The next morning, sunlight shined through the windows of the inn. Naruto and Hinata lay in the bed. Naruto was awake and staring at the ceiling of the room, while Hinata was asleep with her arms around his midsection.
"I can't believe those jerks last night!" angry thoughts like this had been popping into his head like that all night. "They knew that she was with me, but they still tried to get to her! If I hadn't come back at that moment, then they would have…" He didn't even finish the thought. He knew what they would have done. Looking down at Hinata's sleeping face, he thought, "If anything happened to Hinata, I would…" He squeezed his fist in anger. He must hugged her a little tightly too, because she woke up and looked at him with beautiful, sleepy eyes, and asked, "What's wrong Naruto?"
"Nothing, nothing," Naruto said quickly. "Sorry I woke you up Hinata. We still have a little bit before we have to get ready, so you can go back to sleep for a while."
"Okay," she said wearily. Then she laid her head back down on his chest and fell asleep again.
As he stared down at her beautiful face, he thought to himself, "Hinata, I swear that I will protect you, even if it costs me my life."
"Dammit, does my head hurt," Itachi thought to himself as he sat up in bed. Even though his plan had been to keep an eye on Naruto most of the time the night before, he had ended up drinking with Temari and Kankuro instead. Apparently he had had too much, because now his head felt like it was being split open by an axe.
"That's it, I'm swearing off alcohol for good," he thought. "Because of it, I wasn't able to gather information on Naruto." A small amount of pain shot through his head, making him wince a little. "Good thing it's so quiet in this room."
The quiet did not last very long. Suddenly, the sound of a very loud hairdryer came from the bathroom. Temari had been in the shower, and was now drying her hair. The loud noise sent a large dose of pain shooting through Itachi's head, making it feel like someone was slowly pushing a knife into his skull.
"Temari, turn that thing off," Itachi said banging on the wall. Then he thought, "God, like she could make it any worse for me."
That thought came back and hit him in the face after about two seconds, when Temari came out of the bathroom. Her hair was down and she wasn't wearing any clothing at all, not even underwear.
"Gaara, you may not need to look great, but I'm a girl, so I need to look good," Temari said, waving a balled fist at Itachi. "So lay off until I finish, okay?" Itachi didn't say a single word; he just sat there staring at her. She went back into the bathroom, leaving him there. As soon as the door closed, Itachi's nose began to bleed like crazy. It was like a valve had been opened in his nose that couldn't be shut. He stuffed a couple of tissues up his nose and fell back on the bed.
"I think I might be found out before I can get to Naruto," Itachi thought as the blood stained the tissues in his nose. "Or I might just die from the sexual tension!" He rolled around on the bed, trying to get the image of Temari out of his head.
"Time to get going you guys," Sasuke said opening the door to Naruto and Hinata's room. The two of them were still on the bed, but Naruto had fallen asleep along with Hinata. "C'mon you two, wake up." He was about to shake them awake, when Naruto said something.
"Hinata…" he said, still fast asleep. "I promise… I will protect you." This caused Sasuke to stop for about a second, and when his hand was about an inch away from the two of them, Sakura grabbed him around his waist.
"Sakura, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked, slightly confused as to why she stopped him.
"Look at them," she said sweetly. "They look so peaceful. Do you really want to ruin it for them?" She stared at him with big green eyes. She knew that he couldn't resist her when she did that. Then she said, "Besides, we don't leave for another half an hour, which gives us plenty of time to…" That one unfinished sentence went straight to Sasuke brain.
"Maybe you're right," Sasuke said with a small smile on his face. "Let's give them a little more time to sleep." With that, he put his arm around Sakura's shoulders and they walked back to their room. They walked in, and weren't heard from again until it was almost time to leave.
"They're leaving," Kisame said while he looked through a pair of binoculars at the group. "Hmm, Itachi looks like he's in pain, and he's got some tissues in his nose."
"That could be my sister's fault," Gaara said from his spot on the tree. "She probably shoved so much sake down his throat last night that he has a hangover. She also doesn't usually where clothes in the morning either, which was probably enough to make his nose bleed.
Tokiko giggled a little bit. She had been with Itachi for a while, and knew that he was the very serious type. She couldn't even imagine him with a nosebleed.
"Shut up brat," Kisame said with an angry tone. Then he thought, "That can't be the case. Itachi is too calm and collected for that to be the case."
"Master Kisame," Tokiko said. "Is it time to leave?"
"Yes," Kisame said. "Gather your things and give the boy his shot." Tokiko went around the campsite, gathering herbs and various other things. Finally, she went to Gaara and stuck the needle containing the demon suppressant in his neck. He didn't even put up a fight.
"I'm surprised," Tokiko said as she pulled out the needle.
"About what?" Gaara asked, looking at her.
"Well… I figured that you would try to keep me from sticking you by any means possible." Tokiko said, looking him square in the eyes.
"What for?" Gaara asked. "My sand won't move for me, and I can't make hand signs with my hands tied. The most I could do is squirm around, and that wouldn't do much good, seeing as you would get me eventually."
"Enough with the talking boy," Kisame said. He picked Gaara up off the side of the tree, and put him over his shoulder, making sure that his hands were tied tightly. "Tokiko, lets get going."
They leapt into the nearest tree and took off, following Itachi and the group. They traveled quietly, barely making a sound as the moved. Absolutely nothing was said during the time they spent on the move.
"Jeez these two are quiet," Gaara thought. "I must be used to Temari and the others talking constantly." He yawned a little bit. "I might as well get some more sleep. Since Shukaku can't take over my body at the moment, I can get some sleep and not worry." With that thought, he fell asleep, and was dead to the world in seconds.
Tokiko saw him, and thought, "What a fool. We could kill him at anytime, and what does he do? He sleeps. Again, I say, what a fool." Her mind may have been saying that, but her eyes were singing a different tune. As he slept, she stared at his calm yet strong face. She wasn't able to look away, which caused her to almost run into a tree.
"C'mon Tokiko, you have to keep up," Kisame said as she steadied her pace. She barely missed the tree, but she also nearly fell, and had to regain her balance. Other than that, the day went by without any problems. They only stopped after they reached their next destination outside the village that Itachi and the others stopped for the night.
"Tokiko, get a fire going while I get some water," Kisame said. Then he took off towards a small stream that he had spotted a little ways back.
Tokiko set up some firewood in position to burn, and the lit a match. As soon as she did, the firewood was burning almost immediately. During the time it took her to light the fire Gaara had noticed something. "Hmph, so that it," he said with a smile.
"What's it?" Tokiko asked, giving him a cold look.
"I just now figured out why Itachi took an interest in you," Gaara said.
"What ate you talking about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she stared at him.
"You have a Kekkai Genkai, a bloodline trait," Gaara said. "You can control fire, and bend it to your will, making it do anything that you please."
"Oh, that," Tokiko said. A tongue of flame came from the burning campfire, and it formed a small fireball in the palm of her hand. "I've been able to do that forever. What makes it so special?"
"Because Kekkai Genkai are rare nowadays," Gaara said. "They are special ninja skills that only exist in people who are part of a family that possess them."
"If they only exist in people from my family, then why would I be of interest to Master Itachi?" Tokiko asked. She was very suspicious of Gaara at this time, and she thought that he might be trying to trick her in some way.
"Because it was recently discovered that they could be given to others by a simple transfer of blood," Gaara said calmly. "A friend of mine is proof of that. He has the Kekkai Genkai of one of the families in his village, but he didn't until recently."
"No, I don't believe you." Tokiko was firm in her answer. "He saved me out of the goodness of his heart, not because of my power."
"Girl, you are blinded by his lies." Gaara was starting to get angry. "He does not care about you."
Tokiko had heard enough. She walked over to Gaara and slapped him across the face. "You don't know what you are talking about." She was angry, and the fire behind her flared up, burning almost white hot. Then, the fire calmed down, returning to normal, and Tokiko took off. She ran until the edge of the forest, where she sat in a tree in a curled up position, thinking, "He is wrong." She stayed there in the tree for a long time, letting her thoughts and anger flow.
"Hey, you guys," Sasuke said to Naruto and Hinata. "We spotted a small café when we walked into town. We were thinking of going to check it out. Do you guys want to come?"
"Actually, we were thinking about staying in tonight," Naruto said. Hinata nodded in agreement from Naruto's right side.
"What?" Temari asked. "Why?"
"We wanted a little alone time to talk," Naruto said. Again, Hinata nodded in agreement.
Sasuke was about to say something, but then Sakura said, "Okay then, we'll see you guys later. C'mon you guys, let's go." She pulled Sasuke away by the arm. Temari just stood there for a second, then said, "Okay, if you guys are staying here, then here's your key." She handed them the key to their room and walked after Sasuke and Sakura.
"Why did you interrupt me?" Sasuke asked Sakura, who was still pulling him along. "It would be good for those two to go out with all of us again."
"Well, I think that it would be better for them to get some time to themselves," Sakura said. "So let's leave them be for now." Sasuke stared at her for a moment, and then nodded, agreeing that it was probably the best thing for them right now. The two of them went to the front of the inn, where the met up with Kankuro and Itachi. Temari caught up with them soon after.
"Hey, where are Naruto and Hinata?" Itachi asked. "Aren't they coming with us?"
"No," Sasuke said. "They said that they needed some alone time, so they decided to stay behind."
"It figures," Itachi thought. "More obstacles in my information gathering."
"So, what do you guys think they're going to do with that time?" Kankuro asked. A little glimmer entered his eye as he said it.
"Get those perverted thoughts out of your head," Temari said, whacking him on the back of his head. "I don't think they are as bad as you. Anyway, let's get going." They started to walk away, leaving the inn behind.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata were up in their room sitting on the bed, facing each other. They were silent for a few minutes, until Hinata spoke up.
"Naruto…" she said, "I'm sorry about last night."
"Why are you apologizing?" Naruto asked, concern and confusion in his voice.
"Because it was my fault," Hinata said. "The outfit I wore drew attention from everyone in that club. It I hadn't worn it, then they wouldn't have tried to do anything to me, and I wouldn't have caused you so much trouble." She sounded like she was on the verge of crying. Then Naruto embraced her, which made her open her eyes in surprise.
"Hinata, you didn't do anything wrong," Naruto said with a tender voice. "There was nothing wrong with the outfit. You looked great in it. It was my fault. If I hadn't left you alone like that, then nothing would have happened to you. You didn't do one damn thing."
Hinata was crying at this point. She wrapped her arms around Naruto and started crying into his shoulder. Pulling her away, he said, "C'mon now, dry those tears. You're too beautiful to be crying." He wiped her eyes with his finger as he said this.
"I-I'm s-so-sorry," she said. "It's just… I'm s-so g-glad to hear you say that." She was crying even more now. She buried her face in his shirt and cried, soaking his shirt with tears. Naruto didn't seem to mind at all. He put his arms around her and embraced her again. When she was finished, she lifted her head out of his shirt, she said, "Oh, I'm sorry Naruto. I got your shirt all wet."
"You don't have to apologize," Naruto said. "It's just a shirt. Everything is fine as long as I'm with you."
"Oh Naruto," Hinata said blushing. Then she leaned up and gave him a kiss. After they parted, they stared at each other for a minute. After the minute was up, they were kissing again, but this time the kiss was fiercer. The two of them were pulling each other so close that they became tangled. Hinata's hands were in Naruto's shirt, rubbing across the taught and firm muscles that covered his back. Naruto's hands had also found their way up Hinata's shirt, caressing the soft, smooth skin on her chest and stomach. They parted from lack of breath, and Naruto began to kiss her neck. Hinata moaned a little, but did not make him stop. She was thoroughly enjoying every second of it.
"Ah," Hinata said as Naruto's hand found it's way onto her left breast.
Lifting his head up and looking Hinata straight in the eyes, he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" But he didn't finish the sentence, mainly due to the fact that Hinata had placed her hand over top of the spot on the outside of her shirt where Naruto's hand was currently sitting inside her shirt.
"It's okay, I don't mind," Hinata said with closed eyes. Then she opened her eyes and stared at Naruto with a tender look of longing. "Naruto, I am yours. You may do whatever you want to me."
Naruto stared at her for a few seconds, and then asked, "Hinata, are you sure about this?"
"Yes," Hinata said, her voice filled with compassion and love for the blonde ninja. "Naruto, I am sure. I will do anything for you."
He stared at her for a few more seconds, and then they started to kiss each other again. While the kiss was going on, Hinata removed Naruto's jacket and shirt, and threw them to the floor, exposing his muscled chest and stomach.
"He feels so warm," Hinata thought as she pressed herself closer to his muscled body. "And his muscles feel so nice." She rubbed her hands over his body, taking in every small detail, while Naruto removed her shirt and top, exposing her breasts to the world.
"She is so beautiful," he thought, keeping his eyes on Hinata's face. But it was hard to not notice her breasts as she pressed herself closer and closer to him. "And her body is so soft."
The two of them wrapped their arms around each other, and the kiss continued. Hinata leaned back onto the bed, and Naruto went with her. They continued to undress each other as they kissed, touched, and caressed each other. Soon, all of their clothes lay forgotten on the floor, and the two of them were under the already tangled sheets of the bed. The sheets tangled around the two of them even more as they moved, kissed, caressed, and made love. Moans of pleasure and excitement escaped Hinata's lips, signaling how much she was enjoying herself, and how much she liked the feel of Naruto. The two of them continued on for a long time into the evening.
Later that night, the group came back, all of them a little overdosed on caffeine.
"All right guys," Temari said. "We're going to bed. See you in the morning." She opened the door to their room and walked in, dragging her hyper brother, and a very hyper Itachi.
"That guy should have stopped after his first cup," Sasuke thought as he stared after the person that he thought was Gaara. Looking over at Naruto and Hinata's room he thought, "Maybe I should check on them." Going over to the door, he knocked and said, "Hey, you guys in there?"
"Sasuke, leave them alone," Sakura said from behind him. "They are probably asleep already, so don't wake them up." That statement settled the issue, and Sasuke walked away from the door, and then into his and Sakura's room. Meanwhile, in Naruto and Hinata's room, Naruto was still awake, staring up at the ceiling, while Hinata was sleeping up against him with her arms wrapped around him. Their clothes were still lying on the floor, and the sheets were wrapped tightly around the both of them.
"I didn't expect that from Hinata," he thought. "But then again, she can be unpredictable at times." He stared down at his sleeping lover, smiled, and thought, "That's the thing that I love about her the most." He then kissed her on the forehead and fell asleep, never even stirring his sleeping partner.