Disclaimer- I don't own the characters in this story.

Author's note- To all my readers, I'm sorry that it took so long to update this. I know this story hasn't been getting the attention it deserves, but I've had lots going on, mostly with school and another story I'm writing. But, there is good news! This chapter has a bit of a short sex scene. It's the first one I've ever written, so please be gentle.

…Wait. I think I should rephrase that.

Chapter 2: The Sleepover

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Hinata sighed as she walked to Naruto's house with him. They passed houses where kids were having snowball fights with each other, or helping their parents build snowmen.

With all the snow on the ground and all the people having fun everywhere, there was a hint of romance in the air. Even if Naruto didn't think so, Hinata didn't want this feeling to ever go away. She blushed as she walked behind Naruto. She knew how unlikely it was that he liked her, but he was taking her to his house. Even if they weren't that close, it was still a nice gesture.

"Are you still cold?" Naruto turned to ask.

"N-no." Hinata answered as she was torn away from her thoughts.

"Good." he said with a grin. "We're nearly there. It's just around this corner."

Hinata blushed at his concern for her. She stumbled a little as she walked. Don't faint. she told herself. Not now. Not when he's taking you to his house.

Naruto's house came into view as they rounded the corner. Hinata was impressed at how nice it was. The house was a two story building with a spacious front yard. It was somewhat modest, but Hinata liked it all the same.

They both kicked their shoes against the brick stairway to knock to excess snow off of their shoes. Hinata was surprised Naruto didn't break his foot or the stairway from the way he kicked the bricks.

They took their shoes off when they entered Naruto's cozy home. Naruto threw his coat into the nearby closet, but Hinata kept hers on. She was embarrassed to show too much of herself in front of others.

The front hallway led straight to the living room and branched off to the right into the kitchen. It was surprisingly clean, considering the way Naruto kept his apartment before he became Hokage. Naruto pointed to a couch in the living room as he walked in. "Please, make yourself at home."

Hinata took a seat on the edge of the couch, not wanting to mess it up too badly. Naruto walked over to the fireplace across from the couch. He did a few hand signs and ignited a fire. Hinata watched as the flames danced and felt herself being warmed by it. It gave off a soothing atmosphere. Hinata was beginning to feel more relaxed, until Naruto placed a blanket on her back and pulled the edges into her lap. Hinata's face went red again. "Are you warm enough?" he asked. Hinata just nodded.

Naruto went into the kitchen. He pulled out a packet of hot chocolate mix and a cup of ramen and put them both on the counter. He poured some water into a glass and into his cup ramen and put them both into the microwave and started to cook them.

Hinata sat on Naruto's couch, hugging some of the blanket to her while it was still wrapped around her. Why is Naruto-kun being so nice to me? she thought. Her eyes shot open in realization. Could he really like me? She entertained thoughts of romance between them, leading up to their marriage, until an image of her father popped into her head. She closed her eyes and sadly looked down at the floor. No. I'm too much of a failure. He must be doing this out of pity. She picked her legs off of the floor and hugged them to her chest and rested her head on her knees.

Hinata started to think that it would be best for her to sneak out of Naruto's house, so that she could avoid the humiliation she might suffer from Naruto's rejection. Over the years, she had barely kept up with her father's expectations as the heir of the Hyuuga household. As a result, he became easier to irritate and lost his temper at Hinata for the simplest things. Hinata often found herself backing down from social gatherings, unless ordered to go by her father, or if her friends Shino and Kiba were with her.

She was about to stand up, when she suddenly smelled hot chocolate. Naruto pulled a coffee table up next to the couch and put her drink on it and took a seat next to her on the couch. "A-arigato." Hinata said as she picked up the cup and took a small sip. It was good, but it had a hint of ramen flavor to it. Naruto cooked the hot chocolate and the ramen in the microwave at the same time so that the flavors mixed. Hinata laughed to herself. Even if Naruto was the Hokage, he was still Naruto. Hinata put her hot chocolate back on the coffee table. She turned her head to look at him, still clutching her legs.

"Ano, N-Naruto-kun?" she said.

"Yeah Hinata-chan?" Naruto answered, finishing a strand of noodles.

"Ano…I…I" she started.

Go on! Hinata told herself. Tell him. It's easy. Just tell him how you feel.

"I…wanted t-to tell you s-something." she paused to draw a breath to relax herself. She was blushing heavily and was afraid of passing out.

"Okay. What is it?" Naruto asked, oblivious as always.

"I…I really…"

Just say 'I love you!' Hinata told herself.

Hinata was blushing so deep she was showing a light purple color as she struggled to tell the love of her life her biggest secret. If only she could muster up the courage, maybe he would finally understand everything.

"I…like…"

So close. I'm so close. Tell him. This is it!

"I really like your house!" Hinata yelled in her tiny voice.

Naruto blinked in reaction to Hinata's bizarre outburst. "Uh…Thanks Hinata-chan."

Hinata sank into the couch in defeat. Why couldn't she say three simple words? She felt like she was going to cry.

Naruto turned his attention back to his ramen. "You know," he began. "For a second there, I thought you were going to say you liked me or something." He chuckled to himself as she slurped down a clump of noodles. Hinata's eyes shot open in shock and her face deepened by several shades of red.

"That would've been pretty shocking, right Hinata-chan?"

Thunk.

Naruto looked over and saw that Hinata had, once again, fainted. Her head hit the coffee table on the way down, and she now had a red mark on her forehead. She was spread out on the ground. Her hot chocolate spilled and was staining the carpet.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled as he saw his friend collapsed on the floor. He put his ramen on the coffee table so fast that it tipped over, sending soggy noodles over the glass coffee table.

"Hinata!" Naruto said again as he kneeled down beside her. She was red as could be and had a contented smile across her face.

"Naruto…kun." she said softly.

Naruto sighed in relief. She was just unconscious, she wasn't seriously hurt. She was going to have one hell of a bump on her forehead in the morning, but other than that, she was fine. Naruto scooped Hinata in his arms and held her bridal style. He didn't know how long she would be out. Minutes. Hours. There was no way to tell.

He stood up and carried her upstairs to his bedroom. If she was out the whole night, the best thing to do would be to let her stay in his bed.

Alone, of course.

I'm not like Ero-sennin. he thought.

Naruto pushed the door open with his foot and walked into his simple bedroom. His bed was pressed against the center of the opposite wall and a small desk rested at its side. He had a dresser pressed against the wall to the right of the room. It wasn't much, but it was better than when he was living in his old apartment.

As Naruto held Hinata, an image flashed into his mind.

He was in a fancy tuxedo and she was in a beautiful wedding dress. He carried her into the bedroom and laid her down softly. She looked more beautiful than anything he could imagine. He bent down to kiss her, but she held a finger to his lips to stop him.

"I'm sorry Naruto." she said. "I'm just really nervous."

Naruto just laughed, causing Hinata to scowl jokingly. "You're always nervous Hinata." He paused to stop laughing and drew closer to her. "But you always find the courage to do what you have to do."

"That's because you're around." she explained.

Naruto chuckled to himself. "No, it's because you try."

Hinata smiled up at him. Naruto really was the sweetest person in the world. She pulled him into a hug and whispered in is ear.

"Just be gentle, okay?"

"Of course." Naruto said. His hand crept behind her back and started to pull off her wedding dress.

"I love you." they said at the same time as they went in to kiss each other.

No! Wait!

Naruto snapped out of his daydream. He was in his bedroom, still holding Hinata in his arms. She had stopped blushing, but she still had that cute, contented smile. Naruto's pulse was racing as he recalled the thoughts he was having only moments ago.

No! No! No! That's way too perverted! Naruto told himself. Hinata's just a friend. A really cute one, who I guess I don't know very well. She's strong and beautiful and I'd… Wait, what am I saying?

Naruto pulled the covers off of the bed and rested Hinata under them. Then he realized his next problem. Hinata was still wearing her tan hoodie. If she went to sleep in it, she would get too hot. Carefully, he pulled off her jacket, slipping it off one sleeve at a time.

Naruto finished pulling her jacket off. He slipped it out from underneath her without waking her up. Naruto draped the jacket over his arm. He looked down at the sleeping Hinata. It was then that Naruto noticed her slender form. Hinata wore a dark purple shirt which complimented her hair quite nicely. Her thin waist only made her already full breasts look even more appealing. Naruto wondered how soft they must've felt, but stopped as soon as he realized what he was thinking. He smacked himself sharply on the side of his head. The two and a half years he spent training with Jiraya really did a number on him.

Quietly, he backed out of the room, turning the lights out as he left.

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"…So after Neji and Tenten snuck off, we decided to find you guys." Ino explained.

Ino, Shikamaru, Sasuke and Sakura were all seated at a round table in a small restaurant in the aftermath of their snowball fight. Ino had just finished regaling Sasuke and Sakura about how they came across Team Seven's couple making out in the woods.

After half an hour of inactivity, Neji and Tenten decided to call it a day and ran off to Tenten's house for dinner…and some after dinner fun. Kiba and Shino went home soon after Naruto and Hinata did, telling the others about it before they left. Seeing that they were the only ones left, Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji left to look for the other players. They found Lee, crying to himself against a tree, right where Chouji had left him. The chubby ninja offered to help the green clad ninja walk back to his house. It wasn't the first time Lee had collapsed like that. He did it every time he saw Sakura kissing Sasuke. Ino and Shikamaru continued along until they saw the other couple. Sasuke and Sakura were still vigorously making out along the path. After an awkward exchange of stares, the two couples decided to go get some dinner.

"So do you think Naruto finally noticed Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"No." Sasuke and Shikamaru said simultaneously.

"I hope so." Ino commented. "They'd be the second cutest couple in Konoha."

"Who'd be the cutest?" Sakura asked halfheartedly, knowing what the answer would be.

Ino just wrapped her arms around Shikamaru's neck and hung on him. She looked over at Sakura with an I-dare-you kind of expression. Sakura returned the dare by grabbing onto Sasuke's neck and holding him close.

"We're cuter." Sakura said.

"No, we are." Ino said.

"We are!"

"We are!"

"Pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

"Could you two stop before we get thrown out of the restaurant?" Sasuke asked with a touch of anger.

"Sorry Sasuke." Sakura said as she and Ino slid back into their seats. She hated making Sasuke upset. Ever since he came back from Orochimaru's, he was treated just like Naruto was when he was a kid. Hated and stared at with disgust. If it wasn't for Naruto passing the law that no one may attack or discriminate him, Sasuke would have surely been chased out of Konoha. As a result, Sasuke was always cautious not to do anything that would cause someone to start a riot to get him exiled.

"So Lee was crying against a tree when you found him?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Ino said. "Something about his 'Flame of Youth' being doused by a 'River of Despair'."

"Poor guy." Sakura said. She had lost count of how many times she told Lee she wasn't interested in him, but even so he never seemed to listen.

"On a different note," Shikamaru said. "Do you guys have any upcoming missions?"

"Sasuke and I have to investigate a nearby village that was taken over by a group of bandits." Sakura said. "We have to go and observe it, then take the bandits out if we can."

"Lucky you." Ino said. "Shikamaru and I have to protect a group of merchants traveling from here to the village of the Mist." Ino crossed her arms as she pouted. "We won't get to see as much action as you two."

"Oh, that's too bad Ino." Sakura teased. "I guess you'll have to wait until Naruto thinks you're worth giving a real mission too."

"Shut up Forehead!" Ino cried out.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh as her best friend's face went red with anger.

"So when do you guys leave?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep the conversation civil.

"Three days." Shikamaru answered simply. "What about you?"

""Tomorrow afternoon." Sasuke said. "We want to get there in the evening so we can get a good vantage point while it's still dark."

"Good plan." Shikamaru said, and when he said something was a good plan, it was defiantly a good plan.

"I just hope we both make it there alive." Sasuke said mysteriously.

"Why do you say that?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke just pointed over to the side to indicate the two kunoichi glaring at each other with lightning bolts shooting out of their eyes.

"Oh."

The boys looked on at the arguing girls as they gave each other their worst death stares.

"If you two keep that up, you're eventually going to magnetize yourselves to each other's faces." Sasuke said as a rare joke.

"What?" the girls both proclaimed, surprised that Sasuke actually said a joke.

"Sasuke, did you really tell a joke?" Sakura said.

"I had to stop you somehow." he said.

"And just in time." Shikamaru said. "The food's here."

Sasuke, Sakura and Ino all turned to see their waiter bringing all of their orders through the room. They had all ordered stew of one type or another. Steam rose from the platter the waiter carried. He set the platter on an empty table nearby and started handing the bowls of food over one by one. Sasuke kept his eye on the waiter, making sure that nothing happened to his food. He half expected him to pour it in his lap or spit in it.

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. The waiter must have realized the futility of trying to attack an expertly trained ninja, especially one of Sasuke's level.

"Finally!" Ino complained as soon as the waiter was far enough away that he couldn't hear them. "I'm starving."

"Just make sure you don't choke while you eat." Shikamaru teased. "I don't think you'd look good with a blue face." Everyone at the table laughed except Ino, who swatted Shikamaru's shoulder in playful retaliation. The picked up their chopsticks when they were done laughing.

"Itadakimasu!" they all called out.

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"Thanks for walking me home Sasuke." Sakura said as they walked to her house. After they finished their meal, Shikamaru and Ino went their own way. Sakura had asked Sasuke to walk her home because the evening sky was glowing bright colors, almost like the sky was on fire. It was a really romantic scene.

"No problem." Sasuke said. He ignored the looks of the other people glaring at him on the street. He only paid attention to Sakura. She was the only thing in his world now. He hugged her closer as they walked.

They walked in silence as they watched the night sky. The colors reminded Sasuke of Sakura's beautiful pink hair, while it reminded Sakura of Sasuke's Sharingan.

They couldn't have been more in love.

They continued to walk in silence until they came to Sakura's apartment. She moved out to live on her own after the operation to save Sasuke came back successfully. She now lived in a small apartment complex on the north side of town, just underneath the Hokage Mountain.

"I guess I should get some sleep for our mission tomorrow." Sakura said. She smiled sweetly, leaning against the door to her apartment.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Sasuke said. "I gotta head home too. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Sakura called after him. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she said, coyly hiding her hands behind her back.

Sasuke stopped and turned to face her. He put his hand to his chin in mock thought. "I don't know. Am I?" He slowly walked towards her.

"Yes." Sakura said. "You know I can't sleep before a mission without a goodnight kiss."

By now, Sasuke had walked all the way back to Sakura's door and was standing right next to her. He smiled as she gleamed at him and closed her eyes. Sasuke put a hand under her chin and lifted her head to meet with his own. He kissed her softly and caringly. Unlike the time in the woods earlier that day, they didn't kiss wildly and uncontrollably. They both took their time now, overtaken only by their feelings for each other.

Sakura's arms wrapped around Sasuke in a loving embrace and he did the same. They held their place in each other's arms. It was only a few seconds until Sasuke finally loosened his grip on Sakura. She did the same and they pulled back to look at each other.

"I have told you that I love you, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Only every day." Sakura told him. She said. She pulled herself closer to Sasuke in a hug. Although she knew that Sasuke loved her and told her it almost every time they spent time with each other, she always got overcome with joy every time she heard it.

"Sakura-" Sasuke began.

"Please just hold me." came the response. All the years of being ignored and all the years of being useless to Sasuke were over for Sakura. As good as it was, sometimes she couldn't believe it. She held on to Sasuke tightly, almost as if doing so would stop any of her tears from flowing.

Sasuke held Sakura close to him. It was Sakura who healed him. It was Sakura who cried over him. It was Sakura who changed him and convinced him return to Konoha. For that, Sasuke would always be grateful.

"You know, we should probably get some sleep." Sasuke suggested. "Otherwise, we'll be too tired for tomorrow."

"Just a little bit longer." Sakura requested.

The couple simply held each other in their arms.

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"What movie do you want to watch?" Ino asked across the room.

"I don't know." Shikamaru answered from the couch. He held a bowl of popcorn which was still steaming from the microwave. "You pick something."

Ino flipped through her collection of movies on the wall, which included dramas, adventures and romances. In an attempt to set the mood she wanted, Ino picked out a cute romance she liked called Hinata's Hero. It was a story about a shy girl who desperately tried to tell the star quarterback of the football team that she liked him. It was one of Ino's favorite movies because of how romantic, yet dramatic, it was.

Ino picked up the DVD and put it in the DVD player. She hit the play button and jumped onto the couch next to Shikamaru. The title screen for the movie loaded up and Ino reached into the nearby bowl and pulled out a handful of popcorn. One by one, she started eating the kernels.

On screen, the camera moved in to show a beautiful brunette girl gripping a love letter tightly. She was waiting outside a high school football stadium for her secret crush to come out.

Ino took another handful of popcorn, but this time she stopped before eating any of it. She looked to her side and saw Shikamaru watching the movie with his usual bored expression. With a wicked grin, she picked out an extra fluffy popcorn kernel and pressed it against Shikamaru's lips. Shikamaru looked over at Ino with a look of confusion.

"Say 'Ahh'." she said.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her and did as she asked. Ino slipped the popcorn into his mouth. She picked out another kernel and brought it to his lips again. However, Shikamaru acted first by grabbing a kernel from the bowl and pressing it against Ino's lips. She looked as confused as Shikamaru did at first. Slowly, Ino opened her lips and ate the popcorn right out of Shikamaru's hand, taking her time to suck on one of his fingers. She gazed up at Shikamaru, relieved that he didn't look bored anymore.

"Shikamaru…" she called seductively.

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"Lee, relax. It's not the end of the world." Chouji tried to reassure the green clad ninja.

"The Flame of Youth no longer burns in my heart!" Lee cried as he downed another soda. They had stopped by a small bar for some drinks, but the waiter recognized Lee and knew about his incredible mood swings when he was drunk. The waiter did everything in his power to keep the alcohol away from Lee.

"There are plenty of girls out there." Chouji told the now sobbing ninja by his side. "You'll find someone else no problem."

"There is no one else who can fill the gap in my heart!" Lee said through his tears. He grabbed another soda and drank the whole thing in one go.

"You go through this at least once a week Lee." Chouji reminded him. "Why not just skip the depression stage and move onto the happy-go-lucky stage like you always do?"

Lee turned to his comforting friend. With his flushed cheeks and his tears flowing like waterfalls, he looked like some sort of a clown.

"Chouji! You really are a true friend!" the overly excited ninja yelled. Lee threw his arms around Chouji in a crushing bear hug. By now, the sugar from the 17 cans of soda was getting to him and he was becoming more excitable than usual. After a few seconds of the deadly embrace, Chouji tapped Lee on the shoulder, indicating that he wanted to breath. Lee noticed Chouji's requests for air and complied by simply letting go. Chouji rocketed backwards, gasping for breath the whole way.

"Chouji my friend!" the ridiculous green ninja said. "I feel much better now! Thank you!"

"Yeah, no problem." Chouji said, silently praying that he didn't have any broken ribs.

"To celebrate, why don't we do 500 laps around the village on our fingertips?"

Chouji stared back at Lee in a combination of confusion and fear. "Uhh…You get started without me." Chouji managed to say. "I'll catch up later."

"YOSH! Then I shall see you later my friend!" Lee said. A second later, he ran off towards the main gate of Konoha.

Chouji leaned back on the ground, relieved that he didn't have to do an absurd number of laps around town. His fingertips would probably collapse after three laps.

With nothing better to do, Chouji stood up, pulled out a bag of chips, and headed for home.

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Sasuke walked back to his apartment from Sakura's. He walked with his hands in his pockets, sulking as he used to in his childhood. Not because he missed his family or because he was lonely without Sakura. He did it because he knew he was being watched. And he hated it.

He stopped in the park when he decided he was secluded enough.

"You can come out now." Sasuke said into the night sky.

Nothing happened. A slight breeze was the only response Sasuke got.

"Do you HAVE to follow me when I'm with my girlfriend?" Sasuke asked in a very irritated tone.

This time, a member of the ANBU security detail appeared in front of him, wearing a dog mask.

"Sorry sir." the ANBU member said. "Hokage's orders."

Sasuke sighed as he ran a hand over his face. Dammit, you bastards. Sasuke thought. He knew there were even more of them up in the trees around him.

After Sasuke returned to Konoha, the Fifth Hokage had him incarcerated. For betraying Konoha and running off to join Orochimaru, Sasuke was originally sentenced to death. However, because of the testimonies by Naruto and Sakura, his sentence was reduced. Instead of dying, Sasuke had to be followed by an ANBU security team until the day he died, with the exceptions of missions. However, he could never be given access to specific information concerning Konoha's security or any classified information. As long as he behaved himself, he would be allowed to live a normal life in Konoha and participate in missions.

The ANBU in the dog mask disappeared and Sasuke once again made his way back to his house while images of Sakura went through his head.

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Neji and Tenten laid on their backs in bed. The bed sheet covered everything below the couple's chests. Tenten had her eyes closed, feeling the cool wind from an open window blow across her breasts. Neji rested one hand on Tenten's stomach while the other one was busy playing with one of the buns in her hair.

"Neji?" Tenten asked softly. "Why do you always play with my hair after we have sex?"

"It's fun." Neji simply responded. He tickled her stomach as well, causing Tenten to giggle. She swatted at his hand defensively, not because she wanted him to stop, but because it was the best way for her to tease him back. Neji grabbed her hand as she attacked and brought it to his lips. He kissed the back of Tenten's hand as she settled down and let him do as he wanted.

She looked at him, laying on her back. This was the Neji only she knew. This was the true Neji Hyuuga, her lover. The one who only seemed to care about his honor, but in fact cared about every one of his friends deeply. He was a ninja, but that didn't mean he couldn't be compassionate. Naruto had taught him that.

He was smiling. Tenten looked into Neji's eyes and knew that this was what he was really like. He only acted like an arrogant jerk around everyone else to hide his true self. Tenten was the only one he would ever act like this around, mainly because she was the only woman he could ever love.

"Why don't you untie your hair?" Neji asked.

"Because I like my buns." Tenten said. She smiled oddly as she said it. She thought it sounded funny to say.

"Will you ever let me see you with your hair down?" he asked softly.

Tenten giggled in response. "Mmmaybe." she drew out. She raised a finger to his nose and pressed against it. "If you're a good boy."

A mischievous smirk crept across Neji's face. His hand slowly slid down from her stomach to between her legs.

"Like this?" he teased as he pushed his finger into her.

Tenten gasped and arched her back in surprise. Neji's other hand left her hair and found her breast. Tenten's breast was already stiff from the cold wind blowing into the room. He played with her, compressing her breast, and being careful not to hurt her.

"Ahh…Neji!" she cried as she felt her orgasm building up in waves.

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There. I don't know how often I can update this story, but I WILL finish it. I'll get lots of time to work over the summer, so I should get a lot of work done then. I can assure you though that the next chapter will be up before the end of summer. Until then, your reviews really help me want to work on this, so please leave one.