A/N - The characters ages (if not previously stated, and I've just forgotten) are;

Sakura,Sasuke,Naruto - 22

Kakashi - 36

Torao - 27 (I know, he really is immature for 27, isn't he) Cheers for asking!

Chapter 10

Sakura felt her muscles relax as the warm spray hit her like tiny little pebbles. That analogy wasn't one that usually would bring an idea of relaxation, but it honestly did feel good. Her breasts were slightly tender from his groping, and her pussy was sore from last night. The water pattered down on her, applying slight amounts of pressure that immediately helped to ease aches. She sighed and leant back against the damp wall, her head moving sideways so that her cheek rested against the moisture that was gathering on her shower door. She felt shivery and warm, a strange concoction that made her feel uneasy. She had felt used last night, for reasons she herself couldn't really comprehend, and the mountains of possibilities and emotions crashed down on her suddenly. It would be wrong to dump someone over sex, wouldn't it? Then she wouldn't be any better than those perverts that her friends had always complained about, and who she had offered support over. She shouldn't have done it. She knew the answer now; you didn't make love to someone in the hope that it would bring you closer together. You waited until you were at a point when you only wanted to pleasure them. She wasn't at that point with him. He clearly wasn't at that point with her.

Sakura let out another light sigh as she moved directly under the shower head, tilting her face back and closing her eyes to feel the intense spray hit her cheeks, her lips, her eyelids. Shaking her head back and forth out of it, Sakura blinked the droplets from her eyes and shampooed her hair, her fingers running through that tangles that Torao had left it in. 'He even ruins my hair!' Inner Sakura was almost going on a killing rampage, fighting against the other Sakura's who were trying to tie her up near the tribal fire that she had prepared to spit roast Torao on. She wasn't managing to escape, but at the same time the other Sakura's weren't trying particularly hard.

'It could have gone a lot worse than it did.' At least he had tried, no matter how much effort or lack of, the fact that he had tried surely meant that he cared, right? And having someone who genuinely cared about you was something that ought to be cherished, not everyone had that. Having someone that loved her meant a lot more than physical pleasure, even if she had somehow wired herself to believe that taking it upon yourself to please someone meant that you loved them.

He seemingly got pleasure from her cries as after a while he began lo laugh as he moved towards her, a wide grin stretching his gaunt face his expression hungry as he stalked his prey. He wasn't touching her yet, and that was what confused Sakura the most. He didn't particularly enjoy what he did to her.

Only the effects.

She ought to be thankful that Torao didn't do anything to her, to hurt her. If he had, she didn't know what she would of done.

Well, deep down she knew. She would have killed him.

She was downcast enough already, but the fact that it could have been that much worse sobered her crumbling emotions. She cared about him. If she hadn't she would have already broken up with him, right? You didn't stay with someone if you felt you had no reason to, and the fact that she was still with him told her that there was a reason, that something kept her near him. He kept calling her, seeking her out, so there must be something that kept him with her too.

"Sakura?" Torao's voice broke through her thoughts, cutting her off and leaving her with the irritating feeling you get that something is missing, because you've just forgotten what you were just that second pondering. As a generally rational and tactical person, this didn't warm her to anyone.

Putting on a shy smile as she felt the heat rise to her face, Sakura rejected the urge to cover her body as he joined her in the shower; he'd seen plenty of her last night anyway. Pushing any thoughts of them out of her head, Sakura leaned in to kiss him and gave in to the moment. More pointless dithering would have to wait 'till later.

888

"So you finally did him? About time!" Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino's enthusiastic response.

"Yes, Ino. I finally did him. Because using that word makes it so much less obvious what we're taking about."

"How was it? Was he as dayam good in the sack as he looks?" Ino's eyes glittered excitedly. "Give me details!"

"Why, is your sex schedule currently empty?" Ino pretend fainted, her face the epitome of shock.

"Unlike you, my sex schedule is never empty for long… cause I am hot!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, pig." Said woman shrieked.

"Are you calling me unattractive?"

"I wouldn't touch you with a five foot barge pole."

"You'd be lucky to touch me with a five foot barge pole!"

"Ever have a high opinion of yourself, pig? Or is that just me being stupid?"

"You being stupid, forehead girl! No one would go near you unless they had a forehead fetish!"

"I highly doubt that that even exists." 'Thank god. I don't particularly want to be the poster girl for anything remotely sexual.'

"It might!" The rest of Ino's pointless drabble faded into the background as her vocal thoughts wandered off onto new tangents. She didn't expect Sakura to contribute for probably over 10 minutes now, so Sakura's non-verbal thoughts were free to run their own course. They were going shopping once they had found somewhere with what Ino called edible food (so very few calories) and should being going towards Scandalous. She had never dared enter the store before, apprehensive as she was of their stock, but Ino would probably be going in there anyway, as she seemed to think that underwear was one-use only… maybe she gave little lace panties away as souvenirs. She could take as long as she wanted today if it meant she wouldn't be interfering with Sakura's book hunt. Unlike Kakashi, she couldn't keep reading one book over and over again. She had a near-photographic memory when it came to reading, and once she had finished a novel for the second or third time she knew it word for word. Well, so would the copy ninja, but honestly he just loved to shock people and would sometimes henge the covers of books to appear as Icha Icha. What he was actually reading wouldn't be suitable for public consumption, but not many erotica books were as widely known as Icha Icha. Particularly here, where Jiraiya was infamous.

It was another 25 minutes before they found a restaurant for stick insects, and in that time Ino's tirade had not let up.

"… and then I just told him to get lost, because he was most definitely not the kind of guy I would ever be begging for…"

Right…

When they finally got inside, Sakura was mildly happy that they had picked such an unpopular food source. This place would only usually appeal to civilians as ninja tried to stay healthy, and being a weekday between 9 and 5 most civilians were at work. So they had no queue to beat. Only advantage.

There wasn't much on the menu that Sakura could really consider edible, so she ordered Cheese, Red Onion and Leak pastries with what turned out to be the smallest portion of chips she had ever seen. Sure, chips weren't particularly healthy, but she needed energy if she was going to spend time with Ino.

She definitely wasn't gonna get that here.

Sighing ad resolving to pick up something from a street vendor while Ino window shopped (warmed up for shopping). They left the restaurant quickly, and wove their way through the small clusters of skiving kids and elderly civilians till they reached the blissfully empty shopping district. Scandalous was on the edge, where the shops started to meld into the clubs and slightly less savoury establishments. That meant that it would be a good few hours before they got to the store that was of interest to her. Well, this was a slight improvement on usual… usually she wouldn't even be excited about that - only having recently opened her eyes to an entirely different world. Sakura hated to go out socially in large groups and fashion was of no interest for her. The few civilian clothes she owned were only for missions really and were way outnumbered by her ninja attire and training clothes. Hell, she owned more pyjama's than dresses, and they weren't the height of fashion. They were comfy, and if she thought she could get away with it she would go do the grocery shopping in them. Along with her gorgeous pink kitty slippers.

Several shops later saw her exhausted, only marginally poorer and carrying three shopping bags containing some kunai she would probably never use in battle because they were pretty and she didn't want them lost or covered in some bastards blood, a dark red hairclip that was a good replacement for the one she had broken on her last undercover mission, and some well fitting trainers. Shoes wore out easily when you ran as much as 80 miles a day and in rainy climate that did not bode well. There were a fair few ventures near rain coming up soon, and her frozen feet would not thank her if she didn't replace her shoes first. She didn't like for people to touch her feet, particularly if there were many people around her so she had found out precisely what size that particular shop thought she was and bought three pairs of the same comfy soled trainers; black, red and white so that they at least matched her clothes a little. She wasn't fashion conscious but she wasn't blind either.

Scandalous was a large discreet store that had many departments for different items. On the ground floor you could see cosmetics and enhancers along with any joke gifts that may be desired by anyone not very adventurous. Books and DVD's could be found here, but as her books had been kept behind the infamous curtain in the other stores Sakura figured that they would be upstairs here. The first floor was definitely not for prudes, and the second floor held the lingerie. The elevator was made of a translucent pink glass, and there were women in it that blushed furiously as they passed this floor, eyes diverted away and backs half turned as if the might be recognised, but they kept peeking back at the horrific items. Many of the women who shopped for lingerie in here weren't looking for anything distasteful or obscene, and Scandalous provided a large range of high quality styles that persuaded *ahem* upper class prudes to come shop here, some going as far as to wear extravagant head gear and glasses to hide their faces. Sakura definitely wasn't one of these women, but she had never stepped inside the store either, however her reasons were different. She was afraid of the products rather than the people.

It took another three hours to get Ino sorted, and in that time Sakura had found numerous books, including one on drawing, and a couple of DVD's of interest to her. She would be having a good relaxed indoor night tonight, unhindered by Ino or Torao and, hopefully, alone. She had some movies that required her attention, a drawing book that needed some practice and her bunny slippers were just begging to be put on.

A/N - Sorry, I know that that was the epitome of filler, but I kinda wanted to show some of Sakura's personality interacting with Ino and some of her apprehension leaving as she enters Scandalous. I would have made it longer, but I think we've got the process of selecting a book, and if I had gone onto the next part the chapter would have been about triple the length of any others. Sakura ate Cheese Red Onion and Leak bakes because that's what I was eating as I wrote it, thanks for asking XD

R&R