The Taste of Jealousy:
Turmoil For The Fair-Eyed Maiden
Disclaimer- Again, I do not own Naruto™ and only use this in an admiring way. In no way, shape, or form do I accept ownership or liability of copyright for Naruto™.
It was a sunny day in the village of Konoha and everyone was rejoicing for the return of everyone's favorite ninja, Naruto. It was a few weeks into his return, he had been there without anyone knowing of course, and he had proved himself to be a whole new person, not the same impulsive, hyperactive ninja he used to be. He had matured, along with all his friends. They all had changed and become the pride and joy of Konoha.
Sakura, the small, pink-haired kunoichi, along with her somewhat best friend Ino, had become very successful medical ninja over the course of two and a half years. Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru had all grown as well with their skills sharpened to far beyond their old selves. Neji, Ten-Ten, and Rock Lee, probably the most prominent team of ninja, had become a few of the top ninjas in the entire village, in terms of teamwork and individual success. The only one who remained the same, in personality, had been the young heiress of the Hyuga Clan, Hinata. As most are aware, time has a funny way of turning the most common of people into a figure of stature, not to mention giving some the more adept features of their bodies. The young rookies of Konoha had grown very much from children to young adults, with the bodies and minds of appropriate proportion.
In any case, when the young man Naruto came to see his friends, who would only faintly recognize them since their new appearances were nowhere near similar to their former selves, in attire of course. Naruto began his inquiry with the much more matured Sakura who had approached him delighted.
" Hey Sakura-Chan! How have you been?" he said happily.
"Naruto! Look at you! You look so grown up, and so much stronger too." Sakura replied.
"You think?" he gave a quick turn and laughed, "these clothes I had to get because I grew out of my old ones." He scratched his cheek, "I guess I changed more than I thought." he laughed.
"Well of course, I wouldn't expect any less." he said with a little giggle. She thought to herself, "he has grown so much, he's not the same Naruto. In fact, he's actually very..." She slightly reddened at her thoughts.
She looked to him and smiled, "I've grown too you know? Wouldn't you agree?" she pushed her hair up with her arms and gave a slightly provocative twist of her body flaunting her curvature ever so slightly.
Naruto blinked afraid of what to say, "Uhh..yeah..but you'll still be the same Sakura-Chan." he gave a self-assured laugh.
She sighed and smiled, "Of course I am and your still the same Naruto-Kun." Her last words made him tingle slightly.
"Yeah yeah..." he pushed his fingers together, "So, where is everyone else?" he asked.
"Well, they're all over the village, I'm sure if you walk around, you'll find them easily." she replied.
He grinned, " Really? Then I better get going, I want to see everyone else and see how they've been." With that, he walked away chuckling to himself.
Sakura watched him walk away and couldn't help but let her mind wander. She thought, "He's no longer that annoying kid anymore. In fact, ever since Sasuke-Kun left, he has been there for me." She shook her head, "No! I couldn't possibly! But then again, maybe the reason he was trying so hard to make me happy was because he actually.." The realization sent her heart pounding and her face red. "Naruto..all this time..alright then, I'll do it. After all, he is kind of cute." She giggled and continued on her way.
Naruto walked through the village and went past the local market where he them, Chouji and Ino. Chouji's hair was almost as long as Ino's, which had practically touched the ground, and he looked more like his father. Ino was still herself, if you were to ignore the slim figure and protruding assets along that figure. They were shopping, together. He looked at them puzzled and approached them with a shining smile.
"Still eating those chips of yours Chouji? And what's this, Ino too?" he said rather loudly.
The two looked back and knew who that loud, obnoxious voice was. Ino replied slightly irritated, "Well look who it is, finally back after leaving us all here to take care of everything." Chouji chuckled and nudged her in the side. "Don't mind her, she hates shopping for me. How have you been Naruto?
"I'm great, and it seems you two hit it off pretty well, nice going Chouji!" he grinned and laughed.
Chouji smiled, "Hey now, its not what you think, we're here for our own reasons, I just asked her for help since I'm trying new foods to build up my skills." She chuckled, "Though I guess I'd be better with him than anyone else eh?" This made Chouji laugh embarrassed.
"Yeah yeah, enough about you two, its good to see you but I've got others to find. See you two around!" He walked out and continued on his way.
His next stop brought him to the Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant where another couple was eating, not ramen even. This was less of a surprise to Naruto since he had kind of guessed they would be together. He still sat down in front of them and grinned.
"So even though you two spent all your training together, you still can't get enough of each other." he said.
"Hey Naruto! When did you get back?! Welcome home!" said Ten-Ten.
Her companion sighed, "Always with the abrupt comments..you're still the same." he said roughly but remotely friendly.
"Nice to see you two Neji. So what are you two up too?" he asked.
"We're taking a small food break, we're actually on a patrol mission in the village." said Ten-Ten.
"Yes, so you see we are actually busy, if we were on leisure, I'd be doing something other than this." said Neji still quirked by Naruto.
"Ohh! So you two aren't really a couple?" said Naruto.
Neji smirked, " I never said that." This made Ten-Ten giggle.
"I see! Well then, I'll leave you two to your 'mission', I've got more people to see!" he said getting up. He left them and walked back down the streets of Konoha.
He began to think to himself about all he had seen. So many of his friends had grown, and they were experiencing something he had never really thought about, relationships. They were no longer little kids, so it was normal for them, as young adults, to seek companionship. But it occurred to him, he had never actually planned or even thought about being with someone else. He remembered now, back when he was younger, the girl who he was after, Sakura. Today, she had seemed so grown, very grown indeed. He began to think of her and her matured body making him redden and shake his head. Still he walked, determined to meet everyone and greet them full heartedly.
On the other side of the village, there was one girl who had been awaiting Naruto's return eagerly. She stroked her dark hair and paced quickly, she had heard that he was back from Ino who she had run into on her way to the pharmacy. For the past two years, she had been anxious for his return, and in that time, her feelings for him grew more and more. That moment, she had decided to let her feelings known, but not to Naruto himself. She had to tell someone, so she turned to the only one as close to Naruto as she wanted to be, Sakura. She approached her haphazardly but knew that what she wanted to say.
"Umm.. Sakura-San, may I speak to you, privately?" she inquired.
"Hmm? Hinata? Of course." They walked into an alley and spoke. "What is it?"
She stammered, "Umm..well..I wanted to tell you something, but you have to swear not to tell anyone else! Especially Naruto-Kun!" Sakura looked at her puzzled, why not Naruto?
"Okay then, now what did you want to tell me?" she asked.
"Okay, I needed to tell someone, but not Naruto, not yet." Hinata said.
Sakura asked a bit more firmly, "What is it you wanted to tell me?"
"I wanted to tell you, that I..I..I like Naruto..a lot." She blushed furiously and clasped her hands to her cheeks.
Sakura blinked, "What? Then why don't you tell him?"
"Oh no! I couldn't, I'm just too afraid of what he'll say." Hinata looked down a bit.
"Hmm..well, you have to tell him sooner or later" Sakura said.
Hinata looked up again, "I know, I just don't know how or when."
As Hinata sat there bemusing herself, Sakura felt a cold realization in herself. This girl has feelings for Naruto, her Naruto. Was she about to let this stranger who barely knows Naruto at all just walk up and take what she too strove to have? Of course not. She had to come up with a way to keep Hinata from having Naruto, even if that means any way possible. Then, it came to her, she knew what to do. She looked to Hinata and smiled.
"Don't worry Hinata, I think I know what will help you." she took her by the hand and walked to her home. She rummaged through her cupboards until she found what she wanted. A bottle with a smudged character on it. She handed it to Hinata quickly.
Hinata asked, "Umm, just what exactly is this?"
Sakura chuckled, "Its an elixir that will make you irresistible to anyone you happen to kiss with it upon your lips."
Hinata looked at her shocked, "Its a love potion?!"
"Not exactly, it will make you irresistible as long as it lasts, which is 45 minutes. In that time, you can tell Naruto how you feel and get the answer you want. When he snaps out of it, all he'll remember is everything you said, and with the elixir's help, he'll fall for you for sure."
Hinata's eyes welled up with tears as she hugged Sakura, "Thank you Sakura-Chan! I can't thank you enough!" She hurried away to her home to put the elixir in a safe place.
Sakura stayed there and chuckled darkly, "Of course, what I should've said was that it makes the user irresistible, in their minds; which means they'll do whatever they want with whomever they want. Let's see if Naruto will like the new, outgoing, slattern Hinata." She gave a quick laugh and went into her room to turn in for the day.
As Hinata hurried to her home, she was stopped by a messenger who had told her she had a mission tomorrow with two more teammates. She still hurried home and put away the vial and turned in for the night also. Naruto, who had been searching the entire village, had only found Kiba, Shino, Rock Lee, and Shikamaru in his search. They had said their greetings and went about their ways, leaving Naruto to also go home and go to bed. He had also received a summons for a mission and couldn't wait to see who were his teammates.
Remembering his day, he realized there was still one person who he hadn't seen, that Hyuga girl. "Hinata was her name," he remembered, "The shy one who always looked at me. She was kind of weird." he chuckled to himself. "I remember how brave she was, how she always cheered me on in my darkest moments, and how she became so strong, even against the criticism of her family." He blinked and smiled, "She was also pretty cute as I remember, I wonder how she looks now." He thought some more but then slowly drifted to sleep, happily awaiting his first mission being back.
The next day, Naruto had been the first to the meeting point for his mission. He sat atop the gate and looked out over the village reminiscing. Suddenly, he saw a girl approaching with dark hair. He looked closer and blinked repeatedly. It was Hinata! The girl he had thought about the night before, but she was different. Her dark hair bounced against her back as she happily walked to the meeting point. She wore almost the same outfit as before, but it had been filled with the endowments she had received in the two years. As she drew closer, Naruto leapt from the gate to see this beauty up close. She was not paying attention when Naruto landed in front of her and made her jump back and fall.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" he looked at her on the ground and was astonished. The light reflected in her light eyes and dark hair. It shimmered across her face and legs making her look stunning. Her body flowed with the curves up her finely shaped legs and up to her protruding chest. He stopped talking and just stared.
"No, its my faut, I wasn't looking and.." she looked up and began to grow deep red. "Naruto-Kun! Its you!"
They two gazed at each other, caught in their own world that no one could intrude. But then, another figure approached them and spoke loudly to catch their attention.
"So I'm stuck with you two for this dumb mission? How troublesome." he sighed loudly.
"S-Shikamaru! Your coming with us on this mission?" Naruto said surprised.
"Yeah, but its not to important, just a reconnaissance mission. Two days, three nights, then back here." he said.
Hinata had helped herself up still blushing but smiling, "Is that all? That's good then, no danger, right?"
Shikamaru shrugged, "I suppose, if you two don't screw it up for us."
Naruto pointed at him dramatically, "Just what is that supposed to mean? I just got back!"
"Yeah, so your out of practice, which makes you a liability. Even Hinata has a better chance than you." This made her giggle a bit.
He grumbled to himself, "I'll show you. I'm just as reliable!" he threw on his gear and grinned, "Let's get going!"
With that, all three left for their mission to search for a recent upsurge of rebellions in the neighboring villages. As they walked, Naruto couldn't take his eyes off of Hinata. She was even prettier than he had imagined. Her warm laughter and welcoming face made him forget about anything else. Whereas Hinata, who had finally calmed down, was fidgeting with a bottle in her pocket. It was the elixir, she kept it on her in case she ever ran into Naruto, which she had. Maybe now she could use it and show Naruto how she felt. After an hour or two, they all stopped to set up camp. They all set up individual tents that were big enough to fit three comfortably and sat around to make lunch. They pulled out all sorts of odd treats but it was Hinata who began a fire and started to cook actual, edible food. The smell drew Shikamaru and Naruto in as they sat eagerly waiting for their meal. As they ate, Naruto swallowed bowl after bowl until he finally choked on a bit of meat. Everyone laughed and had a good time. Even though they weren't the best of friends, they still considered each other comrades.
When night fell, all three went into their tents and sat doing whatever they wanted. Shikamaru was reviewing the mission in his head and tried to imagine the fastest way to get it done do that he could return to his duty in Konoha and his companion in the Sand Village. Hinata, who had taken off her jacket and switched to a lighter long-sleeve, sat with the vial on her chest as she pondered her actions for tonight. Naruto had been sitting looking up at the ceiling of his tent thinking about Hinata. He had never knew how beautiful she was until now. In that instant, he had wanted nothing more than to be with her, no one else mattered.
Hinata began to take deep breaths and speak to herself, "Okay..you can do this..for Naruto..for yourself..drink it.." She put the vial to her lips as the rather warm elixir ran down her throat. She felt no different at first, but then, everything began to blur. Her mind was fogging up and her body was feeling hot. She buttoned the top of her shirt as heat began to rise from her chest. The sensation traveled into her limbs and tingled on her lips, chest, and crotch. She could think of nothing except Naruto and how much she had wanted him. Her thoughts clouded as she became determined to be with him right that minute and immerse herself into him. In the dark of the night, she crept from her tent and walked to the front of Naruto's.
He heard a scratching noise and he said, "Hey, is anyone out there?" The noise persisted.
"Is anybody out there?!" he said louder. The noise continued. He became annoyed and flung open the tent to see Hinata on all fours in her underwear and a long-sleeve staring at him closely with listless eyes. "H-Hinata!"
"Naruto-Kun..I..I.." she crawled into the tent making him scoot back. She looked at him again, but with a lascivious look in her eyes.
Naruto tried to talk to her as she drew nearer, "Hinata. What are you doing here?"
She kept coming closer, "I have to tell you something." his hand slipped under him as she pinned him down and looked at him. Her hair draped down and touched his face as he stared.
He tried to speak but his words fell silent as he felt a heat from her. The buttons on her shirt had been undone and exposed the tops of her soft, glimmering breasts. His eyes widened as she pushed against him making her chest push against his and forced her breasts up and almost to his face.
"Naruto..I wanted to tell you..I Want You..I Want You so badly.." her soft voice dimmed as she leaned harder against him and pressed her lips to his softly. He was shocked, but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't believe that she had done this, the shy girl was gone. He felt himself slip away as his hands wrapped around her and pressed his lips back to hers. She locked hers with his as she rubbed herself against him vigorously. Her legs wrapped around his as the heat started to build around her crotch making her moan slightly. He continued to kiss her and hold her until he felt her tongue against his. He tasted her, a sweet taste, but there was something else, something foreign. A poison? An elixir? He had to be sure. He pulled her lips away as she panted and longed to caress his body.
"Hinata, what did you take? What did you do to yourself?" he asked.
She giggled and rubbed her hand up his leg slowly. She still had enough sanity to tell her story, which was the last thing she cared about now, "I wanted Naruto-Kun so badly, that I asked Sakura-Chan for help. She gave me the elixir that would make me irresistible to you. But no more talking..just take me.." she pressed lips with his again and ran a soft hand under his shirt and against his stomach.
Naruto's eyes widened, Sakura had done this?! Why? His mind was filled with questions but he soon felt the pull of the elixir in his blood. It wasn't as strong as in Hinata, but he knew that to waste this moment was wrong, she did care for him anyway and, as of then, so did he. The two continued to hold each other and kiss passionately, his hand reaching along her neck and down across her shoulder lightly brushing her shirt off and exposing more. A little trick he picked up from his sensei, Jiraiya, along with other such devious things. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, then a blinding light, and then silence. Naruto looked up and saw Shikamaru with a sour face. Hinata had been passed out on his chest, still exposed, but passed out.
"What's going on here? You two alright?" he asked.
"What was that Shikamaru?" Naruto asked somewhat drowsy.
He grinned, "a light bomb, and I used my Shadow Sleeper Jutsu to knock out Hinata. I noticed her crawling into your tent. I went into hers and saw the vial so I knew something was up, I guess I was right."
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, she had taken some kind of elixir, it made her all.." her searched for the word.
"Libidinous?" Shikamaru said.
"What?" Naruto scratched his head.
"Never mind, at least I stopped it before anything regrettable happened. Now you get some sleep, we still have a mission to do." he left the tent.
Naruto sighed and rolled Hinata to the side of him, "Yeah, poor Hinata. She liked me so much. And yet Sakura did this horrible thing to her." he looked at her and smiled, his hand rubbed against her cheek making her stir slightly and let out a small moan. He took his shirt and placed it over her and pulled on his blankets closing his eyes to sleep.
The next day, Hinata awoke dazed. She looked around and saw Naruto, shirtless. She looked at herself and saw her shirt pulled down slightly. She gasped and buttoned it quickly. What had she done? She got up and went to her tent and to dressed, when she came out, both Shikamaru and Naruto were packing. Naruto looked back to her and smiled, the smile was calming and reassuring. She too packed and all three went about and finished their mission. Naruto and Hinata were together the entire time, he had explained to her what had happened during this time and she was relieved. She was even more surprised at the fact that he actually welcomed her the way she did, she didn't remember anything other than a few glimpses in her memory.
When the mission finished, Naruto stayed with Hinata and made sure she was alright. He promised her that he would get Sakura back for what she did. Hinata objected and pleaded.
"Don't Naruto-Kun, she just did what she had to, to protect the one she cares for."
He looked at her, "What do you mean?" Then he realized it, it was him. Sakura liked him. "I see, but I care only for you Hinata, she has to know that."
She nodded and kissed his cheek, "Alright, I'll tell her tomorrow. Goodnight Naruto-Kun." She walked into her estate and he left shortly after.
The next day, Hinata met up with Sakura, she was accompanied by Ten-Ten who also had to make a short run to the store. When the two got there, Sakura was smiling with a bottle next to her. A strange smell was permeated through the store.
"Hey you two, what do you need?" she asked.
"I have something to tell you." Hinata said.
Sakura was waiting for this, "What is it?"
Hinata took in a breath, "Naruto..he said he likes me too..so, we're together now."
Sakura's eyes widened, "W-What?! That can't be! You're lying!" she yelled.
"No, I'm not. I told him what you gave me and he told me to come down here and tell you this." she said calmly.
"N-No..this can't be..what I gave you..it must've worked!..You told him..you.." her fist began to shake with anger, "You Damn Idiot! You ruined everything!!" she leapt at Hinata fiercely.
Ten-Ten jumped in front of her and slapped Sakura to the ground, "What's your problem Sakura?!"
She looked up at Hinata, "You've taken all I have left! I'll kill you!" She jumped up and flailed wildly at Hinata.
Hinata jumped back as Ten-Ten came and punched Sakura dead in the face making her collapse on her knees. She began to weep and mutter, "My Naruto..and Sasuke..your gone...both of you..gone.." she sat there completely out of it. Hinata and Ten-Ten left the store with solemn faces.
It had turned out that Sakura had been sneaking into Tsunande's collection of liquor and stealing drinks for about two weeks, just after Naruto got back. She had developed a slight drinking problem and had become drowned in her sadness that had been released when she found out Hinata liked Naruto. She began reliving the grief of losing Sasuke and she felt it was going to happen with Naruto. In the end, she ended up the mess.
Hinata met up with Naruto and told him what happened. He looked down and went to her. He consoled her and helped her realize what she had been doing. She agreed to get help and after a few weeks, she was back to her normal self. Hinata and Naruto now spend every moment together, they never left each other sides. They would flagrantly flaunt their relationship around the others which made them all the more closer friends. No one ever found out about Hinata and Naruto's little fling in the tent, only they and Shikamaru knew. They continue to be together, on missions, at home, anywhere. Hinata had finally revealed her feelings to Naruto and he had finally found the girl of his dreams, it was perfect. She was no longer the shy girl she once was, she was now a young woman who had claimed her one true joy in life and cherished it forever.