Chapter 51!
Title: 'Schedules and Schemes' Part: 1
Note:
OKAY.
So this chapter turned out to be a MONSTER…. So it is now split up into 3 Chapters.
That's right, not 2, but 3. Hopefully you guys are in the mood to read!
Oh, and:
Thank you LowRAAAN for your very kind reviews… and for sticking up to my senpai (whom I am deep friends with in real life, actually) and her twi-analogies. She jokes around a lot but I think she likes the story…. I think… I think…
…
…
…
…
… … … … … … … … … … …. … … … … … … … … …. …. …
"Hey, Sakura-chan! Did you hear me?" Naruto rushed into my vision, interrupting a moment of deep thought.
It had only been less than a minute since Kakashi walked out that door, smiling, and I had succumbed to playing along with his little game, whispering 'itterashai'.
Something told me that if we were still in some kind of tournament, he'd be winning again…. But it didn't feel like that anymore. After last night, everything seemed to just click together, like we were both back on the same track again, giving up the games and just enjoying… each other.
I had almost smiled to myself at that thought as I had tucked the spare clothes that Kakashi left in a little pile next to his luggage back into his bag, recognizing his age-worn shirt with elbow-lengthed sleeves that I had always liked on him… but that moment was interrupted by the professional Interrupter, who had exercised his trademark talent earlier this morning, too.
"What?" I asked up, snapped out of my daze, quickly pushing Kakashi's luggage away from me like by simply being seen next to his belongings might send some sort of wrong message.
"What'd Kakashi-sensei want Sai for?" Naruto asked up again, slightly confused as to why he had to repeat himself, his voice went a little sour when he hit Sai's name.
"Oh –um…"
I couldn't answer that.
What had he wanted Sai for?
My brain answered that for me.
He probably just wanted some excuse to get Naruto out of the room.
But it was around this moment that I had wished Kakashi had thought of some other excuse.
"Good morning, Sakura-chan." Sai spoke up with his smile, his eyes closed.
Naruto gave him a weird look when Sai said '-chan'… it was a little strange for him to use such a familiar suffix, but it didn't feel only a 'little strange' to me just now as I suddenly felt really self-conscious about how close I was to Kakashi's luggage. As if just standing next to something that belonged to Kakashi was a tip-off or something.
But besides that, the way he was addressing me so casually… it was like he thought we were closer than before… like he somehow thought that his discovery of my feelings for Kakashi-sensei made us-
"Morning, Sai." I answered back quickly before letting myself think about that awkwardness too much. "Naruto, Kakashi-sensei wanted me to ta-"
"How did you sleep last night?" Sai interrupted me. It was like he was trying to carry something of a small-talk conversation or something while I was already trying to move on.
I paused for a moment, giving him a weird look which was at first mirrored by Naruto, but it wasn't more than a few seconds before Naruto converted over to the conversation.
"Yeah! How'd it go?" He asked eagerly taking a few steps toward me.
"How'd what-"
"Sleeping in the same room as Kakashi-san." Sai answered my unfinished question. His smile hadn't weakened.
I was suddenly very aware of the fact that these two boys were asking me the same question with two very different motives.
Naruto was feeling something like jealousy probably, and Sai… Sai was just looking at my face.
I suddenly felt like he was studying me. It was kind of creepy.
"Nothi-" I was about to finish the conversation but Naruto, the great Interrupter, stepped in.
"He didn't do anything pervy, right Sakura-chyan!" Naruto repeated his question from only ten minutes ago with unrestrained vigor. "Right? RIGHT?" He almost yelled after another moment, sensing my hesitation like it meant he was right.
Well, he was kind of right, but I was mostly hesitating because I really wasn't used to Naruto asking whether Kakashi-sensei had been 'pervy' or not.
Maybe Sai was filling Naruto's head with these questions.
"Of course no-" I picked up my voice in reaction to Naruto's… but I was interrupted, again.
"Cause he could've said something weird or he could've peeked at you when you were sleeping or something like that!" Naruto warned me, aggravated panic in his voice. The fact that he brought up sleep-harrassment was a little unnerving… then again, I was the one who had apparently harassed him. I pushed that thought out of my brain before I could spend a moment longer on that weirdness.
"What if he -"
"What are you talking about?" I nearly yelled, finally taking control of this interrogation. My open hand seemed to levitate towards the back of Naruto's head without thinking, giving a tough pat. He cringed in a little pain. "You're talking about Kakashi-sensei!" I reminded him, trying to make that sound like a reasonable argument against any 'perviness' (it was a tough argument to pull since I was basically lying right now.) My eyes found Sai for a moment, trying to judge his expression… still that smile…
"Yeah, but!" Naruto spoke up loudly, flinching like I might hit him before he finished, I forgot to do that. "But he said you were his fiancé! And I'm sure he did something reeeeeallly weird at the party! Then he got to sleep in your room, too!" He made it sound like a privilege or something.
I sighed, my eyebrow twitching.
"It's only the mission." I reassured firmly. "We all have to pretend to be people we're not on this mission! You even got yourself drunk last night and passed out! Who knows what your brain's been through! It's probably mush by now!" I pointed the conversation back at him.
He suddenly planted both of his hands on the sides of his head, fear hitting his face with an ugly stick.
He didn't seem to care about Kakashi-sensei as much anymore, but more about his brain.
"Now, I have to give you a look, so stay still and don't say anything." I ordered him, getting everything back on track, feeling a little smug about it.
"Bu-But!" He started up again. "Kakashi's been really wei-"
I stopped him, as I was already reaching my palms up to Naruto's head, trying to focus attention on my chakra flow and not on what expression Sai would be giving me right now.
"I'm sure he's got everything planned out appropriately." I answered Naruto's panicked whining with a business-like tone, mostly trying to console myself with that sentence than Naruto
…. .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
"Excuse me, can you please show me your most inappropriate dresses?" He calmly asked the squeamish shop girl with a charm-filled, masked smile. The girl had to take a moment to think about that weird request before finally blinking and reciting that helpful phrase:
"Just this way, sir."
She turned around, and started walking through the store, aisles of coat-racks with dozens of formal dresses lined up on each one. The ceiling windows let in just enough early-afternoon daylight to light up even the darkest corners of the warehouse-like store.
It had taken him a little under an hour getting to this place, but he knew the way, after all he had just been here yesterday. His mind flashed back to the white 'dress' that he had gotten for the evening before, not easily forgetting how much of that girl's figure had shown through it as well as how much leg. He redirected his thoughts back to where he was walking before he could let himself fall into a daydream.
He noticed, just like yesterday, that the farther they wandered into the store the less fabric the dresses were made of.
"Here is the more… mature side of our collection, sir." The employee said softly before bowing deeply and wandering off, a little pink-faced.
He had to control a conniving smile at the dozens of options in front of him. He never liked shopping for formal clothes, but he guessed this was alright.
He stood there for a good couple minutes, holding his chin in his hand contemplatively, judging each of the dresses by the color, imagining them with her skin tone. He always like the way brighter colors made her skin seem a little pink. He judged how short the dresses were.
He knew it couldn't be anywhere near as short as the one she wore last night… this was supposed to be a 'respectable' dinner party… that was being thrown by one of the more powerful yakuza in the country.
But she still had to be eye-catching… not just for himself, either.
He stood there, judging, for a few more seconds before he heard a voice.
"Oh, is that you Kyousuke-kun?" He immediately dropped all of his thoughts, focusing entirely on who that female voice could belong to. "Are you here looking for a gift for your fiancée?" The woman continued the sweet tone her voice a little too sweet.
But he remembered it from somewhere.
She was the owner of the female voice he had heard from inside that closet last night, only now her voice wasn't muffled and wasn't cracking childish insults.
He turned around slightly just in time to see the owner of the voice peek around to try and catch his eye.
She was a young woman in her early twenties, she was attractive in her own way, the kind of woman that would be attractive to trophy-women-seeking yakuza.
He recognized her face now, having seen her somewhere in Momoshita's crowd, he got the impression that she was the mob-boss's mistress. And from the fact she had giant shopping bags stuffed with expensive trinkets, he could tell his impression had been right.
A little disturbed by the fact that the mission had followed him this far and interrupted his scheming just now, he played along, adopting his 'Kyousuke' persona again.
"Yes." He answered with a polite smile as the mistress walked around to face him, the light from the window above her hitting her yellow day-dress brightly. "I think I might be spoiling her, but she deserves it." He admitted, smiling not only as an act but at the irony of what he just said.
Sakura definitely wouldn't consider this to be 'spoiling'.
"I'm kind of jealous." The mistress started as she looked to the aisles of dresses for a moment. "To think little Hanako-chan has such a doting fiancé, and one that's so handsome, too." She complimented him a little too much.
Her flattering tone wasn't new to him, but he pretended not to notice. He also decided to overlook the way she called Sakura 'little Hanako-chan'.
She smiled at him when their eyes met again.
"Handsome?" He edged, playing his character's fumbling humble nature up as he raised a hand to his face, which was still covered by his mask.
"It's not hard to guess." She said with a cutesy tone. He could already tell she was only acting. She was hiding something.
And just when I thought things were going to go smoothly.
"Ah…" he answered her compliment neutrally, losing interest in this conversation and suddenly wishing that things could be as simple as they were this morning. He turned back to the dresses ready to make a quick decision in order to leave quickly.
"Do you want me to help you, Kyousuke-kun?"
He turned back to her, instantly regretting it.
"Pick out a dress for Hanako-chan?" The woman elaborated sweetly.
He really wanted to say no… but he could tell from a mile away that this woman had ulterior motives for this conversation, even if he wanted to grab a random dress and walk out now, it would be dangerous to leave this loose end here.
"Yes, thank you." He accepted with a charming, fake smile.
… … … … … … … … … … … . …
I poked the egg that was resting lazily over my rice with limited interest, paying only a fraction of it any attention and even less to the conversation between Sai and Naruto right now.
Not that they weren't interesting, the fact that Naruto wasn't yelling and was actually talking to the boy he called 'weirdo' this morning to vindictively was interesting in enough itself. And it wasn't like I wasn't starving, cause I was. But I found my attention scattered because… of this weird feeling.
This familiar feeling.
Like something was resting on the back of my neck.
I knew nothing was there, Naruto and Sai, who were sitting opposite from me at this little dining table, would've told me if someone was standing there or something… but… the feeling still wouldn't go away.
That all-too-familiar feeling of being stared at from afar.
I absent-mindedly poked the egg again, it bounced back jauntily. Naruto was nearly shouting, "It was like THIS BIG." He motioned with his hands largely, swinging them around.
"I highly doubt a Koi fish could get that big." Sai retorted with a polite tone.
"But I saw it!" Naruto argued as I tuned out of the conversation again.
The feeling had grown stronger.
Someone was definitely looking at us.
Or me.
I shuffled in my seat for a spare moment, fighting back the urge to turn around.
Maybe it was nobody. Maybe it was some little kid who was eating with his parents across the dining hall at a bigger table. Maybe it was an old person who was looking over here remembering their younger days or somebody who was staring at Naruto and his wild story-telling habits with annoyance.
But there was something about this feeling that couldn't be explained so simply.
Intent.
This feeling, it wasn't just staring.
In training we learn to strengthen our senses, even the ones nobody can seem to explain, like how we can tell when we're being stared at. And with additional training we can even learn to recognize the nature of that stare.
And this one was an intense one, one that belonged to a person who was fixed on doing something.
Someone who must've known us.
Who could belong to this stare?
I thought through the possibilities but my mind seemed to stop at the first guess when I suddenly remembered who had had a staring problem last night, too.
Hir-
"Hey, kids." That scratchy voice invaded my thoughts and Naruto's ranting from behind me. I would've jumped if I hadn't figured out who it was before that man decided to speak up.
I didn't like the way he said 'kids'… like he knew we were all just teenagers… and the fact that he would still include me as a kid after he had hit on me so diligently last night was a little disturbing.
... but then again… he should've forgotten about our 'agreement' last night because of the Takoa root and Kakashi's punch.
So I guess I didn't have to worry about that…
"Ah, Hiroki-san." Sai spoke up first, politely, looking up at the man standing behind me. Naruto just stared at the space above and behind me dumbly, showing the confusion we shared blatantly.
I decided to just look at my food. To ignore him or something.
"Hanako-chan."
My chopstick slipped and poked the egg too hard, the yolk broke, flooding the sticky rice.
I really didn't want to respond to that name or to that man.
Even though he's forgotten about what we had talked about last night in Momoshita's room, I just didn't want to talk to him.
He kind of creeped me out.
Kind of really.
"I'm going to go get some more food." I spoke up, standing up suddenly, grabbing my tray which was adorned with different bowls of untouched side-dishes and dipping sauces. I hadn't eaten anything so it probably seemed kind of stupid saying that I was leaving for more food.
But I hoped I could get out of there anyways.
"Ah!" Naruto called after me, hesitating like he forgot my fake name already. But I was already walking away at a faster speed than was probably necessary.
I knew I should've handled that better. I knew that if Kakashi-sensei was in this position he probably would've been all smiles and started up a conversation even if he was creeped out, and would've done anything to keep his cover.
But it wasn't like my decision to run away from the situation actually worked.
"Excuse me." I heard that textured voice behind me politely depart from my two teammates as I heard his widely paced footfalls follow after me.
His manners in that moment surprised me.
It sounded out of character to me.
I thought he was just some ego-pumped thug who acted tough and always spoke slang and would never sau 'excuse me'.
I couldn't pay attention to that momentary observation when I heard the footsteps still following me to the little buffet table decorated with all the comped breakfast food.
"Hanako-chan. I wanted a word with you." He called after me. The same misleading manners from before.
Even his voice sounded different. Kinder.
Last night he was so rough and boastful, like he could talk to anybody with a superior tone and it wasn't rude, like he really thought he was better than everyone and could say what he wanted when he wanted.
For a second I wondered whether I should turn around to look at him or not.
It would be childish to ignore him… especially after he asked so nicely to open up a conversation.
My expression cringed in a small grimace for a nanosecond before I made myself turn around, the tray still in my hands. I let my face go neutral, showing no interest or care for whatever he wanted to say, hopefully sending him the message that I really didn't want to talk to him.
But it was suddenly hard to keep my poker face on when I let my eyes fall on him.
What happened to the man from last night?
What happened to the messy-haired man with a stubbly chin and dark-circled eyes?
What happened to the man that would stand with his hands stuffed in his pockets, his center of gravity below his waist, and wear a superior, smug look on his face every second without fail?
Why was this clean-shaven, straight-postured man with neatly slicked back hair and surprisingly bright blue eyes standing in front me?
This was kind of weird.
Did he get a makeover overnight?
I thought people were supposed to look worse the morning after passing out drunk… especially when he hadn't so much as passed out but punched out…
I barely got over the slight shock of his arguably attractive appearance before stoning my face over, expecting the same type of vulgar voice and words I had suffered from him last night.
Even if he was all primped and polished he was still the same scummy yakuza guy from before inside, right?
"I wanted to apologize for my actions last night." He spoke up after the moment of awkward silence between the two of us had passed. I could feel Naruto and Sai staring at me staring at this man, who I had just noticed replaced that golden chain that had been hanging along the side of his face to a normal stud earring and nose-ring.
"What?" I asked aloud, not only responding to that out of place apology but to the entire situation.
What the heck is going on?...
"I can only remember some of what I did and said last night. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but whenever I'm around the other guys I always try to keep up appearances." He admitted with an apologetic, and embarrassed tone.
'Embarassing'?
Did this man, the man that was so set on portraying his manly power last night really just say he was embarrassed about the way he was acting?
He carried on his apology before I could quite catch up to him.
"And I've never been able to hold my liquor very well. I'm told I always act like an idiot after a few drinks and I think I might've made you uncomfortable while I wasn't really myself." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck humbly, giving a pained smile.
God.
What is going on?
How can a man with such a definite, scary character just go 180 overnight and become the really well-mannered, modest man-boy I'm looking at right now!
It has to be fake!
This has to be some sort of act!
But why would he need to act this way?
He said he can't remember what happened last night, just the fact that he was being a complete jerk. And if he did remember anything he probably would've just told his boss or something and then we wouldn't be having this conversation. Even if he wanted to take things into his own hands, there wouldn't be any upside to acting all boyish and nice right now when he could probably just get some of the other lackeys to start beating Naruto, Sai, and me up.
So there really wasn't any upside to putting on an act.
Then what the hell is this?
Am I supposed to believe this is real?
What the hell is going on?
I was pulled out of my increasingly confused and distrustful thoughts when I heard my fake name.
"Hanako-chan?"
Apparently I had been staring into space for too long, now Hiroki was looking down at me like he was worried that I wouldn't accept his apology or something.
"uh…" I couldn't really manage any words, I was still unsure of how to treat this situation. I didn't even know if this was real… maybe it was my brain was playing tricks on me or something.
I glanced over to my other teammates who were still looking over here.
That thought combined with the sight of Naruto's confused face reminded me of something.
Neurological damage!
I announced mentally with a tone of triumph
Hiroki had been so drunk last night, off of the Takoa-root tainted sake… maybe… his personality… could it have been affected?
Or maybe he really had been a 'stupid-drunk' last night like Momoshita said Hiroki always was.
I mean, there was Rock Lee, one of the sweetest boys in the village who could turn into a violent tornado of fists after only a few drops of alcohol… so maybe it was tr-
I couldn't think any further on that when he suddenly spoke up again.
"I do remember some of the things I said. I remember there was something about promising to let you attend the meeting with the Yomasa clan."
My posture stiffened for a moment.
He remembered that?
That was the third biggest thing we hadn't wanted him to remember. The second being Kakashi's punch, and the first being the fact that Hiroki had bumped into me in Momoshita's room, which would tip anybody off that I had broken in.
"I'd be willing to carry through with it and convince Momoshita to let you watch… but I'm not sure if you'd still want to attend…" his voice got softer as his slightly aged blue eyes looked away from mine, as if the 30-year-old man was ashamed of something enough not to look me in the face. "… since the reason why you wanted to go wasn't really…" he trailed off, leaving my thoughts to their own devices.
OK… so he remembers that I wanted to see the deal go down.
I wanted to because it'll seal the mission by giving us enough evidence to report them to the local law enforcement….
But what was the reason I'd given him last night?
I racked my brain for a nanosecond before the answer clicked into place:
After I said I could only cheat on Kyousuke with powerful men, he was going to let me watch the deal so that I could see his 'power' in action.
I came back to reality with the thought that even though this man's character had changed from last night, I was still supposed to be Hanako: the somewhat slutty fiancé of Kyousuke with a fondness for power.
Crap!
"Um… if it's alright with you, I'd still like to attend." I spoke up, feeling shy now. It was contagious. The way he was acting all cutesy and humble was starting to make me break character. I didn't want to be some sort of sleazy seductress now that he was so… sweet… I guess is the word.
He shifted on the spot, his hands sliding into his pockets as if it was a nervous habit.
"But, I'm afraid, our… agreement… before… I can't…" He trailed off, clearing his throat, trying to strengthen his voice to sound his age.
My heart thudded uncomfortably when I remembered the 'agreement'. That after I saw his 'power' or whatever that we'd… that he and I would…
"I wasn't thinking last night when I advanced onto you like that." He added after a moment of awkwardness. It was only a second before he suddenly spoke up again, a little flustered, "Not that you're not my type or anything. You really are. I think that's why I couldn't stop myself last night, but I-"
"It's fine." I spoke up, stopping that embarrassing rant. It was like he was suddenly scared that he'd insulted me by turning me down or something. "I wasn't really looked forward to it."
That last part slipped out kind of wrong.
I immediately felt guilty for stepping on his ego like that when he freaked out about hurting mine.
And then I immediately felt weird about worrying about this man's ego, which was so inflated last night that it smothered all reasonable thought.
"Not that you're not…" I spoke up again after some more awkwardness, mimicking the same beginning of his previous monologue just now.
I didn't really know if it was okay to say that he wasn't not my type. I mean… he was handsome… and he was really… nice… right now. But he is a lot older, then again I've kind of gotten used to 'older'…. But he looks a couple years older than Kakashi…
WAIT.
None of that mattered!
Who cares if he's not my type or not!
Who cares if I'm his type!
He's the enemy!
I shouldn't be thinking about any of this!
I shouldn't be worried about hurting his FEELINGS!
What the hell is this conversation about?
"So you would still like to attend the meeting?" His voice asked up, completely recovered from that strange moment just now.
I nodded after some thought.
"Hanako-chan…" He called my fake name, his voice quieter than before. He leaned in a few inches. I stayed as still as possible hoping he wouldn't get any closer or something.
"There's another reason why you want to go, isn't there?"
…
I couldn't think for a moment.
My hands tightened on the tray I was holding, about ready to smack it over his head if he actually knew more than I thought he had.
"There's something about you and Kyousuke that you two are hiding, isn't there?"
My heart started hammering.
There were definitely several things we had been hiding…
But his voice… he asked that just now as if he was genuinely curious. As if the lives of my teammates and my own didn't rely on the answer I had to give him, but he was just interested for the answer.
How did such a stupid little awkward conversation turn into this!
I judged all the different things I could say, the lies. None of them seemed good enough. I couldn't think straight. This was so confusing.
This man wasn't who I thought he was.
I would've thought that a man like Hiroki wouldn't hesitate at the first suspicion to run to his Boss and rat on us. But here he is, asking me these questions as if he was only asking for himself!
None of this made sense!
I didn't say anything. I only stared away from his face, my eyes locks on the blue dress shirt that he was wearing.
"Hanako-chan!" I heard Naruto call over to me suddenly, breaking up the tension of that moment. "We gotta get going!" He motioned wildly at the door, failing to exercise his indoor voice, disturbing the other breakfast eaters in the room.
His interrupting skills were sometimes God-sends.
Hiroki turned back to me.
He leaned in even closer, as if he was telling me a secret. I could smell his cologne, even though it smelled kind of really good it burned my nose. I wasn't used to synthetic scents like that… shinobi would never wear any of that stuff.
"I'd like to continue this conversation, Hanako-chan." He said softly. "Before the dining party, meet with me in the courtyard."
I looked up at him, letting the confusion finally paint my face.
"I'll be waiting so come whenever it's most convenient for you." He explained smoothly, as if he thought I was only confused about the 'when and where' meeting and not about everything else about this man.
I just stood there… and nodded.
A smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he leaned away.
"Until then." He said lastly as he started to walk away, his hands back in the pockets of his slacks…
…
I sighed out of a false relief after Hiroki walked away, happy to be out of that deeply confusing situation.
I really did not understand that man.
Whatever.
I just have to worry about what the hell he wanted to talk about later.
"Hanako!" Naruto ran over to me, yelling my name with an awkward pronunciation that would tip anybody off that it wasn't either my real name or Naruto had a speech impediment. But at least he was still sharp enough to use that name while Hiroki was only barely out of the door.
"What was that about!" Naruto asked loudly. "What did that scumbag want!"
"He… apologized. And he wants to talk later. I think he's catching onto Kyousuke and me." I started walking toward a different exit way that would lead us down a different wing than our rooms, but I didn't want to follow after Hiroki while talking like this.
"What?" Naruto reacted unabashedly as we were only a few feet from out of the dining hall.
"You're going to meet with him later to talk?" Sai stepped in, asking what I just stated as if he hadn't heard me right.
"Yeah…" I agreed slowly, feeling a little unsure about that answer. Walking through the exit way quickly.
"What if it's a trap!" Naruto yelled a little loudly acting as if simply talking about a mission should be urgent and loud even though this was an undercover job.
I was about to turn around and tell him off about it, but Sai jumped in with more patience than me to say something even more important.
"The courtyard is in the middle of the entire establishment, if he tried anything or planned an ambush we'd be able to hear it from our rooms."
He was right. It couldn't be a trap, otherwise he would've set up the meeting at some secret place or something.
Maybe he really did just want to talk…
"Well, what could he want to talk about!" Naruto asked the question just as soon as I had to think of it again.
"I have no idea." I answered the best I could as we turned the corner, walking quickly toward our rooms which were only a few corners away. "He's really different right now. I can't tell if it's an act or not, but it's like his entire personality changed." I explained further, the two boys behind me quiet in concentration. "I think the Takoa-root might've done something to him." I offered my logic.
"I suppose it's possible." Sai agreed hesitantly. "But besides that, Hiroki-san seemed rather eager to get your audience alone, Sakura-chan." He finished that rather strange sentence using my real name, too, adding to my uncomfortableness.
It took a moment to think through what Sai was implying.
"I-I don't think he's interested anymore… He was really awkward about the whole situation." I reasoned aloud.
"In one of my books I've read that a boy will act 'awkward' and uncomfortable when he's confronted by something about emotions or someone he has feelings for. Perhaps he had other motives for meeting you in private, too." Sai recited, inflecting 'awkward' as if it wasn't his own word and adding his own thoughts at the end. I really didn't like what he was trying to say.
"I don't think he has any 'feelings' for me." I responded with a tone of awkwardness, myself.
"I guess." Sai deflected the rest of the conversation.
Even if Hiroki-san had been more than a little… interested… last night, it's not like he actually had 'feelings' if anything he only felt 'lust' or something.
Just thinking that creeped me out more than I wished it would've.
"I don't think you should go, anymore!" Naruto said urgently, as if he couldn't hold back his own opinion any longer.
I gently ignored his suggestion, not planning on ignoring one of our only chances at understanding this increasingly-weirder mission.
"I think we should just try and figure out exactly who he is and why he changed so suddenly. I don't know if I can believe that he was just drunk the entire time last night, and even though his personality could've been altered by the takoa root, I doubt that's all the damage it would've done to him."
I looked over my shoulder to check their reactions so far.
Sai seemed lost in thought, like he was thinking about all the possibilities I had been thinking through ever since Hiroki started up that weird conversation, or possibly thinking thoughts that I didn't want to know.
Naruto was just clutching the sides of his head again, as if he was suddenly scared that his brain would suddenly short-circuit, too and his personality would do a 180.
"But, if he only wanted to talk with you after sharing his suspicions about you and Kyousuke… then maybe he wants to share something useful about the mission…" Sai offered after a long moment.
"No... I don't think he'd turn on Momo-" My mind flashed to what drunk-Hiroki said last night… about wanting to overturn Momoshita. Maybe that part hadn't been a lie. Maybe even though his personality was different now, he still had his old ambitions?
… That's if this wasn't his original personality to begin with.
… But maybe…
Maybe he wanted to use us to get back to Momoshita?
"Sakura?" Naruto used my real name now that nobody was around, it still made me nervous, though.
"I think I know what to do." I broke the flow of the conversation with that as I picked up my pace, seeing the door of my room only several feet away.
"What?" Naruto called after me, confusion in his voice.
I looked over my shoulder at the boys for a second.
"I can't tell you guys everything right now, sorry."
I reached out for my door the exact moment I heard Naruto speak up again, his voice a little whiny.
"You know, you're starting to act more and more like Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto graded skeptically as he and Sai walked passed me to their room, saying that sentence as if it was a bad thing.
I couldn't help but actually feel a little proud of that insult as I opened the door. A smile threatened my lips.
I walked back into my room, feeling a little exhausted actually, suddenly wondering what Kakashi was up to while I was making my very own plans right now.
… … … … … … … … … … … … …
"I think this one would look really good with her hair color." The mistress offered with a girly tone as she paraded around the aisle of mirrors swinging the dresses around like she was the one who would be wearing them."Or this one, it would look really cute." She picked up another one.
He just stood there, a few dresses haning over his arm, trying not to sigh out of tired frustration.
He had really hoped that this woman would just pick something and let him leave. Or at least tell him what she's been hiding and get it over with.
"Do you want me to model for you?" She offered suddenly, still looking into the mirror admiring the bright blue dress in her hands.
He finally came back to reality, trying to keep his 'Kyousuke'-mask on.
"No, thank you." He let down her offer kindly. She turned around to face him, looking a little pouty like she really hadn't expected that answer.
"Why not?" She asked like a little kid who was just denied a fun toy they wanted.
This time he did sigh before talking.
"Hanako… isn't quite your size." He said slowly, but the fact he had to stop himself from saying 'yet' disturbed him deeply for a moment.
"You're right." The mistress nodded with understanding for a moment, smiling to herself s if he had just complimented her or something. He had to ignore how much this woman was starting to annoy him. "She is kind of small." She looked back into the mirror, admiring herself more than the dress.
That last sentence caught his attention.
His grip on the 'maybe-dresses' that hung over his arm tightened for a moment.
The mistress started to sift through a few more dresses, pulling at them and giving them a look.
Kakashi's mind wandered into the subject a little further.
Even though Sakura wasn't at all childish looking, and he'd definitely noticed the maturity in her figure, as well as just how adult her whole body seemed to have become when he hadn't been looking over the past four years… she still had at least a year or two before she could catch up to the mistress.
Even if she was practically grown already, he felt a pang of guilt for the fact he had drug that girl into this relationship before she had even stopped growing,
…
But that didn't matter, he guessed.
This was never about physicality… or about what she looked like. It was always just about her.
…
And just as soon as his mind was eased by that singular thought that too-sweet voice interrupted his thoughts.
"You know, I kind of think that you're ill-suited with that girl."
…
He didn't say anything, but his inward annoyance doubled instantly.
"She really does seem so young." The woman started up again with a conversational tone, like she hadn't intended to strike a recently sore nerve of his. "Too young. I don't think she could appreciate a man like you." She finished with a flattering tone, as if the compliment she just gave him outshined everything else she said.
A moment of quiet passed between the two of them. The mistress only looked at the dresses as if they had both been quiet the whole time.
"I think I won't be needing your help anymore."
His voice was almost too polite. He paid a small nod to the woman before laying the 'maybe-dresses' onto the nearest display table, keeping only one in his hand, and turning around to walk away as if the trophy-mistress had only been an advice-lending employee.
He'd rather buy a completely uninteresting dress than stand there and have no choice but to listen to this woman blabber about something she didn't understand.
…
"What if I need help?" She called after him, her voice sounding a little put-off, like she wasn't used to people walking away from her before she wanted them to.
"There are several employees who will help you." He answered over his shoulder nonchalantly, still walking away. But he would soon come to a stop after only a few more seconds when that woman's voice called out once more, this time no longer full of flattery or cutesy compliments.
"I wasn't talking about shopping."
He sighed. He knew something like this was going to come up. He was just hoping he could've left before she tried anything as stupid as this.
"Kyousuke-kun." She called his false name as he turned around to face her, already bored. "Do you know who I am?" She asked with a deeply arrogant tone.
"Someone probably planning something annoying." Kakashi answered as politely as he could let himself.
She shifted on the spot; that comment definitely rustling a few of her ego-feathers.
"I'm the mistress of Momoshita-sama. The man you've been trying to dupe." She announced haughtily, embarrassingly proud of her scandalous title. But he didn't care about her theatricality after hearing that last sentence.
He was surprised that a painfully shallow woman actually knew something he had managed to keep from everyone else. But he didn't give it much thought, just relying on his character to come up with a response.
"I have no intention of causing any sort of harm to Momoshita-san and his gang." He retorted politely, sounding a little insulted by her dead-right accustation. "They've been very kind and generous to me and Hanako." He said lastly, already turned to leave again, eager to get away and leave the conversation at that. But that woman definitely wasn't going to let this go as easily as he wanted her to.
"I saw you and your little fiancée sneak out of our room. I know you're spies from the Yomasa clan."
Maybe she's not that smart, after all.
He graded mentally after he spent only a spare moment regretting his lack of attention for any spectators last night. But he had learned long ago that even if a mission goes wrong and you made a mistake, there's no use focusing on the mistake after it was already over, you always had to focus on what the mission was at that moment and make everything reach it's original course.
And right now his mission was to find a way to shut the mistress up about what she thought she knew.
"What do you want?" His voice was completely monotonous as if he didn't care at all about the fact that he just dropped his 'Kyousuke' act. He didn't see any reason in beating around the bush now. So he was already moving onto negotiations as quickly as he could just so that he could get out of there and get back to his room, or moreover, to the girl who was probably waiting for him in that room right now.
The mistress only smiled to herself like a manipulative kid who had just got her way again.
… … … … …. …. …. …. …. … …. ….. ..
…
…
…
…
…
…
Now that the business has been taken care of, onward to fluff!