Ok, heads up, the next chapter might take me a while. I need to be in the right place to write this story and that's just not the case right now, but this chapter is good to go!

Songs: You Look Better When I'm Drunk (Remix) - White Tie Affair
Natural Woman - Stacy Francis
Right Through Me - Nicki
Paper Bag - Fiona Apple
Runaway - Linkin Park
I Can't Hate You Anymore - Nick Lachey
California King Bed - Rihanna

Chapter 9

He was confused.

Blinking, he didn't recognize the ceiling he was staring at. Nor the color of the walls attached. Or even what the hell he'd been doing before he opened his eyes. Did he pass out? Weird. He'd only done that a handful of times in his life, and it was never so randomly.

A sudden chill perked his skin and his eyebrows scrunched, looking down at his bare chest. It would have been normal, if he were in his room, but he wasn't. And then something caught the corner of his eye, and he turned his head slowly as his mouth hung more and more open. Hinata was there. His insides jolted. His gut told him this was wrong, but then she was just lying there, next to him, so peacefully; like she didn't have a care in the world. In his jacket. Catching a glimpse of way too much skin, he wondered if she were only in his jacket.

Whoa. Wait a minute. He blinked, and then blinked again. He had had a dream like this before. Was he dreaming again? Was he still asleep, or passed out? Cautiously, he touched the side of her face, as though something were going to happen the moment his fingers touched.

Whoa. That felt real. She felt real. Was he actually touching her? Was this actually happening? But it... couldn't be? No way. He swallowed, trying to comprehend the situation. He couldn't normally think in his dreams like this, right? So it made sense... that he wouldn't be dreaming. But he had to be. He'd had a dream like this before, after all, and she'd even been in his jacket. The only difference was he wasn't under the covers this time.

He shifted onto his side, scratching at his cheek in thought. If this were real, he had seriously missed out on something while he was out. It had to be a dream.

She was getting nervous. She knew he was up. She felt him touch her; felt him shift around; could feel him staring at her. If she thought she could get away with it, she would have gulped. Did he know? Mentally, she cursed, thinking she had blown it somehow, telling herself this is why she didn't do pranks. And what was with that touch? It more than surprised her - she nearly jumped out of her skin. Why wasn't he reacting? Was he trying to turn it on her? That would be like him... the number one prankster wasn't number one for nothing. Mind racing, she tried to guess what he'd do next.

Pondering soon turned into admiring, as not much later, Naruto decided it was a dream. The most vivid one he'd ever had, but a dream all the same. The details of Hinata's face were incredible - he only hoped he could remember them half as well once he woke up - but what got him the most, was how he'd never been aware he was dreaming in a dream before. He was determined to make the best of it. For all he knew, this was the only time it'd happen. And with that, he continued to admire Hinata, quickly realizing that any dreams he'd had of her before now, severely underestimated the softness of her skin. And the warmth. And the beauty. He figured it was maybe because he'd only recently come to realize these things firsthand, but there was one key feature his dreams had gotten just right - that blush. He always used to think it was so weird, but it was kind of cute now, and he kind of missed it. It wasn't so much a staple on her face anymore, nowadays. Not like it used to be. He couldn't help the smile on his face as he sunk into the comfort his dreams usually brought him. As gently as he could, he traced the blush on her cheeks and wordlessly watched it grow.

She was on fire. What in the world was he doing? There was no helping the burning sensation that threatened to swallow her whole - not with him touching her. She felt like screaming, or taking things further. She couldn't be too sure. One second, she wanted to run out of the room, into the safety of her own little bubble; the next, she wanted to make it obvious she was awake by making him burn up.

But, she couldn't deny that this felt nice. Her heart was ballooning again and she couldn't find much else in her than to just enjoy the attention. His attention. On her. Entirely. It was a little overwhelming. Her eyes pricked at the thought, the beginnings of tears forming behind her eyes, and then he touched her just right.

It was an innocent touch. He'd only been caressing different parts of her face, as though learning them, when suddenly his fingers brushed just below her earlobe and she couldn't stop the sound that came out.

There was a moment of silence between them, until she gulped. Hard. She figured she may as well, having already outed herself, but his fingers didn't stop.

"Right there, huh?"

How good it felt to be touched in that specific spot surprised her enough. His words flew over her head. She tried not to moan again, because she couldn't deny it all felt really, really good, but then she opened her eyes to question him and her heart nearly burst. Her eyes widened, for a fraction of a second, at what was looking back at her. She'd never seen that expression on Naruto's face before.

Not even in her dreams.

Note: Happy Halloween! No tricks here ;)