"I'm letting you go. You serve no further use to me here." Orochimaru announced.
Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion. "Just like that huh?"
Orochimaru let out an evil laugh. "Letting you, with your... unique talents back to the leaf will be... interesting to say the least. You're a time bomb waiting to explode, especially with Sasuke back in the village. Both of you with your special gifts," he stifled another evil laugh. "We'll have to see if the town's big enough for the both of you. I'm expecting fireworks."
"We'll be keeping tabs on you two." Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses from his seat in the corner.
"Sasuke's back huh." Naruto smiled. "Things must have turned out just right with his revenge. Still, Sasuke couldn't care less about women, it's not like I have anything to worry about."
"My reports beg to differ." Kabuto added.
"It's not a clear cut matter Kabuto. Either way, I'm sure Naruto's not afraid of competition." Orochimaru laughed and walked away from them. "Have fun." He said in a subdued manner, leaving the room.
Naruto stared down Kabuto. "I'm not afraid of anything." He said resolutely, getting out of his chair and heading in the direction of his room. It was time to pack.
He filled his backpack with anything he thought useful, not that he had much. He left the hideout in a hurry, he didn't want to be in this stuffy old place any longer than absolutely necessary. He had more bounce to his step than usual. The taste of freedom, it sure was sweet, even if the wind blasted him cold and bitter.
The grass already did seem greener and not just because the hidden sound's were barren. The future was bright. He did a little kick in anticipation of what was to come. He'd have the comforts of home, get see his friends, have some more than friends and go on real missions, not just lab work. These days he considered himself more a scientist than an ninja. What a miserable existence it was!
Before his kidnapping, he held the goal of becoming Hokage, a resolve that has not since wavered. Nevertheless, some goals were more pressing than others. He could have his way with any woman of his choice, even Sakura wouldn't be able to resist him.
His little ability wasn't without con's, however. The wrinkly old woman behind the tavern counter was hitting on him. Being the center of attention made him feel uneasy. He'd have to get used to it, as Hokage he'd always be center stage. Still, perhaps he could tweak the serum somehow when he got back. Maybe make it less potent, or affect only women of his choice. He had to slap himself for being a spoiled brat, he knew he was in an incredibly privileged position.
More importantly, when he handed over money for his room he remembered he was poor. It was careless of him to waste what little money he had on this tavern. Camping in the woods would have sufficed.
He went straight to his room and exhaled, he couldn't afford to squander any more precious coin at the bar. How he wished his father didn't leave all his money to the village. Him and Mom were forced to live with practically nothing. He knew being a teacher at the academy didn't pay that well. He hoped she was doing okay.
He set off early and managed to cover most of the journey, he camped a few hours outside the leaf. Anxiety was beginning to creep in. What if no one wanted him back? What if there wasn't a place for him any more. He had to assume everyone else had been promoted while he was still just a measly genin. It was slightly embarrassing. Everyone must have moved on without him. As if he never existed.
The next day he walked with more apprehension. The glow that defined the first days of freedom began to wear. He expected some kind of euphoria to trigger as he walked through the gates of the village but there was nothing. He shook off the sinking feeling as people looked at him in a daze. No excursions, he was heading straight home. It was overwhelming.
His journey would not go uninterrupted. He casually ran into Sakura in the streets eating some food. She took her head out of her bowl long enough to catch a glimpse of him. She froze.
He didn't know if her freezing was a good or bad sign. Eager to find out he approached her. "Sakura, It's great to see you!"
"Naruto... it's you. You seem so different, like you have a different aura or something."
He found this encouraging. "Different aura, different how?"
"Different in the sense that I have the sudden urge to f-" She stopped herself mid sentence. Clearly about to say something inappropriate, her face flushed pink to match her hair. "A feeling I've only felt around Sasuke since he returned. I can't believe you're here. So how did you escape?"
"I didn't escape, he let me go. Strange I know."
"That is strange. Orochimaru isn't known for his kindness. Sasuke said the same thing happened with him."
He shrugged. "Where did you get that food? I'm starving. It looks delicious!" He asked getting closer to the item in question. His eyes perked up as soon as he got a good look. Instantly he could tell it was Ichiraku's, the only difference was that it was served in a disposable container instead of the usual ceramics. "It's Ichiraku's isn't it! I can't believe they make it to go now. Oh man, how I've missed this stuff."
"Some things don't change. Lets swing by Ichiraku's in celebration of your return." She offered out her hand.
"Now we're talking!" Naruto comfortably took it and let her take him down familiar streets to culinary heaven.
"Is that a single or a double you want?" Teuchi asked him as they seated.
Naruto rustled around his coin purse, it was practically empty. He barely had enough for a single. Sakura placed her hand on his purse. "Don't worry, this is my treat," she smiled. "A double please," she said to Teuchi.
"Wow, thank you Sakura!"
"My pleasure." She replied.
"Do you want a refill?" Teuchi asked Sakura, noticing her ramen was nearly finished.
"Yes please, I've worked up quite an appetite." She said looking at Naruto.
"You seem kinder than usual Sakura." Naruto commented.
"I've always been kind!"
"Heeeey!" He cried out as she squeezed his hand into submission.
A few minutes later Teuchi's daughter arrived with the food. "Please enjoy." She said as she delivered Naruto's. The eye contact was incredible. She was clearly entranced.
"Ahem." Sakura fake coughed.
"Oh sorry." The woman was brought out of the daze and handed Sakura her order.
Naruto watched Sakura flash a shameless scowl as her back was turned. He wondered if it was jealousy, or if she was just simply in the mood for ramen. Either way, he couldn't wait to dig in. It was so good. How he'd missed this taste. After a few good mouthfuls he continued the conversation. "So how's everyone been?"
"Good for the most part. Everyone's became jonin. But your house was destroyed in an accident..."
"Oh no." He held his breath.
"Fortunately, Hinata was kind enough to pay for it to be rebuilt."
He exhaled. "That was kind of her. I ought to thank her."
"Yeah, you ought to marry that girl, with her families wealth you'd never want for money." She quipped between slurps of ramen.
It was like a lightbulb went off in his mind. That would solve everything. A grin couldn't help but plaster across his face.
She shook her head awkwardly, "not that I think you should do that."
"Of course, of course." He nodded. "So, how's Sasuke been settling back in."
"The first person you ask about is the one you've most recently seen? A little odd but he's doing good." Her tongue hung out of her mouth for a small second as a small smile escaped her. Whatever she was thinking about clearly delighted her beyond her control. "Very good in fact, actually much better than expected. He even managed to convince Lady Tsunade to promote him to chunin. How, I have no idea. Even so he spends most of his time locked away in the hospital lab, it's almost like he has no interest in being a ninja. I wouldn't mind if he would actually do some hospital work but he just sits in the lab all day doing god knows what. Hopefully now you're back, team 7 can finally go on some missions."
Naruto had a pretty good idea how Sasuke convinced Tsunade. It lent some credence to Kabuto's reports. And the way Sakura talked about him, oh my. He did have competition. But why was Sasuke always in the lab? From what he remembered Sasuke hated lab work even more than he did. At the very least it gave him hope that he could recieve a similar promotion.
"It would be great for us to all to go on missions again Sakura!"
She smiled warmly at him.
"But..." Naruto continued. "I too would like to spend some time in the lab."
Her face turned sour. "What! Why?"
"There's some research I want to do there. Orochimaru did some experiments on me which I want to investigate further. Don't worry, Kabuto taught me some medical ninjutsu so I don't mind helping around the hospital a bit."
"You do medical ninjustu too? That's so cool. Please feel free to use the lab. Lady Tsunade would be happy to pay for any work you do at the hospital. By the way, what kind of experiments did he do on you?" She got up from her seat and touched his face. "Are you okay? Do you need my help?"
It was the most sincerity he'd seen from Sakura ever but he was kicking himself for mentioning Orochimaru's experiments. No one could know about his little ability, it could jeopardize everything. "Nothing to worry about." He stood up from the table not wanting this part of the conversation to continue. "About the hospital, that would be great if the Hinata marriage thing doesn't work out."
"What!... Marriage? Sakura gasped out."
"See you Sakura." Naruto sped out of the restaurant. Like Sakura said, it would solve everything, although he hoped that a marriage wouldn't damper his prospects with other women. More importantly, thanks to Orochimaru, it was possible. It was time to see her, to the Hyuga compound it was.
He stood outside the imposing gates and started to question the plan. What was he even doing here? Just thanking her? It's not like he was seriously planning on marrying her, it was a completely non nonsensical idea. Hinata was plain as could be. He didn't even know if she'd even be in. She could be anywhere, even on a mission. He wondered how this worked. If his Dad didn't play hero, he would know first hand the proper etiquette of gaining access to the residence of one of the great clans. He knocked and hoped that someone would answer. Simple enough.
Jealousy soared through his veins as his cold hands slammed against the frozen gate. He knew he shouldn't be so angry, it was his father who he was angry at. Hinata had selflessly helped his family, she's shown kindness to him even without having being exposed to Orochimaru's serum. That's something he'd remember. He owed her, although he didn't know just what. He was going to show her his gratitude but he didn't know how. He waited impatiently for the gate to open and it did. It was Hinata herself. He was just expecting some grunt.
She was majestic. He almost didn't recognize her. Her blank white eyes twinkled in the daylight. The way she caught the white light of the winter sun revealed the raven in her hair and the slight tinge of blue to her face as the wind blasted her cold exposed cheeks. He eyeballed her up and down, he was drawn to the way her chest perked out proud, undaunted by the elements. Her legs stood firm and inviting. The boots and tights? He liked her style. He couldn't believe just a moment ago he considered her plain. The marriage idea just regained it's glamor.
Her composure didn't last long. Hinata almost feinted once she realized who had come knocking.
"Careful there my lady." He had to step in to stop her from falling."
"Naruto." She stared at him doe eyed blushing as he held her in his arms.
He forcefully stood her up before stepping away to give a deep and heartfelt bow. "Thank you for supporting my mother."
"Naruto." She repeated again. "Please, don't do this, I don't deserve such sentiments." She said as assertively as her breathy voice could manage, trying her best to raise his body. "I really didn't do anything, Sasuke asked me to ask my father to cover the rebuilding expenses, until he finally got his family assets reinstated and took care of things himself. He's really the one you should be thanking."
Naruto raised his head, feeling confused. Why would she do something because Sasuke told her to? "Sakura never told me that."
"She must not have known. Sasuke can be quite secretive." She said looking away nervously.
He looked at her attentively trying to think about what she truly meant. Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, his eyes started to wander around the grounds before making their way back to Hinata's pretty face. This place would do quite nicely he chuckled to himself.
"What's funny?" Hinata asked self consciously.
Naruto took a step back and smiled. "I'm just glad to see you Hinata. I missed you."
"Really? It makes me happy to hear you say that."
"Congratulations on your promotion by the way."
Her expression slightly scrunched. "What promotion?"
"Promotion to jonin." His tone inflected higher on the last word as he began to doubt his intel.
"Ah yes. Of course, that was a few years ago, I thought you meant I just got another promotion." She sighed, her perfect posture slumped down slightly.
"My bad. Sorry to disappoint you." He looked away from her, that was silly of him. It was clear how that could be misleading.
"You've never disappointed me Naruto." She meekly stepped forward and took his hand reassuringly. Her eyes earnestly spoke to him that he was forgiven.
Physically her hand felt like a block of ice but the hints of intimacy made him feel so warm. It was nice little moment. While it lasted.
"What's going on out here?" A commanding voice interrupted.
Naruto looked at the source of the voice. It was Hinata's stuffy old father. The guy who got to live at the expense of Neji's. That guy.
"Father!" Hinata jerked away reflexively.
Hiashi spoke up first after finally recognizing who was with his daughter. "Naruto..." He said straining his eyes to make sure he was seeing things clearly. People were obviously expecting him to never return.
Naruto waived his hand at him "Hinata's Dad."
Hiashi took no further notice of him and went back where he came.
"That was awkward." Naruto commented.
"I didn't expect him to react so coldly..."
"I take it he usually reacts warmer?" He asked trying to get a rise out of her.
She was avoiding eye contact nervously like the time Sasuke's name was mentioned. "I guess things are different when you're around Sasuke." He added.
"No, no Naruto. There's never been anything going on with me and Sasuke."
Naruto smiled. "Come on Hinata, you don't have to lie to me. It's not like there's anything going on between us."
"Of course, you would never be interested in a girl as plain and useless as me." She said defeated.
"Plain? Have you looked in the mirror lately, you're the most beautiful woman in the entire village, I bet most of the village is interested. And useless, you're speaking to the 18 year old genin."
He'd tried to bluff his way through this by feigning disinterest but instead of getting an admission of any relationship with Sasuke she just began tearing into herself. The woman clearly had self esteem issues. He'd just have to screw this. Fortunately, his response to her little self deprecating outburst had made her blush and then laugh. Her guard was down.
He walked forward, grabbed her waist and hugged her tightly. Hinata relaxed and allowed the full force of her large firm chest sink into his body. Naruto kissed her softly on the lips. It was quick but he felt a spark ricochet through their bodies, enough to make her knees buckle.
"Oh my." She responded after they finished.
"Goodbye Hinata." He smiled casually.
She flashed him a blank look to match her red cheeks. Slightly disoriented, she raised her hand to say goodbye.
It was a nice way to end things. If he saw Sasuke around he'd to ask him about his relationship with Hinata. Asking her directly was like pulling teeth.
The final stop was home. Feelings of nostalgia surged through his veins as he stood outside. The twinge caused neither obvious pleasure or pain but it whatever he was feeling was indeed powerful. He was sure glad to see it still in one piece. Despite it's previous demise it still looked the same. It looked like home. No evidence of any disaster. He knocked on the door.
He hadn't seen family in years, unless Karin counted. He hoped she didn't. That would be inappropriate and inconvenient for him to justify to himself.
The door opened. "Hello," Kushina said absent mindedly before actually seeing who was there.
"Hi Mom, do you recognize me." He smiled, doing the peace sign with a goofy grin.
Her reaction flipped like a switch. "Naruto!" She pulled him inside and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're safe. I can't tell you how good it feels to have to have my boy returned to me." Her hands rubbed carefree against his back. "What am I saying my boy has become a man now."
He figured it must quite a shock to see him age so quickly. He himself hasn't noticed any change in his appearance, it happened so gradually. She, on the other hand last saw him as a child and now he was suddenly an adult. He experienced the same thing with Hinata. At least his Mom wouldn't have to deal with feelings of overwhelming lust swell up inside her as it happened.
He was amused by the fact that she didn't appear to have aged a single day. Everything was the same. He had nothing to worry about.
"I'm glad to see you too. "
"Lets sit down." Kushina directed, pointing to the sofa.
Naruto collapsed down on the comfy looking seat, Kushina did the same. She fell uncomfortably close to him but he shrugged that off.
"Tell me, what hell did Orochimaru put you through?" Kushina asked, curiously ruffling a hand through his hair like it was some fascinating mystery.
It felt strange that she still fussed over him like he was a child. "I'm really fine Mom. How have you been? I heard the house got destroyed in some kind of accident."
"Don't you worry about me sweetie." She said bringing his head to rest on her chest.
Naruto couldn't help but notice that Kushina was also stroking his thigh.
"Mom what are you doing?"
"What do you mean?" She asked, her forehead crinkling. She seemed genuinely confused.
Naruto placed a finger on her stroking hand that was getting dangerously close to his crotch. "This." He replied.
"Ah." She gasped out, looking horrified. "I don't know what happened, I just felt really happy and comfortable around you, my hand must have just moved on it's own."
Ahhhhh! Naruto internally screamed out. This serum! It was just unfair for it to affect her as well. Tomorrow he was going to the lab and he wasn't leaving until he found a solution. This house was just unlivable until this was fixed. Right now, it was only slightly creepy but it could only escalate from here. Orochimaru... what a sadist!