Stripped Bare

I know it has been way too long between updates of this story! I apologize, but something funny happened to me while trying to write this. It’s called life. Yes, between a family vacation, Anime Expo, work, a social life and my Xbox, I found it hard to keep up with my writing. I anticipate this only getting worse when the school year comes around again.

On another note, I am very pleased with the favorable response I received for my one shot “Fade to Gray”, but I wanted to make one thing clear since there was an overwhelming request for a sequel so I thought I should address it here. There won’t be another chapter. It’s a one shot for a reason. I left the ending ambiguous on purpose and you will just have to use your imagination as to how it turns out.

Back to this story. This fic is rated M and not for kiddies. I do not own Naruto in any way, otherwise I’d be rich and awesome and not going to school to learn how to be a starving artist.

XXXXX

“Hana my dear, you’ve created quite the stir among my customers lately,”

Sakura looked up from where she was helping take upturned chairs off tabletops in preparation for the club’s opening in about an hour.

“Is that so?” she said idly, trying not to be annoyed at the fact that the club owner merely stood there with his arms crossed , watching her work without lifting a finger to assist. This was his club after all, and yet he seemed to think that he could leave all the work to others and still keep the majority of the profits. His actions were doing nothing to change her opinion of him, which had only gotten worse since she first met him.

“Yes,” Dajaku said, sounding quite pleased with himself as if he had handpicked the woman in front of him to be his newest dancer. “I have people asking about you almost every night. I think it’s your pink hair that piques their curiosity.”

“Hmm,” she replied irritably, trying to block him out and proceed with her task. Unlike some purple haired divas, she didn’t consider herself above doing a little manual labor to help out around the place, especially since Juu was currently busying himself with fixing a toilet in the men’s bathroom that no longer flushed. He had been worried he wouldn’t have everything ready in time but Sakura assured him she would have the chairs pulled down from where they had been stacked the night before. She had done it for the big burly bouncer because he was kind to her, if not a little clueless. Dajaku on the other hand seemed to think she was doing him a personal favor as his employee, which was not at all the case. On top of that, his not so subtle arrogance and the way he seemed to avoid anything physically taxing lest it wrinkle his pristine silk shirt was seriously rubbing her the wrong way.

“You know, you get dozens of requests every night for lapdances and yet you turn most of them down. You could make a lot more money if—”

Sakura spun around and slammed her palms on the nearest wooden table, regarding him evenly with hard emerald eyes. She had been trying to ignore him but his wheedling and prying to try and get her to make him more money was getting under her skin.

“Let’s get one thing straight here,” she said coolly, no longer able to tolerate him quietly. “You hired me because you and your club were in trouble. Even if I have to act like just another one of your meal tickets, you would do well to remember that I am not.”

Silver eyes darted around nervously and he began to fidget. The weasel was so smooth and slick until he was threatened, and then his cowardice showed through.

“Keep it down,” he grumbled. “Someone will hear you.”

Sakura already knew there was nobody in hearing range except the two of them. She didn’t sense anyone else who could be in hearing range.

“Let me make this clear,” she said, ignoring his muttered request. “I interact with your slimy patrons only because I have to in order to gain information about possible suspects. I will only interrogate people I deem to be suspicious and don’t see the need to further exploit myself just so you can make a little extra cash off my efforts.”

Dajaku ran a sweating palm over his head as if to slick back the few stray hairs growing there. He was clearly unhappy with her decision but didn’t have the balls to press her harder, or maybe he was just smart enough to know better.

“I just thought you’d like the extra cash,” he grumbled, before making a hasty retreat to his office and slamming the door none too gently. He knew he had lost yet another round with the kunoichi but he didn’t take the defeat well. He would probably stay in there sulking until the club opened.

Sakura flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned back to her task. She would have to finish quickly so she could go get ready since she was in the first group of girls to take the stage tonight.

Nearly a week had passed since her first attempt at interrogating a man via sex illusion jutsu. She had repeated it with a different man every night with the exception of one since then as well as several lap dances a night, all resulting in nothing that would bring her any closer to the truth behind the disappearances. It was becoming painfully clear that picking suspicious looking men at random was not working. Dajaku would probably be getting impatient if it weren’t for the additional business she was bringing to the club. Chances were she could stay here another six months and he wouldn’t complain, but what about Kakashi? He must be eager for this mission to wrap up. Tsunade was surely expecting her back in Konoha soon as well. Sakura had sent a mission update in a nondescript envelope to let her shishou know that this particular assignment would take longer than they had originally planned but even so, between Fire Country’s top medic and number one assassin, one would think this mission would be done sooner rather than later. Apparently Tsunade hadn’t taken their combined lack of mystery solving skills into account.

She hoisted the last chair from atop the table and set it on the floor, wiping her hands on her already grimy sweats.

If she wanted to solve this mission soon, she would have to devise a new plan because right now she was going nowhere fast. Either that or pray that their mysterious yellow eyed man would return and give her a chance to subdue him because the persistent feeling in her gut told her he was involved with all this somehow.

Sakura turned and headed towards the dressing room, her thoughts straying between wondering if tonight would be the night Yellow finally appeared, and if she should wear her new purple G-string or the red number that had gotten such a favorable response.

The red one. Kakashi likes that one.

The thought flashed through her mind before she could stop it and was enough to make her pause. Why should she care what Kakashi liked? It wasn’t like she was wearing it for him. Yet the memories of how he had touched her while she had worn that particular outfit still made her body warm all over.

What the hell was with her lately? First there was getting all territorial when Kakashi was chatting up the bartender, and now she was concerned with what she wore around him? Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that she had considered raping him in his sleep. Things like that certainly weren’t normal. Last time she had felt like that around someone was…Sasuke.

Sakura shook her head as if it would help clear away the thoughts. If Kakashi hadn’t touched her like that, she wouldn’t be having these thoughts now. If there was an attraction to him, it was out of curiosity and nothing more. She had longed for someone to make her feel special, as if she were the only thing that mattered, and he had, making her feel pleasure in a way she had never experienced before. The fact that she was his student made that kind of interaction practically forbidden and maybe that’s why it was all the more alluring. Sakura had never been the rebellious type, but maybe the immersion in this world of sex and sin was compromising her tight morals just a little.

Sakura sighed as she reached for the doorknob of the dressing room. The situation seemed too complicated for her to dwell on at the moment. Instead, it was time to shift gears and concentrate on thoughts that might actually help her complete this mission.

She walked to her lighted makeup table where she had left both the red and purple outfits for tonight. She didn’t even pause as she reached out for the violet satin, shoving the other away in a drawer.


XXXXX

Kakashi followed every graceful movement with his uncovered eye, admiring how comfortable his student had become with her own body. She looked good enough to eat tonight, her long hair loose and straight down her back. Her top had been nothing more than a strip of purple fabric that clasped behind her neck and wrapped in a figure eight around her chest, but that had come off nearly an hour ago and now those deliciously firm mounds were in plain view, swaying and bouncing enticingly with every move.

Every now and then he would rip his eyes away from the enticing scene in front of him to survey the crowds, trying to stay focused on his mission objective, but nobody in the club tonight seemed to alert him in any way, and so his focus was continually drawn back to the half naked kunoichi on stage.

The slender metal pole was currently between her thighs as she ground against it in long, languid strokes to the beat of the music, arching her back and letting her head fall back as if the cool metal was satisfying her much like a man could. Her hair cascaded down her back in a shimmering curtain of pink, eyes closed as if in ecstasy, and all around her men pressed in close to her platform, hooting and hollering and waving fisted bills enthusiastically, all eager for the chance to get all little attention from the goddess on stage.

Kakashi found himself wanting to be that pole, or better yet, have her in his motel room dressed only in that lacy little purple thong, to press her into cool sheets and let his fingers rub her up and down nice and slow, just like she was moving now. She would moan breathlessly, the sounds like candy for his ears as she trembled beneath him, the silky purple fabric growing damp against his fingertips.

“Can I get you another one?” a feminine voice asked sweetly.

He swiveled around on his stool to find the bartender he had been talking to the other night looking at his expectantly and he realized the glass on the bar was empty. When had he finished that off? The woman leaned forward, showing off generous amounts of cleavage on display in a low cut shirt, and gave him a flirtatious smile.

“No thanks,” he replied, swiveling back to watch the show, making it clear that he wasn’t in the mood for playful banter, not when his partner was halfway up the pole with her legs spread open in a perfect split position.

She slid to the floor just as the song ended and walked the perimeter of the stage, letting the men stuff money into her garter. The set must have ended because she exited the stage along with Kitsune and Misaki. He noticed Sakura whisper something to a man as she passed and he nodded his head enthusiastically before following her to the booths in the back. The path required her to walk past the bar. She didn’t look at Kakashi as she passed but her sensei eyed her briefly.

She looked weary now that she didn’t have to keep up appearances on stage and had let the act drop briefly. He supposed that was to be expected. The club was open seven days a week and the girls seldom had days off. In fact, Sakura had been working every night since she first started and spent much of the time when the club was closed looking into other aspects that might help complete the mission a little quicker. She hadn’t had much down time at all, and neither had he for that matter, considering he spent much of the day sleeping and at night, explored the city and all its dangerous nooks and crannies full of illegal trade operators and runners of the black market, all in hope that some clue would surface that would key him in to where the missing girls had gone.

She had already given two lapdances tonight and had used her new jutsu on one man that was undoubtedly a low level shinobi. The technique had been successful, even on the scruffy Rock ninja, but the subtle shake of her head as she existed the booth conveyed that he hadn’t had any useful information either.

The Copy Nin let his eyes follow her mostly bare backside as she once again disappeared into a booth to give another lap dance and Kakashi had to suppress a growl as the man trailing after her let his hand graze over the smooth skin of one toned cheek as he followed her inside.

Kakashi Hatake was a patient man but he was growing sick of playing the waiting game for a possible subject to show, especially when it meant his supple young student had to grind away on other people’s laps in the meantime. He hated the predatory glances she was constantly receiving, as if she was a piece of meat at dinnertime. He could see them imagining what it would be like to take her, and several of them persisted in asking her to sleep with them, though she always turned them down unless she thought they might have information of value. He knew he wasn’t much better and was in no position to preach, for he too was captivated by her exotic looks and sensual moves. He too fantasized about taking her to bed. But in his dreams he made slow, passionate love to her, not just a quick, dirty fuck like so many of these men were after. He tried to remain detached and reason that as a kunoichi, it was her job to do whatever was necessary to complete the mission, but he was finding it harder and harder to ignore the men that approached her as she became more popular. Both of them were highly stressed and it was about time to escape the pressure for just a little while.

He swiveled back to face the bar and signaled to the bartender that he was ready for another round. When she pushed a full glass towards him, he picked up his drink, laid down his tip, and slipped into the sea of flashing lights and pumping bass towards Dajaku’s office.

XXXXX

Another night had passed and Sakura had nothing to show for it. Feeling defeated and a little helpless, she had stripped off her thong, shrugged into an oversized T-shirt and collapsed into bed, hoping she could sleep off the depressing feeling that this mission might eventually end in failure.

She awoke the next morning equally discouraged, only now she had morning breath that could kill a horse. With a grumble, she hauled herself into the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth. The hot water felt good on her skin and the smell of the lavender scented soap lifted her spirits enough so that she wouldn’t be moping around all day, but she knew she couldn’t go on like this, blindly hoping that the next man she pulled into that booth would be the one with all the answers. She needed a new plan but didn’t know what else she could do. The lists Dajaku had been giving her had been full of dead ends and she was sure Kakashi had been thorough in his investigation of every name.

She hated not being able to take action. She had all this power and strength but it was useless in this situation. She couldn’t even vent her anger on an innocent rock or tree. She hated this stagnant feeling of making zero progress, and didn’t know how much longer she could keep it up.

The nature of her new job was taking its toll as well. It would be bad even if she could make up her mind on how she felt about it one way or the other, but it seemed she was constantly caught halfway between loathing being on that stage and loving it. For the first time in her life, she truly felt sexy, felt wanted, and the sense of empowerment she felt from having every man in the room wrapped around her finger was entirely different from the power she had in knowing she could probably destroy everyone of them with minimal effort. She had never felt so much like a woman, but she had also never felt so much like an object either. They didn’t know her name and they didn’t care. All they wanted was her body, to use her to satisfy their most primal urges. She could see it in their dark and lusty eyes. If they thought they could get away with it, she had no doubt they would rush the stage and bend her over the nearest table, taking her again and again until their hunger was satiated. The knowledge was both thrilling and terrifying and it scared her a little that she wasn’t completely repulsed by the thought of it.

Lapdances and performing the jutsu were even worse. It was such an intimate situation to feel a man’s erect cock rubbing against her barely covered sex. In one case, she had been completely naked while seducing her victim and he had thrust up against her, nearly slipping inside of her. She had had to stroke men with her hand, make them believe she wanted them, and one had actually lost it early and spilled himself all over her fingers. It was the first time she had felt a man’s seed, thick and warm, and though she had hastily wiped it away on the sheets, she had laid awake that night wondering how it would feel to have a man release inside her. Her cheeks had heated at the very thought and she had buried her head under her pillow in mortification, but she couldn’t help it. There was no way she could be immersed in a world of sex and be pretending to have it often without becoming curious about it.

She could often hear feminine moaning coming through the walls and wondered if sex could ever be that good for her. It’s not like she didn’t have the opportunity to find out. All she had to do was let the next man she interrogated touch her for real, to sink down on him and experience what it was like to be filled.

But she couldn’t do that. She refused to give her body to a perfect stranger unless she absolutely had to. Even though she had lost much of her teenage naivety, she still longed for her first time to be sweet and passionate, for the man to explore her body gently and tell her she had nothing to fear, to make her feel like nothing was expected of her and she was safe in his care.

Such thoughts always led her back to one man, and to her surprise, it was never the childhood crush she had fawned over for years. It was Kakashi. She was sure it had everything to do with the fact that he had already proved himself quite a proficient lover, setting her body ablaze, and the more she practiced the art of pretending to have sex, the more she wondered what it would be like with him, for his strong and calloused hands to wander her skin, for his shaft to enter her, stretch her. And his face; that beautiful, perfect face that he didn’t even know she had seen. What would it look like contorted in pleasure? Could she make him hot and needy the same way he had her? The very thought made her stomach flutter before common sense came in and slammed the door on all her impure thoughts. Even if he was bound to be good in bed, he was still her teacher and completely forbidden. He had said himself that he had responded to her only because it was instinct, because a man’s body craved a woman’s, not because he found her to be particularly beautiful, sexy and alluring.

Sakura broke herself out of her thoughts, realizing she had been lathering her body with the same bar of soap for nearly fifteen minutes while her mind had drifted off. She rinsed quickly and toweled off before she monopolized one of the two bathrooms any longer than necessary. She retreated to her room, not at all surprised to hear Misaki still snoring away from the top bunk. She sat down in front of the mirror in the corner to face the daunting task of combing out her long pink hair.

In her haste to get out of the shower, she had forgotten to put conditioner in it and the result was a mass of pink tangles all over her head. She pulled at them irritably with her comb but didn’t have the patience at the moment to work them all out. She was considering just piling her hair into a bun and worrying about it later Miyabi entered the room.

“Breakfast will be ready soon,” she said softly so as not to wake their roommate.

“Ok, be right there,” the kunoichi said, going to pull the comb from tangled strands only to find it wouldn’t budge. So much hair had wound around it in her attempt to work out the snarls that it had become stuck in her hair.

Miyabi was looking at her curiously.

“Do you need help with that?

Sakura grit her teeth against the pain in her scalp and pulled again.

“Nope, I’m perfectly fine.”

The taller woman didn’t believe her for a moment and padded with all the grace of a cat to sit behind her. Sakura watched her in the mirror as she lightly batted her hands away from the comb and began to work it free, gently pulling away pink strands that were caught between the plastic teeth.

“Thanks,” the kunoichi said sheepishly. If Miyabi hadn’t come along, she probably would have torn out all her hair in frustration when she used brute strength to yank the comb free.

The woman moved with fluid grace even during the most menial of tasks, and Sakura wondered if she could ever attain that kind of poise outside of a sparing match. She had never excelled at being feminine and dainty, but the dark haired woman moved like an ethereal goddess, even as she combed out her hair.

Gently, the troublesome comb was pulled free and she went to work on coaxing the impossible tangles from her hair. The sensation the comb and Miyabi’s fingers lightly tugging on her silken strands and gliding over her scalp were soothing and she let her eyes drift closed, willing all the tension she had been harboring for days to melt away as she relaxed into the comforting touch. How many years had it been since her mother had brushed her hair just like this? Sakura wasn’t sure if she could remember.

The room was quiet, interrupted only by soft snores from the upper bunk. Miyabi had worked her magic on one side of her head and was beginning on the other when Sakura spoke.

“Have you ever been in love?”

The question surprised even the woman who asked it, for it had popped into her head only seconds before the words had formed on her tongue.

Miyabi paused in her movements and Sakura risked opening her eyes to find the woman looking at her in the reflection of the mirror.

“I-I’m sorry. Forget it. It was a silly thing to ask,” she stammered, backpedaling and wondering what had come over her to ask something like that in the first place.

“No, it’s alright,” Miyabi said quietly. “I just wasn’t prepared for a question like that.”

Blue eyes turned thoughtful as she pondered a moment.

“No,” she said at last. “I have never been in love. I was too young when I was sold and have been on the move until I came here. I’ve never really had the opportunity to fall in love.”

“I see,” Sakura said, toying with the ends of her hair that had been combed out.

“Although,” she continued, a wistful smile forming on her face. “There was a boy in my village who I had sort of taken a liking to. His family was a skilled group of tailors and my father often sold their products before he passed away. Our fathers had decided that when we were old enough, we would wed.”

“Really?” Sakura asked, noting how Miyabi’s face seemed to light up. “You didn’t mind an arranged marriage?”

The beautiful woman resumed combing out the pink strands before her.

“I suppose I was too young to really understand what it all meant, but he was my friend and the thought of always being with him made me happy. It’s been so long now. I wonder what Kenji must be up to now.”

“Kenji?”

“Yes,” she said with a smile. “That was his name. Kenji.”

Miyabi leaned in closer to examine a particularly stubborn knot as Sakura asked another question.

“Do you think you’ll ever truly fall in love?”

She shrugged as if it was all rather inconsequential.

“Probably not while I am here. This city isn’t exactly conducive to love. It’s not so bad though. I guess I don’t know what I am missing.”

The thought of such a beautiful and kind woman never finding someone to cherish her made Sakura rather sad. She was sure that if she took her back to Konoha, every man in the village would fall all over themselves to get her to notice them. Even though she wasn’t a kunoichi, she was elegant and striking. Even Naruto would be smitten. A woman like her would be a good match for someone like Neji, both of them regal and refined. Their children would no doubt be gorgeous. Even Sasuke would have to take notice of someone like her, and perhaps Miyabi would have the means to capture the heart that Sakura could not.

“What about you, Hana? Have you ever loved someone?” she asked as skilled fingers made short work of another tangle.

She paused before answering as she saw the Uchiha’s face in her mind, looking cold arrogant and painfully untouchable as always.

“Yeah,” she said softly, her lips quirking into a sad smile. “But I’m afraid he didn’t feel the same.”

“Ah, unrequited love,” Miyabi nodded sympathetically. “I hear that’s the worst kind.”

“I suppose it can be. It hurt for a long time,” she said, remembering all the times Sasuke had pushed her away and had abandoned both her and the village for a darker path. “Even now I wonder if there’s anything I could have done to change things.”

“Well, you can’t make a fool wise if he doesn’t want to be taught. If he couldn’t see the beautiful woman in front of him then it’s better to find someone who sees you for what you are.”

Sakura wanted to scoff. She had hardly been the ravishing beauty in Konoha that she was now with the assistance of makeup, hairspray and G-strings. She couldn’t help but wonder what Sasuke would do if he saw her dance. Would he adore her? Be disgusted by her? Or just be another lustful man who wanted a quick fix with her body as the means? Sasuke was so frigid it was hard to imagine him being passionate, but even as she pictured his hands roving her body and his dark eyes taking in her naked form, she found it didn’t give her the same thrill as when Kakashi had touched her.

“You’re better off on your own than with someone who doesn’t care for you. At least when I’m with a man now, I’m not in a position to get hurt. It’s a job and nothing more.”

“I suppose,” Sakura mused, wondering why it was Kakashi’s face in her mind rather than Sasuke’s. Kakashi claimed he had only been touching her as a method of teaching, and then later because he simply lost control, but his caresses had conveyed emotion the way other men’s careless groping had not. Maybe that was just because Kakashi was good at what he did and had experience and pages of pornographic material on his side, but Sakura wondered if something like that could be faked so easily. Maybe she was just reading into it too much.

At last Miyabi worked the last tangle free, her messy rat’s nest transformed once more into long straight strands. Without asking, she parted her hair all the way down the back of her head and began to plait it into to symmetrical French braids. She tied them off with the hair ties she found on the nearby bookcase and gave her a smile.

“The style suits you. You look very cute.”

“Thanks,” Sakura smiled, fingering the end of a long braid that nearly reached her navel.

“Come on, I’m sure breakfast is ready by now,” the taller woman said as she handed Sakura her comb before standing.

Sakura nodded and tossed the comb on her bed before following her out the door, leaving Misaki to snore peacefully as she overslept once again.

XXXXX

It had been about ten o’clock when Sakura woke up and by the time she was done with breakfast, it was after eleven thirty. Now was as good a time as any to get the list of last night’s people who had received services from the dancers.

Ever since their talk in Kakashi’s motel room and her first attempt at her new jutsu while using him as her test subject, he had apparently stopped trying to avoid her. He no longer asked her to fly paper airplanes out windows but more often than not, she slipped it to him while she was at the club, or if he needed it sooner, sent it out with the trash.

She was grateful things between them finally seemed normal again. Well, at least on his end, maybe. She, however, often caught herself daydreaming about his uncovered face and what it would have been like to give him her virginity while he was caught in her sleep jutsu. She knew it was a horrible thing to think but she couldn’t deny that she was lusting over her teacher. How could she not with a face like that? The vertical scar running through his slightly droopy eye was an appealing mark that gave him character rather than a flaw, and those lips, so smooth and soft, always protected from the sun and the elements under the mask. She wanted to kiss him again and wanted him to kiss her back, to show her just how passionate he could be.

Too bad she was still nothing more than a partner to him. He had said she was pretty and that she was sexy and womanly while dancing with confidence, but he probably thought that about every dancer here, even Tsurenai.

“Good morning,” a cool voice said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

She looked up to find the very woman she had been thinking about leave Dajaku’s office. She had probably seen her coming from the window and taken her chance to leave. Ever since the confrontation in the hallway, the two gave each other a wide berth. It was quite clear the diva was not going to say anything that could help Sakura with her mission and every time they were in a room together, the tension was almost tangible, as if the two of them were just seconds away from going at each other’s throats. It that ever happened, “catfight” wouldn’t even begin to cover it.

“Good morning,” she replied tersely, not even slowing down as she brushed by the tailored sweater and pinstripe pants and entered Dajaku’s office, firmly shutting the door behind her.

“Ah, Hana-chan, what can I do for you?”

Sakura rolled her eyes at the affectionate nickname and stood in front of his desk. She didn’t bother with sitting. She wouldn’t be here long.

“The list,” she said simply, wondering if he had gotten over his temper tantrum last night when she had refused to give more lap dances than necessary.

“Of course,” he said smoothly, reaching into his drawer. “Actually, there is something else for you here as well.”

He pulled out two slips of paper, the gaudy rings on his hands catching the light as he moved. He seemed to hesitate a moment before giving them to her but finally stretched out his hand and offered her the notes.

The first one was the list as usual, but the second, though also written on Dajaku’s personalized stationary, was written in different handwriting; Kakashi’s handwriting.

She hastily read the messy chicken scratch, afraid that something had gone wrong, but though his message was cryptic, there didn’t appear to be trouble.

Meet at the bookstore at noon. Bring the list, some comfortable clothing, and shoes you can walk in.

Sakura checked the gold plated clock on Dajaku’s desk, slipping it around so she could read it. It read eleven fifty three.

“Why didn’t you give this to me sooner?” she cried out, realizing that unless she left in a hurry, she was going to be late.

Dajaku shrugged.

“I assumed you’d be in for the list anyway. It’s not my fault you’re later than usual.”
Sakura gave an exasperated huff and turned on her heel to leave.

“Just make sure you’re back in time for the show,” he called after her.

Sakura didn’t bother responding as she made her way towards the front door of the club, undoing the dead bolt and rushing into the alley. She was thankfully already wearing shoes since she refused to walk around on the club’s floor barefoot and they were a comfortable pair since Sakura didn’t see the point in wearing those ridiculous stilettos unless she was performing.

It was a surprisingly nice day outside and although gray clouds still hung overhead, it was unusually warm. Sakura hadn’t been outside for the past couple of days so she hadn’t kept track of what the weather was doing. It would be a pity if she had been missing out on warm days. She should have made a trip to the market or something.

She arrived at the bookstore in record time but wasn’t surprised to see that Kakashi wasn’t there yet. In her haste she had left her phone in her room so she couldn’t check the exact time but she had a feeling that if it was exactly noon, chances were good she could be waiting at least another fifteen minutes. Why had she been in such a hurry again? This was Kakashi they were talking about and he was the ultimate in ignoring punctuality.

She didn’t have a cloak to cover her hair and she could already sense that she was getting a few strange looks. She supposed that was to be expected considering she was dressed like a rag doll in her T-shirt and sweats and was probably the only one with pink hair in the entire city. It was hard to be inconspicuous with hair the color of bubblegum.

“Not catching up on any reading? I thought you’d be inside perusing the books.”

Sakura turned to see a jovial looking Kakashi emerging from the bookstore, only this time it didn’t look like he had purchased anything.

“Not everyone enjoys written porn,” she said sourly, remembering the last time she had been curios enough to peek at the pages of the books inside. She could do without the illustrated sex manuals, thank you very much…although she had found Kitsune’s erotica to be rather enlightening.

“Suit yourself,” Kakashi shrugged, adjusting the pack he wore on his shoulder. “Well then, let’s get going.”

He began to walk away without so much as an explanation, and Sakura had to jog a little to catch up with his long stride.

“Wait, going where?”

He seemed unconcerned with the irritation in her voice and just gave her a friendly eye crease. Sakura was certain his handsome face was smiling beneath the mask and secretly wondered what it looked like.

“You’ll find out when we get there, but I’m sure you’ll like it. We’ll have to hurry though if Dajaku wants you back by the time the show starts. Nice hair by the way.”

Sakura brought a hand to the end of one long pink braid, fingering it self consciously.

“Uh, thanks. Miyabi did it for me,” she said as she weaved her way through the afternoon crowds while trying to keep in step with him.

“It’s cute,” he said casually, keeping his eyes on the path in front of him. “I like it.”

Sakura felt his cheeks warm at his compliment. This was ridiculous. She was acting like a giddy schoolgirl, getting so excited over something so simple, but even as she struggled to fight the color rising to her cheeks, a small smile formed on her lips.

“Although, I must say,” he continued as they turned a street corner and headed into an even more industrialized part of town. “You’re drawing attention to yourself. It’s probably your hair color, but maybe that face of yours is too pretty for a town like this.”

Any chance of hiding her blush was blown away as her cheeks flared pink at his words. At that moment she wished she had a scarf like the one Kakashi always wore to cover his face, although today he only had his usual mask on thanks to the unusually warm turn in the weather.

The Copy Nin was always so stingy with his compliments. He had hardly ever graced her with them when it came to her fighting techniques and he had certainly never complimented any of her physical attributes, at least not while she had been his student. Apparently that had changed, for this was not the first time he had called her pretty. However, the giddy effect it had on her was still the same.

Kakashi was not oblivious. He had seen her face flush at his first compliment and had told himself that, given the circumstances, he should probably stop. His head was still full of images of her atop him, riding him incessantly towards orgasm thanks to the cursed little jutsu that she just had to test on him. Although they had talked it over and had managed to come to a point where interaction wouldn’t be horrendously awkward, he knew he was a fool to press his luck. It’s not like he was purposely trying to flatter her or feed her lines like she was some woman he was trying to sweet-talk into bed. It was just that it seemed today was a day where his mouth had decided to operate independently of his brain, at least where Sakura was concerned, and her new look was endearing in that it made her look youthful and innocent. However, even though her face lacked makeup, he still couldn’t see her as anything but a woman. The hairstyle served to make her less sexy and more cute but even so, he was sure that even in braids, she would be equally ravishing when naked and tangled up in his sheets. A hairstyle like that would make so easy to pull her head towards him when she had her lips around his—

Ok, time for a change of topic. Immediately.

“So, did the boss seem aggravated that you were leaving for a while?” he asked, purposely leaving out Dajaku’s name in case someone were to overhear.

“Well, he certainly didn’t seem thrilled,” she answered, face still turned away from him a little as her blush cooled. “We just have to be back before the show.”

Kakashi turned another corner, leading them down a street that was less crowded, and he could tell Sakura was suddenly a little more alert. She had never been to this part of town before.

“Yeah, he was reluctant to let you go. I think he’s under the impression that he practically owns you until this mission is completed. I had to set him straight on a couple things last night before he finally agreed to cover for your absence all day.”

Sakura had wondered what she was going to say to everyone upon her return, considering they weren’t supposed to go out on their own and as far as all the other dancers knew, Kakashi did not exist. She hoped the excuse Dajaku gave wasn’t one she would have to strangle him for later.

The fact that Kakashi had gone to all the trouble of making sure she would be able to escape for the day was even more intriguing. She was almost flattered that he had made the effort to talk with Dajaku, although she supposed she should probably know what he was getting her into before she thanked him for it. Even so, it was nice to be outside for a change.

“So seriously, where are we going?” Sakura asked again, noting that it seemed they were getting closer to the western outskirts of town.

“I told you, it’s a surprise,” Kakashi said, turning a dark, knowing eye towards her that held the smile that his covered face couldn’t portray. Sakura wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried by his expression.

As they walked, large buildings were becoming scarcer and clusters of small houses took their place. Patches of scraggly greenery sprung up in some of the yards and the farther out of town they walked, the more the grass seemed to compete with concrete until it eventually won out and gave way to more of the gently rolling hills of green they had passed on the way in. An occasional structure dotted the landscape but it was clear they had left the boundaries of Fuzen Machi.

“Is this mission related?” Sakura finally asked after they had walked without speaking long enough for the silence to become uncomfortable.

“Since when are you so inquisitive?” he chuckled, veering off the main road onto a smaller dirt path that cut through the grass which seemed taller with every passing mile.

“Since my sensei decided to drag me into the wilderness without an explanation,” she responded sulkily, missing her shinobi-issued sandals that had much better arch support than the civilian ones she was wearing now.

Kakashi chuckled again, remembering how the majority of the missions they had first gone on had been the same way with him leading the way and his three students dragging after him, only she had had much more energy back then, sharing a little of Naruto’s boundless enthusiasm for finally being able to take missions outside the village.

“Well, you have about another hour to endure because it will take us a while to get there,” he responded, almost laughing when she let out a long suffering sigh. “Hey, it’s better than being at the club, isn’t it?”

She had to admit it was true. She was unaccustomed to being cooped up in one place for so long and it felt good to get out and enjoy some air that wasn’t thick with smog and soot.

“Yeah, I suppose,” she relented, a smile forming on her lips as she took in the sea of gently waving grass that was nearly knee high around them and the dappled shadows of shifting clouds that passed overhead. “That place is starting to feel a little like a cage. I’m glad I’m free for a while.”

“You’re not the type who takes well to being caged,” he said, knowing that her indomitable spirit preferred to go where she wanted, when she wanted, and not stay cooped up in a room only to emerge for a nightly striptease and a couple of lapdances. “And it’s starting to show. That’s why I arranged this trip.”

His words were enough to make Sakura pause. He was doing this for her? She had thought that perhaps he was investigating an aspect of their case and he had brought her along for his own purposes, even now she was hesitant to make more of it than that. It was dangerous to overanalyze the Copy Nin’s actions, especially when her own emotions were turbulent. She wouldn’t dare guess what he thought of her after all they had been through. He had said she was his partner and only his partner and that seemed like the safest path to travel. However, she couldn’t dismiss the nagging thought in her head that if he was going out of his way to do something for her, then maybe more had changed between them in that dimly lit booth than he was willing to let on.

“What do you mean? Where are we going?” she persisted, even more curious about their destination.

“You’ll see.”

She could hear the smile in his voice even though he wasn’t looking at her and suppressed another sigh. He was playing with her, but he wasn’t going to let her know he was playing with her. That would be too obvious. Kakashi Hatake was a smart man and enjoyed matching wits, even though half the time he pretended like doing so wasn’t worth the effort. She stubbornly decided she wasn’t going to play his little game, dropping the topic completely and started a whole new conversation.

“So, absolutely nothing new on your end of the investigation? No selling of pretty girls on the black market or forcing them to body pack drugs across country borders?”

“Nope, nothing I’m afraid,” he replied, as if the massive leap between topics was perfectly normal and expected. Sakura glanced over at him and he turned to meet her eyes as they walked. With only the bridge of his nose and one eye exposed, it was so damn hard to gauge his expression. She could tug the mask down right now, do it so quick that he wouldn’t have time to respond.

She quickly dismissed the idea. Even if she did manage to move faster than Kakashi, such an invasive maneuver would alter their relationship in a way that even a lapdance had not. She would breech their agreement of trust and that was something she was not willing to do, not matter how much she longed to see his uncovered face again.

“What about you? Any details you could coax out of your roommates? I’m sure you indulge in ‘girl talk’ often enough that something, even something insignificant, came up.”

Sakura shook her head, ignoring Kakashi’s smug tone at the mention of “girl talk”, letting the warm and pleasant breeze carry her irritation away.

“I’ve already told you everything I know and when I asked around about the yellow eyed guy at breakfast one day, nobody remembered seeing him.”

“And Tsurenai?”

“That woman isn’t going to utter a helpful word to me,” Sakura said disdainfully. “And besides, I’m more inclined to believe she performed for him because he was willing to cough up a lot of cash, not because they were secretly discussing anything in particular.”

“Maybe he’s just sizing her up because she’s the next one he plans to kidnap,” Kakashi noted, breaking off the beaten path once again to a dirt road so narrow, Sakura had to follow behind him in a single file line.

“I’m starting to think the kidnapper would be doing us all a favor if that happened,” she responded.

“Even so, Dajaku would be livid if his golden goose went missing. If none of the other girls have come in contact with him, we have to assume that Tsurenai is his next objective and we should monitor her even more carefully.”

Sakura took in the scenery around her as they walked. The rolling hills in the distance were beginning to grow higher on either side of them, looking more like small mountains than hills now. Kakashi continued to move ahead and she couldn’t help her eyes drifting to his backside, watching him as he walked. Even under his pants she could tell the muscles in his rear were toned and firm and she imagined his back muscles would be the same, although she couldn’t see thanks to the pack he carried. More than once she had to tell herself to stop staring so blatantly at his ass. Even without his Sharingan activated, Kakashi had an uncanny way of knowing what was going on around him.

“We don’t even know if Yellow is really the culprit,” Sakura sighed forlornly. “What if he’s not? We’ll be back where we started with nothing to go on.”

“That may be true, but you got that same feeling in your gut as I did when you saw him. There’s no logical reason for it other than just a hunch but you know something is strange about him.”

“Yeah,” Sakura admitted.

“Never ignore that. Hunches and gut instincts can save a shinobi’s life. Something is definitely going on with that guy, and when we find him, we’ll find out what.”

Kakashi made it all sound so simple. He had conveniently left out the fact that they had no way of tracking this guy down, not to mention they didn’t know when he’d be coming back or whether he would even shown up again at all. For all they knew, he could have left town days ago. Sakura was trying very hard not to get discouraged but it was difficult when they were making no progress in the mission and had little choice but to just wait around and hope their target returned soon.

Her eyes drifted to Kakashi’s rear again. At least there was one perk to it all, and she never would have noticed it had it not been for this mission. Giving her sensei a lapdance and having to conjure up vivid imagery of sleeping with him had put him in a whole new light, and that light illuminated his wonderfully sculpted ass.

They continued on, the road gradually widening so Sakura didn’t have to walk behind him anymore. Though she secretly mourned the loss of the view in front of her, the surrounding scenery was pretty enough to keep her visually stimulated with the grasses around them nearly hip high and deep green. She was beginning to wonder if they would ever reach their destination when she noticed a drop off coming up in front of them. The grass continued beyond it but as she drew closer, she realized there was in fact a sizable lake tucked away next to the cliff that was being fed by a small waterfall a ways to their left. From here she could hear the dull roar that grew louder as they approached until they were finally standing on the edge, grass swaying on either side of them and the rippling water below. There was no river leading away from the lake so Sakura assumed in flowed underground somewhere, but all around the water’s edge was a wide strip of sparkling white sand which gave way to more grass that stretched endlessly to the horizon.

The view was absolutely stunning.

“Kakashi,” she breathed in delight. “It’s so beautiful. What are we doing here?”

“Well,” he said, coming up next to her to survey the landscape. “I thought you needed a break and you said before that you missed being able to train. I haven’t had much of a chance to get any practice in either so I figured we could take an afternoon to spar a little bit.”

Sakura turned her head to gape at him, green eyes wide in disbelief.

“Do you really mean we can spar all afternoon?”

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and laughed softly at her nearly childlike glee.

“Well, I can’t exactly spar by myself.”

For a moment, she was so caught up in her excitement that she lost herself, throwing her arms around her sensei and hugging him fiercely. Unsure of what to do, Kakashi tentatively embraced her back, returning her hug with uncharacteristic awkwardness. Even if it was a little strange, the feeling of her against him was rather nice, so nice in fact that this alone made the walk out here worth it.

Sakura realized all too soon what she had done and tried to disengage casually without making the gesture any weirder. His distinctive and pleasant masculine scent had already filled her nostrils and the sound of his beating heart still echoed in her ears. She felt her face threaten to flush all over again and turned back to the view before he could see what their close proximity had done to her.

“Well, shall we go then?” she smiled, edging closer to the drop off until her toes hung over the edge.

“After you,” Kakashi said with a sweeping gesture and a slight bow.

She didn’t need anymore encouragement than that. She jumped gracefully off the ledge, summoning chakra to her feel and landing in a crouch on the water’s surface, a series of perfect rings rippling outwards from the point of impact.

Kakashi admired her for a moment from his vantage point. She moved with all the liquid grace that a kunoichi should. She had matured so much since she had been his young student, but this mission had forced her into womanhood by leaps and bounds. She stood and turned to wave at him, giving him a sunny smile that still retained so much of the girl he once knew.

He jumped down from the ledge to land in a similar crouch before straightening and walking to the lake’s edge and Sakura followed him, tiny ripples breaking over the water’s surface with their every step.

Sakura immediately pulled off her shoes and dug her toes into the warm sand as Kakashi took off his pack, smiling under his mask as she wandered to the water’s edge and tested it with one toe.

“It’s cold,” she announced, crouching and swishing her fingers over the sparkling surface.

“Well, at least it’s clean. The river that feeds into it flows in from the west, opposite of Fuzen so it’s not polluted with chemical runoff like some other water sources.”

She tilted her face upward and let the warmth of the sun wash over her. How long had it been since she indulged in such simple pleasures? The must have traveled southwest because it was definitely warmer here.

“How did you find this place?” she asked, gazing over the sea of rippling grass and the water’s mirrored surface. “This is a little out of your way isn’t it?”

“I had a mission out this way years ago and came across this place back then,” Kakashi replied, unzipping his pack and pulling out two large bottles of water and a couple of bags of dried fruit and nuts.

“Here, take a break before we begin,” he said, tossing the bag to her. “We only have a couple of hours before we have to start heading back so stretch while you eat.”

Sakura caught the bag easily and stood, bracing one foot in front of the other in a lunge that stretched her calves as she popped an almond into her mouth. All the walking had warmed up her muscles a little but she hadn’t had to travel like that since she arrived at Fuzen and didn’t want them to cramp or tighten in the middle of training.

Kakashi pulled off his long sleeved shirt, revealing the tight black tank top with attached mask that he wore underneath. Sakura was a secret fan of that shirt, loving the way it clung to his form like a second skin and turned her head to watch as much as she dared without being too obvious. She munched away on a piece of dried pineapple as he folded his shirt and set it next to his pack and then straightened to absently run a hand through messy silver locks.

Mmm, dinner and a show, she mused silently, watching the muscles of his back work with every movement.

“You about ready?” he asked, as Sakura switched legs to stretch out the other calf.

“It may take a little longer to stretch out. I haven’t done this for a while remember?” she said through a mouthful of food.

Kakashi nodded and then turned his back to her to rummage in his pack.

“I have something for you,” he said, straightening and tossing her something red. She caught it and held it up to discover it was a one piece swimsuit with a halter back that plunged low in a V cut and left her entire back open.

“I know it’s not ideal but it’s the only on I could find in town that wasn’t a tiny bikini, and I didn’t think you’d want to spar in one of those.”

Sakura could believe that. Most stuff in Fuzen Machi was designed with sex in mind. It was amazing he had found this one at all. Although the back was open, the front was cut high enough that she wouldn’t have to worry about falling out of it while being active. She held the gift in her hands, taking in the deep shade of candy apple red, her favorite color.

“If you don’t want to wear it during our match that’s ok. I just figured you might want dry clothes for the trip back so—”

“Kakashi, I love it,” she said with a genuine smile, touched that Kakashi had gone to the trouble to find her something like this, and in her favorite color no less. “I’m putting it on right now.”

Although the Copy Nin was an incredibly intelligent and perceptive man, he was discovering that being around Sakura sometimes did things to him that he couldn’t really explain. Right now was one of those times and for some reason he found himself staring at her stupidly.

“Here?” he finally asked, uncovered eye watching as she crossed her arms to grasp the bottom hem of her T-shirt to pull it over her head.

Sakura looked at him quizzically.

“Well, I don’t see any changing rooms around. Do you?”

“Uh, right,” Kakashi muttered, turning around to stare out into the gently swaying grass as his keen hearing picked up the rustling of cloth behind him. He had seen most of it before anyway, the full, supple breasts, the pleasant swell of her hips. Hell, he had even seen her most intimate parts in falsified memories, but he couldn’t help but want to see her fully unclothed body for real and his mind was working overtime in putting together an image to coincide with what he was hearing.

“All done,” she announced, folding up the clothes she had discarded. “How does it look?”

Kakashi braced himself and turned to find an exquisite vision in pink and red. The suit hugged her curves perfectly and her long braids made her look adorably sexy. She was effortlessly beautiful, not having to put on an act to be so. Yes, she was absolutely mouthwatering when she was on stage in nothing but a thong, but it was all contrived. Here before him was the real Sakura, every bit as sexy as her stage persona and even more endearing. She wasn’t so much a sex kitten as she was a strong and beautiful woman unaware of her own charm. He was surprised to find that he liked the true version even better. He usually gravitated towards experienced woman who knew a thing or two about pleasing a man, but he could just imagine her falling all to pieces when he touched her, all her strength and power useless against him as he pulled all the strings that would make her come undone.

“Kakashi, stop staring at me like that,” she admonished, crossing her arms over her chest either in exasperation or to self consciously cover her breasts from him.

He realized he had been staring, his eyes probably bugging out of his head.

Smooth…real smooth, Hatake.

She was biting her lip ever so slightly, worrying the soft flesh between her teeth. Dear god, why was she so sexy? Maybe putting her in a swimsuit was a bad idea. Concentrating on fighting would be difficult now that she was encased in smooth, slippery spandex. He was just making his lusting problem worse, and yet, he couldn’t deny that the sight of her now blew away any scene he had ever read in his numerous volumes of Icha Icha.

“It looks good,” he said, managing to keep his voice casual and calm. “I’m glad I guessed your size right.”

Sakura was no fool. If his jaw had been able to drop to the floor, it would have. She wasn’t sure if he had intended to ogle her all along during their sparing session but that didn’t seem quite like him. He could just get his fill at the club. Hell, she exposed much more skin there anyway, but for some reason, the way his single eye scanned her body and then rested on her face made her insides all fluttery the way no man had ever done while she was on stage. He thought she looked good and for some reason that made her very happy.

She felt the beginnings of a blush coming on and stubbornly fought to keep the flush out of her cheeks. She remembered the way he had complimented her hair and her looks earlier that day as well and a strange curiosity began to well up inside her, the same reckless inquisitiveness that had made her pull down his mask and sample his lips while he was asleep.

Sakura turned slowly, giving him a full body view of the suit and flashing him another smile.

“I’ve been needing a new swim suit Kakashi. Thank you! Now, come help me stretch.”

“You’ve been stretching Sakura,” he said, a silver eyebrow arching at her words.

“I haven’t worked out at all since this mission started. I should really stretch out my legs, don’t you think?”

“Whatever you need to do,” Kakashi shrugged and Sakura wondered why he never seemed to need to warm up. It was like he was ready for battle at any time, all the time. She wondered what his secret was.

Taking a deep breath, she laid down on her back in the warm, dry sand, wondering if she was just adding fuel to the fire that was her problem with Kakashi. This wasn’t the smartest thing to do if she wanted to distance herself to preserve their relationship as teacher and student, but he had piqued her curiosity about him the moment he instructed her on her first lapdance and now she wanted to see just how far she could push him.

“Come here,” she said, beckoning him over as she kept both legs straight, stretching one out in front of her and lifting the other straight into the air, first at a ninety degree angle and then further as she tested her flexibility. Before this mission, she had been able to push her leg to a full split until her foot rested beside her head. Now she felt her hamstrings strain when her leg was a good six inches from the ground. Her muscles had tightened quickly which was frustrating. She had worked so hard to gain that flexibility as a genin and chuunin.

Kakashi was standing over her, trying to work some moisture into his suddenly dry mouth. The crotch of her swimsuit covered her well enough but still, the way her position opened her up made his mind want to create an image of her in the same position without the red fabric hiding her from his view. In fact, if he looked close enough, he could see the slight indentation between her legs that marked the entrance to—

“Can you help me push my leg down Kakashi-sensei?”

Her request broke him out of his less than pure thoughts and forced his eyes back to her face. Big green eyes were looking at him expectantly and he nodded, kneeling down to straddle the leg in the sand and apply gentle pressure to the back of her thigh and her ankle to force her leg down a little more.

“Brings back memories doesn’t it?” she smiled, seemingly unconcerned that he had to lean forward to press her leg down, aligning their hips in a way that would be ideal for other, more pleasurable activities.

“Yeah. You were much smaller then,” Kakashi said. He had indeed stretched her the same way when she was no more than thirteen. Her body had been much smaller with no curves to speak of and he had never once had to worry about perverted thoughts entering his mind when he was on top of her like this, but now there were curves where there hadn’t been before and she was in that damn swimsuit! That would teach him to do something nice for her.

“I’m going to push, ok?”

Kakashi nodded as he felt her press back against his hands with her leg, the action slowly stretching the muscle fibers in her hamstrings. She grunted softly at the discomfort and forced herself to breathe through it, increasing the pressure until her leg began to shake at the exertion.

This was unfair. This was a cruel, cruel joke the world was playing on him. Here they were, on a secluded beach, with her breathing hard and trembling beneath him. It would only take a small adjustment to press his hips against hers and if he let go of the iron control he was maintaining over his body, he could easy grind a newly formed erection against the apex of her thighs. He could just imagine how the scenario would go. She would be surprised at first, but would quickly succumb to the lust as the heat of desire spread through her. Maybe she’d even grind back and moan a little. He could lean forward and kiss those rosy lips, holding her leg where it was to keep her incapacitated beneath him. He could nip at those succulent breasts until the nipples were straining against the fabric, and maybe, he could slip a finger under the crotch of her swimsuit to find her wet with need. He could pick up where they had left off in the booth and slip a finger into her, slowly at first, and watch her exquisite expression as his digit sank into her bit by bit.

“Ok, that’s enough,” Sakura panted against the pain.

Kakashi immediately snapped out of his fantasy, feeling a little guilty for letting his mind wander in the first place and released her leg. She experimentally pulled the limb towards her and found she had gained nearly two inches of lost flexibility back. Hopefully the rest would return just as easily.

Though the stretching was uncomfortable, it made her feel like she was actively doing something in the realm of her profession again. The pain was reminding her that she was indeed a kunoichi and not an exotic dancer and prostitute. She welcomed not only the burn in her muscles, but Kakashi’s weight atop her. His hips were so close to hers that she would only have to arch a little to get them to meet. She could imagine his body pressed snugly against hers, wrapped up in his warmth and discovered that her heart was beginning to thump rapidly within her chest at their proximity.

“Other leg,” she ordered, her voice betraying none of her turbulent emotions.

Kakashi shifted his weight off of her enough for her to switch the positions of her legs before settling back down to stretch out this leg like he had the first. He kept his eyes fixed on her face, afraid that if he let them drift over her form, more naughty visions of her would fill his mind, not to mention he really didn’t want Sakura noticing his eyes glued to her chest.

Her eyes were shut against the discomfort as he pushed her leg as far as it would go and held it there. He took the opportunity to study her face without her knowledge. Her skin was smooth and clean and free of makeup, allowing her natural youthful glow to shine through. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed, allowing oxygen in to fill her lungs and penetrate the muscles she was stretching. Those petal pink lips looked heavenly and he wondered if she had allowed another man to kiss them during any of her interrogations. Knowing Sakura, the answer was probably no.

She began to press her leg against him and he offered the appropriate amount of resistance. It didn’t help his current situation that her legs felt firm and silky in his hands. Every time he had been allowed the pleasure of touching her skin, she had been soft and smooth. He wondered if she felt like that everywhere.

Jade eyes fluttered open and she gave him a shy smile when she found his gaze locked on her face.

“You’re staring again.”

“Am I not allowed to look?” he asked, releasing her leg when she stopped pushing against him.

She grabbed her leg by the ankle and pulled it towards her chest, pleased to see that this limb could also now get about two inches closer to the floor.

“It just seems a little unfair that I never get to see you,” she murmured, noticing that Kakashi had not gotten off of her even though his job was done.

“You’re looking at me right now aren’t you?” he said softly, placing hands on either side of her head to brace himself. There was just enough space between their bodies to keep them from touching, but his position trapped her leg, keeping her in the almost-split position on her back.

“That’s not what I mean,” Sakura replied, her voice dropping lower as her heart began to race. “You always wear that mask. Why?”

She could feel the heat radiating off his body, mingling with the warmth of the sand beneath her. His face was inches from hers and he showed no signs of moving. She secretly hoped he wouldn’t.

Kakashi knew he should get off of her, for laying here was like playing with fire, and yet he could not look away from the hypnotic depths of her green eyes. He had never seen eyes that color, a sparkling shade of jade, and right now they were fixed on him, reflecting mixed emotions of uncertainty and curiosity. Should he satiate her interest, not just about under the mask, but in all of the carnal desires he held as well?

“I wear it to keep from being recognized,” he lied, giving her another false reason for constantly covering his face. Sakura saw right through it.

“You are more likely to be recognized with the mask than without it,” she pouted. “I bet you have a nice smile under there. I want to see it.”

His eyes were drawn to those pouting lips, so lush and full. What if he had just a little taste through the fabric of his mask? Their lips wouldn’t even touch. It wouldn’t be a real kiss right? So it was ok…

Sakura watched his dark eye refocus a little further down her face as his head dipped dangerously low. She was not in the ideal position to resist with one leg pressed to her shoulder, and honestly, she didn’t think she wanted to stop him anyway. His face was coming ever closer to hers. She could feel his breath coming in warm puffs across her own lips and she parted them unconsciously in expectation. He was going to kiss her. Kakashi Hatake was willingly going to kiss her and she realized she wanted it. God, how she wanted it!

A croak of a solitary frog shattered the breathless silence around them into a thousand pieces and Kakashi drew back sharply as if he had been burnt. Sakura’s half lidded eyes opened wide at the realization of what had almost happened, and lamented the fact that it hadn’t.

Whatever spell had lingered over them was broken as Kakashi hastily picked himself up off of her, brushing the sand from his knees and hands with all the dignity he could muster, turning his back on her to clear his own head and allow her to pull herself together as well.

He was a sick bastard. A pathetic and lonely sick bastard. He was angry at himself for losing his grip on the emotions he had fought so hard to control, but at the same time, he was a little mystified that Sakura hadn’t stopped him, had almost welcomed him.

Sakura got to her feet, wincing a little as she finally released the stretch she had been holding for so long. That leg was definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Fantastic.

“Um…Kakashi?” she said, feeling awkward and unsure in light of what had just happened. “I’m ready to spar now if you are.”

“Very well,” he said, swallowing hard and banishing the memory of her body beneath him, her lips so close to his that he could almost feel their silky texture against his mask. “Let’s begin.”

They squared off, two sets of feet digging into the sand as they settled into fighting stances. For a breathless moment the two figures were silent, muscles taut and ready as the water and grass rippled peacefully around them.

Sakura charged first in a blur of red, her arm draw back to deliver a powerful punch but Kakashi sidestepped with equal speed, delivering a kick to her back that sent her stumbling forward in the sand. She was quick to recover, springing away from Kakashi’s follow up attack towards the water’s edge, toes digging into the wet sand as she watched her sensei’s movements carefully.

He was in front of her, his covered face blank and unreadable, and then suddenly, he was behind her, moving so fast she had hardly registered the blur of motion, but her reflexes were still sharp enough to avoid his attack by launching herself straight into the arch, body twisting in a graceful backflip that carried her right over Kakashi’s head. She landed facing him in a crouch, bare feet resting on the water’s surface. He was already coming at her with a kick aimed for her head but she was able to jerk to the side, his limb whizzing so close to her that the fabric of his pants grazed her ear.

Before he could pull back, she grabbed his leg with both hands, and swung him around and away from her. He slid backwards, a spray of water droplets shooting out from his sandaled feet as he faced her once again.

Their eyes locked and a smile formed on her lips. She was having fun, the most fun she had had in some time. She loved hanging out with the girls at the club, but the thrill of the fight was what she lived for as a kunoichi. Her blood was pumping now, rushing in her ears and she felt alive, more alive than she had in weeks, months even.

They both rushed forward, meeting in a clash of punches and blocks, some so powerful that small gusts of wind radiated outwards from the shock of the impact. They moved lightening quick, dancing over the surface of the lake, the ripples showing the path of where they had been when the eye could not follow fast enough.

They seemed evenly matched, a fact that Sakura found surprising. She had been prepared to have her ass handed to her after not training for so long.

They threw simultaneous punches, both of which were caught in the opposite palm of their opponent. They stood in a deadlock and Sakura smiled.

“What’s the matter sensei? Am I really an equal match for you or are you just going easy on me?”

“I would never do you such a disservice, Sakura,” he chuckled, hand tightening around the fist that it held.

Suddenly, he let go of the chakra concentration on his feet, dropping him beneath the water’s surface and pulled Sakura in after him. Sakura squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly immersed in frigid water, water seeping into her lungs. He still held tight to her hand but she drew her knees to her chest and kicked with all the force to could muster in the water’s increased viscosity. She felt her feet connect and his grip on her release and she immediately swam for the surface, coughing and sputtering as she sucked in much needed oxygen.

She hastily climbed out of the water, the chakra on her feet and hands making it look like she was climbing out of a hole onto something solid. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area for any trace of Kakashi but she couldn’t feel his presence anywhere. He had to be below her in the water somewhere. She would just have to flush him out.

She drew a substantial amount of chakra into her hand and slammed her fist into the water’s surface, releasing the energy in one explosive burst. The effect was like a meteor hitting the lake as water splashed out nearly thirty feet into the air and a gargantuan ripple bordering on a wave radiated outwards, splashing over the sand and into the grass.

She had expected to find Kakashi hiding beneath the water’s surface but there was nothing there, just water and rocks and some very surprised fish. She sprang away to avoid being swallowed up by the water that was closing in overhead since she had punched nearly to the lake’s bottom. She came to rest on the turbulent surface, every muscle taut as she remained alert and waited for him. All around her water rained down in droplets and mist, obscuring her vision and making it impossible to hear anything else but water hitting water.

Suddenly, strong arms encircled her from behind, pinning her arms at her sides and a husky and familiar voice whispered in her ear, cutting through the sound of the rain.

“I’ve got you Sakura-chan.”

The sound sent chills along her spine, chills that were far more pleasurable than they should have been. Goosebumps appeared on her skin that had nothing to do with the cold water as she tensed in his arms.

In all honesty, Kakashi had been fighting her full strength, but he was refraining from using more than taijutsu considering all of his lightning element jutsu could do some serious damage to both of them in this watery environment. He was impressed to see that she still maintained all of her speed and reflexes, but he noticed that her punches didn’t hit quite as hard as they used to. He imagined his own attacks lacked their usual bite as well considering he too hadn’t been able to train much while in Fuzen Machi, but he expected his stamina was still greater than hers.

Her impressive display of power had been quite a sight, but had not served her purpose. He had been too far towards the edge of the lake to feel the full impact of her attack, though the shock wave had nearly washed him ashore. Under the cover of the mist he had snuck up on her and now she was trapped in his arms, making him the clear victor of the first round. Although he should break away and regroup for the next match, he didn’t particularly want to let her go, not when she felt so good against him.

“Kakashi,” she murmured in the silence now that the rain had stopped falling and only a heavy mist hung in the air.

“Hmm?”

“You forgot to look underneath the underneath.”

An audible pop sounded as her solid form disappeared, his arms now grasping not a soft feminine body, but a log.

The sneaky little vixen had tricked him and he cursed himself for not seeing through it. If she kept that up, he’d have to unleash the Sharingan and then she’d really be in trouble.

He scanned his surroundings, an easier task now that the mist was clearing, but there were few places to hide unless she had taken refuge in the tall grass. The only other possibility was that she was…

He glanced down into the water just in time to see her rocketing towards the surface, arm outstretched and fist ready to deliver a crushing blow. He jumped out of the way a fraction of a second before she broke through the surface, fist slicing the air where he had just been standing. In fact, if he hadn’t moved, she would have caught him right between the legs.

He had just avoided a crippling blow to the nuts.

He knew Sakura was apt to have a few tricks up her sleeve but that was just playing dirty. He may not want to produce little Kakashis in the future, but he still wanted all his parts in working order.

Even though her blow hadn’t connected, she still had little choice but to follow through with it and that left her open for a critical moment. Kakashi took advantage of the fact and jumped up to deliver a powerful kick to her ribs which sent her flying backwards. She managed to summon the chakra to her back and rear that kept her from sinking into the water, skittering instead over the surface, but the impact had knocked the wind out of her and she wheezed for a moment as she tried to suck air back into her lungs.

“That was a dirty trick Sakura,” he said, walking towards her purposefully. “I thought you were better than that.”

“It’s not my fault men have a natural weak point,” she panted, picking herself up off the ground. “You always told me to exploit an enemy’s weakness.”

Well, that may have been true, but it was also an unspoken rule, at least among men, that you simply did not attack an opponent there, ever.

Sakura knew she couldn’t waste time trying to recover and pulled herself together. Kakashi looked upset, not the blood-boiling, if-looks-could-kill-you’d-be-toast type angry that she had seen him exhibit before, but he was certainly not happy.

She remained utterly motionless as he stopped only a few feet away from her, looking outwardly placid but she knew better than to try and guess what he was really thinking.

He was still a little miffed about her less than fair fighting style but he let it slide. A dishonorable enemy might have done the same thing and he should be prepared for anything. He looked her over carefully, his body poised to react if she should strike. Her long braids slowly dripped water, now soaked through and a slightly darker shade of pink. Water droplets glistened on her skin, sliding down her legs enticingly. He let his eyes sweep over her hips and stomach and…oh my. Apparently that water was colder than he had thought, for he had never seen nipples so hard and distended and utterly mouthwatering.

Two hard points strained against the fabric of her swimsuit, reacting so acutely to the cold that he wondered if she could cut glass with them. Instantly, his mind was already in the process of imagining those wonderful little peaks freed from their confines and all the ways he could warm her up.

Sakura followed his gaze and found where it rested. He seemed almost entranced, captivated in a way that was very un-Kakashi like, and her own face immediately turned a similar color to her swimwear.

“Are…are you staring at my chest?!”

Her screech brought him crashing back to reality and he instantly realized his mistake. It was too late however to avoid the chakra enhanced fist that was hurtling towards his face.

Kakashi learned very quickly that anger apparently made her stronger.

He skipped over the water’s surface like a stone, pain flaring in his cheek from a probable fracture. He managed to right himself in mid air and skidded to a halt, barely prepared to meet Sakura as she barreled after him, blocking her fist with his forearm and feeling new pain reverberate along abused muscle and bone.

Sakura was more embarrassed than mad about him staring at her. After all, she did like the fact that she could attract his attention and that he found her desirable. She just hadn’t been prepared for it in the middle of a match and she lashed out in anger to try and cover up her mortification. Regardless of the cause, she had momentarily forced her sensei on the defensive.

She followed up with a series of kicks and punches so quick that Kakashi was barely able to follow them. The fact that there was chakra behind her attacks made them even harder to block, but he managed to fend them off until he was finally able to wrap a hand around her wrist and still her momentarily, now trapped in a battle of strength to see who could force the other one down.

“You’re a bastard,” she growled through gritted teeth, the memory of his eyes glued to her breasts still vivid in her mind.

“And you should learn how to make use of possible distractions,” he chuckled back, his mouth once again speaking without permission, saying things that would only worsen the situation.

“You are such a pervert!” she cried angrily, throwing all of her bodyweight against him, trying to force him backwards. Kakashi was braced for the attack and slid only a few inches back but didn’t lose his footing.

Sakura’s muscles were straining with the effort. She was braced in a stable lunge but she could feel her back calf begin to tremble with the exertion. She hadn’t been this active for quite some time and her body was making that quite apparent. She shoved forward in a last ditch effort to throw him off her but he didn’t budge. The movement proved to be more than her body could take for her calf started to go into painful spasms, rendering her entire back leg immobile and drawing an anguished gasp from her lips.

The second she let up, Kakashi pushed her forward and she crumpled under the assault. Not wanting to take another hit, she dispelled the chakra from her feet and instantly slipped beneath the water’s surface, leaving Kakashi to stumble forward. As quick as she could, she made the hand signs under water for a teleportation jutsu and was instantly on the surface again, lying on her side in shallow water, sputtering and coughing and grasping her calf, willing the muscles to relax.

Kakashi zeroed in on her location the second she reappeared and could tell immediately something was wrong. She had pushed herself enough into a sitting position that her hear was out of the water but she wasn’t standing up and she looked like she was in pain.

“Sakura!” he called, running to her quickly, feet barely touching the lake’s surface as his heart raced for reasons other than their mutual workout. He was at her side in seconds, kneeling down next to her with genuine concern.

“I’m ok,” she said through gritted teeth, her calf still spasming painfully. “I just overworked a muscle. Give me a minute and I’ll be fine.”

Kakashi let out a soft sigh of relief, glad that it was nothing serious.

“Alright. Let’s take a break. You were fighting pretty hard for someone who hasn’t done this in a while. Easing back into things isn’t your style is it?”

“Well I can hardly afford to take it easy when fighting someone like you, can I?” she said, putting on a brave face and attempting a smile that came out more like a grimace.

That was probably true. If she hadn’t constantly been on her toes, he would have defeated her easily. He should have taken things a little slower to spare her possible injuries and felt a pang of guilt for letting this happen to her.

“Come on, let’s get you out of the water.”

He slipped one arm under her shoulders and another beneath her knees and lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all. Indeed, he had carried men almost three times her size in the past.

“Wait, Kakashi, you don’t need to—”

“Shush. Don’t argue with your sensei,” he admonished as he carried her the short way to the narrow strip of beach. He looked down to find her staring up at him with equal concern.

“Kakashi, is your cheek swollen?”

It was probable, considering just talking sent electric fragments of pain through most of his face, but he was never one to complain.

“It’s nothing,” he said, dropping to his knees and laying her down gently in the sand. “Just worry about you.”

“It’s from when I hit you, isn’t it?” she persisted, pushing herself up on her hands and trying to get a better look at him.

“Take care of yourself first, then you can take a look,” he said sternly, leaning back just enough to be out of her reach.

The kunoichi gave an exasperated sigh and began to tend to her leg. The muscle had stopped twitching but it was still incredibly tight and some of the muscle fibers had torn under the stress. She closed her eyes and channeled healing chakra to her hands until they glowed a faint green and placed them both over the injured area, instantly dispelling the pain and mending the torn tissue. She then massaged it gently in upward strokes, working out the tightness until all traces of injury were gone.

“There, all fixed,” she said hastily, more concerned with his wellbeing than her own. “Lay back and let me have a look.”

He allowed her to push him back into the sand and didn’t have time to protest the fact that she was already straddling his hips as she leaned in close to his face. However, when her fingers slipped under the material of his mask, his hand shot out to wrap around her wrist, halting her actions.

“Sakura,” he said, his low voice holding a warning.

“I can’t heal you with the mask on. I need to examine you.”

“Then let it be. I’ll be fine.”

“Kakashi, I can see that it’s already swollen. It needs medical attention and even if you wait until we get back to Fuzen, there’s not a doctor in that city as good as I am.”

The man beneath her still seemed reluctant to let go of her wrist.

“Kakashi, please.”

Kakashi met her emerald gaze with his uncovered eye, his damp hitai-ate still covering his Sharingan. A lot more was at stake here than just his health. Letting her see his face would mean showing her something few had ever seen. He was quite aware that his younger students had spent a great deal of time and energy trying to see beneath his mask and he had made it something of a game to tease them.

But now it seemed the time had come to reveal what he always kept covered. As much as he hated to admit it, Sakura was right. There wouldn’t be a doctor as skilled as her for miles and perhaps, the only medic better than his pink haired partner was back in Konoha, sitting behind a large wooden desk and sipping sake when she should be signing papers.

At last, he hesitantly loosened his grip on her wrist and let his hand fall away, a silent signal that he would permit her to continue, that he trusted her enough to reveal his true self to him.

Sakura gave a slight nod, understanding the importance of what was about to transpire. Even though she had seen it before, her heart was beating wildly within her chest as her fingers eased the dark material over his nose to let it pool around his neck. She was now staring into his beautiful face once more, a perfect blend of aristocratic and masculine features. But now his right cheek was marred with what was quickly becoming an angry looking bruise in various shades of purple and blue, his face slightly distorted by swelling. However, even with his injury, he was undeniably handsome.

Not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable, she forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand, slipping into medic mode as she brushed fingertips lightly over the skin, causing him to hiss softly in pain. There was no laceration, but the swelling was too much for a simple bruise. Summoning chakra to her fingers, she let the energy seep under his skin to assess the damage.

Sure enough, she detected a hairline fracture in the lower portion of the bone making up his eye socket. She was lucky she hadn’t hit him harder and splintered the bone which would have almost undoubtedly robbed him of vision in his remaining normal eye.

“You have a fracture,” she announced softly as she sent a pulse of chakra into the tissue to numb the pain and begin the healing process.

Kakashi was immediately aware of the cool, soothing tingle in his face that washed away the pain as well as the odd itching sensation of his body regenerating as bone knit back together. He watched Sakura as she worked, noting her brow creased in concentration, eyes focused on his cheekbone while she acted every bit the professional she was.

The damage was not serious and didn’t take long to mend and before long the green light of her chakra faded away, leaving not so much as a hint of discoloration in its wake. She allowed herself to drag a thumb over the healed area briefly, enjoying the warm feeling of his skin.

“I’m sorry I hit you so hard,” she said softly, allowing her eyes at last to drink in his entire face.

Kakashi’s lips quirked upward into a slight smirk, a smirk that only made him more devastatingly handsome, and Sakura suddenly felt as if someone had released several restless butterflies inside her stomach.

“I’m sorry I’m such a lecherous old man,” he replied, his eye creasing slightly but not looking at all out of place on his face.

“You’re not old,” she said, smiling in return. “In fact, you’re very…handsome.”

Even as she said the words she wondered if it was wrong to do so. It was unwise to encourage bad behavior, especially if she didn’t want him knowing she was possibly forming a little crush on her teacher…or maybe she did want him to know.

Kakashi didn’t seem put off by her compliment. In fact, his expression showed traces of amusement.

“Just make sure that it’s a secret you’ll take to your grave,” he said, his voice to warm and light to sound threatening.

“It’s a pity you keep your face covered all the time,” she said, her fingers itching to brush away a piece of silver hair that had fallen across his forehead, but she managed to refrain, feeling like she had already overstepped her boundaries by complimenting him.

“Perhaps,” Kakashi said, his expression serious, but a telltale light shone in his eyes. “But it allows me to get through the day without having to fend off swarms of lovestruck women,”

“That’s not why you really wear the mask, is it?” Sakura asked, fairly convinced he was lying again but not entirely sure.

“I guess you’ll never know, will you Sakura-chan?”

He offered her a smile, a true and genuine smile and Sakura found herself wondering if she had ever seen anything so wonderful. His teeth were white and even, quite the contradiction to Naruto’s exaggerated fantasies involving oversized teeth and undersized lips. Maybe he was serious about hiding his face from women. She was fairly certain every woman in Konoha would be falling all over themselves around him if they knew what was beneath the mask.

She said nothing, but watched on in dismay as he tugged his mask up over his face. She wondered if she should tell him that this wasn’t the first time she had seen him maskless, that she had been sneaky and conniving while he was asleep, stealing not only a look at his face, but a kiss from his lips as well. She was afraid he would be angry at her and didn’t want to spoil what was turning out to be a terrific day, despite the injuries they had received. She might tell him someday, but not now.

“Well, ready for another round?” Kakashi asked, pushing to his feet. “We have time for one more match before we have to head back.”

“Of course, but only if you promise not to go easy on me because of my leg.”

He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

“Do you think you can keep up?”

Sakura grinned.

“Just try and take me down.”

XXXXX

By the time they had beat each other into the ground, reaching a stalemate since neither could overpower the other, at least without the use of the Sharingan and elaborate jutsu, the sun had started to set. The sky was ablaze with fiery colors that reflected off the water, making it look like a pool of amber and crimson.

“It’s beautiful,” Sakura breathed for the second time that day, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear that had worked its way out of her braid.

A light breeze had picked up, still carrying with it the warmth of the day and ruffled her bangs against her forehead.

Kakashi stole a glance at her as he hitched his pack onto his shoulder, silently thinking that the woman was far more beautiful than the landscape.

Their journey back was pleasant, though both were tired and could already feel soreness creeping into their muscles. Sakura figured she would have just enough time to shower and get ready for the show once she returned, although she would have preferred to spend more time alone with Kakashi.

Today had allowed them to speak in a way they hadn’t really been able to do since they journey to Fuzen Machi. They didn’t have to talk explicitly about the mission or solve impossible problems. They could just be together and enjoy each other’s company and it was a sensation she hadn’t realized she had missed so much until now. Going back to catching rare glimpses of him exchanging information remotely would be depressing indeed.

Something big had happened today, they both could feel it and it had everything to do with him willingly showing her his face, even though circumstances were most certainly in her favor. It wasn’t so much the fact she had seen him, but the trust that came along with it, the faith that she would keep his secret to herself. That wouldn’t be a problem now, because Sakura wasn’t sure she wanted to share him with anyone else, not even Naruto or Sasuke and certainly none of the other women in the village. The fact that she was one of the few privy to his dashing good looks made her giddy, even more so now that Kakashi had actually allowed it.

It had been dark for some time by the time they reached the club. The second they neared the town, the stars overhead had been obscured by heavy clouds, the warm winds cooling with every step they took towards the sinful city.

There hadn’t been so much as a goodbye upon their parting and she supposed it wasn’t necessary considering he would be watching her soon, but she had kind of hoped for one anyway. He had melted into the shadows and kept his distance, making sure the two of them weren’t seen together near the club, but making sure she made it inside safely.

As soon as the heavy doors shut behind her, Kakashi exhaled heavily. Today had been quite a day and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Unexpected things had happened, things that might not necessarily be good, but if they were bad, why was he feeling better than he had in weeks? The way her face had lit up when he told her he had stolen her away to spar was a memory he would relive over and over when he was alone, remembering how the sunlight had glinted off her hair, a feminine slash of pink against a blue and green backdrop.

She had seen his face and there was no taking it back, but he could not bring himself to feel any regret over the situation. She had not fallen for him instantly, fawning all over him like women had in the past. She was too good for that, even if she was still hung up over Sasuke. Perhaps it was good she had seen his face. He could tell she liked what she saw. It would keep her from thinking about her dark haired teammate back home and that was certainly better than—

Kakashi cut off that train of thought viciously. He may be older and wiser than the last Uchiha, but he was not convoluted enough to think he was better for Sakura in any way. He was just as messed up as Sasuke. Just as twisted and broken, just as unsuitable for her. The fact that he was contemplating being suitable for anyone was a strange thing in itself and Kakashi was realizing that the events that took place that day were indeed not entirely good if he was thinking this way.

Yes, today had indeed been a curious day.

XXXXX

Sakura felt suffocated the minute she stepped into the club, the stale air that carried the stench of cigarettes made her long for the purer air she had breathed that day.

Juu was arranging tables and a barmaid (not the one Kakashi had been flirting with) was wiping down the bar. The light seeped under the door of Dajaku’s office and she figured it would be a good idea to at least check in with him before she went upstairs to shower.

She made her way across the floor, seeing the door was ajar and was just about to push it open when she heard an angry female voice, Tsurenai’s voice.

“So what are you saying? You’re going to replace me with that little bitch? She hasn’t even been here this long. She doesn’t have what it takes to bring in the customers.”

“You know the club has been packed lately,” Dajaku answered, his voice sounding tired but stern. “And most of the new blood is after either you or her. You spend more time in the private rooms then on stage so it would be beneficial to keep the crowds occupied while you offer your private services.”

“I thought that’s what all the other dancers were for. Why does she need to be glorified?”

Her voice held so much malice and venom that Sakura could almost taste its bitterness in the air. She imagined that if she could see her, her turquoise eyes would be blazing with anger.

“It would only be one or two nights a week,” Dajaku assured. “Don’t you want a break now and then?”

“What I want is for you to get it through your thick skull that the men here come for me. I helped you build this club, finding girls for you with the condition that I would be the star. You think I’m going to sit back and let some inexperienced little slut take my place?”

“Tsunenai, it’s not like that. This is only temporary so that—hey, where are you going?”

The office door slammed open so suddenly that Sakura almost had her face flattened by it. An infuriated Tsurenai appeared, heeled boots clicking as she moved. As soon as she saw Sakura she glared hatefully, not even trying to hide her contempt.

“So, did you get the little shit aborted?” she snapped, pointing a manicured finger at her stomach.

“W-what?!” Sakura stammered, absolutely clueless as to what Tsurenai was talking about.

“Sure, keep up the angelic act, baby face,” she sneered before turning and stalking away, leaving the kunoichi completely dumbfounded.

“Hana, is that you?” Dajaku called from inside the office, forcing Sakura to suspend questioning the purple haired woman for the moment.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said, entering the office and closing the door.

“Good god,” he said, taking in her appearance. “You look like hell.” She had changed back into her raggedy clothes that were now sweaty and dirty from her travels. She had some minor scrapes and bruises and her hair had fuzzed enough to make one neat braids messy and tangled. “What the hell happened?”

Sakura opened her mouth to explain but he waved a dismissive hand, apparently deciding he didn’t want to hear it.

“I’ll cut the bullshit since you obviously have a lot of work to do before the show tonight,”

Sakura was irritated that he found her less than perfect state to be so offensive, but didn’t argue.

She waited patiently for Dajaku to draw a deep breath, wondering what idiocracy he was going to spring on her this time, but nothing could have prepared her for his next words.

“Hana,” he said seriously, folding his hands on his desk carefully so as not to wrinkle his silk shirt. “I want you to become this club’s new main attraction.”

XXXXX

And there you have it. Comments are always appreciated and make me feel like all this effort is worth it if someone is actually reading it. Part 13 will be out…who knows when.