Lascivious Crossroads
Hinata's hand hovered over the three outfits in indecision. She sighed in frustration as she curled her finger on her chin, she had never really cared too much for fashion and realized when she moved out the time and effort it takes to put together an outfit that's cute and stylish.
When she lived at home, she had the family stylist who had organized her wardrobe and closet since she was five for every day of the week according to her schedule and the occasion. Hinata had found it so suffocating as a teenager but at times like this she was tempted to call Miss. Nina and let her choose for her…Oh well, it's just one of the many perks of trying to establish her independence from the main house.
Hinata looked to her right at the strapless sweetheart bust crème colored dress that wasn't too long with a sheer overlay of white hued leaves designed with a delicate, whimsical style with a pearl centered orange rose around the waist. In the middle was a chic, open shouldered frock dress made of silk shantung, with clean lines and bold navy color that was simple yet sophisticated. And to the far left was a sleek black tailored career suit and pencil skirt and a white buttoned colored shirt. She was meeting Naruto for a business dinner she had no idea what to wear!
Naruto…Hinata smiled at the memory of their meeting
"Welcome" she said smiling at the two men. One was a middle aged man with brown hair and dark almond eyes that looked as if they could go from zero to deadly at any moment…the other one was a young man around her age with blonde hair like the sun and a handsome tan face with what looked like whisker scars on each cheek and blue eyes. As deep as the blue of the sea…
"A foreigner?" she thought curiously, following his movements as he sat down
"Good afternoon Lady Hyuga, my name is Yamato and this is my associate Naruto Uzumaki" Yamato said bowing his head lightly as he sat down.
"Hello" Naruto said politely but with such a cheeky grin Hinata couldn't help but smile back brightly.
"My father sends his regrets for not being able to make it this afternoon but I hope you can find my company acceptable" she said playing her role as the dutiful daughter
"Please, Lady Hyuga. We are not worthy of such kind words. We are in your care" Yamato said bowing his head again
"Y-Yeah! I mean Yes! Please take care of me. Us! We are in your care!" Naruto spurted out, flushing pink and bowing a little too low, too fast.
Hinata giggled inwardly and gave him a warm smile, hoping it would help him relax and was glad when he exhaled a bit and took a second to calm himself down.
"Well gentleman...how are things down at Senju?"
The rest of the meeting went off without a hitch. Senju's stock was up and upper management's primary focus was introducing the new line of brand name alcoholic beverages, Forest and Leaf, to the young target market and the last eight minutes were spent with them praising her father and their hope for his continued guidance and support in the future.
She stood to watch them leave, closing the door behind them and thought of how she was finally able to change into her street clothes when the door opened and Naruto came in, smiling confidently this time.
"Um Lady Hyuga...I wanted to apologize about earlier. I was unprofessional and I made a fool of myself. I'm sorry." he said scratching the back of his head
Hinata blinked, eyes slightly wide but then smiled again"It's alright Uzumaki-san I understand. I guess it's better that you met me instead of my father huh?" she giggled, a light blush on her cheeks
"He he ...yeah...yeah I guess that's true, um if it's not to forward of me I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me this week to further discuss Senju's business prospects"
A little surprised, Hinata said nothing for a minute and Naruto took it as a bad sign and hoped that his job wasn't tanked "I'm sorry that was rude of me! You took time out of your day to meet with us today, I shouldn't really ask for more-
"Sure"
"Eh?" Naruto said, not sure if he heard right
"If it's with you, ok" Hinata said smiling again
"R-Really?" Naruto asked stunned "T-Thank you! I really appreciate it! Um, let's exchange e-mails" taking out his phone
"All right" Hinata said moving to grab her purse sitting on the table stand across the room
Hinata wasn't sure why she agreed to dinner with him...she couldn't explain it but she found him charming and he seemed like a bright, cheerful person who was probably nice to everyone and anyone. And she couldn't say no when she saw how nervous he was when he came in and wanted to give him another chance to make a good impression.
But now she had no idea what to wear! He had called her yesterday to let her know he had made reservations at a small restaurant and had texted her the directions earlier but she was still stumped on what to wear...she didn't want to over do it if it was just a small restaurant but it was also a business meeting and she didn't want to seem unprofessional. Even if it was informal she had to do her best to represent the Hyuga Company properly.
She was lost in thought when her cell phone rang
"Hello" she answered
"Hey Hinata! It's me!" a loud unruly voice called on the other line
"Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed both happy and surprised "It's been a while, how's everything down in the country side?"
"Ha ha it's awesome! Me and Akamaru love it here. Last week we had a blizzard and I swear we ended up getting at least twelve feet of snow!"
"I think you might be exaggerating a little Kiba" Hinata said fondly moving to her vanity desk and sitting down
"No! I swear I'm not, it took me and old man Kirishima two days to dig ourselves out"
"Kirishima? He's the farmer who's letting you stay at his lodge while you finish school right? How is he?" she asked
"Yeah, he's alive and kicking. He and his wife were really happy to take us in since their house is an empty nest now and the rent is dirt cheap, meals included as long as I help out the old man around the farm on weekends"
"I see, thats good. I hope he didn't strain himself too much shoveling the snow...how old did you say he was, sixty five?" Hinata asked concerned
"Sixty eight. I tried to tell him I'd do it myself but that man is so stubborn...it wasn't that bad and Akamaru was a big help too, right boy?"
Hinata heard Akamaru bark in the background and laughed lightly "Ok...I'm glad to hear you doing well Kiba and I'm sorry I haven't been in touch lately but I've just been real busy" she said truthfully
"Hey don't sweat it I understand, so what are you doing right now?"
"Oh um, I'm trying to decide what outfit to wear right now" getting back up to look at her choices
"Women and their troubles" he said sarcastically "You look adorable no matter what you wear Hinata"
"I'm not a puppy Kiba" she said with disbelief of his ever present lack of sympathy for the things women had to go through
"Geez, learn to take a compliment will ya? And what's wrong with puppies? Aren't they like the ultimate symbol of cuteness for girls?" Kiba said feeling offended
"I'd rather feel beautiful than cute" Hinata muttered more to herself than to him
"What are you saying? Of course you are..." his voice trailing off
Great. Now they felt awkward.
"So...what's the outfit for anyway?" Kiba asked trying to lighten the mood again
"Oh um I'm having dinner with a lawyer from my dads company" her hands roaming over the navy dress
"..."
"...Like a date?"
"Huh! N-No it's a business meeting. I had to fill in for one of my dads hospitality meetings and this is kinda like an extension to it" she said turning a little red "But since it's dinner at a small restaurant I can't decide between a dress or a business suit"
"Go with the suit" Kiba said quickly
"Y-You think I should?"
"Yeah. Since it's a meeting you don't want him getting any ideas. And it's always better to be overdressed than underdressed right?" he said making his case
"I guess that's true" Hinata said picking up the suit and pressing it against her frame
"When's the meeting?"
"Tonight, at seven" she said checking her alarm and gasped when she saw the time- she only had three hours left to get ready "I'm sorry Kiba but I should get ready soon...I'll call you tomorrow and we can catch up later ok"
"K...good luck and be careful"
"Mmm...bye"
"Bye"
Hinata hung up the phone and put the suit back on the bed. After looking at each one for a few more minutes Hinata went to the bathroom to take a bath.
"Hmmhmm hmm" Sakura hummed happily to herself as she hovered over the stove, making dinner. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled with content at Sasuke who was sitting on the couch watching TV.
She watched his handsome face, his gaze fixed on the TV screen, she looked at his dark eyes, straight nose and mouth and felt her chest warm up inside her. She turned back to the stew and sighed...
"Oh Sasuke... always working so hard" She thought looking over her text book 'The effects of medicine' that was next to her recipe card "But seriously doesn't he know that no matter how hard he pushes, it'll all be useless if he doesn't take care of himself and if I don't look after him who else will?" a maternal feeling of responsibility kicking in
"Let's see...rashi powder for nourishment, dragon turtle extract to combat fatigue, some grated yam for the complexion and a bit of medicinal antlers for good measure" she said stirring each ingredient in carefully... "Dinners almost ready guys" she called back, making them both cringe.
Sasuke stared at the TV blankly, drumming his fingers in annoyance. He glanced at Naruto who was sitting next to him with his laptop and felt resentment boil like acid inside of him. He knew Naruto had no idea but he was on the verge of ruining everything he had built with Hinata so far. The non-commitment, the sex, delicious food, the sex, free overnight stay and most importantly the sex!
He never expected this to happen. He thought he took all the precautions so that none of his friends or family members would ever find out about Hinata but he didn't think Naruto would end up meeting her through her father's company!
Her father...
Power, Wealth and Influence.
Those were the three words that described the multi-billion dollar empire of the Hyuga family. They owned almost half the businesses in Japan and their global influence has expanded across almost every industry from oil to metal, banking and the list went on and on.
Sasuke had done his research on the ancient family after coming home from Yakiniku Q and had found out that they had everything and he meant everything…. sports cars, vacation houses, estates, yachts, and anything else you could think of that rich people would want, they had and could buy one hundred times over. It was almost shameful how much money they were making but besides their enormous amount of wealth the prestigious clan was also shrouded in mystery.
Getting close to the Hyuga family wasn't easy and even those with enough money to know them weren't so lucky. Sasuke could see why though…power came with a price and the Hyugas had built a shield around them very early, shunning those they considered beneath them and avoided social gatherings if they could avoid it.
Other than their family history dating back to the Yayoi period and their business profile there wasn't much information about the actual family members. There was a brief profile on Hiashi Hyuga, his age, his educational background and his current position as the head of the Hyuga corporation and head of the family but other than that he found nothing.
Sasuke's always had good instinct. He's calm and has good judgment.
But right now there were too many unanswered questions for him to decide his next move
Was she really related to them? Hyuga might be a common name so it's not like she was guaranteed to be related to them...but after seeing a picture of the Hyuga leader he wasn't delusional enough to believe those eyes weren't hereditary
Did she lie to him about being a writer? Their conversations were usually about small things that happened to them that day or news stories they found interesting. It was nothing personal and anything they found out about each other was purely accidental.
If Naruto found out Hinata was his casual hookup it might lead to trouble. If Hinata found out she met one of his friends she would end their arrangement.
It was a crap situation.
"Well it wouldn't be the end of the world if we'd stop having sex but it would suck now if I have to abstain again" Sasuke thought, his leg bouncing up and down slightly as he looked at Naruto again eyeing him suspiciously
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked
"Well I have that meeting with Hiashi's daughter tonight and I've been trying to find some information about them all week to try and get some ideas of what to talk to her about" Naruto said browsing through his search engine
"Tsk...good luck" thinking of his own shortcomings
"It's not my place to say anything but don't you think that it's a little shameful of you to ask your bosses daughter out to dinner Naruto?" Sakura said coming into the living room
"Don't worry Sakura, it's just a business meeting" he said reassuringly, giving her a thumbs up
"You idiot I don't care about that! I just don't want to see you lose your job over something like this"
"It's fine, it's fine. She knows it's just to talk about her fathers company"
"Oh good grief, Sasuke would you tell him to think this through seriously" she said putting her hand on her hip
Not listening, Sasuke turned to Naruto raising an eyebrow "I thought you said you were taking her out for drinks"
"Oh that...well I only said that because you and the guys were giving me a hard time and wanted to get you off my back" Naruto admitted slyly scratching his cheek
"So it's not a date?"
"Well it's not the romantic kind of date" he said opening up a link on his homepage
"Hmm."
Sasuke's ill will towards Naruto diminished slightly but he didn't completely relax. Just because it wasn't a real date doesn't mean he was out of the woods yet. There was still the chance she could find out that Naruto knew him and... there was still the possibility that she might enjoy Naruto's company too much.
He hated it but one of the most annoying things about that idiot was that he could take any situation and make it fun. Plus if Naruto was awestruck the first time he saw her, having dinner might make him abandon his long quest of being K.O. by Sakura for the sweet life of breakfast in bed with a modern day Snow White like Hinata.
The thought of it made Sasuke scowl so much he didn't even notice Sakura dragging him and Naruto to the table, sitting them down.
"Soups on, enjoy!" placing a bowel in front of each of them
"Err Sakura...I'm having dinner in a few hours so I probably shouldn't eat anything" Naruto said with a look of someone with seasickness as he pushed his bowl away
"Oh no. If you wait until you go to the restaurant your just gonna pig out in front of her" Sakura said pushing it back towards him
"Ugh, but your food always taste like mud" Naruto said quietly, picking up his spoon slowly
"Come again?" she said pulling on his ear "And put your computer away already, you've been on it for hours"
"I told you I'm doing research" rubbing his ear and showing her the web page
"Hm? Is that her?" Sakura asked looking at the screen, making Sasuke look up
"Yeah! At first I was just looking up her dad and their company but when I searched her name I found all this stuff" he said triumphantly
"She's beautiful" Sakura said
Sasuke got up and moved around Sakura to see if it was really her and was shocked to see a picture of Hinata in a white tutu made of lace and strung with pearls, she had a feather headpiece that looked like a crown*, her head was tilted up but her eyes were cast down as she held her arms gracefully over head, her back slightly arched and one leg straight out behind her looking like a pure, romantic being from another world...
"She's... a dancer?" he thought too stunned to move
"Turns out she use to be one of Japan's prima ballerina's" Naruto said gleefully "That'll be an interesting topic to talk about huh?" he looked at the time and stood up "Damn I only got two hours left, I better get ready"
"You should really eat something before you go Naruto" Sakura said pouting slightly at his untouched food
"I'll be fine but I appreciate the thought" he said smiling thankfully at her. As he moved around Sasuke he whispered "Hey, what do you think teme? Should I try to find out if ballerinas are as flexible as they say?"
"You pervert!" Sakura yelled punching the back of his head hard
"Ahh! Sakura it hurts, it hurts!" he whined as Sakura continued to pummel him
Still slightly out of it Sasuke used the opportunity to quietly retreat to his room
He had to think of his next move...
AN: I wanna start off by saying I'm sorry. Sorry for ending the chapter here but I didn't want it to be too long :( and two for not updating fast. I know I keep leading you guys up to the climax but it's coming next chapter I swear! The next chapter has so much character interactions, plot development and the inevitable confrontation of the encounter. Planning this story out I've realized there is so much I want to say and so much I want to make happen and it's made me plan out the story to be a little longer than I intended but I don't necessarily think thats a bad thing right? Thank you all so much for your reviews and support they mean so much to me :) Some people have been e-mailing me about putting this story on tumblr and other blogs for people to read and I've decided to do that real soon but if you guys wanna recommend this story to anyone be my guest! It would be an honor to me or keep it your guilty little pleasure lol whatever makes you happy. I'm happy if my story makes you happy, even if it's just a little. Until next time, happy reading and please review!
* If my description was awful it's suppose to be a picture of her in a Swan Lake costume