AN: mwah ha ha ha ha. Not what you think it is…
1836 words in this chapter
Back to Surreality
Chapter 16- Male contact
Sakura looked down at the underwear Ino had picked out for her to wear and sighed.
She was sitting in the lacy black bra and panties set, and a silk dressing gown thrown over her shoulders as she sat huddled on the sofa of her apartment. At the join of each ribbon strap was a small pink bow, a perfect match to the one below her stomach. She never wore anything but plain, simple underwear so things like this were a real rarity for her.
She glanced up to Ino, who was stood behind the sofa, brushing her pink hair into slight curls. "Ino is this really necessary? It just isn't me."
"It is completely necessary. You look beautiful."
"But what is the point? It's not like my underwear is even going to be seen"
"How do you know? Anything could happen."
"Not whatever you are thinking."
Ino looked down at her in mock shock. "Sakura! Get your mind out of the gutter! I was merely referring to the unreliable weather. A sudden thunderstorm could leave you stranded without spare clothes. Kami, what were you thinking about?"
"Ino, I'm warning you…" She growled.
"I'm just playing with you Sakura. You can't see how amusing this is for me. Now please stay still for a little while longer, I'm nearly finished."
Sakura turned back to give Ino better access to her hair. "I just don't see the point of dressing up that's all"
"He asked you to. If you are going to give him a chance tonight to prove himself, you may as well give him a fair try. It would have taken him a lot to agree to leave you alone if tonight doesn't go well." She told her softly, hoping that the message would get through.
"The night isn't over yet. Something tells me that if I turn him down after tonight, he won't leave quite as quickly as he promised."
"Did you ask what he meant when he said he would leave?"
"No. but I did begin to wonder when he said "even if it turns out just to be a goodbye". Do you think he would leave, leave?" She went to fiddle with the edge of her top, but feeling nothing there, she settled for linking and unlinking her fingers together in rhythmic patterns.
"You sound worried." The edges of her mouth tugged upwards at the revelation.
"I don't want him to do anything rash because of me. I would just feel guilty"
"It's simple then. Just don't turn him down."
"Ino…" she warned again, but before she had a chance to scold her properly, she was interrupted by a knock at the door. She looked up at Ino curiously. "Shikamaru?"
She shrugged "I thought I only told him to come later, but I can't think who else it would be"
"I'll answer it." She got up, detaching her hair from Ino's grip in the process, then headed to answer the door.
"Sakura? Shouldn't you be bothered about your lack of clothing?" Ino glowered at her.
Sakura just laughed the notion off "He's seen me in less."
"Not funny forehead!" she called after her as she disappeared into the corridor.
Sakura opened the front door and stood back in surprise, pulling the sides of her dressing gown to cover herself.
There stood a very agitated looking Tenten, still dressed in her Hyuuga robes, with a bag slung over her shoulder where her scrolls usually hung, a very heavy expression on her face.
"Ten-chan." Sakura greeted her, shock still lingering on her features. Tenten never leaves the Hyuuga place unless she's on missions or training. She certainly never pays social calls.
The weapons mistress gave her a scowl that spoke more than a thousand words. "Can I stay here Sakura?"
"Um… sure, I guess. Come in." She opened the door wider for her to come inside the apartment.
She led her through to the main room, where they had been sat. Hair fastenings and cosmetics lay all over the sofa from Ino's attempts with Sakura, so she rushed forward and moved them so that Tenten, who looked a little tired, could sit down comfortably.
Ino stood back in shock, "Tenten? What are you doing here?"
Tenten just dropped her bag on the spot and started pacing the room, clenching her fists in frustration. "If I stay there any longer, I swear I'll just put a kunai straight through that curse-marked forehead of his, or what ever other body part I come across first. Maybe I'll just launch a double attack, one for his head, one for that stick up his…"
"I take it you are talking about Neji" Ino interrupted with a sigh.
"Of course I'm fucking talking about Neji!" she spun around to face her, steaming with frustration "I don't know another man alive that can piss me off that much!"
"What's happened Tenten?" Sakura asked calmly, sitting down in the space on the sofa she had just cleared.
Tenten ignored her, continuing on her rampage. "Although I can think of a few women who might do the trick. I could happily skewer Hinata in whatever stupid side of her brain makes her come up with those stupid fucking…"
"Whoa! Hinata?" Ino walked over and guided the now shaking Tenten to the sofa, just to make her stay still for two seconds. Then she sat between them. "What did Hinata do?"
"She only went and got herself fucking pregnant!"
"whoa." Sakura grinned "That's brilliant news. Aren't you happy for her?"
She slouched back into the sofa. "Oh, sure, I was delirious. So happy that one of us could find genuine love and joy in a marriage. I'm so glad that she's three months into having her own beautiful family and all of that crap. But she didn't have to give the bastards ruling that family ideas!"
"Now I'm confused again" Ino stated, beginning once again to fuss about with Sakura's hair. "What do you mean?"
Tenten's gaze fell to her lap and she gripped her hands tightly against her stomach as she started speaking more softly. "Neji… he wants me pregnant by the end of the week"
The two other kunoichi gave each other wide eyed glances before Ino rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?"
"No… what kind of a stupid way to ask is that? It wasn't like he asked if I wanted children or anything like that. It wasn't even a discussion. He just said "You have to be pregnant by Friday" just like that, with the same bloody stoic expression he gives enemy Nin. I think he must have had it in his schedule or something. Thursday: training until five, family meal at seven, impregnate wife at nine, followed by two hours of meditation before returning to separate bedroom and blissfully ignoring everyone's feelings. He really doesn't give a shit what I think or feel at all."
"Friday? It's Thursday today. He wants you pregnant by tomorrow?"
"Hai. That's why I'm here."
"It was going to happen anyway though." Sakura reasoned "you must have known that when you married him."
"Sure, but I didn't imagine it like this. I always thought that he might soften up once we were married." She looked up at them with desperate eyes and whispered hopelessly "We haven't even had sex yet. At all."
Ino almost choked. "What? But you've been married for…"
Tenten nodded solemnly "Four years. It's not like I haven't tried. Before you go jumping to any conclusions, it wasn't because I fancied him or anything, I just didn't want a situation like this to happen. He just kept telling me that it was "a pointless activity for a staged relationship". Just like he says about everything else. We don't share the same bed, we don't spend time with each other unless we have to, we haven't kissed since the wedding, the list goes on…"
"Oh Tenten." Ino sighed, pulling her into a hug. "None of us had any idea…"
Sakura leaned forward. "What are you going to do?"
"I thought that was obvious. I'm staying here. At least until he sees sense. It may be a while though so I swear I'll contribute to rent, and I'll cook sometimes if you want Sakura. "
"That's alright Tenten. You won't be here as long as you think. The Hyuuga clan can't afford to lose you."
"Hai. But as soon as they find out why I left, it won't take them long to drop me. Until then, I'll just have to avoid all male contact."
"Huh?" Ino frowned in confusion, "Why all male contact?"
"Because if I see one more testosterone filled bastard any time soon, I'll castrate him in a second."
Ino looked nervous suddenly and stood up. "Sakura, can I use your phone?"
"No, it isn't working, that's why that phone call earlier was to your house not mine. There's a phone box down the street."
"Arigato Sakura. I'll be back as soon as possible."
"No worries Ino, it's almost eight. We probably have hours yet." She shot her a weak smile before Ino disappeared out of the apartment.
"What was that about?" Tenten asked suspiciously once she heard the door slam shut.
"Um… Ino said she had someone coming over. Someone she needs not castrated if you get my meaning. You know what Ino is like."
She cringed slightly. "Oh… well at least I can rely on you not to have guys hanging around."
Sakura glanced away with a wince. "Um… yeah…"
Tenten bit her lip nervously. "I didn't mean that offensively, I just…"
"Hai. I understand."
"I just realized Sakura, you're hair is all pretty, are you going out?"
"I was, but don't worry about it. If you need me, you know I'm here for you." She patted Tenten's arm in reassurance.
"Hai, I know." Her head sunk again. "I don't want to deny him so much, especially after everything I have been given since marrying him. I don't want to seem selfish, I just can't do it. I can't sleep with him like that, like it's a mission or something. Kami, I bet everything except the actually thing itself would be out of bounds too. I doubt he'd even shed clothes more than he needed. The very thought just makes me want to be sick. I can't bring a child into a loveless marriage, just to hold the Hyuuga's sick idea of tradition. I won't raise another Neji, main branch or not. I just… I can't."
"It's ok Tenten. No one should be asking that of you. You did the right thing. Neji will soon realize that if he's as clever as he makes out."
"Arigato Sakura…"
She was interrupted by a knock at the front door again.
"Hold on right there Tenten. That'll be Ino" she stood up and went to the door, not bothering again to hold her dressing gown closed.
She swung it open and almost swallowed her tongue in surprise.