A/N:
I have been remiss in my repetitions of this, but; I don't own Naruto. Shocking, I know.
"Mussa fussa" grumbles. I also feel compelled to add that there will be some suggestive themes in this chapter, so if you are too young or squeamish, I suggest that you might want to read something else. Not that I've gotten complaints so far.
Anyways, now that that's over with, thank you so much for reading for reading, and special thanks for all the nice reviews. It makes me happy to know you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Let the enjoyment commence.
Chapter 7: Homecoming part 1
Hinata snuggled into her bed, trying to slow her breathing. A blush suffused her face, and her eyes slowly scanned the page of the book in her hands.
Ryu held Koriko in his powerful arms, an intense light sparkling in his dark eyes. Koriko wriggled against him, vainly trying to break free, but his stare seemed to sap the strength from her. "I could not let you go with him, not when you hold my heart in your hands." With that Ryu kissed her, his passion blasting away the last of her resistance. Her hands stopped beating against his chest, convulsively grabbing his shirt and pulling him deeper into the kiss. His hands reached down to her waist, lifting the bottom of her shirt, and his fingers traced the exposed bare skin of her back.
She was proud of herself that she never fainted anymore reading this, and she could go for a half an hour or more before she he had to stop and rest. Resting usually entailed a cold shower followed by physical training to work off the nervous tension this exercise built up. For now she endured the prickling sensation it caused, as though thousands of feathers tickled her body. She was slightly worried that she was starting to like this sensation, and by extension starting to like reading these books. But if the way to Naruto's side was to walk barefoot over a bed of burning coals, she would do so gladly.
OoOoOoO
Naruto ran for all he was worth, his bare feet slapping against the sidewalk. He was clad only in his jeans, but thanked his luck he still had those on. He had been changing out of his clothes and getting ready for another cold shower after his coffee date with Kaede, when the maid had burst into the bathroom and made a grab for him. He had left her snuggling a substituted towel and dived for the window before she caught on. Things had only gone downhill from there. Now there were three girls chasing after him, and he tried not to think what would happen if they caught him. Bitterly he regretted every moment he had envied Sasuke his fan club in school, as that dream come true had turned into a waking nightmare. He hadn't been chased this doggedly since the last time he had defaced the hokage monument. Of course then, he had been able to use everything at his disposal to try and shake off the pursuing ANBU, but he wasn't about to hurt any of these girls just for pursuing him. Another important difference was that then he had been running for his life. Now, however, a small part of him was enjoying being chased, wanted to be caught, and this blocked the adrenaline producing fear from providing the escape producing boost of speed he needed. Which is how one of the girls managed to grab him by the belt of his pants.
The force of her grabbing him pushed him off balance, and he pitched forward, dragging her with him. Adversary or no, he twisted in the air trying to cushion her fall. They crashed to a halt, him on his back, her on his front, and his belt around his knees. This was looking really bad. He could see the two other girls advancing down the alley, eying him hungrily, before the girl on top of him shimmied up his body, her face occluding them. Desperately he pushed at her to get her off him, while her hands were roaming further down his body each second, and her lips inexorably drew closer to his.
"Sheesh, kid, I didn't realize you were so fickle." Came a familiar voice, followed by a lecherous chuckle.
"Sensei, please help me!" begged Naruto, his pride forgotten.
Jiraya sighed, and then cast a genjutsu that put the three girls to sleep. He almost wished he could have let things go on a little longer, the situation was better than any movie. But he owed it to his student. Both of his students, actually.
Blushing furiously Naruto pushed the girl off from on top of him, and then set about pulling up his pants. "I thought you said that stuff would wear off after a few hours. You didn't put more on me, did you?" Naruto eyed his teacher suspiciously.
"Of course not! I'm as surprised as you are, though I figured something was wrong when you were gone from the hotel room without your clothes. By the way, here, you forgot something." Jiraya tried to contain his mirth as he tossed a t-shirt to the blond. Naruto did not miss the smirk in his teachers eyes, but let it slide.
"I can't keep getting chased by girls in the street. What are we going to do, sensei?" Naruto regarded Jiraya solemnly.
"I guess we'll have pull out and head back to Konoha. Maybe Tsunade can figure out why this is behaving strangely." Of course, that would mean he would have to tell Tsunade what had happened, a terrifying prospect.
Naruto's face fell. "I guess I'll go say goodbye to Kaede." He had known this day would come, but he was still sad. Jiraya let him get a ways up the block before releasing the genjutsu. It wouldn't do to leave those poor defenseless ladies unconscious in an alley, where unscrupulous men could take advantage of them. He wiped the drool away from the corner of his mouth and told Naruto to get a move on back to the hotel.
In the end, Naruto had to settle for writing a letter to Kaede, as Jiraya considered it too risky to have him traipsing all over town, and he had just seen the girl that day. While Naruto agonized over his missive, Jiraya made the final preparations for their departure, even helping his student pack. Within a half an hour, the two were jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the edge of town, Naruto's farewell letter lodged with the receptionist to deliver.
OoOoOoO
Sakura was bored again, and lonely to boot. Hinata and Ino were both being hard to find, and Neji and Tenten had practice again, making the best of their time with their teacher. While she might have considered sitting in, she wasn't in a mood to deal with Lee pestering her for a date. She might have broken down and said yes, and that wouldn't be fair to either of them. Not for the first time, she found herself missing Naruto, just for the entertainment and friendship he provided, if nothing else. Plus, then she could play matchmaker with him and Hinata. She was a romance junkie, and she knew it.
Suddenly someone beside her called out her name, "Sakura."
Turning, she saw Kakashi waving to her. Curious, she waved back.
"Hi Kakashi. You need me for something? We get a mission?" The hope in her voice was poorly disguised.
"Not exactly, sorry. You seem a little bored lately, so I got you something." Kakashi answered, handing her a wrapped package. It looked book shaped, and Sakura looked slightly worriedly at her teacher before opening it. Fortunately it was not, as she feared, an Icha Icha book.
"I asked the lady at the bookstore for something a little less, shall we say, perverted, than my usual fare." Kakashi smiled at her with his visible eye.
"Thanks, sensei!" Sakura gave him a hug.
Kakashi gave an embarrassed cough. "Yes, well… I'm glad you like it. I'd better go, but have a good day."
Cheered considerably, Sakura made her way to the old training ground, sat herself under a tree, and began to read.
OoOoOoO
Ino and Shikamaru were gathering their courage to speak to their friend and teammate, Chouji. They had invited him to go out to eat with them after practice, a rare enough event that he had eyed them slightly suspiciously before accepting.
The time came, and the three walked to the Barbeque restaurant. The atmosphere was a little subdued as both members of the couple were busy trying to overcome what hadn't yet been said. Finally, after they had put in their order, Chouji confronted his friends.
"Ok, spill it! You two have been quiet all day. Tell me what's wrong, already."
"Um, Chouji… see, the reason we brought you here today…" Ino's courage faltered.
"To tell me you two are going out, right?" Chouji finished her sentence for her. At his friends' incredulous stares, Chouji rolled his eyes, "It doesn't take a mind reader to see that you two like each other."
Shikamaru recovered first, letting out a low chuckle, "I told you he'd figure it out." He smiled at his best friend, "Sorry for not telling you sooner."
"I don't see what the big deal is. I was surprised you didn't tell me right away." Chouji looked a little hurt.
"We… I worried that it might hurt your feelings, that you might feel we were abandoning you somehow." Ino explained. It sounded dumb, even to her ears, but she had seen it happen before.
"So you cut me out of the loop instead." Chouji cracked a smile at the chagrined expressions on his teammates' faces. "How could I be anything but happy that my two best friends found someone to be with? Anyway, I'm glad you told me. Finally."
He had to dig at them just a little for holding out on him.
"I'm sorry, buddy. I guess we weren't thinking straight." Shikamaru smiled at his friend again.
"A Nara not thinking straight? Well, I guess there's a first time for everything." The all laughed at Chouji's joke, and some of the awkwardness fell away. "Well this calls for a celebration. Lets eat!" And Chouji did just that. The young couple looked fondly at their friend, as though seeing him again after a long absence. Ino leaned over against Shikamaru and rested her head against his shoulder. Somehow, it felt like she had come home.
OoOoOoO
Guy sensei was squaring off against Lee, while Neji and Tenten observed their match. Somehow Neji had trouble keeping his eyes on the pair, but not because of their super human speed. For some reason his gaze kept slipping to the girl beside him. Tenten spotted him doing this out of the corner of her eye, and smiled. It's about time he started paying attention to me she exclaimed in her head. She went back to watching the match, leaving Neji to stew.
The two fighters were giving it their all, Master and Student. Gai was still slightly more skilled than Lee, but Lee was getting through his defenses more often than he used to. Finally, the teacher broke off the fight. "Lee, I am so proud of you! Truly you have become a magnificent Ninja." Gai saluted his student with the thumbs up and a dazzling grin.
"Thank you, Gai sensei. Truly it is an honor to spar with you. I owe my successes to you."
The two began a duet of "Gai Sensei!" and "Lee!" Shedding tears like twin waterfalls running down their faces. Tenten and Neji exchanged a look of long suffering forbearance. Finally Gai calmed down and turned to his two other students.
"I suppose it is time for the two of you to show us how bright the fire of your youth burns. Make us proud, Tenten, Neji!"
The two walked onto the field as their teacher and his prized student left it. Neji and Tenten squared off, The Huuga settling into his family's prized taijutsu stance, while his teammate bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet. At the signal from their teacher, Tenten took off, the bounce plus a boost of chakra launching her from a standstill to a dead run instantaneously. Neji activated his byakugan eyes to follow the speeding ninja as she circled him. Neji fought down the thoughts of how graceful she looked as she ran. With hardly any warning her orbit of him contracted and she began to throw Kunai knives at him from a distance that barely left him enough time to defend using his divine rotation to deflect the knives. Tenten kept up the barrage of weapons with her outside hand, but stretched in with her inside hand and began to infuse chakra into the sphere that Neji had raised. The results of their two chakra clashing was a blue glow that began to trail behind Tenten's hand. All of a sudden, Tenten's chakra spiked and then disapated, and her hand dove through the defensive sphere to grab Neji's arm. The two came to a stop, Neji off of his footing, a look of disbelief on his face.
Tenten capitalized on his shock to throw the boy with a twisting motion that allowed her to use her whole body. Neji recovered quickly enough to twist and land on his feet. Already Tenten was charging towards him with a Kunai in her hand. Neji recovered his stance and prepared to meet her assault with jyuuken strikes, but right before she arrived her hands blurred in hand seals, causing her to dissapear in a cloud of smoke, from which flew a sizeable chunk of log. For a second time this fight Neji was forced to abandon his stance, throwing himself to the side to avoid the log. It was this dodge that saved him from Tenten's other attack; his movement revealed the kunai whose flight trajectory had been hidden, along with his teammate, squarely in the blind-spot of his Byakugan. Even so, he was too late in spotting them to avoid all of the knives. Two knives hit his legs, and another hit his back, knocking him to the ground. Tenten landed, her face ashen. Neji had never before failed to deflect her knives. She ran over to him, praying he was alright.
"Neji, are you alright? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She began to cry, still apologizing to her fallen teammate.
"Lee, go get a medic! Hurry!" cried out Gai as he bent over Neji.
"Yes, Sensei!" The young martial-artist dropped his leg weights, and disappeared in a blur of speed, returning seconds later with a perplexed Sakura Haruno slung over his shoulder.
The pink haired girl's words of protest died as she saw Neji sprawled on the ground. Quickly she knelt by his side. Her hands glowed with chakra as she performed a diagnostic jutsu.
"He's going to be okay, he's just in shock." Sakura commented, keeping her eyes on her patient.
Tenten's legs gave out in relief, causing to sit down a few feet away from Neji.
"Lee, go alert the medic core to send a stretcher. I can stabilize him here, but I'm reluctant to remove the Kunai in his back in case it causes internal bleeding."
Lee nodded and sped away again.
Sakura worked in silence for a few minutes, pulling the knives from Neji's legs and healing the wounds. Finally she relaxed a little, leaving her hand glowing with chakra above the wound in Neji's back, but daring to look up from her patient.
Seeing Tenten's stricken look, Sakura reassured her, "Don't worry, he's going to be just fine. He'll be out of the hospital and back to training in under a week."
The dead look in Tenten's eyes retreated somewhat, but she still looked so sad. "I can't believe I did this to him, just when things were starting to go right."
Sakura's eyes widened at the implication. A smile tugged at her lips. "It doesn't have to be all bad; this could be the perfect opportunity to try that other treatment."
Tenten couldn't help smiling a little too. "You're mean, Sakura." The two girls giggled, to the complete bafflement of Maito Gai.
OoOoOoO
Sakura helped the medic ninja move Neji to the hospital, and sat in as an observer on the surgery. Several of the medics were complimentary on the work she had done in the field, and one of the younger doctors offered to help her master the techniques that would allow her to perform the surgery they had just done. Sakura smiled and thanked him. He was kind of cute, but in his twenties and therefore too old to consider pursuing. It was mid afternoon by the time she left the hospital. She had volunteered to go alert the family, and so she made her way to the Hyuuga family compound. Bowing formally to the guards at the gate, she requested an audience with Hiyashi or with Hinata if he was busy.
A messenger was dispatched to the house, and then came back to retrieve her. Her hopes that it would be Hinata she faced were dashed. Bowing formally to the Hyuuga head, she was glad of her training in customs and deportment she had received at the academy. Hayashi gestured that she should sit, and offered her tea, which she declined. "Now, miss Haruno, isn't it? What can I do for you?" Hiashi eyed her politely but curiously.
"Lord Hyuuga, I came to inform you that Neji is in the hospital from a training related accident. He is in stable condition, and should be fully recovered in a few days time."
"I see." Hiashi's face remained impassive "Thank you for informing me. I am slightly surprised that you felt the need to tell me in person." The last statement held a question, several, in fact; including why she was the one to be conducting the message.
Sakura squared herself under this criticism, "It is right that a prestigious member of the village be told of hospitalizations of their family in person, isn't it? As for why I am here, I was the first responder on the scene, and as the junior member of the team that worked on Neji, I felt the task of informing the family fell to me. Lastly, Hinata and Neji are friends of mine, and I had hoped to break the news to her as well." Her move had been played, and now Sakura could only wait and see his response.
A flicker of a smile escaped the Hyuuga head's mask, "Very well. Thank you for your conscientiousness in your duty. I am sure one of the servants can help you locate my daughter." Hiashi inclined his head to the girl, and she returned a respectful bow. Hiashi stood and walked from the audience chamber, a considering expression on his face. An interesting girl, he thought, I wonder if she would make a good match with Neji?
For her part Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone as well as she could have expected, and she had accomplished her aim of meeting with Hinata, though not solely for the reasons she had stated.
OoOoOoO
Hinata sat in her room, trying not to think about picking up the book that was currently sitting in disguise on her bookshelf. She was shocked at the change that had been wrought in her. The book had gone from something she could not stand to something she could barely tolerate, and then to something she enjoyed, and now she craved it. I'm becoming a pervert! Her inner voice wailed.
A knock on her door broke her from her reverie. "Yes?" She asked.
"It's Sakura. I need to talk to you, can I come in?" came the muffled voice through the door.
Hinata sprang up and went to open the door. Sure enough, in the hallway stood her friend. "Hi Sakura, what are you doing here?" Hinata had hardly ever had friends come to her house, and never had they arrived at her door like this. She wondered what this could possibly mean.
"Well, for starters, I wanted to let you know that Neji is in the hospital… " Sakura was interrupted by the anxious blue haired girl.
"Is he going to be alright?" Hinata asked softly, concern radiating from her face.
"Neji is fine, he'll be back on his feet in a day or two." Sakura reassured her friend. After letting Hinata's worry subside, Sakura pressed on to her other reason for being there. "I also wanted to check up on my other patient." Sakura gave Hinata a mischievous smirk.
"Um, things are going well. I am able to avoid fainting when I read that book, and can read it for prolonged periods." Hinata was proud that she hadn't stuttered once, and that she had kept her blush mostly in check.
Sakura was astounded. Hinata was vastly exceeding her expectations. "That's very good. I would say the treatment is a success, pending further real world testing." Sakura smiled encouragingly at her friend. "Anything else to report?"
Hinata debated with herself before continuing. "Um, there was one thing. Sometimes, while reading, I will get… a sort of tingling, ticklish sensation. I was wondering if this is a symptom of something." Hinata looked at her friend, who was blushing almost as much as she was.
Damn it, I wasn't expecting to have to deal with this, thought Sakura. Didn't they teach this girl anything? "It sounds to me that you are experiencing… arousal. This is a perfectly normal reaction." We should know, chided inner Sakura. Sakura supposed that it was unreasonable to expect someone like Hiashi to explain such things to his daughter, but he could have at least found someone to do it for him.
Hinata's head slumped, "I guess I am a pervert after all." She said to herself quietly.
"No, Hinata!" Sakura grabbed Hinata's shoulders causing the girl to look back up at her. "You are anything but a pervert. Everyone gets those feelings some of the time, some more than others. There is nothing wrong with them, in fact, it is an important part of the cycle of life. The only wrong thing is to blame or get down on yourself for feeling them. I don't want to embarrass you further, but if you are willing, I think it is time someone taught you about some important life skills."
Hinata nodded for her to continue, and there followed an embarrassing but informative half hour in which Sakura gave Hinata a crash course in sex ed.
At the end of it, Sakura was more determined than ever to help out her other Hyuuga friend. "Hinata, I hate to ask, but I need to borrow your book for a little bit. Someone else I know needs to be treated as well."
"Um, ok, if your really need it." Hinata still didn't like to admit it, but she was hesitant to let the book go.
"Don't worry, I'll get it back to you in a day or two." Sakura smiled at her teasingly.
Hinata blushed, knowing she had been found out.
---End Chapter---
7 pages and still not done with what I wanted to cover in this chapter. I had to cut it off there otherwise it might have taken me until Friday to update. I hope that doesn't turn out to be the case. I want to see what happens too ;)
P.S.: Decent action scene, right? I'm afraid those will be few and far between, as my main focus in this fic is the romance and comedy. Sorry!
Next time; Sakura's evil plan; Will Neji confess to Tenten, on pain of torture? Then Naruto's long awaited return; will there be a team 7 reunion? Lastly, Jiraya faces the music; will he escape Tsunade's wrath? Find out, on another exciting episode of Icha Icha NaruHina. See you, Later!
