Chapter Text
“One shoyu ramen with chicken gyoza!”
“Hai!”
Naruto shook the strainer above the boiling pot, draining water as best he could before adding the noodles to the ramen bowl, broth rising to meet the edge of the dish. Taking a long pair of chopsticks he nudged the contents of the bowl around carefully, styling the food to his satisfaction. An impatient yell in his left ear drew his attention. “Naruto, hurry up with the order!”
He turned to the brunette, a sheepish grin on his face. “Sorry Ayame, I got carried away.”
Wiping his hands clean on his apron he turned to serve his customer seated by the wooden counter, a balding salaryman in a suit that stretched too tight around his waist.
“Here you go, sir!”
The bustle of conversation and clattering utensils in the small restaurant helped take some weight off of Naruto’s shoulders after another hectic day of college. A double major in Economics and Politics, he had been rammed with lengthy assignments and dense reading from the start of his degree, and despite being in his third year the quantity of work had increased too quickly for him to adapt. People often assumed it was his relentless drive to rise through the ranks of the Homage’s office and eventually become Konoha’s leader that had pushed him so far. But it was the structural supports - his part-time job at Ichiraku’s, the group of friends he’d quickly grown close to on the basketball team, the legacy left for him by his father - that reaffirmed his need to achieve his goals.
It was curious how he had followed in his father’s footsteps despite only learning his identity shortly after turning eighteen. Naruto often reminisced on the day Jiraiya had dragged him down to Tsunade’s office on the false pretence of an internship interview, only to be briefed on how his parents had died in a fire orchestrated by a radical group, leaving behind an inheritance to vest once he was a legal adult. Numb throughout the briefing, he had directed his gaze to the trembling hands on his lap, unable to understand why even after receiving enough money to buy a four bedroom house, he was being dealt another crushing blow at the same time.
In hindsight, that meeting had steered him into the next phase of his life, where he was no longer fighting tooth and nail to be on equal footing with everyone else. Now able to consider want rather than need when weighing his options, he chose to keep his part-time job at Ichiraku, chose to continue sharing an apartment with Sasuke-teme, and chose to maintain the strenuous training regimen required of basketball scholars.
Said roommate ducked under the white fabric adorning the ramen spot’s entryway, seating himself at a stool in his typical confident, leisurely gait.
“Dobe.”
“Oi - I told you not to call me that!”
Instead of retorting, Sasuke scanned a menu briefly, before giving his order to Ayame. This was how their evening routine frequently went whenever he wasn’t hanging out with Sakura: dinner at Ichiraku’s followed by a walk home in the bustling city streets. He liked to reiterate that the repeated discounts that Teuchi gave him were an incentive to keep visiting but in truth him and Naruto’s relationship had become brotherly some time ago; Sakura often diagnosed him as looking for a proxy for Itachi, given his seemingly non-stop business travel.
Watching his blonde haired friend move between pots and counters, Sasuke marvelled at his steady, efficient pace of cooking and dishing noodles. It wasn’t the first time he had seen Naruto immersed in his work, however it still caught his attention. His calm and quiet confidence clashed with the hot-heated, boisterous demeanour he had come to associate with him.
The salty, umami aroma of ramen wafted into his nose and Sasuke dug into his bowl, savouring the flavour in quiet appreciation. For someone who aimed to revolutionise Konoha, the dobe sure had a number of unchanging qualities.
***
The trill of Sasuke’s phone reverberated around the marble entryway as they strolled through the door. A vast open plan living space stretched before them, framed by floor-to-ceiling glass windows that twinkled with the nighttime landscape of the city.
“Hn. It’s Sakura.”
Understanding this as a request to be alone, Naruto obliged. “Ah, go ahead and take it. I was gonna do some work in my room anyways.”
Inclining his head in thanks, Sasuke headed to his room, leaving Naruto to do the same.
Once in his own room, Naruto slumped against the door with a full-body sigh, feeling the tiredness that had accumulated over the day hit him all at once. Starting college had catapulted him into a happy whirlwind of new friends, events and experiences, but often left him eager to offload once he had time to himself.
He plonked himself in front of his desk, rummaging through his backpack to fish out his laptop and textbooks, hoping to make a dent on the mountain of homework he’d been given ahead of the weekend. However a quick skim over the title of the chapter he had turned to in his copy of Varieties of Capitalism, only served to make his head thunk onto the table, swamped by a lack of motivation to tackle the work right away.
A noisy exhale blew from his nose as he tried to focus. His fingers ghosted over the keyboard out of habit, thinking about what to do. It couldn’t hurt to take a break, right?
He wasted no time deliberating, typing and clicking until he reached the website he was looking for. Licking his lips absent-mindedly, he used the search bar to locate the cam-girl’s profile he had been visiting of late. PearlPrincess was already a few minutes into her live stream, painted toes wriggling back and forth on the fluffy lilac blanket of her bed.
The camera was angled to show nothing above the very tip of her nose, but he could easily estimate that she was beautiful. Dark shiny strands skimmed the undersides of her generous breasts as she giggled at comments from other hungry viewers, caressing her alabaster skin as his hands itched to.
A petite finger teased the edges of her nipple as she responded to a question from the live chat, “Yeah, I use coconut oil to moisturise my skin. I really like the smell.”
Questions, requests and donations flooded in too quickly for Naruto to monitor, encouraged by her engagement with the audience. Despite being only ten minutes into her show, there were over three thousand people watching, waiting with baited breath.
As she continued to coo sweet thank-yous at the compliments she received, her hands began to dance along her sides, trailing across that full chest of hers languidly, building a sequence of squeezes and fondles.
He was already straining against his pants, hard to the point of pain, but when she shifted her legs to reveal her core, shiny and flushed with arousal an audible groan escaped him. In seconds he was moving his hand over his lotioned shaft in firm tugs, pausing at intervals to spread the wetness that spilled from his bulbous tip.
PearlPrincess suckled on her index finger a little, tracking a sticky path to her engorged clit before pressing on it slow and hard.
“A-Ah!”
Naruto’s wrist jerked faster, eyes fixated on every pretty jolt of her body, ears attentive to her warbled moans and cries, as if trying to learn all her erotic tics by heart. It was when his eyes dropped to her pink folds again that he noticed the flower-shaped butt plug for the first time.
“Fuck,” he growled, one hand playing with his balls whilst the other maintained his pace. If he closed his eyes, he could taste the syrupy coconut in the air, feel her soft hands hauling him closer to completion—
“Ah…right there!” PearlPrincess whined, gyrating into a bullet vibrator she had fished from beneath the various bedsheets. A crimson flush had spread down from her face to blossom across her chest. Combined with the bowed arched in her back as she slid the vibrator back and forth in her dripping centre, it made for a perfectly lewd picture. He could tell she was just as close as him to that elusive finish line.
A single teardrop streaked down her cheek as she sobbed, “Ah…I’m c-coming!”
The sharp clench in his gut was his only warning before an orgasm tore through him, muddying his mind so that all he could think of was her. Sapped, but sated, he collapsed in his desk chair, stealing a few breaths to calm his pounding heart.
He rubbed his hand over his face, sighing in relief. Mind settled, it was time to get back to work.
***
Shortly after finding out about his lineage, Naruto had created a Sunday morning ritual that saw him drop flowers by his parents’ graves. Pushing the door to the Yamanaka flower shop open, a warm greeting was on his lips.
“Morning, Ino—oh sorry! I thought Ino would be in.”
Behind the cashier stood a pale girl, peeking at him through the curtains of her fringe. As he strolled to meet her, he noted her small frame - he could easily tuck her head under his chin. She was..cute.
She seemed skittish under his gaze, index fingers tapping together distractedly.
“Ano…N-Naruto-kun, is that you?”
His heart raced. His first week in college had been an alcohol-fuelled haze as he floated from party to party, becoming familiar with physical intimacy for the first time. What if she was one of the girls he had slept with, but he had forgotten her?
A beam of sunlight streamed over her face from the window, making her look almost ethereal. No, he would never be able to forget a face like that.
It took him a few seconds for his lips to shape a response, and the answer that came out was guarded. “Have we met before?”
Her face reddened, eyes widening as she said, “Yes…we were in the same class back in the Academy. You don’t remember me? I’m Hinata. Hinata Hyuga.”
A face flashed in his mind - a shadow of a girl peeking around corners, folding into herself as she walked. He remembered Neji mentioning a cousin, but had never connected the dots at the time.
“Wait - are you Neji’s cousin?”
She nodded a polite smile, causing him to exclaim in surprise. “He always talks about you during practice! He never mentioned that you’re pretty though.”
At his sudden off-hand compliment, both of their faces reddened, and their small talk spluttered to a stop. Naruto cursed his habit of speaking out of turn, thinking of a way to dig himself out of the hole he had created.
It was Hinata who eventually steered the conversation away. “So, how can I help you?”
“I was just dropping by to pick up bouquets for my parents.” He felt a need to explain himself further at her look of confusion. “I…found out who they were just before we graduated. They died in a fire.”
Wide shimmering orbs held his gaze, then asked boldly, “Is that why they used to call you Kyuubi?”
Naruto’s jaw tensed, having not heard that moniker in a while. For years the people of his hometown had accused him of murder, called him a demon, the Kyuubi. It had taken time for him to prove them wrong, to get them to accept him for who he was and what he could be.
Sensing his turbulent thoughts, Hinata cleared her throat, trying to bring him back to the room. “I…never saw you that way. You were always Naruto-kun to me.”
Her words could not undo a decade of discrimination, hatred and isolation, but they bridged a gap between them, eased some of the tension in his heart all the same. He was touched by her gesture. Changing the topic with a smile, he said, “Can you make two small bouquets for me? You can make them anyway you like.”
With a tight nod, Hinata set to work, snipping stems and stepping from counter to counter as she arranged his orders. Once done, Naruto was pleased to see an assortment of freesia and roses in shades of peach lilac and pink wrapped in the standard bouquet wrappers on the desk in front of him.
“Thanks Hinata, these are really beautiful. I’m sure they’ll love ‘em.”
She blushed sweetly, ringing up his purchases at the till. As he drew closer to pay, the hairs on the back of his neck rose registering a faint scent for the first time - coconut. Immediately Naruto was flooded with memories of PearlPrincess’ stream from the night before. The sensual arch of her spine, her exquisite, high-pitched moans—
No. Hinata didn’t deserve to be compared to PearlPrincess. No matter how attractive she was, she was just too pure. And yet.
He dropped his eyes to her inviting lips; if they parted to spare a breathy sigh the similarity would be uncanny. Her figure - what he could see of it - seemed to provide further evidence. Although hidden in an oversized hoodie and leggings, he could see the suggestion of heavy breasts and wide hips just asking to be gripped in his palms.
But why would she want to be a cam girl? He knew she didn’t need the money - as owners of one of the largest law firms in the city, the Hyuga were rivalled only by the Uchiha family. The only other reason he could conceive of was a raw need to share her desire with others. The possibility frightened him and intrigued him at once. Could it be possible that the bashful Hinata before him possessed such a duality of character?
The need to know pulled at him strongly, and he leaned closer to the counter, searching for clues in her small, dainty features as rich notes of milky-sweet coconut swarmed him.
He watched her brush a long tendril of hair behind her ear. “You should come by Ichiraku’s sometime. I work there and it’s the best ramen in town.”
Her fingers brushed his lightly as she handed him his change, her knowing smile an unexpected gift. “When’s your next shift?”