Kakashi leaves them be for now.

Original Chapter by AkaB

“Well, I'll leave you to your... skinship,” Kakashi drawled. He was a firm believer in experience being the best teacher, after all. And if Sakura wanted to keep digging a hole for herself with excuses that were obvious to a Jounin of his level, rather than use him as an excuse to get out of it, then he was happy to leave her this chance to learn from her mistakes.

“R-Right!” Sakura responded, her eyes doing their best to not fall down and watch the older man's very tight rear as he walked away. She knew what it was like to be ogled, after all, and she refused to do the same...much

Her eyes darted down for a moment, her sharp memory taking a picture of the sight

“Eh, I'm heading back to the water,” Shikamaru declared as he ambled back to the spring, turned around, and sat back so that he could blatantly stare at Sakura's exposed ass. After a few moments, the other boys realized what was happening, and rushed after him so that they could get a good view of the girl's buttocks before she sat down again.

Sakura blinked as she suddenly found herself alone at the bushes with Hinata.

The dark-haired girl hesitated for a moment, before she seemed to gather her courage and said, “You... you haven't wiped yourself yet.”

Sakura tilted her head. “Huh?”

“D-down there,” Hinata said, her face brightening to a deep red. “Y-you could get an infection if you don't.”

“Oh.” Sakura wasn't sure how to respond to that.

Hinata wasn't finished, though. Her fingers tapped against each other, her eyes refusing to meet the other girl's as she added, “You... you could use my towel?”

“What!?” Sakura looked at the shy girl in disbelief. “I can't do that! You're wearing it! That's dirty!”

“Y-yes, but you could-” Hinata swallowed, her voice lowering to a whisper as she added, “You could take it off first before you use it.”

Sakura stared at the other girl, before she said the only thing possible in this scenario. “Kai.” Unfortunately, nothing about the scene shimmered or collapsed to indicate that she'd broken a genjutsu.

Hinata bit her lip. “Please, Sakura! Don't joke! I-I'm serious!”

“You want me to take your towel to wipe myself. Which would leave you naked. In front of everyone, including Naruto. You have to admit, Hinata, between that and a ninja illusion the latter is more likely,” Sakura dully replied as she recovered from her shock.

Hinata shook her head. “Sakura... I know I scoffed in the changing room when you suggested I strip, but today you've shown me the true courage of a kunoichi. I-I wish I was one-tenth as brave as you, but I need your help to take the next step! I-I'm not that brave. Not yet. B-But I want to be! Please do what I can't yet do myself!”

Sakura considered her next words carefully. She knew full well that the boys would be using the memory of her own naked body as masturbation fuel for weeks... months... maybe even years. If Hinata did strip, then the other girl would be in the same situation and it would be all her fault, thanks to her pretending that she was completely okay with this situation. She didn't want her pretense to result in Hinata doing something that she might regret for years to come!

“Hinata... even while you're wearing a towel you're still using me for cover.” And it was true. Half the reason that the boys hadn't tried to spy on the conversation was because they were taking this opportunity to stare at Sakura's pert ass, since she was still facing away from them to talk to the other girl. She didn't need to glance back to know this - she could practically feel her buttocks heating up from their concentrated gaze. “I don't think you really want to be naked here at all. Don't do something you'll regret later on.”

'Like we are right now!' Inner Sakura shouted in her mind.

“You're right, I... I don't want to be naked.” Hinata responded, keeping her voice down so that the nearby boys couldn't hear them. “But… but even more than that I don't want to be the only one clothed! Being n-n-naked scares me so much! But I can't... I can't keep being the only one clothed here! The Hokage, your sensei, the boys... even Choji didn't hesitate to be naked in front of us and we both know how sensitive he can be about his body. And it's not just them... you let them see everything with a smile on your face, too. If... if I'm the only one not doing it, then doesn't that mean that I'm the one in the wrong?”

Sakura looked at the other girl as she felt the conflict within herself.

Intellectually, she knew that it was a terrible idea to strip Hinata. The poor girl was far too shy to ever survive the experience. Hell, Sakura could still barely stand it herself, and she wasn't as cripplingly shy as Hinata!

Emotionally, on the other hand, she was having a really tough time saying no to the girl's pleading gaze. Refusing her would be like kicking a puppy. Of course, it was also possible that if she refused Hinata she would also raise the question of why she thought it was okay to strip herself, but it wasn't okay for Hinata to do so. Her threadbare story might quickly unravel if she refused to go along with the girl's ludicrous request.

'You know,' Inner Sakura mused, 'Naruto has been staring at our body for this entire trip. If we leave it like this, then we have failed miserably at getting his attention off of us. But if Hinata actually showed him how fantastic her breasts are, he might finally see that there are other, better-built-fish-than-us in the sea.'

_ 'Not helping!' _Outer Sakura shot back, as she reached her decision.