Chapter 10

Normally, Sasuke was a very patient young man... but this...?

Just what the hell was wrong with these people, especially with his teammates? Henta brought nothing but trouble and yet, they still wanted to help him...?

Sasuke couldn't believe it. It wasn't their responsibility to help Henta anymore. Their mission was already over, dammit! It was downright stupid to help the lech now. They wouldn't gain anything from helping him!

Why the heck did his teammates even bother?

And besides, all Henta did was irritate them like a real pain in the ass. He lied to them from the very beginning and led them into a trap. Sure, he had his reasons for doing all those things, but his reasons weren't enough to justify his actions. Sakura tried to be nice to him and what did he do? Grope her like a perverted old man and kidnap her with the intention of marrying her off to an unknown bastard!

And yet, Sakura still had it in her heart to help that good-for-nothing lech!

She was still to naive for her own good...

...and damn Naruto for siding with her.

Sasuke tried to convince himself that the only reason why he didn't want to help Henta was because it wasn't in his nature to give a damn about other people's business. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wasn't very fond of the said lech...

...that and the way that lecher kept on shoving Sakura inside that small room under the stairs. Sasuke looked down at them from the top of the stairs and frowned at the two.

What the hell is that damn lech think he's doing?

"Come on, Sakura-chan!" Sasuke could hear the worry and panic in Henta's voice. What in the hell is going on now? "Go hide! Hide!" Henta cried out and shoved Sakura inside the room with enough force that it finally made her stumble inside with a loud yelp.

Naruto, who got pushed down the stairs by a nervous and frantic Henta, was muttering curses under his breath as he tried to pick himself up from the ground. As soon as he saw what was happening to his pink-haired teammate, he barked Henta's name with a loud snarl. "Pervert! What the hell are you doing?"

Sasuke, who was still looking at the three from above, winced inwardly when Sakura suddenly screamed in outrage. "Why do I have to hide?" She tried to push Henta away, but the lecher held his ground and refused to let her leave the room. "Henta-san..." Sakura glared at him. "I'm warning you...!"

"Please, Sakura-chan! Trust me on this..." Henta pleaded as if his life depended on it. And much to the dark-haired boy's annoyance, the lecher pulled Sakura into a tight hug, effectively silencing the upset kunoichi. "Please... Shin and his men are coming. Just hide! I don't want them to see you... And please don't do anything rash... I won't get my sister back if you guys beat them up..."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "Henta-san...?"

Naruto's expression calmed down a little, realization dawning upon his once angry face. "Pervert..."

Sasuke, however, raised an irritated eyebrow. Before he knew what was happening, he was marching downstairs and was now standing in front of the two with a cold look on his face.

This... The young Uchiha clenched a fist at his side. ...is getting really annoying.

"Sasuke-kun...?" Sakura's green eyes turned to look at him in confusion. Henta must have sensed the icy glare that he was giving him because he slowly released Sakura from his tight embrace.

Sasuke stared at the two of them in irritation. Henta's arms were still locked around Sakura's waist in a loose hug. Suddenly, a gut-wrenching feeling stirred at the pit of his stomach. What the hell is this feeling?

Sasuke didn't like it one bit.

"Oi! You damn brat!"

The angry scream from outside was a harsh wake up call for everybody in the house. Everyone's mouth instantly snapped shut as all heads turned towards the direction of the front door.

"Brat! I order you to open this door now!"

The extremely loud banging of fists against Henta's highly abused door rang wildly in everyone's ears. Sasuke watched as Henta jumped in panic again and started to curse and mutter under his breath. He paced back and forth across the room, blubbering about some nonsense like a total idiot while ruffling his now messy brown hair in nervousness.

Sasuke sighed in exasperation, his half-sullen jealousy forgotten. It was a big mistake to stay in this damned house. They really should have gone back home when they had the chance...

Sasuke was just about to go upstairs and forget about this whole thing when somebody suddenly grabbed his arm. Before he could jerk the offending hand away from him, he was pulled back inside the small room under the stairs. He crashed against someone, whom he instantly recognized as Sakura because of her small squeak of surprise, and nearly lost his balance. However, because of his fast reflexes, he caught himself on time and didn't end up like Sakura, who, unfortunately, stumbled and crashed against the boxes and cleaning tools at the far end of the wall in an undignified heap.

Dust clouded every corner of the small room. Sasuke squinted his eyes to see Sakura groaning in pain with her hand clutching her left arm. A guilty feeling crawled along Sasuke's veins as he watched a dirt-covered Sakura slowly pick herself up from the ground.

She was hurt. And it was partly his fault because he was the one who crashed into her... but this wouldn't have happened if a certain lecher hadn't pushed him in here in the first place! With a loud curse, Sasuke glared at the said lecher who was standing at the door.

Henta's gonna be a dead man for forcing him to hurt his own teammate!

"You two..." Henta loomed over them with an apologetic look on his face. Sasuke hated that pathetic look. "Stay there and keep your...!" Sasuke didn't let him finish what he was trying to say. His hand shot up and grabbed Henta's neck in a tight grip. He almost smirked when Henta choked and struggled against his hold.

So... he actually thinks he could push him around, eh? Idiot.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out in shock from behind him. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from Henta who looked as pale as a ghost. "Come on... Let's hide for now, okay?" She pleaded with him and gently tugged at his arm.

Sakura's voice grated his nerves. And much to his irritation, it was effective enough to get through him. Reluctantly, he released his hold around Henta's neck.

Damn her. She always had that effect on him.

The screams outside were getting louder and more urgent by the minute. If Henta didn't do anything soon, the intruders might try to break down the door. "Naruto..." Henta's voice croaked because of Sasuke's choking. "Hide yourself here, too...!" Naruto, whose attention was on the loud racket outside the door, turned to nod at Henta. Henta reached out to grab Naruto's arm and push him inside the room with his other teammates, but in a sudden explosion of sound, the front door burst open.

Too late.

"Henta, you ungrateful brat!" A man, in his early twenties, stepped inside Henta's house with a scornful look on his face. He was followed by a dozen gorilla-looking guards, all seemed intent on bringing physical pain on anyone who would try to oppose them. "Where's my new bride and who is this blonde brat?"

Henta was sweating a lot. "Err... Shin, about that."

It was a good thing that Henta managed to close the door of the room that Sasuke and Sakura were hiding in just in time. The intruders didn't get the chance to notice the two genins, but, unfortunately...

Naruto was stuck outside with Henta. And the foxboy wasn't all too pleased at the way Shin's guards were glaring down at him. "What the hell are you dumb asses looking at?" He growled at the men.

Everyone, including Henta, gaped at him in shock and disbelief.

Obviously, nothing good's gonna come out of this...

Sakura nearly jumped in surprise when she heard a roar of outrage from outside the room. What was that? The room was uncomfortably dark, so she slowly crept her way towards the door, remembering to be careful enough so she wouldn't trip on something and attract attention from outside. She stretched out a hand in front of her and almost let out a gasp when another hand covered her wrist. She was pulled forward and soon she could feel the smooth surface of the door against her palm.

"Sasuke-kun...?" She knew it was him who guided her towards the door a while ago, but she still wanted to make sure. The thought of being alone inside a dark and creepy place like this was enough to send chills down her spine.

It took a few awkward seconds before the young Uchiha answered her with a soft grunt. Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. So, she really wasn't alone...

She was stuck with Sasuke... inside this small room...

Stuck with Sasuke...

Now wait a minute...!

Her cheeks burned when the situation finally caved in inside her mind. All of a sudden, the already small room grew even smaller for Sakura. Her senses took in everything around her. She could hear the slight rustling of clothes against the wall, the soft murmuring of someone from outside the door, the ragged breathing of the young man beside her, and most of all, the loud thudding of her heart against her chest. She found it quite hard to breathe, as if the tension inside the room was crushing her lungs into bits.

What the hell is wrong with you? Sakura scolded herself inwardly. She really should get a hold of herself! Just because Sasuke was stuck with her in a really dark and a very cramp room didn't mean she should allow herself to lose control!

A crash jolted Sakura out of her thoughts. "N-No! Wait a minute!" Henta's worried voice filled her ears. She leaned her ear against the wall and concentrated on what was going on outside and not on the young man who was standing close to her.

"This brat DARED to call me a dumb ass?" The furious scream made both Sakura and Sasuke wince.

"N-NO! Naruto-san was just... joking! Y-Yeah! Ne, Naruto-san...?" Henta's voice was trembling.

Silence followed and a quiet, but obviously forced, 'yeah' came out of Naruto's lips. It must have taken Naruto a great deal amount of patience not to lash out at this 'Shin guy' again.

"Sakura..."

The kunoichi blinked and her head tilted towards Sasuke's direction. Even if she couldn't see his face because of the darkness, she could still feel the piercing gaze that he was directing at her.

Her mouth instantly went dry. "Y-yes...?" She managed to choke out.

She heard him sigh. "Move back. I'm gonna open the door a bit." He said in an almost irritated way that it finally made Sakura realize how stupid she was acting in front of Sasuke.

Get a grip, Sakura! She scolded herself over and over again before lifting her weight from the door. She watched as Sasuke slowly opened it a little, allowing them to see what was going on outside. They peered outside and were taken by surprise when they saw one of Shin's men gripping Naruto by his shirt. Naruto dangled in the air, but he wasn't the least bit scared. In fact, he was glaring at them with all his might.

Henta suddenly appeared in their line of vision and attempted to bring Naruto down from one of the men's tight grip. "Stop this, Shin! I told you I'll bring her to you...!" Henta was looking at someone from his right and from the tone on his voice, he sounded really angry.

Sakura shifted a bit in order to see who Henta was looking at. What greeted her was a man who was a few years older than her. He has messy black hair and his face... Sakura bit her lip as she laid her eyes upon his face. He... was as ugly as his monstrous bodyguards. His nose was long and crooked, giving the impression of a man with a beak for a nose. His lips were thick and he was as thin as a stick. Everything about him was ugly... even his attitude.

Damn, Henta! Sakura glared at the said guy who was still bickering with Shin and his men. You're gonna force me to marry him? The nerve of that pervert! She scowled and unconsciously clenched a fist. Henta had his reasons, but... darn it! Who would want to marry that... man?

"That sick lech..."

Sakura's attention turned to the sound of Sasuke's voice. The light that was coming from outside wasn't enough to light up the whole room, but it was enough to illuminate Sasuke's features. He looked pretty pissed off... and Sakura wondered what he could possibly be angry about.

"Where is she, brat?" Shin's hoarse voice brought Sakura's attention back at Naruto and Henta. "You'd better not be lying to me or else I'm going to kill your sister..." He laughed, his face contorting into a more hideous expression.

Naruto couldn't hold off much longer. "You son of a..." Sakura's eyes widened when she saw her blonde teammate getting ready to punch the bodyguard who was gripping his shirt. Stop it, Naruto! That'll only make things worse! She opened her mouth to scream at Naruto, but her words were muffled by the hand that clamped over her mouth. Instinct won over reason and she struggled against the person who was holding her. Accidentally, she kicked the door in front of her and to her horror, it closed with a loud slam!

"What was that?"

At that instant, Sakura forgot to breathe and let herself be dragged back into the shadows.

Busted... They are so busted.

"Shh! Don't make a sound..." Sasuke's voice was serious as he tightened his grip over her mouth and around her waist. If it weren't for his hand that was holding her head in place, Sakura would have lowered her head in shame. Darn it all... She should have been more careful!

"What? I didn't hear anything!"

"Are you deaf, brat? I heard something! Are you hiding something from me?"

Sakura could hear footsteps coming their way. She tried to block the loud drumming of her heart in her ears. A prickly feeling started to form on her stomach and it started to crawl upwards, forcing the hair at the back of her neck to stand on end.

The footsteps stopped in front of the room. Someone gripped the doorknob and soon enough, the door slowly swung open...

"I told you, Shin..." It was Henta's voice. "I'll bring her to you tomorrow! I promise you, you won't be disappointed. Surely you have heard the rumors from the villagers who have seen her? Your new bride's a real beauty. Even more beautiful and sexy than my sister!"

The door didn't open any further. "Why can't I have her now...?" The voice sounded extremely lustful. Sakura couldn't help but shiver in disgust.

"She wants to look her very best for the wedding tomorrow! She's sleeping right now and you do know that it's bad to wake a lady in slumber. That would be very improper and it would be bad to make your lady upset..."

Sasuke's hand slowly released her mouth, but he didn't let go of her waist. He whispered to her to keep her mouth shut before he dragged her on the other side of the room as quietly as he could. They passed the light that penetrated at the end of the door, and for a second there, Sakura was able to see her dust-covered dress...

...not to mention the giant and hairy spider that was on top of her chest and was looking up at her with its numerous red eyes.

Prickly feeling...

The blood completely drained out of Sakura's face.

Sasuke knew he had to do something fast right this very second or else Sakura would scream at the top of her lungs and struggle like mad. He knew Sakura wouldn't like what he was going to do next, but he didn't have a choice. His other hand reached up and he clamped it hard over Sakura's mouth again. After that, he used his other arm to grab both her wrists and hold them behind her back, preventing her to move.

As expected, Sakura struggled like mad and her screams were muffled against his hand. Sasuke grunted in pain when her elbow accidentally hit his stomach. "S-Shit... Sakura, calm down!" He hissed at her, careful not to let the others outside to hear his voice. Sakura, however, was still panicking like crazy and kept on struggling from his hold. Something wet trailed down at the back of his hand.

Shit... She's crying.

It was quite normal for girls to freak out because of... this, so Sasuke couldn't really blame her for crying like that. Sasuke saw that spider crawling along her dress minutes ago and he would have warned her about it if only they weren't stuck in such a tight situation. He didn't want her to attract any attention from outside, so he decided to remain quet, hoping against hope that she wouldn't notice that damn bug creeping along her clothes.

Unfortunately...

He gasped when Sakura almost hit him at the place where he hated to get hit the most. He tightened his hold around her and cursed when her elbow made contact with his side.

Damn! And most people thought she was weak...?

"Hey... Did you hear something?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Fuck! He cursed inwardly and whispered to Sakura to be quiet. Her reply was to look at him with teary green eyes and a pleading look that almost tore at his conscience.

Sasuke knew what she wanted him to do. She wanted him to get rid of the spider that was now starting to crawl along her neck.

"Okay, Sakura..." He sighed. Did he have a choice? "I'm gonna let go of your mouth. Don't you dare scream." He said sternly and waited for her to nod her head in reply. She nodded her head wildly and more tears streamed down her face.

This was one of those things that Sasuke just couldn't understand about girls. It was only a bug, for Kami's sake! It wasn't like it's gonna eat her or anything!

Hesitantly, Sasuke released her mouth. She let out a moan and pressed herself against him even more. Sasuke felt himself being flattened against the wall. He cursed and reached out a hand to grab the spider from her neck.

"It's a cat, damn it!" Naruto exclaimed in frustration from outside. "There are cats at the frontyard!"

Sasuke ran his hand along Sakura's neck and cursed when he couldn't find the damn bug. He peered over Sakura's shoulder and saw that it was now clinging on top of Sakura's... breasts. Much to their extreme horror, the spider decided to slip inside Sakura's dress!

Sasuke started to sweat.

"S-Sasuke-kun..." Sakura cried out to him as if she was pleading for her life. "P-Please... G-Get... it... away... Please...!"

Sasuke didn't want to... He couldn't, damn it!

"Go home, Shin!" Henta suddenly butted in. "It's getting really late. You don't want to look like shit... uhh... unattractive in front of your wife tomorrow, do you?"

Sakura was crying loudly than ever. He didn't have any choice. He gathered his courage and let his hand crawl downwards. He didn't get the chance to wonder how soft she was because soon enough, he felt one of the spider's prickly legs. He didn't waste any more precious seconds and made a grab for it...

"Hmm... I guess you're right." Naruto watched as the ugly bastard let go of the doorknob of the room where Sasuke and Sakura where hiding in. Much to his and Henta's relief, Shin walked away from the room and advanced towards Henta with a scowl on his ugly face.

"You'd better bring her to me tomorrow, brat..." Naruto wanted to screw his face more and make him look even uglier. "And you, you noisy blonde..."

"What?" Naruto snapped at him furiously. If Henta's sister's life wasn't at stake here, he would have smashed their skulls the moment they walked in inside Henta's house.

Much to Naruto's irritation, Shin ignored him and turned his attention towards his men, motioning them to follow. "Let's go, men." He watched as the gorillas lined up behind the ugly bastard and disappeared one by one outside the door. Naruto was more than glad to see them leave.

He turned to look at Henta and saw him looking extremely relieved. Henta looked at him with a smirk on his face. "That went well... ne, Naruto-san?"

Naruto couldn't help but flash him one of his grins and a thumbs-up.

After that, the two decided to check on Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto was beaming as he grabbed the door and flung it open. "Sakura-chan! Are you all ri..." The words instantly died in his throat. Henta, who noticed Naruto's sudden silence, peered over his shoulder to see what was wrong.

Both of them were scarred for life.

To be continued…