Chapter 5: Loyalty Pt. 1

"In the end, we all just want someone who chooses us...over everyone else, under any circumstances."

|Sasuke|

"Things are moving faster than usual, hm." Deidara announced as he approached Karin and I, "I figured we'd have more time to look around, but the boss just got back from his business trip, and he asked to see you."

"Better now than later." I said as Karin and I got up from the wooden bench.

"Ah." Deidara held a hand up, "Only one of you. So, who's going to make the best first impression?"

Karin and I met each other's eyes and I searched hers for any hesitancy or reservations. Instead, the amber brown only reflected trusts. With a nod and a squeeze of my hand, she stepped back and waved me forward.

Deidara clasped my shoulders supportively, "Alright! Misaki-san, we'll be back soon enough."

She returned to her spot on the bench, and I gave her one last glance before following Deidara down the path. As I had suspected, we were heading for the giant house in the center of the compound, and as we approached, I still couldn't get over how magnificent it was.

Karin and I had learned yesterday that its traditional exterior was a front, as the inside was completely modernized, complete with a lobby setup and an elevator. Not too far from the front door was a wide opening to what we learned was the mess hall, and where we had gotten our meals from this morning as well as the previous day.

However, other than the mess hall and the restrooms, we hadn't been able to explore much else of the house, leaving three floors virtually unknown. As Deidara had explained, this was the house where the higherups worked and slept and "if we worked hard enough, maybe we would find ourselves here too."

Deidara pointed towards the stairs, and I stopped my recollection to follow him up. After two flights, we came to the third floor and he stepped out, leading the way through various halls, all painted mahogany and well lit. Finally, we arrived at our destination; at the end of one of the various hallways on the floor were two matte black doors, emanating prestige and soundness.

"This is the boss's office." Deidara confirmed with an outstretched hand.

I stepped up to the doors and reached for a knob before hesitating, "Should I knock?"

Deidara shook his head, "He's expecting you. Newbies don't ever come to his office unless requested, so only knock if you take it upon yourself to show up here. And I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Arigato." I thanked him before taking a deep breath and placing my hands on the knobs.

"Just be yourself, Toshiaki-san." Deidara advised me, patting my shoulders, "The boss wants authenticity."

With those words, Deidara left me standing in front of the doors. I nodded to myself and turned the silver doorknobs, entering the room. However, as soon as I set my eyes on it, I knew I would be dealing with a convoluted individual.

The walls were maroon, lined with white shelves that had small white sculptures. Abstract art lined by white frames were hung up in the spots not taken up by the shelves, and a single lamp stood in the right corner of the room, illuminating it in an eerie way.

"Fujikage Toshiaki, isn't it?" A voice questioned from in front of me.

Having been so focused on taking in the details of the room, I had forgotten to notice the biggest piece of the puzzle, but as I turned my attention to him, I realized the boss was not what I had pictured. He sat before me with mid-length spiky orange hair, violet eyes, and piercings. Kami almighty, he had piercings. Three on his nose, seven on his ears, two under his mouth...

"Am I that ugly?" He asked, chuckling to himself.

"Of course not." I quickly answered, rushing forward to greet him with a handshake, "Gomennasai, I had no intention of staring."

"It's understandable." He said as he waved the apology to the side as he stood up from behind an antique wooden desk, "I have been told I have a very noticeable visage."

I simply nodded, not wanting to offend him with any meaningless statement.

"We haven't gotten any new recruits in a while, so I figured I'd introduce myself before everyone painted some gruesome picture in your head." He said as he shook my hand, "And I wanted to catch you before it got too late. After all, it's 6 o'clock."

I immediately noted the lilac ring on his right thumb as we exchanged formalities, and just Deidara's, I saw some sort of kanji on it, but our greetings ended before I could make out what it said. As I returned my hand to my side, the boss nodded at one of the cube chairs behind me and I sat down.

"Although my subordinates tend to call me Boss or Oyabun, my name is Pain. But that doesn't matter right now." He sat back down and opened a drawer before bringing out a black ballpoint pen and a red account book, "Tell me about yourself, Fujikage-san."

Thinking back to the detailed background story that had been carefully created for me, I opened my mouth to launch into a story about my fabricated past, but hesitated. If I said too much, I risked alerting him, and if I said too little, I risked boring him.

"What exactly would you like to know, Oyabun?" I opted to asked, hoping for a more focused question.

"Start with your intentions." He opened up the book to a dogeared page and crossed something out, "What are your reasons for joining us? And don't lie, for your sake and your wife's."

I silently thanked Kami as I quickly answered, "I won't beat around the bush: we need money."

"So you've come to us." Pain chuckled, still looking through his book, "I hope you know that this business, as well as it pays, comes with many risks. At any moment, you could be injured, arrested, or killed."

"We know." I nodded, "At first, only I was supposed to join you, but once Misaki heard of how dangerous it could be, she wouldn't let me do it alone."

"And you let her join?" He looked up from his book, an eyebrow raised, "Wouldn't you want to protect her? Why not have her stay in the city where it's safe?"

I thought for a moment before I spoke, "I do want her safe, but I knew that if we were apart, I would have a hard time working while wondering if everything was okay back home. With her by my side, I don't have to worry."

"Hm…" He nodded as he considered my words, "Interesting dynamic you and your wife have. Buddha knows I would never let my beloved take such risks."

"You're married?" I blinked, unable to hide my surprise at his statement.

Pain produced a genuine smile, "Not in the traditional sense but I do have a woman that I care for."

I could only nod as I tried to picture what his lover would look like.

"You'll be meeting her soon enough." He said, practically reading my mind as he opened another drawer, "Give me your hand."

"Sir?" I questioned as I obeyed his order.

He dropped a red ring into my palm and engraved on its center stone was the kanji for vermillion. I looked from the ring to him and offered a confused look.

"I like you, Fujikage-san." He said as he stood up, "You're smart, honest, and caring, at least about your loved ones. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were after my heart."

I said nothing and watched as he stepped out from behind his desk.

"You see, that ring you're holding once belonged to someone I thought I could count on, but they fell short of my expectations. To make a long story short, it's been without a wearer for two years. Now it's yours." His violet eyes shined with a hidden meaning, and I quickly moved to reject the gift.

"Sir, I can't—"

"Stop right there." He held up his hand, "I'm afraid this is a gift you can't refuse. Our organization moved to Konoha around the time that your ring's previous owner disappointed me. And while two years sounds like a lot, we don't fully understand the city's ins and outs. You, however, are a Konoha native, and your knowledge will be very much appreciated in our future ventures."

I looked down at the ring once more, "Sir - no - Oyabun, I—"

"I hope the next thing you're going to say is something along the lines of how hard you'll be working for me." Pain cautioned, a sharp edge slipping into his otherwise casual tone, "Or else things will be very different, very quickly."

'Is this ring a blessing or a curse?' I wondered to myself as I slipped the ring onto my right hand's ring finger.

"I won't let you down." I assured him, trying not to sound fake as I accepted my new position.

"Excellent." He smiled as he escorted me to the door, "Welcome to the Akatsuki. Find Deidara and have him explain the details of what that ring means."

I nodded, "I will."

Once I was out of his office and his doors clicked shut behind me, I quickly went down the stairs and descended the building. I reached the ground floor and straightened up as I walked out and made my way to the garden I had left Karin in. I found her looking up at a snow-covered Sakura tree and quietly stood beside her.

"What do you see?" I finally asked, not knowing what we were looking for.

"Nothing." She turned to me with a faint smile, "Everything went well with the boss?"

I nodded, raising my hand to show her the ring, "Better than well. He gave me this and told me Deidara would explain more."

Karin's faint smile turned into a subtle frown as she regarded the jewelry, "He's giving you a ring and we've only been here for two days?"

"It's odd." I lowered my voice as I confirmed her suspicions, "We expected that they would be wary of newcomers, maybe they're trying to lower our guard."

Karin laced her arm through mine as Deidara entered the garden, "Well, we won't."

"Why are you two still here?" He wondered aloud, rubbing his arms together as he neared us, "It's cold!"

"We were just about to leave and come look for you." I said as I showed him my hand, "This is what the boss gave me."

He inspected the ring with a new gleam in his eyes, "What the hell did you say to him, Toshiaki-san?"

"I just told the truth." I shrugged, reminding him of his advice.

"That's great!" Deidara clapped my shoulders enthusiastically, "Now you're a part of the Gedō, hm!"

"Gedō?" Karin spoke up, "As in the Outer Path from Buddhism?"

He nodded, now looking at her, "Aa, the boss is a Buddhist. I'm not really into that stuff but from what I know the inner path Naidō is all flowers and sunshine, so Gedō is way more suitable. 'Cause we're kinda walking the dark path versus the light, hm."

'Whatever that means.' I thought to myself as he started to exit the garden.

"But I'm really glad you're with the Gedō, Toshiaki-san!" Deidara shot over his shoulder, "Now you two get to move into the main house."

"With the boss?" I questioned as I gently tugged Karin along to follow him.

He grinned, "And the Gedō, and a few others! You're gonna love it, hm."

We went back to the mini house within the compound that Karin and I had been staying in and grabbed the little we had before we started the move to our new living quarters. As we walked, Karin made a comment about going to shop for some things and Deidara quickly explained that there was no need.

"See that door over there?" He pointed at a closet door to our immediate right once we were inside, "Practically everything you'll ever need is behind it. I'll take you guys to your room and then you can come back down and see for yourself."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the door, wondering how truthful his statement could be. It didn't look as if the room could be any bigger than a mop closet, but if I had learned anything in my first two days here, it was that looks could be deceiving.

Now that we were "important individuals," we were allowed to take the elevator, and it seemed normal enough, so I didn't pay it too much attention. Deidara led us to a room on the third floor and after opening it up, he pulled me aside and allowed Karin to inspect it first.

"I gave you two a bigger room so you could have your space," He lowered his voice before continuing, "But because of its size it's not fully soundproof. Just be mindful of that when you wanna…you know."

Again, my mind produced machinations to go along with his words, and I quickly shook my head before patting him on the back.

"Arigato." I thanked him as he handed me a room key, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Keep what in mind?" Karin inquired as she rejoined us by the door.

She had removed her coat, kicked off her boots, and even shed the white turtleneck she put on this morning. Now she stood before us in a black tank top and denim jeans, both of which seemed to hug her figure in

Deidara grinned sheepishly as he punched my shoulder, "Just telling him to be mindful of your space, hm."

"Aa." I rubbed my shoulder gingerly as I avoided meeting Karin's eyes, "A little more advice."

She crossed her arms as she looked between us, clearly not liking the secret we seemed to be sharing. But rather than comment on it, she simply shook her head and walked back into the room.

I turned to Deidara again and he laughed, "I'll leave you two to get settled in; maybe in an hour I'll be back around with another key for Misaki-san?"

I was about to agree that an hour would be fine, but it seemed like he was expecting another response. With an internal sigh, I decided to feed into his game.

"Actually, we might need two hours." I glanced back at Karin for added effect, silently thanking Kami that she wasn't looking at me, "Or three."

He nodded enthusiastically as he turned around, "Take it easy. Tomorrow we're gonna be up bright and early!"

Once he turned the corner, I entered the room and shut the door behind me.

"Finally…" I muttered under my breath as I took a seat on the king-sized bed.

Karin let out a short laugh, "Tired of your new best friend?"

I groaned as I removed my boots and swung my legs onto the bed, "Don't say that."

"Why?" She asked as she sat down on the sofa in the middle of the room, looking back at me, "You two seem to be getting along well. After all, you're already keeping secrets from me."

I clicked my tongue at her teasing as I shut my eyes, "As if what he said can be called a secret. He's not a bad guy, he's just…too suggestive."

She didn't reply, and I immediately wondered if I had made things awkward between us. Thankfully, she responded just as this thought came to mind, and quickly quelled my worries.

"Just go along with it." She shuffled from the couch and sounded like she was to my left, "You can even give me a surprise kiss if you think he'll like it."

"I don't think we'll have to go that far…" I mumbled as sleep took hold of me.

"Don't be afraid to." Karin chuckled quietly, and I felt her hand brush my hair as she lowered her voice, "For the next three months, I'm yours, and you're mine."

|Sarada|

"Damn, so your mom really didn't give you permission?" Chōchō's voice crackled through the mic.

"Yeah, but I don't care about that right now." I said, signing onto my laptop and opening up the shared document, "Can you get Shikadai and Metal on the line? I wanna make sure they brought what we need."

"M-Metal Lee! Present!" Metal stuttered into the phone.

"I'm here." Shikadai responded in his usual bored tone, "And don't worry, I got the earpieces. You have to press and hold to speak into it."

"Good, then let's get this show on the road. You know where to go, I'll meet you guys there." I brought the phone down, ready to hang up.

"Sarada," Chōchō's suddenness stopped me, "Are you sure about this? You can stay home, and we'll take care of everything. I promise we'll split the money evenly."

"This isn't about the money, Chōchō." I replied sharply, "Stop trying to talk me out of this because I'm going, okay? Besides, Mama's gone for the night."

"But—"

"I'll be back before she knows it." With that, I hung up and dropped my phone into the small black purse I had taken from Mama's room.

Turning to the standing mirror on the wall, I opened a tube of red lipstick and lightly ran it over my lips before mushing them together to catch any empty spots. With six quick sweeps of mascara, I convinced myself that my eyelashes were done. I had never been a fan of makeup, so I opted to skip experimenting with powder for tonight. I grabbed my eyeliner off the dressing room table and carefully traced my eyes before drawing a quick wing line.

Alright." I said as I stepped back, assessing myself, "Not bad."

My attire for the night consisted of a thin-strapped black mini dress, along with matching suede black block heels. As I looked down at my hands, I frowned.

'Maybe I should have painted my nails.' I thought to myself as I looked them over.

They weren't particularly horrendous, but their bareness made me feel…childish.

"Not bad?" An annoying voice whistled, "How about amazing?"

With a roll of my eyes, I turned around, "Boruto, what are you doing here?"

"Figured I'd pick you up rather than meet you, ya know." He grinned mischievously, "Besides, your window's wide open."

I looked him over as we spoke, grading his apparel. Wearing a pair of ripped black jeans, a white and red striped shirt, and some white high top comme des garcons, I couldn't deny that he was well put together.

"Like what you see?" He questioned, his face now inches away from mine.

"You don't look terrible." I said as I pushed him before shutting my window and grabbing a light jacket from behind my door, "Come on, let's go."

"After you, Princess." Boruto bowed sarcastically.

At the title, my playful mood quickly subsided as I recalled what I had learned from Inojin two days ago.

I pushed past him angrily, "Don't call me that. And can you hurry up? The party starts at 10 and it's already 9:30!"

"*Ochitsuke, Sara!" He threw his hands up, "If you're this wound up, you'll scare all the customers away with your face."

I didn't answer him as we went down the stairs, instead electing to lock the door behind us in silence. However, as soon as the lock clicked, I felt him scoop my legs up and quickly spoke up.

"What are you doing?" I looked at him, startled by the sudden act.

"You're worried about the time, right?" He smiled, "Then hold on tight so I don't have to worry about you falling off, ya know."

"I can run by myself." I pushed at his arms, trying to get him to put me down, "Let go of me."

"In heels?" He looked down at me, light blue eyes shining with his smug face, "You want to tire yourself out before we even get there? Just leave it to me."

Of course when I was mad at him would be the time he would think with his head and do something that made it hard to hold onto my displeasure. And while he had a point about running in a dress and heels, just because he was doing this for me didn't mean that all was well. This wasn't going to be like other times where he would crack a joke or perform a nice gesture and everything would be okay.

'I'm not going to forgive you.'

I locked my arms around his neck, and he adjusted his hold on me before he began jogging. As time went by, he picked up the pace and his jog turned into a sprint. I kept quiet, mainly to fan the flames of my irritation with him, but also because running and talking would have shortened his stamina. However, soon enough we arrived at Autumn Leaf Station, and I demanded he let me down.

"What?" He looked at me incredulously, "At least let me take you up the stairs."

"I'm fine right here." I insisted, squirming so much that he had no choice but to set me down, "…Arigato."

I begrudgingly offered him my thanks and he grinned as he wiped his forehead, the faintest traces of sweat resting on the back of his hand.

"No problem!" He gave me a thumbs up, and the two of us climbed the stairs.

Once we reached the turnstiles, I held my phone to the reader and paid for my turn, while he grabbed the edges of the metal frame and hopped over it. I shook my head as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Oh, so you're fine with giving minors alcohol but fare evasion is where you draw the line?" He rolled his eyes before taking a seat on one of the benches.

I gave us a person-sized gap as I sat at the end of the same bench and brought out my phone. The time read 9:40 and I was filled with dread. If it had taken us ten minutes to get to the train station, we would never make it to the party on time. I opened and closed my free hand as I wracked my brain trying to think of any shortcuts we could take.

"We could Shinobi Square? No, trains take forever there. Maybe Hokage Avenue? But we would need to wait for the 3 train..." I muttered off possible routes to myself.

'Kami, I knew I should've left the house earlier.'

And I would have if not for the fact that it had taken me some time to convince myself that I had a right to be going out. As resolved as I seemed to the others over the phone, I was still shaky about my decision to disobey Mama; I had never done this so directly. The other times her wording had been a bit off so I was able to use little loopholes to explain breaking the rules, but there was no chance I could worm my way out of this one. She had explicitly told me I wasn't allowed to go and here I was, waiting for a train heading to the other side of the city.

Boruto suddenly grabbed my hand, jolting me out of my thoughts, "Oi. The train's here."

I looked up and saw that a 6 train was rolling into the station. Before I could fully recall where its stops were, Boruto dragged me onto it and the automatic door shut behind us. He grabbed an overhead handle to steady himself as the train departed and caught me as I stumbled in conjunction with the train's movement. Once I was settled, I quickly pulled away from him and grabbed my own handle.

"Alright, something's up." He announced as he eyed me, "Why are you acting like you'd rather die than be next to me?"

When I had first learned of Boruto's invention of the unfunny moniker that was used for me, I had resolved myself to confront him about it. But now was not the time.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I answered as I turned to look at the train line, "Why did you drag us onto this one? We'll have to transfer at Shinobi Square."

"Sarada." Boruto called my name in that gentle way of his, "Talk to me."

I sighed as I glanced back at him, "There's nothing to talk about. If you feel like I'm avoiding you, I'm not, okay? I just want to focus on getting to this party and making this operation a success."

He went silent and I silently thanked Kami that he had dropped the subject.

"Bullshit." He slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me to him like he had done moments before.

I tried to step back and get out of his hold, but he proved to be much stronger than I had anticipated. With the train now riding steadily, Boruto released the bar and used both hands to hold me, essentially pinning me by the waist.

"Uzumaki Boruto!" I yelled, as I tried to fight off the heat rising in my cheeks, "Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me what I did to make you mad." He drew his head back to look into my eyes, "Please, Sara. We promised we'd never give each other the silent treatment. Tell me what's wrong."

Although I had been trying to remain composed and save this discussion for a later date, it seemed as though Kami wanted to get everything out of the air right now.

"Was that promise made before or after you called me Police Princess?" I asked accusingly.

"What're you talking about?!" His face immediately twisted with bewilderment, and I felt my anger boil over.

"In seventh grade!" I shouted, upping my efforts to escape his grip, "You know, the same time you made up that nickname?"

His eyes widened and he released me as he realized he had been caught. I grabbed a pole by the doors before I could fall to the floor.

"Sara, that's—"

"Is that why you broke up with me?" I interrupted questioningly, wanting to confirm something that had been nagging me since I had learned of his betrayal, "You didn't want to go to public with Police Princess?"

Boruto held his face with a hand, "That isn't why."

"If it is, you can say so." My voice fell several decibels as sorrow began to replace my anger, "It's not like lying will change the past."

He walked over to me, "I'm telling you, that's not the reason why."

At this point, I was beyond listening to him. I could feel tears banging at my eyes, begging to run free, but I couldn't let my mascara start to run.

"Even though I told you back then how I was sort of jealous of you." I felt my voice waver, "You could do anything you liked because you didn't have to carry your dad's reputation. In the end, you were laughing at me like all the others."

Boruto held my face with his hands and forced my eyes up, "Listen to me. Yes, I called you Police Princess, but that was way before we had started dating. I actually felt bad about it after so I asked everyone to at least not use it when you were around."

"Because that makes it better." I sobbed, blinking back the tears that threatened to pour.

"It doesn't." He quickly assured me, running his thumbs down my cheeks, "But once I said it, I couldn't take it back. I didn't break up with you because of the nickname I gave you, I broke up with you because…because I was scared. I was scared that something would go wrong, and I would lose my best friend."

I sniffed as he dropped his hands from my cheeks and pulled me into an apologetic hug, "Gomennasai, Sarada; I never meant to hurt you. I've always…I'll always care about you."

Nodding into his shoulder, I returned the hug and cursed myself for wanting to cry, "So stupid. None of this even matters, it happened ages ago."

"Still, for what it's worth, gomen." Boruto reached for my hand, running his thumb over the back of my knuckles, "Friends again?"

With a laugh, I recalled my former thoughts about how I wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily.

'Liar.' I thought to myself as I deliberately intertwined our fingers, "Friends again."

*Ochitsuke means 'calm down'

|Sakura|

I waved my hand to the bartender, "Another shot."

"Ma'am, I don't think you should—"

Narrowing my eyes, I slammed down 240 ryo, "That should cover six more. Bring 'em out!"

She sighed as she stooped down to grab the shot glasses, "At the customer's request."

"Damn right I'm requesting it." I muttered as she lined them up in front of me, filling them with Umeshu.

A whistle sounded from behind me, "All that for one person? You won't mind if I mooch off you, ne Sakura-chan?"

Naruto's familiar hand reached over my shoulder and, before I could protest, he grabbed one of the glasses and quickly downed the drink. As soon as he was finished, he made a face.

"You like your alcohol sweet?" He questioned as he took a seat beside me, smacking his mouth in discomfort.

"How else can you drink it?" I retorted, moving on to my second shot.

"Y'know, bitter." He set down twenty ryo as he pointed to a bottle of Awamori, "I don't really feel it when it's all nice and sugary, ya know."

The same bartender set down a glass before him and filled it up with a clear substance. I couldn't help but stare at the shot, wondering if there was any truth to his words. I was starting to feel the heat from the shots I had downed before, but maybe I would need a heavier drink.

Naruto waved his hand in front of my face and grinned, "Wanna try it?"

"You don't mind?" I asked, still looking at the glass hesitantly.

"What? Of course not!" He bumped shoulders with me before lifting the glass to my lips, "Ora, bottoms up!"

I took the glass from his hand and said a silent prayer before throwing the drink to the back of my throat and swallowing quickly. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough as I could already taste the harshness of the liquor on my tongue. It didn't help that the drink managed to sear my throat in the process.

With a few pats on the chest and a cough, I turned to Naruto triumphantly.

"So?" He laughed, "How was it?"

"Terrible." I set the empty glass down, nodding at the bartender, "I'll have another."

|30 Minutes Later|

"Ugh…" I silently burped before shaking my head, "Y'know Naruto, I'm really starting to appreciate the strength in this thing…"

"Starting?" Naruto shook his head at me, "You're something else, ya know?"

Before I could respond, our favorite bartender approached us again, "Um, we're closing up now."

"What?" I turned to her with absolute sadness, "Already?"

Naruto got up and nodded to the bartender, "Perfect, now she won't be able to poison her liver."

I pouted as I attempted to stand up, "One more round wouldn't hurt."

My legs took a second to follow the commands my brain had sent, and I went stumbling back. If Naruto hadn't caught me, I would more than likely have ended up on the floor.

"Sheesh Sakura-chan, you tryna drown yourself or something?" He laughed, throwing my arm over his shoulder, "Come on, let's get outta here."

He reached into his wallet and set down a few bills for the bartender before basically dragging me out of the bar and to the parking lot. With only our cars and presumably the bartender's remaining, it was as if we were in a separate space. The lack of activity on the road only added to that short-lived fantasy so once I was by my car, I reached into my pocket for my phone and checked the time: 10:15.

"Shit, I've gotta get home." I remarked as I stumbled, feeling for the handle on my car.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Naruto tugged me back, "Sakura-chan, are you crazy? You can't get in a car like this, you'd kill someone, ya know!"

'Or maybe kill yourself. Do the world a favor.'

With a shake of my head, I turned to him, "You're right…how am I supposed to get home?"

"You don't. At least, not tonight." He answered, jerking his thumb Southeast, "There's a motel on Lee Place I was planning to crash in. We can come back tomorrow morning and get our cars."

I swayed back and forth uneasily, barely noting his words to make sense of them, "Anything, ugh, anywhere is fine. Kami, I feel like throwing up…"

"We'd better get there fast then." He chuckled, holding me up again.

With his support, we began our trek down Aburame Road, and as we walked, my vision grew darker and darker. When we reached the intersection, I was basically looking at the world through 5% tints, and I knew I would have to fight to stay somewhat conscious and somewhat mobile.

"So, how do you know about this place?" I asked him incoherently, my lips refusing to follow orders and smacking together.

Thankfully, Naruto managed to understand and answered, "Erm, Hinata and I come here every now and then to get some…relief, ya knows."

He scratched the side of his face as he said this and I silently groaned, 'Kami, what am I doing wrong?'

I felt my leg hitched on the concrete and braced for impact as I fell forward. Again, Naruto rescued me and stood me upright before opting to carry me completely, hooking one of his arms under my legs and scooping me up off the ground bridal style.

"You've always been here for me. Ever since we were kids." I lamented, "Arigato, Naruto."

"Don't mention it, ya know." He shrugged as he continued the trek, "But I had a crush on you for a while back then."

I nodded my head against his chest, giving in to the wave of exhaustion rolling over me and shutting my eyes, "I had a feeling, but I never asked. Did it fizzle out in high school?"

"Uh…yeah." He said after a moment, "Then you and Sasuke got together. The rest is history."

I didn't respond as my consciousness began to shut down. With my eyes feeling incredibly heavy, I found it impossible to try and open them, so I gave up. Things went quiet as I momentarily fell asleep and the only reason I woke up was due to the slam of a metal door. Naruto exchanged some words with a person I assumed was a receptionist, as there was talk of 400 ryo for a room and other little details.

"Don't worry…" I opened my mouth, trying and failing to raise my head, "I'm not some kidnapped victim, I completely trust this man…"

I trailed off as I leaned my head back against his chest, the torpidity of the liquor really proving itself. The sound of a room key clattering to a table led to Naruto moving again, this time into a stairwell, and I felt him climb a flight of stairs. The sound of a metal door creaking open told me we were emerging into a hallway and, after the sound of a door unlocking, into a room.

He lowered me into a bed before stepping away, and I heard the distinct sound of a bathroom vent before a quieter sound of a door shutting. With confirmation that he was in the bathroom, I completely spread out, ready to sleep. Soon enough though, Naruto reappeared and shook me, stopping me from sailing off to dreamland.

"What?" I whined as I turned over.

"You could at least remove your coat and your shoes, ya know." He chuckled, his weight settling to the side of me, "Ora, up."

I kissed my teeth. If I got up now, the feeling of sleep I had been desperately trying to preserve would leave me entirely. But if I didn't remove these accessories, I would probably be disturbed anyway by the unnecessary heat these layers generated.

"Remove them for me please." I murmured the request, my hand slightly covering my mouth, "Nani?" I felt him lean closer.

"Mn! Take them off!" I uttered a more direct command, whining again.

"Uh…" He was still for a minute, but soon got up and grabbed one of my arms, peeling my coat off of me, "You could at least make this easy for me, ya know."

I rolled over to give him access to the other side and with that, the coat was discarded.

"Okay, one down." Naruto clapped his hands and walked around to my feet.

My boots were unzipped and once they were off, I smiled in relief but something still wasn't right.

"Socks too." I added.

"Seriously?" Naruto muttered, grabbing my right leg and sliding the sock off.

What would have—should have been a ticklish feeling, was replaced with something more carnal. I bit my lower lip to keep from making any noise, but there was still one sock left. Using the same method, Naruto's hand slid against my foot and I couldn't stop myself from gasping. When Naruto froze in his tracks, I knew he had heard it.

To make matters worse, he inquired about it, "Um Sakura-chan…what was that?"

Embarrassed, I kicked him with my foot and felt a subtle shake as he fell to the ground, "Jeez, how long does it take you to remove a sock?"

Coughing and muttering to himself, he rose from the floor. I heard him remove his own sweater and kick off his shoes, before slipping into bed beside me. There was the sound of a lamp clicking off and there we laid. Although I was still feeling ridiculously sluggish, my eyes had regained enough strength to the point where the 5% tint lens I had been covered in was now reduced to a 3.

However, the darkness of the room didn't help to alleviate the awkward mood, and I thought about getting up to turn on the AC as a filler for the stiffening silence, but further consideration told me that I would crumble as soon as I tried to stand up. Before I could explore other options to resolve the tension, I felt a sick feeling creep up my throat.

With speeds I had been unable to muster before, I turned and tapped Naruto rapidly on the shoulder and he looked at me.

"What is it this time?" He questioned, visibly annoyed, "Sakura-chan, you're really—"

Pointing to my mouth, he was up in a flash, grabbing the waste bin from the ground and setting it in front of me. Helping me sit up, he pulled my hair back and I emptied my stomach contents.

'Fuck.' I thought to myself as my vision darkened, 'There goes my sight.'

I was careful not to move as I threw up, and when I was finished he wiped my mouth with a tissue, took the waste bin from me, and opened the room door, setting it outside. I sighed as I held my hands together; as tired as I was, I couldn't see myself falling asleep anytime soon.

Naruto stepped back into the room, "Wouldn't want it to stink up the room, ya know."

I groaned, "Gomennasai. You shouldn't have to go through all this."

"It's fine." He assured me, "You tossed back fifteen shots of straight Awamori, ya know. If you hadn't thrown up, I would've doubted your humanity."

"Ugh, don't remind me." I winced as I held my head, "If I think too hard, my mind starts to implode."

He laughed heartily and I groggily turned to him, barely making out the mass in front of me. When my vision didn't improve after a few seconds of rubbing my eyes, I gave up.

"I'm glad you find my misery so amusing."

"No, I just, heh." He contested, laughter dying down, "I'm just wondering what could drive you to drink that much? Yeah, you're not a lightweight but what occasion calls for sinking like that?"

I brought my knees to my chest and covered my face with my arms, heaving heavily as I failed to prevent myself from crying, 'Damn alcohol.'

"Um, just a lot of stuff h-happening in my life." I said quietly, my breath hitching as I spoke, "Sarada's acting up and S-Sasuke-kun's job is asking so much of him…I don't know, life's not the best right now."

"Hm." Naruto got in bed next to me, propping his head up with his arm, "I can't say much about Sasuke, but Sarada-chan probably wants some help. Maybe some attention would—Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah?" I touched my face and felt the tears that had run down.

Turning away, I did my best to wipe away any traces of them but with their cause fresh in mind, it was futile. As I wiped one batch, the next came rolling down.

"Did I say something?" Naruto touched my shoulder endearingly, his tone apologetic, "Gomen, I'm not really good at this consoling thing, ya know."

"No, it's not you." I shook my head, searching for a tissue to blow my nose, "Kami, I'm just a failure of a woman. I can't help my husband, can't be there for my daughter…"

Naruto handed me the box of tissues and I cleaned myself up, tears still flowing but at a less rapid rate. He was notably silent as, yet again, I had shown him an unusual side of myself.

"Gomen." I looked at him, offering a slight smile in repentance, "You're trying to sleep and I'm making you listen to my problems. I'm sure if I sleep on it, I'll figure something out."

"Sakura." Naruto called my name without his usual honorific and wrapped his arms around me.

Once I realized I was being hugged, I immediately melted into the touch, glad to have another warm body which I could cling to for comfort. I bit back a sob as I felt my tears begin to quicken, and after a moment, Naruto pulled back a bit.

Although I couldn't see straight enough to read something right in front of me, I could tell that he had his sky-blue eyes trained on me. We were still close enough for me to feel the warmth of his breath as he exhaled, and for some reason I found myself unable to turn away from him or lie back down. I shut my eyes as I felt him get closer, and when a softness pressed against my mouth, I knew he was kissing me.

I immediately fell into the gesture, placing my hands on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. With a groan, I opened my mouth and felt his tongue run over mine with a subtle hunger that had me shivering. He broke away to plant a kiss on my forehead, then a kiss on my cheek, and when his lips touched my neck, I couldn't help but gasp sharply.

He dragged his mouth down my neck and across my collar bone, before latching onto the point where my shoulder and neck connected. As he lightly sucked, I could feel his hands slowly unbuttoning my shirt, and like a doll in his arms, I allowed him to do whatever he liked with me. He quickly slipped me out of the cloth and discarded it, then moved on to reach behind my back and unhook my bra. With that item gone, I was half-naked in front of him.

"Beautiful." He uttered in a rough voice filled with desire as he pressed me down into the bed, "So beautiful."

His mouth hovered over my right breast, and his warm breath stimulated me in ways I hadn't felt in a long time. When he blew on my nipple, I turned my head to the side and let out a large breath. His tongue encircled it and I let out a moan once he latched on. His right hand toyed with my left breast, while his left hand traveled down to my jeans and lowered the zipper to pull them off. I arched my back once I felt his fingers slide against my center before slowly pressing forward.

Clutching the sheets, I groaned at the sensation, so it was confusing when he suddenly stopped and removed his fingers. I didn't have to think too much about it though because the feeling of his mouth on my hot core quickly explained the pause. He tantalized me by sliding his tongue down my warmth unreasonably slowly, and I whimpered at his pace.

"Naruto…" I whispered desperately, "Please."

At my plea, I felt his tongue slide up my entrance as he paused here and there to suckle. It was only when I felt his tongue run over my bundle of nerves that I tightened my hand into a fist and bit down on it. The sensation caused me to involuntarily slam my legs shut on his head. I opened my mouth to apologize but got no chance to do so as he simply separated my legs and continued his torture of my swelled bud. When I felt his teeth graze me, I had no choice but to cry out.

My hands found his hair and I dug my fingers into them for support as his tongue wriggled into me and pressed against my walls. I bucked my hips against his mouth, silently begging for more, and my requests were immediately answered as I felt his fingers circle my nub. The warmth in my stomach was a burning inferno at this point, and I knew I would be sent over the edge any moment now.

That was why, when he suddenly pulled away from me at my highest point, I couldn't help but whine and reach out for him. I caught his shirt as he stood up, but he lowered my hand and I could hear him removing his clothes. His belt buckle jingled in an oddly hypnotic way as he took off his pants, and I realized then what was to come.

Naruto positioned himself at my entrance and I swallowed hard. Goosebumps manifested on my arms and a tormented groan I let out was quickly cut off by the feel of him pushing forward. He entered sharply and his hard length stretched and tore flesh that hadn't experienced any real penetration in nine years. I shut my eyes and tightened my hold on his shoulders to keep from yelling.

"That's it, that's it…oh, you feel so good, Sakura-chan." He whispered into my ear, and I frantically nodded my head as the lines between pain and pleasure slowly started to blur.

He pulled back to slam into me, and I whimpered at the stinging pace. Each thrust seemed to desensitize me, and before I knew it, my legs were around his waist and I was drawing him closer. I should've told him to stop, to wait and let me adjust, but as he smashed into me, my brain turned to putty.

"More…!" I croaked as he continued to move.

The heat I had felt was sweltering, and with each snap of his hips, it only seemed to increase. His mouth crashed against mine as he slammed our pelvises together, and I moaned into the kiss. Kami, I couldn't even get a moment to think, let alone breathe with his brutal tempo, but I wanted it all the same.

"Don't stop!" I begged as I clawed down his back, feeling the tides of my climax, "Kami, please don't stop!"

Within seconds, I came undone in his arms, a groaning, aching, soiled mess, and I dropped my head back against the pillows as Naruto slowed his movements. My mouth fell partly open as I sought to catch my breath, and my eyes fluttered up as I looked at the man before me. His blue eyes shined incredibly bright with an emotion I couldn't fully figure out, and he lifted one of my legs onto his shoulder before clamping a hand around my neck.

"Sakura-chan…" He grunted as he resumed his punishing speed, "It's – hngh – it's so warm inside you…"

I began to hit another peak, and through the midst of it all, Naruto managed to press a kiss on my forehead while his hand slipped in between my thighs. When his fingers found my swollen bud, I lost it.

"Go on." He nodded, continuing to draw on and tease the pulsing nub, "Cum for me."

As I reached yet another climax, I felt him shudder on top of me as he too reached his limit. He released his load into me and slowed his pumps down so that they matched with the intervals of his release. Once he was finished, he gently laid down beside me, and I was made fully aware of how silent the room was aside from us trying to collect our breaths.

After a moment, Naruto got up and placed his hands under my waist before turning me over so that I was on my stomach. I felt his member against me, and when he began to grind against my center I bit my lip. I had already cum two times, anymore stimulation would just be overkill, and yet…

Naruto placed his hand under my chin and turned my head before joining our lips. He pressed his tongue against mine before slowly re-entering me, and I whimpered at the contact. He began to move again, thrusts slow and controlled, and I felt myself already beginning to shake. Out of nowhere, he slammed into me, and a tear slipped down my cheek as I moaned at the stinging sensation.

He continued to trick me with slow and sensual pumps, only to randomly thrust into me with force. With no way to tell when it would be coming, I found myself teetering on the edge of arousal and agony. The last thing I remembered was Naruto whispering sweet nothings into my ear as he pulled me closer to forge deeper.