Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Underwear ❯ Choosing the Proper Fit ( Chapter 6 )

Underwear

by Lemon Drops/thatreevesgirl (both me)

Chapter 6: Choosing the Proper Fit

 

Hinata, still red, and looking a bit more than numb, glanced up at Ino who was scheming and planning. It scared Hinata, what had she gotten herself into?

 

“When does your shift end today?” Ino asked. Hinata was sure she saw a forked tongue slither between Ino's lips, and certainly there would be a pair of horns hidden somewhere among those pretty blonde locks of hair. Evil, so very, very evil.

 

“At noon, why do you ask, Ino?”

 

Ino cackled, doing some calculations in her head quickly, nodding to herself and then grabbed Hinata by the arm. “I'm sure they won't mind if you leave a few minutes early today. Come on, it's nearly noon as it is.”

 

Hinata tried to fight back, but Ino was a highly determined person, and one cannot dissuade Ino once she's set her mind on something. Hinata gulped, she hadn't expected her initiation to come quite this quickly, but she was certain the reason why she was being drug from the hospital had everything to do with underwear and the club she have received an invitation into.

 

Mustering ever bit of her willpower, Hinata stomped her foot down and brought Ino and herself to a full stop, “Ino, where are we going?”

 

The smile which Ino gave Hinata this time was much sweeter than the devil-wear she'd plastered on her face earlier. Ino nodded her head, “I'm sorry, I was in such a hurry I didn't even explain what we are going to do. There is going to be a small gathering of sorts in the training area today, and we have to be there to see it.”

 

Hinata's left eyebrow rose skeptically, she knew it, it did have something to do with underwear.

 

“You see, Sakura is in a bit of a scrape, and I need to be there to make sure everything goes as planned, but I need another person there as well.”

 

Another person? “You need my Byakugan?”

 

“No, not today. I need someone there in case I have to use my body-transfer jutsu. Please Hinata? I'll explain the rest on the way, but we really do have to get going.”

 

Ino's eyes pleaded with Hinata, and like most times when people came to her for help, Hinata couldn't refuse. “Oh, fine, but you will explain this to me, and if I find it to be something I don't wish to associate myself with, I will leave. Is that understood, Ino?”

 

Ino nodded. It was a good thing Hinata agreed, because she really did need another person there if she had to use her jutsu. Hopefully her pink-haired friend wouldn't need the extra push and would use her womanly wiles to their fullest, but if Sakura didn't, if she decided to be the scared little girl who hovered in a corner of the water…Ino cackled, someone, namely her, would make sure the boys were fully enticed by a half-naked Sakura.

 

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Now for a game of riddles: How long does it take for Sasuke Uchiha to wrap his mind around the idea that his teammate Sakura has an underwear fetish? Give up? Well, it's about as long as it takes Naruto Uzumaki to understand why Sakura would want to be peeping at him, and just under the amount of time it takes for the artistically talented Sai to doodle a picture of a naked Sakura in his sketchbook. That is how long it takes for Sasuke Uchiha to even remotely begin to comprehend the perverse nature of his own female teammate.

 

“She was peeping, you know, watching us,” Naruto stammered out, still in a bit of a daze as he sat in the mud.

 

Sai, clearly the least experienced with tact, but (surprisingly) the most experienced with women out the three men just muttered, “What did you expect? Women have fantasies and fetishes as well, they are human just like the rest of us, just like you, Naruto. We all know why you carry around that picture of Sakura in your coin purse. You always take it with you into the woods when we're on missions.”

 

Naruto was grateful Sai ended what he was saying right there, because what Naruto's teammate was implying he did with the picture didn't need to be explained any further.

 

“Tch,” Sasuke interjected his thoughts on the situation, if that could even be called an opinion. Honestly, Sasuke didn't really know what to say or think, because all this underwear nonsense really put his mind into a bit of a tailspin. It was Sakura, annoying little Sakura who always followed him around in their early years of being genin, purring atrocious things like Sasuke-kun this and Sasuke-kun that. Sasuke had to admit that she wasn't that annoying anymore, and she had helped save him, even staying by his side when he returned to Konoha. Was it wrong that he felt a bit complimented by the whole situation?

 

“So, you know, do you guys?” Naruto asked, and then just waited for Sai or Sasuke to answer.

 

Incomplete thoughts for complete idiots, Sasuke grumbled to himself. “What do mean by that?” he asked aloud.

 

“Do you guys like her? I mean, I do, I always have, but I was just kind of curious to know what my competition is,” Naruto reiterated.

 

Sai shrugged and decided to doodle another rendition of naked Sakura and Sasuke responded with another curt, “Tch.” It was humorous to know that Naruto wholeheartedly accepted both as legitimate answers from his slightly odd teammates. Naruto could see the picture of Sakura that Sai was drawing, it was both beautiful and a very dignified artistic nude…so that was a yes from him. And Sasuke? Tch was his typical `I'm interested, but I'm not admitting it' answer that he always used in lieu of yes. If he wasn't interested then he would have simply walked away and acted bored by the idea, but seeing as he was actively (as actively as tch can be considered) engaged in the conversation concerning Sakura, Naruto knew Sasuke liked her.

 

Now, all that was left was to determine what Kakashi's involvement in the whole affair was. It made Naruto cringe a little to think of his older, pervert of a teacher slobbering all over Sakura, but he did suppose Kakashi had been swimming with them as well. Did Sakura like older men? Naruto kind of hoped not, because he didn't really find Sai or Sasuke to be tough competition when vying for Sakura's affections (a foolish miscalculation on his part), but he considered his experienced sensei someone who could probably give them all a run for their money.

 

“So are you two going to do it?” Naruto asked, “Are we all swimming today?”

 

“Sounds like a nice break,” Sai responded quickly, which elicited a nod in agreement from Sasuke.

 

Naruto grinned and chuckled, “Just to let you know, both of you are going to lose. Sakura's gonna be mine.”

 

Sai rolled his eyes slightly and continued to draw. Sasuke started walking back to the training field, but added a snippy, “Why would Sakura want a pet idiot?” as he went.

 

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Kakashi hadn't made Sakura do anymore training, he just smiled as he watched her doze off under the tree. My, my, his little pupil had definitely blossomed into quite the beautiful flower. Kakashi hadn't expected that. Sadly, he barely considered her an option before the whole swimming fiasco (at least consciously, but then again he did dream of her naked in his bed on many occasions). Having a fantasy about someone was much different than actually considering them.

 

If Kakashi decided to pursue relationships with each woman he fantasized about, then he probably would have to juggle at least ten girlfriends at a time, and dump them to get new ones on a regular basis. Kakashi wasn't real big on the whole relationship thing, too much trouble, too much worrying, but Sakura made him realize one thing…he was lonely. There was a dangerous combination of things playing about in Kakashi's head: he was lonely, he trusted Sakura, he was attracted to Sakura, Sakura was his friend…add those things up in an equation and he quickly realized he liked the idea of being with Sakura (which scared Kakashi to death).

 

Kakashi shook his head, trying to rid himself of such stupid thoughts, because was he really the one she was after? If you thought about it, Kakashi might have just been the device used to get the other three in the water. Kakashi was the only one who could legitimately allow such a silly thing to occur, because if he hadn't, there would be no way the other three members of team seven would have discarded their training regimen. Kakashi wanted to ask Sakura if she really meant it when she said maybe, or was she just being nice to her old, perverted teacher. Kakashi sighed, he wasn't even that old, but in Sakura's eyes he might seem ancient. It didn't help that Kakashi had naturally silver hair (usually reserved for old geezers), or that he kept his face covered so no one really knew he was a rather attractive thirty-two year old man. It was silly for the copy-nin to be so self-conscious, but he worried nonetheless.

 

It occurred to Kakashi that he might have spelled his own demise, killing any chances to woo Sakura since he idiotically (mostly to see Sakura half-naked) decided to force her to swim today with the rest of the team. Now Kakashi didn't want Naruto, Sasuke, or Sai to see Sakura so exposed, and he certainly didn't want to give her a chance to see his competition. At this point he couldn't really withdraw yesterday's punishment (the idea of a half-naked Sakura still won out over canceling it all just because the rest of the team would also enjoy Kakashi's secret reprimand for Sakura's inappropriate behavior). Kakashi smirked, he supposed he would have to use his own secret weapon, the one that none of the boys could even begin to compete with.

 

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“You're sure we're well hidden?” Hinata asked nervously.

 

The good thing about bringing along Hinata, was that she was nearly as good as Sakura at masking chakra signatures. Ino was cackling deviously inside her head as she watched Sakura from a good hundred meters away through binoculars. “We're fine, her sensei is far too focused on sleeping beauty anyway.”

 

Hinata, though not sure why she found it so noble (since it was intertwined with something so perverse), was nonetheless touched that Ino was going to great lengths to help Sakura find the perfect man. The pale-eyed woman was certainly a big believer in all things romantic, even if she herself wasn't currently an active pursuer of it, not exactly. Many years ago she had a crush on Naruto, and in a way she still did, so secretly Hinata hoped that one of the other members of team seven would win Sakura's heart, and not Naruto. Growing older had taught her many things, but the greatest of these lessons was that admiration didn't equal love. She admired Naruto for his strength and determination, but Hinata was beginning to realize what real love was like, the kind that was more a give and take type of relationship, and not just a silly, innocent crush.

 

There was someone Hinata was beginning to consider, and it was sad to see him so lonely, especially because he was such a proud and eloquent man. Since turning eighteen Hinata had watched as Shino's parents encouraged him to begin looking for someone to settle down with, but the poor man was rejected time and time again, even the toughest of kunoichi were slightly repulsed by the thought of a man who housed thousands of tiny insects inside of him. One morning a year or so ago, Hinata found Shino on a park bench watching butterflies as they danced from flower to flower. It was something he normally enjoyed quite a bit, but he looked wholly dejected as he observed his beloved insects.

 

“Good morning, Shino,” Hinata told her teammate with a smile, taking a seat beside her friend on the bench and watching the beautiful site before her. Shino had long ago instilled a respect and love for these tiny, graceful creatures in Hinata.

 

Shino glanced at Hinata and sighed, leaning back on the bench and craning his neck so he could stare into the sky. Hinata worried, she'd never seen Shino acting so strangely.

 

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly, lying her hand softly on his shoulder and receiving a quiet hiss of air in reply as he released a trapped, depressed breath.

 

“Am I really that disgusting?” Shino asked Hinata.

 

Hinata was confused at the question, who found Shino disgusting? Unlike most people, Hinata was unaware that Shino was considered many things…serious, loyal, mysterious, but also creepy and revolting seemed to find themselves fairly high on the list of things people called him.

 

Hinata shook her head, “That is a rather stupid question, Shino, of course you aren't disgusting.”

 

He looked at her through his dark glasses, his body swallowed up by the bulky clothing which hid the many holes his destruction bugs used to go in and out of his body, leaning forward and slumping a bit he murmured, “Thanks, Hinata, I appreciate that.”

 

Since that day several years ago, Hinata met Shino a couple times a week in the park to take a walk, have picnics, or just discuss silly things which seemed to plague their minds. Sometimes they would go have tea together afterwards, and on a few occasions Hinata would invite Shino over to her home for dinner. Nothing romantic had happened yet, Shino hadn't really made any kind of move to let her know he was interested, but Kiba had pulled her aside one morning during training and lectured Hinata about playing with people's emotions. Hinata had been clueless to what Kiba was talking about, but as the dog-nin shuffled away and walked over to Shino, who was watching her carefully, she had a pretty good idea. Shino was just afraid of getting hurt, at least that's what Hinata thought it probably meant. Too bad she was too shy to ask the bug-nin about it herself. Perhaps she'd ask Ino for help once they were done toying with Sakura's love life.

 

“Ah, here we go, he's waking her up,” Ino excited whispered as she shuffled back and forth, clucking menacingly as she watched Sakura and Kakashi together.

 

“Who do you think Sakura will pick?” Hinata asked as she too pulled a small pair of binoculars from her hippack to observe Kakashi and Sakura.

 

Ino sniffed and shrugged, “Eh, I dunno, but I hope she gets Kakashi. What a stud…you should have seen him the other day, Hinata, better yet, I wish you knew what it was like to be inside him. It was all my fantasies come true, that's for sure. Who do you want to see her with?”

 

Hinata's first instinct was to say Naruto, because the want for him to be happy almost overrode the slight jealousy she had for the blond's crush on Sakura, but instead she muttered, “Sakura always liked Sasuke, and he deserves to be happy after everything he's gone through. I think they'd make a good match.”

 

Ino let loose a snort and she scuffled in her crouched position, “Stupid forehead is not getting my Sasuke.”

 

Hinata giggled, she knew Ino was only joking. The blonde woman had alluded to such as she explained the situation to Hinata while they made their way to the training ground. Ino sincerely said she wanted only the best for her friend, which meant no matter who Sakura chose, Ino would support her friend's decision.

 

“Look, look!” Ino whispered excitedly, nearly giving away her and Hinata's positions. “Aww, that is so cute, he's helping her up. Dear lord he is so damn hot, how can she not choose him?”

 

“I'd have a hard time choosing if I were her,” Hinata said quietly. “They are all rather handsome.”

 

Ino dropped her hand which held the binoculars as she studied Hinata, “Huh? I thought for sure you'd choose the giant ball of moron.”

 

Hinata pulled her binoculars down from her face and shook her head, “I don't think Naruto and I will ever be more than just friends, and…that's okay, because…” Hinata blushed furiously and returned the binoculars to her eyes and tried to ignore how embarrassed she felt. “I think I might like someone else, someone who actually notices me. Naruto would be much happier with someone like Sakura.”

 

Hinata had successfully piqued Ino's curiosity, and the other woman poked Hinata in the side with her index finger while sporting a huge grin on her face, “Who? Who do you like?” Ino was very happy to hear Hinata was taking an interest in other people, because she did worry that Naruto would never wake up and realize what a great thing he had right in front of him, he was too smitten with the thought of Sakura.

 

“S…Shino,” Hinata stuttered, “He and I have become really good friends, and if I…”

 

Hinata was going to say `if she had the courage,' but it kind of felt like a slap in the face to what Naruto had always taught her. She was supposed to go after her dreams and whatnot, so why was she slipping back into old habits, unable to move forward and really scared that her and Shino would be a repeat of what happened with her and Naruto.

 

Ino smiled softly at Hinata and gave the shy woman's arm a squeeze, team romance was an awfully common thing, and Ino was privy to the knowledge that Shino had been rejected by several other women. She vowed to play matchmaker a second time as soon as she got Sakura to jump some of her sexy teammates. Maybe Ino would just deem herself cupid, it seemed befitting of her new role in Konoha, setting up situations which gave women a chance to live out their fantasies.

 

Ino gave Hinata a wink and told her, “I'll help you, count me in!”

 

Hinata nodded and the two continued to spy on the kunoichi and her sensei, who was now joined by a group of eager looking young men (which Ino swore made Kakashi scowl). It was definitely going to be a good show.

 

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END OF CHAPTER

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A/N's: I bet you want to kill me for not getting to the swimming part. Sorry, I'll get to it next chapter, I promise.