Chapter 11. Complete version. Hope you like it =)
Youtube is great, by the way.
Songs: "Get Buck in here" by a variety of artists that I'm too lazy to type out and "Tear It Up" by Omarion ft. Chris Brown
Chapter 11: Hapless.
When Sakura woke up the next morning, Hidan was not lying next to her. She pouted, yawned and stretched as she got out of bed. There was a note on the table, and she snatched it up quickly, brushing her long pink hair out of her face.
She blinked, noting that Hidan's handwriting was a lot neater than many had originally assumed. He wrote that he was with Tsunade, and that he would see her at dinner that night with Shikamaru. Just the thought of seeing both of her favorite men in one night made her blush – of course, neither of them could compare to Naruto, if she was going to be honest with herself. Sakura giggled.
Work was a drag, and she fidgeted in her chair until her shift ended at five-thirty. As soon as the second hand touched the six she was flying out of her door, whizzing the key into the lock and turning it sharply, before rocketing down the hall. She only got a quick glimpse of Sasuke's shocked face as he emerged from a different office.
'He probably had to get his eyes checked again. Not that that matters to me anymore. I have a dinner date to look forward to!'
She reached her apartment in record timing, glancing at the clock as she kicked off her shoes: five-forty. Her supposed quick shower lasted for twenty minutes, much to her dismay. She was barely going to have any time to get make-up on, so she just patted on some light blue eye-shadow while whisking a sparkly lip-gloss over her lips, shoving the tube into her purse upon exiting the bathroom.
Sakura deliberated for a minute over which outfit she should wear, deciding to wear her cherry red outfit over her summer blue dress – she would save that dress for the picnic. Silver earrings dangled from her ears, a silver necklace barely reaching past her collarbones; she was ready.
She snatched her white purse off the table and paced around. Her eyes were constantly drawn to the clock, as she anxiously waited for the neon green lights to read six-twenty. Shikamaru had told her not to leave her apartment until six-twenty.
'Aw, screw this! It's six-twenty-four. I am so out of my door!' she screeched to herself, hopping down the hallway as she tugged her white leather jacket off of a hanger. By the time she had locked the door and hurried down the hall is was already six-twenty-six. The restaurant she was to meet them at was only an eight minute walk from her home, so she forced herself to calm down.
'Wow.. this is... a really expensive place...' she awed at the building. It was one of the kinds of restaurants that most of the population of Konoha didn't dare look at – and Sakura was no exception. She swallowed lightly before walking up to the receptionist that seated people. The woman scrutinized her as Sakura explained, "I – I'm – is there a reservation for Nara?"
The woman glanced down at her book before replying meticulously, "a reservation for Mr. Nara, table for three. I assume you are the third party?"
"Y-yes."
"Very well. Follow this young gentleman to your table – the two men are already here," as Sakura walked stiffly by the woman whispered, "and a lucky one you are. They're attractive to boot."
Sakura blushed unwillingly at the comment. The waiter led her to some stairs, and took her to one of the private rooms. Sakura froze before quickly moving forward as he knocked and – having received a muttered 'come in' – he pushed open the door.
Sakura walked in, her head down. It was only when the door closed that she raised her eyes and nearly fainted. Inner Sakura, of course, stood no chance against how stunning Hidan and Shikamaru look, and thus fell into oblivion while a dark blush came to Sakura's cheeks.
Shikamaru's hair was down, a strand dangling over his forehead. He wore the fishnet shirt he often wore, underneath a light gray jacket. He wore jeans, making Sakura feel a little bit too dressy. He gazed at her lazily, and eyebrow raised. Her green eyes slowly shifted to Hidan.
Hidan's hair was slicked back as usual, violet eyes bright. His shirt was a pale blue that faded to navy and was unbuttoned at the top. He had a silver necklace on, and black slacks. She didn't know whether to walk toward Hidan or Shikamaru and seeing her indecisiveness the shadow user commented, "you do know that you're sitting between us right?"
"To keep us from ripping each others throats out, seriously," and at Hidan's comment both men laughed. Sakura relaxed, seeing his comment was a joke. She walked forward, toward Hidan and crawled over him before he could get up to let her in. Once she had settled in her seat she looked at him smugly. He looked away, his cheeks tinged a very light pink. She giggled at him and he thrust a menu toward her.
"Here, pinky. Choose your meal, seriously."
He picked up another menu and scanned through it, Shikamaru doing the same. Sakura giggled one last time before finally opening hers.
--
When Sakura had walked in Hidan had hardly been able to contain himself. Her cherry red dress accented her curves a little too much, made her hair stand out and...
Seriously brought out her green eyes.
Then after walking in she just had to crawl over him, tempting him beyond belief to just grab her and kiss the living daylights out of her. She would pay later. At his apartment. He smirked.
Nothing in the menu really caught his eye, though he thought the Caesar salad looked pretty good. Apparently it had fried chicken on it.
'Sounds really good now... hm...' he glanced up from looking through to menu to see that Shikamaru was staring at him. He gave the younger man a 'what' look. Shikamaru glanced at Sakura, raising an eyebrow at the immortal.
Hidan kicked him under the table, unfortunately making Shikamaru burst into startled laughter at such a childish act. Sakura lowered her menu and looked at him confusedly, "what?"
"Nothing, nothing. It's not something you should trouble yourself over," Shikamaru insisted, stretching, "well, I'm going to go to the men's room. Be back in a few; I'll grab a waiter too."
Shikamaru stood and walked out, winking at Hidan. Hidan silently cursed him, 'he's out to get me that little brat! Seriously!'
Sakura seemed very aware of Hidan now. She wouldn't stop staring at him stare at the menu. After five more seconds he gave up and turned to her, "what?"
She stared hard at him in response, cheeks reddening as she leaned forward and asked, "what do you think?"
"What do I..." it took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. He resisted blushing and glanced around instead, like they weren't the only ones in the room – 'Tsunade could have a spy in here, seriously' – and then scooted towards her, "about this?"
He set his hand on her shoulder and let it drag down from her shoulder to her thigh. She really should have slapped him or punched him for doing that. Instead Sakura just blushed and nodded her head, looking away.
"Next time you decide to wear something so fuckin' ravishing, don't crawl over me, seriously," he refused to elaborate. She fisted her hands in his shirt and yanked him toward her. Hidan quickly stuck out a hand to keep from collapsing on her. A flick of irritation went through her eyes like she was hoping he wouldn't do anything.
'Well, I have her fuckin' boxed in,' he muttered to himself while staring lustily at her. By the way she tilted her head to one side she had no idea what his expression meant.
He heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching the room; two sets. He placed a chaste kiss on the corner of her lips and unlatched her hands, smoothing out his shirt and acting bored just as Shikamaru opened the door. Sakura quickly straightened herself out but kicked Hidan. He glared at her, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow, settling down in his seat, "so here's our waiter. Shall we order?"
The pinkette and immortal nodded.
"Right. Sakura. You first."
She blushed lightly, "uh, I'll have the Club Sandwich."
The waiter nodded, scribbling with his pen. Hidan nodded at Shikamaru who spoke next, "I'll get The Usual."
"Will that be with the fries or the onion rings?"
"Onion rings."
He nodded again, turning to Hidan, "and you, sir?"
"Caesar Salad."
"Chicken or beef?"
"Chicken please."
The waiter smiled, pen still on his pad, "and drinks for you three."
"Mint Margarita."
"... Strawberry smoothie," Sakura said after a moment of deliberation. A thought popped up in Hidan's mind and he smirked while saying, "a shot of vodka."
All three stared in shock at him and he managed to keep his smirk for a total of two seconds. Then he burst out laughing waving his hand at the waiter and gasping out, "j-just k-k-kidding ha ha. Coke for me. Oh that was funny, seriously."
The waiter laughed lightly and exited the room. Sakura kicked Hidan again, this time a little more forcefully. He jumped.
"It was not!"
"Gee, girl, I'm more likely to drink cyanide than vodka."
At this Sakura paled and he really wished he hadn't said that.
'Think fast, idiot,' he growled at himself. He quickly asked, "so how was your day?"
She brightened, "well, I couldn't concentrate on work very well."
"Oh? Why's that?" Shikamaru asked, piping in. She blushed lightly, "uh, I was um... uh..."
Hidan smirked cheekily, "thinking about us?"
She kicked him again, "I'll take that as a yes, seriously."
"Don't make me hurt you," Sakura fumed, glaring at him. He pretended to be terrified, "oh no! Oh, Shikamaru save me from the wrath of Sakura that will be worse than burning in hell!"
Her face reddened further and she lunged across the cushions at him. Hidan was quick though. He scrambled out of the booth, grinning madly. Shikamaru just laughed, "I think you're pretty capable of taking care of yourself!"
Sakura chased Hidan around for a while. He would grin back at her, showing just how much of a difference there was between their shinobi training. Though, he did almost trip over a cushion, laughing.
'Figure. I just so happen to be a damn klutz, seriously,' he let Sakura tackle him to the ground.
"There. You won. Happy?"
She nodded, staring down at him for a few more minutes. Hidan tilted his head to one side, wondering what that look was for. She got off of him and took her seat. He followed suit, staring hard at her, unaware that Shikamaru was watching the scene with interest.
'... does she think I didn't mean what I said? Fudge, that's not a good thing... I did mean it...' the three lapsed into silence, listening to the soft music playing in the room. Two minutes later, the waiter returned with their food.
--
Shikamaru parted ways with Hidan and Sakura. Sakura couldn't help staring up at Hidan who was watching Shikamaru walk away. He had a very lovely profile she decided.
'Extremely lovely profile.'
'Go away. Get back in your corner. I don't need your help.'
'... you don't think he meant what he said, don't you?'
Sakura blatantly ignored Inner Sakura. Instead she grabbed Hidan's hand and tugged him away, releasing his hand after he walked next to her.
"How's your... your pride coming back?"
He looked away, "I hardly talk to anyone, seriously. I honestly only talk to you and Shikamaru -"
He went oddly silent as Ino came running over. She was grinning happily and said to him, "oh hey Hidan! I was wondering when you were going to get out and about! I mean, I've seen you in Tsunade-shishou's office a lot, but never anywhere else. Oh, and I heard that you and Shikamaru are friends now, and that Chouji's getting used to you. That's great progress!"
Sakura tucked away the fact that Hidan was letting Ino doing all the talking. He would merely smile and nod at her, and every once in a while make a sound of agreement in the back of his throat.
"Hey, Ino. We're still on for Saturday, right?"
"Yeah. OH! Sakura, Mel says he's really sorry but he has to cancel the movie, uh, 'date'," she did quotations in the air at the mention of date, glancing cautiously at Hidan. He had tensed ever so slightly, much to Sakura's surprise.
She frowned, "really? Why? Why didn't he tell me?"
Ino frowned too, "because he had to go with an ANBU squad three this morning. He was so relieved when he saw me at the hospital. By the way, I hate late shifts. So much."
Sakura nodded her head in agreement, "I hate them too."
"Anyway, he begged me to tell you that he can't make it because this mission came up," she glanced around than said, "I think it's really dangerous Sakura. I don't know any other reason why they would need a medic to go with them."
"... Akatsuki," Hidan suddenly said, staring up at nothing. Ino and Sakura jumped at the sound of his voice. Sakura scowled, "Hidan, the Akatsuki is gone, we killed them a -"
Hidan shook his head, pointed and said again, "Akatsuki."
Sakura followed his finger. Indeed, there was a man crouching on a building. Something swayed at his side. Sakura grew very, very still.
Ino paled, then gasped out, "it's him. Oh, Kami it's him. How could he possibly – there's no way that – his chakra lines were -"
Hidan was gone in a flash Sakura screaming, "Hidan!!"
And a second lated Kakuzu fled past them, Hidan chasing him, fury in his eyes. Sakura and Ino chased after Hidan, who had whipped out his weapon scroll – 'now why did he have that on him?' - and was brandishing his scythe.
'Oh, I wish I knew what was going through his head right now. Kami, help!'
Hidan's weapon came smashing down and he flipped over it, yanking it out of the ground and whipping a part of Kakuzu's cloak off of it in the process. Sakura and Ino had to stop to catch their breath. They watched as Hidan chased Kakuzu right out of the village. He had skidded to a halt at the gate, pounding the butt of his scythe into the ground in an angry gesture. Kakuzu's green eyes were bright in the dark. Hidan threatened to throw the weapon at him and he fled.
Hidan appeared at Sakura's side; Ino had collapsed from fear. Several civilians also looked terrified.
"Ooh, he's back. But he was dead he -"
"That wasn't him, seriously."
Ino looked up at Hidan, who crouched next to her, "what?"
"That wasn't Kakuzu. But he was from the Akatsuki, seriously. You may have killed Pein but did you kill the guy controlling him?"
Sakura bowed her head, clenching her fists in her lap, "... no. We couldn't find him. Do you know where he is?"
"Konan must have saved him, then," he scowled at the sky, returning his weapon to the scroll, "she's an idiot to chase after him."
Ino still wasn't convinced that it wasn't really Kakuzu. So Hidan tried another tactic, "it wasn't him, I swear. Do you think Kakuzu would run away from me? And he didn't even use those sick threads of his, seriously. That. Wasn't. Kakuzu. Kakuzu rarely runs from a fight," he chuckled darkly, "unless it's Kisame he's up against. Then he runs."
The last part – which Sakura was pretty sure Hidan had said on purpose – made Ino laugh. She nudged him with his elbow and he lowered his head, refusing to look at her. She frowned.
Ino stood and brushed off her knees, "I'll leave you two alone now. Uh, have fun," she winked at Sakura and trotted off.
Sakura yanked Hidan to his feet, "you're absolutely positive that wasn't Kakuzu?"
"Yes. Like Kakuzu could recover from getting his chakra lines severed, and all his hearts stuck through, seriously."
Sakura sighed and grabbed his arm, "yeah, I guess you're right. So you're still having problems getting your... well, not really your pride back but... how to say this..."
"My ability to be sociable? My arrogance? My... my stupidity?" the way he said that made Sakura want to punch him. She whirled around instead and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down to her height, "look, you aren't stupid. Don't let me catch you calling yourself stupid ever again. You don't need someone to think for you. I told you to forget about the Akatsuki and everything that had happened to you there."
He sighed and unlatched her hands from his shirt, "do you have any idea how hard that is?"
"Kind of. Okay, fine, no I don't. How can I take your mind off of it? ... hm..." without waiting for a reply she dragged him down the street.
And right into the nearest club.
--
Sakura was bored now. Hidan had been sitting next to her, drinking glass after glass of something clear. She really wanted to dance, but he was very uninterested in dancing. She shot him a look.
"That better not be cyanide," she teased. He was probably trying to give her an unimpressed look but he couldn't help smiling, "don't be silly. I'm drinking -"
"Vodka?"
He scowled, "hell no. Water, woman, water. Getting drunk in a place like this is the worst. Besides, I'm religious... was. And I hate how alcohol tasted. Deidara and Kakuzu found that out the hard way."
"Huh?" she tilted her head at him, slightly disgruntled. She was supposed to be getting his mind off them.
"... I spat it all over them," he explained with a smile. She smile back, focused chakra in her hand and yanked him toward the dance floor.
"I want to dance."
"S-Sakura..."
"I'm serious. I want to dance, and you're going to dance with me."
He sighed and to her joy complied. Sakura, of course, had no idea how to dance in a club but she wasn't about to let that on. She glanced quickly at a few other girls, quickly trying to memorize how they moved their hips and their bodies in general. She copied and turned to Hidan.
She almost let her job drop open when she saw that he was moving his body in time to the music's beat. He raised a hand and set it on her shoulder, guiding how she moved. She blinked at him, 'w-where did h-he learn to dance l-like this?'
He guided one of her hands to his shoulder and she instinctively raised her other hand as the hand on her shoulder slid down to her back. She jumped closer to him when his right hand traced up her buttocks, making him smirk a little.
"Never done this before, have you?" he whispered somewhat smugly, making her body sway with his. The proximity was too much and Sakura could hardly hear herself as she replied, "I danced with Shikamaru once..."
This made him cock an eyebrow and he pulled her even closer so that there bodies were nearly melded together. She swallowed lightly.
Sakura rocked her body against his all the same though, even though she was more than a little nervous. And was surprised to find that she was glad the song was finally over. She quickly dragged Hidan off the floor, grabbed her purse and made for the door.
She glanced back at him to find him with a rather confused expression on his face; his eyebrows were also a bit knit at the center. She bit her lip and said rather quickly upon exit from the club, "so what's your place like?"
This time it was Hidan who did the grabbing of wrists, "why don't I show you?"
Before she could protest he was leading her away. Five minutes later they arrived at some apartment buildings, and after a one minute elevator ride she was standing in his apartment.
It was spacious and nice but that was beside the point. After closing and locking the door, Hidan had come up behind her, his hands on her hips. All her senses were over-powered by him.
"H-Hidan... ah..." he had slipped a hand over her stomach.
"Hm?" his lips were on her neck now. She tried to pull away but his tongue flicked over her neck, "uum..."
He nipped her earlobe and whispered, "do you think I didn't mean what I said? After I kissed you the first time... do you think I didn't fucking mean that?"
She closed her eyes tightly as one of his hands ventured lower. She spun and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his chin.
'Don't,' she whimpered inwardly, hoping he would catch the drift. Thankfully he did and kept his hands on her back. He shuffled forward and she moved back.
"Sakura?"
"Y-yeah?"
She looked up at him, saw the tiny glitter of hope in his violet eyes, "will you go out with me to a movie tomorrow?"
Yay for sexy dancing.