Honeysuckle Tea

(Disclaimer: All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto, I do not own 'Naruto'. This fan fiction contains adult content, so if that's not your thing, don't read. I hope everybody enjoys the story, and I accept constructive critism. This is my very first fan fiction so please be nice. T//T; If you have nothing pleasant to say, don't post a response. Anyway, this is chapter 1 of my fan fic. Enjoy folks. :3]

"(Huff) You... You betrayed me.... (Huff) Without me... (Huff) You'll never kill Itachi... You'll just stay the weak little boy he let live, and a loser, like him...!" A long slender and pale hand pointed a quivering finger at a tall blond haired boy. The other was dark haired, wearing a look of cold disdain, closing his eyes.
"...After all this, can you still honestly believe that?" the dark haired boy opened his eyes again, his pupils had changed from black to bright red, narrowing them before continuing. "You thought you could control an Uchiha like a little puppet? You're a fool, Orochimaru. We will soon remedy that... Eh, Naruto?"
The blond haired boy looked upon Orochimaru with fierce, red fox-like eyes, and bared rows of pointed teeth. Every word reverberated with a menacing growl.
"Your ambitions stop here. The price for trying to take away my friend...my brother...," He slowly began to walk forward. "For trying to destroy our home, for ruining innocent lives to achieve immortality, to learn every jutsu... Is death. I will never...forgive you!!"
"Fools! You cannot destroy my ambition!" Orochimaru hissed. He leapt from his feet and lunged at Sasuke with his Kusanagi sword. Despite Orochimaru's great speed, both the power of the Sharingan and Orochimaru's exhaustion allowed him to parry the blow. However instead of going after Sasuke, he rushed past him and continued for Naruto.
"I've had enough of you, boy!!! Because of you, my plans are ruined!" He had tunnel vision, with Naruto's temporarily stunned form squarely in front of him. Ribbons of saliva flew from the insane grin halving his face.
"Naruto!"
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A dozen Naruto clones appeared between himself and Orochimaru while he prepared a counter attack with Rasengan.
"Die!!! Sen'eitajashu !"
Sasuke ran after Orochimaru, but he too was running low on chakra and was unable to catch up. Though it happened over the course of a few seconds, everything seemed to happen in slow motion as snakes shot from Orochimaru's sleeves, tearing through Naruto's Shadow Clones. When the smoke cleared, Naruto had a snake latched on his left wrist, right knee, and neck. There was a look of momentary shock on his face as the snakes pumped poison into his body.
"That poison, will slowly make its way to your heart, clogging the chakra network surrounding it! I want you to contemplate your death and how worthless your existence has been!" Orochimaru laughed maniacally until Sasuke's hand was thrust through his chest, spraying Naruto with blood and fragments of flesh. The chirping sound Chidori made slowly died away as Orochimaru slid off of Sasuke's forearm, falling face first onto the floor and dragging himself across the ground. "Kabuto... (Cough) I'm not through yet... (Weak chuckle) As long as I have... Kabuto...!" Orochimaru reached out to the shadows in front of him as somebody walked forward out of it. Kabuto was thrown face down onto the ground in front of Orochimaru with the expression of a gutted fish, wide eyed and gaping, blood flowing from his open mouth.
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen. Your fate is sealed, Orochimaru," Kakashi and Sakura stepped into view; both scraped and frayed from the battle.
"No... Noooo....," Orochimaru moaned sorrowfully, turning over. He seemed to see something bearing down upon him. He was no longer narrow eyed and frightening but sobbing and looked quite pitiful. Orochimaru started to back away from something none of the others could see, flailing his arms. The specter of his old mentor appeared before his eyes, white colorless eyes bore into Orochimaru's as he outstretched his hand. "No, no, nooo!!! Stay away from me! No, don't take me, SARUTOBI-SENSEI!!!" With his final shriek of terror, his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp in a pool of his own crimson blood.
It was like the air had been sucked from the room. For a moment, nobody said anything or moved a muscle, they could hardly dare to believe it was true; Orochimaru was now finally, dead. It wasn't until Naruto stumbled backwards and fell over that anybody moved.
"Naruto-kun?!" Sakura rushed over to Naruto's side, frantically looking for some mortal wound.
"Kakashi-sensei! Naruto's been poisoned by Orochimaru's jutsu, I don't know how much time he has left but you need to get him back to Konoha!" Sasuke said in the first show of concern for Naruto since before he left the village.
"Sensei! I can't remove it, we need Tsunade-sama!" Sakura said frantically. Naruto was still conscious, but he was weakening with every passing moment. Kakashi picked Naruto up, carrying him on his back.
"ANBU Black Ops are on their way for Orochimaru's body. Sakura, I want you to take Sasuke and find Sai, he's watching over Gai's team right now near the entrance. I'll take Naruto back to Tsunade, go!" Kakashi was gone in a puff of smoke, just as ANBU appeared on the scene, retrieving the bodies of Orochimaru and Kabuto.

(Two days later)
The situation seemed hopeless... Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, Ino, and a team of Konoha's finest medical ninja worked on extracting the venom from Naruto's body without sleeping. But after forty-eight hours of using jutsu after jutsu and seemingly endless reading, they were all exhausted and clean out of chakra. The poison turned out to be too fine to be flushed, filtered, or extracted, and though work was currently and fervently being done on developing an antidote, it wasn't likely to be finished in time. Sakura and Ino themselves were put under the hospital's care; both had succumbed to emotional breakdown and severe exhaustion. Godaime Hokage-sama, the Sannin Tsunade and her assistant Shizune stood over Naruto's body, only the steady beep of the heart monitor could be heard.
"Shizune....," Tsunade tried to speak but only managed a whisper, the weight of her words made Shizune wince.
"H-hai... Hokage-sama?"
Tsunade paused a moment, trying to lighten the load on her spirit for a moment so she could speak.
"Please, begin making funeral arrangements for Naruto Uzumaki....," She had barely gotten halfway through her sentence when Shizune began to sob into her hands.
"Ts-Tsunade-sama... We, we have to try once more, please, we-!"
"Shizune!" Shizune's sobbing ceased for a moment out of alarm. "We've tried, we just can't reverse the effects of Orochimaru's poison, I'm out of chakra, and Naruto will die in a manner of hours, maybe minutes... We've done all we could do. The least any of us can do now, is make sure he's put to rest a hero," Tsunade said clearly, though rivers of tears poured down her face out of Shizune's sight. "Now go." Shizune left the ward to start preparations for Naruto's funeral. Tsunade just stood there, lost in the feeling of helplessness... Damn that Orochimaru! Even though Orochimaru was dead, it seemed like he would have the last laugh. She was so distracted that she failed to notice the commotion coming from the hall.
“Wait, hold on a second, you can't go in there!" a hospital staff member attempted to bar the young heiress to the Hyuga Clan from Naruto's room.
"P-please! Get out of my way...! I must see him!"
"No, Ms.!"
The young dark haired girl narrowed her eyes, veins around her temple popped out as she delivered an incapacitating blow, running in past him.
"Hinata...?" Tsunade seemed vaguely aware of her presence before coming back to her senses. "Hinata! I'm sorry, but I can't permit you to stay!" Tsunade reached out to take Hinata by the shoulder.
"No! Stay back!" Hinata, normally shy and introverted had become assertive and even aggressive, slapping Tsunade's hand away, leaving Tsunade's arm numb and dangling.
"Iie... Leave me alone," Hinata said tearfully as she sat down next to Naruto. "Naruto-kun....?" She placed a hand on his face, which was already becoming quite cold. Tsunade found the scene almost more than she could bear; it was her greatest hope that she wouldn't have to be there when Hinata finds Naruto dead. At that precise moment, her fears came to be realized as Naruto flat lined, signaling the end of his life.
"Naruto-kun.... NARUTO-KUN!!!" Hinata shook him, but to no avail. "Iie!!" Out of frustration and misery, she slammed her tiny palm on Naruto's chest before melting into a sobbing heap over his body. It seemed to go on for hours before she was able to regain enough control over herself to speak. “I always-... I always loved you, Naruto-kun,” she said softly, having no energy left from crying. “I’m sorry, f-for not telling you sooner. I’ve watched you for a long time, you helped me become strong. When ever I watched you succeed or mess up, I felt like I could like myself more, like I could do anything I set my heart to... Yet I never had the strength to tell you how I felt...,” Hinata said sorrowfully as Tsunade was robbed of the last of her strength from this heartbreaking scene, falling to her knees and crying right along with her. "Good-bye, Naruto-kun...," Hinata closed her eyes, wishing she could follow him where ever he had gone to, even hoping she would if she stayed there long enough.
"Iiiiiteee..." someone moaned in the vicinity.
Hinata and Tsunade lifted their heads to see who had uttered, to find a pair of bright blue eyes looking back at them from half closed eyelids.
"Naruto-kun?!" Hinata shouted, throwing her arms around his neck, crying harder than ever. Tsunade struggled to her feet and leaned out into the hall.
"Sh-...Shizune! Come quick, it's Naruto! He's..." Shizune came in sobbing and shaking her head.
"Tsunade-sama! I won't accept it! He can't be dead, he just can'-...," she stopped crying for a moment to see that he had regained consciousness. "He's not dead...," and as though electricity was being run through their bodies, Tsunade and Shizune both ran over to Naruto's bed side while Hinata continued to sob into his shoulder.
"Tsunade O-baachan...? Where am I?" Naruto asked slowly as Shizune listened to his insides and checked his vitals on the monitor screens.
"You're in the hospital, Naruto. How do you feel?"
"My chest hurts a lot... And I'm a little tired... But I had the weirdest dream, -ttebayo. I could hear people talking about how I was going to die," Shizune suddenly broke down again, shaking with a mixture of grief and relief.
"H-h-h-he'll be j-just fine Tsunade-sama! His vitals are good and I-I-I don't hear anything abnormal in his heart or lungs," Shizune moaned.
"Shizune! Destroy that paperwork, I never want to see it again!" Tsunade shouted through her sobs.
"Right away, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune howled, pelting from the room and off to destroy Naruto's Death Certificate.
"I'm going to inform the others that you're all right!" Tsunade walked briskly from the room as
he turned to see Hinata, who had finally calmed down but was still clutching his shirt tightly.
"I... heard what you said... Hinata-chan," Naruto look up into her eyes. Hinata's pale and frightened face now had a bit of color returning to it, she averted her gaze.
"Naruto-kun...,"
"I had no idea you felt that way... Why didn't you ever tell me?" Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position, his eyes now fully opened and locked on hers.
"I... I suppose I just, didn't want to hear you say 'no'... I k-know how much you prefer Sakura Haruno, and I guess I just wanted you to choose me on your own," Hinata said quickly, as though if she stalled she might lose her nerve, her cheeks aflame and tears pooling in her eyes again.
"...I'm sorry, Hinata-chan. Through it all, you stayed behind me, even when I messed up big time, you believed in me," Naruto lowered his eyes, feeling like a moron for never noticing.
"...I'm glad you're okay, Naruto-kun... But I think I should go for now," Hinata rapidly began feeling foolish for saying anything. But she was stopped from getting out of her seat as Naruto had grabbed a hold of her hand, firmly but gently. Hinata looked shocked for a moment but allowed herself to be pulled back closer to Naruto. He leaned forward to meet her half way and placed his lips gently on hers. Naruto noticed how soft and warm they were, but also how they were pressed rather tightly together for a moment before relaxing and fitting themselves against him.
"Naruto-kun....? Wh-what...?" Hinata stared wide-eyed at the blond haired boy, the color in her face intensifying with each passing second.
Naruto smiled gently at her, cupping her burning cheek in his hand. "I don't know why it took me so long to notice how important you are to me, Hinata. Yeah, I liked Sakura-chan, but she's into Sasuke, and I'm tired of being treated like an annoyance. But I think... I know that I've come to like you more, dattebayo!" Naruto grinned wide at Hinata who sat stunned. "...Tell you what, once I'm back to a 100%, I'll take you for some Ichiraku, my treat. What do you say, willing to give me a chance...?"
Hinata let the full force of what was happening soak in, causing her face to scrunch up and tears to roll down her blushing face again. "Hai! Naruto, I'd love to!" She gripped him in a bone crushing hug that threatened to snap his ribs.
(Naruto: Hinata-chan! You're gonna break me in half, dattebayoooo!)
Tsunade had brought Kakashi, Jiraiya, Gai, Yamato, Iruka, and Kurenai to see Naruto but they had all decided to watch the pair of them have their moment, and just stood in the door way.
"Naruto....," Kakashi whispered to himself, relieved that he was okay.
Gai stood next to him on crutches, looking a little beat up but in good spirits. "You're student's strong, Kakashi... He survived that fight with Orochimaru... And... It seems he's found a bit of true happiness. Youthful love! I-it's.....SO beautiful!" Gai gushed, sobbing dramatically into his forearm.
"Baka! Don't go getting worked up on me! Opening Six Chakra Gates once is foolish enough! But three times in one day?! You're lucky to be alive!" Tsunade growled, pulling Gai by the ear. (Gai: Ite-te-te-teeeee!)
"How'd Naruto survive though? Was it the Kyubi?" Iruka said looking at his peers.
"From what it sounds like, it was Hinata's doing," Kakashi said. The others all turned their faces towards him, and not waiting for someone to ask how, he continued, "You see, when Tsunade tried to take Hinata away, she involuntarily used her Gentle Fist technique... It seems that in her distress she wasn't stemming the flow of chakra to her hands. So when she hit Naruto on the chest, her chakra must've been forced into his body and thinned the poison clogging his chakra network."
"If that was the case why didn't it work when we treated him though?" Tsunade asked Kakashi. His smile was visible through his mask...
"It wasn't that alone... I don't believe anyone but Hinata would've been able to save him," Kakashi as well as the others all watched the young couple, as though remembering something important they had once forgotten...

(Two years later)
It's been nearly three years since the fall of Otogakure and the death of Orochimaru. With most of Akatsuki destroyed and disbanded (Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigake, Pain, and the mysterious 'Tobi' still at large), it was like some dark shroud had been lifted. For the first time since the reign of Hashirama Senju, a real sense of peace had descended not just on Hi no Kuni, but much of the world as well. With the alliance between Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Konohagakure, the world had become a much safer place for all. Now, the time of rebirth had come and nowhere was this truer than in the Hidden Leaf Village. The great Sannin Tsunade, 5th Lord Hokage, stood before her large office window. Lately, due to the peaceful times, the pile of S, A, and B ranked missions had all but disappeared, causing the rate of easier missions to increase a considerable amount.
"I trust you can handle it... I've decided to send them out of the Fire Country to take on some of these D and C rank missions," Tsunade brought out a folder containing the current statistics of all the available ninja and set it on her desk.
"Do you have any teams in mind, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked looking through the papers.
“I’ll leave that up to you, I've got my plate full at the moment. But I do have a special task for Hinata and Naruto-”
“Ah-eee! The two of them, alone?!” Shizune squawked, losing herself to shock.
“Is that a problem? I think the pair of them are more than enough to gather some herbs from the Tea Country. Shikaku Nara is running low on herbs for medicine, which unfortunately we need,” Tsunade turned around to see Shizune staring at her feet with a slight crimson hue coloring her cheeks.
“What is it, Shizune?”
“Well... Ano... It’s just that, letting them go alone, is that... really a good idea?” Shizune muttered uncomfortably, Tsunade failed to see what she was trying to hint at.
“Are you going soft in the head with me? This mission is child’s play and I won’t hear any more of your nonsense, Shizune!”
“Iie, iie! I just mean to say... Ano, they are in love and seventeen...”
“So ka?” Tsunade demanded, growing impatient. Shizune’s face went a deeper shade of scarlet as she muttered something barely audible.
“ What if they... Become, um, intimate with each other?”
Tsunade fell backwards, screaming with mirth at these words, finding them absolutely absurd. Shizune’s reaction went from embarrassed to slightly indignant. “Tsunade-sama!”
“Oh, Shizune... You’re afraid of that? They've been dating for years and the poor girl still can't kiss Naruto without half-fainting, I doubt she’d be able to retain consciousness long enough for him to remove his jacket. Besides, they wouldn’t even know what to do with ‘it’ or even how to do ‘it’,” Tsunade finished dismissively, wiping tears off her cheeks. “Shizune! I don’t want to hear another word about it! Just please do what I’ve asked while I fill out this paper work.” Tsunade said suddenly firm as she saw Shizune open her mouth to make further protest.
“Hai, Tsunade-sama! Come, Tonton,” Shizune said to a small pig near her ankles. (Tonton: Bui...)
Tsunade continued to chortle and shake her head as Shizune’s words floated in and out of her mind. Perhaps if it was another teenage couple, such a worry could be valid... Even so, so what?! It wasn't as if they were little kids anymore... She straightened up all the loose papers on her desk before calling a young Jonin into her office, “Kotetsu, I need to see you for a moment.” A man with wild black hair and cloth bandages wrapped around his head and over the bridge of his nose, appeared before Tsunade. “You heard everything then, Kotetsu Hagane?” She asked mildly, not making eye contact but resumed with the organizing of her papers.
“Hai, Tsunade-sama!”
“Good, you know who to bring to my office then.”
“Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. I’ll summon them here right away,” Kotetsu walked briskly from the office and set out to find the pair, it was rare these days to find one without the other nearby.

“Irasshaimase! Ah, hey there, Naruto!” Teuchi Ichiraku, the old man who ran the ramen stand greeted Naruto with his usual jovial smile.
“Hey, old man! Mmm, the ramen smells great today!” Naruto said as he happily inhaled the aroma of simmering Tonkatsu Ramen.
“And Miss Hinata, good to see you as well. How is old Hiashi doing these days?” Teuchi asked the timid dark haired girl that followed Naruto inside.
“Oh, he’s doing well, Teuchi-san. He seems much happier with having work to do, it’s been a long time since he received a mission,” Hinata said gently, taking a seat next to Naruto.
“Che. He’s still as stern as ever I'll bet.” Hinata giggled slightly at these words. “So what can I get you two?”
“One extra large tonkatsu ramen, old man! And give it the works, hehe!” Naruto said, his mouth going slightly numb with anticipation.
“Coming right up. You must have a long day of training ahead then, huh?” Teuchi began kneading the dough for the noodles.
“You bet! Hinata and I have been working really hard so we can apply for the Jonin exams in a few months,” Naruto beamed.
“Oh, really?! I’m happy for the two of you.”
“Mhm! Naruto-kun’s been helping me a lot, but I must admit that the training regiment gives me a big appetite,” she blushed slightly saying this, as any demure young lady would, but Teuchi just smiled over the counter at her.
“Well in that case, I’ll give it some extra egg and pork, on me.”
“Really?! Thanks, old-” Naruto was cut short as Kotetsu Hagane walked in.
“Irasshaimase, Kotetsu-san. What can I get you?” Teuchi said looking up at him.
“Nothing for me today, I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment,” Kotetsu said very businesslike as a confused Naruto and Hinata looked at him. “Naruto-san, Hinata-san, Hokage-sama requests to see you in her office immediately.”
“Agh! Can’t it wait till we at least eat lunch, -ttebayo?” Naruto whined.
“No, I’m sorry but it can’t,” Kotetsu said flatly.
“Is it really that important?”
“....,” Kotetsu merely stared at him sternly and said nothing.
“All right, let’s go Hinata. Tsunade O-baachan needs us for something. Sorry for running out on you like this, old man,” Naruto said standing up.
“No problem, I’ll make a fresh batch for you when you get back,” Teuchi said as Kotetsu lead them out of the ramen stand.
As Naruto and Hinata were lead into Tsunade’s office, they found her gazing out her window with her hands gently clasped together behind her back. She always did this when waiting for someone to show up.
“I’ve brought them, Tsunade-sama,” Kotetsu said with a courteous bow.
“Very good. Arigato, Kotetsu-san, that’ll be all,” Tsunade said sitting down at her desk as Kotetsu left. “Before you say anything, I just want to apologize for the abruptness of this summons, Naruto.”
“Yeah, why don’t ya tell me what’s so important that we have to miss lunch for!?” Naruto demanded in his usual brash manner. Hinata stayed quiet as she always did when Naruto got this way, even after years of watching them argue like brother and sister it made Hinata tense, Tsunade was still the Hokage, after all.
“I’m sending the pair of you out to the Tea Country. Shikaku-san is short on medicinal plants and I want you to go and gather some,” Tsunade said, peering up at him from behind her interlocked fingers.
“Well if Shikamaru’s dad needs more herbs for medicine, send him!” Naruto exclaimed.
“Shikamaru is out on a mission of his own with Choji and Tenten! Now I’m asking you and Hinata to do this,” Tsunade growled back at him. It always got her blood boiling whenever Naruto whined like this, like a little kid being told to go do his homework.
“I-it’s okay, Hokage-sama... We’ll go and get the things Shikaku-san needs,” Hinata said softly. Naruto looked over at her who received a pointed look in return. Despite how meek she seemed most of the time, Hinata had the overwhelming talent of quelling Naruto’s hotheaded-ness with a simple look.
He turned back to Tsunade with a sort of defeated note in his voice, “Hai hai, just tell us what herbs to get and we’ll bring them back.”
“Excellent! I’ve made up a list of the plants you and Hinata will need to gather,” Tsunade said crisply as she unrolled a roughly three foot long scroll of rice paper. Naruto looked on, stunned to the point of silence as Hinata read down the long list of items.
“B-b-but, Hokage-sama... These... I mean, these herbs are found only in a few locations, it’d take even the two of us days to... To do what you’re asking us,” Hinata breathed nervously, staring down at the ground.
“Well, actually I know where most of this stuff grows... But the stuff like the Blue Sage, Elderflower, Hazel, Reishi, and Renshen we’ll have a hard time with, unless we wanna buy it. And those kind of herbs don’t come cheap, dattebayo,” Naruto said evenly as he looked more closely at the list. Due to his extensive traveling, Naruto knew every rock and blade of grass from the edge of Amegakure to the border of Kumogakure.
“True. And Hinata’s Byakugan, despite how powerful, wouldn’t be much help in finding those rare roots and shrubs. So I shall lend you Tonton,” Tsunade said as she placed an undisclosed amount of ryo on the desk. “This is money to stay at a hotel of a reasonable price. I can’t afford to give you more than this so please spend it wisely, Naruto. Anything more than this will have to come out of your own pocket, wakaru ka?”
“Yeah yeah, I hear ya, Tsunade O-baachan,” Naruto said nodding to show he understood, taking the money and placing it in his pocket.
“Good! You two be careful out there, oh, and one more thing...,” Naruto and Hinata paused at the door waiting for Tsunade to finish. “Yaru to seiai no de nai,” Tsunade said in a jostling tone that held no trace of reservation. No sooner had the words left her mouth than did the chaos follow.
Hinata went from chalk to magenta in the blink of an eye and teetered on the edge of collapse, giving an embarrassed squeak, “Hokage-sama....!”
“Tsunade O-baachan! I-iie... N-n-now hold on a sec!!” Naruto sputtered.
“Calm down, I’m only kidding,” Tsunade said with a huge fake sigh, they seemed to come back from the brink, and before she could stop herself, “You can if you really want to.” Hinata seemed horrified at the idea, though she couldn’t help but blush, where as Naruto seemed decisively indignant that Tsunade would bring up such a subject. After a brief bout of Naruto demanding Tsunade lay off the teasing and Tsunade making a few rude insinuations about Naruto’s masculinity, Shizune had come in with Tonton and set the two on their way. But for some reason Tsunade’s words still reverberated loudly in the back of Hinata’s mind. The way she said it, it was like she expected it to happen... Hinata’s gaze fixed on her exposed toes poking out from her tactical sandals, until what seemed like hours later when Naruto nudged her.
“Something the matter, Hinata?” Naruto asked her, concerned, yet a soft smile stayed ever present on his lips.
“Well... I...,” It had been a while since she paused like this to gather her thoughts. She remembered a time when a single sentence became no more than five short fragments. She felt shy and incredibly uncomfortable, the way she used to feel. “It’s just... What do you think...? Wh-what do you think Tsunade-sama meant by what she said...?” Hinata said, going red again as Naruto’s face twisted into another indignant frown.
“Che... She’s just a crazy old pervert like Ero-sennin. Like I’m surprised...,”
“B-but, do you think she... Do you think she expects us to... To...,” She stopped walking and looked to the side as Naruto turned around and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Oi, oi, don’t let her get to you, Hinata... She was just teasing us, -ttebayo,” Naruto saw that this had little effect on her and adopted a more serious tone. “Hinata, there isn’t any need to worry about it. Now, I don’t understand much myself, but this is how I remember Kakashi-sensei explaining it to us,”

(Four and a half years prior)
“All right you three, today we have a sort of special lesson,” Kakashi said cheerily. The day was a bright and garish late spring afternoon. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke followed Kakashi as he took them to a grassy patch under some white Sakura Trees.
“So what’s this special lesson...? If it’s something stupid like 'group-meditation'
then forget it,” Sasuke said coldly.
“Yeah, come to think of it, I don’t get it either, Kakashi-sensei. I mean, what d’you want us to do? Count cherry blossoms?” Naruto asked in his usual oblivious manner.
“Well, actually it does have something to do with the cherry blossoms, yes,” Kakashi said gently with a smile wide enough it was visible even under his mask.
“So, then what about them, sensei? They just look like ordinary blossoms to me,” Sakura stated plainly as she caught a falling petal in her open palm.
“It’s a ‘special’ lesson in the sense that it has nothing to do with combat. This is one of those ‘life lessons’ that is my burden to teach you as your sensei. And since you’re the only team to have ever passed my test, I’m rather ill prepared for this and I hope you’ll bear with me,” Kakashi said to a totally attentive Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. “First off, can any of you tell me the difference between the male and female body?”
“I can, sensei,” Sakura said raising her hand; Kakashi prompted her with a nod. “Well, the male body type is usually of a much broader form because of a naturally larger muscle structure. The female body tends to be slimmer but with wider hips for bearing children.” She said all of this with the tone of someone who memorized it out of a book by heart.
“Okay, then can you tell me exactly ‘how’ children are made?” Kakashi sounded a little uneasy now, but taking no notice of the slight tremor in his sensei’s voice Naruto’s hand shot up in the air.
“Oh, oh! I know, I know! I asked Iruka-sensei this question once, and he went really red in the face and told me, that babies are delivered by giant white birds that stuff ‘em down the chimneys of houses, haha, believe it!” Naruto said this so quickly it that it stunned Kakashi silent.
“That’s not how it’s done you moron...,” Sasuke sneered, smirking and began to give his own explanation. “When a woman gets married to a man-” (“This is it...”) Thought Kakashi as Sasuke went on. “-the night on their wedding day, the baby begins to grow inside the woman, after the husband’s ancestors place a seed inside her stomach during the night. Simple,” Sasuke finished with his usual arrogant grin.
“Sorry, but all of you got it wrong. Although to be fair, Sasuke’s explanation was much closer to the truth,” Kakashi said, turning to the blossoms again. A few honeybees visited the flowers, collecting pollen and spreading it to the other blossoms. “Women, like you Sakura, are much like these flowers. While men, like Naruto and Sasuke are like these bees. And just like them, men and women combine in a very special way. It’s only then that children are possible.”
“I don’t think I get it yet. You make it sound like a guy has to get inside a girl somehow...,” Naruto said scratching his head.
“Well, that’s because, that's exactly what has to happen,” Kakashi said as Sasuke and Sakura both looked up at him.
“Oh yeah, and how is that?” Naruto asked sardonically, pressing Kakashi on, who was finding it more and more difficult to make them understand without being explicit.
“It’s all got to do with what makes you a boy, Naruto. Think about the place it hurts the most to be hit in...,” Kakashi said putting an emphasis on the word ‘boy’. Naruto’s eyes widened as he instinctively sat cross legged with sudden realization. “That’s right. Now, girls don’t have that, their bodies are different. In that same area, they have...um, a sort sheath if you will, that extends upwards into their bodies. Both those parts of the body must come together. This act is more tastefully referred to as ‘love making’, but to be perfectly blunt, it’s called ‘sex’,” though Kakashi’s voice didn’t waver, his one uncovered cheek was rapidly turning crimson.
“I see... So, in order to have children, a man and woman must have ‘sex’...?” Sakura said under her breath as Kakashi nodded.
“That’s how the ‘seed’ is really placed inside of a woman. Not dead relatives,” Kakashi said beaming at the three of them, happy that they understood now. “But it isn’t something you can force to happen. Unlike other species, this act to us humans, is a very private and special matter. There is more to it than just the physical aspect and you’ll know when the time is right and who the right person is. Just don’t be in too much of a rush to find out,” Kakashi finished with a relieved sigh, now that the lesson was over.
“Wow... Then you must’ve had sex a bunch of times, huh, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto said jumping to his feet, totally unaware of the meaning behind what he was saying. “So who was the last right person?” He continued on innocently ignorant.
“NARUTO!” Sakura screamed as she began to pummel Naruto’s face with her fists. Kakashi merely shrugged, turning to Sasuke.
“Just tell him when she’s done, ‘That’s no one’s business but mine.’”

“ So, it’s not something two people do just because, they have to feel it. What that feeling is, I’m not exactly sure on. But I think we’ll know one day, dattebayo,” Naruto said to Hinata, who’s face was the color of brick now. “Anyway, we should probably focus on this mission before anything else. That way it’ll keep Tsunade O-baachan off our backs,” He didn’t seem to notice that his explanation had only further flustered her, but this simple statement seemed sufficient enough to bring her back to her senses.
“O-oh, um, right!” Hinata said regaining the ability to breathe again. They took to the trees again, moving ahead in short bursts of speed to cut down on time. And yet, Hinata’s mind was still being endlessly nagged by the thought. Why exactly it bothered her was a source of many roots, reasons she had never really considered and found coming to terms with them on her own impossible...

[End of chapter 1. Just as a note, I've noticed how few my reviews have been, so I've decided to carve up the story. I hope this will inspire people to leave me comments. Hope you've enjoyed it thus far. ^ ^]