Naruto thought the week would never end. He was somewhat frightened by the immense feeling of emptiness he felt at not being able to see Hinata. He hadn't even known her long and already she was a humongous part of his life. He'd often scoffed at some of the werewolf girls who claimed to have experienced love at first sight. But it seemed that now he was experiencing it first-hand. And he felt like an utterly, hopeless, idiotic fool. 'Damn, I sound like those corny romance novels,' he thought with a wince.
But he couldn't deny the fact that all his thoughts revolved around the Hyuga female, and that his mood seemed to be worsening with each day not spent in her wonderful presence. He had even snapped at Shikamaru when the genius asked if he was all right.
He had apologized later of course.
Tenten seemed to be in an even worse mood than him. She often muttered under her breath about perverted hybrids and stupid Hyugas. Her mood took a turn for the worse though, when Shikamaru had commented that if she was so angry about Neji kissing her, she should have stopped him. She had flushed a beet red at his statement, causing the genius to smirk knowingly. Needless to say, Tenten was not on speaking terms with the Nara.
The day before the night of the new moon was torture for Naruto. It seemed that the time wouldn't go fast enough. The day dragged on and on. Naruto almost whooped in delight when Tsunade dismissed them. He could barely sit still while he waited for night to fall.
"Naruto, could you please stop fidgeting? You're driving me insane…"
"Sorry, Shikamaru, I'm just so excited!"
"Idiot…"
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?"
"Nothing," the Nara sighed, going toward the door.
Naruto humphed, following the dark-haired man outside. They met Sakura and Tenten at the secret entrance, each slipping through into the forest. Phasing, Naruto made his way to the front, running as fast as he could go. The others followed, hurrying to keep up with the speeding gold wolf.
Naruto burst into the clearing, leaves sticking out of his golden pelt.
"Naruto-kun!"
Naruto felt his heart skip a beat before he raced toward Hinata, his bushy tail wagging. He jumped, phasing mid-jump, and landed on the Hyuga female, who gave a surprised gasp.
"Hinata-chan!"
He snuggled into her neck, making the young woman blush and giggle, "I missed you."
"It's only been a week, Naruto-kun," she smiled, her Hyuga eyes shining brightly.
"Too long," he muttered, pouting slightly. She laughed, her melodic voice softly echoing around the clearing. Naruto smiled, loving the sound. He bent his head down, giving her a quick peck on the lips. She blushed, her cheeks turning a rosy pink at the public display of affection.
The others had phased as well, coming forward a bit more reluctantly. As soon as Ino saw Shikamaru, she rushed towards him, throwing herself on him. He was forced to either catch her or end up on the ground with the blonde on top of him. He chose the first option. The blonde fell easily into his embrace, her face snuggling into his chest. He flushed as all kinds of unclean thoughts flashed through his mind. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
"HYUGA!"
Neji lifted an eyebrow while all the others winced at the angry tone in Tenten's voice. The bun-haired she-wolf grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer to her till their faces were almost touching.
Her eyes were two dark flames, "You arrogant prick, when the hell did you decide that I would even THINK of becoming your mate?"
Neji's eyes widened briefly, surprise flashing in his lavender orbs before he turned to Ino and gave her a death glare. The blonde hybrid smiled sheepishly, pressing herself tightly against an uncomfortable Shikamaru.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Hyuga!"
That turned out to be a mistake. Neji felt his body heat up when their eyes met. Her chocolate-brown eyes flashed with barely suppressed anger. Her very-kissable lips, in his opinion anyway, were turned down into a frown. He found out that he enjoyed seeing her angry. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was yelling at him but he couldn't really hear what she was saying. He just watched her, absorbed by the way her lips moved and the way her eyes flashed. His control snapped and he found himself bending down to capture her lips in his.
All at once, the hands that had been grasping his shirt in anger began to pull him closer. His hands came to rest at her waist. He smirked against her lips as he realized she was responding. Quite passionately, in fact. He pulled her even closer, relishing in the feel of her body against his.
All too soon, Neji broke the kiss for need of air. Tenten had a glazed look in her chocolate-brown eyes, her chest rising and falling with her heavy breathing. She blinked rapidly, before realizing what had just happened.
She pushed him away, sputtering angrily, though Neji couldn't help but notice the slight blush adorning her cheeks.
Naruto laughed out loud, which earned him a smack in the head from the flustered Tenten. Sakura chuckled softly, giving Tenten a knowing smile. 'As much as she tries to hide it, she likes Neji,' the pink haired girl was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice Sasuke come up behind her until he put his arms around her waist. Sakura jumped at the sudden contact.
"Hey," he breathed in her ear, causing her to shiver.
"Uchiha-san," she felt her cheeks grow hot, her body instantly melting into his embrace. He frowned slightly, a slight downward twitch of his lips.
"Call me Sasuke," he smirked as her cheeks reddened even more. She said nothing but nodded that she understood. He buried his face in her shoulder, breathing in her scent.
"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you guys," Shikamaru spoke up breaking the awkward silence. The hybrids nodded, listening attentively.
He folded his arms, a stern frown on his face, "It seems that some of our lookouts said there was an increase in vampire activity. Mind explaining?"
At first, the hybrids looked confused. Sasuke was the first to understand but was soon followed by the others.
"Hn," Sasuke looked pointedly at Ino, instructing her to explain.
"Itachi, Sasuke's brother, is getting married," she giggled happily, her sky-blue eyes shining. The werewolves' mouths dropped open in surprise.
Naruto gasped, "Itachi Uchiha is your BROTHER?!"
Sakura blinked in surprise, "Itachi Uchiha is getting married?!"
Naruto got a smack on the head for his dumb question courtesy of Shikamaru. The Uchiha's had the same last name and similar features. Only an idiot wouldn't guess that they were related.
'Oh, right,' Shikamaru thought looking at the whining blonde, who was asking Hinata to kiss it better, 'Naruto is an idiot.'
"Who's the unlucky bride?"
Ino rolled her eyes but answered Tenten's question, "Kana Satsuki, 24 years-old. She's a sort of half-angel or something of the sort. Anyway, seems like Itachi found her in the forest a year or so ago. She had been attacked by a pack of demons. He took her back with him and healed her. The two have been inseparable since. She's really pretty. Could give Hinata a run for her money. Really sweet too. Though she doesn't talk much. The only downside is that she's blind. Poor thing can't see anything."
Shikamaru humphed, "How come he's not in our meeting if he's a hybrid?"
"To answer your question, Shikamaru, Itachi is not part of our meeting because he is one of the vampire lords," Neji answered the Nara genius.
"The other lords being my daddy, Hinata's stick-up-his-butt father and Neji's uncle, that lazy bum Kakashi Hatake, and that red-head Gaara," Ino recited, though most of the people there already knew this.
"In other words, the mastermind behind all of this would instantly know of our plans if Itachi were to be invited," Hinata's voice was serious, a sad look in her eyes.
"Hn, actually," the Uchiha spoke up quietly after another pause in the conversation, "Itachi told me his name."
"WHAT?!"
The Uchiha winced at the sound of all the voices yelling together. He waited until they'd all calmed down and were staring at him. Naruto was the first to break the silence, "Well, what is it?"
Sasuke looked at each of his comrades before continuing, "His name is Orochimaru."
