CHAPTER 2: GIRLS' TALK
When Sakura's eyes fluttered open they rested on a faint green ceiling, she stretched her arms as she sat on the bed, but as soon as she looked around she realized she wasn't in her bedroom. Her bedroom didn't have forest green walls, her bed sheets weren't orange with little brown squirrels, and she certainly didn't have wall scrolls with the kanji for "Youth" "Power" and "Hard Work" among others.
Sakura had a bad feeling about that.
The fact that she was in her pink underwear only made her feel dread, she sniffed and found the smell of grilled fish and miso soup. Her stomach growled. She got out of the bed and as soon as she took one step out, she fell face first on the floor, she had tripped with something hard and heavy.
"Fuck!" she cursed as she got up and glared at the offending object, it was a big old and well-used iron dumbbell. "Where the hell am I!?" she found her clothes neatly folded on the bedside table and quickly dressed up before getting out of the bedroom.
Outside she found her worst nightmare
A familiar black haired shinobi with a bowl-cut, green jumpsuit, and orange leg warmers, he was missing his forehead protector (he normally wore it as a belt) but instead he was wearing a pink frilly apron with the words "Kiss the chef" on the front. He was humming in front of the stove while grilling something, Sakura winced.
This couldn't be happening
She remembered drinking a lot last night, although her training with Tsunade had given her certain resistance to alcohol and other toxins, a testament to that she didn't have a headache right now, for some reason she could barely remember anything.
"Good morning Sakura-chan did you sleep well?" Sakura Blinked twice at Lee, she shook her head and bolted out of the house.
This couldn't be real! She didn't do it with Lee!
Just as she was turning the corner she collided with something orange and black and surprisingly soft, for the second time in a few minutes she fell face first on the floor, the person she collided with fell on her
"NA! RU! TO!" She was going to hit him, several times until her stress ran out or the boy passed out. She'll heal him afterward. Just as she primed the first of her punches, pumping just enough chakra to not break bones, She noticed, since when does Naruto have long black hair? her eyes widened in shock.
"Hi-Hinata?" She was wearing Naruto's ridiculous orange jacket and pants, her face was beet red, her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out
"What did that idiot did to you!?" Sakura grabbed Hinata by her shoulders and shook her, her eyes swiveled in their sockets, and she grabbed her head and closed her eyes
"It hurts…" She whispered, oh she was going to castrate that idiot, then she was going to reattach it and chop it again. Sakura quickly did the seals for a diagnostic jutsu to check on Hinata, her mind quickly filled with information, Sakura frowned for a moment, and there was nothing wrong with Hinata, except for an unusually high concentration of alcohol in her blood
"Oh," she said "Sorry Hinata" Sakura stood up and helped Hinata stand, she staggered but Sakura put an arm around her waist to steady her. "Come, I have the right remedy for a hangover" Hinata meekly followed Sakura to a small café around the corner, they soon were seated on Sakura's favorite spot.
After she had started training with Tsunade she had taken a liking to the caffeinated drink, or more like if she was forced to like it to stay awake on her long hours at the hospital and her training with Tsunade and studying Medical jutsu at home.
The waiter, a tall boy with black hair, put two large cups of the black liquid on their table he smiled at Sakura but she ignored him, he went away with a bit of slump on his shoulders
"So… Hinata" Hinata had her forehead on the table and was whining a little "did Naruto do something to you? Because if he did I'm going to make sure he can't have children anymore" Hinata's head snapped up so fast that her neck cracked, she winced in pain,
"So-something?" she asked her face turning a bit pink, Sakura closed her eyes trying not to remember where she had woken up
"Yeah, you know, like, err… take advantage of you … or something"
"Naruto-kun would never do that," she said with more conviction than Sakura had ever heard from Hinata, Sakura's eyebrows almost reached her hairline, she felt a little bit embarrassed, Hinata was right Naruto was never that type of boy… he was too dumb for that.
"Yeah… I guess" she said "Then, how did you get that outfit" Sakura smirked when she saw Hinata's face and ears turn a rather dark shade of red, she could swear steam was coming out of the top of her head
"Err… um—" Hinata started spluttering, she started pressing her two forefingers together, and although she wasn't that close to Hinata, Sakura knew Hinata had stopped doing that after she had started training with Neji.
"Hinata… what happened? And drink your coffee" Hinata grabbed the cup with both hands and took a small sip, then another and another, until she drank it all. Hinata's white eyes meet Sakura's green. Sakura arched an eyebrow at her.
"I… I woke up in—" she leaned over, put an open hand beside her mouth "Naruto-kun's bed" She hissed if it was even possible her face went even reddened than it already was.
Sakura eyes widened, but then shook her head, come on! this is Hinata the shyest girl in the whole village, and Naruto number one block-head
"Naruto slept on the floor I presume" Hinata shook her head, Sakura narrowed her eyes
"You two just slept, right?" Hinata shook her head again with her eyes closed shut
"Don't you mean…" she let the words hang and Hinata nodded, her eyes tightly shut. Sakura's face felt a bit warm for a moment "YOU DID IT?!" Sakura yelled and Hinata's hand landed on Sakura mouth
"Shhhhh" Sakura saw that the few people around were looking at them, Sakura gave them a smile and looked back at Hinata
"You mean you… and Naruto" Sakura hissed and shook her head trying not to imagine Naruto doing that, he was like his dumb and annoying little brother. Hinata just nodded her head and Sakura stared speechless at Hinata. "And what happened then?" It was known to almost everyone in the village that Hinata had always liked Naruto, she just hoped Naruto hadn't been his usual stupid self and hurt Hinata.
There would be a lot of chopping if that was the case.
"Hinata, how did Naruto—" Sakura stopped herself when she saw Hinata face, She smiled and the way her face brightened, it was clear that things had gone well. She smiled at Hinata
"That's nice… so now you are Naruto's girlfriend?" Hinata's eyes went round with shock and the flush on her face returned then she sagged on the chair eyes closed with a silly smile on her face.
"Hinata!" Sakura put a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently but Hinata didn't wake up
"Naruto-kun… mmmh"
Sakura sighed "What a couple of idiots" she shook her again "Hinata… HINATA! HI! NA! TA!"
"Could you just shut up already!" said a familiar voice behind her, a moment later Ino plopped beside the fainted Hinata, she gave her a glance, shrugged, and called the black haired waiter and ordered Tea and Dango, the waiter smiled again at Sakura and she just stared back.
While they waited for Ino's Dango she crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on them trying to block the sunlight.
"Hangover?" Sakura said taking a sip from her coffee
"I swear to the gods I'm going to learn that trick you use, just wait!" Sakura smiled into her cup, it was one of the few ways she could still torment her best friend without actually being mean. Tsunade had clearly told her to never reveal any of her teachings to anyone unless it was her own apprentice or it could save someone's life.
Sakura was sure that if she asked nicely Tsunade would let her teach Ino the basics of passive detoxification.
But anyway it was more fun to annoy Ino from time to time.
The waiter came with Ino's order and placed it on the table he bowed and gave a glance at Sakura, and a lopsided smile. Sakura rolled her eyes
"What happened to Hinata?" Ino poked Hinata on the cheek, then stuffed a dango on her mouth
"Love." Said Sakura, Ino frowned and Hinata, having the best timing ever started to mumble
"Naruto-kun…" Ino's eyes widened comically making Sakura snort
"No way!"
"Naruto-kun, not here…" she moaned in a way that wasn't proper. Both girls started to choke on their drinks, once their coughing stopped they looked at each other and started to laugh
"It's always the quiet ones," said Ino with a big grin on her face "So why did she faint?"
"She realized she was his girlfriend now"
Hinata moaned softly, Ino looked at her for a moment
"I think— it would be better if we wake her up, like right now" Ino reached for her bag and retrieved a small plastic case she opened it, Sakura identified it as standard issue smelling salts, Ino wrinkled her nose and put it under Hinata's, her eyes fluttered open and then she wrinkled her now.
"Good morning Hinata-hime," Said Ino with a teasing grin, Hinata jumped a bit and let out a small eep "So, you and Naruto" she lifted her pinky finger in the hand gesture for 'girlfriend', Hinata looked like she was going to faint again.
Sakura slapped Ino's shoulder lightly "Stop acting like a perverted old man Ino-pig"
"That hurt forehead!" Ino was rubbing her shoulder "It going to leave a mark!" Sakura noticed Hinata was smiling at their antics and looked a little bit more relaxed, she turned to Hinata
"Congratulations Hinata, I really don't understand what you see in him…"
"Naruto-kun is really kind," Hinata said with finality, leaving both girls speechless
"Uh... yeah that's one way to see it… but Hinata—" Ino slapped her shoulder, several times, in rapid succession
"WHAT!?" Sakura turned to see Ino staring outside the café her mouth gaping, Sakura followed her line of sight to see Shizune-senpai and… Shino walking hand by hand and into the breakfast restaurant in front of the café they were in.
"That didn't just happen…" Sakura said, then Kiba landed in the middle of the street like he was fleeing for his life, before jumping away, then a woman with purple hair and a trench coat who Sakura felt familiar fell on the spot Kiba had just vacated and jumped away in pursuit of Kiba.
"Isn't that … The jonin from the chunin exams? Anko something?" Said Ino, then she turned her head to Sakura "She was at the barbeque last night! Shizune too!" Ino put her hands on her head and shook it "Gahhh!"
"Ino?" Sakura asked Ino put her face on her palms, she was concerned for her friend "Did something happen to you?" Sakura turned to look at Hinata who had a concerned expression on her face, Ino nodded without removing her hands from her face.
"Who…" Sakura was seething with anger, he had felt angry when she thought Naruto had hurt Hinata but Ino was her best friend she was going to kill the asshole that had hurt her. "Tell me who…" she said calmly
"No… It's not like that" Ino sighed and her shoulders slumped "It's just awkward, all right? He is one of my closest friends"
"Shikamaru?" said Sakura
"Chouji?" Said Hinata
Both girls looked at each other Sakura frowned and Hinata shrugged, Sakura turned to look at Ino she was staring at Hinata her face frozen in shock
"Chouji!?" Said Sakura "I always thought you had a thing for Shikamaru"
"I don't have a thing for any of them!" she yelled, "They are my best friends!" Ino pointed at Sakura accusingly "and you what about you?"
"W-Wah– What about me?" Said Sakura while trying not to look at Ino's eyes "You did it too right, with who?"
"I did not do it with anyone," said Sakura with as much conviction as she could pull, Ino locked eyes with her for a moment
"Let's see, the boys at the party were, Naruto" Ino smiled at Hinata making her fidget in her chair "Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Neji, Shikamaru, and Lee" Sakura left eye twitched when Ino mentioned Rock Lee, a small smile grew on her face until it became a full blown grin
"No way!" Yelled Ino
"Gahh! Shut up!" this time it was sakura who buried her face in her hands "I don't know what happened last night"
O=O=O
Naruto watched Hinata disappeared around the corner, he eyed Mrs. Okita who was glaring at him like he was dirt that got stuck in her sandals, Naruto gave her a toothy smile but the woman turned her head with a Humph! and continued sweeping the floor, Naruto retreated to his apartment and got changed into some clothes he had in his travel bag.
A black t-shirt he usually used under his orange jacket and a pair of faded pants that were now too short for him. He looked around his apartment and his eyes fell into the bed.
Naruto's legs trembled and he fell to his knees, he touched his cheek, it was warm. He couldn't wrap his mind around what just had happened. In the course of a few minutes, he went from single… to having a girlfriend. Right?
And not just a girl who is also a friend.
They had done it, and he hadn't ended with all of his 361 tenketsu points closed
That mean… well, Naruto wasn't really sure what it meant. But he knew he needed to talk with someone, the first person that came to mind was pervy-sage but as fast as it came, Naruto rejected the idea, Hinata deserved better.
Who could Naruto ask?
Naruto jumped to a stand-up
Iruka-sensei
He always seemed like a centered person, he was the closest thing he had to a father, and really who else could he ask for advice on girls? The other options where Oldman Ichiraku and Ayame, Pervy-sage, Tsunade-Bachan one of his friends. Just the idea of asking about this to Kiba or Chouji…
Every option was worse than the last.
Before Naruto set out to find Iruka-sensei he stared at the open window something tugged at the back of his mind but he ignored it. He went to close it but when he glanced outside he saw Hinata's jacket and pants dangling from a telephone pole
"What the…"
It took him a few minutes to retrieve Hinata's clothes and return them to his apartment, he neatly folded them and set them on the bedside table, he stared at them for a few minutes, a bead of sweat rolled down his face. Naruto gripped the clothes and buried his face in them giving them a long whiff.
It smelled sweet, like Hinata, then he realized what he had just done and threw the clothes on the bed
"Argh! I'm worse than Pervy-sage!" Naruto turned around and walked towards the door "I need to find Iruka-sensei before I lose my mind" he stopped when his stomach did a long and loud growling sound, he decided to first visit Ichiraku's for a well-deserved breakfast.
To his surprise he found Iruka eating breakfast at Ichiraku's
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled, Iruka turned slowly to the approaching Naruto and smiled broadly at him
"NARUTO! You are back!" Iruka stood up and before Naruto could react he had him in a tight (manly) hug, then put his hands on Naruto's shoulders leaving him at an arms legs "You are no longer a pipsqueak!" Naruto frowned at the man when he realized he still wasn't taller than him.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto stomach growled breaking the moment
"Come Naruto, I'll buy you some Ramen" Naruto smiled at his old sensei before sitting at the counter. Teuchi and Ayame were equally delighted to meeting their favorite customer again, Naruto ordered pork ramen while Iruka got miso ramen. Once they were half way through their food Naruto couldn't wait any longer. He set his chopsticks beside his bowl and cleared his throat
"I-Iruka-sensei, can I ask you something?" Iruka nodded but continued eating his ramen
"What is love?" his reaction was instantaneous, broth flew out of Iruka's moth and some noodles crept out of his nose and he started to choke, Naruto gave him a glass of water so he could get himself under control.
"Na-Naruto?" said Iruka as he stopped choking on noodles
"I want to know what is love" Iruka looked at Teuchi who quickly bolted into the kitchen mumbling something about inventory, then at Ayame who gave him a sympathetic smile and followed her father. Iruka looked betrayed. Iruka cleared his throat and tried to keep his blush under control
"Love? …mind if I ask why?" Naruto felt his face becoming warmer by the second
"Eh, you see… last night we had a gathering at Yakiniku Q, we got really drunk" Naruto laughed nervously as Iruka narrowed his eyes, although they all were considered adults Naruto knew he disapproved of drunkards "and I woke up next to Hinata" Naruto whispered the name so low he was sure Iruka had a bit of trouble hearing him "Naked"
Iruka froze in place, his mouth hanging open and his eyebrows reaching his hairline, then frowned "Naruto…" he took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose "How did Hinata react?" Naruto gave Iruka and easy smile
"She said she loved me" Iruka nodded not all surprised by that
"And you?" Iruka tapped on the table "what do you think of Hinata?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head a looked away. "The truth Naruto" Iruka chided
"Uh, well… at first I thought she was a plain looking weirdo" he raised his hand when it looked like Iruka was going to say something "that was back in the academy" Naruto scratched his nose, and looked down "she always looked away when I stared at her, then the chunin exams happened, and she became one of my precious people" Naruto smiled, "She encouraged me before my fight with Neji, when I was doubting myself" Naruto's smile became a grin "She called me a proud failure" Naruto chuckled "A bit silly, am right? But that's when I realized she was a really kind person, the type of person I like" Iruka just stared at him for a moment with a penetrating gaze and smiled at him
"Go on"
"Well, when I woke up this morning, I was scared, I was expecting her to kill me, or worse, cry, but she didn't and she told me that she loved me" Naruto sniffed and rubbed his nose "and when I looked at her, well she is no longer plain looking…" Naruto shrugged his shoulders and looked at Iruka-sensei who had an unreadable expression on his face.
"She is beautiful"
"So… you want to know if you are in love with her?" Naruto blushed but he nodded his head
"I mean I know I love ramen but is it that different from loving a girl?" Iruka chuckled,
"Of course is it different" Iruka sighed and rubbed his chin in contemplation "I really can't tell you if you love her or not" Naruto's shoulders sagged "that's something only you can find out, but I can help you a bit by setting you in the right direction" then Naruto saw how Iruka-sensei entered his lecture mode
"Love is the… uh… need to protect someone, it is when you prioritize someone happiness and well-being above your own, Love is wanting to spend time with that person every day, it is feeling empty when they are not with you, It's is hurting when they are hurt, being happy when they are happy, and sad when they cry" Iruka was blushing furiously but Naruto was hanging to his every word "Love is also responsible for negative emotions" Naruto frowned "jealousy can be one of them" when Naruto stared blankly at Iruka he continued
"Ok Imagine that Hinata comes here with… uh, Kiba, holding hands—" Naruto stomach contracted in a small hard ball and he let out a growl "Woah! calm down!" Naruto blinked twice at Iruka and noticed he had the border of the table in a death grip, he relaxed before looking at Iruka-sensei. Iruka was staring at Naruto with round wide eyes.
"That's jealously, It's one of the negative emotions that love can create, but it is completely normal, don't worry" Iruka chuckled when Naruto sighed, "You used to like Sakura, right?"
"Yeah, back in the academy I used to invite to dates almost every day, she always punched in the face. Hard." Naruto smiled "did you ever felt like earlier when she fawned over Sasuke"
Naruto felt a pang on his chest at the mention of his old friend, but pushed the feeling aside, then tried to remember if he ever felt such a strong emotion for Sakura-chan" Naruto frowned, then shook his head "the closest thing is when…" he trailed off, it was the day Tsunade had come back to the village, and Sasuke finally had woken up after Itachi had used Tsukuyomi on him. "When I realized how much Sakura-chan loves Sasuke"
"Ah," Said Iruka simply and put a hand over his shoulder
"Well, it wasn't as intense as earlier, and it was also different" Iruka gave him a smile
"Can you guess why it is different?" Naruto crossed his arms and considered it. Back when he was in the academy and his time before his trip, he had liked Sakura, he was sure of it, but… when he realized that Sakura-chan really loved Sasuke and that she would never love him like… that" Naruto trailed mentally "but simply thinking of Kiba holding hands with Hinata had made him felt something so intense that had the real Kiba been there Naruto would have punched him… it was scary"
"So I was jealous?" Naruto looked at Iruka "Because I love Hinata?"
Iruka tilted his head and smiled at Naruto
"I don't know, you could love her already, you could be on your way to love her or you simply could have a strong like for her, only you can know that Naruto" Naruto huffed and closed his eyes
"Why is this so complicated?"
"Things that are worth it, tend to be like that" Naruto turned to his ramen and stared at the swirling cooling broth he frowned
"I don't want to hurt her," he said still frowning at his bowl
"That's a good start"
"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka grunted "Thank you"
"Now comes the hard part Naruto" his semblance became somber and a dark shadow covered Iruka-sensei eyes "We need to have the talk"
"The— The talk? About what?"
"Sex," Said Iruka
Naruto gulped
O=O=O
Both Neji and Tenten were staring at the same pink ceiling, both were covered by a pink blanket up to their chest and both were gripping the blanket tightly to their chests.
Neji, as a Hyuga, had an unreadable mask as his face, Tenten on her part had a neutral expression that betrayed nothing
Neji coughed
Tenten arched an eyebrow
"Wanna do it again?" said Neji in a flat tone
Tenten stared at the ceiling for a minute, making Neji start sweating bullets
"Yeah, Let's"
Nobody saw them that day
AN: Ok this chapter 2 of "A Wild Night", couples are already set I hope you guys enjoy this, I tried to go crazy with them except for NaruHina and NejiTen, although I think they aren't cracky enough they should create interesting situations, what do you guys think of Iruka/Ayame?. Note that not all couples will end "together together" at the end. Maybe.
To the guest who asked about lemons… some of the couples will have sex in the future but I'm not sure if I want to actually write the scene or simply do a fade to black, Leave a review telling me what you want I can go both ways!
But remember this a slowburn Naruhina so the lemons are far far away
Next chapter: The Talk