Stripped Bare (kakashiXsakura)

chapter 5

The fair weather, or what could at least be considered fair weather in Rain Territory, held for most of the morning. While the clouds above were gray and angry, no rain fell until almost noon and by then, they had reached the edge of Fuzen Machi.

Sakura had been more and more awed with every passing mile as the buildings grew taller and the lights grew flashier. The technology this part of the world possessed made her own hometown seem humble and bumbling. Kakashi must have picked up on her feelings because he chuckled softly and noted that while Fuzen Machi and the surrounding cities may have had access to state of the art technology, some things were better left simplified. Looking around, Sakura supposed she had to agree, for while these people lived in a modern world of neon lights and steel, none of them looked very happy. In Konoha, happy faces were everywhere.

The comment made her feel better but she couldn't help but be a bit overwhelmed by it all as opposed to Kakashi who seemed perfectly at ease in the dirty, narrow streets. She was thankful he had accompanied her, for the thought of braving such a strange, new world alone was unappealing and a little intimidating. It was hard to believe all this existed just five days away from Hidden Leaf.

Now that they were in the city, conversation was minimal since they had to speak much louder to make themselves heard, but before they had left the lush roadside greenery behind for concrete and chrome, the had talked together comfortably about nothing in particular.

Despite the odd chain of events that had taken place last night, Kakashi hadn't acted strangely at all upon awaking beside her the next morning, and for that she was grateful. It seemed he had stayed true to the promise of not letting things become awkward between them anymore, and his relaxed demeanor made it easier to brush last night's activities under a rug and pretend that none of it had ever happened.

Only, it had happened and it appeared Sakura's mind was not willing to let her forget so easily. Perhaps it was because he had introduced her to her very first experience regarding lust and desire and he had managed to actually make her feel sexy. Whatever the reason, it left her feeling a little torn between wanting him to make her feel that way again, and wanting to keep her distance, considering they were teacher and student and feeling something like that for him was way out of line.

However upon entering the city, the bright lights and immense buildings effectively distracted her as they made their way to the given address of the club. They found the correct street just as the first raindrops began to fall, urging them to hurry along to avoid getting soaked.

Their client's establishment was a drab two story building crowded into a back ally. A large neon sign huge over the door and though it wasn't on at the moment, she could see that it would flash the word "girls" in hot pink as soon as it got dark. Over the door was a similar sign in green reading "Wet Dreams", obviously the name of the club.

"Classy," Sakura muttered sarcastically as she draped her shawl over her frizzing pink hair to keep it from getting drenched and made her way to the solid looking door that appeared as if it hadn't seen soap and a sponge in quite some time.

"You ready for this?" Kakashi asked, pausing with his had on the smooth metallic surface.

"Even if I'm not, it's too late to turn back now," Sakura said with a sigh.

That wasn't exactly the answer he had been hoping for but he gave a short nod and proceeded anyways.

Even though the club wouldn't be open until nightfall, the door yielded under the firm press of Kakashi's hand and swung inward to grant them relief from the rain which was beginning to fall harder.

It took a moment before their eyes could adjust to the darkness within. Only one light was on in the back of the room and gave just enough light for Sakura to make out a small bar on one side of the room and several tables and chairs packed throughout the rest of the space. What really caught her attention though were the raised platforms scattered around the room and in the center of these were narrow silver poles that extended all the way to the ceiling.