WARNING: This chapter contains adult material. Please note that the rating of this fan fiction has been changed to M. Rated M based on sexual content, violent material, and vulgar language. Proceed with caution.
Sunday morning, bright and early. Saturday was easy. I sat around the house all day and did pretty much nothing. It was my well deserved break from Friday night, which had been hectic. Even this morning, I swore I could still taste Sasuke in my morning breath. A punishment for doing wrong, I supposed, or at least almost doing wrong. I had stopped him before the situation had gotten too out of hand. I was praying that Sunday would be the end of the world, I wanted more than anything not to have to go to work tomorrow. If I quit, I wouldn't have to see Sasuke, and probably never Naruto again. I could call Kiba and we could live happily ever after or something along those lines.
For a moment I seriously considered quitting, but I remember how much rent was. I just got my first paycheck last Friday, and it was more than two of Temari's plus all her tips. I couldn't do that to her, to us. I loved our apartment and so did she. Temari worked morning on Sunday, so by one o'clock she was home.
"Rough morning. This day care came in for breakfast, it was crazy!" She said pulling an orange soda out of the fridge. I was leaning against the wall. "I've never had to deal with so many screaming kids in my life! Three of us had to handle the orders." She sighed.
"I'm sorry," I said. "But they tipped well, right?"
"Oh yea." She grinned at me. Temari pulled out a ten thousand yen bill. "Oh and this." She then pulled out a five thousand yen bill. "I got this from this really cute guy, and look, there's a number on it." She grinned. "He told me to call him."
"Cool, you know I was thinking about calling Kiba tonight. Maybe going out on a date, for real." I said casually. "Maybe you should call . . ."
"Lee." She nodded.
"Yea, maybe you should call Lee, and we can all four go out. Kind of like a double date." Temari's eyes lit up. "No clubs." I added.
The light died a little. "Oh well, it'll be nice." She smiled softly. She seemed excited, I was too.
I called Kiba soon after that.
---
"Hey Beautiful, I thought you'd never call." He said after I greeted him with a hello.
"Yea. Sorry. I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight. Temari has a date and she wanted us to tag along." I said softly.
"Tag along? Why don't we go somewhere nice, just the two of us?"
I bit my lower lip. "Hmm, that sounds nice too." I was smiling.
"Good, so we'll be alone tonight?" Even his voice was gorgeous, kind of silky.
"Yea." I smiled still.
"How about Kuusou?" He suggested.
"Sounds fancy, and expensive." I hesitated.
"I'll buy, I'll buy." He assured me.
"Alright." I smiled again. "You know, this is really sweet of you."
"Anything for you, Beautiful." His voice was so smooth, it was really hard to deny him.
"Thanks." I blushed, even over the phone.
"It's nothing." I could hear the grin in his voice. "I'll pick you up at eight."
"Ok, see you then."
Click.
---
I was ready by seven-thirty. Breaking the news to Temari was no fun, but she took it pretty well. Soon enough, Kiba was buzzing on the doorbell.
"Be down in a minute." I called into the mic.
"Goodluck," Temari smiled as I grabbed my purse. "I'll see you when I get home, Lee will be here soon."
"Bye dear, love ya'." I said heading out the door.
I made my way down the stairs and met Kiba at the front door to the building. He hailed a taxi and we road down town, chatting casually. He had his arm around my shoulders, and I was sitting very close to him in the backseat. When we finally go to the restaurant he held the door open for me as we walked in, and he pulled out my chair. He was such a gentleman!
"So Ino, tell me a little about you, I hardly know you." He sipped his wine. The food hadn't arrived yet.
"Well I work for Sakura Kiss, which is a design and modeling collaboration company. I work as the errand girl so it's nothing that big." I shrugged sipping my water. No liquor for me tonight.
"Ah. I love Hachiu's designs." He grinned and pointed to his shoes. They were a pair from one of his recent releases. "Cost me a fortune, but I gotta' look nice." He added.
"Oh, so you're a fashion buff, yourself?" Things were going all too well.
"Well, I guess you could say that. I'm not so much into fashion as I am into looking nice, and expensive." He laughed lightly.
"Speaking of expenses, this must have cost a pretty penny." I snuck it into the conversation.
"Oh no, don't worry about it. I have plenty of money to spend." He assured me.
"But you're only a bartender." I felt a little bad for pointing out his little income.
"Well yea, but that's just for fun. I'm going to med school, which my parents are paying for." He grinned across the table at me.
"Ah, a doctor, are you?"
"Aspiring." He nodded.
"Why the bartending, then?" I was a bit curious.
"Well it's fun. I like mixing drinks, and talking to pretty girls all night, like yourself." He still smirked at me.
"You're so charming."I smiled softly. I set my hand down and he lightly set his on top of mine.
"Why thank you." He smiled warmly.
He was looking right into my eyes. He seemed so perfect suddenly; our first encounter was anything but classy. But this, this was nice, really nice. He was so charming, and promising, how could I ever have considered passing this up? He slipped his fingers underneath mine and now he was holding my hand. His thumb classically caressed the top of my hand. I could feel the pinkness in my cheeks, and the stars in my eyes. This was turning out to be the absolute perfect date.
"Ino." I heard someone hiss as they approached me from behind.
I tore my eyes away from Kiba and turned around to face the unknown summoner. It was Temari! "Temari, what are you doing here?" I sounded alarmed and disgusted.
"Ino I need to talk to you." It sounded urgent.
"Could you excuse me for just one moment?" I turned back to Kiba, I felt so bad about this. He nodded and Temari pulled me down the aisle of tables until we came to the foyer of the restaurant. "Alright, what are you doing here?"
"Lee brought me here. I made sure we didn't disturb you." She assured me.
"Oh yea, some great job you did of that." I snapped. "Interrupting me in the middle of my date." I was a bit perturbed.
"Sorry, but when I was on my way to the bathroom I saw this." She pulled me over to a set of huge French doors, they were cracked slightly.
I peeked between them, in sheer horror. "What?!" I hissed.
Behind the door was a large dining room with twelve or thirteen small round tables on the floor, and a long white table on a platform on the wall opposite of the door. Every seat in the dining room was full, and at the head table there sat Naruto, the blue haired woman, and the red haired man. Naruto sat to the left of the man with the red hair and the bridge piercings, who was sitting to the left of the woman with the blue hair. The red haired man was standing up, toasting, it appeared.
"What?" I whispered. "That can't be right; Naruto is marrying her, not him. What's going on, Temari?" I looked at her frantically.
"No, when I passed by he was toasting the happy couple, had a very nice speech, but the point is: He's single!" She squealed. I started marching away from the scene. "Ino, where are you going?"
"Back to my date, Temari." I sneered at her.
"Oh, right." She followed behind me. She took a seat at her table which was on the other end of the dining room as mine.
I went and sat back with Kiba. Our food had arrived, but he had waited, like a true gentleman. "Sorry about all that." I sincerely meant it. Temari made a big mistake just now. As soon as I was over Naruto, she had to bring him up again.
"It's ok." He smiled at me. Surely that face wouldn't throw me down a flight of stairs, or hit me, or anything. But how could Naruto? He seemed so sweet, like he couldn't hurt a fly.
I shook the thought away and spun my fork into my spaghetti. "Still I didn't expect Temari to be here, I explain to her. I'm really, really sorry." I pleaded.
"No, no. It's fine, really. We're still alone, aren't we?" He smiled softly at me.
I nodded. Kiba seemed so sweet, but I had once thought Naruto was so sweet, maybe I was wrong about Kiba too. I didn't like thinking about it too much, so I did what I knew would work. I noticed out waiter walking down the aisle towards our table. I waved him down.
"Could I get a glass of Brandy?" I asked. "If you don't mind, Kiba." I looked at him sort of asking permission.
"Go right ahead Beautiful." He nodded with a smile. He seemed to always be smiling.
The rest of our date was anything but simple. We finished eating, and then the check came, we left just as Naruto's party was getting out, but I managed to avoid him in the foyer, but that was it. I stood next to Kiba on the sidewalk, he was trying to hail a cab, and I was trying really, really hard to be invisible. To no avail of course. I saw Naruto notice me, and then begin walking towards me. I quickly grabbed Kiba's hand and pulled him closer to me. He looked down at me with a slightly confused look on his face.
"Hey, Ino." Naruto called as he approached us.
Both me and Kiba turned to face him. I held his hand tight, fingers laced, my nails were probably digging into his skin, but I wasn't about to let go. "Oh hi, Naruto." I greeted him smugly.
"Oh, so this guy is Naruto." Kiba cocked an eyebrow at the blond haired man. They seemed to be about the same height, but Kiba seemed to have a buffer build than Naruto. Something else that didn't match up with my recent perception of him.
"Yes, and you are?" He cocked an eyebrow back at Kiba.
I noticed Kiba puffing up and becoming irritated. "He's my date!" I broke the mild silence between them and raised our clasped hand to show Naruto.
"Oh, I see." He sounded shattered.
"Yea." Kiba sounded cocky suddenly. This was a different Kiba than I had seen in the restaurant. But any guy would be like this around his new girl's ex. Well, Naruto wasn't my ex, per say, but he was close enough for Kiba. "Come on Ino, we won't let this guy ruin our date." He wrapped his arm around me, but I couldn't help staring at Naruto. He wouldn't look at me, just past me.
"I'll see you around, maybe, Ino." He said softly. "Bye."
A cab was hailed and Kiba let me in. I smiled softly, and convincingly, even though I wasn't very happy at the moment. He slid into the seat next to me, and kissed me gently on the lips. I kissed him back, but only because the taxi was already moving. He was a really good guy, so I didn't understand why I wanted to get away from him. He was sweet, and kind to me. Not to mention he had money, and he always would. But that was no reason to stay with him. Not that we were official or anything like that, but things were going so nicely, I figured we would be soon.
---
We went back to Kiba's apartment. It was really nice. It was huge, twice the size of mine, like a loft or something. Surely Daddy's money was paying for it. He was only a bartender after all. He walked through the dark area and found a remote on the coffee table. He pushed a button and the entire apartment seemed to light up.
"Welcome to my humble abougou." He smiled over at me. I was still standing by the door, half in awe of the sheer massiveness of his home. The ceilings were so high. "Come and sit with me." He plopped down on his pretty black leather couch and patted the spot next to him.
I timidly moved away from the door and took a seat next to him. He wrapped his arm around me again and smiled. I was starting to feel better about this again. I rested my head on his chest again. Almost routinely, he leaned down to kiss me again, and things were back underway as they had been at my apartment.
This time when he pulled me to my feet, I protested. "I don't know Kiba. I don't really want to sleep with you just yet." I said pulling my hand out of his grasp softly. He let go of my hand but then he grabbed my arm, a little firmer this time.
"We've already done it, once. It's fine." He grinned.
"I was drunk. I don't want things to be like this, yet." I tried to shake him loose. "I really like you." I admitted timidly.
Kiba smiled down at me and pulled me close to him. Pressing his body against mine. "If you really like me, then why not give me what I want?" He posed.
"Because it's our first date, and I don't want that." I demanded feeling irritated. A little bretayed even. He seemed so sweet, but he was beginning to sound slimey.
"C'mon." He groaned. "Just a little something, we don't have to have sex, you could just do a little somethin' somethin' for me." He grinned down at me evilly. His eyes were dirty, and his voice was sultry.
"No! I will not do that!" I cried trying to push him away from me. I was beginning to feel like Friday night was repeating itself all over again, except this time was worse. Sasuke stopped, but Kiba didn't seem like he was going to.
"It'll be fine, you'll love it." He grinned still holding me tighter. This was the disadvantage to him being so much 'buffer' than Naruto. If I needed to I probably could manage to fight Naruto off, but not this guy. "You'll probably enjoy it more than me." He said forcing me back down to the couch.
"Kiba, I'm not going to do that!" I was practically screaming. On the outside I was saying it to him, but on the inside I was trying to convince myself of that fact.
I tried to stand up but he pushed me down. At least Sasuke had the courtesy to let me enjoy it all. He started unzipping his pants as I hit the couch cushion this was all happening way too fast. He didn't say a word as he pulled his penis out, but he stared down at me with an evil light in his eyes as he stuck it in my face. I turned my head away from him as the tears started to flood my eyes. They stained my cheeks just as he grabbed my chin and forced me to face him, still staring into my eye he spoke.
"What aren't you going to do?" He demanded. I clasped my lips so tight, and took in a deep, long breath through my nose, dead set on not 'talking dirty' to him. "Sat it." He said, his voice sounded harsh, and scary. He strength was suddenly so real.
"I'm not …" I stopped feel another rush of tears burn my cheeks, and dripping onto his fingers which were still on my chin. "I'm not going to…" I could bring myself to say it. "Suck you." I felt my dinner creeping up my throat. It sounded more disgusting than it was probably going to taste.
"What? What are you going to suck?" His voice was like knives, it cut my heart every time he spoke.
I fought back the spaghetti fighting its way into my mouth. "Your…." I swallowed hard. It wasn't sure if I wanted to swallow the word or my guts. "Your d-dick." I said feeling filthy just thinking about it.
"Oh, but you are going to."
"No!" I cried thrusting my chin out of his grip. I jumped up, and he grabbed me. He tried to push me back down, but I somehow managed to break free from his arms. I grabbed my little purse with what little cash I had in it, and my cell phone and I ran.
I ran all the way down the hall and toward the elevator, and I ran out the door and down the street until I came to a phone booth. I had my phone with me, but at this point it wasn't going to do me any good. When I made my way out of the phone booth I waved down a cad. One finally stopped. I jumped in quickly and shut the door violently behind me.
"Where to?" The man in the front seat asked.
"This address, please." I said handing him a page out a phone book with an address circled on it in thick pink lipstick that matched the shade I was wearing. I sniffled back my runny nose and wiped the running mascara off my face; only managing to smear it in a sweep upward towards my hairline. I must've looked like hell. Even the cab driver was curious.
"You ok, Miss?" He said, sounding more obligated to ask than concerned.
"Yea. I'm fine. Just take me the address." I reminded him.
He nodded and pulled away from the curb.
---
After probably forty minutes of driving we found our way to the address circled on the page. It was a big building that looked a little like mine, only nicer. There was s doorman, and everything. I paid the man with the last bills I had, and I stepped out of the cab, thanking him on my way out.
"No problem. " He assured me. I must have left him a big tip.
He lived on the opposite side of the Fashion District as me, and on the completely opposite side of the city as Kiba. Which was a good thing, I was miles and miles away from him, and it felt good.
The doorman stopped me as I walked up to the big glass doors leading to the inside of the building. "Who are you seeing?"
"Mr. Kumuzai." I said. My voice was all crackly. I still felt scared. I couldn't look men in the eyes anymore. I didn't even look up at the doorman.
"Alright." He nodded and held the door open for me.
I eventually found my way up to his apartment door. I stood there staring at the gold numbers 968 on the smooth black painted door. It matched all the others. I gripped the paper in my hand, and sniffed once again. I knocked on the door and waited for a moment. No one answered, I swallowed hard. I wanted more than anything for him to be there. I knocked one more time and just as I was about to leave I heard him calling.
"Hold on! I'll be there in just a second!" I had never been so happy to hear his voice. It was like a saving grace, exactly what I needed right now. But even so, I couldn't bring myself to smile. He flung open the door, counting some bills in his hand. "What was the check, again?" He said looking back up at me. I felt my face grow twisted and the tears start pouring out of my eyes again. I was scared, and happy, and confused, and angry all at the same time. "Ino?" He whispered, his voice sounded soft and concerned. "What are you doing here?"
I didn't look up at him when he called my name, but when he begged for the reason behind my presence tilted my head up at him slightly. The tears must have been shimmering on my skin, because I could almost see his heart drop.
"Are you ok?" He grabbed my shoulders.
"Yea…" I sniffed again. "I guess so." I finally looked up at him all the way. Looking into his eyes killed me. My face became scrunched again and I buried my face in his shoulder and cried.
He wrapped his arms around me for a second, and then he pushed me off of his just far enough to be able to look at my face. "What on Earth happened?" He said softly. "Oh God, where are my manners, please come in." He pulled me inside gently and showed me to his couch.
I sat down, and he scurried to the kitchen. "Can I have some water?" I called.
"Yea, of course. Hold on."
I looked around his apartment. It was small, very small, enough for one single guy. But even if it was small, it was extremely high end, and very masculine. The walls were a dark wood, and the floor matched. There was a rug on the floor, it was white, and spotlessly clean. His couches were black and leather, a lot like Kiba's only the backs were low, and resemble more of a bench than a seat back. His entire back wall was a window, and there were black curtains from ceiling to floor, not drawn. His TV was on, but I wasn't watching it. I was amazed at the cleanliness of his house, oh and I was still pretty shaken by the hour's past event.
"Here you go." He said placing a glass of cold water in my hand. He took a seat on the matching chair catty-corner to the cushion I was sitting on. He looked at me concerned. "Please tell me what's wrong." He begged. "I can't think of any logical reason you might be here, how did you even find me?" So many questions.
"I found you in the phonebook." I smiled a little taking a sip of my water and set it down on the end table to the left of me.
"How sleuthy of you." He smiled a little himself. "Now tell me, what's wrong?"
I swallowed hard. I supposed the whole ordeal wasn't as bad as I seemed to think it was. Maybe it was, I was almost raped, after all. "Well, after we left Kuusou we went back to Kiba's place." I looked up at him. "My date." I said feeling the words heavy in my throat. I was so played by him.
"Yes?" He sounded genuinely concerned.
"When we got there… He tried to make me…." I didn't want to have to say it again. It tasted bad just thinking about it. I looked away from him, his eyes were so soft and inviting, but I still was having a hard time looking at him considering he was a man. Suddenly all the men in my life seemed evil. Even Naruto if his reputation truly proceeded him. Remembering what I had come to believe of him, I felt uncomfortable.
"I'm so sorry." He said. "I'm here for you."He set his hand on the arm of the couch. I was beginning to feel like I could truly trust him.
"Thank you so much." I said quietly.
"But can I ask you something?"
I nodded.
"Why did you come. . . Here?" He asked me gently. "Not that I mind, I just don't know why you would come here and not to Temari. Who I thought was your boyfriend in the first place, but I guess I was confused…." He trailed off.
"Well actually Temari is a girl, and she is my best friend. I live with her." I admitted.
"Ah, I see." He said, I noticed his cheeks pinken slightly. "Well then I am left even more baffled. Why wouldn't you go to her side for this matter? I'm simply curious." That may be, but I could tell he was fishing for information.
To be honest, I had never given it any thought. Why did I come to him? It seemed like natural instinct to go to him, and by pass Temari. But for the absolute life of me I could not fathom why that was. "I don't know." I said honestly. "I think I just felt like…. Like I owed you. I treated you so horribly, and I ignored you for that, for him. I actually stopped talking to you so I go pursue him." My heart crumbled again.
"I love your honesty." He smiled a little.
"Thanks…" I sighed.
"But you don't owe me anything." He said humbly.
"Of course I do!" I protested. "I was so rude to you, and for no good reason."
"For your own safety, I'm sure." He practically cut me off.
"Wha-what do you mean?" I played dumb.
"Come on Ino, the office you work in…." He started. "I'm sure you've heard about it by now." He looked ashamed.
"Oh, Naruto…" I said feeling guilty. "Well, is it true?" I asked, I needed to know.
"You won't believe me, no one does. Why would they? The sweet, angel, innocent goddess of beauty is on the stand, and her finger is pointed at me. The whole world thinks I'm a wife beater. How can I not be?" I could hear the disgust in his voice.
"I believe you." I said softly.
"I just loved her so much…." His voice was heavy with pain. "She'd leave me in the morning, and not come back until late at night, and I always knew what was going on. I knew Sasuke didn't need her there all day for his designs. It's like when the money started flowing, they didn't care about anything after that. They didn't care about me, they didn't care about Sasuke's designs, they didn't care about us. It was only her. The princess.
"She always got what she wanted, and the second I tried to take it away from her, she freaked. She couldn't stand that I had caught her, and when I tried to make her end it… It was very late, and we had been fighting all night. I was so angry about the situation all the time, and I always held it in, but I wasn;t having it tonight. She was leaving me, for real this time, she swore. I was so mad at her, I loved her with every fiber of my being, but she didn't care. I wasn't the artist, I didn't have talent, and when Sasuke dumped my dead weight, I'd have no money, she promised. I was going nowhere, I was a loser, and she was too good for me. I hated her even more, because no matter what she said to me all the way down the stairs I loved her the entire time.
"We finally reached the front door to the building, there was a single flight of stone stairs leading to the sidewalk outside the building, and when we reached them I grabbed her arm. I begged her to stay; I told her I would do anything. I told her I loved her. She simply spat at me, like I was trash. I was a loser, she reminded me one more time. She tried to pull herself away from me, but I wouldn't let go of her arm. That was the only legitimate bruise I gave her.
"She yanked away from me one more time, and when she did she fell. She fell and she tumbled down those stairs. I watched, and I think….. I think maybe a little tiny part of my wanted to see her fall. But still. I ran down the stairs to help her, but she pulled herself to her feet on her own, and somehow she managed to run away. She ran away from me like I pushed her, like my fucking fingerprints were on her back. I hated her more than I had ever hated anyone in my whole life, but still…… I STILL loved her."
His voice cracked at the end of his story. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes behind the stressed blond hairs hanging in his eyes. He pushed them back with his with his left hand and leaned back on his chair. At some point during the story he had hunched himself up with his elbows on his knees. I couldn't speak, the whole thing was so intense.
"She went to him, of course she did, where else would she go?" He sighed. "Sasuke came to my apartment, personally and fired me inevitably ending our lifelong friendship. A year later he launched Sakura Kiss and has never looked back. "He looked up at me, wiping the tears out of his eyes before they had a chance to fall.
"Wow." I honestly didn't know what else to say.
"I know….." He said looking away from me. Directly in front of him, probably at nothing.
"Well I don't believe Sakura could give a more convincing performance if she tried." I tried to lighten the mood.
Naruto stood up next to the chair to stretch. "She never was good at acting. Modeling was her only talent. In high school her monologues sucked, but she was always voted most beautiful in class." He sighed a little. "Her damned beauty always saved her ass, because it's the only thing she has." I could almost feel the hate in his voice. He basically spat the words at me.
"So you work for Neji, now." I pushed the conversation in another direction.
"No, no, no. Not more about me. I turned this whole thing into me, and it should be about you." I could tell that he felt guilty. "I'm sorry Ino. I talk way too much." He plopped back down in the chair.
I shook my head. So many thoughts were running through my head right now. Things were flying around like how horrible Sakura and Sasuke had been to Naruto; how bad I felt for him because they completely betrayed him; how sweet he was for caring so much about my well being; how I felt special because he was willing to share the honest to God truth with me, even the bad parts; how amazingly, awkwardly adorable he was; how I was such an ass for even letting the rumors sway me for even a second; but mostly how much I had never wanted to kiss anyone so bad before in my entire life.
"Please take the subject off of m- "He started. I jumped up from my seat and put my hands around his face and forced hit lips into mine.
I kissed him, and I mean I kissed him hard. Harder and more passionately than I had ever kissed anyone, ever, and probably ever could. I felt him tense under my lips; his posture suddenly straightened and I felt him melt back into place. He kissed me back for a minute, and then pulled away. Not completely, and not violently, but enough or me to get the message that he wanted me to stop. I took a step back.
"What are you doing?" He asked sounding seriously confused, he came to his feet.
"I just…." I felt my face begin to burn. "I wanted you." I admitted. "I still want you." I wrapped my arms around his neck and attempted to kiss him again.
"No Ino," Hee denied me and pushed me away, gently. "You're just feeling vulnerable. After a night like you've had you need to relax. You can't go jumping into the arms of the first man you think you can trust."
He was almost on target with that one. I wanted him because I knew I could trust him, and that was exactly it. I KNEW I could trust him. Not only that but I wanted him; I wanted to be with him; I wanted him to love me like he had loved Sakura. I knew he was what I wanted.
"No, Naruto. Please." I touched his arm.
He backed away from me. "No, I won't be your rebound." He said firmly. "If you want to be with me, you have to wait until you are truly able minded enough to decide so." He grabbed my shoulders softly, but still firmly.
"But I know I want to be with you. I know right now. I want it right now." My voice was turning frantic.
He smiled down at me a little. "Shh, relax. I'll have you," He said and kissed me on the forehead. "But I just want you to be ok first. You had a rough night." He reminded me.
I nodded compliantly.
"I will sleep on the couch, you go to my bedroom. There are clean clothes in there; you can wear one of my shirts to bed." He directed me toward his room.
I nodded again and started walking towards his room.
"Ino hold on." He called.
I still silently turned to face him.
He grabbed me gently and kissed me again. On the lips this time, almost like I had kissed him, but let needy and more accepting. It was soft, and loving. It was just what I needed. He was just what I needed.
"Goodnight." He said putting his forehead to mine. I looked into his eyes. They looked happy, they looked warm and loving.
I smiled a little, but I couldn't speak still. I walked through the doorway to his room, and shut the door behind me.
After washing up in the master bath, and finding a comfy shirt to sleep in I laid down on his neatly made bed. I looked around his room. It was as clean and beautifully put together as his living room had been. I noticed that his closet door was open, so I stood back up and waltzed over to it. He had a lot of nice button up shirt hanging in it, and about six different sweater vests. It was his normal attire. Every time I had seen him, he was wearing one. First button unbuttoned, sleeves messily rolled up, black leather belt, khaki pants, and nice black dress shoes. There were also multiple pairs of khaki pants hanging up neatly, a line of black shoes at the bottom. He was such a routine, cleanly man. I recognized a khaki suit coat hanging on the far left side of the closet. I recognized it from the time I had met him in his office with Neji. It was the only time I had ever seen him out of his normal uniform. He looked very dapper in it.
I wandered away from his closet and then to his dresser that shared a wall with the bathroom door. There were a few pictures of him sitting up in frames in front of his mirror. There was one of him looking very young. His arm was swung around a pink haired girl, and both their teeth gleamed with a set of braces. I could only assume it was Sakura. They had been in love, it seemed, from a very young age. There was another picture with Naruto in it. He was standing between a blond haired man that looked almost exactly like him, and a woman with ridiculously long red hair. He was wearing a cap and gown. At Under the frame was a short gold ribbon, it read ' Class of '99 '. I almost gasped at the date on the ribbon. By the time Naruto was graduating, I was just in the sixth grade! I had never noticed that he was so much older than me, by what appeared to be five or six years even.
I plopped back down on the edge of his bed and thought about what it was going to be like to date an older man. I grinned a little on the inside and scooted back to the middle of the bed where I planned on sleeping. I checked my cell phone one more time before I went to bed, no messages from Temari. That was odd, it was nearly three in the morning by now, she must have assumed I was staying with Kiba. The name now tasted bitter, even just to think it made me sick. I set the phone on the end table nearest to me. I pulled the covers out from under me and laid down beneath them, shutting off the lamp when I was comfortable. I left the bathroom light on, I was still uneasy about being aloen, and sleeping after my ordeal with Kiba. I closed my eyes, and I was out.
---
I woke up the next morning to Naruto waking me gently. He shook me softly as he called my name.
"Ino." He said. "It's about six-forty-five. I wasn't sure when you needed so I thought this would be good enough."
I turned over to face him. I was still sleepy. I had hardly enough sleep, but I had to work. "Oh thank you Naruto." I whispered smiling up at him.
"I made you some waffles. They're from the freezer, because I mostly eat out a lot." He admitted. "Sorry…"
"Oh no, it's ok." I sat up as he set the plate in my lap. "Thank you so much." I was a little nervous to look him in the eye, I felt like a little school girl, all shy. He was sitting on the bed next to me. "You're so sweet."
"No, I'm just a god guy. You need to be treated like a lady, right now. I'll be glad to do it." He smiled at me warmly.
I could only smile.
I ate my waffles and put my date clothes back on so I could wear them to work. They would have to do. Luckily I had my essential make up in my purse I'd brought on the date. By the time I was ready for work, I had some time to spare. I walked into the kitchen, Naruto was sitting at his bar over a bowl of Coaco Pebbles. He turned and watched me make my way to the sink with a glass in hand. I took a sip of my water, and smiled over the bar at him.
"You look beautiful this morning." He said sounding absent minded, as if he had been stunned by my beauty. Which was a ridiculous thought, considering he was once with Naruho Sakura, the most beautiful woman on the planet. I noticed him look away from me, like he had said something he hadn't meant to.
"I look horrible right now." I said coyly as I set my glass down on the counter.
"No, no. Really." He admitted. "You look perfect." He smiled at me.
"Thank you." I smiled feeling myself blush again. At this rate, my face was going to turn completely red, and never turn back. "For everything you did last night, and this morning."
He nodded. "Just doin' what's right."
"You didn't have to do all that." I said.
"No, but I wanted to… For you." He said honestly.
My heart melted a little bit. I walked around the counter, and when I reached him on the other side of the bar I wrapped my arms loosely around his neck and rested them on his shoulders. He stiffened up again, and once again melted back into place. He touched my right forearm with his right hand and sighed.
"Thank you, again." I whispered and kissed him on the cheek.
We left the apartment at the same time. We waited on the sidewalk together for a cab, and when he hailed on for me, I worked up to guts to kiss him on the lips again. Quickly, but still gently this time.
"I'll see you sometime, soon." I said as I got in. "Call me some time since I left you my number." I smiled.
He nodded and shut the door for me. The cab pulled away and I watched him hail another one for himself. He road two cars behind me until mine stopped at my building. I paid the man with some money Naruto had lent me. He was so sweet. When I walked inside the building I remembered the awkward scene from Friday. I prayed I still had a job here.
I walked into the office, right on time, possibly a few minutes early. Things looked as they normally did. Mr. Hachiu's door was shut, and Hinata was sitting at her desk, clackity-clacking away on her keyboard as usual. I liked this, things looked like they were going to be alright.
"Mr. Hachiu wants to see you." Hinata said without looking up from her computer screen. I was never sure what she was doing on the computer, but it always sounded important.
My law clenched and I felt stiff. I by passed my desk and went directly into his office without setting my purse down. I could only hope he had an immediate delivery for me to make, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.
"Take a seat." He said without swiveling to face me.
I obediently sat in the high backed chair opposite his desk. "Yessir?" I said timidly.
"About the other night…" He turned and looked at me.
Oh God. This was not what I wanted to talk about right now. "Yessir, what about it?" I played along.
He looked around the room for a moment, and then stood. He waltzed around and stood next to me as he had on our last encounter. Just as before he placed his hand on my cheek, and caressed it. I looked away from him just enough to remove his hand from my face.
"I quite enjoyed it, and was disappointed that I was not allowed to finish it." He admitted.
"Mr. Hachiu –"
"Sasuke."He reminded me.
"Sasuke…" I started. "You are married. You are my boss. We can't finish it." I said feeling nervous, afraid to lose my job.
He pulled his hand away from the vicinity of my face, and slid it into his coat pocket. "I see." He said softly. "That's all for now, then." He nodded walking back around his desk and sat in his chair. I turned to leave, but I was stopped. "Oh wait, Ino." He called. "I need you to pick up an order from… Neji." He said the name with much disgust.
I nodded and made my way to Neji. Business as usual.
---
That night, I returned home, and Temari bombarded me with questions about my date.
"I don't want to talk about the date." I said sternly.
"Why the hell not? You stayed the night with him."
I knew I couldn't avoid the bad part if I wanted to tell her the best part. I sighed. "It's a looong story."
I sat on the couch reviewing it all to her, every disturbing detail, until I came to the news I wanted to tell her. It took almost two hours to get through the whole thing. She had to question me after every sentence. It was just Temari, I was used to it by now.
"Oh my God. That's a lot to take in at once." She sighed after I finished relaying her of my night with Naruto.
"I know, imagine me living it!" I cried. "First, I was nearly raped by the scum of the Earth, and then I found myself at Naruto's apartment, and THEN I learned the whole story behind Sakura's drama with Naruto, and then…" I stopped feeling butterflies rise in my stomach.
"And then what?" Temari prodded some more.
"And then I kissed him." I said meekly. My voice all airy with fluster and excitement.
"Really?" She squealed with joy.
"Yea." I nodded biting my bottom lip. Temari had the tendency of acting like a school girl, but I was truly feeling like one. I grinned to myself remembering it all.
"And then what?" She sounded eager to hear the rest.
"He denied me. He told me he didn't want to be my rebound, and he sent me to bed in his bed while he slept on the couch." I was still grinning.
"Oh..." Temari calmed and frowned at me.
"No, no. That was good." I assured her. "He wants to be with me. He just wanted to make sure I was sure I wanted to be with him."
"And you do, right?"
"Of course I do!" I cried.
"That's great!" She squealed again.
Riiing. Riiing.
My phone started going off.
"Oh! It's him! Shh." I said. Temari leaned closed to me to listen to both ends of the conversation. Were surely were a bunch of school girls.
"Ino?" His voice called through the other line.
"Yea?"
"Oh hey, you told me to call you some time…" He started. "I think guys aren't supposed to call until three days later, or something, but I just couldn't wait. I wanted to know if maybe, you wanted to… I don't know see a movie, have dinner, something, anything?" He seemed to be begging. He was still so awkwardly adorable, I loved it.
"Sure. Yea. Why don't you come to my place, we can order in and watch a movie here." I replied. My voice was full of excitement. I really felt like a teenager again.
"Alright, great."I could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll be there soon."
"Ok." I smiled myself. "Bye, Naruto." I added.
"Bye." He said.
Click.
I thought about it while I had the time between Temari's bombardment, that was probably the only goodbye I ever got when hanging up with someone. Soon enough, Naruto was on my door step, he had a huge paper bag filled with Chinese food, enough for all three of us. He was a true gentleman after all. He wanted to include Temari in our little date.
We sat next to each other on the big couch and Temari popped in the movie. It was something scary, the letters were written in blood. This promised gore. I was a little irritated because I could tell Temari was setting me up for a scare. I didn't stress it. A good ten minutes into the movie, Naruto actually pulled the whole yawn and stretch move. I smiled at him, and cuddled right up to him. He leaned his cheek on my head, and held me tight. I was too wrapped up in the perfectness of this moment to notice the bloody scene on the screen; I assumed Naruto felt the same considering he didn't jump at all when one of the characters' head got cut off.
After the movie, Naruto went home. He kindly gave us the leftovers of the Chinese food. He kissed me goodnight passionately, but not in a lusty way. I knew at this point it was definitely official. I went to bed on cloud nine that night.
---
The next couple of months progressed smoothly and rather routinely. As our relationship grew, Naruto and I got slightly more intimate, but only slightly and nothing more. Slightly more meaning instead of being coy and shy around each other we started become more comfortable around each other.
We started acting a lot less like high school students and a lot more like a real adult couple. I was quite ready for the transition. I was so excited around the time of our one month anniversary. It was a silly little celebration, something resembling what a teenage couple could do, but our one year anniversary was forever and day away. I found myself growing excited because I was almost sure we were finally going to… At a lack of better terminology, do it. I had wanted to for so long, but I understood that Naruto wanted to wait. Which was odd, sometimes I felt like I was the immature sex crazed one in the relationship, something more like a guy. Naruto insisted her had dated plenty of times and never found any pleasure in having sex early in the relationship because it always drove things into the ground so quickly. He said he wanted to take things slow and be a little old fashioned for once. I couldn't argue because it was very sweet.
The night before our anniversary was a typical scene. We were at his place for the night, just a quiet night at home, as it often was. He had moved his coffee table into the hallway and we were sitting in his tiny living room floor watching some late night trash TV. We were having the usual casual conversation when it happened.
"What, do I have to wait until we get married to have sex with you?" I groaned.
"No, I won't make you wait that long." He grinned over at me.
"Well then when?" I begged biting a chunk out of my pizza crust.
"We have our whole lives, Ino. Don't get ahead of yourself." He reminded me.
"The rest of our lives? What is that supposed to mean?"
"As in, we don't have to wait for the honeymoon, but we don't have to rush it, you know?" He put his hand on mine.
"The honeymoon? I was just kidding about the married thing." I laughed taking another bite of my crust.
"Well maybe, but I really think I want to marry you." He smiled at me warmly. "Some day." He added.
My jaw stopped moving and I swallowed suddenly. I began hacking up my pizza.
"Ino, are you ok?" Naruto rubbed my back.
"I'm fine." I coughed lightly finally swallowing my half chewed pizza crust.
"What happened? What you don't want to marry me?" He laughed a little.
"Well, not yet!" I cried taking a large gulp of my orange soda to clear my throat.
"I know." He laughed again. "I did say someday."
I nodded. He hadn't even had sex yet and he was already hearing wedding bells. See what I meant about I felt like the man in the relationship? Things had started looking up for all of us. The collaboration fashion show between Neji and Sakura Kiss was long over. I was paying a lot less business visits to Neji. And in turn I had to spend a lot more time with Naruto outside of work, this I liked.
Something else that was looking up about work life was Mr. Hachiu, or rather Sasuke. He hadn't cornered me or anything since the last time he tried weeks and weeks ago. I was glad to see his little interest had cleared up, because I was not about to explain either Sasuke nor Naruto to one another. Mr. Hachiu might fire for fraternizing with the ' enemy ', and Naruto might actually kill him. I wasn't looking forward to a job hunt, or a funeral. Not to say I didn't catch him with his door open more often, or his feel his eyes on my back whenever I left his office. I was so confused about the whole thing. Why on Earth would he find interest in me when he was married to the most beautiful woman in the world?
Naruto's cousin's wedding had also been a hit. Thinking back on it I remember I had caught the bouquet and the thought simply gave me chills after the conversation I had just had with Naruto.
On the home stead, Temari was even a happier gal. She was never the type to be unhappy, but she was in some weird way happier than before now. She stumbled across Kankuro, again. He was happy to have found, and last I heard they were in love. How cute, right? I surely dug it because this meant I needed to spend fewer nights alone with her, which I didn't really mind them in the first place. But now that we had semi-serious relationships we didn't have to go out fishing for guys in new clubs. No way in hell were we returning to Hyoushi not after the whole Kiba thing. She found Kankuro in one of the other clubs we visited, I with my date, and her looking for one. They seemed to hit it off right from the start. I loved them now, they were so adorable, and Kankuro was a pretty good guy. I was really happy for her.
I was so excited about the future these days. I wasn't one hundred percent sure I wanted to marry Naruto, just yet. But I was seriously considering it. Like he said, we had our whole lives, no need to get ahead of ourselves.
---
I loved the fact that our anniversary landed on a Friday. This allowed me to spend the night at Naruto's house without having to worry about waking up early the next morning for work. I had decided that tonight was the night. Nothing in the world was about to stop me from sleeping with Naruto. Not even Naruto.
I went to his apartment right after work. I got off an hour and half before him, but by this point he had given me a key. I took advantage of this fact tonight. It was six o'clock and he wasn't going to get home until probably eight or so if it all worked out. I had bought a two dozen candles at this specialty shop on my lunch break. I managed to get out of the quiz Hinata gave me about the God awful candles that were stinking up the office without mentioning Naruto's name. She almost asked, but I had to do another delivery, and just in time.
I set them all up around his bedroom. Taking on the role of sex crazed, pants wearing, man once again I ran out very quickly to buy enough roses to sprinkle around the room, and lead him to the bedroom. Luckily there was a flower shop just a block away. Before I had realized it, it was seven-thirty and time for me to change into the sexy nightgown Temari had lent me.
I ran to the master bath and stripped quickly; bra, panties, everything was gone. I slid the silky black nightgown over my head, and I had to admit I did NOT like the feeling of it rubbing against my nipples, but anything for Naruto; anything to get laid, FINALLY! I pulled my hair out of its normal ponytailed state and shook it out. It was shorter than it had been, shoulder length now, with layers. I hoped Naruto liked this sexy, messy look it was taking on.
I heard Naruto slip his key into the lock and made a mad dash for the bed. I hopped in and struck a sexy pose. I heard him approaching the room slowly, probably stalled with confusion pertaining to the rose petals. He followed them obediently and I found him standing in the door frame of his room. He looked more awed at my display of lights and flowers than interested in me, but when his eyes fell on me lying in his bed like pork on a platter for a pack of wolves he got the hint. A grin spread across his face when his eyes met mine.
"Hey." He said.
"Don't talk." I said coming to my feet and walking toward him. "You always get all tongue tied." I took his hand and pushed him down on the bed.
"I'm sorry, I thought you thought it was cute." His voice was muffled by his sweater vest which I was pulling over his head at this point.
"Shh." I ordered softly, as I proceeded to unbutton his crisp white, long sleeved shirt.
"This is all very elaborate." He said pulling the shirt off his shoulders for me. I could tell he wanted it, now.
"I wanted it to be special. It seemed like you wanted it to be special, or you wouldn't have made me wait so long." I said, hoping my voice sounded less innocent and more sultry.
"I did." He smiled up at me. I pushed him back a little, and he scooted up to the top of the bed allowing me to crawl on top of him. "Thank you." He added just before I kissed him.
I grinned down at him, so excited for the moment. I kissed him again, and again, and finally our tongue met in my mouth. I still hung over him, so with my mouth on his, I used one hand to prop myself up, and the other to fiddle with his belt. He quickly got the hint and began undoing it for me. When the belt was off I took the liberty of unbuttoning his pants, pausing from his kiss to focus on it. I could already feel that he was ready, but I wanted more. Once I had the pants were off, I swung my leg around him, and took a seat on his lap.
I bent down with my hands on his chest, kissing his neck, nipping, biting; anything to get a literal rise out of him. I felt him becoming more and more hard, and this fact helped me along. I felt his right hand leave my hip and wander up my side; they soon made their way to my breast. A squeeze for me, a bite for him, and soon enough we were ready to throw down.
He laid me down underneath him and pulled my nightgown over my head, I proceeded to pull down his boxers, they were the only things left of his body. He leaned down to kiss me. Once on the forehead, once on the lips, on the side of my face, on the top of my neck, on the nape of my neck, me collarbone, my chest, and then he stopped. He looked at me one more time, kissed me one more time, and I felt him move inside of me.
I closed my eyes feeling blissful suddenly. He moved in and then out very slowly, and evenly. I looked up at him, I needed to see his face right now. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and laid back allowing him to truly take control. He held his eyes closed for a moment until his face changed and they opened and looked into mine. A smile spread across his face and then across mine. I leaned up just enough to kiss him again. He pushed himself in and out of me again and again until he finally allowed him pace to quicken, his force also strengthened. I opened my mouth to let out a heated sigh. I could almost feel him get a little harder inside me. I could tell her enjoyed the noise I made.
"I love you." He said between breaths and thrusts.
"I love you too." I moaned softly.
Again, it was apparent he liked what I had to audibly express. I then, without much effort (if you know what I mean), let out another soft moan. He quickened a little more, and this made it a little easier to make some noise. I had wanted this so bad, and I was so, so, so happy it was finally happening. I moaned a few more times, and I soon found myself beneath a breathless Naruto. I was losing more and more control of my voice with everything thrust he had to deliver.
We stayed in this routine for what seemed like hours, but in reality it was probably only fifteen minutes. I soon found myself on top of him. He must have grown tired at some point, and I must have had a random urge for control. I supported my upper body with my hands on his chest, and rode him. I soon felt my body beginning to tense, but it was so slowly doing it. I could tell that this was not going to be like any other time, this was going to be real, and amazing. A small fire was building in my lower tummy; it was kindling itself at a creeping speed. But I loved it. I noticed that Naruto was thrusting up into me and that I wasn't working alone. I leaned down and rested myself against him, still riding. He wrapped his arms around me, and held me tight against him. I breathed deep exasperated breaths into his ear. The fire inside me was growing, bigger and bigger by the minute. I started moaning audible words, perhaps rather sounds still, but with particular annunciation. I felt his breath quicken on my skin, and I knew he was ready.
Just knowing this allowed my body to explode in a shaking glory. The fire in me was raging, and I could conceal it anymore. My whole body shook, I lost all control of my vocal cords – although they did stray far – I panted into his ear, and I could feel him pulsing inside me. I didn't want the moment to end. I had never felt so close him, to anyone ever. I knew at this moment that I was absolutely, positively, madly in love with Naruto.
I cried his name as the moment began to end and I gasped collapsing on his chest. We seemed to breathe in unison. I flipped over and laid down in the bed next to him. I closed my eyes for a moment and caught my breath, and then turned my head to look at him. My chest rose and fell violently a few good times before he opened his eyes and looked at me. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. I could tell by the sweat on his face, and the gleam in his eyes that he truly loved me, too. I rolled over and rested my head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around me and held me tight.
"I love you so much, Ino." He said between slowing gasps for air.
I couldn't answer, I was exhausted. I passed right out there in his arms.
AN: Wow. That one was pretty intense. I think it turned out pretty good, if I don't say so myself. I extremely excited to see the reviewsd for this one, so please send them in. I have everything planned out through the end of this story, so please keep the hits and reviews rolling in. I may suffer from a little writer's block now and then, but I promise if you keep sending me love I will keep posting the chapters. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and it took me ALL DAY. Review it or I'll be pissed. You should have a lot to say about it this time. lol I really look forward to posting the next chapter. As always, please don't hold the errors against me, I am far too lazy to go and fix them right away. But I worked on this FOREVER so I feel like there shouldn't be A WHOLE FUCKIN' LOT of them. DX I could be wrong. Please, my beloved readers, enjoy the chapters to come.