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Chapter 2: Reconnect

It was around eleven at night when Naruto drove back to his home. Just below the safe driving limit but he was still coherent and everything, and he was kind of hoping Sakura might pull him over again if he was lucky. As a huge building appeared in his windshield, Naruto turned around the corner and then slipped his car into the garage of the huge apartment building. Waving at the attendant and after parking in his spot, he casually made his way to the elevator that would take him to his home.

He passed a Jaguar, and a Ferrari that hadn't moved since he bought the place, and a bullet proof SUV that stayed parked just in front of the elevator with two men watching him from the seats as always. Naruto stepped inside and pressed the button for his floor, and watched as the numbers went up, from five, to fifteen, to twenty five, until he reached his floor of thirty one.

Stepping out of the elevator, he only had a square hallway with two doors, one the emergency stairwell, and the other the entrance to the penthouse. That's right. The penthouse.

Naruto opened the door to the huge home, complete with floor to ceiling walls of glass that looked out at the many skyscrapers around the bustling city underneath him. He walked past the grand piano that no one played, across the Persian rug that no one was allowed to drink or eat over, and past the many fine artworks along the interior walls that he couldn't help but feel lost in if someone asked him about the subtle meanings or the painter.

Glancing around just once, he moved past the spiral staircase that could take him to the 32nd floor, on which was a huge pool and patio for any parties and relaxing weather that happened here. But he casually marched up the two steps towards the master bedroom.

This was all too much for his simple upbringing, and if he did buy a house, none of this would be in it, but his fiancée was brought up this way, and when they chose this place, he couldn't help but want to make her happy. As he turned the corner to enter the bedroom. He saw his fiancée, Hinata, in her nightgown, doing her hair in the mirror and at his footfalls, she glanced back to see him standing there.

"Hey sweetie." He called out as Hinata looked back at him through the mirror and the smile she sent him made his heart melt. She was so in love with him, and they didn't worry that she was the heiress to a vast fortune. He knew he wasn't her fiancé just because of money.

"Evening Naruto." As he moved to the bathroom, Hinata turned back to her hair and called out, her voice echoing about the tall ceiling. "How was your night out?"

"Really good." Naruto called out as he left the door only slightly ajar to hear her and brushed his teeth. "Nice to see them as always."

"Naruto, I'll need you to stop by tomorrow so that we can finalize the seating chart."

Naruto sighed at that request and spit the paste out into the sink as he cleaned his brush and leaned out of the door to look back at her sadly. "...Can't you do that?"

Hinata looked back at him through the mirror, frowning back at him as if she was expecting a better answer. "Naruto, it's a thousand people."

"But Hinata, I barely know any of them and their disputes with each other. I would just be lost and confused." Naruto's eyebrows furrowed.

As Hinata gazed at him and began to wobble her lip, Naruto already felt his resistance dropping by the second. He had wanted a small wedding; just their family and friends, maybe his ten closest friends and their family; that's it. But the Hyuuga was a large family, and not just that, they ran one of the largest corporations in the land of Fire. Their corporation ran a huge multitude of companies underneath their umbrella of a parent organization, and so any celebration big or small, required months of prep. He had twenty people split among two tables. Hinata...well, she had the rest. But...he was marrying her. Naruto finally sighed in defeat. "Alright. I'll be there."

"Thank you." Hinata quickly smiled in gratitude and turned back to her nightly ritual. Naruto began to change into his pajamas, but as he did the buttons, the image of himself in the mirror reminded him of his friend's advice.

"Hey Hinata?"

"Yeah."

Naruto gulped back his nervousness. He didn't want to make her upset. "I was talking with the guys tonight and they said I should clear it with you."

"Oh? What's that?" Hinata called back as she started braiding her hair into another style, not happy with the previous one.

"Well, I met an old friend today, who wanted to meet up on Wednesday night."

Hinata dampened her smile and turned around, looking directly at him to frown with her eyebrows quirked up. "Naruto, I don't think you need to tell me that."

Hinata went back to doing her hair, while Naruto got behind her and grazed his knuckles over her supple neck. "Well, it's my ex from high school."

"Oh?" Hinata finished and stood to kiss him on the lips. Both adults spent a good minute kissing, but neither initiated something more primal. Hinata backed up, ending the lip lock and moved to preen at her fiancé's collar. "Do you still love her?"

"No." Naruto smiled coyly. "She's just an old flame I knew."

"Should I be worried?" Hinata asked as she walked away to the opposite side of the room.

"I don't think so." Naruto shrugged as he followed her as she stepped to a side of the bed. "It's been 10 years after all. She's a completely different person."

"Naruto," Hinata admonished as she pet his face and looked at him with her clear eyes that honestly still creeped Naruto out on how white they seemed to be. He could never truly find where her irises ended and her palest blue began. Hinata brought his head down as she kissed his cheek fondly and held his hands close to hers.

"Naruto, it's true that this marriage is not a purely physical one. This is what some would call a business transaction. My company is buying yours and the marriage is in that deal." Hinata smiled and brought him closer to her. "But we love each other anyways. I have loved you since the moment I met you, Naruto."

"I don't care about your past or present, because in six weeks, you and I will be married; bonded for life. I trust you, Naruto. You are not that guy to throw me away for a cheap thrill of the past."

Naruto smiled as they moved into bed. He had nothing to doubt about this at all. Sakura just wanted to reconnect and so did he. After so long, he could find out where she'd been all this time...After all, she had left without saying goodbye.

(Wednesday)

"What do I wear?!" Sakura screeched into her teeth as she looked at the vast closet in front of her, wearing only racy blue lace underwear in her rented room as she looked at her different dresses. How was she supposed to choose the right one?

She wanted to knock him dead; shock his heart like lightning, give him a heart attack just at the mere sight of her, but in order to do that she had to go with exactly what he liked. How was she supposed to know what he would like after so many years? Sakura's hand reached to her right, gliding over fabric where her more mature conservative outfits were located. She could show up looking sophisticated and regal and smart in a nice skirt and a blouse and matching jacket to match her eyes.

Sakura's gaze drifted to an older dress on the left side of her closet and bit her lip at how tempting it could make her look. Or she could go with her old rebellious look which she knew had driven him wild back in high school and was what made them fall head over heels for the other way back then?

"Are you still choosing?" A blonde spoke up from the hallway before poking her head in and snickering at her roommate's lack of attire.

Sakura groaned and turned her pleading eyes on her roommate, who was much more fashion forward than she was. "Ino, help."

Ino shook her head smiling at her whimpering roommate as she walked inside the bedroom and laughed as Sakura struggled to take off her underwear while at the same time reaching for another pair.

"Sakura, calm down." Ino insisted, trying to get her friend to chill, but Sakura's demeanor moved to the other spectrum.

"How can I be calm, Ino?! This is my shot with Naruto again. I-"

Ino's smile widened as a memory came to her mind. "I remember your talks about him when we first met. St. Maria's boarding school for troubled girls." She interrupted aloud.

Her comment threw Sakura out of her downward spiral as she sighed at the memory as her back straightened, both girls smiling at the memory of the first thing that school had taught them not to do; Rule one: don't slouch.

"I was such a mess back then." Sakura uttered as fresh tears welled up in her eyes and Ino rushed over to pull her into her chest, the teary eyed girl burrowing into her as both smiled bitterly at the memory.

"And I was there the whole way." Ino whispered into her ear, as Sakura smiled and looked back at her fondly.

"I know. That's why you're my best friend for life."

After a few more minutes, Ino stepped back and faced her eye to eye, emphasizing her words as she smiled. "Sakura, you have nothing to be worried about tonight. Naruto was your first everything in high school, and you've been with no one else all this time apart. Trust me; that separation builds a need that you can use. You'll want him so bad, a touch here and a comment there will make you so happy. You'll flirt nonstop and grab his attention no matter what you wear or don't wear."

"Ino." Sakura blushed, puffing out her cheeks at her friend's speech. What if...what if he doesn't take me seriously?"

"Look, as you told me. You said date, right?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded along.

"You asked him out." Ino confirmed.

"Yeah."

"So talk with him like I know you love to." Ino insisted as Sakura smiled before she grinned impishly. "And then bring him home to fuck his brains out."

At her words, Sakura blushed deeply. "Not if you're here."

Ino stood back up, her job as a consoling roommate and best friend done. "I promise to be in my room by 2am. Have a great night." Ino gazed back at the closet as Sakura turned back around. "By the way, go with the rebel look. He'll like that."

"Okay." Sakura nodded, already lost in her own world. Ino bit her cheek, and gazed at her. She didn't have to, but she also needed to remind her.

"And Sakura…"

"Yeah?"

"What you told me about him when you got back on Monday." Ino spoke and watched as Sakura hid deeper into herself. "Whatever happens, Don't say it."

"...Right." Sakura sighed as her friend closed the door. Taking out the old dress, she donned it and then gazed at herself in the mirror, and was rewarded as a mild, fond memory gazed back at her, their grin wild and predatory.

She had been with Naruto 10 years ago, in his bed, and it had been the best and only night of her life. Any guy she had flirted with or tried to kiss never made her feel as good as that night, as if she could never be with another to preserve that memory. She didn't want anyone else. Until Monday, she had no desire for anyone else. He was the only one for her in the whole world, and this was her second chance.

A red hue arose to her eyes as they lowered the mood, her mind morphing her thoughts as she imagined seeing him tonight...seeing him with the same energy in her be-

"Oh god!" She breathed heavily, squeezing her legs tight as the thoughts triggered that night together so long ago. Her eyes fazed at the thin fabric over her stomach and around her hips, leaving only her figure to fill the dress out. A bitter smile looked back at her through the mirror. That was the night that changed her life, in more ways than one. If all worked well tonight, maybe that could happen again. She glanced at the clock and prepared herself for a night to remember.

It was time to reconnect.