I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
"Ummm Sakura….could you come back later?" Naruto asked her sheepishly. Offended, she pushed out of his arms, and glared up at him. That was when she noticed a few details that she had missed when he first opened the door. Naruto's normally messy blonde locks were even more disheveled that usual, and he was only wearing a black tee-shirt and orange boxers. Her eyes went wide as she looked around the room and stopped on the lavender lace bra that was thrown over the back of his couch. She turned to face him, and smirked. Naruto's blushed, but then made shooing motions with his hands.
"It's okay Naruto-kun, I know that Sakura-chan won't say anything." Hinata said as she came out of his bedroom dressed in one of his tee-shirts and her Capri pants. She was looking a little tousled herself, and her lips were swollen and red. She was glowing with happiness, and for a few seconds, Sakura felt a sharp dart of jealousy run through her before she nipped it in the bud. She did not need a man to be happy- she didn't!
"YOU JUST KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT…YOU KNOW DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EYGPT, RIGHT?" 'Inner' said sarcastically.
"SHUT UP YOU! IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SAY SOMETHING HELPFUL, JUST SHUT UP!" Sakura snarled back at herself. 'Inner' chuckled, but refrained from commenting.
"Are you sure you are fine with this Hinata?" She asked her friend.
"You obviously need help to come and ask for it, so we should be willing to help, no matter what we were do-" Hinata broke off her sentence and blushed her signature blush. Naruto let out a bark of laughter and pulled her into his arms, letting her hide her glowing cheeks in his broad chest. She snuggled into his embrace, and Sakura could see the contented look on her face.
"AAAWW! THEY ARE SO KAWAII TOGETHER! ARE YOU SURE WE DON'T NEED A MAN, CAUSE FROM THIS ANGLE IT LOOKS WONDERFUL TO ME!" 'Inner' chimed cheerfully. Sakura frowned at herself, though she had to admit that the sight before her was pretty awesome. About time they got together, too. Hinata had waited forever for Naruto to finally notice her.
"So when did you two hook up, because I thought that Naruto was going to be the world's most clueless idiot forever?" Sakura asked archly. Naruto glowered at her, and then turned back to Hinata, smiling down at her.
"It was the night we went had the party for passing the ANBU exams, remember?" He asked her. Sakura winced, and Naruto suddenly remembered why she would never forget that night. He looked at her in sympathy, thinking back to the day he found her crying about losing her virginity to a man who didn't remember the event. They never told Sasuke about that one, he would not have been able to restrain himself from making a big deal about it to his cousin, and Sakura was too humiliated to allow that to happen. She was now hoping that the man never remembered, because if he did now, all the feelings of shame from that morning after would rise up in her again. Suddenly, Sakura realized how long they had been hiding their relationship.
"So you have been together this whole time and didn't tell anyone?" She asked, upset with them for hiding something this big from her. Another part of her was upset because they were behaving in a manner similar to Itachi's. Why would they want to hide something this wonderful from the world? Didn't they realize just how long all of their friends had been waiting to see them together, and they deceived everyone for this long?
"Hinata's clan is not willing to accept any man but another Hyuuga for her. So we are trying to keep our relationship hidden until I officially take over as Hokage. Then we getting married, and they won't have the power to stop us." Naruto rushed to explain.
Sakura frowned at them, still upset that they hadn't trusted her enough to tell the truth, when Hinata decided to change the subject to divert her attention.
"So Sakura-chan, what do you need help with?" Hinata asked curiously. Sakura hesitated, because she didn't want to talk about 'the contract' in front of Hinata. Not that she didn't think that Itachi's nefarious behavior shouldn't be exposed, but because she had promised Sasuke to never tell anyone else. Still, Hinata always gave good advice…
"It's about Sasuke-kun's brother." She told them. Naruto and Hinata shared a look of confusion, before Naruto suddenly got a horrified expression on his face.
"You don't mean to tell me?" He semi-shouted. Sakura nodded miserably.
"Sakura-chan, how could you do it? I thought that you told me there was no way that you would ever fall into his perverted clutches!" Naruto shook his head in disgust, and lowered it into his hands, as he plopped down onto the couch. Hinata was looking back in forth between the two friends in obvious confusion.
"NARUTO! What kind of girl do you think I am? Of course I didn't sign it!" Sakura reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. It was his turn to look confused.
"Well, if you didn't sign it, then why do you need my help?" He asked. Sakura blushed and looked away, starring at poster on his wall. She started to twiddle her thumbs much like Hinata used to when she was younger. Naruto watched her, and then it dawned on him what her uncharacteristic behavior indicated.
"You WANT to sign it, don't you?" He said accusingly as he pointed at her. Sakura blushed deeper, even as she glared at him in embarrassment.
"Look, he hasn't asked me, he has just been acting….seductively. He made a sexual innuendo, and then he grabbed my wrist when I went to leave his hospital room. I am just worried that he has chosen me as his next target." She told him worriedly. Naruto paled, and lowered his face back into his hands. Hinata decided that she had been left out of the loop for long enough.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT?" She exclaimed in exasperation. At Naruto and Sakura's shocked faces, she blushed deeply as she realized that she had practically shouted at them. After a few seconds, they began to laugh at her. She glowered at them, but it just made them laugh harder, because her 'mad' look was just like a kitten with ruffled fur.
"Naruto, I think that you are wearing off on her." Sakura said with a grin, as she wiped a tear of laughter off her cheek. Naruto merely smirked and snatched his irritated girlfriend onto his lap, giving her an affectionate squeeze. Hinata huffed at him, but allowed the contact.
Deciding that they had already said too much in front of her, Sakura filled her in on the details of Itachi's romantic contact. Hinata's face was a sight to see, as she tried to reconcile the new knowledge versus the image she had in her head of Itachi's reputation. Her jaw literally dropped open. After several minutes went by, she finally pulled herself together.
"So you are telling me that Itachi-san is a man whore?" She said in shock, before slapping a hand over her mouth in embarrassment for using such a crude phrase. Her choice of words set Naruto and Sakura off again, and this time Hinata joined them. It took a while for them to bring themselves back under control, and when they finally accomplished it, Sakura looked over to see Hinata gazing at her in speculation.
"So do you want help in resisting him, or do you want help in taking him on your terms rather than his?" The indigo beauty asked her friend with a grin. Both her boyfriend and the pinkette gazed at her in total shock. Naruto started to protest, but Sakura just hung her head down.
"I don't know." She told them so softly they almost didn't hear her. Hinata looked at her friend in sympathy. She knew just how hard it was to feel the sting of being the one that wanted the most. She had spent years of her life devoted to the blonde knucklehead holding her. And as much as she loved him, Itachi Uchiha was in a whole other category of manhood. It would take a will of iron to resist the attentions of such a man. But she also knew her friend. If anyone could turn his little game around on him, it would be Sakura. She just needed their support. Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by Naruto.
"NANI!" He shouted in disbelief. Before Sakura could reach out and hit him, Hinata elbowed him hard in the ribs. He down on her in astonishment and a little hurt. She laid her hand over the spot where she had hurt him, and healed the bruise as she raised her other hand to cup his cheek.
"Naruto, Sakura is free to love whomever she wishes. There are a lot of people that think that you and I should never be together, and we didn't let it stop us." She pointed out to him gently. He started to say something and then stopped, letting out a sigh of resignation. She grinned at him before turning to Sakura with a mischievous look.
"Besides, you know that old saying. A reformed rake makes the best husband." She told the pinkette. Sakura's jaw dropped open and a glazed look entered her eye at the thought of marrying Itachi. Hinata laughed outright at the love-struck look on her face, while Naruto looked at his friend in disgruntlement. Feeling that she had teased her friend enough, Hinata pulled out of Naruto's arms and went to kneel in front of Sakura. She placed her hands over the pinkette's, and looked at her seriously.
"This decision is yours to make. Whether you decide to evade his attentions or pursue them in hopes of turning it into a real relationship. Naruto and I will support you one hundred percent. But you have to decide." Hinata told her in stern sympathy. Sakura looked up, and then down at her hands.
"I know." She said miserably.
"Sakura-chan, there is no other woman in this village with the exception of my Hinata, that has such determination and will-power as you do. You are a strong, skilled, smart, and an awesome person. Itachi Uchiha will be at your feet by the time you are done with him, if that is what you want. I have faith in you, believe it!" Naruto told her bracingly.
Sakura looked up at her friends and saw that they were looking at her with complete confidence and supportiveness. Slowly, she smiled at them as a look of determination lit up her eyes.
"Well, I don't know him well enough to decide if I want to marry him, but I do know that he needs to learn that not every woman will fall at his feet. I think it is time he gets taught a lesson about respect. And you never know, maybe somebody worth my time is under all that arrogance. Either way, I really want to find out." She told them with a huge grin on her face.
"If that is what you really want to do, then here is what I think that we should do…." Hinata started to reveal her plan, and by the time she was done, the three friends were sitting back with identical smirks on their faces.
"I really love you guys, you know that right?" Sakura told them lovingly.
"We love you too, Sakura-chan." They both reassured her.
"Alright, tomorrow we begin Operation: Bag Itachi Uchiha!" Naruto said enthusiastically.