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Sakura flicked her blade to the side after having finished off the corrupt yokai, before sheathing it again.
Another job done.
Sakura sighed as she made her way out of the alleyway again, back into human civilisation. Being a part of the yokai guild had been an unexpected occurrence in her life, her ability to see yokai one of life's many surprises.
She grimaced as she thought back to how she had found out, a yokai having haunted the bathroom stall she had been using in elementary school. Rather than having been consumed by the yokai, she had talked the yokai down. The yokai had surprisingly turned peaceful, promising not to harm anyone anymore.
She had apparently been the first person to ever convert an evil yokai to good.
However, her powers weren't without limits. Not every yokai could be converted or saved, needing them to be exorcised by the traditional means of the yokai guild.
Sakura's hand fell onto her sheathed concealed tanto, the blade having been blessed for the job. Without the blade, she wouldn't be able to exorcise demons on her own, a certain amount of freedom she liked to have.
As she walked back onto the main street, she easily mixed herself back into the thinning crowd.
Looking at the clock on her phone, Sakura knew her hours of duty were up. Sure, she could be called for an emergency, but those rarely ever happened. But she didn’t exactly fancy going home either. Having nowhere else to go at this hour though, Sakura reluctantly walked back towards her apartment building.
You see, there was this secret she had been keeping from the guild.
There wasn’t really any yokai Sakura couldn’t deal with, not with her ability to convert them. If there was a yokai she couldn’t deal with, she had to call up the elite squad who would eviscerate whatever stood in their path. Sakura wasn’t exactly a fan of that method, so when faced with such a danger, she stubbornly kept trying.
As she opened the door to her apartment, the voice that had been grating on her nerves for a month now called out, “Oi, pinky, what took you so long?”
Sakura huffed in frustration, quickly closing the door behind her.
She stared up at the yokai that had been haunting her apartment with annoyance, “I told you, I have a name.”
The yokai that called himself Hidan shrugged, floating in the air whilst spinning in lazy circles, “Sakura, pinky, it’s all the same at the end of the day, isn’t it?”
Sakura exhaled some air through her nose, trying to keep calm. She would just make herself some food and go to bed, ending her night shift officially.
Rummaging through the fridge, Sakura thought back to how exactly this problem came to be.
The apartment below her had housed a religious fanatic, who had attempted to sacrifice himself to some god she had no clue about. The man had succeeded in killing himself brutally, the stench reaching all the way up to her level of the building. A day after that occurrence, Hidan had appeared in her apartment.
Hidan had apparently been the one summoned in the ritual her now dead neighbour had performed, claiming to come as a messenger to his god Jashin.
Sakura, seeing the Yokai for what it was, tried to talk him down. Hidan had come in spouting about needing to sacrifice more humans after all, which wasn’t exactly the friendliest thing to do.
Hidan was persistent though, trying to convince her to lure some unsuspecting victims to him so he could take care of it himself. When Hidan tried to leave after some more persuading, he was physically unable to get through the door.
The two quickly realised he was anchored to her apartment.
To Sakura’s shock, the yokai was able to be physically present though, able to touch things in the world along with her. This was indicative of an extremely powerful yokai, making Sakura wonder how this unknown god Jashin even was to have produced such a powerful underling.
Sakura, rather than call for the elite squad to vanquish the yokai, decided to try and talk it down herself. Hidan, whilst having very colourful language, had never harmed her or any of her belongings. She saw him as a challenge, planning to talk him out of his harmful ways.
He could become a powerful ally if she succeeded, and it would remove his anchor if he did.
Shaken back to reality by a hand touching her shoulder, Sakura zoned back in to see she was sitting at her dining table, an empty plate in front of her. The lingering taste of takeout leftovers was on her tongue, making her realise she had already consumed her food.
“You okay there, pinky?” Hidan asked, sounding oddly worried.
“I'm fine,” Sakura replied, shrugging his hand off her shoulder as she stood up to quickly clean the dishes.
Hidan didn’t look convinced, clicking his tongue out of annoyance, “Suit yourself, bitch.”
That made the proverbial tick mark appear. Hidan had learned not to call her bitch early on, but it seems like he had forgotten.
Unsheathing her tanto, she pointed it at the yokai floating around casually next to the chair she had just been in, “Do I need to remind you who you’re fucking with?”
Hidan grinned, his eyes lighting up, “Oh? Are you challenging me?”
Sakura gritted her teeth, trying to hold back her anger, “Remind me again who beat you up the first time you appeared?”
What Sakura didn't expect was for Hidan to reappear in front of her blade, his hand coming up to grab her wrist tightly. Sakura winced, her grip faltering.
He grinned at her, “Seems like you forgot I was still gathering energy then.”
Sakura tried to kick him out of her range, but instead, Hidan twisted the blade out of her hand and pulled her closer. The blade clattered to the ground as Sakura ended up slamming into his chest with a grunt, staring up at Hidan defiantly.
Hidan’s lips were still pulled up in a smirk, “Not so intimidating now, are you?”
She glared up, warning him, “If you harm me, you know the elite unit will find you and kill you.”
“Those cunts don’t scare me at all,” he scoffed, before leaning down next to her ear, “Besides, you wouldn’t be able to.”
Sakura shoved him back then, sufficiently freeing herself. Hidan’s haughty eyes followed her as she bolted to the bedroom, slamming the door shut with a bang.
As she slipped down against the door, Sakura’s head fell into her hands. This was getting out of her control. Maybe she should’ve contacted the elites after all…
Her deck of cards at her hip shook then. Sakura grabbed for the vibrating deck, opening it.
One of her cards housing the allied yokai came shooting out, landing on the floor in front of her feet. Sighing, Sakura picked it up and summoned out the yokai.
Deidara appeared, immediately all up in her face, “Let me at him!”
Sakura sighed at the temperamental yokai, “You know we can’t do that.”
“Why even bother keeping him alive? He’s just an asshole anyways!” Deidara huffed, crossing his arms.
Hidan’s head popped through the wall then, utterly unamused, “You know I can hear you dumbasses, right?”
Sensing Deidara’s anger come to a head, she warned, “Behave right now, or I’m summoning you back.” then she turned to Hidan, smile strained, “Can you at least pretend you’re not listening for a minute?”
Hidan huffed before his head disappeared again.
Deidara turned back to her then, waving his hands in the direction Hidan had appeared and disappeared, “See!”
“Should I have killed you too then?” Sakura questioned, getting up with her arms crossed, “You weren’t exactly a stellar example of manners either.”
He did have the decency to look embarrassed then, “That’s all in the past now...”
Sakura sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Look, every being deserves a second chance. Only if there’s no sign of redemption do we finish them off, you know this.”
“Is he redeemable though?” Deidara wondered, raising his eyebrow in question.
Sakura pinned him with a stare, sufficiently ending the conversation.
Getting up again, Sakura went to pick up the card she had left on the ground. Deidara grabbed her hand midway, interrupting her.
“Can’t you leave me out a little longer? Just in case that bastard tries anything else?”
Sakura sighed before relenting, “Fine.”
“Minute is over, assholes!” Hidan announced then as he came floating through the wall.
“I’m going to take a shower, don’t disturb me,” Sakura announced, eyeing the two yokai, before grabbing a fresh set of clothing.
Deidara nodded, before continuing to glare at Hidan, whilst Hidan mock saluted, “Yes ma’am pinky.”
Sakura sighed, knowing her night was far from over after all.
♡●♡●♡
That morning, she was awoken by her doorbell.
Groaning in annoyance, Sakura sat up to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She looked at the clock, noticing it was only nine am. Whoever was behind the door would be met with some scolding.
Getting up and quickly throwing on her bathrobe to cover up her nightwear, Sakura briefly noted Deidara was gone. He must’ve gone back into his card.
Sakura rushed to the door then, not one to leave people waiting, when she noticed Hidan lounging on the couch looking utterly bored. She rolled her eyes briefly before looking through the peephole of her door.
Her eyes widened as she saw who exactly it was.
Whirling back around to Hidan, she wildly gestured at him to go to her bedroom. He raised an eyebrow, but complied without protest to her surprise.
Coast clear, she readjusted her robe to be presentable before opening the door.
“Hello, Itachi, Shisui, what brings you here?” Sakura asked, smile a bit strained.
Shisui invited himself in easily, Itachi following him with a soft sigh, “Auntie Mikoto wanted us to check in with you, you’ve been having multiple night shifts in a row already!”
Sakura sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose for the umpteenth time in the past twenty-four hours, “So you decide to barge in when I’m supposed to be sleeping?”
Shisui turned around sheepishly, “Uhm… oopsie?”
Sighing, Sakura crossed her arms as she leaned against the hallway’s wall, “Well, consider me checked up on, I’d like to go to bed again if that’s possible with you guys.”
Shisui was about to say something foolish no doubt, but Itachi beat him to the punch, “What happened to your wrist?”
Sakura looked down at her wrist, confused, before realising that was where Hidan had gripped her tightly the night before. Quickly coming up with an excuse, she stammered out, “I- Naruto did that! We were sparring for a bit when he went a bit too hard, you know how it goes!”
Itachi looked entirely unconvinced, stepping into her personal space to grab her wrist gently. The dark red bruising looked a bit too big to be just a training accident, making Sakura sweat.
“Be more careful, ok?” Itachi asked, his thumb sliding over the inside of her wrist.
Sakura huffed, “I’m not a little girl anymore, Itachi. I know how to take care of myself.”
Itachi let go of her wrist then, before Shisui shoved him aside and slung one of his arms over her shoulder, “Should I go beat up Naruto for you in retaliation?”
“No!” Sakura said a bit too quickly, before answering at a calmer pace, “No. Accidents happen sometimes, don't they?”
Shisui raised his brows at that, before nodding, “Right,” he then took Itachi’s arm before dragging him to the door with him, “Let's go, Itachi-chan! We’ll come back later in the day, won’t we?”
Itachi dipped his head in agreement, before Shisui closed the door behind him loudly with a, “See you later, Sakura!”
Now left alone again, Sakura let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding, tension seeping out of her as the elites finally left the premises. When she turned back to face her living room, she nearly jumped when Hidan was already floating behind her again.
“Hidan?” Sakura asked cautiously, noticing the strained look on his face.
Hidan looked her in the eyes, questioning, “Do you just let anyone touch you like that?”
Sakura sighed before moving past him. Hidan stopped her by grabbing her other non-bruised wrist, “Do you have something going on with those bastards or something?”
Huffing out some air in amusement, Sakura answered, “No, not at all! They see me like a little sister at best.”
Hidan spun her around to face him, scowl on his face, “If that's how they treat a 'little sister', then you fuckers must be into incest.”
Sakura instantly retracted her hand from his grasp at that, a scowl growing on her own face, “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Hidan huffed and puffed before mentally deciding on something. That something was shoving Sakura against the wall, arms caging her in.
Sakura barely had let out a grunt of displeasure before Hidan was in her face, “Wrong with me?! I've been trying to drop fucking signs for you, but you can't take a fucking hint at all, can you?!”
She heard her deck start shaking again from her bedroom, no doubt Deidara wanting to be let out again. Yet she paid the shaking no mind, staring at Hidan, utterly confused, “What are you even talking about?!”
Hidan groaned in frustration before grounding out, “I fucking like you, you absolute moron!”
Sakura looked on in absolute shock as Hidan of all people blushed. The deck of cards started shaking so violently then, she heard it clatter from her bedside table onto the ground.
It sufficiently shook her out of her stupor, questioning, “What?”
Hidan groaned even louder, flinging his hands up in the air, “Even when you're fucking being confessed to you're as dense as a rock!”
To Sakura's surprise, she heard Deidara force himself out of his card, something they agreed on he could only do in an emergency as it strained her abilities.
“You!” Deidara grit out as he rounded the corner, looking furious, “Stay away from Sakura!”
Hidan looked on smugly, before pulling Sakura against his chest, “What? Jealous you didn't have the balls to confess first?”
Sensing an exploding fight about to happen, quite literally as she saw Deidara's hand mouths start chewing away, Sakura wrenched herself out of Hidan's grip, holding out her arms between the two, “Stop it!”
Seeing she's gotten their attention for now, Sakura turned towards Hidan first, “Explain what you were trying to say first,” she then shot a quick look over to Deidara, “And you keep quiet for a second!”
Deidara huffed and crossed his arms, but did keep his mouth shut as promised. Sakura then turned to Hidan, raising an eyebrow.
Hidan, still having a pinkish hue over his pale skin, raised an eyebrow back at her, “Didn't you hear me the first time, pinky? I like you.”
Sakura felt the cogs in her head turn before her face lit up. Had she heard that right? Shortly after, she narrowed her eyes at him, “What did you mean by signs?”
“I did such romantic bullshit for you!” Hidan exclaimed with a grimace, before explaining, “I didn't bother you in the bathroom whilst you were in there, I left you alone at meal times like you told me to, and I kept my distance whilst you slept like you told me to!”
Sakura felt her brain about to explode, “How is any of that 'romantic'?! That's just basic human decency!”
“I'm not human now, am I?!” Hidan yelled back, frustrated.
“Right,” Sakura admitted, before holding up a finger, “Now you stay quiet for a bit.”
She then turned to Deidara, who was giving Hidan the stank eye. He turned to her as soon as she asked, “Why did you force yourself out of the card?”
Deidara had the decency to look ashamed, “I… I'm sorry.”
Sakura sighed, “That doesn't answer my question.”
“I didn't want him to confess to you!” Deidara yelled then, a growing redness on his own face.
“Why wouldn't you-?”
Hidan interrupted then, “He fucking loves you pinky.”
Sakura whipped her head around to Hidan, about to go off on him, when his words registered. She then turned to face Deidara again, the redness returning to her own face, “Is that true?”
Deidara wasn't looking at her then, looking off to the side with his arms crossed. The redness around his ears ticked her off though, causing her outstretched arms to lose their strength, “Oh…”
Sakura, unsure of what to do, let her arms fall limply to her side. This… was not the type of fallout she had expected.
Sure, she knew both of them had a possessive streak, but this went far beyond anything she had imagined.
Sakura did the most responsible thing then… run to her room and lock herself inside.
Logically, she knew it was possible for both yokai to phase through the walls, but emotionally, she needed some distance to think. Jumping into her bed and pulling the covers over her, Sakura cocooned herself until she felt sufficiently hidden.
Love… wasn't a thing she had thought about since her first crush in high school. Her very embarrassing crush on the very much asexual Sasuke. She shivered as she stomped away those memories.
Sure, she knew both yokai were attractive specimens in their own right, but she had never considered- well- that.
To be fair, she had never considered herself attractive in any way, shape, or form. Her colouring was odd, her personality too emotional, her body not perfect…
Before her inner insecurities could come creeping up even more, she felt the blanket get ripped from her grasp. Sakura yelped as the colder outside air hit her, looking around wildly.
Sakura noticed Hidan holding the blanket with a self-satisfied grin, as Deidara surprisingly stood next to him without mauling him, arms crossed.
“Rise and shine, pinky!” Hidan announced, tossing the blanket to the side.
Deidara looked at her disapprovingly, “You were spiralling again, weren't you?”
Sakura looked off to the side, “And what if I was?”
Deidara sighed, before kneeling down next to the edge of the bed, “Look, I know you best… and I know that you don’t allow yourself to be loved.”
Sakura, was about to protest before Deidara pinned her with a stare much like she had done the night before, sufficiently silencing her.
“That’s why-” Deidara huffed, frustrated, dragging a hand through his hair, “That’s why I was just going to stay silent. But someone-”
Hidan interrupted, “Someone actually had the balls to do something about this hopeless fucking situation!”
Deidara shot a glare towards Hidan, before focusing back on Sakura, “Regardless… you now know how we feel, and I just wanted to make sure you knew we were being earnest. What you do with it is up to you.”
She nodded slowly, taking in his thoughtful words.
Deidara knew her the best indeed, having confided in him perhaps a tad bit too much when tipsy, and was currently hitting all the right buttons to make her hardened exterior melt away.
“Oi!” Hidan leaned into her space then, “Just know I’ve been very fucking considerate of you compared to my track record!”
Sakura huffed before questioning, “Why do you even like me?”
“Have you looked at yourself?” Hidan gestured towards her with his hands, like it was all so obvious, “Not only that, you can really fucking beat me up if you wanted to, and that’s kind of fucking hot-”
Deidara slapped his hand over Hidan’s mouth, Hidan immediately reeling back, “What the fuck man!?”
“We were having an emotional moment, and you just had to ruin it by being so foul-”
Sakura, sensing another fight about to start, held their shoulders, catching their attention, “Look… I appreciate that you both have… feelings for me. But I don’t even know how that’d work out between a human and a yokai-”
“Oh, I can show you how that works out.” Hidan insisted, leaning into her space again. Sakura’s face lit up at the implication.
Deidara shot him a glare, “You promised we wouldn’t do that unless she offered herself.”
“You let me have fucking nothing,” Hidan grumbled, leaning back again.
Realising they had formed a sort of truce to get through to her, Sakura felt herself soften. She could ignore the implications that were making her incredibly flustered for now, needing to resolve one last thing first.
“I have to say, Hidan, I only seriously consider the feelings of my summons.”
Hidan’s head snapped back to her then, Deidara perking up, “Does that mean you’re considering my feelings, yeah?”
“I see what you’re doing,” Hidan said with narrowed eyes, glaring at Deidara, before announcing, “Fine, I’ll become one of your summons if you want it so fucking bad.”
Internally cheering for her victory, Sakura reached over for her deck of cards that had sprawled onto the floor. She quickly picked out one of the blank cards before holding it in Hidan’s direction, “Channel your energy into it, it will bind you to me until I die.”
“Better fucking live then, pinky.” Hidan grumbled as he did as told, the card flashing a faint muddy purple.
Sakura saw and felt the connection settle, binding Hidan to her for life.
“So does that mean I get to fuck you now-”
“You absolute crude asshole!” Deidara yelled as he flung himself at Hidan.
Sakura sighed, but looked on fondly. It was going to take some time, but her new summon would fit right in.