Crossing a thin Line

Summary: Sakura gets kidnapped by Akatsuki and is to bring them closer to the kyuubi. She refuses but in return learns about the intentions of Akatsuki, the organisation she thought to be so evil, seems to be friendlier in more than one way then she could ever imagine… DeiSaku and KakuXoc

Pairings: Main: DeiSaku and KakuXoc

Side: InoCho, NaruHina, KonanPein

Mentioned: SakuKiba

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything related to it. Only my OC.

-------------------- Chapter One --------------------

The hunt is open…

His head felt heavy as lead when he finally cracked his eyes open, ready to face whatever had blown him in this state. The first thing that he realised was that his porcelain mask of the ANBU had been removed. He frowned slightly. Now they knew what he looked like but the possibility of him ever leaving this place alive was rather slim anyhow.

"I see that you have awoken." A soft voice came from somewhere in the room. The man let his eyes wander around yet he only saw one person within the light. That was a man dressed in the Akatsuki uniform but without a shirt underneath the cloak. His violet eyes were cold, deadly and kept staring in his direction. This wasn't right. The man didn't have the figure to produce such a soft voice. Or he had had some serious problems with his puberty.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" the man asked with an aggressive tone in his voice.

The ANBU was sure of it now, this man had a much lower voice than the previous one. Perhaps it was all an imagination which was taking a run with him?

The sharp sound of metal sliding over the concrete caught his attention again. The silver-haired man in front of him had taken his weapon. A large, three-bladed scythe with a red color.

"Should we start already or wait until he is fully with his senses?" Again that soft voice. He had kept his eyes upon the Akatsuki in front of him and he had not moved his lips one bit. There had to be another person within the room though the fact that he couldn't sense that one slightly disturbed him.

"Let's start now. The sooner this starts the sooner it'll be over and then I can sacrifice his atheist ass to Jashin-sama." The man silenced for a short while. "The way I know you we're gonna be in this lowlife dungeon for the rest of the day before you finally put that dickhead out of his misery."

"I have no problems with you leaving the room, Hidan." That soft voice muttered, faint as the whispering of the wind.

"Hell no! I promised to sacrifice this fucker to Jashin-sama and I've got to keep an eye on him to make sure you don't do any immoral things with him!"

"Your religion supports utter destruction and murder… What immoral things could I do to him?"

"He has to be killed in the right way and not the heathen methods you use. Only the best for Jashin-sama."

"If he dies he dies… There is no such thing as the wrong or right method of killing. As long as he doesn't move or breathe anymore it is alright…"

"You know what, Shinkan?" he sounded rather annoyed and aggressive. "Go eat a dick! I'll handle this."

The ANBU narrowed his eyes. He had two names. Hidan, who was the man and Shinkan, the unknown person who was still lurking in the shadows. They didn't seem to be on good terms due to the man's religion. Perhaps he could take advantage out of this and escape through it.

Hidan suddenly moved his head towards the ANBU member and smiled at him in a way only psychopaths could. "Already aching for some action?" he chuckled darkly.

The ANBU frowned as he didn't understand. Was this man talking to him? He tried to look but something obscured his vision. It was only after a second that it hit him. The other person stood right next to him. Not even an inch away. How had he not noticed this one's presence from this distance?

"Have a seat, Hidan. You may do your little tricks a bit later." He was sure of it now. This was a woman. Hidan however did what was asked of him. He stepped away and sat on a random chair while watching the two intensely. Every muscle in his body was tense, he just wanted to have some action of his own.

"What is your name, ANBU?" she asked with that soft tone again. He didn't answer it. His name was top-secret. Only the Hokage knew it. Besides now he wasn't who he was when he was born. Now he was just one of the elites under the Hokage's order. He did not have a name and not even an identity.

"I can promise you that things will transcend easier if you just give us your name." she said again, slowly stepping into his vision. The ANBU tried to listen to her footsteps but he couldn't hear a thing. Not the stereotypical thud from the heel ticking the concrete nor even the rustling of the sole on the floor. She was a born assassin.

Now he had a good look at her. The first thing that struck him was the fact that she did not had a normal skin color. It was a pale grey. He could see now how he hadn't noticed her in the shadows. Her skin almost matched the grey of the concrete walls and floor. Her hair on the other hand was white. She could've just stepped out of a grayscale picture. She was a person who only consisted out of various shades of grey, save for her cloak which was the standard outfit for Akatsuki. From the purest white of her hair to the deepest black of her sclera. But there was one piece of her body which did not apply to that rule. Her eyes. They were the brightest orange he had ever seen in his life. Those eyes even seemed to be the most vivid part in the room.

"If you do not wish to tell your name I shall respect that. I shall give you a name so it will make things easier." She kept quiet for a while as she circled the man upon the chair, touching her chin as she was thinking. "I shall name you Araki… Your brown hair does remind me of rough wood." She explained.

"Just get this over with, Shinkan!" Hidan muttered, groaning in impatience. "I would've made him talk by now!"

"Your ways of doing things are not like mine, Hidan." She just said with that soft voice of hers. It almost seemed hypnotic to the newly named Araki.

"Araki, you and your team were brought here to spy upon Akatsuki, am I right? You were caught while spying around and you got captured." She summarised the events up 'till now. "Hidan and I were chosen for the job Konoha refers to as T&I, I think. Torture and Interrogation. Since we both have techniques that could make it hard for you to keep your lips tight. But all of that can be prevented…" She stopped right in front of him, smiling like she was his friend.

"I'll never talk!" Araki retorted. "No matter what you do to me! I'll never talk!"

"Oh you little fucker… Do you really think she wants you to talk?" Hidan asked, while laughing. "She doesn't want you to talk. She wants you to scream while you squirm in pain and agony. She wants you to-"

'That'll do, Hidan." Shinkan said with a stern voice before shooting the man a deadly glare. "Or I shall start by giving Araki here a little demonstration in which I torture you." Again she turned her slim features towards the captive Leaf-ninja and sighed. "If you do not cooperate with me I will have to rely on things you would not wish to experience."

"Try your worst!"

"Do not taunt the bull, Araki. You should expect its horns… I will give you this one chance. All I need is to know where the Kyuubi is right now. He is not to be found within Konoha and therefore he must be with the toad sannin, Jiraiya. All I need from you is how do I get in reach with him."

"I know nothing of the Kyuubi!" Araki growled.

"True enough… The Kyuubi is a matter which is considered to be taboo within Konoha since the demonic fox took the life of the Fourth Hokage. The Third Hokage wanted to give the Jinchuuriki a normal life unlike those others who are avoided and treated as if they have leprosy." She mused. Araki blinked. How could she know so much of the Kyuubi in Konoha? Then it hit him. They had Itachi and he would've talked a bit about the situation of the nine-tails.

"I'm not telling you a thing! You can torture me all you want! I won't speak!"

The woman smirked at him in a mischievous way. She glanced down, at her hand almost as if it were alien to her. "You should be aware of the fact that once I was an interrogator myself… In my previous village. You are not the first elite shinobi I have to break. Unlike Hidan proposed I will not waste my time trying to discomfort you with pains. There are other methods to gain the answer I want…" She turned back and faced Hidan. "You may do as you please, Hidan. It is your turn."

"Finally!" the man grinned. But unlike Araki had expected the man wasn't walking in his direction. He moved out of the room and vanished for some minutes before he reappeared with another ninja. This one still had its ANBU mask on. But he didn't even need to see the cat-like mask to know who it was. The long, blonde hair already told him that it was Asakaze, his feminine teammate. His eyes widened. He had known her ever since he was a genin. She had always been the kunoichi on his team.

"Love… It conquers all, they say." The musing voice of Shinkan muttered. "Let me explain to you what is going to happen-"

"If you dare touch her, you foul bastard then I'll personally kill you!"

Hidan started to laugh. "I wish you could kill me, bastard. But if even that bitch could ground you, you won't stand a chance against me…"

"You can still save your bonny-eyes." the feminine Akatsuki mumbled. "Give us information concerning the Kyuubi. Keep in mind though that I value my life too much to interrupt my partner in the midst of his ritual. The information given to me has to be of a decent value."

"Don't!" the ANBU-kunoichi said. "I can handle it."

"How precious. This entire scene is turning into one of those corny tales." The white-haired woman muttered before she leaned against the wall, right next to Araki.

"You may start, Hidan. He isn't going to listen to me. But do take her mask off. I want him to see the agony upon her face. And keep it calm, will you? She is not to die yet."

The man started to laugh in a maniacal way. The chilling sound bubbling from deep within him. "Fuck you, bitch. I'm going to handle this my way!" he smirked. "I've been waiting to do this… And I'm going to fucking enjoy it as well!"

"Does not sound very good. It's up to you, Araki. I can stop him from mutilating your precious girl. I just need to hear information which I can use to achieve our goal."

The look in those green eyes of Araki betrayed that he was struggling with himself. He was to choose for the faith of his village or that of his teammate, friend and even lover.

He whipped his head up at the sound of Asakaze screaming. She was kneeling upon the ground and the bigger form of Hidan hung around her as a blanket, but not a comfortable one. His head laid in the crook of her neck and his teeth scraped over her skin before he suddenly bit her, drawing blood in the process. Like a thirsty dog he lapped the blood off her skin and while he was doing so his skin changed color. He was turning black while white bone-like markings appeared upon his body. The resemblance to the grim reaper was striking and terrifying. Again a dark chuckle came from his lips, quickly bursting out in a roaring laughter.

Araki felt sick. Sick because he had to watch this girl, who he loved, being tortured by that deranged man. He wanted to shout out the things these two wanted to know but he couldn't. He couldn't because he'd ruin his trust with the Hokage and partly because he didn't knew anything at all which concerned the Kyuubi. He knew that it was Naruto, like most of the others in the village now. He knew he was gone with Jiraiya but to where or for what was left in the dark. Nobody knew that not even the Hokage to prevent things like this.

The man walked away from Asakaze and he took his distance once more. At this the other female in the room moved again. She knelt in front of the leaf-kunoichi and took the mask off her face. "You have the right to say things as well, girl." The Akatsuki whispered in the kunoichi's ear. "He is just getting started and it won't end before I know what I want to know."

In reaction Asakaze spat in Shinkans face. But the latter remained calm under it. She made a quick seal and the spit upon her face started to evaporate with a hissing sound. "Wrong choice." Was all the Akatsuki muttered before taking her distance and taking her place next to the masculine ANBU again.

Hidan gasped in pain as he had stabbed himself with a long, black pike in his side. The blood started to gush out of the wound and he used it to create a perfect circle with a triangle in it.

"Everything is set. The ceremony can begin!" he snickered madly.

"Don't get too jumpy, Hidan-kun." Shinkan remarked again, wiping the remains of saliva from her face and glaring with a hint of anger towards Asakaze. "I want her to feel every single bit of pain. Don't start stabbing wildly. Take some time between two wounds or else one pain will rule over the other."

"As if I don't know that, bitch!" the man snapped at her. "How about we start to immobilize you? It's not like you're going to need those pretty legs to run around." He held the pike above his head and slammed it right into his right leg.

Asakaze yelped in pain and started to squirm against her restrains. Blood appeared upon her own leg.

"What? What happened?" Araki called out, confused because of the wound Hidan had inflicted upon himself and which was now applied to his feminine teammate. He wanted to ignore it but he could see the agony upon her face. Her lower lip was swollen because she constantly bit on it to keep her screams to the lowest.

"Hidan is immortal. He can't die but if he digests the blood of another person and stands within the symbol of his deity he can transfer the wounds caused to him or by him to the person whose blood he has taken in." Shinkan explained in a monotone voice. "Look at it like a living voodoo-doll."

"Voodoo-doll my ass! Voodoo is a fucking retarded religion invented by dick-sucking dogs!" Hidan yelled. "Don't you even dare to compare Jashinism to that heathen religion!"

"Or else what?" Shinkan asked, smiling in his direction. "It is not likely that you will ever succeed in getting my blood. You do know of my abilities, do you not? Besides, you stated it yourself. You are the member of Akatsuki who has the slowest pattern of attack."

"I have some other things in mind…" That smug expression on his face told Araki that that man knew of the weaknesses of Shinkan.

He heard the woman behind him gulp but she didn't answer him. "That is of no matter right now… We were ordered to interrogate these intruders." She defended herself.

"I don't give a rat's ass about what that leader wants. If I want to I'll torture you and sacrifice your smoking ass to Jashin. It isn't every day that he receives the soul of such a S-ranked heathen bitch like you."

Hidan was getting frustrated and roughly pulled the pike out of his leg, mutilating Asakaze in the same way. She screamed a muffled cry and suddenly the ropes which held the woman down started to burn and she was freed. But she had nowhere to go. Not with a leg looking like that. She used her arms to hug her leg to her body. As if she could protect herself by doing so.

Araki looked next to him. The fire-seal the woman held in front of her face told him that she had released his love but not to escape. Only to create more drama.

"Tell me, Araki-san." She said, lowering her hand to her side, and talking to him as if they had been friends for a long time. "Can you live with the fact that this girl is going to be tortured, killed and her soul send to Jashin while you had it all in your power to avoid it by just telling whatever you knew? She will not live a happy afterlife. The souls of sacrificed people for Jashin are not happy souls. The few texts I have red describe tales of eternal damnation, eternal separation from both their ancestors as the souls still inhabiting the earth…"

"Asakaze…" Araki muttered.

"If you die eventually you will not go to the same place." She stated calmly.

Sweat pearled upon his face as he looked from Asakaze to the man torturing her to the cruel lady next to him. "I don't know anything which concerns the Kyuubi!" he screamed. "Just let her go! And torture me instead!"

"Are you unfamiliar with the purpose of torture?" she asked him mockingly. "If you don't know its location than tell us who he is acquainted with."

"So you can torture them?" He thought of the eighteen year old medical kunoichi who was now safely in Konoha. Sakura Haruno. Then the mental image of Iruka Umino entered his mind. Kakashi followed to that and even Hinata Hyuuga wandered in his mind. He knew that Hinata and Naruto had something going on. The boy had practically screamed it over the entire town when they had first kissed so nobody in the entire surroundings of Konoha did not know of their relationship. But eventually he shook his head. "I won't!"

"I will be honest with you. Even if you tell me everything you know we are still obligated to kill you. No doubt about that. But I can make sure that you will see her in the afterlife and that her torture will end quickly and she will die without further pains. Hidan can go on like this for days and he will if I do not bring him to a halt." She mused.

'Damn that woman to hell and that masochist-bastard with her!' Araki thought. But she was right. Ninja did not value their lives but they did have an afterlife, or at least that was what their religion supported. If it was true what this woman was saying his love would even live her afterlife in agony and pain. Was that the price he was willing to pay? Just to keep the Jinchuuriki safe? Besides were the villagers of Konoha not protected enough by their own ANBU. Akatsuki wouldn't stand a chance against them… Would they?

"It's not that I mind if you don't tell me. We'll just seek out another pair of Konoha-citizens until we finally find someone who does know the location of that Jinchuuriki. Hidan doesn't mind at all. He has more souls he can send to that wretched place." Her voice lowered to a soft whisper. "It'll only be a waste of my time and Konoha's souls…"

Araki couldn't handle it anymore. He was not going to let that happen. She was right. If he didn't talk they would just go out and hunt other persons down. One member of this organisation was able to take down an elite 3-membered ANBU team down with only killing one in the process and keeping two alive for questioning. Who'd know what they were truly capable of? "Sakura Haruno!" he called out with tears in his eyes. He couldn't believe what he just said. He had condemned that innocent little girl to the deepest pits of hell. But she knew Naruto for the longest time but she was also the student of Tsunade. Surely she'd be protected good enough. "Just leave Asakaze alone!"

He closed his eyes tightly and only cracked them open a little. The prey of Hidan was covered with blood. Not a single piece of her body was left unharmed or unscarred. She had no longer the energy to scream and just laid there, trembling upon the floor in a puddle of her own blood.

"How are we to recognize her?" Shinkan asked him. "If you say it I'll untie you and let you be with your beloved."

"She's the student of the Hokage, medical ninja. Green eyes, pink hair. That's all I know!" he yelled in tears.

"That is all I need to know." The lady said with a smirk before making that same seal again. The ropes of this man caught fire and got eaten away by it. The ANBU broke loose and ran towards the woman upon the floor. He kneeled down and pressed her tender body against his.

Hidan could only laugh at the scene. "How precious." He whispered. "You get to feel how that bitch dies."

Araki's eyes widened. "Stop him! You said you were going to stop him from sacrificing her to that god of his!" he screamed.

Shinkan had an amused look upon her face. "I had told you that I would make Hidan end the torture, which he will be doing by immediately killing her. And then you're up next. You're going to join her in the afterlife." The woman only said before scribbling something on a note. No doubt it was everything she had heard from the ANBU's mouth.

"You deceived me!" was all he could mutter.

"Those things happen in life." The white-haired woman sighed before nodding to Hidan.

He brought the pike down upon his heart, shivering in pleasure while the girl on the floor choked, her eyes widened before she slowly closed her eyes and fell limp in Araki's arms.

"Asakaze?" he asked softly. "Asakaze?" His hands stroke through her blonde hair and he held her tightly against himself as if her soul would return to her body if he did so.

"You can actually consider yourself fucking lucky that I'm the one finishing you off now." Hidan smirked. "My manner of killing is gentle if you compare it to her way of ending ones life."

"You're both monsters! Freaks!"

"We're both Akatsuki, Araki-san. We have a goal in life and to achieve it some persons have to die." The woman on the other end of the room said. "Finish him off quickly, Hidan-kun. I'll tell Zetsu that his meal is ready."

"All in due time, bitch." Hidan mumbled before stepping out of the symbol on the floor. His skin had turned to its normal pale one and he grabbed his scythe, swinging it behind his head and then brought it down upon the man. A clean cut made an end to the mans life and he fell on his turn upon his lover, robbed from his life.

A fresh stream of blood widened the puddle beneath the pair.

It was just another normal day. Not too hot nor too cold. A pleasant autumn breeze cooled the crisp air and dragged some of the colourful leaves with it. Birds flew high above the ground, singing their songs while flying off to a better place to get through the upcoming winter.

But most of the creatures upon the ground were forced to stay in the area they lived now.

Konoha was peaceful nowadays. A wide array of factors had made sure of that but not everybody in the village agreed with those terms.

In the hospital of the hidden village a certain kunoichi was making her way through the halls, carefully making her way to the exit.

"Bye, Sakura-sempai! See you tomorrow!" a younger nurse called as the head medic walked past her.

"See you tomorrow, Sayuri-san. Practise some more on your examination jutsu and you'll do just fine."

"Thanks, Sakura-sempai. I hope to be as good as you someday!"

The pinkette could only smile at the young girl. The long time she had been training under Tsunade and the hard work she'd put in it were finally paying off. There were three considerably good medics in entire Konoha. Hokage-sama of course, Shizune and Sakura. And slowly but surely even her reputation was spread far across the borders of the Land of Fire. It was quite occasionally that she had to go to a neighbouring country to heal some of their more important villagers from serious illnesses. She even knew of some former enemy villages who became allied with the ninja village because they had the only medics who could heal some of those lethal sicknesses. But that didn't mean that every village would just turn in a truce or agree to some terms. Other cities and countries still had their pride and most other Ninja villages like Iwa actually found it offending that they had three medics of that calibre while the Stone village only had medics of average calibre, occasionally a quite talented one but not once was as good as the ladies from Konoha.

But those weren't the reasons why Sakura was doing this. She didn't want the fame or the glory. She just wanted to be able to help people. In her younger days she had felt enough uselessness for the rest of her life and she never wanted to go through that kind of thing again. Each time she just sat there and did something but never really helped the team.

And now she was able to help wounded people and she felt good about it.

At the moment she had other things to think about than medical ninjutsu or even jutsu for that matter. Tonight was going to be special, she could already feel it.

What was going to happen tonight? A double-date was. Ino had finally decided to settle down with one guy in stead of hovering from man to man. It seemed that she finally had found mister Right and that in the person Sakura would've least suspected. Ino had been so hyped up about her date that she asked, actually forced, Sakura to go on a date along with her. The medical kunoichi never had seen her friend so hyped up about a date before. Ino had confessed to her that she actually feared that she might screw it up with this guy and if that were to happen she knew she was going to die a little inside. All the pinkette could do was reassure the blonde that she was a gorgeous, smart and pleasant woman who couldn't ruin it.

And so Sakura was left with seeking a potential partner for the date of tonight. It had been quite a struggle. Naruto had discovered since half a year that Hinata liked him more than just a friendly way and he had to confess that his feelings towards her were actually the same, especially since he'd grown over his childhood crush which was Sakura.

Sai was another one she could ask but she preferred not to. Her 'cute' nickname was still 'Ugly' after all these years and she didn't want to be insulted on her date, not to mention the annoying questions he'd ask when they would see Ino and her new boyfriend. The meaning of 'sense the mood' was completely lost to him.

And due to her hard work at the hospital her free hours had slimmed down drastically and socializing wasn't something Sakura did very often. She was glad if she could sometimes chat up with her other kunoichi friends of her age. But for the boys she was completely lost. Except for Sai and Naruto who were her teammates she knew no other boys more than just a comrade.

So Ino had fixed her a date. Sakura was actually wondering who her best friend thought would fit her. She just hoped that it wouldn't be Shikamaru. He just seemed so uninterested in everything what happened around him and she thought he wouldn't be the affectionate, attentive boyfriend she always wanted. Besides Sakura knew that he and Temari had something more going on than just being colleagues during the Chuunin Exams.

There was another difference about her and Ino. Throughout the years Ino had realised that Sasuke had only been the popular boy and that that was the only reason why she loved him but Sakura had love Sasuke for who he was and because he unconsciously had asked her for it.

Eventually she saw her own apartment appearing in her view. A happy smile stood over the lips of Sakura as she entered her home. It was very big but she didn't need a spacious room just like the other ninja she wasn't here most of the time. She was in the hospital, on missions or just gone training or sparring with friends.

Quickly she dropped the bag she took to the hospital and placed it on the counter before stretching her sore neck.

In her mind she was already thinking of what she was going to wear this evening and kept wondering who it was she was going to meet. Ino knew tons and tons of boys so perhaps she would get to meet someone she hadn't even met before. Such a thing would be awkward but worth to try no less.

She did a quick trip to the bathroom to let her body, sore of all the hard work, relax a little under a warm stream of water.

When she was done she was clean and felt that way. Now she only had to get dressed and perhaps make it in time to meet up with Ino who'd bring her to the other boys.

For her outfit she was going with something formal but still casual. Gowns and cocktail dresses she didn't have because she felt no use for them. This was her first 'date' in a long time.

She went with a long, red dress which adorned her body and had a pair of matching boots under it. Sakura had never been the type to wear high-heels and she wasn't going to make a fool out of herself for trying it now just for some boy.

With one last glance, in the direction of the mirror, Sakura thought that she was ready to go out. One last time checking her make-up which only consisted out of only some lip-gloss and some mascara. As said before: she wasn't the girly-type but that didn't mean that she didn't like to look pretty for a date.

As Sakura made her way through the dark streets of Konoha her jade gaze caught someone standing at the place where they had agreed to meet each other. A smile appeared upon her lips as she recognized her best friend since she was a small kid and waved at her.

Ino turned around, making Sakura gasp at how she looked. She was dressed in the best clothes she had ever seen. A slightly sparkling bluish dress which wasn't very short but short enough to accent her long and slim legs. Her lower arms were adorned with sleeves of the same fabric and were fastened to two rings she wore. High heels were tightly wrapped around her pale ankles.

Her hair was also slightly different. She still had the bang but her high-ponytail had been released and now her long hair fell like a waterfall of gold to the floor.

"You look stunning, Ino! You really have set your eyes on this guy haven't you?" she asked with a slick grin.

"Ey! Forehead!" the blonde greeted her, flushing because of the comment. "You don't look that bad yourself."

"Nervous?"

She had to agree with the pinkette, she had never been this nervous before about dating a guy. "And you?"

"I'm more curious than nervous actually. Who did you thought that would suit me?"

"Don't be so impatient! You'll see him in a minute." Her friend said with a smug look on her face. It clashed for a moment with her beautiful and innocent appearance but she quickly straightened her face out again.

"Where are we going to meet them?" the pinkette asked, fidgeting with a bit of her dress as she was getting nervous as well since the moment that she would meet the man who Ino thought to be perfect for her neared with the second.

"Korean Barbeque restaurant. What?" Ino retorted. She asked as she saw Sakura's rather surprised look.

"That doesn't sound to be the most exquisite place in Konoha, does it?"

"So picky all of a sudden?" the Yamanaka heiress grinned.

"No, not that… I just can't see you sitting there in those clothes…"

Then it hit Ino. She smiled at Sakura and shook her head. "It's not that Barbeque restaurant," she ensured her friend. "The one we're going to is much more classy."

"Oh…" was all Sakura could mutter before flushing for questioning her friend's taste. Ino was by far the most 'girly-girl' she knew. Tenten was a mistress of weaponry and was even more of a tomboy than herself, Hinata was way to shy to bring up things Ino did all the time and Temari she was also quite a tomboy. Besides the latter she didn't saw that much anymore as she used to. The few times she was in Konoha she'd spend more time with Shikamaru than with her kunoichi-friends.

"Let's go." Ino said happily before moving from under the faint lamppost and in the direction of the centre of the town.

A few streets from the scene of Sakura and Ino the two men stood impatiently in front of the restaurant.

"Perhaps we should've rented a taxi or something to pick them up. What if something happens with them on the way here?" one of them asked to the other.

"They'll be just fine." The other muttered not too enthusiastic. He leant casually against the wall while waiting. "Don't forget that those two are by far the two scariest kunoichi I've ever seen… Save for my own mother then."

"Kiba!"

"What? I'm just saying that if any women can protect themselves it's them. Besides what can happen? We're in the middle of Konoha, it's not like enemies ever succeeded in getting this far in our village without getting noticed. Really… Relax, Choji. It's still too early to worry about them." The dog-nin gave the Akamichi a soft smile before looking around again. "And they're women. They are known to be tardy."

Choji on the other hand didn't buy it. He started to fumble with the tie of his tuxedo he was wearing for this occasion.

Kiba was wearing almost the same his tuxedo was only way more casual than Choji's as if it was pulled on quickly and sloppy, which probably was, but he was one of the few men who could still look classy in a sloppy tux. Suddenly the Inuzuka-heir stuck his nose in the air and sniffed. "They're coming. I can smell their scent and their perfume." He announced.

A relieved sigh came from Choji's mouth before he looked up to meet his date. He held the bouquet of roses behind his back and tried to smile as good as he could, only ending in him showing a forced one.

Ino and Sakura both smiled towards the two silhouettes who stood in front of the fancy looking restaurant. One of the two she could recognize easily. It was Choji because of his rather chubby appearance. The other one she hadn't seen until he was under the light. Her eyes widened slightly because of who she saw. Kiba? Of all the boys she had never expected him to stand there as her mysterious date.

"Hello, Kiba, Choji." She greeted them both.

"Hey, Kiba… Choji." Ino said first happily but as she said the latters name her voice sounded more passionate. Slowly the blonde made her way to the big man and stopped a few centimetres away from him. She gasped as Choji suddenly offered her the roses. She smiled happily and took them over before embracing the man and giving him a tender kiss.

Sakura felt happy for Ino, however she had also never expected them to be together. Ino and Choji had known each other for a long time and she had always seen Ino bickering with Choji over his weight.

Then she adjusted her glance from the kissing pair to Kiba and waved again awkwardly in his direction.

Kiba on the other hand did not have so much problems with this. He wasn't shy, not at all. He was even more extravert than Naruto. Rough yet gentle at the same way he wrapped his arms around Sakura's waste and gave her a soft kiss upon her lips, just a taste of what he could do.

Sakura blushed and bit her lower lip. "K-Kiba?" she asked then.

"What? One of us had to do it. And you weren't going to do it." He said as if that was an excuse for kissing her so abruptly.

Ino and Choji had kissed enough for now and looked for a minute towards Sakura and her date. "They get along quite well." Choji muttered.

"Of course they get along well! I arranged this date for them." Ino smirked, being full of herself again before hooking her own arm in Choji's and pulling him towards the restaurant. "Shall we go?" This was not a question as Ino just walked towards the entrance.

Kiba offered his arm to Sakura which she gladly accepted. He could be a gentlemen if he wanted to be one.

Once inside Sakura's eyes widened because of what she saw. The room was very wide and was decorated in a stylish way but not yet kitschy. The tables were all arranged in squares with a small cooking fire in the middle to prepare your own barbeque and had beautiful, white drapes on them. The only thing the kunoichi could think about was: 'What if I stain it?' Never in her life she had seen such luxury and style in one place and she was stunned that she had never seen this restaurant before in the eighteen years she had been living in Konoha.

"Classy, huh?" Ino asked as she had seen Sakura's stare. "Choji found this place when his parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary."

Choji nodded curtly and gave Ino again a smile before they made their way to the reservations.

"I have a reservation for Akimichi Choji." He said. The man in his uniform nodded and checked his book. His finder sliding over the lines before tapping one. "One table for four?" he asked.

"Hai!"

A waitress appeared in front of them. "Hello I'm Chihiro and I'll be your waitress for tonight. If you'd be so kind to follow me?" she asked, giving the guests a bright smile before turning around and striding along the tables with long, elegant passes.

Once they had taken place at their tables they had ordered sake for everybody and their meals. Ino immediately picked up a subject for the next conversation. "I'm really curious when Shikamaru's going to ask Temari." She started.

"Are they that far again?" Sakura wondered aloud. She had missed quite some by working at the hospital constantly.

"Sakura… They know each other now for six years and we all know that he fancies her for almost 4 years!" Ino retorted.

"Really? I never knew."

"He's just good at hiding it." Choji intervened.

"Hiding? He was just too lazy to say anything about it." Kiba laughed.

"Just like Hinata and Naruto."

"But they aren't that long together, you know. About half a year now."

"But Hinata's always been crazy about him ever since she first saw him. I still know how she used to faint each time we only mentioned his name."

"That's not funny, Kiba. She must've really pulled out some guts to just go out and kiss him."

"Actually… That kiss was planned by him." Choji muttered and everybody looked in his way except for Kiba.

"How would you know?"

"Well Naruto, Konohamaru, Kiba and me were playing a daring contest and Konohamaru had dared Naruto to kiss Hinata." He muttered.

"What? That's not romantic at all! Did you pull the same thing off with me?"

"No, Ino! I wouldn't dare such a thing!"

"Ino… You kissed him for the first time, remember?" Sakura tried to help her friend remember. The blonde immediately blushed at that statement and bit her lower lip.

"Sorry, Choji."

"No problem, Ino."

When their meal finally had arrived the conversation silenced a bit. Choji was being well… Being Choji and thus eating without speaking. Kiba felt a bit challenged and dug in with his other male shinobi.

Only Ino and Sakura were still talking even as their conversations went about a bit everything and nothing at the same time. They were just catching up on the latest events and recalling older memories.

When the dessert had been eaten and they had had another drink the four of them decided to take the show further down the road. A walk around the park would probably be good now.

A/N: There it is, the first Chapter of my fanfic. Please R&R if you are so kind.