Chapter 5 – This Is It

It had been a week since that night.

Sakura hadn't told anybody about it, not even Hinata or Gaara. She knew what they'd say to her, knew what they'd think. After all, until that night, Sakura had thought and felt that way, too. Getting naked on video chat and masturbating while watching somebody else do the same, wasn't very classy, was it? It was the exact opposite of classy. She and Avenger–S were not in a relationship. They weren't in love. That was why it could never be classy. No, Sakura wasn't saying that she didn't like him, because she did. A lot. However, they were not a couple. As far as she was aware, only couples who were in stable relationships did the things she and Avenger–S now enjoyed doing.

They spoke for longer now, telling each other small parts about themselves. Still, no names or any other information that could allow the other to track them down were shared. It was more about being smart than not trusting each other, though. Uchiha Shisui's talk was still to the very front of her mind, reminding her every day how important it was to stay safe on the internet. She'd even told her mother about the talk, who then went out and bought her a new anti-virus software as a 'just in case'.

Of course, Mebuki didn't know about Avenger–S. Whenever she heard Sakura giggling to herself, Sakura always told her that she was just speaking with Gaara. She usually told her mother everything, but this… This didn't feel like it was something she should tell the older woman. It simply felt wrong to do so, like she'd be screamed at for doing so.

Their decision to meet up…

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing the nervous butterflies to leave her alone for just a moment.

"U-Uh, Sakura-san?"

Opening her eyes once more, she smiled patiently at Hinata, knowing what the girl was trying to get her attention about. No doubt a certain blond was entering the café, coming up to them when he spotted her hair.

"Just breathe, Hinata," she told her quietly, sipping her hot chocolate.

"Sakura-chan!" he greeted loudly, all but strangling her as he wrapped his arms around her neck. "What's up?"

Sakura demanded that she take her own advice, but while Hinata had to breathe through her nerves, Sakura forced herself to breathe through her overwhelming urge to turn and slam her fist right into Naruto's face.

"Sit down, Naruto," she sighed after a moment, carefully placing down her drink. "And don't be so rude! You're supposed to greet both of us, not just me."

Hinata blushed, waving her hand. "I-It's fine, I–"

"You're Hyuuga Hinata, right?" Naruto smiled warmly, throwing himself into the seat next to Sakura's. "Neji's cousin?"

It was quickly that she nodded, smiling shyly. "Yes."

"I thought I recognised you from somewhere. I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sakura sent her a congratulatory smile for managing to hold back her nervous stutters.

"So, what's going on?" he asked curiously, resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. "You said you needed me?"

"Well, sort of."

Her sudden shyness and nervousness had Naruto pausing, had him narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Around him Sakura hadn't been nervous in a long while, if ever. He could remember everything about the girl sat beside him, from the very first time he caught sight of her hair out of the corner of his eye, right to the very first time she punched him for being an idiot. In all that time, around him, she had never shown nervousness or shyness. Only–

His blue eyes went wide.

"A guy."

Hinata was blushing again.

"Yeah, actually," she murmured, stirring the stirrer in her hot chocolate distractedly. "That's what I need you for. I need you to drive me somewhere, and to be a… Well, just be there as a support, really."

Why was his stomach twisting uneasily? "Why?"

When Sakura said nothing, Hinata took a deep breath before speaking for her, demanding herself to do this for Sakura. It had been a long while since she'd seen her friend so happy about something. "They met online, Naruto-kun." While her voice was quiet, her eyes held her seriousness, easily sharing the tone she was aiming for, yet not achieving. "And last week, they decided it was time to meet up. Both live in Konoha, both are the same age. Sakura-san simply wants us both to be there, just in case."

It was safe to say that Naruto didn't look all that happy. "Weren't you listening to Shisui, Sakura-chan? He said it's dangerous to meet people you met online!"

"But he also said that if it feels right and you really want to meet them, take friends you know you can trust to have your back and protect you, with you," Hinata countered bravely. "Naruto-kun, I know you have your doubts, as I have mine, but this is what Sakura-san wants. The guy she is meeting is who she wants. Please help her with this."

There was a pause, one where Naruto stared into those pearl eyes, trying to calm down and see this from both of the girls' perspectives. It was difficult, though. What Hinata was saying made sense, sure, but it was still so risky. What if something went wrong? What if he couldn't help Sakura in time and she got hurt? What if the guy was carrying a gun, or some other weapon on him and pulled it on her? Then again, if that happened, wouldn't it be better to be there for her, protecting her, than letting Sakura go off on her own to meet the guy? No offence to the girl sitting opposite him, but she didn't look like much. And while he knew that Hyuuga Neji was a prodigy in martial arts, he seriously doubted Hinata was. She looked so fragile and delicate, like a porcelain doll you had to take extra care of. Just one rough movement and she'd break. Which was probably why they'd called him in.

It was no secret that Naruto was strong, despite his appearance. If somebody pissed him off, chances were, they weren't getting away with it. And if somebody so much as threatened somebody he cared for, then that person would be destroyed. It was as simple as that, in his mind.

He sighed. "Are you sure about this, Sakura-chan?"

She nodded silently.

"When are you meeting him?"

"…Today."

Naruto shook his head, running a hand through his messy blond hair as he sat back in his seat. "Don't you want to wait a little while longer? Get to know him better?"

"We've been talking for months now, Naruto," Sakura told him seriously, eyes narrowing a fraction. "He knows more about me than anyone else. Including both you and Hinata, as well as Gaara."

He raised his hands defensively. "Fine, fine. Just… I'm meeting him with you."

"Naruto–"

"Sakura-chan, what if he hurts you?" he demanded. "Do you think I'd be able to stand seeing you hurt, knowing I was–"

"Listen," she said calmly, her heart warming at his protectiveness. "I won't be too far away from the car and we're meeting in a public area. It's well lit and people are coming in and out of it, all the time. He doesn't know my real name, or where I live, or what school I go to. All of that has been kept a secret just in case one of us changes our minds."

A pause. "So… You only know his online name?" Sakura nodded. "What is it?"

"Avenger–S."

Why did that sound so familiar to him? Frowning, Naruto nodded once. If it sounded familiar to him, then it probably wasn't bad, was it? He never watched the news, definitely didn't read the papers and the only times he went online was to talk to friends. It was a very low chance that it was a criminal who used that name. If anything, it may be a friend of his. His mouth opened, eyes threatening to widen, before Naruto quickly calmed himself before they noticed.

Clearly, this meant a lot to Sakura. He wasn't about to ruin it by putting thoughts into her head of who Avenger–S may be. After all, Naruto was just taking a guess. One of his friends online had that username, of that he was sure. He just couldn't remember who. He had over three hundred friends on one social networking site alone. And considering that Sakura knew so little about things such as names and personal details, Naruto was guessing that she didn't know what he looked like, either.

What friends of his didn't have a profile picture that was of themselves?

"How will you know it's him, Sakura-san?" Hinata asked.

"We're telling each other what we're wearing and what to look out for." She glanced down at herself after a moment, frowning. "Though I think I might get changed before we go. What time is it?"

Hinata lifted her sleeve, glancing at her watch before covering her wrist once more. "Just gone one o'clock."

"What time are you meeting him?"

"Three o'clock," she answered Naruto, biting on her lower lip. "Will we be able to stop off at home? I can put money towards your–"

"Don't." He shrugged with a smirk, standing up. "Living with Ero-Sennin means I have money. He just thinks I'm spending it on girls."

"Technically, you are," Sakura stated as both she and Hinata stood up with him, finishing off the last of their hot chocolates. However, during their walk to the door, Naruto shook his head, his smirk widening and at the look of it, Sakura's cheeks flushed red, as did Hinata's entire face. "You perverted–"

He quickly ducked and ran out of the door, laughing loudly.

"What is it, Sasuke?"

Sighing, Sasuke entered his brother's bedroom, shutting the door after himself as he did so. It seemed he already had company but that was fine, considering the fact that Itachi was sitting against the headboard of his bed while Shisui was seated at the desk, going over reports. The both of them appeared to be relaxed and at ease, which made it okay to continue. The reports must have been secretive, however, because he immediately put them back into the folder as soon as Sasuke entered the room.

For a moment, there was silence. He wasn't sure how to get his words out.

"Do you need something?" Itachi asked with a raised eyebrow, though remained in his relaxed position.

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Shisui questioned, rather intrigued. It wasn't every day that Sasuke was uncomfortable with asking for something. "You look a little flustered, Sasuke-chan."

"I'm… meeting a girl," he murmured, eyes staring out of the window and despite his efforts, he could feel the back of his neck burning.

More silence as Itachi and Shisui exchanged glances. "And you want… advice?"

Shisui smirked. "Or tips?"

He breathed deeply and tried to find the words, examining Itachi's bedroom as he did.

It was rather plain and apparently, Itachi had always been against their mother decorating it for him. All he had to decorate his bedroom was a single family photograph which sat on his bedside table. Even his bedding was plain, as were the walls, curtains and everything else that their mother put patterned whatever onto. Sasuke couldn't blame him, really, but at the same time, it looked so impersonal. Like it was merely a guest's room and not his own.

How was he supposed to explain to them that he wanted to meet the girl he met online?

"Your speech at school, Shisui," Sasuke eventually forced out. "You said that we should take people with us."

It was instantly that Shisui caught on and his usually reserved expression showed surprise for a moment before softening ever so slightly, realising that the kid was finding it a struggle. That was no surprise. It had to be uncomfortable asking your older brother and cousin to accompany you on your first meeting with somebody. "Ah," he sighed understandingly, nodding once. "You met a girl online and now you want to meet in person."

It wasn't a question, but Sasuke nodded anyway.

"What time, Sasuke?" Itachi asked as he stood up from his bed. "We can take you now, if you want."

He found it a pleasant surprise that his brother was opening up to others, that he came to them for help. Itachi merely hoped that the person he was supposed to be meeting, didn't turn out to be something completely different. It would be awful for his brother's trust to be betrayed in such a way, especially considering the fact he didn't open up to many people. It was a rare thing to happen. He and their mother had been discussing it just the other day, in fact.

"Three o'clock."

"And you're sure this is what you want?" he asked his brother while taking note of the alarm clock beside his bed. Two o'clock. They had some time to spare. Considering the fact Sasuke had only just come to them, it was obvious the meeting place wasn't too far from them. Otherwise, he would have come earlier. Then again, Sasuke liked to be early for a lot of things. It gave him time to think everything over clearly and whatnot.

Was he sure this was what he wanted? Sasuke thought it over for a second before realising he didn't even need to think about it. "Yeah."

It was safe to say that he was addicted. Well, perhaps addicted was too strong a word, but that was how it felt. Just going that one day without speaking to her, to Fall–of–the–Blossom, had been so excruciatingly slow. And after the day before, after she had signed out when he pushed too hard about the subject of her father, Sasuke had believed he'd offended her, or maybe even pushed her away. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Lately, she'd been the only good thing about his day.

Then, came the… racier conversations. Sasuke couldn't remember how it started. All he could remember was feeling so glad that she didn't hate him, that she'd simply been worn out from school and the situation with her father. They'd been talking about everything and anything, like they usually did, but there had been more innuendos than usual. She'd been saying things to him that could have had double meanings, which then led to the whole 'want to try something new' discussion.

He definitely wasn't complaining, however.

Since that night, they'd done the same thing a couple of times and other times, they'd exchanged pictures, exchanged nudes. And every now and then, when nobody was around, Sasuke would catch himself pulling out his phone and admiring those pictures, the flare of her hips, her toned, long legs. She always seemed to be wearing green nail polish, too. Apple green, actually. That caused a little bit of a problem to him for a reason he couldn't even begin to understand. He'd seen the exact same shade before. Several times, actually. But Sasuke had no idea where from. And that was what continuously bothered him. If he'd seen it before, then did that mean they'd already crossed paths? If they had done, had he been pleasant, or a complete and utter prick? Had she been pleasant? Or was she a bitch he wished to never see again?

Those thoughts kept him up at night.

"Where?"

Sasuke immediately came back to himself, forcing those thoughts aside. He'd see in just under an hour if he knew her or not. His stomach flopped at the thought, though he refused to acknowledge it. "A car park. The one ten minutes from the shopping centre."

"Smart choice," Shisui commented as he also stood up, patting his youngest cousin on the back. "Public place, lots of CCTV and many exits."

Well of course. Sasuke had done his research, after all.

"Let's go, then," Itachi murmured and opened his bedroom door, leading the way to his car. "It will take around half an hour to get there, so it would be best that we set off now."

That's what Sasuke liked to hear. His brother knew him well, therefore knew that he had a tendency to arrive early to everything. Pulling out his phone, Sasuke quickly typed out a message as he signed into the instant messenger via his phone.

Avenger–S: Blue shirt and black jeans.

It was five minutes later, when they were seated in the car and on the way to the meeting spot when she replied.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Red dress.

Just those two simple words had many images exploding within Sasuke's mind, forcing him to imagine what she'd look like in the dress. However, he'd only seen her body from the neck down, as she had his.

He couldn't wait to see what she looked like.

It was unusual for him to be excited by anything, or even to look forward to anything, but Sasuke found that he could just about sit still during the drive to meet her.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura left her bedroom, not bothering to shut the door behind herself as she did so. And when she entered the living room, raising her arms and spinning around, she gave the two sitting on one of her sofas a small, nervous smile.

"Do you think he'll like it?"

Hinata smiled softly and nodded, while Naruto stated rather proudly, "He'd be stupid not to!"

Oh Gods, she was so nervous!

The red dress was one she bought last summer and it accentuated her breasts, though flowed out from there, rising every time she spun around (though not enough to expose herself) and made flipping motions. It was incredibly comfortable with the added benefit of looking great, something that was hard to find nowadays. And to go with the sleeveless red dress, she was wearing white pumps. They were a pain to keep clean, but not impossible thanks to her mother.

Holding her phone tightly in her hands, Sakura glanced at the clock on the wall, biting her glossy, rosy red lip as she did so. Today, there was no choice in wearing make up. All that ran through Sakura's mind was that she had to make a good impression (an example of this would be wearing a summer dress when they were entering winter). She had to make sure Avenger–S thought damn when he first saw her. He couldn't be disappointed by what he saw. It would crush her.

"Let's go, then," Naruto exclaimed as he bounced up onto his feet. "And if he turns out to be a creep, I'll beat his ass for you!"

There was no point in arguing, so Sakura simply smiled and nodded her thanks, whereas Hinata gave her an encouraging smile. Like she had thought earlier, the dark haired girl knew how much this meant to her, how important it was.

It felt like only seconds later that they pulled into the car park and as they did, Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing the overgrown butterflies in her stomach to disappear. At this rate, she wouldn't even be capable of forming words. It was nearly time. Just ten more minutes.

"Are you ready, Sasuke?"

His brother's voice was like an anchor, though Sasuke would never admit to it. If it weren't for him, Sasuke was certain that he would have had difficulty actually getting out of the car. It was because he didn't want to look like a coward, or show his nervousness. After all, it wasn't like him to be nervous. It would be a pain for the two of them to hold it against him. There was no denying that he was nervous, though. After so many months of exchanging online messages, they were finally meeting.

After taking (what he hoped to be) an unnoticeable deep breath, Sasuke nodded once and climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind himself before walking forward, standing in front of the car. Even with his back to the car, he could feel the two watching not only him, but also their surroundings. It was why Sasuke had asked them to join him today. Originally, he'd called Naruto, but the blond had said he was already busy. So instead Sasuke went to the other two he trusted most. He knew for a fact they would both back him up, should anything go wrong.

He glanced down at his phone, sending a message to pass the time.

Avenger–S: I'm here.

Only half a minute later did he get his reply.

Fall–of–the–Blossom: Me too.

This was it, he realised.

He was about to meet her.

Fall–of–the–Blossom.

"He's here," Sakura whispered, the butterflies coming back with a vengeance. "He's here!"

"You ready, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with an encouraging smile and, in the backseat, Hinata looked at her with the same smile as Naruto.

Without answering, she took a deep breath and opened the car door, climbing out and fixing her dress as she did so.

This was it.

She was about to meet Avenger–S.

A/N - I'm not at college today and have absolutely nothing better to do, so I decided to update. I was at the doctors earlier, having what they called a 'minor operation', although I wouldn't really call it that. After all, it's only ended with a couple of stitches and it hadn't hurt in the slightest! Now I'm home alone with an entire day to just relax. I'll probably try and get more writing done, but will most likely do my assignments or watch Netflix.

Anyways! Mixed reactions last chapter. Some of you liked the little video chat between them, while others found it disturbing. Don't forget that they're both seventeen and wanted to try it out! And nowadays, so many people are doing things like that. That's why I put that in there, because it's realistic. Not going to lie, I've tried sexting (although not the video chat part) and I don't really see what the bug fuss is about it. I was comfortable with it, it honestly made me feel more confident and it just doesn't bother me at all in a negative way. But that's my own opinion and everyone is entitled to one, which is why I understand if some of you don't agree with what they did.

I won't be updating on Wednesday since I updated today. Also, there won't be an update for Setting Sun this week, as I haven't finished the chapter yet (kind of stuck, to be honest).