Chapter Ten
The Hyūga Clan archives, if it could be called that, made the vice around Shikamaru's head tighten. Far from being a cataloged library of history, it was mostly random shit thrown in boxes with only the most vague attention paid to chronology. "Remind me again, what the hell are we looking for?" He asked as he looked through another box stuffed with everything from birth records, receipts, and personal correspondence.
"Anything that might give us a clue about the family's link to Toneri. It probably will be in the older stuff," Naruto replied.
"Ha," Jiraiya said with a gruff voice, "take your pick, grandson," he said as he sifted through a box of yellowed and crumbling papers. "This stuff is falling apart worse than I was when you found me after my brush with death.
"Well, if you have any better suggestion…" Naruto huffed.
"Naruto, relax," Tsunade spoke, "he wasn't criticizing the decision to review the records, especially with how little we have to go on. He was merely commenting on what at task it is, right?" Tsunade stared at her husband with a look that could ignite wood. The legendary medical-nin was only showing the slightest thickening at the waist with her early pregnancy; although, her already busty form and expanded from her last pregnancy. I wonder what that will do for Temari?
Shikamaru resumed searching, pushing the thought aside. Temari was not Hinata or Tsunade, but she was reasonably figured. Despite fighting it, he pictured Temari with an expanded belly and an expanded bustline to match. Terror hit him at the thought of her in labor. Dear god! He opened the lid to another box, this one full of photographs. "What's this?" he pulled several photos for what looked like a formal occasion.
Jiraiya looked over his shoulder, "Oh hey, Tsunade, check it out!" The couple approached, followed by Naruto, "Look at the happy couple."
"Who the hell is that?" Shikamaru asked.
"It's old man Hattori and his wife Ichika," Naruto said.
"Correction," Tsunade added, "his soon to be wife. This is their wedding photos."
"He had them archived here?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Jeez, the guy sure as shit wasn't sentimental."
"It was an arranged marriage, Shikamaru," Tsunade raised an index finger. "By all accounts, it was far from a happy marriage."
Shikamaru flipped several pictures until he came across and unmistakable trio, "Wait a…" he held the photo next to Jiraiya and Tsunade, "… it's you!"
"Yes," Jiraiya said, "Anyone who was anybody was invited to the wedding. We were the Legendary Sannin. This was…" he took a long pause, "… before we went our separate ways…"
"Ah ha," Shikamaru got the point that they were in tricky territory.
"Grandpa," Naruto spoke as he looked at a piece of paper in the box, "I don't get it, why does their marriage certificate have the wrong date on it?"
"It doesn't," Tsunade said, "they got married during the Second Shinobi War. It was common for young couples to marry before deployment and then return while on leave or after the war to have the actual wedding."
"But…" Naruto furrowed his brow, "Where are Hiashi and Hizashi?"
"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked, "They weren't born yet, look at the year on the certificate versus the photo." Shikamaru had noted almost two year's difference.
"But the clan customs state that they would have been expected to produce an heir within a year of being married. This is almost three years before either of them were born," Naruto pointed to the certificate.
Jiraiya exchanged looks with Tsunade and shrugged, "I don't know, but you're right."
"Well," Shikamaru walked over to a shelf he search earlier and pulled out several scrolls, "Here are the clan customs." He unrolled a scroll, examining its index until he found the entry on marriage and succession, "Let's see," Shikamaru grabbed the appropriate scroll and began reading, "A clan heir or leader upon being married shall be expected to have conceived an heir within one year from the date of the wedding night…"
"Shikamaru, say that again?" Naruto looked stunned.
"A clan heir or leader upon being married shall be expected to have conceived an heir within one year from the date of the wedding night…" Shikamaru trailed off. "Huh, so that's how they did it."
"Married but not wed," Jiraiya said, "Is there anything on that?"
Shikamaru scoured the page for further data, "Here," he pointed. "Given the dangers of shinobi life, a couple may be married legally up to three years prior to their wedding as officiated by family or the Hokage. Any and all children conceived or born in this time shall be considered legitimate heir and survivor in the event that either or both spouses should die prior to their actual wedding night. Birth order succession shall be based on chronology from the date of legal certification of the marriage."
"You mean…" Naruto stood dumbfounded, feeling his jacket pocket, "… we could have stayed married!"
"This law hasn't been used since Hattori married Ichika," Tsunade said, "but, I see no reason why it would be invalid. Hiashi legally married Akemi before they had their wedding – granted, she was pregnant before her wedding night."
"You would still be facing the timeline of having to have the wedding, Naruto," Shikamaru pointed out, "But, nothing says it couldn't be used going forward… I take it you and Hinata have been talking."
"We didn't stay married because we thought we had to have a baby within a year… why didn't anyone tell us?"
"Given how dusty these scrolls are," Jiraiya ran a finger to collect dust, "it's possible no one actually remembered!"
"Naruto, I'm happy for you, but I think we're a bit off topic," Shikamaru knew he was a bit tactless, but time was running out.
"What's got you on edge?" Tsunade asked.
"You're not the least bit worried that the world is ending if we don't figure out something in the next three to four weeks?" Shikamaru huffed.
"Kid, I've lived through three of the four great Shinobi Wars," Tsunade straightened up, "I saw myself as a degenerate drunk in the Infinite Tsukuyomi – no husband, no kids. And I have seen people working together to solve such crises come together before. Trust me, we'll work it out."
Shikamaru's phone buzzed, and he looked down to see it was Temari. At the same time, Naruto looked down to his own phone. "Hello," Shikmaru answered.
""Shikamaru, you need to get the team here to the Red Lotus. Someone tried dosing us. Ino and Sakura both had several drinks laced with Fatal Lust. Ino is showing pretty bad signs of intoxication!"
"We'll be right there!" Shikamaru said, seeing the alarm on Naruto's face.
"Shika… Hinata said Toneri is here," her voice jumped.
"Stay there then and wait for us," he commanded.
"We don't have that long; we have to get Ino to medical care right now!"
Naruto focused but gave a panicked look, "Shit! He's suppressing the Thunder God Mark on Hinata!"
"SHIT! Whatever it is, he's blocking Naruto's ability to teleport to you," Shikamaru said as the line went dead.
Temari never fancied herself one of the girls, but when Ino and Sakura invited her along to help Hinata celebrate passing medical boards, the opportunity was too great to pass up. Of the other three, only Ino remotely appeared rested. Sakura and Hinata had dark circles under their eyes, and both wore smiles over deep lines of worry. Who wouldn't? How many suitors made attempts to kidnap you as a girl and later a wife?
When they arrived at The Smiling Geisha the group had gone all out – facial, mani-pedi, and heavenly massage. Now, they were in the bath, soaking in hot water. While Ino, Sakura, and Temari, were perfectly content; Hinata's hands remained glued to her chest. "Hinata, relax, you're among women here," Sakura coaxed. "There is no need to cover yourself. I don't know, Sakura, you might not like the outcome.
Temari stretched out her arms and neck, hoping to give Hinata the courage to do the same. Hinata let her hands away, and the pink in her cheeks turned beet red as she caught the girls as they attempted to surface. Ino and Sakura both balked, "What?!"
"It… it's just that they keep floating up!" Hinata again covered her chest.
"So, that is why Naruto has that grin on his face all the time," Temari chuckled as Sakura sank up to her neck. Ino just laughed nervously. "Oh come on, at least your man didn't accidentally walk in on you when he was thirteen!"
Hinata actually did relax a bit at the story. "That actually happened?" Hinata asked, letting her guard and her hands down a bit.
"Totally," she shrugged, "he saw me bare-ass naked on my sweet sixteen." Temari blushed, "To be fair, I saw him, too!" Temari thought back to that awkward first encounter. A naughty part of her wondered what might happen if she and Shikamaru had the same encounter now.
"That must have been awkward," Sakura added, rising back up to her shoulders.
"Even more awkward because he was on an intelligence mission to monitor me," Temari stuck out her tongue, "Who would have known?"
"Then is the planetarium story true?" Ino asked.
The corner of Temari's mouth rose up, "Oh yes!" She fondly remembered her first kiss with Shikamaru. "But, I say that story needs a drink before the rest gets shared."
"How about the bar at the Red Lotus?" Ino asked. "I hear it's classy.
"I'm game," Sakura added before turning to Hinata, "What do you say? Time to celebrate?"
"S-sure!" Hinata added.
A half hour later, they had dried, dressed, and made their way to the Red Lotus Hotel and Casino. After paying a nominal cover charge, they found a table near one of the bars and had their first round of drinks. Sakura had a Southern Typhoon in a tall glass. Ino had a pink cosmopolitan. Hinata ordered a straight martini – sophisticated but simple. Temari, herself, drank a gin and soda. Never a big drinker, Temari sipped the smooth drink slow and methodical.
Ino and Sakura on the other hand, drank with near reckless abandon. Sakura was on her second Hurricane in barely fifteen minutes, Ino was on her second cosmos in five, and her third within fifteen. Both girls were showing considerable sign of intoxication. Hinata sipped her martini nervously, but showed no outward signs of intoxication.
"So tell us again," Ino giggled as she talked, "how did things go in the planetarium?" She was flushing throughout. The girl really can't hold her liquor.
"Well," Temari spoke as she eyed Ino, feeling cold sweat crawling down the small of her back, "we had thought we were compromised, so we figured we'd make it look like we were up to hanky-panky," she sighed, "little did we know things would develop from there!"
"HA!" Ino laughed vigorously, "Like that one time at that strip club, Hinata!"
Temari shot a crossed look at Hinata who looked horrified. "Ino!"
"Oh, the plot thickens," Sakura started to giggle. She too was cherry red with flushing. "Tell us about the strip club?"
"So, here we are," Ino began, "having to infiltrate a big Fatal Lust deal, and it happens to be going down at Club Obi-Wan, the secret part of the club!"
"Ino…"Hinata blushed.
Unabated, Ino continued, "We snuck into the back pretending to be dancers for the club," Ino licked her lips and raised her eyebrows, "exotic dancers!"
"You can't be serious!" Sakura's laughter began picking up in volume and tempo – Temari couldn't blame Hinata for turning red now. Had her brothers told a story like this, she'd be throwing punches. Something is wrong. Temari reached under the table for her purse and extracted a bottle of nail polish, discretely painting her fingernails as the sordid story continued.
"Let me tell you, I never knew Hinata could dance like that! She had the most bills of anyone that night!" Ino's laughter continued with intermittent snorts, but Temari was not laughing, neither was Hinata. Dude, this is beyond inappropriate! She closed the bottle of nail polish and waved her hand back and forth, trying to dry her nails fast as possible.
"So Hinata," Sakura winked sloppily, "is that how you got Naruto in bed – a little dance and shaking your booty?" Sakura laughed as only the inebriated could. She formed a wry smirk, "By the way, how is he in bed? I bet that tailed-beast chakra makes for some long nights!"
Temari resisted the urge to get up and slap the clearly drunken girls. Alarm bells continued to sound in her head as she watched the sob sisters half-fall over and laugh. Either they can't hold their liquor, or we're in shit! Temari had her answer as the bartender brought her and Hinata a second drink. The normally clear drink gin and soda and martini were both tinged pink. "I didn't order a pink gin," she told the barman, "And my friend didn't order a cosmo."
The bartender inspected the drink, "I didn't make you a pink gin," he assured her. He inspected the martini, "and I didn't mix a cosmo either…" The man looked confused enough to hint he hadn't doctored either drink.
Hinata discretely dipped a fingernail in the drink. Temari did the same with one of the nails she'd painted. Their pale pink nail polish turned bloody shade of red on contact with the liquid. The nail polish had been standard issue for female agents during the Fatal Lust crisis, a discrete way to tell if your drink had been lined with the hard to detect date-rape drug. Oh shit!
Temari reached across to the martini glass, Ino was still sipping from and dipped another fingernail in the remaining liquid. Her nail again turned blood red. Hinata repeated the process with the remains of Sakura's typhoon with the same result. Ino had three, Sakura had two. The standard dose used by traffickers was usually a gram or two, and alcohol tended to worsen the effects. "Hinata, I think we need to get both of them to the hospital!"
"He's here!" Hinata said.
"Who?" Temari rarely felt her bladder jump, but it was skipping rope in her pelvis.
"Toneri!" Hinata gasped, "he's across the floor!"
"I wasn't expecting to kick ass tonight," she reached for her fan, "but I'm always ready." The seriousness of the situation was lost on Sakura, cackling like a drunken idiot. Ino on the other hand, was starting to go floppy from the effects of mixing alcohol and powerful aphrodisiacs. She'd let a gardening tool in her panties right now! Temari grabbed her phone and called Shikamaru. Hinata likewise called what she expected to be Naruto.
"Temari?" Shikamaru came through the line.
"Shikamaru, you need to get the team here to the Red Lotus. Someone tried dosing us. Ino and Sakura both had several drinks laced with Fatal Lust. Ino is showing pretty bad signs of intoxication!"
"We'll be right there!"
"Shika… Hinata said Toneri is here," Temari swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Stay there then and wait for us," he commanded.
Temari looked at Ino, "We don't have that long; we have to get Ino to medical care right now!"
"SHIT! Whatever it is, he's blocking Naruto's ability to teleport to you."
"I can't teleport to you or the Hospital," Hinata said. "Oh shit!"
Temari hung up the phone and eyed what had Hinata on edge. The man had whiter than albino skin and hair to match. While certainly built, he was no Naruto or Madara. Temari grabbed the cover of her fan and pocketed her cellphone. "Hinata, get ready to drag Ino and Sakura," she uncovered the fan and prepared to unfold it.
"Hinata," the man's voice was unnervingly smooth and calm, "why don't you tell your friend here that she should see to your inebriated friends."
"Suck my cock, yah pasty motherfucker!" Temari brandished her fan. Her blood was hot and instincts she'd kept locked up for two years came back to the surface.
"Such language, totally unbefitting a princess like Hinata," Toneri waved a finger with condescension. Fuck this shit; it's on, jerkwad!
Temari didn't wait for the creepy asshole to do anything further; she raked the fan across her body, sending a hurricane of winds the blew the target backwards and sent tables, chairs, drinks, and patrons flying. "HINATA GO!"
Hinata made the hand seal for shadow clones, summoning a dozen. Twin pairs of clones grabbed Sakura and Ino, and they ran for the nearest fire exit. Temari sent another blast of wind-release across the floor. So, he's not invulnerable! As Hinata kicked the panic bar on the door, alarms split the air. In a blur, they were in the alley and out in the street.
"Hospital is this way!" Hinata shouted and Temari followed behind her and her clones.
Something is wrong, this is too easy! Temari scanned the tops of building and alleyway exits as they ran. Why didn't he poison all of us at once? Unless… "Hinata, it's a trap!" As she shouted, dozens of cloaked figures dropped from the rooftops and spilled out from the alleyways. Well, shit!
The cloaked figures encircled them; from the alleyway they had just come from the pasty dude strolled with the arrogance of a Sunan noble about to tell her what a mistake it had been to marry Shikamaru. "On my signal," Hinata strained as Temari turned slightly, "raise hell!" The pale purple-blue glow from Hinata's hands began to swirl as she concentrated her chakra, "And then get ready to run!"
Temari smirked like a leopard. Her shoulder burned from swinging the fan in battle, and her hip also gave her the dull ache from sudden use. Damn, it's good to be back! She braced with her fan and locked eyes with her nearest target, seeing it had no eyes. "Ready whenever you are!"
"RASENSHURIKEN!" Hinata whipped the mass of bladed chakra in an arc around them. Temari took it as her sign, and she again raked a hurricane of wind-scythe attacks. As storm winds blew past, Temari felt the draft up her robes, reminding her how cold a November in Konoha could get. Next time wear leggings! One of the clones grabbed her right shoulder, "Come on!" the clone began to drag her along before Temari's legs would cooperate. They were again sprinting down the street, and the area opened up as they arrived outside the hospital.
Unfortunately, another wave of the cloaked things was waiting for them, and this time, they went for a swarm attack instead of circling. Closing the range so I can't use wind scythe! Temari batted her fan across the first target to close with her, the figure felt to pieces with a sickening Crack! A puppet! A goddamn puppet! She rammed backwards with the base of her fan into a target sneaking from behind, and she pirouetted into a reverse roundhouse kick on another one.
As she spun, she saw Hinata's clones cradling Ino and Sakura behind them. Hinata, herself, was weaving furiously through the ranges of puppets with her chakra charged in her hands, now taking on the form of fiery lion heads. Hinata dodged, ducked, kicked, and punched through several opponents that made it past the screen of clones protecting their stricken friends.
Temari's right arm and hip again were on fire as she knocked down two more opponents. Sweat was raining down from her hair and tickling down her body in spite of the cold air. Dammit, there's too many of them! Eventually they were going to be overrun by sheer numbers.
"RASENSHURIKEN!" Naruto's unmistakable voice called out, and a bright swirling blade of chakra began mowing through the enemy's ranks. Three ghostly tiger figures joined the fray as Sai painted furiously to summon more reinforcements. Before she could rejoin battle, an arm came from behind and put Temari into a chokehold
"HANDS OFF THE WIFE!" sudden as the attack had been, the chokehold released. Temari turned to see Shikamaru with long tendrils of shadow springing from him like a dark version of Naruto and Hinata's fox tails. Shadowy tentacles ensnared the various puppets, and Shikamaru made a gripping motion with his hand. In the blink of an eye, multiple puppets were ripped apart with the violence of being drawn and quartered.
His attention turned, and another long tentacle shot toward the man in white, freezing him in place. "Gotcha now, you slippery little creep!" Naruto yelled as he charged at the man, kicking solidly into the pasty face. The figure cracked and crumbled, and the head flew off. Another puppet!
Temari furiously scanned the area for anyone else but found the area devoid of targets. Adrenaline was flowing, and her heart was pumping with uncanny rhythm. That was too easy! The thought was ridiculous, but somewhere in the back of Temari's mind, the cold terror refused to go away. The attack was a diversion. A diversion from what?
Konohamaru maintained his transformation while at the hospital, despite the confusion among the staff. "Big bro, what exactly happened?"
"Another abduction attempt; he tried drugging the girls to make them easier to capture," Naruto answered.
Under most circumstance, Konohamaru would have taken Naruto's assessment at face value. However, other events nagged at him. "Boss, something is off."
"You're telling me," Naruto shook his head.
"No, I mean, something isn't right about that," he replied, mildly irked.
"About what?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"After you left to secure Hinata, there were several of those puppet things that made a pass at the Hyūga Compound."
"What?!" Naruto's eyes opened wide in alarm.
"They didn't breach the main house," Konohamaru tried to reassure Naruto, "and Hanabi and I drove them off with pretty little fuss."
"What the hell!" Naruto pinched his brow in frustration, "That makes no goddamn sense!"
"Yeah, I thought so, too," Konohamaru answered. "Presumably, they didn't know if Hanabi was Hinata or Hinata was Hinata, right?"
"I'm not so sure" Naruto groaned, "but if they attacked after we scrambled, that implies they knew she wasn't at the house! They were after something other than Hinata."
"Other than Hinata?" Konohamaru's bladder tightened. "Boss, I thought she was the target!"
"She is," Sasuke came down the hallway to the waiting room, "I have no doubt of it."
The Uchiha gave Konohamaru the creeps to begin with, and he still didn't trust them much the way his grandfather and parents had never fully trusted them. And yet, big brother keeps him around; so play it cool. "Then why the second attack?"
"Tonight was a dry run, a test of our defenses," Sasuke said with grim, flat tone.
"Surely they can't think they passed?" Naruto protested.
"It wasn't about passing, it was about assessing how we'd respond to an attack, assessing our weaknesses," Sasuke remained unmoved.
"But why not take her?" Konohamaru asked, "He had the opportunity and nearly did get her in the end."
"The goal isn't to take Hinata," Sasuke shook his head, "the goal is to make Hinata come to him, of her own will."
"That's crazy!" Konohamaru huffed.
"Just because Toneri is crazy doesn't make him incapable of strategic thinking." Naruto's forehead creased as he rubbed his chin, "What could he take from Hinata that would make her surrender without question?"
"You," Konohamaru blurted out without thinking.
"What?" the other two answered in unison.
Mild embarrassment colored Konohamaru's cheeks, "I'm mean… you, big brother," Konohamaru shrugged. "If I was going to get Hinata to surrender, I'd go after you."
"Explain!" Sasuke insisted, eyes becoming wild.
"I didn't mean anything by it…"
"No! Explain how you came to that assessment! What made you instantly jump to Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed.
Konohamaru wasn't sure what nerve he'd hit, but it was a serious one. "The girl is crazy for him! Just think, she broke into a prison to get him out once, and I bet she'd do it again." He shrugged nervously, "If I wanted to bend Hinata to my will, that would be my approach," he turned to Naruto, "targeting you."
"That's a troubling thought," Naruto exchanged concerned looks with Sasuke.
"In any case, I don't recommend taking Hinata back to the compound tonight," Sasuke said.
"Why not?" Konohamaru asked at the same time as Naruto.
"For one," Sasuke shifted, suggesting discomfort, "if they were sniffing around the Hyūga Compound, it's probably compromised."
"For two?" Konohamaru asked.
"I need someone to take Sakura home and make sure she's okay for the night. Preferably that is you and Hinata."
"What about you?" Naruto asked, his voice hinted at something unsaid. "Why are you taking your girlfriend home?"
"That is point three," he shook his head, "Hiashi Hyūga took off on the road to Suna not long after the attack ended."
"Come again?" Konohamaru asked. Hiashi had been acting incredibly stressed lately, even he noticed. However, now was not the time for a vacation.
"Too close to an attack to be a coincidence," Naruto added, "Does Akemi know?"
"Sai just came from the compound. She's a wreck."
"Konohamaru," Naruto looked to him, "I want you back at the Hyūga Compound right now. Try to comfort Aunt Akemi, and…" he trailed off.
"See if I can find anything out," he completed.
"Yeah."
"Done," Konohamaru said. Something is way off about tonight.
The glares of the few passersby left Sai mildly sure he was going to hell if there was indeed a hell. Ino clung to his arm as he guided her down the street. Her legs stumbled and staggered like a young deer learning to walk for the first time. All the while, she giggled the way only the monumentally inebriated could. Despite Tsunade' and Shizune assuring him Ino was in no danger, the antidote for Fatal Lust did nothing for the effect of three powerful cosmopolitans Ino had downed earlier.
"Hehehe…" she laughed, glassy-eyed, "Sai!"
"Yes, Ino?" He answered, heart climbing his throat. Ino insisted he take her to his place and not the apartment where her family lived above the flower shop. Lord Yamanaka already didn't hold Sai in high regard; bringing his daughter home wasted like this was bound to make matters worse.
"Sai, hick! I'm very, very drunk right now!" she laughed into the night air. She has a knack for stating the obvious!
"It would seem so, pretty lady," he gently but firmly guided her back toward the direction they were moving. Thankfully, they were almost to his building,
As he guided her, Ino clutched herself close to him. "I never get sick of hearing you call me that!" She pressed her face to the side of his arm and sniffed deeply, "By the way, have I ever told you how hot you smell?!"
Sai scanned the street one last time before crossing to his apartment building. Ino being drunk was one thing; someone slipping a date-rape drug now had him on a whole different planet of emotions he had no ability to contextualize. He recognized fear, despite Danzo's attempts to exorcise it from him entirely. Ino's close proximity and obvious advances sparked what he assumed to be arousal, and arousal brought with it shame. A part of him actually wanted to take advantage of the situation, and he didn't like what that said about him.
Miraculously, they got up the stairs to his studio apartment without either of them falling and breaking a neck. Once they got in and the door closed, Ino forced him back into the door and put her mouth over his. Before he could react, her tongue slid past his lips and was caressing his tongue. For a moment, he responded in kind, but reason soon overcame desire, "Ino!" he panted as they separated.
"Sai," her voice became sullen, "what will it take for you to notice me!"
For a moment, he almost gave into her advances. She was beautiful, she was funny, and she did want to be with him. She's also drunk as a fish and unable to make rational decisions! "Ino, I do notice you… a lot!" he confessed, unsure if he was doing the right thing. There was plenty of chance she was already blackout drunk and wouldn't remember this by morning. It didn't diminish his confession that he found her attractive, but he wasn't sure where it put them.
"Sai," her hands moved from him to the material of her crop top. She clutched at the material with clear intent, "Do you want to see my tits?!"
"Ino… I can't!" He shook his head, "It wouldn't be right… you're drunk, and it wouldn't be right for me to say yes!" his throat constricted and relaxed rhythmically as he stumbled over words. As he protested, her look again turned sullen as she curled her bottom lip and her eyes grew wide. "Ino… I, I didn't mean…" he protested again.
"I know, sweetie-pie," her look transformed from sullen to sultry, "have one on account!" Ino pulled open her top and exposed her perfectly formed chest. Sai had seen her nude countless times, but that had been her posing for him to paint her figure. She was now posing for him to admire. She brought the material closed again, but did not secure it as she laughed. Her already red cheeks flushed further.
"Ino," he stood shocked by what just happened, "I think it's time for you to go to bed."
"Uh huh," she yawned with her arms spread wide, causing the top to casually flap open. With casual flare, Ino discarded her shoes, tossed her top across the room, and proceeded to finish disrobing before sprawling out on Sai's bed. Before he could say anything, she was out, snuffling with cute little snores.
Sai delicately covered Ino with a blanket. He skulked to the far corner of the apartment and sank with his back to the wall. At some point, he thought he'd have to face his feelings for her, but now, she had forced the issue. Was it booze talking, or did it just let the words out? His mind wandered through what had just happened: her kiss, her confession, and her flashing him for fun. He wanted to understand her. He wanted to understand what they'd just shared. He wanted her to kiss him again. So much new territory to explore but not tonight! He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
Sakura had passed out not long after Hinata and Naruto had taken her to the apartment Sasuke and Sakura shared. Hinata made sure Sakura was breathing and not in distress for a good twenty minutes before being satisfied enough to leave the bedroom and let Sakura sleep it off. As Hinata walked out into the dark of the living room, Naruto sat on the couch, his Byakugan glowed milky blue in the otherwise dark of the apartment.
Devoid of anything but silence, the words in her mind spilled, "I should have just stayed home with you!" she exclaimed with hushed desperation. Tears she'd kept at bay all the way to the hospital and while treating her friends finally came out.
"Honey," Naruto got up from the couch and put his arms around her; he kept his Byakugan active the whole time. "It wasn't your fault. You kept control and got the hell out with everyone!"
"Someone could have died tonight because of me, Naruto!" she cried hot tar from her eyes and nose. "People are getting hurt because of me!"
"Not because of you!" He placed a finger on her lips, "Because of Toneri. He's the one that did this!"
Just hearing the name of her stalker was like being kicked in the stomach. Had Temari not been there; he would have gotten her at the Red Lotus. Had Naruto, Sai, and Shikamaru not shown up, she would have been taken outside the hospital. Clan leader, ANBU operative, and helpless! "This was supposed to be special, tonight!" she buried her face into his shoulder, feeling his arms tighten as her knees give out. She'd planned on having a good time with the girls followed by a romantic evening, and now it was ruined.
"Hinata," he held her to him, tracing fingers along her scalp, "You passed medical boards, that's something that can't be taken away!" She heard his hesitation, as if he was reading her thoughts. "I cant," he gently tilted her head up so she stared into his eyes, "turn back the clock, but I can make the evening special, if you want."
"N-Naruto?"
Naruto reached down into his pocket and withdrew a black leather case, "Something else that can't be taken away." He flipped open the case. Even in the dim moonlight through the windows, the rings glowed like a pair of silver eyes with Byakugan. My god, these are wedding rings! "Do you like it?" he asked, biting his bottom lip to suppress a grin.
Hinata froze, feeling unfocused and ready to faint. Cool tears streamed down her cheeks. "I…" her voice choked off, "… love… it…" Tear streamed like a dam being topped over by a flood, "I love it!" She vice-gripped him in an embrace.
"I hoped you would," Naruto whispered, "but without you to wear one of them, they would just be bands of metal with shiny rocks in the middle." He pulled back from her slightly, "I love you, Hinata!"
"I love you, too!" She held him close again. At some point they drifted down to the couch, and he was still holding her as they fell asleep.
Author's notes: Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This was a tricky chapter to write due to some of the content, and I thank you if you got this far. I do have a favor to ask if you're reading at the time of publication. I will be posting a poll to my FFN profile which will have a significant impact on a central character's future. (I won't say which). I will keep the poll open until February 26, 2023. I appreciate the feedback as always. Stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you next chapter.