Chapter Eight: Pining
Sakura was exceptionally grateful for many aspects of her and Naruto's relation – friendship – she shouldn't get ahead of herself. But yeah, there were lots of things about their friendship she was thankful for.
The inherent ease in each other's company for a start.
There was just a comfort in being in each other's presence that Sakura had never felt with anyone else. Even the comfort she felt being with her parents or with Ino wasn't the same. They were all good but there was just something special about the comfort Naruto gave her just by being there.
He felt like home.
He also did lovely things without thinking about it. Like how he'd moved her suitcase to her side of the bed, ready for her to pick out her clothes for the day, while she'd been in the shower. It was sweet and considerate. It also meant she didn't have to try and keep her towel from falling entirely in front of him while pulling her case over.
Which would have been one way to ruin the calm they'd apparently managed.
Their ability to be silent together without it being awkward was another gift. Especially when even after a long, long shower that she had enjoyed so thoroughly her knees were a little wobbly, seriously, she'd probably left an ass print against the tile she'd leant against it so hard, she'd still had to come out and towel off with him in the room.
He'd been the perfect gentleman the entire time, even when she'd tried to get his head to turn at least once or twice, specifically when she was brushing out her hair in front of a mirror. He had a thing for long hair.
And then again when she'd 'accidentally' let her towel drop to reveal her still wet breasts. Which was different than her just suddenly being naked and wet in front of him.
That would have been embarrassing, her being in just a towel and having her wet breasts out would have been sexy.
…
It would!
…
Look, Naruto was a boob guy, she had what she thought were quite nice breasts and even if she had sated the need to jump him in the immediate … she'd got to ogle his barely covered dick, she felt like he deserved a bit of a show. It was only fair.
And you know, if him seeing her topless had led to him having to do something about that … well. Yum.
But he hadn't turned, he'd not even glanced in her direction. Hell he'd gone to the other side of the rather large suite they'd wound up in. She hadn't realised just how big the bedroom was last night but she was pretty sure you could fit both her and Naruto's bedrooms in this room and still have enough space for a three piece sofa.
Which funnily enough there was, tucked over in the corner facing an old-fashioned TV. Which Naruto was sat watching while she changed. And also why he'd not been distracted by her towel dropping, because he was being sweet and polite.
It was also another blast of domesticity for their morning now she thought about it. Taking turns in the shower, him sitting waiting for her to get ready to go down with her. Like he couldn't have just headed down for breakfast, that he had to wait for her. You know … like you wait for a girlfriend or a wife.
Fuck she wanted him.
Though him being distracted by the TV, which he had on low as not to bother her in case she still had a headache, had she mentioned how annoyingly perfect he was? Had at least given her the chance to deposit her ruined panties in her case without having to worry about him seeing.
Though, him clearly admiring her panties earlier had told her she was on the right track on her choice of underwear. The look on his face when he'd mentioned them was giving her all kinds of yummy feelings thank you very much.
She kept those feelings while she dressed for the day. Making sure to put on an especially nice pair of panties and matching bra as quickly as possible. Because yes, she was going to be romantic about telling him she loved him later … she also wanted him eating out of her palm when he saw the Victoria's Secret underwear she'd bought with a gift card from Ino on her birthday.
She sighed happily at her reflection, taking a moment to admire herself.
It was a habit she'd had to force herself to make, after way too many years of not being happy with how she looked, despite knowing she was a good-looking woman, she made a point of taking the time to revel when she got the chance.
She wished she could go back in time and tell her fourteen year old self that by the time she hit her mid-twenties she'd finally like her body in the mirror. Not because she looked like a supermodel or because some guy had liked how she looked.
But because letting go off that self-loathing and need to fit some stupid expectation, like with Sasuke damn near demanding she be skinny to the point that she barely ate, would allow her to fully enjoy her own body. And enjoy wearing cute clothes that fit her and complimented her figure. She'd never have had the nerve to buy sexy underwear if she hadn't learned to love herself.
Which was a shame because she really liked how this set looked on her. The light pink matched her hair and worked with the tone of her skin beautifully. The panties covered her tastefully and the bra gave her the support she needed all the while still looking like if you pulled it lightly it'd come off in your hand. And giving you a nice eyeful without making her feel naked while wearing it.
Yes, she looked damn sexy in her sexy undies, and God how she loved that she was able to enjoy that fact.
Like she hoped Naruto would later. And again tomorrow. And the day after that and the day after that and then … well then she'd have to go buy more because she'd have run out but you got where she was going.
'You okay Sakura?' Said man asked without turning around, breaking her out of her fantasises.
'Yeah!' Sakura said quickly, he'd been so quiet she'd almost forgot he was there.
His phone chirruped on the couch next to him and he groaned. 'Best hurry,' he said, still not looking her way thankfully. 'Shikamaru's texting me asking where the hell we are. Bet your phone is about to explode with Ino doing the same. Oh, and he's telling us to dress for activity.'
Sakura raised an eyebrow at that and eyed her suspiciously silent phone. Because she hadn't gotten any messages from any of the girls. She'd been expecting to wake up to a phone full of texts or message alerts across all the apps the girls chatted through. But she hadn't gotten any. At all.
Weird.
She was just putting on a dark red t-shirt when what Naruto had said registered. 'Activity? Did he say what we're doing?'
Naruto shook his head and tapped his phone hurriedly. 'No, but I'm surprised we're doing anything at all. When I left the pool last night Kiba was barely able to stand and the rest weren't much better. Sai was only just holding onto his drink.'
They shared a chuckle as Sakura pulled up a pair of black jeans. 'I bet Ino was disappointed Sai wasn't fit to do anything last night but we both know that wouldn't stop her.'
Naruto, still not turning to look at her the absolute babe, laughed sharply and grinned. 'No, she'd have just lain him on his back and gone to town if she wanted to. Hell possibly to spite him for getting in the way of her daily lay.'
'She's not that bad,' Sakura chided him half-heartedly. 'Besides, would you turn down daily sex? I sure as hell wouldn't.'
There was a pregnant pause where the only sound was the TV and Sakura's brain screaming quietly. But she stomped down the urge to take that one back.
Because no, fuck it, they'd been having these kind of conversations about sex ever since they'd gotten past the 'talking about sex is awkward' stage of being teenagers. That was not changing now just because … well because hopefully they'd be the ones having daily sex starting tonight.
Naruto didn't seem to notice the tenseness in the pause though and just shrugged and laughed. 'No, I suppose not. Besides, didn't you tell me she's been trying to encourage him to be more comfortable with sex? Exposure therapy or something? That's what her PHD was about right?'
Another tension loosening shared laugh and Sakura walked over to stand behind him on the sofa.
She flicked his ear and ruffled his hair. 'Like you even read her paper, you just wanted to make your dirty joke seem classier.'
He leant his head back, his soft and fluffy hair tickling her tummy slightly as it rubbed against her shirt and he grinned playfully up at her.
It was adorable and it made her want to kiss him. Badly.
'Hey, I read,' Naruto pouted, his hand reaching up to poke at her side, adding more tickliness to her morning. 'Don't start that stereotypical shit of me being a dumb cop who just reads crappy newspapers and eats donuts.'
She swallowed a quick giggle as his finger wiggled against her rib. 'Naruto!'
He went to tickle her side again, bringing his other four fingers to bear and gave her that sexy foxy grin he got sometimes. The one that made her want to rip off her clothes and jump him. God she loved that grin.
But she smacked his hand away. Because she'd just calmed down damn it and didn't need to get worked up at his fingers on her okay?
She gave him a playful scowl and a warning finger point when he winked at her and shoved his head forward gently. 'No. You ready for breakfast?'
Naruto, who was still grinning, flicked off the TV and, while scooping up his phone, bounded to his feet in one fluid motion. 'Yup.'
Sakura smiled fondly at him and picked up her phone from the nightstand on her side of the bed. Still no messages from Ino. Huh.
'Shika get back to you about what he meant yet?' Sakura asked as they made their way out of the room. Sakura slipping on her flats while Naruto got the door.
'Nah,' Naruto said, peering at his phone before checking himself over quickly. 'If what we're wearing now isn't suitable we'll just have to make do or something. I look alright yeah?'
She eyed him up and down and tried not to enjoy it too much. But damn, even in a pair of faded light blue jeans and his old Konoha U black t-shirt with the orange swirl on the shoulders, Naruto looked hot.
'Yeah,' Sakura said, poking him in the chest and letting her fingers drag down a little. She just about resisted the urge to pull on his collar. 'I wouldn't kick you out of bed, that's for sure,' she said bravely.
His cheeks went a little red as she took the moment to stride through the open door and smirk as it took him a couple moments to remember he was meant to be following her.
Yeah, not the only one who can flirt Uzumaki, she chuckled to herself, throwing in a little sway of her hips when she could feel his eyes on her waist.
Where they apparently dipped to her ass sometime before she turned and caught him. He blushed harder and smiled apologetically.
'Sorry Sakura,' he said, getting redder by the second and something inside Sakura purred. 'Those are just very nice jeans.'
'Uh huh,' she said with a raised eyebrow. 'It's the jeans you like.'
He grinned weakly and she just about melted when he said: 'Well I can't just say nice ass, can I Sakura-chan?'
Oh yes the fuck you can!
The purr in the back of her head turned into a growl and she poked him in the chest. 'You're only getting away with that because of earlier, you know that right?'
'Yes ma'am,' he said cheekily with an equally cheeky grin.
She wanted to kiss it off his sexy face.
'Okay then, let's go have breakfast,' she said, forcing the giddiness out of her voice as she turned around. Letting it spill across her face when he couldn't see.
Because the second she'd turned her back … his eyes were back on her ass. Where as far as she was concerned they'd best stay.
Which they did, all the way down the corridor and into the elevator.
She just about resisted the urge to skip.
Just.
The dining room of Deer Cottage was decked out in much the same way as the rest of the hotel common areas were.
Rustic stained wood panels, lighter than the entrance hall was as to better reflect the light coming in from the big floor to ceiling windows. One massive pane of glass making up the majority of the window and then four little squares with swirls melded on taking up the top corners, making the sunlight refract and light up the room in the day.
A giant chandelier hung in the middle, the expansive room tall enough to accommodate it without some poor tall person cracking their head on it, and several smaller, but equally fancy chandeliers were dotted around the ceiling to bathe the room in light.
The floor was mostly carpeted in a rich green colour with patterns reminiscent of the Nara clan's insignia and some very delicately woven images of deer sat in the middle of every four insignias. The part of the floor that wasn't carpet was instead very expensive linoleum made to look like wood panelling and was set off to the middle back of the room, currently covered up by a roll of carpet but by the time for the reception, that would be removed and that would be where the majority of the dancing would take place for Shikamaru and Temari's wedding.
There were an assortment of tables, old oak ones that matched the colour of the wall, all around the room. Mostly big enough to fit four people to a table but there were some six and eight person tables and a smattering of two person tables as well.
Off to the side of the room, near one of the many windowed walls was a long table, so long Sakura had first thought it was two put together. This was the table where food and drinks were lain out for breakfast, with a couple of members of staff waiting by to assist guests.
The two younger men, almost boys really, and one slightly older than Sakura woman stood by idly and chatted amongst themselves. They didn't need to be very active with today's crowd. The only real thing they had to do was restock the trays with freshly cooked food for breakfast and replenish cartons of juice and teas or coffees.
'Oh thank God,' Naruto said from beside her, nudging Sakura with his arm playfully. 'I thought you'd taken so long in the shower doing whatever you were doing we'd miss breakfast.'
Sakura blushed slightly and shouldered him in the side but smiled. 'Shush, besides you took just as long as I did, don't throw stones Naruto. Or maybe I'll start to wonder what took you so long.'
The blond's face went a little red too and he chuckled. 'Touché, well come on, let's eat, I'm starving.'
Her stomach rumbled in agreement. 'Heh, sure, but you go first, I don't need you staring at my ass again. You know like you did all the way here.'
The blond didn't blush this time though, he only gave her a sly smirk, which sent shivers of barely restrained delight down her spine. He leant down so his lips were by her ear and his warm breath tickled her skin, making that delight tingle just a little more as it reached her belly.
'If you didn't want me to stare, why did you sway your hips like that?' He purred, his lips so close she could almost feel them on her neck. Now there was a thought. 'How does the saying go? The lady doth protest too much?'
Eep.
Sakura coughed, covering her blush as Naruto lifted back up to his full height. 'Since when are you quoting Shakespeare? Nerd.'
Naruto just winked at her and nudged her in the lower back – just above her ass the tease! – So she jumped and had to cover an actual 'eep' as he passed her to get to the food table.
Sakura glanced around the room to see if anyone had been watching them and felt her stomach drop as she found two very intent, immeasurably pleased pair of eyes watching her from one of the six person tables.
Tenten and Ino were staring at her with smiles on their faces that told her they'd seen everything and were making a point of gesturing at the two empty chairs at the table. The two empty chairs in the middle of the table, where Sakura would be flanked by Ino and Tenten and Naruto would be flanked by Neji and Sai.
And lucky Naruto the two men looked to be barely awake as they just shovelled food into their faces and drank copious amounts of water and juice.
She watched their eyes track from her to Naruto and both of their faces lit up with smug satisfaction as they somehow waggled their eyebrows in unison. And suddenly Sakura knew why she hadn't woken up to dozens of messages from her friends.
They hadn't wanted to interrupt. Because the last those two knew, Sakura had gone up to 'get her man' and was now clearly on the receiving end of some very playful flirting. Almost couply flirting
Which she was thoroughly enjoying by the way. He hadn't just been staring at her ass the entire way down from their room, the tease of a man had been making very flattering comments about the way she was dressed and how nice her hair looked post shower.
They'd been flirting pretty much with every breath, it was just coming out of her over and over and she couldn't stop herself. And with every extra bit of flirting, Naruto always met it and while it was probably playing with fire … if he kept coming back at her, she sure as hell wasn't going to stop it.
There had been one particular line about how he'd always liked how she looked wet that had left her reeling and her mouth had fallen open. He'd immediately made a point of correcting himself by saying he just thought her hair looked nice wet. But she hadn't been fooled. He'd gotten that little smirk he always got when he was messing around and it was equal parts hot and smug.
'Sorry Sakura,' Naruto had said with that kissable cheeky grin of his. 'I misspoke, I just like how your hair looks when it's drying, it's pretty.'
Sure he did, sexy prick.
But Naruto wasn't the only one who could play like that and Sakura had made a point of stopping and sighing before muttering about her shoelace being untied.
Then she'd bent at the waist so quickly that Naruto had nearly crashed crotch first into her ass.
He'd managed to manoeuvre around her and when she'd looked up at his alarmed shout she'd made sure the angle he now had on her let him get an eyeful of her cleavage. So now Naruto also knew exactly what kind of bra she was wearing.
Victory had tasted sweet and remained tasting sweet as Naruto had gone red and also lost the ability to speak a little as she'd come back to her full height with an exaggerated bounce and she crowed internally as his eyes followed the bounce of certain parts of her.
Dumb babe should never have let her know he was a boob guy.
'Hey Sakura?' Naruto asked, pulling her from her reverie and she realised she'd just been kind of staring into the middle distance. 'You okay?'
All teasing and play-flirting left his face as he looked genuinely concerned. Like he was worried he'd gone too far or something and it just made him so cute and vulnerable. She just wanted to cuddle him up right there but she settled for a smile and a pat of his arm.
'Yeah, was just thinking, could you get me some food?' Sakura said quietly and jerked her head in the direction of Ino and Tenten, who were still staring. Their grins having gotten somehow even larger. 'I think I'd best go do some damage control on those two idiots.'
Naruto followed her head and sighed. 'Yeah, sure Sakura, I'll be right over, orange juice and all.'
'You're a babe,' she said and tried not to let it show how much it pleased her that he didn't even need to ask what she'd want for breakfast.
He was perfect and she was so going to make him hers.
But first …
Ino and Tenten had the good grace to not say anything until she was within speaking range. Didn't stop them from leaning on their hands with smiles that wouldn't let the proverbial butter melt.
'Hey Sakura,' Ino said, stretching the first word like a teenage girl about to gossip would, not a fully licensed psychotherapist. God she was so childish sometimes. 'And how did you sleep last night?'
'Fine thank you,' Sakura said pointedly staring at the two men who'd barely made so much as a grunt in her general direction. 'How about you guys?'
Tenten shrugged and reached over to stroke Neji's hair, he glanced up and winced in the light. 'Well enough, someone needed a bit of carrying back to bed but we slept okay, didn't we hon?'
'Yes dear.' Neji smiled weakly and he nodded at Sakura carefully. 'Your boyfriend is a bad winner by the way.'
Neji went back to scarfing down breakfast as his wife smiled fondly at him. 'I'm sure if you asked Naruto nicely he'd give you back your money babe,' she said with a rueful chuckle.
Sakura rolled her eyes and made a mental note to ask Naruto what he remembered about the guys' night. At a guess though she assumed the morons had tried to play a cop at poker and thought they'd win.
She'd played poker with Naruto before, as well as strip poker but he'd held back in that game, because you know, he was perfect and a gentleman.
They'd play strip poker just the two of them after the weekend. She'd show him what she did to gentlemen. And for them.
She shoved that fun thought to the side, along with the other ones their morning flirt had gifted her with. It was developing into quite the pile.
But yes, she'd played poker with Naruto before, you didn't so much try to beat him, you tried to hold on as long as you could and pray he went after someone else's chips first.
Tenten was right though, if Neji asked, he'd get his money back. Or at least he would after Sakura had insisted he do it. Because while no one seemed able to actually make Naruto do things he didn't want to … Sakura could at least get him to reconsider.
You know the more she thought about stuff like that the more she started to wonder if their friends weren't onto something with the whole 'Naruto's wife' thing.
'And what about you Sakura?' Ino asked, her arms crossed and possibly the smuggest smile Sakura had ever seen on the woman's face ever. 'Did Naruto have anything to give to you?'
Tenten guffawed as Sakura ignored the innuendo. She'd normally have blushed but after all of the flirting … she was kinda blushed out.
But she knew Ino was going to keep pushing til she got answers. She'd want information as a reward for not interrupting whatever she thought her and Naruto had been up to. Though she supposed, after years of explicit texts about what Ino thought her and her oblivious idiot should be doing … she could probably have guessed at a few things Ino's sex obsessed brain came up with.
There was no way in hell she was being interrogated in front of the men at the table though. Neji probably wouldn't say anything but she couldn't trust Sai not to blab to Naruto. And the last thing her plan for tonight needed was for Sai to ruin it with some oblivious question that gave the game away to Naruto.
Sakura tried to convey her concerns about Sai and Neji to the girls and mercifully they appeared to get it.
'Hey babe?' Ino said, reaching out to squeeze her boyfriend's hand, making the half-asleep man jerk away and smile in that absent way he did sometimes. 'Hey, you've have something to eat like I asked, you can go lie down for a bit if you like? Okay?'
Sai looked like he'd been thrown a life vest in the middle of a roaring ocean and nodded with relief. 'Thank you,' he croaked.
The pale man lifted carefully from the table and dragged himself out of the dining room, wandering presumably in the direction of the elevators and his bed.
'What the hell did you do to him?' Sakura asked bemusedly. The poor man had never looked so dazed, he'd barely even paused to give her a look in greeting. Granted given how Sai sometimes said hello, with some blunt observation that was remarkably rude, she supposed him just walking away wasn't so bad.
Ino rolled her eyes and snorted. 'Nothing, poor man was too off his face once we got back to the room. Would have felt rapey to do anything to him at that point. Plus, he'd probably have fallen asleep midway and that's just not happening.'
Huh. She and Naruto owed Ino an apology. Turned out she wouldn't get hers at any cost. Guess that just proved how much she liked the guy. Which was sweet.
'So …' Ino started, her smile turning practically vulpine. 'What did you –'
Panic filled Sakura as she shot a sharp look at Neji's back and Ino rolled her eyes. Thankfully Tenten got the memo.
'Hon?' Tenten said, her tone sweet enough to give you cavities.
Neji sighed heavily and without saying a word, he picked up his plate and glass of juice and walked away from the table. The grumbling starting once he was far enough away from the table that Tenten would have to throw things at him to tell him off.
'You have got to teach me how to do that,' Ino said with an impressed gleam in her eyes, Sakura slipping into one of the freshly emptied chairs earning a flicker of annoyance across the blonde's face.
Like she was actually going to put herself between the two of them, what did she think she was? An idiot?
'Later,' Tenten chuckled. 'But now the men are gone, and before yours shows up Saks, spill.'
She could even bolster the nerve to retort that Naruto wasn't her man. Even though he technically wasn't. Yet.
Emphasis on yet.
But first she had to get through the ribbing and exasperation of her friends.
'Okay look,' Sakura started, unable to meet either of their eyes and grit her teeth. 'Nothing happened last night.'
'Oh come. ON!' Ino all but screamed at her from across the table, drawing attention from all around them. The woman glanced around to see a roomful of eyes on her and her cheeks developed a hint of pink but all it did was lower the volume. 'What else have I got to fucking do Sakura? I got you two stuck sharing a room, I told you what he'd said about wanting you recently, I even got the bottle of wine for you to go up and seduce him with! What have I got to do to get you to fuck your goddamn boyfriend?'
Sakura actually shied away from her best friend's angry glare and looked to Tenten beseechingly. The brunette had always been more understanding of Sakura's predicament and while no less encouraging or insistent on making a move on Naruto … she'd always been nicer about her insistence.
And thank merciful God, today was no different.
'Alright Ino,' Tenten said quietly, patting the seething woman on the shoulder. 'Take a mental lap and come back. What actually happened Sakura?' She asked, turning to Sakura with an understanding expression.
'And it better be damn good,' Ino grumbled, crossing her arms and looking more and more like a grumpy toddler the longer she was sat there. 'Otherwise I'm literally locking you in the room and playing porn music at your door until I hear bedsprings and moans.'
'Ino!' Sakura hissed, her cheeks burning, glancing over at the table with breakfast stuff, where Naruto was stood having a lengthy conversation with an frustrated looking Shikamaru.
'Quiet blondie,' Tenten said with an exasperated sigh. 'Go on Sakura.'
'Well I went up last night, fully prepared to you know, seduce him and everything, but when I got to the room … he was already asleep.'
'Then you should have woken him up,' Ino said, unforgivingly. 'You two had things to do and I have not spent the best part of a decade making this happen for you to chicken out because he's a heavy sleeper.'
'I tried! I even shook him and tried to kiss him awake! I tried everything!' Sakura complained, gesturing imploringly at Ino. 'But like you said, wouldn't it have been weird if I'd woken him up when he was still drunk and jumped him? Not like he'd be able to consent right?'
Both women bobbed their heads, granted Ino did it more reluctantly than Tenten.
'So what?' Ino glowered at her. 'You're gonna hem and haw and not tell him how you feel? Again.'
Sakura bristled at that and glared back at her friend. 'Bite me Pig,' she said harshly. 'I didn't say I was giving up, I'm just coming at it in a different way. So shut up for once and let me tell you what happened this morning okay?'
Ino looked a little taken aback but she smirked a little as she acknowledged what she'd said. Or maybe it was just the fact that when Sakura was remembering the morning she felt a phantom throb against her ass and blushed.
'So something did happen this morning?' Ino asked, her anger evaporating as curiosity twinkled in her eyes. 'Please tell me skin was involved.'
She groaned in frustration and looked to Tenten again, but this time she was only met with equal curiosity from her normally more sensible friend.
'Spill Saks,' the brunette pushed over a cup of tea, her eyes glinting with amusement. 'Spare no details.'
The pinkette glanced around for anyone who might be eavesdropping, and making sure Naruto was still distracted and leant in closer. 'Okay so, you know how guys sometimes wake up with erections?'
'The most rideable kind yeah.' Ino grinned naughtily. Before something sparked in her eyes and her grin got bigger. 'Ahhhh, so Naruto's morning was glorious huh?'
Sakura blushed but couldn't help the small smile trickle over her face. 'It's perfectly natural and it doesn't mean anything …'
'Uh huh,' Tenten said with her saucy smirk. 'Ass or back Saks?'
'Huh?' Sakura said eloquently.
'We all know Naruto's a cuddly sleeper,' Ino said with a downright demonic grin on her face. 'We've all seen the pictures of it and you've experienced it more than anyone so … was his glorious morning pressed against your ass or your back?'
Sakura looked between both women, their deeply amused, almost giddy expressions getting closer as they leant in over the table.
Oh God, why had she ever even said anything?
'Ass,' she murmured, her face burning ever hotter. 'I thought it might be his knee at first as well and when I tried to move …'
'Oh my God,' Ino damn near wheezed to cover her giggle. 'You wiggled your ass against his dick! Bet that felt all kinds of hot huh Forehead?'
'Ino …' Sakura dragged out her friends name and looked at her beseechingly.
Because there was not enough alcohol in the world that would make Sakura tell Ino that she'd enjoyed the feeling so much she could still feel his erection pressed against her ass right now. And that it was distracting.
'Wait,' Tenten said with a thoughtful expression on her face. She turned to Ino and her grin got somehow even bigger. 'Doesn't Naruto also kinda typically sleep in just his boxers?'
Both women turned back to stare at Sakura with matching evil smirks that made her want to run the fuck away.
'That's right,' Ino said, her tone promising all kinds of teasing for Sakura's immediate future. Which she did not appreciate thank you. 'And you tend to sleep in just a pair of panties and one of his shirts, you know, despite you constantly denying how married the pair of you are.'
'They're just comfy and he doesn't mind, shut up,' Sakura groused back and suddenly found herself wishing Naruto would hurry up with their breakfasts now. She needed the distraction.
'And I made sure you were wearing sexy undies last night … so what you're telling us Forehead, is that your morning started with the only thing between your bare ass and his hard dick was his boxers and your frilly panties?'
…
…
…
Well now that she'd stopped to think about that again she was all kinds of turned on. Which she didn't need right now. She needed to not be thinking about Naruto's manhood while she ran her plan for the day by her friends.
Which was what she should have just started with instead of ever mentioning her morning.
Stupid Sakura, stupid, stupid, stupid.
'Yes,' Sakura whispered after the continued staring from her friends didn't let up.
'And you're turned on as fuck just thinking about it aren't you?' Ino pressed gleefully, Tenten covering a laugh badly with sipping her water.
'Yes.' No point lying about it, hell, it might even get Ino to help her with her plan all the more. The blonde almost made it her mission in life to get her friends laid as often as she could. Sakura was actually surprised Ino hadn't become a sex therapist to be honest. 'Now shut up and let me tell you about the rest of the morning okay?'
Ino and Tenten looked ecstatically at her. It was reminiscent of when they'd been in school and they'd talked about all the awkward flirting and encounters between her and Naruto before Sasuke and Hinata had happened.
There'd been more than enough planning on how to get her to make a move on Naruto back then, granted it had been a harder sell and way more theoretical. And while Naruto was dating Hinata it just flat out stopped.
Shippers on deck Tenten and Ino may have always been … but Hinata was their friend too and to actually plan Naruto and Sakura getting together would have been outright wrong and shitty to the nth degree.
But through university, when Naruto and Sakura had been single … oh there had been damn near daily planning some weeks.
'There's more?' Ino whispered reverently.
Boy was there.
Sakura laid out the rest of the morning to the girls, dancing over her alone time in the shower and focusing way more on the flirting between the two of them and the way that his hands on her sides had felt and the way she'd felt when he'd been playfully threatening to tickle her.
The girls grinned knowingly at that point but thankfully didn't tease her. What was revealed during drunken Truth or Dare stayed between them, that was the only way they'd gotten basically anyone except Ino willing to open up about stuff.
And while there was some teasing about what was revealed, Ino had never missed a chance to tease her over a particular fantasy including her, Naruto and his handcuffs but some things didn't get teased about.
One of those things being how much Sakura enjoyed being tickled. It was a lot. Don't judge.
And by the time Sakura had finished recounting the morning and telling the girls her plan … both women were smirking and promising to help any way they could … Naruto was showing up with breakfast at long last and they immediately changed the topic to something less … confessional.
Which was a relief, because if Naruto had just been a couple minutes earlier he'd have heard Ino ask what undies Sakura was wearing.
And Sakura's answer.
Because at that point the girls were actually helping and well … a little reassurance that she'd look sexy in just her underwear was warranted. She'd maybe been getting a little nervous about actually confessing and she'd be even more nervous if it went well and it got down to the point where clothes were coming off …
Look, bounds and strides of improvement on her self-confidence and opinions on her appearance were all well and good but … she needed to be the sexiest thing he'd ever seen tonight okay?
It was important.
Shut up.
'Morning girls,' Naruto said as he reached the table, glancing at three empty chairs and easing Sakura's plate down in front of her before placing his own in the place next to hers.
She didn't know why that made her tummy flutter but it did.
Maybe because he'd filled her plate with all her favourite kind of breakfast food and placed a perfectly cooled glass of orange juice in front of her. With the kind of certainty in his choices that he didn't even ask if it was okay what he'd picked.
Because he didn't need to ask. He knew.
God, he really was her husband damn it.
I mean, give us a couple years and he actually will be …
And that giddy little thought made her smile just as much as him bumping her arm with his as he slid into the seat next to her.
'There's more hash browns and sausages coming out by the way,' Naruto said with a smile. 'Sorry I took so long, Shikamaru finally explained what he'd meant by dress for activity and then Yoshino came over to ask if my parents were still coming … and then Gaara came over to check how I was doing after last night.'
'Popular guy,' Tenten chuckled. 'Did my darling husband pester you about money yet?'
Naruto's eyes went a little steely and he smirked. It was hot.
'He tried, I told him to not be bitter about sucking at poker,' Naruto said as he sipped on his own juice. His eyes went soft again when he looked at Tenten with a dash of concern. 'Do you need me to give it back?'
And that, right there, was yet another reason why she loved the gorgeous man. The second the merest idea that someone might actually need his help, he was there in a heartbeat.
God, it made her want to kiss him even more than usual when he was that sweet.
It'd been hard enough not to kiss him on the cheek when he'd put her breakfast in front of her like he'd made it himself. Because that was what she'd normally do as a little thank you, it was so reflexive at this point it didn't even get a flicker out of either of them.
But if she'd done that right now the girls would have ripped them apart.
Besides, there'd be plenty of time for it later. And for much less chaste kissing too.
'Nah,' Tenten waved off and chuckled. 'Unlike him I budgeted him losing all his money into the expenses this month. Don't let him talk you into it, he needs to learn not to try and beat you at poker.'
Naruto's smile turned a little smug. And damn it all that was hot too.
'Alright, but if it turns out you do need it, you know where I am.' Naruto lifted a bit of bacon to his mouth and chewed. Sakura watched him out of one eye because she couldn't stop herself.
Ino caught her and grinned knowingly before kicking her gently under the table.
She scowled back at her and returned focusing on her breakfast. The perfect breakfast he'd gotten her. Because he was perfect and lovely and God she wanted to take him back to the room and …
No, plan. There was a plan. She had a plan. It was a good plan. That other stuff would come later. After the plan.
'By the way Sakura,' Naruto said after swallowing down more breakfast. 'We're gonna have to go back to the room after breakfast and get out of these clothes.'
Sakura had enough time to register what he'd said and the shocked delight in Ino's face before the entire world crashed to a screaming halt and was replaced with all the X-rated images filling her head while she tried to work through it.
'Ummmm,' Sakura said as the computer of her mind slowly reset itself. 'Okay?'
Cos he had to mean something other than … well what he was literally saying. He had to be being accidentally too blunt and mean something else.
Right?
Was it okay she kinda hoped not?
'Yeah,' Naruto said, she thought she caught the hint of a blush in his cheeks but it was gone as quick as snow on a hot summer day. 'Shikamaru and Temari have a massive thing planned for the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Told me if I didn't want to wreck my clothes I'd best go change into something I can actually move in. Said there were loads of different physical activities we can do? Sounds kinda fun to be honest.'
'Oh yeah,' Sakura said with a quick smile. Trying not to be too disappointed at Naruto not wanting to go get naked in their room together.
Later.
'The girls were telling me about that, suppose we'd best both go put on shorts and t-shirts huh?' Sakura said thoughtfully, chewing on her hash brown. 'Didn't you say they supplied like throwaway clothes at the place though Tenten?'
Tenten nodded and peered at the two of them, at how close they were sitting to each other and clearly enjoying herself with every little hint of their comfort with each other. Sakura only noticed her noticing because well … she'd never really realised it but she and Naruto did kind of move in sync.
She only had to sort of see him glancing around for ketchup and salt before her hand was already moving on its own to pass him it. Or Naruto seemed to always know when she needed juice or water topping up or a fresh piece of toast from the rack one of the waiters dropped by their table.
It had always just been natural to her, because her and Naruto ate so many meals together but she supposed it was one of the many, many reasons their friends insisted they were a couple.
She couldn't deny it now she couldn't stop seeing it.
Or how much she freaking loved it.
'Yeah,' Tenten said dismissively and sipped some more of her tea. 'But honestly, I'd just put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt of your own that you don't mind having to throw away afterwards. We went as a team-building thing a couple years ago with Team Japan … you don't want to wear those things. Besides, the sizes are always way off.'
Sakura did a quick mental tally of the clothes she'd brought with her. She supposed she could always find another pair of black exercise shorts she'd bought if she'd fancied a run and then there was that light red V-neck t-shirt she packed just in case.
The one where the bottom of the v was probably just a bit too low after years of wearing.
That might actually work out perfectly for the part of their plan for the day actually.
Because like she'd said to Naruto, the girls had told her what the plan for today was and suggested that maybe they'd try and set it up so her and Naruto spent a lot of time doing very physical things, with adrenaline pumping and there was even a water balloon fight place and well if she let him soak her …
Well everyone knew what happened to t-shirts of light colours when they got wet after all …
She glanced at Naruto who was absently eating his breakfast and appeared to be lost in thought. It was cute. If he only knew what was coming for him in the next couple hours.
Hopefully he'd be as excited as she was. Probably not as nervous though.
'Hmm,' he said with a shake of his head. 'Guess it's a good thing I always bring workout gear when we go away huh Sakura?' he chuckled and gave her a winning grin that knocked her socks off.
You know, if her toes hadn't been curling around the way he'd said 'we go away'. Like it was a fact that they never went on holiday without each other. That they'd gone away together so many times that of course Sakura would know what he'd pack in his suitcase.
In the way that only a girlfriend or wife would know. Like she'd been sat next to you watching you pack your clothes and reminding you to put things in there.
Like she did for him.
Every time they ever went away. Be it in a group or just the two of them taking a weekend trip.
Because they'd been doing that for years. And it always got them teased but they didn't care and had some of the best holidays ever just the two of them and oh my God they were so married how had she never fucking seen it?!
Ugh.
'So when are we meant to be heading out for this anyway?' Naruto asked, thankfully helping her move past her frustration with herself. 'Gotta be soon right? We've got the rehearsal dinner to go through this evening after all.'
Ino waved absently at him and checked her phone. 'Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, all you've gotta do with that is show up, walk down the aisle with Sakura on your arm and stand there looking appropriately approving of the ceremony. As long as we're back here at like four and change into appropriate clothes by five, we'll have all the time in the world for the practice run and then it's back to the dining room for the meal and we all try not to get so drunk we can't function tomorrow and go to bed. Easy peasy, ass squeezy,' Ino said with such forced innocence that Sakura actually could taste the smirk the blonde woman was hiding by checking her phone.
Because she probably somehow knew that all Sakura could think about now was Naruto squeezing her ass. And with his nice, big strong hands still moving in her peripheral vision she couldn't really think of much else.
Bitch had said it on purpose.
'Still doesn't answer when we're leaving for this thing though,' Naruto groused as he sat there oblivious to how Sakura was staring at his hands.
God they were so big he could probably grab her whole ass with just one. Which would leave his other hand free to do other things …
Tenten nudged Ino with her elbow and chuckled. 'We're gonna be heading out in an hour Naruto don't worry. It won't actually take us long to get there, then it'll take three to four hours depending on how long people want to do things. We'll have plenty of time.'
The brunette said that last part while looking at Sakura and the pinkette gave her a small smile, the reassurance in her tone clearly meant for both of them.
And it did help.
Because honestly, she was gonna need all the time she could get to properly think of how to tell Naruto how she felt about him. And she also needed time to try and clear out the excess energy she had that was fuelling her horny like it was nitrous in a race car.
So a few hours of physical activity that almost invited them to play-flirt once they got each other alone would do wonders for her nerves.
Plus, with how the pair of them hadn't seemed able to stop flirting ever since they woke up … hopefully that'd keep up all throughout and by the time she did get him alone after the rehearsal dinner … well maybe it wouldn't just be her desperate to tell Naruto how she felt.
Maybe her oblivious man would finally be able to see it, like she had, and they could just finally, finally stop dancing around each other and just dance together at long last.
God, please, she thought as their eyes met again and he smiled at her warmly.
Please.
Naruto was having a problem.
It was quite a serious problem and he really needed to get a hold of it as soon as he could. Because he was pretty damn sure his reaction to the problem was really obvious, and that all his friends had seen it. Especially Sakura.
Undoubtedly Sakura actually. Considering the problem was something very particular to her.
His problem was that her ass looked fucking amazing in her black exercise shorts and he couldn't tear his eyes away from it.
Her. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her.
And his mind wouldn't stop suggesting things he could do to her. Starting with her ass and moving further up her wonderful body and then back down again. He honestly wasn't sure why he wasn't able to stomp the suggestions down.
Okay, he'd woken up with her ass pressed against his dick, and clearly cuddling her and they'd been play-flirting pretty much since they'd woken up but … well, they'd been doing that as a game for years!
Hell, he'd literally made a joke about finding a way to get her in his bed the other day at his place! That had left him able to think about barely anything that wasn't sex related.
And he'd literally started his day with her ass pressed into his dick with only a very sexy pair of panties covering her! Why was a pair of exercise shorts, that by stopping halfway down her thigh covered her way more, having this much of an effect on him?!
To be fair, you were staring at her ass the whole way to breakfast when she was in jeans and you couldn't stop then either.
Okay, yes, he had been staring at her ass the whole way down. Though that had mostly been just to flirt with Sakura who had actively been flirting back with him. This time he was just actively keeping her peach of an ass in his line of sight at all times without even meaning to.
Even when she wasn't walking in front of him.
Ugh. He was a perv, just like his grandfather and he suddenly wished he could literally dive into a lake of ice just so he could have some semblance of control again. Honestly, it was a miracle he'd been able to contain himself from checking out her cleavage as well. That was probably because that would be unavoidably obvious and as much as he would thoroughly enjoy the view … there was something creepier about getting caught staring at a woman's breasts than her ass.
Not much creepier, both were gross behaviour he was meant to be above, but there was definitely something worse about it.
So yeah, Naruto had a problem and it was how Sakura was dressed and would be dressed for the next few hours while they all did apparently physical things. Kill him now.
Thankfully he'd offered to drive himself, Sakura, Ino and Sai to this place and in doing so, had to focus on driving and couldn't focus on the interesting way the seatbelt sat between Sakura's breasts.
Oh shut up, he couldn't help it okay?
And Sakura wasn't exactly helping him stop. He swore he caught her bending over more than necessary when they were in the room changing, and she even asked him if he thought the t-shirt she'd changed into was too tight and proceeded to pull it down so her boobs literally strained against the fabric!
If this was her messing with him and just upping the ante … well two could play at that game and he would be getting her back.
Because she knew he was a boob guy and that he thought she had very nice breasts. He'd told her. When he was drunk and they'd been joking around about how hot each of them were. Which they'd done a few times over the years to be honest. Sometimes with their other friends around.
That probably fuelled the whole 'totally a couple' thing now he stopped to think about it. But they hadn't cared then and he didn't care now. It was a nice ego boost for him and she assured him, her too.
Apparently her being told he really thought she had a great ass and very nice breasts had made her day almost as much as the way she'd gushed about … basically all of him.
Which … well, was very flattering.
But anyway, that was always just a bit of a joke and it was fun to flirt with each other. Hell, he'd been clumsily doing that since school, it'd always made her laugh then and there was something deep inside him that adored when he said something that made her blush.
Especially if it left her speechless. Those were the times he wound up winning their game and the flirting normally ended for at least the rest of the day at that point.
So, if she was going to make a point of bending over in those shorts, finding ways to get him to have an eyeful of creamy cleavage … he was gonna bring out the big guns too and leave the pinkette blushing and speechless.
Sakura wasn't the only one with secret knowledge of her best friend's weaknesses after all.
Then maybe he'd be able to shove the uncontrollable desire to have her under him and gasping back in its box and he could stop having to remind himself Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze raised a damn gentleman.
'So anyone been to this place before?' Naruto asked as they turned into the car park for Gai-sensei's Adult Adventure Park of Youthful Exuberance!
God that was a mouthful.
'What even makes it an adult adventure park?' Sakura snorted as she eyed the sign. 'Like why the specific mention of adult?'
'I mean with a name like that,' Ino started with a naughty giggle. 'If I didn't know Shika and Temari weren't into that sort of thing … I'd be wishing I'd brought condoms.'
Naruto and Sakura shared a look and a nervous grin before they blushed and Naruto tried not to let his brain descend into more filth. Which checking out her cleavage again didn't help with.
Goddammit he needed to behave.
'Given it's outside Ino,' Sai said in a monotone voice, the slightest inflection the only hint of amusement, as he peered out into the sunny day. 'I doubt this is going to be like that playroom we went to a month ago.'
Naruto and Sakura's heads whipped round to see a very rare sight, Ino blushing bright red and smacking Sai on the arm with a breathy giggle.
'Sai!' she hissed, giving her two friends in the front of the car an embarrassed look. 'I told you, we don't talk about stuff like that when it's not just you and me.'
He wondered if Ino realised she hadn't denied going to a 'playroom' with her boyfriend. He decided it was best not to tease as he really didn't want to let his mind wander with the idea of what sort of play happened there.
Going by Ino's still red face and the smug grin on Sakura's face, he could probably guess, and if he teased the blonde about it … she'd only come back at him and Sakura viciously and while he was able to move his mind away from Ino and Sai in some kind of sex dungeon …
If Ino put the idea of him and Sakura in one in his head … well he was already having to stop his brain from go there just by him worrying about Ino saying anything.
He knew his shower this morning wasn't cold enough. Or long enough.
And if he didn't stop Sakura, and quick, the pinkette was about to take her revenge on her best friend and Ino would be even worse in her response than anything she'd ever say to Naruto.
Which would ruin Naruto's whole day and leave him with the kind of fantasies that belonged to teenage boys.
'Well let's get out and see if the others beat us here,' Naruto said, clearing his throat as Sai looked perplexed at his girlfriend. 'And maybe while me and Sakura are searching, you can explain to him the rules of um … pillow talk?'
Naruto locked eyes with Sakura and she swallowed a laugh of her own, eyed Ino for a long moment before she met his gaze again and reluctantly nodded and slipped out of the car.
He tried not to let his eyes drift to her ass. He really did. He failed.
Ino caught him and he could see the beginnings of a smirk forming on her face before Naruto glared at her.
'I just gave you an out,' he hissed. Sai peered at him curiously. 'You know she was about to rip you apart. Give me a pass this once.'
Ino pouted and winced. 'Fine, but know I saw that, and I won't forget it.'
'Why would you need a pass? You're her boyfriend, you're allowed to stare at her backside obviously,' Sai said with a frown. He glanced between Ino and him, looking very, very confused. 'Didn't you tell me they were a couple now? You said it was only a matter of time now they were sharing a room right?'
Naruto gave the freshly blushing blonde an exasperated look and she smiled back weakly. 'Uh … I'll give you a second pass?'
With a shake of his head, Naruto got out of the Jeep wordlessly.
He'd just about shut the door when he heard the hissing telling off Sai was getting start in full blown earnest.
Sakura was stood off at the side of the car park, reading a sign next to the path up to the entrance of the activity centre.
He forced himself not to take another quick glance at her ass and walked up next to her, finding her grinning from ear to ear as she pretended to read the sign. An exaggerated cartoon drawing of the owner of the park took up the whole side of the flyer inside the glass box under the sign.
But Sakura was casting a glance back at his Jeep and when she caught him looking at her she only grinned harder.
'Is it wrong that I'm immensely pleased she's the one being embarrassed for once?' Sakura asked, she didn't even try to keep her voice down. Not that she needed to, Ino's telling off of Sai had gotten loud enough he could hear muffled voices from all the way over here. 'Like it's justified that I'm savouring her being humiliated?'
Naruto snorted and nudged her in the side, getting a slight jump out of her. 'Depends why you're enjoying her humiliation. Because she's been teasing us for years or because you're judging her?'
Sakura waved dismissively at him and frowned. 'Oh please, Ino's been taking boyfriends to sex clubs since she learned about them in university. Hell she's met a couple there. Remember the guy who went to one of our Halloween parties as a really convincing mummy?'
He could see the guy in his mind's eye. The bandages covering almost all of his face was definitely something you remembered. Especially when Naruto had arrested him a year or two later.
'Oh yeah, Dosu or something right?'
Sakura nodded. 'Yeah, something like that. He was one from a club. No judgement here, glad she's just doing that stuff in a place I don't have to share with her to be honest.' Sakura frowned a little deeper and shivered as if picturing something unsettling. It passed and her face shifted back into gentle beauty again. 'I just think she deserves a little payback after the years of embarrassing us.'
Naruto had to agree and nudged Sakura in the side again, making her smile and swat at his hand before he got any ideas about more than nudging.
She needn't have bothered. He wouldn't have done that here.
Right now he'd probably get carried away and that would lead to all kinds of complicated conversations.
'Fair, but maybe don't be so obvious about watching to see if Sai ever steps out of my car again,' Naruto chuckled and gestured back to the sign. 'Any hints on what we're in for through the gates? Ino's pervy brain notwithstanding, the name of this place is a bit … horny sounding right?'
Sakura laughed a little and shrugged. 'A bit, but isn't Gai like ... too wholesome for words? Like Lee? He probably didn't realise what sort of things 'Adult Adventure' would bring out of less innocent people.'
She grinned naughtily at him and something below his waist throbbed. He ignored it, though he couldn't hide the blush it caused.
He ignored it again when Sakura winked and nudged him back in the side. 'Why the red face Naruto? Where's your head right now?'
Mostly wondering what you were doing for in the shower for that long, you massive tease, his brain fired back rapidly.
He settled for a much coyer response. 'Wouldn't you like to know?'
'Aww,' Sakura pouted exaggeratedly and leant closer, revealing more cleavage. Fucking tease. 'You're not gonna tell me?'
Naruto nearly swallowed his tongue when she batted her eyelashes at him and forced himself to look at the list of activities on the sign in front of them.
'No,' he said, ignoring how strained his voice was and leaning in to get a better read of the tiny writing. There really were a long list of possible activities. 'Guess you'll have to deal with the now knowing.'
Sakura sighed dramatically from his side and then he felt her lean in closer to his ear, her sweet breath wafting over his face and he could taste the flirty smile on her lips.
'What if I asked really nicely?' she whispered into his ear, her tone promising things that nice girls certainly never did.
His brain was lost to all sorts of images that could possibly be defined as Sakura asking nicely. Most of them involving Sakura in far less clothing and her mouth a lot lower than his ear.
He shook himself internally, desperately and marshalled his expression into something at least mildly stern. Basically a softer version of his cop face. 'Behave Sakura.'
Which it turned out was the right thing to say as Sakura's face turned bright pink and she got a shy little smile on her adorable face before she whispered a very small, slightly excited: 'Okay. Sorry.'
And fuck him sideways if that wasn't all kinds of hot and he had no idea what to do with it.
Thankfully he was saved by the rest of their friends pulling up at that exact moment and piling out of their cars.
'Okay,' Kiba said, looking up at the giant sign above the entrance and letting out a bark of laughter. 'We're not here to have a group orgy are we?'
A smattering of dirty laughter filtered through the gathering crowd and Hinata smacked Kiba's arm lightly. 'Kiba-kun!'
'Sorry babe.' Kiba said, clearly not sorry. 'Couldn't resist.'
He winked at his wife and Hinata smiled good-naturedly before turning to Shikamaru and Temari. 'There is somewhere I can sit down for this though? I'm still feeling a bit wobbly after breakfast.'
Sakura immediately stepped forward with her doctor face on and frowned. Her eyes running over Hinata like a mechanic did a car. Only much more kindly. 'Are you sure you're up for this Hinata? You shouldn't push yourself.'
The heavily pregnant woman smiled again and shook her head. 'I'm fine, as long as there's somewhere I can sit down. I won't be able to do anything particularly strenuous obviously but I can cheer everyone on perfectly well.'
'Okay,' Sakura said, clearly not entirely mollified but relenting at the continual encouraging smile Hinata was giving her. 'But if you feel at all worse please come get me.'
'We got it doc,' Kiba said playfully and took his wife's hand in a gentle grip. It was actually really sweet to see the usually crude man being so gentle. 'Relax yeah?'
Almost sweet enough for Naruto to not still relish chokeslamming the bastard into the water last night after he'd kicked his ass at beer pong.
'We should probably get inside though,' Shikamaru said, glancing around the crowd of people. 'We do actually have to be back at venue in a few hours and my mother is already making me want to smoke a whole pack of cigarettes.'
Temari glared at him disapprovingly but notably didn't say anything about how pushy Yoshino had been this morning. Naruto could relate. Shikamaru's mother cornering him about his own parents' coming to the wedding tomorrow had been stressful enough.
He couldn't imagine being on the receiving end of her organising as her actual kid. He'd be smoking too.
Though given how much Sakura's flirting was making his heart race … he might try and sneak off for a smoke later himself.
Maybe the influx of nicotine in his system would help him stop staring at her? Had to be worth a go.
The comforting thought of a smoke break managed to carry him along with the throng of his friends heading towards the entrance, loving the distraction caused by Sai and Ino joining them a few seconds later. There were a few weird looks were exchanged between Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino but nothing was actually said.
Though going by the small grins on the two men's faces, they recognised something in Ino's expression to know she was not entirely pleased right now. He wondered if that was like how he always could tell what was going through Sakura's mind just by looking at her?
Well … most of the time. He'd been having difficulty with knowing what was going through her head the last couple days. Which was kinda unsettling to be honest.
Maybe it was because his head was on more distracting parts of her than her brain?
God he needed to fucking stop.
Though given how, even in the crush of his friends, Sakura seemed to be determined to put herself ahead of him and directly with her ass in his line of vision …
He didn't think the coldest ice bath in the middle of the Arctic was gonna help him today.
He'd say God help him, but God had clearly abandoned him today.
Though he was able to distract himself once they entered the park. Thankfully.
And during the introduction and safety speech given by the enthusiastic park staff, he'd learned what the activities on offer were. They were as numerous and varied as the sign outside had suggested.
Naruto couldn't actually remember what the sign had said, he'd been a bit too busy focusing on how close Sakura was to him and imagining things that, while very adult and a little adventurous, he was certain wouldn't be anything the park was offering.
So he'd been quite surprised at what the park offered. Including all manner of physical tasks, like obstacle courses, water balloon fights and even capture the flag. But they couldn't agree on teams that would make that even so they'd collectively given it up as a bad idea.
There were also more skill and luck based games that kinda belonged at fairgrounds and carnivals. Skee-Ball and ring toss but also those games where you got a pellet gun and you had to hit targets and if you hit enough you got a prize. Like a stuffed bear or something.
And then there were even puzzles you had to solve and Naruto hadn't been too surprised when Hinata and Shikamaru both lit up at the idea of solving puzzles and riddles and not having to do anything that required them to move.
Most of them, with the exception of those who were clearly still recovering from hangovers or in Hinata's case, pregnant, took part in the obstacle course though. Naruto managed to make it through most of it without getting stuck behind Sakura so he actually managed to focus on the task and finish.
Though when they'd both reached the climbing wall part of the obstacle course, and had to wait to be geared up and strapped into harnesses … Sakura had deliberately made sure she was right next to him and hit the wall just faster than him enough that if he wanted to look at where he was going at all …
Well he got an eyeful of her ass and shifting Lycra that made him suddenly very glad he hadn't bought his actual work out gear and was instead in a baggier shorts that went past his knee.
No tents in his afternoon … no visible ones at least thank merciful God.
And at least given that he had to look directly up to climb … he could have a good long stare at her without being accused of perving. Honestly, it was actually something of a relief. A guilty relief but a relief all the same.
It also fuelled the very large need to get his revenge on Sakura for all her deliberate teasing and flirting. Because it was actually getting to the point now where if they were actually a couple, he'd …
No. No.
That sort of thought process would not help him in any way shape or form. He was gonna have a hard enough time get his revenge and sleeping in the same bed as her tonight. He didn't need to start thinking about what would be different if they were a couple.
Not to mention that if he didn't get his head on straight he might actually forget he wasn't her boyfriend. That she wasn't flirting with him because she was interested but because it was fun and he'd make a dumb move and the joke would end and he'd have to be forcibly reminded that Sakura really was just his friend.
No matter how he might feel about her, he was alone in those feelings.
God, this weekend was already so confusing for his battered head. He almost wished he could stop flirting with her. But he couldn't. Because fuck everything about him, but he didn't want to stop.
Hell, he wanted to do more than just fucking flirt with her and it was driving him insane.
So revenge, because that had to happen, the reminder that he knew how to get under Sakura's skin and leave her the same gaping moron she did him would stop her … and then they could go back to enjoying their weekend without him being mind-endingly horny.
But he had to pick his moment. He had to get her alone and he had to pick a game that would ensure he'd have an excuse to get his revenge in without literally telegraphing what he was doing to everyone there.
So he played a few of the games with the guys, beating a salty Neji at Skee-Ball with a little more class than in poker last night.
He felt a bit guilty after his chat with Tenten earlier. Not guilty enough to let Neji win, but he didn't gloat about it.
He did gloat when he whooped Kiba though. The chokeslam into the water hadn't been enough revenge for Kiba's mouth and honestly he needed the release that kicking his ass at something would give today.
Part of him wondered if Sakura basically driving his baser instincts wild all day was part of why he needed to show off in such a physical way … and what that said about him … but when Kiba 'challenged' him to a game simply called Duel, he jumped at it.
What the game had been was he and Kiba got given helmets, pads and a giant pugil stick each, it looked like a giant cotton bud basically, and put on two elevated platforms that were close enough together you could step across easily.
Then you just went buck wild and hit one another until one of the competitors gave up, fell off or stepped onto the opposing platform.
Naruto was so pumped up and full of testosterone that he knocked Kiba from his platform to the large crashmat below in about two minutes.
Then he'd done it again, and again, until Kiba hit the mat for the fifth time and wisely decided he'd had enough.
He'd had to let others have a go after that though, his knees had started to hurt a bit and well … Lee looked so eager to have a go he was more like a kid pulling on his dad's arm than a man trying to convince his friend to come beat the hell out of him with an oversized cotton bud. Neji also looked more like a disgruntled parent than friend at Lee's insistence.
It held a lot of the group's attention though, those who hadn't dispersed to play more sensible and less tiring games that was, and now he'd worked out some of his pent up energy, Naruto actually thought he'd be able to get his revenge for Sakura's flirting and teasing without his head exploding now.
And with a muttered 'come with me' to a smirking Sakura, he'd pulled her away from the group. Only Ino really paid attention to them going and when she started to say something he hissed at her.
'Calling the second you owe me.'
He hadn't really noticed how he'd taken Sakura's hand in his and was leading her away until the two of them were stood in front of a large inflatable room, still holding hands. It was enclosed by four walls and a slightly raised circular entrance that you had to climb through. It was perfectly at the other end of the park and no one else was inside from what he could see by the lack of shoes in front of it.
'Water balloon fight huh?' Sakura said with a playful smile as she glanced at the sign explaining what it was. She nudged him with her shoulder and chuckled. 'Are you trying to get me wet or something?'
…
For the love of God!
Why wasn't she his girlfriend again? Ugh. That sort of joke demanded a far sexier response than he could comfortably give.
No matter how loud his brain was shouting it at him. Begging him to say it. To just say it and hope it landed well. Cus maybe then it'd lead to the sort of things he'd been wishing they could do since he'd learned what sex was.
He glared at her playfully, shoving down his hormonal teenage memories hard and nudged her back with his elbow. 'What did I say about behaving?'
Sakura winked and his whole body throbbed with need. 'Make me.'
Oh, he was gonna.
She smirked at him as he felt his cheeks blush and he walked up to the smiling woman standing in front of a bucket that appeared to be damn near overflowing with very full water balloons.
'Hi guys!' the perky redhead said as they approached. 'Having fun today?'
Naruto caught Sakura smirking some more as she nodded and forced himself to smile at the friendly young woman. 'Yup, this place is great!'
The redhead smiled some more, Gai would be proud he was sure. 'Super, well I'm guessing you don't need the rules explaining on this one huh? Kick off your shoes, grab some water balloons, head inside and have fun! Careful though, the surfaces get slippery when they're wet.'
'Do we have a time limit or anything?' Sakura asked as she started to slip off her shoes.
'Normally, we'd give you like half an hour,' the redhead said with a shrug. 'But you guys booked the whole park so really it's until you're done.' She picked up a smaller bucket and handed it to Naruto with a smile. 'I'll be out here so don't worry about leaving your things, have fun!'
Naruto chuckled to himself and filled the bucket to halfway with water balloons and, after showing it to Sakura for her approval, kicked off his trainers and made his way to the entrance to the inflatable room.
He was gonna have so much fun.
'So …' Sakura said while he eased through the entrance, balancing the water balloon filled bucket on a pre-prepared flat topped platform. Sakura coming through after him, her top dipping lower as she bent through and Naruto decidedly looked away. 'Not that I'm not all for a bounce house and a water balloon fight just for the hell of it Naruto but … you got any rules in mind for this?'
Naruto paused for a second, smiling lightly as he watched Sakura bounce slightly on the inflatable floor until she was leaning against the platform. 'I mean, I was just aiming to bounce around and throw water balloons at you til you cried uncle. Sounds fun right?'
Well … that was partly true. He was also just lulling her into a sense of false security before he sprung his trap.
Because they were alone now and Naruto could make as many suggestive comments about her as he wanted, until he had his tease of a hot best friend blushing scarlet and unable to speak.
Oh and soaked to the bone.
Then his revenge would be complete and hopefully that would give him a bit of a release and he could stop being such a perv.
The pinkette laughed at his playful grin and peered down at the plentiful ammo at their disposal. 'I don't know Naruto, there's a lot there, we'll be in here all afternoon if we just aim to use all of them … how about first person to get hit three times loses?'
Naruto nodded, he didn't really care to be honest, he was probably only gonna actually throw water balloons at her for maybe a few minutes before starting to make comments that would make her blush.
'Sure, sounds fun.'
'Great!' Sakura said with a beaming smile.
Then she reached into the bucket and before Naruto could fully register what she was doing … she'd picked up a balloon and thrown it at his chest.
Cold water exploded over his shirt, drenching him and sticking the t-shirt to his chest and sending him flying backwards out of pure shock.
'Urk!' Naruto shouted elegantly as he bounced on his back and rolled off to his left just in time to see Sakura grinning widely and already delving into the bucket for fresh ammo.
'Cheap shot Sakura!' he said quickly and dodged to the right and then the left as the pinkette threw another and another at him. 'At least let me get one first!'
'Why?' Sakura said, coming away from the bucket with fresh balloons and bouncing from one foot to the other to quickly gain ground. 'I'm winning.'
'We never decided what the winner got though,' Naruto said as he dodged the first of Sakura's new balloons, it bursting against the floor a little behind where he had been stood. 'So that first one doesn't count!'
Sakura shrugged and smirked. 'Fine, if you win, I'll flash you.'
'Wait what?' Naruto said coming to a dumbfounded stand still and staring at her. Because he had to have misheard her right?
Like … look … they'd gotten suggestive and flirty in the past … and hell today she may as well have been shoving parts of her in his face … but she'd never actually just … but hell he was down for that … but what would she want out if …
A fresh crash of cold water hit him in the stomach and he just about managed to stay up as Sakura cheered and bounced in place, her breasts going up and down with her slightly as Naruto wiped away some of the excess water and the beautifully grinning pinkette just watched him.
'Ha! Got you!' she laughed, already bounding back to the bucket where the balloons were.
'Hey wait!' Naruto cried back, thanking God he was closer to the bucket than her and reached it with enough time to pull out a balloon and wing it at Sakura mid-bounce.
The balloon hit her in the middle of the chest and burst all over her shirt, soaking it until it was damn near transparent and just before Sakura slipped and landed on the bouncy floor Naruto was gifted with her breasts jiggling against her top as Sakura let out a surprised: 'Oof!'
'That's two one,' Naruto chuckled, waiting for Sakura to stand up before throwing another water balloon at her.
Because fair was fair after all.
'Okay,' Sakura said a little wearily as she slowly rose to her feet, pulling at her top a little and grimacing before rubbing at her chest. Which Naruto tried not to watch too much. 'That hurt more than I expected.'
Naruto winced and placed his fresh balloon down next to the bucket as Sakura made her way over to him carefully. All thoughts of revenge left him as he reached out a hand to guide her over to steadier footing.
'I'm sorry Sakura, didn't think it'd hurt that much, are you okay?'
She smiled up at him and continued to rub at her chest for a second before leaning against the platform. She winced when her fingers stroked along the centre of her chest.
'Yeah,' Sakura said with a grimace. 'I'd tease you for throwing a water balloon at my boobs but honestly? It's not so funny when it's actually happened.'
He took that one, decidedly staring at her face and not the shirt that she may as well have not been wearing now for all the modesty it was giving her. He hadn't thought it would hurt … it hadn't hurt him when she'd got him in the chest.
'Do you wanna go sit down and we'll get you a fresh shirt?' Naruto asked. He'd offer to give her his but it was equally soaked. Maybe the woman outside with have like a towel or something they could borrow?
Yeah, they'd have to have a towel or something knocking around right?
'Yeah,' Sakura said with another wince and a rub between her breasts, making them jiggle in a way that Naruto doubted a saint could ignore. Bad Naruto, you just hurt your friend, don't check out her lovely breasts right now! 'Hold on, let me just steady myself.'
'Sure,' Naruto said, feeling guiltier and guiltier by the second. 'You wait there, I'm gonna go ask the woman if she has a towel or something okay?'
She smiled at him some more and Naruto started to bounce his way to the entrance.
God, he was such a jackass. A colossal, idiotic jackass. He'd wanted revenge for her flirting with him? The hell? He should have just enjoyed it and flirted back like they always did.
But no, he got himself in all of a horny tizzy because the weekend was weird and his feelings for her had come roaring back and just like last time he'd let his feelings for Sakura get the better of him, she'd gotten hurt.
Stupid man.
'Hey Naruto?' Sakura called when he was halfway to the entrance.
'Yeah?' Naruto turned with a frown. 'What's up, Sakura?'
'You're cute when you're concerned,' Sakura said sweetly and she moved forward suddenly, a wicked grin covering her previous pained expression and before Naruto knew what was happening she was in his space. 'And so adorably gullible!'
Sakura threw herself at him, her body colliding with his chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck and head, a splash of cold water slamming into the top of his skull as they fell together. Naruto's arms instinctively going around her middle as they went and Naruto hit the floor with a wet bounce, all of Sakura crashing into him as they bounced to a stop.
It left him dazed slightly, blinking to clear his head as Sakura cheered and reared up with her hands thrown up in the air in celebration. He felt her legs move around him as she'd repositioned so she wouldn't fall over and when Naruto finally came back to Earth he was struck with three simple facts.
One: Sakura was devious and should never be trusted in a game where she could win.
Two: They were both soaking wet and breathing hard, making their chests do interesting things that neither of them seemed to be able to drag their eyes away from.
And finally, three: Sakura was straddling him. And she was making no effort to move.
No, she was just sat there, her knees either side of his hips, her chest and neck soaked, the water dribbling down her top to soak her stomach and her long hair hung forwards, until it was tickling his nose with how close Sakura had remained.
There was a curious look in her eyes. He couldn't say exactly what it was and honestly he was having a hard time focusing right now. He was painfully aware of how she was basically sat on his crotch.
That particular part of his anatomy getting more and more excited that she was there by the passing moment and if she didn't get off him soon … she was gonna find out exactly how much he approved of her being there.
She smiled then, a slow, languid thing that was sensual and inviting and then in the same heartbeat sent sheer terror through his entire being. But that terror was being shouted down by the thoughts that were causing him to stir just under her ass, thoughts that wanted her to wiggle like she had this morning and then do some more of what he'd been thinking about in the shower after that.
And then the terror came back, different though, this time begging her to do something because in this exact moment he didn't know what he should do. He wanted to touch her, to bring her smiling lips down to his, to dare to take what he prayed was being offered to him. To finally, finally after years and years of subconscious and not so subconscious wishing for this exact moment, to just try and risk it.
To see if he kissed her … would she kiss back?
'Hi,' Sakura said quietly, her hand wiping away a water droplet from her forehead as she smiled down at him. Still not moving from his lap, her eyes never leaving his and the curious expression going from something he couldn't read to something far, far simpler and honestly … scarier.
Hope.
'Hi,' he whispered back. 'Guess you won huh?'
Sakura's smile widened, its brilliance blinding him as it turned her already beautiful face into something divine, angelic.
'Yup,' Sakura said simply. 'Guess I'd best decide what I want huh?'
His body, apparently tired of his brain's unwillingness to work with it, was moving on its own, his hands coming up to rest tentatively at her hips as Sakura simply continued to smile, her own hands coming to rest on either side of his head as she started to lower to him.
'Uh huh,' he said, his eyes dropping to her lips as they came closer and closer to his. Oh God … what was even happening right now?
'Wanna guess?' Sakura whispered, her lips so close to his now he could damn near taste her on his tongue.
Oh God, please let this be real. Please let the whole day not be some really lucid dream.
Please be real.
Her lips were a hairsbreadth away from his, her eyes had already drifted closed and his head lifted from the floor to meet her. Their lips just about to touch, finally.
Finally.
'HEY!' The woman from outside the bounce house shouted loudly.
And the spell was broken, Sakura whipped up from him, her cheeks blooming pink and there was a brief flicker of pain across her beautiful face before anger swallowed it whole.
'I know the place says Adult Adventure guys,' the woman said, her face a mask of disapproval that would have fit better on an elderly matron than a twenty-something woman. 'But it's not that kind of adult. You two wanna get wet and screw, go do it somewhere else.'
Sakura looked down at him and then back at the still glaring park employee and sighed heavily. 'Fine, have you got a towel or something?' Sakura all but hissed at the other woman.
'Sure have,' the redhead said haughtily. 'Out here. Come on.'
Without anything other than an apologetic look down at him, Sakura rose from his lap and gracelessly bounced over to the entrance and clumsily climbed out, leaving Naruto still laying there.
He collapsed back down and groaned heavily as he heard very sharp voices exchange words and he heard Sakura squelch off somewhere. Which was probably for the best, he didn't know what to say to her right now and honestly … he didn't even know what the hell to think about the last … what? Ten minutes?
He was so damn confused.
'Hey buddy,' the woman said, reappearing in the entrance. 'You too, come on man, I gotta dry this off now.'
'Sure,' Naruto said, his voice somewhat removed from himself, and with equal lack of grace as Sakura made his way out of the inflatable room. 'Sorry.'
She sighed heavily as he flopped down on a chair set to the side. 'Look, I get it. It's not like you're the first couple to get carried away but hell, I gotta clean up after you, you know?'
'We're not …' he said absently.
Where'd Sakura gone?
'Hey,' Naruto said, taking the offered towel from the disgruntled staff member. 'Where'd Sakura go?'
'Your girlfriend?' she asked with a sigh. 'Stomped off to the toilets to dry or cool off, whatever. Best go talk to her though, she looked ready to kill me and I'm not paid enough for that shit. Take her shoes with you.'
'She's not my girlfriend,' Naruto said.
Because she wasn't right? Like … right?
'Then she sure as fuck wants to be,' the redhead said dismissively, scoffing at him in sheer disbelief before she turned away from him and headed into the room with a roll of paper towels, ending the conversation before he could say anything else.
He wanted to call back that no she didn't, but for the first time in nearly ten years …
Naruto wasn't sure he'd be right.
And the hope that spurred in him terrified him to silence.
The fuck was he meant to do now?
