A/N: I just want to say thank you to all the people that review. It's nice when my inbox goes off with an alert and I'm glad you took the time to give me feedback. Here's a long chapter for my absence with a little drop of lemon in it.
-Just Alice.
Hinata spent the next 3 days either working, studying or going to school, anything to not think of her situation.
She rubbed her eyes as the words in her textbook blurred together. She turned around from her desk to look to her night stand and saw it was only 10pm on a Tuesday night. She stifled a yawn and walked over to bed to get her phone and pinched the bridge of her nose when she saw 4 messages from Kiba "not pressuring" her about going on a date with him. He had been like that since Saturday night.
She was thankful she had friends who understood when to push her and when to leave her alone. When she got home from work after her ride with Kiba they understood that she didn't want to talk about it and left her alone. It was almost comical the way Ino looked crestfallen over not sharing the juicy details.
Tonight though, she was ready to talk about it - especially since she was getting nowhere with her reading.
She blasted off text message to both of them, in case they were busy, and tossed her phone back on her bed. She walked out of her room and went into the kitchen where she pulled out their tequila and blender. 10 minutes later she was serving herself, Sakura and Ino, while they sat on the couch and she the recliner. She took a large gulp of her drink while her friends impatiently waited for her to speak.
"Kiba asked me out on a date.", she said slowly.
Sakura knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "And this is bad?", asked an equally confused Ino. Hinata gulped down her remaining drink and serves herself another one.
"I honestly don't know. On hand he's really nice and I already slept with him so there's no pressure there. He's handsome and we get along." She drinks again.
Ino raises a perfectly arched eyebrow at her. "Why am I sensing a but?"
"Because I dont know why I want say no. He's right I don't have a lot of options. They dates I go either want sex or are turned off because I'm a dancer." She pours herself a 3rd.
"Oh sweetie, that's not true. You have plenty of options left.", the pinkette leaned over and patted her leg reassuringly. "When was the last time either of us had boyfriends?" Hinata asked skeptically. "You can't measure your life based on boyfriends. We can't tell you what to do but I think you don't want to date him because you are scared."
Ino stopped talking and looked at her blue haired friend in amusement. The woman had scoffed at her as she finished her 3rd drink. She pushed Hinata her untouched margarita which she willingly took.
"You can scoff all you want but your ex-husband fucked up your life at young age and while you don't love him any more you haven't moved on." Ino stood up grabbed the blender and went to make more drinks.
As the blender worked it's magic Hinata chewed her lip in thought. Her 4th drunkr had finally made her head a little fuzzy.
She leans back in her seat and has to agree with Ino but feels like her reluctance with Kiba is something more.
Maybe because of a certain red head.
When Ino sat back down she had the blender full of a fresh batch and the rest of the bottle. She lined up 3 shots and took them back to back to catch up with her friends. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sakura was the one to speak first.
"Maybe it's a little simpler than that Ino, bartender duty gives me a lot of time to look around and I noticed something."
"What then?", asked Ino.
"A certain new head of security stares at our shy friend like he's a dying of thirst and she's a tall glass of water."
Hinata's heart skips a beat and she feels herself blushing.
"There's nothing going on between us."
Ino bursts into laughter and soon the other girls join in.
"Tall...glass... of water! Oh Kami I can't... breathe!" Ino clenched her stomach in laughter and tears were streaming down her face.
Even though Hinata didn't have a solution to her situation she has glad her friends were there to talk to her and listen to her without judgement.
Yes, she slept with Kiba a few times but he told her plain as day, it was just sex. She had even tried asking him out but again, he told her "No". She probably would have felt a little used but she thought it was better he wasn't interested in her. She knew Ino was right and that Toneri had left her with some scars but no one really wanted to date her.
Until now.
They spent another hour catching up on mindless chit chat before Hinata turned in for bed. She might not have work but she still had school. She went to sleep feeling better and was extremely grateful to her friends for being in her life.
(Flashback)
Hinata wiped the sweat off her brow as she quickly poured another beer for a large group of football loving individuals, who decided that the dingy bar with one bartender was the place to be for their game.
Hinata was wiping down the sticky bar counter when two women entered the bar. They were taking and managed to turn the heads of the many patrons with their carefree attitude and beauty.
When they sat at the bar Hinata offers them a smile. The blonde woman smiles back while her friend is chatting away about something.
Hinata meekly waits for the other girl to stop talking but she was really on a rant.
Something about working as a dancer and the owner not giving her enough stage time?
Hinata was suprised that a ballet dancer had horrible working conditions but she tried not to listen to other people's conversations.
She quietly cleared her throat hoping to catch the chatty, pink haired girls attention.
The blonde beauty held a manicured hand up and said, "Shut up Sakura she's trying to take our order. I'll have a long Island iced tea."
The pinkette scowled at her friend and muttered the word pig under her breath.
"I'll have the same. Thanks"
"ID's please?"
They oblige and Hinata sets to work on their order, despite her being really busy they were polite and friendly to her and didn't rush her or make rude comments like the customers because they were short staffed.
All night Hinata is stressed at work due to the game and the manager refuses to help her despite her asking for it numerous times.
When a customer complained about her drink being too strong, then not strong enough and she snapped.
She grabbed her things and walked out of the bar. When she got to the curb the impact of her outburst finally hit her and she felt the tears roll down her cheeks.
She had to find a another job to replace this one. She was alternating between 3 jobs to clean Toneri's mess, pay her rent and simply survive.
During her pity party she didn't notice the two women stand next to her and offer her a tissue. When she looked up she blinked owlish-ly and gave them a watery smile.
That night she did the second most spontaneous thing of her life (the first being her marriage) and got a 3am breakfast with complete strangers.
While dining with them she almost choked on a fork full of eggs when she discovered they were exotic dancers.
"Are you ok?", asked Sakura as she patted Hinata's back.
"Wrong pipe." She managed to breathe out as she recoiled from Sakura's touch.
"And I thought it was because two strippers are buying you breakfast.", came the sarcastic retort from Ino.
The blue eyed woman had her jaw set as she stared daggers at Hinata.
Hinata squirmed in her seat and she felt herself blush. She lowered her eyes and picked at her plate.
"I n-never meant to o-offend you-u."
Sakura patted the poor girl's hand and shot Ino a dirty look. "It's ok. It's a shock to some people." She said trying to make her feel better.
Hinata still had her head lowered in shame. She was truly embarrassed that she reacted so poorly. Who was she to judge? People could say she was idiot for marrying her high school sweetheart. She could feel tears forming in her eyes but blinked them away and looked Ino straight in the eye.
"I'm sorry." She said sincerely.
Ino's eyes softened and she unclenched her jaw.
"It's a job Hinata it has good and bad parts like all the rest. We aren't drug fiends who were raised from broken, abusive homes and have sex with everyone we meet." Explained Ino.
Hinata nodded her head in understanding. "Can I ask why you decided to be strippers?"
"It's different for everyone some girls dance to pay for school, to support their families, to pay the bills, and some dance because they enjoy being in the spotlight and the center of attention. "Sakura told her. "The reason I dance is because the money is good sometimes. On a good night i can make a lot of money but on a bad night I lose money but that doesn't happen often for me. It depends on a lot of things."
"I dance for the money and I like the limelight. When I dance everyone focuses on me. It's kinda powerful." Ino honestly said.
Hinata thought about what they were saying and felt even worse about how she reacted to them.
When they left the diner they exchanged phone numbers agreed to keep in touch. On the drive home a small part of her mind kept telling her maybe she could strip too. It was easy money. However, a larger part of her mind told her to be serious.
Later that week she had to sell the car to make rent and couldn't find a job willing to work with her schedule. The small voice in her mind kept growing louder and louder till it drowned out the sensible voice.
She met with her new friends Sakura and Ino and few days later and told them she was thinking about stripping too.
She watched the girls exchange worried glances and she deflated like a balloon.
Sakura noticed this. "Looks Hinata it's not all glamorous and easy like it seems to be in the movies and TV shows. Remember when Ino said there is some bad and good parts? We didn't tell you the bad. There are customers that confuse dancing for prostitution and try to put fingers where they are not supposed to. Some girls get followed home and sometimes the managers try to take advantage of us. There's no health benefits or stable income. You can't date that freely because of the negative stigma that comes from being a dancer. Oh and your feet will hurt like crazy from dancing and doing pole tricks in 3 inch high heels on a nightly basis."
"Can't I just try out and see if I can handle it?" Hinata asked. "Of course you can." Ino said quickly.
"Tonight I'm dancing at a club that has amateur hour. Do you have any lingerie?"
Hinata felt herself blush she only had sensible underwear and bra sets, the sexiest thing she owned was boy shorts .
"No."
"We can take you shopping then. There's a sex shop that has really cute stuff." Ino stands up and leaves money on the table. Sakura follows does the same and looks at her in confusion.
"S-sex shop?" Hinata squeaked out. She was tomato red.
"If you're serious about dancing then yes you'll need to get costumes, shoes, outfits, make up, accessories. Sex shops sell these things. If you can't do this how can you dance on stage taking off your clothes for money in front of strangers?"
Suddenly Sakura understood what Ino was doing Hinata she was pushing her out of her boundaries.
Hinata sharply inhaled. Ino was right. She had to do this to see if she can handle a career as a dancer. As they parked in front of the store Hinata braced herself.
She was an adult she could handle this.
She wasn't a virgin for Kami's sake.
The bell jingles as they walk inside and she fights the urge to run out. She follows Sakura to the clothing section and has a mini heart attack when she peeked down the vibrater aisle. She felt her face go up in flames once again.
She keeps her eyes on the floor and almost bumps into Sakura.
She and Ino spent 10 minutes trying to find the perfect outfit for her.
They chose 5 and told her to try them on.
In the dressing room she feels nauseous as she holds the skimpy outfits in hands.
She mentally slaps herself and tells herself to grow up.
The first outfit is long sleeve opaque teddy with mesh burnout, it had dark stripes on the front and exposed her butt with its thong like style. She quickly tore it off.
The second was a black low cut floral lace chemise outfit that came with a mini skirt and wrapped around her neck halter top. She put that in the maybe pile.
The third was a purple geo galloon lace and mesh teddy with soft shine elastic cage details, open back, adjustable straps, gold hardware, removable garter straps, and snap crotch. When she put it on she loved the way it made her look. Sexy yet presentable. She showed her friends and they agreed this was the outfit. She was pleased it was only $25 and Ino had the perfect shoes to match.
Sakura helped her put her make up on at Ino's place and they drove together to the club. After a quick word with the manager and paying the $50 club fee Hinata had to change in the back with the rest of the girls. She became embarrassed when some of the girls stripped down to their birthday suits without a care to who was watching them. Hinata picked a corner behind a dressing rack to change. The butterflies she felt all day had turned into elephants stampeding in her stomach.
She started to hyperventilate as she put on her heels. She couldn't do this.
She walked over to Sakura who was putting on Ino's make up.
"Oh shit she looks like she's going to be sick. Give her a trashcan." Ino yelled as she spotted Hinata making her way over to them.
Sakura shoved the bin in Hinata's arms.
"I can't do this." Hinata whispered. "Why would you want to?" Sakura asked.
"I need the money. I'm in debt, over $250,000 dollars closer to $300,000."
"Then think about that. This job could help you pay it off sooner. You have to decide if it's worth it."
Hinata nodded her head and pulled herself together.
She made $500 in 10 mins and quit her other jobs the next day.
A few weeks later they met Lady Tsunade who was starting her revolutionary own strip club. She would hire the girls as minimum wage workers, let them keep their tips, provide them with a "mother", and give them benefits.
She wasn't regretted choosing to be a stripper at all. It was hard in the earlier days but better then working 3 jobs. She,
Ino, and Sakura even found a 3 bedroom apartment to rent with the paycheck Tsunade provided them.
(End Flashback)
On Friday as she got to work she rehearsed what she was going to tell Kiba. She got there early because Ino suggested that Hinata should turn him down in her regular clothes.
She searched the club for Kiba and couldn't find him but she spotted Gaara at the bar. She walked over to him to see if he knew where Kiba was.
She took a seat next to him.
"Have you seen Kiba around?" "Hello to you too." His voice wrapped around her like silk and she got goosebumps despite his sarcasm.
"Good evening Gaara. How are you doing tonight?" She gushed with fake enthusiasm. His lips formed a small smile but he quickly let it fall.
She didn't think she ever saw him smile completely. When he didn't answer she lightly bumped him on the shoulder with hers.
When he looked at her even though he didnt have any visible emotions on his face his eyes seem suprised. Like no one had ever violated his space before.
"Sorry.", she said, "Are you doing OK tonight?" She asked with concern.
"Yes."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
She put her hand on his arm.
"If there's anything I can do to help let me know." Gaara searched her eyes for something other then concern.
"I told you I was fine." He said gruffly. She shrugged her shoulders but kept her hand where it was like she forgot about it.
"In case you're not fine and you don't want to confide in a stranger, if there's anything I can do to help let me know."
"You're really persistent."
"That's a nice way of saying annoying." She began to laugh and it sounded like music to him.
They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes and he could smell her lilac perfume and his mind drifted back to the lap dance she gave him. When he felt his pants tighten he had to force himself to think of something else anything else but this woman sitting next to him was making it hard too. Literally and figuratively. He cleared his throat and she looked at him.
Hinata looked into his darkened eyes and her eyes flicked to his lips and she licked her own. She wanted him to reach over and kiss her senselessly until she couldn't breathe. What she really wanted has for him to take her on the bar and she felt herself blush as she imagined running her nails down his back as he gave her an orgasm. She squeezed her legs tighter together as she felt her body heat up.
"Gaara!" They both jumped as Matsuri materialized on his other side.
"What?" He demanded.
"I wanted to know if you wanted to come over to my place again?" She purred at him but glared at Hinata as she wrapped her hands around his neck in a possessive manner. It felt like someone dumped cold water over Hinata's entire body.
