Chapter 7: Loyalty Pt. 2

"Loyalty is a rare find, and a hard loss."

|Sakura|

I woke with a sharp gasp and sat up, immediately praying to Kami that I would never see a scene like that again. The setting was a teen party, it looked like everyone was completely drunk, and Sarada was lifeless in somebody's arms, unresponsive to anyone's touch. With a dream like that, who wouldn't be scared back to reality?

Sitting up, I stretched my body, rolling my neck before extending my arms, and a snore to my right made me stop in my tracks. I slowly craned my head and watched as the figure beside me heaved a heavy sigh, before rolling over and muttering something about ramen.

'Naruto?' I identified him uneasily, 'What is he doing here?'

When I looked down at myself, I almost screamed.

'Why in Kami's name am I naked?' I lifted the covers shakily and peeked at Naruto, 'Why are we both naked?'

As I stumbled out of bed, I touched my hand to my head and winced before my brain registered the area of my body most afflicted. My hips hurt; all throughout my pelvis I felt an unexplainable ache, and just taking a few steps had me hissing.

'I must have been sleeping weirdly.' I thought to myself as I hunted around for my clothes.

They were thrown precariously around the room, another oddity that I had no explanation for.

'What happened last night?' I wondered as I slid on my underwear and jumped into my jeans.

I hooked my bra behind my back and grabbed my shirt off the floor before buttoning it up. Once I was dressed, I slid on my flats and picked up my handbag as I made my way to the front door. Although I was drawing a lot of blanks, part of me remembered that I had left my car at the bar. But just as I opened the door, a hand reached over my right shoulder and pressed it closed. I was so focused I hadn't noticed Naruto had gotten up.

"Ohaiyo!" I greeted him, "I was just leaving…"

He stared at me, his blue eyes glistening as if tears were going to come forth and I looked down, although the sight below was no better. His lower half was covered by orange and black boxers, but he had no shirt on, leaving his entire torso exposed for me to inspect. His midsection was chiseled, with clearly defined muscles and deep serratus lines, a pleasant surprise.

I guess because I was so to the goofball from my childhood, I had never spent too much time admiring him, but up close, I could see how attractive he was.

Clearing my throat, I raised my eyes, "What?"

"Do you…" He sighed, releasing the door and stepping back, "What do you remember?"

"Huh?" I shifted my handbag on my shoulder as I opened the door, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"From yesterday." He continued, his eyes flickering nervously, "We were drunk? And you were so out of it, you couldn't drive, ya know."

"Ohhh." I waved my hand, resting the other on the doorknob, "Yeah, yeah. Then you brought me to this motel, and we fell asleep, ne?"

"That's—"

"Was it hot in here or something?" I questioned, thankful that he could now fill in the details, "I woke up naked and I don't remember why."

"Uh…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, looking down, "We, ahem, we—"

I stepped back into the room, sensing something was amiss, "Yes?"

Taking a deep breath, he snapped his head up, "We had sex."

I immediately laughed before leaning against the wall, "Liar. No, but seriously, why were we naked?"

He tightened his fists and regarded me in a way unlike before. His body had straightened up, and by the look on his face, I could tell he was serious.

"No." I shook my head, "No, it's not true."

"Sakura-chan—"

I turned away from him and entered the bathroom, closing the door before turning on the sink. After a couple of splashes of cold water on my face, I shut the sink off and grabbed a towel from the rack. As I dried my face, I looked at myself in the mirror. It was then that I noticed things I might not have. Along my neck were small red marks, as well as a light red print that covered my front, and I hoped it wasn't what I thought it was.

I slowly lifted my right hand to my neck and placed it over the print. Although they were slightly beyond, the general areas of the marks consisted with my fingernails, as if somebody had placed their hand on my neck. I dropped my arm to my side as I accepted Naruto's statement. To make matters worse, I then noticed a wet sensation between my thighs, and immediately thought the worst. The marks on my neck, the pain in my hips…we had done it.

Tears threatened to roll over my cheeks, but I shook them away before opening the bathroom door to confront him. Naruto was dressed now, wearing his black jeans and a white t-shirt, sitting on the edge of the bed with his blue flannel in hand. At the sight of me, he stood up and stepped forward, but I held my hand up.

We stood like that for a moment, peering into each other's eyes, until I finally made a motion to speak, "What happened?"

Picking up his belt from the floor, he slipped it through his pants as he spoke, "Well we…"

My head throbbed as his belt jingled, and I raised my hand to my forehead, squeezing it to suppress the sudden pulse of pain. I heard his voice telling me things, whispering, muttering, and I could feel the ghost of his touch on my skin. As he wrapped up his own explanation, I began hyperventilating.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto placed a hand on my shoulder, having finished his own recount, "Daijōbu?"

Quickly shaking him off, I turned back to the door, feeling like I might faint or vomit if I stayed here any longer. I exited the room and went down the emergency staircase, which led me directly to the lobby. I was somewhat relieved to see someone behind the desk and approached them.

"A taxi, please?" I asked, setting down 200 Ryo.

The man nodded, grabbing the bills before picking up a phone. He lifted a card up and dialed a number off it. As he did, I went over to the vending machine and shakily inserted five coins, buying a can of Premium Boss Latte. With a sip, I stared out the window and tried to collect myself.

None of this felt real. Part of me hoped that this was all a sick continuation of my nightmare with Sarada. And at the thought of her, I saw the sun was relatively high in the sky and reached into my handbag, bringing out my phone; the time read 9:34 a.m. As I swiped through my call log, my worries only increased when I saw that there were no missed calls from her.

'She's probably at school.' I told myself, attempting to calm my nerves, 'She's fine.'

A person clearing their throat behind me made me turn around, and I came face to face with Naruto. It looked like he had come down in a hurry, what with his untied shoelaces and his orange and black sweater thrown over his shoulders. My gaze lowered to his side, where his hand was clutching a blush-colored coat, and he held it out to me.

"You forgot this." He said quietly as I took it from him.

"Arigato." I thanked him in a similar manner.

I couldn't bear to speak to him with confidence, much less look at him for more than two seconds, so we stood there awkwardly, him not saying anything, and me keeping my eyes on the ground.

Finally, the receptionist broke the sharp silence, "Miss? Your taxi's here."

"You called a taxi?" Naruto turned to me, bringing out his wallet, "How much did you pay?"

"It's fine, hontōni." I turned to go.

"Sakura-chan." He grabbed my hand, forcing me to look at him, "I…gomennasai. Hontōni, gomennasai."

I yanked my wrist free, the tears I had worked so hard to keep from falling, gushing out like water through a broken dam.

Rushing out of the building, I practically jumped into the green taxi waiting for me.

"Where to, ma'am?" The mousy red-haired driver asked.

"Just drive…" I sniffed as I searched in my bag for some tissue, "I'll tell you where to go in a second, but please—"

"I understand." He nodded, pulling out onto the street.

I could feel Naruto's eyes on me as we drove away, but just thinking about him, about what we had done made me want to burst into tears again.

'Kami, why? Why him? Why did we…?' My breath hitched as I looked up at the driver, "Uh, the address is 32 Katon Lane."

"No problem." His greyish-brown eyes met me in the mirror, and reaching to the side, handed me a box of tissues, "Are you okay?"

"J-Just adult troubles." I concealed my issues, blowing my nose.

"What kinda troubles would have a pretty woman like you lookin' so spent?" He raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"Stuff I'd prefer not to talk about." I mumbled, changing the subject, "You have a bit of an accent, you're not from here?"

"Ya noticed? Dagnabbit," He laughed, speech changing, "Here I was thinkin' I'd mastered yer dialect by now. Ya caught me, I'm from Sunagakure, been here for a couple months."

"Sunagakure? What made you want to come here?" I questioned, intrigued as well as relieved to have something else to focus on.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Konoha's a big city, lotsa money and opportunity here. Sunagakure's been fixin' to catch up for a while now and I wasn't gonna stick around and wait much longer."

I nodded, leaning forward, "I see. Did you come here with family or...?"

"Ma and Pa died when I was young. And I don't have a lady if that's what yer tryin' to get at." He smiled through the mirror.

"Uh, no," I laughed, holding up my left hand to show him my white gold wedding ring, "I'm married, see?"

He snapped his fingers playfully, "Aw shoot. Then was that yer husband ya were with earlier? The blond man?"

I hesitated to answer, "N-No, that was just a good friend."

"A good friend that makes ya cry?" He whistled, "Ya should be friends with me, I won't live up to those kinda standards."

I smiled at the joke, "That's not a bad offer, I might take you up on that."

"Great." He patted the steering wheel, "I ain't got too many friends, so maybe ya could show me 'round town, introduce me to some folks?"

I leaned back in the taxi, feeling relaxed and happy, "I'd be happy to, but I'd need to know who I'm showing around town. I'm Uchiha Sakura, by the way."

"Where're my manners? The name's Sasori," He introduced himself, "Nice to meet ya, Sakura-san."

|Sasuke|

"This is some heavy stuff we're moving." I commented as Deidara set down the box I'd handed to him.

"Yep." Deidara nodded, as I came over with another, "Got to get everything set up before the boss's big event, hm."

"Big event?" I perked up, "When's this?"

"You don't know?" Deidara looked at me in surprise, "Oi Kakuzu! You didn't tell Toshiaki-san about the dinner?"

The tall, tan-skinned man with long dark brown hair and pear green eyes turned towards us. Wearing a grey sleeveless and tactical pants, I couldn't help but notice the scars that covered his body, which I hadn't been able to see during our brief introduction last night. Surprisingly, he had a distinct muscular build that I wasn't expecting.

'No wonder he's carrying more than me and Deidara combined.' I thought to myself as he walked by.

With a smirk and a shrug, Kakuzu responded, "Nope."

"You—!" Deidara shook his fist at Kakuzu, who winked at me before placing his load on the Sakai truck.

As Kakuzu walked off, I spotted a dark green ring on his left middle finger.

"Deidara-san?" I called as I grabbed the final box, "What are the meanings of our rings?"

"Hm?" He looked down at his hand as he organized the boxes on the truck, "Well, when the boss gave me mine, I'd already been with him for two years, survived four police raids, and proved myself. It's proof of the absolute trust the boss has in us."

'Absolute trust?' I repeated to myself, 'If Deidara and Kakuzu and the others have worked and earned their positions, why would he give this to me so easily?'

"I know what you're thinking." Deidara closed the truck's backdoors, turning to me, "But the boss never makes a mistake or an impulsive decision. If he gave you a ring, that means he has a plan for you."

'That's what I'm afraid of.' But I nodded nonetheless.

As Deidara patted the side of the truck to signal to the driver that it was all loaded up, we heard a whistle and I looked up at the main house. Kakuzu stood at the entrance with a raised hand, waving for us to come inside, and I waited for Deidara before proceeding.

The three of us entered the elevator and took it to the third floor, and I followed them once we had arrived. After a few turns, we came to a room with traditional Japanese sliding doors that reminded me of the Uchiha compound in Konoha. But before I could delve into any memories, Deidara slid one of the doors to the side and entered the room.

I gave Kakuzu room to go first and stepped inside after him, only to see the people I had briefly met yesterday, each of them with their rings in sight. At the center of the table was a miniature statue of a nine-eyed monster sitting cross-legged with its hands bound. I took note of how creepy it looked.

"Nice of you to join us, Deidara." Zetsu remarked snarkily as Deidara took a seat beside him, twirling his light green ring on his finger.

"Shut up." Deidara immediately retorted, "Nobody told me we were meeting today."

Kakuzu took a seat across from him, "I would've told you if you'd paid me."

"Money, money, money! That's all you can think about!" Deidara exasperatedly declared, "Find something less materialistic to dedicate your life to, like art!"

I tuned out their conversation as I sat across the Gedō member that had caught my interest yesterday. He had a slate-blue ring on his left pinky finger and I couldn't help but think that he looked just like that boy at the train station. Yes, with his golden eyes and pale skin, the resemblance was uncanny. They had to be related somehow.

"I think Toshiaki doesn't like me." The man commented, smiling in a devious way, "Did I somehow offend you last night?"

"No." I shook my head, cursing myself for staring, "I just thought you looked…interesting."

"Really?" The man nodded his head, "Thank you for the compliment but I'm not interested."

At this, the man beside me let out a loud laugh, banging the table, "Orochimaru, you bastard! The guy's married, what could he want with you?"

"You'd be surprised, Hidan." Orochimaru kept his eyes on me, "You'd be surprised."

I rolled my eyes and turned to Hidan, offering him a quick handshake. He snickered as we exchanged pleasantries, no doubt still amused by Orochimaru's insinuations, and that gave me a chance to catch the kanji on his orange ring: three.

The chatting and joking came to a halt as the sliding doors slid open again and in stepped Konan, Pain's lover. Her mesmerizing grey eyes met mine and she smiled.

"I'm glad you're here, Toshiaki-kun."

I quickly glanced down at her hand, and took note of her ring color: white, before responding.

"I'm glad to be here."

Most of the others shifted uncomfortably, and Deidara began drumming his fingers on the table, leading me to believe that I had responded incorrectly. But Konan took a seat at the head of the table and proceeded.

"I trust you've become acquainted with your fellow Gedō. There are two missing from this table, but I know you'll have a good relationship with them given the opportunity."

"Of course." I nodded to her.

She smiled again before turning to the others, "You all should understand how important this dinner is to Pain. With powerful people coming from all over the country, Pain expects everything to be perfect, and you six will be the key to that."

"Hai, hai, Joō-sama." Zetsu waved his hand, "Just tell us what you need us to do and consider it done."

She shot him a look, "You, Hidan, and Kakuzu will be in charge of security."

Kakuzu let out an exasperated sigh while Hidan grinned, "So we get to bust some heads."

"If need be." Konan quickly raised a hand, "And not in front of the guests. If you really need to resort to violence, drag them out of sight and be quick about it. If I hear any murmur about violence from the guests—"

"I get it, I get it." Hidan waved his hand, "No dragging it out, fine."

Her eyes remained on him longer than they had on Zetsu before she turned to Deidara, "Deidara, you'll be in the roll of event coordinator. Head to the kitchen, make sure the staff isn't slacking, heading to the waiters' lounge, make sure they aren't dodging. Essentially, you're going to be cracking the whip."

"While Orochimaru will play helicopter for the three musketeers." She continued, "You'll be watching over them and making sure they're doing their job properly."

"I'd like to request a switch." Orochimaru immediately said once she was finished, "Deidara's job should be mine. I believe I have the best ability to strike fear into people considering my role in Akatsuki."

Konan looked back at Deidara, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all." Deidara shook his head, "Now I get to catch Zetsu slacking."

Zetsu flipped him off and Kakuzu chuckled at the exchange.

"And as for you Toshiaki-kun," She finally landed on me, "Pain wants you by his side the entire time during the event. He feels it will be a good learning opportunity for you to see firsthand how things work."

Again, I couldn't help but feel uneasy about how open the boss was being with me. I was a stranger and yet I already knew so much about the organization. They had to know that I could run to the authorities with all the information I had now, so why were they being so lax?

"Is that too much for you?" Konan's voice snatched me out of my thoughts, and I quickly shook my head.

"Not at all, I'm very grateful for the opportunity." I bowed my head.

"Good." She clapped her hands before standing up, "You all know your duties, this meeting is adjourned."

I stood up with the others and we all bowed to her as she left the room. Once she was gone, Deidara came around my side and nudged me.

"Let's get you fitted for a suit, hm." His eyes shined as he smirked, "I'm thinking just a regular black business suit, nothing crazy."

"It's going to be custom made?" I questioned as we exited the room, "Why don't we just grab one of the suits from the warehouse downstairs?"

"You still don't get it, Toshiaki-san." Deidara shook his head, "You're part of the Gedō! For events like these, a certain prestige is expected of us, hm. I shouldn't have to tell you this, I thought you were smart."

I punched him in the shoulder as a small smile danced on my lips, "Yeah, yeah, I understand. I just have a habit of not trying to spend money."

"Well, get rid of that habit fast." Deidara chuckled, "If you're gonna be loyal, the least you could do is enjoy the benefits of it."

|Sakura|

When I arrived home, I exchanged numbers with Sasori and promised to give him a call sometime before hopping out. I shut the front door behind me and quickly climbed the stairs to my room before stripping and walking into the bathroom. My clothes reeked of sweat and cologne, and the last thing I wanted was to be covered in that smell.

As I stepped into the shower, the residual stickiness between my legs reminded me of its presence and I fiddled with the knobs until the water was nice and warm. I stood under it for a few minutes and when I felt the water had been running for long enough, I grabbed my loofah as well as a bar of soap, and scrubbed as hard as my hands would allow.

I would need a *NorLevo in order to prevent anything from my drunken escapade, and as I remembered my actions, I silently retched. Why had I gone along with it? I was drunk sure, but so was he; and I knew it was wrong. As soon as things started, I could've put my foot down, I should've put my foot down, yet I didn't.

'Kami, what is wrong with me?' I shook my head.

'There's nothing wrong with you.' The voice said with a laugh, 'You finally, finally did something for yourself. You shouldn't regret that.'

'What are you talking about?' I snapped, 'I cheated on my husband with his best friend, with my best friend. What part of this is okay?'

'Oh please, Sasuke-kun will be fine; what he doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, it's not like he was performing his duties as a husband anyway. Just think of this as Naruto helping him out.'

I grit my teeth, 'You think this is funny? How am I supposed to look him in the face the next time I see him?'

'With your eyes, of course.' The voice sarcastically remarked, 'If you were any bit of intelligent, you'd take advantage of the next three months and fuck Naruto to your heart's content.'

"What?!" I couldn't help but exclaim at the suggestion.

'Don't tell me you were planning to leave it as a one-night stand.' I could almost see the voice shaking her head disapprovingly, 'Really? Your first piece of action in nine years and you're just gonna let him go?'

'Naruto's married! I'm married!'

'And he's starving!' She roared, 'Be honest, do you think somebody who's having sex with their wife would hold you like he did? He isn't getting any action, just like you!'

Recollection of last night came to mind, and I turned up the hot water, wanting the boiling temperature to burn away such thoughts.

'Don't punish the body for the desires of the soul. You don't have to lie to yourself. You liked it; you liked being with him, liked the way he made you feel.'

'I'm not hearing this.' I shut off the shower and grabbed a towel as I stepped out.

'He was rough, and it was painful at first, but you got over it because you wanted it. Maybe even more than him.'

'Shut up.' I told her as I grabbed a black turtleneck from behind the door before re-entering my room.

After wearing a fresh pair of undergarments, I pulled on the turtleneck and slipped into some grey leggings.

'Admit it to yourself, Sakura.' She urged me, 'That sex with Naruto was a godsend. And you want more.'

With a firm shake of my head, I yanked open my bedroom door and went downstairs. I had to get a NorLevo; it had already been twelve hours since we'd done it, and although I could wait for as long as three days, I knew the faster I got them, the better.

I reached up for my keys at the usual spot and when I saw that they weren't there, I remembered I didn't even have my car. In my rush to get away from Naruto, I had forgotten that I'd left it at the bar on Shimura Road.

"Fuck…" I murmured as I entered the living room, "How am I supposed to get there?"

For a second, I thought of calling Sasori and asking him for a lift.

'I just met the guy.' I scratched the idea, putting my phone away, 'It's too early to be asking for favors.'

When I looked up, I was shocked to see a small figure on the couch, laying on its side. As I approached, I recognized who it was, and immediately shook her.

"Sarada? What the—?" I immediately recoiled as the stench of liquor assaulted my nose.

"Ugh...Mama?" She groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

I placed my hands on my hips and waited for her to wake up completely. Noticing the dark circles under her eyes, I began to scan her and as my sight ventured lower, I spotted something else.

"What's on your neck?" I questioned, tilting her chin up.

She wobbled as she pushed at my hand attempting to pull open her jacket, "Mama, don't—"

"Wait." I forced her to stop resisting, pulling the cloth aside to reveal multiple purple marks around her neck and upper chest, "Kami almighty! Sarada, what is this?"

"Uh, hickeys, but—"

"I know what they are, I just mean—!" I cut myself off with a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose, "Did you invite someone over last night? How did you get them?"

As her eyes dropped to the ground and her fists tightened, I began to piece things together. The dark circles under her eyes, the strong scent of alcohol, her tired movements, the hickeys...

"You went to that party last night, didn't you?" I accused her, folding my arms.

"I-I…" Her voice cracked and she shut her mouth.

"I cannot believe this. Even after I specifically told you not to go!" I threw my hands up, turning away from her, "Honestly, Sarada, what is going on with you? You've been disobeying me more than usual these days and I don't like it! I mean, what're you – are you drunk? Because if you are, I swear—"

"Just stop!" Sarada yelled.

I faced her, ready to give her the lecture of a lifetime, but the resolve to scream was soon dashed away as I laid my eyes on the line of tears trailing down her cheeks.

"You don't know anything." She said with a quivering lip, "I wanted to tell you something, I was just working up the courage. But you're standing there and judging me when you don't have any idea…"

She burst into tears, and I immediately softened as I reached out to her, "Sarada…"

Pushing my hand away, she turned on her heels and ran up the stairs. The next thing I heard was a very loud door slam and I knew I had fucked up.

"For Kami's sake," I facepalmed, muttering to myself, "One job: be her mother, and I can't even do that right."

I climbed the stairs and stopped in front of Sarada's door, taking a deep breath before knocking.

"Go away." She croaked.

"Sarada, gomennasai." I pressed my forehead against the door, trying the doorknob and finding it was locked, "I'll hear you out now, no interruptions, I promise."

"There's nothing to talk about." Her voice was muffled, "Just leave me alone."

I sighed, 'I can't do this right now.'

"Listen honey, I have to get something from the store, but I'll be back soon, alright?"

"Leave, just like you always do." She retorted.

That remark hit me hard. I wanted to stay, to persist at the door until she opened up and told me whatever she had been trying to say. But I also knew that the faster I got those pills, the more effective they would be.

"...I love you." I reminded her before stepping back and heading out of the house.

*NorLevo is Japan's version of Plan B

|Sarada|

"...I love you." She finally said before heading back downstairs and out of the house.

'She left. Of course she did.' I was a fool for expecting anything else.

I waited for a few moments before I sat up and removed my heels. Wincing, I pressed my hand against my head, a made a silent note to get an icepack once I was done changing. After throwing on some sweats and jumping into slippers, I went down to the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack and a carton of Oreo ice cream before heading for the living room.

Plopping right down on the sofa, I clicked the TV on with the remote and it occurred to me that this was the first time I truly had the house to myself. This thought also saddened me, after all, it wasn't like I wanted to be alone.

Glancing at the clock, I sighed, "Eleven? They're probably in Economics right now."

At the thought of all the missed work I would have to make up, I groaned and raised the icepack to my head. This position started hurting my arm after five minutes, so I set the icepack aside and laid down on the sofa.

Flipping through channels, I felt a tear slip out of my eye as I realized that Mama really had left me alone.

'Come on Sarada, don't let it get to you now!' I encouraged myself, taking deep breaths and shoving Oreo ice cream into my mouth.

But it was no use. Even now I could feel Mitsuki's hands on me, and the fear that I had felt as he had ignored my pleas for him to stop began to come back. I knew I was home, I knew I was safe, and yet…as much as I didn't want to admit it, I wished Mama were here.

'Please Kami, please bring her back quickly.' I prayed as I shut my eyes.

A knock came at the door, and I stood up, hopeful that she had somehow turned around and I could now jump into her arms and hug her until I felt better. But when I opened the door, I came face to face with the cause of my fear.

"Thank goodness!" Mitsuki beamed, "I don't know what I would've done if this was the wrong house."

"W-What are you doing here?" I stepped back, stuttering in surprise.

He held out my black purse, "You left this at my place."

"Arigato." I grabbed the bag from him and then moved to shut the door.

"Wait." He pressed his hand against it, keeping it from closing, "Please, I need to apologize. And I wanted to make sure you were okay. You hit your head at the party, didn't you?"

I waved my hand, "There's no need to apologize, I'm fine."

I tried to shut the door again, this time succeeding for the most part, but when I saw that the door wasn't fully closed, I looked down and found his foot wedged against it.

"I just need five minutes." He placed his foot against the door, begging, "Please."

For all my talk about wanting to be done with that night, with him, and anything that reminded me of the two, I was being very stupid right now.

"Five minutes." I opened the door, "I mean it."

"I promise." Mitsuki smiled lightly, raising his right hand and swearing, "May I come in?"

Against my better judgement, I stepped aside and allowed him in.

He removed his shoes at the front before looking around, "Nice place you got here."

"Four minutes."

He turned to me with an almost impressed look, "Is this how you usually are?"

I paused for a second before returning to the living room and my ice cream, "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing." He followed me and took a seat on the arm of the sofa, looking down at me, "Just that you weren't so…stiff yesterday."

"That was because I had too much to drink." I quickly explained, avoiding his eyes, "And now I know what you are."

"What I am?" He repeated with a light laugh, leaning forward, "And what is that?"

After a moment of silence, I replied, "…A pervert."

"What?" I couldn't help but turn to see the confusion on his face, "You think I'm a pervert?"

"I don't think, I know." I corrected, staring him down now, "Only a pervert would do what you did to me."

Mitsuki shook his head, "You can't be serious. With your permission, I touched you and we kissed a couple times. A pervert would be someone who watches people do that."

I felt my ears redden at that statement and searched his face to see whether he knew of what I had witness in his basement. But he continued with other examples, allowing me to breathe.

"Or snatches underwear that's hanging out to dry. Weird shit like that. What I did, what we did was humans being human." He crossed his arms once he was done speaking.

"And when I told you to stop and you kept going?" I countered, "That was another instance of humanity, right?"

He sighed, "No, that wasn't. Gomen; I just got carried away and didn't really process how uncomfortable you were."

"Until I was crying." I remarked bitterly, hating myself as I recalled the form I had been reduced to because of him.

When I felt his hand on my shoulder, I immediately jerked away and looked at him.

"Sarada, you have to know that I would never hurt you." He pulled his hand back, his golden eyes warm with sincerity, "I scared you, gomennasai. But I promise, I will never do something you don't like again."

'Again?' My mind immediately picked up on the word that indicated something would occur between us in the future.

However, I left that fight for another day as I glanced at the clock.

"You also promised that you only needed five minutes." I stood up, "You've been here for ten."

Standing up beside me, Mitsuki reached into his pocket and handed me a piece of paper, "I just hope that you forgive me."

I glanced down at the note as I took it from him and saw a phone number written in black ink. When I looked up, his face was in front of mine, and I didn't have any time to react as he planted a quick peck on my lips. When he drew back, there was a smirk on his face, and I lifted my hand to my mouth in shock.

"See you around, Sarada." He quipped before heading out of the house.

After making sure the front door was locked, I quickly went to the black purse he had returned and reached into it to find my phone. With a swipe, I found that I had seventeen missed calls and over two hundred unread messages, no doubt from my friends wondering whether I was okay, but I made a mental note to get back to them later and immediately tapped on one of my pinned contacts at the top of Messages.

Chōchō, are you in class? Call me ASAP.

I set my phone down, not expecting a response till the next passing period but to my surprise, my phone began to ring as I received an incoming FaceTime call. I promptly swiped right and answered the call.

"Chōchō? You're not in class right now?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow as the line connected.

"We've got a sub, so I asked to use the bathroom. Sumire's here too." Chōchō informed me before turning to look at the mirror and apply mascara to her eyelashes.

"Hey Sarada!" Sumire greeted me, grabbing the phone and holding it up, "Are you okay? You hit your head hard as hell yesterday."

I chuckled, "I'll be fine. But, uh, speaking of yesterday, I need you guys' input on something. I'm feeling really stupid right now and I know you guys are gonna think I'm stupid too but—"

"Girl, just tell us before you go falling down rabbit holes." Chōchō interrupted.

With a nervous smile, I explained to them what had happened with Mitsuki yesterday as well as our interaction only moments ago.

"Sarada, you need to call the police. Well, call your dad." Sumire advised once I was finished speaking, "Seriously, that guy has no sense of boundaries. He did all that to you and then showed up at your house? That's scary."

"But he…" I sighed as I held a hand to my face, "I mean, I don't think he's a bad person just because he got a little carried away. And besides, he promised he wouldn't do it again."

"A little carried away?" Sumire repeated with an incredulous tone, "Sarada, do you hear yourself? If you hadn't cried, who knows what could've happened? What he could've done? And what do you mean he won't do it again? Does he think you two are dating?"

"…We could be." I said in a small voice, refusing to look at the phone, "He gave me his number."

"SARA—"

"Is he cute?" Chōchō cut Sumire off before she could continue.

I nodded.

"Do you like him?"

I nodded again.

"Do you want to go out with him?"

I sighed again, "I know I shouldn't. Every part of my brain is telling me that I'm being stupid, and that he's dangerous but—"

"You want to." Chōchō finished.

"I want to." I nodded, agreeing with her.

"Then go for it." Chōchō shrugged.

"What?!" Sumire exclaimed, giving Chōchō a glare, "There's no way you're encouraging this."

"Why not?" Chōchō turned to her, "Sarada's a big girl, if she wants to go on dates with guys, she can and should. If anything goes wrong she'll tell us, right Sarada?"

"Of course." I nodded again, feeling a smile tug at my lips.

Sumire crossed her arms, "I don't approve. Like Chōchō said, you can do what you like. But you guys can't say I'm okay with it."

I blew Sumire a fake kiss, "I'll take that as a yes."

She scowled before handing the phone over to a grinning Chōchō, "So, now that you've got a boyfriend…"

"Not yet." I reminded her, "I haven't even texted him."

"So what are you waiting for? Text him right now and tell me what he says."

"What am I supposed to say?" I asked aloud as I swiped the call to the side and opened up a new message.

"Maybe try saying hello? You know, like most people." Sumire sarcastically suggested, "Or don't. Please don't, I don't want you dating this guy."

With a roll of my eyes, I typed in the number on the piece of paper he gave me and sent a short message.

Hey, this is Sarada.

"Well?" Chōchō questioned.

"I just sent it." I hushed her, "And he's probably busy, unlike you two."

"Yeah, yeah." Chōchō waved a hand, "You better—"

Chōchō was cut off by a female staff member, "Ladies, I think you've been in the bathroom long enough."

"Catch you later girl." Chōchō said in a hushed voice before ending the call, and I laughed as I pictured the two of them getting lectured for skipping.

However, my laughter was cut short as my phone chimed with a received message.

Hey Sarada, I'm happy you messaged me.

With a bite of my thumb, I began to wish Chōchō hadn't ended the call.

'What am I supposed to say now?' I wondered as I stared at the screen.

It was too late to pretend I hadn't seen the message, as I had opened the app completely, so instead I just sent a simple conversation starter.

Yeah, well, I figured I might as well. What are you doing right now?

Again, he promptly responded. Riding the train back home. I should be there in another hour.

Oh, gomen. I apologized. You wouldn't be doing that if I hadn't left my stuff.

It's fine. He added a thumbs up emoji. Besides, I wanted to see your face.

My cheeks became hot as I read the message, but before I could think of a similar compliment to return, he sent another message.

Train going underground. Talk to you later.

I shut my phone off and grabbed the Oreo ice cream carton off the sofa before heading to the kitchen and contemplated my next response once he got home.