Bonus Chapter 12: It Must Be Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this takes place after the events that happened in Yuki's flashback when she slept with him.

The fingers of dawn slipped through the cracks in the shutter and stroked the forehead of the woman who was asleep in a bed not her own, but the woman refused to wake. She didn't wake until her hand reached out to touch something that was right beside her, something that she expected to be there but it wasn't there and so she woke up. Green eyes peered out into the room to search for the man that had shared that bed with her and as she was searching she began to notice things that she hadn't noticed before during the night. Around the bed were boxes, plain brown boxes that were used for storage only and on each box was a name, a woman's name, each box contained a different name. Despite her normal wishes to never get into anybodies business she found herself opening one of the boxes to find a set of clothes in it, women's clothes, each one a discarded item that didn't match the item before it, but she realized that these were pieces of women's clothing that he had collected from each his previous bed partners.

Something about the clothes just made a sinking feeling into her chest as she felt like what had happened last night wasn't anything, just a frequent occurrence that happened to the man often. Would she leave some of her own clothes behind, would they go into a box as well or did he stop putting them in a box and just had them in a pile in his closet, trophies for past conquests in bed? This made her feel a bit unclean and she began to get fuzzy in the head as she quickly put on her clothes, which were still soaked, and made her way towards the living room with the intention of leaving and never turning back. She didn't want to be one of those pitiful women who just waited by the phone for him to call when he felt like making love to her. It was just so much for her to bear that she had actually felt that she love for that man and he probably just felt that she was another woman who needed a night in his bed to make her feel better.

"Is there something wrong," asked a voice from behind her that made her turn around and look into the dark sunglasses that were staring at her.

"I'm sorry about imposing on you and I hope that I repaid it well enough in bed," replied Yuki, a bit of anger in her tone as she looked at him and then turned around to leave when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

"What's the matter? You can tell me if anything is bothering you, I'm quite good at helping people."

"No, Shenlong I am quite fine thank you, just don't think I'm doing that again," said yuki as she made her way for the door and looked back. "I believe that it was a one time thing for both of us don't you think?"

"It doesn't have to be just one time," suggested Shenlong in a voice that didn't fit his true meaning for it sounded like one of seduction.

"No thank you, I'm not just another box of clothes for you to keep around," said Yuki as she walked out the door and bowed before she walked out leaving Shenlong curious as to what she meant before he walked into his room and saw the boxes.

"These boxes don't belong here," said Shenlong as he started to put the postage stamps on them to mail them.

Yuki got to the building for them to check with each other and soon she remembered that she hadn't had breakfast at all so she went down to the coffee room where there were always donuts and bagels. She picked up a chocolate covered one with sprinkles before going back to her work room where she looked over all the necessary forms and files that she was put to these days because Shenlong had taken on an apprentice. It was a bit adorable to see the twelve year old standing next to the very tall Shenlong who had reached 6'10 while she was at 4'11, but they both had the same demon red eyes, the girl's were just lighter than usual. At such a young age the girl was going on very dangerous missions that would normally not be allowed to genin, but she had the help of her strong partner, Susanwo, the wolf-brother of Shenlong. Susanwo was the youngest and most impatient of Shenlong's siblings, he was also the smallest, having the appearance of a small pup, but Susanwo was able to grow to the size of an adult wolf.

Most of the day was spent thinking about when her next mission would be and if she would have to have another mission with Shenlong, a thought that was getting more and more dreaded by the second because she didn't want to deal with him right now. It wasn't that he was an asshole or had a bad personality, well at least not to her, but to others, like Sumikoa, he was an arrogant bastard who was too strong for his own good. His bad habits included smoking, which he would sometimes use for illusions or the heat of the burning end for a fire jutsu, but Shenlong had the ability of duel elements for his chakra as a result of his wolf blood. At times she found him very dashing, especially whenever he was playing his role as Gaara's right hand man, but there were other times when she found him to have a very cute face, one time being when she caught him sleeping upside down on a tree with one of his student's kittens playing with his hair.

"Hello, Yuki, are you awake in there," asked Temari as she waved her hand in front of Yuki's face, snapping her out of her trance and bringing her back to the real world to discover that she had 

been daydreaming for two hours. "You seem to be out of it today, does it have anything to do with your mother's death?"

"No, I've gotten over that thanks to Shenlong, but I….I lost something," replied Yuki, a bit shy at revealing her previous night with the mysterious Shenlong, but Temari wouldn't stop until she had the whole story. "I was at Shenlong's apartment last night and I…lost something, something very…sacred to every woman."

"No way! Get out of here! You lost your virginity to Shenlong," asked Temari as she eyed Yuki strangely, as if she was jealous, but Temari already had her eyes on another man. "Why would you do it with him, was it consensual? Did he use some type of illusion on you to make you think otherwise?"

"No it just sort of happened when he let me in to his apartment last night after I had been crying my eyes out and we just wound up kissing each other and one thing led to another. This morning when I woke up he wasn't in bed but all around the bedroom were little brown storage boxes filled with different women's clothing from the other women he's had in his bed and I realized that he had lots of company. I don't know what to do, every time I try to forget he just pops in my mind but I don't want to be that girl just sitting there waiting for him to call me when he feels like he's in the mood for a go at it."

"Well the first thing you should know is that a lot of women who have worked with him, even from different villages have been in his bed, but he makes it known beforehand that it is just sex," said Temari as she looked at the other kuinochi who were looking in her direction and Yuki blushed with embarrassment. "Then you have those who hope to make into his bed because he has a reputation that is as notorious as his reputation for bloodshed, plus he wears those leather outfits that would make him look like something out of a fantasy. That is the hard truth that you have to face and if you really wish to know all about him, he was once in love with a woman before, but she was killed during an ambush by the Yondaime so he's been nursing an old wound."

"As if him having a harem at his disposal didn't make it hard for a relationship now I have a dead lover," sighed Yuki as she put her forehead to her desk and wondered what he would do until she sa that Temari was giving her a smile.

"But you know, you're the only one who has actually managed to tame Shenlong just by earning his trust and of all the women that have gotten into his bed, you are the only one who is something to him."

"Over time it did become more than me being his keeper and he being my pet," said Yuki reluctantly before she closed her eyes and opened them with a look of determination. "But now I know that I love him, even if he doesn't feel the same way, and I'm going to tell him that."

"Last I saw he was spending the day at his home before going off," said Temari as she motioned for Yuki to go, smiling as the girl left and she wondered when she would get that lazy bum to take her to his bed.

Shenlong sat there in his living room away from all his thoughts wondering if he would ever see her again, Yuki, his Yuki. Time had made him grow attachments that he never meant to make again and he found himself once more at the painful step of waiting for acceptance, but now he was beginning to despair about it all. She had seen the clothes that various women had left and she must think him to be some sex fiend who tricks women into getting into his bed before he could tell her something. Once again he found himself alone in a home that was very much lavished in a gothic manner while keeping tradition, like his own soul, but it also represented how other people saw him. In making himself a reputation to protect his lord he found himself to be the object of many worried glances and he could bring silence to a lively party just by walking in there with his shades on.

A sent crawled up into his nose and he immediately turned towards the door to see someone sliding the front door through the window, the rain kicking out again like it had the night before, and she was once again soaked. Yuki was standing there, looking at him with determination in his eyes and he found himself in a state of confusion that would have been embarrassing had it been anyone else. Without a word he unlocked the door and as she stepped in he led her back to the room where he had found some old clothes that belonged to one of the women in his clan, his birth clan. He decided it was better to turn around as she changed, but as he turned he felt a hand turn him around and Yuki stared at him before taking off his dark sunglasses to see those red wolf eyes again. It just became to unbearable for Shenlong to hold it in any longer as he bent down and kissed her, finding no resistance as she opened her mouth to his probing tongue. As he let it explore the inner recesses of her mouth his hands were all on her removing her clothes as they both made their way to the bed.

The first article of his clothing was his leather shirt so that her hands could run across his bare chest and next when his pants which he always wore nothing underneath it. He laid her down on the bed genteelly before he mounted and pushed himself inside of her. It didn't hurt at first like last time, it felt the opposite as she was pleased by his fulfilling of her desires and she felt at heaven as he thrust into her again and again with a stamina that men could only dream of. His mouth suckled her breasts as he continued to make love to her and they both reached their peek at the same time, a first for Shenlong who usually held out for longer.

The only thing left in the air were the two unspoken words.

"I love you Yuki-chan."

"I love you too Shenlong-kun."