Chapter Four: A Walk
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from X-men or Naruto! Nothing at all!
"If she goes out like that, everyone will know she's a mutant." Rogue deadpanned as she let her eyes rake the girl in question.
Her attire was too bizarre even for the gothic subculture that Rogue so thoroughly immersed herself in; the loose crimson top, tight shorts, strangely cut white skirt, and knee-high boots screamed, "Bring it on! I don't give a fuck if you know I'm a mutant!"
"She can borrow some of my clothes," Kitty replied, "Until we can get down to the mall."
She grabbed the girl, pulling her right through the door, and pushing her down on her bed.
Sakura, for one, hadn't even quite gotten over the shock of walking through solid wood when the bubbly female tossed a set of clothes at her, told her to get dressed, and disappeared through the wall.
Seeing no alternative, the kunoichi proceeded to pull on the pleated red shirt and dark wash jeans. She was sincerely hoping she wouldn't be forced to do anything else when she walked back out into the hall but she was wrong: Even before she stepped from the doorway, Rogue was in front of her with her hand held out, the other tapping impatiently on her hip.
"I get the freaky headband is important to you, but it has to go."
Sighing, Sakura untied her hair and relinquished her hitae-ate.
"Great!" Kitty quipped from behind her, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, "Mr. Logan says he'll take us."
"You couldn't get Storm?" Rogue sighed in exasperation.
"Sorry; she said she was already busy." The phasing teenager responded.
"Whatever. Let's get going."
"Here's the institution credit card." Logan slipped a piece of laminated plastic into her hands, "Kitty and Rogue will get you everything you need."
"What about you?" Shadowcat asked.
"I'm going to be in the food court." He replied, turning on his heel and disappearing into the crowd.
"I guess shopping isn't his thing…" Kitty trailed off before grabbing Sakura and pulling her into a nearby store.
Several hours, a few hundred dollars racked up, and almost fifty pounds worth of jeans, tops, and underwear later, they found Logan in the lower portion of the mall eating his fifth hamburger and on his ninth read of the newspaper.
"That certainly took long enough." He griped.
"You knew what you were getting into." Rogue shot back.
He didn't reply as he stood up, "Ready?"
"Not quite," Kitty said, her statement cut short by the ring of her cell. "Whoops; just give me a minute."
She pulled the small device from her bag, flipped it open, and asked happily, "Hello?" before adding, "Sure!" and hanging up.
"Hey, Mr. Logan, Storm wants Rogue and I to get back. Would you take Sakura to the department store?"
"What else could she possibly need?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You don't want the answer to that." Rogue said simply as the two of them darted off.
They stood there for a long moment while he looked over her uncomfortably, "Well?"
"Uh…just a toothbrush and the like…" She responded.
He said nothing else as he turned on his heel, clearly intending for her to follow after him; she did so, keeping her eyes low and trying not to think about how unhappy he was to be in the company of someone who had threatened to kill him.
He lead her through the mall and out onto the street, where he waited at a red light for the signal to cross.
"How was your day?" He finally asked begrudgingly.
"It was…fine." She replied, trying to keep her voice light and her responses short.
The signal flashed and he walked across the asphalt to the other side of the walk.
He turned the corner, his eyes shifting over his shoulder, and told her to keep moving as a group of teenage boys set their sights on them. A chorus of suggestive whistles rose from them and a number of remarks were made.
"Keep walking." He said simply as they got closer.
"Hey, Pops, cute girl you got there." One smirked.
"Keeping moving if you know what's good for you." Logan shot back.
"Awww…" One of them cooed mockingly, "She your daughter? Your girlfriend? You could just share her for a moment."
A hand came down on Sakura's wrist and she was yanked back; he pulled her close, her back against his chest, and tried to bring his lips to her throat.
She reacted instinctively, throwing a sharp elbow to his solar plexus; winded, he released her and she spun, letting the same joint find the ridge of his cheekbone. He slammed into the ground, cursing and hissing.
She spun in time to see another one coming at her, his fist aimed at her face, and knew, with her arms full, she didn't stand a chance. But mere millimeters from her face, a hand shot of her shoulder, caught the balled hand, and tossed the young man to the side.
"Now, punks," Logan hissed, "Why don't you run back home?"
It was a suggestion they were all too happy to comply with; they scattered in all directions, screaming profanities and promising revenge.
"You know…" She finally commented sarcastically as she watched the men run, "I get the feeling we don't need to worry about them…"
"Exactly." Logan responded throatily as he pointed to a store front. "There's Walmart. Go grab what you need."
"I'm sorry…w-what?" She stammered, her mouth suddenly dry as her fork clattered against the edge of her plate.
"The instructors and I think it would be best if you started to attend the high school that your classmates do." Xavier replied.
"We have plenty of academic stimulation here." She responded.
"Yes, but it does not provide a sufficient level of social stimulation." He said.
"But…I really don't have a good grip on my abilities and…"
"Jean and the others will look out for you." He cut in.
She swallowed hard, knowing that there was no arguing. She was going to be trapped in a building with people who probably hated her before they even knew her name because she had a genetic mutation and unlike the Academy any sign of power would be seen as monstrous and if she screwed up she could bring the entire school down and…
"Alright…"
Sakura walked out the door with the others, staring at Xavier over the huddle of students around her who were insisting on reminding her for the umpteenth time that if anyone asked her, her hair color wasn't natural.
She wanted to tell herself that he had lied before and this was just another cruel set-up, but she couldn't shake the truth: she had seen inside his mind, felt his intention and the sincerity of his apology for deceiving her and the raw, inescapable knowledge that they were the only people who would care enough about her, a strange person in their strange world, to make sure she didn't end up as a corpse in the gutter or worse…
'If Tsunade could see me,' She sighed to herself, 'She'd kick me for being an irrational moron…'
It wasn't entirely true…Tsunade had, on more than one occasion, encouraged her to listen to her heart and to trust her instincts; but she wanted more, felt the desire for some tangible evidence that she could hold in her hands…
Kitty smacked her shoulder playfully, "Don't look so glum! We've all had to do it!"
Sakura gave her the brightest smile she could manage as she slipped into the seat of the car and pulled the harness across her chest.
"Stupid…freaking…lock…" Sakura hissed as she fumbled with the sticky lock of her locker.
It had been one of the most frustrating days of her life: she had assumed she would have intellect to fall back on as far as her classes were concerned only to realize that they studied the most impractical arts, such as triangular geometry; all she could think through the entire thing was that knowing how to calculate the co-tangent of a triangle wasn't going to save her if someone attacked her.
The worst part, however, had certainly been the isolation she felt; even with her new comrades around her, she felt totally separated from their world. She would watch as they freely interacted with the humans around them and couldn't help but feel that she would never fit in.
Anger building with her exasperation, she finally applied a bit of chakra to the device, smirking triumphantly when it dropped into her hands. Slipping her binders inside, she retrieved another notebook, affixed the locking mechanism again, and turned around.
She walked straight into a guy from her trigonometry class. They both sprawled backwards, papers and handouts flying.
"I'm so sorry!" Sakura cried, pulling herself to her knees to start gathering his things.
"It's no biggie. I think I ran into you! In any case, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go to the spring dance with me." He blurted as he began to gather her things.
Sakura blanched. She hadn't even been with the Xavier Institute for a week and even less at the school, and the prospect of even casual dating was overwhelming.
She opened her mouth to respond as she stood up only to have Kitty rush her from behind, gather her in a hug, and quip, "She's love to!"
"Great!" He smiled, "I'll pick you up at seven on Friday night!"
Sakura just nodded, waiting for him to get out of earshot before she snapped, "What did you just get me into?"
"You need to get out of the house. Besides, what better way to fit in that to do normal things...like dating." Kitty replied, dragging her down the hall as the bell rang.
"I admit this does come as a bit of a shock, but I must say that I approve of the idea." Charles told her after her lengthy explanation of her day, culminating in Jason's request.
"You…really think so?" She trailed off, secretly hoping he might have some reason why she wasn't allowed to date yet.
He nodded, "Storm would be quite willing to take you shopping, if you're worried about attire."
Annoyed that he couldn't see the real reason she was upset and at the same time grateful he hadn't entered her mind to figure out why, she just sighed, "Alright."
Logan made it clear he was not happy-not that was unusual. In fact, he screened all the dates. At the mention of a guy he was the first to recon him. It was always the same excuse: He needed to ensure the security of the institute didn't fall to something as frivolous as raging teenage hormones.
But for all his grousing, when Friday night rolled around, he grudgingly stepped back and let the girls get ready.
Rogue had chosen a full-length, long sleeved dress in black with glittering red lace over lay that resembled spider webs. As usual she wore her gloves. Her make-up was slightly exaggerated and her hair was tied back. Kitty-throwing caution to the wind, as usual-had selected a blue halter top that was split on the right side up to her thigh. She had pulled her hair back into a complicated mess of curls and applied striking make-up: earthy tones on her eyes and corals on her lips and cheeks. Jubilee, however, had left with Dazzler several hours before-purposely to escape Logan's watchful eye so Sakura didn't have the benefit of learning from them. But she had been on several ambassadorial assignments before so she knew the basics of applying make-up and arranging her hair. She had chosen a strapless white gown-well, Kitty and Boom Storm had, anyway-that fell to her ankles and hugged her torso flatteringly. She had pulled her hair back into a bun and curled her bangs, letting them fall around her face. Kitty had lent her a faux diamond choker and white headband lined with pearls.
Their dates had arrived a few minutes early and both Storm and Professor Xavier were attempting to prevent Logan from scaring any of the other dates away with his interrogations by the time she actually got down the stairs…which in and of itself was no easy feat: Logan had positioned himself in the hallway so that they all had to shuffle past him. As they did, he 'critiqued' whatever they had on as inappropriate in one way or another, grumbled that they didn't have time to change now, and let them go.
On the way out he also added, "You all have the phone number. Call us if you need anything."
His gaze fell squarely on Sakura as he said it and she nodded; he had the right to be most worried about her, she reasoned…especially considering that she had needed him to program her cellphone and teach her how to use it…
"Are you okay?" Jason asked, snapping her from her reverie.
"Oh, yeah!" She replied, "Just excited!"
"You're a striking girl." Jason commented as he swayed her to the music pulsing in the gym.
"I assume that's a compliment." She giggled.
"You're just so intelligent…so much smarter than the other girls."
"I hardly think it's a matter of intelligence so much as motivation." She replied.
He laughed, "It's always a philosophical debate with you, isn't it?"
She didn't have a chance to reply before he suggested, "There's a party not far from here. I know Kitty and Rogue are heading over there. Do you want to check it out?"
"Uh…sure!" She said.
"Let me go get your jacket." He offered, releasing her and disappearing into the crowed only to reappear a few minutes later.
"Here you go." He said, helping her into it.
"Thanks." She smiled, flipping her hair out from underneath the edge of the jacket.
"Ready?"
"Anytime you are."
"Uh…it was supposed to be a small affair…" He trailed off sheepishly as they walked into the building.
More than half the school was there, dancing and grinding to music that was far too loud; the air itself seemed claustrophobic with so many people confined in the space.
"It's fine." She told him, unable to shake an uneasy feeling.
"Still..." Jason smiled, "Would you like some soda?"
"Sure!" Sakura replied, sitting back as he went to get it for her. For a flicker of a second, she saw Kitty appear in the crowd, but a moment later she was gone…
"Here ya go!" Jason said, handing her a cup as he came up behind her.
"Oh!" Sakura gasped, adding, "You scared me."
"Sorry." He said, sitting beside her.
Sakura took a sip, thinking it tasted a little too sweet...
"Would you like to dance?" Jason asked.
"Sure." Sakura replied, taking his hand.
The moved out onto the dance floor, swaying to an energetic pop song that had just started: Something called "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor. A bit odd, she thought, but good.
But after another song she had begun to feel dizzy...
"Sorry, I think I need some air." She said, letting him help her to the door.
"It must be all the dancing. It gets hot in there." Jason said as he led her by the arm down the street and around the block.
Before she knew what was happening, he had led her into an abandoned building half a block from the actual party.
"What's go..."
"Shh." He whispered, pinning her to the wall and attempting to kiss her.
'He drugged me...' Sakura realized, knowing that if she tried to neutralize it in her current state she could easily lose control of her chakra and kill herself instead. That meant escape was her only option…
Shoving him aside, she made a break for the door-her heels tripping her up. But much to her relief, he had managed to fall in a pile of boxes and had yet to stand.
She remembered vaguely that there was a gas station about two blocks down...that was her best chance.
She darted out of the building, glancing over her shoulder as his profanities got louder. She sprang down a side street, coming back up around the side of the buildings and running up to the phone booth.
She reached for the handle of the stall, her vision doubling; her head swam and for a minute she thought she was going to faint; but the horrible image of him coming and taking her from the cramped plastic booth and into the darkness brought her sharply back to her senses.
'What the hell did he slip me…' She wondered; as a student of Tsunade, she had an unnaturally high tolerance for opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates. Whatever he had given her had to be exceptionally strong…
She reached for the purse that had hung at her side all night, only to find that it wasn't there.
'Shit…I must have left it at the party…'
She rested her head against the cool plastic for a moment before she remembered that she had taken to carrying a slip of paper with the Institution contacts on it in her bra.
Reaching into the cleavage of her dress, she pulled the small tag from her underwear, fumbled with two quarters, and frantically dialed the number listed on the card in her hand.
Logan reached for the phone absently, sipping a cup of coffee.
"Hello?"
"Logan!"
"Sakura?" He asked, setting the cup down, hearing the panic in her voice, "What's wrong?"
"Can you come get me, please?" She asked.
"Of course. Where are you?"
She hesitated...looking around, she finally found a street name.
"The corner of Banks and Highland."
"I'll be there in a minute."
"Logan..."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Logan found her easily, much to his relief. She was sitting on the corner, her head buried in her arms.
He pulled up, opening the door form the inside for her.
She climbed in wordlessly and buckled the seat belt in place before leaning back and massaging her temples.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Nothing...it was just a bad night." She replied.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"Yeah. I'm sure." She said, tears gathering in her eyes.
"Alright." He said, shifting the gear, "Let's get you home."
Sakura pushed past Ororo, who held her silent post at the door, and bolted up the stairs shakily.
"What happened?" She asked as Logan walked in.
"She was drugged; I can smell it on her. And I'm willing to bet I know who did it…" He growled, the tips of his adamantium claws peering from his knuckles.
"What was she slipped?" The storm-manipulating mutant asked, wondering if she should prepare an injection to offset an overdose.
"It wasn't alcohol-it might have been a narcotic."
"She's going to need medical attention."
He shook his head, "She's purging it too quickly. She just needs to sleep it off."
He turned around and started back towards his truck.
"Where are you going?" Ororo demanded.
"I have a date myself." He responded.
"Logan! He's just a human boy!" She replied.
"I'm not going to hurt him." Logan promised as he slid into the driver's seat of his truck and took off.
Sakura woke up at one, her throat dry. Forcing herself up, she stepped out of her room and onto the stairs, experiencing only a moment of vertigo before she was able to descend them. One of the lights was on...
Stepping into the kitchen, she saw Logan-apparently waiting on someone.
"You feeling any better?" He asked.
She nodded...it was a lie, but...
"I just got thirsty..." She added.
"Is water alright?" He asked, retrieving a glass from the cupboard.
"Yes...thank you..." She said as he filled it up.
She sat down with him, draining the glass.
"You should eat something." He said.
Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but he ignored her, saying, "It helps. Trust me."
"How do you…" Her statement was cut short by a sudden cry from the lawn.
A moment later the front door swung open and Kitty came running in, Rogue not far behind with Jubilee and Dazzler coming in after her.
"Oh my God!" Kitty cried, embracing Sakura, "Did he hurt you!"
"No, I'm fine." Sakura replied.
"I'm so sorry I set you up with such a jerk!" Kitty cried.
"You couldn't have known." Sakura responded.
"Well, he's going to pay!" She insisted.
"I've already taken care of it, Pipsqueak." Logan said before adding, "Alright, you'll have time to catch up tomorrow night. Most of you have school in the morning."
"What?" They cried, knowing they'd get less than four hours of sleep.
"Fine..." He sighed, "You can stay home tomorrow. But its still late. Go get some sleep."
"See you tomorrow." Kitty whispered as she withdrew from Sakura.
"Bye." Sakura replied, watching her walk up the stairs.
Her gaze was broken by the sudden clatter of a plate in front of her; a peanut butter sandwich…
"Thanks…"
"Eat and go get some rest." He replied, showing no indication he had heard her at all.
"Yeah…"
TBC
