Chapter 27

'Why don't you ask your vixen? She might have an answer,' Kurama suggested, both half-seriously and half-innocently.

Naruto absently nodded, until he registered what Kurama said. 'What do you mean by that? Temari isn't my vixen!' he corrected him in a sputter. Just what was the kitsune trying to say?!

Kurama laughed, 'I'm the only being in this world, Naruto, who you can't fool! I've seen the way you look at her. You want to just grab her an-'

'SHUT UP!' He shouted to the being inside him, his face a deep shade of red. He shook his head violently to shake off the train of thoughts Kurama had started. He couldn't imagine himself pinning her to a wall-

He banged his head on the floor to clear it. 'Why did you suggest it? These thoughts are hard to get rid of, you know!'

Kurama, the bastard, just laughed heartily. Naruto decided to eat at Ichiraku tonight, just because he felt too lazy to cook dinner. Kurama grumbled from within, saying that he always made his clones cook. Naruto easily blocked him out. Gathering and sealing the kunai up in a scroll, he put the scroll in is closet and stepped outside his building. Leisurely walking in the direction of the ramen bar, he was surprised to see Temari about a hundred meters from him, looking rather annoyed. She seemed to be searching for someone, and Naruto had an inkling as to who she was searching for. Naruto observed her looking around before catching his mop of blonde hair and marching in his direction, scowl firmly etched onto her face and anger rolling off her in waves. He sighed and steeled himself, for he knew what was about to come.

Temari reached him quickly and stopped in front of him, hands on her hips. The anger was visible in her eyes, "Where were you today? You missed our spar!"

Naruto didn't know if he should feel afraid of her or amusement about whether how cute she looked when she was angry. So he just held up his hands in defense, "I know, but I have a legitimate reason for missing it."

Temari folded her arms, "Then let's hear it!"

Naruto put his arms in his pocket and thought on how to tell her about his simulation fight this night. "You see, hime," he grinned at the blush that came on Temari's face, "Since Monday is the day of the chunin finals, my sensei wanted to have one last fight to test my skills. So he told me to rest the whole day to be in top condition for our fight," the lie came out smoother that what he thought. And it was partially true; level six was no joke, and Naruto wanted to be in peak form for it.

Naruto got an idea, "How about as an apology, I take you out for dinner?" He didn't even stutter this time, he thought proudly.

Temari thought that it was a lie, but she couldn't fault for his sensei having to evaluate his student one last time before the exams, so she believed it. She blinked at the sudden question, and a smirk spread on her face. She took a step closer to him, "Is this another date, Naruto?"

Naruto smirked as well, internally jumping in joy, and took a step forward himself. Their faces were inches from each other, and he could vaguely feel the air she was exhaling. It was a unique, sweet and salty flavor. "Only if you want it to be," he whispered huskily. He vaguely remembered that they were in the middle of a market. He, however, didn't expect Temari to lean forward so that her lips were a hair's breath away from his own. "Oh I do," she returned. She was surprised when Naruto suddenly backed away, grinning playfully. Before she could feel hurt about her advances being rejected, an arm was draped across her shoulder, pulling her close. She yelped and steadied herself against what she felt to be Naruto's upper body.

"Then I really hope you don't mind if we go to Ichiraku. If I had known, I would have planned earlier," Naruto tried to play it smooth. It was a risky move, pulling Temari into a side hug. He had expected to be bashed in the head by her fan, but when she didn't, he relaxed and simultaneously celebrated inside his mind.

'She likes me!' Kurama felt nauseous at how much joy was filled in that single thought. For a being of hatred such as himself, joy was his kryptonite. So he just tried to ignore it as much as he could. Such sappiness didn't suit him.

Naruto kept his arm around Temari's shoulder and started walking in the direction of the ramen bar. Temari had to adjust her arms, so she just put one hand on his side. "I really don't mind," she coolly replied. But she was barely keeping from letting a goofy smile spread on her face. She knew she liked Naruto, to the point of having an intense crush on him. But being in such close, physical contact with him only after knowing him for only a short time was almost overwhelming.

The trip was short, lasting only five minutes. Just when they were within fifty meters of the bar, Naruto removed his arm from her shoulders, instead enveloping her hand in his own, giving it a small squeeze. He gave a warm smile to Temari, who blushed lightly, but returned the smile and squeezed back. They entered the ramen bar, and Ayame was the first to spot them, and then she spotted them holding hands and smiling.

She promptly squealed in happiness, increasing the blush on Naruto and Temari's faces, but neither let go of each other's hands. Teuchi came running out of the back in response to his daughter's squeal. When he saw the reason for her squeal, he himself grinned in parental pride.

"Naruto! So you finally made it official, I see," he commented. Naruto and Temari blushed even more at this, but Naruto was the one who spoke, "We haven't, actually. But I will in the near future," he said with a wink towards Temari, managing to somewhat reduce his blush. Temari, however, just barely kept from hitting him for embarrassing her. The only reason she didn't because of what Naruto said.

Ayame clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily, "Oh, you two look so cute together!"

Naruto and Temari slid onto the seats, side by side. They gave their orders, but when they were served, they were surprised by Teuchi's announcement. "Today's meal is on the house. Think of it as a congratulatory gift from us," he added a wink in Naruto's directions.

Naruto and Temari tried to deny that they weren't in a relationship- yet, sounded in both of their minds- but Teuchi easily waved their sputters away. "Trust me," he said, "Adults know it when two people are meant to be together or not."

That sealed it. Naruto and Temari and both reached the peak of embarrassment after hearing that statement, but there was nothing they could do until they finished their meals. Deliberately avoiding meeting each other's eyes, they quietly finished their meals and got out of there.

Temari was the first one to break the silence between them, "Those folks are weird. They kept teasing us all the time," she grumbled in annoyance.

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Don't be like that. They are some of the very few people in the village that care about me."

That sparked Temari's interest. She didn't know Naruto only had a small amount of people close to him. "What do you mean when you say, some of the very few?"

It was a question of curiosity, so Naruto couldn't fault her for that. But the memories of years of loneliness resurfaced, and some of that sadness must have shown on his face, for Temari hastily backtracked, "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to!"

Naruto waved away her apology, "It's ok, you were just curious. But if you don't mind, I'd like to keep the answers to myself." His tone was soft, but the request was clear in his voice.

Temari nodded, but wondered just what had happened to Naruto for him to get so sad so early in his life. She couldn't help but compare Naruto and Gaara in that aspect, both of them shunned by the village in some way. She felt for him, just like she felt for Gaara. Gaara had been chosen by their father to bear that particular burden of a bijuu. Because of that, everyone in the village had ostracized Gaara in the extreme. Their father felt that Gaara was too dangerous, which is why he hired assassins to kill him. That was the last straw for Gaara. He became cold, so cold that the slightest provocation would cause him to kill someone, without batting an eyebrow.

She tried to show him that she still cared for him as his older sister, but the distrust was so much deep rooted into him that he distanced himself even from her. However, Naruto wasn't like that. He was willing to trust others, like her. But another problem lay in front of her. If tried to comfort him, it would just be a lie, for they would be standing on the opposite sides of a war just two days later. So she just held his hand, trying to give what little comfort she could.

Naruto was surprised when he felt a warm hand holding his own. He saw Temari smiling at him, and he smiled in return, knowing that she was trying to comfort him. He turned his eyes back forward and saw an alley coming up. He felt extremely bad for what he was about to do, but as a shinobi of Konoha, the village came before everything, even personal feelings.

So he pulled her into the alleyway, earning a surprised yelp from her. However, she was well trained. Her reflexes were fast, but nowhere near his own. He immediately grabbed her right hand with his left, pinning it above her head. Just as her left reached for her fan, he grabbed it with his right and forcefully pinned it alongside her other hand. He positioned himself carefully but swiftly, putting his legs slightly in between of her two legs so that his privates would be protected. He kept his head at enough distance so that she couldn't headbutt him and break his nose. All in all, Temari had nowhere to go, no matter how much she thrashed.

He raised right leg a little, then gently stamped it on the ground, erecting a special privacy barrier around them. This was one of his father's creation. You can hear the sound from outside, but the sound from within the barrier won't be heard from outside. Also, a pulse of chakra within the barrier won't be able to be felt from outside. Which meant no pulses of chakra could be sent to signal for help. Tricky business to use it with his feet, but thanks to his excellent chakra control, Naruto managed.

Temari was surprised just how swiftly he was able to outmatch her reflexes and pin her to a wall. She felt hurt inside, a feeling of betrayal that was overshadowed by the boiling rage. She even felt slight fear with the way they were positioned. She turned furious eyes onto him, but froze when a wave of killing intent passed over her.

Looking up into his eyes, she felt afraid when all she saw was a freezing coldness, absent of the complete warmth they were filled with from earlier. The killing intent was not a problem though as she just brushed it aside. Gaara repeatedly used it on them, so the effect was null. She tried to project her rage on him.

"What are you doing, you son of a-"

"What is Suna planning?"

That question stopped her cold, eyes widening. She suddenly had an idea of what this was all about. "W-What?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, freezing her with just his stare. She wasn't even thrashing in his arms now. "I don't like repeating myself, so pay attention. What is Suna planning to do?"

Temari tried was so frozen with his stare, the stare that promised a lot of pain if she didn't answer. She hastily sent out a pulse of chakra, hoping someone would sense it and come to her help. "It's useless," he coldly informed her, "I've put up a barrier around us. No one would be able to sense that pulse of chakra. In fact, no one would be able to sense anything, let alone hear." Her hopes of getting helped crashed and shattered. She also noticed that the killing intent had increased substantially, causing her to shake a little.

"I can easily deduce that Gaara is an unstable jinchuriki. Yes, I know that," he said in response to her wide eyed look. "No village would dare send an unstable jinchuriki into another village. I also witnessed your sensei," he sneered at the word, "attacking a fellow Konoha nin with the intent to kill, possibly to prevent some important information from being discovered by us. So I'll ask again…What is Suna planning to do?"

Temari couldn't believe that Naruto knew about what Gaara was. Add on to the fact, he had apparently witnessed Baki-sensei attacking a Konoha nin. And, she had been captured by Naruto for information on the invasion. They were already on the cusp of being discovered, so she couldn't see many options.

Sighing with resignation, she admitted, "I'm sure you know of the new village, Otogakure." Upon seeing his nod, she continued. "A while before the chunin exams, our father, the Kazekage, was approached by the leader of Otogakure. A man known as Orochimaru."

Naruto did not allow Temari to see his shock at that piece of news. He just nodded Temari to continue, "I don't know what they talked about, but father began planning for an invasion a while after their meeting. He informed us that Otogakure would be aiding us during the invasion to cripple Konoha. It was his plan let Gaara loose during the invasion. Since Gaara has full control of his bijuu, he would be set free to-"

"-destroy the village in his unleashed form. Is that right?" Temari nodded, knowing that the invasion had practically failed, now that she had divulged the information.

Naruto released a sigh, "I suspected as much."

Temari tried to hide the quiver in her voice, "But why did you question me yourself instead of handing me over to the Hokage?"

Naruto removed the cold gaze from her, unconsciously making her relax. He looked back at her with a worried gaze, "I don't think you would have liked being subjected to the interrogation department. Trust me, they aren't nice."

Temari wholeheartedly agreed with that. She didn't even want to imagine what they would have done to get the information out of her. She looked up, and it was then she realized their positions. Her arms pinned to the wall, Naruto's legs in between hers and bodies pressed to each other's. Oh, and don't forget that their lips were once again, separated by mere inches.

A blush of massive proportions came onto her face as she locked gazes with Naruto, who realized the same thing as her. His face also matched the same shade of red as hers as he locked his gaze with her. An awkward silence descended upon them, which Temari broke after several moments.

"Naruto…." She whispered, trying to think of something to say.

But Naruto was on a different track from hers. This was his chance, his moment. And he was, in absolutely no way, wasting it. Not to mention, if he did waste this chance, Jiraiya would beat him to within an inch of his life and then some. So he was going to seize it with both of his hands.

"Ssshhh….." he shushed her softly and leant forward, gently capturing her lips.

It was the most pleasurable feeling Naruto had ever experienced. Her lips were soft, lingering with the taste of the ramen she ate earlier, which made her taste all the better. Temari went wide eyed for a moment, but she closed her eyes in pleasure and slowly returned the kiss, molding her lips with Naruto. She knew it was wrong of her. They were enemies on the opposite sides of a war now. They shouldn't be kissing like this, but she couldn't help herself. She had, ever since that chaste kiss from that day, wanted to see for herself how Naruto's lips tasted like.

Naruto felt like he was on cloud nine. He decided to take it a little further and bit her lower lip, causing her to gasp. He took advantage of it and pushed his tongue into her mouth, exploring it. He didn't know why, but he wanted to taste more of her, feel more of her. So he released her hands and put them around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

Temari was stunned when she felt something wet entering her mouth and exploring it slowly. It took her a moment to realize that it was Naruto's tongue, but instincts were faster than her thinking. So even before she decided what to do, she was already massaging her tongue against Naruto. She couldn't even begin to describe the pleasure she was feeling. When Naruto released her hands, hers automatically went around his neck, pulling him close and further deepening their kiss. She could feel how warm Naruto was, since they both had practically molded their bodies together.

They separated for a moment to take a breath, a string of saliva connecting their mouths. Before Naruto could even begin to think whether to do it again or not, Temari had already connected their mouths again, kissing him with more fervor than the previous kiss. Her tongue aggressively invaded his mouth, exploring it and massaging his own tongue with more force than what his tongue did to hers. Her one hand went up to his head, running through his hair.

Naruto did not even think, he just enthusiastically returned her actions. His hands began to wander; first, they explored her back, then they explored her sides, each action gaining a pleased moan or sigh from Temari's mouth. He slid his hands lower, letting the primal part of his brain take control. His left hand wrapped around her waist again, while his right slipped lower and gently squeezed her butt.

Temari felt like she was in heaven with all the pleasure she was feeling. In the back of her mind, she wondered whether Naruto was just this good or was it the euphoria of the first kiss. Either way, she wasn't complaining. She was about to break their kiss when one of Naruto's hands gently squeezed her butt.

Pleasure racked through her body, and she released a loud moan of approval and pleasure. Naruto, taking it as a sign to continue, gently squeezed her other cheek, being rewarded with another moan. Suddenly, he didn't know why, he decided that Temari was standing a bit lower than what he liked. So he bent a little, taking hold of her inner thighs from behind, and hefted her up, pushing her against the wall, causing her to give out a surprised yelp, but she didn't break their kiss. Instead, her arms tightened around his neck while her legs wrapped around him, locking behind his back, their bodies pressing against each other even more. Temari's dress slid up from her thighs a little, exposing a bit of her thighs and skin for Naruto to feel. Naruto repositioned both of his hands on her clothed butt and squeezed, gaining moans of approval from Temari.

They kept kissing like that for five more minutes, with Naruto occasionally and simultaneously squeezing both of her butt cheeks and gaining moans of pleasure, after which Naruto finally heard the rational part of his brain that was screaming 'YOU ARE GOING TOO FAST, YOU IDIOT! STOP!'

Temari too, finally felt amidst all the pleasure she was feeling that they were going too far too fast and was about to break their kiss and leave, forcibly if she had to, but she didn't need to. Naruto broke their kiss first, looking at her with reluctance. No words needed to be said by either of them. Naruto gently released her, her legs coming to rest on the ground and his hands coming to rest on her waist, while hers moved to his shoulders. Both of them were breathing heavily, tasting each other's breath, trying to come down from the high.

"…..I think we can both agree not to mention this to anyone," Naruto found his voice first. Temari silently nodded as both of them took a step away from each other, both feeling the lack of touch. Temari turned and walked away from Naruto, straightening her dress and smoothing out wrinkles when Naruto stopped her with his voice.

"On the day of the finals…I'll see you on the other side," he said in a whisper, but each word was clearly heard by her. A lone tear slipped from her right eye, which she furiously wiped away. She did not care whether he saw her wiping it away or not. "Good night," she hastily whispered and in a blink of an eye, she was gone.

Naruto was still trying to get his thoughts in order. Absently, he raised his foot and stomped softly on the ground, muttering "Kai" under his breath, releasing the barrier. Only then he gave a reply to the empty surroundings, "Goodbye…Sabaku no Temari." He flashed away after that. He had a simulation to demolish.

He realized that he might he displayed lust on the surface, but deep inside, he knew it. He didn't know how or why, nor did he care. He just knew it. Temari was the one for him. He felt genuine feelings towards her. He didn't know how to describe them. He knew that it was far past the "like" stage. All he knew was that if he got the chance to hold her again, he would be grabbing it. And he would not let go of her that time.

Unfortunately, that was the first and the last moment he would ever have with her, for in just two days, they would be on the opposite sides of a war, trying to kill each other. And Naruto knew that he won't be able to do it. He won't be able to kill Temari if she came before him. He had lost her, and the chances of being with her again were virtually impossible…..

Or so he thought.

AN: How was it? Man, I sure was extremely nervous while writing out the kissing scene. I might have overdone it, for they are just thirteen and fourteen year old teens. But I know the boundaries, and if anything is good, it's worth overdoing…..or so I think in some cases. Anyways, leave your thoughts in reviews. And I will be answering some reviews from the previous chapter. OH! I almost forgot!

Omake:

Jiraiya considered himself as the biggest pervert in the world, and he was damn proud of the fact. He was also one the legendary Sannin, and perhaps the only remaining sage in the world. He was also a damn good teacher, judging from the notable students he had taught.

The three war orphans from the village hidden in rain; they must have changed their village by now, for the good. Then there was the Yondaime Hokage. The man was in a league all of his own, and Jiraiya couldn't have been prouder of the shinobi that his student had become. But alas, he died too early, even by shinobi standard. Then there was his latest student.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Jiraiya had seen many young prodigies in his life. Hell, Konoha had no shortage of them. Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi, his own teammate Orochimaru. But he had never seen one like Naruto .

The boy was unbelievably skilled and powerful for someone of his age. He had impressive chakra reserves, excellent chakra control, intelligence to rival his father…all the makings of a prodigy. So Jiraiya promised himself that he would make Naruto a greater shinobi than even his father. But there was one thing that Jiraiya had failed to pass on to all his students.

The art of perversion.

Jiraiya had been a pervert since his genin days, and had never given up the habit. When he had taken on Minato as an apprentice, Jiraiya had believed that he had finally found the perfect student to pass his perversion onto. Minato certainly had the looks for it, unlike Jiraiya, and he already had loads of fangirls after him just for that. So it killed Jiraiya on the inside when his student acted all polite and modest and refused to take advantage of it. No matter how much he tried to persuade Minato, the guy had an unshakable will and was already fixated on that petite redhead of his. Not that Jiraiya had any problems with it, in fact he thought that Minato had landed an excellent catch. It's just that he couldn't get any research material out of that couple, no matter how hard he tried.

It was with these sullen thoughts that Jiraiya wandered around the village, not even noticing how people were whispering with awe that the famed Toad sage was walking among them right now. So into his thoughts he was that when he actually looked around him, he found himself walking in a fairly empty Konoha street. Very few people were in the street, and they weren't even wandering, instead just gossiping on doorsteps.

Jiraiya sighed, hopping onto a roof as he surveyed the village. His thoughts shifted to his meeting with his sensei from last night. Naruto had just saved one of their jonin from being killed by the jonin sensei of the Suna team. Sensei had instructed him to remain in the village for the time being, since he was convinced that they would be attacked on the day of the finals. That caused his thoughts to shift on to Naruto.

A small smile came onto his face. He had no doubt that the kid would thrash the Hyuga in his match, but immediately getting in the middle of an invasion right after his fight? Jiraiya could not say or think anything for certain.

A movement was caught in his peripheral vision, causing him to turn to left. His eyes widened with glee upon seeing the sight, and it was all he could do from hooting and shouting in joy.

There was his student, in an alleyway across from him, locking lips with the pretty, blonde genin from Suna. Not just any genin, Jiraiya thought, because he was pretty sure that she was the daughter of the Kazekage. Naruto, the son of the Yondaime Hokage, was kissing Sabaku no Temari, the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage. He didn't know whether it was fate or not, but he could care less about it. He wasted no time in whipping out his research notebook, hastily writing into it.

'Kinky,' he giggled quietly, to not alert them of his presence, with a lecherous look on his face after he saw their positions. Naruto had Temari's arms pinned over her head, and both of his legs were in between the female blonde's legs. 'Oh ho hoooo! This is GOOD! Go my student, Go!' he mentally cheered his student on.

His joy at finding his student making out in an alleyway increased even further when Naruto released her hands and wrapped them around Temari's waist, pulling her flush against him. Temari wrapped her own arms around his neck, deepening the kiss further. 'This is the ultimate jackpot! He is all over her! And it's not just a simple kiss. They are eating each other's mouths! He might be my best student yet, and I haven't even begun teaching him about that!' Jiraiya kept his giggled to himself as he gleefully wrote down god-knows-what in his notebook, not taking his eyes off the couple for a second.

He almost yelled broke his cover when he yelled in joy when he saw Naruto grabbing Temari's butt, earning a pleased moan from her. That did it for him. He kept his notebook aside and just watched them with great pleasure. He knew he would remember this forever. 'He is getting bold, that's for sure. He is doing it as if he has previous experience, but sensei didn't mention any previous relationships. But judging from her moans, she seems to have no problem with him doing that. I'll just jot this this down later; right now, I will see to the end of this!' A trickle of blood fell from his nose as he continued watching them without any shame.

He almost resorted to dancing on that rooftop when Naruto picked Temari up, her legs going on either side of him and locking behind his back as the kiss intensified even more. 'He is really, REALLY GOOD! I haven't seen something as good as this in years! Oh, my next book will be breaking records!' He kept watching, nodding in equal parts of appreciation and glee as Naruto squeezed her butt, earning pleasurable moans, back to back. 'At this rate, he might even get his cherry popped tonight!'

He was almost disappointed when the steamy make out session came to an end, but that feeling was overridden by the immense pride and satisfaction he was feeling for his godson for landing such a girl for himself. He frowned however, when they seemed to separate with solemn faces. Temari left, but not before shedding a tear at something Naruto said. Naruto didn't make her cry, that he was sure of, because the boy had the same feeling of sadness around him as the girl.

'It must have been something serious for them to get like that after a session such as that,' he thought. No one should look that sad after a hot make out such as that. Jiraiya knew he wouldn't, for he would jump at the chance. But perhaps his reasoning was flawed, for he hadn't had his first kiss in all fifty years of his life.

Oh well, time to cheer, or maybe embarrass, his godson by letting him know of his audience. He finally let the giggle he had been holding in for so long loose. Naruto didn't disappoint him.

His keen sense of hearing immediately picked up the giggles that he knew were aimed at him. Jiraiya was laughing on the inside when Naruto's face changed to that of horror. The amusement must have shown through his eyes, for Naruto's face instantly went red in embarrassment and anger. Mainly embarrassment though.

"ERO-SENNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!" He leapt towards Jiraiya like a tiger. But his mind must still be addled by pleasure, for Jiraiya dodged like he wasn't even trying.

Jiraiya laughed as he prepared to flicker away. "Thanks for the research material, brat!" He was gone after that.

Naruto fumed as he spread out his senses and easily locked ontoJiraiya. He couldn't believe that his first kiss- more like a make out session, Kurama so helpfully reminded him- was witnessed by Jiraiya. What was worse was that the man had made research material out of it for his porn books. Like hell he was going to let that happen!

Things like that, no matter how awesome and pleasurable, were supposed to remain private!