Stripped Bare

I finished this chapter sooner than expected, which is always a pleasant surprise. I’ll probably get out one more chapter after this before school starts in September so enjoy them while you can!

XXXXX

Sakura stared hard at the man seated behind the expensive wooden desk, wondering if during her sparring match with Kakashi she had taken a blow to the head that had affected her hearing.

“You want me to do what?” she asked flatly.

“Oh don’t be nervous, you’ll be a sensation,” Dajaku assured, not bothering to repeat himself or wait for her to agree to his plans. “We’ll start you at a couple nights a week and see how successful you are. If all goes well, you could be the face on my new promotional posters.”

His silver eyes were glinting like the coins he craved and Sakura had finally wrapped her head around what he wanted her to do.

“No,” she said shortly, wiping the smile off his face. “It’s out of the question. You’re not going to parade me around up there just so you can make more money.”

“But Hana,” Dajaku persuaded, turning on his charm on full blast and offering her a disarming smile. “This isn’t about the money. It’s about your mission.”

“Oh really?” Sakura scoffed, having a hard time believing that Dajaku thought about anything but money and how to make more of it.

“Yes. You have been here how long? Over two months?”

Sakura nodded.

“And have you made any progress in finding where my girls are?”

Sakura stiffened slightly.

“We have a suspect,” she ground out, annoyed that he was bringing her failure out into the open to use it against her.

“Yes, but you’ve had this suspect for weeks and still haven’t managed to bring him to justice. Don’t look so surprised, Hana. I inquired about the mission when your partner was here yesterday.”

She hadn’t expected Dajaku to know the details of their mission status. The fact that they were having trouble solving the mystery put her in a compromised position and that wasn’t a position she was fond of.

“So I was wondering if maybe it would attract the perpetrator to put you on a pedestal, to make you so appealing that he couldn’t resist.”

Sakura eyed him skeptically. She had no doubt that his ulterior motive for this was to make more cash by exploiting her, but she had to tread carefully. She didn’t want to get weaseled into his scheme or piss him off enough so he would fire both her and Kakashi.

“But he’s never targeted a star before. Tsurenai is still here after all.”

“But he did go after Aiya. She was on her way to becoming big, a real sensation. She had a huge fan base and on some nights, made as much as Tsurenai, maybe more.”

“So, wouldn’t you think it would be better if I stayed how I am now? Promoting me like that would be too high profile. It would be riskier for the kidnapper to target me,” Sakura countered.

“Or maybe it would get his attention and draw him to you,” Dajaku smirked.

“Do you really want to make that gamble?”

“I can’t see the results being worse than what they are now.”

Damn it! The man had a point and he knew it. He was sitting there looking so smug that she itched to smack him upside the head. He had backed her into a corner somehow and she didn’t see much of a way out of it. She supposed it wasn’t that bad. All this would mean is that she would dance solo for a few songs and possibly have her pick of the men, which would be a good thing. She just didn’t like the idea that Dajaku would be plumping up his wallet because of it.

“When would you want me to start?” she asked cautiously, crossing her arms over her chest in a self conscious gesture meant to distance herself from him. He was getting his way and she didn’t like it.

“Tomorrow of course,” he said smoothly, as if it were the obvious answer. “Make sure you watch Tsurenai tonight to see how she does things. You’ll have to strip completely if you’re going to take her place so take notes.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. Strip completely? As in…naked? In front of all those men? Oh, hell no.

“Now wait just a minute!” she exclaimed, taking a step towards the manipulative man. “There is no way in hell I’m going to—”

A knock at his door silenced her mid rant and a moment later, Misaki’s curly blond head peeped in the doorway.

“Hi,” she said brightly. “I hope I’m not interrupting but…”

Her blue eyes focused on Sakura and her current dirty, bedraggled state and she gasped.

“Hana! What happened at the clinic? You look…tired. Is everything all right?”

Clinic? What the hell was she talking about? It was like when Tsurenai mentioned her having an…abortion?

“What—” Sakura began, but Dajaku cut her off.

“It was just a scare. She wasn’t really pregnant it seems so she didn’t have to have an abortion after all,” he cut in smoothly. “So she’ll be able to work tonight. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Sakura’s head whipped around so quickly to look at him that she was mildly surprised she didn’t break her own neck. That was his excuse for her being gone all day? An abortion? Of all the slimy, low life little—

“That is great news!” Misaki said with a smile. “I’m so glad Hana. We were all so worried.”

Sakura was too angry to form a coherent sentence. She just glowered at Dajaku, wondering just how low he was capable of going.

Misaki glanced at Dajaku’s expensive gold watch and gasped at the time.

“Wow, I have to go get ready. You should too, Hana. Come on, let’s go.”

Sakura numbly let herself be pulled out of the office, feeling so angry that she didn’t have the capacity to process it all.

“Oh yeah,” Misaki called over her shoulder to Dajaku. “There’s someone outside who wants to see you.”

Misaki hurried them across the club’s recently swept floor. Sakura could see that the front doors were open a crack and that there was someone outside but she couldn’t see who. However, she detected a faint trace of chakra and guessed that the person was a shinobi of some sort. She wondered why Dajaku would meet with someone like that.

“You’re very lucky, Hana,” Misaki said softly as the entered the dressing room and began to climb the stairs. “You didn’t have to lose a baby today.”

Her normally cheerful voice sounded so sad that Sakura couldn’t help look over at her. There was grief etched into her face, grief that didn’t belong there.

“Have you?” she asked softly.

“Yes. Jitsu, too. It happens sometimes in places like this. Jitsu was so upset by it that she won’t even give lapdances anymore, let alone do more than that. I hear she wanted to keep the baby but Dajaku said he’d throw her out of the club if she did. I think we’ve all been to the clinic at least once at some point. Sometimes it turns out to be nothing, like you today. But sometimes…”

Misaki drifted off and Sakura saw so much sadness there in the normally vibrant girl that she thought she would hear her heart break at any moment. No wonder Jitsu refused to dance for men. These women were forced to kill lives growing inside them. They didn’t even have a choice. Sakura didn’t know what was worse, that or the fact that the act of creating children was cheapened for them, was a job, nothing more.

Without thinking, she embraced Misaki in a fierce hug and she hugged back, practically clinging to her. Once again she was gripped with fiery determination to save these girls from both the kidnapper, and the rest of the daily horrors they faced. She didn’t know how, but she would. She would carry them all to Konoha on her back if she had to, but something had to change for these girls because there was no way she would continue letting them live a life so bleak.

Eventually, Misaki pulled away and took a deep breath before letting her customary smile light up her face again.

“Come on, we won’t be ready for the show if we don’t hurry.”

She looked over Sakura’s muddy clothes and frizzy hair with curiosity.

“How did you get so dirty anyway?”

“Um…I fell,” Sakura said with a nervous laugh, trying to play it off.

“Really? I never thought you were the clumsy type,” Misaki mused as the entered the second floor and headed for the showers.

“Yeah,” Sakura said. “Everyone has their moments I guess.”

XXXXX

It was funny how showing her tits to a room full of strangers had become routine, normal. Funny, but somehow she wasn’t laughing. Now, with Dajaku’s new scheme of making her a headliner, would stripping naked and showing these men everything feel just as normal as well?

While she was dancing, she scanned the crowd for the mysterious yellow eyed man and knew Kakashi was doing the same from the back of the room. It looked like once again they’d have little luck finding their target.

Since she was one of three girls dancing on the large platform by the dressing rooms anyway, when it was Tsurenai’s moment to shine, she slipped back into the wings to watch her performance. She was usually giving lap dances at this point or at least searching for a possible suspect so she never really bothered to watch, but she needed to now if it was going to be her on that stage tomorrow.

She took the stage like a purple haired goddess, the long strands worn loose, clothed today in a white bikini top that was sheer and gauzy with a skimpy bikini cut bottom that tied on the side to match. If the lighting wasn’t so bad, Sakura guessed the outfit would have been see-through, not that it mattered.

She walked gracefully, proudly, on silver stilettos, as if she were the only woman meant for that stage, like she owned it. The way she looked at the men before her was that of a queen surveying her subjects and that they should be honored to see her in such a way. Sakura wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover Tsurenai was actually thinking exactly that as she moved considering her superiority complex.

She swayed her hips as she walked, every step oozing sex, weaving between the poles, hands smoothing down her sides until she reached out to grasp the nearest pole and effortless pull herself up, splitting her legs so everyone got a good view of what was barely covered before spiraling back down.

She had hardly begun and already the men were hollering at her, shoving money at her.

She smiled slyly, knowing full well that every man in the audience wanted her.

She sunk to the ground and crawled on her hands and knees, ass waving provocatively as she made her way to the edge of the stage so men could slip money under her lacy white garter.

Once she had made her way around the perimeter, she crawled to the center, just out of reach of the front row and began to grind against the floor, hands cupping her own breasts and lips parting as if in supreme pleasure. Her acting was damn good because even if Sakura had never had sex herself, she was pretty sure, women were supposed to make faces like that, eyes closed, head tipped back, back arched, face slightly contorted in something akin to pain, but different somehow. Sexier, much sexier.

The crowd went wild and she smirked, rolling onto her back and sliding a hand between her legs. She proceeded to writhe and arch her back as if she were touching herself right on stage. It was all an act of course, but Sakura’s stomach clenched at the thought of taking her place tomorrow. If Dajaku honestly expected her to do this then he needed a serious reality check. There was no way she was going to masturbate on stage. Hell, she hardly did it when she was alone, unless she was alone with Kitsune’s books…or had Kakashi on the brain, not that she had really gotten anywhere. Every time she felt she might reach the edge, she was interrupted by one of her many housemates.

Kakashi was not a thought she was in the mood to entertain, so she pushed it away and refocused on watching the dancer, who was now standing up and making her way back to the pole.

The beat had changed and the lights trained on her shifted to red. She pulled at the strings of her top as she walked and when she turned around, she let it fall away, shamelessly revealing full breasts painted bright pink by the lights.

The crowd roared and Tsurenai merely smiled, letting her hands come up to fondle her own body again and arching into it as if the feeling were exquisite. Sakura was beginning to think that maybe she really did get off on performing, an exhibitionist in every sense of the word.

Tsurenai climbed the nearest pole and wrapped her body around it in all sorts of provocative positions, making sure to put her boobs, ass and crotch on display. Sakura had forgotten how shameless she was when dancing. It didn’t look artistic like when Miyabi did it, or mysterious and sensual like when Tora danced. It was pure sex, raunchy and raw, and Sakura was sure she couldn’t and wouldn’t put on a display like this tomorrow and if that weasel of a club owner didn’t like it, then tough.

While on the pole, she tugged at the tie on her bikini briefs and then swung her body around until her legs were spread wide in the splits, one hand reaching behind her to grasp the pole and the other holding on right beneath her rear. The material of her bottoms fell away to reveal her in all her glory, feminine folds spread wide making her as exposed as she could possibly be, and Tsurenai seemed to love every minute of it.

Men practically howled, cheering and shouting obscenities concerning just what they’d like to do to her. She loosened her grip and slid down the pole, still in the spread position until she moved to land on her feet at the last minute. She walked the stage again, and had so much money thrust at her that it barely fit in her leg garter and the similar one on her arm. She smiled at the crowd innocently as she crouched on silver heels before opening up her thighs again and leaning back against the pole, shamelessly showing off what she had and eliciting another chorus of cheers.

Sakura turned away and walked into the dressing room. She had seen enough. There was no way in hell she was going to do that tomorrow.

She made her way over to her dressing table and leaned on its scratched surface, looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and she had gone heavy on the eyeliner since she didn’t have a lot of time to apply anything else after healing all her scrapes and bruises in the shower.

She closed her eyes and groaned. Tomorrow she was going to strip naked and dance. Sure she would get a lot more attention but she didn’t think she really wanted it. And Kakashi, he’d be seeing her, all of her. What would he think?

She remembered the breathless moment earlier that afternoon when she thought he was going to kiss her. What had happened between them? Was the chemistry she felt so strongly affecting him as well? Was he possibly feeling that mysterious pull? Perhaps he had been lying when he said his body had only reacted in that booth because she was pretty, female and mostly naked. Did that mean he was attracted to her the way she was attracted to him? The thought was tantalizing and at the same time, frightening, because if he was, he was going to see her tomorrow, and that could do two things; make him want her more, or disgust him and make him not want her at all. She knew he would understand it was all for the mission, but if even so, the thought of him dismissing whatever he might have felt for her after the whole world had seen the goods was upsetting.

Sakura shook her head to clear away the thoughts. Why did it matter? It’s not like she was going to act on what she was feeling. Being with Kakashi was wrong anyway. If she was going to explore sex, her former teacher was not the man to do it with…it was just too bad that it had already happened with him to some degree, and he had forced her to see her own sexuality in a way she never had before, and once again she found herself in an incredibly awkward position, a position she never should have been in, but mission orders had somehow dictated otherwise.

“Damn it,” she breathed, looking at herself in the mirror again and taking in her transformed image from Plain Jane to sex kitten, wondering which image Kakashi preferred. “What the hell do I do now?”

XXXXX

The moment she opened her eyes the next morning, she knew it was not going to be a good day. Her body was stiff and achy and it felt like someone had beat the hell out of her while she had slept on blissfully unaware. That’s what she got for going so long without regular training and then jumping back in full throttle. Her body was merely telling her how much it hated her right now, and she got the message loud and clear.

She dragged herself to the bathroom, practically crawling in her pain, and took a hot shower while she channeled the chakra within her body to sore muscles, draining away stagnant lactic acid and letting the water beat some life into her tired body.

She wasn’t ready to get out of the safe haven of the bathroom and start her day, but she couldn’t stay in there forever. Tonight she would strip as a soloist, a headliner, and be the main attraction, although she felt more like she was going to be the main course, served to a ravenous pack of wolves for the sake of Dajaku making a little extra cash.

She staggered out to the common room, still not feeling a hundred percent, and flopped onto the couch where Tora was engrossed in a book and Jitsu was painting her toenails a sultry shade of red.

“Morning,” Sakura mumbled, contemplating whether she should curl up and fall back asleep right here.

“Hey there,” Tora said gently with a smile as she put down her book. “How are you, honey?”

“I’ve been better,” she admitted. After all, it wasn’t every day when it felt like you were hit by a train.

A warm hand closed around hers and she looked down to find Jitsu at her side, looking up at her with impossibly green eyes, eyes that held so much sympathy and pain that Sakura’s breath caught. She had seen that pained look before in the eyes of her childhood crush. Sasuke had harbored so much hurt and resentment and yet he had refused to let her in to share the burden. Perhaps he hadn’t trusted her, or perhaps it was just his way to refuse to let anyone shoulder his troubles but himself. But the eyes of the girl before her were honest, open. She had only known her a short time but Jitsu would keep nothing from her.

“I’m glad it was only a scare,” she breathed softly, giving her hand a squeeze. “It would be terrible to have to lose another one for the sake of this place.”

A contemptuous tone found its way into her voice as she said the last word and Sakura was beginning to understand more and more that while this building was a haven, it was also a prison. They had no freedom here. Sure they could go outside, but in reality, they were still tethered to a life of selling themselves, exploiting their bodies for a dirty man’s profit. They didn’t even have the right to choose who fathered their child, or whether or not they could keep the baby.

A girl Jitsu’s age shouldn’t have to know what that was like, but she did, and the pain showed in the lucid green depths of her eyes.

Sakura squeezed her hand in return as her own heart constricted painfully in her chest.

“Yes, it would be,” she replied as Tora put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I was a couple months along when I found out, honey,” the dark haired woman said, sadness lacing her voice. “In another couple weeks I would have started to show, but of course Dajaku didn’t let it get to that point. When he found out, I was in the clinic the next day. I didn’t fight it though. I knew I didn’t have a choice so I let them take the baby.”

“Tora,” Sakura whispered sympathetically, not knowing what else to say to comfort her.


“I was well into my second trimester,” Jitsu spoke up, her gaze distant and unfocused as if she were envisioning it all over again. “I didn’t tell Dajaku and made everyone promise not to say a word about it. The man it happened with…he was my first. He came to the club often and would always ask for me specifically. I know it’s silly to say now, but I really felt something with him. Sometimes, when he’d pay for a lapdance, he wouldn’t make me dance. He would just talk with me and ask how I was, like he cared. He was kind and handsome and came to see me at least once a week for months.”

Sakura said nothing as she sat and listened to the tale, heart growing heavier for the girl with every passing moment.

“I finally got the nerve to ask him if he wanted all of me and he accepted. He was tender and passionate and all the things I never thought I would ever experience in a place like this. He didn’t know it was my first time until afterwards and when I told him, he smiled and thanked me for giving him such a precious gift.

“I thought that maybe he was falling in love with me, and that he would take me away from this place. I never knew what he did for a living but I didn’t care. I’d follow him anywhere.

“Weeks later when I told him about the baby, he panicked, asking if I was sure it was his, but I had never slept with anyone but him. He told me to get rid of it and those words broke my heart. I said I wanted to keep it, wanted to be with him and he laughed, called me naive and stupid. He said I was a whore and that’s all I’d ever be and couldn’t believe I’d even considered being his wife. I never saw him after that.”

Sakura squeezed her hand harder, but kept silent, even though she had all kinds of choice words for Jitsu’s lover.

“Even so, I wanted to keep the baby, but it’s hard to hide a body that is exposed all the time. When it was obvious my stomach was growing, Dajaku took me to the clinic, with me kicking and screaming the whole way. I put up such a fight that they had to knock me out. When I woke up, my stomach was flat again. My baby was gone.”

Both Sakura and Tora had remained silent during her story. Tora had heard it before, but Sakura was shocked into speechlessness. She was so appalled by the nameless man and what he had done that she couldn’t form a sentence. What words could she say to comfort her anyway? She had endured things Sakura would have never even imagined. Sure she had pined for someone, loved them so much it hurt to breathe, but nobody had ever intentionally toyed with her emotions or played her for a fool or told her to abort a baby she thought was created out of love. It was too much to ask anyone to undergo.

“Jitsu….gods, I’m so sorry,” Sakura murmured, knowing there wasn’t enough sincerity in the world to show how much she meant it.

The brown haired girl shook her head sadly, pin straight strands falling into her eyes.

“It’s over now. I have to move on,” she said, being brave in a way that Sakura had never been. “But ever since then I vowed never to sleep with anyone again for as long as I work here. I won’t even give lapdances. I can’t. I won’t.

“Aiya was at my side through the whole thing. She’s the best friend I’ve ever had and she always told me it would be ok as long as we had each other, but now I don’t even have her anymore and…and I…”

She trailed off and Tora gently pulled her up by the arm and pulled her towards her on the couch, cradling her head to her chest in a motherly gesture. Sakura supposed it was all Tora had, for she had lost her dream of being a mother.

“Who else?” Sakura breathed, wondering how many other women here had had to give up motherhood. “How many people does Dajaku have to torture?”

“Kitsune had one, but she didn’t really want the baby, so she’s alright with it. We suspect Tsurenai to have had two, but of course we’ll never know with her. It’s her own business, I suppose. All of us here have had multiple scares though. It’s just a part of life for us now.”

“It’s horrible,” Sakura whispered. “It shouldn’t be like this. It’s not fair.”

But even as she spoke the words, she knew all too well that life was seldom fair.

“We’ll make it through, honey,” Tora whispered, drawing Sakura in to her as well. “Somehow we’ll make it through.”

She began to absently run her fingers through her still damp strands, her long nails running lightly over her scalp and the sensation was soothing, but did little to lift the weight on her heart. She was a medic and as such, had delayed her feminine cycle indefinitely while she was on assignment here. Pregnancy was not a possibility, but even so, as a woman, she could understand the fear of finding oneself pregnant with a child whose father might be unknown

She snuggled close to Jistu against Tora’s ample chest, letting the human contact and warmth sooth her momentarily.

That was how Kitsune found them when she entered the room.

“So why wasn’t I invited to the slumber party?” she laughed, unaware of the sober conversation that had just occurred. “Come on you guys, Miyabi is almost done making breakfast and even Misaki is awake.”

It felt good to be all warm and snuggly on the couch, but Sakura’s stomach was threatening to rumble, so she hauled herself to her feet and stretched, trying to limber up body parts that were still slightly stiff and sore.

Sakura noted Kitsune looked particularly radiant for it being so early, skin and hair gleaming. She looked like a model even in ratty jeans and a shirt with so many holes in it that it wouldn’t be decent much longer

“We’re all going out to grocery shop later since the cupboard is pretty bare. Are you all coming along?” she asked.

Sounds of affirmation sounded from Tora and Jitsu, and it seemed the mood was already brighter now that the fiery redhead had made an appearance.

“I’m in,” Sakura said, realizing she hadn’t been on any outings with the girls lately thanks to mission related issues always coming up.

“Awesome,” Kitsune smiled. “Now, the last one to the kitchen does the dishes!”

She dashed off, laughing mischievously, leaving the other girls behind.

“She’s in a good mood today,” Jitsu mused.

“She should be. I heard her moaning like a maniac last night while she was servicing someone.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?” Sakura wondered aloud.

“Who knows with that girl,” Tora sighed. “She loves sex way too much, honey. She’s the only one that might actually enjoy what she does.”

“You’d think she would get along better with Tsurenai then,” Sakura stated.

Jitsu giggled softly. It was true the purple haired diva seemed to enjoy being fantasized about, especially if that made her a star.

“Come on,” Sakura said. “If the three of us take up dish duty, we should have it done in no time.”

The two of them agreed and they set off for breakfast together.

XXXXX

The streak of good weather they had been having seemed to be coming to a close. The temperature was dropping again and dark clouds were hanging in the sky once more, threatening to break open and drench the unlucky travelers below.

Six girls didn’t let the dreary day bother them. They were temporarily out of their cage known as Wet Dreams and were happy just to have each other and enough cash to pay for the food they were buying.

The dark mood of the conversation with Tora and Jitsu seemed to have lifted completely, for both were all smiles, especially when Misaki emerged from a cart selling fruit with two large cantaloupes raised to her chest.

“Do you like my melons?” she asked in an obvious parody of a sexy voice.

“Only if I can squeeze them,” Kitsune laughed.

Tora shook her head.

“Honey, those are way too big for you. You’d fall on your face if you had hooters that big.”

Sakura had to agree. If Misaki were that well endowed, she would be grossly disproportionate.

In the end they had passed up the melons, not having the budget for something that expensive and had settled on various green veggies, a few carrots and peppers, a large daikon radish, a few fruits including bananas at Kitsune’s request, some oatmeal, instant noodles, a whole lot of tofu since it was cheap, a package of chicken breast and as a treat, one box of a dozen pastries. Everyone would get two.

The excursion had taken them nearly two hours, considering the market consisted of several streets full of stalls, all with different wares and all open to haggling. They could have shopped at the large indoor market, but prices were set there and things would undoubtedly be more expensive. Besides, shopping like this was much more fun in Sakura’s opinion.

“All that shopping made me hungry,” Misaki announced, slinging a bag of groceries over her shoulder.

“Well, just don’t go eating all the food in one day,” Miyabi cautioned, sounding as sensible as always.

They began to walk back to the club, a motley crew of giggling women, all dressed like ragamuffins, but even so, half the men they passed looked over their shoulders for another glance.

They passed the street on which Kakashi’s motel was on, though it was a few blocks down, and Sakura was reminded once again of the nice gesture he had done for her yesterday, although the lingering soreness in her body had been a constant reminder all day. She had the list of last night’s men receiving services in her pocket since she had had the hindsight to pop into Dajaku’s office before they left and pick it up. Suddenly, she longed for his company and found herself wanting to see him, but she couldn’t wander off with the other girls around.

“Oh, shoot,” Sakura said suddenly, stopping in her tracks and pretending to feel around her pockets. “I think I left my wallet back with the pastry vendor.”

“Oh, we’ll go with you to get it then, honey,” Tora offered.

“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll just run real quick to get it. You guys wait here.”

“But we’re not supposed to go off alone. The kidnapper could still be around,” Misaki said and the other girls nodded in unison.

“Don’t worry. There are too many witnesses around for anything to happen,” Sakura replied. Indeed, it was a busy day in the marketplace and it seemed unlikely a criminal would risk an abduction with so many people out and about.

“Well, ok, but be careful,” Tora finally relented.

Sakura smiled reassuringly and darted off into the crowd. In actuality, she didn’t even have a wallet, but stuffed her money into her bra or the front pocket of her pants, but they didn’t need to know that. She weaved through the crowd until she found an alley with a large dumpster to hide behind. Perfect.

Once she was out of sight of anyone who might walk by, she made the hand signs for a clone and a replica of herself poofed into existence.

“Making a house call?” her clone smiled, already knowing her intentions.

“Just go be me for a few hours,” Sakura said, shooing her away.

The duplicate shrugged and took off, jogging back to the place where the girls were waiting for her.

The original Sakura let several minutes pass before she emerged from the ally and took an alternative route to Kakashi’s motel. She was about half a block away when the cell phone in her pocket vibrated silently.

Take list out with trash. I will be there in an hour.

Lately Sakura had taken to taping the list to the underside of the trash bag. Juu wasn’t exactly sharp-witted enough to notice and it saved Kakashi from spending time dumpster diving, although the mental image was rather amusing.

She typed back a new message, although it took her a while. She still hadn’t gotten he hang of texting.

Not necessary. I’m at your door.

By now she had reached the safety gate that could only be opened with a key, although she doubted the rusted iron would be enough to stop anyone who seriously wanted inside.

A moment later, Kakashi was on the other side dressed in drawstring sweats and his usual blank tank. Even with the attached mask in place, she could tell he was looking at her questioningly.

“I was in the neighborhood,” she said, as if that explained everything.

“You’re lucky I was home,” he responded, holding the gate open for her and letting her walk past him.

She waited for him to close the gate before following him to his room, registering the fact that to an outside observer, the fact she was coming to his place of residence in the middle of the day looked very sketchy for all the wrong reasons, especially since she was a supposed stripper and prostitute. However, she had never once seen another soul out in the halls of Kakashi’s building, and the people on the streets had learned to turn a blind eye to questionable activity. What would be considered scandal in Konoha was everyday life in Fuzen Machi.

The dark hallway gave way to an equally dark interior when she entered the room. The blinds were still closed, shutting out the daylight, but there was just enough light seeping through the cracked bathroom door to show that the bed was a rumpled mess and that a damp towel hung over his chair.

“I had just gotten out of the shower when you called,” Kakashi explained, flipping on the nearest light rather than opening a window.

“You’re getting an awfully late start on the day, Sensei,” Sakura remarked, slumping into the room’s single chair while Kakashi moved to pull his bed into some sort of order. “Late night?”

“Since I was out with you all day there were several things I had to take care of after the club closed. I didn’t get back until it was already light.”

Sakura could see that his movements were unusually stiff and awkward, no doubt caused by the same extreme soreness she had experienced upon waking. His silvery hair was still shower-damp and hung in his face more than usual. He had foregone his eye patch or headband of any kind and both eyes were visible, although that didn’t help her read his thoughts any better.

“What sort of things?” Sakura pressed, wanting to know how the investigation was going on Kakashi’s end since she was coming up with squat.

“Just checked out some of the local whorehouses and other strip clubs and did some asking around. I wanted to see if they’ve been having any problem with girls going missing or new ones turning up, but nothing was out of the ordinary.”

“Another dead end then,” Sakura sighed, slouching in her chair. Every passing day seemed to make her feel even more hopeless about the outcome of this mission.

“So, why did you show up on my doorstep today?” he asked, finishing making his bed before sitting on the foot of it to face her. “Did you miss me that much?”

Sakura rolled her eyes as she pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket.

“Here’s the list,” she said, tossing it to him. “For all the good it will do you.”

“You never know,” he replied, scanning the names on the paper before refolding it and stowing it in his pants pocket.

She watched him a moment, a slight smile on her lips.

“You know, you don’t have to wear that mask around me anymore. Your secret is out.”

Kakashi chuckled, but made no move to pull the fabric down from his face.

Her chair was close enough to the foot of the bed that she could lean forward and touch him and she tried, reaching out for the mask so she could yank it down but Kakashi leaned back elusively and waggled a finger at her.

“Now, now, Sakura-chan, just because you’ve seen it once doesn’t mean you can have the privilege anytime you want.”

Mentally, the kunoichi was contemplating if seeing it twice did, but asking the question would mean fessing up to her devious actions and she wasn’t ready to do that yet.

She pouted when it was clear he wasn’t going to grace her with a peek under the mask and sighed, she should have known it wasn’t going to be that easy. Time to switch tactics.

“Well, you’re going to have to take it off if I give you a massage,” she smiled sweetly.

Her statement made the Copy Nin pause. He was eyeing her critically but his voice held warmth when he spoke.

“When did a massage become part of this scenario?”

“Since I saw how stiffly you were moving. That’s not like you, Kakashi-sensei. Admit it; you’re incredibly sore, and you know how great my massages are.”

Kakashi did know. He had been in the hospital enough times to have the privilege of Sakura as his nurse, and sometimes, if he behaved himself or was in great amounts of pain due to tightened muscles, she would give him massages; wonderful, soothing, miracle massages. He could sure go for one of those right about now.

He cocked his head slightly and stared at her, and Sakura could almost see the wheels in his head turning as he considered his options. A smirk threatened to tug at her lips. Kakashi wanted that massage bad, it was only a matter of how badly.

“You drive a hard bargain, Sakura, but you win,”

His hands went to the hem of his shirt, crossing to grab the edge of the black material, and in one slow, fluid motion, he peeled the garment off and over his head, revealing his bare torso.

Sakura drank in his form greedily, eyes fixing on his face and then sweeping over pale skin with paler scars marking his entire torso. His body was sleek, slender, not built and bulky but wiry. Even so, she knew how much raw power resided in those toned muscles and she had seen what he could do with it, but that power would remain dormant as long as he was with her.

“You’ve become quite a manipulative woman,” he chuckled, leaning back on his elbows on the bed.

His eyes showed amusement as he looked at her, his lips quirked in a smirk. He looked so inviting, welcoming. For a breathless moment she considered jumping on his half naked form. The way he was reclined and smiling at her made her breath catch. It was like a scene from one of Kitsune’s erotica; the man extending an invitation of unimaginable pleasure which the woman could never resist. She wondered what it would be like to straddle him suddenly and capture his lips in a heated kiss and pour out all her lust and passion for him in the dueling of their tongues. How would he react? Would he push her off in disgust or roll her over and pin her down so he could take control?

Kakashi could see something in her eyes, something more predatory than what he would have expected. He knew she thought he was handsome, which was a flattery he was trying not to let go to his head, but the way her eyes scanned his bare torso was surprising. Was she checking him out? Was she looking at him with something akin to desire burning in her eyes?

A small shiver of excitement passed through him at the possibility while his brain began setting off alarm bells, warning that if that was the case, his previous lusting problem would get a whole lot more complicated.

“All your staring is going to make me blush, Sakura,” he said, trying to lighten the mood and break up the tension around them that he was both wishing and fearing was of the sexual kind.

Whatever trance the sight of him had put her in was broken and her eyes refocused on his face.

“If you want me to massage your legs too you’re going to have to lose the pants.”

The words were out of her mouth before she even realized she said it. Perhaps her subconscious was on a mission to undress him fully. Apparently Kakashi was thinking the same thing, for he looked at her strangely, smile gone from his lips.

“Are you trying to get me naked, Sakura?”

Her heart thumped a little quicker in her chest. She could tell him the truth and say yes, she very much wanted him naked, or she could lie and hope he didn’t call it.

“Don’t be perverted,” she said, feigning exasperation as she tossed him the towel that had been hanging over the back of his chair. “You can leave your underwear on and cover up more with this if you want, or you can just have me massage your back and upper body. Your choice.”

Kakashi looked at her a moment more as if trying to figure out if she was sincere or if she had an ulterior motive. He was an extremely smart man and she doubted he bought her fib completely, but in the end, his hand went to the waistband of his pants. When she remained looking at him he chuckled.

“Planning to watch?”

His amused words made heat rise to her cheeks and she spun around, facing the bathroom door as she heard the rustle of cloth being shed and the squeak of bed springs as his weight shifted on the mattress. Before her brain could go completely haywire and imagine her naked teacher, his raspy voice announced he was ready.

He was face down on the bed, forehead resting on his crossed forearms. His pants were neatly folded at his side and the towel was draped over his rear, covering from the small of his back to mid thigh. Somehow she had never imagined she would see her teacher in such a position, but that could be said for a lot of things that had happened during this mission.

Kakashi felt the mattress dip as she climbed onto the bed and soon her weight settled on him as she straddled his hips. He could feel the warmth of her thighs through the pants she wore and he realized that he had opened the door for temptation and foolishly let it in. He had wanted one of Sakura’s massages that he remembered to be so medicinally soothing, but that was before she had made the transformation in his mind from former student and dangerous kunoichi to dangerous kunoichi and sexy woman extraordinaire. This would not be a massage. This would be a torture session in which he fought his own arousal and he realized too late that he was a blundering idiot.

Her hands came to rest on his bare back, pressing against the bumps and gouges of old scars as she assessed the muscle underneath. He was rock hard, but the irregular knots in the muscle fibers told her that it wasn’t because the muscles were strong and developed, though they most certainly were, but because they were full of tension.

Immediately, she set to work, letting her chakra penetrate tired muscles and drain away residual lactic acid like she had for herself earlier that morning. He was warm and firm beneath her fingertips and she liked the feel of him. As her hands began to gently knead knotted muscle, her mind drifted back to their almost-kiss yesterday. What did that mean?

Had she imagined it all or had Kakashi been feeling the same magnetic pull she had been feeling? It was stupid to hope that he thought about her as often as she did him, crushing on Sasuke for years had taught her that much, but she secretly hoped that perhaps it was a sign that he had been lying when he said he found her to be just another attractive woman. Maybe, just maybe, she was just a little bit special?

Her hands traveled up and down his back, kneading with increasing firmness. When she felt most of the tension was gone, she began to pinpoint stubborn knots, infusing them with chakra to prevent pain and relax the muscle fibers before using her thumbs to press into the tissue until the knot dissolved.

Kakashi sighed as he felt his body relax beneath her skilled fingers. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. The warm tingle of her chakra creeping down the base of his neck as she worked on the muscles at the base of his skull was inducing more drowsiness than arousal. She was making him feel good, but in a medicinal way, a harmless way. He allowed his guard to drop as she leeched the soreness from his body, working over his back, neck and arms before turning around to straddle him the other way as she began to work on his feet. It had been ages since anyone had touched his feet and the way her fingers dug into the ball of his foot and pad of his heel was pure bliss. He could almost feel himself melting into the sheets, not a sensation he was accustomed to.

His soft sigh of relaxation made Sakura smile. She doubted Kakashi ever let himself become this relaxed around anyone, especially without his mask. It was a sign of deep trust and Sakura valued it, for it marked a bond between them that he didn’t have with many other people, if any.

Finished with his feet, she worked on his legs, remembering how sore hers had been that morning and repeated the process she had executed on his back on his calves and thighs, edging the towel up an inch or two to make sure the majority of his legs received treatment. But the time she had finished, Kakashi was breathing deeply and evenly, so much in fact that she wondered if he had fallen asleep.

“Kakashi,” she murmured, rolling off of him to stretch out at his side, reaching up to ruffle his silvery head of hair like he had always done to her when she was younger.

“That was great,” came his muffled reply, his face still buried in his forearms. “Thank you.”

He had managed to make it through without having too many overwhelming urges to roll over and show Sakura exactly how much he wanted her. Her intent had been to heal, not seduce, and he was thankful for it. He was no novice when it came to women, having had many of them attempt to seduce him on various missions, and he had learned how to turn the tables and either fend them off or make sure it was them being seduced instead, but he didn’t think he could defend himself around Sakura if she decided to turn on the charm. She was different than other women. They had a history, a prior relationship that didn’t involve being lovers, and that was why it was more important than ever that he keep his hands off of her. He had nearly failed yesterday at the lake and it was becoming more and more apparent that denying himself her touch would be no easy matter, but today he had won another round.

And then Kakashi did something uncharacteristically stupid. He set himself up to fail when he could have walked away clean.

He sat up and stretched languidly, marveling at how all his aches and pains were gone thanks to her magic touch. Sakura continued to lay on his bed, snuggling against the coverlet as if she belonged there. His towel was still draped across his lap but it didn’t matter much since she had rolled away from him. Instead of getting dressed and leaving it at that, he leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“I can’t give you your massage if you don’t take off your clothes.”

He saw her body tense momentarily, clearly shocked at his offer, and he chuckled.

“Don’t look so surprised. You’re always the one giving out the massages and I doubt you ever get them back. Mine may not be chakra enhanced or administered with medical precision, but I’m pretty sure I can make you feel good.”

The words were out of his mouth before he could think of a better way to voice his thoughts. The phrase was practically dripping innuendo, hanging between them to create a thick, unseen tension.

After a moment of increasingly awkward silence, Sakura spoke.

“This isn’t like you, Kakashi-sensei. You’re more likely to give me the sore muscles, rather than heal them.”

“There’s a first time for everything I suppose,” Kakashi said, while his mind screamed at him that it was indeed unusual for him to be this big of an idiot by inviting her to strip and then trust himself to touch her body in a way that was solely platonic.

Sakura turned to look at him, but he placed a gentle hand on her head to stop her and keep her staring at the wall.

“No peeking. I’ll put my clothes back on, and you get rid of yours.”

Sakura nodded and Kakashi stood, pulling on his pants and black tank and sliding the mask back up over his nose. His mind was setting off alarm bells left and right, big flashing lights and sirens that told him this was a very bad idea, but it was too late to retract his offer, considering he could hear the whisper of clothing being shed behind him. He wasn’t sure if he was really this stupid and reckless or just didn’t care anymore. Her body had been calling to him like a siren and now he had the chance to touch it, although it could very well be his downfall.

Sakura softly murmured that she was ready, in a voice that was unusually timid. Was she as unsure about this as he was? And if so, was it for the same reasons as his own doubts? Did she not want to be touched by him or did she want it too much? He brushed away the second option, refusing to dwell on it because nothing good would come of imagining her craving his hands on her body.

He turned around and sucked in his breath at the sight. She was all creamy skin, smooth and pale, face down on the bed like he had been with the towel draped over her butt and thighs. He tried not to notice just how much thigh was exposed, because the damp terrycloth covered probably only a couple of inches lower than where her rear met her legs. If she wasn’t tempting him on purpose, then he was just one unlucky man.

With equal parts eagerness and trepidation, he sunk to the bed and crept near her naked form, slinging a thigh over her hips so he was straddling her like she had him. He now had incentive to keep from getting too excited, because if he did, she would feel it considering nothing was separating their bodies but his pants and her towel.

He licked suddenly dry lips as he placed both hands on her back, her petite form making them look large and masculine in contrast. Gently, he began to press calloused fingers into her supple skin. He only felt a few knots, her back being nothing like the solid mass of tension that his was, but that didn’t mean the massage was going to be any shorter. Her skin was like silk beneath his fingertips and he adored the feeling, taking his time to work over every inch of her back thoroughly and honing in on spots he knew felt especially pleasurable when massaged.

Sakura’s heart started to hammer in her chest when she felt his weight descend over her hips, so loud that she wondered if he might hear it. The second his hands came in contact with her bare skin, a sharp thrill raced through her, like a chill or a shiver, only far more delicious.

She said nothing as he worked, for she was afraid her voice would come out in a squeak or even a soft moan, because the way his skilled fingers found all her pressure points was making her melt into the bedspread. Every time his hands brushed over her a new wave of pleasurable chills ran up her spine, usually followed by harder contact as he kneaded her muscles in the most wonderful way. He focused on her shoulders and the corded muscle along her spine, but when he began to work over her neck, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. His thumb pressed into her just right, melting away stress and forcing her to relax. The agitation she felt of having him straddling her naked body and touching her ebbed away as his fingers rubbed little circles at the base of her spine and even combed through the stray hairs at her nape, sending tingles through her scalp that made her eyelids grow heavy. She was breathing deeper now as he moved lower down on her back, feeling so warm and cozy and fuzzy that she nearly forgot she was naked save for a towel and pinned beneath her ex-sensei, that is, until she felt the distinct puff of warm breath ghost over her shoulder as his hands moved to massage the muscles just above the flare of her hips.

He dug deep into the expansive muscles, using just the right amount of pressure to break up any lingering knots, but as his fingers moved closer to the edge of the towel, Sakura felt a warm flutter in her stomach. His breath on her bare skin was somehow incredibly sensual and she could imagine soft kisses intermingled with the warm air on back.

He could smell the scent of her skin, an intoxicating mix of flowers and an unnamed sweetness. With every breath he breathed her in, and with every exhale, a little more of his self restraint was dissolved. Her body was wordlessly beckoning him and he was half tempted to tug down his mask and press lingering kisses to her neck and shoulders. Things were becoming increasingly dangerous and the danger only made him want more, want to taste the forbidden fruit before him with renewed desire.

His hands were massaging so low on her back that his fingers sometimes brushed the gentle curve that swelled to form her wonderfully toned ass. The towel had somehow dipped low enough that he could see the beginnings of the cleft that parted her back into two smooth cheeks and he longed to do away with the cloth altogether and knead the flesh that it covered just like he had her entire back.

When he had finished massaging everything above the towel, he let a single finger trace her spine, and watched in satisfaction as goose bumps rose on her petal soft skin. She was quite sensitive to his touch and a dark part of him wanted to find out just how sensitive, although the remnants of his sanity were arguing against it fervently.

His weight lifted from her as he scooted all the way down to her feet, sitting now at the end of the bed. He lifted one foot which was only slightly bigger than the hands that held them and pressed a thumb into her arch.

Sakura let out a soft coo of approval as his hands worked over her foot, rubbing her heel and the ball and even in between her toes. He had been told his foot massage skills were superior by the few people lucky enough to receive one and apparently Sakura agreed. She turned her head to the side just enough to unmuffle a soft moan of, “Kakashi, that’s so good.”

The Copy Nin’s stomach clenched at the sound of her breathy and sensual voice, and imagined her telling him the same thing as he touched her in other places. He repeated the process on her other foot, earning similar sounds of pleasure, and began to work his way up the backs of her legs, thoroughly massaging her muscular calves and committing the feel of her slender legs to memory.

The restless heat that has dissipated when he worked on her feet began to stir again as he moved up her legs, fingers rubbing over bare thigh in a way that both soothed and made her shiver in anticipation of something more. His touches seemed methodical and confident as they pressed and squeezed her muscled thighs right up to the edge of the towel, and though the act made her nervous, a part of her silently urged him to travel higher.

The tightness in Kakashi’s gut had crept into his loins, threatening to manifest physical changes over his body if he relinquished control. The creamy skin of her thighs felt so good against his calloused hands and the towel had ridden up a little higher, allowing more access to her unclothed body.

He could hear her breath coming a little harsher now, and knew she was affected by his touches. However, she hadn’t uttered a word of disapproval and had made no move to stop him, and he wondered if it was a silent invitation.

His fingers stopped massaging and instead slid slowly up and down her thighs, the movement slower and more sensual. Every slide of his hands brought him a little closer inward until his hands were rubbing along her inner thighs, fingertips brushing dangerously high under the towel.

Sakura’s heart was hammering, her blood rushing in her ears. The heat in her stomach had seeped into the place between her thighs that Kakashi came closer and closer to touching. Was he trying to seduce her? It was pretty obvious this wasn’t just a massage anymore, although she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at him for it, not when every brush of his fingers sent sparks down her spine and made her body feel hot and achy.

If she asked him to stop, she was sure he would comply, but deep down, she was curious to see just how far he would go, and this sort of attention from him made her feel desired in a way the rough and grabby met at the club did not. The way he was touching her was clearly for her pleasure and not for his, and it sent warm flutters to her chest as well as in between her thighs.

She was practically panting now, and still not a word to him, good or bad. With new courage, Kakashi let his hands slide high, disappearing under the towel completely to trace the creases where her legs met her torso, and then a little further in to run over the soft flesh of her outer lips. To his surprise, the skin was already damp.

Sakura sucked in her breath sharply as his fingers ghosted around her nearly hairless sex. Thanks to her job at the club, she had taken to shaving everything except for one trim patch. The men she “slept” with seemed to like it when she was clean shaven and apparently Kakashi did too, for his fingers continued to slide over her hairless lips, rubbing up and down teasingly. A steady throb started between her legs and she was tempted to tell him to hurry up and do whatever it was he was going to do, but that would break the spell between them, and she didn’t want this to be over, but when his thumbs spread her apart ever so gently, letting her moisture seep out to coat her outer lips, she couldn’t help a soft moan.

That little sound, that sweet sound of pleasure that he had imagined for so long, did him in.

He felt his left hand leave her body, and rested his forearm on the bed to take his weight as he lowered himself onto her. With both hands occupied, he couldn’t remove his mask but he pressed a soft kiss to her skin anyways, his masked lips touching her between the shoulder blades.

His fingers hand grown bold, spurred on by her ragged breathing, he let a single digit trace her slit, bottom to top, his nail grazing her clit as it passed and making her body tremble beneath him.

“K-Kakashi?” she whimpered into the sheets, hips shifting slightly as he repeated the gesture.

“Shh,” he hushed against her neck softly before pressing another masked kiss to her nape. If she was about to stop him, he didn’t want to hear it because he had come too far now. He had to hear her moan for him, uninhibited and passionate. He had to feel her slickness against his fingers as he explored her most intimate place.

His finger came back to the place that had proved most sensitive, and he let his calloused fingertip brush the swollen bud softly.

Her body jolted as if a current had passed through it and she cried out softly in to the sheets. He let his digit dance around her pearl teasingly, stroking and rubbing everywhere but where he knew she needed it, her sex becoming hotter and wetter all the while.

She was shuddering under him now, her breathing irregular and broken and she finally turned her head to the side, gracing him with a view of her profile. She was biting her lip against the sensations while she squeezed her eyes shut and Kakashi found the look to be so sexy that he twitched inside his pants, having lost the fight against his own body the second he dipped his fingers in her wetness.

“Sakura,” he breathed huskily, letting his finger flick over her clit softly and feeling his ego swell as she moaned low in the back of her throat. “Do you like what I’m doing?”

Her eye cracked open, a hazy slit of emerald beneath dark lashes.

“Yes,” she whispered, so soft that he wasn’t sure he had heard it.

“What was that?” he rasped, lips brushing over the shell of her ear as his finger glided over her sensitive button once more.

“Y-yes,” she panted, shuddering as he played with her pearl.

He let his masked lips press to her neck, her shoulders, her cheek as his skilled fingers administered a sort of micro massage that left her moaning and trembling deliciously, rubbing and pressing and pinching her clit with varying degrees of pressure and speed. Her scent of arousal had enveloped him, heady and thick and so tantalizing that his mouth watered to taste her. He was throbbing in his pants, painfully hard and hot, his heart pounding in time to the pulse he felt in her clit. She was squirming beneath him now, not violently, but enough to make him press his body further onto hers to keep her still.

She wanted him, that much was clear, and if he rolled her over while unzipping his pants and thrust inside her in one quick stroke, he doubted she would stop him. But even through the lusty haze that blotted out all reason, he was still painfully aware that she was a virgin, one who hadn’t even had an orgasm, at least not before she had left for this mission, and he was determined to make sure she was quite well acquainted with the sensation of coming for a man before he ever joined their bodies as one.

“Sakura,” he whispered again, lips tracing her jaw as his fingers abandoned her pulsating clit to trace her quivering entrance. “You’re so wet, so hot. Do you want me inside?”

His ambiguous question was hard to focus on. Did he want what inside her? His fingers? His tongue? His manhood? Sakura realized that she didn’t really care what part he was referring to. He had teased her mercilessly, dancing around her greatest need until she felt so empty that she would do anything to be filled and she wanted relief now.

“Yes,” she whimpered, her green gaze meeting his as his nose nuzzled her cheek.

He didn’t nod or utter a word saying he hard heard her, but the depths of his mismatched eyes seemed to grow a little less lucid before he brought his face so close that it was out of focus. She stiffened momentarily as he pressed masked lips to the corner of her mouth. She would have turned her head to meet him but laying face down didn’t give her much room to maneuver. It all become inconsequential anyway when his middle finger finally stopped fluttering around her opening and dipped inside gently, sinking in slowly to the first knuckle.

Her body shuddered violently as she cried out, eyes closing in rapture as Kakashi groaned against her cheek. She was so wet, so damn tight, and absolutely blazing inside like she burned with liquid fire.

He withdrew and pushed in again, this time all the way to the third knuckle, encasing his entire finger in paradise, and groaned again as he felt her clench around him as she whispered his name in broken gasps.

Sakura would have arched into him if it were possible, but the way he was on top of her, sliding into her from behind, forced her to lay still. Every nerve was on fire and she was fisting her hands in the sheets in a white knuckled grip. So this is what she had been denied back when she had danced for Kakashi in the booth. Scenes in Kitsune’s books had described this process, but it was only a precursory activity, foreplay to warm up the woman for the main event. The way her head was spinning and her body practically singing, Sakura wondered if anything could possibly feel any better than this.

And then Kakashi curled his finger inside her, massaging her now from the inside, and a blazing wave of raw pleasure passed through her, momentarily blotting out everything else except the feel of him inside her, and when it began to ebb away, her thoughts returned in a jumble, images of the girls back at the club and conversations she hadn’t remembered having, of lunch and congratulations on her new position as starlet. Her normally quick mind was clouded and slow, a fact not helped by the feel of Kakashi’s finger flexing inside her again but she soon pieced the info together and when she had the answer, she let out a panicked curse.

“Shit! My clone!”

The Copy Nin stilled his finger inside her, lifting his lips from her back. “Your what?”

“My clone, the one that was back at the club so nobody would know I was missing. I lost my hold on it and she disappeared. I have to get back. I have to go now!”

She frantically wriggled out from under the man on top of her, his finger slipping free of her sex as she did so, and proceeded to get dressed so fast that Kakashi didn’t even get a glimpse of the place he had just been touching.

The surge of memories into her head meant her clone had ceased to be and all the information it had acquired was sent back to her. Fortunately, it seemed her clone had been alone I her room at the time of its disappearance.

“I…um…I’ll see you tonight,” she said awkwardly, stuffing her cellphone in her pocket before fleeing out the door, leaving Kakashi alone in the room.

Lust had dulled his senses and he was only now piecing together what had happened. He was never this slow, even mid-coitus and he wondered what the hell kind of spell she had managed to cast on him. Now she was gone, so abruptly that her essence still covered the finger that had been deep inside her only a minute ago and he was sporting a hard on that no cold shower, no matter how long, would rectify.

With a tortured exhale of breath, he flopped onto the bed, the sheets warm from where she had been and her musky scent of arousal still sharp in his nostrils. With no other method available to him, he tugged his sweat pants down until his erection sprang free and wrapped his right hand around it, smearing the slick residue of his encounter with Sakura over his length.

He was a sick fuck, that was all there was to it. He could say he was trying to be nice, that he had only wanted to alleviate the soreness in her muscles with a harmless massage, but deep down, he knew the truth. He hoped for this from the beginning, and he had taken advantage of the woman he had been trying to distance himself from for this very reason. He had violated her, sliding inside her where, at least to his knowledge, no one else had been, and he hadn’t even kissed her, but taken her from behind like it was some goddamned booty call. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be wooed and romanced because she sure as hell wasn’t getting any of that from the men she was seducing and he had acted just like one of them.

He groaned, this time in self loathing as his hand began to pump his length hard and fast. Her fluids felt amazing on his cock and he allowed himself to imagine he was inside her, in that warm, wet place that had squeezed his finger so wonderfully. He was sick, sick and sad and perverted but he couldn’t banish the thought of thrusting into her, of hearing her moan and feeling her clamp down on him. Her face would be contorted in pleasure, those eyes hazy and unable to focus, just like they had been a moment ago, and he would kiss her, so fiercely and deeply that he wouldn’t be able to tell where he stopped and she began.

His hips bucked as his orgasm came, swift and hard, his seed spurting into his hand. But as the stars cleared his vision, he found he was feeling even more unfulfilled and now, like a letch, so dirty and lowdown that he felt he needed to shower in an attempt to rinse away the dirt, not on his body, but on his soul.

“You pathetic old man,” he said into the silence, tucking his softened length back into his pants and rose to go to the bathroom to wash his hands.

He had no idea what he was going to say to her the next time they met, but he needed think of something soon. Nightfall would come and with it, another topless performance, but this time, Kakashi didn’t want to look at her, didn’t want to be reminded of the beautiful body he just couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of.

XXXXX

Sakura ran at breakneck speed back to the club, oblivious to the heads that turned as she passed. She made it back in record time and had to tell herself to calm down as she pressed her hand to the club’s front door to let her chakra unlock the lock from the inside.

Now that she had sobered and the lust had faded away, she realized just what she had done with her ex-teacher. When she had gone to visit him today she had not expected it to end with her naked on her stomach with him fingering her from behind. She was still wet, she could feel it, and the memory of what he had made her feel made her woozy all over again.

She slipped inside and scurried up the stairs. Dajaku didn’t seem to be in his office and she didn’t see anyone else as she made her way to the top of the stairs, letting her chakra unlock that lock as well.

Miyabi sat on the couch with Tora and Jitsu, the busty brunette and petite woman talking softly while Miyabi seemed engrossed in a book. Misaki was on the floor doing a crossword and Kitsune seemed to be helping her. They all looked up when Sakura entered.

“Hey, I thought you were in your room,” Tora said, her eyebrow lifting questioningly. “You said you were tired and were going to go lie down.”

“I was but I had to ask Dajaku something, but he wasn’t in his office,” Sakura lied trying to act naturally so they wouldn’t be suspicious.

“Well yeah, he told us earlier he was going out for a while and you were in the room when he said it,” Misaki said, tilting her head and looking at her strangely.

“Really? I must have forgotten. Silly me,” Sakura laughed nervously, edging past the girls to the hall, hoping to quickly escape their scrutiny.

“That’s funny,” Tora said thoughtfully. “None of us saw you come by,”

“Yeah, weird huh? I guess you guys were just really into what you were doing.”

Misaki and Kitsune exchanged glances on the ground and three on the couch looked similarly unconvinced.

“Hana, are you all right?” Miyabi asked, blue eyes searching hers piercingly.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Sakura said airily, knowing that it sounded like a lie, even to her own ears. “I’m going to shower now. Bye!”

She scampered away before they could question her further, finding refuge in the bathroom as she locked the door behind her and cranked on the hot water.

Alone at last, she let her mind evaluate what had just happened and despite the fact that Kakashi had clearly seduced her, she couldn’t guess what his true thoughts were any better than she had before. Did he like her? Was she just a toy? Did he do what he did as some sort of weird follow-up lesson in pleasure? Sakura didn’t think so, but she did know she had enjoyed it a lot, regardless of what it meant. She considered herself strong and capable but he had reduced her to a pile of moaning mush, even after all her work at the club and she didn’t trust herself to crumble like that around anyone but him.

She sort of liked the feeling of giving in, of submitting, of letting herself be taken and forced to feel pleasure so exquisite that she couldn’t even process it, but only with Kakashi. She would never drop her guard like that around anyone else. Then again, she longed to push him down and make sure he was the one moaning and writhing. Kakashi was a powerful man and incapacitating him via seduction was awfully alluring. She was pretty sure the cheap tricks she used on her targets wouldn’t work on him. After all, he had taught her everything she knew, but some of Kitsune’s books gave her insight into how to make a man moan.

The thought made the heat inside her began to pulse again, but not painfully overwhelming like it had been with Kakashi. She was tempted to slip a hand between her legs and see if she could recreate what Kakashi had started, but she knew her own touches would never come close. She had never reached an orgasm by masturbating since she was always interrupted or she stopped before someone discovered her. Five other housemates made privacy nearly nonexistent, seven if she counted Tsurenai and Dajaku. But her recent encounter with Kakashi had brought her closer to orgasm than she had ever been and she lamented the fact that she couldn’t hold on to her clone long enough for him to send her over the edge, which she had no doubt he would have done.

Today had taught her something. While she wasn’t sure what the heck was going on with Kakashi and why sometimes he was kind, sometimes he was all over her, and sometimes he avoided her like the plague, she was sure that when she did have her first orgasm, she wanted it to be with him. Even if it happened in an impromptu afternoon of seduction, she didn’t care. Seeing the lives of the women around her made her realize sex and love weren’t usually connected and she shouldn’t hope for a fairytale like she had when she was a little girl.

Kakashi was skilled, and would take her pleasure into account, which was more than she could hope for with other men. Next time they were alone at his place, she hoped she could convince him to continue, and this time, not stop.

The fact that she was entertaining such thoughts was surprising, but she didn’t consider them so taboo anymore. They were miles from Konoha, and on this mission they were more like partners than a teacher and student. Surely it wouldn’t be so surprising if something like this happened, right?

Sakura tilted her face upward to embrace the shower’s warm spray.

She realized that in the tangle of events in Kakashi’s room, and her haste to leave, she had forgotten to tell him she would be taking Tsurenai’s place tonight.

A smile formed on her lips as she reached for her shampoo.

Well, he was just going to have to find out the hard way.

XXXXX

Oh the suspense! I know this chapter wasn’t as light and fluffy and fun as the last one but they can’t all be like that, right? I hope you enjoyed it even if it was on the darker side. Stay tuned for more!

~J-Pop Princess