Chapter 8-Mature Content Warning

The phone slid through my fingers and landed on the table with a loud thud. Everyone turned to look at me instead of answering the door.

I fumbled frantically to recollect my device before anyone could see the photo being displayed on its screen, but wasn't quite quick enough to triumph over Ino's manicured hand. My body naturally flinched away when I saw her sharp nails primed for the kill. She snatched up my phone like it was the last roll on a buffet and she hadn't eaten for weeks.

The model let out a delighted squeal when she looked down at the screen, "Omg, Hinata, who's this?"

She gave me a wink, only to have Sakura rip the phone from the blond's hands so she could see for herself what the commotion was all about. Her jaw dropped when she recognized one of her old bullies. Her steely gaze shot to my own wary one in confusion only to be redirected as another knock came at the door, this time more loudly.

Sasuke rose to his feet to answer it, mumbling something under his breath about how weird we were, and I couldn't stop myself from shooting to my feet to stop him. My hand grasped onto his arm tightly. Fear was running through my veins at the thought of having to face the man who tried to, and undoubtedly would have, taken advantage of me without consent and that trumped my bashfulness.

Sasuke froze and looked down at me in surprise, an expression I hadn't seen on his features before. In the back of my mind, I was shocked he didn't rip his arm away and toss an insult my way.

Everyone at the table stood up as it became obvious something was wrong.

My whole body felt ice cold, but I couldn't vocalize to the Uchiha what my problem was. All I could do was watch as the doorknob slowly turned. My grip tightened on Sasuke's sleeve and he actually moved slightly in between me and the door as if he were actually concerned, only to be interrupted by the door flying open.

An annoyed Tenten stomped in with a big frown, "Are you deaf? I've been knocking forever!"

My terror was replaced with humiliation and I quickly removed my hand from Sasuke's arm. Tenten, being blissfully unaware of the tension in the room, flounced into the kitchen to grab a snack while playing with her phone. Everyone else continued to stare at me with a variety of confused expressions.

I stepped back from the taller male, who'd yet to do anything but stare at me with an unreadable face, only to feel Sakura grab my arm and start to pull me toward my bedroom. She reassured everyone that we'd be right back before closing the door. Her calm facade faded the instant we weren't visible to our guests.

She flashed the photo in my face and hissed in an upset voice, "Why the hell is he texting you!"

She refocused on the screen only to finally notice the setting of the damned photo. Her face paled at an incredible speed, "H-he's here! What should we do? Does Karin know? Is she here too!"

Tears started welling up in my eyes. I sat defeatedly on my bed while she paced back and forth, endless questions leaving her lips in a panicked voice.

It seemed as though she was trying to come up with scenarios in her head on how to be rid of him. I struggled to explain, "I-I-I don't know..."

The confidence I'd been building up over the past few days was threatening to hit the road. Not only was Suigetsu somewhere in this building, but I'd made a fool of myself in front of everyone just now by reacting how I had. How would I be able to face them now, especially Sasuke! He'll never let me live it down.

Sakura seemed to notice my unease and seemingly read my mind. She took a calming breath and silenced her own anxiety to try and appease mine, a feat that I was grateful for, "Don't worry about it. We'll explain what's going on and they'll understand." There was that mom-friend instinct she often portrayed.

The bedroom door opened without anyone knocking, only to reveal all four of our guests standing there with guilty faces. They'd clearly been eavesdropping. Gaara was the one who broke the awkward silence, "Explain what to us?"

Tenten shoved past the other three so she could sit next to me on the bed and force me to lean onto her shoulder, "Who scared you, Hinata? I'll kill them."

I desperately avoided meeting anyone's inquisitive gaze and wiped at the pesky tears that'd started to roll down my cheeks, "S-Suigetsu is h-here."

Everyone went silent for a moment, but Gaara again saved the atmosphere, "Karin's boyfriend that tried to-"

Sakura put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from continuing, not wanting to make the situation worse by mentioning such a topic, "Tenten you need to call Kakashi and have him send security to remove him. He should be banned from the campus. We can't do anything about Karin for now, but he has no business here."

Tenten ran a hand absently over my hair, attempting to sooth me. It kind of worked after a while and my tears slowly dried up. Ino left briefly only to return with a tissue and my water. I gratiously accepted them and Tenten used her now-free hands to pull out her phone, "Fuck going to Kakashi, I'm calling Shizune right now. The head of security has a thing for her. He'll come running if she asks."

She rose to her feet and walked a few feet away so Shizune wouldn't hear us in the background, however the line went straight to Shizune's voicemail.

The pop star smacked herself on the forehead as if she'd forgotten something, "Crap, it's Wednesday. She and Tsunade go to the casino on Wednesday nights." So that's why Tsunade wanted to wait until later to practice. She had previous arrangements. The popstar tried to call both Kakashi and Tsunade as well, but neither one answered.

Ino grabbed onto Sasuke and Gaara's arms and started pulling them out towards the door, "Well if the staff can't take care of one creep, we've got two big and strong men here that can handle it." Sasuke looked annoyed and Gaara looked uncomfortable, but neither one fought her.

I jumped to my feet and Sakura stepped forward, each of us sounding our disapproval of the blond's plan. The three looked back at us and Sakura said what we were both thinking, "We're not gonna let anyone potentially get in trouble or get hurt for our sake. Let's go downstairs to confront him as a group."

Okay, so I wasn't thinking about the second part. If it were up to me, I'd hide in my room all night and wait for him to give up.

Tenten ushered us all out into the hall and into the elevator before hitting the floor level button. We came up with a game plan as it moved. Ino and Tenten were acting like captains and started barking out orders. "He can only get up to the second floor without a passcode, so we should split up into groups to search for him. How about three groups of two?"

"I have pepper spray, so someone should come with me and the other two groups should have one of the guys in each so if you locate him and he tries to get physical…well, you know."

The elevator dinged and the door slid open to reveal an incredibly dark hall. The public floors are completely inactive at night, so there wasn't a need for night lights. The giant building was one large, spooky maze of hallways and business rooms. We all brought our phones along to use as flashlights.

Tenten latched onto Ino's arm, "We'll check out the first floor, what about you guys?" The blond woman pouted as she glanced over at the two young men in our presence. She obviously wanted to use this situation as an excuse to flirt a bit, but didn't argue.

Sakura quickly chirped out, "I'll go with Sasuke. We'll check out the second floor!"

Gaara and I looked over at her in surprise. Subtlety didn't seem to be a tactic she'd consider. If I didn't know better, I'd even argue that Gaara looked a bit concerned. Sasuke shrugged with his usual irritated frown on his lips.

"Okay, so that leaves Gaara and Hinata. How about you guys go left in this hall and Tenten and I will go right?"

We nodded in agreement. After being instructed to call the moment we locate the intruder, we split up and started our search.

-Sakura's POV-

If Suigetsu thinks he's going to lay so much as a finger on Hinata, I'm going to bury him alive. Despite my blood boiling in rage, I walked silently with my cellphone light checking every corner and crevice we passed.

It was so out of character for Sasuke to be going along with all this without so much as a complaint. I stole a glance at his profile as he searched further ahead.

His pitch black eyes were in a serious glare that had my stomach turning with excitement. His jawline was sharp, begging to be kissed. I felt a small blush start to rise to my face and had to look away before my thoughts became even more impure.

He spoke suddenly, making me physically jump at the sudden noise, "Like what you see?"

My blood boiled even hotter. There was something so sexual about being so attracted and annoyed at him at the same time.

"I suppose I am."

Oh god, I actually just said that.

Sasuke glanced down at me with a small smirk on his oh-so-yummy looking lips, "Flattery will only get you so far, Sakura."

My body felt cold. Did he know what I was trying to do? Was he trying to divert my attraction or encourage it? I couldn't tell. If he was going to shoot me down, I'd rather him shoot me down with all my cards on the table.

I mustered as much courage as possible and stopped walking, shoving him lightly against the wall. He didn't seem surprised and let himself lean against it, a knowing look on his smug face as his dark eyes looked down at me. I reached my free hand up and pulled his head down to shove my lips against his before I could talk myself out of it.

He allowed me to do what I wanted for a moment, but didn't react in any way other than kissing me back. He didn't even move his hands from his sides. It was obvious he wasn't on the same level of passion as me. Despite this, the short make-out session I forced him into was enjoyable. Sasuke Uchiha was a hell of a kisser, that much was a fact. His lips danced skillfully over mine as if he was calculating each movement I'd make ahead of time.

The warm feeling in the pit of my stomach was getting tighter and more prominent, but something was off. Something didn't feel right, but I pulled back from his lips slightly to give him my speech anyway. His hot breath splayed across my face as he listened silently, "I don't want to date you, Sasuke. I just want to sleep with you."

He didn't reply instantly, so I took it as a sign to continue, "It won't affect our teamwork and I won't be angry if you get a girlfriend and want to stop." I must've sounded so weird. What eighteen year old young woman asks for a friends-with-benefits relationship?

Sasuke pushed me gently away from him and when I saw his face I felt my legs grow weak. His eyes held a carnal desire that I've never had directed toward me in a situation where I welcomed it, "We can't do this."

His words didn't match his obvious physical reaction. His voice was raspy with arousal, only making it harder to resist pulling him into one of the side offices and attacking him.

My skin felt hot and I found it hard to focus on anything other than my sexual attraction, "Why not? You obviously want to. We're both adults here."

I tried to lean forward for another kiss, only for him to put his hands on my shoulders so he could hold me at bay, "Sakura, you're obviously a virgin. I may be an asshole, but there are still lines I won't cross."

The horny feeling in my stomach vanished and a shocked laugh slipped past my lips, "Excuse me?"

I pulled away from him and took a step back, trying not to feel hurt by his blatant rejection and failing, "Am I not good enough for you, Uchiha, is that it? You only hook up with girls who don't need to be taught how to-"

Sasuke straightened himself out and refocused his phone's light on the hallway, getting back to our primary mission as he cut me off, "I'm doing you a favor. Besides, I've got a thing for girls with dark hair and that is definitely not you."

The hurt was easily overshadowed by shock as I took a few quick steps to catch up to him, intent on teasing him in an attempt to lighten the awkward air, "Like Hinata?"

Sasuke let out a scoff, "Please! Hinata'll probably die a virgin."

I didn't push the subject as a small grin tugged at my lips.

He didn't say yes, but he sure didn't say no either.

-Tenten's POV-

What Prestige didn't know was that Ino and I were completely aware of Sakura's plans for Sasuke.

It says in the contract that bandmates aren't to have intimate relations, but as long as Kakashi and the public don't find out, I saw no harm in having a little fun. There're a few other co-ed groups signed to Prestige and I know for a fact their members casually mess around all the time. Sexuality was becoming increasingly accepted by both the public and talent agencies.

Ino snickered, "Sakura just texted me. She got rejected!" The blond let out a cackle that could scare even a demon.

Instead of judging her, I joined her in cackling. This was the start of a beautiful friendship! We eventually settled down, only for Ino to whisper in a gossipy tone, "Gaara's like, head over heels for her, you know. I can tell just by looking at him."

I snickered, "Of course he is! That's why I'm so happy she got rejected!"

Gaara deserved someone like Sakura after all he's been through. His parents both died in a car wreck when he was just a child and his older siblings struggled to take care of him growing up. Temari, his older sister, actually went to highschool with me. We were casual friends back then, but I hadn't heard anything from her until she and her brother started harassing the agency to get Gaara an audition. They'd called everyday for two months and even showed up in person multiple times a week.

His brother, Kankuro, who's much older than his two siblings, had some run-ins with the law a few years back for getting caught dealing drugs trying to make ends meet at home. Temari assured us that he, and the rest of the family for that matter, had never partaken in the use of illegal substances, but simply did what they had to do to survive without being separated.

Their efforts had been kept from Kakashi by the old secretary, Kagura, because she was trying to help the company's image.

The moment I found out about the Subakus', I went to Kakashi and demanded he at least let him audition. Kakashi considered the whole situation as me scouting the redhead and thus began the search for the other members of Prestige.

Unfortunately for Kagura, she was fired because it was part of her job to pass applications along once submitted and it seemed that hundreds of others besides Gaara's had been withheld as well. She'd had good intentions, but it wasn't her place. Shizune was referred to Kakashi by Tsunade afterwards, being her best friend since grade school, and the rest was history.

The moral of the story was: Gaara deserved a good girl. I was actually taking Gaara out for lunch one day at a karaoke restaurant and we'd overheard Sakura singing as we passed by the room her family had rented out for her birthday. I didn't care to be caught being nosy and had her mother let us in. The fact that she showed some impressive natural talent added to the look on Gaara's face when he first lay eyes on her made it clear that she had to be recruited.

Ino linked arms with me and snickered to herself.

I told her about my date with Neji on Saturday and how everyone would be coming. She agreed to tag along and we came up with a plan to try and play matchmaker.

Even if we failed, at least they'd all have fun. Nothing strengthens bonds faster than drinking together. That was how Neji and I met up again, after all. If what we did together was anything to go by, Saturday was sure to be interesting.

-With Hinata-

Gaara and I crept through the dark halls in a comfortable silence. He wasn't much of a talker and I wasn't the type to force a conversation where it wasn't needed.

The hallways seemed endless so it didn't take long for us to run into a set of restrooms. Gaara excused himself momentarily. I leaned against the wall a few yards away from the door and stared at the ground.

There was no doubt in my mind that Sakura was making her move somewhere in these winding halls. It became obvious she may actually succeed when the Uchiha hadn't turned her down when she called dibs on being his partner. There was jealousy running through my blood. I was tempted to admit that I'd like to lose my virginity, too, but the second I thought that, my face warmed and Naruto's face arose in my mind.

I closed my eyes to take a deep breath and calm my hormones, only to feel someone's hand smack over my mouth. My phone slipped through my fingers in shock and landed with a soft thud on the carpet. Another hand pulled my hands and forced me against the body it belonged to. I tried to scream, but the sound was muffled against the person's shirt.

My eyes shot open as I started being pulled away with haste. Suigetsu's familiar white hair caught my eye, but I couldn't see his face since he was holding me so forcefully against him. I tried kicking him and biting, but nothing seemed to work.

I heard Gaara suddenly yell out my name in the distance as he no doubt discovered my abandoned phone and tried as hard as I could to get away.

My knee clipped my captor's private parts and he moved his hand from my mouth slightly in pain.

"Bitch!" He hissed.

I took a deep breath and let out the loudest scream I could to try and alert my friends of my location. Suigetsu slapped his hand back down over my mouth, effectively cutting off the shrill sound. It was clear he was losing his patience.

Before anyone could notice us, he pulled me through a random office door and locked it behind us. There was no window and I feared that I'd never be found. There were dozens of offices on this floor. It'd take hours to check each one. By that time, it'd be too late.

Tears started pouring from my eyes, sweat ran down the sides of my face, and my vision was starting to get blurry as an anxiety attack steadily approached. I was tossed unceremoniously to the ground, my temple smacking against the linoleum with a crack. My teeth grit at the pain and my hands shot up to cradle my head to try and stifle it.

Before I could move or even make a sound, I heard something in front of me. I peeked through my wincing eyes to see Suigetsu holding a knife not two inches away from my leg, "Don't you dare scream."

There was only the light from the analog clock on the desk of the office, but it was enough to see the insane look on his face. He was dead serious.

I nodded slowly, letting him know that I wasn't going to make a sound. My hands came up defensively. He roughly pulled my ankle, which caused me to fall flat on my back on the floor. The back of my head hit the ground with another crack. A dull pulse was starting to thump in my ears. A hissed sound slid past my grit teeth.

Suigetsu brought the knife up to my neck as he moved to straddle my hips, whispering, "Why didn't you text me back?"

I tried to reply, "I d-don't-"

He cut me off by pushing the knife dangerously against my neck, not drawing blood but very close to it, "I said to keep your fucking mouth shut!"

My eye caught sight of my shoe, which had fallen off during our struggle and appeared to get caught under the door. A sliver of hope warmed my chest. I just had to listen for footsteps and be sure to pull attention to myself when that time came. I wouldn't be able to hear anyone with Suigetsu constantly talking so I took a deep breath and nodded to signal that I intended to obey.

Bile rose in my throat as I realized what I'd have to do, but knew if I could pull this off then kissing him would be the only thing I'd have to do. Well, my plan also relied on someone actually noticing my shoe sticking halfway under the door.

After taking a calming breath, I tried to do what I saw in movies. I looked from his enraged eyes to his mouth and back again, trying to tempt him without speaking so he didn't get even angrier.

"What's wrong? Did you miss me, Hinata?"

He quickly picked up on my tactic and leaned in, moving the knife to the side of my face so it wouldn't get in his way. My hands were forced down to my sides and he pressed his knees down onto either one of my palms, which made me cry out in pain. The intruder took advantage of it and slid his tongue down my throat.

My eyes squeezed closed in disgust. He tasted so strongly of liquor that it was a wonder I hadn't noticed the scent of it before now. Suigetsu was under the influence of alcohol and who knows what else. It kind of made sense. There wasn't any other reason he'd think it was a good idea to break into a multi-billion dollar agency while stalking one of its employees.

I did all I could to withhold any reaction to his forceful kissing and didn't move my mouth at all against his, but it didn't faze him in the slightest. His free hand drunkenly felt up my body as I trembled beneath him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I noticed a shadow pass the door. I shot my knee up with as much force as possible to kick his back. His lips tore away from mine and his body moved slightly. My hands slid free from under his knees and I pushed against him.

"I know you're eager, but I don't appreciate being kicked."

He seemed to be getting angry once more. Despite fearing for my life, I let out another loud scream in hopes whoever'd just passed us in the hall would hear. He slapped a hand over my mouth once more before burying his face into my neck so he could sloppily abuse the skin there with his mouth.

My vision started to darken. If I didn't act fast, I was going to faint and I didn't want to think of the things he'd do to me in that state. I could barely see, but I still heard the door handle jiggle.

I tried to yell from behind his hand, desperation growing. Somehow, my attacker thought my struggling was all part of some sick role-playing thing and seemed to become more aroused by it. He tossed the knife away before holding my hands up above my head with one hand. The man removed his other one from atop my mouth, silencing me once more as he kissed me.

I fought against him weakly, starting to lose the fight to stay conscious, but he still forced his body in between my legs and let his free hand wander about my body. A jolt of terror sent a burst of energy through my body when his fingers slipped under the band of my shorts. I tugged at his hold on my wrists and tried to force his tongue out of my mouth.

He pulled back, to my surprise, and looked deeply into my eyes, "I'm gonna make you feel good, Hinata."

I opened my mouth to plead with him once more, only for him to return to forcing himself on me. My eyes squeezed shut when I heard the unmistakable sound of a zipper.

In a blink, I heard the door shoot open and Suigetsu was thrown off me. I tried to shoot as far away as possible from him, sobbing weakly as my body started to give out. Sakura'd taken him to the ground and started punching.

Gaara dashed over to collect the abandoned knife before turning to stare at the pink-haired girl in disbelief.

My hand shook as I rolled onto my side and felt the side of my head, recognizing the sticky feeling of blood. I panted for breath as I tried to stop my anxiety attack and failed. Someone knelt beside me and my eyes shot open fearfully, only to relax slightly when I saw Sasuke gingerly looking at me with an unreadable expression.

If I wasn't in such a state, I would've shied away when he pulled my bloody hand into his with a surprised look. His lips moved as he tried to speak to me, but I could only feel the deep rumble of his voice. I must've passed out for a moment because in a blink he was holding me bridal style. His chest rumbled as he turned to say something to Gaara before walking out into the hall.

His arms felt strong under my body and I selfishly let that reassure me so I could give in and fall unconscious without worrying if I'd be hurt further.