Stripped Bare

Hey everyone, here’s the next chapter FINALLY! I’m sorry for the wait but school has been all-consuming.

As always, thanks to my beta crew!

I do not own Naruto. This story contains mature content.

XXXXX

Stripped Bare-Chapter 5

The fair weather, or what could at least be considered fair weather in Rain Territory, held for most of the morning. While the clouds above were gray and angry, no rain fell until almost noon and by then, they had reached the edge of Fuzen Machi.

Sakura had been more and more awed with every passing mile as the buildings grew taller and the lights grew flashier. The technology this part of the world possessed made her own hometown seem humble and bumbling. Kakashi must have picked up on her feelings because he chuckled softly and noted that while Fuzen Machi and the surrounding cities may have had access to state of the art technology, some things were better left simplified. Looking around, Sakura supposed she had to agree, for while these people lived in a modern world of neon lights and steel, none of them looked very happy. In Konoha, happy faces were everywhere.

The comment made her feel better but she couldn’t help but be a bit overwhelmed by it all as opposed to Kakashi who seemed perfectly at ease in the dirty, narrow streets. She was thankful he had accompanied her, for the thought of braving such a strange, new world alone was unappealing and a little intimidating. It was hard to believe all this existed just five days away from Hidden Leaf.

Now that they were in the city, conversation was minimal since they had to speak much louder to make themselves heard, but before they had left the lush roadside greenery behind for concrete and chrome, the had talked together comfortably about nothing in particular.

Despite the odd chain of events that had taken place last night, Kakashi hadn’t acted strangely at all upon awaking beside her the next morning, and for that she was grateful. It seemed he had stayed true to the promise of not letting things become awkward between them anymore, and his relaxed demeanor made it easier to brush last night’s activities under a rug and pretend that none of it had ever happened.

Only, it had happened and it appeared Sakura’s mind was not willing to let her forget so easily. Perhaps it was because he had introduced her to her very first experience regarding lust and desire and he had managed to actually make her feel sexy. Whatever the reason, it left her feeling a little torn between wanting him to make her feel that way again, and wanting to keep her distance, considering they were teacher and student and feeling something like that for him was way out of line.

However upon entering the city, the bright lights and immense buildings effectively distracted her as they made their way to the given address of the club. They found the correct street just as the first raindrops began to fall, urging them to hurry along to avoid getting soaked.

Their client’s establishment was a drab two story building crowded into a back ally. A large neon sign huge over the door and though it wasn’t on at the moment, she could see that it would flash the word “girls” in hot pink as soon as it got dark. Over the door was a similar sign in green reading “Wet Dreams”, obviously the name of the club.

“Classy,” Sakura muttered sarcastically as she draped her shawl over her frizzing pink hair to keep it from getting drenched and made her way to the solid looking door that appeared as if it hadn’t seen soap and a sponge in quite some time.

“You ready for this?” Kakashi asked, pausing with his had on the smooth metallic surface.

“Even if I’m not, it’s too late to turn back now,” Sakura said with a sigh.

That wasn’t exactly the answer he had been hoping for but he gave a short nod and proceeded anyways.

Even though the club wouldn’t be open until nightfall, the door yielded under the firm press of Kakashi’s hand and swung inward to grant them relief from the rain which was beginning to fall harder.

It took a moment before their eyes could adjust to the darkness within. Only one light was on in the back of the room and gave just enough light for Sakura to make out a small bar on one side of the room and several tables and chairs packed throughout the rest of the space. What really caught her attention though were the raised platforms scattered around the room and in the center of these were narrow silver poles that extended all the way to the ceiling.

Sakura envisioned the room full of people and what it would be like to be dancing on one of those stages. Basically, she would be a piece of meat on display and she tried not to shudder at the thought of it.

The building seemed totally empty and their footsteps echoed slightly and they ventured further inside, letting the heavy door swing shut behind them.

“Hello?” Sakura called softly, looking around for any sign of life. When she received no reply, she looked at Kakashi quizzically.

“Does the mission outline say anything about where to meet our client?”

Kakashi shook his head without consulting the scroll. He had already memorized its contents before even leaving Konoha.

“No, it just said to come to the club and I’m positive this is the right place.”

Just then, a door opened off to the left, streaming light into the dark room.

“Who’s there?” a male voice called as a head stuck out around the corner to observe the trespassers.

“Dajaku-san?” Kakashi asked and the man’s eyes instantly narrowed.

“Yeah, who wants to know?”

“We’re the Konoha ninja you requested sir,” Sakura said politely despite their less than warm greeting. “I’m Sakura Haruno and this is my partner Kakashi Hatake.”

The comment finally drew the man out into the open and he walked over to the couple, eyeing them critically.

The first thing Sakura noticed about the man was his height. He was only a couple of inches taller than herself and Kakashi’s tall form dwarfed him. He was dressed in a simple collared shirt and dark pants, modern clothing that coincided with the rest of the town.

He stopped a few feet from them, beady eyes darting from Kakashi to Sakura.

“I only requested a kunoichi. What are you doing here?” he asked, jutting his chin in the Copy nin’s direction.

Sakura was a little taken aback at this man’s blatant rudeness, especially since he was the one that had requested Konoha’s help in the first place. Kakashi on the other hand, seemed unfazed.

“Our superior felt we would not be able to complete the mission adequately with only a single shinobi on the job. We will be working as a team, her as a dancer and myself as an undercover patron to this club.”

His voice was calm and rational but carried an underlying tone of finality; one that said, “If you don’t like it, we’ll pack up and leave.”

Dajaku studied them a moment longer before seeming to relent, although he still eyed both of them suspiciously.

He turned and beckoned for them to follow him into the lighted room from which he had first emerged.

Sakura saw movement out of the corner of her eye and tensed but when she turned her head, she found it was only her reflection. One of the walls held a large mirror and she mused that it seemed like an odd place to put such a thing.

She hadn’t noticed before but the corner on the large room had been walled off and when she stepped in, she realized he had made it into a sort of office. One of the walls was a large window that allowed him to see the entire club but she didn’t remember being able to see in to the office. The panel must have been made of one-sided glass, the mirror on the outside being the reverse.

The inside of the room was covered with pictures and posters, most being advertisements for his own club and photos of himself with various scantily clad and sometimes naked woman. Some pictures showed girls in various states of undress as they performed on stage and Sakura swallowed hard, knowing that very soon, she would have to do the same. However, she was pleased to see that not all of the women in the pictures had bountiful breasts. Some looked even flatter than herself and still managed to look incredible. One of the more recent posters featured a perfectly proportioned girl with long, flowing lavender hair who was in the process of blowing a kiss to the camera while her free arm draped over her bare breasts, barely keeping herself decent. The girl was gorgeous, breath taking even, and Sakura wondered if she could ever be that daring and beautiful and sexy.

“Now,” Dajuku said, settling into a plush chair, his words bringing Sakura’s attention back to him. “Let’s talk business.”

There were no other chairs in the room, forcing the two shinobi to stand in the cramped space but neither really minded much. In the light, they were granted a better view of him and the eyes that had looked beady in the dark were actually an odd shade of silvery gray. His dark hair was thinning but he attempted to hide it with an intricate comb-over; something Sakura had always found hilarious. Judging by his face, he didn’t look that old, maybe in his mid forties and Sakura guessed that he had actually been quite handsome in his younger days. Except for the ridiculous comb-over, he actually wasn’t so bad looking now.

Sakura watched him fold his hands carefully on the smooth wooden surface of his desk and noted the gaudy golden rings, some containing large stones, which adorned almost every finger. Each one probably cost what she would be getting paid for this entire mission and she couldn’t help but wonder just where he had gotten the money for such baubles. The club couldn’t be that profitable, could it?

“As you are aware, I have had a series of disappearances at my club,” Dajaku said seriously, eyes fixing on Sakura without giving her partner a second glance. “The first one was six months ago and I thought perhaps it was just a fluke. This isn’t exactly the best part of town after all.”

Sakura nodded as if in understanding but was secretly thinking if any part of Fuzen Machi was anything but a bad neighborhood.

“However, two months ago, another one disappeared and I was beginning to think it was more than just a coincidence. When Aiya went missing two weeks ago I knew I had to do something and that’s when I sent my request to Konoha.”

He told his story calmly enough but the knuckles of his interlaced fingers were white, as if he were squeezing them together hard, betraying what Sakura guessed to be stress and worry.

“But why contact Konoha?” Kakashi asked, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stood in his usual slouch. “Suna is much closer than us and you would have been able to get someone here much quicker.”

Dajaku looked at Kakashi with mild irritation, clearly not liking being interrupted or questioned but answered the inquiry anyways.

“A colleague of mine had actually passed through Konoha a while back on his way to the Eastern coast and mentioned in one of his letters how beautiful the kunoichi of that village were. I figured that if I was going to pay for a woman’s help, I might as well get my money’s worth. I had heard there were some real lookers in the Hyuuga clan, but I like you too. I don’t have a pinkie working for me yet.”

Sakura tried not to be offended, knowing that looks were almost as important as actual skill when it came to stripping. However, she couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed by his chauvinistic views. If he were really acting in his dancer’s best interest, he would have called Suna and she could only guess that the reason he called anyone at all was because having girls going missing all the time was bad for business.

At the mention of the Hyuuga name, she envisioned timid Hinata having to dance for Kakashi as she had done. The poor girl would have been stone dead by now if she had taken this mission, killed by her own embarrassment.

Kakashi gave a noncommittal “hmm,” but she could tell he wasn’t all that thrilled with their client’s answer either.

“So how did the girls disappear exactly?” the Copy nin asked, the eye not covered by his eye patch fixed pointedly on the man behind the desk.

Dajaku shot him another irritated look and became clear that he didn’t like his presence in his office.

“They were working their night shifts as normal, working the pole, giving lap dances, and only when the club closed down did we realized we were short one girl.”

He sat back in his chair wearily and plucked a framed picture off his desk, looking at it for a moment.

“Poor Aiya, she was such a pretty little thing. She brought in a lot of customers too.”

“Is that the latest girl who was captured?” Sakura asked and Dajaku nodded, handing the picture over for then to look at.

“We looked high and low for all of them,” the club owner continued. “But there wasn’t a trace of any of them. All their things were still in their rooms so I know they didn’t run off with anyone. It took a lot of effort just to keep the other girls from panicking.”

Sakura gazed at the girl in the picture. She was young, probably even younger than herself. She was wearing a lacy green baby doll and matching g-string that went nice with her sandy blonde hair, but what stood out to Sakura the most was that she wore an expression that was neither sultry nor seductive, but a genuine smile that would no doubt light up a room.

Kakashi leaned in to examine the picture as well before she handed it back to Dajuku. As he took the framed photograph, he looked at her carefully, silver eyes seeming to appraise her, scanning what he could see from behind his desk.

“Sakura was it?” he asked and she nodded. “Such a pretty name,” he mused. “It suits you.”

“Thank you sir, but I think it would be best if I had a code name for this mission on the off chance anybody recognized my true name. A lot of shinobi come to your club after all.”

“Pity,” he said with a shrug. “I rather liked it. What shall I call you instead?”

Sakura glanced over at Kakashi sheepishly. In all honesty, she hadn’t thought that far.

“How about Hana?” Dajaku offered when he saw she had no ideas of her own. “It still fits you well I think.”

Sakura nodded her agreement. The name actually wasn’t half bad.

“So, I know what part you will play,” the club owner said to Sakura. “You will dance obviously, and extract information as you go, but what do you intend to do?”

The condescending tone was not lost on Kakashi and he stood up a little straighter, wondering how a man of Dajuku’s stature could be so ballsy when talking to an elite shinobi.

“I will act as a normal patron of this club,” he said calmly, fixing the smaller man with his one-eyed gaze. “I will blend in with the crowd on the nights Sakura dances and assist her in looking for anyone suspicious as well as research any leads we might get.”

“I see,” Dajaku said, his grey eyes hardening into steel as he settled back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “And how much is your extra assistance going to cost me?”

Sakura could tolerate rudeness to a point, at least when it was directed at her, but seeing their client who had specifically asked for shinobi assistance greet Kakashi with such hostility quickly wore on Sakura’s patience.

“Look, if you’ve changed your mind about needing our services, we can go back to Konoha,” she said flatly, taking a step forward and placing both palms on his desk. She made sure he was meeting her eyes as she spoke in a stern voice. “If you still want to employ Leaf ninjas, you will have to employ both of us and that means paying for the services of two shinobi. Take it or leave it.”

Dajaku seemed a little taken aback at the kunoichi’s statement and even Kakashi stood in surprised silence. He knew she had taken on some of Tsunade’s personality traits while under her tutelage such as her fiery temper and short fuse, but seeing proof of it in front of him was a little startling.

Even though he probably should have reprimanded her for being rude to a client, he couldn’t bring himself to scold her since inside he was silently applauding her actions.

The balding man looked from Sakura to Kakashi and back to Sakura again, as if debating if the kunoichi was worth paying the price for two shinobi.

“All right,” he said with a defeated sigh, shrugging his shoulders as if the whole thing was inconsequential after all. “However, I can only grant the kunoichi room and board. You…Tahake-san?”

“Hatake,” Kakashi corrected shortly.

“Yes, yes,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You will have to find housing somewhere else I’m afraid. I don’t have an extra room for a male.”

Kakashi nodded. He thought that might be the case, although it annoyed him a little that he would have to pay for it out of his own pocket seeing as Tsunade had not calculated that into the money she had sent along to cover travel expenses.

Sakura on the other hand didn’t seem at all keen on the idea and was just about to open her mouth and say something else when he put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her gently back from the desk, silently communicating that further discussion of the topic was unnecessary.

Sakura grudgingly relented as Dajaku seemed to relax a little now that the headstrong kunoichi wasn’t glaring in his face.

“Is there anything we should know before we scout around the place?” Kakashi asked, becoming increasingly eager to get away from the man that was rubbing him the wrong way.

Dajaku was thoughtful for a moment before answering.

“I would like your presence here to be kept a complete secret. In all honesty, the only people who know we’ve had girls disappear are myself and the other dancers here. It’s essential you to do nothing that disturbs the workings of the club, especially while it’s open at night. That would be bad for business you know.”

Sakura noted that his demeanor was slowly changing. He had become less wary, his gaze less scrutinizing as he accepted the fact that the pair in his office were there to help, not to harm.

“We intend to be practically invisible,” Kakashi assured.

“Yes, and in fact, I would rather that not even the other dancers know who I really am,” Sakura added. “If they truly believe I am one of them, maybe I can gain some extra information.

Dajuku nodded and said he would see that it was so before asking if they needed anything else.

“Yes actually,” Kakashi said. “Do you have any friends who own similar clubs or know of anybody else who might want this club to fail?” Kakashi asked.

The man in the chair chuckled and shook his head.

“I know a few of the other club owners around town but some of the places are a little ritzy, at least when compared with this place. We do just fine here but we are by no means the best in the business. I can’t see any of them bothering to view me as competition.”

“Well is there anyone else then? Someone who has a personal vendetta against you? Or maybe someone you own money to?”

Dajaku shook his head.

“Nope, all my loans were paid long ago.”

Despite his assurances, Sakura wondered if there was something money related at the bottom of this mystery. The man seemed to love his gold a little too much.

“All right, well I suppose that is all we need for now,” Kakashi said. “We’ll ask more questions as they come up.”

Dajaku nodded and stood and even bent slightly at the waist in a small bow to the two before flashing them a smile, a very handsome smile in fact. It appeared he had warmed up to the idea of paying for two shinobi and he instantly smoothed out the rough edges of his personality.

“I apologize for my behavior earlier,” he said, his once hard and critical face now taking on a much friendly demeanor. “These are rough parts and you never know who is going to come around looking for you, and when two shinobi show up when I had only requested one, well, what was I supposed to think?”

Sakura secretly answered that he could have taken the stick out of his ass and attempted to act civil but she held her tongue.

“Well, now that all that is out of the way, let’s get on with the audition.”

The pink haired woman didn’t even realize Dajaku was talking about her audition until Kakashi placed a strong hand on her shoulder, palpable even through her several layers of clothing.

“She doesn’t need an audition,” he said tightly, his voice daring him to say otherwise.

Dajaku took that dare.

“If she is going to be dancing at my club, I want to make sure her skills are up to my standards. I can’t put just anyone on that stage,” he said as he rose from his chair but still unable to become eye level with the tall Copy nin.

“And if she’s not?” Kakashi continued, his hand squeezing her shoulder a little. “Will you send her home in hopes of a replacement? You outlined your requirements in your letter and we assigned an appropriate kunoichi. Her skills are sufficient.”

Kakashi wasn’t sure why he was so against Sakura auditioning. After all, she would be naked or close to it on stage soon enough and maybe a little practice would be good for her. However, Kakashi was fairly certain this wasn’t about assessing her skills. He just wanted to be entertained by a fresh piece of meat and he wasn’t about to let Sakura deal with that. Dajaku could see her debut along with everyone else when she danced for the first time.

The club owner’s gruff introduction had left a bitter taste in his mouth and Kakashi found himself still wary of the money-loving man. His fears were unfounded and probably had no merit but the thought of him ogling Sakura as he forced her to give him a free show just for kicks has him very ticked off.

Dajaku looked at Kakashi before letting his eyes rove to the woman behind him as if weighing the sight of Sakura’s body against the anger of the tall shinobi. Apparently he decided he could wait.

“All right fine, if you say she’s good enough then I’ll take your word for it,” he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Sakura let out the breath she hadn’t known she had been holding. She hadn’t wanted to perform solely for this man either and was thankful Kakashi had gotten her out of it.

“I believe we have nothing else to discuss so if you would like, I can introduce you to the other dancers,”

Sakura nodded and the headed for the door, Dajaku in the front with Kakashi bringing up the rear.

As they emerged into the darkness of the club’s main room, Dajaku mentioned that if Kakashi wished to keep his relationship with Sakura a secret, he should probably leave the club before another dancer spotted him.

The shinobi agreed and wrapped his scarf tighter around his face in preparation to brave the rainy weather once more.

“Will you be performing tonight?” he asked, placing a hand on the large metal door.

Sakura looked to Dajaku for confirmation.

“If you would like, you can have tonight to get settled in and watch the other dancers from the wings to see how things are done around here and make tomorrow your first performance.”

Kakashi nodded in understanding before slipping out the door and into the steadily falling rain.

For some odd reason, Sakura found herself feeling a little disappointed that her partner hadn’t even said good bye. True he would see her again tomorrow night but she had been hoping for at least a few parting words of encouragement. Then again, this was Kakashi after all and that sort of thing was never his style.

The feeling left her quickly when Dajaku spoke.

“How do you put up with him? Are all male ninja like that?”

Sakura had to suppress a snort.

“No, Kakashi is…special.”

If every male shinobi was like Kakashi, she would have gone out of her mind a long time ago.

“Thank goodness for that,” Dajaku chuckled, motioning for her to follow him.

“All living quarters are upstairs. That’s where the girls are now. You’ll be rooming with one or two of them, seeing how there’s a couple of beds free after the recent disappearances.”

Sakura followed him as he expertly wove his way between the tables even in the near darkness until they reached a long narrow platform on the side of the room opposite the bar that looked like three of the mini stages pushed together. Deep red curtains made the perfect backdrop and Sakura saw they actually made up the wings. She followed the short man behind them into what must be a dressing room and saw that there was a narrow staircase nearly obscured by make up mirrors that led to the second floor.

“I’m rather glad you’re here. I've been worried for the safety of my girls, since I suppose, I’m a little like a father figure to them now. I take care of them and in return, they keep Wet Dreams going. I hate the thought of another one disappearing.”

Sakura wondered how the hell he could say the club name in conversation with a straight face and also what kind of father would encourage his so-called daughters to dance naked for crowds of perverted men but held her tongue. While Sakura would have liked to believe he was genuinely concerned for his dancers, she wondered if he was more worried about the money he would lose if the rest of the girls up and quit if the attacker struck again.

“Do you think there could be something in any of the girls’ pasts that could be connected to the abductions?” Sakura asked as they began to ascend the stairs.

“Possibly, but I doubt it,” Dajaku said over his shoulder. “All of the dancers here are orphans for one reason or another. Whatever life they led before is irrelevant as far as I’m concerned and I take care of them because they have nowhere else to go.”

Yeah, that sounded benevolent and all but Sakura had a sneaking suspicion he only took in girls that looked good in G-strings who might make him some cold, hard cash.

At the top of the staircase was a solid looking door and Dajaku withdrew a bronze key from one of his pockets.

“You lock them in?” Sakura asked incredulously as he turned the key in the lock.

“No, no. A few of the girls have their own key and can unlock it from the other side but lately, we’ve been doing this as a precaution. We don’t want anyone unwelcome finding their way up here, especially in light of recent events.”

He pushed the door open and Sakura immediately felt a pleasant heat warm her, taking the edge off the chill of her wet clothes.

The room wasn’t very large but was warmer and brighter than any other place she had been in the club. It was obvious it was some sort of common room, the space crammed with several shabby but comfortable looking chairs as well as a table and a book case full of various books, but all that was hardly worth mentioning in comparison with the five pairs of striking eyes that were all currently trained on her.

It appeared that two of the girls had been huddled around the small table playing some sort of card game while another with long black hair was stretched out on her back on one of the sofas with a book in hand. The last two were seated on the floor, a girl with short, dark hair braiding the brown tresses of the girl in front of her. Apparently, these activities were far less interesting than staring at the girl in front of them.

“Ladies, this is Hana,” Dajaku said, stepping into the room with Sakura in tow to allow them all to see her better. “She’s the newest addition to our family so please make her feel welcome.”

At first, nobody spoke at all and just continued to stare quietly and Sakura was beginning to feel a tad bit uncomfortable. Maybe they weren’t really receptive to newcomers.

However, one of the girls at the table finally shattered the silence.

“Oh wow! You’re so pretty!”

The other girls murmured their agreements while the speaker hopped up from her chair and trotted over. She was smaller than Sakura and had blonde curly hair that bobbed around her cherubic face with every movement. Her big blue eyes held a sweet kind of innocence and Sakura had a hard time envisioning her dancing on one of the poles downstairs.

“I’m Misaki,” she said, offering a hand for Sakura to shake. “If you ever need anything just let me know and I’ll be happy to help!”

“Thank you,” Sakura replied, a little surprised at such a warm welcome.

“So what brings you here?” asked the second card player as she flipped exquisite red hair over her shoulder and gazed at her with striking violet eyes from over the cards in her hand.

“Well, I honestly never expected to end up in a place like this,” Sakura replied truthfully. “But I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Honey the same goes for all of us,” the girl on the floor piped up from her cross-legged position as she finished braiding the hair in her hands. “None of us ever thought we would be doing what we do but here we are, brought together for one reason or another.”

All the girls nodded in unison and Sakura could sympathize. Fate had led them here and taking their clothes off for a living was now their life, not just a role they played for a particular mission. When all this was over, Sakura would be able to return home, but not these girls, and Sakura couldn’t help feel sadness for them.

“Well let’s not leave her standing in the doorway,” the woman on the couch spoke up quietly as she sat up to make room on the couch.

“Yes, yes! Have a seat!” Misaki said enthusiastically, grabbing Sakura’s hand and practically dragging her to the couch where she suddenly found herself sitting between the blonde and the woman who had been reading.

“You’re name is Hana right?” she said in her quiet, gentle voice.

“Yes,” Sakura nodded.

“My name Miyabi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Tora,” the hair braider on the floor said.

“I’m Jitsu,” the brown haired girl said with a tentative wave.

“And I’m Kitsune,” the red head spoke up.

Sakura looked at each of them as they spoke, making a mental note of their names. They were all so unique and breathtakingly beautiful in their own way, even in the comfortable sweats and tank tops most of them wore and once again she wondered why they had all resigned themselves to living here. Any one of them could have become a model with little effort if they tried.

“I’ve never seen pink hair before,” Misaki mused as she examined her damp tresses. “They’re so cool!”

“And those green eyes,” Tora added. “Honey, you’re gorgeous! You’ll fit right in.”

The group giggled and agreed and Sakura was beginning to wonder if perhaps this mission wouldn’t be so bad if she got to spend it in the company of these women who seemed so kind.

Just then a door at the back of the room opened and another woman emerged. If Sakura had thought the other girls were beautiful, this one was absolutely captivating and Sakura instantly recognized her as the purple haired girl that had been on the poster in Dajaku’s office. She was dressed nicer than the rest, foregoing comfort for fashion in a low cut sweater and tight fitting pants that only accentuated her slim waist and generous curves. Her purple tresses were pulled into a high ponytail but the length of them still flowed down her back.

Despite her indisputable beauty, Sakura saw her eyes narrow slightly as they settled on hers before she fixed a slightly strained smile in place.

“Oh, who do we have here?” she said as she walked to the door in which Sakura had entered.

“This is Hana,” Misaki offered with a smile. “She’s going to be staying with us.”

“I see,” the woman said, seeming to look Sakura over critically from where she was standing. “That’s wonderful.”

Despite her smile, Sakura could tell there was no warmth in her voice or her eyes, her aquamarine eyes remaining cold and calculating.

With a final glance, the woman extracted a key and unlocked the door, passing into the stairwell and Sakura could hear the turn of the key in the lock and her echoing footsteps as she descended the stairs.

“Don’t mind Tsurenai,” Kitsune said, getting up from her chair to lean on the back of the couch. “She’ll warm up when she realizes you’re not here to steal her spotlight.”

“Spotlight?” Sakura asked, not being well acquainted with show business lingo.

“She’s a diva, and the club’s star dancer. That’s why she gets her own room.”

“And she wears all those fancy clothes because she makes way more in tips,” Masaki said with a sigh.

“So if she turns up her nose at you, don’t worry about it honey. That’s just how she is.” Tora added from the floor, jerking her head in the direction of the door.

Sakura’s head was turning in every direction as she tried to keep up with myriad of comments. This was worse than when Team Seven and Team Ten had gone out to dinner. Everyone one had been talking at once…well, except Shikamaru and Sasuke who found it to be too much of an effort. It had mostly been Naruto and Ino fighting for the attention while yelling at Chouji to stop eating everything in sight.

“We don’t really mind it though,” Kitsune said from her spot behind the couch. “She keeps men coming to the club and once they’re there, it presents opportunity for the rest of us. She’s the reason a little club like this does so well.”

It was obvious nobody really talked to Tsurenai and having her own room meant she spent a lot of time alone. Sakura was surprised that with a face and figure like that, she hadn’t already been abducted.

Although the diva would probably hate her for it, Sakura decided it would probably be a good idea to keep an eye on her since she was a likely target for future attacks.

“So Hana,” Misaki piped up again. “You’re going to stay in the room with Miyabi and me right? I’ll even let you have the top bunk! Come on, it will be fun!”

The kunoichi couldn’t help but smile that even though all these women were close to her age, the sunny blonde seemed to be treating her arrival like she was a friend coming for a pre teen sleepover.

“All right Misaki,” she answered. “But you can keep the top bunk.”

XXXXX

The windowless living space was small to say the least. Two bunk beds took up the longer walls of the rectangular room leaving a pathway of three or four feet between which started at the door and ended at a tall and narrow dresser that filled the space between the bunks at the back of the room. There was a little bit of room in front of the beds and in one corner was a full length mirror. The other corner in front of the adjacent bunk held a crude bookcase that held a couple pairs of shoes, miscellaneous knick knacks and a framed picture of all the girls she had met a moment ago. At first glance she didn’t see purple hair and assumed that Tsurenai was not in the picture.

The only light in the room came from a squat lamp on top of the bookcase and while left the far corners in shadows, it was adequate.

“Well, this is it,” Misaki said cheerfully, pushing Sakura gently into the room. “Welcome to your new home.”

“It’s nothing fancy but it beats the streets.” Miyabi added.

Sakura unshouldered her damp pack she had been carrying all this time and set it on the floor. There was nothing in its contents that would reveal her as a ninja and felt no need to hide it.

“Thank you for being so kind to me,” Sakura said genuinely. If she had had to face an already difficult situation without the company of such sweet girls, she wasn’t sure what she would have done.

“Don’t mention it,” the blonde said as she plopped onto one of the bottom bunks where Miyabi had already gracefully sat. “I’m just glad you found this place safely. The city can be dangerous for people like us.”

Sakura nodded even though she knew she wasn’t anything like these girls and could handle herself just fine in a dark and gritty town like Fuzen Machi.

“How long have you two been here?” Sakura asked, curious to find out more about the girls she would now be living with.

“Well, I came here about eight months ago, so I’m still pretty new,” Misaki admitted as Sakura took a seat on the bunk across from them. “In fact, I was the newest addition until you came so I guess now I’m not the baby anymore!”

“Misaki, you’ll always be the baby,” Miyabi said with a soft smile and the kunoichi couldn’t help but giggle. With that rounded face and bouncy attitude, she could see why the blonde would never be able to escape that title.

“Aww, you’re so mean Miya!” she pouted and Sakura couldn’t help a small laugh at her adorable display. They looked so much like an older sister reprimanding the younger one, even if they looked nothing alike.

“What about you Miyabi?” Sakura asked, nodding towards the taller woman.

“I’ve been here since I was sixteen,” she admitted quietly, hands folded in her lap and her eyes cast down to the floor. “I was one of the first Dajaku recruited when he opened his club and I’ve been here ever since.”

Sixteen?! Sakura’s mind screamed. She couldn’t imagine doing this sort of thing at sixteen. While she had known what sex was at that age, she certainly hadn’t been able to wrap her mind around the concept of sexuality and arousal. It wasn’t until her recent encounter with Kakashi at the inn that she had even grasped the true feeling of blatant sexual desire. To be fully knowledgeable of such things at such a young age and to have to use that knowledge and expose her body just to get by…it was a horrible thought.

“Wow,” was all she managed to say aloud.

“Yeah, Miyabi is an old pro at dancing,” Misaki smiled. “I think she’s the best dancer here! She’s even better than Tsurenai and everybody knows it. That’s why she hates Miya so much.”

“Oh?” Sakura asked, raising a pink eyebrow. The aqua eyed diva had seemed so cold and impassive and she was surprised that Tsurenai would be so petty when her position as star dancer seemed secure.

“Tsu doesn’t like anyone who’s better than her,” Misaki shrugged. “She usually ignores all of us but if you get on her bad side, watch out! That woman can be a real pain! Then again, if you don’t have men flocking to you and are content with taking the men she turns away, she pretty much leaves you alone.”

It seemed that even in the dark world of exotic dancers there was a hierarchy to be followed and since she was the newest, she was automatically on the bottom. Sakura didn’t mind much, considering she would rather not be here at all and the girls had made her feel so welcome she hardly felt like she was the lowest on the proverbial ladder. However, if she wanted to solve this mystery and help these women, she would have to be able to interrogate whomever she wanted and that meant she couldn’t stay on the bottom forever. With all these beautiful people with far more experience, she wondered if it was even possible to climb a rung or two.

“Enough about her,” Miyabi said quietly, lifting her dark eyes from the floor. “I’m sure you’ll hear more than enough about her during your first few days here.”

“Yeah,” Misaki chimed in, motioning for Sakura to come join them on the bed. “What about you Hana? How did you end up here?”

Sakura had expected they would be curious about her past and had a fabricated story ready but the duo seemed so open and honest with her that she felt a little bad about lying.

“Well, this isn’t exactly where I had planned on coming. It was all kind of a big accident,” she started.

“Believe me,” the blonde sympathized. “None of us are here because we want to be. Stripping isn’t exactly what we had dreamed of doing with our lives but we have nowhere else to go.”

“Yes,” Sakura pretended to admit as she got up from her own seat and sat down between the two dancers. “I supposed if I hadn’t found this place I’d still be wandering in the rain…or worse.”

“What happened?” Misaki asked, blue eyes growing wide as she waited for Sakura to tell her tale while Miyabi continued to quietly sit.

“Well, I was born in a very small village on the Northern edge of Rain Territory,” Sakura fibbed. “We were peaceful despite the constant warring going on since we were so far removed from any other settlement. I was an only child living with my mother and father and although we lived the humble lives of farmers, we were all very happy.”

Her listeners were both looking at her, waiting for her to go on, Misaki’s bright eyes betraying her eagerness while Miyabi remained as calm and composed as ever.

“The wars of conflicting political groups had always stayed far away but as one regime gained power, they stretched farther and farther outwards in attempts to conquer anyone who opposed their views,” Sakura said, drawing her story from her knowledge of recent history in the politically unstable country. “We knew of this but it had never affected us much, so when a small band of tired and hungry men came looking for shelter, we gladly took them in. Only when their pursuers came looking for them did we realize they were in fact key members of a group that had lost power to one of the more violent political parties and they had come to wipe out the last traces of the opposition.”

“Oh no!” Misaki gasped, knowing what was coming.

“They didn’t even bother asking questions,” Sakura said sadly, knowing that this story could very well be true for many people actually living in the rogue country. “They just burned everything, homes, businesses, farms. They killed whoever they saw, innocent or not and left as quickly as they had come. The only reason I lived was because I had offered to pick berries from bushes several miles off for a pie my mother was going to bake. I heard the screaming and saw the flames from where I was but by the time I got back there was nothing left.”

Imaginary or not, Sakura’s story was chilling and the kunoichi found she didn’t even have to pretend to act rattled. The thought of such a horrible fate to befall a village for the sake of some political belief naturally made her clench her fists in anger.

“Did any one else survive?” Miyabi asked, her voice just above a whisper.

“None that I ever found,” Sakura said. “I wandered in a daze until I came here, running from bandits and other men who thought I could offer them a good time. When Dajaku found me taking shelter from the rain, he offered me a home here. I suppose I was foolish for finding my way into this dangerous town in the first place but I’m lucky Dajaku found me and not someone else.”

Misaki had taken Sakura’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently, her face full of compassion and concern and once again she felt like a rat for deceiving them.

“It’s ironic that your good looks that got you into trouble will now save you isn’t it?” Misaki said with a small smile.

“Yeah,” Sakura said, the bitterness in her voice genuine. “But I guess I can’t hope for anything better in this town.”

“They don’t call it the “Sinful Town” for nothing,” the blonde agreed.

“We all hope to leave someday,” Miyabi said softly, running her fingers through her long hair that Sakura noticed was in fact, a gorgeous, inky, blue black like a raven’s wing. “Dajaku treats us well enough and this job gives us the opportunity to make more money that we could anywhere else in this city. Once I have enough saved, I’m going as far East as I can get. I’ve heard it’s beautiful there.”

Sakura wanted to nod, to tell them it was indeed a beautiful place, that Konoha would take any of them in without question and they didn’t have to live this way. But of course, she couldn’t.

Instead, she asked, “How did you guys end up here?”

Misaki shrugged, sending her curls bouncing with a tilt of her head.

“My parents died when I was little. I don’t even remember them. I lived in an orphanage all my life but once I turned eighteen, they threw me out to make my own way in the world. I had no money and no direction so I ended up here. I guess you could say I was lucky too.”

She finished her sentence with a smile, optimistic in spite of all her tribulations and Sakura realized that the baby faced blonde was a hell of a lot stronger than she had thought. It was the kunoichi’s turn to give the hand in her own a comforting squeeze.

“I was sold,” Miyabi said simply as if that explained it all, but when Sakura looked at her questioningly, she continued.

“I lived with my father and two older brothers. My mother died giving birth to me so I never knew her and I guess my older brothers always held that against me a little. My father was a merchant, traveling constantly and sending money back to us. One day, it wasn’t money that came but a notice saying he had been killed by bandits and the huge dept he had accumulated was now our debt.”

“So…your brothers…” Sakura gasped, in horror.

“Yes,” Miyabi said, her features remaining placid despite the pain in her eyes. “They sold me without my consent to the next noble that passed through despite my protests and before I knew it, I was living in a castle in the middle of Rock Country.”

Sakura couldn’t believe the cruelty of Miyabi’s own family and could only imagine the betrayal she must have felt to be treated as a bargaining chip.

“I might have actually been happy except that the noble’s wife took an immediately dislike to me and tried to frame me for stealing one of her valuable rings. She was going to have me put to death so I ran, and when I stopped running, I was here in this town, and that’s when Dajuku found me.”

Sakura shook her head in amazement, hardly able to believe what these girls had been through. There had been so many times when she had complained about training and long, arduous missions but they were all nothing compared to the stories of her newfound companions. She had had it so good back in Konoha and the rough path she walked had been out of choice, not necessity. How could life be so unfair to rob these beautiful girls or everything they had known only to place them here in this sleazy little club? And even their haven was no longer safe with the recent disappearances of their fellow dancers. The thought made her blood boil and she silently vowed that she would find the culprit and make him pay.

“I guess fate had a hand in bringing all of us together,” she said softly, releasing Misaki’s hand and giving her a tiny smile.

“Yeah,” the blonde said firmly. “And now that you’re here, you are part of our family too. We’ll look out for you Hana so don’t worry!”

“If we don’t watch out for each other, nobody else will,” Miyabi added, her voice low and melodic even when talking about something so serious.

Sakura had always believed that phrase, relying on her team mates to watch her back as she did the same for them, but here, in this god-forsaken place, she realized that those words would probably never ring so true as they did now. While she was here to help and protect these women, she was new to the environment and mentality of taking off her clothes to make a living. Yes she would help these girls, but if she was going to get through this mission, she was going to need their help too.

XXXXX


Sakura had ended up talking with her new room mates longer than she had intended but she had learned a great many things in the process.

It seemed the girls, though they admitted he was stingy, thought Dajaku allowed them enough money to live comfortably enough, though not extravagantly. In exchange for providing them with housing, he demanded a large percentage of their tips which wouldn’t have bothered Sakura if Misaki hadn’t been wearing threadbare sweats while Dajaku sported high end clothing and all those rings. The business owner may have been keeping them off the streets, but he certainly wasn’t eager to pamper them any, except for Tsurenai, but Sakura hadn’t seen enough of her to draw any real conclusions about her yet besides the fact she was insecure and unreasonably hostile.

After their talk, Misaki and Miyabi had excused themselves to shower and begin getting ready for the night’s show. The living arrangements reminded Sakura of a dormitory with bedroom doors opening out onto the main hallway. Each side had one bathroom with one shower and Sakura wondered how in the world six girls were going to live with two bathrooms and one water heater. She was prepared to face many cold showers, that much was for sure.

Sakura had remained in the room, unpacking her few meager belongings and settling in to her new home while replaying the day’s events in her head. None of the other dancers had mentioned anything about their peers going missing but perhaps that was because they didn’t want to scare her off. Her room mates had been so engaged in their conversations about their pasts that it was possible they simply hadn’t gotten around to it. Sakura decided not to read too much into it just yet. Indeed, the only suspicious person in the bunch seemed to be Tsurenai and she was just plain frosty as opposed to maniacal so she didn’t seem to be worth keeping an eye on either.

She wished Kakashi were here to give his input on the situation, but she had a feeling he would agree with her that this was most likely an outside job and that the dancers were going missing simply because the kidnapper liked beautiful women.

Kakashi…what was he doing this very moment?

She flopped down on her narrow bed and closed her eyes for a moment, envisioning his masked face. Even though he had forced her into some embarrassing situations, he was at least a familiar figure in all of this, and now that he was gone she felt totally isolated and a little lonely despite the warm welcome all five girls had given her. She missed his constant presence, even if he was silent beside her, engrossed in one of his books, and she wished he had told her where he would be if she had to get in contact with him, but knowing Kakashi, he would find a way to get to her if it was important enough and if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be a trace of him to be found anywhere unless she found an orange jacketed book and dragged it behind her on a string as bait.

Her mind drifted back to the night before and how he had been touching her, what an erotic scene they had painted in the scratched and dirty mirror of their room. She wasn’t exactly sure when she had stopped feeling like a fool and started feeling rather sexy or what he had done to her in the process to get her to move the way she had. She had never dreamed she would feel blatant desire for her silver haired sensei but she couldn’t deny that the way he had been touching her body had made her all hot and tingly in all the right places…or perhaps they were all the wrong places.

As a young girl, she had been convinced that she would never be able to love anyone but Sasuke, and as she got older and came to know the details of more intimate acts, she had always dreamed that all those things would happen between her and Sasuke as well. Having her first encounter with lust while grinding against her teacher that happened to be a full fourteen years older than her had never been in the game plan, but it had happened and Sakura wasn’t sure what to think. In fact, she probably shouldn’t be thinking about it at all and just let it go.

But she couldn’t. The image of their reflection and the feeling of his hands on her nearly naked body kept returning to her, how hot her skin had been and how good he had made her body feel. She tried to imagine doing the same thing with Sasuke but she just couldn’t picture him grinding his pelvis against her rear as if he meant to penetrate her right through her clothes. But Kakashi…if he had been lacking those pants, and she her panties, she was willing to bet there were endless possibilities that lay ready for exploration and all of them ended with Sakura feeling good…very good.

Sakura shook her head and sat up abruptly, nearly smacking her head on the bunk above her. Why the hell was she thinking about Kakashi like that anyways? So he had introduced her to desire. So what? It was all for the sake of the mission. And just because she had wanted him at the time didn’t mean that she wanted him constantly. She knew how human hormones affected behavior and that’s all the moment had been, the awaking of the primal need to reproduce, spurred on by a man who seemed to know exactly how to push all the right buttons. Well she could forget about the whole thing because he would never have to push her buttons again.

Though there were no windows, Sakura guessed the show would be starting soon and so she wandered into the hallway that was eerily quiet. It appeared all the girls were downstairs.

She passed through the common room and opened the door that led down into the dressing room and was immediately assaulted by the smell of hairspray and the sounds of feminine giggles. It was much warmer in the room thanks to all the lighted makeup mirrors and body heat and as Sakura descended, she could see flashes of bare skin as the girls hustled about.

“Hana!” a familiar voice cried and a bouncy little figure in a silver sequin bra and G-string bounded up to meet her. The only reason Sakura was able to tell it was Misaki was the blonde curls, for she looked completely different under all the dark eye makeup and red lipstick.

“I’m glad you made it!” she smiled toothily. I was about to get you in case you had fallen asleep or something. You can watch the show from backstage. Here, I’ll show you!”

The kunoichi didn’t even have time to answer before she found herself being dragged through the chaos of sparkling costumes to the door that led out to the club.

“You can watch from the curtain here,” Misaki said. “You won’t be able to see the whole floor but you’ll be able to see the three poles in front and we all rotate anyways.”

Sakura had just nodded in understanding when the door flew open and Dajaku poked his head in, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this was a girl’s dressing room.

“Two minutes ladies,” he said, before disappearing again.

She could hear the low rumble of masculine voices and the clatter of glasses and plates. The club was no doubt much fuller than it had been this morning when she arrived with Kakashi, no doubt packed with drooling men who couldn’t wait to see the group of women strip for them.

“Ready to watch the show honey?” Tora asked, walking up to her to give her a brief hug.

Sakura had wondered if she had always been so tall until she noticed the short haired brunette was wearing a pair of fire engine red heels that had to be at least four inches tall. The shoes matched her clothes…well, what there was of them anyways since the tiny triangle top and thong did little to cover her generous breasts and proportional hips.

“Yes,” Sakura replied. “I’m a little new to all of this so I want to know how it’s done.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up quick,” Kitsune replied, violet eyes gazing at her from beneath long, false lashes that made her look sultry and exotic.

The door opened again to reveal Dajaku’s balding head.

“All right girls, you’re on!”

All five dancers lined up single file and filtered out onto the floor, all walking gracefully despite the incredibly high heels they were all wearing. Their emerging onto the floor was greeted by a series of whoops and cat calls from the audience but none of them seemed embarrassed by it. In fact, they seemed to feed off the energy, giving sultry smiles or pouty lips in the direction of their admirers. Everyone passed out of her view except Miyabi and the quiet girl with the long brown hair. What had her name been? Jitsu? She could hardly tell it was the same girl, for the person here on stage was a far cry from the timid little mouse she had met upstairs. She wore a shirt that appeared to be a tube top with a zipper down the center, except the garment couldn’t have been wider than an inch or two, just barely covering what it needed. Her thong had ties on the side and Sakura imaged that if just one of them came undone, the whole thing would be gone in a hurry, but perhaps that was the whole idea.

Sakura noted that Jitsu’s breasts were hardly bigger than her own and that gave her a boost of confidence to know that she could still be sexy without a voluptuous figure, however, Sakura doubted she could mimic the captivating way she was moving, even with all the poise and agility of a kunoichi.

The girls took their poles with confidence, swinging their hips from side to side in time with the blaring music as they walked gracefully on tall heels that made their legs look impossibly long. Miyabi, who was already tall, looked like some sort of dark haired goddess, her long bangs falling into her eyes making her look mysterious and sexy.

Sakura was instantly captivated by how she moved…or rather flowed. She was like water, gliding seamlessly to the floor and writhing provocatively before somehow rising just as easily. When she climbed up the pole, she was awed, for although she had climbed a thousand trees, even without the use of chakra, she couldn’t imagine doing it in such impractical shoes.

Both girls seemed so confident, tossing their hair and undulating against silver poles without any inhibitions. They looked so sexy, so graceful and composed yet somehow seductive and Sakura wondered if she could even look like that.

“Not performing tonight?” a voice behind her asked and Sakura jumped a little, cursing at herself for letting down her guard.

She turned to see Tsurenai looking absolutely stunning, her long wisteria colored hair free from its previous ponytail and falling in loose curls down her back. Her turquoise eyes were rimmed with dark kohl, making the sparkling orbs stand out even more and black bikini top and ruffled boy cut shorts left all her perfect curves exposed.

“No,” Sakura answered turning back to the dancers on stage. “I thought I’d watch tonight and see how all this was done since I’ve never danced before.”

“Ah,” Tsurenai replied as she bent to fix the strap on her impossibly tall high heeled shoes. “Looking for tips then?”

“I guess you could say that,” she replied.

Tsurenai straightened and Sakura caught her looking at Miyabi on stage who was currently upside down on her pole, falling in a controlled slide to the floor without the use of her hands, looking every bit as graceful as if she were on two feet. Sakura could see the diva’s smoky eyes narrow and for a moment something that looked like jealousy or maybe anger flashed across her pretty features.

“Well here’s a tip for you pinky,” she said as the song playing finished and the audience applauded and whistled. Tsurenai brushed by her, shooting her a look over her bare shoulder.

“Just stay out of my way.”

The smile she gave was cold, as were her eyes, and with a flip of her hair, she was walking out onto stage, greeted with deafening cat calls and cries. Miyabi and Jitsu had left their poles, leaving the whole platform to Tsurenai who seemed to thrive on the crude propositions being hollered at her. As the next song started, she began to move her hips in time with the slow, thumping beat.

While her movements were even more suggestive, the gyrating of her hips obviously simulating other acts, she lacked the poise and grace that Miyabi possessed and Sakura could understand why Misaki thought their room mate was the best dancer in the place. After seeing both women in action, she had to agree with the bouncy little blonde.

The first song finished and the second one started, one with a faster beat and Tsurenai shook her hips accordingly, tossing her head to send her purple curls flying before returning to cascade down her back. As she continued to swivel her hips, she hooked her fingers in the waistband of her little black shorts and tugged them down a little to expose even more of her body, all the while throwing seductive glances at the men in the front row.

The sex crazed brutes immediately began hollering for her to take them off and after much teasing and parading around, she did, sending them sliding down her legs to be kicked off stage in Sakura’s general direction. She was now in a G-string that barely covered her womanhood, the scrap of black lace threatening to slip to the side and expose her at any second. Tsurenai hardly seemed to care, basking instead in the chorus of masculine shouts that accompanied the loss of her shorts.

She grabbed the pole with both hands and swung her body around on it, somehow bringing herself to the floor where she crawled on her hands and knees to the front of the stage to sit up on her knees with her legs spread, offering the front row a very good view of her barely covered crotch.

Sakura couldn’t believe what she was seeing as the woman began to raise her hips up and down, grinding against the floor as if she meant to make love to it, and the way she was running her hands down her stomach and threading them through her hair, it certainly looked like she was.

Is this what Dajaku expected from her? There was no way in hell she would ever do that alone, let alone in front of a crowd of people. Tsurenai however seemed right at home as she flashed a sexy smile to a younger man in the front row who was staring at her completely captivated.

Her hand went to the crotch of her panties and although Sakura couldn’t be sure from her position, she could have sworn she tugged them aside, just for a moment, offering her admirer a glimpse of her most intimate place, spread wide open thanks to her parted thighs. From the look on the man’s face, Sakura was pretty sure Tsurenai had indeed flashed him and her eyes widened as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of bills.

Tsurenai bit her lip and crawled forward, turning to the side to offer him a view of a long creamy leg and on it, a little black garter in which he tucked several of the bills.

Sakura was too far away to see clearly, but she had a feeling that if those bills were the denomination she thought they were, she could have paid an entire months rent on her apartment back home with what the man had just given her.

Other men in the audience were waving bills, eager to get the show the man in front had just gotten. Tsurenai crawled around the edge of the stage like a predatory animal, allowing the men who could read her to shove money in her top, in the waistband of her G-string, anywhere they could reach. She stood up and adjusted the money in her top before returning to her pole, hooking a long leg around it and climbing it easily in spite of her high heeled shoes.

When she reached the top, her thighs tightened around the silver shaft, enabling her to hold on without the use of her hands. As the song came to a crescendo, so did the applause of the audience as the star pulled the strings holding the garment together and let them fall away, exposing her breasts in their entirety.

As her top dropped to the floor, so did Sakura’s jaw. Nobody had ever said flat out that this club was topless, even though deep down she supposed she knew on some level, but seeing it here in front of her and knowing she would have to do the same thing this time tomorrow sent a wave of panic through her. How the hell was she supposed to get naked in front of a bunch of strangers and do it as if she wanted them to jump her bones any minute?

Even now, Tsurenai maintained her come-hither eyes as she slowly spiraled down her pole, letting her feet touch the ground effortlessly as she stood to resume the steady bump and grind of her hips, this time without her top.

The music ended and as Tsuranai came forward, the waving fists full of bills grew more frenzied as she made her way into the crowd, eagerly accepting the money being shoved in her face by men hoping to get a sneak peak under the G-string she was wearing.

Cheers erupted elsewhere as the music started again and Sakura assumed other girls were taking off their tops elsewhere in the club, a theory that was confirmed when Kitsune and Tora rotated to the front stage and began to gyrate against the poles, their tops joining Tsurenai’s on the floor.

The red head swiveled around just in time to see a flash of Sakura’s pink hair as she disappeared back into the depths of the dressing room and probably upstairs. The show had only just begun so she couldn’t imagine why their newest dancer had left the wings. Perhaps she was tired after traveling all day, after all, she was sure her trip here had been quite eventful.

Kitsune dismissed Sakura’s behavior and went back to focusing on the men in front of her, all looking at her with hungry eyes and offering raised fists clenching crinkled paper bills. With circle of her hips, she turned around and bent over, displaying her tight and toned ass to her adamant observers. When she snaked her torso back upwards she noticed a man who was following her every movement. He actually wasn’t that bad looking in comparison to many of the ugly thugs here. She gave him a flirtatious wink over her shoulder before turning to circle her hips again in a wider stance. Chances are he would ask her for a lap dance after the current set of songs ended and if so, she would have no problem satisfying his every fantasy, as long as he had the money to pay her for her services.

XXXXX

Even with the covers pulled over her head, Sakura could hear the steady thrum of the monotonous beat echoing in her ears from the club below. She had tried to watch and gain information on how to properly dance from the more experienced girls but the panic of knowing she would have to expose herself to strangers overwhelmed her and she had fled, something she hadn’t allowed herself to do in the face of battle for years.

She had thought she had been better prepared for this. She had thought that the embarrassing situations Kakashi had put her in would ease the shock of what she had to do, but smelling the cigarette smoke and the sweat, hearing the clinking of glasses and the murmuring voices and seeing real women perform on stage had driven home just what it would be like to get up there and strip and honestly, Sakura didn’t think she had it in her.

Kakashi had said she had done well during their practices, but his hands had been touching her, guiding her, showing her inexperienced body what to do. Tomorrow she would be on her own and she was afraid that when dancing side by side with these girls, it would become very apparent that she didn’t have a clue what she was doing.

Was that really the source of her fear? She was afraid of making a fool of herself? Was it the fear of exposing herself to strange men? Perhaps, but above all she was afraid she was going to mess up this mission beyond repair and come home a failure, just as Sasuke expected her to. He hadn’t said that out loud but his incredulous look when she had told him the premise of the assignment had been enough. If she failed, it would give him one more reason to scorn her, to ignore her and she knew Tsunade would be disappointed as well, not to mention it would make Kakashi look bad too. There was so much pressure being piled on top of her that Sakura thought she might collapse under the weight of it.

And now, above it all, she had met the young women she had been sent to save and realized they were all wonderful people, forced into this unscrupulous job by horrific turns of events. She couldn’t let anything else happen to them, not even Tsurenai after they had already gone through so much. She had to find the strength within herself to make this work. She just had to, although Sakura wasn’t quite sure how she was going to do that yet.

She rolled over, nearly bumping her nose against the wall as she did and she actually found herself missing those beds at the inns she had been staying at. They weren’t always clean, but at least they were bigger than this, big enough for her to lay in comfortably with Kakashi at her side, his steady breathing lulling her to sleep and his body heat seeping onto her side of the sheets to warm her bones. It seemed painfully lonely now without another body beside her, even though she had slept alone all her life.

For some odd reason, she wished he was here now to tell her that she would get through this fine, that she was a decent dancer and a skilled kunoichi, but from now on, nobody would be sleeping in her bed but herself.

She shut her eyes and willed herself to sleep in an attempt to escape the flurry of thoughts running through her mind, all of them screaming that she wasn’t cut out for this mission and would never be able to complete it successfully. The thumping of the music’s base continued long into the night and Sakura only succumbed to sleep when she imagined that it was Kakashi’s heartbeat.

XXXXX

I hope this chapter’s long length made up for the delay in getting it posted. There simply wasn’t a good stopping point in this chapter. I had a little bit of difficulty writing this one and I really don’t know how it came out so your comments would all be welcome. Thanks for reading!

~J-Pop