Bestial

AN: So, I don’t usually do individual replies in the story, but I had to reply to this: Yes, Fallen Plum, I WILL marry you! But only on the understanding that any babies will promptly be eaten, and I don’t do the dishes. Ever. And I want to be surrounded by beautiful men who are workers in our large mansion-y castle and are shirtless all the time. O.o

And…AND….I’ve topped 75 reviews on FF and 50 on AFF! AWESOME! ::does a dance and looks around hopefully:: Do I hear 100? Because that would be awesome. But thank you all so much for your reviews, I’ve gotten some wonderful feedback and it makes me all blush-y and overwhelmed with unnaturally warm and fuzzy feelings for all of you. ::glomps the readers::

On with the chapter.

AN 1/6/07: Holy crap, I actually decided to get off my lazy ass and update. Yes. Well, I decided to finally add the html so I could have the AFF progress of the story match the FF.net progress.

For those who still need to tell my Grass-nins apart:

Keseranpaseran: one of the Grass-nin twins; long (waist-length) dark green,
almost black hair, pale blue eyes, tan skin; fought against Sakura using vines

Tenseranpaseran: one of the Grass-nin twins; shoulder-length hair with layers in
the front; same coloring as Keseranpaseran; fought against Hinata and had his chakra pathways blocked

Manjushage: leader of the Grass-nin team; yellow eyes, pale green skin, hip-
length deep purple hair; was manhandled by Kakashi; can communicate with trees

That being said, there is no smut (and therefore no cuts) in this chapter.

::Inner Sakura::

block of italics is a flashback

Chapter Eleven

I quickly returned to camp from my rewarding little rendezvous and was only mildly surprised to see Kakashi leaning against one of the trees that formed my tree-bed.

“Take care of personal business on your own time, Sakura,” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, knowing I had taken it too far. But I was finding it hard to muster up the proper amount of guilt—I was so relieved that I had resolved some of my waffling feelings that I could literally feel the absence of that burden on my shoulders. I felt about ten pounds lighter, almost like I was floating. I was becoming reckless from this carefree feeling.

Kakashi held my eyes with his for several long seconds, then gave a curt nod and went back to his bed. But my suspicions were confirmed—Kakashi wasn’t intending to sleep tonight. This meant I’d have to sneakily bolster his chakra reserves with some of mine tomorrow, because he wouldn’t be regaining chakra at the normal regeneration rate. But that was for another day. Relaxed, satisfied, and still feeling warm shivers run up and down my arms, I got in bed, turned on my side, and slept.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I awoke to the usual bustling activity—Hinata had started cooking breakfast at the end of her shift, and my stomach decided that it was a perfect time to get out of bed. Rolling to my feet and stretching, I looked around the camp and saw everyone partaking in similar actions—except Kakashi, of course, who was sitting in his bed, leaning against the trunk of a tree, reading. I walked over to him and slapped him on the back, using it as an opportunity to shoot some chakra into him.

“Beautiful morning, eh, captain?” I gave him a broad wink and sauntered over to the nearby stream to freshen up. Wow, I was in such a good mood—I can’t remember the last time I woke up feeling so perky. Reaching the stream, I spotted Kiba rinsing his face before I crouched next to him.

“Good morning,” I chirped. Kiba looked me over and let a slow smile steal across his face.

“Someone’s in a bubbly mood this morning,” he said, leaning in and brushing his lips across mine. I shoved him backwards so that he landed on his butt.

“Now, now,” I said, shaking a finger at him. “You know we’re on a mission. We’re supposed to behave and stay alert.”

“And after we get back?” he asked, completely unruffled by my treatment.

“Eh…well,” I blushed, trying to ignore the rather explicit images running through my head, “um…we’ll see?”

He brushed a few strands of hair back from my face. “Oh, we’ll see,” he said with a wolfish grin before standing and smoothly walking back towards camp. I watched him until he disappeared.

::I hate to see you leave, but holy crap do I love to watch you go.:: Inner Sakura leered.

After running through my morning routine, I returned and received an update on our situation. The Grass team would be accompanying us to Konoha as per the orders of the Shokubutsukage—they even had a new mission scroll. After we finished interrogating Rafu (because obviously our speculations weren’t based in fact, no matter how closet to the truth we may be), they would “escort” him to Grass, where he would pay for his crimes against them. We outlined our agenda for the days to come, which was to oversee the recovery of the villagers and keep Rafu unconscious. That being done, Hinata and I left to resume our medical duties in the town.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Several days later, most of the townspeople were up and about—perhaps a little slower than usual, but they would recover in no time if they took care of themselves. Kakashi presented the scroll to the Elder Priest of the temple, thus completing our mission objective (to return the stolen scroll) and, waving off their gratitude and pleas for us to stay so that they might properly express their thanks with a feast, we turned and left with the Grass-nins, Rafu following behind us, still unconscious, being dragged along the ground by a vine.

Once we were out of sight of the village, we quickened our pace. I was eager to be home—I desperately needed a long, hot bath. And I missed Naruto (and Ino, of course)—I never really like being on missions without him. Of course, there’s the fact that we work well together, since we’ve been on a team for so long. We subconsciously adjust our movements based on the other’s body language. But there’s also the fact that he’s always a source of light and happiness—if you’re feeling down, just sitting next to him makes you feel better. It’s almost impossible to be worried around Naruto under normal social circumstances. I hadn’t gotten to tell him goodbye, and it’s almost a superstition of mine to always say goodbye before leaving on a mission. That way, if Naruto or I don’t come back, at least we were able to say it. Maybe I was slightly concerned about him too—I mean, what if he got so injured that Kyuubi’s chakra and healing abilities weren’t enough? Naruto has a very delicate chakra balance, and they might not have assigned a medic-nin who was experienced enough, or who knew about it, to his team. What if he got poisoned? Not everyone was Tsunade’s apprentice, and not everyone had the control to extract poison like I did.

My growing worry made my strides lengthen and the strength of my jumps increase as I leapt from tree to tree, and I had to force myself to keep pace with the group. We were about an hour away at our current pace, but I was restless, eager to be home. I felt something niggling at the edge of my senses, and when I recognized the chakra signature speeding towards me. We paused, the Grass-nins dropping into defensive poses. I turned to reassure them but I was tackled from behind before I could say anything. I turned in the embrace that kept me steady, returning it enthusiastically.

“Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I went on a mission and I came back and you weren’t waiting for me and I didn’t know what was going on because Ino wasn’t there either and I thought you two had been kidnapped so I went to go yell at the ugly old lady for not telling me but then she told me you were on a mission and YOU DIDN’T EVEN LEAVE A NOTE!”

All of that was wailed at top volume in my ear, which was rather amusing since his voice had dropped more than an octave from its twelve-year-old counterpart, yet he still managed to sound as if he hadn’t aged. He then buried his face in my hair. Every time I see him now, it’s a shock at how much taller he is than me—he’s about Kakashi’s height, but since they both have crazy hair that sticks up in all sorts of directions, it’s a bit difficult to say whom is the taller of the two.

“I’m sorry, I forgot. It was sort of a sudden thing,” I whispered into his chest, knowing he’d hear me.

“You scared me,” he rumbled in my ear, still crushing me to his chest.

“I’m going to scare you even more when I pass out from lack of oxygen,” I muttered. Naruto reluctantly let me go, and then I lightly smacked him on the arm for scaring our guests. He sheepishly scratched his head, and I made introductions, even though I knew he would never remember their names. We continued on our way towards Konoha, with Naruto keeping up a running stream of chatter about his latest mission, turning what I’m sure had been a serious and dangerous one into a humorous tale of clumsiness from their quarry. The entire time, he never let go of my hand, and I knew that I really had frightened him. I couldn’t imagine what his reaction must have been when I wasn’t waiting outside the gate for him, and then when my apartment was deserted and there was no note on his kitchen table. This didn’t happen very often, but when he was terrified to a huge degree (usually because of worrying about me), he always sought physical touch to comfort himself.

I used to turn on him physically when he tried to touch me. I’m ashamed to remember it. In spite of your best intentions, there’s no denying Naruto—he worms into the cracks of your heart and his presence grows there until you suddenly realize you can’t imagine the world without him in it. I was older now, wiser, more mature—I knew that holding hands with someone didn’t make them your soulmate (something I had ignorantly feared in my younger years). And to tell the truth, it was nice to be close to someone without the pressure of a relationship—well, a dating relationship. I have to say though, I was carefully not looking at Kiba during the last hour we walked back to Konoha.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Our reports had been made to Tsunade, the Grass-nins had been given accommodations, and Naruto and I were walking towards Ichiraku. I hadn’t told him yet, but it was my treat—I still felt guilty that I had made him worry. We walked in silence, and I mulled over my last moments with Kiba. He had been quiet the entire trip back after Naruto joined us, and I had grabbed his arm on the stairs and pulled him into an alcove as we left Tsunade’s office after debriefing.

“Are you jealous of my friendship with Naruto?” I demanded.

Kiba turned cool eyes on me—it was eerie, seeing him so collected, so icily angry. I liked him better when he was loud and exuberant. “You do realize that Naruto is also competing for you?”

“Well…I thought that maybe it was just him overreacting—you know, sort of like Overprotective Big Brother Syndrome.” Actually, that was a big fat lie, but it sounded plausible—like how Kiba gets when other men indicate a possible interest in Hinata. Naruto has gone off on more than one man for eyeing me the wrong way, and before my “maturity” became an issue, I always viewed it as a sort of brotherly task, since I didn’t have any brother of my own to do it for me.

Kiba gave me a disbelieving look, and I held up my hands.

“You have to forgive a girl for hoping. Three guys are a little intimidating to juggle all at once.” Particularly when you don’t have any say in the matter. Kiba eased back.

“Is that’s all you see him as then? A brother?” Eh…well, before Naruto planted one on me, I might have said yes. But I’ve always heard that you don’t find your brother to be obscenely hot. What can I say? Naruto’s a rarity—there aren’t many blonds in Konoha, and Ino and I have always made it our habit to appreciate the scenery.

“I see,” Kiba said after I paused. Great, male drama. Then he surprised me by smiling. “I guess I’ll just have to try harder then.” With that he departed, tossing a merry wave over his shoulder. I didn’t understand him at all, but I’m fairly certain that my angry mutterings of: “stupid…competitive…melodramatic…” were spot on.

I shrieked when Naruto’s face suddenly appeared before me, derailing and destroying my train of thought.

“What’s got you so preoccupied?” he asked. “I called your name like ten times!”

“Nothing,” I muttered, turning my face away.

“It doesn’t smell like nothing,” Naruto said, uncharacteristically serious.

My eyes widened. Right, minor detail I seemed to have forgotten there. But, now that I think about it, does Naruto even understand what all of this means?

“Are you going out with Kiba?” Naruto asked, horrified, his face wrinkling into an expression of combined disgust and disbelief.

“What?! No, well, not really, I mean…” I fumbled, flapping my hands uselessly. Great, another situation I was going to have to tackle head-on. Naruto was now walking with his arms crossed, a dark look upon his features. Again with the male drama.

“Hey…Naruto…” Wow, do I hate talking about this stuff. “Do you remember when you went a little…erm…berserk when we were training in the forest with Kiba and Neji?”

The dark look receded as he tried to think about what I was talking about. “Um…no…”

::Oh come on, blondie, I know you’re smarter than that!::

“Oh, wait, you mean when Kiba—the bastard—kissed you and then he and I fought about you for the next day?” I swear that at least thirty percent of the time he’s pretending to be an idiot, and that it’s some sort of misguided notion of comic relief, but gee, did he completely miss the point or what?

“Right, well, do you remember how you could smell Kiba on me?”

The black look was back on his face. “I can smell him now.”

Now, now, Kyuubi, play nice. “Do you smell anything else?” Apparently that was an open invitation, because Naruto pulled me into his arms and leaned down to brush his nose against my neck. His breath tickled my neck as he inhaled deeply.

“Dirt, plants, sweat, Kiba, Hinata, Kakashi, a little of those weird guys, but mostly you.” Maybe he wasn’t faking the stupidity. I shivered as his lips brushed my neck while he was speaking, but it was fairly obvious that his intent wasn’t sexual.

“Well, you smell like the new you. You used to smell different, but it’s not like you switched shampoo, it’s something else. I don’t really know how to explain it.” He pulled his head back to look at me, his forehead wrinkled. “Your scent changed, and Kyuubi said that it means that you are ours.”

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

What will Sakura have to say to that? Where is Shino? Just how far is Ichiraku from Tsunade’s office, anyway?

AN: As always, much love to Stem for unbelievable beta skills, and please leave a review on your way out.