Paranoia || Naruto Uzumaki ||

Paranoia || Naruto Uzumaki || Chapter 16

It had been a long day, strike that, a long week. Melanie felt drained. Her feet hurt and she had blisters on the soles of them. She returned home to an empty house after covering a double shift at Space Jam. Sakura managed to get Sasuke to see a local concert and asked Melanie to cover for her. Melanie checked her phone as she unlocked the front door. She had several texts from an unknown number and several missed calls. She checked the text messages first unable to help the smile gracing her lips.

She laughed at several goofy pictures Naruto had sent from Gaara's phone, saving them to her phone. He had given her a play-by-play of his night. He had gone out of town with Gaara and wanted her to feel comfortable and secure with what they were doing.

Melanie appreciated his effort. After being upset at the mall she felt a little silly but still had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. Kiba distracted her until Naruto finally called but Melanie had felt strange spending the day with Kiba. They hadn't spent much time together since the Halloween party. She thought he was charming and his flirtatious manner had kept her entertained but no matter how he flattered her, Kiba couldn't take her mind off of Naruto.

Naruto had called her from Sasuke's phone saying his wasn't working. He swore up and down she had never sent him anything. He went as far as to screenshot all his messages and send them to her. She mentioned that he could have deleted the texts and in turn sent him screenshots of her messages. It had turned into an all-night debate.

Melanie couldn't explain to him why she was upset. He thought she was mad but that wasn't the emotion that overwhelmed her. How was she supposed to explain she felt like he was hiding something without any real proof?

Eventually, she let it drop. Trying to make herself believe there had been a glitch in one of their phones. She felt like she had turned into a clingy, insecure girlfriend. She didn't want him to feel like she was controlling his every action. She just needed to explain how she had felt in that moment. He had reassured her that he didn't feel that way and now he would go out of his way to make sure she never felt left out.

She replied to Naruto and saved Gaara's number before checking her missed calls. Ino had called her several times during her shift and left several voicemails. Melanie called her back as she walked upstairs to draw a bath. Ino had a tendency to gossip more than her and Sakura combined. She could talk for hours and tonight Melanie wasn't in the mood for the latest celebrity break up. She intended it to be a short phone call so she could enjoy her bath.

"Finally," Ino exclaimed as she answered.

    "I was at work. What's up?" Melanie sat on the edge of the tub carefully pouring out a cap full of her favorite bubble bath. Its vanilla fragrance had a way of calming her.

    "I need to ask a personal question."

    "Okay," Melanie said hesitantly. Ino wasn't one to ask permission before she asked questions. She knew no boundaries.

    "Have you and Naruto ever made a sex video?"

Melanie dropped the bottle of bubble bath into the rising water. She let out a curse and searched frantically for the bottle.

    Ino giggled. "Is that a yes?"

    Melanie felt heat creep down her neck. "No, it's a no."

"I didn't think so but when Temari had said that she heard you guys had. I told her 'no way' but she said-"

    "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Melanie said cutting Ino off. "What did Temari say?"

    "That she heard you guys had made a sex video."