The silence was worse than the scream.
It lasted a second. Two. An entire universe of frozen horror.
Naruto was paralyzed, on the ground. Temari was paralyzed, on top of him.
The terror in her eyes, seeing that he had noticed her reaction... to his reaction... was the final break. The fury had evaporated. The adrenaline was gone. All that remained was a shame so deep it was an abyss.
With a choked sob, a sound of total defeat, Temari scrambled off him, clumsy and desperate.
She rolled to the side, landing on her back in the dust and frosted grass of the crater the Rasengan had created.
And she stayed there.
Naked.
She didn't even try to cover herself. It was useless. The damage was done. He had seen everything. He had reacted to everything.
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the tears of pure humiliation roll down her temples, mixing with the dust in her hair.
"It's over."
Her voice was a whisper.
Naruto shot to his feet. It was a spasm of pure panic. He spun around instantly, turning his back to her, his face burning with a heat that had nothing to do with the cold. His heart was pounding against his ribs so hard it hurt.
They're going to execute me! A double execution!
"No!" His voice came out high, strangled. "Temari! Get up! Get up and cover yourself! Quick! Someone could come!"
A hollow, bitter laugh escaped Temari's lips.
She didn't move.
"Come?" she repeated, in that same dead voice. "Let them come. Let all of Konoha come. Let them see."
She paused, her voice trembling with self-loathing.
"Sunagakure's Exhibitionist Ambassador. Caught naked on a training field. With a Konoha Genin. On top of him. Caught in the act like lovers, just great."
"You weren't on top of me! Well, yeah! But it was an accident! You tripped! I fell!" Naruto clenched his fists, his back rigidly turned to her. "You're not my lover! Or anything!"
"It doesn't matter," she whispered. "The details don't matter. The image does. The story does. I'm finished."
"Stop saying that!"
"It's the truth, Uzumaki." Her voice hardened slightly. "My career as an ambassador. My honor as a kunoichi. The respect of my brothers. Everything. Gone. In one second. Because of a stupid Rasengan and the arrogance of only coming in my pajamas."
She took a deep, shuddering breath.
"Gaara... Gaara will have to kill me. Or you. Or both of us, probably. He's the Kazekage. He can't allow this... disgrace."
She exhaled slowly.
"My life is over."
Naruto's panic warred with her despair. His panic won.
"No! Stop saying that! You're not dead! And no one else is going to see you!" He spoke quickly, tripping over his words, his brain working a mile a minute. "I'm getting you out of here! Now!"
"How?" Her voice was still flat. "Are you going to fly me out? Use a leaf jutsu to cover me? What, Uzumaki? You destroyed my clothes."
"No! No...!" He looked around wildly. It has to be something... real!
Then he knew.
"My vest!" He ripped it off, the bright orange vest, and threw it over his shoulder toward her, without turning around. "I gave you my vest! There! Put it on! Put it on right! Cover... Cover the important parts!"
There was a moment of silence. Then, the sound of fabric moving.
"This?" The hollow laugh returned. "It's bright orange. And it barely... barely covers me."
Naruto ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it.
"Okay! Okay! It's fine! It works! It's better than nothing!"
"And then what? I parade through Konoha looking like some... hypothermic orange mascot?"
"No! We'll walk!"
"Walking? Like this? Are you crazy?"
"No!" he yelled, turning his head just a bit, but keeping his eyes locked on a distant tree. "I... I'll cover you! It's a plan! It's called... it's called Operation Orange Shield!"
"...Operation Orange Shield?"
"Yeah! I'll walk... next to you! Or in front! No! Behind! No, wait!" He smacked his forehead. "You'll walk right behind me! Really, really close! Stuck to me! I'll use my body as... as a shield! A human orange shield! I'm wide! No one will see anything! We'll take the back streets! Nobody gets up this early! My apartment is close! Really close! And... and Hinata will lend you clothes! Yes! That's the plan! It's perfect!"
There was a long silence behind him.
Naruto waited, sweating bullets despite the morning chill.
Finally, a sigh. A deep, trembling sigh full of resignation.
"Great." Temari's voice was barely audible. "My life. My dignity. It all depends on some orange idiot acting as my personal curtain."
There was more movement.
"Fine, Uzumaki." Her voice was closer. "Lead the way. But I swear... if anyone sees me... I'll castrate you with a rusty kunai."
Naruto swallowed hard. "Got it! Operation Orange Shield is a go!"
He forced himself to move. He started walking stiffly toward the training ground exit, making his shoulders as broad as possible.
"Okay... walk... walk right behind me. Really, really close. I'll... I'll block the view. No one will see anything."
He felt her get close.
A second later, he felt a light brush against his back. The fabric of his orange vest. And... skin.
He froze.
"What are you doing? Walk!" she hissed from behind him.
"I'm walking!"
He moved forward, every step agony. He was painfully aware of her. She was practically glued to his back, using his body as cover. He could feel the heat radiating off him, in sharp contrast to the cold of her own skin.
He was painfully aware that she was naked right behind him. The orange vest barely covered her torso. Her legs were completely exposed. If she separated by even an inch...
"Faster, Uzumaki," she hissed.
"I can't! If I go faster, you'll fall behind and they'll see you!"
"I'd rather have hypothermia than this humiliation... I'm freezing."
"We're almost there! Just... just don't separate!"
They turned a corner, entering a narrow back alley. The sun was just beginning to paint the sky a pale gray. Morning mist clung to the ground.
"Okay..." Naruto muttered, scanning the alley. "Nobody... alley's empty... good... turn here... watch out for that cat!"
Temari let out a small "eep" as a black cat shot out from a trash can, brushing against her bare leg. Instinctively, she pressed herself tighter against Naruto's back.
Naruto tensed completely.
"It was just a cat! Relax!"
"Shut up and walk!"
They turned the corner of the alley, emerging onto a slightly wider residential street, but one still deserted at this hour.
Almost.
A figure emerged from the mist about twenty yards away. An old woman, hunched over, a scarf on her head. She was vigorously sweeping the porch of her small house.
Naruto's panic was a reflex.
"Crap! Civilian!"
In a single motion, without thinking, he spun on his heel, grabbed Temari by the shoulders, turned her sharply, and pressed her against his own body.
He turned his back to the old woman, using his body to completely hide Temari from view.
It was a hug. A clumsy, crushing, purely instinctive hug.
"Oof!"
Temari let out a choked gasp as she was crushed against him. The air was knocked out of her lungs.
She was completely trapped. Her face pressed against Naruto's chest, against the black fabric of his shirt. Her naked body, from chest to thigh, pressed against his.
She could feel the rapid, thunderous beat of his heart.
Naruto was frozen.
I'm hugging her! I'm hugging the Chief! Naked! Skin against skin! Oh, god! Oh, god! Hinata! Hiashi! Gaara! My erection! Crap, crap, crap, crap! It's back! No! Bad timing! The worst timing!
The old woman squinted at them.
She saw a young man passionately hugging... someone she couldn't see, hidden by the boy's body.
The old woman sighed, a sound of disapproval.
"Hmph. Kids these days. No respect. Doing that sort of thing right in the street at dawn. They should get a room."
She kept sweeping, pointedly ignoring them.
Temari was in shock. The forced hug had knocked the wind out of her. But now, as they remained there, frozen, she felt the tension in every muscle of Naruto's body. She felt his racing heart against her cheek.
And she felt the unmistakable pressure against her stomach.
She went completely rigid. A heat that had nothing to do with the cold flooded her face, her ears, her neck.
For the first time in her life, she felt... shy.
Naruto, sensing the old woman was still sweeping, didn't dare move an inch. Temari was trapped, hyper-aware of every point of contact.
"Don't... move..." Naruto whispered against her hair, his voice tight and strangled. "She's... she's sweeping..."
"I... know..." Temari's voice was a barely audible mumble against his shirt.
A minute passed. It felt like hours. The sound of the broom against the stone was torture.
Come on, grandma! Go inside! I've got a naked, furious Jōnin stuck to me! And my body is betraying me!
Finally, the old woman gave one last sweep, huffed, and went into her house, shutting the door.
Naruto waited another five agonizing seconds.
Then he let go.
He leaped back, a full six feet, turning his back on her again. He was bright red from his forehead to his neck.
"Sorry! Panic! Reflex! It was a... a shield reflex! Yeah! Shield reflex!"
The excuse sounded even more stupid now.
Temari staggered slightly, crossing her arms over her chest, wrapped only in the open vest. She didn't look at him. She was too mortified to speak.
She just nodded stiffly.
They continued the rest of the way to the apartment in a tense, loaded silence, a thousand times more awkward than before.
They reached Naruto's apartment building.
"The front door is too risky," Naruto panted. "My neighbor... she's always spying."
He pointed to the side wall. "Climb! On my back! Like a mission!"
"What?"
"Climb on! Quick! I'll carry you!"
Temari hesitated for only a second. The cold and humiliation won. She climbed onto his back, her bare legs wrapping around his waist, clinging to his shoulders. Naruto made sure the vest covered her front as best it could and jumped.
Using chakra, he scaled the wall to his third-floor apartment window. He shoved it open and tumbled inside.
"We're home!" Naruto yelled, letting her slide awkwardly to the floor. "Hinata! We're home! We have a... a guest! And a clothing emergency! Don't panic! And don't look!"
He scrambled to his feet.
It was spotless.
And completely empty.
"Hinata?"
Naruto saw a note on the table. He grabbed it.
"What?"
He read it aloud, his voice cracking a little.
"'Naruto-kun, I went to the compound to see Hanabi-chan and pick up some medicine scrolls. I'll be back for dinner. Please don't try to cook. - H.'"
Naruto stared at the paper. He looked around the empty apartment.
Then he looked at Temari, who was standing by the window, shivering from cold and shame, wrapped only in his obscenely small orange vest.
"Crap."
Temari hugged herself, her teeth chattering. "She's gone?"
"Yeah. To the Hyuga compound. She won't be back until dinner."
Temari closed her eyes. "Great. Just great. So I'm alone. With you. In your apartment."
Panic flooded Naruto again. Alone! With her! Naked! For hours! What if Hinata comes back early! What if Hiashi finds out!
"No!" he yelled. "Wait! Plan B! There's always a Plan B!"
He ran toward her, waving his hands, but being careful not to touch or look at her directly.
"Stay here! No! In the bedroom! It's more private! Sit! On... on Hinata's bed! No! My bed! No, that one's Hinata's! Just... sit on the futon!"
He awkwardly guided her toward their small bedroom. She walked stiffly, not looking at him.
"Wait there! I'll find clothes! Real clothes!"
Temari sat on the edge of Hinata's futon. She took off the orange vest and threw it on the floor in disgust. She grabbed the futon's sheet and wrapped it around herself, covering up to her neck.
"Clothes, clothes, clothes!" Naruto was rummaging frantically through his closet, which was now clean and organized thanks to Hinata.
"I need clothes!" He pulled out his orange pajamas with the nightcap. "No! Too bright! It'll look like a joke! It'll look worse!"
He threw them aside.
He pulled out a clean, folded mission outfit. "No, too stiff!"
He threw it aside.
"Uzumaki." Temari's voice came out muffled from the bundle of sheets. "Whatever. Just... something that covers. Please."
"Looking! Looking!" His panic was growing. "I can't... I can't take Hinata's clothes! That... that would be weird! Really weird! And she'd kill me! I swear Hiashi would find me and kill me! He has honor sensors!"
He dug into the back of the closet, tossing out a pair of old sandals.
"So...! This!"
He pulled something from the bottom. "This! It's perfect!"
He turned and tossed her a piece of clothing.
It landed on her knees, on top of the sheet.
It was a t-shirt. Black, large, old. The fabric was worn and soft. It had a faded Uzumaki spiral symbol on the back. It was the one he used for sleeping.
Temari picked it up. The fabric was soft. And it was clean.
"...Thanks."
She ducked under the sheet to put it on. Naruto spun around quickly, his face burning again.
"Not looking! Not looking!"
There was a second of silence and shifting fabric.
"...Pants?"
Temari's voice was small.
Naruto turned to his drawer, digging frantically. "Uh... pants! Yeah! I have...!"
He pulled out a pair of boxers. Orange. With little ramen bowls all over them.
He held them up. "I have these!"
There was a dead silence from the bed.
"...No."
"Okay, okay! No pants! Bad pants! The shirt is long! It's really long! It'll cover you! It works! It covers enough!"
Silence.
Temari was sitting up, now wearing the black t-shirt. It was huge on her. It came down to her mid-thigh. It was... decent. But it confirmed, without a doubt, that she was wearing absolutely nothing underneath.
She spoke so quietly he could barely hear her.
"...And...?"
Naruto blinked. "And?"
"...Underwear?" Her voice was a whisper of pure mortification. "For... for women?"
Naruto froze.
"Uh...!" he stammered. "I... no! I don't have any of that! Why would I?! That would be weird! Hinata would think...!"
He stopped short.
"And I definitely can't take Hinata's! No! No way! That's... that's execution-level betrayal! He'd detect the... the honor-theft from a distance! I can't!"
There was a long, long silence. A heavy, mortified silence.
Temari dropped her gaze to her hands, which were resting on her bare knees.
"...Great." She whispered. "Just... great."
An awkward silence fell. Temari was hugging her knees, sitting on Hinata's bed. She was the most miserable Jōnin in the history of the Five Great Nations.
Naruto stood near the door, not knowing where to look, feeling responsible and completely awkward.
"It... it looks good on you!" he said suddenly, too loudly. "Black suits you! It brings out... your hair!"
Temari shot him a glacial look.
"Shut up, Uzumaki."
"Okay! Shutting up!" Naruto nodded energetically. "Okay! So, the plan! The new Plan B! Or C! I lost count! The plan is... we wait!"
She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! Wait! Wait until it's dark! Completely! And then... you'll sneak out! Back to your place! It'll be a stealth mission! I'll cover you! No one will see you in my... t-shirt!"
Temari sighed, a tired, sarcastic sound.
"A perfect plan. Trapped in your room. With no underwear. Wearing your sleep shirt. Waiting for nightfall like a criminal." She dropped her head to her knees. "My life is a joke."
Naruto felt bad for her. He really did.
"Hey, it'll work! I promise! And... the shirt isn't dirty. It's clean! Hinata washed it yesterday! And... and... you're not hungry! Right? Because I'll get you...!"
He cut himself off.
GRRRRRRRRROWL.
The sound echoed in the tense silence of the room.
It was unmistakable. Loud. And it was coming... from her.
Temari froze. Her face, already pale with mortification, flooded with a red so deep it was almost purple.
She tried to play it off, clamping her arms around her stomach in a futile attempt to silence it.
Naruto blinked.
His eyes suddenly lit up. Food!
"Are you... hungry?"
Temari's voice came out tight, not looking at him, muffled against her knees.
"Of course not! I'm perfectly fine! I'm just... thinking!"
GRRRRRRRRRRROWL-RUMBLE.
This time it was worse. Louder. Longer. Impossible to ignore. It was a gut-wrenching protest.
Temari squeezed her eyes shut, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her.
Naruto smiled a little. He remembered the bento Hinata had packed. He'd left it on the table when he came in, in the middle of the panic.
"Wait here!"
He ran out of the room. Temari lifted her head, confused.
He came back a second later, holding the bento box carefully wrapped in blue cloth.
He knelt awkwardly in front of her, next to the futon, offering her the bento.
"You sure you're not hungry?"
She stared at it.
"Hinata made it this morning," Naruto continued, his voice soft. "She made extra. She said... she said it was for sharing."
Temari looked at the wrapped bento. It smelled incredibly good. Like grilled fish and rice.
Then she looked at Naruto. He was offering it to her with a sincere expression.
Her pride warred with her empty stomach. Her humiliation warred with the unexpected kindness.
"I told you no!" she said, her voice sharp. "I'm fine! I don't need your... your fiancée's food!"
She turned away, giving him her back.
RUUUUUMMMMBLE-GROWL.
Her stomach betrayed her in the loudest, most pitiful, and most humiliating way possible. It was a long, wailing sound of starvation.
Temari covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders slumped in total defeat.
Naruto waited patiently, not moving, still holding out the bento.
"...So...?"
Temari slowly lowered her hands. She didn't look him in the eye. She stared at the wall.
Her voice was barely a whisper. Tinged with an almost childish embarrassment Naruto had never heard from her.
"...a little."