Naruto Various x Reader/OC/Ship [One Shots & Lemons]

Sweetheart - Naruto x f!reader

This was so embarrassing.

Your cheeks burned with mortification so intense that you could definitely fry up some eggs if you wished. If the ground would only open up to swallow you whole, you would welcome the abyss with wide arms. When had the conversation taken such a wild detour that it was now acceptable to question your love life? More specifically – lack of love life.

Wiping your sweaty palms as surreptitiously as you could manage on your navy pencil skirt, you tried to excuse yourself from the break room chat without drawing further attention.

"Where're you going, y/n? Weren't you just about to tell us about your weekend plans?" the acid-laced voice of your snake of a co-worker hissed with a nasty looking smile. The words may sound sweet to an observer, but having known Ino since high school, you knew differently.

It wasn't enough that you had spent the past year steadily climbing the corporate ladder, throwing yourself headfirst into every opportunity that presented itself and earning the attention and respect of the higher-ups, now you had to contend with her wicked machinations on a daily basis.

The day that Ino had waltzed into the office with her long platinum blonde hair flowing like a shimmering waterfall down her back and designer stilettos that clicked with every step she took, it was like receiving a death sentence. It didn't matter how innocent her expression may seem, the fire of deceit was obvious in her eyes.

"I – I don't have any plans," you stammered, annoyed that your gaze fixed upon the tiled floor and refused to lift to meet her eyes.

"But surely your boyfriend – oh wait, that's right – you don't have one," she sneered before letting out a falsely cute tinkling laugh.

A few of the others gathered in the small huddle let out quiet chuckles but some wore expressions of unease at the exchange that was unfolding. Although it was nice to see you were not alone – a sheep tossed into a lion's den – you also didn't wish for any pity. It wounded your pride and with a burst of confidence in your chest, you ended the conversation.

"No, Ino, I don't have a boyfriend. I don't need a man in my life to feel complete, unlike some."

If you could have captured that moment in video format, you would play it over and over just to rewatch the look of shock that morphed swiftly into angry humiliation on the blonde's heavily made-up face. You were able to return to your desk with your head held high, your heart thumped wildly but it was hard to keep the smile from your face as you looked to your stack of work and resumed the project you had been entrusted with.

~

Two weeks went by with no further comment or incident.

The routine you had set for yourself was back in place; arriving into the office well before anyone else to get a head start on the tasks of the day, eating your packed lunch at your desk whilst hastily replying to emails and leaving late into the evening when the cleaners were practically shooing you out the doors.

It was commonplace for your colleagues to meet for drinks on a Friday night, yet you declined every invitation. If it were an event related to business then you would surely attend to broaden your networking connections and represent your company, but you had no time for simple socialising.

Your colleagues were nice enough – apart from one – and you did enjoy chatting with them briefly in the moments that you found yourself without an immediate task, but you wanted to ascend into higher management so making friendships would only complicate your life later on.

As for men, well, if you were being honest, there had never been anyone that had caught your attention. Aside from silly little crushes in your college years, you hadn't found yourself connected to anyone outside of fiction. It was a dark secret of yours that you preferred the idea of men portrayed in animation than in real life, there were plenty of anime characters that you would happily invite into your bed and you wondered if you were somehow broken.