A Maiden's Tale || NaruHina COMPLETED

Chapter 2

"Did you hear something," Shion said.

I closed my eyes, squeezing them shut and trying not to breathe.
"I heard nothing," Naruto replied flatly.

"I could have sworn I- hm!"
The garden fell silent, and I opened my eyes. Peering around the corner again, I expected to see the queen staring down at me with daggers in her eyes. Instead, I saw Naruto's hands fisted in her hair, kissing her passionately. My eyes followed the trail of his pointed nose down to where their lips worked together, noting how soft and smooth the tug of his lips pulled on hers. I swallowed heavily; flushing at how intimately they interacted, feeling as if I were intruding.

Naruto pulled away from the queen slowly, his eyes hazy. Shion played with the bow at his neck, voice dripping with lust. "Did I order you to kiss me?"

"No," Nimaruto said cheekily. "I thought perhaps you would enjoy having a disobedient servant for once."

Shion smiled slowly, and pushed away from Naruto, any thought toward my subtle noise long gone. "Perhaps this once, I will forgive this. But," she said, gracefully sliding around him to walk toward the palace, "you will be punished tonight."

Naruto nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty." He turned to walk away, but before he did, he looked directly to where I was hiding behind the bush. He met my eyes, and quickly nodded in the opposite direction to where he and the queen were walking.

I ducked behind the cove, clutching my chest. Could he see me the whole time? I thought back to the passionate kiss I had witnessed.

Did he know I was watching?

When the footsteps receded and I knew I was alone again, I shuffled away in the direction Naruto had gestured. I hurried through the gardens, and did not exhale until I was safely behind a closed door in the servant's quarters.

-----

"Hinata," someone said in a distant echo. "Hinata?"

I blinked rapidly, dropping the rest of the sheet into the washbasin. I quickly scooped it up again, and continued brushing the fabric.

"Hinata," Sakura said from beside me. "Did you hear a word I just said?"

"Uh," I said, clearing my throat, "Of course. You were talking about-"

"The new butler," Sakura said excitedly, washing her own sheet in the basin next to me. "He's so handsome! And so young too, I wouldn't have thought for a second he was actually a butler."

"That's because he isn't," Ino said, bustling past us with a basket of freshly dried towels. "He was only hired to sleep with the Witch of Konoha."

"Ino!" Sakuro shushed the blonde woman. "You can't talk like that! Anyone could tell on you these days."

"I could care less what that woman does to me," Ino shot, setting down the basket and placing her fists on her hips. "She's the reason our good king is dead, I tell ya. She killed him in his sleep."

"Ino," I said, this time. "It's dangerous to speak that way, with so few of us left. Think of your parents."

Ino bit back her lip, looking solemnly around us. Right now there were only a dozen or so maids, the rest having been sent off months ago. She knew that if she were to even breathe out of turn, she could be sent off and her parents would lose the little income the maids received, despite having to do three times the work we typically were assigned. Ino said nothing, but nodded evenly, and buried herself in the folding of her towels.

The room fell uncomfortably silent, only the sloshing of the sheets in the soapy water. Until Sakura whispered, "So have you seen him or not? I asked you and you went completely silent."