Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based on the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto. I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated with its creators or publishers. This is purely a fan-made work created for entertainment purposes only, and I do not intend to infringe on any copyrights or trademarks associated with the Naruto franchise. All characters, names, and places in this story are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1- Consequences of the Choices Made

She wasn't supposed to be there.

This was the stupidest thing that she had ever done in her life; agreeing to go on a date with a stranger she had 'met through an app, one she knew nothing about- only because he had shown great interest in her. Hinata suspected that something wasn't quite right, but desperation can lead you to make decisions you wouldn't normally make—like agreeing to go on a date with a guy that you normally would not have picked. It wasn't that he wasn't good-looking; that was never the issue. It was his demeanour—the way he had sounded on the phone the first time they spoke two days earlier when he asked her to meet him—that felt off. There was something unsettling in his insistence on meeting, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but still, she convinced herself to give it a chance. Why? Because after being single for three years, she was lonely, yearning for someone to care for her romantically. And suddenly, this handsome guy appeared, showering her with all the compliments she'd been craving. It was enough to push her past her reservations, even as that nagging feeling in the back of her mind warned her to be cautious.

And now she was sitting here, paying the price for it.

From the moment she set foot into the restaurant he had chosen, Hinata felt something was off. The atmosphere, the guests, even the place itself—it all felt wrong. It wasn't just the upscale setting or the way the other guests were dressed; it was the way they seemed to be staring at her, scrutinizing her from head to toe, as if trying to take in every detail of her appearance. She tried to brush it off as mere curiosity, telling herself that maybe they were just intrigued by someone dressed up, but it didn't make sense since the other guests were equally, if not more, stylishly dressed.

Hinata had made an effort to dress up for the occasion. Knowing he was taking her to a fancy place, she chose a medium-grey sequin short dress with long sleeves that hugged her curves perfectly. She was content with how she looked—it had taken some effort, but lately, she had been feeling more confident in her appearance, and dressing up only served to enhance that confidence. Tonight, she took it a step further, styling her midnight blue hair into a bombshell blowout and applying a bit more makeup than usual to accentuate her almond-shaped, pupilless, greyish eyes.

Hinata was disturbed to find that her date's real hair colour didn't match the one in his profile pictures. The man sitting in front of her had white hair, not brown as she had anticipated. Despite the discrepancy, he was dressed in a very nice suit and had clearly made an effort to impress. People coloured their hair all the time, she reasoned—why should she be judgmental? Still, something felt off.

She further noticed that he was sporting high-end brands, including a diamond-studded gold Rolex watch that he seemed eager to flaunt. Initially, he was very polite, beaming the moment he laid eyes on her. But as the hour passed, his stares grew more intense, and his insistence on making her drink more began to make her feel increasingly uncomfortable and disturbed.

She genuinely had tried to make an effort to engage in a conversation with him, hoping to get to know him, but he continuously laughed off her attempts and deflected answering any questions about his personal life. He never bothered to ask her anything about hers either. His behaviour became increasingly inappropriate as he continued to make several attempts to caress her thighs, under the table and further attempted to steal a kiss from her lips throughout the night. This man's inability to read her discomfort was alarming—more alarming than the fact that he had, not once- reacted to being called him by his name.

"When did you colour your hair?", Hinata asked, trying to distract him from making any further attempts to touch her.

"Actually, this is my natural one", he responded nonchalantly.

"Oh".

"What, you don't like it?", he suddenly sounded offended.

"No, that's not it, I just didn't recognise you at first.", Hinata apologised.

"Ah, must've forgotten to tell you haha…Well, no need for you to worry about that. From now on I will be the only man you'll ever need to recognise, so why don't you bring out your phone and remove that profile of yours? Come on, let's do it together."

It was as if the deal was already sealed for him. While she was still trying to figure out who he even was, he was already planning their future. Her gut feeling was now screaming, trying to convince her that this was a dangerous man. This feeling intensified by the minute, as his actions and words only served to confirm her initial suspicions. Now, her intuition was screaming at her to leave—to run away—but to do so discreetly, understanding that this type of man would not accept being rejected easily, "Actually, I've been meaning to visit the ladies' room for a while now.", she lied politely, so that she wouldn't aggravate him.

"Of course- go ahead. Unless…you mean that you wanted me to join you?", he lewdly suggested.

Hinata politely declined, and proceeded to collect her bag, heading toward the bathroom. As she ventured deeper into the halls, she became increasingly paranoid, feeling as though she was being followed by a certain man she had noticed sitting by the bar all evening. Unbeknownst to her, that man had been commanded by her very date to follow her. In her disarray of thoughts, continuously glancing back, she didn't realize she had walked right into the men's bathroom instead of the women's. Fortunately, she was immediately blocked by a solid male's chest, which bumped her nose harshly and caused her to stumble backward. If not for the man's quick reflexes, she surely would have fallen to the ground. Despite the pain in her nose, her mind immediately ordered her to look back, only to realize that the creepy man who had been following her had disappeared.

"Either you were walking into the wrong division, or you're one of the most successful transitioned women I've ever seen," she heard a husky voice say, coming from the direction of the man who was grabbing her by the arms.

At first, she didn't understand what he was talking about until she looked behind him and noticed the sign on the door that said "Gents." Realizing she had almost walked into the men's bathroom embarrassed her immensely, but she felt incredibly grateful that someone had stopped her. Hinata straightened herself and decided to thank and apologize to the nice man, but when she turned her gaze to meet his, she froze in her spot and went mute. She felt like she was going to faint. The fact that he was one of the most attractive men she'd ever seen made her blush and shy away from any attempt to address him. This man was an epiphany; he was Adonis himself. The physical attraction that suddenly ignited deep within her soul was indescribable and simply illogical, as was the fact that she somehow understood that he felt the same way about her. The way he pinned her down with his gaze was incredibly intense and his eyes illuminated with a deep lust, a hunger she related to.

But her mind began filling with doubt. What if she was imagining it? What if she was being silly? She needed to get a grip and act like an adult, so she decided to take a deep breath to break this lucid fantasy. There was, after all, a big chance that his stares were demonstrating offense at her lack of manners. She needed to rectify herself, so she finally gathered the courage to speak again while looking into his eyes,

"Thank you for your help, sir. And please accept my apologies. In my hurry, I didn't see the sign. But make no mistake—I was born and am; all woman." She sounded harsher than she had intended and gave him no chance to respond as she made him release his grip on her, and hastily walked away. She needed to free herself from this situation, deluding herself about another man she didn't know, while simultaneously trying to escape another, was a recipe for failure. How could she allow herself to be this dumb?

While walking back, she observed the restaurant further. The luxurious place was filled with guests who seemed like some kind of hot shots, well-off with larger-than-life personalities. These were simply no ordinary people, and now she that made here even more convinced that something was off- not only with her date but with this whole place. To make matters worse, she had no idea where she was, Tim had insisted on driving her to this place and all that she knew was that she was far away from home. She pulled out her phone and tried to Google the place, to no avail. There was no information to be found about the restaurant on the internet, which further deepened her worries. Her gut feeling was now begging her to get away, so once she ensured that her date and his watchdog were out of sight, she made her way to the bar, where the bartender immediately offered his full attention.

"What can I do for you, Miss or Mrs?", the bartender asked.

"Miss., I need your help, I need to leave this place without my date noticing."

"Miss…I'm not sure I can help you with that", the bartender responded, sounding alarmed.

"What? No, you don't understand..I don't feel safe with him."

"Miss, I don't want to get into any trouble, please…"

"Then help me call someone else who can help? The guards- or the Cops?"

"Cops? Ma'am that impossible!"

"Go back to work, Izumo, I'll take care of this.", 'Adonis' suddenly interfered in the conversation, sending the bartender 'Izumo' away and turning to face Hinata, "Is something bothering you?".

In this light, Hinata observed that 'Adonis' had radiant, sun-kissed, flawless skin- except for the scars that adorned each side of his cheeks. His hair was bright blond, thick yet soft, and his body was muscular. His biceps seemed ready to burst through the crisp fabric of his white button-up shirt. His clothes and watch appeared quite luxurious, but unlike her date, he didn't flaunt any of it.

"I haven't seen you around here before, who invited you?", 'Adonis' continued, as his first question had failed to elicit any answer from the woman before him.

"Tim…I'm here with him as his date tonight.", swallowing harshly, Hinata tried to re-compose herself once again, and responded.

"There is no one here that goes by that name, don't lie to me."

"But…that's the name he has given to me", Hinata stopped herself from explaining any further upon noticing the frown that had developed on his face, he didn't seem happy with her very presence for some reason which only served to annoy her as well- who was he even to question her like that. "What? You know everyone in the world?", she responded, challenging him.

"In this place I certainly do.", he confidently responded. Hinata presented a questioning look, which seemed to trigger an explanation from him, "I own this place, and only I decide who may enter. Those permitted are in turn given the privilege of inviting a guest. Now, tell me-who is bothering you? Or rather, show me?", 'Adonis' now ordered her.

Although the said man was polite, and even gentle towards her, she found him exerting an authoritative aura that was alarming. The fact that he owned the place and decided who got to enter and who did not, made her realise that he must've known- and approved of Tim already, the very man that she currently was desperately trying to run away from- was already accepted by this 'Adonis'. Hinata's eyes widened, and her mouth stretched in shock as panic began to build within her, she realised that any further attempts to escape this place would be futile. Without even realizing it, tears began to well up in her eyes.

Upon noticing the change in her demeanour, and sudden presence of tears, 'Adonis' tried to comfort her, but was suddenly interrupted before he even got a chance to reach her. "There you are! I was beginning to worry about you!", Tim appeared behind Menma and yelled, which caused Hinata's shoulders to tense, and her beautiful face to become struck with fear.

Hinata now figured that the devil she had dubbed 'Adonis' would hand her over to his 'friend,' and that this would become the most traumatic event of her life, if not her last. "Please, I don't want this," she faintly begged, aware that her words would likely fall on deaf ears. Hower, she failed to notice the look of concern on 'Adonis's' face, who had turned to face Tim, positioning himself between them and towering over both of them. The action made Hinata face his back, as she carefully maneuvered to catch a glimpse of Tim but remained positioned behind the taller man. "Sir! I didn't know you would be here tonight. Good evening," Tim's demeanour suddenly shifted, now resembling a soldier addressing his superior.

"You told her your name was Tim?", 'Adonis' laughed mockingly, "You could've at least made up a better nickname, you know, like Ton?"

'Tim,' or 'Ton,' straightened up and met 'Adonis's' gaze defiantly. "Well, sir, this is my guest—my date so if you don't mind, I'd like to take her back now and pick up where we left off." The soldier's lack of respect for his commander was now evident in his refusal to respond respectfully. Hinata noticed that despite his confident words, Tim's body language portrayed signs of insecurity—perhaps stemming from fear?

'Adonis' turned his eyes to meet Hinata's while keeping his back to her. "Do you wish to go back with Ton, gorgeous?" he asked, smirking.

Hinata shook her head, unable to understand why they were playing such a cruel game with her. If they intended to use her, she wished they would just get it over with. The level of cruelty they were displaying was beyond her comprehension. Her eyes began to well up with tears again, causing 'Adonis's' gaze to harden and his smirk to fade. He retrieved a cigar from the bar, which seemed to offer them freely, and demanded that 'Tim' light it for him, a gesture that served to put Tim in his place. Tim, though clearly displeased by the order, complied and lit the cigar that rested in 'Adonis's' mouth. Hinata watched the interaction in stunned silence, baffled by the two men's behaviour. The entire situation seemed more bizarre by the second. After exhaling a substantial amount of smoke, 'Adonis' spoke again in a calm, almost soothing voice, his eyes fixed on 'Tim'. "You may go. She'll be staying with me."

"But she is mine!", Tim responded bitterly.

"Say again?", 'Adonis' questioned.

"I came here with her, I want her.", Tim insisted, defiantly staring into 'Adonis' eyes.

Hinata felt 'Adonis's' muscles tense, an ominous sense of danger—or perhaps anger—beginning to emanate from him. The scene was no longer what she had thought it was. For some reason, this man seemed to be rescuing her from her date. Yet, she still didn't feel safe, as she was uncertain of his intentions. Perhaps 'Adonis' wanted to keep her for himself to torment her instead.

"Toneri! Knock it off already." Suddenly, another man, who looked like some kind of security guard, intervened, stepping in and pushing 'Tim' back a few steps from 'Adonis'. 'Tim' gritted his teeth and shot one last defiant glare at 'Adonis' before reluctantly backing down and leaving. "Boss, please, let him go now. It's not worth it," the security guard said, signalling to the bartender to prepare their boss's favourite drink. He then turned to Hinata. "Miss, can I get you anything to drink?"

Choosing a drink was the last thing on her mind now that she was rid of Tim—or whatever they had called him. She was still trying to make sense of what just had happened. Her mind was filling up with questions of: What is this place? Who are these people? What did 'Adonis' expect from her now that he had done her this favour? What did he mean by staying with him? While she contemplated her situation, 'Adonis' turned to completely to face her, his gaze was penetrating and filled with questions, causing her heart to sink. Despite everything that had transpired, she couldn't detect any malice in his character.

"Have a drink with me," he encouraged politely.

She wasn't sure what had compelled her to accept the drink, but she did, and now she found herself seated in a more secluded and luxurious part of the restaurant. As she took in her surroundings, she marvelled at the beauty of the place.

"Are you alright?" 'Adonis' asked suddenly, pulling her from her distracted haze.

"Ah, yes! Apologies, I was just admiring this place. It's absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I've never heard of it before."

"Well, it's quite new and private. I'd like to keep it that way, so I'd appreciate your discretion," he said politely, though there was a hint of warning in his request.

"Ah, how rude of me—I never introduced myself. I'm Menma. Namikaze, Menma," he added, extending his hand across the table. It was an innocent gesture that elicited a faint smile from her, prompting her to offer her hand in return to shake. Before she could withdraw it, he took the opportunity to draw it over to his side of the table and kiss it tenderly. His gaze, intense and unwavering, unsettled her. The look in his eyes shifted from tender to something more primitive and dangerous. Despite her apprehensions, she couldn't deny the strong and inexplicable attraction she felt toward him, which intensified with the touch of his lips on her hand.

He gently placed her hand back on the table, keeping it under his. "So, what would you like to drink, beautiful?" he asked, stroking her hand gently with his thumb. The physical touch heightened her attraction, sparking a sense of arousal she wasn't comfortable experiencing so publicly.

Hinata seized the moment to retract her hand when a man suddenly approached their table to greet Menma. The praises Menma received made her uneasy and prompted her to reconsider her decision to accept the drink. Although he had shown no intention of harming her, the strange events of the evening—particularly the inability to find information about this place and the respect and fear with which Menma was greeted with—were unsettling. She realized she needed to be cautious, to protect herself, and to trust her instincts to avoid future regret. When the newcomer finally left, Hinata decided it was time to go home. "It's nice to meet you, Menma, but it's getting quite late, so I must head home now," she said, noticing the look of disappointment that briefly flashed across 'Adonis's' handsome face.

A car waited outside for them as Menma had insisted on offering her a ride home, she didn't know much about cars, but even she recognized it as an Armoured G-Wagon Mercedes-Benz model, as she had seen her cousin sport similar ones. After opening the car door for her, Menma proceeded to enter on the other side of the car.

"You're coming too?", she asked, surprised.

"Well, this is my ride home as well."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to delay you- I should've taken a cab…"

Menma smiled, "Nonsense. Quite honestly, I'm happy to spend more time with you, even if it's just for a few more moments." Hinata blushed at his kind words, but still found herself unable to completely relax in his presence. "So, when can I see you again?", he asked, forcing her out of her thoughts.

"I don't know if that's good idea…"

He scooted closer to her, placing a hand on her right cheek, which he proceeded to caress with his thumb. "You should give me a try…. Trust me, you won't regret being with a man like me", he arrogantly suggested.

Hinata struggled to resist as Menma neared- dangerously close to her face and attempted to kiss her. Deep down, she knew that if she let him get any closer, the night would spiral far beyond what she had ever imagined or planned and she hadn't been sure if she was ready for that just yet. As he caressed her face, her arousal grew, and eventually, her body betrayed her. She closed her eyes, surrendering to his touch. Encouraged by her submission, Menma gently pushed her backward until she was partially leaning against the car door. He leaned over her without crushing her, and Hinata knew that this was the moment that she should have stopped him. However, being desired by someone so captivating was a temptation she couldn't resist, nor did she want to at this time.

For Menma, the attraction was undeniable. From the moment he saw her, he found her alluring, attractive, and simply gorgeous. It was more than just physical—it was a deep, immediate connection that sparked his interest. He wanted to talk to her, to gaze into her mesmerizing eyes, and to be close to her. If he could convince her to spend the night with him, he would seize the opportunity to do so. But he wouldn't push her; he needed to ensure that she wanted him as much as he did- her. He began giving her gentle kisses on her cheeks, moving closer to her soft, inviting lips. He paused, giving her the chance to protest or push him away, but her lack of resistance only fuelled his desire. The way her eyes had sensually hooded, revealing mutual attraction, spurred him on. The pecks turned into a hungry, desperate kiss that stole their breaths away and their ability to think clearly with it. Hinata's mind was consumed with the sensations of his hands, his scent, and the taste of his mouth, even though it carried a hint of alcohol. The urge to submit to his touch was overwhelming. She found herself justifying her actions, thinking that if he desired her this much, she would allow herself to be reckless for once and indulge in her carnal desires without overthinking.

Menma suddenly broke the kiss and looked at her with confusion, while resting his forehead against hers. "Where did you come from?" he asked, not really expecting a response. He then began planting kisses on her forehead and tracing them down her neck, caressing her arms and thighs, and gripping her waist. He seemed mesmerized by her curves.

"We're here, Boss!", the sudden halt of the car and the driver's voice caused Menma to slowly withdraw while keeping a hand on her thigh and rubbing it gently. "So, should we continue this at your place or mine?" he asked in an alluring voice.

The mention of the word 'Boss' and the sudden interruption jolted Hinata back to reality. She realized she needed to stop being so gullible. She didn't know this man, he could be a criminal for all she knows, and the events that had occurred that evening—especially with Tim—should have been enough to deter her from engaging in any further activities with him. She needed to act responsibly. Removing her seatbelt, she took his hand off her thigh, missing the warmth it had provided immediately. "I'm sorry, I can't do this... Thank you for saving me tonight and thank you for the ride... Goodbye," she said, opening the door and quickly exiting the car, slamming it shut behind her.

Stunned and overwhelmed by his painful arousal, Menma was left paralyzed for the first time in his life. After taking a moment to compose himself, he decided not to chase after her and stayed only until he had confirmed that she had entered her apartment building, before instructing his driver to take him home.

Menma lay on his bed, his mind overwhelmed by thoughts of Hinata and their recent encounter, as well as Toneri's insubordination, which hindered his sleep.

Introduced to him as Toneri's date, Hinata was a rare gem he could not allow to be tainted by someone like Toneri. Menma decided that he would not let a woman as gentle, intelligent, and stunning as her to fall into the hands of a man like Toneri. The jolt of attraction and indescribable excitement he felt the moment he first saw her had ignited an interest he had never known before and he decided that it was a feeling he was determined to hold onto and to savour every last bit of, and since she was the source of this newfound passion, he was committed to pursuing- and keeping her for himself.

But more urgently, he would deal with Toneri tomorrow, and with these comforting -and satisfying thoughts, Menma's mind finally granted him the peace needed to allow himself to fall asleep.

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