A set of perfectly manicured toes, painted black at her request, peeked out of the strappy red heeled shoes on each of Sakura's feet. They held her an extra four inches off of the ground, making her seem a bit taller than she'd been five hours ago. Her long slender legs peeked out of her borrowed, ebony, above the knee skirt as she took each step. She felt sophisticated in that particular skirt, it was the kind that swayed when she walked and if she turned abruptly it would fly up. Oddly enough, it wasn't layered, just one, solid skirt. Her top, an eye-catching deep red, contrasted nicely with her skirt, giving her just the right amount of 'kick' that she could ever want to attract the opposite sex. The diving neckline, in the shape of a 'v'; along with the small necklace she wore, that left it's emerald pendant resting right above her cleavage; didn't exactly take away from her looks. In her nostril, she had a small green jewel, to match the necklace. She hadn't worn anything in that peircing for months. Her pastel pink tresses were pulled back into a messy, rushed looking ponytail; leaving loose strands framing her face and causing a sexy effect. Makeup wise she only wore light eyeliner and some lipgloss. It created the right effect, and managed to keep her look from crossing the line between hot and slutty.

She was dressed to kill.

Beside her, Yumi was sporting the same pair of heels, only in a black color and her toe nails were painted a soft silvery colour. Her apparel was similar to Sakura's, but was a black dress, similar to a sundress. It had a silver glittered stripe across the hem of the flowing skirt, drawing the eyes towards her toned legs. Instead of straps, it tied behind her back. When she turned, you could see that the back of the dress scooped all the way down her lower back, ending in a scooping U. While she had not realized it at the time, Ino had assisted her into showing off the tattoo on her lower back. It was a vine of some sort, with a large purpleflower in the middle, breaking it. This had suprised them all. After they'd finally gotten over the fact that sweet little Yumi actually had a tattoo, Ino had pulled her hair back into a bun.

She hadn't dressed like this since her younger days.

Ino, the mastermind behind the two magnificent works of beauty, walked to the other side of Sakura. Her hair was worn down, something that rarely happened as Sakura well knew. She wore a light blue mini skirt, that made her look as if she had longer legs than she truly did. Ino was actually, in reality, a bit petite, being only 5'5". On her own feet was a pair of glittered, white, flipflops, the kind with heels. Her toes were painted a pale green color that could have been a color in Sakura's eyes. Her top was very complementary to her figure. The black top she wore showed her midriff, and the small green jeweled butterfly on her bellybutton. She wore only a bit of pale blue eyeshadow on her face, bringing out the color in her eyes.

Self confidence seemed to radiate off of the blonde kunoichi.

When the three women entered the bar, looking and feeling like a hundred bucks, every male eye turned to them. Sakura shivered as she walked, oddly reminded of the first time that they had entered Konoha again. It was eerie how similar the situation was, but this time it was Ino, Yumi and herself. Hinata was off enjoying her honeymoon with Naruto.

She quickened her pace and greeted the grinning Genma with a smile as she took a seat in the seat beside him. She felt the urge to smack him as his eyes trailed over her body, soaking in her beauty. Instead, after taking a deep breath, she reahed over and pushed his eyes up to meet her own amused ones with a tap beneath his chin. He only grinned at her again, his senbon sliding to the side, and resumed looking her over. He reached down to her chest, and took hold of the necklace. With a smile of recognition, he let it fall back to her chest. She elbowed him playfully and he faced forwards, now watching her not-so-discreetly from the corner of his eye. "What's the occasion?" He asked, taking a drink of sake before turning to face her again, looking directly into her eyes this time.

"Ino wanted us to be her dollies for the day." She explained, smirking over at the said kunoichi sitting across from her. Ino only smiled pleasantly at her, obviously content to sit beside Shikamaru. Yumi, who was sitting beside Sakura, was looking rather uncomfortable. Sakura turned to face her and started up a conversation about how Ino had gotten her belly button pierced. She laughed as she told the story, fingering the small green jewel on the side of her nostril as she spoke. Theyhad all gotten something done, even Hinata. Soon, Kakashi joined in the conversation, they were talking about other things by then, and she didn't feel the least bit guilty as she turned her attention back to Genma. "Did you talk about me after I left?" She asked, flirting in her usual casual way. She was perplexed to see that his eyes took on a dazed sort of look andhe remained silent. She waited a few seconds, and then impatiently waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"Huh?" He said, snapping out of his reverie. He looked to her for a second and then said, rather softly so that even she, who was sitting beside him, could barely hear him. "You're leaving tonight... aren't you?" He looked to her, his deep eyes having tooken on a sad sort of look. His eyes seemed to bore into hers until she opened her mouth in shock.

"How did you know?" She asked in a tone to match his soft one he'd just used. Indeed, ever since she had arrived at Ino's home she had felt an overwhelming urge to take off from Konoha, almost as if she was stuck on the hook at the end of a fishing pole, and the owner was yanking her his way. She'd later decided to leave after telling Genma that night.

"I felt it." He said, standing. She followed behind him as he stepped out onto the dance floor. As if on cue, a slow song belted out from the juke box. She leaned in close to him and, feeling the heat of his breath on her ear, her heart fluttered. "How soon?" He asked into her ear. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why did she feel so... guilty. It wasn't the same kind of guilt as she always felt when she was close to a man, it was the old kind, mixed with a new kind, concocted only for Genma.

"I don't know." She said, nuzzling into his chest. She felt a tear reach her eye and she sniffed miserably. Why was she crying? It wsn't as if she was leaving forever. It was only going to be a few months, or however long it took to find him. She dug her head into his shoulder and said softly, "Genma... You're not... In love with me are you?"

Silence. Then a soft reply, in the softest tone possible. "No." He tilted her face up to his, to make sure that he hadn't hurt her feelings. He was relieved to see that she was smiling sweetly up at him through her tears. He wiped them from her cheeks with a single finger. He smiled back and pulled her back to him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad.. I wouldn't want to hurt you... nii-san." She said, sniffing again as the tears began to finally clear up. She felt him chuckle softly beside her ear. She had said it without thinking, but Genma seemed to think it was sweet. If he was her brother, they had one messed up relationship. She smiled against his chest. so he wasn't in love with her. She wouldn't.. or couldn't have left if she hadn't made sure of that fact.

"But if he hurts you, I'll kill him." He said, turning and dragging her towards the table again. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. What? Did he know about...? No. He knew she was going to see a male, that was all. As they re-took their seats, Sakura noticed that they were getting a few weird looks from their friends. She cleared her throat and nodded to Yumi and Ino, and stood again. She walked over to an empty table and took a seat, the two women following her lead soon after.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Ino asked worriedly. She saw the tears on her friend's face and came to so many false conclusions as to the reasons for her tears. She sat there for a second, glancing at Yumi every now and then to see her reaction to the silence.

"If you stop by my place tomorrow, Genma will give you your clothes..." She said, willing herself not to start crying again. Her emotions always had been a problem in her life. Despite the fact that she had them basically under controll, tears tended to spill at times like these.

Ino furrowed her eyebrows, confused. She was silent a moment until a single word escaped her lips before understanding struck her. "Why...?" Her jaw dropped. Beside her, Yumi had a similar look. "Now?" She finally managed to ask after several seconds of stunned silence.

XXXXXXX

Sakura stepped lightly as she made her way back to her home, Genma at her side. She constantly bumped into him, swaying dangerously on her heels towards his side. They walked in silence, but somehow they were having a conversation through the quiet. As they finally arrived at the door, she fell onto the couch and pulled off the painful shoes. She stretched her toes as she removed her shirt and threw it onto the couch beside her, no londer ashamed to be seen in only her bra around her jounin friend. She stood and shuffled to her room. In a few seconds she appeared in her favorite pair of black cargoes and a red tanktop. She threw the skirt in her hands onto the couch and fell onto it beside Genma. He watched her patiently as she pulled on her boots. She looked up at him for a moment before asking quietly, "Would you do me a favor and fill my canteen?" He nodded and stood as she returned to her room. She emerged a few minutes later holding a satchel with clothes, money, and provisions. "thanks." She said quietly, taking the canteen from him and placing it into the bag.

"Don't mention it..." He said softly.

She smiled as tears began to flow down her cheeks again. She wiped them away hurriedly and said, "Why do I keep crying? It's not as if I'm not coming back..."

"Because.. You are afraid, to tell you the truth, I would be too. " He said, reaching for her. A few seconds later she was buried into his chest. "I want you to come back alive, and unscathed." He said into the top of her head.

She nodded. "I.. I need to leave now." She said softly. Stepping away from his warm protectin embrace, she wiped away her tears. "I'll be back soon." A soft kiss was laid upon his cheek and in a puff of smoke, she was gone.

Genma touched his cheek reflectively.

Lipgloss came off on his fingers, smelling of cherries.

"Don't lie to me Sakura..."


Ok. So I a going to post the next chapter soon, but I think I might come back later and revise it. (I started on it last night.) I don't know yet...

What can I say? I love over-detailing things. Besides, I should be alowed to dress up Sakura at least once. XP

So yes. Please Review.