"Holy crap." It was the only thing Sakura could think to say. She had just returned from a week long mission to find her small apartment ransacked.
"Why me?" she whimpered as she wandered through the chaos. She stood in the center of her living/kitchen/dining room, assessing the damage. Her beloved book collection, which included everything from medical texts to corny romance novellas to emotional poetry, was missing entirely. The bookcase that it was stored in had been thrown to the ground.
She glanced towards the kitchen area. Most of her dishes were gone. The unused pots and pans set, which had been a gift from her parents, was gone too. The curtains had been ripped from the walls, along with the pictures she'd hung up. Tears sprung to her eyes when she realized that her favorite picture, the one of team seven from the early days, was nowhere to be seen.
After standing still for what seemed like centuries, Sakura realized that she hadn't checked the rest of her house. She climbed over her overturned desk, which had been relocated to block the entrance to her bedroom. Her bedspread and covers were gone, along with her pillows. The only thing left was her mattress. The door to her closet had been left ajar. When she peeked in, she almost screamed. Most of her clothes were gone or torn, scattered across the floor in strips of color.
The only place left to check was the bathroom. She steeled her nerves and slowly cracked open the door. All of her toiletries were gone. Her favorite razor, gone. The cute little towels that hung above the toilet, missing. Her rubber ducky, nowhere to be found. Everything that wasn't bolted down had been taken. What kind of sicko did this? And why me? I'm surrounded by older, richer home owners with a heck of a lot more valuable stuff than I have. Someone somewhere must really have it in for me.
After wandering around in the mess for a few moments, she felt as if she'd throw up if she didn't leave. "I need a drink." She called Ino and told her to meet her at one of their favorite bars.
"Damn." Ino muttered as Sakura told her the news through tears. Ino had found Sakura sitting alone at a booth in the back, looking quite dejected. After downing a few cocktails, Sakura had burst into tears and told Ino about the robbery. "I didn't think people even did that kinda thing around here. I mean, we freakin' live in a ninja community!"
"I know," Sakura sobbed. "I don't, well, didn't even own anything worth stealing! Why does the world hate me so much?"
"Maybe the world is jealous of your giant forehead," Ino said, making a lame attempt at a joke. Sakura grinned at her attempt to make her feel better. Ino gave Sakura a comforting hug and said, "I promise everything will be okay."
"Why wouldn't it be?" questioned a familiar voice. The girls looked up to find Naruto, Shikamaru, and Hinata standing there. Sakura and Ino scooted over as the trio joined them at their booth, Hinata on Sakura's side, the boys on Ino's. "Well, what happened?" Naruto continued to inquire. Sakura let out a long, shuddery sigh and told her story again, bursting into tears a few times.
"What a pain," Shikamaru said.
Hinata reached over and grabbed Sakura's hand. "That's so horrible! Who would do such a thing?' she half whispered.
"I don't know but I'm gonna find out!" Naruto screamed, getting up from the table. Shikamaru grabbed his arm and pulled him down.
"We don't even know where to look, or what to look for, for that matter. What we need to focus on is helping Sakura right now. Like somewhere to stay." Sakura smiled at Shikamaru. She had always admired him for being able to quickly analyze a situation and formulate a plan. Then it hit her. She really couldn't stay at her apartment.
"I don't even have any spare clothes." Sakura said, her head resting on the table. She felt tears stinging her eyes again, but refused to cry.
"You can always borrow some of mine," Ino answered. Hinata offered Sakura her clothes too. Sakura thanked them, hugging them both. "Now, to find forehead somewhere to stay."
"You can stay with us," Hinata offered, referring to the small apartment she and Naruto lived in. Shikamaru offered her his spare bedroom, and Ino said she could sleep on her couch.
Sakura began to respond but then Naruto yelled, "Why doesn't she stay with Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi, who had been sipping sake quietly at the bar, turned around to see Naruto pointing at him.
Sakura was dumbstruck. Did Naruto just suggest that she stay with Kakashi? The village pervert? She would've been more comfortable staying with Shikamaru. At least she wouldn't have to worry about being watched in the shower. Hmm, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. She might get a glimpse of Kakashi in the shower…. "Bad thoughts!" Sakura chided herself silently.
"Why doesn't who stay where?" Kakashi asked. He pulled a chair up to the edge of the booth as Ino told him Sakura's story, embellishing a few parts. "That's unfortunate," Kakashi said.
"Well then it's fortunate that you live in that huge apartment all alone, am I right?" Naruto countered.
"Yeah," Ino chirped, "You should have plenty of extra room."
"Sounds like a good solution to me," Shikamaru said. Hinata concurred.
"Come on guys, I can't expect Kakashi-sensei to do such a thing. It's too much to ask. I'll just rent a hotel room until I figure out what to do."
Come on Kakashi-sensei, let her stay with you," Naruto pleaded. Sakura began to protest again, but then Kakashi spoke.
"Its no problem. I have a loft you can sleep in." Naruto cheered and slapped Kakashi on the back.
"I wouldn't want to intrude-"
"Please, I'm asking you to stay. You wouldn't deny your poor old sensei the pleasure of taking care of one of his students, would you?" Kakashi took her hand in his and gave her a pitiful pleading look.
This could be bad. Try as she might, Sakura couldn't deny that she liked her x-teacher. A lot. Not in the sensei/student way either. She always tried to hide any feelings she had for him, but she would have a hard time doing that if she were to stay with him.
Sakura ignored the butterflies that suddenly sprang to life in her stomach and said, "Okay, but only for a little while. Until I figure out who did this." Kakashi gave her a stomach flipping, birds singing smile, which only made Sakura realize she was in trouble.