Chapter 77 - Arc XI: Companionship- Chapter 4

Dinner went off without a hitch. Well, granted, to each individual, it was the longest hour of their lives. Kojiro was waiting for Yuji to step out so he could pop the question; Azami was worried that Yuji might char her new boyfriend into an unrecognizable mess; Sakura was worried that this wasn’t a good thing for Yuji after all. But most all, Yuji was worried about all of the above. He wished Azami well, so he really did want to stop imagining burning Kojiro to a crisp. And to lose it in front of Sakura would not be a good thing.

Finally, Yuji couldn’t take it any longer. He stood up, shaking one leg as if it had cramped. It happened often enough when kneeling like that.
“I’m going to go for a little walk. I’ll serve desert when I get back.”

Sakura scrambled up after him, giving everyone at the table a smile. She looked back as she shut the sliding door. She could see Kojiro’s silhouette start to kneel…
-

“So that’s really it…” Yuji muttered. Sakura trotted at his side, giving him a worried look. For his part, Yuji looked up at the moon, trying and failing to maintain a neutral expression. His expression was distinctly sad.

“Would it help to talk?” Sakura asked, then immediately regretted speaking at all. That was the sort of thing a girlfriend did. And she was spoken for. Despite the little incident from the other night, she was committed to Naruto.

“I would, Sakura. But I can’t think up a curse acerbic enough, and would not say it in front of you anyway. I just…damn. I kind of thought that…I guess it hasn’t sunk in after all. I figured she’d, you know, work out her problems and then we’d wind up together at the end…”

He stopped, his hands in his sleeves.
“And I’m talking about it. I’m sorry, Ojo-…Sakura. This whole night has been one awkward mess. Let’s just head back. Kojiro’s got to be done by now…”

Sakura hesitated, but ultimately decided to reach out and take Yuji’s hand. It was just a brief squeeze; no harm done. But she could feel him drawing some strength from it.

“Hey. Cheer up, okay. Things will work out. Alright?”

Yuji managed an odd mix of a smile and grimace. “Yeah. Things’ll work out.”
For everyone else.

Sakura didn’t want this little walk to end yet. She knew that if her man had popped the question, she’d be showing at least a little affection. It might not be good for Yuji to see that.

“Yuji…I’ve been curious about something…”

Yuji looked over at her. God, he looked handsome in the moonlight, she thought. Something about his usual melancholy look went well with the pale moonlight. He was so hot sometimes!

“Well…” she continued, stammering a bit. “How about a ride? I mean, with your wings. Not everyone can fly, and I’m curious…”

Yuji hadn’t expected that. But he smiled in response. His tattoo flashed for just a moment, and then his wings appeared.

“If you could…um…well, grab me around the chest. Like, put your head sort of near my heart and hold on around my waist…That’s probably the safest…”
Awk-ward. And hot. I wish…we were together. Instead of just friends.

Sakura complied, happily grabbing on to Yuji. It felt less lonely to be with him. She was tempted to kiss him. Anything to cheer him up. She couldn’t imagine…
Well, actually, she could. She might be the only person in the world who could. After what Sasuke had put her through.

But I’m still powerless to help him. I wish I could. I wish that the suffering would stop. Naruto; Sasuke; Yuji…and now I’m suffering, even though I’ve got no right.

Yuji’s powerful wings carried them high into the air, and for a moment, Sakura forgot her troubles. All she could think of was how beautiful the Leaf village looked from up here, and how good Yuji’s strong arms felt around her waist. It was a truly romantic moment. And yet, both knew that they could not pretend it really was. Even if the longing was there, no matter what the reason, they couldn’t be closer than this.
--

“….So will you marry me?”

Azami answered by tackling Kojiro with flying hug and kiss. She didn’t stop there. She began to make out with him more or less right there. It was the happiest day of her life! From being an orphan to an outcast bounty hunter, now she belonged somewhere. With someone. It just made her so happy…

She had no plan of letting him go anytime soon. She had forgotten she was in Yuji’s house. She and Kojiro were soon lost to each other.
-

Yuji glared at the scene through the shoji door. It was only a silhouette, but all the same, he could see what was going. He was angry at first, and he ran for it. Ran far enough away from everyone so that they wouldn’t sense his chakra.

His wings formed free of his will and beat a few times, reacting to his sheer anger and mental agony. The dead, dried leaves on the ground burst into flame. A ring of fire surrounded Yuji. He basked in it, standing in the center, his face toward the ground. Sakura was a good distance away, watching, Yuji knew. But he couldn’t stop himself. What did he care, anyway? They couldn’t be together either. He returned to his thoughts.

How could she.. how could she? In my house. In the house I would have shared with her! The life I would have given her! Why? どうして? WHY?!

Yuji knelt down in apparent agony, angry red blisters boiling up from under his skin.
“DAMN IT!” he shouted, his voice straining as he punched the earth. The ground cracked in every direction, leaving Yuji at the epicenter of the mild earthquake he’d caused.

Sakura stay around for a while. Mostly to keep an eye on Yuji. He had managed to put on a brave face and convince everyone that he was fine. Sakura knew him, and therefore knew he was not fine. And he might not be for a while. There was just too much to think about.

Asuna was on her way over. She had sent word via summons to Sakura. She had felt Yuji’s burst of chakra, and the anguish it carried. Besides, she said, she had some other business with Shoki, presumably to check on his progress with respect to his eye.
--
--

It had been two days since Yuji has seen Kojiro and Azami had seen-

Damn. He thought of it. Almost ten seconds since last time. A new record.

Yuji had already fitted a new tatami mat in to replace the one he had destroyed. He couldn’t bear to even walk on the area where another man had-
His movements were slow by his usual standards. He appeared to be deep in thought the whole time. His eyes were certainly elsewhere.

Sakura decided to get Yuji talking. That might help.
“Yuji? I don’t mean to pry, but what exactly happened between you and Azami?”

Yuji’s movements slowed more, though they didn’t stop altogether. He was busy putting the wooden frame around the new tatami mat. That meant working with a hammer and nails. Not his strong suit when he wasn’t distracted, so doing it now was potentially disasterous.

“I…well, confessed to her. And she told me she loved me back, but still couldn’t accept my feelings. I had a meltdown and told her she could own me. You remember, like when I first met her…”

Sakura did. It was her that saved Yuji from being owned the first time by defeating Azami. When Yuji defeated her a few months later, she thought that was the end of it.
Apparently not.

“..Well, she said the one thing that would make me give up on her. That there was somebody else. I told her it was okay to bring him by; that I was totally happy for her.”

Whack. One nail in.

“I’m so full of crap. But she’s my friend; I’m supposed to be happy for her.”

Whack Whack. Two more nails.

“And yet, I pull this stupid stunt. On the upside, she probably won’t ever talk to me again. Things can’t get more awkward. If she didn’t feel that burst of chakra…”

Whack whack whack wh- shoot!

Yuji’s thumb took a hammer shot, causing him to curse and drop the hammer. He threw the hammer out a window, breaking it. He tucked his thumb into his mouth, cursing under his breath.

Sakura couldn’t help it. She giggled. To see powerful Yuji sitting there, his thumb in his mouth. It was cute. A glimpse of the human she knew he could be when he stopped denying his nature.

“Come here,” she sighed, smiling as she took his thumb out of his mouth and healed it with a small burst of chakra. “There. Good as new. Now, come on, pull yourself together. Up we get!”

Sakura took Yuji’s hand and pulled him to a standing position.

“There! Okay, look, we’ve both got love troubles. So why don’t we do something about them? Naruto won’t be back for a while, but at I’ve got Shoki to deal with. We need to find you something to occupy your time. And as I recall, you’ve got a couple very sexy girls who are more than happy to pay attention to you!”

Yuji started to pull away a bit. “Come on, look at me. I’m falling apart. The last thing I need to do is try to-”

Sakura stopped him there. “No, you need to listen to your Ojousama. Now, go get yourself cleaned up. Bathe, change, the whole nine yards. You need to some cheering up. And unfortunately, I can’t do it myself, or I would. You need to start realizing that you’re a catch. So, say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say ‘I am a catch. Any girl would be lucky to have me’.”

“Ojou-”

“Say it!”

Yuji sort of dropped his head and mumbled: “I’m a catch. Any girl would be lucky to have me.”

“Good!” Sakura cheered. “Now, you go and get cleaned up. I’m going to pick some clothes for you. And yes, I’m going to go through your underwear, too. You will definitely need a girl’s touch there.”

And with my help, he just might get it! Hopefully, one of those two girls will get busy feeling more than his underwear. But we‘ll start this off right. If I know Yuji, he‘ll get turned on by the very thought that a girl has been pawing his clothes. He takes that sexual energy, and brings that to the table, and maybe, just maybe…
--
--

Sakura knocked, then entered the bathroom, finding a naked Yuji toweling off, just barely covering up in time.

“Hot,” she commented, smirking as he blushed. “Now then, let’s get you dressed up.”

“Ojousama, I-”

Sakura stretched her finger out to Yuji’s nose, poking it gently.
“Look, you. I don’t care if you get laid, but you are getting out of this house, and taking a night off. I’m a big girl; I’ll deal with not having a servant for one night. Now, who are you going to go out with?”

“One of them has to say ‘yes’ first, right? I mean, I guess I would aim for Shiroko, since I already said no to Kuroko…”

Sakura shook her head. “No, no, wrong answer! That’s not how you make that decision! First you have to think who you’re attracted to. Until you decide that, you stay naked. And if you try to jerk me around, I’ll take your towel away.”

Sakura watched his reactions, noting his apparent pleasure. Aha! I had my suspicions before, but Yuji most definitely likes to be controlled! Now, which one…Kuroko is more openly controlling, but I think Shiroko would actually be more dominating. She plays her little ‘demure’ act, but she keeps pace with her sister easily enough.
I wonder if Yuji could score both of them. That’d be kind of hot, even from my point of view.
No, no, he couldn’t without a massive coronary, I think. Better to keep it down to one girl. Kuroko is more obvious, but she had some time with Yuji…

“Okay, enough thinking. I’m going to talk to them and one of them will show up here shortly,” Sakura announced. She stuffed a bundle of clothes into Yuji’s arms. His towel dropped, and he pressed the clothes in front of his groin quickly. Sakura giggled, putting a hand on his chest.

“Girls play rough, Yuji. Especially kunoichi. So you’d better get used to thinking on your feet. And fast. Now, get those clothes on…or not. I’ll be back here with a girl or two, and you’d better be ready to show them a good time!”
--

Sure enough, Sakura showed up. But with two girls in tow. Yuji knew them both. Kuroko and Shiroko. He didn’t know their real names, or even if they were really sisters. That didn’t matter, what did was- oh crap- here were both of them! Girl-shy Yuji didn’t know how to react. He’d hung out with them both before, yeah, but this time, the intent was clearly sexual, or at least something of that nature.

A brief fantasy skittered across his mind. Both of them, sharing him; overpowering him.

Somewhere, somehow, Yuji remembered that he should make tea. Right. Tea. Green tea. He was having company. And oh shoot, how was he going to explain the tatami mat that still wasn’t fitted properly into place? Would they even ask about that?

Yuji watched as Kuroko grinned and waved, then separated. Huh? She was leaving? Where was she-

His doors slid open, and here came Sakura and Shiroko.

“Sorry to intrude,” came the standard polite introduction from both of them.

“Uh, yes, welcome!” Yuji stammered.

Sakura clicked her tongue at him. “Hey, hey, what’s this crap? You’re not supposed to button those shirts all the way up! I know you don’t wear western clothes that often, but come on! It’s basic sexiness!”

Sakura pulled apart the top two buttons on the black long-sleeve shirt she’d practically forced him to wear. It was tucked neatly into matching black pants. He’d shined his shoes, not knowing if that was cool or not, but it made him feel better, so why not?

By the time Sakura was done, she’d opened his collar button, plus one more, showing some of his chest off. He might as well have been naked. And yet…
The sexual energy felt good. It was embarrassing and worrisome, but at the same time he enjoyed it. Was that normal?

“Okay, here’s the deal- I’m going to leave you two kiddies alone,” Sakura announced, an arm on each of their shoulders. “Go out; stay in- whatever you like. But you two had better be all over each other by the time I get back! I’ll be really mad if you’re both still clothed!”

Yuji gaped at her. What was Ojousama doing? He didn’t know girls could talk like that! He always thought they were either shallow or demure. Being flirty without being slutty- what a novel concept!

“I understand, Sakura,” came Shiroko’s pleasing voice. “I know very well that Yuji-kun can be a bit shy. So I’ll do everything in my power to make him feel comfortable.”

For some reason, danger looked behind those words. Yuji looked at her, and drew in a breath. Wow!

She was gorgeous. Her light brown hair was draped across her back tonight, the sides pulled back into a sort of loose ponytail hidden beneath the body of her hair. She wore a white, short-sleeve blouse that could go from casual to dressy easily, and a short black pleated skirt that was dotted with silver studs across the top. Thigh-high stockings with a white ribbon tied in a neat bow led to black loafer-style shoes with just a small heel. Shiroko was naturally cute, but tonight, with light, expertly applied make-up, she veritably glowed. Suddenly, that ‘dangerous’ tone in her voice didn’t seem so scary. It seemed, well, inviting.

Sakura giggled and raised one hand in a playful salute. “Okay, you kids have fun!”
She stepped out, but leaned back in the doorway.
“Oh, Yuji?”

“Yes, Ojousama?’

“I know you have a *****. If you don’t put it to some good use soon, then I’ll remove it.”

The color rose in Yuji’s face. He knew full well that Sakura was capable of making good on that threat. He hadn’t expected her to start talking like Sai all of a sudden. Behind him, Shiroko apparently found that funny and she clapped her hands together and said ‘how scary!’ in a voice that certainly didn’t seem scared but rather amused.

With that, Sakura was gone, and Yuji was alone with Shiroko.

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