A small crack in perfection

A small crack in perfection
By eternalshiva

Disclaimer –
I do not own Naruto or its characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto nor do I make any monies off this fan fiction.

AN – *Emerges out of the darkness* Lookie a long ass chapter! And it’s disgusting fluffy – Never again will a chapter be this sickly sweet, enjoy it while you can! Thought I’d give you guys a break from all the emo lately. *Sinks back into the darkness*

Thank you Juopunumies and Perpetual159 for the beta, I appreciate it.

Chapter 10
Taste the Rainbow

There was a strange, awkward silence that hung in the air and stung the skin. Naruto closed his eyes and pushed off from the wall while Hinata recovered some of her dignity. Unfortunately, he didn’t get very far. Her fingers were still tangled in his shirt, demanding his closeness. It was very clear that she was not ready to let go, and her sudden insecurity surprised him.

“Hanabi, wh-wh-what are you doing here?” She barely managed to squeeze out her question.

She tugged at Naruto’s shirt to stop his retreat; the need to hide herself from her sister’s prying eyes was almost overwhelming. Disregarding her unusually shy behaviour, he allowed her uncertainty to pull him forward. She pressed his T-shirt against her lips, gripping the fabric into her small fists. His body automatically leaned into hers, making her fingers relax, but she still kept him close - he was her willing hostage. He leaned his chin against her temple and settled his gaze on the younger sibling.

“Like I said, you forgot your purse in the car, so...” Hanabi purposefully allowed the rest of her sentence to remain unsaid. She then crossed her arms, leaning her weight from one foot to the next. “What’s, ah... going on in here?” The smirk betrayed her suggested obliviousness to the situation; it was more than obvious.

Unfortunately for the eldest sister, the younger one had the terrible habit of making her uncomfortable for her own amusement.

“We were discussing the meaning of flowers,” Naruto suggested quite suddenly.

Hinata had yet to utter a word in response and the long pause of silence was getting uncomfortable.

“Ah.” Hanabi nodded quite seriously, her index wrapped around her chin. “Would I be able to participate in this most informative conversation?” she asked innocently. “Being that I'm your assistant, dear sister, I need to be kept informed of our company's endeavours.”

She was too clever for her own good. The priceless expression on her sister's face was worth every uncomfortable second she risked being disowned by the Heiress.

Hinata just stared, still unable to form the words for a coherent sentence to rebuke the question.

“How very considerate of you, Miss Hyuuga,” Naruto voiced, feeling Hinata's fist tighten its grip against his chest, “but I'm afraid this discussion is not open for the participation of third parties.”

Hanabi sighed, feigning disappointment before they both grinned, becoming instant collaborators in an evil scheme to torture the flabbergasted Heiress. A little hmph escaped Hinata's lips, and it was then when they realized that their jig was up. She wasn’t about to idly stand there and put up with this little farce at her expense.

“Th-thank you for bringing my purse,” she mumbled quickly against Naruto’s chest, exasperated that she couldn’t keep that particular habit under control. In her recent self-discovery, one of the first things Hinata learned was that stuttering had plagued her since childhood, and, by the looks of it, this inconvenient habit was making a strong comeback, determined to humiliate her at the most inopportune moments. Ignoring Naruto’s chuckle at her slip, she tried to get the creeping, fiery blush under control before pressing her palms firmly against his chest and pushing him back lightly. She avoided making eye contact, fearing she would lose all resolve if she dared to look into those blue pools.

She felt his hand steady her at the elbow as she made every attempt to look dignified while walking towards her sister. But her efforts were in vain. Her hair was a complete mess, never mind the fact that part of her shirt was un-tucked.

Hanabi burst out laughing, hard and without restraint, while pointing at her own blouse. Hinata’s gaze landed on the white trim of her blouse, and, to her dismay, she found two undone buttons. Hinata narrowed her eyes and looked accusingly at the instigator. He only chuckled sheepishly, shrugging in feigned innocence. She evenly divided the time she spent glaring at them, tucking in her shirt and grumbling threats under her breath. Naruto tried to not smile by pressing his lips together, but it didn't help him any. Quite the contrary, actually. His attempts at playing it innocent - not to mention the mischievous glint in his eyes - made him look horrendously guilty.

Hinata felt a little frazzled. When did he get the chance to unbutton her blouse, let alone un-tuck it? She didn’t even realize he had touched her there. And thus, Hinata decided that he was dangerous to her senses. As soon as he invaded her personal space, her sensibility blurred and the world around her disappeared, fading until he was the only thing that remained.

Her brows pinched in a frown and there was a change in her step as she nearly stomped toward her sister. She snatched the purse from Hanabi’s languid fingers and huffed out a "Thank you" before marching right back to Naruto. She still had that particular look on her face and he wondered if he should tactfully retreat to his room and stay there until Konohamaru showed up the next morning.

Might be the safest option...

He didn’t get too far with his plan, however. Hinata had already pushed the ottoman aside, making enough room to let her small figure through, and disappeared behind the bedroom door. He caught her eyes before she dutifully shut herself in with a resounding thunk.

He knew that look. He knew it well.

He sighed and shook his head. All the women in his life had given him that look at one point or another, but he just didn’t expect Hinata to give it to him so soon.

“Oh, dear.” Hanabi, on the other hand, was far from distressed. She wiped at a tear that had escaped while she hysterically laughed at her sister’s strange retreat. “I think we may have upset her, Naruto.”

He glanced away from the wood panels of the door and looked at the other woman, scratching behind his right ear absentmindedly, contemplating how he’d managed to get into the doghouse again.

“Yeah...” As a prankster, he had cleared his mind of all warning bells when he took Hanabi’s invitation to participate in the tease. “We went too far, I think.”

“No,” she assured the blond, “she’s mad with me, mostly.”

That last little bit wasn’t missed by him and he groaned. Just as things were finally starting to look up for him, he had to put his foot in his mouth with an idiotic grin.

Hanabi took her shoes off and walked towards him, eyes glinting with amusement.

“She gave me that look, though,” he mumbled dejectedly as he pointed at the door, sceptical, and heard a noise behind the wooden panes that resembled something close to an agreement on Hinata’s part.

Hanabi shrugged and walked past him towards the kitchen. “She’ll get over it; she’s just annoyed I interrupted.”

Her voice was muffled by the sound of water and the thick walls that separated them. With Hanabi in the other room, Naruto sighed in relief. Out of nowhere, he was strangely having a very difficult time hiding the flush of his cheeks. He gave the door a longing look and barely knocked on it. His knuckles then dragged slowly down the wood and he frowned slightly.

“Hinata?” he whispered; her name was quiet in his ears, but he knew she heard him. The door opened, providing a crack large enough for her to shyly look at him. Her fingers wrapped around the door edge and she waited for him to speak.

Naruto's breath suddenly hitched. There was something unexpectedly beautiful about the way she was tinged with pink, her eyes shy and her bottom lip abused from her uncertainty. He reached out and let his fingers lightly touch her fingers on the door in comfort. Her gaze followed the movement and she gave him a small, reassuring smile. Naruto couldn’t help but think of how warm they were compared to his.

There was something soothing about her, he couldn’t quite say what exactly, but she calmed him despite his nervousness. It was like the world Hinata was offering him was like water to an unquenchable thirst, and with a sudden fierceness, he couldn’t imagine what his life had been without her. When he tried, he discovered that it was boring and tinged with grey.

It was then that he realized he couldn’t screw this up; he wouldn’t allow himself to.

“I’m sorry about what I just said. I mean it,” he whispered, only loud enough for her to hear. His blue eyes had darkened - or maybe it was her imagination? - as they swept over her face and she felt a delicious wave of heat where ever they looked. Her heart was beating hard again and she found herself far too aware of him. Focusing on him before nodding, she pulled the door open, widening the space that kept them separated.

Naruto was relieved when she moved towards him, glad to know she had forgiven his prank, but her next action left him a little confused. Her fingers wrapped themselves in his, enveloping his skin like velvet. Her small feet stopped between his and tip toed her body upwards.

Hinata kissed him tenderly, and the silky feeling of her lips on his set his senses on overdrive. He felt her tongue slip slightly between his lips, and, before he could respond properly, she broke the intimate contact, stepping back into her room. She sighed, satisfied, and pressed her fingertips against her mouth; he could see the smile lingering.

“I just wanted to know if it really was lemon,” she whispered as she started to close her door. “Good night, Naruto.”

The door clicked shut, and the blond let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was dumbstruck; he could only stare as his brain processed the second assault from the petite woman.

"Lemon?" His mind was buzzing with a strange sensation.

“Oh...” His fingers touched his lips, the heat of her kiss lingering, the feel of her tongue still burning his, “right... the skittles.”

* * *

A small hand struck her, and she pushed the offending body part from her face. Hinata sat up, groggy from an uncomfortable night of sleep. She stretched and poked Hanabi, trying to stir her awake. The younger sister swatted her fingers away, a grumbled “go away, just five more minutes” slurred in Hinata's direction.

There was a loud clang of pans that startled her, and she sighed when she realised Hanabi had left the bedroom door open when she crawled into bed with her the night before. Her gaze crossed the hallway and landed in Naruto's room. She figured that he'd probably been up for a while, considering the bed was made and the door was wide open. Hanabi stirred, stealing the blankets from her, mumbling something about letting the cold in, making Hinata shake her head.

She stood up from the bed, pulled on a robe, and made her way towards the kitchen where the sounds grew louder. She could hear Naruto speaking, but the specifics were lost in the clanking noises and the sound of rushing water. She peeked around the entrance and watched him - he was filling the tea kettle while speaking on his cell - and suddenly she grew nervous. Her forwardness from the previous night hadn't really sunk in until just now, and, to her misfortune, she couldn't figure out a way to casually greet him without probably making a fool of herself.

"Good morning, Hinata."

His voice sliced through her inner battle of nerves and indecision, making her look at him, startled. He grinned at her, a light flush on his cheeks. She smiled at him, realising that he was just as nervous.

"You are making tea?" Hanabi strolled in behind her, startling both of them.

"Yeah, you mentioned you liked tea." Naruto returned to his phone conversation.

Hinata gave her sister a strange look. Hanabi's indifferent response was that of a shrug as she walked past her and sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Hinata followed her sister and joined her; she had a few questions for the little troublemaker.

Naruto put two cups before the sisters and pointed at the coffee, eyeing Hinata in a silent question. She nodded. He poured her a cup, pulled out the tea container from one of the cupboards and placed it by Hanabi; she thanked him before he made his way out of the kitchen to give the girls some privacy and avoid interrupting them with his call.

Hinata sipped the warm liquid, wondering what exactly had happened after she had gone to bed.

"Why are you still here?" She put down her cup, wrapping her fingers around the porcelain, seeking the warmth.

Hanabi glanced at her, busy stirring the tea bag as she let out a strange giggle. "I stayed up for a while with Naruto discussing the contract." She turned her attention towards her eldest sister and smiled. "It was an opportune time, since he was awake."

Hinata felt another blush creeping up.

"Plus, I'm supposed to meet with his associate today." She brought the cup to her lips and took a small sip, discovering the tea to be far too hot. "Naruto suggested I stay here since it was getting quite late and Konohamaru will be meeting me here."

"That's the only reason?" Hinata eyed her sister suspiciously.

Hanabi didn't even bother hiding her mischievous little grin. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

Hinata let out this little hum, her eyes narrowing when her sister began to giggle again. When she opened her mouth to call her sly sister on her devious little plan, she heard shuffling sounds coming from the kitchen entrance.

"Ah, sorry to interrupt." Naruto flicked his cell shut and dropped it in his shirt pocket.

At the sound of keys jingling, Hinata noticed the large rolled up pieces of paper he held under an arm.

"I have to bring these to Kiba for a second opinion and I have to deal with some problems back at the office."

"When will Konohamaru arrive?" Hanabi cut in before Hinata could answer him.

Naruto's gaze left Hinata and focused on the younger sister. "Probably another hour or so, though I'm not sure I'll be back before then." His gaze shifted to Hinata again, and he smiled at her. "Well, I'll -"

"Why don't you walk him to the door, Hinata?" Hanabi took another sip of her tea nonchalantly.

Hinata almost choked on her coffee. Coughing painfully, she shot the younger Hyuuga a dirty look, but her threat was ineffective, since Hanabi was completely ignoring her. Naruto shook his head, chuckling, and walked away from the kitchen. Hinata followed after Naruto, and just as she prepared to give her sister another this-isn't-over glare, she was distracted by the feel of his fingers sneaking inside her hand and wrapping themselves around hers.

She blinked, feeling his hand tug her along towards the door. She didn’t resist, allowing her steps to fall soundlessly next to his. She glanced towards his face; his expression was relaxed, almost sleepy, and - as though he could feel her watching - he met her gaze, smiling when she blushed lightly.

This was more like the girl he remembered. That endearing, everlasting blush that he never understood back then was now a compliment to him. He squeezed her hand lightly before turning towards her when they reached the entrance.

“Don’t be so nervous around me,” he requested in a whisper before she felt his lips on her cheek. "I don't bite too hard." He winked at her and stepped outside. She wasn't quite sure how to react to that so she did the only thing she discovered she was good at around him: blush and stutter. Her sentence was a jumble that made Naruto bark out a laugh and kiss her cheek again.

“I’ll be back soon.” He waved to her, and shifted his gaze beyond hers. "And you! Don't harass her too much!"

Hinata heard another onslaught of giggles that made her ears burn.

"What a valiant protector," her sister's musical voice drifted down the hall.

Hinata turned towards the offending sound, only to see the instigator leaning against the frame of the kitchen entrance, watching her. “Again, why are you still here?”

Hanabi didn't answer her; the younger sibling only raised a brow and smirked, watching in amusement as Hinata threw her hands up in the air, sighing in defeat and disappearing into her room to change.

She wouldn’t have missed this for anything; the transformation was incredible. For once, Hanabi was in complete agreement with her cousin’s plans and she had to make sure to give him a full report the next time she saw him.

* * *

Naruto stepped off the elevator, relieved somewhat to be on familiar grounds, and headed straight towards his office. As much as he liked being at Hinata's, he could get some work done here at a faster rate. He absently wondered where Akamaru was, missing the mutt's usual greeting at the elevator. He pushed the stray thought away when he heard voices.

It didn't take long for him to realise that Kiba was speaking with Shikamaru down the hall. The memory of promising to meet with them yesterday fluttered in at the back of his mind, and he repressed the urge to groan. He had entirely forgotten, his mind entirely focused on Hinata and the mess he'd managed to get himself into. It wasn't like him to forget meetings, especially important ones.

Worst part of forgetting this particular meeting was the fact that it was a Compromised Network Meeting - full of information, jargon and examples he couldn't dream of understanding. Put it in landscape terminology and he was your man... but computers... just the thought of it made him cringe. Kiba hadn't gone into too many details over what happened, but he knew it was something major, considering White Snake had sent a team over almost instantaneously when Kiba hacked off the server lines like a cave man.

"... can't believe they would go that far. I knew there was more to it than just stealing Naruto's landscaping designs; the security programs are too complex to be used for that purpose."

Naruto stopped short of his office and listened in. Something about Shikamaru's monotone voice nearly lulled him to sleep on his feet.

'Dear god, I'm not gonna make it through this meeting if Shikamaru reports the whole damned thing to me.'

Mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of sleep inducing boredom, he was interrupted by a strange squeak he wasn't familiar with, annoyingly grinding on his nerves.

'That better not be my chair making that sound...' he thought irritably before stepping inside the office. He was greeted with the bark of Akamaru and Kiba's feet on his desk.

"Speaking of the devil!" Kiba exclaimed happily when the door to the office busted open and a mop of blond hair strolled in. He watched Naruto's happy expression slowly turn into a scowl. Kiba felt nervous all of a sudden.

Noticing the strange tilt in Kiba's sitting position, Naruto narrowed his eyes, his face pinched oddly. Kiba straightened out, trying to un-tilt the chair.

'Fuck...' Kiba knew he was eyeballs-deep in shit and there was no way around it.

"About time you showed up." Kiba grinned at him, completely ignoring the threats dripping off his boss. He wanted to defend himself in regards to the chair, but, lucky for him, there were more pressing matters and this wasn't the time. He shrugged when Naruto shot him a what-the-fuck-happened-here glare.

Shikamaru sighed, sensing the tension between the two idiots. The bored sigh seemed to have snapped them out of their inner monologue battle, and Naruto motioned for Kiba to get out from behind his desk.

"Sorry, I got side-tracked. What's going on?"

"I bet you did." Kiba stood up and walked around the desk.

The dog lover had that grin again, Naruto noticed, like he knew something the blond was completely oblivious to. Oh, how he hated that grin.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto was irked; he felt like the butt of some joke. This only made Kiba snicker and pretend he had no idea what Naruto was talking about.

Shikamaru shook his head lightly, wondering whatever possessed him to accept this new contract.

"If you two twiddle-dums are done, I'd like to get this show on the road."

Naruto and Kiba looked at Shikamaru, both of them surprised by the sudden authoritative tone the lazy technician used to bring them back to the topic at hand.

They both apologised, but continued to snicker and glare.

"Now," Shikamaru cut in before Naruto decided to throttle Kiba into a coma for that last hand motion that specifically told Naruto what he thought about his threats, "lets discuss my findings."

Naruto placed the blue prints of his tentative designs on his desk before sitting down. The chair moved and tilted, made a high pitched squeak that indicated something was broken beyond repair. He shot Kiba a glare, but the dog owner only shrugged and ignored the choked snort of anger sputtering out of his boss.

"What exactly are those findings?" Naruto focused on Shikamaru, finally.

Surprised by the seriousness, Shikamaru leaned forward, his elbows hitting the top of the desk. He considered the ways he could dumb down the technical terms so that he didn't need to continuously repeat himself.

"It looks like they're using your network to get to a bigger prize. From what I could see, they're piggy-backing through you and doing damage elsewhere."

Naruto closed his eyes with dread. He didn't like where this was headed. "Do you know where they're attacking?"

Shikamaru nodded. "By the looks of things, and from what I could trace back to them, they're making it seem like your company is breaking into the city's systems and bank accounts."

Naruto wasn't sure he heard him quite right and must've asked several times to repeat that last bit. It must have been too much since Kiba had to pick up where Shikamaru left off, repeating it at least half a dozen times more, quite irritably, mind you. What happened next was expected, and Kiba was already prepared - Naruto's reaction to those sorts of things was pretty predictable, after all.

"What the fuck! This wasn't urgent enough for you to call me directly?" He was pissed. No, scratch that. He was beyond pissed! He couldn't believe the level of irresponsibility from his staff, failing to report this to him immediately was... was... "Arg!" he yelled, standing up and throwing his hands up in the air. He was at a loss for words and began to walk like a caged lion.

Kiba chuckled and Shikamaru waited for Naruto to calm down before continuing, but he should have known better. Kiba couldn't resist sadistically jabbing at Naruto when he was all worked up like this.

"Will you calm down for two minutes and listen to what he has to say?" Kiba barked while Naruto continued to rave, blaring out incoherent insults towards him specifically.

The blond stopped circling and narrowed his glare on the two idiots in his office. "You got two minutes before I fire both of your asses."

Kiba rolled his eyes. How many times did he hear that in the span of a day? "We already contacted Tsunade and gave her a heads up on what's going on."

Naruto was instantly relieved. The last thing he wanted was to ruin her re-elections with some sort of scandal that not only brought his company to its knees, but dragged Tsunade's name and credibility through the mud.

"Shikamaru wrote a detailed report with all the evidence necessary to show that it's not really coming from our end, but from White Snake's company. He’ll be handing that over to the authorities later on today since Tsunade’s already working with them to bring down that company." Kiba kept watching Naruto's expression with a smirk. “Apparently, they’ve been trying to nail them for a couple of years.”It had been a while since he had been this entertained.

Naruto groaned. "There's more, isn't there?"

He forced himself not to rub his face when both Shikamaru and Kiba exchange knowing glances. He wasn't going to like this.

"So...?"

Naruto eyed Kiba, who had turned his attention to the large windows. This was Shikamaru's cue to pick up from there and convince Naruto that the end of the world wasn't about to strike.

"So, as you suspect, we're not entirely out of the woods," Shikamaru admitted.

"Meaning?" Naruto was getting a little tired of the cryptic answers. He focused on the technician, who leaned back into the chair, his hands crossed behind his head.

"There's someone else behind that company that's calling the shots, according to the detective we spoke with earlier today. They're just a middle man, unfortunately, from what I could gather."

Naruto rubbed his face with both hands, his stress was on a constant rise and he had a feeling things were about to get way more complicated. "What do we need to do, then?"

"We’ve been asked to keep track of White Snake's moves; monitor them so that they can trace it back to whoever is calling the shots." Shikamaru pressed his finger tips to his temples, tying to think of a way to explain it better. Naruto was standing still at least but had this horrible confused look on his face. 'This is ... troublesome.'

"Aren't these bastards in breach of our contract? They were only supposed to be technical support and provide full weekly backups of the servers." He looked to Kiba for confirmation, who nodded in agreement. "So, why should I continue business with them? I should sue Kabuto's ass for this bullshit."

Kiba knew that for the longest time, Naruto had been trying to find a good reason to get rid of them, and now that the opportunity presented itself virtually on a silver platter, he now needed a real good reason to convince him otherwise. Go figure.

Kiba gave Shikamaru a pleading look to be a little bit more patient and explain it clearly. Shikamaru sighed. He had one trump card left.

"Tsunade thinks she knows who it is, but they need more evidence."

Kiba almost laughed when Naruto let out a long sigh. He knew the blond couldn't refuse his godmother, no matter what.

"So she wants me to continue playing possum?"

"Pretty much," Kiba said.

Naruto crumbled on his chair and groaned. "Christ... how long are we going to have to put with this?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Until we can get a more solid evidence for the police?"

Naruto shot him a heavy lidded glare. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

The sarcasm was purposefully missed by the technician, who merely nodded before continuing. "I've set up a several hidden codes inside the system to track their activities. At the same time, this will help me figure out how to break into theirs without being detected." He pointed at Naruto's desk, where there was a slim case the blond apparently hadn't noticed yet. "I picked up another computer for you. That, I will be adding to your bill, by the way. It has its own secure network with my firm."

Naruto picked it up, opened the case and grinned when he saw the laptop.

"Your staff will continue to use the network, but you and Kiba will be on a separate one. I'll be uploading dummy files to keep suspicion away, but I would stay away from your computers for now."

Naruto nodded, agreeing to the terms set up by Shikamaru.

The technician stood up and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm heading out. Been here two days already, and I'm sure my wife is going to start wondering if I've been kidnapped."

Kiba laughed, shaking his head. "You make it sound like I didn't let you leave the office, Shika."

"You didn't," he deadpanned, which only made Kiba laugh harder. "Anyway, give me a call later if anything happens; I'll be monitoring everything from home for a while."

Shikamaru walked out, grumbling under his breath something about how troublesome it was going to be to hear her nag him about not coming home when he was supposed to.

Naruto smirked and waved. He then focused on the report sitting in front of him, knowing it was filled with details he'd never understand so he pushed it aside distastefully. He could feel a pair of eyes on him, burning with curiosity.

"So..." Kiba leaned over to pet Akamaru.

Naruto knew that so... it didn't bode well for him. "What?"

Why was Kiba still in his office? Didn't he have a home to go to?

There was a dangerous smirk on his face that made Naruto nervous.

"What happened for you to forget an appointment? Especially an important one?"

Ugh. He knew that was coming.

"What appointment?" He was desperate to avoid the subject. The last thing he needed was Kiba prancing around like a peacock bragging about how right he was. His lead on the imaginary score board was by far, too much, if Naruto had anything to say about it.

"You were supposed to come here and have this particular conversation with Shikamaru and I yesterday, after you got kicked out of Hinata's for being an asshole." Kiba eyed the blond, who squirmed in his chair with an irritated frown.

"You bastard, you broke my chair."

"Don't change the subject!" Kiba ignored the daggers being glared his way. True, he had an unfortunate accident with the chair that involved Akamaru, a Frisbee and some sort of game - but that was beside the point!

Naruto snorted crassly and crossed his arms, unwilling to participate in a bout of gossip in regards to his love life.

"Tell me!" Kiba had broken into a complete grin by this point; he could pretty much figure out what had happened by the simple fact Naruto's stubborn streak had flared to monstrous proportions.

"What is this, High School?" Naruto mumbled.

Kiba laughed. "Yeah, we're in High School and I want all the juicy little details!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Forget it. I'm not saying shit."

Kiba smirked, this only meant one thing, and one thing only. "I was totally right."

He stood up from the leather seat and did some strange little jig that had Naruto groaning in despair. 'A fucking victory dance.' Naruto couldn't believe it.

"It's not like that, at all." He tried to get through the chanting and the hopping, but Kiba was completely ignoring him, too busy celebrating another point on the invisible score board.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose when Akamaru began to bark in celebration with his master. He really needed to fire Kiba, his sanity demanded it.

"Are you done? We have things to discuss." Naruto pointed to the rolled up blue prints, trying to bar the image of Kiba gyrating his hips out of his eyeballs. Hearing the defeated tone in his friend's voice, Kiba decided to cut him some slack, but he would eventually get the nitty-gritty details out of him, even if it killed him.

He picked up the rolled up drafts, settled them on the graph table. Unrolling them carefully, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy at Naruto's natural talent.

"I don't know why you always ask for my opinion, your shit is always flawless," Kiba complained as his fingers grazed the top of the paper, following the dents created by several erased lines. He could tell that Naruto had spent far too much time rearranging ideas as he began to uncover Hinata's personality.

He was right, this design was complete genius.

From what he could tell, the area the garden was going to be in was a total pain in the ass, but Naruto had not only overcome the issues, he'd implemented every single detail Hinata had requested. The level of complexity was mind boggling, to say the least, but it created the sanctuary she wanted.

"We're partners. I need your input and your uncanny ability to tell me if this is even possible to create."

Kiba glanced over his shoulder; Naruto approached the table, a frown on his brow.

"It's possible, but a complete pain in the ass. There are a few adjustments we can make here and there to ease the work you'll have to do." He pulled the second sheet from the bottom and quickly glanced through it, this one determined the materials needed and the cost. This was massive, even for Naruto.

"You worked really hard on this... I think this is going to be the best one you've put together." Naruto chuckled, he had to disagree. His godfather's memorial garden was the best one he'd ever created. He'd poured part of his soul into that one.

"She's a special girl. I can't screw this up," he said without thinking.

Kiba raised a brow, curious, but there was a distant look in Naruto's eyes that prevented him from asking any further.

"After I revise these, are they ready to go to Sai for the visual concept?"

Kiba's question interrupted the silence that had started to weigh in heavily, forcing Naruto back to focus on the current problems.

"Yeah, I still need to pass these by Shino so he can decide what he's going to use to upkeep the garden in a natural state."

He squinted his eyes in thought; the entomologist was the secret to his success. Naruto tried to make the gardens self-sufficient in fighting natural mini-disasters, especially indoor ones. Also, Shino trained his clients on the care and control of the little lady bug armies. He'd discovered over the years that women were more than willing to accept these little insects into their homes, and it was even better when they discovered that they could prevent the insects from flying and localise them to the garden. It all made his life a lot easier and it was a lot less upkeep work for the clients.

"If you're planning on getting this one started by next week, you need to get in touch with him today so he can start the colonies and get in contact with Hinata to train her on how to take care of them," Kiba added, following Naruto's train of thought.

He chuckled when Naruto sputtered out a “Stop doing that!” and threw a crumpled up piece of paper at his head. There was a chime that jingled while Kiba gathered the blue prints and prepared to leave for his office to do the edits. Naruto sat back down and dug the phone out of his pocket and looked to see who was calling him.

He grinned and waved off Kiba, who stuck out his tongue at him before taking his leave.

"Ah, Sakura! Just the girl I wanted to talk to." Naruto threw his feet on top of the desk and leaned back comfortably. "You'll never guess what happened after I left yesterday."

Kiba shook his head before closing the door behind him. Sakura had to get a clue at some point. Naruto had moved on. Maybe this would be the push she needed to finally move on herself.

'Wait, where am I going?' He certainly wasn't about to miss out on the juiciest moment of Naruto's life by walking away and working like a slave in his office!

No way, José!

He pressed his ear against the door and had to stop himself from snickering.

* * * * *

Hinata was completely scandalised.

She stared at the bowl in front of her, blushing furiously. Hanabi was grinning at her while she dumped the large bag of skittles into it.

"I shouldn't have told you anything."

"That's not how it works, sister dear." Hanabi snickered when Hinata pressed her lips together in rebellion. "You should know better by now; you don't mention anything to me unless you want something done about it."

She did know better, but, somehow, she still opened her trap and spilled out the incredible and forward thing she did. Plus, it didn't help either that her sister had harassed her for nearly an hour before she finally pried out of her the details of the innocent little kiss she gave Naruto.

Hanabi had been delighted when Hinata slipped out "he tasted like lemon skittles," and had nearly run out of the house. The glint in her eye should have sent warning bells to Hinata when the younger woman grabbed the car keys and slammed the door shut.

At first, Hinata wasn't sure where her sister had gone, thinking that she was finally on her own to reminisce on the latest events, all the things Naruto made her feel but she was rudely interrupted again by her sister, who was carrying a theatre size bag of skittles.

"You seriously expect me to just waltz up to N-N-Naruto and ask him what?"

"To play a game of Taste the Rainbow," Hanabi chirped. Her sister was at a loss for words. Never in her life had she seen Hinata so completely... vulnerable. This was fun!

Hinata wouldn't have anything to do with it. It was so... so... so devious! It was just like her little sister to come up with something so sneaky and underhanded, just to steal a few kisses.

"I refuse!"

Hanabi rolled her eyes and picked up the bowl of candy, grabbed her sister's wrist and dragged her to the living room.

"We've just kissed for the first time yesterday! This is much too forward!" she continued to argue. Hanabi only snorted and brushed her off, mumbling something about her eldest sister being a complete and total prude.

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are." Hanabi turned around and stared at her flabbergasted sister, Hinata couldn't decide between laughing hysterically or glaring her sister into an early grave.

Unfortunately for Hinata, Hanabi had grown immune to her cold and terrifying stares a long time ago and popped a candy in her mouth.

"The rules are simple: One of you eats a candy," she crunched down on the little yellow candy in her mouth as she spoke, "the other keeps their eyes closed," she pointed at Hinata, who could only continue to blush in complete horror, "and the challenge for the one with their eyes closed is to discover what flavour the candy is." Hanabi smirked.

"But it's in our mouth!" Oh god, she was going to faint.

"That's the point! Can't be a prude either, you got to taste it," she stuck out her tongue and made it wiggle, "or it doesn't count."

"Count? Count for what?" Was there supposed to be a prize at the end of this? She couldn't phantom the... oh wait, no she could, quite clearly in fact. Hanabi almost doubled over in laughter when her sister clued in as to the possible results of this little game were.

"Where did you learn such a perverted game?"

"Neji told me about it; it's Tenten's favourite."

Ugh. That's one piece of information she could have spent the rest of her life not knowing, blissfully ignorant of her cousin's foreplay games.

A knock at the door saved Hinata from any further humiliation from her sister and was tickled pink when she discovered it was Konohamaru coming to whisk her sister away from her sanctuary.

Finally, some peace!

* * * * * *

"Oh really?" Sakura was amused as she listened to Naruto chipper on about his kiss and what had transpired between the two after she dropped him off at Hinata's.

"Yeah, I passed right out after spending an hour working out the perfect apology," he grumbled. "I forgot the whole damned thing the second I saw her. I felt so stupid."

"It all worked out in the end, right?" She chuckled before eating another spoonful of ice-cream.

"Well yeah..." He felt heat on his cheeks and wondered what the hell he was doing blushing all by himself in his office. “Anyway, she caught on to the flowers right away. Unlike a certain someone I know."

It was no secret that she could never get his flower obsession, and she was actually glad someone out there understood his strange behaviour.

"You're so god damned cryptic with those flowers! How's a girl supposed to know the Naruto encyclopaedia of weird confessions?"

That hit a nerve on his end; it irked him how she belittled all his affections from the past and those for Hinata. "Hinata does," he huffed, imagining as she rolled her eyes, which she did.

"You're both weird. I'm not surprised she understood." Her spoon clanged loudly against the bowl, and Naruto frowned at her unusual irritation.

"What else happened? Don't leave a girl hanging."

He pressed his lips together, wondering if she was really alright. "Well, we almost kissed."

"You did?" She smirked. "Sounds like you got interrupted."

"Yeah, her sister strolled in at the worst possible moment. It sucked." He grinned, recalling Hinata's cute little stutter and the various shades of pink and red she displayed on her face. "Her sister's pretty funny, actually. Right up my alley with pranks."

Sakura burst out laughing. She could just imagine poor Hinata getting terrorized by a Prankster-Mode Naruto. He had the worst timing with that split personality of his.

"Stop laughing!" He chuckled as well, but he suddenly sobered up, his thoughts lingering on Hinata. With her delicate nature under that entire tough exterior, the urge to protect her was almost overwhelming.

"You know, Sakura..."

Sakura paused, his seriousness caught her attention. "Yeah...?"

"I think... I'm falling for her and it scares me a little bit."

"Why would it scare you?" She gave a small chuckle, flinching at how his words, the sudden intimacy in which he whispered them through the phone, cut through her.

Several seconds went by and Naruto didn't answer her question, lost in thought.

"Naruto...?"

"Ah, sorry for saying that, I'm not sure what came over me." The sober mood was dispelled as quickly as it came.

"It’s fine." Sakura's voice was warm, comforting. "I'm happy for you. I'm glad... I'm glad you found someone."

"You think so?" He laughed, it was odd to hear Sakura so subdued.

"Yeah, I know so." She grinned despite the strange sense of loss coming over her. Naruto had found his love and she... she couldn't forget Sasuke no matter what she did. Her heart ached suddenly and the need for the mysterious boy crawled out from the darkest depth of her memories.

Would she ever be able to move on, and forget about him? She doubted it... she needed closure before she could be happy with someone else.

"Maybe. I'm not sure she feels that way, though." Naruto sighed, dragging Sakura out of her darkened mood.

"What would make you say that?"

"She doesn't seem too sure about things... always nervous."

"You're retarded." Sakura rolled her eyes and put the empty bowl on her coffee table, sucking on a bit of ice cream that dared escape her bowl from her thumb as she listened to Naruto sputter.

"What?"

"You. Are. Retarded." Sakura couldn't possibly say it any slower if she tried. She wasn't entirely surprised that he didn't realize how overwhelming his focused attention was. She knew it firsthand. As flattering as it was, it was a little scary to be the center of Naruto Uzumaki's world.

"Explain to me why you think that?" His tone of voice suggested she choose her words carefully, but she knew him far too long to pay attention to anything he warned about.

"Because you're completely clueless."

Naruto snorted. Although this may have been true, that didn't explain anything.

Sakura grumbled at his snort, and he demanded she'd be more specific, forcing her to think a lot harder than she was prepared for at that instant.

"She's probably not very confident around you." That much was obvious to anyone, even Naruto. "You're like a beam of energy and it's hard to follow you sometimes, to keep up." She sighed. She knew he wouldn't get it.

"I don't get it."

'Figures...'

Sakura quietly rubbed the length of her face and held a groan in check. He was so frustrating.

"Let’s try this again... you have a tendency to be relentless when you go after something you really want, Naruto. She's probably overwhelmed by the pushiness of your intentions."

"My pushiness?" Her words cut through him like a slap. Was he really pushy? Did he overwhelm her?

"Yeah. Just take it slow, Naruto. She'll come out of her shell eventually; the best love is a patient one." There was a soft knock at her door, and Sakura said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

Naruto stared ahead, wondering exactly what he was supposed to do to be a little less Naruto. If he did that, would that make Hinata more comfortable to be herself around him? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose, though?

This... was beyond complicated. Sakura always managed to make him doubt himself, past and present, and for the first time in his life, his confidence was shaken.

* * * * *

The sun had begun to set before Kiba strolled back into Naruto's office with the edited version to Hinata's gardens. There wasn't much to change per se, just an adjustment in reality. Some of the designs he came up with were really out there and unless you owned NASA's anti-gravity chamber, they were impossible to create.

"You going home soon?"

Naruto looked up from his graph table; black ink was smudged on his cheek as he scratched at the scars hiding under it. There was a strange hesitation on his part that had Kiba rolling his eyes. He could tell Sakura had said something to shake him up. Even though she probably just mentioned something in passing with all the good intentions in the world, she didn't really understand Naruto and burdened him with a lot of her own insecurities.

"Yeah, I just need to-"

"You need to head out to Hinata's and ignore whatever Sakura said."

Kiba dropped the plans on the coffee table and glanced at Naruto, who had flinched at the seriousness of the words.

Naruto sighed. He was too transparent for his own good.

"I just-"

"Just nothing." Kiba was irritated; she had done a number on him. "You were all psyched this morning and now you're acting like a hermit. Get the hell out of here. You're not even supposed to be in the office for a week solid." Kiba pointed at the door, grabbed Naruto's jacket and called over Akamaru. The mutt was more than happy to help his master push out the struggling landscapist from the confines of his oversized office.

"What the fu-"

"Shut up already! Now, get out of here; I'm busy!" Kiba shouted as he pushed Naruto into the elevator.

Akamaru growled when Naruto tried to stand up from his sprawled position on the floor. He shot Kiba a dirty look, but it was met with a toothy grin, a cheeky “have fun” and the click of the elevator's metal doors.

Naruto sighed and picked himself off the floor, brushing off invisible dust. He wasn't sure how to broach the subject with Hinata. How do you ask someone if they're too much?

Well, he certainly wasn't going to casually walk up to her and say, "Hey! I noticed you can barely stay conscious around me, does that mean I'm too much for you?" That... that sounded ridiculous. It's not like she was fainting every time they met or touched. She was just... really nervous and clamped up so bad she could barely function. In fact, she was like an entirely different person.

"... Fuck, I really am moving too fast." He fisted his hands and sighed. Moments later, the metal doors opened and let him out towards the entrance of his building as he waved to the guard and walked out towards his car.

Figuring that the drive to Hinata's was a little ways, he decided he'd use up the time to come up with something. Now that he had Hinata where he wanted her, he couldn't afford to lose her. The mere thought of it squeezed at his heart.

* * * *

Hinata cursed at her sweaty hands, there was a lump in her stomach that made her want to curl up on the floor and forget the whole dare from her sister.

Whatever possessed her to agree to this lunacy was beyond her, but… there was something deep inside her that had her fired up to try it.

Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact she was itchy to feel his lips on hers again, or the way his eyes turned into that deep blue when his mind was full of her...

Nope, no influence from that what so ever!

'Whom am I kidding?' She slumped over on the ottoman, her mind possessed by the presence of Naruto. It was strange how he had barged into her life, their meeting completely accidental at the phone kiosk, his familiarity had clicked something inside her and it had gone downhill from there.

Well... not downhill, necessarily. Far from it in fact, she was glad that her indifference with the world had all but vanished. She felt a little out of whack with her newfound memories and all the things they meant. Her family was becoming close to her heart again; the road to forgiving herself had begun. Her father wanted to heal their relationship as well, which she had a little bit of trouble accepting after all the pain, but... she was willing.

She shook her head, now wasn't the time to think on these things, there were more pressing -urgent- matters at hand! Like figuring out how to do this without resorting to losing consciousness, and convincing Naruto she wasn't a loose woman! It was silly to be this nervous; she was a Hyuuga, the pillar of strength and determination, and she wouldn't lose to a trivial thing like emotions.

She groaned, pressing her finger tips against her forehead; she leaned back and let her head hit the cushioned back of the ottoman, squeezing her eyes shut.

'Where is my Heiress persona when I need it?' she mumbled to herself before opening her eyes and meeting a pair of amused blue ones, staring at her from above.

"Hinata?"

She screamed, startling Naruto. Hinata stood up suddenly; her hands flew to her mouth to silence the surprised yell and she backed up into the coffee table. The back of her knees bumped against the wood and jarred the piece of furniture awkwardly, tipping the bowl of skittles and spilling half its content on the table and floor.

The sound of the skittles was loud in Hinata's ears, almost deafening. Naruto had reached over the ottoman and grabbed her elbow when she nearly fell.

"Are you ok?"

His fingers were cold against the warmth of her flesh. "I'm fine," she answered. How mortifying; not exactly the way she envisioned greeting him when he returned. His gaze had left hers and focused on the mess she had caused.

He smirked.

It took everything in her not to groan and run out of the room. Not only was Hanabi's plan completely transparent, she didn't have the courage to pull it off. She wasn't daring, she wasn't a free spirit. She was… a stiff Hyuuga.

She did groan this time, and it was pretty loud. Naruto focused his attention back on her, his brow quirked up slowly, questioning her obvious distress. She was too humiliated to even phantom blushing so she decided to kneel down and start picking up the candies. Naruto shook his head slightly, wondering what exactly had her so flustered.

He decided not to ask and kneeled down next to her, helping to pick up the source of her embarrassment. The shared silence was welcomed by the heiress, but there was something a little strange about Naruto; he seemed almost subdued.

She expected some kind of joke or comment on how she had a giant bowl of skittles waiting for him, but he remained quiet, with that strange little smirk on his lips.

"Everything alright?" She didn't look away when he glanced at her. He shrugged before seating himself on the floor, crossing his legs Indian style.

"Ah, yeah... there are a few complications with another company. I can't really talk about it or I might have to kill you." He grinned, making her roll her eyes. She knew he wasn't being entirely honest - she remembered the signs from their childhood.

He scratched behind his ear, had a strange lopsided grin and his eyes looked away from her face, avoiding any kind of contact. A sure flag that Naruto Uzumaki was trying to avoid something unpleasant.

"Besides that," she gave him a small reassuring smile that made him frown, "something else is bothering you, I can tell."

He should have known better; the Hyuuga were known for their amazing skill in reading body language. "Well..." this was a pivotal moment; he had to choose his words carefully not to mislead her.

"You know, Hinata," his gaze had gone back to the skittles; his fingers picked up a few here and there before dropping them on the table, "I know I make you pretty nervous."

He bit his lower lip lightly; she wasn't moving, but her eyes were watching him carefully, which wasn't helping him relax.

"What do you mean?" Was her nervousness that obvious? She thought she had that pretty much under control... besides screaming when she saw him a few moments ago. 'Oh god, I'm completely transparent!' She mentally kicked herself.

"Hmm, how can I say this - I mean, I want you to…" He clamped up, annoyed with himself.

"Want me to?" She leaned forward, catching his wandering attention; her fingers grazed his own and he suddenly felt a little silly. She moved closer to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. He put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her close to him; he smiled, forgetting his worry a moment.

Gathering all his courage, he let out a calming breath and just let the words flow out of his mouth.

"I want you to tell me if we're going too fast." Hinata perked a brow, amused slightly at his worry. She had been mulling over the same question all day and the sudden need to laugh was almost overwhelming.

"If you just want pecks on the cheek or just hold hands, I'm ok with that." He nodded, resolved to make sure she was comfortable with him in all aspects. He didn't want to chase her off with his influence if she wasn't entirely prepared to deal with his personality.

Hinata had to stop herself from laughing.

"Why are you so worried about such a silly thing?" She hid a giggle behind her hand, her eyes twinkling with amusement. Naruto glanced down and caught her good mood. He smiled nervously.

"Hmm, well, it's something Sakura mentioned to me today. I guess it had me thinking some weird things."

Hinata sighed, 'Ah, Sakura. Of course.'

"Why the sigh?" He pushed her with his shoulder; she gave him a little pout which made him grin. She brought her free hand to his cheek and touched it with her finger tips, tracing the visible scars. Her face had gone very serious and she had him completely attentive.

"I'm perfectly fine the way things are. You're not going too fast or too slow," she half whispered, her eyes focused on his bronzed skin. He kept very still, her voice imprinting itself inside his mind.

"In fact, sometimes I worry that it's me that's going far too slow."

Naruto let out a sigh, glad to know she was worried too. He eyed the skittles and picked one up from the bowl. He felt Hinata shift, her fingers paused on his face and an impish grin played on his lips.

"So, what's with the candy?" Hinata blushed, hard. He was totally on to her.

"A silly idea," she tried to huff, disregarding the afternoon's events.

"Does it have something to do with a certain something that happened yesterday?" he teased. This wasn't helping her increasing embarrassment.

This was outside of her comfort zone, foreign territory that terrified and excited her. She heard a snicker and a “you're so cute when you blush,” which only made her want to crawl under a rock.

"M-M-Maybe." She couldn't look at him. He stopped moving, and quirked a brow towards his little princess attempting to be a sneaky vixen. It was kind of amusing, so he played along.

He watched her pick up a candy, slip it in her mouth and defiantly stare at him, her lips pressed together, challenging his impish grin. He laughed; he wasn't sure what she was doing, but it was funny as hell considering she looked ready to tackle the world with sweets in her mouth.

"Hinata, what are -"

"Play with me," she cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Play what, exactly?" He knew what she was getting at, but getting her to say it to him was much more amusing. Her expression was priceless; he was well aware it was taking everything in her to travel down this road, to step outside her norm. Pulling her out of that shell was a lot more fun than he anticipated.

She narrowed her eyes at him, crossed her arms and tried to get her nervousness under control. He was being daft on purpose, she could tell just by the way he was twisting a strand of her hair, plus his snickering and the gleeful glint in his eyes was a dead giveaway.

"You know what I mean," she mumbled, her gaze focused on the bowl. She looked miffed with him, so he laughed again and caved in, unable to resist her.

"Ok, ok. What are the rules to this little game?" His voice was laced with curiosity; the velvet vibration was music to her ears.

"They're pretty simple." Her voice had a little shake in it; Naruto found it endearing. "We each take turns with a skittle and the other has to guess the flavour."

Oh god, she was going to faint. Naruto's interest was piqued, and he closed in towards her face. He eyed her lips and had this little quizzical expression.

"How am I supposed to guess?"

"Like this," she brought her hand to his eyes and closed his eye lids; her fingers traced down to his lips and she sat up on her knees. She took in a calming breath and leaned in, capturing his lips in a tender and shy kiss. She parted her lips and invited him quietly to explore her mouth.

He was very responsive, immediately accepting the invitation and gliding his tongue against hers. She let herself be carried away by the feel of his lips on her own, the heat of his arms when they wrapped themselves around her small waist.

She broke the contact, breathless. The first thing she noticed was the complete blissful look on his face, which brought a small cheer from her feminine pride. She waited for him to open his eyes and was met with the deep blue of his heated gaze.

"Cherry," he mumbled. Satisfied with his answer, she closed her own eyes and waited for him to choose his own little candy.

"Does that make us even?" He almost laughed at her quizzical expression.

"What do you mean?" She leaned back against the seat behind her and closed her eyes, licking her lips in anticipation. She heard the crunch inside his mouth and was nearly shaking with anticipation. Naruto let the sweet and sour taste wrap itself around his tongue before dipping his head and caressed her mouth with his own, demanding to be let in.

"You already guessed the lemon from yesterday," he murmured against her lips before taking them with his own. He let out a groan when her fingers tangled themselves in his hair, dispelling the intimate silence. He hadn't even noticed her wrapping her arms around his neck. He retaliated by pulling up the edges of her blouse and grazed her skin, which seemed to snap her out of the kiss-induced daze.

She reluctantly pulled away, breaking the intimate contact before his fingers got any further up under her blouse. She smirked against his lips and whispered, "Grape."

"Correct," he purred out; the vibration of his voice made her toes curl. He nipped her chin as she reached for another skittle, she pulled him down to the floor, ignoring the candies pressing on her back, and he let his weight press down on her, waiting for her to give him the ok to play.

He kissed her again, and she giggled when he didn't guess the right flavour.

"Who's idea was this?" he asked her between each breath, she snorted indignantly, Naruto laughed when she mumbled her sister's name.

"We should play more often." He grinned at her before taking another skittle between his lips. She blushed but meekly nodded when he stole another kiss from her willing lips.

It soon became obvious to him that Hinata was more than willing to lead and set the pace for them to follow, and he was grateful for that.

* * * * * *

R&R if you feel like it - And no, they're not having sex. Sheesh! What kind of story do you think this is?! You pervs~

B/N …said the pot to the kettle. :P