"Sakura, please calm down, I'm fine," Naruto was trying to placate the frantic girl.

"You're in the infirmary Naruto! You are not alright in any way!" Sakura retorted.

"I told you," Naruto spoke to her like he was talking to a child. "There were a few scratches here and there but I'm fine now. You know how fast we heal."

Sakura crossed her arms and looked to Sasuke for help.

"I'm not getting between you two," Sasuke shook his head. "He's not dead or dying and that's good enough for me."

"Weren't you worried, though?" Sakura asked.

"Sure, but there's no point in worrying now. He's fine."

"Listen to him, Sakura," Naruto said gently. "I'm okay. I'll even be able to go to class tomorrow."

She sighed. He was right. The incident was over now. Naruto was alive and well by some miracle. Others hadn't fared as well. A few of them were in critical condition, even with their rapid healing abilities. Most of those worse off had gotten deep cuts or bites. They'd lost a lot of blood, but thankfully everyone had survived the night. It was truly astounding that no one had died. Sakura had expected at least one less student today. This was good, though.

"Sakura!" Ino's voice came from a few beds down.

Sakura turned around and waved at her friend. Ino was visiting a childhood friend of theirs, Chouji. She'd brought along Shikamaru as well, another old friend. Sakura turned back to Naruto, "Hey I'm going to say hi to Ino real quick. I'll be back, okay?"

Naruto waved her off, "Please, keep Ino over there. I may not be dead but I do have a hell of a headache."

Sakura rolled her eyes and walked over to her friend, "Hey, how's everyone over here?"

"Good," Chouji said. "Alive, so good."

"There's still no word on what exactly happened," Shikamaru said to Chouji.

"I wish I could remember anything from last night," Chouji replied.

Ino put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll find out how you got out."

Sakura remembered what Itachi had said last night when she'd asked what was going on. "Itachi had said someone let you guys out."

"What?" Chouji asked. "No way, no one but the head masters and certain teachers know the cell codes."

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know the specifics. We didn't have a lot of time to talk." She turned to Ino and hugged her. "Hey I was worried about you last night, you know."

Ino hugged her back. "I wish I could say the same."

Sakura pulled back. Ino had a point. She'd been in a dorm with other witches that didn't have any way to create a warding spell. Sakura had been in a house of vampires ready to keep her safe.

"Were you guys all safe last night?" Sakura asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah, the dorms were sealed tight," Shikamaru said. "No one got in or out."

"Good," Sakura smiled. With nothing else left to say at the moment Sakura bid her farewell to the three of them and returned to Naruto and Sasuke. It wasn't long before Naruto was begging Sasuke to herd her out of the infirmary. It wasn't that she was being a bother. Sakura had a knack of over worrying when it came to her friends. They would all benefit if Sakura went home and focused on her own needs. Eventually she agreed since she did have homework that still needed to get done.

She had planned on doing it yesterday but pancakes were a much more important activity. As was making that bowl with Sasori.

Sakura started walking down the sidewalk outside. She was excited to see how her bowl was going to turn out. Sasori had said it was good so hopefully she'll have a nice personalized cereal bowl soon. It had been fun to make with him and she definitely wanted to try again. This time without the training wheels. Though she really hadn't minded his touch. It had been sort of nice, actually.

Hell everything with these guys has been nice so far. Things like waking up next to Deidara and having shower fights with Hidan were just cherries on top. Sakura wouldn't lie, she was sort of hoping Deidara was where she'd left him that morning. If she hadn't been so concerned about Naruto she may have stuck around a bit longer that morning.

"Oh well," she said to herself. What's done is done.

Even so, she made a mental note to take full advantage of the next opportunity that came about. If one ever did.

"Wait," Sakura stopped walking and stared at the ground. What did she even mean by that? Sure she was in college and experimenting was certainly on her to-do list but what the hell did she expect to happen if she woke up next to one of them?

Hidan was an obvious answer. She doubted there would be much she'd have to do herself in that case anyways.

But if it was someone like Itachi or Sasori? They certainly wouldn't partake in anything too intimate. Would they?

Did Tobi even know what kissing was?

"Why am I even thinking about this?" Sakura asked herself. It wasn't going to happen. She wasn't going to wake up one morning in one of their beds and start fooling around with them. Perhaps before the semester is over she may wake up in one of their beds again, but they certainly wouldn't be in it. And even if they were it's not like any of them even thought of her that way. The entire scenario was silly and Sakura should stop thinking about it right this second.

.

.

.

But what if she woke up in Kisame's bed? He's so big that Sakura doubted he fit in his bed by himself. There was just no way. Half his legs must hang off the edge of the damn thing. How in the world did he even get so tall in the first place? Weren't people shorter back when he was born?

"Still…why am I thinking about…this?" Sakura repeated. Why did she seem to want to be in these intimate settings with them? She shook her head and walked faster. These were not thoughts she wished to linger on at the moment.

Homework involving magic and spells could never, ever be boring to Sakura. She always loved reading what she needed for her spells and memorizing the ingredients and incantations. It was always better than remembering something like the quadratic formula because the more she remembered in this subject the more practical uses she had in her everyday life. Sure she could write out equations and solutions to math problems and get a good mark just fine, but when she was finished with that exam then that was it. There was no use for fractions or exponents in her daily life. Spells on the other hand were infinitely more useful. And fun.

With a spell you can see your progress right in front of you. The rewards are always so much better, too. Acing a spell means your life gets infinitely simpler in some way or another. You can use that spell for the rest of your life for whatever reason you need to.

Presently Sakura's task was to take a seed and make it grow from a pot. The idea is simple but in fact making an organic material grow is exceptional. For her healing magic she will need to be able to regrow organic tissues. Basic applications would be healing and sealing flesh wounds. Advanced applications can even regrow things like fingers and toes. Powerful witches can regrow arms and legs.

For now Sakura just needs to grow a three inch bean stalk from the pot. The steps were simple on paper. Much more complex in practice. It's easy to concentrate your magical energy on an object. The tricky part here was making sure it was concentrated on the small parts of the seed that needed it. Whilst doing this she needed to say the incantation, "Incrementum."

Twenty minutes passed by with the seed staying in its present state. Sakura was getting progressively more annoyed at the stupid thing. She knew she was sending the energy correctly and saying the incantation right. So why the hell wasn't it sprouting?

In a final determined action she pushed forth as much magic energy as she could without blowing up the seed. A leaf sprouted up from the soil and began to rise up. Sakura squealed in excitement. She'd finally done it. The seed was growing.

And growing…and growing…

"Oh shit," Sakura mumbled. The plant continued to sprout up at a rapid rate. Soon it was touching her ceiling with branches sprouting out to the edges of her room. Sakura backed up to her door and looked around her room in a panic. The plant was wrapping around anything it could get a hold of. Sakura quickly stepped out of her room to avoid the green tendrils wrapping around her ankles. She slammed the door shut and put her hands in her hair.

"Oh fuck," she said while staring at her door. This could be why the instructions had said not to overdo it with the energy. She looked over at the living room and saw Itachi eyeing her.

"Sakura, did I just see a forest in your room?" He asked.

Sakura laughed weakly. "Heh, maybe? Help me out here?"

Itachi got up shaking his head. He walked over to her door and opened it just enough to peek inside. He closed the door quickly and looked back at Sakura with an amused expression. "You sure are something, Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Look, the stupid seed wasn't sprouting. I just gave it a little push. Now it won't stop…"

"You should probably go get a teacher," he suggested.

"Seriously?" Sakura groaned. "Oh man, this is gonna be interesting… Wanna go on an adventure?"

Itachi thought for a moment before accepting her offer. "Sure, why not?" In truth he should have been staying here awaiting a call from Konan about the previous night. Yet thought of Sakura needing to explain to a teacher that she needed assistance with an out of control beanstalk was too good to pass up in the end.

While they walked to the faculty building Sakura chattered away. When they passed by the building the infirmary was housed in Sakura asked Itachi about last night. "You said someone let them out… What did you mean by that?"

Itachi didn't quite know how to answer that. It wasn't like Sakura couldn't handle the truth. She was strong and able minded. But did he really want to make her worry? She would keep asking either way so he might as well give her a watered down version of it. "Someone did let them out. The headmasters won't release this news publicly anytime soon, though. All we know for sure is that all werewolves were in their assigned cells at the time of the first count. By the time the second came around they were all gone."

"So they have no idea who did it?"

"Not yet."

Sakura sighed. "Who would want to let them out in the first place?"

Itachi could think of a few people but decided to keep these suspicions to himself. There were some things she didn't need to know.

When they entered the faculty building Sakura was able to find a teacher quickly. Most of them were gathered near the entrance. Sakura got the attention of the teacher that had assigned her the homework.

"Um, hello, Ms. Kurenai?" Sakura asked while walking around in front of the woman.

"Sakura what are you doing here?" Kurenai asked.

Sakura laughed nervously, "Heh, well, you see… I… Look I was trying to do the homework and grow that plant. At first it wasn't working but now it's about to fill up the entire house and I can't stop it."

Kurenai had to bite her cheek to keep herself from laughing. She nodded and motioned to the door, "Please. Lead the way." On their way out she told one of the teachers she'd be back in twenty minutes, tops.

When the three of them got back Sakura found that the plant was starting to make its way out of her room by going underneath the door. It was a simple matter for Kurenai to wave her hand and dispel the plant.

"Thank you so much," Sakura said.

Kurenai turned back to Sakura. "You really did all that?"

Sakura blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah. Like I said the seed wouldn't grow at all but when I finally got it started it wouldn't stop."

"Does this kind of thing usually happen for you?" Kurenai asked.

"Well," Sakura thought about it. "I mean usually I don't have to push out that much energy when performing a spell. Normally I can use a little bit and it works just fine."

Kurenai nodded, "I see. It seems like you have a lot of power, but haven't mastered the precise control over it."

"You're telling me," Itachi said from the couch.

Sakura frowned at him. "I'm trying."

"I think I know something that could help," Kurenai remarked while pulling a pen and a small notepad out of her pockets. She scribbled something down on it and handed it to Sakura. "There's a book at the library called 'Precise and Accurate'. It's specifically for honing the accuracy of your magic. I think you have a fair bit of talent. You just need to practice."

Sakura took the paper and grinned. "Of course, I'll check it out immediately."

"Might want to hurry," Kurenai looked at her phone's clock. "They close in about an hour on weekends."

Sakura nodded, "Yes of course."

Kurenai said her goodbyes and left. Sakura was out the door right after her. She hadn't bothered to ask Itachi if he wanted to join her this time. If she could hone her magic she knew spells would come so much easier. Lucky her they still had the book on the shelf when she got there. She checked it out and immediately went home to read it.

After a few hours her eyes started to sting and she had to close to book. At least for a little while. She'd already learned so much, especially in regards to plant growing. According to the text one of the things she can do to practice with her control is trying to grow different sorts of plants. If she was really good she could alter the seed itself to grow whatever she wanted. For now, though, a simple summoning spell got her a dozen seeds or so of different varieties. There were long skinny ones, plump round ones, and little oval shaped ones.

One by one she put them into pots of soil – also summoned – and began growing them. Since Sakura didn't know what each seed was it was interesting to see what would pop up. At first it took nearly an hour to grow one little daisy but soon intricate roses were sprouting up along with some other pretty plants she couldn't place. One looked like a stem of flowers, the other was white with purple in the center, and some didn't seem to have flowers at all. They were all very, very pretty though. Sakura smiled at her handiwork but knew the flowers weren't going to last in these pots. She picked up two of them and headed out to the big trash can in the kitchen and dumped the soil and flower into the trash.

"Looks like you've gotten better," Itachi remarked from the kitchen table.

Sakura smiled as she walked past him back to her room. "I have my own little garden in here." She grabbed two more and came back out. "This really seems like a case of hard to learn easy to master."

"You're sure to be getting an A in that class," Itachi said.

"I better. I've been practicing for the whole day," Sakura said.

"I know," Itachi chuckled. "I heard you yelling at the seeds earlier.

"Ah ha," Sakura laughed shyly. "It helps me focus?"

Itachi looked back down at the textbook he was reading. "Whatever you say. They're pretty, though."

"Yeah," Sakura admired the rose she'd sprouted. "Well if you ever need flowers, you know who to come to."

Itachi glanced up for a moment and back down to his book. "Yeah, I do." He smiled lightly.

Tuesdays had become one of Sakura's favorite days of the week. Kisame's company on her way to class was wonderful. He always got her bright and alert by the time they got to her classroom. He walked her there claiming it was on his way but Sakura knew better. She'd seen him turn right around and jog the other way on more than one occasion. Still, it was nice to have the company the whole way. Whether he meant to do it or not Kisame's appearance kept her clear of the token odd student that would have otherwise pestered her and other students.

Out of all the Akatsuki Kisame was by far the most terrifying to look at. His face was defined yet slightly distorted. His cheeks sunken and eyes beady and slightly bulging. He had his teeth carved into sharp tools used for tearing and maiming. On top of all that his skin held a light blue tint that contrasted starkly with his black irises. His whole being screamed unnatural and frightening.

And yet she was becoming closer to him than most of the other Akatsuki. Perhaps it was all the alone time they spent together walking to and from school on these two days. You'd think someone like Tobi would be easy to bond with but something about his childlike demeanor and hyperactive nature made it hard to connect with him on a personal level.

Kisame was the oldest in the house. That made him exciting to talk to. Most days Sakura would ask him about different eras in history and what they were like. Kisame never seemed to mind. He always gave her lengthy and detailed answers when he was able.

"Honestly, you're the only reason waking up so early doesn't suck," Sakura said when they headed out that day.

"I'm glad I could be of service," Kisame replied. "I could say about the same for you."

Sakura looked up at him as they walked down the sidewalk. "What do you mean?"

"Since I can get to class in about five minutes I don't have to leave this early to get there. But it's worth it to spend some time with you," he smiled down at her, exposing a few rows of sharp teeth.

Sakura giggled, "Has anyone ever told you that your teeth and blue skin make you look like a shark?"

Kisame scowled. "At least once a month."

"Aww, don't go getting blue on me now," Sakura said through more giggles.

"You really wanna play the color battle with me?" Kisame asked in a playful tone. "Then again you were dumb enough to enter a prank war with Hidan."

Sakura whacked his arm jokingly. "I haven't lost that one yet!"

Kisame shrugged her hand away after receiving the oh so painful blow, "You will if you don't get him back soon."

"Whatever," Sakura mumbled. "I just hope he doesn't strike back anytime soon."

"Who knows, maybe he'll take his chance," Kisame mused.

Sakura nodded in silent agreement. For a while they walked together in comfortable silence. It was nice. Sakura looked at Kisame from out of the corner of her eye. Damn he was tall. She barely came up to his shoulder. On top of that he had to have been the most muscular of the Akatsuki. Well at least of the members she knew. All in all it made him look a big, blue – 'sexy' – mountain.

Wait what?

Sakura shook her head.

'Be gone, vile thoughts. Not right now.'

She'd been getting them every now and then, even after the midnight incident. Hell she'd been getting them from day one here. These boys were all extremely hot and gave her a lot of positive attention. Something she'd always craved from a certain assbutt in high school.

But she had told herself she wouldn't let all that get to her. No sir she was not about to give in to any guy that happened to be nice to her. So far most of them had just been friendly. Except Hidan. But Hidan's an ass, so…

The last time she thought that a good looking guy being nice to her meant he might be interested, he broke her heart. Sure, Ino would probably say something like, "Who cares! Make a move on whichever one is sexiest. If they don't kiss back, fuck them. If they do kiss back, fuck them."

Sakura shook her head. Sure even a date with any of these guys would be fantastic but she wasn't going to make a move unless one of them did. So far, it was looking bleak to say the least. Though she couldn't complain too much. They were all becoming genuinely good friends with her. She always loved having a large amount of friends.

The two finally reached her classroom and Kisame said his usual goodbye but this time punctuated it with a bear hug. Sakura was surprised but hugged right back.

"See you in a few hours," he said while walking "to class".

Sakura sat down in her seat and waited impatiently for the class to begin.

When she got home that evening 'Precise and Accurate' was still laying open on her on desk and Sakura figured she should get back to reading through it. She sat down and began carefully reading through the text and writing down anything she thought was important. Which was nearly everything. She didn't know exactly how much time had passed but eventually there was a knock at her door. She got up and opened it to see Tobi and Sasori's smiling faces. They were holding a gigantic red heart that came up to Sakura's elbows.

"What's going on here?" Sakura asked looking at the huge red shape.

"You said you'd be fine with a giant red heart of chocolate," Sasori said.

"So we got you one! Happy Valentine's Day Sakura!" Tobi said cheerfully.

Sakura smiled looking from one boy to the other. The two of them had honestly gone to the trouble of getting her this behemoth? "Are you serious?"

"Nah, it's actually just for us. We wanted to screw with you," Sasori remarked sarcastically.

Tobi elbowed him in the side. "But we'll certainly help you eat it if you want."

"Hell yeah," Sakura stepped out of her room and motioned to the kitchen table. "Just put it on here so we can take a look at – what the hell is this?" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw that the entire kitchen table was now covered in candy, cakes, and various other pastries. The other guys were all standing around the table.

Sasori stood next to her and rested his arm on her shoulder and leaned in towards her in a casual stance. "Well you said you wanted a huge heart. So we had to up our game to make sure we completely paid you back."

"I hope you like strawberries!" Tobi announced. "Since you liked the fruit pancakes so much I thought maybe you'd like fruity desserts too."

Sakura couldn't stop smiling. "Yeah they're delicious." She put a hand to her cheek to try and calm herself down. This was so nice of them. She hadn't actually expected them to go out and buy her anything. Hell she'd forgotten today was even Valentine's Day

These boys who she's known for barely a month went out of their way to buy her a plethora of candies and pastries for this holiday. Sure Naruto had always given her little cupcakes or bags of sweets but this was unbelievable. She's never been treated this well on any holiday really. Tears of happiness began filling her eyes.

"Hey now," Sasori moved his arm to put it around her shoulders and pull her closer. "There's no crying today."

"Sakura what's wrong?" Tobi asked, almost sounding scared. "Do you not like chocolate?"

Sakura shook her head and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just… This is so amazing. Thank you."

Sasori smiled gently and pulled her in for a hug. "Everyone picked out something for you. The big heart is from all of us."

Sakura hugged him back tightly and buried her face in his shoulder. They had all gotten her something? This wasn't all just a big conglomerate?

She took a few deep breaths and pulled back from Sasori to look up at the others. They were all giving her those stupid happy smiles that made her want to melt. "Thank you," she spoke quietly.

"Here, try this, Sakura!" Tobi handed her a plate of cake.

She looked down at it. You didn't have to ask her twice. Sakura was about to go at that thing with her bare hands but Itachi managed to get her a fork before that happened. There were strawberries between the cake layers ad they were so fresh and delicious.

"Don't eat too much, you still have to try the rest," Deidara said. "Mine's totally the best, though."

"Fuck no, I got the best one," Hidan retorted.

Sakura looked from Hidan to the table and back up to him. "Which one is yours Hidan?"

He smirked and pointed at a large cake. "That one."

"Mhmm," Sakura pursed her lips. "Right so I'm not touching that one until someone else cuts it for me." She narrowed her eyes at Hidan. "I'm not getting a face full of cake."

"Tch," Hidan walked over to the cake himself and cut a piece. "I told you, that's weak shit, seriously. Like I'd pull that." He handed her the plate but she continued to eye it skeptically. "You don't want me to start feeding you."

Sakura thought about it for a moment and decided he was right. Something about Hidan putting objects in her mouth didn't seem…well…rated E for everyone. She took the plate and tried his cake as well.

"Ohf mah gawf," Sakura said with a full mouth. "Deficiouth."

Hidan looked at her like she was crazy. "Wha?"

"She said it was good," Kisame filled in for Sakura who nodded.

"Awesome," Hidan smirked.

Sakura didn't even know what to eat next. That huge chocolate lava cake? The gigantic sundae as big as her head? The cookies piled high with ample frosting? Or perhaps the chocolate covered fruit arranged in a pretty flower pattern? Ah hell, she'd just start with what was closest and work her way to the other end. So, the lava cake was up first. And she should have known who would choose a lava cake. Something that looks like a volcano. Something that explodes. But she didn't even think about it. No one did. Not until Sakura's face was covered in warm chocolate. In hindsight Sakura knew she should have been more wary about Deidara's cake exploding than Hidan's.

She picked her head up to glare at Deidara and found him just inches away from her face. Her glare faltered when he used a finger to scoop some chocolate off of her cheek and eat it. She couldn't help giggling and mimicked the movement herself.

"Hot damn that is some delicious chocolate," Sakura commented. After cleaning off her face she used the ample chocolate from the lava cake to adorn some of the other desserts she still had yet to try. These boys knew how to do desserts. Or maybe they'd gone somewhere that had helped them pick these out. Either way Sakura was ten cookies, three pieces of cake, and probably about a pint of ice cream into her sugar binge. It wasn't long before Kisame and Hidan had to collectively pull her away from the table and settle her down on the couch.

Sakura spent the rest of the evening in the living room with whoever came and went. Some of the guys had to go do homework but some stayed out with her. Presently she was sitting so that she was leaning against Deidara with her legs outstretched over Sasori's lap.

The boys had said they'd let her watch whatever she wanted that night. In the spirit of the holiday she picked a romance, of course. But it had to be something good. Not just some random thing that came out ten years ago that she saw once. It had to be big.

So she made the boys watch the three hour long heart wrenching tragedy that is Titanic. Sadly because she'd spent a good portion of her afternoon practicing magic she'd gotten tired. Rose and Jack hadn't even gone down below deck to dance before her eyes threatened to close.

"Hey, don't go falling asleep," Sasori said from the end of the couch. "You're not leaving us to watch this alone."

"You love it and you know it," Sakura said.

"You said there were boobs in this," Hidan complained from the loveseat.

"Soon, my dear, soon," Sakura grumbled. The only way Hidan would sit and watch a romantic movie was if Sakura had promised there'd eventually not only be breasts but also a sex scene. She failed to mention these did not happen at the same time.

"Why the hell would a girl like her even trust a guy like him?" Hidan asked. "I mean how does she know he wasn't just gonna take her down below deck and screw her brains out?"

"He saved her from killing herself, you dumbass," Deidara said. "That's why."

Hidan waved his hands. "Nah, nah, that just means you want her alive. Doesn't mean you're in love with her."

"This was also during 1912." Deidara replied. "People were a bit more trustworthy then."

"Can you imagine Kakuzu watching this?" Sasori asked. "He'd storm out of the room the minute she showed signs of hating the fact that she has money."

Deidara laughed behind Sakura. "He'd break the damn DVD."

"Blasphemy!" Hidan mimicked what Sakura figured was Kakuzu's voice. "She's rich and she doesn't want to be rich? Completely unbelievable plot. Why would they waste money on this? Who thought this was a good idea?"

Sasori and Deidara laughed at Hidan's impression. Sakura couldn't help giggling along. "He sounds like an ass."

"He's okay," Deidara said after calming down.

"Seriously though, when's the sex?" Hidan asked.

Sakura groaned. "They don't have sex until around when the stupid ship hits the stupid ice berg. Just watch the movie."

Hidan huffed but stayed quiet. Surprisingly he remained out in the living room until the end of the movie. Sakura thought she saw some water works from him but decided not to bring attention to it. She had other matters to attend to. Her leaning post was getting up to leave.

"Aw, come on," Sakura whined when Deidara and Sasori both got up. Not her foot rest too! She had been so comfortable...

"Sorry," Deidara smirked and patted her head. "Homework."

"Uh huh," Sakura hummed sarcastically. "The vampires who don't require rest need to go do homework right this second."

Sasori chucked. "When they procrastinate until the night before they do."

Sakura shook her head and smiled. "You guys are setting a bad example you know."

"I think we'll live," Deidara said before slipping into the bedroom with Sasori following after.

Sakura sat forward uncomfortably in a silent protest. She sighed dramatically and recevied a pillow straight in the face for it.

"Was that really necessary?" Sakura asked Hidan.

"Dunno. Was the sighing necessary?" He retorted while flipping through channels on the TV.

"Well, yeah, I'm hot as balls right now and my hot air conditioning just left." Sakura giggled at her ironic play on words. She saw her opportunity and took it.

"So, what, you're just going to complain all damn night until he comes back out?" Hidan asked.

"It's a possibility," she said. Hidan didn't reply. The room was quiet for a good minute before Sakura began her dramatic sighing once again.

"Oh my fucking Jashin," Hidan cursed and got out of his seat. Sakura was expecting him to storm out but he made his way to the couch and sat behind her then pulled her back to lean against him. "Is this better?"

Sakura blinked up at him in surprise. This was rather uncharacteristic of him but Sakura wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She smiled. "Yes, thank you very much." She settled in and got comfortable next to him.

"Good, now be quiet. I'm trying to catch up here," Hidan motioned to the program playing on the TV.

"Mhmm," Sakura hummed in acknowledgement. She was interested to see Hidan's reactions to the show anyhow. He had decided to give Breaking Bad a try. The pat two nights he'd been up watching the episodes nonstop. Sakura was impressed. Not needing to rest or eat made it much easier to binge watch.

Soon she found her eyelids weighed twice what they usually did. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep them open and focused on the TV. Hidan was notably more comfortable than she'd expected. With a bit more muscle there were less sharp bones that pokes out against her spine as was the case with Deidara. She let herself begin to drift off. Hidan could take carry her into her bed when he realized she was asleep. Or not. Sakura found she didn't care whatever happened. She knew she could get a good sleep in this position or in her bed so whatever he decided she'd be happy.

So she let herself drift off to a light sleep. She was briefly aware that she was being carried after a while. When her back made contact with a bed she felt the cool being next to her pull away. Not wanting to relinquish the comfortable chill she held fast until she drifted off into a deeper slumber.

Even in the half-asleep state Sakura was in she could clearly tell it was morning. The light bombarding her eyelids was bright and warm, contrasting starkly with the ice being pressed flush against the length of her body. Why was she cuddling ice? Why does the ice feel like it's breathing? Whose bed was she in this time?

Sakura's arm was draped over what felt like a stomach with her other wedged between herself and the other body. One of their arms was snaked around her back.

Sakura pondered whether she should open her eyes or pretend to be asleep until they left. Since whoever she was lying next to hadn't left by now the latter option probably wasn't viable. Still, how did she end up in bed with another of the Akatsuki? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the couch with Hidan.

'Ah,' Sakura thought. 'Okay this makes sense now.'

Still, what was she supposed to say? "Hello, good morning, would you like some toast"? Is this more or less awkward than a normal "the morning after"? Why had he even stayed in here? Did he come in sometime in the middle of the night? Did he stay here all night after putting her to bed? If so, why? Whatever the answers were Sakura could feel her cheeks beginning to flush.

Not a week ago did she – albeit jokingly – tell herself she'd take full advantage of the next "opportunity" that presented itself. Ideas of how to do so raced through her mind. She couldn't help it. Their current position was all too intimate. Well, intimate for Sakura. When she'd woken up in Deidara's bed she had thought she was alone until he appeared out of the maze of blankets. This was… Their legs were even intertwined for fuck's sake!

Sakura couldn't take anymore. She had to do something before her will power diminished. Opening her eyes confirmed she was at least in her own bedroom. Gently she asked, "Hidan?"

"Hm?"

"Why the hell are you in my bed?"

"You asked me to be."

"No, really."

"You asked me."

Pulling herself away from him she sat up. "Now why in the world would I do that?" She looked back at him still lying down. The sight of him lazing about in her bed in the morning light made her stomach do a flip.

Hidan shrugged. "I don't know. When I brought you in here you wouldn't let go. Kept asking me not to leave." He sat up with her and smirked. "How could I say no to that?"

That devilish smirk would be her undoing one of these days. It didn't help that those violet eyes were inches away from hers again. Sakura could feel her composure waning. There was something about Hidan that made her entire being turn to soup. She could feel the blush rising to her cheeks as the warmth crept across her face. Hidan's smirk grew.

"You're looking a little feverish there," Hidan spoke in a low voice and leaned closer to her. Her mouth went dry and her palms began to sweat profusely. He was driving her mad and he knew it. Hidan reached up to take her chin between two fingers. He leaned in closer and Sakura closed her eyes, unable to look at the smoldering violent any longer.

Chills ran down her spine to her toes as she felt his breath ghost over her face. She kept her eyes shut, waiting. She sucked in a breath when his weight moved forward towards her. Cold lips pressed to her forehead gently and then retreated along with the hand.

Sakura pried open her eyes to stare at Hidan who was wearing the smuggest expression she'd ever seen. The smirk on his lips nearly reached his ears. Sakura blinked and let out her breath. "I… What?"

Hidan got up and motioned to the bathroom. "Take a cold shower. Should cool you down enough." He opened the bedroom door and peeked at her over his shoulder. "And get rid of those impure thoughts."

Before Sakura could reply Hidan closed the bedroom door. What the hell just happened? Sakura lied down on her back and stared at the ceiling. Her heart was racing and her stomach was doing acrobatics. She glanced at her clock. There were still two hours until she had to get ready. Still she wasn't going back to sleep. Not now. So she got up and headed to the bathroom. Maybe a cold shower would be nice.

First off I am oh so sorry for the late update. This month has been a helluva trip for me. Plus this chapter kept giving me sass/I had to take a hacksaw to the outline because what was supposed to happen here ended up being completely stupid. It belonged in a crack fic honestly. I like this version a lot better. Either way she was gonna wake up next to another member. And of course it's Hidan. Sneaky little Jashinist.

Next chapter should be getting things really going. I'm excited to write it. Don't be shy, leave a review! I love hearing people's thoughts on this.

I'll see you all next time!