A/N: Welcome back once again, folks, to another chapter of Stuck on an Island with a Cute Demon! I am glad that I have managed to keep you all reading up to this point by writing nothing but fluff. Fluff with some lewds and just a hint of adventure. I am sorry for not posting as quickly as usual. The last week of January and the first week of February has been tough! Chinese New Year meant entertaining at lot of family for me. I am still kind of exhausted. Anyways...

I hope you all enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of these characters. I wrote this story for fun!

Stuck on an Island with a Cute Demon

By Yangster

Chapter #9: Love is Complicated

She was happy.

Feeling his soothing warmth as he slept beside her was more than enough to bring a smile to her face. For a ninja, Naruto was quite the heavy sleeper, which meant that she could touch, caress, and even lick him—if she wanted to—without him waking up. When he was awake, and he had that determined expression on his face, she thought him to be exceptionally handsome. And when he was asleep, she got to see a cuter side of him—a more vulnerable side. Just from a glance, she was able to tell whether the dreams that he was having was good or bad. He would smile when he was having a good dream and his brow would be furrowed when he was having a bad one.

Right now, from the way he was occasionally licking his lips, she could tell that he was having a dream about ramen. Or about something that involved a lot of licking.

Still—her smile slowly faltered—there would be that rare occasion where she would wake up to see his brow knotted up and his expression tight with what she knew to be bad dream. They would leave as quickly as they had come; the moment he woke up, he would return to his usual, happy self. While she could tell that he was having a bad dream, she knew not what he was dreaming of. She had yet to ask him—the fear of seeing his peachy smile slowly fade away was the reason why. Kyuumiko knew that if she was truly serious about loving Naruto then she would have to ask him eventually. It was her role to make sure that her partner was happy as much as it was his.

She would ask him at the proper time.

And if there was not one, she would just follow his example and blurt it out. If there was one thing that made up for Naruto's impulsiveness, it was that he always had the most wholesome, most purest, and most genuine of intentions for her—and those that he had left behind.

Perhaps that was why he was having those bad dreams?

Maybe he missed them.

Well, obviously he did. She knew that he was close to a lot of his fellow monkeys. All those friends of his...

She had taken them away from him when she had escaped the seal. That may not have even been the worse thing that she has done to him.

Kyuumiko let out a shaky breath as the bitter feeling of guilt began to well inside of her chest. It was such an unfamiliar sensation that she had almost panicked at first. Suffocating, gnawing, and terrible—that would be how she would describe the feeling. Looking at Naruto only brought a slight bit of solace to her heart as uneasiness overwhelmed her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed herself against him, trying her best to forget—to escape—all the bad feelings that were now plaguing her mind after coming to that long overdue realization.

"Oh, Naruto..."

Falling in love with him had changed her. She could no longer recognize herself now. Especially not when she compared herself to who she was before she had ended up on this island. There was hardly ever a time back then that she felt so disgusted by her own actions, that she acknowledged her own selfishness, that she considered anyone besides herself. They had considered her many things—nature's judgement, an unholy monster, and a god. Naruto had easily danced past all those shallow labels that she had tacked onto herself and found her true self that she had kept hidden away. Perhaps he saw something within her—past all the faults that she had once thought to be her virtues—that made him fall in love with her.

It was funny. The more she loved him, the less she loved herself. When they had first began this relationship, she had been worried about whether or not he was worthy for her. Now, she was worried if she could ever be worthy enough for him.

The old man from all those years ago had warned her about this. He had told her that she would have to go through the necessary suffering of growth if she ever wanted to experience the joy, hope, and happiness that could only come with true love. Knowing that, this pain was not so bad. Feeling it meant that her love for Naruto was real.

She loved him—for real.

The corners of her lips curved upwards ever so slightly as her smile began to return to her. Right now, she just wanted to wake him up so that she could tell him that she loved him over and over again, so that she could hold him, and hug all the feelings that words would fail to express into him. It would not be long now, she thought as the sun slowly began to rise, until he woke up and she would be able to do all those things to him.

"Mmm..." he let out, shifting ever so slightly as he finally began to stir.

"Naruto... Darling... Wake up," she said softly, placing a gentle hand on his cheek as she eased him into consciousness.

His slowly opened his eyes and smiled when he finally saw her. "Mm... Morning, Kyuumi."

She smiled back at him and gave his cheek a soft pinch.

"Good morning, Naruto."

"Am I too late to watch the sun rise with you?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Just a bit," she answered, slowly lowering her hand, brushing it along the crook of his neck before placing it onto his arm. "Not that I mind. I find that spending my mornings snuggled up against you are just as pleasant."

Naruto's smile grew into a grin. "I do too, Kyuumi."

"Hmm." She let out a contented sigh. "I love your smile, Naruto. I hope to never forget it."

"I'll be sure to smile more then!" he replied, his enthusiasm eliciting a chuckle from her.

She gave his arm a soft squeeze before she trailed her hand down further to hold his. "You'll end up overwhelming my heart if you smile at me all the time. I can only take so much of... Of that feeling I get in my chest."

"What kind of feeling?"

"Eeesh... Making me spell it out..." She trailed off, the corners of her lips curving upwards to form a smile on her face as she pressed herself against him. "It's love, Naruto. There. You happy?"

Naruto's blue eyes shimmered as if he was about to burst with joy and somehow his grin grew even wider.

"Very!"

Kyuumiko blushed. "Oh, Naruto..."

"You know," he began, moving one of his hands to cup her cheek. "I never really thought that this would be how my life turned out."

"Well, you did magically teleport onto some random island," she said sarcastically.

He chuckled before he leaned in closer to her. "Yeah, well, I meant falling in love. After I grew out of my crush for Sakura, I sort of just shoved that kind of stuff into the back of my head. Now all I can think about these days is you."

"I... Never really thought of love as something I would experience. I was too mighty, too powerful, too grand... Being in this form has humbled me. I don't want to go back, Naruto," replied Kyuumiko, swallowing quietly as her cheeks slowly began to heat up. "But I feel like... If I ever did have the power to, I would go back..."

"Oh?" He quirked a brow.

She nodded.

"I would go back... I would have done everything to make you as happy as you are now from birth to adulthood to old age... I still remember the times when I would laugh at your misfortune. It disgusts me to know that I once saw you like that," she continued, closing her eyes before tilting her head forward, pressing her forehead against his chin.

"That's all in the past," he said softly, dipping forward to give her a kiss on top of her head. "I can't even really remember my childhood, so you don't have to worry about me feeling sad about it, Kyuumi."

"I..." She hesitated, stopping when her voice got caught in her throat.

Naruto slowly pulled back and looked at her. "Kyuumi?"

"I still feel guilty..."

"Think about it this way, Kyuumi," he began, prompting her to open her eyes and look up at him. "You always have time to become the person you want to be. Just because you did all those bad things in the past does not mean that you can't change and do good deeds from now on."

"You're right," she said in response. "Half-right, anyways... I'm going to be honest, Naruto, I only care about you. I really couldn't care about the other monkeys..."

If he were still the person he was back when had first ended up on the island, he would have been revolted by what she just said. Having spent several months with her now, hearing those words made him feel special and cherished—and loved. Being with her had definitely made him a bit more selfish.

"Kyuumi..." Naruto smiled at her before draping an arm over her waist.

She smiled back at him. "Knowing that you love me despite all that I have done to you... It helps calm my frantic heart. Then you look at me... And it starts beating fast again."

"I love you," he said simply.

"And when you say something like that..." Kyuumiko blushed. "Perhaps if my breasts were not so big, you would be able to feel my heart much more easily as it went pitter-pat, pitter-pat in response to your words."

"Well... That may be true, but I kinda like how big your breasts are," he replied, looking away bashfully when she snorted at him.

"You men and your love for big breasts."

"I mean... Guilty?"

Kyuumiko giggled. "You know, Naruto, I used to think my breasts as obscene. I'm really happy that you like them."

"Well, I like every part of you, Kyuumi," he said in response. "Your breasts... Your face... Other parts... Every part."

"I like your parts too," she replied cheesily. "Anyways... Do you think we should get up?"

He hummed inquisitively "What's the rush?"

"I guess there is none," said Kyuumiko, closing her eyes and letting out a soft sigh. "Shall we sleep in?"

"We shall." He smiled.

She snuggled up against him and got comfortable.

"Mmm. Good."

With nothing left to say—for the time being at least—they both cuddled up against each other and relaxed. She had her face buried in his sturdy chest while he had his chin resting on the top of her head. In his arms, she felt protected, as if nothing could hurt her while he was embracing her. He felt the opposite—he was the protector and she was who he wanted to protect. While totally unintentional, they both ended up drifting back off to sleep and eventually woke up sometime later in the late afternoon. And even when they did wake up, they stayed glued to each other on their makeshift bed made of leaves for another hour before Naruto managed to convince Kyuumiko to unglue herself to him and get up.

"I am starving," he said finally as Kyuumiko lazily got out from their hut.

She rubbed her eyes, her energy from before having seemingly disappeared because of those extra hours of sleep she had gotten. "Hm... I could go for something as well."

"What would you like?" asked Naruto.

"Meat," she answered, letting out a soft groan as she stretched. "I'd hunt, but this form is... Terrible at it."

"So... Fish and fruits again?"

Kyuumiko shrugged. "I guess... Don't you ever get sick of such little variety though, Naruto?"

"I mean... I did eat ramen for nearly every meal when I was younger," he said, shrugging in kind.

"Right..." She trailed off as she walked closer to him. "Do you ever miss eating ramen?"

"Sometimes," answered Naruto, offering her a smile as he reached up and gave her ear a quick scratch. "I miss a lot of things."

Her face scrunched up ever so slightly and her ear twitched at the stimulation. "Do you now..."

"Not as much as I used to, but yeah," he replied, trailing his hand down to cup her cheek. "I've got you now though. I could not even imagine giving you up to go back, Kyuumi."

She blushed.

"You and your words..."

"Oh? You didn't find that too cheesy?" he asked.

Kyuumiko shook her head. "No. Just the perfect amount of cheese."

"Heh." He let out a snort before he took her hand. "So... Fish? Fruit? Both?"

"Definitely both."

"Both it is then."

Breakfasts between them were perhaps the quietest moments in their lives together. It was a tradition that had formed by itself when they would just enjoy each other's company when they watched the sun rise together. That peaceful silence carried itself occasionally to breakfast. What they were eating today was pretty much what they had eaten every other day: some longans and apples, and a mix between raw and roasted fish. She preferred her fish raw while he had his roasted. They would occasionally take bites from the other's plate, knowing exactly when to and just how much to—they knew each other's limits and respected them, much to the delight of them both.

Their small, yet wonderful, meal with each other ended when Kyuumiko slurped down the last piece of fish on her metaphorical plate. She was an enthusiastic eater much like him, except she made an even bigger show of it than he did.

"I wonder what you love more, Kyuumi, food or me?" he asked, breaking the silence, offering her a smile as he watched her lick her fingers clean.

"You, of course," she answered, pouting softly. "Why even ask?"

His smile grew a bit wider. "Mmm. I just wanted to hear your answer."

"Hm... What do you love more, ramen or me?"

"Definitely you, Kyuumi," said Naruto in response, reaching over towards her to brush his fingers against her cheek. "I'd take you over ramen any day of the week... Though having both wouldn't hurt."

Kyuumiko let out an amused snort. "Can you even remember what ramen tastes like?"

"I... Kinda?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm..." she hummed quietly, the corner of her lips slowly curving upwards into a smirk as a provocative question came to mind.

"Hmm?"

Her smirk grew ever so slightly before she parted her lips. "What tastes better, my dearest? Ramen or myself?"

Naruto blushed.

"Well..."

"Well?" She smiled sweetly though flushed cheeks betrayed the calm and alluring facade that she was trying to put up.

"You taste... Sweet," he finally said.

Kyuumiko lofted a brow. "Sweet? Me?"

"Very... You taste... Lewdly sweet," answered Naruto, his blush spreading to his ears as he nodded his head.

"I..." Her blush deepened. "Mm... Well... You taste... Interesting."

"Is that a bad thing?"

She shook her head. "No, no... Not at all. I... Ahem. I really like... Let's just... Eh... Please change the topic for me, Naruto."

"Heh," he let out, amused at how his girlfriend's attempt at flirting ended up just making her embarrassed. "Alright, Kyuumi. What's a good topic... Hmm..."

Kyuumiko watched as he placed a hand underneath his chin and struck a stereotypical thinking pose. It was such a Naruto thing to do that she nearly giggled. Some may have called him lame, but she thought that he looked very cool at the moment. At some point, she would have definitely thought the former though. Now, everything about him was endearing. He was kind of perfect like that—imperfect perfection.

Her, on the other hand...

"Hey, Naruto..."

He quirked a brow at the sudden change in her tone. "Yes, Kyuumi?"

"I still feel guilty..."

"Do you now..." Trailing off, Naruto moved to sit down next to her. "Is it related to what we talked about earlier?"

Kyuumiko slowly nodded her head. "Yeah..."

"Let's talk about it then," he said, draping an arm over her shoulders. "You can tell me more about what is bothering you."

She parted her lips to speak, but then closed them when she realized that she did not have much to say. Perhaps looking back on this, she would find it funny how she had all these thoughts inside of her head and yet not a single word to say. Still, despite taking her sweet time, he continued to wait patiently, offering her a reassuring smile while giving her shoulder the occasional squeeze.

It was only after about a minute that she realized that her heart was beating frantically.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself before finally speaking.

"Love is so complicated, Naruto," she began, letting out a quiet sigh as she turned her head to look at him. "You were so kind to me this morning, you reassured me as much as you could, and yet I still feel that I need to do something, anything, to atone for what I have done to you. Sometimes I think about whether it would be easier to just go back to being how I was, but then... I look over at you... And it becomes clear to me again that all these pains, these pangs of guilt that strike me from within, are worth it."

"Kyuumi..." His gaze softened.

"They are worth it because I love you so much, Naruto."

The corners of his lips curved upwards to form a warm smile on his face as he bent forward and pressed their foreheads together. "I love you too, Kyuumi."

"Am I enough though? I've taken so much away from you—your friends, your home, your dream... I've caused you so much pain... Am I worth it?" she asked.

He answered without any hesitation.

"Yes."

"Naruto..."

"I think I know what you are trying to say," he said as he slowly pulled back. "Even though it hurts, you continue to love me. Even when I hurt, I continue to love you, Kyuumi. When I started having feelings for you, I was scared. I was scared about what that meant about me and how ending up on this island had changed me. But now, just knowing that you love me as much as I love you, is all I need and all I want, Kyuumi," began Naruto as he slowly moved to wrap his arms around her. "So, please. Please do not ever think that you aren't enough or that you are not worth it."

Her eyes had slowly widened over time as she listened to him speak and her bottom lip had begun to quiver as slight tears began to form on her eyelids. Perhaps they had been clumsy, but the meaning he had put into those words reached her all the same. Returning the hug, she closed her eyes, and embraced him tightly.

"What did I ever do to deserve you, Naruto?" she asked quietly.

He gave her a soft squeeze. "I could ask the same question..."

A happy tear slowly rolled down her cheek as she continued hugging him. His warmth seemed several times more soothing to her now that he had absolved her. The phantom remnants of the guilt that had riddled her just a few moments ago were still there, but she could feel them quickly fading away as they sat there in each other's arms in silence. If she had never just blurted out what she was feeling, she would have never been able to experience this. Somehow, magically, from close, they had gotten even closer. Where she saw no more room to go forward, came a leaping jump out of nowhere that propelled her forward further into his arms—his wonderful, sturdy arms.

Melting against him, she turned his head, and nuzzled her cheek against his chest.

"I love you, Naruto..."

"I love you too, Kyuumi."

She giggled at how quickly he had responded. "Sorry for dragging our morning down with such a heavy conversation."

"No need to apologize. I'm happy that you trust me enough to tell me these things," replied Naruto as he reached a hand up to stroke her head.

"Mmm... I'm happy... Just happy."

He smiled before letting out a contented sigh.

"I am too, Kyuumi."

A/N: Oh boy. I hope that was not terrible. I saw a suggestion amongst the reviews, so I decided to try my hand at incorporating it. Clumsy and complicated was how I wanted to write this chapter to capture the swirling pit of emotions that was going through Kyuumiko's head. I really hope that I managed to do that without making this chapter awkward and that this helps to further strengthen their relationship. If I failed miserably, I might contemplate re-writing. I'm just in a very exhausted state at the moment. Anyways... Please favourite, follow, and review. I love feedback!