Chapter two
The men sat, ordered a platter of beef and, when the order came, Naruto and Shikamaru watched in blind gazes as Chouji hungrily prepared the meat. Three years ago, the blond could have never imagined a time in where he would find himself in such company. They had never been on friendly terms, but their paths had crossed too frequently that they had grown to cherish the small, amiable relationship as colleagues. Surprisingly, he trusted the man and found he could come to the brunette with any issue or difficulty.
Naruto had thought the man trusted him: the man had come to the blond, pondering the ways Naruto kept happy and cheerful. Shikamaru had then wished him a great leave. The orange-clad ninja of then would have never imagined such a feat as important.
He smiled and stroked the clear glass. Grasping it, he brought the rim of the cool material to his lips. Parched as ever in the cloud of steam, water moistened his lips and replenished his dry throat as the liquid filled his mouth: droplets of water raced down his chin sloppily.
"You've changed, Naruto. You aren't as troublesome as before." Shikamaru had spoke, bringing Naruto to meet the brunet's dark eyes. He had hoped for even the slightest second more of silence: the sound that came from heated rack of meat brought an odd, deafening calm.
A toothy smirk spread across the blonde's tanned face as he reached to refill his glass. "Maturity kicked in. I hope you noticed. I was louder back then, huh?" Naruto felt indifferent to the man's presence and swallowed more water. "How've you been? Done anything interesting?"
Shikamaru positioned his chin on the palms of his hands and sighed. He tugged on his green vest lazily. "I teach at the Academy--"
"Isn't that too troublesome for you?" Naruto could not help but exclaim and bring his speech to an incredulous tone.
The two grinned like madmen. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? No… every other option I was given was far more troublesome. The Godaime's assistant, Special Jounin rank, AnBu ranked officer: at one point, they tried to force feed me with the task of translating between countries!"
"You want to stay a Jounin—you can go much farther! You could do better things than teach!" the blonde couldn't help it, a sense of euphoria hit him when he realized he could help someone be better—he couldn't allow others to settle for second best when he was going for the best job in the country.
Shikamaru chuckled. "Who's thinking ahead of time, now? The future is so far away for us! Not as far as I'd hope but far enough…"
"I'm not worried about your future! I'm worried about mine— I'm still a Genin! I have to find someway to become Hokage!" Naruto groaned and crossed him arms harshly, pouting.
The green clad man howled as he leaned back. "You're still not on that shit—sorry. Of course, I believe you think you will make it. But, it's ridiculous."
Naruto laughed along with Shikamaru, ignoring any further insult. He then whined jokingly, "I don't really need to know that you think it's ridiculous. Anyway--"
Shikamaru cocked a brow as the blond changed the topic. "How've you been with the ladies? You still seeing…?"
The man felt a small blush rise to his cheeks. "Yes, I am…"
Naruto couldn't believe he yearned to ask the perverse questions within his mind. He'd learned from the best—and he couldn't believe why he had allowed such training to take place! "How's the action?" He kept the question small and discreet.
Oblivious to his surroundings, Chouji attacked the grilled meat without a single glance at the two. His childhood friend had just possibly admitted to the most embarrassing and imaginative thing as if it were nothing and he felt not a single drop of curiosity.
Shikamaru left Naruto on the verge of laughter as the blond made small gesticulations. In the two sentences he responded with, he had replied with the fact he was being whipped and pushed around and had never dominated in the case of anything and everything.
"I didn't expect you to get that far… I don't care if she's whipped you firm—you've actually--!" Before he was able to announce his revelation of Shikamaru's love life to the entire restaurant, the brunet teen coolly ran his hand onto the blonde's mouth and narrowed his eyes menacingly.
"Mixed company…" ignoring a few curious eyes, he stood.
"A few of us are getting together tonight. I will meet you at the Hyuuga Compound. Neji's hosting this little outing…" In the act of protesting, Shikamaru added that Naruto had actually been invited. The Hyuuga had had some news of his arrival date prior to the day.
"See you then, right?" Naruto nodded firmly and stood as well. "Chouji?"
"Leaving already? I'll pick up the tab. I'll stick around a while longer," he assured the brunet, ordering an additional platter of raw beef. No doubt, the teen would say until he was satisfied.
"When should I head to the Compound?"
"Around nine."
"Any chance of me bumping into the guys before that?"
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Leaving through the back door, Naruto ambled aimlessly, blinded by the joy of familiar sites of Konohagakure. He could not help to remember how much he missed the place. He could not decide where he should head first. His apartment: to find a mess needing a few rats exterminated—no. The training field: It was a Saturday; he would find a fight there but was he actually ready to do that yet? No. The academy: No one would be there; no classes were given early in the morning. The Hokage Tower: debriefing was still in order. Naruto felt the need to avoid that until later.
When he came to a corner, something dawned upon him: the familiar smell of ramen wafted around him. Like an excited child, he sprinted down the street and followed his nose to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.
His appetite carried him until he faced the white flaps of the stand. Once the nostalgic feeling surpassed, he pushed back the screen and walked in.
Two woman sat at the bar as they silently conversed over there bowls of ramen. He immediately recognized them. Three years ago, Naruto had not thought of them as women; they had been nothing more than fellow ninja. He had thought they were awkwardly strange or timid, or bossy. Once he had been partnered with them though, his mind had been changed. They were nice, smart, interesting, and kicked a lot of ass.
One had touched him in ways he had never thought a person could. He had never felt so much love from anyone, not even any of his friends he had thought he was close to. She had opened his thick skull and way of thinking and broadened his mind. He knew he should never think of her as anything less than his closest friend.
"Ladies, room for me between the two of you?"
He grinned as their postures straightened and the conversation stopped mid-sentence. The two did not dare look back until he placed his hands upon their slender shoulders. The shock of his return must have really stunned them. Ultimately, they spun in their seats jerkily.
Naruto thought their expressions were priceless as there mouths, figuratively, fell to the floor and their glistening eyes grew wide. He hoped they were glad to see he was back—
"Naruto, you're back?" the louder and far more outgoing woman of the two began laughing out of pure bliss. She was so shocked that she could not help give him a slight hug.
"No, I haven't come back. I'm obviously not here. No--!" Naruto chuckled and faked an injury as she playfully punched him. "Tenten, why the abuse? No fair!"
"Don't make fun of me!"
Naruto turned to the other girl and Tenten moved over a seat allowing him to rest his elbows on the counter. "How've you been, Hinata?"
She had been to shy and waited for her turn to talk to the blond. "I've been…great. Better now that you're back…"
First thing Naruto noticed; Hinata's stutter was nowhere to be heard. She still had her soft tone of voice but that was one of the great things about Hinata, Naruto decided. Then, he noticed she let her hair grow out, past her chest; it fell gracefully down over black blouse.
Oh, then, the outfit she wore was different than what Naruto had accustomed himself to. Along with the loose blouse that exposed her developed cleavage, she wore tight, dark Capri pants, and as spotted beside her arm, the large sweater that sported the Hyuuga family emblem.
"Of course you are! I mean, I'm sure you missed me—who wouldn't. Hinata… you don't stutter anymore..." He gave her his trademark grin and watched her blush. He noticed how much she had change over the last three years. He found her far more attractive than he ever had, if he even had before. He could say that about Tenten.
"You're still so cocky, Naruto!" Tenten said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked to her and smiled. His cerulean eyes shone brightly and he chuckled carelessly.
She'd changed too. Damn his perverted mind. Damn that perverted sensei of his. If only his mind hadn't been on those terms, he'd find this meeting less of a surprise upon his raging hormones. Yet, he hid all emotion, spilling his carefree-self to them.
He grew silent until he grasped onto Tenten's hand. "How have you been? Not throwing knives at poor, innocent Lee, right?"
The brunette laughed and Naruto saw her buns bounce; without a doubt, he knew her hair was longer than it used to be. And the thought filled his mind, as he wanted to break the confines of the long locks and see them fall graciously.
Tenten protested, "He was totally bothering me that one time! Remember, he was mimicking me and taunting me…!"
"I think we all were!" He noted no change in the woman's wardrobe; only the pink clad top had more to offer his perverse mind.
Changing the conversation, he sat down and ordered a bowl while Teuchi, the owner, expressed his happiness of his arrival. He looked onto Hinata and she smiled shyly. That smile of hers always trapped Naruto onto her, studying her thoughts. "What have been up to, Hinata?"
Her emotional outburst was meant to occur no less than a minute ago. She could not understand how she had not fainted or embarrassed herself was the many times she had three years ago. Yes, she had to admit that with the help of Ino, Sakura, and Tenten, her shyness and inability to talk without a stutter had helped her with this. Naruto was sitting next to her, inches away from her face. It was nothing how she would have imagined.
Out of her wildest dreams, she had hoped for a revelation in terms of Naruto's undying love for her. He would kiss her softly at first, then with a deep passion. The blonde's hair would flip attractively and she would run her hands in his hair. Really, her dreams caused her blush.
But, he was only her friend. Naruto mentioned the possibility that she might have been his best friend: the silvery-eyes Hyuuga had held onto those words for the last couple of years through training with her father, Hiashi, Neji, and occasionally the Godaime.
Her kekkai genkai and medical skills were far greater than most ninja. Hinata was no Sakura though.
"She's been training under the Tsunade-sama with Sakura and has been improving alongside Neji—"
He did not attempt to look at the brunet. His attention was all for the shy, blushing friend of his. "Is that so? Well, I think I will have to get better myself. I don't want you outshining me…" His voice was so soft, so gentle that Hinata could not help but embrace him.
"Good to have you back…"
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Hormonal women with nothing to do on Saturday mornings are left with the option of grouping at one of the houses shared among them as a sanction of peace and gossip. Away from the men in their life, the group of four met at Tenten's family dojo and giggled at a newfound love, however dull it may have been.
"And then he was like, 'you take my breath away, I need you in my life, doll face' and of course, I kissed him gently and told him to meet me tonight! Isn't that great!"
"No. He just wants you for sex," the pink-haired girl stopped all her merry laughter and confronted the group's overly active member. "Ino, haven't you learned anything? Men are just kind to you until you give them what they want--!"
"Then why are you and Lee still together after all these years, he can't be gay, now, can he?"
"Okay, first of all, if he were gay—he wouldn't be with a female, and second, he's just one of the few men in this village that are sincere, hardworking and true to their word--!"
"Did I ever say anything about him not being with a man, my dear?
"I swear: you two just can't stop! Can you?" Tenten made way to interfere with another of Sakura and Ino's quarrels. "We have better news for you to indulge on…"
Ino and Sakura dropped their hands to their sides and looked to the brunet. Nothing was worth really fighting about unless it was over who got the last say on a guy.
"Naruto's back…" Hinata spoke from her comfortable chair as she blushed.
Tenten stood hastily, clasping her hands together. "And he's so adorable—no: sexy." She smirked toward Hinata and sat back down with a moments waste.
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, look at the man you're dating. Neji isn't all that great—!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about…"
"Finally, Sakura, we have something you agree upon!"
Sakura and Ino interchanged in their own little conversation as they teased Tenten. There was absolutely no way the two would ever think Neji unattractive.
The brunet narrowed her eyes at the two and forgot about their mannerisms. The moment before she burst on them, Sakura began to laugh and placed her hand upon Tenten's shoulder. "We're only kidding, calm down."
Ino crossed her legs and slid down toward Hinata, her eyes glistening with the joy Hinata's face brought. The woman smirked and cocked a brow. "You must be happy."
Hinata turned away and crossed her arms. She brought her head down and said, "I don't know what you're talking about--"
"Oh c'mon, Hinata! You're sixteen, never had a boyfriend, and you practically have no social life. You can't deny that you want Naruto's affection."
Tenten came to Hinata's rescue. "Ino, leave her alone. You know how she gets."
Author's Note:
Alright, I need to know if I've made any of the girls too girly or if the charactersitics of anyone should be altered. I know it's my story and all but, I don't want to have everyone out of character. I hope you enjoyed chapter two. I took me a while to write. So, please review.
