Hehehehe I know it's been more than a week. Ahem blame it on my sloth-like behavior or more like I am so stressed am not going to do anything behavior.

Anyways, here's the chapter. I made it a bit longer in order to compensate for the delay. If you have any concerns please R&R.

Otherwise…

Indulge and enjoy!

The Crumpled within a Stack of Paper

Chapter 3- The weird mistress

Naruto's vision cleared a few hours after Jiraiya's damn subduing jutsu finally wore off. The jutsu was as ancient as the old pervert himself. He usually performed it on every new 'employee' the moment they entered the inn. The jutsu mainly served the assurance that, once an employee, always an employee. Even the strongest of Naruto's 'coworkers' were helpless against the power of Jiraiya's jutsu. Despite the fact that Gaara was perhaps the most powerful out of them all, not even he could escape. None the less, the pervert was somewhat considerate. He never allowed a single 'employee' to leave on a 'trip' before teaching them a few ninjetsu moves to defend themselves. Sparring, especially, was a common practice within the inn; sometimes another way of making money. Naruto, for the most part, had been the most determined to learn some techniques from the hentai in hopes that he would beat him someday, thus earning him and Sakura-chan's freedom. Sakura always said it was hopeless, but that only made Naruto's passion for freedom stronger.

All of that was dashed the moment she had stepped into his life. Naruto's azure eyes moved across him to the other side of the carriage.

Despite the darkness, he could make out the faint outlines of his new mistress's snow-white coat. She was sleeping peacefully with a small hue on her cheeks. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. She was so plain, dark, and just weird; clearly no comparison to Sakura-chan's beauty and grace.

Still…

Naruto's thoughts faltered; how the hell did I get in this carriage?

That was when Naruto noticed a noose tied around his neck. Shocked at the suggested treatment, Naruto immediately began to be enraged. Nobody was going to treat him like a dog. He attempted to remove the noose from his neck. No sooner had he laid his hands around the thick rope, the noose tightened cutting the air supply to his lungs.

Naruto made a noise half way between a gasp and yell, only to be thrown onto the floor of the carriage.

"Shut up," a soft feminine voice hissed. Naruto groaned as he recognized who the voice belonged to.

The bitch with the two buns.

Giving her as hard a stare he could muster, Naruto's stare faltered when the two-bunned girl glanced nervously at her companion who had just snuggled further into her fetal position.

Her stare remained at its fixed point before turning to glare angrily at him. "You're so lucky she didn't wake up."

Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground. Of all the… this woman would rather choke him to death if it meant not waking up her companion.

Tenten, on the other hand, relinquished her glare, and gave a small smile at the blonde who was gawking at her. Despite how manly his physical features were, there was so much innocence written in the depths of those azure eyes of his. At that very moment she believed she was looking at a twelve year old, opposed to the twenty year old he claimed himself to be. Tenten's eyes narrowed slightly.

How could someone be so sheltered from that kind of life?

Remembering why she had anxiously waited for Hinata to sleep, Tenten briefly shook her head before fixing her gaze on the blonde haired man once more.

"You understand the situation?" she asked quietly, while still checking on Hinata's face occasionally to make sure she was still asleep.

Naruto pouted, "I'm not stupid." He was rather insulted by her question. "She bought me so she gets to keep me forever," he's eyes glared at Hinata's sleeping figure once more.

Tenten silently swore as Hinata's small body shivered slightly.

Naruto continued, "It doesn't matter though, because I swear on my word as a ninja, I will be free."

Tenten raised an eyebrow with keen interest, "You're a ninja?"

"Hai," Naruto answered without a minute's pause.

Tenten once again looked at Hinata before softly replying, "So is she."

"Nani!" Naruto exclaimed. He was swiftly punished by another fierce tug on his noose as a cruel Tenten looked at him with angry eyes.

"Baka, be quiet!" she commanded.

"A woman can't be a ninja," Naruto replied as a matter-of-factly. "They're too weak."

Tenten was so fast that Naruto truly wished he took his words back.

As she held a dagger over his heart she whispered, "Women have just as much strength as any man has, if not more because they don't let their accomplishments get to their head as most men do." She eased off him, pulling the knife ever so slowly, silently letting Naruto know that if he spoke a word, she wouldn't be hesitant to silence him.

After she finally pulled the knife away from him, he whispered, "Scary."

He was sure she had heard him, but she chose to ignore him. Her hazel eyes focused on the trail they were heading.

Naruto pulled himself from the dirty wooden floor of the carriage to take his seat on the other side of the girls once more. He wanted to forget the fact that the two-bun girl was sitting across him. Naruto focused on the comforting feeling of having cushion underneath his butt. Even when looking around, Naruto was fascinated by all the intricate carvings on the roof and walls of the carriage. The two windows at each side were shielded from the outside with thick clear glass and red satin curtains. Unwillingly, his eyes fell to his sleeping mistress once more.

"Hey…umm," he faltered when he realized he didn't know that other girl's name.

"Tenten," the girl's voice sounded more tired than before.

"Tenten," Naruto stopped when he saw the girl glaring at him once more.

"Tenten-sama to you," she reminded him.

"Tenten," Naruto replied again, this time emphasizing her name so every syllable was present. His grin only widened when he saw her snap her head at him, her jaw tense, and fingers twitching as though she were debating on choking him or stabbing him.

Deciding that he had better ask his question quick, he blurted, "Why did she buy me?"

Tenten sighed, silently anticipating her words so she wouldn't accidentally slip Hinata's identity. It was too soon, and this idiot might let it out that one of the nation's wealthiest heiresses was desperate enough to buy a man to accompany her to a high-society function.

"There's a gathering featuring some very important people. The gathering is being hosted by Hinata's father, who is notorious for pressuring people into doing things they don't want to do," she paused to take in Naruto's expression that just had remained blank. Silently wishing she could pull out her hair and scream to the heavens, Tenten took deep breaths to calm her down. This man was truly an idiot if he couldn't get where she was going with this "There have been rumors of Hinata's father attempting to set up an alliance between his family and another family through the ways of marriage."

Naruto just blinked. "Basically if Hinata doesn't show up with a date, her father is going to assume she is available for that marriage."

The blonde boy formed an 'o' shape with his mouth as the pieces of information slowly came together in his head "So I am supposed to take her to this gathering thing, pretending to be her date?"

Tenten slapped her forehead in disbelief, "Yes, that's the idea!"

"Is that really why she bought me?" Naruto asked again, not quite sure he's ears were deceiving him. She hadn't bought him to be one of those toys, after all.

That and she felt sorry for you. Damn it, Hinata is too kind.

Tenten absently thought to no one in particular. "Yeah."

One other question still irked Naruto's mind as he finally asked "What am I supposed to do till then?"

Tenten just shrugged, "Train, I guess."

"Train?"

"Yeah; learn about manners and how to act like a gentleman. And I mean really learn how to act like a gentleman."

"That's boring," Naruto pouted while crossing his arms across his chest stubbornly.

"You have no say in matter," Tenten stated; end of discussion.

Once more Naruto's gaze fell on Hinata. A piece of the moon's hair had managed to seep past the dark curtain, illuminating her pale skin and her soft lips that were set in a small smile.

Naruto choked and fought bravely to maintain a strong façade, "She won't force me to do what others have tried to do?"

Tenten was taken back by Naruto's question. She cleared her throat before she replied, "She's your mistress; you have to do whatever she tells you to do."

She couldn't read Naruto's expression then, but she knew her words had come out harsher than intended. Tenten finally allowed her eyes to soften a bit, "Don't worry Uzumaki," Naruto looked at her with astonish eyes. "Hinata's not like that."

Tenten laughed then, "In fact, you'd be lucky to get even a word out of her. The girl is so damn shy."

She paused to watch him than. No matter how badly she wished Hinata would've chosen someone else with more expertise and who was more than willing to go along with their plan, Tenten couldn't help but be somewhat grateful. Hinata, no doubt would've become a pawn had someone else with more manipulative ploys had been chosen. Analyzing Naruto only proved that Naruto was a simple mind boy, who seemed about as dense in the ways of sex, despite the fact that it was suppose to be his area of expertise. And as much as she hated to admit it, he appeared to have good heart. He also didn't seem to be attracted to Hinata, so, therefore, wouldn't be likely to lead her on and eventually leave her heartbroken.

Tenten's eyes narrowed almost instantly, as she saw how the blonde was looking at her cousin-in-law.

You better not harm her, if you know what's good for you. I doubt my husband will take kindly to you if he were to find out you somehow hurt his cousin.

Somewhere during her train of thought, a somewhat foul smell reached Tenten's nose. Scrunching up her nose and furrowing her eyebrows, Tenten began to break out into a sweat. Choking on the stench, she immediately covered her nose, before looking at Naruto accusingly.

Naruto's mouth was slightly gapped as he had allowed one loose during Tenten's moment of silence. However, when she looked at him, he was so close to letting another loose.

"Disgusting," Tenten quickly exclaimed before opening the window nearest her and waving the foul some air out. Amidst her frantic struggles, Hinata's lavender eyes opened to take in her surroundings.

"Tent…" Hinata began, but stopped as quickly as she had started speaking. Naruto watched, shocked, as Hinata's face began to turn green, and in a quiet voice she asked "Wh...why does it sti…stink?"

Hinata's dreams had often been beyond unexplainable, virtually incomprehensible by the logical mind. Most often, the best dream experts had difficulty coming up with an interpretation of her dreams. Perhaps that was why Hinata was so quiet; believing that the best way for her to understand her subconscious was to do it in isolation.

However, tonight's dream was as vivid as any dream had ever been. There were no incoherent thoughts, just images of the people she knew. Her father's disapproving face, Neji and Tenten particularly the tenderness shared only between them, and lastly Naruto's azure eyes. She would have gladly awoken up to those eyes forever.

Stretching in a cat-like manner Hinata rose from her king-size bed to walk to her washroom where she leisurely brushed her teeth and combed her hair. She finally settled for her favorite pair of deep blue khakis and a plain white T-shirt that clung comfortably to her body. Hinata took a look at a pair of socks in her drawer, before voting against wearing them.

For the most part, she was at ease until she strolled in the long corridor that passed by several rooms including her living room. There Hinata nearly fainted when she saw a fairly masculine arm dangling from the edge of her couch. Incidentally Naruto was still asleep, mouth wide-open for unsuspecting spiders to crawl into. A string of drool absently clung from the edge of his mouth, causing Hinata to make comparison's between her recent 'ward' and her cousin. Neji wouldn't be caught dead sleeping like that.

She sighed before looking at her pale ceiling 'This is strange.'

Her pale eyes drifted back too to Naruto as she briefly recalled last night's events. She winced; there had been a lot of screaming and yelling on Tenten and Naruto's behalf. Hinata had been too tired to pay any attention, left matters to Tenten. Looking back on it though, Hinata couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. She had selfishly left Naruto behind without much advice as to what he should do. Still…

Hinata's curiosity got the better of her. Activating her Byukagon she channeled into Naruto's charka to determine his depth of his sleep. Finally realizing that he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, Hinata crouched on the balls of her feel and stealthy maneuvered her way to him.

She was barely an inch away from him, when his whisker like markings on his face caught her attention.

Would he ever let her touch them?

Hinata immediately berated herself on her stupidity. He was still a person and no person would ever enjoy being asked if their abnormal birth markings could be touched. Hinata sighed before falling back on her butt and continued staring at him. In order for her plan to work she would have to talk to him. Something she didn't look forward too, just because she had such little practice in the ways of communication.

Naruto was on the edge of sleep when he felt someone else watching him. Reluctantly he allowed his dream of a certain pink-haired girl feeding him ramen to end before opening his eyes to see another pair staring intensely at him.

"AHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed as he fell off the couch, crushing his mistress during the process.

Hinata had barely any time to assess the situation as she felt Naruto's full body weight on hers. Close proximity to someone belonging to the opposite sex caused Hinata to flush an abnormally bright shade of red. Her father and Neji never came within a meter of her and here was Naruto, violating the bubble she had established for herself. Naruto was off of her in a quick second, but the damaged had already been done.

Chuckling while rubbing the back of his head he continued with his apology "Neh, Hinata-sama Gomen."

He blinked as he watched the weirdo pull herself on her feet before hastily heading to what he guessed was the kitchen. Naruto had the sneaking suspicion that she wanted to run, and it took the force of Kami to stop herself.

Barely a second later Tenten came bursting through the front door strutting in as though she owned the place.

"Hey Hinata!" she happily called out "I have good news…"

Her voice trailed off as she laid her eyes on Naruto "You…" she muttered darkly.

Before Naruto could make so much as a remark Hinata's voice called out from the kitchen "T..Tenten san, I…I am in the kitchen."

Tenten quickly disposed of her coat on a coat hanger that lingered near the door before proceeding for the kitchen. Naruto called out to her in a fierce whisper "Why does she always stutter."

Tenten scowled as she quickly marched up to Naruto and clunked him on the head with a mallet that came out of nowhere. "Shut up. Hinata is…"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as Hinata came walking in with cups of green tea. Naruto scrunched up his nose in disgust but didn't say anything for fear of receiving another bump from Tenten. Hinata seemed to notice a particularly large lump on Naruto's head. Sighing, she allowed her imagination to provide an explanation for her. She settled the green tea down in front of Tenten who furrowed her eyebrows in frustration.

"Hinata, I don't like green tea."

"It's su..supose to be g…good for the baby" Hinata insisted. Tenten rolled her eyes before accepting one cup while Naruto shook his head.

Tenten took one sip before absently spilling the tea into a nearby plant when Hinata's attention was diverted elsewhere.

She cleared her throat "Back to business. I think that we better begin training right away."

Hinata was the first to leap out of her seat "D…demo."

Tenten's look silenced her protest "Look at him Hinata." Tenten ignored Naruto's protest "He needs a lot of work, if we're going to pull this off."

She calmly pulled aside a scroll and a pen before starting to list numerous tasks down. Hinata was busy fiddling with her index fingers, despite Neji's lectures about presenting herself as a confident heir. Her nerves were shot and this was the only way to relax herself. Meanwhile Naruto's protests were announced loudly in the background.

"We're going to need to buy him new clothes, teach him some basic styles of mannerism, and oh yeah…there's the matter of intimacy."

Hinata choked on her tea, while Naruto screamed "INTIMACY!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow once more "Yes baka! Intimacy. How else are people going to believe that you are dating my cousin?"

Naruto swore under his breath which caused Hinata to lay her eyes downcast. Was she really that disgusting.

In a silent whisper she replied, "Ano…in…intimacy…."

Without another word, Hinata was sprawled in the floor as a result of a fainting spell. Tenten groaned and pulled out smelling salts before assaulting Hinata's nose with them. Naruto could only stare. Tenten's actions were automatic, as though Hinata-sama fainting was a common practice or something. Barely a minute later Hinata came too only to see Tenten and Naruto hovering over her like a swarm of bees.

"Fine…We'll work on the intimacy part later," Tenten admitted reluctantly.

Naruto looked at Hinata gratefully, a gesture for some reason made butterflies flutter in her stomach. Furiously blushing she bowed her head and nodded absently, sending her hair in all sorts of directions. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in surprise. Yup…the girl was weird. Meanwhile Tenten was trying her hardest not to burst out in laughter. Hinata was cute when she was embarrassed, which usually happened a lot around guys in general.

Tenten sighed inwardly. It was no thanks to her father's hands off policy and Neji's constant presence at Hinata's side during the crucial times of her teenage hood. When normal girls were exploring the new world concerning their sexuality, Hinata never had any of that. As heiress she was dutiful trained to taking over the family's well-being on the occasion her father should pass on. With so much training, Hinata never had time to interact with other people, earning her painful shyness. One that Neji was reluctant to admit, he had partially caused.

"First of all Hinata, try calling the guy Naruto-kun"

Hinata's eyes darted upwards "I…I could never do that"

"Please Hinata couples don't go around calling each other by their last names. You don't see me calling Neji, Hyuuga?"

Naruto once again scowled. Why was it they were talking about him as though he weren't there?

"Neh…What about me? What should I call her?" He pointed to Hinata who was beet red once more.

Tenten tilted her head and tapped a finger to her chin "Hina-chan,"

For some reason Hinata's eyes widened in horror as she leapt out from her seat "No…Tenten-san…n..not that please."

Confused, Naruto didn't know what to make out of the sudden sympathetic look within Tenten's orbs, or Hinata's sudden teary expression. There was something suspicious here, but Naruto decided to let it slide. Finally Hinata slumped back in her seat in resignation.

"Ha Hai…call me Hi…Hina-chan," she replied wearily.

"That should settle the deal. Even he will be convinced."

"He?"

Tenten looked at Naruto with a look that said 'You shouldn't be asking questions' "Hinata's father."

"Why would he be convinced we're together if I call her Hina-chan"

Tenten opened her mouth to answer, only to have Hinata accidentally spill some tea on her. The commotion caused so much fuss that Tenten's short-track mind was taken elsewhere leaving Naruto in the dark. Despite Hinata's efforts to calm Tenten down, Naruto observed how relieved Hinata seemed to be afterwards. Her small figure seemingly seemed to ease off subtle tension as she hurried her way into the kitchen to retrieve some water.

"Oy," Tenten called out "Why don't you make him serve."

Naruto shot her a dirty look as Tenten pressed on "After all you bought him so he's like indebted to you."

Naruto watched as Hinata popped her head out from the kitchen to assess him. With red cheeks she abruptly shook her head and popped back into the kitchen.

Tenten bopped him on the head and reluctantly Naruto followed Hinata in the kitchen to offer some assistance.

Not shortly after, Tenten heard Hinata screaming in surprise before the sound of smashing cups followed.

Tenten looked at the ceiling

Kami help me.