Radio Tokyo

A/N: God, it’s been forever since I put anything up on this…but here you go. Hetero, and lots of it. Juugo, I apologize. I’ve turned you into a horrible person. But you know, it’s for a good cause. Anyhow…I’ll give you cookies if you can spot the line-rip. There’s one from America’s Sweethearts. And if you find it, I’ll actually send you real cookies via the United States Postal Service. We’ll work something out…I swear.

Totally not beta’d.

OH…and please, do not try the office prank Naruto pulled at home. It is NOT safe, and I absolve any responsibility if you actually FLUSH.

Warnings:

FL--Foul Language
V--Violence
Flu--Fluff (not that you really need to be warned about that)

Chapter 4: Surprises

“See you later, Ino!” Naruto said as he turned his headphones over. The blonde woman gave him a wink and a smile. He bit his knuckles playfully. This was a bit of a running joke between them. Ino would make a dirty comment or a lewd gesture, and Naruto would always say, “You really shouldn’t tease me like that, you know.” Kiba was, as always, highly amused.

All that went out of his mind, though. “Who says it’s teasing?” Naruto’s eyes widened in surprise. Turning back to Ino, he blinked rapidly. She was leaning against the desk, headphones dangling in one hand and crooking her finger at him with the other. The black skirt she was wearing really showed off her legs, and he really had to try to make himself not look at them (that said nothing about her shirt, which called attention to something else entirely). He took a step closer, still completely dumbfounded. “Next time you’ve got a day off, how about we go out for coffee before I go on air, Pumpkin?” Naruto blinked again. Her hand was now on his chest, and she was leaning toward him. God, she smelled good.

“I…” He was usually so articulate! What the hell happened? Naruto swallowed hard. It was sudden, and altogether unexpected, but hell, it wasn’t every day that he got asked out. For God’s sake, he usually was asleep during the daylight hours, so he hardly even had time to try finding women. That’s why without thinking about it, he agreed. And that is also why less than half a second later, Ino kissed him.

When she pulled back, Naruto had a completely idiotic grin plastered all over his face. Ino smiled a little. “You taste like vanilla bean frappuccino, Naruto.”

He scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. “Yeah…they’re my favorite…hehe.” After he’d regained his composure, he gave Ino a wink of his own. “I’ll call you, okay?” The woman nodded, and he turned to leave. Then he jumped, because he had a sharp pain in his backside. Ino had just pinched him.

--

Sakura handed her headphones over to Genma. “I see Ino’s in top form this morning,” the man said around his toothpick. She just nodded, seeing the blush that was now spreading over Naruto’s face. Snorting, she bid him farewell, and walked out of the studio door.

Sasuke was leaning against the wall in the hallway, his cigarettes already in hand. It was clear he needed one, but he had waited for her…Sakura was touched. “Hey,” he said, a bit awkwardly, “Hungry?”

Smiling slightly, though still a bit confused, Sakura said, “Sure.”

Half an hour later, she was seated on the floor in Sasuke’s apartment. Though she had been there before, Sakura had never really taken the time to think about how he could afford such a large, obviously expensive place. Once she really thought about it, he probably bought the place with part of the insurance settlement that he and his brother had gotten when their parents died. According to Naruto, Sasuke’s parents died a year before they started college. He and his brother, Itachi, had lived with an old aunt until Itachi finally got into a decent law program, and Sasuke got in for mass-com on his first try.

And now, he lived here. The walls were painted a medium blue, and all of the furnishings were traditional. It seemed like he didn’t really care for anything modern. The table she sat at was an antique, black lacquer covering its surface, with a potted moth orchid sitting in the center. Even the cushion she sat on seemed old. For some reason, Sakura had the feeling that these things had belonged to Sasuke’s parents. She sat and examined the room, listening to the rattling, hissing and clicking coming from the kitchen. “What are you doing in there, Sasuke? It’s just breakfast!”

“You need to eat something other than that crap at McDonalds for breakfast, Sakura.”

“Pancakes are not crap,” she grumped, but she was trying not to smile. There was a loud rattle from the kitchen before Sasuke’s head poked out into the living area. He wore a bandanna over his hair to keep it from getting in the way or falling into the food. It looked a little strange, to say the least, but Sakura restrained her laughter.

There was a furrow in his brow as he shook a spatula at her. “The ones they make certainly are. That stuff’s not good for you.” When he went back to making breakfast, Sakura returned to looking around. There were photographs everywhere. Frames covered two of the walls, and a third was half-full. From where she sat, she could identify pictures of Sasuke as a child, ones of him with his brother playing, and then there were a few she hadn’t noticed before. These were of he and Itachi practicing Judo. From what she could see, Itachi looked to be about 13, and Sasuke could have been seven. Itachi’s belt was black. Sasuke, however, had a blue one. It was only natural. He was so much younger that he was bound to be behind in such study.

Though, Sakura knew him well enough that she was able to figure out why the small version of Sasuke had a sour expression on his face. He hated being less than anyone. On another wall were pictures of his high school friends, and a larger amount of himself, Naruto, and Sakura. Getting up from her seat, she went to look at these. One in particular drew her attention. They were in a booth somewhere, all smashed together, and someone had obviously been asked to take their picture. Sakura smiled. Sasuke was squashed between she and Naruto, looking extremely awkward. There was a faint pink color on his face, and he looked mortified. Sakura was squeezing him around the middle, an enormous grin on her face. Shaking her head, she looked at another picture.

This one was only of Sasuke. She remembered taking it. They’d just finished their finals, and Sasuke had planted himself on the steps outside the building. His bag lay open at his feet, he’d unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, and he was smoking. Sasuke always seemed to be smoking back then. He said it calmed him down. The smoke swirling around him made him look less like a stressed-out college student, and more like some strangely anti-social movie star that just wanted to be alone. His eyes were closed, and one elbow rested on his knee.

“Breakfast,” she heard Sasuke say, and she turned from the picture. He had already set everything out. How long had she been staring at that picture? Once she settled herself onto the same cushion she’d been on, Sasuke sat opposite her. “Eat,” he said, before doing the same himself. Sakura began to eat the small stack of pancakes Sasuke had made for her. He was eating an omelet, and there was a large pot of tea between them.

--

Every so often, Sasuke found himself looking at her. She ate calmly, not looking at him at all. How could she be so sedate? That psychopath had nearly…his thoughts stopped right there, causing his stomach to clench. No, he couldn’t think of that. If anything happened to her, he thought that he might actually hurt someone. Sakura lay down her fork, having finished her breakfast. “Sasuke,” she said, “about what happened in the bathroom…”

His stomach suddenly felt like something very heavy and less than appetizing had been dropped into it. This couldn’t be a good sign. She had to be about to tell him that it couldn’t work out between them. No…he couldn’t bear that. She couldn’t reject him now. He had been denying it for years, faced up to it only recently (and still wasn’t really used to it), but if she didn’t feel the same, he wasn’t sure what he would do. “Sakura—“

She held up a hand, silencing him. Sakura was the only person that ever really could. “I just wanted to know, Sasuke. Why?”

“Why?” he asked, confused.

Her face became exasperated. “Why did you kiss me? Was it relief? What the hell was it?”

There was a spark of anger in his chest now. How could she think that? Questioning his feelings right now…it was like she didn’t trust him. Sasuke lay down his chopsticks and scooted closer to her. He leaned toward Sakura, grasping her face with both hands. “Do I look worried?” He asked this just before his lips touched hers in what began as a chaste kiss. There was a tiny sound from Sakura, and he pressed forward harder, finding entrance to her mouth without needing to ask for it. She tasted like maple syrup, which caused him to smile slightly against her mouth. When he finally pulled away, she leaned heavily on him. “I was relieved that you were safe, Sakura. But that’s not why.”

“Why, then?” She breathed, barely audible.

Sasuke swallowed hard. Still, he wasn’t sure. Should he say it? Was it really wise to actually say that so early on? But then again, if he didn’t tell the truth, what was he going to say? And really, was it truly early? As far as he knew, she might feel the same way about him, though he didn’t know. The big thing was that they had known each other for six years now, and as far as he was concerned, it was about damned time something happened to take their relationship to another level. Nearly laughing at himself, he kissed the top of her head, then said quietly, “Because…I…I love you.” Her head shot up, and she stared at him. “Sakura?”

Her eyes somehow seemed greener than they had been before. Why was it that all she had to do was look at him, and he couldn’t speak? He hated it. For crying out loud, he was a radio talk show host. It was his job to be able to talk. How on earth could he just sit there while she looked at him that way? Sasuke tried swallowing around that annoying lump in his throat, but it simply did no good. He wasn’t used to this. And it wasn’t as if he found the situation at all pleasant. Sakura was the last woman he had ever dreamt of falling in love with, and she certainly was not his vision of the perfect woman.

On the contrary, she was moody, had a sharp tongue, and was hell in the morning if you woke her up too early. Not to mention the annoying habit that she had…to render him completely speechless with only a glance. No sir, he did not like the way he felt at all. And if she didn’t put him out of his misery soon, he would just take a header off of his tenth floor balcony. Death is a brighter prospect than waiting in agony, and he was all for it if she didn’t just say something!

Her mouth opened, and she said, “I…are you serious?”

Sasuke’s mouth dangled open for a long moment. Then, his eyebrows drew down in a frown. “What do you mean, am I serious? How can you ask me that? Do you know how hard it was for me to say it? For fuck’s sake, Sakura, of course I love you! Why do you have to make this so difficult? You’re the only person that can do this to me. Naruto could never make me speechless, no matter how he tried, and all you have to do is look at me. It pisses me off. I shouldn’t fucking feel this way. You’re…I didn’t expect…I didn’t want…” His fingers raked through his hair; trying not to yell at her was driving him insane. “…Damn it, Sakura, just drop the fucking axe, already!”

Her eyes had become impossibly wide. She looked hurt for an instant before raising her hands to run through his hair. Sasuke felt like he had no control of his own body. His eyes fell shut under such gentle touches, and he felt something warm against his lips. Her breaths came in long, even streams against his skin, and it felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. “Sasuke,” she whispered, “you shouldn’t say such things. I might start to think you don’t want me.”

Eyes flying open at those words, he found her staring into him, like she could see straight through him. “Sa—“ a finger being laid across his lips in a shushing gesture cut him off.

“Now it’s my turn to talk, mister. Okay?” He nodded vigorously, and she continued. “I love you too, baka-oujisama.” Sasuke’s heart jumped, and he was pretty sure it was going to burst from his chest and spazz itself to death on the floor. “I can’t say that I’ve been very happy about that in the past couple of weeks, though.” She sat back, looking at him for a moment before turning her head away. “I hate crying, you know. Can’t remember the last time I did. But that morning…I couldn’t stop. Why did you have to push me away?” Her eyes were starting to film over with tears. He could see it. Something in his chest tightened, knowing that he had caused that pain. “Don’t do that again, Sasuke. I can’t handle it.”

Sasuke reached out, wiping away the tears from her cheeks that had just begun to fall. “I promise,” he said, “that I won’t push you away…not ever again.” He watched her eyes close, trying to remember what his life had been like before he met her, and then not really wanting to. Really, his life had been a mess. If it hadn’t been for Naruto, he’d have gone off the deep end, and done something much worse than becoming a chain smoker. Instead, the blonde had performed a one-man intervention, giving him a carton of cigarettes and a punch in the face. That was about as much tact as his best friend had when they were eighteen.

But it had worked, and he’d gotten into college, which was probably what saved his life. The year before Naruto’s less than diplomatic response to his depression was a shadowy, frightening time that he would just as soon forget. Their friendship was strained, on point of breaking, when Sakura came along. She was, he realized now, the glue that held them together. She was what held him together. And it was because of her that he had found the motivation to excel. He’d thought he hated her, and set out to do everything in his power to out-perform Sakura’s grades and achievements.

To his very deep aggravation, she had always been just a few points ahead of him. In fact, Sakura had only squeaked by in the end by two and a half points at graduation time. Otherwise, Sasuke would have been the one to hold the record for superior marks in the Mass Communications department.

But all of that was in the past, now. He looked on her now as exactly what she was: his savior. She leaned against his chest, and gave a sigh, then a yawn. Sasuke laughed a little. “Sleepy?” He asked, half mocking.

Her eyes blinked up at him lazily. “Yeah…I guess I should go home now.” Sakura looked out of the window, and winced. “It’s getting a bit too bright out for my taste, and I need to get some sleep.” When she pushed up off of the floor, Sasuke took hold of her hand, and she looked down at him in confusion.

“Stay here?” he asked, tugging gently at her arm. When she blinked at him, he said thickly, “Please?” Her eyes widened, looking a bit panicked. He hurriedly assured her of his intentions. “Just to sleep, Sakura. Just sleep.” Her posture relaxed significantly, and she nodded.

A second later, she said, “Do you have anything I could sleep in? This corset is starting to get uncomfortable.”

He laughed. “Sure. I’ve got some spare boxers and shirts. Do you need me to loosen that thing for you?” She gave him a dubious look obviously not believing he could, or maybe even why he wanted to do it. He waved off her unspoken questions. “One of my exes was a stripper. She wore them all of the time.”

Sakura turned around and sat, and he examined the lacings. She asked, “What was her name? Maya, was it?” Sasuke ignored the comment. He honestly couldn’t remember the girl’s name. It had been three years ago. His fingers worked quickly at the knot at the center of Sakura’s back. When it was untied, he tugged at the lacings, and after several moments, it was loosened enough that Sakura would have no trouble in disengaging the many hooks that ran up the front of the garment. She gave a long sigh. “That feels infinitely better.”

Ten minutes later, they were curled up together on his futon, a thick blanket covering them to their waists. He had his arms around her, and one of her legs was hooked around his. It was probably the most comfortable thing he’d ever experienced. Though, he had to admit that it was a little odd. The strangeness of it made him chuckle, and Sakura propped her chin up on his chest, eying him. “What’s funny?” She asked sleepily.

Sasuke continued laughing for a minute. When he was finished, he said in a pensive tone, “Did you ever think we’d end up like this?”

Her snort made her head hop up a bit from his chest. “Never, really. Especially when we first met.” Sasuke nodded slightly in agreement. Sakura’s tone became a bit teasing after a moment, “Though…you did stare at me pretty hard that first day, so I guess there was some kind of indicator on your part.” He grunted, slightly annoyed at how she still wouldn’t let him live that down. “But you know, I didn’t really care. Who would really be annoyed that someone so pretty was staring at them?”

He poked her in the side, frowning. “I’m not pretty.”

She was barely holding back a smile, now. “Yes you are. I bet if we put you in a dress, you’d look enough like a girl to fool just about anyone.”

“I’m not pretty.”

Sakura was smiling broadly now. “Yes you are.” Sasuke growled and shoved her onto her back before flipping his body atop hers.

In a tone that held something of his previous growl, he said, “No I am not.” Sasuke could feel her body shaking as she tried to hold in her laughter. “I’m not.”

“But you are, Sasuke. And you’re even prettier when you’re angry.” He was just about to open his mouth to start telling her that there was no way that he was pretty. Sasuke was far too manly to be pretty! But that was when he noticed the way her hair was spread over the pillow, and how her eyes caught the faint light that didn’t get blocked out by the curtains. And just like always, his mouth shut, and he couldn’t say anything.

He started grumbling unintelligible things as he rolled back over. Sometimes, he really hated the way she did that. And the worst part was…she didn’t even do it on purpose. Sakura smiled and kissed his cheek. “It’s okay that you’re pretty, Sasuke,” she said in his ear, “because I’ll get to see the way all of the girls are jealous…some of the boys, too.” Had the lights been on, Sakura would surely have seen the way his face went about three shades of red in less than five seconds. But it was blissfully dim in the room, so she just laid her head on his shoulder and said, “g’night, Sasuke. Love you…”

The smooth evenness of her breathing soon lulled him to sleep, and for once, waking was not a chore.

--

Hatake Kakashi leaned against a wall. It was nearly time for his three protégés to trudge into the building for their second syndicated show. A rather disturbing package had arrived via bicycle messenger that morning, and he needed to speak to Naruto about it. He did not have long to wait, it seemed. Looking up from his book, a masterpiece of 1970’s erotica, Kakashi spied Naruto bouncing down the hall. He looked normal enough, hyperactive, lacking a long attention span, and cheerful to a fault. When the younger man approached, he held up his fingers in a ‘peace’ sign. “Yo,” greeted Kakashi casually.

“Heya, Kakashi. What’s up?” Naruto asked quizzically, tilting his head to one side.

“Naruto, can you come with me to my office?” Blue eyes widened, and then glanced around quickly, looking worried. When Naruto asked what it was he wanted to discuss, and if it was about the dry ice in the men’s toilet, he didn’t know anything, Kakashi laughed. “No, I don’t care. The toilet didn’t explode since you didn’t flush it, so it’s fine. Just come with me.” The sagging in Naruto’s shoulders made Kakashi chuckle to himself as he led the way down the winding corridors, past darkly paneled doors, until they came to one door that was positively plastered with cartoon strips.

He reached for the handle, and opened the door, letting Naruto in first. The kid sat in the chair in front of the desk. “What’s this all about, if it isn’t about the smoking John?”

Walking around the desk, Kakashi turned on his television, which sat on a shelf nearby. “I’m going to show you something, but I need you to swear to me that you will not discuss this with anyone unless I give you authorization.”

“Okay…” Naruto said slowly, “I won’t.” The look on the younger man’s face showed his incredulity at being the one to have the privilege of a secret. Most people—Kakashi included—knew how much of a loudmouth Naruto was. The fact that he got overly excited and would spill his guts with the tiniest provocation didn’t really help matters when someone decided that he would be a good confidante. With this particular matter, however, Kakashi had absolute confidence that not a word of it would pass Naruto’s lips without his permission.

Taking up the remote control again, Kakashi activated the VCR, and pressed the ‘play’ button. “This is a copy of last night’s surveillance from the Bauhaus, Naruto.” The screen lit up with the image of a tiled bathroom. After about ten seconds, he could clearly see a black-and-white Sakura enter the room, and stand over the sink, rifling through her little purse. Only three seconds after her hand had entered the small bag, a very large man came into view, and approached her quickly.

This was the fifth time he had watched the tape, but it still made Kakashi rather sick to his stomach. The man grabbed Sakura, and her bag, before stuffing the bag into the pocket of his coat and dragging her into a stall. “What the hell is this?!” Naruto yelled, jumping up from his chair and pointing at the screen, glaring at Kakashi.

“It is not over yet, Naruto. Please continue to watch.” His voice came out much more evenly than he thought it would. It didn’t matter how many times he watched this. The scene was still as disturbing on the fifth viewing as it would be on the fiftieth.

The view switched to a second camera, giving them an aerial view of three stalls. Naruto made a choking noise when the man held a knife to Sakura’s neck. And then he shoved her face-first into the wall of the cramped stall, and there was a bit of scuffling before something dark fell to the floor. “Mother fucker…” Naruto breathed, disbelievingly. But then, Sakura somehow got out of his grip. In a few sharp movements that looked suspiciously like Sandra Bullock’s ‘self-defense’ demonstration from the American movie Miss Congeniality, she managed to incapacitate her attacker, and the blonde man gave a whoop of triumph. “That’s the way, Sakura! Kick his ass!”

Kakashi couldn’t help but snort.

Black-and-white Sakura was now pushing her way out of the stall, and the view changed again. Now, it showed Sasuke holding her, and then the man staggered out of the stall. It was unsurprising that the dark-haired young man had nearly choked the assailant, and barely let him go without more than the broken, bloody nose that Sakura had given him, along with a nasty limp that might mean broken bones in his foot.

He shut the tape off. Turning to Naruto, he asked, “Did you know about this?”

The younger man shook his head, still staring at the now-blank screen. When he finally focused on Kakashi again, he said, “No…they acted a little weird when they came back out of the bathroom, but otherwise they were fine. I don’t know what the hell…that bastard was trying to—“

“But he didn’t, Naruto, and that’s the important thing.” Kakashi supplied, and added, “But the problem remains…and I do not think that she has even realized. This man, whoever he is, has Sakura’s purse. And you and I both know all of the stuff she can fit in there.” Now, Naruto’s face became glazed in horror. Good. He understood the threat that this posed. “Her family is going to have to be notified. Certainly, her keys were in there. Locks will have to be replaced at her parents’ apartment. Credit cards will need to be canceled, and any other identification will need to be reproduced…but that is not the truly frightening part, Naruto.”

The young man nodded. With an air of disbelief, mixed with simple and unadulterated horror, Naruto breathed, “He knows where she lives, now.”

“Bingo.” Kakashi leaned back in his chair.

“We have to tell her that we know, Kakashi. She can’t just stay ignorant of this. Once she realizes, Sakura’s gonna be so paranoid, we won’t be able to pry her out of her room!” Naruto was now gripping the arms of his chair. His leg was beginning to twitch up and down, and it looked like he was going to start pacing at any moment.

“Ma, ma, Naruto, we’ll talk to her. But we’ll have to be…discreet. If Sasuke knew…” Naruto nodded in agreement before taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. There was little question as to what Sasuke would do. He would use his old connections from the year before they started college to find the guy and probably beat him half to death. That’s if he didn’t kill him…and that was a big ‘if’. This was not going to be fun. “For now, just concentrate on getting through today’s show. We’ll deal with everything afterward. Police and all.”

--

Sakura slid into her chair, setting down her very hot cup of tea. Sasuke was standing in the doorway of the control room, seeming to hover. “You’re sure you’re okay?” He asked, sipping black coffee.

Sighing, Sakura queued another commercial before they went on. From the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto sitting across the other room, not paying either of them any attention. “For the last time, Sasuke, I’m fine. My bag just got lost somewhere at the club.” That seemed to placate him, and he left it alone, muttering something about talking about this later, when he took her home. “Get in there and put on your headphones, Sasuke, before I decide to do something I might regret.” Her threat only earned her a glare, but he did as she told him to, closing the door behind him. Though she said that, she knew it wasn’t true. She knew that Juugo had her bag, and everything in it. Her apartment keys, her identification, her credit card, the passes she used at work, and all of the other little things she carried on a daily basis that would need to be replaced. It had never really occurred to her how much of a security blanket her purse was…

The commercial ended, and Naruto was the first to speak. “Well, hello there, night-owls. You must just be getting up if you’re nocturnal like us. This is Naruto, your friendly neighborhood ADD sufferer, caffeine addict, and the handsomest guy in Tokyo…and my co-host, Sasuke. Say hello, Sasuke.”

Sakura watched as the black-haired man rolled his eyes. “Hi guys. For those of you that don’t listen regularly, or are tuning in for the first time, I am Sasuke. The sane one. And apparently the only one with manners. Naruto, you didn’t introduce our producer. Say hi, Sakura.”

“Hey,” Sakura said before laughing a little. Sasuke seemed to be in a strangely good mood. “So…what kind of topics do we have to talk about today, Naruto? You said you were going to get a list going…”

She watched Naruto punching keys for a few seconds, and then he piped up cheekily, “Well, there’s a Mr. Nakajima in Hokkaido who wants to know how big your breasts are, Sakura.”

“Next,” Sakura said dismissively. “That subject—as well as any other part of my anatomy—is not up for discussion!” After a smirk from Sasuke and a very disappointed groan from Naruto (as if he didn’t know her bra size already, but the rest of Japan didn’t need to!), the blonde man began paging through all of the email messages again.

Making a little frustrated noise, Naruto then apparently decided to find the absolute worst topics of conversation he possibly could, saying, “Hmmmm…Lemme see. Oh! How about this? An anonymous listener asks, ‘What would you rather do…eat your own toenail clippings, or spend the day in the sewer?’ How’s that for a horrible topic?” No wonder they wrote in anonymously, Sakura thought, I’d be ashamed to attach my name to that…

Sasuke smacked Naruto so hard on the back of his head that his headphones flew off. “Hey!” Naruto yelled, retrieving them from where they’d fallen, but Sasuke was already laughing and finding something to talk about without Naruto’s help. Rubbing at his poor tender head, the injured man made his way over to the little fridge, and withdrew a fresh frappuccino, shaking it hard as he sat back down.

Taking a quiet sip of his coffee, the fair-skinned man across from Naruto asked, “How about I ask the listeners a question, and they call in with an answer?” Both Naruto and Sakura seemed to agree with this idea. Sakura was relieved, since she really didn’t want to talk about toenail clippings or her breast size. “Okay…listeners, what is the dumbest thing you ever did to get a date?” She watched a sadistic grin stretch Sasuke’s mouth. Apparently, Naruto saw it, too, and his eyes widened behind his glasses. He was in one of his moods.

When he was in the correct temperament, Uchiha Sasuke was quite possibly one of the most cruelly amusing people on the planet. The call-board instantly began lighting up, and Sakura started screening as Naruto began recounting the most embarrassing thing he ever did to get a date.

“Well,” the blonde man said after a long swig of milky coffee, “I worked next door to a pet store when I was in high school—“

Sasuke sniggered, “You mean when you had that job waiting tables in drag, Naruto?”

Naruto slammed his hands down on the desk, yelling in frustration. “Gah! Way to give away the punch-line before the joke gets going, Sasuke! Now I’d just as soon not finish!” Sakura was glad she’d turned her mic off. She wasn’t sure what was making her laugh more, the callers or her co-workers. Already, she’d hung up on three men that said they had run naked through department stores…but Sakura highly suspected that they were all the same guy, just using different voices. There was a woman who wrote her phone number across her breasts and flashed someone, but she could only begin to imagine the torment that Sasuke would put that person through.

Ten more calls later, Sakura answered, “Radio Tokyo. What’s your embarrassment?”

A disembodied female voice said, “Hi…my name is Amiko. The worst thing I did to get a date…I slept in front of his door every night until he agreed to go out with me.”

“Wow…” Sakura replied. “Hold on. I’ll put you through.”

Pushing a few buttons and flipping on her mic, Sakura said, “Okay boys. We’ve got Amiko here. She says that she once slept on a guy’s doorstep until he agreed to go out with her.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. Sasuke remained silent as the blonde inquired as to the outcome of the date. “Oh…so what happened?”

Sakura was already screening more calls as the woman explained that she and the formerly stubborn man were now married, and had been for fifteen years. Sasuke snorted. “Beat him into submission, did you?” Naruto made an affronted sound and bounced a well-aimed ball of paper off of Sasuke’s head. But the woman laughed at his barb, replying that he was probably right.

--

Sasuke listened to so many of these idiots and the stupid things they did to get dates, propose marriage, and get laid that he was starting to lose interest. “Okay…I think that’s enough. So how we take a little break? Naruto, throw on some music after these words from our sponsor.” Sakura instantly queued a commercial, and started telling people to stop calling, since they weren’t doing the responses anymore. Then, he saw her go stiff in her seat. Hurriedly, he flipped the switch that turned his mic off. Rising from his seat, he went to the control room and yanked the door open.

“Why are you doing this?” Sakura asked quietly, looking like she was about to cry. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. Was that bastard calling the station now? He nearly let out the growl that started building in the back of his throat. Instead, he moved forward, pulling the cable for Sakura’s headphones out of the port on the console.

Instantly, a somewhat-muffled voice flooded the room, a low and threatening tone. “—know you enjoyed my hands on you, Sakura. Don’t lie to yourself. If that girly-boy hadn’t showed up, you would have seen what a real man looks like.”

Now the growl did come out. He pushed Sakura’s chair out of the way, gripping her microphone in his hand and yanking the boom toward him as he bent forward. Sakura gasped behind him. “You just signed your death certificate, ass-wipe.”

Juugo’s voice took on a note of amusement. “Ah. The skinny little bitch-boy…and what do you think you can do to me? Should I lock my doors? Change my address?”

Any trace of emotion drained from Sasuke’s voice as he spoke next. “No. I’ll find you. But I promise that no lock in existence will keep me out. Run. Run far, and fast. It might buy you a few more days. But believe me when I tell you this…you won’t see me coming.” There was a scoff from the other end of the line. “If you have anything else to say, now’s the time. Consider it your last words.”

A long, surprisingly good-natured chortle came through, before Juugo replied, “I want to see you try, little man. I’ll be seeing you later, Sakura.” The line then went dead, and Sasuke glared at nothing, having no target for his rage. When he turned to Sakura, he saw her sitting as still as a stone, her face ashen and hands gripping the armrests on her chair. Her face was drawn in a mask of fear.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto through the glass, and saw his friend make a gesture that meant something to the effect of calm her down, I’ll handle it here. Nodding, Sasuke moved to kneel in front of Sakura. “Sakura.” His voice directed at her seemed to rouse her mind, and she blinked at him rapidly before her face seemed to fall in on itself, a choked sob escaping her throat. Sakura threw her arms around his neck, launching her body at him and flattening him to the floor.

“He…he’s going to…oh, God…what am I going to do?” Sakura whispered, tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes until they soaked the shoulder of Sasuke’s sweater. He held her, stroking her hair and making soothing sounds. He was not about to tell her how sincere his threats had been. She knew nothing about what he had done before they met. Sakura did not know how he had learned things that most law-abiding people didn’t. How he had been part of a minor gang…how he’d beaten people within an inch of death. How he’d stolen, broken into places just because he could…and so many more things that he could not count them. But he had never gotten caught.

“It’s going to be fine. I won’t let him touch you, ever again.” His voice sounded more confident than he felt, but that wasn’t very much of a surprise. It took nearly losing her to make him admit out loud how he felt. Now that he had, and by some miracle she returned his feelings, he was not going to let some psychotic asshole bastard take her away. “Never again.” When he pushed himself up into a seated position, Sakura was in his lap, still wrapped around him. He pried her arms away from his neck, and gripped her face, forcing her to look at him. “Listen to me, Sakura.” When she seemed to come back to reality from her fear, he said, “He will not touch you. Do you understand?”

“Sasuke, how—“

“I’ll find a way to make sure he doesn’t.” He knew that he couldn’t make himself do those things again. Those days were in his past. But if he had to, he could call in a favor. He knew at least half a dozen people that still owed him, and those guys had long memories. But first, they would go to the police. If official channels failed, then he would call everyone he knew, starting with the big fish, right on down to the hired thugs. Juugo was going to pay for what he’d done, and Sasuke wanted to be there, looking into his eyes when it happened.


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A/N: Did you like? And who will win the cookies?