Ino, Choji and Shikamaru have moved their chairs so they are sitting on the opposite side of the round table from me. Sasuke has moved his chair closer to me and is fussing over me to make sure I'm alright. "I'm fine, Sasuke, I am." I say to him in an slightly affectionate tone, brushing him away a bit. I don't want to be cold to Sasuke, but I also don't want to show too much emotion around the others. I turn my attention to the other three people at the table, staring at them with an emotionless face. Shikamaru is the first to speak up. "What happened?" He looks at us expectantly. "After everybody left, we went around the festival for a bit. Naruto didn't wanna go into the square, so we walked to the more quiet area on our way back to my place. Then those men walked up to us. They said something about Naruto being a monster and a demon and about making me see the truth? I don't know. They were clearly drunk. But I do think they knew Naruto." Sasuke explains. Shikamaru looks at me to see if I have anything to add. I don't say anything.
"Why did you stop us, Naruto?" Ino asks in a concerned voice. I look up at her. "It was a promise I made. A long time ago. I intent to keep it."
"Alright then, why were they after you?" Shikamaru asks.
"They know a secret nobody is supposed to know. That is a problem I've had for a long time. The villagers don't take kindly to me. I'm sure you've noticed. Some are just more outspoken about it then others." Well, there's an understatement. "There are the few that act on in. Those men were an example of the last." The little emotion I had in my voice is now gone.
"And you can't tell us that secret, can you?" I shake my head. "If we weren't here, would you tell Sasuke?"
"I'd tell him more, but not that." I say matter of factly.
"But you're okay, right? They didn't do anything to you? I mean, we were on time, right?" Choji asks. I nod.
"Why were you three there? You were some of the first to leave after the party." Sasuke asks.
"Well, Ino wanted to go to the square and we walked past the alley when we saw you being pushed out screaming at the men to let Naruto go. It's troublesome, but of course we helped."
"Thank you." I say, inclining my head. I pick up my tea and the rest follows my example. We sit in silence as we finish our tea. After that, the three leave. Sasuke and I are now alone again.
"You're staying here." Sasuke starts in an overprotective tone. "There's no way I'm letting you go out into the streets tonight again." Like I want to be outside today. "I'm sorry." Sasuke continues, his eyes a bit downcast. I look at him a bit confused. "It's my fault. I should have listened to you when you said you didn't want to go outside. It's my fault you almost got hurt."
"No, it's not. It really is not. Besides, it was the best birthday I ever had. Hell, even if something had happened in that alley, it would still have been the best birthday I ever had." There is a sad smile on my face. I blink and grin at Sasuke. "Thank you. You went through a lot of trouble for me. I appreciate it."
Sasuke moves to stand in front of me, looking me in the eyes. He grabs my hand and brings it up to his mouth, making me stand up as he does so. He presses his lips to the back of my hand in a small and affectionate kiss, closing his eyes like he is savouring the moment. "Really dobe, only you can make it sound like getting assaulted in an alley was a good day. Sad thing is that I know it wouldn't have been the worst day of your life." He slides a hand behind my neck and into my hair, pulling my head to his. He presses his forehead to mine. We both close our eyes, enjoying the closeness between us.
After a second, Sasuke moves, letting his lips land on mine. His other hand lands on my hip, pushing me back ever so gently. I follow his lead and feel the chair behind me. I sit down. I have to tilt my head back as Sasuke stands over me, his lips still on mine. Both his hands move to my face, cupping my cheeks. He steps even closer, a leg on either side of me and his groin presses against my stomach as he stand over me. I put my hands on his hips. His kisses become more urgent, licking at my lips to get me to open my mouth. I'm not giving in. I want him to make me, at least a bit.
Sensing my reluctance, Sasuke growls a bit. "Open." He breaths out, lips back on mine expecting me to obey. There is command in his voice. It sends a shiver down my spine. When I don't respond immediately, one of his hands lowers itself to my chest, stroking around a bit untill he finds my nipple. He pinches it, strong but shortly, making me open my mouth to suck in a breath. I can feel Sasuke smile as he deepens the kiss again, his tongue making its way inside my mouth. Sasuke is dominating the kiss, making me moan and squirm under his undivided attention. I can feel Sasuke's want for more pressing against my stomach. Not that I can say that I'm not much better off. Sasuke slightly bucks his hips that I'm still holding onto against my stomach, pressing me further against the chair.
He pulls away from the kiss, resting his forehead against mine again, leaving us both gasping for breath. "You liked that, didn't you?" He asks with a smirk on his face. Still a bit dazed, I nod. "We're not going to continue, not yet." I let out a whimper. "Why not?" I ask almost pleadingly.
"I love you, Naruto, I really do. But I don't think I want to go further yet." Sasuke says with a furrowed brow. He looks down for a bit before looking back up at me, determination burning in his eyes. "I first want to find out more about you, what you like, what you love. What you don't like... I wanna know your weak spots so I can use them all against you when we finally do continue. I can wait. I'll make you wait too." Sasuke has a glint in his eyes I haven't seen before. It's filled with lust and possessiveness, oh yeah, but there's more. There's an urge to show me how much he cares for me and a need to show me that I belong to him. In every way imaginable.
Sasuke breaks away from me, taking a step back, holding out his hand. "Come on, it's late and it was a long day. Let's get ready for bed. You wanna take a bath before we go to sleep?" I take his hand and nod. Before long, we are seated in a hot bath together. Sasuke let me set the temperature. He had some difficulty getting in the water because it was a little too hot for him. Now I'm leaning against him, his arms around my shoulders while I just have my eyes closed leaning against his hard chest. He slowly runs his fingers over tge scars that managed to stay on me and following the lines of my tattoos. He doesn't ask about them and I don't tell. It'll be a story for another time.
I can feel his every breath and it relaxes me beyond anything. After a couple of minutes, Sasuke grabs a bottle, and puts some of the content into my hair. He massages my head, nails slightly scraping my scalp. Not being able to hold back, I let myself purr at his touch. Sasuke's movements stop for a second, before I can feel him laugh a silent laugh and continue. Yeah, I purr, stupid fox has more influence on me then I'd like. Hey, I heard that! Well, it's true! Well, yeah, but don't make it sound like a bad thing! "That's so cute." Sasuke whispers into my ear as he places kisses in the small of my neck. I guess it's not that bad then...
After getting out of the bath, Sasuke lends me one of his shirts and a clean boxer to sleep in. We snuggle into his one-person bed. Sasuke is soon asleep. I'm awake for another few hours, switching between staring at the ceiling and Sasuke's face. Still, it's so much better than being at home. Slowly, I drift off into a shallow sleep.
The next morning we are up and ready to go at six in the morning, standing on the bridge we use as our usual meeting point. We, as in Sasuke, Sakura and I, are waiting for Kaka-nii to finally show up. Of course, we expect him to be at least a few hours late. Sasuke uses the time to catch Sakura up on the events of last night after they all left. Apparently, Ino and Sakura already talks about it. When they found the time to to that, I will never know. Sakura started asking questions as soon as she saw us walking up to her. I let the answers over to Sasuke as I just stare off into the distance, leaning against the railing of the bridge.
Sakura walks up to me, placing a hand on my arm. I tense at the contact. Turning to look at her, I'm met with concern filled eyes. "Are you really okay?" She asks. "Yes, I am. They did not have the chance to harm me."
Unphased by my cold voice and emotionless face, she continues to worry over me. "Yeah, physically. But I mean mentally too. Are you alright?" I tilt my head sideways at her. "Yes, I am fine." At that moment, Kaka-nii makes an appearance.
"Hello my cute Genin, how are you this fine morning?"
I walk up to Kaka-nii and pull him down to my eye level. "And what's your excuse for being late this time?" I ask him with a dangerous glint in my eyes. Kaka-nii lets out a nervous laugh as he sweatdrops and sheepishly scratches the back of his neck. "Ah haha, well you see. I needed to be in a meeting with the Hokage and I forgot to inform you?" Kaka-nii is so nervous, his explaination ends up being a question. Ah, so nice to see him squirm! I glare at him for a while. Then I let him go. "Anything interesting?"
"Well, you know, I c-can't really discuss that with Genin, now could I?" Kaka-nii tries hard to come off confident, but I know he is dreading my reaction to being called a Genin. I just look at him without any emotion, waiting for him to continue. "There is one thing. That's why I'm here." I pull up an eyebrow. "That's the only reason you're here?"
"N-no, of course not! I am also here because we agreed to meet here today!" Kaka-nii holds up his hands defensively. Sasuke walks up behind me, placing his arm around my waist, pulling me to him. I visibly relax at his touch and lean into him. There is slight amazement on Kaka-nii's face. "What is it that you wanted to tell us?" Sasuke asks.
"Right. The Chuunin exams are coming up. They are being held here and I've nominated the three of you to participate in them. This will not be an easy trail and you must know that you will be risking your lives. Think about it, and let me know your answers. Here are your forms. Have them signed and ready by tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock you will need to turn in the signed forms at the academy room 301." We pocket our forms and turn our attention back to Kaka-nii. "Alright, now for the rest of the day! Sasuke, I would like you to work with me on a jutsu I would like to teach you. Naru-chan, could you please work with Sakura on what we talked about before?" I give a short nod. Sasuke and Kaka-nii make their way to the next training field. "You really need to tell me how you get him to relax." I overhear Kaka-nii say to Sasuke once they are far away enough for Kaka-nii to think I can't hear him. I pick up a pebble and throw it at his head, hitting him pretty hard. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looks back at me but keeps walking. I hear Sasuke laugh, making me smile a bit as well.
I turn my attention to Sakura. She has an irksome expression on her face. "What did Kakashi-sensei mean with what you talked about before? You two are talking about me?"
In a voice that is a bit less cold then usual I explain it to Sakura. "I noticed your ability to perfectly control your chakra, meaning that you should either work on medical jutsu, because it required perfect chakra control, or learn how to strengthen your movements with chakra so that it can become useful in combat. Preferably, you should master both. Either way, in order to do those things in a way that it can become useful, you will need to expand your chakra reserves. Today I will teach you excercises that will help you do just that. They aren't hard, just exhausting. You can do them any time you want." During my explanation Sakura's expression changes from understanding to excited.
"Medical jutsu? That would be useful. Yeah, it would be nice to specialise in something." I nod at her. "So, what do I do?" She asks, eagerness burning in her eyes.
"The excercise is simple. You find something to empty your chakra into. What is best for you, you need to figure out yourself. For me, when I started this training, it was water walking. The principle behind it is that your body will make chakra to what you need. The more you spend on a regular basis, the more chakra your body will want to have in reserve. It will also teach your body to regenerate chakra more quickly. Start with finding an excercise to exhaust your chakra. I'll give you tips as we go."
Sakura picks the excercise up quickly. At noon Kaka-nii and Sasuke walk back to us for lunch. Sasuke gives me a bento and we sit down to eat. After lunch, we continue for another two hours. Sakura is exhausted at this point and I decide to call it quits. We walk over to Kaka-nii and Sasuke to let them know we were done for today.
"Will I see you at my place tonight?" Sasuke asks. I shake my head. "Not tonight. I have some things to do at home." I'm planning on working on the fox summoning contract again tonight. It has been a while and I would like to see Shoki again.
Sakura and I make our way into Konoha when we run into a guy in a cat-onesie and make-up all over his face. Next to him is a girl with too many ponytails looking impacient. The cat-guy is holding up a boy by the scruff of his neck. I think I can play with that cat. A sadistic smile crosses my face for a second before I go into my most feminine mode. I lean my hips to the side and put on an innocent face. "O my, Sakura, would you look at that poor boy." I gush in a soft and feminine voice at Sakura, catching her off guard a bit, but she quickly recovers. I see the eyes of the cat-boy shoot to me quickly. "I can't believe such a strong looking ninja would harm a child. It's so unsightly." I continue, pretending I didn't notice I had the full attention of the cat-guy. He quickly drops the kid, who shuffles over to us and hides behind my legs.
"He ran into me and didn't apologize. I just wanted to teach him a lesson." The cat-boy tells me. The boy behind my legs shakes his head furiously. "I did apologize! I even bowed my head!" He croaks. I switch my hips from one side to the other, hugging my waist with one arm, while I bring the other hand to my face, a finger on my cheek in a thinking pose. "My, who are we to believe in such a situation?" I look at Sakura. She's barely able to hold back a laugh as she looks at me. I walk to the cat-guy, rocking my hips back and forth. I place a hand on his chest. Despite the make-up, I see his face becoming red with a blush. "Tell me, kitten, did you just lie to me?" I ask him while looking at him big eyed.
He opens his mouth a few times, gaping like a fish, unable to lie to me now, but also unwilling to admit that he just did. The girl steps in and I look at her. "Would you kindly get your hands off of my brother?" She says with venom in her voice. "Temari, it's fine. She isn't doing anything wrong." I look back at the cat-boy, who seems more than happy to have gained back my attention. "Kankuro, we're not here to make friends!" Temari hisses at her brother.
"Kankuro, hnn, tell me, did you lie to me just now?" I ask again, bringing my face a bit closer to his. He nods. I immediately step back, dropping the act and going back to my emotionless face. "Thought so." I say in a cold voice. I can see a shiver run down the spine of both Temari and Kankuro. The boy steps behind Sakura due to my sudden change.
I suddenly tense up. What is that? I feel a presence not far from us. I turn around and look in the tree behind Sakura. A red-headed boy a little older than me is sitting in the tree. He disappears in a swirl of sand and reappears next to Kankuro and Temari. "Stop causing trouble, get to the hotel." He says in a cold voice that rivals my own. Kankuro and Temari can only nod, fear evident on their faces. "Yes, Gaara." They say in unison. Sakura and the boy back away a bit from the pressing aura radiating off the red-headed boy. Heads up, kit, that's my brother! What? Gaara turns around to face me. His cold eyes staring into mine. My hands are at my side open like I have claws at the ready. Gaara has sand flowing around him. Slowly, but surely, I take a sideways step. He mimics my motion. We circle each other, like predators rivaling over a pray. I let out a low animalistic growl while he remains silent. We both start releasing killer intent. Saruka, the boy and the siblings back up further away from us in fear.
After a couple more paces, we jump towards each other, stopping in the middle, a gust of wind pushing away the sand that was around us. Staring each other in the eyes from a very short distance I let out a hiss. If I had fox ears, they would be flat against my head right now. After a couple of seconds of intense staring, Gaara is the one to back down first, pulling back his killer intent. He lowers his head ever so slightly in defeat. I accept this sign of defeat and also pull back my killer intent. That was impressive, kit. Why thank you! I mean it, that was some good instincts. I'm glad I'm rubbing off on you more and more. I'm not even going to respond to that...
I reach a hand out to Gaara. A bit hesitantly, he takes it. "Welcome to Konoho, Gaara, the secret you carry is safe with me. I expect the same courtesy back." He looks at me in surprise. "Try not to kill anyone during your stay here. Especially not someone that I would consider a friend." I add in my cold voice. Gaara nods before walking to the siblings and quickly disappearing.
I turn back to Sakura. "W-what just happend?" She asks. "An understanding." I simply say.
"Ano, thank you." The boy behind Sakura says. I let my eyes drift to him. He hides a bit behind Sakura. Sakura looks back at the boy. "O, don't worry." She starts. "Naruto won't harm you! What's your name?"
"Konohamaru."
"Alright, Konohamaru, why don't you go home now?" Sakura says in a sweet tone. Konohamaru looks at me. "Your strong, aren't you?" He asks. I nod. "Can you help me train?" I tilt my head at him. "Why?" I ask. He takes a step back at the coldness in my voice.
"S-so I can be strong!" He says. "I don't want to be seen as the grandson of the Third hokage, I want to be my own person! Prove I'm worthy and capable by myself!" I tilt my head to the other side. Oh, the things I could teach a young and impressionable mind... "Okay. When I have time, I will teach you. It will have to wait untill after the Chuunin exams, though." Maybe I can have a Genin team, like Kaka-nii. I'll make them into perfect little murder machines... I don't think that's what they should be taught... Ah, well, we'll see.
After that, we all head home. After making sure all the seals are in place and working properly, I summon Shoki and we talk for a while. I'm teaching her to speak our language and she is teaching me to understand the fox language. Of course, this is with the help of Kurama, who is functioning as a translator. After that Shoki tells me the fox counsel is planning the trails of strength for me in a few months. She assures me it's sooner than anyone has expected.
Happy with the progress we made today, Shoki takes her leave. It's now eleven o'clock in the evening. Since I can't sleep I spent my time working on a few other scrolls. I've recently 'acquired' a few new scrolls from the Hokage's library without his knowledge. Of course, the previously borrowed pieces have been properly returned...
When morning nears, I meditate for an hour. My thoughts linger on Sasuke for a bit. My cheeks colour red in a blush when I think back on the last kiss we shared. He is so completely dominant, yet he does things he does because he thinks I like them. I love it. I love him. Only he can make me feel the way I feel around him. Safe, loved, treasured. So, so much more than that, it's indescribable.
After that, my thoughts wander to Sakura. How did she know about what happened in the alley? The only thing I can think of is that Ino went to her after she left Sasuke's. I'd have to ask her about why they would meet up in the middle of the night after such a busy day as the Kyuubi festival. Especially since they were so opposed to each other in the academy. I would expect them to keep away from each other if they had the choice.
After a while I decide it's time to get ready for the day. I take a shower and get dressed. My eyes fall on a scroll I was working on last night. Since we are to meet at one o'clock this afternoon, I'll have some time right now to study it a bit further. It was a bit troublesome for me last night. Especially because it's made for a chakra affinity I don't have. It will require a lot more work to get this jutsu down.
Just as I am about to sit down, there is an urgent knock on the door. I get up to open the door. I can sense it's Sasuke. With a small smile on my face, I push chakra in the seal and open the door. What I see before me makes fear close around my heart. Sasuke is standing before me, looking exhausted. The gray shirt he has on is blood soaked from his shoulder down. I can see wounds around his neck. "Sasuke? What happened? Why are you bleeding?" I ask worried.
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