He had held strong at first, standing tall with his friends as they all paid their final respects. The somber atmosphere was only intensified by the dark clouds above their heads. It was only by some strange play of luck that the skies didn't open up and drench them completely; Mother Nature didn't release her storm until after the ceremony had ended. Unfortunately Naruto hadn't been lucky enough to avoid the downpour.

"Just hold on for another minute," he spoke, his voice raised slightly so he knew she'd be able to hear him from the other room. Lifting his soaking wet shirt up over his shoulders he tossed it into a basket across the room. After doing the same with his pants he quickly threw on a clean, dry shirt and a pair of long, dark nin pants.

Surveying his choice of clothing for only a few seconds he grabbed what he figured might be the smallest of all of his clothing and then reemerged from his bedroom, making his way to the kitchen table where she still sat motionless.

Minutes after the ceremony had ended and people had begun to disperse, Hinata had still stood unmoving before the stone plaque despite the increasing winds and the darkening skies. Lifting his arm he'd placed it around her shoulders, but before he could remind her that it was over and that it would be best to leave before the storm, he saw her face.

Tears had been streaming steadily down her face, slowly pouring out from her unmoving, unblinking eyes. Instead of acknowledging him, she stared at the monument by her feet, letting the tears drop one by one against the pavement.

Since she'd been unresponsive to his words he'd taken it upon himself to escort her home. Her father and sister had left several minutes before, followed by the remnants of her clan, and he figured it would be best to be surrounded her family for the rest of the day.

It was only when the clouds began to release an endless torrent of freezing rain onto their heads when he knew they had to get out of the storm.

So there they were, in his apartment and waiting for the rain to end so he could take her home.

"Here," he said, holding out the clothes in his hands, presenting them to her. "Put these on. Your clothes are drenched and…"

He found himself trailing off as he eyes the towel he'd given her when they'd arrived. It still sat, folded neatly, in her lap just as if had been when he'd placed it there. The sight of her simply staying at the towel in her lap caused quiet, shrill alarms to start ringing off in his head.

"Hinata," lowering himself to her level he lifted her chin gently, trying hard to get her to look him in the eye. "Hey, talk to me. Please."

And she did. Focusing her eyes on his face she blinked a few times before shaking her head slightly. "This is all my fault."

It was silent in the kitchen for a long moment, the only noise coming from the clock on the wall ticking away the seconds and the unrelenting rain outside hitting the windows.

"What?" He couldn't believe her words, so for a moment, he was sure he'd heard her incorrectly.

"Neji is dead and it's my fault."

Another pause.

"Don't you dare say that."

Even with his hard, cold tone, she didn't flinch, or look away, or even back down from her statement.

"It's true Naruto. He died because he thought it was his duty to protect me. And he died because I couldn't protect myself."

"You were protecting me," he told her, trying hard to keep his voice steady, but witnessing the utter defeat in her eyes made something in his head snap. "If he hadn't protected you, you'd be the one dead."

Hinata shrugged, "Maybe that's how things are supposed to be."

Naruto froze, her words sinking into his mind, replaying over and over again until they didn't feel real. He stared at her, wide-eyed as she stared back at him, the same, blank, emotionless expression unwavering.

"You think… it would be better if it had been you…" He stared at her, not really expecting an answer, but when she shrugged again, he could feel his anger, his anguish rising. "So what then? What if I told you I blamed myself? That it was my fault Neji was dead? That it would be better if he was alive instead of me?"

She was shaking her head before he was even done speaking. "It's not the same—"

"Hinata," he grabbed one of her hands in his, squeezing tightly, "don't you ever… talk as if your life isn't important." When he realized he was breathing heavily, so worked up over the idea that Hinata didn't think she deserved the life she had, he bit the inside of his cheek and forced his eyes closed. "Don't you ever talk like that again? 'Cause I don't know what I'd…"

He didn't realize that he had gotten worked up to the point of tears, until Hinata removed her hand from his grip and lifted her fingers to brush away the tears that were pouring down his face.

"I'm sorry." But he knew that despite her words, her tone of voice gave her away; she was lying. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

And before he knew it, amid her apologies, she began to cry. And her cries turned to sobs, and before either of them knew what was happening, he was holding her tightly, trying to comfort her in any way that he could.

It wasn't until she pulled back and he looked her in the eyes again when he froze. And seconds after he'd stilled his movements, she'd kissed him.

The kiss was desperate and messy, with teeth clicking against each other and tongues brushing along lips. Neither of them knew exactly what they were doing, but that didn't cause them to back down.

Before he knew if, she was straddling him, running one hand through his hair and the other down his chest. When her cold, wet clothes began to seep through his own dry ones, he jumped slightly.

"Your clothes," he panted between kisses, "they're still wet."

In response she backed away and in one quick motion, lifted the black, damp garment over her head before throwing it across his kitchen.

Overwhelmed with a variety of emotions—many of which he couldn't think clearly enough to identify properly—he allowed his eyes to trail over her body, taking in her almost-bare body sitting directly on top of him.

But before thoughts could be formed their lips were on each other again.

"Much… better…" he couldn't help but gasp as she pressed down on his groin while repositioning herself on top of him. And without much rhyme or reason he'd grabbed her hip in his palm and squeezed, holding her to him firmly.

Breaking their kiss to let out a breathy moan, Hinata couldn't stop herself from throwing her head back and gasping. Taking advantage of the action Naruto quickly pressed his lips against her bare throat, kissing and sucking and licking his way up and down and up her neck again.

It wasn't until she started to pull his shirt upward, clearly trying to rid him from the clothing, when he grabbed her wrist suddenly.

"Hinata, hold on—"

"Please, Naruto-kun," and the look she gave him—so desperate, so hungry, so needy—made any self-control of his crumble beneath their writhing bodies. He'd never seen her with a frenzied look like this in his life. "Please."

Sitting himself back up, he pulled the shirt off, allowing it to lay forgotten on the tile floor around them.

"I just…" when her shaking hands moved to his waistband, trying to pull down his pants he found his hand moving to help her, "I wanna make sure you know what you're doing…" and when he was finally rid of his pants he could only watch in a frozen sort of awe as she worked her way out of her undergarments. "I don't want you to make any decisions you'll regret—"

Cutting him off by pressing her lips firmly against his, she pulled back to look him in the eyes. She was still crying, tears staining her cheeks and causing her eyelashes to stick together. But her words froze him, pushing down any further hesitation he still had about what they were about to do.

"I want this. Do you?"

He stared at her, chest heaving as he tried hard to catch his breath. He could feel his heart pounding and the sound of it was beginning to echo in the back of his mind.

He could feel her—all of her—pressed against him. Her breasts warm against his own chest, the pale skin of her stomach under his fingertips. As he let his hand move to rest against the small of her back he felt her shudder underneath his touch, her eyes closing and her mouth opening to let out a breathy moan.

He'd never seen her like this before, but he knew more than anything that he'd never wanted anything—anyone—like this.

When she wrapped her hands around his length and squeezed firmly, he hissed, his eyes shooting open as he involuntarily arched his back. She held him like that for a while, feeling him harden under her touch, and when she began to move her hand up and down ever-so-slightly, Naruto thought he was going to lose his mind…

"Ah—! Hinata…"

"Does this feel good?" Leaning forward she captured his mouth in her own while she let her hand move, stroking him slowly. "Let me," she whispered quietly against his lips when he let out another haggard breath. "I…" she let her hand move a little faster, "want to make you feel good."

"Hinata… god… don't stop…"

Keeping her hold on him firm, she slowly increased her pace, even placing kisses along his collarbone, his shoulder, and up his neck.

Feeling his groin begin to tighten further and further, he clenched his eyes shut, the sheer pleasure that he was experiencing unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. He'd touched himself the way that she currently was thousands of times before, but never before had he felt so good.

When she suddenly stopped, relinquishing her hold on his cock, his eyes shot open and he lifted his head up quickly to see what she was doing. And when he saw her, leaning so closely to him, her lips mere centimeters from his member he almost choked on his gasp.

Her tongue was so wet, so warm, as it slowly circled the head of his dick. And when she placed her lips against it, Naruto nearly lost all his composure right there.

"Naruto-kun, what—"

Before she could verbalize her confusion he'd wrapped an arm around her waist and reversed their positions. Now she was lying on her back, her hair wildly spread around her head against the tile as her arms rested, palms-up, by her face.

He was panting as he supported himself above her with his sole arm. Positive that his face was red and flushed, he clenched his eyes shut as he worked to calm his breathing.

"Was… it not good?" She asked timidly, her glossy eyes finally brought forth due to pleasure instead of sorrow.

"No," he shook his head, still breathing hard as he let out a quick laugh, "It was really, really good. Too good. That's why," he inhaled deeply, "I had to stop you."

Leaning forward he captured her lips with his own once more. This time their kiss held far less teeth clicking and far more use of their tongues.

Hardly an hour ago he'd never even hugged her. Their first kiss had been a result of mutual heartache and now they were doing things that would make the most seasoned shinobi blush. Despite it all, Naruto never stopped to think that maybe this wasn't something that should be happening or that they were going too fast.

They were alive when they could've both easily been turned into nothing more than a stain in the dirt earlier that same week. The amount of times they'd been close to death's door that week was terrifying, and as ninja, they could lose their lives at any opportunity.

So when Naruto lowered himself onto her, carefully positioning himself at her entrance, he knew that he wouldn't ever regret what they were doing—what they were about to do.

If there were any person he'd want to share this moment with, it would be Hinata.

"Ready?" He asked breathlessly against her lips, pulling away only slightly in order to get a good look at her face.

Her closed eyes opened only slightly, and that was when he could see it: the pure, complete love in her eyes, accompanied by the want, the lust, the need for her to have him like this. Just like this.

She lifted her hips slightly, pressing him more firmly against her, allowing his cock to slide against her slit; the heat of her alone was almost too much for him to bear.

"Please."

Her voice was hardly louder than a whisper as she begged, but it was loud enough that it echoed throughout his head and cemented itself—along with the entire sight of her, naked, ready, beautiful—into his memory.

Lowering his face he kissed her, gently this time, and as lightly as he could without getting too passionate. He wanted to make her feel as good as he could, he wanted to make this experience as memorable for her as it would be for him.

And quickly brushing aside his nerves at the thought of being inside another person, he grabbed himself and slowly pressed the tip of his cock into her entrance. As slowly as he could manage, and with as much self-control he could muster up, he slowly, gently pushed his way inside of her.

As he filled her, she cried out, her hands immediately wrapping around his shoulders and grabbing tightly to his bare shoulders. It was such a shocked, breathless sound that when the noise escaped her he made sure to watch her expression; finding it void of any pain, he continued. Trembling against him, she dug her fingers into his skin and Naruto was sure that if she gripped him any harder, she'd draw blood.

Despite her reaction he didn't stop until his hipbones were resting motionlessly against hers.

Gasping at the feeling of Hinata—her, her, her, nothing but her—completely around him, he lowered his head and rested it against his shoulder, letting a guttural cry out as he panted against her skin.

"Are—are you okay?" He asked, struggling to stay still as he looked down at her expression.

Hinata's eyes were closed tightly, her face contorted into something that looked akin to pain almost.

Panicked, he almost completely removed himself from her in that exact moment, but when she lifted a leg and wrapped it around his backside, holding him in place, she let out a long, steady breath.

"I'm fine, just…" she inhaled and exhaled again, "hold still for a second."

Naruto didn't dare move at all and instead obliged her request, not moving closer or further away from her. But after a long moment of waiting, he finally felt her begin to rock against him slowly. The delicious friction between them causing him to bite back a moan.

What he had experienced at her hands only minutes before was absolutely nothing compared to the sensations he was feeling now. It was incomparable and he never ever wanted it to end.

So when he began moving right along with her, pulling his hips back at the same time as hers and pushing them back again in sync, he couldn't help it when his pace began to increase steadily, moving faster and faster until they were both panting breathlessly.

"N-Naruto-kun!" She cried out every few seconds. Every time he pulled out of her almost all the way, he'd thrust back with more force than before. And before either of them knew how, their timed, matching thrusts turned needier, more desperate, no longer meeting with an even pace.

"Hinata," he rasped, his hand holding tightly to her side as he pulled her against him each time their hips met, "I'm not gonna last… I'm almost…"

But at the sight of her, back arched, eyes closed, mouth parted in a silent cry of pleasure, he forced himself to keep thrusting. If he was going to climax, he wanted her to join him at his peak; he wanted her to feel as good as he did.

Releasing his hold on her he slowly moved his hand down to where their bodies were connected and with just the tip of his fingers he pressed against her nub, moving his finger along with his thrusts.

At the contact, Hinata's eyes shot open wide as she cried out in what Naruto could only describe as unadulterated bliss.

"Na-Naruto! I'm—I think I'm—please! Don't stop!"

The moment she fell over the edge she wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulder and buried her face in his shoulder, her moans and cries becoming silent for a few long seconds while she wrapped her legs around him and held still.

The sight of her, mid-orgasm and glistening and experiencing certain euphoria, was exactly what he needed to push himself past his breaking point.

He came hard then, her name spilling forth from his lips, his thrusts still hard but uneven and sporadic, finally ceasing when he'd completely emptied himself inside of her.

Neither of them moved nor spoke for a full minute, both of them only focusing on catching their breath and coming back to their senses.

As he returned to his right mind, Naruto found himself suddenly afraid. He was scared that Hinata would regret what they'd done, or that she'd go back to being as unresponsive and melancholy as she'd been when he'd initially brought her here.

But instead, as he pulled himself out of her and rolled off of her to lay by her side, he watched, almost entranced as she breathed slowly, her eyes closed, her expression entirely peaceful.

"Hinata?" He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb her tranquil state.

As she replied with a content, "Hm?" he wanted to sigh out of relief.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired," she admitted quietly, finally opening her eyes and turning her head toward him. For a long moment she simply stared at him. "Did we really…?"

"Yeah," he bit back a soft laugh but couldn't fight back his smile. His fear of her rejection was still there, but softened by the sight of her looking so happy.

"Are you… I mean, do you… wish we hadn't?"

He blinked at her, as if not fully understanding her question. "Are you asking if I regret it?"

Biting her lip, she looked away momentarily before meeting his eyes again. And that's when Naruto could see his fears mirrored right back at him.

As a reply, he merely kissed her, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close. Naruto had no idea how to tell her, but he knew he could show her how he felt.

He didn't think he'd ever find it in himself to regret anything he ever did with her for as long as the two of them lived.