STORYLINE: NaruHina and SakuSasu get together. "The Last" obviously didn't ever happen for this story to take place, but I do put them all at that age. Sasuke is back in the Leaf as a shinobi. Strictly romance and heavy-breathing scenes.
WARNING: There are two limes and *four* full lemons in this story! If you object to explicit content (mine is tasteful though) or if you're a kid, please go elsewhere! TY!
6:30, and the first guest is already there. Naruto smiles, pleased with the early company. He answers his door, and lets Shikamaru in. "I know I'm a little early, Naruto…I hope you don't mind. I just had a lot to do before I came, and when I was finished, I came straight over to make sure I wasn't late."
"Early, what? You're right on time!" Naruto smiles at his former classmate. Then Naruto seats Shikamaru to the far left of his couch. "I'll be just a minute. If everyone I invited shows up, we'll need more chairs. I can bring some from the kitchen. Don't go anywhere!"
"This is such a drag," Shikamaru remarks jokingly, a smile on his face. Naruto laughs and heads for the kitchen.
Momentarily, Naruto returns with three kitchen chairs and places them in a circle facing the couch.
"So tell me, Naruto, how many people did you invite tonight?"
"Let's see…you, Hinata, Sakura, Sai, and Sasuke. That makes six of us. I would have invited more, but I just don't have the room. I'll have to get together with the others later. But three of us can fit on the couch and three in chairs. There's plenty of space with just this many, don't you worry about that."
Shikamaru looks up at Naruto in seeming disinterest. "Who says I'm worried?"
Naruto chuckles. Then, another knock at his door. "Wow, is everyone going to show up early tonight? I told everyone seven…not that I mind."
He answers the door to find Hinata and Sakura waiting outside. "Please, come in!" he offers. Sakura enters first, commenting on how clean and spacious the place looks now. Hinata follows behind, greeting Naruto softly, barely able to keep her head up in front of him.
"Have a seat, ladies!" Naruto says as he sits on the couch at the opposite end of Shikamaru. Sakura settles into the the middle seat of the kitchen-chair set-up. Hinata looks back and forth between the chairs where Sakura is seated and the couch where Naruto is. She wants to sit by him, but she's not sure she should. Would that seem weird, or even forward? she wonders.
Naruto, seeing Hinata's hesitation in choosing a seat, pats the space next to him on the couch. "Come, Hinata, sit down! You can't stand UP the whole time you're here, ya know! This is a party!" He grins at her.
Hinata can't help but mirror his expression. She makes her way to the seat Naruto "reserved" for her, and takes her place there—all too aware of the close proximity of his body.
At that time, another knock comes to the door. Naruto rises again to answer it, finding Sai on the other side. "Welcome, Sai! Please join us!"
"I-I've never been to a party before. Please forgive me if I behave improperly. But I've read a lot of books on social etiquette at parties!"
"Sai, would you just relax and forget about your stupid books for once? Go sit next to Sakura!"
Sai complies as the last knock echoes in the room. Naruto opens the door to allow his final guest in.
"Oi, Sasuke! Thanks for coming! You can sit right over there!" He motions to the last available chair, right next to Sakura. Sasuke silently ambles over and plops down, crossing his arms in front of him and looking typically expressionless. Naruto retakes his seat next to Hinata on the couch.
The six colleagues talk and recall personal stories and adventures. They tell jokes and laugh. They have amicable debates about current events. The next thing they know, it's 8:00.
Sasuke, who has been even quieter than Hinata the whole time, finally speaks up. "Oi, Naruto," he says casually. "Why don't we jazz things up a bit? It just so happens that I brought a bottle of liquor with me!" He looks over at Naruto with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, all of you can drink if you want to. I don't really do that stuff. It tastes bad, it makes me feel weird, and then it gives me a headache. But don't let that stop you, or anyone else!"
Sasuke chortles derisively. "You never change, do you? You know what I think?" He leans forward, closer to Naruto's face, and lowers his voice. "I think you're scared because you know you can't hold your liquor like I can!" A sly smile crosses Sasuke's face. There was nothing more fun than getting Naruto's goat.
"What?! That is so untrue! Tell you what, I will drink whatever you got, Sasuke, and more of it than you! I'll show you who can't hold their liquor!"
"Well alright then!" Sasuke exclaims, taking a bottle of booze out of his overcoat.
"But we'll need shot glasses!'
"Huh?" Naruto questions. "Shot glasses? Why not just make mixed drinks, using regular glasses like everybody else?!"
"Where's the fun in that?" Sasuke remarks. "Or can't you do shots?" Another sly smile.
"Of course I can!" says Naruto indignantly. Making an excuse, he adds, "I just don't have any shot glasses!"
Sasuke leans back in his chair, bottle in hand. "You have sake cups, don't you? They will do just fine, Naruto. Break 'em out!"
Reluctantly, Naruto retrieves the requested cups and places them on the coffee table in front of each guest.
"Now we're talking!" Sasuke comments as he begins to fill the short ceramic cups.
For the next two hours, the guests drink and have a good time talking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Sasuke, however, keeps downing the shots as fast as he can, trying to stay ahead of Naruto, who is closing in on him. He couldn't let his rival win this—or any—contest, after all.
Before long, Naruto is toasted. He slurs his speech, can't hold himself steady on the couch, and won't even try to get up and walk. The one time he does, needing to use the bathroom, he staggers the whole way.
Sasuke teases Naruto, remarking how he isn't in such shape and claims to have won the contest.
"It's not over yet, S-S-Sasuke! The night's still young!"
Sasuke grins at Naruto mischievously, but…despite his claims to the contrary and his natural ability to hide the fact, he is drunk himself. Unable to come up with a good response and worrying about the truth being discovered, he decides to leave Naruto alone. After that, Naruto settles down and stops talking to listen in on the conversations going on around him.
But, in his drunken stupor, Naruto forgets himself.
He starts staring at the woman beside him, taking note of her lovely face, her soft-looking hair, her enticing bosom. Then he looks up at Sakura. Without warning, he cuts off her conversation with someone else and exclaims, "Oi, Sakura! You know what? Hinata's prettier than you!"
Hinata blushes, but smiles at the unexpected compliment from Naruto. Sakura is not so happy.
"Say that AGAIN, baa-kaa!" she roars, standing up, fist at the ready.
Naruto mumbles, "She's nicer, too." It's quietly spoken, but Hinata hears and smiles.
Sakura, still pissed and poised to strike, notices that Naruto just said something else beneath his breath, and she figures it was probably another jab. She shakes her raised fist. "WHAT was that, Naruto? I didn't quite hear you! Why don't you tell me what ELSE you think!?"
"Y-yeah," Naruto stammers, "I think…I think…I think I wasted too many years of my life chasing the wrong girl! That's what I think!"
Hinata gasps in happy surprise. Sakura feels disarmed, then, too (only because it was Hinata he was referring to) and sits back down, uncurling her fist.
Naruto, however, stands up at that point, thinking he would stomp off in alcohol-induced anger. But he doesn't quite make it.
He falls backward onto the couch, into the seat he rose from, but his floppy head lands right in Hinata's lap. She doesn't mind.
"Your so warm and soft…" he comments quietly. Only Hinata hears him, as everyone else is now ignoring Naruto and going on with their comradery. Hinata smiles down at Naruto's face, feeling warm and soft on the inside too.
Finally, the hour grows late. Shikamaru and Sai excuse themselves, leaving Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke behind.
"Hinata," Sakura begins, "Why don't you and I get Naruto into his bed? He obviously can't make it on his own, and I think the rest of us would like to go home now."
Hinata "mm's" her reply. Then the two women lift Naruto to his feet and start walking him to his bedroom, paying no mind to Sasuke.
Once in his room, the young ladies flop Naruto onto his bed. While Hinata pulls the covers up on him halfway, Sakura turns out the light and heads out. Hinata gets up to leave too, but Naruto stops her.
"Do you have to leave too, Hinata?" he asks almost pleadingly. "I—I—well, I really just don't want to be alone. W-would you mind terribly staying with me until I fall asleep?"
Hinata smiles widely down at him. "Of course I don't mind," she answers honestly. She sits on the bed next to Naruto. "I'm right here, Naruto. And I give you my word that until then, I won't leave your side!" She blushes, realizing she had just said a little too much. But Naruto either doesn't notice or doesn't mind.
He smiles up at her. Still slurring, he says, "Thanks, Hinata. I really appreciate it. But please feel free to leave when I'm out. As much as I'd like to know you were there all night, and get to see your pretty face when I first wake up, I know this is not your house. Please go ahead and leave after I pass out. I won't…I won't…I won't miss you if I'm asleep." He grins up sheepishly at her. He's still three sheets to the wind, and has no idea what he's saying, or who to. He gives no thought to the next day (or any day thereafter), or the embarrassment he will most likely feel later for his behavior tonight—especially with Hinata. He just keeps talking, ending up telling her secrets without a care, unaware that he is saying things he would normally keep to himself—as tends to happen to drunks.
Next, Naruto raises his hand and strokes Hinata's cheek. "God, your beautiful," he says lovingly. But before Hinata can react, her new blush notwithstanding, he moves his hand to her forehead, brushing away the hair falling into her face. Then he quickly moves to her head, following the flow of the hair that descends down to her shoulders, and fondles it like he's never touched a woman's hair before—and he hasn't.
"Wow," he says groggily, "your hair is even silkier than I imagined." He pauses; then murmurs to himself, "I bet it smells good."
Hinata is so close to Naruto's face, she hears even the faintest words from his mouth. His last comments make her heart beat faster and flushes her face—but not from her customary shyness.
Naruto, still unaware of what is really going on, or what he is saying (much less the consequences of it all later), looks up at Hinata with a serious look on his face.
"I'm sorry, Hinata. For not noticing you sooner. You are the only person who ever told me they loved me. That still boggles my mind, ya know. Honestly, I just don't know how to react to it. Though I can tell you I've never seen you the same way since."
Hinata beams, her blush intensifying. She places a hand on Naruto's uncovered chest. "Thank you for saying that, Naruto. "
Naruto places his own hand atop hers, still pressed gently against his chest.
His smile fades. "It's just that…it scares me, ya know? I mean…I could…I could lose control with you. I could totally lose myself in you. That terrifies me. "
Hinata just got a candid earful. But now, she understands why he never commented on her confession.
Hinata, still blushing but maintaining eye contact, decides it's time to be braver than ever before, considering the intimate nature of Naruto's speech. "That's the risk everyone takes when they develop feelings for someone. Fear is normal. But…it doesn't have to be debilitating. If you trust the one you love, and believe in yourself, the fear will go away by itself. But you have to first be willing to try. Otherwise, you end up alone and sad and regretful. Even angry." She squeezes his hand, hoping her words will reach him through his drunken stupor, though it was difficult to say them to his face.
"Hinata? You are the sweetest girl I have ever known!" Naruto says with a smile. Then he closes his eyes and quickly begins to snore.
Hinata covers him up the rest of the way, and lingers to peer into his sleeping face, pondering everything he just said to her.
Finally, Hinata decides it's time to make her exit. She has no excuse left for remaining there. She leans down and kisses Naruto's forehead gingerly, squeezes his hand one last time, and then leaves for home.
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THANKS TO ALL WHO READ AND ENJOY THIS STORY! PLEASE LEAVE ME A FEEDBACK OR A PM. Also, always looking for story ideas and/or other series to follow and write for. Please pm me if you have suggestions for either/or, or email me. (see profile) Or if you review you can put your suggestion/s there. TYSVM! (thank you so very much)