4

Chapter 4

It was a few days later. By now, the entire village knew about their engagement. Suki was pretty sure that word of the good news was likely spreading to other villages and even nations by now. Naruto was the hero of the war. It was only natural people would be interested in his love life.

"Suki, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you." Hinata strides towards her.

"Alright." The last Uchiha walks with the Hyuga Heiress towards the nearest training grounds, feeling rather puzzled.

Hmm. Hinata had never spoken to Suki before. She had to give her points for not stuttering though. Whatever was on her mind, must be important for her to have accomplished this feat.

Who was Suki kidding? She knew exactly what or more accurately WHO was on the Hyuga's mind. Like everyone else in the village, the raven haired woman was aware of Hinata's feelings for Naruto LONG before he had ever known. This was likely going to be very annoying. Still she did owe her distant relation the courtesy of allowing her to speak her peace.

"Naruto told me that he was marrying you to save your life, but everyone else thinks it's a love match." She sighs.

"And what difference does that make? The end result is the same." Suki tries her best not to shrug.

"It makes EVERY difference! Naruto should marry someone he loves. He deserves to be happy after everything he's been through. After everything YOU'VE put him through!" Hinata was now screaming at her.

"It's a bit late to grow a backbone now, isn't it?" Suki mentally winces as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Maybe…but that doesn't change the fact! Don't you care about him at all? Why would you go along with this?! I know you don't love him! You never gave a cared about him. You just LEFT him without a second thought. You nearly killed him dozens of times!" The other ninja was positively incensed at this point.

"Hinata, I understand you are in a lot of pain right now. So I'll let what you just said slide this time. But if you EVER try to pretend that you have ANY idea what I feel again, I will kill you." Suki Flickers behind the other woman and pressing a kunai to her pretty little neck.

"That's how you solve everything, isn't it?! With violence! What are you going to do when you and Naruto have a fight? Take his other arm?" She snarls.

"Well look who found her spine? Just think, if you had done it sooner you could have had him. What I do with Naruto is NONE of your business." Suki sends the bluenette flying with a powerful kick to her back.

Hinata gets to her feet. Suki recognized that look in her eyes. It was determination. So the cute little bunny wanted to tangle with the hawk? Her funeral. Suki smirks at the thought.

"I'm going to give you a chance to walk away. Naruto is marrying me of his own free will. Personally, I think he's just as stupid as you do for agreeing to it, but he did. He never meant to hurt you and neither did I, Hinata. That's just the reality of the situation." Suki sighs, preparing herself for a fight...if need be.

"Naruto loves me. He doesn't love me as a lover, but he loves me as a friend. That's good enough for me. As his friend, I'm not going to let you hurt him again!" Hinata charges at her.

"A bunny wants to run right into the talons of a hawk? Never thought of you as suicidal." She muses.

"What did you call me?" Hinata demands.

"A bunny. You are cute, quiet, and completely harmless." The last Uchiha taunts her. "I'm sure that there is someone out there for you, but Naruto isn't him. So just give it up before things get out of hand."

"I won't let you hurt him! Not again!" Hinata continues rushing towards Suki.

"It's none of your business!" Suki roars and blocks Hinata's attack.

Meanwhile Naruto was at the Ramen shop with Gaara. Gaara had come to the Leaf as soon as he heard about the engagement. The red head wanted to know if it was true. He wanted to hear it with his own ears and see it with his own eyes. If his best friend was getting married, he wanted to know about it.

"Are you and the Uchiha really engaged?" Gaara looks at Naruto incredulously as they order their food.

"Yeah. It's a long story." The blonde sighs.

"I have time. I didn't travel three days to eat a meal and run off." The Kazekage says.

"Alright. Well Suki left. I was crushed. She was all that I could think about, but I was 12. I didn't understand why. It never went away. Not when she was at the Sound or on her Journey of Redemption. When she got back, I was so happy. We were training and one thing led to another. At first we kept it a secret. She'd just gotten back and we didn't know how the village would react. But Kakashi decided to vouch for us. So we figured, why keep hiding it?" Naruto nods sagely.

"I know that you didn't come up with that bullshit story on your own. So I have to admit to being impressed by the Uchiha's ability to weave a tale like that." Gaara murmurs so lowly that only Naruto could hear it.

"…What gave it away?" The Leaf Ninja gulps.

"You admitting that you thought your feelings for her were only friendship because you were too young to know any better. That's accurate, but you lack the self-awareness to realize it." The red head answers.

"What are you trying to say? Did you just call me stupid?" Naruto twitches.

"I'd never call you stupid. I'm just saying you aren't terribly introspective. You tend to act on your feelings, without wondering why you have them in the first place." The Kazekage clarifies.

"Oh. Yeah. I guess that's true." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

"What you and the Uchiha have is love. It's a very twisted love because you are too oblivious to realize what it is and she's likely in a very deep form of denial, but it is real. You two will end up killing each other or as the popular saying goes, screwing like rabbits. Actually, the two are not mutually exclusive. It's quite possible that you might do both at the same time." He muses and takes a sip of his tea.

"…Whoa Gaara." The blonde says.

Naruto didn't know what to be more shocked about. The fact that Gaara had said the phrase 'Screwing like rabbits' or that the red head thought he was in love with Suki (and vice versa). He didn't even know how to respond to that.

"And you are still oblivious. When I was fighting her after the Chunin Exams, I had her cornered. I would have killed her if you hadn't come in. You fought with your life to protect her even back then. If I am being honest with myself, that is what started to pull me out of the darkness. Realizing that it was possible to care for someone so much, that your own existence's meaning paled compared to theirs continuing." Gaara continues on.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk in one go." Naruto tries to lighten the mood.

"I talk when it's necessary. You need to hear it. I'm your friend. You are getting married now. It's important for your happiness and hers that you both face reality or you will face a lifetime of hurting each other, intentionally or unintentionally." He finishes.

"You really think that she loves me? I mean like THAT?" Naruto feels rather stunned.

"I know so. You wouldn't be breathing if she didn't. She wouldn't be breathing if you didn't. You've both had countless opportunities to kill each other, yet you never could manage to finish it. " Gaara points out.

"I think you are reading way too much into this. Wait, did you feel that?" The blonde suddenly looks around.

"The Uchiha's chakra and…the other chakra is vaguely familiar. I can't place it though." He muses.

"That's Hinata's. Are they fighting?" Naruto wonders horrified.

"It certainly feels like it. We should break it up before the Uchiha kills this Hinata." With that being said, they race off towards the girls.

Naruto blinks. He saw Hinata and Suki going at it. Well Hinata was trying to attack Suki. Suki seemed content to dodge and taunt the other woman.

"Gaara, you grab Hinata. I'll take Suki." Naruto shoots the red head a desperate look.

"Got it." The Kazekage wraps a sandy hand around the Hyuga Heiress.

"Sand. That means Gaara's nearby." Suki instantly braces herself.

"It's not him you have to worry about." She hears Naruto's voice in her ear and feels his arms wrap around her waist.

"Hinata, was it?" Gaara pulls her to him.

"Yes. Now let me go!" She squirms against his hold.

"I can't do that. You realize that it was nothing short of suicidal to challenge the Uchiha in such a fashion." He states.

"I don't care. She's going to hurt him again! She always does! Naruto deserves to be happy. He deserves a real marriage." The bluenette wouldn't give up that easily, it seemed.

"You love him." He murmurs.

"Yes, but he doesn't love me. I'm won't let Naruto suffer needlessly though. Not for her!" The Hyuga spits out the last word like it was a poison.

"Your loyalty and concern for him is admirable, but that is not your decision to make." Gaara tells her gently.

"Loser, let go of me. This is between Hinata and I." Suki growls at Naruto.

"Look, we both know that Hinata is wicked strong, but it's still not a fair fight. What are you two fighting about anyway?" The blonde shakes his head.

Suki looks away from him. She wasn't going to answer that. No way in Hell. She doubted that Hinata would tell him either.

"Was it about me?" Naruto sighs.

"…Maybe." She admits.

"I talked to her at the hospital. I thought she understood." Naruto mutters.

"You talked to her at the hospital? No wonder she's going on like this. You led her on!" Suki accuses.

"I did not!" He protests.

"She thinks that I tricked you into marrying me or something! That I'm just going to hurt you and that's why she's acting stupidly." Suki growls.

"She's just trying to be a good friend." The blonde says.

"Oh sure take HER side. Maybe you should be marrying her instead!" Suki snarls at him.

"I'm not taking her side. I'm not taking anyone's side. I just don't want my wife and friend to hate each other." He yells right back at her.

"And let go of me. You don't get to touch me right now!" The last Uchiha was fuming at him now.

"Naruto, I'm going to escort Hinata back to her family." Gaara calls out softly and releases Hinata, leading her off.

"Thanks, Gaara." Naruto sighs in relief as he sees that the two of them were leaving.

They really didn't need to see this. The fight between him and Suki. That seemed to be what their relationship revolved around. Fighting and a little cuddling/making out.

"You're an idiot. She's clearly jealous. The Uchiha is doing what any self-respecting demoness would do. She's taking out the competition. That way she knows that you will only be focusing on her and your children. And she will have proven that she is the strongest." Kyuubi informs him.

"Um Kyubbi. We are human. That's really not how any of this works. But you really think she's jealous of Hinata?" Naruto asks.

"The instincts are still there. Humans just like to dance around them. It doesn't matter though. I don't think. I know. You better reassure her that she is your choice. Uchihas are known for being rather possessive of their lovers. You should have seen what Madara did to one ninja who tried to seduce his lover. It was…vicious. I still have nightmares about it sometimes." Kyuubi confesses.

"And I told you to stop trying to run away from me." He counters.

"I'm not running. The second you let go of me, I'm going to kick your ass." Suki hisses.

"Then why would I let you go?" The blonde questions her.

"Because the longer you hold onto me, the worse your beating is going to get." She answers him as if this was perfectly logical.

"Suki, seriously calm down. I get that Hinata upset you, but I'm not changing my mind. I'm not taking her side. I chose to marry you and that's that." He assures her.

"You should though." Suki suddenly goes still in his arms.

"Why?" He asks.

"She's right. I do keep hurting you." The last Uchiha admits.

"Well your elbow and kicks aren't exactly fun, but I'm fine." Naruto smiles at her.

"You know what I meant." She replies.

"Yeah, but that's over now. Your home. You aren't leaving again. That's all that matters. So just calm the Hell down. Alright?" Naruto pleads.

"What makes you think I'm not going to leave again?" Suki demands to know.

"Because there is no way in Hell that I'm letting you leave a third time. I'll chain you to the bed, if I have to." He growls at her.

"…" Suki is speechless.

"Not in THAT way." He clarifies quickly.

"I was gonna say, didn't know you were into that." She laughs.

"I'm not the sex fiend. Seriously, what the Hell do shadow clones have to do with sex?" Naruto asks.

"If you are too stupid to figure it out, I'm not going to tell you." Suki smirks.

"Well you are calling me stupid and smirking, so I guess you are back to normal. Let's go home." He says.

"Hey, Kurama…could you explain the shadow clone thing?" He asks.

"Well it's quite simple really. A classic you could say, but I don't think you are ready to hear the explanation." Kyubbi smiles smugly.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" He growls in his mind.

"Because it is true. Alright…you would make a copies or more of yourself and then you Mate with the Uchiha. It is…quite a beloved usage of this technique and in the ninja world as a well known kink." He states.

"Naruto? You okay?" Suki asks, seeing the stunned expression on her future husband's face. (His eyes were bulging and his mouth was opened wide enough to catch fish.)

"YOU'RE SUCH A PERVERT!" Naruto yells.

"What are you talking about?" She says and raises an eyebrow in such a calm way, that it just flusters Naruto more.

"Kyubbi told me all about the shadow clone fetish!" He flails around helplessly.

"I didn't realize that the Nine Tails gave people 'The Talks.'" Suki laughs as if this entire situation was the funniest thing that she had ever heard.

"Don't try to change the subject!" Naruto gives her a dirty look.

"I don't have a shadow clone fetish. I'm just saying, that I'm surprised you don't. God knows you use that technique enough." She shakes her head.

"Yeah. You don't? That's why you mentioned it!" He says.

"It's a pretty common kink amongst ninjas." Suki informs him.

"SEE I TOLD YOU SO!" Kyuubi smirks smugly.

"Still…it's weird to hear you talk about stuff like that." The blonde says.

"Alright. So I just won't talk about it anymore. You are the one who brought it up." She saunters off ahead of him, heading back home.

Meanwhile with Gaara and Hinata, the red head takes her home. He felt bad for the blue beauty. She was clearly hurting. He felt he should try to offer her some sort of comfort. He didn't really know how though.

"He's lucky to have someone like you who cares about him so much." He offers.

"Thank you. Naruto attracts so many loyal people to him. I just want him to be happy." She mumbles.

"I understand. I hope you find happiness as well. You deserve it." He tells her.

"Thank you. That was nice of you to say." She offers him a smile.

"No thanks is necessary. It's true." He replies and heads off, trying unsuccessfully to get the imagine of her beautiful smile out of his head.

Warning Shower Scene

Later that night, Suki was restless. She needed to clear her head. Hinata had rattled her cage, more than she ever wanted to admit. The last Uchiha thought maybe a nice shower might relax her.

"That's better." She murmurs once she strips and enjoys the feeling of the warm water soothing away all her troubles, if only for a few moments.

She probably should have shut the door behind her. But Suki had lived alone so long, she didn't even think about things like shutting bathroom doors in her house. Naruto well he was Naruto. An open door meant, it was available.

So yeah, Naruto got an eyeful. He'd never actually seen Suki naked before. Kakashi was pretty good at keeping his female Genin separated from Naruto when it came to things like bathing. It was all very proper.

The blonde definitely hadn't seen her like this as an adult before. Wow. He suddenly understood why she still had so many admirers.

"Mmm." She sighs softly in pleasure at the feeling of her troubles washing away, completely unaware she had an audience for now.

His eyes widen. Her raven black hair was wet now and had lost it's usual spiky texture, framing her ivory cream skin stunningly. Her eyes were closed, which was probably a good thing. If she found out he saw her naked, he'd die. But it would be sooo worth it.

He felt himself blushing as he looked lower. The blonde was relieved that her silky smooth elegant neck was no longer blemished by Orochimaru's curse mark. Still his sapphire orbs couldn't help sliding even lower. It was only human nature, after all.

Her breasts were stunning. They were large and firm. He was surprised that her nipples were a tantalizing rosy pink color. Pink was definitely not a color he associated with the stoic ninja.

"Didn't see that coming." He murmurs and suddenly he totally understood Jirayia's obsession with bathhouses as his eyes continued traveling south.

The only thing that might have detracted from her beauty, was her arm. Well it was still covered in bandages. Tsunade had made sure that they were waterproof. The sight of her in bandages, just made him feel protective though.

Her stomach was toned, he hadn't expected anything else really. Suki had wide hips, he didn't know why that excited him, but it did. They fanned out into perfectly shaped ass. He had felt that earlier, while they were walking. But placing his hand on it, while it was covered and seeing it uncovered were two completely different things according to his lower half.

"I should probably go, before she catches me." He mumbles to himself, but he couldn't look away.

He dared himself to glance lower. He'd never actually seen a naked woman up close before. Jirayia had usually gone into the bathhouses alone and while he had the Sexy Jutsu, it wasn't like he spent much time looking at himself/herself in that form.

She had long legs, considering Suki was average in height (and that was being fairly generous.) They seemed to go on forever and were so shapely. Her thighs were powerful looking. He wasn't sure where his brain drew that conclusion from, but he decided to roll with it.

"You are truly pathetic. She's your mate and you act as though you should feel guilty for looking at her." Kyuubi mocks him.

"Shut up! I should. I mean she didn't give me permission to look." He says.

"She agreed to marry you. I'd say that counts as permission." Kyuubi counters.

Despite, his bickering with Kyuubi, his 'problem' definitely wasn't going away. Fuck. He should probably head to the other bathroom and take a cold shower. An ICE COLD shower. We are talking like Snow Country in the DEAD of winter, level of cold. Yeah, that might help.

"Is someone there?" Suki calls out, suddenly feeling like she was being watched.

End of Shower Scene

"What you and the Uchiha have is love. It's a very twisted love because you are too oblivious to realize what it is and she's likely in a very deep form of denial, but it is real. You two will end up killing each other or as the popular saying goes, screwing like rabbits. Actually, the two are not mutually exclusive. It's quite possible that you might do both at the same time." Naruto winces as Gaara's words rang in his ears.

He tried to rationalize his friend's words away. It was normal to be attracted physical to a beautiful woman. He'd always known that she was beautiful, even when they were kids. But he didn't think about it much.

It was just a fact of life. It was like looking at the Moon. Yeah, it's pretty and all but you didn't actually expect to touch it. Just because he found her attractive, didn't mean he was in love with her.

A rather…torturous hour later, Naruto's problem was solved for the time being. It took that long because said problem kept coming back. Finally, his body had decided to calm down though.

He quickly dries off and dresses. He was surprised when he went to "his" room and saw Suki there. Her hair had partially air dried. She'd thrown on a bathrobe.

Oh for Godsakes! Now that he knew what was underneath that thing, his mind wouldn't shut off the mental images of her in the shower. His problem was back.

"Suki?" He asks.

"I'm probably being silly but…" She trails off.

"But what?" He questions her.

"I felt like someone was in the house. I didn't see anyone, but I still can't shake the feeling that I was being watched." She shakes her head.

"Ohhh." He inwardly winced, feeling guilty.

"While I was in the shower." She continues.

"You've had a stressful couple of weeks. You are probably just imagining it." Naruto feels even more guilty about lying.

"Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time though." She mutters.

"Wouldn't be the first time what?" He inquires.

"That someone tried to watch me while I was showering or bathing." She says with a shrug.

"Wait…what do you mean?" He demands.

"The Sound was full of a lot of people who were just as bad as Jiraiya.." She says offhandedly, as if she was discussing unpleasant weather.

"WAIT WHAT?! Someone, no more than one person was trying to spy on you while you were showering in the Sound?!" He asks, suddenly feeling very angry.

Suki realizes that might not have been the smartest thing to say. She had felt vulnerable for a few minutes. So like she had done as a child, she'd gone into the room of the nearest person who she knew would care that she was upset. Of course this was Naruto. This wasn't Itachi. And this was about someone possibly being a voyeur and not a scary thunderstorm. So the situation was different, yet similar at the same time.

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past. I'm more worried about now. Someone might be in the house." She tells him.

"No. I wanna know." He growls and Suki was a bit alarmed to see his teeth were lengthening, fingernails were becoming claws, his eyes taking on a more animal appearance, and that trademark Nine Tail's Chakra.

"Mostly they tried to look. A few tried to touch. It didn't end well for them." She smirks, obviously trying to soothe his ire.

"Well if anyone tries that again, let me know. I'll tear them apart." He promises and Suki shivers.

She wasn't afraid of Naruto. Suki would never be afraid of him. It wasn't that she was concerned for some random pervert that might face Naruto's wrath. They deserved what they got. It was the dark possession in his voice.

It…excited her. Idly, Suki realized how messed up that was, but there wasn't anything she could do about it at the moment. So she shoves that thought to the back of her mind.

"I'll be sure to let you know." She agrees.

"Good. If it will make you feel better, you can stay with me." He offers.

"It would. Just to be on the safe side. I'm not entirely certain the Council wouldn't try to have me assassinated in my sleep." She admits.

"I'd NEVER let that happen." He tells her.

"I know." She says.

"Good." He says and hops into the bed with her, turning off the lights.

"Mhm." She agrees.

Suki waited until she thought Naruto was asleep. Then she grabbed his arms and wrapped them around her. She felt safer this way. Protected.

The brunette would never admit this to him though. But while he was asleep, she could indulge her inner child, that just wanted someone to chase away the monsters. Even if those monsters were only perverts trying to get their rocks off or just the result of her being overly paranoid. Naruto was good at chasing away the monsters, she decided as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep