed more like an airborne fever and he’d caught it. The way they moved together, the brushing of her body against his, the pingpong between her leading their flow then turning control to him, all of it had his heart pumping and his brain working overtime.
He loved it and was kinda ticked he hadn’t done this with her before.
It wasn’t often they went to any type of dance club, a couple of times the group had gone, but the girls and Lee were the only ones interested in dancing, while he and the guys drank, cracked jokes and watched the woman become swept away by the music. He’d always been content to watch her move, and when the night was over, he’d have her dance beneath him to a different beat. This was the first time they’d dance together, the first time she had asked him, but he was damned if it was going to be the last.
No way in hell.
The vibrating beats dimmed, and a smooth melody replaced it. As the music slowed, she wrapped his arms around her, and pressed her back flush to his front. Twining his fingers, she lead him into a gentle sway that slowed his excited heart to a sedate tenderness. Resting his chin atop her head, he basked in the feeling of the woman in his arms.
Never in all his years of life could he fathom being this happy.
What he had done to deserve such a life, he would never know, but he thanked the universe for it. And this amazing life, this amazing love had only just begun.
There was marriage on the horizon.
He gave her middle a gentle squeeze as his chest tightened.
Children in their future.
Happy holidays.
Pretend tea parties for a little girl.
Fishing trips with a little boy.
Family pictures and vacations.
He turned his fiancée, keeping one of their hands entwined and wrapping his other arm around her waist. He knew the look on his face, the blazing in his eyes. If no one else knew, he knew that she did. Beautiful face soft, she reached for him, sliding gentle fingers over his cheek.
“Hinata,” he murmured, voice husky as he pressed his forehead to hers, “let’s get married in August, 'ttebayo,”
It was a gamble and a lot of people were probably not gonna be too happy rushing the plans ahead but…he couldn’t wait another year.
It wasn’t in him.
It’d drive him crazy not being able to call this angel in his arms his wife for another year.
He knew she wanted to marry soon too, that her resistance was merely for the sake of those around them that wanted to be there to celebrate, and for her clan who wanted at least a year to plan it all from the most minute detail to create an elaborate wedding fit for their heir.
He understood all that but…in this…
Couldn’t he be a little bit selfish?
He opened his mouth, prepared to be as persuasive as he possibly could to sway her. As long as she agreed, everyone else would just have to accept the quicker time line and if anybody had a problem with it, they could talk to him and he’d effectively and politely inform them that he didn’t care.
It was happening.
As long as he could overcome the first hurtle.
He was prepared for her to remind him why they were waiting, to inject rationality and responsibility into his irrational mind.
He was prepared for her to fight…and yet…
She didn’t, merely traced his lower lip with a tenderness that hurt his chest, before giving him a small smile that hurt even worse.
“Okay,” she told him softly.
And that was all he needed…that was all he could take. She didn’t protest as he fairly carted her unceremoniously, across the dance floor and towards the middle terrace doors.
They’d spent enough time among the party goers.
It was time for that make-out session Sakura had interrupted earlier.
They were barely passed the glass doors before he was on her. Fusing their mouths and bodies he swept her mouth with more force than he’d intended. With the amount of love and lust crashing through his veins, how was he supposed to taper his physical display of affection?
“W-wait,” she puffed against his mouth, “N-Naruto-kun…wait I-”
Wait?
How the hell was he supposed to do that?
In the throes of passion that muddled his brain he didn’t even know what that word meant anymore. He took her mouth again, robbing her of words and, at least for a little while, whatever was in her pretty little head. She answered the roaring call of passion with the intensity of her own. Throwing her arms around his neck, she pulled him down, tangling her tongue with his, ripping the air from his lungs in the process. Catching a hand below her nape and another to the fabric clothed globes he’d been watching since she showed up, Naruto sucked at the eager tongue swiping his mouth.
He felt soft and silky strands slide over his hand, realizing distantly he had dislodged her elegantly twisted hair and couldn’t find it in him to care.
Unfortunately, the woman he was trying to devour noticed immediately.
“N-Naruto-mph,”
He swallowed her words, filling both hands with the plush globes beneath that delicious dip in her spine. She turned her head, pulling her lips from his. He found her neck instead, absorbing the shiver that ran through her body and the moan that left her throat.
“N-Naruto,” she breathed.
He knew that tone. Knew what that breathy whisper of his name meant. He lifted his head, ready to delve between her lips again, only to meet tiny hands.
“W-wait, Naruto-kun!”
With her lips glistening and plump, her hair in disarray, her big eyes brighter than the moon above, she looked sultry…tempting. He kissed the petite digits blocking his lips but reined himself in enough to listen. Red stained her cheeks.
“I-I have something for you,” she murmured, “its in my purse. S-stay right here,”
And then she was off, speed walking back inside. He paced away from the door, running a hand through his hair as cool night air whispered over him. By the time she returned, the wind and wait had curbed a bit of his ardor. Purse clutched in one had, she grabbed his in the other and led him deeper into the lush green garden to a bench near an elaborate fountain.
She took a seat and he followed her down, settling next to her. He watched her curiously as she opened the little crimson purse. She pulled out a tiny bag then turned to him.
“I know…it’s not really conventional but…”
She opened the bag and took out a small box that looked really familiar. She opened it and shiny silver met his rapt gaze. Taking his hand, she looked at him with shimmering eyes so full of love they burned.
“I…have to confess…I’ve been feeling impatient too.”
It felt cold, and yet incredibly warm when she slid that thick, shiny band onto his finger.
“Men don’t usually wear an engagement ring but…” she took that hand again, and placed her cheek against it, “I thought…wearing this would ease this burning sensation in my heart. This burning desire of wanting to call you husband…”
It was a long time before he could move his frozen body or make his short circuiting brain function.
And it was even longer before they rejoined to the party.
He ran into Choji the moment he came back inside. Hinata had stayed behind to try and fix her hair and right her dress. With a delicious looking dessert in his hand, the Akimichi paused before giving him an amused look. He had an idea of what his appearance entailed. He was missing a button or two, his hair was messier than it usually was, and his eyes had that lazy lust look only she could put in them.
“You got a little uh…” Choji said, pointing to his own throat.
Naruto reached up and wiped then looked. That crimson she’d painted her lips in was on his fingers.
“You’re gonna need a mop for the rest all over your lips.”
For the millionth time that night, the Jinchuuriki laughed.
xxxxxx
May 2, 2010
Hypnotic, those cerulean orbs were absolutely hypnotic.
They held a hardness to them, an uncompromising steel she’d seen each time he fought over the years she’d spent watching him. It was more pronounced now. Glinting with experience and knowledge not present in his growing years. Everything about him that had captured her heart and held it even now was on full display as he moved.
He was brighter than the fiery sphere above.
More refreshing than the wind caressing her skin.
A force greater than the living, breathing nature surrounding them.
Hinata ducked a punch, then blocked the next before striking out with the flat of her palm. He blocked it with a forearm, sharp orbs met hers as he swung a returning blow. It glanced off her side and left a dull ache behind. She absorbed it, pushed it from the forefront of her mind and went back on the offensive. And again, they traded blows.
They’d been going at it for upwards of an hour. The party the night before had been amazing, and while her carefully crafted appearance, thanks to the naughty hands of her fiancé, had been more than unraveled by the time they returned inside, the revelry had continued long after.
She’d been too happy to be embarrassed that her friends knew what they’d been up to outside.
Too intoxicated on wine and him to be shamed.
They’d both slept in this morning, though their guest had risen and left long before. And while they sat enjoying breakfast, reality had come seeping into her bubble of contentment. She was to start her training a couple of days, and after, he’d held her, stroked her hair and told her everything would be okay, then told her they should spar in the days leading up to D day. It’d get her in the right mind frame to tackle this next trial.
And he was right.
As they fought hand to hand, bits of tension unraveled. There was no time for her to worry, not time for her to stress right now. All there was in that moment was the clash of two shinobi exercising the skill they’d honed through blood, sweat and tears.
Just the two of them.
Speaking the language of the ninja.
Studying the movements of their opponent in a bid to predict the next move.
Blocking the hits they could, taking the ones they couldn’t.
It was a dance, a connection that went well beyond the physical. There was something about this mock fight that tapped into a different facet of their bond.
There weren’t just exchanging fists as lovers, they were trading blows as shinobi, the two were intertwined and it’s combination was a heady, heart pounding sensation she could find nowhere else but on the training grounds with the man currently and efficiently swatting away her well timed strikes. He was like a glistening, golden God beneath the shinning sun. Orange pants outlining the hardness of his thighs and calves, his shirtless torso emphasizing a life of physical exertion most people could never fathom. With muscles on display, and the glint of the half heart between his sweat slick pecs, he was as distracting as ever. She always felt a heightened sense of attraction for the Jinchuuriki when they sparred. He was so…different when he was in combat. The sharpness in his eyes when he fought, the seriousness lining his jaw when he struck, the concentration furrowing his blonde brows, this was a Naruto that was combat focused. One that, though severely curbing his strength, meant business.
And it was that severe look on his face that left her feeling achy inside.
She didn’t fight the feeling. That’d be a practice in futility. The first time they sparred, she’d learned there was nothing that would stop it. Not for him or her. They both suffered beneath the heat their training created and both were fine with where it led.
Maybe it was a little weird, and perhaps other couples didn’t get hot and bothered when they sparred, but…she couldn’t change the way they were.
Nor did she want to.
She crossed her arms, bringing them abruptly to her face as he launched a fist. It pushed her back, her boots carving small furrows in the dirt below. He didn’t stop there. She barely had time to react. With a exerted grunt she flipped backwards twice, missing his next hook and stopped a good distance away. She sucked in air, trying to catch her breath.
They’d been at this a while.
While she was slowly tiring, her lover wasn’t anywhere near it. Just as he could between the sheets, the chakra heavy Uzumaki could go all day and night and still not tire.
It was hard to keep up.
Not only was it tiring, he was pushing her as far as she could go and then a tiny bit more.
He always did.
He matched her speed but packed more power behind his strikes. They hurt, some stung, but for her, a kunoichi trained to be just as tough as he was, they were expected.
They were normal.
Naruto shifted, raising his hands and settling into a familiar half crouch. She knew why. She sucked in a breath then raised her own hands.
They weren’t done.
Her training began in two days. He was using today to warm her muscles up and release as much tension as possible before she had to mold chakra again. This fight between them was to set pace and tone for what was to follow.
He told her that.
She believed that.
And she’d set a pace that wouldn’t allow her to cower when the time came.
xxxxxx
‘How much was a guy supposed to take?’ He wondered, leaning far away from the kick aimed at his face.
She had that gleam in her lavender eyes. That piercing focus that herald the transition from sweet, gentle wife-to-be into pulchritudinous battle Princess.
He blocked a blow, gripped her wrist then gave her a tap to the ribs with his elbow. It sent her skiting back a few paces before she was on him again. Sweat left her skin gleaming, the long dark curtain that was her silky locks waving behind her like a banner.
The meeting of fists, palms and feet once again rang through the small clearing they occupied.
While their exchange pushed her pretty hard, this session was nowhere near a warm up for him. He was far too strong for her for him to properly warm up, even so, he always resolved to take their sparring seriously. She was kunoichi, combat seasoned, and he wouldn’t insult her by taking her lightly just because he could. When she was out in the field, anyone she traded blows with damn sure wouldn’t. It wasn’t just that. He respected her as a fellow ninja, as one that had stood by his side and fought not just in the recent war. She was skilled and strong. Effective and deadly if she wanted to be. He would look down on no shinobi, least of all her.
That wasn’t what this was about. It was about honing their skills together. Mutually testing and assessing the growth the two had made from the weak children they’d both been. Connecting and resonating as only two shinobi that loved each other could.
And though it wasn’t a warm up, it was taxing to him in two different.
Restraint.
Easily, he could overpower her. Easily he could lay her flat. What was hard was matching his strength just a hair above hers. It took focus, and patience to curb the force of his punches, the simple swatting of her arm. At any point, if he lost that hairpin control, he could hurt her…severely, maybe even worse. It was a test of in his ability to adjust his strength he welcomed, a trial that had help him when he’d started training his own genin. As strange as it sounded, his fiancée had helped him develop gentleness on the battlefield to such a degree, he was more than confident when he tested the mantle of his three students, something he’d worried over the very day they were assigned to his care.
The second half of this examination of his restraint was something that had always proved too hard for him to complete and was currently eroding his control.
The erotic picture she posed when she fought.
Her mission gear was bad enough. That lavender top that emphasized her generous bust and left her soft arms bare. That black belt that cinched in her tiny waist and defined the wide, feminine flare of her hips. The dark shorts that molded an ass sculpted by the Gods themselves and left her toned legs on display.
And those thigh high stockings…
Had they been together when she’d first gotten her new gear, he definitely would’ve put up a fuss. He still wanted to, knowing other men felt what he felt when she wore them.
Out in the field, when they were focused on the mission, his mind did just that.
Focused on the mission.
Right now, however, they weren’t on a mission.
Here, they were merely sparring, and watching that body he’d made love to, the lush figure he fucked with single minded lust, bending and bowing with lithe grace. Twisting, turning and making the best parts of her body bounce and jiggle. It was something he never noticed in other women. When he sparred with the female members of his group, which wasn’t often, not once did his mind nor eyes wander to the places it was currently, even before they got together.
Now though?
Her flexible physic in deadly motion was deadly to him in a different way.
He was already hard.
Had been for several minutes now, and thus the initial question in his brain returned.
‘How much was a guys supposed to take?’
When was it appropriate to unzip that sleeveless shirt and suckle the pretty nipples he loved? How much longer before he could yank those shorts down and fill her body? They were only an hour in and he was just about at his limit.
It was worse than it usually was.
He could trade blows and admire her figure for hours normally, but this time, he was already panting for what usually followed. He knew why it was. They hadn’t been intimate in a week and for a randy Uzumaki that expended a lot of excess energy between her thighs, the sudden drought was making it hard to keep his dick down.
He was horny.
Painfully so, and while his mind was content to wait, his body was screaming at him to give into temptation. It missed the tight clutch of her pussy, the wet heat she gushed. The screams that left her hoarse the next morning. That dazed faraway look in her eyes following climax. Her dark hair mussed and plastered to her pale skin, the sweaty, panting after cuddling that filled his heart to bursting. The gentle finger that tunneled through his hair and down to trace his back.
He missed it all.
All of it was a part of his everyday life and its lack was straining.
They clashed, elbow to elbow, then parted. She dropped back into the stance of the Juuken, while he lifted a single hand in readiness and open invitation.
‘Come, Princess,’ he challenged silently.
He may as well have spoken the words. She charged him, the flurry of hands and feet fiercer than before. She was really getting into, but there was something else he noted. The red staining her cheeks had nothing to do with today’s round of exertion, and the sheen in her moon colored eyes held something else entirely. A different intensity he was all too familiar with. One that was usually a signal that this mock battle was over and it was time to haul her off to fight a different battle between the sheets.
He wanted to ignore it, that arousal.
He tried to ignore it as he ducked, dodged and pushed back, but…
He caught one wrist as she swung it, then the other hurtling towards his abdomen. They were both panting, her from exertion and arousal, him with only the later. Before he was even cognizant of his body, his muscles contracted, and then there lips met.
It was like that day they’d gotten engaged.
That day he’d left her smooth skin marked, her beautiful eyes dazed.
He pulled her flush to his body, nestling the hard flesh tenting his pants between her legs. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her mouth sucking hard at his. As their tongues fought for dominance, he reached for the perfect peaches encased in shorts. Both hands grabbed a cheek and squeezed. He bounced her body, forcing her to meet the frantic grinding of his own sex.
With a puff gasp against his lips, she tightened her arms and climbed him, swing those slender legs up and around his waist. He stumbled then righted himself, spearing her mouth with his tongue as he did.
There was no turning back.
This was happening.
He searched for a place, glancing around as he tongued her mouth and alighted on salvation. Eager, his feet moved, carting them both over to a nearby tree. Using the towering oak for support, he rested her back against it, then gave her lips a last suck before pulling back.
His hands were rough and impatient.
He hit the quick release of the black thing around her waist, then reached for her zipper. He tugged once, then again and when it refused to budge a few more inches, he tore the damn thing. As was normal when they sparred, she wasn’t wearing her mesh under her sleeveless blouse and he was eternally grateful. He didn’t think his brain would function long enough to get it off her. He’d already ruined one layer of clothing.
He didn’t have to try and fumble with the button holding her shorts together, she was already ahead of him. He tongued her nipples as she struggled with the button and with hands that trembled a bit, he yanked his pants down. She reached for him when she finished, running her fingers roughly through his short locks. Her feet barely touched the grass as he tore her shorts and panties off and tossed them to the ground. He caught her thighs tight enough to bruise, yanked them up to her chest and filled her body.
His breath left in a rush, hissing through his lips.
Wet heat closed over his cock, her weeping pussy barely making enough room for him.
The grip…
He closed his eyes as a tremor ran through his body. He reached for control…and never found it. Lust drove the first thrust, ecstasy set the pace.
Hard.
Fast.
Panting gasps filled the air. Her booted feet bounced over his forearms with each punishing thrust.
“Oh my God,” she cried out, her body arching in the little bit of room the position allowed as he pounded her pussy, “so deep,”
His gut clenched.
It always felt deeper when her had her like this, harder for her to take him when he had her tiny 5’2 frame bunched up like this. As many times as they’d made love, her lush body would resist the hard cock he crammed up her pussy more than usual in certain positions. The way her little walls struggled to make room for him always prompted him to slow the pace and make sure she felt every inch of him, to savor the faces she made when he retreated and shoved forward, to watch her pearlescent orbs roll to the back of her skull.
Today, however…
After days of abstinence, it was killing him.
“Harder,” she gasped.
Liquid heat filled his sack. She needed this as bad as he did. Sucking hard at the moist flesh of her neck and throat, he gave her what she wanted, hammering her straining body with as much strength as he could muster. Pleasure skated along his nerve endings. Fucking her into oblivion the only coherent thought left in his mind. Everything else, took a back seat.
They were outside, screwing in broad daylight.
He could care less.
He could feel the moisture seeping into the front the pants he hadn’t pulled down far enough.
It wasn’t even on the first hundred pages of his lists of worries.
She was loud, mewling and screaming his name, someone could hear them.
And didn’t give a shit.
His world was narrowed to the intensity at his groin. He could already tell he wasn’t going to last long. The drag and clutch. The in and out. The wet squelch and ear ringing moans. It was too much for his deprived libido. Already he felt the madness of climax lapping at his senses. His toes curled in his sandals.
“Fuck,” he gasped against her throat.
He was about to cum.
And it was going to-
“Narutooooo!” she wailed to the forest.
Her body seized, orgasm tore through her, throwing off his pounding pace and ripping his own climax from him in the process. He was far from prepared for the ecstasy that ripped through his abdomen, gathered at the base of cock then left him in a hot, rush of ejaculate. A painfully blissful groan left his throat as his brain blew a fuse. His head swam, and bright spots blocked his vision. He closed his eyes that felt close to crossing, rocking his hips in a desperate move to draw out the incredible sensation of her inner muscles milking his cock. He was shaking, struggling to draw breath into lungs that seemed resistant to the oxygen surrounding him.
When he could breathe again, when his twitching body could no longer handle the sensations lingering in their joined sex, he stilled. Sagging with a breath of profound relief, he pressed them both against the only pillar of strength keeping them upright.
The shady tree that probably didn’t appreciate their lascivious activities against its hard bark.
Fuck.
That felt so fucking good.
Everywhere felt good.
His muscles felt relaxed and languid, him clear and tranquil. They’d only been intimate outside once, back when he’d celebrated their one year anniversary and had made plans to propose that very night.
This…
This had been pretty reckless, even for him.
He slipped into senjutsu.
He didn’t sense anybody nearby, but that didn’t mean no one had been while they had been otherwise occupied…
Shit.
He probably should’ve done this beforehand rather than now.
“Oh no…” the woman beneath him breathed, “N-Naruto-kun, what if-”
He kissed her quiet.
“Don’t worry, nobody saw us,”
He hoped.
“A-Are you sure?”
She looked so worried and embarrassed he couldn’t voice his own concern that someone may have been present at the begging or middle.
“I checked the area,” he told her, skirting the question, “there’s nobody around, ‘ttebayo. We’re fine.”
He kissed her, then tried to right her shirt. With the amount of luscious breasts and the ruined zip, it was a lost cause. Even so…
He stared longingly at the moist nipples glistening from his earlier assault, begging for his mouth to return.
Lust pooled heavy in his loins.
With the sun on his back, his hip wedged between her thighs and the thick wet aftermath of their after spar fucking coating his cock, the tireless, sex-starved Uzumaki was ready to start over.
He wanted more.
“N-Naruto-kun,” she murmured, little fingernails of distress pinching his forearms, “w-we should go, s-someone might see.”
Reluctantly, he let her feet touch the ground, then reached out to steady her when her wobbly legs refused to hold her. He kissed her forehead, then jogged over to the stump he’d left his black jacket on. His lover had already pulled her shorts up and was holding her shirt together when he jogged back, her face nearly crimson. Even if her shirt wasn’t torn, the look in her eyes, the mussed hair, the love marks on her neck broadcast to the world that Hinata Hyuuga was fresh from a thorough and wholly satisfying loving. He didn’t mind her looking like that, nor did he mind if others saw the pretty red marks along the side of her neck and throat, quite the opposite in fact, but he knew his significant other was shy about it and in deference to that, they’d travel rooftop back to their apartment. He opened the overcoat, wrapped it around her then swept her from her feet.
xxxxxx
Note on Sasuke/Sakura relationship, don’t expect this to be a quick pairing. There’s things Sasuke has to work on and to me, Sasuke’s a really complicated guy, if just having heart to heart conversations were enough to move him completely, we probably wouldn’t have the Naruto series at all. He was the catalyst pretty much. I don’t want to rush them nor will I pair them together just because. I want them to have an actual connection. I know a hundred reasons why, to me, them being together makes no sense, but as I write, I want to discover how and why they’d be a good match. So, its not going to be a quick get together for them. I know Sakura/Sasuke fans read this fic, however, this primarily a NaruHina, so they won’t really be getting the same extensive coverage, so sorry :(
Had a question posed to me about future stories. I will be doing quite a few for NaruHina when these are done. I’ll be doing one for the Blank Period and my own Alternate Universe for how the Uzumaki’s live their lives instead of what Boruto has going on, it’s going to be wholly slice of life. I’m dabbling in a school fic that’ll start during the last year of high school and take place mainly in the college life. I’m also thinking about a Prince/Princess type setting but idk, still thinking bout it. Once Monster and Secrets are done, those are my next project. I’ve started on two of em already when I need a break from Monster, so hopefully the stories won’t take as long as these two to get through. Its gonna be a while for those though, I have sequels planned for both Monster and Secrets so patience is appreciated.
I quite enjoyed writing the whole party situation XD hope you all liked it too. The issues with Kiba, I’ve had this a few times with different topics. You think you’re over something and you get a reminder and it’s like boom! Reopened that wound :( I feel bad for him even though my evil ass wrote it :D
That’s all for now.
Anybody still read this fic anymore on this site? Let me know. I’ll see you all soon!
Laters!
~Sessakag
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