Stripped Bare (kakashiXsakura)

chapter 13

Sakura stared hard at the man seated behind the expensive wooden desk, wondering if during her sparring match with Kakashi she had taken a blow to the head that had affected her hearing.

"You want me to do what?" she asked flatly.

"Oh don't be nervous, you'll be a sensation," Dajaku assured, not bothering to repeat himself or wait for her to agree to his plans. "We'll start you at a couple nights a week and see how successful you are. If all goes well, you could be the face on my new promotional posters."

His silver eyes were glinting like the coins he craved and Sakura had finally wrapped her head around what he wanted her to do.

"No," she said shortly, wiping the smile off his face. "It's out of the question. You're not going to parade me around up there just so you can make more money."

"But Hana," Dajaku persuaded, turning on his charm on full blast and offering her a disarming smile. "This isn't about the money. It's about your mission."

"Oh really?" Sakura scoffed, having a hard time believing that Dajaku thought about anything but money and how to make more of it.

"Yes. You have been here how long? Over two months?"

Sakura nodded.

"And have you made any progress in finding where my girls are?"

Sakura stiffened slightly.

"We have a suspect," she ground out, annoyed that he was bringing her failure out into the open to use it against her.

"Yes, but you've had this suspect for weeks and still haven't managed to bring him to justice. Don't look so surprised, Hana. I inquired about the mission when your partner was here yesterday."

She hadn't expected Dajaku to know the details of their mission status. The fact that they were having trouble solving the mystery put her in a compromised position and that wasn't a position she was fond of.

"So I was wondering if maybe it would attract the perpetrator to put you on a pedestal, to make you so appealing that he couldn't resist."

Sakura eyed him skeptically. She had no doubt that his ulterior motive for this was to make more cash by exploiting her, but she had to tread carefully. She didn't want to get weaseled into his scheme or piss him off enough so he would fire both her and Kakashi.

"But he's never targeted a star before. Tsurenai is still here after all."

"But he did go after Aiya. She was on her way to becoming big, a real sensation. She had a huge fan base and on some nights, made as much as Tsurenai, maybe more."

"So, wouldn't you think it would be better if I stayed how I am now? Promoting me like that would be too high profile. It would be riskier for the kidnapper to target me," Sakura countered.

"Or maybe it would get his attention and draw him to you," Dajaku smirked.

"Do you really want to make that gamble?"

"I can't see the results being worse than what they are now."

Damn it! The man had a point and he knew it. He was sitting there looking so smug that she itched to smack him upside the head. He had backed her into a corner somehow and she didn't see much of a way out of it. She supposed it wasn't that bad. All this would mean is that she would dance solo for a few songs and possibly have her pick of the men, which would be a good thing. She just didn't like the idea that Dajaku would be plumping up his wallet because of it.

"When would you want me to start?" she asked cautiously, crossing her arms over her chest in a self conscious gesture meant to distance herself from him. He was getting his way and she didn't like it.