Sakura knew what the problem was; she all too familiar with the
symptoms of low self-esteem. *But you have friends! Don't you
understand what that means?! People _like_ you, dammit! Stop being so
down on yourself!*
She needs the book!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440504708/103-2097500-6979050?v=glance&n=283155
Naruto/SNL crossover- iiiiiinteresting O_o;...
Pulling the shy kunoichi to her feet, Sakura dragged Hinata stumbling
toward the door. "C'mon, we still have a couple hours before the
others get here. There's a bath in the guest wing you can use to warm
up a bit, and then you can change into some dry clothes; I have some
stuff that might fit you."
Thus accomplishing Sakura's "secret" desire to see Hinata in a
size-too-small sleeveless chinese minidress.
Sakura just wants Hinata to understand how good she looks, so that it will boost her self-esteem... really ^_^;...
Glancing behind him to a samurai about Kakashi's age with a strong,
square jaw and very imposing sideburns,
I got a sudden image of a samurai in a napoleonic infantry officer
outfit. But only the last time through, so it's probably just me.
O_o;... Would it help if that one spoke French?
"No you're not!" Sakura snapped testily. Upon reflection, she
realized that Hinata was probably referring to the condition of her
clothes.
Some people shouldn't be judging others, Sakura...
Well, one could make the case that Sakura judges from personal experience >_<;...
"Hmm..." The white-eyed girl had a point: some of the men on the
walls probably _were_ watching them. "Yeah, you're probably right.
We'd better just pretended that we didn't see anything." She could
ask her grandfather about it later, when Hinata wasn't around to get
in trouble.
Yes, please don't set of a Civil war now, Sakura. We'd never get to
all the other looming threats
"No boom now. Boom tomorrow. There's ALWAYS a boom tomorrow."
-and five bonus points if you can place the quote ^_^...
genkan. "Someone must have called ahead," she noted, not at all
surprised that their conversation had been overheard. "The bath's
probably ready too."
Yet, it never occurs to her to consider if anyone's watching in the
bath. Granpapy and his spymasters are going to have a whole new
appreciation for Konoha ninja when they read this report.
Well, they might be _listening_ but i think he probably trusts Sakura enough to not have a hidden camera or something in the trees outside the window... One would hope not, anyhow -_-;...
*Geez, how shy can you get?* In the end, Hinata had been too polite
to refuse Sakura's invitation, but it was easy to tell that the
brunette was dragging her feet. *She must've at least used a public
bath before.*
She lives her life in what is essentially a nudist's colony. That
doesn't mean taking off your clothes doesn't have a whole other set of
meanings than setting aside modesty, of course. Especially in a clan
where the polite illusion of modesty is all you can have.
That's an interesting take on life in the Hyuuga compound ^_^;... I'm not sure i would take it that far, but still... interesting O_o;...
Hanging
her coat on the drying rack conveniently placed by the door, Sakura
pulled off her boots and grabbed a towel; they weren't going to be
hanging around for long, so she didn't bother to take a robe.
She is obviously not yet fully informed on the finer points of
seduction.
Look at her role models ^_^;...
"Um... y-yes..." Seeming more self-conscious than when she was taking
of her adorable, pinwheel-patterned panties,
See, little details like this are what make this seem pervy. Er. :)
What, a girl can't think it's cute that another girl wears childish, printed panties? It's not like Sakura's planning on stealing them and framing them to hang above the secret shrine in her closet as an offering to the gods of 'moe', in her desperate quest for a better figure... or, you know, anything weird and perverted like that...
Feeling a twinge of worry, Sakura was immediately struck by how
strange it would be if Hinata had gotten hurt the same way she had.
*Stupid Hyuuga training techniques...* She was about to comment, but
the intense look on
Hinata's face as she unwrapped the bandage made Sakura hold her
tongue. When the last loop of gauze peeled free from Hinata's skin,
stuck to her brow by a jagged line of reddish-brown stains, it took
Sakura's brain several seconds to process what she was seeing.
Unfortunately, her mouth was much faster on the uptake. "Holy $#%&,
is that real?!" she blurted, gaping at the stylized manji branded on
Hinata's forehead.
Revealing the seal was actually amazing brave of Hinata, especialy
since she seems to have just gotten it today.
Oh, and $%^))) &^@ $%^&?
Hinata's become a little braver by this point in the story, though it helps that Sakura's been trying so hard to make her comfortable... and yeah, it was meant to be a teensy bit shocking ^_^;...
Jolting as if she'd been bitten, Hinata stared wide-eyed at the other
girl. "S-Sakura-chan?!"
"Ah- oh #&%^$! Waah!" Slapping a hand over her mouth, Sakura
exchanged a look of shock with the white-eyed kunoichi. *Dammit! I
can't believe I &$%#^in' said that!* Taking her hand away, Sakura
gestured frantically for Hinata to stay calm. "I'm sorry! You just
surprised me is all! $#%*~- I mean- I didn't mean-" At a loss for
words, Sakura shut her mouth before she could dig herself any deeper.
Kindest thing you could have said, Sakura, kindest thing you could
have said.
Sakura losing it a little bit probably makes Hinata feel better, too; Sakura's much better than she is at totally freaking out ^_^;...
"But it feels so... so..." The Hyuuga trailed off with a playful
grin. "Wow... #&^$!"
"Hiiinaaataaaa!"
Sakura's probably the only one to have seen Hinata genuinely smile in
at least two days.
Keep it up Sakura, you've got her eating out of the palms of your
hands!
Sakura's pretty good at wringing a smile out of Hinata; one wonders if Hinata has many female friends...
"I'm fine," Sakura lied. Her heart was still doing backflips, even
though it looked like Hinata wasn't going to start treating her like
she was some sort of evil anti-Sakura from another dimension.
Though, really, Hinata'd be completely right if she did.
She's not _evil_, she's just... horny- NO! Mischievous; yeeeees, that's what it is...
*It's a good thing she's got
such a funky sense of humor,* Sakura mused.
Or has been under a massive amount of stress and desperate for an
outlet.
Send in the clowns! [hides from Sakura/Naruto/Kiba/Anko]
When she looked up again, Sakura couldn't help but glance at the
curse seal in the middle of Hinata's forehead. "What about you
Hinata-chan? Are you alright?" she ventured hesitantly.
"You mean, besides the whole "me and all my kids enslaved to my
bitchy, abusive younger sister" thing? Peachy!"
Hmm... is there any evidence in canon that Hanabi treats Hinata poorly? I don't remember any...
Though she wanted to return the smile, a small frown forced its way
onto Sakura's lips. "Do you want to talk about it?" she prodded
gently, still feeling like she was wading waist-deep in murky waters.
Regretfully, the castle plumbers had not yet fixed that minor backflow
problem with the bathhouse toilets.
Eeeeeeeew >_<;!
Grabbing a pair of wash buckets and stools from the stack in the
corner, Sakura and Hinata set to work cleaning up. Liquid body soap
and shampoo were provided, though the pink-haired girl took a moment
to grimace in distaste at the generic brands. *Still cheap, grandpa.*
These little bits of internal, irrelevant thoughts really help to keep
all the drama and humor grounded and keep the viewer seeing things
from Sakura's point of view rather than disinterested observer.
Well, when you're uncomfortable, do you not sometimes look for little things to distract yourself? I try hard to keep the 'partially omnicient' narrator firmly tied to Sakura's POV, though i don't always succeed -_-;...
Wetting her washcloth, Sakura turned to her companion. "Want me to
scrub your back, Hinata-chan?"
No, Hinata-chan! Have you never seen those movies? Run! Preserve your
precious innocence while you still can!
Hmm... following the whole 'nudist colony' argument, maybe she's not so innocent after all... Naaaaaah, this is Hinata. But she _does_ have a younger sister, so the odds are good that it hasn't been too long since she's last done this 'i'll wash your back if you wash mine' thing...
Hinata, who was in the process of gingerly sponging away the dried
blood on her forehead, turned to peer at the pink-haired girl out of
the corner of her eye. "Please," she replied politely. "Thank you,"
she added, when Sakura scooted closer. "Don't worry about it!" Sakura
chirped, squeezing a bit of soap into the washcloth and scrunching it
between her hands to work up a lather. Kneeling behind Hinata, Sakura
took a moment to marvel at the brunette's creamy white, perfectly
unblemished skin. She could do without the creepy eyes, but the
Hyuuga certainly seemed to have more than their fair share of genetic
advantages.
Noooo. Already she has been reduced to mere breeding material in the
mind of the predatory Sakura. All hope is lost.
O_o;...
Before she could stop herself, Sakura's gaze drifted lower, zeroing
in on the hint of breast that she could see under Hinata's arm as the
shorter girl leaned forward. *Dammit, they're $#%&in' huge!* It was
hard to believe that she was looking at a girl only three months
older than herself.
Way to remind us we're reading a lesbian bath scene between *thirteen
year olds!*
Eheh... well, despite Hinata only being thirteen, Sakura's observations aren't really off as far as canon is concerned ^_^;. I did my research on this; when Kishimoto draws Hinata standing or lying down in a way that _doesn't_ deliberately hide her figure in that giant coat (which is very seldom), it becomes _very_ hard to believe that she's only thirteen. Mark my words, she's gonna grow up to look like Tsunade -_-;...
Just as Sakura was about to pounce on her unsuspecting prey, the pale
girl gave a reflexive jerk. "Sakura-chan?" Hinata called nervously,
starting to turn around.
Damn that highly developed ninja danger sense.
It must be very confusing to Hinata that she's sensing a threat from Sakura ^_^;...
Startled out of her jealous trance, Sakura nearly fell over backwards
as she hastily retracted her hands. "Ah! Uh- I- I just thought for a
second that I might have grabbed the wrong b-bottle!" Thankful that
she hadn't dropped her washcloth, Sakura leaned forward and began
industriously scrubbing Hinata's shoulders. *Gah! What the hell was I
thinking?!* Fondling Hinata's breasts was almost certainly _not_ the
way to put the girl at ease.
I don't know. Fainting, I understand, is quite relaxing.
Well, perhaps =_=...
Much to the Sakura's chagrin, however, the urge to give Hinata's
chest a playful squeeze didn't subside even after she returned to her
senses. Her hands twitched longingly as she worked her way down
Hinata's back, inching closer and closer to that succulent forbidden
fruit, now hanging so tantalizingly within reach.
God, you know how much you sound like a bad lemon, or romance novel
(much the same thing) here?
Izzat a good thing or a bad thing ^_^;?
*Maybe if I asked first? 'Hinata-chan? I know this is gonna sound
weird, but whatever Kiba's told you, I'm _not_ a lesbian-
Suuure.
No really, she's just... very, very confused >_<;...
so can I touch your boobs?'
Yeah, that doesn't sound perverted at all... Dammit!* It probably
wouldn't be satisfying if Hinata just _let_ her do it, anyway; she
didn't want to cop a feel so much as she wanted to hear the shy girl
squeal.
I'm sure Hinata's reaction that question would have been just as
amusing as any squeal.
Probably, but the little Anko on Sakura's shoulder is more into the visceral thrills...
*So she did notice...* Swallowing a melancholy sigh, Sakura
wordlessly returned to her own stool, not wanting to make her friend
any more uncomfortable. *I wish she'd just say something.* Sadly,
Hinata was too nice to make a fuss, even if she thought she was about
to be ravaged by some deranged sexual predator.
Perhaps she wouldn't mind?
She'd probably prefer that it was Naruto, though...
Hearing the other girl stand, Sakura was surprised to find Hinata
moving toward her, washcloth in hand. "W-would you like me to wash
your back now?" the pale girl offered, the hopeful look on her face
wilting slightly under Sakura's stare of confusion.
"...You don't have to do that, Hinata-chan," Sakura finally managed
to protest, but the gratitude in her voice much have reached Hinata,
for the brunette didn't retreat.
Or, you know, that whole ravishing thing.
Time enough later for that king of thing; they'll be traveling together for a few days, at least...
Their faces only inches apart, both girls reddened simultaneously,
but for a moment neither Sakura nor Hinata neither moved to
disengage. *Wow, they're soft too...* Sakura mused in wonderment.
Aaah! I was right!
[claps hands and bows head] Sorry! It was inevitable!
"Kiba wants to fight me?" Sakura blinked in confusion. *Why the hell
do all of the loud idiots want to fight me all of a sudden?*
They recognize their own.
Except that Sakura's probably the only one in the rookie nine division of the idiot brigade with an IQ in the triple digits, so she at least has the presence of mind to wonder why ^_^;... Heh, according to the character book, Sakura's significantly smarter than Anko as well, though winning arguments with _her_ might not always be a good thing...
*Ooooh, _that_.* Sakura tried not to think about the ramen incident;
it wasn't a pleasant memory for her either. *Dammit, I should'a just
ripped his #*@&$^in' tongue out!* Now, thanks to Kiba's big mouth
(and a small miscalculation on her part), not only did the entire
village think she was gay, but Sasuke-kun probably thought she was
some sort of sadistic monster.
Probably the surest way to marrying him, really. He does associates it
with family...
_<;... I'm not sure which one would find that relationship the most painful...
"I love you too, Hinata-chan" Sakura whispered playfully, giving the
brunette a friendly peck on the cheek, "but not like- huh?" A stab of
worry shook Sakura out of her licentious stupor as Hinata's entire
body seized up, then suddenly went limp, a though her adorable new
toy had blown a fuse.
YES! YES! REDEMPTION! I CAUGHT A TYPO!
"a though" should be "as though".
I caught that one too, right after i sent it ^_^;...
S U I R E N
Well, the spy report on this little conversation should really
interest Grandfather Haruno. I can't wait to see his reaction when he
has to face Sakura again, or if this ever gets back to the Anbu (and
Hyuuga!) in Konoha.
Well, grandpa's no stranger to... er... 'youthful indescretions.' He wasn't much older than Sakura is now when he spirited Renge-hime off into the hills -_-;...
Don't soften the bath scene, btw. A lot of the humor is strengthened
by how close to being REALLY REALLY WRONG it comes, and the slight
discomfort this causes in the reader allows more sympathy for the
characters.
A vote in favor of the naughtyness! Yaaay!
Now, to summarize what I think is happening with Hinata.
Hinata's known the sealing was happening for a while, but has told
nobody. Otherwise something would have shown up in Kurenai's thoughts,
and she would have been sparing less concern for Sakura. All she knew
was that the Hyuugas wanted Hinata kept back from this mission.
This hasn't kept Hinata from being quietly a wreck and bottling up way
too many emotions, which make her react very strongly when Sakura
reminds her so much of the one she really admires (Naruto) and offers
her non-judgemental friendship. After all, nothing she reveals to
Sakura could possibly be worse than what she "knows" Sakura's done,
right? And Sakura likes girls...
The Anbu at the gate was there to watch Hinata to make sure she didn't
do anything stupid after the sealing. Hinata probably was there
yearning for some kind of escape or privacy away from her clan. He
almost certainly tailed them to the castle, and is probably still
around. If he spied on everything in the bathhouse depends on where
you want to take that little situation.
Hehehe... this is one of the things i really like about reader commentary: whenever i think that a plot idea is either too bland or too off the wall, someone comes out with these wild conspiracy theories that are just so ripe for exploi- er... [cough]consideration.
I'm not gonna say whether any of these theories are 'right' or 'wrong,' but they're fun... though i will say that i think Hinata is a lot stronger than i think you think she is ^_^. In any event, the truth will be revealed (at least in part) in the next chapter, so the wait hopefully won't be long. I'm gonna start working on it just as soon as i've reviewed this chapter a few more times to see if i can't make it better...
Kurenai is panicking, and still doesn't know everything that's up with
the sealing. All she knows is that her innocent, vulnerable and easily
led little Hinata is following Anko-Junior into the wilderness and a
fortress known for disliking ninja, on a delicate diplomatic mission
that she had been expressely forbidden by the Hyuuga elders from
leaving on.
She'll probably be arriving at the castle a whole lot sooner than
Sakura thinks. The hours long run through the rain is going to have
Kiba and Shino in a really good mood too...
Shino will probably not be too perturbed... as long as he doesn't think about Sakura and Hinata naked, and Kurenai is a hard one to really shake (she's best friends with Anko, after all), and usually isn't one to show her displeasure blatantly... well, except when Anko _really_ 'gets' her -_-;.
Kiba, though... Kiba has a crush on Hinata and recognizes competition when he sees it (and sometimes even he doesn't see it), so he's probably gonna be a little too fired up for Kurenai to even let him within a mile of the castle, lest he get them all executed for attempting to do something inappropriate to the Lord's granddaughter ^_^;...
And then, of course, there is still the matter of how the Lord Haruno intends to resolve this request for his presence...
So there's a lot of stuff i need to get to in the next chapter- and that's a good thing! The more fun stuff i have to play with, the easier it is for me to write ^_^...
Anyhow, i'd better get back to revising again. Thanks for the comments, and i'm relieved that you still found this chapter entertaining, after all this time away. Really- you would not believe how relieved i am -_-;...
~Eimii
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