Author's Note: Alright, so he's not *quite* a fuckboy yet, but just you wait.
Chapter 2
Sasuke told himself the same half-truth the next few times he went back to the club. It's for the investigation. He rationalized Maki's lap dances away with the convenient excuse she had given him. It's for my cover. He should have contacted the Hidden Leaf Village and asked for ANBU to be dispatched. He had plenty of information on the missing-nin, but he wanted to clean things up on his own. Like for most things in life, he had a plan.
"What are you doing?" Maki gasped, slapping his hand away from her butt. He was thoroughly embarrassed, unable to form words as she stopped grinding against him and sat up in his lap. Her pretty eyes were so judgmental. After seven dances, he had finally worked up the courage to move his hand from her thigh, and she had completely rejected him. It was humiliating. Her face broke into a mischievous smile, revealing the cute dimples in her cheeks. "I'm just kidding. Don't look so serious." Her hips began moving again as she placed his hand back on her body.
"Shit." Sasuke released the breath that had been caught in his throat with the panic. "Not funny."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Black Ops." she cooed in his ear. He groaned from the sensation of her lips brushing against his jaw. "You're right, that was bad." Jolts of excitement surged through him at her next suggestion. "You should spank me."
"Not here." The words left him before he knew what he was saying.
"Are you implying you would elsewhere, Mr. Black Ops?" she teased. There was a lot he would do to her elsewhere, but his slightly ragged breathing was his only admission.
"I need a favor." He watched her turn on his lap and bit his lip.
"What is it?" she asked, reaching her arm back to run her fingers through his hair. She laid her head against his shoulder and noticed his eyes move from her body to the last customer she had been with.
"That man asked you to perform at a private event." he whispered in her ear. His breath was hot.
"Yea?" She followed his gaze, confused by what kind of a favor could involve one of her other customers.
"I need you to accept."
"Why?" She already had her answer, but was infinitely curious about his reasoning.
"Can you keep a secret?"
"That's most of my job description." she joked. He put his hand on her stomach and pulled her in closer to his chest.
"I am Black Ops."
"No." she whispered in feigned disbelief, laughing at his revelation.
"And that man is on my list."
"So go get him." Maki suggested with a shrug. "He's right there."
"He's not the only one on my list." Sasuke explained. "In fact, he doesn't even make the top ten, but the guests at his private event do."
"So you need me to find out where the event is?" she deduced.
"No, I know where it is."
"Then why do you need me?"
"I need to make sure my targets are all present before I make any moves. I can't infiltrate without tipping off their sensory-nin."
"Sensory-nin?"
"Ninja that specialize in finding other ninja." Sasuke elaborated. "They're always aggressively monitoring and screening these events."
"I see," Maki turned to face him with a cute smile, "so you want me to accept, show up to the event, take an inventory of your targets, send you some sort of signal, and you'll take care of the rest?" Smart girl.
"Exactly."
"Hell no." she said with the same bubbly tone.
"You won't be in any danger." he assured her.
"Except when I show up alone, go in alone, dance there alone, and come out—maybe—alone."
"I'll be right behind you the entire time."
"Just out of sensory range?" she asked. He nodded. "And how far is that?"
"About one hundred meters."
"Hell no." she repeated.
"I'm fast."
"Usually not a good selling point when you're trying to talk a girl into doing something stupid." she teased. She had a way of twisting his words that he desperately wanted to repay her for. He grabbed her hip as he felt her begin to stand up and forced her back down.
"I can plant a bug on you, so I'll know if something goes wrong."
"Hell no." Her decision was final.
"Then how about I just reveal your real age to the club manager, Maki?" he whispered in her ear. He felt her breathing quicken.
"How did you—" She stopped herself before finishing the stupid question. "Damn Black Ops." There was real spite in her voice.
Maki laid on the freshly changed sheets of the private suite bed. She stared up at the mirrored ceiling. Her reflection looked wrong. It was nothing about her, specifically, just her surroundings. She never thought she'd be in one of these rooms, and certainly not under these circumstances. She propped herself up on her elbows when she heard the door open. Mr. Black Ops walked in nonchalantly, locking the door behind him.
"I hope you know I'm still charging you for the full hour, but I'm leaving as soon as we're done." she said with a glare.
"That's fine." he replied, pulling a small envelope out of his cloak and tossing it to her. She caught it easily and laid back on the bed as she pulled out the pictures.
"Do you have a pen?" she asked, holding out her hand.
"Marker." He placed it in her hand.
"That's fine." She kept her eyes on the pictures as she pulled off the cap with her teeth. Her brow furrowed in thought. She flipped onto her stomach and began scribbling on the back of each picture. He couldn't help but to admire her nearly nude figure from behind. "There." She sat up and held the pictures out for him. He looked through them.
"What's this?"
"Code words." she replied, popping the cap back onto his marker. "Here's what we're going to do: you're going to plant that bug on me; I'm going to work those words into my conversation; you'll know exactly who's there within the first five minutes of my arrival; I'll step into the bathroom to change; then, you can raid the joint, and we can both forget this ugly encounter ever happened. Deal?"
"Deal." She didn't like the way he was smirking at her—like this whole thing was cute. It wasn't cute. She was pissed. Maki hopped off the bed, keeping her glare fixed on him as she approached.
"And one more thing." she leaned close to him, the top of her head still only coming up to his nose even in fifteen centimeter heels. "If I scream, you better come." His faint smirk deepened.
"With pleasure." he retorted, twisting the meaning of her words. She blushed at the insinuation, her anger replaced with surprise at his sudden boldness.
"U-ugh, pig!" she stammered out, flustered by how off guard he had caught her. He let out a small chuckle at her expense and moved past her to the couch. She watched him open up the bottle of sake and start to pour it into a shot glass. "H-here." She tossed his marker and it bounced off his chest. He looked up at her and she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. "Why didn't you catch it?" He motioned at the bottle of sake in his hand. "Use your other hand." she suggested snidely.
"That's going to be difficult," he began, setting the bottle down and undoing the button on his cloak, "considering I lost it in the war." Maki watched the fabric fall from his broad shoulders. The left sleeve of his black shirt fell flat just above his elbow.
"Of course you did." Maki scoffed at her own bad luck. "Because why wouldn't they send the war veteran amputee to the girl with a soft spot for war veteran amputees?" She checked the clock on the wall. Fifty-two minutes left. She had every intention of leaving after her little speech, but decided it couldn't hurt to take a break, at least for another fifty-two minutes. "Damn Black Ops." There was no spite in her voice this time as she sat next to the man on the couch and held out a shot glass for him to fill.
"I thought you were leaving?"
"Don't tell me what to do." she snapped back playfully, shaking the glass impatiently.
"You didn't have to walk me from the club." Maki said sweetly to the unsuspecting victim of Mr. Black Ops' raid.
"I did." the man replied with a laugh. "It's a very exclusive event. You won't get in without me."
"Even as the entertainment?" she asked, tightening her grip on his arm as he led her down an alley.
"Even as the entertainment." he confirmed. "It's right down here." They turned a corner to find two brutal looking men guarding a door. "They just need to check you before we let you in."
"For weapons?" Maki feigned innocence.
"Yea." the man replied.
"O, I can make that very easy." Maki dug into her purse and pulled out a leash. She snapped the metal clip onto the matching metal ring of the collar around her neck and handed the lead to the man.
"I was wondering what that collar was for." he replied with a smirk, gently tugging on black rope and pulling Maki closer to him. "Nice touch, Nana."
"Thank you!" she replied with a giggle. She handed her purse to one of the guards to check, and pulled off her long coat, handing it to the second. They gawked at her see-through lace lingerie. She turned her back to the guards, putting her hands on her customer's shoulders and arched her back to give the other men a good view between her slightly spread legs. The lace thong obscured all the right places to tempt their imaginations. "See? Nothing up my sleeves…or anywhere else. But you can pat me down if you don't believe me."
"I want a turn with her…." one guard growled.
"Easy," her customer said, tugging on the lead again to pull her closer, "she's mine right now." The guards returned her coat and purse, clearly disappointed with having to wait. Please don't leave me hanging, Mr. Black Ops. Maki silently prayed for her life as she was led into the building. She immediately took an inventory of guests.
"Wow, what's that smell?" she asked, sniffing the air with a small smile. "Apples? Sandalwood? Or Jasmine? God, I'm so bad at guessing scents." She squinted at one guest. "Maybe citrus? But I can't be sure."
"Hm?" the customer sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything."
"Really? Not even my perfume?" she asked, leaning closer to him. He shook his head.
"Well, I can't have that. Mind if I run to the bathroom to freshen up before we begin?"
"Sure, it's the third door from the back—on the left." he released her lead and she graciously took it from his hands before making her escape. She locked the door behind her.
"Okay, I'm in the bathroom. Please, please, please, please, please hurry!" she begged into the collar. It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds before she heard windows breaking, furniture crashing, and people screaming. Maki squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drown out the noise and clashing of metal. It lasted only a few minutes, but it was a few minutes too long for her. She had no idea how her family had survived in their line of work. Any childish dreams she had held about wanting to become Black Ops were officially gone. This was way too scary for her. She heard footsteps approach the bathroom in the sudden silence. A sharp knock made her jump.
"It's safe, you can open the door." Mr. Black Ops called. She sighed with relief at his voice and opened the door, still shaken and completely forgetting her current attire. He stood in front of her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. "It was citrus." Really? That's all you can think of to say?
"I'm so glad." Maki said halfheartedly. "Let's get the hell out of here." She tried to move past him and he held up his hand to stop her.
"I don't recommend you walk past what I just did. You already look pale."
"Yea." Maki meekly agreed, noticing the blood on his hand for the first time. She slipped on her coat and held out a towel for him to wipe his hand on.
"Close your eyes." She instantly did what she was told, squeezing them shut like her life depended on it. She felt his shoulder against her stomach. He easily lifted her—even with one arm—and carried her out of the building. Maki kept her eyes closed until he explicitly told her it was safe to open them.
"Thanks for your help, Maki."
"Yea, no problem." the shaken girl whispered back. She leaned against the chain-link fence of the alley way, unsure of what to do next.
"Are you alright?"
"Yup." she replied quickly, while also shaking her head 'no.' Another awkward pause. "When I was little, I used to say I wanted to be in the Black Ops, just like my dad." she suddenly confessed, looking up to meet his onyx eyes. "Now I officially know I'm not cut out for it."
"For what it's worth, the true mark of Black Ops is ingenuity. The way you managed to sneak that bug past the guards was resourceful. I'm sure your father would be proud." They were comforting words from this stranger.
"Yea…," Maki replayed her actions in her head, "proud isn't the word that comes to mind." They shared a small laugh together. "Well, I should head back to work." He nodded as she began walking away. Curiosity got the best of her, and she spun on her heel to face him. "So…is this it? You disappear into the shadows and I never see you again?" He looked surprised by her sudden interest in him.
"I'm in town for a few more days." he said after a brief pause. He walked past her. "I'm sure I'll see you around." With a brief flicker, he was gone. Disappointment seeped into Maki. She was so sure he was into her, but maybe he was just really good at his job.
"Damn Black Ops!" she cried childishly, stomping her heel against the pavement. She zipped up her coat higher and shoved her hands into the deep pockets with a pout. Her pout quickly disappeared when she felt paper against one hand. She dug it out and bit her lip to try and hold back the smile that spread across her face. Tanzaku Inn, Rm. 153. – Sasuke. If there was any doubt as to who might have slipped it into her pocket, he had taken the extra precaution of writing it in the same marker as her code words. Mr. Sasuke Black Ops.