"You're nervous."

"Will you cut it out!? You're not helping!"

Naruto shut the door behind him and hung his cloak up on the coat hanger attached to the wall. He decided to get comfortable and took his jacket off as well, leaving him in a T-shirt. He then turned to see Hinata looking around his new apartment.

The front door immediately opened up into the kitchen. From there, one could walk straight into the small living room, and then to the left down a narrow hall that lead to his bedroom.

He really hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed. It wasn't much.

"I love it."

"Y-You do? How? I always thought it was so depressing."

"I don't know, honestly. It's just so... homey, I guess. Everything at my house is so open and empty. I like this little setup. It's perfect, really."

Naruto found himself smiling. He had always wished for a larger apartment, or even a house, but now he realized that a home was a home, no matter the size. Really, his home was wherever Hinata was.

"I'm glad you like it. We'll have to spend more time here, then."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"At this point, she'd be better company than you."

"Ouch, that may have actually hurt my feelings."

"Cry me a river."

"I'd like that, Naruto. Wouldn't you?" Hinata said, as if she could hear his conversation with Kurama.

"Of course I would! It was way too lonely here before. I'm glad to have you here. Looks like we have another private spot to call our own."

"Our own?" Hinata replied questioningly.

"I told you, my home is your home. You're welcome here any time you want."

"Any time? What if I show up in the middle of the night?"

"You mean, sneak out? Wow Hinata, you really are trouble." He said with a sly grin.

"Just a little. But, you can handle me, remember?" Hinata said returning his suggestive grin. "Anyway, why don't you show me the rest?"

Perhaps the scariest part of this whole thing was that Hinata was getting very good at pushing his buttons in just the right way. She would act all innocent immediately after saying something that riled him up. Naruto found himself struggling to keep up with this new attitude of hers. Even when he instigated suggestive conversations, she would end up taking the lead. He liked it, no question about that. Still, he found it harder and harder to control himself.

"O-Okay, so, um, here's the kitchen and living room. Nothing exciting. The bathroom is down this way." Naruto said as he lead them into his bedroom, and then into the bathroom.

"Here it is. Again, nothing very exciting. Well, the shower is kinda nice."

"Ooh, I like your shower." She said.

"Me too! It's a lot bigger than my old one that I could barely turn around in. You could easily fit two people in there if you wanted to."

Naruto blushed furiously after he realized what he said, and how it sounded. Hinata must have thought the same thing, for her face was almost as red as his.

"Oh! I mean, I didn't mean -!" Naruto said panicking. Hinata giggled at this.

"I bet you're right, Naruto. I bet two people could fit in there. But, we won't know until we try, will we?"

Hinata brought her hand up to the zipper of her jacket and slowly, very slowly, began pulling it down. Naruto watched nervously as the zipper neared her chest. His heart jumped as he realized she wasn't wearing her normal mesh shirt underneath. As her hand went lower, he could just barely start to see the top of her cleavage, and even that was enough to entice him further. Just before her bra became visible, she quickly pulled the zipper back up and smiled sweetly at him as if nothing had happened.

Hinata mentally applauded herself for her boldness. She was getting pretty good at this.

"You really are trouble." Naruto said huskily. Hinata could hear the frustration in his voice. She was driving him nuts, and she was loving every second of it.

"I believe you said that already." She said as she walked to the bathroom door. She took one step out and then turned back to face him. "I also believe that you never gave me this 'punishment' you were talking about." She said as she walked out of the room and into the bedroom.

Hinata's teases were making him insane. Nervousness turned to curiosity, and curiosity turned to desire. His sexual frustration toward her was now at an all time high. It was time to switch things up. He wanted Hinata to know how it felt. He already had the perfect idea.

She wanted a punishment? Fine. She was going to get one.

Naruto walked into his room to find Hinata with her back to him, observing the decor of his room, what little there was. She seemed to pay him no mind, as if she hadn't done what she just did in the other room.

"Maybe I can help you decorate a little. How about -?"

Hinata gasped as she was suddenly grabbed and pushed against the wall with her hands above her head. Naruto was holding her firmly against the wall, his body pressing into hers. Hinata's face flushed instantly as her arousal spiked. She loved when he took control like this.

"N-Naruto?" She saw nothing but unsatisfied hunger in his eyes. Her teases had worked, perhaps even a little too well.

He said nothing as he pressed his lips firmly into hers, giving in to his lustful desire. Hinata's eyes closed as she reciprocated the kiss, eager to let him do as he pleased. She could feel herself getting warm between her legs as their kisses intensified, their lust slowly taking over. She knew she had brought this upon herself, but the fact that Naruto had really decided to act on it made it even more exciting.

Naruto's lips separated from hers as he began to trail kisses down her jaw, stopping just before he got to her neck, exactly as he had done before when he had pinned her against the tree. Hinata nearly groaned in frustration.

"Is this your way of punishing me?"

"Not yet." He said huskily as he released her from the wall. He grabbed her hand and lead her to the bed, pushing her roughly onto her back. Surprisingly, this caused Hinata to giggle for a moment. He climbed on top of the bed and straddled her, planting more kisses on her jaw.

He got to her neck once again, but didn't hold back this time. He gently kissed her neck, relishing the feeling of her body shivering underneath him from the sensitivity. His kisses were soft, hardly more than a peck. He continued this all over until he found a spot on the far side of her neck that seemed to be extra sensitive to her.

Bingo.

Hinata had been holding back her moans in an attempt to not embarrass herself, but couldn't keep it in when Naruto hit this spot. His lips gently met her sensitive skin and she let a small moan escape, bringing her hand to her mouth immediately after.

Naruto backed away again and grabbed her hand, gently pulling it away from her mouth.

"I told you once before, Hina. I want to hear you. I love the sounds you make."

"Is this my punishment? To be embarrassed?" Hinata said, her face redder then he had ever seen it before.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed, Hinata. It's just you and me, and I only want to hear more of you. But to answer your question, no, I'm afraid that's not your punishment. This is."

Naruto dove back down and sucked hard on the same spot as before. Hinata reacted instantly, crying out in pleasure, much to Naruto's enjoyment. Sure, Hinata could say and do things to him that would arouse him, but the sounds coming from her that he had caused were what really did it for him.

Naruto himself let out a small groan as he felt Hinata take her hand and run it through his hair, occasionally giving it a gentle pull.

"You like that, Naruto?"

Fuck, her voice sounded amazing when she was turned on.

"Mhm." He murmured, still sucking on her neck.

"N-Naruto, you're gonna leave a mark..."

He pulled away just long enough to get two sentences out.

"That's the point. Since you want to tease me, your punishment is that I get to mark what's mine, and you have to deal with hiding it." Naruto said while looking at her intently. The hunger in his eyes was growing.

"Well now I'm definitely going to be teasing you more." Hinata said. She must've liked what she heard.

She desperately pulled Naruto back into the crook of her neck, silently but blatantly asking for more. He wasted no time in marking her further, making sure that he claimed what was his. Hinata shivered and moaned with less restraint as he sucked harder on her sweet spot.

Naruto was relatively relaxed, given that he was in control, until Hinata slipped her other hand under his shirt. Just as she did on the night of their camp above Hokage Rock, she softly dragged her nails up and down his abdomen, occasionally going up to his chest. Naruto couldn't help but let another groan escape, causing Hinata to giggle through her moans. Naruto had half a mind to run his hands under her jacket, but thought that might be a bit too soon.

Instead, he took it upon himself to sit up and take his shirt off, throwing it to the ground after. Surely there was no harm in this, right? After all, Hinata had seen him without a shirt before.

As he came back down, he moved away from her neck and crashed his lips into hers again. Their kisses started relatively slow but quickly became more intense. Naruto was taken aback slightly as Hinata bit his lip. He then realized that her hunger was perhaps as strong as his. At this rate, they might end up going further than he had anticipated.

Hinata then slowly traced her fingertips from his bare chest all the way down to his lower abdomen, stopping right at his pant line. She teasingly slipped one of her fingertips just barely into his pants and traced along the line of his underwear.

"Hina, you're making me crazy. You're going to make me lose control of myself." Naruto said as he pulled away. They were both breathing heavily.

"Maybe that's exactly what I want you to do."

"As much as I would love to, I think you've been punished enough... for now."

"Already? I disagree. I want more of you, Naruto." She replied seductively.

Naruto knew he had to put a stop to this before they did something they might regret. They hadn't even been official for a day yet. There was no need to rush things.

"Hinata... I like where this is going, but I don't want us to rush into anything, ya know? Especially since I just asked you to be my girlfriend. I don't want it to seem like I just want something out of you, because I really do love you. I'm not saying we have to wait forever, but, let's just try to take it a little slower, okay? We have all the time in the world." He said smiling down at her.

Hinata knew she was ready for him. There was never really any doubt in her mind. Despite how nervous she was and would be when the time came, she had still known her answer all along. When she told him that she had always belonged to him, she meant it in every way.

However, she knew that this was still new to both of them, and it would be better if they worked up to going all the way, one step at a time. She could tell that Naruto wanted her too, and that was enough to satisfy her for now.

"I understand, Naruto. I know you aren't just trying to take advantage of me or anything, but I do think it would be better to take it slower. Baby steps?" She said smiling back as Naruto chuckled.

"Baby steps. We'll work up to it together... and soon, especially with the way you keep messing with me. Seriously, you have no idea what you do to me, Hinata."

"I think I can work with that. It's gonna make teasing you a lot more fun."

Naruto chuckled mischievously as he saw the mark he left on her neck.

"Is that right? Maybe you should go look in the mirror." He said as he got off of her. Hinata reluctantly got up and walked into the bathroom.

"Oh, wow..." Hinata said as she observed the deep purple bruise Naruto had planted on her neck.

"Might wanna keep your hair down for a while." Naruto said as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her head, and for a while they just looked at themselves in the mirror. Naruto observed her long dark hair and her cheeks that still had a pink hue to them. He didn't need to see under her clothes to know that she was truly beautiful.

"You're beautiful, do you know that?" Naruto said to her.

"N-Naruto, you're embarrassing me again."

"Not trying to, I just want you to know that."

Hinata unwrapped herself from his arms and turned around to face him. She brought her hand to his cheek and placed the other on his muscled chest.

"I love you, Naruto. I love the way you talk to me, the way you look at me. You make me feel wanted."

"You are wanted, Hinata. I know it took me forever to see it, but I truly love you too, and I'll always want you and only you." He said as he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer.

Hinata gave him a quick kiss and embraced him, sinking in to his warmth and comfort. Hinata nuzzled her head against his neck, and immediately got an idea. She pulled away from him to meet his gaze, trying to hide the smile that was tugging at her lips.

"Ya know, since I've been marked, I think it's only fair that you get one too." Hinata said as a mischievous grin made its way onto her face.

"W-What!? No way! That was your punishment, not mine!" He said as he backed away frantically. It was easy for Hinata to hide hers, she just needed to cover it with her hair. Naruto's hair wasn't nearly long enough.

"Come here!"

Naruto turned around and bolted out of the bathroom.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two shadow clone Narutos appeared in the bedroom and grabbed her, giving the real Naruto time to escape down the hallway. He heard Hinata laugh maniacally behind him as he ran for his life. Just as Naruto made it to the living room, he heard a knock on the door. Naruto quickly went to the door and opened it, surprised to find Shikamaru waiting for him.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said bluntly.

"You're not interrupting anything, what's up?" Just as Naruto said this, Hinata had struck one of his clones and sent it flying through the hallway into the living room, landing with a hard thud and disappearing with a loud poof. Sounds of combat could still be heard after.

"Right... um, anyway, listen. We're all planning on going out to eat for barbecue tonight to celebrate the village's recovery. You down?"

"Absolutely! Sounds like fun."

"Awesome. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about Hinata." Shikamaru said with a grin.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your shirt is off, I can see scratches on you, your hair is messy, your face is red, your lips are puffy... looks like you might even have a bite mark. And someone just kicked the shit out of your shadow clones around the corner there. Also, conveniently enough, I just tried to invite Hinata as well, but she wasn't home. Don't play dumb with me."

"I... uh..."

"Relax, Naruto. Just making fun. We're all meeting there at 8:00. See ya then!" Shikamaru then turned around and walked away.

Naruto closed the door slowly, trying not to think about the blush that was definitely on his face.

"Who was that?" Hinata said as she approached from behind.

"Shikamaru. Apparently everyone's going out to dinner tonight. If I'm going, you're going with me."

"That sounds like fun to me, but... everyone? Hmm, I guess that means I can't mark your neck."

"Lucky me, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's other places I can mark you. Places nobody will see." Hinata said as she lightly dragged her nails across his torso again.

She gently took his hand and lead him back to the bedroom. Naruto could only imagine what she was about to do to him, but he figured it was probably going to be better than what he did to her.

Naruto smiled to himself as he realized that his physical relationship with Hinata was soon to get far more exciting.

Things are getting spicy! I know some of you are probably wondering when the lemons will show up, and I implore you to be patient. They'll be here soon enough, and they're going to be good.

In the meantime, why don't you leave your thoughts in the reviews? Seriously, you and your reviews are my motivation. I'm loving the feedback so far.

See you in the next chapter!