Living a Lie

Chapter Eight - Virginity

Most of us had gone to sit on the various pieces of furniture in the living room while Tobi and Deidara washed the dishes (most of us being everyone but Kakuzu and the two dishwashers) after dinner. I was still a little worried about what exactly it was that Tobi and Deidara were going to play, but I tried to brush it aside.

I jumped a little when Tobi sprang into the living room and shouted, "Truth or Dare time!"

Four sets of eyes with various expressions ranging from surprise to revulsion locked on the exuberant masked nin. "What?" the four of us asked tersely.

"Truth or Dare," he said slowly, enunciating each word like he was talking to a bunch of kindergarteners. Deidara walked in and sat on the floor, waiting.

"This should be interesting," Kisame mumbled, turning off the television and sitting down across from Deidara.

"Hn," Itachi murmured emotionlessly, sitting next to Kisame.

Tobi sat down next to Deidara, nearly jumping with excitement.

Well, I reasoned, what's the harm in it? I sat down next to Kisame. We all turned to look at Hidan, who sat obstinately in his recliner. "Fuck no."

"Stop being such a party-pooper, Hidan," I grumbled, patting the spot next to me.

He stared at the lot of us for a moment, as if he were contemplating our rather painful deaths. Finally, he got up and sat next to me, crossing his legs and leaning back on his arms. He glared at Tobi.

Unperturbed, Tobi asked, "Does everyone know how to play?"

I nodded, Kisame shrugged, Itachi sat motionless, Hidan snorted, and Deidara gave a half-nod.

"Tobi will go first, then, to show everyone how," he decided generously. I had a feeling he just wanted to go first. He looked around the circle, eyes resting on me. "Sakura-chan," he said, initiating the timeless Truth or Dare ritual. "Truth… or dare."

"Truth," I said, not quite sure what his dares would be like and how stupid they were.

"Okay… hmm… Is your hair naturally that pink? Or do you dye it…"

"It's natural," I replied, suddenly not in the least bit worried that this game would get inappropriate.

"Now it's Sakura-chan's turn!" he shouted, and I was sure that he was grinning like a madman underneath his bright orange mask.

"Okay…" I looked around the circle, trying to find a good victim. I decided on Hidan, since he had been a jerk to me ever since we met. "Hidan, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

I knew he was going to pick that. Inner grinned evilly. 'I've got a great one,' she supplied (I sound so schizophrenic, don't I?). I tried my hardest to hide my own evil grin, but just barely succeeded. I ended up smirking a little, trying to keep a straight face. "I dare you to wear a dress tomorrow."

He glared at me so venomously, I was afraid I'd have to start dodging kunai. "Hey, you asked for a dare, and I gave you one. Now you have to take it," I said, holding my hands up in a placating gesture.

"The only problem with that half-assed dare, Sakura, is that I don't have any dresses," he said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Well, then I guess you'll just have to borrow one of mine," I paused. Did I have any dresses with me? I might… "Of course, we could just steal one… The thought of you in one of my dresses grosses me out," I said.

Deidara and Kisame snickered, and even Itachi smirked a little at the expression on Hidan's face.

"Your turn," I said.

I knew he instantly wanted to get back at me by the look in his eyes and the sneer plastered on his face.

"Sakura-chan," he said, enouncing the unneeded honorific.

'Ah, crap,' I thought. "Yes, Hidan-kun?" I returned, stressing his own honorific.

He barely suppressed a twitch. "Truth or dare?"

I knew he wanted to dare me, so I immediately chose truth. Predictably, he was ticked off.

"What, are you feeling wimpy tonight?" he asked grumpily. I knew he had had something utterly terrible stored up for me if I had chosen dare (probably some sort of painful self-hurting ritual or something of the like). "Fine." He suddenly grinned impishly (though, on him, it made him look like some sort of hell-spawn, but I digress…). "Who was your first time with and how old were you?"

"My… what?" I asked stupidly. I had a feeling, but I wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about.

I felt the eyes of all the other guys on me. "The first time you ever got laid," he explained, rolling his eyes.

That caught me off guard. "I… uh… I haven't ever…" I trailed off, suddenly very aware that I was the only female in this entire house. A strange house in a strange land filled with strange men.

Hidan's eyes widened. "You're a fucking virgin?" he exclaimed in shock. "How old are you?"

I blinked, felt my face heat up as I blushed, then grew angry. "Yes, I'm a virgin. Is there a problem with that?" I crossed my arms over my chest, huffing in angered exasperation. "I'm eighteen."

"You're seriously only eighteen?" Kisame asked, bewildered.

I nodded, turning away from Hidan (who was staring at me like I had two heads). "Hey, eighteen isn't that young. I'm probably older than Tobi. How old are you, anyway?" I asked the masked nin.

"Older than Sakura-chan, that's for sure," Tobi evaded.

I turned to Deidara. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-one, un."

I looked around at the lot of them, searching for someone who looked younger than the rest. "Itachi, how old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

I blinked. He didn't look that old. "Kisame?"

"Twenty-nine," he said, not grinning for once.

Lastly, I turned to Hidan. "You have gray hair-"

"Fucking silver, dammit!"

"Whatever. How old are you?"

"I've been twenty-two for a long time," he said, staring in awe at me still.

We were all quiet for a few moments, until, "Well, I can't be the only virgin in this god-forsaken group, right?" I drifted my eyes meaningfully towards Tobi.

Tobi caught the look I gave him. "Ah…well, Tobi's actually… you know… done that…"

I blinked.

"Well, hell," I said, completely at a loss.

Everyone was still staring at me.

"Alright. Enough with the staring. Are we playing still, or not?" I asked, irritated by being singled out.

Mumbled assents were issued from the group of amazed shinobi.

The game lasted for about ten more minutes, a few silly dares being made (I dared Kisame to run around in his boxers screaming 'I'm Superfish!', which I doubted he'd actually do), and a few truths being spilled (Deidara gets checked out by a lot of guys on a regular basis, haha!). But nothing was as shocking to any of them as the wonder of my still-intact virginity. Was it seriously that astonishing?

I later learned that it may have been something better kept to myself.

I should've figured that something bad was going to happen judging by the way Kakuzu shot down the hall towards the living room like his entire stash of money and other valuables was on fire when I went to bed. The rest of the guys were still sitting around in the living room by that point and I heard them all talking in low voices by the time I closed my bedroom door.

Alas, no alarm bells sounded in Sakuraville that night.