Chapter 10: The Morning

When Sakura started to wake up, the first thing she noticed was that she felt really warm. She was comfortable too, comfortable enough that she almost didn't want to get out of bed just yet. The next thing she noticed was that she wasn't alone in the bed, and that made her wake up a little quicker in surprise.

Sitting up, Sakura saw that she was in bed with a still asleep Naruto and Hinata, the latter cuddling quite fondly up to the former. And judging from Sakura's position and the fact she had to adjust her arms, she had been doing the same just moments before.

'What the heck...?' She asked herself, her sleepy mind just starting to recall all the events of last night, including the stripping and making out. Blushing and covering her mouth with her mouth, she checked herself as she rose from the bed, seeing she still had panties on and felt no soreness between her legs. 'Okay, we didn't have sex, but still... I actually stripped for Naruto and kissed him. I gave my first kiss to Naruto of all people... and I actually enjoyed it.'

Unsure what to do but not feeling comfortable staying, Sakura looked for her clothes only to remember they were still in the living room of the apartment. Quietly she snuck out of the bedroom, and immediately was greeted by the smell of something cooking.

"Good morning." Ino called from the kitchen, working on something on the stove. Sakura saw the platinum blonde cooking them something, but what caught her attention the most was what Ino was wearing.

"Ino, why are you wearing just an apron?"

Ino turned with a smile. "Because if I didn't I'd get food all over me. Duh."

'At least she's still wearing panties.' Sakura thought. "I meant why aren't you dressed? Why are you still walking around in your underwear?"

"Because it's good for Naruto, and it's not like anyone else is going to show up. Geez Sakura, why so shy? Last night we were all one step away from an orgy. It's a little late to pretend that you don't want Naruto to shag you like an animal in heat."

Sakura blushed and sort of crossed her arms over herself protectively, remembering right then that she still had yet to put her own clothes back on. "Uhh... I don't think we would have gone that far with Naruto last night."

Ino nodded and looked back at the food. "Oh of course, it wouldn't have been good for him. I'm sure it would have done some kind of damage to go from 'scared of women' to 'orgy man' overnight. But damn if it wasn't tempting to do so."

Sakura nodded, though she didn't look too happy about it. 'Something's wrong, last night I... I acted so unlike myself. I did things I can't believe I would ever do. And yet... none of it felt wrong at the time. It felt... absolutely amazing to kiss Naruto. It felt so right to be there in his bed with him. It felt completely natural to be nearly naked around him and wanting him to like it. Why would I do any of that stuff? There has to be something going on with me.'

"Hey Ino, you said that you had gotten a good idea of how Naruto was thinking." Sakura asked carefully while going for her attire, putting her bra on first. "Did you notice anything strange about him last night? Or any of us for that matter?"

Ino looked confused but thought it over. "Hmm... I can't really say for sure with Naruto since I unfortunately can't speak regarding the rest of his mentality. For us though, we seemed overall normal. Hinata was a hell of a lot bolder than normal but that's good for her. You were rather affectionate, but that's not really that much of a surprise. And I might have come on a little stronger than needed, but I did want Naruto to feel safe and honestly... he did get me really freaking horny." She blushed for a bit but kept a smile on her face. "No boy's ever gotten me to react like that and Naruto wasn't even trying. I can't wait to see how good it will be when he actually wants me to get wet and flustered."

"Ino, you serious?" Sakura asked, putting her top back on.

The platinum blonde took the food off the stove then nodded to her friend. "Yeah, I'm a little surprised too, but c'mon you know you can't blame me. He's got a great body, he's done a lot for the village, he's got more goals and dreams than any of the other boys we know, and he wants us to be happy. You and Hinata have liked him for years, and you wanted me to give me a chance too. So don't act so surprised that I'm liking what I'm seeing."

The pinkette didn't know how to respond at first. "Wait, you think I've liked him for years?"

Ino looked like she wanted to laugh. "Why in denial Forehead? You may have talked more about Sasuke back when he was here, but even back then you spent more time with Naruto."

"We were on the same team, it was inevitable." Sakura justified.

"And when you weren't training or on missions, who did you spend more time with?" Ino asked, and Sakura did not reply. "And what about over the past three years? Sure you were worried for Sasuke's safety, but you were just as worried about what would happen to Naruto out there too. Don't forget when you talked about all the training you were getting from Hokage-sama, you always would say you hoped Naruto would be proud of you. I don't recall you ever once saying you hoped the same from Sasuke."

Sakura looked surprised. 'I... I did do that. I knew I'd see Naruto sooner, and I really did want him to be proud of me and think I had gotten stronger... and prettier. With Sasuke, my concern was always getting him back from Orochimaru, not whether or not he'd like me once he got back here.'

Ino smiled at the look on Sakura's face. "Starting to get the picture? You may have wanted Sasuke at first, as did I, but deep down you knew Naruto was good for you too. And you've grown up and you've seen that Naruto is really good for you now." The mindwalker giggled to herself with her thighs rubbing together for a brief moment. "Maybe he's the one for you, maybe he's not, but you're not going to find out unless you try. And you were the one to notice this first, so why are you acting so surprised? Hell, of the three of us I'm the one that should be most surprised about how much I want this. You and Hinata should practically be on all fours with signs on your butts saying 'Tap this ass Naruto'."

If Sakura had been eating or drinking anything, she'd definitely be doing a spittake right now.

"Ino!"

Both girls looked back towards the bedroom, where a heavily blushing but still mostly naked Hinata stood right by a surprised and somewhat blushing mostly naked Naruto too. Though in Hinata's case it looked like she was using more blood than the human body was supposed to contain to blush this much. While Naruto sported a slightly bleeding nose.

"Ah good, you're both awake. Just in time, breakfast is done." Ino greeted with a smile.

"Thanks Ino." Naruto replied, eyes glancing towards Sakura for a bit. "Should we get dressed first?"

Ino shrugged. "No need, Hinata's got nothing I don't have and if you took off your boxers I doubt anyone here would complain."

"Yeah, but Sakura-chan got dressed and we shouldn't make her feel awkward for doing so. We better put some clothes on."

Hinata nodded and Ino went along, so all three got dressed then dished up.

"I gotta admit this is really good Ino." Naruto complimented, having some fried eggs.

"Thanks Naruto, my mom taught me. Maybe you could come over for dinner someday and have something better."

The whiskered blonde looked a little sad at the invite rather than happy. "I don't think I'm welcome in your house. In any of your houses."

All three girls stopped eating and felt a little somberness fall upon them as this sank in.

'I always used to tell my parents that I would never bring Naruto home. I don't remember if they ever had anything bad to say about him, I think at the time I didn't have the attention to care unless it was obvious, but I should find out.' Sakura thought, feeling some regret for her younger behavior.

'My clan has strict policies regarding company, usually limited to formal occasions or anything deemed necessary. Father wouldn't let Naruto-kun set foot on the property unless he thought it was unavoidable.' Hinata told herself glumly.

'I guess if I told my parents that I was share-dating a boy with two other girls Mom and Dad would lock me in my room and do who knows what to Naruto himself.' Ino thought, not sure how her parents thought of Naruto overall but knowing they'd be protective of her virtue nonetheless.

"Besides, while I appreciate how nice all three of you are being, I don't think it's fair to-" Naruto started.

"Wait Naruto, we already covered this." Sakura jumped in, looking like she wasn't sure what she was going to say but had to say something. "I admit this isn't the most normal of situations, but we've started it and we need to resolve it. Giving up is, I'll admit it, an easy solution, but probably not the best one."

"I don't think we could just give up if we wanted to." Ino commented.

"We all care for you in our own way, and you care about us just the same. But we're not kids anymore, we're adults and we're going to want to do adult things. Such as dating, kissing... and... more." Sakura continued.

"But why me? There are better guys out there. Each of you could be with anyone else." Naruto countered.

Hinata put her hand over his. "If I wanted to be with someone else, I wouldn't have waited three years to tell you that I love you Naruto-kun."

Ino nodded. "She's got a point Naruto, and sure I've dated a few boys, but I didn't really know what I wanted and I'd like to see if you've got more than just a smoking hot bod."

"Uhh... thanks?" Naruto replied, not sure if he should feel flattered or not.

'I don't know why I've been acting like I have been lately, but I do know I can't take it back now. I can't play with Naruto's emotions like that anymore.' Sakura thought to herself, putting her hand over his other one. "And you've wanted to date me for so long, and to be honest it's not like I've going to be with Sasuke tomorrow or anything. Why not see what would happen between us?"

"But... I can't date all three of you." He brought up. "People will notice and have problems with it. Everyone will start calling you all whores and... other things."

The girls didn't reply right away, but then Hinata made him look at her.

"Naruto-kun, I can't speak for the others, but people already insult me and call me names. Not always to my face, but they already do it."

"Same here." Ino added.

Sakura nodded. "I've been called a bad thing or two in my lifetime."

"This is different. This is more serious." Naruto argued. "You could actually be in danger by being around me. There are people out there that want me dead, and they're not going to leave you alone if they see you with me."

"So what's the alternative? Live alone? Never get close to anyone? Hide in some building by yourself convinced that any day now some boogeyman is going to show up and murder you?" Sakura asked.

Naruto frowned. "Hell no! I practically grew up like that and I don't want to spend the rest of my life like that."

"Then you have to get close to people. Besides, it's not like we've never been in danger before or don't know how to protect ourselves."

"This is different. There's..." Naruto started, then sighed and looked sad. "Hinata, Ino, I've got something to tell you. Maybe then you'll understand why dating me just isn't a good idea for anyone."

Sakura blinked, realizing what he was going to do. 'He shouldn't have to, but if this changes things for them, better they both find out now.'

Naruto looked down. "The Kyuubi wasn't killed. The Yondaime sealed it inside my body the day I was born. That's why everyone in town hates me, and there's a group of S-ranked missing nin out there called the Akatsuki that want to find me and take Kyuubi for themselves."

Hinata and Ino silently gasped and looked at the whiskered blonde, wide eyed and in Hinata's case a hand over her mouth. While Hinata was already aware of Kyuubi thanks to Sakura, the Akatsuki was news to her and she didn't like it. To Ino, it was all new.

Sakura saw Naruto tremble a bit and put her hand on his shoulder to soothe him. She was reminded of how she felt when learning the news. It had put a lot of her memories about Naruto into a new light, making her question if any of her old accusations of his skills or behavior were founded or not, along with some shame for being so quick to judge him in the first place. Even now she still felt guilt and remorse on the subject.

'Yes, I don't know why I'm suddenly saying and doing things I wouldn't do... but it doesn't matter. Nothing I've said wasn't true, and nothing I've done didn't help. I owe it to Naruto to be a better teammate and friend, and if that leads to girlfriend... well, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. He is a really good kisser. Might be better at... I ought to stop there.'

Hinata moved closer to give him a comforting hug from the side. 'And here I was so worried about how much trouble my clan would cause for me being with Naruto-kun. But he's got much worse enemies out there, who want to kill him just because the Yondaime put this burden on him. I don't know what all I can do, but if Naruto-kun can be brave enough to stand against these criminals, then I surely can be brave enough to stand against my clan and fight for my right to be by his side.'

'Is this why so much has gone against Naruto over the years? This is why he's been left alone? This is why the adults used to never have anything nice to say about him? This is why everyone who should reward him instead ignore him?' Ino asked herself, starting to feel a little angry.

Naruto slowly looked over the three girls, a little surprised that two were touching him but more surprised that Hinata and Ino weren't reacting with horror. "Still think I'm worth being with? Still think I should as you put it, 'tap that ass' Ino?"

The platinum blonde in an unexpected move stood up. "Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, can we go over to the couch?"

Unsure what she was planning, the other three got up and sat down on the couch in the living room, with Ino joining them.

"Naruto, you may think you're being noble, but let me tell you how what you're saying is coming across. At least how it is to me." Ino started. "We all told you that we're interested in you, yet you think we shouldn't be. You're pushing us away thinking it's for our own good, but it'd not really about that. You want a girlfriend, but you're afraid you can't have one without things going wrong, for you and for the girl. You're afraid that we'll suffer because of those that don't like you, and you're afraid that you'll suffer more if you mess up and want more than friendship. You want to be with us, but you're afraid of what will happen if you let us be with you."

Naruto was silent for a bit, then responded. "So what's the solution then?"

"I'm going to try something that hopefully well deal with this fear. I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but I'm thinking maybe we need something drastic. Something that will make you feel unafraid, and hopefully want to be with us despite the risks."

"How?" Naruto asked, with Sakura and Hinata looking on curiously too.

"Hold out your hands, all of you." Ino commanded, putting both her hands in front of herself. The others complied and she moved them so that all were touching each other at once. She let go then did a set of hand signs and touched them again. "Group Mind Share Jutsu."

Tsunade wasn't expecting today to be that different than most days she had to work. Some paperwork here, listening to some people bitch and complain there, the occasional legit concern or good idea thrown in, and of course sneaking in some drinking while no one especially Shizune could catch her. There was no reason to believe today would be different.

However, it wasn't everyday when she saw three grown men standing outside her office at the same time and all have the same problem. Hiashi Hyuuga, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Kizashi Haruno all told her that their daughters didn't come home last night and they wanted to know if she knew why.

"Your daughters aren't on any missions, I can be certain of that." Tsunade told them. "Is it possible that your daughters are simply being teenagers and having some fun?"

"My daughter knows to always be home at night if she's not out of Konoha." Hiashi protested.

"I already checked the places Ino is likely to stay if not at home and she never showed up there." Inoichi added.

"And I checked at the hospital, Sakura didn't stay overnight there either." Kizashi included, since as a medic sometimes Sakura did the night shift or worked long enough to get some sleep in some of the bunks provided for staff.

"Before I send any trackers out searching, tell me about the last time you saw your children." Tsunade told them.

"Guards at the estate said that Haruno requested Hinata locate Uzumaki for her." Hiashi explained.

Inoichi arched an eyebrow. "Weird, Sakura came by my shop in the afternoon yesterday looking for Naruto, but Ino was out assisting him on an errand. I never saw her come home from that."

All eyes turned towards Kizashi. "Sakura spent the morning at home then said she needed to go out for some fresh air. Didn't say where she was going."

"Okay, so then maybe Naruto has a clue about where the three girls are, since Sakura was looking for him with Hinata's help and Ino was already with him."

"That boy better not have done anything inappropriate to my daughter." Hiashi warned.

"Or mine." Inoichi agreed.

Kizashi rolled his eyes. "Good thing I've got nothing to worry about with Sakura. He'd never get away with trying anything like that."

"Relax boys, I'm sure nothing happened or is going to happen." Tsunade advised. "Stop being so paranoid. It's not like they're having an orgy or something."

That only made the three fathers leave the office in a rush, nearly breaking the door down.

Tsunade sighed and put a hand on her forehead. "I wonder if any of those men even know where Naruto lives."