Chapter 5: The Offer

As a kunoichi, Hinata was no stranger to the unusual and the unexpected. Any ninja that told you nothing could surprise them anymore was a liar. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have possibly prepared her for the surprise she was just given.

"What did you just say?"

Sakura kept up her smile. "It's simple really, the two of us will date Naruto-kun at the same time. You get a chance to be with Naruto-kun as long as you're willing to share with me." The way the pinkette said it unnerved Hinata just a bit. It wasn't that it was an evil smile, but it had a predatory feel to it. Like Sakura was a leopard or huntress and Hinata was the prey.

"Why would you want to date him?" Hinata asked, sounding very confused. "For as long as you've had the option you've refused it. Why are you accepting now?"

Sakura then started to look like she was thinking. "Well...I could give a long list of reasons, but the short version is that recently I realized that he deserves the chance. He never betrayed the village, and for me going after Sasuke was originally just a goal. A way to prove my worth and get attention. Naruto always gave a hand to let me catch up while Sasuke never cared for anyone but himself. In truth I probably think that no one in Konoha deserves him, but maybe we could help him find what he's looking for in a girlfriend or even a wife. If he likes the both of us dating us, then we could simply stay in the relationship, and if he doesn't want either of us then we can say that we tried." Sakura explained, and while it was longer then expected, it sounded true.

Hinata was stunned silent, barely able to process this. "Let me get this straight. You want to date Naruto-kun, and you're willing to let me date him too, and this isn't some kind of game to you?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, I swear to you this is a genuine offer. Naruto-kun should have a real girlfriend, but he doesn't really know what he wants in a girlfriend. There's no way of knowing who's more his type, you or me or even another girl. So why not let him date both of us to let him find out? I mean really, why not?"

Hinata thought it over, finding it too good to be true. "Why should I believe you?"

"The full truth, there's not much to go on other then simply confirming it with Naruto-kun himself. I already proposed the idea to him, and Ino-pig as well." Sakura responded, and Hinata continued to listen. "She was the first I suggested it too, and I may offer it to a bunch of different girls. We find his type, and if he prefers a single girl or all of us. Also, if this was a joke, then wouldn't I come up with something better?"

"This is a pretty bad idea for a joke." Hinata commented. 'Sure, ever since Sasuke left Sakura has been getting easier to be around. And she's never joked about me liking Naruto-kun before. But this still is weird.' Something the pinkette said before came to her. "Wait, before when you were describing this, are you saying you want Naruto-kun to choose us both?"

"Would that really be such a terrible thing? Part of me thinks maybe it's okay for him to have several girlfriends to make up for the lack of love in his past. After all, my fault was that I spent too much time chasing the wrong person, and yours is that you never really tried." Sakura explained.

Hinata got mad at the implication. "Not trying? Did you ever think I simply wasn't allowed to do more than I did? You may think everyone knows I like him, but my clan doesn't, and if they found out, they'd kill Naruto-kun out of sheer spite."

"So you'll only be with him when there's nothing to stand against you?" Sakura asked, not liking this. "Sounds to me like you don't really like him, you just like dreaming about a life you could have with him. A life away from your clan."

"How dare you?" Hinata said, incensed. "I care about him with all my heart."

"Do you really?" Sakura asked back. "You watch him but you barely talk to him. You go on missions with him but you never spend time with him in public. You want to be with him and rather than try and get your family to understand you hide from the problem. You like him and wish him no ill will, that I have no doubt of, but-"

"But nothing." Hinata said angrily, getting close enough to get a firm look into Sakura's eyes, making the pinkette step back a bit. "I care about Naruto-kun in a way you can't imagine. I just can't show it yet. Naruto-kun may have been able to defeat Neji-niisan, but he will struggle against several strong Hyuuga at once. And if my clan find out I like him and they attack, then Naruto-kun will refuse to ever look at me again."

"Hinata, what if I told you that you're overreacting?" Sakura suggested. "I know something that guarantees your clan can't kill Naruto on a whim like that."

"Oh? And what's that?" Hinata asked, skeptical but at the same time hopeful.

"Before I tell you, I need to know something. All those things you're afraid of, pretend for a moment they don't exist. Pretend your clan can't do anything and Naruto-kun would definitely say yes to you. Would you be with Naruto-kun even if there was something about him you don't know? Something that could potentially change everything you know about him? Like it did when I learned about it?"

Hinata tensed for a bit, then relaxed. "There is nothing that can make me not like Naruto-kun. I do what I do for him because I care for him so much, regardless of how you see it."

"I could get in a lot of trouble for this, so you're the only one I'm going to say this to. The Yondaime trapped the Kyuubi in a seal that he put on Naruto-kun. Our Naruto-kun is a living cage for the beast, but it doesn't control him."

Hinata's eyes widened to hear it. Suddenly all the things she didn't know about Naruto made sense. Why he was an orphan, why the town seemed to hate him when he hadn't done anything wrong, why the clan felt threatened by him. It didn't justify it, not in her eyes, but it explained it.

"How does this keep my father from trying to kill Naruto-kun?" Hinata tested.

"Simple, Naruto-kun has the power to fight back against your father and anyone else. He stood up to Orochimaru and the sand spirit Shukaku years ago, remember? Are you saying your father is stronger than them?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe not, but-"

"And besides, Naruto-kun has important status in this village as the Kyuubi's holder." Sakura continued. "A clan head attacking him is not something the Hokage will allow. If Naruto-kun were to die, the Kyuubi would come back someday, endangering the village. Your father attacking him is basically a step short of treason."

Hinata thought about it and it made sense. 'If Otou-san were to issue an attack on Naruto-kun and kill him, the Kyuubi would be released, and what if it decided to seek revenge? Everyone would know the Hyuuga clan would be to blame. Otou-san would never accept such a stigma.'

"So all this time you've been afraid of nothing." Sakura told her. "Besides, Naruto-kun is strong enough to fight back. Your father can't kill him. And if you really love him, you shouldn't stand back and let him."

"But..." Hinata thought out loud, and was a little scared, while excited, about the possibility of being with Naruto for real.

"But nothing. It's time for you to stop dreaming Hinata and actually make an effort. I can promise you that Naruto-kun will not reject you. All you have to do is decide what to wear to your first date with him."

"But how do I get my father to let me?" Hinata asked.

"If you really care for Naruto-kun and want to be with him then think of something. If your love is so weak all it takes is someone saying 'no' to crush it, then maybe Naruto-kun is better off without you." Sakura claimed.

Hinata frowned. "My love is stronger than yours ever could be."

"Then prove it. After all, Naruto-kun was willing to fight for you when Neji nearly killed you and he barely knew you back then. Once he sees you as his girlfriend, if your father tries anything nasty then I'd worry about him being the one killed instead." Sakura said with a smile.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Hinata asked, just to clarify once and for all. The pinkette had yet to show any signs of lying, but it was still hard to accept.

"Completely and truly." Sakura said without hesitation. "Our favorite blonde boy has gone his entire life without any real form of love. Fifteen years far too long. I want to change that. He needs a woman in his life, maybe even more than one. But right now, neither one of us is the right girl for him. Now that I think about it, maybe we need this experience as much as he does, so we can learn about love too."

Hinata blinked, then the message sank in. "Maybe you're right. In an odd sense you and I had opposite approaches. You came on too strong, I only made a minimal impression. We both need to learn as well. But you really want to include other girls in this?"

Sakura nodded. "It's the only fair way to give Naruto-kun a chance to be happy. If we intentionally limit him to just us, it's like we're telling him we're the only options he's allowed to have. Besides, there's no guarantee other girls will want to be with him, but I can think of a few worth giving the chance. As long as Naruto-kun is happy, that's the important part."

"And... the sharing thing?" Hinata added, finding that probably the weirdest part.

"Well think about it, I'm suggesting several girls date Naruto-kun at once. What if we all decide we don't want to give him up? Besides, I get the feeling that Naruto-kun might not be able to handle the pressure of choosing one out of all of us. Not unless we really don't click with him." Sakura pointed out.

"But how can we get away with it?" Hinata asked.

Sakura thought about it, and while Konoha didn't have any obscure laws, there were some in other countries, and even then there was something else that got her thinking about it. "The first way that comes to mind is we keep this a secret, acting normal in public. It's only if we all decide to stay with him long term that we need to worry about."

"Long term? Like a harem?" Hinata asked.

Sakura smiled as if she liked the sound of that. "Yeah, if we end up going that route. We'll need a private home, away from any one clan, but if we create a common bank account so that we can share the intake of our jobs that will help pay for things. Getting money without our families providing won't be hard given the fact that Naruto-kun is strong. Along with us, he can take on high-ranking missions that have a large payoff. And if we do have to reveal it, we can point out it's not uncommon for nobles, even in the clans, to possibly take mistresses. One of us would become the legal wife, or we all simply stay as mistresses."

"But who gets to be the legal wife?" Hinata asked, so very hopeful it was her.

Sakura shrugged. "That should be Naruto-kun's choice more than ours, but between just the two of us, I imagine it's more beneficial if nothing else for you to get that role so your clan can't take you from him." Hinata looked very relieved to hear that. 'Good, she's all but said yes. Now I just need to seal the deal.'

Sakura surprised the Hyuuga heiress by putting her hands on the girls shoulders. "I'll even let you have the first date. I'll do everything I can to help make it happen. As long as you swear you're not going to keep him to yourself. I want to date him too, there's no need for either one of us to be selfish."

Hinata looked pleased but still said nothing, so Sakura leaned in to whisper. "Besides, no man on Earth can resist having two women together in bed. If he thinks he can have us both, I guarantee we'll both be very happy women in no time."

Hinata's face nearly soaked up all her blood like a sponge, with some leaking out her nose. "B-b-but tha-that m-means we... we.. you... and I..."

"Don't stutter so much Hinata you might hurt yourself." Sakura teased, stepping back. "Think it over will you? Come to me at night tomorrow and we'll seal the deal."

Hinata shook her head to clear it, then looked at the pinkette. "I'm confused Sakura, but you do have my attention. So alright, but I swear if this is a trick-"

"No need to go all Hyuuga on me Hinata." Sakura said, unafraid. "Have a good night." With that she turned and walked away, leaving a very confused, but hopeful and a little horny Hinata behind.

The next morning, Sakura wasn't so chipper anymore.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" She asked herself, sitting in her bed and looking at herself. "And why did I sleep in the nude? I never did that before. And talking to Hinata, did I seriously just suggest a harem for Naruto?"

But what bothered Sakura the most, enough that she didn't want to acknowledge it, was that she had no regrets about her own actions. Just confusion. Like she really wanted it but had no idea why she wanted it.

She paused to take several calming breaths. "Something is wrong with me. This is not normal behavior. I need professional help."