Chapter 12: Soft Light

While Hinata had forgotten to book her hotel room, she hadn't forgotten one of the major reasons why she'd been so keen to come up to Aomori for this event. Of course, the photography competition was foremost in Hinata's mind, but there was also Temari, the very first female nebutashi, or nebuta master. After centuries of the Nebuta festival being dominated by male parade float makers, Temari had burst into the scene as the very first woman to design and create one all on her own.

Hinata had gotten in touch with Temari a few months earlier and had agreed to meet with her. Temari also agreed to be the next subject in a photojournalism project Hinata was passionate about, one that was part of and still independent of the work she was doing for the contest. Hinata had felt they were similar: both of them were young women trying to prove their worth in a profession made up mostly of men. In this project, Hinata wanted to feature powerful women doing their thing to shake up their industries.

With that goal in mind, she disappeared from the parade area after lunch to go meet up with Temari.

However, when she'd gone to visit Temari at their appointed hour and place, she was met with chaos.

As she walked up the small, private drive up to a warehouse, she could hear voices raised in agitation, everyone speaking in their thick Aomori accents with the peculiar cadence and rhythm that was very different from the standard Japanese spoken in Tokyo.

Temari came out to meet her, harried and brushing away at the strands of blond hair that escaped her dark blue bandana. She bowed a quick greeting, which Hinata returned. "I'm so sorry, but there was an accident today, and my float was damaged when it was being carried around. I have to fix it, so I don't have time for a leisurely chat. I have so much to do so I don't think I can be of much help."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to photograph you and everyone in this state."

Temari didn't mind, and while Hinata worked unobstrusively, the nebutashi continued to run around repairing the washi paper and repainting it with the vibrant colors she'd used to design the giant lantern images. Her Nebuta float was a retelling of the Kabuki play, Narukami, in which a princess seduces a monk in order for him to release a dragon-god.

Hinata grinned up at the princess with her salacious eyes gazing at the monk's face, his expression prudish and turned away from the seductress. He was having none of it, but the dragon with its fiery tail weaved through the paper sculpture to link the two would-be lovers. Something about the whole scene reminded Hinata of her current situation with Naruto, making her laugh inwardly to herself.

When she was done, Hinata showed Temari the photos. Temari was impressed, but she offered Hinata another opportunity. "Do you think you can get some lighter shots of me, too?" She pointed to Hinata's camera, the picture of her frowning and glaring at the men around her. Her expression was chagrined when she said, "If I'm going to get free press, I'd really like to balance the fierce ones with some quiet moments? I do look a lot nicer when I'm not being irritated by stress."

"Of course! I'd love to!"

However, Temari's quiet moments occurred in the morning and she asked Hinata to come the following day. "Tomorrow morning, I'm probably going to be re-applying the paint and paper again, but at least it will just be me, and there won't be other people around. We could probably chat about what you wanted to discuss with me."

Since Hinata would like to avoid being in the same room with Naruto as much as possible, she agreed immediately despite knowing she had another early day tomorrow.

At that moment, Temari's brothers, Gaara and Kankuro, with perfect timing, walked in to give her some bad news. Gaara slowed his pace and winced when he saw the already murderous expression in Temari's eyes. Kankuro, though, threw caution to the wind and didn't bother to hold back. "Nee-chan! You might want to check one of the beams of the float. There's a suspicious looking line that might be a crack?"

"I told you guys to be careful, didn't I?!" she growled at them. She glanced apologetically at Hinata and bowed her a farewell. "See you tomorrow, Hinata."

She watched the siblings go, the two men hobbling after Temari awkwardly as their fundoshi, those traditional Japanese thongs, got in the way and kept riding up their butts.

"Nee-chan, wait up!"

After her visit with the siblings, Hinata went back to the main area of where the festival was taking place and wandered the crowd taking shots of the men, women, and children in summer yukatas enjoying the festival food.

When the sunlight finally faded, the floats of gigantic paper lanterns were finally lit. In the evening, they were a majestic sight. Held together by wire and shaped into intricate stories depicting different aspects of Japanese culture, they paraded down the main street on the backs and shoulders of strong men. They were colorful, gorgeous, and spectacular, each float distinct and different.

Temari's float came through, and the women waved to each other. Hinata didn't need to speak to Temari because she'd already taken photos of her float earlier.

Cries of "Rassera, rassera! Rasse, rasse, rassera!" joined the music played by the fue flute, the taiko drums, and the teburigane cymbals. The haneto dancers dressed in the cotton yukata uniforms adorned in colorful sashes and flowers bounced and danced around the floats to the cheers of the crowd.

Hinata didn't see Naruto at the event. She was too busy making sure the limited lights didn't make her pictures blurry, that her shots would be clear in capturing the festive moments. She weaved through the crowd laughing as she got caught up with the dancing and the cheering.

When she was finally satisfied with her pictures, Hinata packed up her gear and headed for the hotel. The door swung open to their empty room bathed in darkness.

Good. He was still out. Hopefully, he would come back later and she would already be asleep.

Since she'd grabbed her dinner alone at a small cafe, all she needed to do was take a shower and go to bed. Tomorrow morning, she'd promised to meet with Temari and she wouldn't miss that opportunity in the world. This photo project was important not just for her, but for all the young women of Japan fighting the patriarchy. She felt like it was one of her most important works.

Hinata groaned when the weight of her pack was off her shoulders. She rolled her neck a few times and then sighed. A hot shower would be nice. Then she could finally get some rest.

She'd purposely driven herself hard today, making sure she was exhausted enough so that her body would crave rest tonight. This way, she could guarantee that she was asleep before Naruto came back and while they shared the bed..

Hinata went into the bathroom and took off her turtleneck. Her eyes immediately went to her left shoulder, inspecting her scars, pursing her lips.

To her, they didn't look too bad. Then again, that was because she was so used to seeing them everyday.

But since she never showed them to anybody else, she didn't know whether they looked really grotesque or okay to look at.

Hinata only wore her turtlenecks because she didn't want others to stare at her scars. The first time she'd been out in public after the doctors had taken off the bandages and her wounds had finally healed, she'd seen a lot of people's eyes straying to her injuries.

Honestly, Hinata hadn't minded the staring. She could understand it because not many people had these injuries. In fact, had people asked her about them, she would've gladly talked about her experience to make them feel at ease. She still loved those lions, loved that experience with the big cats, and she didn't want to be that person to make others fear such magnificent creatures.

It was the looks of pity that she hated. She knew they didn't mean anything by it, but Hinata refused to believe that she was a victim. However, whenever she saw that particular expression on people's faces, it made her angry and nobody believed her when she insisted she was fine. She just wanted people to treat her normally, not an invalid who constantly needed special treatment. Still, she would get the overly zealous sympathizers who constantly asked if she was okay, would receive the aggressive kindness that stifled her need to be independent.

That was when she'd started wearing her turtlenecks and hiding her scars from everyone's sight. It worked because hidden from view, nobody ever brought up the topic again and left her alone.

She stared at her reflection and wondered what Naruto's reaction would be if he ever saw them.

She sighed, a flutter of nervousness making her doubt the wisdom in sharing a room with him.

They hadn't discussed the sleeping conditions, but she would take the part of the bed where she could sleep on her left side to hide her scars and prevent him from seeing them.

She went to her bag and took out the pajamas she'd packed on this trip and sighed again. As much as she loved her turtlenecks and the protection it gave her from curious gazes, she didn't like sleeping in them. Her pajamas, or the t-shirt that Jiraiya had given her long ago that had become ratty-old from overuse, was the only thing she'd brought to sleep in. She smiled at herself for not packing something much more presentable. But she'd planned on sleeping by herself, with nobody to see her, in a cheap hotel room—not sleeping on the same bed in a luxurious hotel room with the son of a governor.

Oh, well.

Hinata brushed her teeth while she took a quick shower. At least she'd packed her "good" underwear. If Naruto ever decided to peek, she was ready for it.

Exhausted, Hinata set her alarm for an early morning, turned off the lights, snuggled into the bed, and promptly closed her eyes.

Her last thought before sleep claimed her was that the bed was super nice and comfy, making her glad she was here instead of the firmer, no-frills mattresses that she was used to in the business hotels she often stayed in.

She could definitely get used to this. She sighed and was soon snoring softly.

Naruto walked into their dark hotel room two hours later, careful not to make any noise when he saw her shoes strewn carelessly at the entranceway. He paused to arrange them neatly before he walked further into the room and he softly called out, "Hinata?"

He waited and the only response he got from her was gentle snoring.

Good. She was asleep.

He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that there would be no awkwardness to deal with tonight.

He'd purposefully stayed out late so that he could avoid confronting her again about this morning. He'd lingered to photograph the event ending, watching as the mikoshi floats paraded past the crowd. He'd even followed the floats back to the areas they were stored in, where the men had let off some steam and drank themselves stupid. Naruto had been glad to photograph the gaiety and the atmosphere of comraderie surrounding them after such a hard day of work.

After that, he'd gone to a restaurant to check out his photos. He liked the way the evening shots came out and thought a couple of them were good enough to submit to the imperial staff.

When he was done with dinner, he'd gone to a little bar and nursed a drink before coming back here. It was past midnight, and he was glad his plan had worked because apparently, she was a deep sleeper. She didn't respond to any noise he made in the room, didn't flinch when he flicked on one of the smaller lamps to help him stumble around in the room while he tried to get ready for bed. But it was impossible because even with that bit of light, it was still too dark and he kept stubbing his toe and hitting the furniture.

Naruto gave up and finally turned on the lights, enough so that he could see, but also to not fully disturb her sleep.

He finally turned to the bed and suddenly wished he hadn't.

He wasn't surprised to see that Hinata was a messy sleeper. She'd flung off the covers and she was sprawled in the middle of the bed, half twisted on her side, her bare legs curled over the sheets. She had nothing on but an old t-shirt. He quickly brought his eyes to it to avoid staring at the shapely legs she'd exposed—and the very plain orange cotton panties that were riding up her buttcrack.

Naruto, eyes up! Look at her t-shirt!

He reminded himself to focus.

Yes. T-shirt. That was safe to look at.

He looked at her shirt and kept his eyes there until the details finally became clear. It was once white, but the shirt now had the proof of age and love with its brown tones. The printed letters of the design on the front looked like one of those t-shirts a person got at a concert. In fact, the lettering clearly copied the logo of KISS, the rock band. Naruto squinted, catching the letters of —chimaru emblazoned across Hinata's chest.

And then it suddenly hit him, why he couldn't stop staring at her in this exposed state: she was wearing something different, something far from her usual outfit of dark jeans and black turtleneck.

He couldn't help it. His eyes strayed to her neck, to the collar of her t-shirt, and saw what she'd been hiding from everyone: her battle scars. Raw, blistered, discolored, proof of the wounds she'd suffered from her encounter with a lion in the wild. They varied in size and shape. Some were thick, twisted grooves. Many were gnarled, mangled criss-crossing smaller lines, some round ones that looked like puncture wounds from something sharp, like teeth with the strength to snap into flesh and bone.

Finally.

He looked away, suddenly feeling bad, realizing this was something Hinata probably didn't want to show him, the reason why she kept wearing her turtlenecks. He felt guilty for finding out this truth without her permission, that she'd probably never meant to show him any of this.

He looked away, suddenly feeling sorry, realizing this was something Hinata probably didn't want to show him, and he felt guilty for finding out this truth without her permission, that she'd probably never meant to show him any of this.

But here they were, in the middle of night, and he was finally discovering a part of the reason why she was the way she was. Her vulnerability.

He grabbed the sheets and covered her body before he turned down the lights one more time and went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed.

When he was done with his nightly regimen, he stood before the bed, at the space she'd decided on her own to grant him: a third of the large queen-size mattress she'd assigned to him because she'd taken up most of it.

Naruto sighed. He should really just settle down on the floor to give her the use of the entirety of the bed, but he was too tired to do the gentlemanly thing.

Besides, he thought to himself as he slipped underneath the covers he'd placed over themselves, he didn't think he would do anything to her at all. Even though she was half-naked, he had his lust firmly under control. After seeing her that vulnerable, Hinata was starting to become more than simply a woman to be lusted after.

Moreover, Naruto was exhausted from today. He'd imitated her photo-taking methods and recreated it when she'd suddenly disappeared from the event in the middle of the day. He'd kept up the jogging after the costumed men, weaved through the onlookers and talked to some of the dancers, bounced along with them when they did their springy dance.

After an hour of doing so, he was worn out and his feet ached. He was amazed at how Hinata could keep this up for hours.

He shifted on his side, turned away from her, faced the opposite side of the room and closed his eyes.

Even in her sleep, though, she was trying to kill him. A hand suddenly chopped him on the side, forcing him awake. This was followed by a snort and a snuffle. No apologies came, which meant she was still asleep.

Naruto sighed and settled firmly on his side, turned away from her, and tried to go back to sleep. But he felt her suddenly shift beside him and then her arm lashed out one more time, this time hitting him on the back of his head.

He tried to move away from her, careful not to wake her, but she only followed him and rolled closer to where he'd just been.

But at least she was calmer now and wasn't hitting him anymore. Finally! Maybe now he could get some sleep.

He must have dozed off, but it only felt like a second because shortly after, her knee came up and pressed dangerously close to his dick, which made Naruto finally take action. This was not good, he was not going to let her knee him in the balls while she was asleep. That was way too much for his ego, not to mention his manhood.

Still, though, he was groggy from the disruptions to his REM cycle, and it took him a while to realize he'd unconsciously rolled to face her, which was why she'd been able to graze his groin. When he realized it, he quickly opened his eyes and saw the top of her head, the strands of her long hair shrouding her face. He reached over and brushed them off her cheeks gently.

Because he probably would never get the chance again, he took a moment to admire her while she was quiet and calm. She had beautiful hair, long and lustrous. Same with her eyelashes. Skin was soft and lightly tanned from the days she spent outside, a smattering of freckles over her cheekbones. Lips were partly opened while she snored, but they were full and definitely made for kissing.

God, she had such an angelic, gorgeous face—when she wasn't opening her mouth to say the most outlandish things.

She slumbered on, unbothered by anything.

Yet here he was annoyed to know that while he was struggling to get some rest, she'd not only hit him and interrupted his sleep, she was passed out and snoozing comfortably, still oblivious to the world.

Slightly peeved, he turned over to his side and faced away from her again. He used his butt to gently push her back to her side of the bed. She ended up on her left side, sighing as she finally settled comfortably in position to get back to her pattern of snoring.

Only problem was, she was snugly spooned against him, her breasts pressed right against his back, her breath tickling the back of his neck, her arms and legs hugging him like he was her own personal body pillow.

He tried once more to extricate himself, but as soon as he moved, her body reacted instinctively and followed, pressing once again into him—as if she didn't want to lose the space between them.

Naruto silently groaned and gave up. While she was satisfied and relaxed, he knew he was not going to get any sleep at all tonight. Already, her scent filled his lungs, her hair was a heavenly mess against the sensitive skin of his neck, her body was warm against his, wreaking havoc on his senses.

Dammit.

And then finally realizing what was happening, thought, Holy shit, she's really in my bed, spooned against me.

He knew he wasn't getting any rest tonight, but he closed his eyes anyway, hoping that this wonderful feeling of having her next to him would eventually lull him to sleep.

Daybreak brought with it the throbbing awareness of delicious sensations. Her body, gripped in a sensual haze, was caught between need and contentment, making her feel that excitement that usually came with really good foreplay.

Wait.

Foreplay?!

Hinata opened her eyes abruptly and as she did, she became aware that faint rays of sunlight were streaming through the gaps in the curtains, the silence of dawn meant it was early morning. She was most definitely still on the bed, and that was most certainly Naruto pressed up against her. She could feel his deep breathing, the rise and fall of his chest against her back, the puff of air on her head. His heavy arm was resting on her waist. And lower, right above her spine, she felt something else that had sent her tumbling into a very vivid and very carnal fantasy of him inside her, gliding in and out.

Shit.

This was not a good time to be having lewd and salacious thoughts about a fellow competitor.

Hinata forced herself to calm down. She had a job to do today, and she wanted to do it justice. Nothing was going to distract her, not even this heavenly feeling of him crowding into her.

Focus, Hinata.

Oh, but he felt really good, though, the devil inside her urged—that part of her that wanted so much to take this further but always got her in trouble.

This was the second time they'd been forced together. But being vertical on a soft, comfy bed was easily more preferable than standing up in a crowded train.

She took a deep breath. How to extricate herself out of this situation?

But do you really want to? came the demon's voice again. I mean, he's right there…and he's sooooo ready.

Stop it, you evil whore! cried the perpetually-neglected angel inside her. Get your ass up and go straight to work!

This evil whore hasn't had sex in years! the devil protested. And this man is right next to me, on this bed, probably willing to indulge me.

He's with that girl, remember? That glamorous model who isn't anything like you! the Hinata-inner-angel yelled.

Hinata closed her eyes again because she knew she had to listen to the good voice, not the evil one. But before she untangled herself, though, she noticed that his breathing pattern suddenly changed, almost as if he'd stopped breathing.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry, Hinata." He tried to take his arm off and roll away from her, but she gripped his hand to prevent him from doing so. He gasped and then stilled.

"What are you sorry for?" she asked, amused. She didn't face him and kept her body turned away from him, though. "Did you do something?"

"No!"

She believed him because that was most definitely horror she heard in his voice. He was probably blushing again. She imagined that his body pressed against her had risen in temperature. Plus, she knew what kind of a man he was. He was not the kind to take advantage of a girl. It was one of the reasons why she'd agreed to share his room when he'd offered.

"It's not too late, you know. You could still do something," she couldn't resist adding. Hinata laughed softly, humor rising in her again as she loosened her grip on his arm, rubbing her fingers slowly over his skin, hoping to start something.

"Shit," she heard him say, then an embarrassed cough, a strangled sound coming from his throat as he tried to pull away from her.

Hinata smiled, thinking how adorable he was.

"Damn. What a pity. We missed a golden opportunity, Naruto."

But he only kept silent and tried one more time to resist her, to get her to release her grip on his arm.

Right. He was not going for it. Back to work it is.

She sighed ruefully. Oh, well. No sexy time this morning…

Too bad.

She finally released his arm and she felt his back to her as he finally rolled over to his other side to hide what he couldn't just a few minutes ago.

"I have to go, anyway," she said as they lay on the bed back-to-back and facing away from each other. She reached for her phone by her head to turn off the alarm alert. There was no point to it now that she was wide awake. "Can I use the bathroom first to get ready?"

"Please!"

She was done in ten minutes, quickly getting done in the bathroom.

Before leaving, she peeked into the room to see him under the covers, which made her laugh. Luckily, she didn't mention anything about that tell-tale erection she'd felt probably poking her in the butt this morning. Instead she cheerfully called out, "Have a great day, Naruto!" and then closed the door to their room.

Leaving Naruto huddled under the covers, dumbfounded and embarrassed.

Damn, he shouldn't have offered to share his room with her. He'd misjudged his body and had thought it would be harmless sleeping right next to her. He snorted to himself, thinking he was a dumbass.

Yeah, right. Like all that teasing and fantasizing really wasn't going to matter when they were pressed together?

He should have just slept on the fucking floor last night.

He got up, angrily strode into the bathroom, stripped, and turned on the tap of cold water.

True to her word, Temari's quiet moments promised amazing photos. Hinata and Temari both worked while they chatted, her snapping photos of the nebutashi once more trying to make sure her work didn't fall apart again for the finale tonight.

When she was done, Temari wiped her brow and smiled at Hinata. "Thank you so much for doing this!"

"No, problem," Hinata responded with a grin. "I'm just grateful you gave me a chance to photograph you."

"Have you had breakfast?"

Hinata belatedly realized that she hadn't.

Temari beamed at her. "Why don't you join us?"

Hinata did, and she sat with her and her brothers sharing coffee—and the sweetest food she'd ever had in her life. Aomori people had a reputation for dumping loads of sugar in all their cuisine, and Hinata wasn't surprised to find that her tamagoyaki was super sweet as she washed it down with the local cuisine of sembei-jiru, the miso soup with the soggy rice cracker floating in it.

Kankuro eyed Hinata with a gleam in his eyes. "You know, Temari might be the first female nebutashi but she didn't become that way all by herself, you know."

Hinata glanced at him. "Oh, yeah?"

Beside her, Gaara nodded solemnly. "Yes, we were there to help her. We're all trained to become float masters because our father was one. This year, Kankuro and I didn't make our own. Instead, we helped her build hers, constructing from the scratch the vision she'd imagined in her head."

Temari smiled at her brothers. "And I already said thank you, right?"

Kankuro laughed. "Nah, sis. That's not what I'm hinting about. This was a family affair. I'm just saying, maybe Hinata could also include us in this photojournalism project she wanted to do on you?"

Hinata's grin widened. "What's your idea?"

Gaara and Temari exchanged startled glances when Kankuro said, "Why don't you embed yourself here in the family for the night? Come over after the event and see what it's really like to be a nebuta-shi?"

She saw Temari smile and say, "Yes! That's a great idea!"

"Yes, join us. Be up and close and personal to see the realities. It's like experiencing the highs and lows of this festival," Gaara added. "The high is the parade tonight, the glorious joy in seeing your work admired by everyone. The low? The very depressing sight of seeing your masterpiece floating in the river, knowing all your hard work is on its way to be burned to nothing. It's quite a sight. I don't think I've ever seen anyone photograph it?"

"Stay with you guys?" Hinata said slowly, mulling over the idea. She could easily imagine the incredible shots she would be able to photograph if she accepted their invitation.

However, that meant away from Naruto, away from their warm comfy bed at their hotel room.

Hinata looked at the nebutashi siblings, their eyes expectant. What Kankuro proposed was a great idea and a wonderful opportunity that nobody else in the imperial competition would have access to. Again, this was another angle that would make her stand out from her rivals, another advantage to get the most votes to get her through to the next round.

Focus: Contest. Project.

Not Naruto.

She grinned at all three of them.

"I'll do it."

Naruto knew Hinata was gone when he walked into the hotel room.

Her bags and all her things had disappeared, leaving the room spotlessly clean.

There was, however, a note on the table. He picked it up.

In bold strokes, she'd scrawled a phone number at the top.

This is me.

Please text me so I can get your number and I can send you the money for the hotel room. You like to use e-money, right?

I hate not doing this in person, but thank you so much for being kind and sharing your room with me.

And I'm sorry about yesterday morning when I'd teased you again. I wasn't mocking you at all.

I'm working on a project and will be staying at a friend's place for the night.

See you in Tokyo!

Hinata

P.S.

You better text me back! Don't even think about not doing it because you have this gentlemanly sense of being noble and not letting me pay you back for the room. Fair is fair, you promised.

He smiled.

Oh, he would definitely text her back.

Finally! Even though she'd obviously made it clear she didn't want to spend another night in the same room as him, he'd finally gotten her number. He felt exhilarated just at the thought. It only took him offering half his hotel room and his bed to her.

It was probably his fault. He probably scared her off when she'd felt his erection poking her in the butt, he thought with embarassment as the heat spread through his cheeks.

Still conflicted, Naruto tapped the number and then texted her a simple message: Got your note. This is Naruto.

She responded immediately, making him smile. So she had been waiting for him after all.

Thanks for your number! And I'll pay you back, I promise.

He stared at it for a while, wondering about this project she'd mentioned in her note.

And wondered, too, at this feeling of loneliness that suddenly filled him.

Funny, he'd felt the same thing when he'd watched tonight, as the finale of the Nebuta festival finally came to a close. He'd been with the rest of the onlookers at the river banks, his camera still snapping photos as he watched the fireworks and the nighttime floats.

It was beautiful and exciting—a photographer's dream. The contrasting riot of colors against the night sky, the atmosphere lending the pictures an other-worldy effect, the vast array of story-telling elements he could focus on to compose his shots for the contest.

But with no Hinata there, it had all seemed pointless.

Still, as he looked at his phone and her simple message, he hoped they would meet again.