A/N: No Author Notes Edition
Chapter 3: Way of the Serpent
Ino was not usually the type to sigh a lot, but today she found them escaping her lips quite often. At first glance, she simply seemed bored with the fact that she had to watch over her family's flower shop. However, she was simply lost in her thoughts, barely paying any attention to shop.
All she could think about was the letter she had received about half an hour ago. She was surprised to find one to her amongst the usual mail intended for her mother and father. Ino had taken the letter to her room and sat down on her bed to read it.
At first, she wasn't impressed at all with the letter, but she felt compelled to read it from beginning to end regardless. It wasn't until after the writer started describing how he thought about her that she couldn't help but melt for his sweet words.
"Maybe I'm overreacting a bit...But it's been a long time since I liked a guy...not after Sasuke left the Village...and it's been even a longer time since a guy actually liked me...I should really try to go out more often..." Ino closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh for the umpteenth time that hour, "Even though I don't know how that Nemar guy looks, he sounds like a dream come true. He's probably a guy that would take a girl in his arms and then, as he held her, he'd whisper in that girl's ear how much he loves her and all..."
Ino hugged herself and pretended to be rocked gently from side to side in what she believed to be 'Nemar's strong arms. She opened her eyes and rested her head on her hand again.
"And that type of guy wants to go out on a date with me...? I'm not complaining, but since when do we have guys that can write like that in Konoha?"
Ino let out another deep sigh and just then her mother came back into the store, "Honey? Are you feeling alright? You don't look so well..."
Ino looked dully at her mom, who returned a worried look at her like she always did when she thought something was wrong with her daughter. Ino shook her head and flashed a smile at her mother, "No, nothing's wrong, mother."
"Well, you still don't look so well. Take a break, I'll watch the store for a while." Her mother gently shooed Ino away from the counter, "Go get some fresh air."
"Alright, I'll go already." Ino said as she headed for the exit of the flower shop, "Just because you won't stop questioning me until I do...It's not like I have anything else to do today other than watching the store really...I'm not writing that reply until tonight anyway."
"Then, I'll be gone for a while, mom." Ino said as she reached the door.
"Have a safe trip." Her mother waved her goodbye with a sweet smile on her face.
Ino closed the door behind her and sighed again.
"I really need to find something to do until dinner..." She muttered to herself.
Ino silently wandered around Konoha for a while, her thoughts always being drawn back to the letter and its writer.
"...He sounds so perfect even though I know he probably isn't...Hm...he didn't write what kind of date he wanted to go on. I guess I could propose a picnic then, so I could eventually lean against him as we'd enjoy the sunny afternoon and listen to the birds chirping." Ino daydreamed, smiling at the thought of spending an afternoon like that, but that smile quickly turned into a frown when her next thought entered her mind, "But what if he's like Chouji?! I mean, sure he'd be nice and all but leaning against him would be less nice and well...a whole lot softer than I'd like... I guess I'll have to ask what he looks like, what type of build he has and if he dares to lie to me about it, I'll ditch him on our date the instant I see him! Ha, I'm a genius sometimes!"
Ino's eyes widened as her thoughts drifted off even further as was just about to turn around a corner, "More importantly, how old is he?! I'm getting my hopes up here, but what if he's like 11 or something! Oh my god, no! Aaah! I can't take it anymore! I...I have to know more about Nema-"
Ino was literally knocked out of her thoughts as she felt herself bump into someone, followed by the hard ground underneath her. She felt a bit dazed at first, but everything became clear soon after.
"Ow, that smarts." She said, rubbing her sore behind and looked up to find Naruto sitting in a similar position. Naruto was quick to jump to his feet again however.
"Sorry, Ino! I was in a hurry, so I was kind of distracted and didn't see you coming around that corner at all." He apologized and extended his hand towards Ino.
"Naruto, you should have watched where you were going!" Ino replied as she grabbed a hold of his hand, "Well, I wasn't really paying attention either, so I'll forgive you this time."
Naruto helped Ino up to her feet and grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, "Hehe...Thanks, I'll try to be more careful from now on."
"Don't worry about it, I kind of needed to be knocked out of my thoughts anyway..."
"Hm, thoughts?" Naruto tilted his head in wonder.
"Ah! Did I say something? It's nothing really, ahaha." Ino said as she bashfully smiled and looked away from him.
"But you know...This really is a coincidence." Naruto said, flashing Ino his fox-like grin.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well...ehm...like...I need to buy some flowers for someone...Or ehm...I was told to do so...so, I thought of you and your family's flower shop and that it would probably be the best place to go to."
"Flowers for someone? Ooooh, I see." Ino smirked widely at Naruto.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he blinked at her.
"Naruto...Since when do you have a girlfriend?" Ino asked as she poked Naruto in his side, "Ah man, even this guy has someone...I'm so going on a date with Nemar-kun."
"I-I don't have a girlfriend! It's just for a friend who I'm taking out to dinner tonight!" Naruto retorted, feeling his cheeks redden.
"But you know, you only buy flowers when someone's special or as a 'thank you' gift...But, I somehow doubt it's the last one..." Ino teased Naruto a bit more, leering at him with a devilish look.
"Well, it is! Really! It's not for someone special, in that way...Definitely not that way, I'm telling you!" Naruto said as he shook his head.
"Hm, well fine then." Ino decided to halt her interrogation and after taking a deep breath she said, "Let's go back to my family's flower shop to get you a bouquet of flowers in that case."
The two of them walked back towards the flower shop in silence. Ino looked at Naruto at one point when they were nearly at the shop, "You know...It's actually sort of cute that he's going to buy a bouquet of flowers for someone..."
"Hey, Naruto?" Ino let out
"Hm? What is it?" Naruto averted his eyes from the road up ahead to look at Ino.
"I'd just want to tell you that I think it's very cute of you to go and buy flowers for someone. It's really something that I didn't expect from someone like you." Ino said, raising a big, honest smile at him.
Naruto smiled back at her, though he wasn't sure what to make of that comment, "Er, Thanks. I'm glad that I know someone as great as you. I don't know a thing about flowers, so I'd be totally lost without you, ehehehe."
Ino averted her eyes from Naruto and blushed a soft shade of red, "What am I doing? Why am I blushing this much from him complementing me? It's not like...I like Naruto that way."
"Huh...Is she blush-" Naruto thought before he ran into a telephone pole, knocking him down on the ground once again.
"Where the hell did that come from?!" Naruto pointed at the telephone pole accusingly, like it decided to pop out of nowhere.
Ino tried to not laugh, but she couldn't help but burst out in laughter before lending Naruto a helping hand to stand back up again.
"Grrr...Really..." Naruto said as he dusted himself off.
"Naruto, you've changed a lot yet you are still the same in many ways, aren't you? It's really funny." Ino said as she tried to contain her laughter by giggling instead of laughing out loud.
"I can't help it. My training did not involve avoiding stray telephones poles." Naruto retorted, causing Ino to laugh out loud once more, though this time Naruto felt like he could join her and laughed just as loud.
Several hours later, at ten for seven, Naruto was anything but laughing. He was running at full speed towards the Hokage's tower with a bouquet in his hands, trying not crush it in his grip or have it blown away with the wind.
He had exchanged his normal white t-shirt and orange-black jacket for a black shirt and left his jacket back home, but the entire ordeal took him longer than he had expected.
Naruto knew one thing for sure, he did not want to be late, no matter what. As he landed in front of the tower though, he was mildly reassured yet ticked off as well.
"What the...? She isn't even here yet." Naruto said as he looked around, trying to spot Anko.
Naruto peered into the hall of the Hokage's Tower to find a clock and before long he found one, telling him it was exactly five minutes to 7, "Damn, I could have taken a bit longer to get here."
Exactly when the clock struck 7 o'clock, Anko came casually walking out of the Hokage's Tower, wearing the same outfit as she always did.
"Oh, You're already waiting for me." Anko smirked as she saw Naruto, "I guess you really want to go, huh?"
"Hehehe, Yeah something like that..." Naruto replied with a grin as wide as he could manage, "More like being afraid of whatever you might do to me if I showed up late or not at all..."
"Oh! Here! I bought these for you." Naruto said as he handed Anko the bouquet, "They're purple..e.r...what do you call 'em again...damn Ino told me me...hm...But I can't remember at all what their name is."
"Awww...thank you. That's really sweet of you. Purple is one of my two favourite colors, you know. You shouldn't have..." Anko said as she took the bouquet and inhaled the sweet scent of the flowers.
"Ah, it's ok. It's nothing, really." Naruto said with a sheepish grin on his face.
"No really, you shouldn't have. I have no idea where to put this in my apartment." Anko gave Naruto a rather embarrassed smile.
"Oh...I see." Naruto replied, "Well, at least she's happy with them...I suppose."
"Can you just wait here for me? I want to bring these home. I'll just have to put them in the sink until I can go buy a vase tomorrow or something...I don't really get flowers that often, haha." Anko laughed.
"Ehm...Sure." Naruto nodded in reply.
Anko smiled and winked at him, "Then I'll be back soon."
With that, Anko disappeared out of sight and Naruto was left alone in front of the Hokage's Tower.
Naruto wasn't exactly the type to be patient, but he didn't want to have Anko chasing after him, so he stayed put. However, before he knew it, fifteen minutes had passed and he was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground and scouting the area for any sign of the Chuunin examiner.
"Damn...It's already been fifteen minutes...Is she really going to come back?" Naruto thought as he paced back and forth through the street, "What's keeping her...Is her apartment like on the other side of the Village?"
Just then Naruto heard footsteps approaching, making him turn his head towards the sound of it, where he was greeted with a quick, "Sorry for the wait."
Anko stood in front of him once again, though she was now wearing an orange kimono instead of her standard raincoat outfit.
"I decided to put on a kimono and some make-up so it took me a bit longer. Well, let's be on our way then, huh?" Anko said as she turned left and right to show off her new outfit.
Naruto gulped, his heart skipped a beat and he could swear it just became several degrees warmer in Konoha. He somewhat understood why Ero-Sennin and apparently many other men were lusting after someone like Anko.
"That...That was still pretty short then...if you got to look this pretty in that small amount of time, that is." Naruto let out as he puffed up his chest and tried to not let Anko's sudden change affect him too much.
"Thank you. I had to look good for the place we're going to...Since I agreed on going out to dinner with you, I guess I also get to say where we go too, huh? Or did you perhaps arrange a romantic dinner all by yourself...?" Anko leered at Naruto, who started sweating for entirely different reasons than before.
"Crap...Did she expect me to take her to some special place? If I lie to her, I'll be in trouble because I don't have anything at all! On the other hand...if I tell the truth, I could be in trouble anyway! Well...It's best not to lie to her...Though, if she has some fancy place in mind...Then by the end of the night..." Naruto thought as the image of his frog-shaped wallet came came into his mind, "Gama-chan will be comepletely flattened!"
"Ah...Sorry, I was kinda in a hurry, so I forgot to think of anything special to take you to...Ahaha." Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he grinned sheepishly.
"That's alright. I've got an idea of where to take you anyway." Anko said as she grinned widely.
"...Crap...I don't trust that grin of hers...It must be something bad...Either for Gama-chan or for me..."
"Well, let's go there then. Ahaha...haha...ha." Naruto said as he let out an anxious laugh.
A little while later, they were at just your average sushi restaurant and as Naruto took a seat, Anko sat down right next to him, "Close! Too close! What is she doing?!...There's like a place to sit at across the table as well you know..."
"Ah, Anko-san, long time no see. What shall it be tonight?" A bald guy with a white tank-top and a towel thrown over his shoulder asked as he had a pen and notebook ready to take their orders.
"Taking it easy as usual huh? Anyway, the usual and don't forget the regular amount of sake." Anko said smiling politely at the man.
"And for your little friend there?"
"Er...I'd like to have some..."
"For him the same as me." Anko interrupted Naruto and ordered for him instead.
The man looked at Naruto before speaking up again, "And what would the young man like to drink?"
"He'll have some sake as well." Anko said as she winked at the bald man.
"Hm?" The man looked questioningly at Naruto, "He's underage...Is this a test ordered by the Hokage or something, Anko-san?"
"Of course not! As long as you stick to our deal, no one would hear about something like this... So, just get some sake for my little friend here...And nothing bad will happen." Anko winked at the man as she wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulder and pulled him closer towards her.
"For him perhaps!" Naruto thought as his eyes were fixated on something completely else.
"...Gotcha." The man said as he walked away.
Naruto was sweating like he was spending a day in the dessert with ten sweaters and three pairs of pants on, as Anko had pulled him so close that his face was nearly pressing against her chest. He could literally smell nothing but her sweet scented perfume.
Anko noticed the look on Naruto's face and let go off him, "Sorry, sorry...I didn't realize I was pulling you that hard." She smiled at him that felt just a little bit too fake too Naruto and he knew that she clearly still knew what she was doing to him.
His gaze lowered to her chest before he stared at Anko's face, "Trying to get me drunk huh? Damn it, if I get drunk with her I'm so screwed...in more ways than one."
"So, while we wait for the old man to bring us our meal...What did you need help with, Naruto-kun?" Anko leered towards Naruto again as he tried to hide his suspicions from her by acting like his usual self.
"Ehm...Like...stuff with women and all." Naruto said grinning nervously, wondering what she'd answer.
"Oh...I see...What do you want to learn? I can learn you how to do just about anything with a women..." Anko leered again at Naruto as she leaned slightly closer to him.
"Yeah...I bet you'd just love teaching me about women and how to do 'anything' with them..." Naruto thought as he stared blankly at her again before switching back to his normal look, "Er...Well...like...how to do...stuff?"
"Ooooh...Stuff, you say huh?" Anko threw an amused look at Naruto, and he could swear that he saw a flicker of something 'dangerous' in her eyes.
"Oh shit, now she's thinking that kinda stuff! What's next? She'll just sexually harass me in the middle of the restaurant?"
"What kind of stuff, Naruto-kun?" Anko asked when Naruto didn't reply to her.
"Er..." Naruto was speechless for a moment, trying to come up with a plan, "Crap...If I'm not careful...Would she perhaps just do it right here?! Like, in the restaurant, with everyone watching?! She seemed to have all of these guys in her pocket, so...Oh man, I'm so screwed!"
"Well...How to do... things with women." Naruto answered Anko's question, "Oh shit! I did it again! I gotta be more specific about these kind of answers!"
"Ah, I see...I could teach you all you don't know yet, you know...But since we can't really waste time on teaching you things you already know...How about we start with you telling me what you don't know yet for sure and want to know...?" Anko's previous mischievous leer seemed to have faded as he had a gentle smile on her face, one that actually even seemed to relax Naruto slightly.
"Um...What I want to know is..." Naruto replied, "Come on Naruto...Think of the most innocent thing you haven't done yet...Shaking hands? No, she won't buy that...Giving a girl a hug? er..."
Naruto thought back at the time he tried to give Sakura a hug for his 'Kuchiyose no jutsu' training, even though it was more for unleashing his potential to use the Kyuubi's chakra as he had learned from Jiraiya later, and then at the times he almost hugged a girl when he was out training with Jiraiya the past two and a half years he was away from Konoha.
"Well...That's something I haven't really done yet, I suppose...and it could be believable...right?" Naruto thought, "How do you hug a girl?"
Anko backed away slightly, blnked at Naruto in utter surprise, "You've...never even hugged a girl?"
Naruto shook his head, "Nope. I tried but most of the time I ended up with either a fist in my face or dropping to the ground as she just walked away."
Anko gasped and before Naruto could so much as blink, she had wrapped her arms around him and tightly embraced him, pressing his head in between her breasts. Naruto froze, his heart racing so hard that he could feel it all the way up in his throat.
That tension disappeared completely from his body as Anko started caressing the back of his head and whisper softly, "Aw...You poor boy. This is a good start then. Though not really when it comes to how to hug a girl, haha."
Naruto heard a 'splash' and some sizzling, as he noticed Anko turning her head around. Well, it was not like he could see her doing it, but he could feel her movements at the very least.
"What is it?" Naruto heard Anko say.
"Anko-san, if you're going to act like that before you even touched your sake, I'm going to have to drag you out after your first cup or something." Naruto now heard the voice of the old man from before.
"Ah, this is nothing. Just giving my friend here a tight hug. Like friends do...Right, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto nodded and as he did he felt Anko's hand caress his back, "Oh god...Perhaps wasn't a really smart move..."
"...Well, anyway here's your meal and..." Naruto heard as the man paused for some reason.
"Maybe he noticed what's going on here and is going to kick us out? Please let that be it!" Naruto thought.
"Ah, god damn it. I dropped my smoke in the sake. Shit, I'll be right back with some fresh sake and your meals."
As Naruto heard the man walk away again, he figured this might be the best chance to get out of Anko's embrace, "Ehm...Can you let go of me now?"
He felt Anko clutching onto his sweater before she spoke up, "Why?"
Naruto could just feel the hints of amusement and pleasure in Anko's voice, but he really wanted normal air instead of her scent, thus he siad the first thing that popped into his mind, "I have to go to the bathroom."
She let go of Naruto and he decided to hold the sigh of relief when he actually was inside the bathroom. As he stood up from his seat and walked around the table, Naruto noticed Anko was leering at him again, "Need a helping hand when you go to the bathroom?"
"No, thanks! I think I can take a crap on my own just fine." Naruto quickly replied and saw Anko's smirk fall down in disappointment.
Naruto quickly went to the men's bathroom, picked one of the toilets there to do his business and closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked, just in case Anko felt like 'accidentally' entering the men's bathroom.
He was glad that the toilet had no opening at the top or something like that, the only way in and out would be through the door, meaning Anko couldn't get in.
"This is going to end up bad, I just know it..." Naruto said to himself and let out a sigh.
Just then a cold breeze ran over Naruto's back and as he looked up, he found a window planted at the top of the wall behind him, used to ventilate the toilet. It wasn't really big, but it didn't seem that small either, and a plan quickly formed in Naruto's mind.
"Looks like I have found a way to escape from Miss Nymphwhatchamacallit for a while here." Naruto flashed a grin as he finished his business on the toilet.
"I can use that to escape for a while and then come back the same way since no one else can enter the toilet, since I locked the door. If anyone asks, I just really had to go! Hehehe, I'm the best!" Naruto said to himself as he put down the toilet seat and made his way up to the window.
As he had wormed half his way through the window, he heard a familiar voice, "...so don't tell him about anything I just asked you, ok?"
Naruto looked in the direction of where the voice came from, where he found Tenten and Hinata, who were now also looking at him, still half sticking out of the window.
"Naruto-ku..." Hinata said and fainted, falling into Tenten's arms.
"Naruto?! Were you eavesdropping on us?!" Tenten demanded to know but then her eyes then widened, "Oh my god! Is N-Neji there with you!"
Naruto took notice of the fact that Tenten was gaping at him with wide eyes, but he really needed discretion right now no matter what, "Sshht! Be quiet! No! Neji is not here with me. Why? Are you looking for Neji?"
"N-no! I'm not looking for N-Neji at all!" Tenten flushed bright red in her face, "How long have you been listening to me and Hinata?!"
"Looks like I could have an interesting position here...if she buys it..." Naruto thought as he pushed himself out of the window, neatly landed on his two feet and flashed a grin at Tenten, "Hehehe, Long enough."
Tenten's eyes sharpened and stared straight into Naruto's eyes, "If you tell a single soul about what you learned here, I'm going to show you what I can do with a kunai and trust me, you will not like it."
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Naruto said with a wide grin on his face.
"So, what are you doing here? And why did you just crawl out of that small window?" Tenten asked as she blinked at Naruto.
Naruto let his shoulders slump in defeat,"Too many reason...Do you mind if we could talk a bit longer before I heading back inside through that thing?"
Tenten carried herself and Hinata to the wall, leaning against it before sliding down to sit on the ground, as just standing with Hinata in her arms was stating to become quite heavy.
"Well, I suppose I don't mind...What do you want to talk about then?" Tenten asked as she looked up at Naruto.
"Hm...Well like..." Naruto sat down beside the two girls, one of which was still unconscious it seemed, "Why are you looking for Neji?"
"I'm not!" Tenten's face flushed red again as she snapped at Naruto.
"Hehe...! You can deny it all you want, but if you really aren't...Why does your face flush red when I'm asking you about Neji?" Naruto put on his wide grin once again as he looked at Tenten.
"You swear you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?" Tenten said, still red in her face as she pulled Hinata up, making it seem like they were hugging each other.
"Yeah, yeah. Shinobi's honor."
"...I received a letter today..." Tenten started as her face turned brighter.
"Heh?" Naruto's eyes widened, "Is she talking about my letter...?"
"It was a love letter...A very sweet one as well...It was written under a different name but I'm almost sure it's Neji..." Tenten averted her eyes from Naruto, who for once was glad a girl wasn't looking straight at him.
"But, if it was written with a different name than Neji's under it, why do you think it's him?" Naruto asked as he kept his face stuck in a grin as wide as he could manage, "Crap...This could mean my chances to get at least a single date before Valentine's Day with her is getting very slim if she wants to go out with Neji already..."
"Well..." Tenten's face turned even brighter, "It said in the letter that...that person already knew me for some years now...And I know Neji a long time and well..."
"But, you know! You know me now also for a couple of years, so I'm sure Neji isn't the only possible person!" Naruto quickly retorted "Crap! What am I doing?! Do I want to her to find out it's mine?!"
Tenten looked with wide eyes at Naruto before she let out a giggle, "Yeah, you're right. But I doubt you'd do something like writing a love letter."
"Hey! I have what they call a 'sensetive side' or something as well, you know!" Naruto retorted, sounding genuinely offended by Tenten's remark.
Tenten's eyes softened as she stopped giggling about Naruto, "But you know...I uhm...well...I gave Neji a hug today...and he didn't seem to mind...actually we hugged for quite a long time...so it's got to be him, right?"
"Neji...really hugged you?" Naruto blinked in disbelief at Tenten.
Tenten bit her lowerlip for a while before speaking up, "Well...I'm not sure he liked it really...I think he was somewhat annoyed, but at the same time, he didn't seem to mind it either...I mean...he didn't push me away or something like that..."
"So, you're planning on asking him out for Valentine?" Naruto asked with a straight face.
Tenten's head shot up and face turned even brighter red, before her eyes looked kind of sad again and she lowered her head once more, "Neji...isn't the kind of person to really show his affection towards people out in public like that...Maybe when we'd be alone, he would...but I doubt he wants to spend Valentine's Day with me in his room or such...So I guess I'm sitting Valentine's Day out...as usual..."
Naruto noticed a couple of tears forming in Tenten's eyes and felt kind of bad about it, so he thought of trying to cheer her up at least, "Tenten...uhm..."
Tenten looked up at him as he looked away from her, "What is it?"
"Uh...I don't know what was written in the letter or if it really was from Neji, but if it said how much he liked you, I'm sure that he'd want to go out with you on Valentine's Day and such..." Naruto scratched his wiskers and looked towards Tenten from the corner of his eyes, wondering how she'd react.
A warm but small smile rose on Tenten's face, "Thank you Naruto. I never knew you'd be such a nice person to talk to."
"Hehehe. As future Hokage, I must be able to talk to everyone in the Village, right?" Naruto grinned widely, "And you know what, just in case Neji doesn't go out with you for Valentine's Day, I'll go and buy you a amazingly great box of chocolate and I think I could even get you a beautifull bouquet of flowers from Ino's place and then hand them to you so you at least have a nice Valentine's Day!"
Tenten's eyes went wide for a long moment and a red blush again appeared on her face. Naruto noticed this and immediately realised what kind of thoughts she was having by what he just said, as Tenten averted her eyes from him as he looked at her, "Ah! It's not like that! It's just so you won't go and be all sad on Valentine's Day! Really! Besides it's not like I wrote that letter, alright! It has to be Neji! I'm sure of it! He'll go out with you on Valentine's Day! It's just that...err...he's perhaps a little shy?"
Tenten looked up in cofusement at Naruto,"Eh...Yeah...I guess? I'll just have to find a way to know for sure that it's him."
"Then, write a reply to that letter or something like that." Naruto grinned, "Oh man, I'm not sure if I'm digging my own grave here or making my way out of it!"
"Yeah, I think I will, once I get back home." Tenten replied with a nod.
"Ah...I think I'd better head back inside now... I think I might be taking a bit too long now...Hehehe..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Which is kind of dangerous in and of it's own..."
"Hm, I don't know what's going on with you, but I'll help you get back inside." Tenten said as she carefully laid Hinata down against the wall.
The weapons mistress gave him a boost to reach the window again and Naruto tried his way back inside. However, halfway through, he got stuck somehow.
"Oh, damn! I'm stuck!" Naruto out.
"Hold up, I'll push you in!" Tenten repled and lifted Naruto's legs up before trying to thrust his body through the window opening.
After lots of groans from Naruto and a lot of pushing on Tenten's side, Naruto finally was back inside the bathroom.
"Thanks, Tenten! I owe you one!" Naruto yelled back through the window, as he could only see Tenten's shirt at the moment as she was hanging on to the wall.
"It's ok, really. Oh, wait one sec!" Tenten said as she lowered herself to be able to look through the window.
"What is it? I'm already in trouble most likely..." Naruto asked as he climbed back to the window.
Tenten flicked a cell phone out of her pocket and held it in front of Naruto.
"Give me your phone number. I think I'm going to call you every now and then, since... you're pretty interesting to talk to and all."
Surprise was written all over Naruto's face, "No girl has ever asked me for my number...wow..."
"There you go." Naruto said after entering his number.
"Thanks, I'll call you later then. Oh, and good luck with whatever you're doing in there." Tenten said before jumping down.
"Thanks." Naruto replied before softly adding, "I think I'll need it..."
Naruto quickly headed out of the toilet, washed his hands and rushed back towards Anko, who he found poking in her meal.
"Sorry, apparently I ate something really bad earlier and it just kept coming out over and over again..." Naruto lied as he sat down across her and grabbed his plate.
Anko immediately seemed to brighten up as she saw Naruto and smiled at him,"Ah, I see. For a minute there I thought something else..."
"Hm, like what?" Naruto asked as he took a bite.
Anko smirked at him as she slipped her foot out of her shoe, "That you ran away from me."
Naruto felt her foot moving back and forth over his inner thigh and Naruto felt like he was being tested, "Of course not! Who'd do such a thing?!"
He picked his plate up and moved back next to Anko, afraid that she might accidentally let her foot slide a bit too far and a bit too fast. Anko leered at him as he moved about and placed her foot back in her shoe.
"You know...You haven't had a drink yet." Anko mentioned and Naruto looked towards the two cups in front of them.
One of them had already been used, obviously by Anko, and the other was spotless.
"Ah, well...I'm not really that thirsty you know..." Naruto grinned sheepishly.
Anko wrapped an arm around Naruto, pulled him closer towards her, pressing his arm against her chest as she moved her mouth to his ear.
"Silly boy, you don't drink sake when you're thirsty...Won't you do it for me? Just this once?" To Naruto, it sounded more like a command than a question.
"Ehm...sure why not then, huh? Ehehehe." Naruto grinned and took a cup and filled it half way up, "Damn her, she's really trying to get me drunk...I'm not going to drink too much though..."
"Well then..." Naruto said as he looked at the cup and he noticed that Anko was looking at it as well, "Cheers!"
Naruto poured the liquid into his mouth, finding it to have a strange taste to it but not really unpleasant, so he gulped it as soon as possible. Anko grinned widely as Naruto placed the empty cup back on the table and gave him a kiss on his cheek, "Good boy..."
Naruto couldn't help but flush red, though he decided to remain silent instead of causing a scene.
"Then, I'll have another one as well. Naru-chan, will you be so kind as to fill it up for me?" Anko asked with a nonchalant smile on her face as she held her cup in front of her.
Naruto eyed her awkwardly upon hearing her newly made nickname for him and then carefully filled her cup.
"Hey, I know what to do! ...Ero-sennin always falls asleep when he drinks too much sake! But...Like what will she do before she actually falls asleep...?" Naruto thought, slightly doubting his newfound plan.
Anko swallowed her cup in one go and held it in front of Naruto again as she pressed her cheek against his with a smile on her face, "Seconds."
Naruto carefully filled her cup once again and it was empty again within a second.
"Now it's your turn again..." Anko smiled at Naruto, pushing her cup against his mouth.
Ignoring the cup that was pressed against his lips, he eyed his own cup. Naruto was about to fill it, because he really didn't want to find out if he disobeyed a drunk Anko. She was scary enough sober, let alone what she'd do with a decent amount of sake in her.
However just as he wanted to tilt the bottle and fill his cup Anko held out hers in front of the bottle. Naruto looked at her with uncertainty, not knowing what she wanted exactly, but she clarified it for him with two commanding words, "Fill it."
He let out a sigh and filled her cup and she brought it to his mouth. Naruto put the bottle down next to his own cup and blinked at the cup that was in front of his mouth once more.
"Come on, drink up." Anko commanded.
"Why? That's your cup Anko-...sensei." Naruto replied.
"Because if you won't drink it, I'm going to scream out loud that you touched me inappropriately and have all these guys here beat you up." She said with a drunken grin on her face.
Naruto looked into around what he could see from the restaurant. He was sure they couldn't beat him up, he'd have them eating dust in no time, though it'd be the irresponsible thing to do as a shinobi.
And then again, he didn't really want to become known as a pervert among the other shinobi like his sensei was known to be. He figured that he could at the very least satisfy Anko's whims a bit more at the moment, in hopes that she'll stop sooner or later.
Naruto turned towards her and smirked, "Make me drink it."
Anko gasped at him, her mouth literally hung open for a good ten seconds at the very least, but she regained her composure as much as possible and smirked at Naruto, "Close your eyes then and say ah..."
"It's not like I have a choice in the matter..." Naruto thought as he regretted his action to make Anko more satisfied instead of just drinking the god damned sake, "Ahhhhh."
Naruto obediently opened his mouth and closed his eyes and expected to find the strange tasting liquid in his mouth called sake once again. However, it wasn't exactly that which he found a moment later in his mouth. It tasted like sake in a lot of ways, but it sure as hell wasn't sake, Naruto noted.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Anko, who was still kissing him.
"Alright...Never thought my first real kiss would be...happening like this..." Naruto thought as he continued looking at Anko, who continued doing her own thing in his mouth. Which, he had to admit, felt more than just a little pleasant.
After a while, Anko pulled away from Naruto and leered at him, "Oh shit, I got her really started now..."
"Naru-chan..." Anko said, Naruto gulped before she continued, "Could you help this lil girl back to her house? I think had a bit too much sake..."
"Eh...Sure...I...I'll pay up for the food and stuff..." Naruto said.
He 'helped' Anko up, although he found it a bit suspicious that she suddenly asked all of this and wasn't sure if the sake was strong enough to get her acting like this or if she was actually quite weak when it came to alcohol. Then again, he only had one cup of it while she obviously had more than one in the time that he was avoiding her on the toilet.
"Old man, thanks for the meal, but Anko-sensei doesn't feel so good right now it seems, so..." Naruto said as he paid up.
The man didn't say a single word as he counted the money and silently put it away.
As Naruto and Anko headed out of the restaurant, the man let out a sigh, "She shoots and scores...like usual...Honestly..." He muttered before getting back to his other customers.
Naruto walked down the street and then looked clueless, "Eh...Where do we need to go anyway?"
"That way..." Anko pointed towards the alley that lead to another street.
"...Are you sure?" Naruto couldn't help but feel her behaviour was suspicious.
"Sure, I'm sure. It's shorter if we go that way."
"Ok, if you say so..." Naruto said and carefully walked into the alley with her.
He knew it was a bad idea, his instinct told him as much the moment he set foot in the alley. It simply wasn't until they reached a t-junction in the alley that his instinct was proven to be correct, as Anko pinned him against the wall around the corner.
"Hehe, you didn't really think I was drunk after a wee bit of sake, right?" Anko's grin seemed to both tease and mock Naruto at the same time. Though nervous, Naruto tried to remain as calm as possible.
"...Yeah, I had my doubts about it. It was rather odd...Unless you drank a lot while I was taking a crap..."
"Then..." Anko said as she pressed her body onto Naruto's, "I think it's time to move on to your next lesson, my little fox..."
Anko trailed a finger over his jaw, before slowly trailing it down over the rest of his body. Naruto knew he couldn't simply beat the crap out of her, for a variety of reasons, including that he wasn't entirely sure exactly just how strong she was. Instead, he tried to look a little frightened towards Anko, which was partially an act and partially him actually being frightened by her straight-forward behaviour.
"Er...I don't think I need any...more...lessons." Naruto replied as Anko gave him a couple of kisses on his cheek and neck.
"Hm...I see..." Anko said as she pulled slightly away from Naruto and he let out a sigh of relief, that relief was however lived shortly as she spoke up again, "You want some skin, huh?"
"Wha-?" The quarter didn't drop in Naruto's brain right away, but that changed as she grabbed one of his hands and placed it in her kimono, just an inch or two below her chest. Naruto felt his heart race as every muscle in his body froze and forced him to not to move a single inch.
"Don't you want to know how the rest of my skin feels like?" Anko playfully whispered into his ear.
Naruto slightly trailed down with his hand, the opposite direction Anko obviously wanted him to go in at the moment, but she considered it, and his racing heartbeat, progress at least.
"God damn! She's so soft and there's not a single flaw on her skin...What the hell am I doing?!...Because I'll be screwed to get a date with Sakura-chan if I won't do this...? She'll probably go and shout that I'm violating her...though she's the one that's forcing me to do any and all of this!"
"Hold your hand still for a moment..." Anko said, placing her own hand on top of his, "If you move it while I'm going to do this then you'll be in a lot of trouble since you'd kill the suspense."
"Suspense?! Suspense, she says! H-Holy crap! I think I understand why Ero-Sennin wants to go out for 'dinner' with her. She's the dream of every pervert in Konoha, no, in the world!"
As she kept one hand on top of Naruto's, she used her other to partially undo her own kimono, revealing a lot more skin, barely keeping her breasts covered with the fine cloth.
"Now..." Anko smirked at him, "Move a bit further up with your hand, Naru-chan..."
She tried to move Naruto's hand towards her chest, but he refused to move a single muscle. Anko looked slightly confused at him, mainly for the fact that he was gritting his teeth.
"I won't do it...!" Naruto protested, a fierce look in his eyes that showed his determination, "You want me to do all these things, but I barely even know you! I'm not going to do it!"
She removed Naruto's hand from her body and narrowed her eyes at him, "You..."
Naruto was prepared to face her if she planned on using force, but again Naruto was taken by surprise. Anko pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around him and passionately kissed him.
It felt different from when she kissed him back in the restaurant, as if she'd been holding back and finally showed her true skills. The sensation sent a shiver throughout Naruto's entire body and he found himself resting his hands on her back as well.
As she broke the kiss, Naruto was speechless. Anko pulled away for a moment to close the top half of her kimono again to cover herself up a little bit more.
Seeing the look of surprise on Naruto's face, she simply giggled and said, "You know...You're the first to reject my first attempt at getting...a little more from them...And you know what?"
She pressed herself against Naruto again and for a moment, he thought she was going to kiss him again. Instead, she simply smiled at him, "I like it. I could still have my way with you right here and now, if I really wanted to, but...it will be that much more fun when you want it yourself just as badly as I do. So..."
"Y-yeah?" Naruto stuttered, finally managing to let out another word.
"Until then, I'll take an indirect approach to teaching you...Well, a little bit more indirect..." Anko said as she moved her mouth towards his again.
"Uh...can that wait until later as well?" Naruto asked, fearing his heart and mind couldn't take much more of Anko's ways. Anko paused in and seemed to take an unusually deep breath.
"Listen, Naru-chan..." Anko trailed with her fingers over his body, "Either I kiss you right here and now or..."
"Or?" Naruto gulped.
"Or I'll show you what my snakes are good for and have my way with you until 5 AM in the morning...You see, I'm...Well, let's just say that I have issues holding back as it is." Anko said, the look in her eyes losing a little bit of their previous fire.
"Well, that sure is such a hard choice to make..." Naruto thought before he quickly pressed his lips against Anko's, catching her by surprise but she lead him right trough it.
As she broke the kiss again, she backed off him. Naruto let out a deep breath, both of relief and just because he needed to breathe normally again.
Anko snapped her fingers and a small card appeared between her index and middle finger, "Here you go, Naru-chan. It's my phone number and address. In case you...need me."
She smirked as Naruto took the card and put it in his pocket.
"Ehm...can I ask you one more thing for tonight?" Naruto asked and Anko gave him a questioning look.
"Would you please call me something other than 'Naru-chan'? ...I don't like it."
"Hmmmm, all right...My cute little fox." Anko said with a smile on her face as she turned around and started heading out of the alley, "Now, since I pretty much gave you my goodnight kiss already, I have one last thing to give you..."
"...And that would be what, exactly?" Naruto asked, though in fact didn't really want to know.
Naruto tried to follow her movements, but she was a ninja like him after all. One moment she moved her hand to the back of her head, the next, her usually tied up hair flowed freely in the wind and the top half of her kimono was lowered to her waist.
The sigh was breath-taking, Naruto forgetting the situation he was in with her just a moment ago and simply being taken away by her beautiful appearance.
"Don't you dare forget me, my cute little fox."
The wind flew quietly through the alley and Naruto stood still there for a moment. Anko had disappeared already, but the image of her bare back and flowing hair was still in his mind. It was then that Naruto reached his mental limit and passed out with a bleeding nose.
He didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up again, but he knew he'd better get home soon and just sleep the night away. With some effort, Naruto reached his apartment and stumbled up the stairs and towards the door. Once inside he closed the door behind him and put his keys away.
Just then, he could have sworn to hear something coming up ahead from his living room. It was pitch dark in the room, so he couldn't see very well at all. He flipped on a switch for the lights and was surprised, or to be more precise shocked with what he found in his living room.
"Congratulations, Naruto!" Jiraiya and his frogs chanted in unison, while some frogs simply croaked, being unable to speak.
His living room was filled with frogs, most of whom were actually wearing party hats, and there was even a large cake in the center.
"What the hell? It's not my birthday..."
Jiraiya walked towards Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder, "So, how does it feel to be a man now, Naruto?"
"Ero-sennin...Is it just me, or is my place loaded with frogs wearing party hats and stuff?"
"Oh, come on! You've finally become a man! That's cause for celebration!" Jiraiya said with a big grin on his face
"Eh...Wasn't I a man from the very start?" Naruto asked.
"Eh, yes, but...You went out with Anko, right?"
"Yeah, I did...So, what about it?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at his teacher, trying to figure out what he was trying to say.
"To put it bluntly...I thought you and her had ehm...did the deed, pierced the proverbial heaven, so to say, and all that before you came home just now. Actually, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had pierced her heavens multiple times by now."
"What?! No! Something like that didn't happen at all!" Naruto replied and thought "She sure as hell wanted me to 'pierce' something though..."
An immediate silence fell in the room.
A very, very long silence.
"What the...?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at Naruto.
"Damnit, Jiraiya! You made me wear this party hat for nothing then! The kid is still a virgin!" Gamakichi replied as he smacked his hat on the ground.
"Hey! It's not like you aren't one either!" Naruto accusingly pointed at the frog, though he wasn't sure why he felt offended by the frog summon.
"What are you blabbering about, kiddo?! My wife's pregnant! We're having little baby frogs soon!"
Naruto gasped at Gamakichi, who was seriously just looking at Naruto like 'What? Is there something wrong with me becoming a dad?'
"Anyway, Jiraiya! If there's nothing to celebrate, me and the others are out of here. And we're taking the cake with us!" Gamakichi said as he and all the other frogs popped off.
"Why...? How...?" Jiraiya muttered as he stared at Naruto in disbelief.
"Like...ehm...Not feeling like it? She was kind of...scary. Interesting, but scary." Naruto replied after thinking at least two seconds about his answer.
"Not feeling like it...? Not feeling like it?! .Have. Any idea what that woman is capable of?!" Jiraiya shouted in disbelief.
"Er...As a matter of fact...I think I had a...taste...of what she was capable off..." Naruto nodded slowly, trying his best to not recall the prior events too vividly in his mind.
Jiraiya just gasped at him and then grinned, "Well, if that's the case I'd say my chances for asking her out are up...Er, I mean...uhm...yeah...well, that's what I meant, hahaha. After all, you were able to pick up a woman like that after reading my book, and Yondaime got his...Oh, right...Ahem."
Just then something popped into Naruto's mind. He didn't know why, but the idea just seemed to come to him.
"Eh...Sensei?" He asked with an overly sweet grin on his face.
"What do you want this time?" Jiraiya asked, knowing the look on Naruto's face all too well.
"What are you talking about? I don't want anything!" Naruto tried to up the innocence of his grin a bit more, but to no avail.
"Don't lie to me! Every time you call me sensei, you want something! So...Stop pretending and just ask whatever it is you want to ask already."
"Ehm...Do you like have...pictures of Yondaime when he was like let's say...16 years old or so? Pretty young at least." Naruto asked, knowing that despite his behaviour the old pervert really cared for his students.
"Hm...I think I do, as a matter of fact. Let me see here..." Jiraiya said as he took out a small photo album and started flipping trough it.
"You carry a photo album around with ya?" Naruto blinked at Jiraiya.
"Yeah, with all the pictures of everyone I taught at least one thing." Jiraiya looked questioningly at Naruto, as if it was weird for him to carry such a thing around. Naruto expected him to have it, but not to simply have it with him.
"...I see...Well, can you just get me the photo from 16 year old Yondaime then, please?"
Jiraiya flipped through a couple of more pages before showing Naruto a picture, "This is him when he was 16 years old...From what I remember, at least."
Naruto looked closely at the picture to give himself a thought of all the small details. Yondaime was blonde, Naruto knew this already so that was why he wanted to see that picture in the first place, next his blue eyes were different from Naruto's own pair of blue eyes.
If you'd look into Naruto's eyes, you could see determination, joy and a slight hint sadness if he wasn't joking around. Yondaime's eyes were different. They showed care for the world around him, leadership, determination and a unique kind of kindness towards others.
Naruto didn't know why he saw those things in them, but that was just what he felt he saw in Yondaime's eyes. As for the way his body was build, Naruto noted that he was at least half a head taller than Naruto was right now, using Jiraiya standing next to him and next to Yondaime on the picture as a measurement. Naruto also found Yondaime to be slightly more buff than him.
"Could I...borrow that picture for a while?" Naruto asked.
"Hm...I don't know..."
"Please!" Naruto folded his hands and bowed his head.
"It's very precious to me, since we both look so very bad ass on it and all!"
"I'll tell you one thing that did happen to me with Anko if you do!" Naruto smirked as Jiraiya's ears perked.
"Well...I guess it's all right then, as long as you don't lose it. And as long as you tell me something juicy!"
Naruto grinned and told Jiraiya how when Anko hugged him, she pressed his head onto her chest. It was probably the tamest thing she had done all evening to him, but Naruto knew well enough to keep more material on hand if he needed it to convince the old perv later. After hearing this though, Jiraiya seemed to have drifted off to la-la land, as he handed Naruto the picture with one swift motion.
"I'll talk to you later, Naruto!" And with that Jiraiya left Naruto's house.
Naruto let out a sigh as he sat down on his couch and looked at the photograph.
"I really hope I can successfully Henge into him and all...Since I haven't seen him in person, it's going to be hard. But you know! I should manage. I managed to make Sexy no Jutsu with just photo material reference and looking at real women too! Though..."
Naruto laid the picture down on the small table in front of him, "This will be a tough one...If it actually comes to that, I'll have to see how well I can manage to do it!"
Naruto yawned and stretched out before picking up the picture again, "All right. Time to head to bed."
He put the picture down next to his bed and held out his fist towards it, "If I need to start looking like you to do this, then that will be another I owe you, Yondaime."
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Village of Sand, Temari ran up the stairs of the mansion where she and her siblings lived. Mail always arrived late in the village, since most of the time it's too warm during the day for postmen to deliver letters.
Temari had received a letter from Konoha, which surprised her more than the fact that she actually received mail for once. However, she was absolutely knocked off her feet when she read the letter, which she found out to be a love letter, written by a guy she didn't even know by name. Yet this guy was asking her out on a date and that he was willing to travel all the way to her for it too.
Temari stormed through the hall rather loudly, but her steps quickly softened as she reached Gaara's room. She opened the door and stuck her head inside, "Gaara?"
No response, unlike usual. Ever since Gaara's encounter with the Akatsuki, he had lost the demon inside him, but still retained his control over sand. It was some of the knowledge that he hadn't lost when they took his demon from him.
However, with the demon gone, he could also finally sleep for the first time in his life and he quickly realized that he was quite fond of sleeping, as Temari and Kankuro had noticed.
After his first night of sleep, Gaara came down into the living room whistling, gave her a hug, patted her brother on the shoulder before making breakfast for all three of them.
It bothered her at first, since she wasn't used to a stress-free Gaara at all, but now she enjoyed Gaara being cheerful in the morning and being a more lively person around them in general. So, most of the time she'd rather have him sleep through the entire night, even if there were still nights where he kept his usual night-owl behaviour up and just didn't have to sleep.
She somewhat missed the times where she could always just casually walk into his room, as he was the only person to listen to any of her problems at night. She hoped to find him doing more Kazekage business tonight as well, but unfortunately, he was already lying in his bed and seemed to be quietly sleeping.
Temari walked up to his bed, where she lightly shook him to wake him from his slumer,"Gaara, sorry to wake you up, but...You and me, we're going to head for Konohagakure right now."
Gaara groaned for a moment and then looked at he and, since he was still a light sleeper, it didn't take long for him to wake up at all.
"Why?" He asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Because someone there really likes me and I want to know who it is!" Temari truthfully stated.
"Fine...We'll go meet the person who likes you...As long as I can sleep on the way there..." Gaara said as he got out of bed, threw his teddy into his gourd.
"Thank you, Gaara! You're the best! I'll lead the way tonight, so you can just peacefully sleep!"
"Ahuh, sure..." Gaara said as he stretched.
Temari headed out of her little brother's room so he could change his clothes and pack, just like she would have to do in a moment.
"I wonder what he's like...This is the first time a guy sent me a love letter...!" Temari smiled, sounding a lot more girlish than usual before she loudly squealed out of excitement to meet her secret admirer.