Naruto 1. First Scent

_**A/N:**_First story up here, so please don't randomly decide to flame because you feel like it. Based somewhat off the '_Twilight' _and '_Vampire Knight' _series, it's a Vampire fiction… but I hope you like it! There will be other supernatural creatures appearing later though…

I do not own Naruto, blood tablets, or any sexy vampires in this story.

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AU. SS. She was his employee, he her boss. She was a normalcy, a mortal. He was a rarity, a vampire. Why is it then that a relationship would form between them? "You are mine, my blood singer," he murmured in her ear seductively. "La tua Cantante."

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**La tua Cantante**

_**Chapter 1:**_

_**FIRST SCENT**_

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The darkness was overwhelming. Not even the dull gleam of the crescent moon could illuminate the sinister atmosphere of the night. The light barely touched the room, causing it to be bathed in obscurity, as the shadows possessed a hidden blankness of nothing but the feeling of fear. Silence was another secret, masking all the miniscule sounds that were caused by the smallest of things. Although the space was that of an eerie mood, a tranquil feeling surrounded it; as if protecting it from unwanted visitors.

A door slammed violently, nearly knocking it off its hinges. A man stumbled into the room with his arms clutched around himself, his uneven breathing breaking the stillness of the place. He put a shaking hand to the wall beside him and used it to guide himself to the furthest partition, where he collapsed against it. A head of spiky, raven locks dropped down, as the owner continued to gasp through his breaths.

Approaching footsteps were ignored, but as the silhouette of a person loomed over him and the footsteps halted, the man looked up uncertainly. His action revealed a pale, yet inhumanly beautiful face that bore eyes as scarlet as blood and white fangs that protruded from his mouth. Clutching his arms around him tighter, he flicked his head away as he was offered a glass of red liquid.

"Take it; it will help."

Red eyes narrowed, and the fangs moved apart as an animalistic growl emitted from the dark haired man's mouth. The proposer bent down to the level of the man and held the glass between both of their faces at equal distances. Instead of narrowing, the red eyes widened as a strong stench overcame his senses and in retaliation, another growl was unleashed. In the blink of an eye, the cup had shattered against the opposite wall of the room, its contents staining the expensive carpet.

An exasperated sigh was given off from the other man as he stood up carefully and brushed off his pants. Walking to the door, he eyed the other and the spilled drink from the corner of his eye, before stopping at the door. Opening his mouth to say something along the lines of encouragement to the accepting of aforementioned refreshments, a low gruff voice interrupted him.

"Get out, Kabuto, before you regret it." The pale skinned man resumed to holding himself together again, dragging his previously outstretched hand back to his body. When the other individual did not comply immediately, he snarled huskily, his voice laced with venom and animosity. Taking the hint, the other man made it his first priority to escape the room, but not before dropping a packet of tablets on the floor purposely.

When the door snapped close, the red eyed man stood up clumsily, leaning against the wall as he tried to steady his breathing. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Simultaneously, the harsh winds outside died down to a small breeze, the clouds shifted to allow the full moonlight to shine and previously red eyes turned to onyx. As he opened his onyx eyes, he was suddenly on the other side of the room, bending down to pick up the package left by Kabuto. Smelling the same horrid smell he had smelled from the glass, the man held it away at arm's length, before cautiously shoving it in his pocket.

Once again using the same speed as before, he reappeared at his earlier spot, and leapt lightly onto the window ledge that was beside it on the next wall. Turning his head to the sky outside, the vampire crouched as he prepared to launch himself out into the open sea of blackness.

"This place reeks of blood."

Without another glance, he soared off into the night, leaving behind the objects blemished by the crimson liquid.

A soft chuckle echoed around the room. The moonlight began to shine dimly into the room, eliminating the darkness as it made its journey. "My, my… it seems our dear little vampire isn't taking his blood tablets," whispered a silky voice sinisterly as a single foot stepped out from the shadows. More of his figure was exposed as the darkness began to retreat to the utmost corners of the space, revealing his mane of long, sleek black hair that swished to the side as he tilted his head. "What should we do now, then?"

In answer to his question, an elongated snake slithered out and proceeded to wrap itself around its master's body. Bringing his hand up as the reptile enfolded its scaly form around his arm; the man twitched his head towards the window, smirking evilly as he heard quiet movement from behind him. "I require your assistance."

"What is it that you require, Orochimaru-sama?" asked a voice politely at his back. He walked forward slowly, his servant watching reverently as she dropped to her knees in highest respect. Stretching his hand out, the long haired man finally reached the window that he had been eyeing. Rain began to fall outside, steadily getting harder as it dropped; the sound of its pattering against the windowsill was quite noisy that it almost overpowered the tone of the speaker.

"What I require is absolutely confidential; it is not to be told to anyone else. My dear container refuses to feed, so watch over him and report to me his daily doings," ordered Orochimaru as his pale hand made contact with the small beads of moisture that fell from the clouds. "Should you fail, or expose this information…" An abnormally long tongue shot out of his mouth to lick at his dry lips, as his pet moved up to drape itself across his shoulders. He turned his head so that it was angled in a way that made him look intimidating and menacing. It seemed his snake followed his example with the way it lifted its long neck up and bared its fangs.

"I will personally make sure that your pretty little eyes never see daylight again."

A short gasp was exhaled from the girl's mouth as she hurriedly bowed her head and made her way past her master and jumped onto the windowsill. Flipping her lustrous black hair behind her shoulders, she leapt out to the city below, her previous frown transforming into a cocky smile. "Just you wait; I will not disappoint you, Orochimaru-sama!"

Eyes the colour of a succulent gold watched the falling figure with much confidence. His pale hand was still under the drizzle, and his ominous smirk faded to a frown. Drawing his wet limb back to his body, he turned swiftly and glanced at the room once before leaving the confines of the now lightened space. "Kuku… this downpour will be an obstacle," murmured the long haired man as he strode benevolently down the corridor; his footsteps were unheard over the hard shower.

The rain continued to fall, much to an onyx-eyed man's disappointment. Shaking the rain from his spiky hair, he jumped down onto a nearby rooftop, before leaping off gracefully and landing on the concrete pathway as if this were just a normal occurrence. He walked stiffly towards a crowded intersection in the bustling city whilst stuffing his hands in his too deep pockets, pushing the package of tablets further down. Wetness was starting to flood his clothes due to the rain, but it was ignored as the only thought in his mind was to rid of the smell that lingered in his senses. It was quite a strike of luck as the other distinct odours of the metropolis were more intense than the miniscule scent he had sniffed earlier.

He refused to think that his hysterical fit had been triggered by such a small instance. As a composed and very self-controlled vampire, he was expected to have much more restraint than others of his kind. Had he lost all of his willpower and given into temptation, the monster he had tried to lock up for years would be unleashed from his internal cage, and many innocent victims would have been murdered.

Loud whispers snapped him out of his reverie. He could hear them; all the girls marvelling over his good looks, or the men staring at him jealously. With his sopping hair that stuck to his face, or the fact that he looked foolish for not using an umbrella, he wondered ludicrously why he attracted so much attention. Turning his head, he sneaked a peek at a group of girls behind him who were chattering excitedly, but this proved to be a bad idea as they started to blush and prattle even more.

"Did you see that? He looked at me! Should we confront him?" whispered a girl breathlessly to another. Knowing what was to come, the dark haired man continued to walk, speedily getting faster as he did. He turned corners swiftly, making it just in time to walk across the bustling intersection without getting run over and duck sneakily into an abandoned alley. The man pressed his back against the wall, blending in with the shadows as he heard the women pass him with frustrated sighs.

Scanning the deserted street quickly, he walked down to the other side of the narrow passageway once he had deemed it safe to move without being chased by a horde of obsessed fan girls. Again in the public eye, he trod silently on the path, taking no notice of the various people rushing past him in haste. The deafening clang of an enormous clock caused him, and many other busy workers, to look up at the time device that now read ten o'clock. A sudden shock of remembrance shot through him as he registered that he had somewhere he had to be.

As if reading his mind, a noisy ring buzzed from his pocket, catching the owner in such astonishment that he almost tripped over. Clenching his teeth, he dug his hand furiously in his pocket and pulled out his sleek mobile phone. Many people were looking at him curiously, whether it was because of his seemingly little stumble or his incredibly expensive phone that he appeared to dislike; they were all unnoticed to the man who had an expression of utter contempt. "What?" he hissed angrily into the mouthpiece of the phone, catching the caller by surprise.

"May I ask why you aren't here yet? I know that I'm really not one to talk but…you are late," crackled the voice from the phone. The pale man tightened his grip on the mobile and shuffled on; by now those who were previously watching him had scattered after hearing the intensity of his rage. He could clearly hear the mocking tone of his caller's voice, and it angered him to no end that no malice was actually intended. "There are still some documents you ne—"

"I'm on my way," interrupted the vampire, who had once again walked into a vacant space, this time it being the backyard of an inhabited house. He cursed as he hastily calculated the distance he needed to cover to reach his destination, and the large amount of time it would take as well. His obsidian eyes scrutinized the immediate area before considering it secure enough to display some supernatural ability. Crouching down, he propelled himself up in the span of only an eight-fifth of a second, reaching the skies at an uncanny rapidity. His black coat swishing around him, he set off to the building that was inconveniently placed on the other side of the bustling city. Of course, with his speed, getting there was no problem at all.

Thinking rather selfishly, he looked once at his phone before chucking it behind him as he flew forward. He heard the device smash against something hard, and smirked as he knew now, that there were to be no more interruptions to his journey.

His caller exhaled noisily, as he realized that there was absolutely no way that he could call again without getting an earful, or no answer at all. Dropping his phone down lazily on the desk, he pushed his chair backwards with his feet, getting up before the seat had even stopped moving. He bent over the bureau to obtain a bright orange book that lay face down, toppling over a large stack of papers in the process. Immediately, he stood up and eyed the messy desk of papers with disdain. One stack of papers that was dangerously teetering over the edge of the desk was obviously his unfinished work, while the other stack that had fallen over was the pile that was to be signed by the man that he had called.

His expression was one of downright disgust. He obviously had no intention of doing that much work as it was already so late at night. With his book in hand he took hold of his briefcase at the side of the desk, which was surprisingly light for someone who was supposed to have it quite full due to the amount of work he was assigned to. What type of business man was he exactly if he didn't do his duty? Shaking his head, he kept a tight grip on the handle of his briefcase and walked out of the office.

"Come on…just a little more…I want to go home…" chanted a woman as she drummed her fingers impatiently on her desk, her eyes staring at the hand that was slowly moving around the clock. As the hand ticked closer to the number she wanted, she inched her fingers close to her coat which lay in disarray on her otherwise neat table. Finally, the clock signalled that it was time for her to leave, and she happily stood up and grabbed her things.

Walking towards the elevator at the end of the room, she waved a good-bye to her workmate who was leaving as well. Stretching her arms high over her head, she let out a small yawn and let down her working façade.

"Sakura," someone called out. Said woman froze, her arms still in the air, her mouth open in the midst of a yawn. Turning slowly, she fell into business composure once again, but her aggravation showed through her forced smile and furrowed eyebrows. She was met by the sight of her boss, who was reading a bright orange book, which she knew to her disgust, was a book that would most likely rip all her integrity to shreds. His face was covered by a mask, and she had always wondered what was underneath it; to her dismay, she felt that he would be very handsome.

"There is a small pile of paperwork in my office. It shouldn't be a bother. Finish it up for tomorrow," he ordered, walking past her summarily. He passed her a fleeting glance, but quickly returned his eyes to his beloved book when he registered the look on her face.

Once all the information had been absorbed into Sakura's brain, she turned to him as he walked, and opened her mouth to protest. He cut her off with a friendly tone, but she worked under him enough to recognize that he was serious. "You know, a good employee would listen to her boss, no matter what the situation is. Haven't you learnt that lesson yet?"

She grunted and turned sharply on her heel, marching her way to the office, dropping her belongings by her desk as she passed. Her masked superior let out a small chuckle before he disappeared, and her remaining work mate was no better. "Keep it up, Sakura! After the tonnes of paperwork you've done, you'll be promoted to head of the building!" complimented her blonde friend sarcastically.

Slamming the door behind her, she gasped as she saw the cluttered desk that belonged to her boss. Papers were spread out everywhere, and a pricey looking phone was sitting in the centre of it. She snickered, and grabbed the phone, getting ready to pummel it to the ground with her foot. Movement from outside the office, most likely her remaining co-worker leaving, caused her to rethink the scenario; instead she placed the phone carefully in her pocket, deciding that it would be best to return it tomorrow. Although she was kind enough to abstain from destroying something that probably held a lot of importance to her dear boss, all her former irritation hadn't worn off yet.

"There is a small pile of paperwork in my office. It shouldn't be a problem," she imitated his voice in a disrespectful tone. "What a lying, porn-reading, selfish man!"

Sakura glanced at the wobbly stack of papers that stood at the edge of the desk, and stomped her way to the other side. She eyed it warily, wondering which strategy was best to use when handling such an enormous pile of documents. Fortunately for her, her choice of attack was successful; she scooped up every single paper and drove it into a manila folder that happened to be conveniently placed on the desk.

With the bulging folder in hand, she strode noisily out of the office and to her designated table, where she had sluggishly dumped her bag. The girl zipped it open and attempted to forcefully shove the folder into her bag, but it refused to fit. After many countless efforts to fit the files in her bag, she gave up and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"Why!? What did I do to deserve this after such a long day at work?" she wailed desperately, punching the ground with her right hand in her frenzied emotional breakdown. Being much stronger than she thought, her punch was strong enough to make a dent in the tiled flooring, effectively earning her a rather scary bruise on her knuckles. She hissed fervently, and brought her hand up to her chest to cradle it and soothe the pain.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approaching echoed around the room, and by instinct Sakura ducked down under her desk, hiding herself from the intruder's view. As if the pain of her aching hand wasn't enough, her head bumped the ceiling of under the desk as she moved, thus eliciting a low groan from her lips. She held her breath, deeply hoping that her clumsiness wouldn't be heard, and she let out a breath of relief as she heard the steps continue. Alas, her relief was in vain.

"Who's there?" asked a deep, smooth voice, as the footsteps halted. A pink eyebrow twitched in annoyance as the face that is was embedded on rose to face the person who had so rudely called her indirectly. She opened her mouth to retort, but snapped her trap shut as she realized who she was just about to insult. _Uchiha Sasuke. _Her almighty superior, head of the company she worked for, _the person who paid her_, was standing there with his back facing her.

"Ah, I was just about to leave sir, ah, you see, my boss had…" and before she knew it, she was ranting.

The dark haired man groaned quietly as he slid a hand through his wet hair. He'd expected an empty office when he arrived, but it seemed that luck wasn't on his side tonight. Irritation wasn't another emotion he needed to feel tonight, so he continued to make his way to the closed office at the end of the large space. The girl was indeed annoying, so why push his limit any further?

In one instant, several things happened. A soft, albeit sufficient, gust of wind from a nearby air conditioner brought a startlingly irresistible smell to his nose, his eyes were diverted to the pulsing vein in the babbling girl's neck and he stiffened noticeably.

He recognized that scent— it was the same scent that had generated his frantic fit just a while ago. The memorable aroma of human blood, yet this blood was different.

Being a vampire for his whole existence, this girl had the sweetest blood he'd smelled in years.

The familiar feeling of thirst ached in his body. His muscles coiled, ready to attack at any given moment, and his stomach churned with his blood lust. Such a scent seemed too rare to exist, and he knew that such an enticing smell would never mingle within his senses again if he let this chance slide. The thirst was starting to overpower his self-control, and his onyx eyes flickered to its animalistic shade of crimson as he discreetly glanced over his shoulder at the girl.

The sight of the girl was enough to make his mind stop in its tracks. She was still talking, but her image seemed to be permanently etched into his memories. Embarrassment was evident on her face, from the way she blushed and avoided eye contact entirely, instead choosing to stare at the ground. Her blood flooded her cheeks as she blushed, turning a most delicious colour.

His eyes drifted downwards. Slender fingers were intertwined with each other, and were constantly fidgeting in front of her chest. A steady beating drum sounded from her, and the pulse reminded him of the mouth-watering liquid that ran through her veins. Red eyes were diverted quickly to her neck at this though, and his mind allegorically exploded. He could clearly see the rhythmic flow of her blood in her veins under the pale membrane of her skin.

With much effort, he forced his eyes away from the excruciatingly tempting sight view of her neck. Narrowing his eyes, his mind devised many plans to deal with the situation. Of course, the most appealing choice was to drink her blood, but his self-control fought against it, coming up with the alternate choice of escaping the scent and filling his need with a blood tablet.

Was that even a plausible option? Although he was naturally a very arrogant person, he tended to be able to back up his threats with truth. In actuality, he could effortlessly kill her right now, and she wouldn't have seen it coming. He had it planned out; exactly how he could kill her, her horrified reaction and the blissful heaven he would enter once he completed his mission.

In the duration of just a third of a second, he would appear behind her with dazzling speed and sink his fangs deeply into the pink haired girl's neck, thus tasting the blood he longed for. If he wished for something a tad less suspicious or slow, he could easily seduce her and allow her to come willingly. Then he would savour her blood, and her screams of terror would be of no worry, because they would be silenced quickly or would dissipate to moans of ecstasy. After all, having your blood sucked by a vampire would always be a sensual experience for a human.

However, this tactic took a bit of time, and his impulses wouldn't allow him to have that much time to control himself, at least not with her scent around.

Not a full second had passed. His employee was still ranting ceaselessly. All his plans had been resolved in that one measure of time. Determined, he sucked in a deep breath and smoothed over his expression.

"…left me the rest of his paperwork to finish off, so I was just collec—" The girl was still babbling. She hadn't even finished her first sentence yet.

It took all of his self-control to muster up enough willpower to encourage his object of blood-lust to depart.

"Leave if you have no business here," he muttered huskily, his voice a large change from his even baritone. The girl looked at him with wide eyes, before registering that he was not in the mood to accept her incessant ranting. She excused herself politely, grabbing her things and hurrying to the end of the room where she waited for an elevator.

As the metal doors opened for her, she tilted her head towards the stiff vampire and gave a small smile. "Will you please turn off the lights once you leave, sir? It's the last person's job to see to that."

Her voice was intoxicating, and he found it terrifying. Was she trying to make him go insane? He could smell her breath coming from her mouth, and it was simply alluring. A small grunt was his reply and her smile grew just a little bit wider. The silver doors of the elevator closed and he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He cursed himself for his vulnerability and strode hurriedly to the office at the end of the room.

The man had made a resolution to refrain from murdering any innocent humans, no matter how tasty their blood smelled. Such power and energy was to be used on finding, and eventually killing, his hunter whom he hated with much revulsion.

He slammed the door close, nearly ripping it off its hinges in his wake. Without another sound, the papers he needed to sign were neatly in a folder labelled with his name, and they soon disappeared inside his still sopping black coat. A cold breeze floated through his saturated hair as he opened the only window in the cramped office and jumped onto the windowsill with poise. He looked over his shoulder, and remembered the favour he had been asked to fulfil.

Leaning backwards slightly, he launched himself out of the window, and then speedily formed some hand signs, where in it was so quick that they were all just a blur. Before his fancy shoes had even touched the concrete floor of the path, the lights in the entire building had sparked beautifully, before blacking out completely. Many groans and shrieks of terror were heard as the pale skinned man landed quietly in the darkness; his disembark marked by his arrival in a dark alley by putting minimal pressure on the balls of his feet.

A smirk etched its way onto his lips, and he straightened up, brushing his attire of any dust or particles of dirt. Movement heard by his alert ears caused him to freeze in his action, and he retreated quietly to the shadows of the building. The darkness hid him like a cloak, and if it wasn't for his incredibly still posture, he surely would have been found by those he tried to hide from.

"Good night; I hope you live through tonight to show up tomorrow, Forehead!" cried out a shrill voice from the entrance of the large building. A soft giggle filled the air at that comment, and a sudden jolt of apprehension shot through him. He tilted his head to the conversing ladies carefully, watching them from the corner of his red eyes.

"I'll try, but don't get your hopes too high, pig!"

His hypothesis was correct; it was her who was bidding good bye to her friend. Her pink hair was barely noticeable under her fluffy pink beanie, for it camouflaged perfectly. Small hands were covered by white gloves as she wove her greeting, her red coat billowing around her lightly as she moved. A smile had been placed on her face, but it was still the same half-hearted, polite grin he had witnessed before. Once her blonde friend was out of sight, she spun around and walked in his direction, swinging her arms by her side as she strode.

"Ah! I finally get to go home!" she rejoiced, pumping her fist in the air as she passed the concealed vampire. He had originally been worried that she would see him, but it seemed that she was too absorbed in completing her journey home to care about anything else.

She passed him, but as he watched her retreating back, he felt compelled to follow her, as if an invisible force was dragging him forward. Getting rid of his thirst was his first priority, but it seemed that his mind refused to listen to his commands; instead, hideous thoughts of ravaging his pink haired employee filled his mind. Growling, he used the wall behind him for leverage as he wheeled himself into the sky, his black coat swishing around his legs.

As if the skies were just a range of imaginary platforms, he bounded across the night, staying hidden behind the clouds so as not to rouse any unwanted attention. Even from such a lengthy height, he could clearly see the figure of his victim that he stalked. Being quite perceptible, he could spot her bobbing cerise head through the crowded streets.

She weaved through the swarm of people expertly, moving quickly and agilely. The pink haired girl slid into vacant gaps, slinked away busy citizens. A proud smile covered her face as she exulted in the fact that although she didn't avoid trouble at her workplace, she could avoid the rude, perverted men on the prowl in the streets. However, her movements were not as sharp and graceful as that of the beautiful man who followed her.

"Tch…how annoying," he muttered, dropping down onto a tall skyscraper, before falling headfirst to the packed metropolis below. Adding a somersault in benevolently at the end, he landed silently on his feet, before straightening up and walking once again. Sasuke tilted his head down and kept a fair distance away from his victim so as not to seem suspicious, but his obsidian orbs still kept a close eye on her. "She can't even walk home without falling over."

Surprisingly enough, a second later the girl fell forward, whacking her forehead against the pole of a traffic light. Her groan was soft, but his attentive ears picked it up. She swayed slightly on the spot, bringing her hand up to her forehead as he moved, thus gaining the curious stares of onlookers. A beeping noise and a green light resulted in a stampede herding her towards the other side of the busy road, the redness from her brow swelling as she regained her composure. "Hey! Be careful who you push, idiots!"

Her profanities were ignored, even as she glared at those she thought guilty. She huffed and stomped away, but not before tripping and hitting her head on a pole…again. This time, due to her unremitting stomping, her collision had enough force to knock her off her feet, causing her bag and its contents to spill over the concrete. Her reaction was one of complete anger; her face went red and if she were a comical character, steam would have been exiting from her ears.

The walk home was somewhat less interesting afterwards, and the quietness of her neighbourhood as she entered it unnerved the cherry haired girl as she stepped across the threshold of her door. "Home, sweet home!" she crooned as she dumped her possessions at the door along with her shoes. Skipping happily to her kitchen, she stripped herself of her coat and gloves, shivering as the cold wind from an open window blew in and over her skin.

"Was that window open before?"

Exclusive, black shoes landed on the lush green carpet of the room. A crouched figure stood still in the middle of the space, his hands shoved in his pockets and his obsidian eyes roaming the area. He could hear the girl in the next room mutter to herself on the subject of whether or not she had closed the window he, unbeknownst to her, had used to enter her residence.

A high-pitched scream was heard from the kitchen as a rush of water gushed through a faucet. In the blink of an eye, the man had appeared in the shadows of her kitchen, hidden between the space of the fridge and the cupboards. It seemed the green eyed girl had thrust her hurt hand under the running water from the tap, and was hissing fervently as the liquid spurted from the impact. Hurriedly, she turned off the faucet and pulled out a first aid kit with her dry hand, and expertly wrapped her injury with a small bandage.

"Ah! All bandaged up and healed!" she praised herself cockily, holding it up in the air proudly. Shoving her kit messily into a nearby cabinet, she walked to the fridge to open it. The self-satisfied girl pulled out a bottle of juice and proceeded to bring it up to her lips, until another round of goose bumps covered her arms. She put her bottle down onto the bench top as she shuffled quickly to the heater in the next room. A few buttons were pressed, some shrieks of frustration were shrieked and a kick to the furnace was given for the heater to turn on and let out a flood of warmth.

Sakura sauntered into the kitchen once again, raising her arms above her head as she stretched. "That's better," she sighed, closing her eyes as she yawned, "With it set to high, this darned place should be toasty in no time!"

Unfortunately for the unknown guest, 'better' was not the right word. As the waves of heat flowed into the space both she and he occupied, it brought forth the same startlingly tantalizing smell, this time much stronger. He could smell the scent of all the objects she had touched, like the unwashed cups in the sink, the dirty clothes in the laundry. He could smell the places she had frequently stayed on, like the sheets of her bed, or the cushion that was deliciously covered in her scent all around.

The aching thirst once again burned in his hollow throat, making him experience déjà vu as he relived the moments where he had first smelled the appealing scent of the pink haired girl who he had mysteriously followed home. A growl escaped his lips as he felt his fangs protrude to his bottom lip as the sound was elicited.

What was much worse was the fact that the girl whose scent was currently driving him insane was standing just over a metre from him.

"Is this poisoned, or just off?" she questioned suspiciously through shallow gags as she drew the bottle away from her lips. Sakura turned the bottle around in her right hand as her left wiped her mouth of the excess liquid that had spilt through her lips. Bringing the container to her nose, she sniffed it carefully when she resolved that the label reflected no wrong of the liquid. A horrid smell of something other than the orange juice she thought she was drinking wafted to her nose from the opening of the bottle, causing yet another round of gags.

The smell of the unidentified liquid was a minor smell to the bloodthirsty vampire, as the breaths coming from the girl's mouth were what were drawing his attention. "Damn it… it's taking over again," he hissed as he clamped his sweaty hand over the joint between his shoulder and neck. The skin there was turning pale and black markings were creeping quickly out from the appendage laid over its source.

"This isn't orange juice… is it… expired milk!? I think I kno—," the frustrated girl exclaimed, before she was interrupted suddenly.

A strong gust of wind flew from her fridge abruptly, with so much force that it whipped her hair around her face wildly, and took her by surprise to the extent that she collapsed to the floor. The bottle of supposed orange juice clattered to the ground beside her, its perished contents spilling over the tiles. Green eyes widened, and her mouth opened as if to say something, but no sound escaped her lips as her vision was switching from the dark space between the fridge and the cupboards, to the open window which she thought she had closed prior to her leave for work.

The window was open, exactly the way it was before the blustery current of air. Nothing else in the room had been moved, excluding her dropped bottle and her frightened body. She could have sworn that something, a person to be exact, had passed her and fled via her window. Yet, she had her doubts; did anyone have such cold skin, cold as ice?

"Wha—no, who was that?"

He had given in; broken his self-control for the second time that night. With his black coat flapping in the wind, his hair getting soaked by the heavy rain that was falling and his skin lowering rapidly in temperature, he bounded across the midnight sky to reach his next destination: the place he loathed with distaste. But, did he have a choice? Where else could he go to relieve his thirst, whilst looking completely monstrous with his red eyes, curious markings and murderous intent?

The vampire was greeted by the person he had originally tried to avoid, but was not in the position to get rid of him in his current state. "My, what happened, Sasuke-kun?" the man whispered eerily, bringing his cold hands, chilled like the other man's own, to Sasuke's shoulders as he bent his head down to rest in the crook of his neck. "You look quite troubled."

Indeed, the man did look 'troubled'. Black markings in the shape of horizontal waves covered the surface of his skin, glowing red as he breathed. The red irises were flitting around the room quickly, as paranoia that the scent would return flooded him.

With blinding speed, said man ripped a tablet out of the packet that he dug furiously out of his pocket, and downed it with one gulp. Several gasps followed, and the other individual brought his hand to his upper back and massaged it seductively. "Hush now…the taste will fade eventually."

A growl was heard, and Sasuke flicked his arm quickly, effectively hitting his target straight in the gut, where the man doubled over as he retreated. Kneading his neck, the vampire glared angrily at his offender, baring his canines at him when the man made a move to approach him.

"Orochimaru, get away from me, yo—" Sasuke snarled, before he inhaled sharply as a round of pants overcame him. The long haired man took this as an opportunity to reattach himself to the boy's convulsing body.

Sasuke gasped a final, raspy gasp before falling down onto his legs and leaning his head back against the wall, thus bringing down the clinging man with him. The dreadful taste of the blood tablets was still lingering in his mouth, but his unnatural hunger for the girl's blood had subsided substantially. Throwing the packet away, he took another deep breath and stood up shakily. Orochimaru sighed and detached himself, stepping a safe distance away from the dangerous vampire.

"Kuku… Sasuke-kun, you should learn to control your instincts more," drawled Orochimaru as the other man wiped some remaining liquid from the edge of his mouth. "Has everything I taught you gone to waste? You aren't going to beat him like that, you know."

Stiffening, Sasuke grunted as he walked past the speaker swiftly, not bothering to answer or glance back. He slammed the door shut behind him, hoping to put a barricade between the creepy man and himself. As he walked down the deserted corridor, he dug his hands in his pockets, feeling somewhat surprised when he felt no packets of disgusting pills hidden in the small pouch.

"He will die…" a smirk flitted its way across his face as he halted by a large window, with the moonlight shining brightly through to shadow the features of the handsome vampire. His red eyes, which had reverted back to his original colour, onyx, glanced at the moon which could be seen in large detail from his position.

"Because my hatred is stronger than anything else in this world."

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_**A/N: **_First chapter up and done! If you can, or want to, please review! Did anyone guess who Orochimaru's slave was? The first one to guess gets an imaginary cookie!


	2. Impulse

_**A/N: **_Yo! I'm back with the second chapter! I'm really sorry for the late update, but I was busy with assignmenting and such (I do have a life!). Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted and added this story to their faves! Hountou Arigatou! Oh, and the imaginary cookie goes to lizzpercush! Congratulations, you got it right! It was Kin – who will be making her official debut in this chapter!

EDIT: Sorry, I decided to change a few things to make it a bit... more something. Please read, as the ending was changed slightly.

Once again, I do not own Naruto. I'm not that creative!

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_**La Tua Cantante**_

_**Chapter 2:**_

_**IMPULSE**_

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"Move it! This stack of papers could fall at any moment, so unless you want to die of paper cuts, MOVE IT!"

Frightened employees stared helplessly as their fellow blonde workmate busily shoved her way through the crowded corridor. Several whispers were being shared about the girl who was currently sashaying her way down the hallways, cupping her manicured hands around her mouth to increase her volume. Whether the workers were too scared to move or simply not listening, the girl knew that they wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

"Didn't you hear me?" screamed the girl once again. Stomping her feet, clad in six-inch stilettos, she extended her arms and proceeded to forcibly push people out of the way. Of course, there were many protests, but they were all silenced when faced with the evil glare shot at them through the blue eyes of the pressing woman. "Hurry up! Evaporate people!"

"Ino, maybe they would 'evaporate' if you didn't scream so loud," said a tired voice wearily. Whipping around to face the speaker, Ino glared, but only succeeded in having her glare hitting a pile of inanimate objects. An eyebrow rose as the confused girl tried to move her head to see whom she was talking to, but failed miserably. "I appreciate you trying to help me, but you really are making my headache worse."

A gasp of fake surprise escaped Ino's lips as she covered her cheeks with her hands. "Forehead, how could you say such mean things? Are my methods of help not good enough for you?" she cried feebly, sliding her hands down her cheeks in her act of hurt. "Oh, you are so nasty!"

Whilst being so absorbed in her acting, she hadn't noticed the girl she was talking to stumble away from her shakily. It seemed that Ino's hair, which she was proud to admit that she washed with only the best hair products and was completely natural, had whacked the intimidating pile of documents with its split-end-free tail. With the papers stacked lopsidedly on top of each other, small hands struggled to keep it all together, while green eyes tried to see the mass from every angle so as to prevent any falling papers. This proved to be very bothersome, as pink locks of hair repeatedly fell in her eyes and two hands was just not enough to hold it all.

"You know, you could try using your brain for once, Forehead. I mean you could have—ah! Watch out, Sakura!"

Her warning was a bit too late, as Sakura had no chance of seeing exactly what was put inconveniently in front of her: the stairs. The pink haired girl inwardly cursed as the tip of her newly acquired stiletto bar shoe on her right foot slid off the floor, causing her to sway awkwardly on the spot. Her foot tried to find the floor again, inching forward slowly. This resulted in her balance being thrown off completely, as the heel of her shoe snapped and brought her down to the ground at a rapid rate.

Profanities ran through her mind as she plunged to the floor, her grip loosening on her papers and her hair flapping all over her face. Closing her eyes quickly, she braced herself for the impact of her fall onto the cold floor.

A full minute had passed. There was no sense of pain anywhere on her body, and she was still standing somewhat upright.

"Eh? What the heck just…" her voice faltered as she opened her eyes slowly to crane her neck around. "…happened?"

Just then, did she finally register that she had been saved. A well-built arm had wrapped itself around her petite waist, keeping a vice-like grip on her hips. Her right foot was dangling feebly over a step on the stairs, her broken heel lying among the papers she had dropped during her fall. And, the man who had saved her from her ungraceful landing was no other than the same man she had angered the previous night.

"Uchiha-san!" cried Sakura in surprise as her eyes fell on him. Her arms that were stretched out earlier due to her attempts at balance, retracted suddenly in shock. Similar to what a fish would do, she opened her mouth to say something but thought better and clamped her mouth shut, her eyebrows creasing as she recalled how she got into the current situation.

Due to her blonde friend insisting that 'shoes can make or break a career,' Sakura had her small feet forcefully shoved into the space allocated in the notorious five-inch-high shoes. As if juggling an extremely large pile of papers wasn't enough, she had to complete the task in the aforementioned shoes. With those exceedingly hard conditions, it was actually quite fortunate that she hadn't tripped before reaching the building, considering she was famous for her uncanny clumsiness.

Sakura was now in the arms of her boss, and was secretly delighted in the present position.

Her boss, however, wasn't in the slightest bit pleased. She wasn't heavy, she didn't have the same overpowering aroma of perfume as the other girls did and her hair wasn't that much of a bother, but she was much too close to him for comfort. After all, she was the same girl who had tempted him last night with her alluring smell.

Ever since he had allowed those dreadful blood tablets to plummet down his throat, Sasuke had resolved to forget about that entire experience. Having a reputation for being a cool and composed man, part of his criteria was to dismiss all things irrelevant to his life. Of course, his vampire instincts acting up over something so trivial was completely relevant, but it was an aspect of his life that he refused to acknowledge.

But, was it possible for him to ignore the sudden dryness of his throat, or the light sheen of sweat that was starting to cover his face as he continued to freeze in his position?

He could clearly remember her scent. That enthralling scent enticed him still, and now that she was at such close proximity, he couldn't help but think of the things he could do to take her blood. Last night, she had smelt of strawberries, with a light tinge of vanilla. With his uncanny smelling abilities, he could easily smell the sweet fragrance of her hair – which she must have washed thoroughly as it smelled delightfully of strawberries – and the other objects she was holding. Each item she touched, whether they were just the clothes she wore or an enormous stack of papers, their scent was marred by her irresistible smell.

That observation brought him back to find that the papers she had previously been holding were now scattered all over the floor. It seemed that her dainty fingers weren't nimble enough to grasp all the documents she was meant to carry. Hundreds of papers lay spread out on the tiled floor, all signed and marked by Sakura in place of the man who was supposed to do it.

"Was she meant to do all these in the first place?" he wondered aloud softly, but his low murmurs reached the attentive ears of the pink haired woman in his arms.

It didn't really matter to him at this point, even if he was supposed to be alert to when employees were being unfairly treated. Yes, even if the worker in question happened to be a dense, clumsy little girl who was too obedient for her own good.

"Ah? Did you say something, Uchiha-san?"

He was forced to correct himself; she was a dense, clumsy yet frightfully observant little girl who was too obedient for her own good.

His control was slipping. It was even worse that she chose to not be in control of her breathing at the current time. Her breaths were ragged and uneven, coming out in delicious puffs that reached his face. Still, even in her worn out state, she looked terribly appetizing. It wouldn't be difficult to just pull her closer to him and plant his fangs into her neck. Bystanders would just think of it as a normal intimate mating ritual between the two, so it could b— no, he couldn't think like a bloodthirsty vampire.

"Think of other things; things like paperwork and revenge," he thought to himself, closing his onyx eyes warily as he tried to steady his breathing, which he realized had increased in pace as he wondered.

Paperwork was too boring of a topic to ponder about, so he moved to his second option: revenge. Several plans and countless scenarios played in his head of how he would avenge what he had lost, but his thoughts started to drift. The red blood splattered on the wall in his mind turned to a messy mop of pink hair. He cracked an eye open cautiously to survey what was floating into his contemplations. Her hair, an odd pink colour, was cropped short and reaching the top of her shoulders, so it was long enough to tickle his face as he leaned forward to steady her. Sasuke wondered idly if it was natural, but shook his head and continued his revenge-filled reflection.

Now, he was seeing the torso of his hunter, drenched in blood with multiple weapons sticking out of it. That corpse turned into the petite waist of his employee, who donned a white blouse that was tucked neatly into her black high waisted skirt. Instead of the bloodied armaments, it was his arms, wrapped delicately around her waist. Her waist was small, and he had easily snaked his arm around it. She was thin; her hipbones could be felt even underneath the material of her blouse. She shifted slightly, and he realized that she was trying to tilt her body so that she was facing him. He couldn't have that; else he would lose his control at their closeness. Her hair would definitely be touching his face, her breaths would be in direct contact to his features and her scent would elicit a much less discreet response from his supernatural side. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he clenched his fist as he tried to suppress his instincts.

"Damn, its hurting again," he mumbled painfully, twisting his neck slightly as a great wave of something akin to pain overcame him. On his pale neck, the mark signifying his vampire side was becoming a light red, burning his skin as it changed colours. Not only was the colour changing, but the size as well; from the small circle it had been encompassed in, it had broken free of the restricting circle and was spreading out all over his neck.

White fangs were drawing closer to the girl's neck, and the tips of his bangs were lightly brushing her collarbone. A gasp was exulted from glossy lips as she felt hot breath on her neck, and an involuntary shiver ran down her spine.

"Ano... you're hurting me Uchiha-san," whispered Sakura quietly when she felt his grip on her hips tighten. "Could you please let me go?"

Onyx eyes widened as Sasuke became aware of the position they were in. He stepped backwards quickly, turning his head away from her, effectively hiding his face. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Sasuke swivelled around on the spot and started to walk away as if nothing had happened.

"Clean up," were the only words he muttered before he strode off distinguishably.

With the same speed in which he had remarkably caught her, he was gone. Now, without the support of another human, Sakura's knees threatened to buckle from underneath her, but thankfully she was saved from committing the ungraceful act she had been saved from.

"Geez, don't scare me like that! Do you know how worried I was!?" wailed Ino as she lurched forward to grab her friend's elbow. Pulling lightly, she steadied her workmate on even ground and shook her by the shoulders roughly. "I was worried sick! Do you know how much I would have suffered if you did fall down those stairs!? I would have to contact your parents, write up your will and... dear lord! Look what you did to my shoes!"

It was safe to say that Ino was hyperventilating right now. Her blue eyes were glazed over with anger as she scolded her friend on her clumsiness. "Seriously, I knew I shouldn't have lent you those! You just can't wa— Shikamaru!"

Said man looked up lazily as he spotted the two women. As soon as he saw the sight his two fellow workmates, he gave a half-hearted wave before walking off. Placing his hands behind his head, Shikamaru shuffled onwards to his office, blocking out the profanities Ino was shouting at his back.

This proved not to be the smartest idea.

"How troublesome; you guys are t— OW! That hurt!"

Massaging his aching head, he pivoted slowly on the spot to face the angry woman who was panting at him. Ino was downright mad; her face was set in a glare and in her hand was her other shoe, which she stated she was prepared to throw at his 'pineapple head' if he didn't offer any assistance immediately. "Shikamaru, what are you doing? Can't you see we need help?" growled Ino as she dragged Sakura forward along with her as she stomped towards him. "Sakura just spilled all these papers about, my new stilettos are ruined and I almost broke a nail just now!"

"Hey, Ino... slow down! I can't walk with these broken things!"

"How troublesome... you guys need more help than you need," muttered Shikamaru as he blatantly ignored Sakura's plea for help. Staring jadedly at Ino, he snorted. "What do you want?"

Blue eyes lit up as she thrust Sakura at the bored man's chest, a shriek of surprise coming from the girl as she was suddenly pushed forward. "I'm not a rag doll! That and I can't walk in these broken shoes, or did you miss my whole escapade with my heel breaking?!" screeched Sakura loudly as she was ignored once again.

"I give up. My life is screwed. I'm being dragged off by a lazy man who thinks everything is troublesome and the reports I did aren't going to be handed in without somebody's stupid footprints all over it. Woe is me."

Huffing, Sakura crossed her arms stubbornly as she was hauled away by Shikamaru. Ino was busy ordering other employees around to pick up the mess of papers. "You over there! Be a nice man and pick up all these papers," demanded Ino as she glowered at a man working. She sighed tiredly as she inspected her nails, placing one hand on her hip resignedly as the man obeyed her orders. "What a morning! Kakashi really shouldn't have given forehead so much work."

"Is that so? I don't think you have a right to say such a thing to your boss."

Ino spun around quickly, her jaw dropping as she realized that her boss was directly behind her. "Kakashi-san! This— I mean, what you are seeing really isn't the full story! You see, Sa—"

"Quiet down, Ino. Now isn't the time for you to be saying that," chimed in said man. Ino gasped and blushed nervously as she looked to the floor. He chuckled softly at his book before passing the crazy scene fleetingly. "Didn't the boss tell you to 'clean up'?"

"Kakashi-san! You big idiot!"

A stomp of a very heavy heel was heard before high pitched shrills were reverberating throughout the halls. "Looks like everyone here has problems," He walked on, entering a deserted corridor. Kakashi looked up briefly to see the Uchiha leaning against a wall, panting heavily. Sighing, he flipped a page in his book and continued to walk. "But it looks like the biggest problem of all lies with you."

"Shut up. I'm leaving," growled Sasuke as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Shoving his hands roughly in his pockets, he strode past the reading man and down the stairs. Sasuke jerked his neck vaguely as the mark on his neck continued to cause pain. The white haired man who had just been rebuked stopped in his tracks, and moved his sole uncovered eye to gaze lazily after the angry man.

"I'm in charge of the meetings again, then?" he asked himself rhetorically, before giggling childishly at his book as he resumed walking.

Polished Italian shoes walked gracefully over newly cleaned floors as Sasuke advanced to the receptionist desk. Behind the desk sat two very bored employees. One, a lanky white haired boy, was playing his PSP, and the other was a girl with glasses doing her nails. Clearing his throat, he relished in the fact that he had surprised them substantially; the boy jumped and dropped his PSP in shock while the girl stood up instantly, therefore trampling all over the object that freed the poor boy from boredom at work. "What is that you would like, Uc-hi-ha-san?" crooned the red haired girl as she leaned over the counter, exposing her cleavage.

"Have them send my Mercedes. I'm leaving," deadpanned Sasuke as he brought his arm to his face to inspect the time. The girl nodded excitedly and leaned across the reception desk to reach for the phone, glancing back at the bored man seductively. Her plans were ruined as the man palpably snubbed her.

A shrilling screech made all three turn their heads as an orange cooper parked lopsidedly on the curb. Messy locks of blonde hair stuck out from the window, and a tanned hand pressed impatiently on the wheel, making yet another loud sound. A whiskered face was revealed when a sun-kissed chin was tilted up wards; exposing the handsome face of the blue-eyed boy with the wide grin. "OI! Teme, get your butt in here before I kick it, dattebayo!"

"Tch... dobe. Aren't you supposed to be at work?" retorted Sasuke as he walked out of the building. Stopping just a few feet away from the driver, he put a hand casually to his neck and stared at the blonde haired man unenthusiastically. "No wonder you can't beat me, Naruto. You're inferior to me even in promptness."

Snarling, Naruto glared at him heatedly. "Do you want me to kick your butt? I know you love your face and everything 'coz you're gay and stuff, but I seriously will hit it if you don't get in here!" snapped the blonde irately, before blinking and pushing a finger to his chin in thought. "Oh yeah, and what does promptness mean?"

"Idiot. Look it up."

With a sigh, Sasuke turned and retreated to the confines of the edifice. He heard Naruto curse and fumble around in his car, before the sounds of a car door slamming open filled his ears. "Teme, where are you going? Let's just leave this place; there's nothing to do here!" chirped the tanned boy as he trod slowly after him. "What do you say about getting some ramen, eh teme?"

"Hn," Sasuke just ignored him and kept on walking. He didn't need any unnecessary company now that he was in an unstable state. The pale vampire was about to pass through the glass doors of the building, but was stopped when his ears picked up the mutter that was emitted from his friend's lips.

"I know you're hurting, teme. I can see it..." Sasuke tightened his grip on his neck and strode on. Blonde hair shadowing his eyes, Naruto eyed the spot where Sasuke's clammy hand was covering, and lifted his head up high. "It's hurting right? The curse mark that snake gave you."

Hitting the nail directly on the head, Naruto could see the pain his friend was suffering. The mark, being composed of three comma-like shapes encompassed in a circle of strange wavy symbols was still glowing red and increasing in size. "Shut up, Naruto. You don't know what you're talking about," muttered Sasuke as he resumed his pace. "It has nothing to do with you."

In an instant, the insulted boy had dashed ahead of him and had his hands fisted in the expensive jacket Sasuke wore. "The hell it has nothing to do with me!" spat Naruto as he took a fist and punched the dark haired man in the face. The man staggered backwards slightly, but was brought back up immediately. When Naruto received no response, he growled and pushed his friend to the concrete ground. "I'm your best friend, aren't I? Every time you suffer, I'm left to pick up the pieces!"

Rubbing his stinging cheek aimlessly, Sasuke just glared at the short-tempered man hovering over him. He kept his mouth shut, thus further angering the blonde man who straightened himself. "Get up, you bastard!" shouted Naruto furiously as he massaged his hand that he had used to punch the man on the floor. "Do you want me to beat you up just like that? Are you too weak that you can't even beat me, who you say is inferior to you in promumptness or whatever!?"

Onyx eyes flashed rapidly to red as the vampire stood up shakily, withdrawing his hand from his cheek to dig it in his pockets once again. The black tomoes spun around his dark iris lazily as Sasuke shot the frustrated man a smirk. "Weak? You've got it the wrong way around, clumsy idiot," drawled the pale skinned man deviously as he rocked on his heels lightly. "You're the weak one, dobe."

With this said, Sasuke proceeded to aim a kick at Naruto's stomach, but his blow was blocked and returned with an upper-cut to his chin. Swerving evasively, Sasuke retracted his leg and leant forward to hit the blonde in the chest with an open palmed strike. Winded by the strong hit, Naruto keeled over, only to be punched in the chin as he fell forward.

"That isn't enough to beat me, teme!" yelled Naruto triumphantly as he pushed his clenched fist back to hit the Uchiha again. Thrusting his fist forward he aimed his punch at the vampire's pale face, hoping for a reaction of utter pain. However, his azure eyes widened as a dash of pink interfered, and his blow met the open palm of a soft hand.

"S-Sakura-chan... I'm sorry, I—" blabbered Naruto as he quickly withdrew his fist from her skin. The pink haired girl just dropped her injured hand to her side and drew back her other, forming a fist as she went. Naruto's eyes widened yet again, and he whimpered for forgiveness. Fate, and Sakura's fury however, were not so forgiving. Hell hath no fury like a woman who deals with psychopaths everyday.

"What do you think you're doing? You were supposed to be here 3 hours ago! Even Kakashi-sensei is here before you!" shrieked Sakura vociferously. She glowered at the wounded man on the floor, who was cowering on the floor in fright. "Picking fights with random people; you're being stupid! It's like you're asking for me to kill you!"

She pivoted on her heel sharply and faced her boss with a kind, yet sickeningly fake smile. "I apologize, Uchiha-san, for the stupidity of my friend," she said sincerely, stomping on the said friend's fingers when he tried to protest. "I think he's inherited some sort of mental illness he received through direct contact with other idiots, so please excuse him. I will see to it that he takes his medicine."

Not at all moved by her obvious attempt at reconcile, Sasuke merely grunted and walked off.

"Know your place, dobe. Next time, I won't let some weakling interfere."

A light sigh was elicited from Sakura's mouth as she exhaled noisily. Turning around again, she bent down and rested her head on her knees as she stared intently at her beat up friend on the ground.

"You know, I think he hates me. He never talks to me; he just tells me off. It hurts, Naruto."

"I'm hurting more than you are, Sakura-chan. I just got beat up by two people with supernatural strength!"

Oh boy, did he know the true meaning of the latter of his sentence. Sasuke was a vampire after all.

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard. In fact, maybe I just made Uchiha-san hate me even more! I mean, he must be thinking 'Oh no! She's a freakishly strong, billboard-headed girl who's going to kill me! I have to fire her!' Naruto, what am I going to do!" wailed Sakura despairingly, as she buried her face in her hands. The whiskered man sat up drowsily, and patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"You could patch me up, for starters," said Naruto cheerfully, cracking a toothy grin. Smiling back at him, Sakura shrugged off her favourite red coat that she had brought with her to work and thrust it at the blonde's face. Falling back onto his back, he faked a groan and pleaded for help as he flailed his arms about uselessly. "Help me! I'm being attacked by the red glob!"

Sakura giggled and stood up, brushing imaginary dust from her skirt. "Look after yourself Naruto. Just wear it to hide the bruises for now." With those words, she quickly strode back into the building, ruffling her hair as she walked. "I can't let karma come back to get me, can I?"

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" he cried out after her. As he watched his friend's back disappear into the office, he stood up and looked around sluggishly. "Now, where did that bastard go?" Hugging the red coat to the top of his head, he walked swiftly around the corner of the office block, into a dark alley. "OI! Sasuke! Where are..."

His voice faltered as he drank in the sight of his best friend. Leaning against the wall was a panting Sasuke, who was gripping his arms around him like he was going to break. The markings had spread to cover half of his face, and they were alternating between red and black. Gasps of pain were coming from the suffering man's mouth, and his fangs were protruding far enough to penetrate the flesh of his lips. Sasuke looked up at him with crazed eyes; the tomoe was spinning around rapidly and it was clear that the bloodlust was seeping through his irises.

"Sasuke! What's going on?" inquired Naruto worriedly, dropping to his knees next to him. Just as Naruto completed his action, a great wave of that wonderful scent filled Sasuke's senses, and everything increased. The markings spread out to his entire face, his breaths became more haggard and his eyes were now inflicted with the emotion of paranoia. His eyes darted immediately to the coat that now lay on his lap, and his hands went for his throat as he tried to stop the searing thirst. "Get it away from me. That..." he wasn't able to finish his sentence as his body started convulsing.

"Sasuke! Tell me wh—" Naruto was cut off as a graceful figure blocked out the sun from above and landed stylishly on the balls of her feet. Her long hair whipped his face malevolently, and she shot him a fleeting look – which in all aspects wasn't pleasant at all – before shuffling over to the sweating vampire who had sunk to the floor in his fit.

"W-who the hell are you?!" shouted Naruto as he dashed forward with his fist poised. His movements were stopped however, when a senbon needle darted out of her hands and impaled itself on the skin of his forearm. She paid him no heed as he fell to his knees; focusing solely on Sasuke.

Opening his mouth gingerly with nimble fingers, she stuck a single pill on his tongue and forced him to swallow. When his body refused; it shook even more, making the man lose his consciousness, she speedily formed some hand seals and placed the tips of her finger, which were now glowing green, to his forehead and concentrated. After a minute of agonizing silence, she stopped and stood up.

"It's even worse than Orochimaru-sama predicted. His body is rejecting the tablets as a whole," she murmured to herself cautiously. "I should return to present my report." Bending down slowly, she tentatively cupped his face with her hands, but was slapped away as the previously unconscious vampire came to.

"Don't touch me if you were sent by him," snarled Sasuke as he took a defensive pose against the wall. "What did he send you for, Kin?"

Straightening, she shook her head and stepped away from him. "You have fallen beneath that of what Orochimaru-sama made of you. My job was simply to keep an eye on you," she reported stiffly, flexing her arms. "To think that you had fallen to this state because of that little girl... you truly are pathetic."

Naruto lunged at her, but she dodged and defended with a hiss. Standing shakily up, Sasuke held out a hand, signalling for his friend to cease his advances. It seemed Naruto wouldn't have been able to proceed despite his warning, as he collapsed once again. "Leave. Tell him whatever you wish, but I am not going back," Sasuke said impassively. Sasuke passed a blank look to the other occupants of the otherwise uninhabited alley and strode off. "No matter how bad my impulses become."

Kin nodded dismissively and leapt off into the sky to return to her master. With her long hair swishing behind her, she spared the agitated vampire a single glance before dashing across the sky as if it was a flat surface.

A small twitch of his lips occurred as Sasuke continued his pace to the mouth of the alley. "Teme! Where are you going!?" bellowed Naruto angrily as he clenched his fists. He was tired of being left confused; he needed to know the truth. Getting up, he tried to step towards the man he was speaking to, but fell against a dumpster for balance. "Quit keeping me in the dark, damn it!"

He was ignored again, as usual. "Tell Kakashi to look after the company," deadpanned Sasuke, completely ignoring Naruto's request. Picking up the red coat that lay at his feet, the blonde hurled the object at Sasuke's head, where it missed as the man started to disappear in flames. "...dobe."

"Quit leaving...you bastard! Are you just going to run away like your stupid brother!?"

The dejected man slipped his hands off the unsanitary object he was using to hold himself up, and dropped to his knees, averting his eyes to the ground. "I couldn't stop him, again..." With his palms flat on the floor, he leant his head down to rest against the cold floor. Unpredictably, tears started to cascade down his cheeks. Before long, his whole frame was quivering due to the tears he was shedding. "Teme...you were right... I am..."

"Naruto!" cried an apprehensive voice worriedly. The blonde boy suddenly felt himself being pulled up by the collar, and then had two arms encircle his chest tightly. He felt his wet face brush the top of a mane of soft hair, and he knew who it was. "You idiot! What happened to you!?"

He opened his eyes drowsily to catch a glimpse of a pair of dainty feet in a pair of high heeled shoes and the top of a pink haired head. Caressing it gently, he closed his eyes again, willing the tears to stop.

"... weak."

Sakura could do nothing but stare at him in curiosity, and kept her arms wrapped around the man as she gave him the comfort she could give.

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_**A/N: **_Second chapter is up! Oh, and please check my profile for a poll about my new stories. Summaries are on the page as well.


	3. Office Challenges

_**A/N: **_Next chapter is up! I had fun with this chapter, and actually wasn't going to write it because it's the holidays and I've been doing... stuff (coughsleepingcough). Yer, but I've been thinking about the plot of this story and want to know if I should continue.

So, I present to you the next chapter of _La Tua Cantante! _Where in this chapter, a lot of things happen!

Still, I do not own Naruto.

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_**La Tua Cantante**_

_**Chapter 3:**_

_**Office Challenges**_

* * *

"I. Am. So. Fired."

Ino sighed and continued filing her nails nonchalantly. "I know. I think we established that the last 57 times you said it," said the blonde girl jadedly, holding a hand up to the light to inspect it. She turned her head to stare at her friend intensely, before dropping her hand and waving it unremittingly. "And I was _so _not counting."

"Sure you weren't; that's why you knew exactly the amount of times she had said that sentence."

"Shut up, Sai!"

"I swear; I am going to get fired," wailed Sakura mournfully as she dropped her head into her arms. "Why did I have to act so stupid in front of him? It probably cost me my job!"

"Probably because it's the way you normally act?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up? You aren't making her feel any better!"

"I was just answering her question. A book I have read stated that it is socially unacceptable to ignore one who is asking a question, especially whe—"

"Who cares about the books you re— ah! Don't ruin my papers!"

Acting quickly, the frantic girl shoved her depressed friend off the table and made a wild lunge for her small stack of documents. "Geez... Shikamaru will kill me if I don't have these papers ready by the next time I see him..." Caressing them in her hands carefully, she huffed professionally and started to go over them, subtly admiring her nails as she checked. "And personally, I don't want to be fired or killed, especially by that lazy ass."

Sai smiled and cocked his head over her shoulder to peer at the papers. "You made a mistake here."

The girl twitched angrily, and slammed her papers face down on the table. Growling, she snapped her head to the side and snobbishly shifted her body in her chair so that is would face her miserable workmate. "I don't remember asking you!" she retorted hotly, flicking her head purposely so her hair would hit the boy. "So, Forehe— oh my cow-lips! You look like you just stepped out of a horror movie!"

An outstretched hand brought Sai back into the conversation. "She's lying. You look like someone just stuck a stick up your butt and stabbed you in the eyes. That and you're having a bad hair day," Sai tilted his head slightly as he studied her appearance. "Actually, I think she's calling you a vampire, with the bags und— wait, in the movie she refers to, all the vampires were beautiful. Sorry Ugly, you aren't even close to a vampire."

Sniffing, Sakura grabbed the compact out of his hand and stared at her reflection. True enough, staring back at her was a girl with large bags under her eyes, a red nose and messy hair. "Oh no... I look horrible! Now I have to worry about that too!" moaned Sakura as she threw the compact back at Sai and dumped her head in her arms again.

"I did stupid things, Ino-pig. I ranted to him, made him catch me and then I intervened in his fight with Naruto! Ugh, and Naruto!" A desperate cry rang from her lips at this, albeit muffled, causing the other occupants of the table to jump slightly in fear. "He's hiding something from me! I just know it! He hasn't looked at me directly in the eye since that day!"

It had been two months since that incident, and neither Naruto nor Sasuke had spoken to her about it since. From the time when she had arbitrated their fight, both men had become surprisingly distant. "Not that Uchiha-san wasn't distant in the first place," muttered Sakura to herself, as she moved her head to a more comfortable position.

"The first sign of insanity is talking to yourself, Ugly. I read that in a book as well."

Ino whacked the straightforward man in the head, before leaning on her elbows and intertwining her fingers together. "Not only that, but remember his secret meeting with Kakashi-san? They were talking about... um, they were discussing, uh... Sai, what were they discussing?" asked Ino pointedly, not even bothering to look at the man.

The muddled, pink haired girl lifted her head and stared at Sai expectantly. "Secret meeting? Is Naruto secretly going out with Kakashi-san!? He's gay!?" screeched Sakura as she covered her mouth with her hands. The black haired man just raised an eyebrow questioningly, but put on a fake smile and adhered to her orders.

"No, they were discussing the absence of Sasuke-san; issues such as meetings, how they would get documents signed and other business matters. From there though, the talk began to focus on why he had left, and they mentioned Ugly's name a few times. They talked about things like blood and tablets as well," reported Sai emotionlessly. Both girls looked at him oddly, before he grinned even wider and leaned forward as if sharing a secret. "It's easy to remember anything Dickless says. He's not smart enough to speak properly."

Somewhere in the world, a loudmouthed, whiskered blonde sneezed rather loudly.

Sakura exhaled noisily and brought her finger up to her chin in thought. "Does that mean he's sick? Maybe Naruto didn't want me to know, and that's why he's been taking me out for ramen every time I ask about it!" she exclaimed, eyes brightening as she professed her great epiphany. "Maybe I won't be fired after all!"

"I don't want to know what you're talking about, but hurry up and get ready. We have a staff meeting in five minutes," said a bored voice from behind the bubbly girl. Behind them stood the lazy figure of Shikamaru, who was flicking through a folder as he spoke. Ino whipped her head up and dashed over to him, latching onto his arm as she pushed the pile of papers into his face excitedly. Trying to ignore the unexpected pounce, he cleared his throat again. "This one's really important too; Uchiha-san is coming back today."

Sakura froze. Gradually, she could feel her limbs stiffening up, and her head felt dizzy as she swayed forward and hit her head on the table again. Ino laughed falsely and patted her friend on the back awkwardly. "It isn't that bad, Forehead. He might not fi—"

"I. Am. _So. _Fired."

**-x-**

The meeting was held in the conference room on the highest floor in the building, and even though it was one of the biggest rooms in the entire edifice, it was a tight squeeze. Thanking her lucky stars she wasn't claustrophobic, Sakura skilfully weaved her way through the crowd of rowdy employees to where her friends were.

"This must be some important meeting, huh?" said Sakura breathlessly as she clutched her folders to her chest. Ino nodded and scanned the area, stepping onto the tips of her shoes to search above the heads of the horde of workers. "It's been a while since Sharingan Inc has had a meeting with the entire staff."

Everyone became silent as Kakashi, supported by other higher employees, entered the room. Clearing his throat, he signalled for everyone to settle before stepping up to the podium at the front of the room. "Good morning, everyone. Today's meeting will focus on the topics of..."

Sakura yawned. Apart from the fact that she hadn't slept in a while, the meeting was rather boring. Kakashi merely droned on about the importance of raising stocks, and she could have sworn that she had seen some employees dozing. The bored girl entertained herself by making paper airplanes with her sheets, and aiming for her friend's big head.

"Hey Sakura, look! There's Naruto!" whispered Ino fervently in her friend's ear, ducking her head to avoid the incoming blow as she pointed out the aforementioned man. The glass doors to the room opened wide, and the orange covered figure of Uzumaki Naruto stepped across the threshold.

"Yo! Sorry I'm late, dattebayo!"

It wasn't the seemingly fake apology or the loudness of Naruto's voice that made everyone turn their heads to the entrance of the conference room. It was the entrance of a handsome, pale man; whether it was the way he strode gracefully across the room in his expensive shoes, or the way he nodded solemnly at Kakashi before replacing him at the podium, he captured everyone's attention instantly. It was _Uchiha Sasuke._

"I apologize for my lateness. Now, to continue on from where Kakashi left off," He may have just been repeating whatever nonsense Kakashi had spoken about, but he held everyone's awareness. The dark haired man spoke briefly, saying as little as he could on each topic. Running a hand through his hair softly –to this, the fan girls swooned and the gay men sighed— he shuffled his sheets before coughing softly. "The next topic is job replacements and promotions."

Sakura paled. Ino looked away ineptly. Other employees shuddered or beamed. Sai smiled and offered his hand to his ashen, pink haired friend. "Looks like this is it, Ugly. It was nice while it lasted."

"You bastard! Are you teasing Sakura-chan again?!" yelled Naruto irately as he stepped behind them and glowered at the still smiling boy.

Grunting, Shikamaru shot them a warning glance. "He's going to be talking about our department soon. Listen, because it'll be too troublesome to repeat everything."

"As we are entering a busy season of economical opportunity, it is befitting of the company to promote certain individuals for their exceptional work within the company. We sincerely congratulate these persons, as they continue to demonstrate outstanding behaviour in all aspects of their vocation. "

Ino gasped, and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Such an introduction, Forehead! When he calls out your name, just get up there whoop his sexy butt with your _extensive _vocabulary! It is within your _capability_ to present your great _fortitude_ to that _ambidextrous_ man!"

"Of course, my skills of _intimidation _are of an _incomparable_ level; therefore I will be forced to make the _dour_ man _deploy_ his prose and apologize as he would have _adulterated_ the company by refusing my _outstanding_ abilities that are of great use to this _enterprise_!" Scoffing, the pink haired girl lifted her chin arrogantly. "Why yes, I just whooped _your _butt with my big words."

"Hey, Sakura-chan! I didn't know you read dictionaries for fun!"

"Idiot! I so don't read dictionaries for..." Her voice faltered as she became conscious of the numerous stares she was receiving, and she released her grip on Naruto's shirt as she flashed them all a fake smile. "...fun?"

The dark haired boss at the platform smirked condescendingly and cleared his throat to regain everyone's concentration. "Haruno, would you mind coming up to the dais?"

A deer in headlights. No, a pink haired deer with a large forehead in headlights that were actually the glinting eyes of other members of the staff was what Sakura saw herself as. Sakura gulped nervously as she was manhandled into walking up to the stage slowly. "Bye-bye paperwork, rushed lunchbreaks and pay checks. Hello JOBLESSNESS," she whimpered quietly as she shuffled to the man, keeping her eyes averted and her arms wrapped around her.

"Due to my sudden absence, the department of foreign affairs has been forced to handle several big issues. According to Nara Shikamaru, work has become haggard and rushed, therefore slipping up in some aspects."

_What ever happened to whooping his sexy (yet totally hateable at the present moment) butt with big words?_

"However, the overall result of this was that Sharingan Inc was accredited for arranging an event, organized by the foreign affairs department, which was a huge success. For this we have to express our deepest gratitude, to the sole person who systematized the entire occasion: Haruno Sakura."

Said girl froze in place at the stairs to the stage, and looked up with confused eyes. "S-say what?" she stammered in astonishment. A few hurrays and encouraging comments were shouted—courtesy of the two noisy blondes waving their hands aimlessly in the crowd—and Sakura was broken from her reverie. Shaking her head defiantly, she took another step on the stairs and suddenly, she felt herself falling once again. "Damn Ino for making me wear stilettos... AGAIN."

Swiftly, she felt that she was suffering from déjà vu. Her body was swaying towards the ground, but the same built arm had wrapped around her waist securely, the same hair was tickling her face, and she could smell the breath that had caressed her neck. It was exactly like that incident the last time they had met.

"Again? Was this planned? There's the stairs, the man, me... well, of course, the pap—ah! Uchiha-san!" Sakura gasped as she was hugged even closer to him, so close that her blushing cheek was resting against his chest. The girl looked up, and noticed he was smirking egotistically to himself. "Uchiha-san?"

He held her even tighter to his chest as he stepped backward slowly, inching carefully to the podium. "You're very clumsy, aren't you, Haruno?"

Her viridian eyes widened, and she almost fell down when he released her. "Was he... no he couldn't have been... flirting with me?" Stumbling forward a bit, she craned her head back to him, to see that he was already sorting papers at the plinth, and so she silenced her stuttering mouth and waited for his words.

"Haruno has shown a considerable amount of determination and hard work; so therefore, we would like to offer her the opportunity to become part of the superiors here at Sharingan Inc. She will be promoted to secretary of the head of the company," he stated to the whole crowd, before looking at her and offering his hand. "So, Haruno? What is your decision?"

She wanted to say something, but her voice was stuck in her throat. Her hands started to fumble with together as she tried to speak. "Ah!" she cried as she felt a looming presence over her. His hand went to her shoulder comfortingly as he smiled—or at least, she thought he smiled; you could never tell with the mask over his face— and nodded easily at her. Nodding back, she grinned and stared at her boss straight in the eye, with an unfathomable determination blazing.

"I accept, Uchiha-san. I will become your secretary."

_Because it'll be easy, right?_

"Are you sure, Forehead? Being the secretary to the head of the company is pretty hard work," said Ino seriously, filing her nails again. "I mean, if you get fired, you'll never be able to get a job ever again because Uchiha-san will hunt you down! And, what if you have an affair with him? Or you find out he's rea—"

"I think she gets it, Ino. Stop trying to make her quit, it's troublesome."

Naruto stood up and slammed his hand on the table. "Yeah, dattebayo! Quit trying to make Sakura-chan quit!" The table shook with the impact exerted by Naruto's fist, causing the items on the surface to shake.

Realization hit Naruto as Sakura's cup of ramen hit her face. "In a book I read in the library, it said that females tend to be violent when angry," stated Sai happily, as he continued to draw in his sketchpad. The artist was right, as Sakura's fist aimed for his face, as she shouted 'SHANNARO' whilst drawing her fist forward.

"Sakura-chan, don't do this! Look behi—"

"Haruno. Office. _Now._"

The fist was stopped, and the pink haired girl turned around slowly to smile awkwardly at her boss. "R-right away, s-sir," she stuttered as she dropped her clenched fist and started to gather her things. Her friends stared at her silently as she stood up from her seat, and glanced behind her to see if the intimidating man was still there. "Why didn't you tell me he was behind me?!"

"Naruto, you are so dead if I get fired today because of unprofessional attire," Sakura hissed wrathfully as she stormed off to the Uchiha's office, face cloth rubbing desperately over her face to rid of the liquid.

Sighing, she closed the door softly as she entered the large office, and clutched her folders tightly so as to ease her trembling. "What is it you require?" she asked softly, straightening up and standing tall. As an employee that went from being a small worker in the foreign affairs department to big shot secretary, she figured she had to raise her standards professionally.

"Finish these reports, then make two thousand copies. I need them in an hour," he ordered coldly as he sat down in his seat comfortably and pushed forward a large stack of papers. Not even sparing her a glance, he grabbed a pen and started to work.

Sakura nodded quickly and walked forward swiftly and picked the papers off the desk proficiently, or so she thought. Being the clumsy worker she is, she tripped over a snag in the carpet, effectively falling to her knees and having the documents disperse all over the floor. "Shoot..." she muttered, before she stood up and started to retrieve the fallen papers.

Glancing back, she studied his reaction, to which, for some unknown reason, made her disappointed. What had she been thinking, that a replay of earlier events would occur? A constricting feeling tugged at her chest as she turned to face the man again, her pink bangs shadowing her expression.

"I'm sorry, I won't be so incompetent again," she stated dully, before rushing out of the room and to her designated desk.

She collapsed onto her chair and tilted her head back, groaning as she went. The currently frustrated girl slipped an arm casually over her eyes, leaving her pile of paperwork on her desk to wobble whenever a strong breeze blew from a nearby air conditioner.

"Why am I feeling so depressed!? I just got the job I've wanted my entire life, got ramen spilt all over my face, got ignored by boss, have to do tons of paperwork... wait, this is turning into a list of cons!" she wailed as she sat up crossed her arms stubbornly. Cocking her head to the side, she sighed and looked around the office. "Geez, my mind isn't right today."

"Look, it's her."

Sakura jolted, and her eyes diverted to a pair of girls who were chattering incessantly not very far from her. They were both young — made obvious by their freshly styled hair and current fashion items— and were walking to the Uchiha's office excitedly. One of them was staring at her in disgust and was whispering to her friend loudly, as if her intentions were to let the pink haired worker hear them.

"She's not even pretty. Do you think she seduced him?" Sakura scoffed at this and unzipped her bag angrily. "Yeah, I mean there's no way Sasuke-kun would let such an ugly girl be his girlfriend! He's like, in a completely different league. Totally, he's just playing her for fun."

This brought a completely different matter to her head. Flirting? Playing with her for fun? Was that what she was depressed about? "No, that's just completely irrelevant to my issues," she muttered to herself as she pulled out a pen and started to work on the first page. "I don't even want to get romantically involved with him, even if I had a crush on him for years."

"I heard she even has a crush on him! How pathetic."

Sakura's grip on her pen tightened immensely, leaving a hand shaped dent in the writing implement. "What do you girls know?" Standing up stiffly, she shot them a ferocious glare, startling the pair greatly. The pink haired girl smirked and lifted her chin pretentiously, sizing them up and down with her beautiful green, yet absolutely terrifying, eyes. "You girls are just too easy to read.

"Uchiha-san only chooses workers who are capable of doing excellent work in the required time frame. Obviously, you two just weren't good enough," She flipped her hair and sat back down again, continuing her endeavour on the hefty pile of documents she was necessitated to do. "You girls are such hypocrites too; aren't you just here to sneak a peek at your dear _Sasuke-kun?"_

"If that is so, I request you return to your allocated departments, before you lose your jobs," declared a smooth voice from behind the two insulted girls. Spinning around, their eyes widened as they faced the well-built figure of an irritated man with his hands in his pockets.

A shrill gasp rang from the girl's glossy lips as they bowed reverently to the fuming male specimen and scurried off, squealing to each other animatedly. Sakura could do nothing but cock her head and stare after them oddly. "And Ino-pig says _I'm _obsessed."

The dark haired boss just sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, before he turned to glare at her. Grunting, he gyrated on his heel sharply and walked back to the office. He paused at the doorframe, and leant against it heedlessly as he slanted his head her way.

"You were hired to do your work, not yell at fellow employees."

With a final slam of the mahogany door, Sakura screeched madly and pulled at the tips of her hair angrily. "Fine, I'll do my work. I'll show you that I am more than capable of being your secretary," she sneered to herself as she picked up her pen and began to do her papers. "_Sasuke-kun._"

He had heard her yelling at the girls who mocked her. He had heard her mutter to herself as she busily scrawled over the documents. He had heard her murmur his name inordinately seductively as she smirked.

"My, my, Haruno. You sure are as interesting as I first conceived."

For the next few hours, the pair had set themself a goal of finishing the tremendously massive stack of papers. Sakura had been dashing in and out of his office sporadically, bringing and taking papers with her as he ordered. They were a very unapproachable pair as they worked fiercely in silence, apart from the usual commands from the chief. Nonetheless, Sakura wished he didn't say anything at all, as all his comments came with an edge of menace.

"You're too slow. Can't you get these reports a bit faster?"

The pile of documents to be finished was rapidly decreasing, and in the span of just ten hours, the extremely menacing mass of undone papers was almost extinct. However, both were downright exhausted, and Sakura's fingers were aching. Not only that, but her feet were as well, what with all the walking around and photocopying she had to do.

"Copy these, and make sure there are no errors. I need them by 7:30, so in ten minutes," said Sasuke grimly as he jerked his head to a stack of papers near his head. Groaning softly, the tired employee staggered forward to retrieve them, and rubbed her eyes resignedly. Sakura cursed inwardly as her feet suffered another jolt of ache as she strode to the door, but she masked her pain and shuffled out of the office quickly.

Too bad, Uchiha Sasuke was a whiz at breaking composures. "Is the job too hard for you, Haruno?"

He received no answer as the girl marched through the door and banged it close. "Stupid, egotistical, narcissistic, condescending, arrogant..." She froze as she surveyed the long line of people in line for the photocopying machine, all staring at her oddly. "...hello?"

She scuffled slowly to the end of the line and crossed her arms over her chest tenaciously. "What a long line; good thing I decided to get here before checking over them."

Shuffling the papers in her hands delicately, she read over them and slid a hand to the pocket of her black pencil skirt, browsing around in the fabric for a pen. "Eh? I don't have one in there?" she gasped to herself, as she closed the manila folder and tucked it under her arm, so she had better leverage to find the object she sought for. "I swear I had one in here..."

"Looking for this, Sakura-chan?"

As the green eyed girl whipped around, the whiskered boy grinned as he played with a red pen in his tanned fingers. His wide grin grew bigger when she nodded friskily and jumped up to reach it, but he leant away from her, holding it up even higher. "Ah, ah, ah, Sakura-chan! You've got to agree to go on a date with me first!" he exclaimed, jabbing his own chest with his free hand. "There's no other way to get this pen—"

"Except to bash you over the head for not handing it over? SHANNARO!"

While Naruto sat on the floor, moaning over the large lump appearing on his head, Sakura vehemently crossed out the errors with a neat line and wrote the proper term above it. "Mou, there's so many errors here! Did Uchiha-san really type this up properly?" she muttered, jotting down answers. "There's even more on the next page!"

Naruto rested his chin on her shoulder as he scrutinized the papers. "Eh? It doesn't even look like English! I can't even read that!"

"Well, you should go back to elementary school then, Dickless. Maybe then, you'll learn to grow some balls."

"Sai! Don't say stuff like that so loudly," Sakura scolded as she punched him on the cheek. "It's not socially acceptable to do things like that."

The wounded man rubbed his cheek as he looked over the edge of the papers from the front to read along with his two workers. "Did Uchiha get you to do these?"

Sakura nodded, flipping the page over as she shoved the end of the pen in her mouth. "We've been working through the gigantic pile on his desk, and this packet is just about the last of it," she said, her voice a bit stifled due to the item in her mouth. "Though, we worked through them pretty quickly, so I'm glad because I might be able to go home after this."

Her blonde friend sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist lovingly. "Aw... Is our little Sakura-chan tired?"

She let him be, as she was too preoccupied in correcting the mistakes on the new page. "Yes. I am deadbeat. Exhausted. Worn Out. Fatigued," she declared solemnly, flipping another page. "I mean, the man practically has me doing everything, and it's just my first day! My fingers are hurting, my feet are aching and my back is sore from bending over my desk and his reaching for papers."

"Would you like a massage? I can give you one now, if you like," was all the emotionless boy said as he made groping movements with his hands, before he was answered with another punch, except this time on his other cheek.

"Anyway," Sakura continued on, completely ignoring Sai's undeliberate voyeuristic comment, even when he put an arm around her stomach. "That man is just so... ugh! He is the rudest, most infuriating man I have ever met! Is he like this to everyone else?"

"You mean foul, stupid and disrespectful? Yeah, that pretty much sums up the man."

"No! I mean like, does he always have such mood changes?"

"Mood changes? Do you mean extreme or rapid changes in mood, Ugly? Like the ones females have when they are going through their menstr—"

"Yes, those," Sakura jeered pointedly. "I mean, he was acting all flirty and charming before, and now he's the perfect example of the boss from hell!"

Naruto spluttered. "W-what!? That bastard was flirting with you!?"

Sakura sighed and checked over the entire bulk of papers once more. "Well, I think he was. You can never be too sure with that Uchiha," she said as she slipped the papers into an orderly pile. "But if you count whispering softly into one's ear and holding them intimately around the waist flirting, then yeah, he was flirting with me."

"Oi, can you guys move up? You're causing a blockage in the line!" yelled a person angrily from behind them. Sakura gasped and untangled herself from both of the men's arms and stumbled forward in the queue. She flashed the people behind her an apologetic smile and pulled the boys by the wrist so they came to her side.

"Look at her, isn't she disgusting? Having those two men drape themselves all over her; she's such a whore," someone whispered loudly. "I don't understand why a girl like _her_ became _Sasuke-kun's _secretary so quickly. I mean wasn't she working as an underling for the Nara kid?"

Another person joined in the gossip. "Yeah, I bet she slept with Sasuke-kun to get the job. I mean, why else would he hire her?"

Naruto turned around as he snapped, glaring at them heatedly. "Shut up! You guys are just jealous!" he shouted, before he turned back to Sakura and casually pulled her to the machine as she was next in line. "Don't worry about them, Sakura-chan."

The girl simply nodded quickly, before she placed her papers in the machine and pressed the accurate buttons with ease. "I can't believe there are girls that are jealous of Ugly," Sai murmured, glancing back at the still gossiping ladies. "They must be pretty bad."

Sakura gave Sai a light punch and chuckled lightly, but the boys both noticed the undertone of sadness in her laugh. "I better get back now; Uchiha-san is probably going to kill me!" she said forcibly as she withdrew her papers from the gadget. "I'll see you guys around."

Walking off quickly, she grasped the folder to her chest tightly as she entered Sasuke's office quietly. She found him hunched over his desk, his hand furiously scrawling over a sheet of paper. Her eyes averted to the clock hanging on the wall and she paled. The clock read 7:35.

She walked sternly up to the desk and placed them on the surface carefully. "Ah, sir? I have the documents ready for you."

His head jerked up, and he glared at her coldly. "I asked for these fifteen minutes ago. Was it that hard to get them copied in that time?"

"There was a long line for the machine sir, and I was informed all the others were malfunctioning."

"I don't care. You could have just gone to another, or pushed in," he shot back, returning to his papers.

"I told you sir, the other machines weren't working. And, I can't be rude to other workers by doing that."

Sasuke placed his papers into a clear folder and plopped them on top of a big stack of similar folders. "I told you, _I don't care._ You aren't being paid to be nice," he said, leaning forward to get the papers. Scanning through them quickly, he tossed them back at her. "Do you know how unprofessional this looks? With all your scribbles?"

Sakura shot her chin up defiantly. "I was unaware that the way I do things was unprofessional. Kakashi-san and Shikamaru-san never had a problem with it."

"Because they don't deal with the finalised things. You do. Get used to doing things my way, Haruno."

The girl fumed as she scrunched the folder in her hands tightly. "Why are you so rude? I don't recall you being so demanding of other workers!" she screeched, and she glared at him when he didn't respond. "I don't see how I have to be treated an—"

"_Yeah, I bet she slept with Sasuke-kun to get the job. I mean, why else would he hire her?"_

She froze, and she softened her glare to a trained smile. "I-I apologize for my rudeness sir. I haven't an idea what came over me," she apologized gently, bowing her head. Looking up again, she was surprised at the sight that met her eyes.

The man was smirking.

The man whom had previously been wearing a scowl and planting his 'Uchiha death glare' on her was _smirking _egotistically. He leant back in his chair and rested an arm on the armrest, using that same arm to cup his face with slender fingers. "Come forward, Sa-ku-ra," he beckoned her towards him, using his other hand to gesture with his digits.

She was confused. However, she knew when it was not wise to approach a man. "Is this some sort of test, Uchiha-san? Are you deliberately toying with my feelings?"

He chuckled softly. "Hn."

A vein throbbed in her forehead. Stamping forward, she climbed onto the desk and pulled him forward by the tie. "I don't care. I don't care if you give all the work you have, or if you fire me," she hissed, pulling him closer to her face as she inched her legs more comfortably onto the bureau. "I will accept whatever challenge you throw at me... Sasuke-kun."

"Good. I'd hate to challenge someone who forfeits."

She looked him straight in the eye, and blushed as she noticed his eyes travel elsewhere. Coughing, she backed away, dropping his tie and climbing off the desk. "I apologize for that as well. I'll take my leave now."

He smirked. "Wear proper attire tomorrow. No secretary of mine is to go frolicking about with see-through shirts."

Blushing, she turned around and bowed again. Hurriedly, she scurried to the door and opened it slowly. As she was just about to exit, she paused. "Hit me with all you've got tomorrow, Sasuke-kun. I look forward to it."

"You're annoying."

She stiffened and stuck her chin up as she strode quickly out of the office. "That doesn't change my outlook on anything!" she yelled indignantly from the corridor.

Chuckling again, he spun around in his chair to face the clear panelling of windows. Scanning the dark sky, he picked up a glass of red liquid that rested on his desk and brought it to his lips. He sloshed the refreshment around idly, as he waited for his pink haired secretary to walk out from the building.

"Yes, you are definitely annoying," he murmured as he watched the girl walk across the road and skip happily home, raising her fist in the air triumphantly. "And a bigger challenge for me than I am for you."

He downed the whole contents of the glass in one gulp and he wiped his mouth of stray liquid.

"Because as the greatest smelling object ever to be smelled..."

Sakura grinned as she skipped home, giggling as she went. "I did it! I did it!"

"You are the biggest challenge to a vampire like me."

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_**A/N: **_Yay! Another chapter! The idea of using the big words was inspired by extraordinaire's story _'don't go changing'_. So credit for that idea goes to her. Thank you to all those who reviewed, and please continue to! Also, please go to my account page for a poll on my stories as summaries are there too!


	4. Bonds

_**A/N: **_New chapter up! I still don't own Naruto!

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_**La Tua Cantante**_

_**Chapter 4:**_

_**BONDS**_

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"Sakura-chan, you look really tired."

The rosette haired woman glanced up from her cup of coffee and stared at him despairingly. She shook her head lightly and brought the steaming liquidation to her lips flippantly as she turned her head to stare out the window. Sighing, her eyes drooped indolently before she opened her mouth to reply.

"Just a bit," she answered, stifling a yawn with her hand. Sakura put her cup down, and rubbed an eye absent-mindedly as she reached forward for another packet of sugar.

Naruto watched her intently as she ripped open the sachet and spilled its contents into the awaiting drink. "Maybe I shouldn't have woken you up so early..." he said uneasily as the sleepy girl downed her beverage in a single gulp. The whiskered boy regretted saying anything as she jerked her head to face him with an angry stare.

Slamming her cup down onto the table, she growled. "You think?"

When the sound of wailing reached Sakura's ear that morning, she had promptly ignored it. The girl was still tired, and she wiggled around in bed to be in a more comfortable position. Her legs still ached and her fingers were still stiff from all the writing she had done the previous day.

"Don't...no...Leave me alone," Sakura said sluggishly as she turned over in bed. "I want to sleep."

The wailing didn't stop, even when she had tried to block it out as she shoved her head under the pillow. She turned over again, this time moving further away from the bedside table. Unfortunately, not being very sensory in the dark, Sakura had toppled over the edge of the bed, thus creating a noisy ruckus as she brought all her blankets down with her.

Sakura growled as she thrashed, before emerging from the mass of blankets the same way one would if they had just broken the surface of water. "Damn it, I wanted to sleep more," she roared irately, crawling over to the still shrieking gadget that was her phone. Pressing a button, she hissed a greeting in an unwelcome manner. "What?"

She recognized the voice as soon as she had picked it up. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Are you up for some coffee?" Consequently, being unable to resist Naruto's teary voice and the offer of free coffee, she had sluggishly made her way to the coffee shop that was her destination.

"Seriously, Naruto! If you were just going to complain to me about your crappy work life, you could have just done it at _work,_" Sakura grumbled, tipping her foam cup upside down as she mourned over the loss of its contents. Sighing once again, she dropped her cup despondently and yawned.

Naruto laughed heartily as he grabbed his things –including his mug of caffeine that the pink haired maiden had attempted to swipe hungrily— and stood up. "See you at work, Sakura-chan! I want to get some ramen before Ino gets angry at me again!"

Waving reluctantly, she groaned as her supplier of coffee left the shop. Sakura plopped her head onto the table wearily, only to hit her forehead on a scrunched up napkin. "What the heck is this?" she groused as she unrumpled the creased fabric. "From Naruto?"

Whispering to herself quietly, she read it out. "Sakura-chan, don't get down just because the bastard is your boss. Dattebayo."

Sakura laughed gently as she covered her mouth to asphyxiate her giggles. Dropping the napkin, she stood up and made her way to the counter; she figured she could abide by Naruto's wishes if she drank more coffee.

"I'd like a Caramel Macchiato," she said lightly to the worker across the bureau, pulling out her wallet gingerly. "With extra sugar, please."

Whether it was due to the atmosphere of the cosy shop, or just the fact that she was about to get her daily caffeine dose, her mood had improved considerably. A small smile adorning her features she nodded thankfully to the girl as she pushed the cup in front of her carefully.

The worker looked at the pink haired girl expectantly. "That will be ¥272, thanks."

Finding no extra change, she looked through the other pockets of her wallet, only to find it empty. Sakura flashed the girl a gauche smile as she fumbled around in her pockets for the miracle that money would suddenly appear. "Sorry, just let me check my bag ag—"

"Here," a figure muttered as he loomed over her, slapping down a couple of notes carelessly. "And a black coffee with no sugar."

Turning around, Sakura gasped and bowed quickly. "Sasuke-kun! You don't have to pay for me! I just found...um..."

The dark haired man just nodded briskly before he picked up both cups that he had paid for and walked over to her table. "How did you... my table?" she said unintelligently, still baffled by the fact that he had bought her coffee. Sasuke just looked at her knowingly as continued to walk elegantly to the vacant table.

Sitting down, he smirked at her from his spot and she swore that he was challenging her to sit with him. Sakura gave up as she strode over to his table in defeat; after all, she would be getting free coffee.

In silence, the pair started to drink; Sasuke pulling out a folder as he sipped stylishly while Sakura just stared at him as she brought the foam to her lips, blowing carefully as she watched. After a few moments, the vampire sighed and ran a hand through his hair amusedly. "Am I that pleasant to look at?"

Sakura spluttered over her coffee as she took the first taste. "N-no! I was merely... looking at the person behind you!"

Smirking, Sasuke returned to his papers, flicking through them efficiently as he pulled out a pen from an inner pocket in his expensive suit. She watched, somewhat entranced as the sunlight hit his hair faintly through the glass panes of the window, making it look like a dark shade of blue. The man shifted his head slightly, and the rays of light danced around with the dust in the air.

"He must be in a good mood today," Sakura murmured to herself as she continued to gulp down her refreshment. She brought a hand up as she cupped her cheek with her hand and gazed distractedly out the window. "I hope today isn't like yesterday. I've already had a bad enough morning."

"Bad morning?" he asked quietly, still writing over the papers in his neat scrawl.

She nodded, licking her lips as she turned her gaze on him again. "Yes. I fell of the bed, had no coffee left in my house and had to walk here in these dastardly heels because my friend stole my flats."

"You do look awful."

Sakura gasped, and blushed as she brushed her hands through her hair embarrassingly as she averted her eyes. "Well, sorry for that. At least I'm wearing _proper attire_today." She said as she gestured to her pinstriped ensemble, which consisted of a pencil skirt and a short sleeved blouse. Leaning forward, she crossed her arms and grinned mischievously. "What do you think?"

The girl received no answer, and she pouted childishly. Snapping her head back to watch the happenings of the city, she picked up her cup of coffee and brought it to her lips once again, sloshing around as she observed the people loitering idly around the buildings. Sakura yawned loudly, and she covered her mouth with her hands as exhaled.

"It's nice, isn't it?" she whispered quietly as she smiled softly.

The small shop gave off a nice, warm sensation. A comfortable silence hung over the place, being broken only by the quiet chatter of customers and the hearty greetings of employees as they took orders. The aroma of rich coffee beans wafted in the air, along with the delectable scents of pastries and delicacies. It was definitely one of the most perfect places to be in the morning, especially in such a busy city such as Tokyo.

Sakura sighed in relief. "At the least, it's keeping the man across me in a good mood."

She heard a rustling of papers and the swishing of a large coat being put on she watched her boss stand up with his belongings. Sasuke edged out of the booth and started to head out into the cold weather outside the glass door of the toasty shop.

The girl had blurted it out before she could even think about it. "Where are you going?"

She slapped herself inwardly. How could she say that? He was bound to leave eventually, as he was—

"Morning conference. Finish whatever work Nara gives you."

And he left, leaving the green eyed girl to slump back in her seat as she scolded herself for being so out of line. "I should probably go—" she muttered as she slipped on her coat and glanced at the time. Doing a double back, she paled as she stared at the hands on the dreaded numbers. "Damn it! I wasn't paying attention to time!"

"Shoot! I'm late!" Sakura fussed as she ran in her heels to the building, knowing it would be quicker than taking a taxi in the busy traffic. Rushing, she dashed through the glass, sliding doors effortlessly as she signed in hurriedly. "I am so dead if Sasuke-kun finds out that I was late!"

The green eyes girl hastily stopped an elevator door from closing as she squeezed in. Jabbing her allocated floor button, she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the enclosed bow to halt at her destination. "So slow...hurry up, you stupid thing!"

"Eh? Forehead?" said a female voice behind her curiously as a hand met her shoulder. The hand however, didn't match the tone of the voice as it was too calloused and big, so Sakura reacted defensively. Ducking evasively, she spun around and grabbed the hand tightly with both of her own, growling as she turned her grip to that of a vice.

"Who are..." her voice waned slowly as she came to know who had been speaking to her. "Shikamaru?"

The shirker frowned and shook their intertwined hands a bit, before Sakura gasped and let go immediately. "That hurt, you troublesome woman," he muttered as he rubbed his throbbing hand. Whilst stroking his appendage delicately, he raised an eyebrow at her and peeked at his watch. "Aren't you supposed to be up there already?"

Sakura gulped and shook her hands in front of her face dismissively. "What are you talking about, Shikamaru? I've been here the whole time!" Sakura lowered her hands slowly as she realized something. "Hey, Shikamaru, what happened to your voice? It was all high a minute ago..."

A high heeled stiletto suddenly swung at her shin. "How dare you, Forehead!? Can't you even recognize your own best friend's voice!?"

A sudden jolt of understanding hit Sakura as Ino stepped out from behind the lazy dawdler. In her hands, she held an enormous pile of papers, almost as large as the stack Kakashi had made her do the morning she had tripped into her boss's arms. "Ino? Sorry, I didn't see you behind the... papers."

The sound of the elevator doors swinging open on her floor caused Sakura end their conversation and wave a dismal good-bye as she awaited the work she had been assigned to do by her hellish boss.

She heard two sets of footsteps behind her. "Mou, wait up, Forehead!"

The pink haired girl turned stubbornly around as she reached her desk, plopping her bag down onto the floor beside her. "And what is tha—ah!" she gasped as Ino abruptly skipped over and dumped the large mass onto her desk with a relieved sigh. Sakura stared astounded at the towering mass that now inhabited her desk. "Wh-what is t-this?"

"It's too troublesome to explain fully," muttered Shikamaru as he stuck his hands behind his head and walked off. Sakura just gaped after him. "Just finish all those before Uchiha returns."

Ino smiled at her apologetically, before she too, began to retreat back to her own department. Sakura just reached out for her wrist, but she dodged. "Sorry Forehead. Orders from the top dog."

The pink haired girl grumbled as she proceeded to start the massive mass of documents she had to do. "Some friends I have," she hissed to herself as she began scrawling over the papers. "It wouldn't hurt if they would help once in a while."

Scribbling furiously at a fast pace, Sakura continued to work diligently for the rest of the morning. Fellow workers stayed away in fear of disrupting the dangerous aura that she emitted, and several rumours started to drift about the cause of her newfound determination to work.

"Yeah, wasn't she fighting with the boss yesterday about her job?" they whispered to each other excitedly. "I bet she's going to get fired by the time he gets back; I bet my pay on it."

Sakura snorted deliriously. "I bet my pay on it," she mimicked childishly as shook her hand to rid of the cramps that were starting to frequent. "Too bad; your pay's been wasted on something stupid!"

"Somebody told me once that talking to yourself was the first sign of insanity."

Green eyes stared at him unenthusiastically as Sakura spared him a glance before recommencing her signing. "You've been talking to Sai," she accused warily, pushing back some stray strands of hair with her hand. "And I am not going insane."

Kakashi chuckled and turned a page in his book. Stretching slightly as he departed from his previous lazy stance by the doorway, he made his way to her slowly. "Someone's in a bad mood."

The girl ignored him, hunching over her work even more when she heard him approach. "And look where it put you. My, we leave you here with a big stack of unfinished papers, and look what's happened! I've taught you well," he commented as he plopped down onto a vacant seat and rolled over to her. "But..."

With no warning whatsoever, the masked man snatched the papers away from her and held them in his hand calmly. "You really should learn to take a break."

Sakura pouted, and crossed her arms obstinately over her chest. "_Sensei,_you didn't teach me well enough then."

"I'm quite aware that I was told not to meddle with your personal preferences to resting times," Kakashi lifted eyed her over the top of his pages before he thrust the documents in his hand to a clear desk. "For blaming me such a trivial matter, you have to face the consequences.

Gawking, Sakura watched as her finished papers fluttered precociously to another location, and she spun around in her chair adamantly. "Consequences?"

He grinned, or at least, she thought he grinned, as he jerked his head towards the window on the far side of the room. "See that coffee shop down there?" he inquired, standing up and brushing his pants with his available hand. "Let's go out for some lunch."

Again, without warning, he grabbed a hold of her skinny wrist and proceeded to drag her into the elevator. "NO! I need to check over the reports one more time!" Sakura struggled dearly with trying to pry his strong grip from her wrist, and gave up when the doors closed. "If I get fired—"

She was interrupted as the man she was conversing with started to publicly giggle at literature that was deemed as inappropriate in society. Sighing, she leaned on the railing of the elevator and stuck her hands in her pockets as she fumbled around for some money.

"Once again, I'm broke," she grumbled as she scratched her head thoughtfully. "To think about it, I haven't got any money in my wallet at all."

Sakura supposed she should have been used to being hit with surprises, but it wasn't everyday that a surprise hit you smack bang in the face. As the green eyed girl recovered from a devastating hit from a small item, she glared at the silver haired offender. "What is..." she said quietly as she examined the object. "...is this money!?"

He ignored her as he pulled her out of the lift and walked briskly out of the edifice. Groaning, Sakura kept in stride with him, though his hand had left her wrist and was now shoved deeply the pocket of his slacks. No conversation was shared between them as Kakashi was too engrossed in his reading material and Sakura was bleakly mulling over job options she could take if she was fired.

"Eh? This is..." she whispered as he opened the glass door of the cosy shop for her, and she graciously entered. Kakashi grabbed her hand and led her over to a booth at the far corner of the shop, where a man had already occupied a seat.

"Sorry I'm late. My friend had a bit of trouble agreeing to lunch preparations."

The man answered with a grunt as he continued shuffling papers professionally before placing them all in a single folder. Kakashi pulled Sakura's elbow softly and ushered her to sit, which she did, albeit reluctantly next to the stranger. Fidgeting, she glimpsed at him through the bangs of her hair, and looked away quickly when she comprehended the identity of the man.

"You're always late anyway," the man said listlessly, finally looking up. His onyx drifted to her briefly before settling on the still reading man across the bureau. "But why did you have to drag my secretary along as well?"

Kakashi lowered his book slightly and exchanged looks with the dark haired man. Leaning back again, he closed his book shut and placed it on the surface of the table. "Does it bother you?" he asked playfully, his lone eye crinkling in amusement.

A heavy tension fell over the table as both males engaged in a staring competition of sorts. It seemed like a stalemate, and Sakura started to intervene. "S-shall we get our drinks?" she said hopefully, trying to receive an answer but to no avail. "Or shall we get some food?"

Finally, after what seemed like eons, Sasuke grunted again and excused himself from the table, making his way to the counter. "I guess its Sasuke's treat again today," Kakashi said as he resumed his reading. "Ohohoho... don't do it, Yuki!"

Overlooking her previous teacher's odd discussion with his book, she stood up and scuffled nervously over to the Uchiha, who was still waiting in line. "I can do this..." she told herself as she pulled out her wallet, double checking she had money in there. "It's just to pay him back; no big deal."

"A Vanilla Hazelnut, black coffee with no sugar or cream," he said monotonously to the worker behind the cashier. Sakura stumbled over to him, bumping into his arm a bit with a soft thud. "And a Caramel Macchiato."

Sakura shyly placed some money on the counter as Sasuke began to pull his own wallet out. He looked at her oddly before continuing to open the item in his hands, but the rosette haired girl just smiled lightly and placed a soft hand over his own.

"Here," she helplessly tried to imitate Sasuke as she repeated her action of putting down the bills. "And a black coffee with no sugar."

Laughing, she covered her mouth as she stared back at him, and her soft smile turned to a grin. "Take it as me owing you for the coffee this morning."

He grunted, and shook her other hand off his own as he reached for his own cup of coffee as they came. "Hn."

Sakura pouted again and grabbing the two remaining drinks, she skipped over to the pair of males at their booth. Handing Kakashi his Vanilla Hazelnut, she sat down next to Sasuke again, opening the top of her coffee to blow carefully.

"Ah! It's been a busy day, huh?" Sakura chirped, rubbing her hands around the material of her cup. "How was your conference, Sasuke-kun?'

He grunted, sipping his own drink as he inched away from the girl as she leaned towards him. "Fine."

Sakura sulked as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Mou, everyone is being mean today!"

She received no answer from the two males, and she proceeded to gulf down her hot refreshment angrily. "Fine then, don't answer— ouch!"

Hissing, she dropped her cup as she felt drops of hot coffee hit her skin. The rosette haired girl began to bring her burnt arm up to her mouth to caress it with her tongue, but a blur stopped her from her action as she felt something cold engulf her wrist. She felt cold fingers press against her warm skin, and her injured arm was brought upwards.

"Are you alright?"

Onyx eyes stared at her deeply as Sasuke whispered the words. Her arm was so near his mouth that she could feel his breaths touch her in time with his breathing pattern. Unconsciously, she leant towards him, and shivered when his icy digits ran down her arm to her miniscule burn. Her shuddering became even more extreme as she felt the ghost of his lips brush against her injury, before he straightened and set more distance between them.

Kakashi watched the silent, yet meaningful exchange between the two as Sasuke held her arm delicately. Smiling, he put his cup down quietly –how he had finished it without anyone witnessing was an unknown mystery— and coughed noisily to get their attention.

"Well, I've got to get going," he said as he stood up, shocking the two at his sudden movement. "I have some important matters to attend to, so look after my share of papers, ok?"

"EH?" Sakura gasped as the silver haired man waved them a small good-bye as he disappeared through the glass doors. "He's making me do more work, even though he knew what I went through this morning?"

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he too stood up and gathered his papers. "Let's go. We have work to do."

True to his word, Kakashi had left an astounding pile of papers on his desk, with a small post-it attached instructing them on what to do. Grunting, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and ordered her to take them to his office, to which Sakura immediately, yet very grudgingly, complied.

"And tomorrow, I'm going to have bags under my eyes from lack of sleep," she muttered as she scuffled to his office. "I really need to send in a compla—ah!"

Almost tripping over an item on the floor, Sakura stumbled over to his desk quickly, and laid down the stack of credentials before she could commit anymore clumsy acts. "I really am too clumsy..."

"Start these," Sasuke commanded impassively as he looked up at her from his work on the desk. Grumbling under her breath, she snatched away the stack of papers and stomped out the door. Sakura took care as she walked out, making sure she didn't make a fool of herself again.

However, this didn't last long as she stopped and fumbled with her papers when she received another order. "Work here."

Sakura spun around and gazed at him in anticipation. "And where shall I work... sir?"

He pointed with a single, slim finger to his own desk, making the girl jump in surprise. "Yes, Sasuke-kun," she whispered, and trod slowly to the table as she set down her pile of documents. Brightening up, she smiled and raised her fist in the air triumphantly. "Cha, let's finish these!"

With that, Sakura proceeded to start her work, but was halted in her act as those same cold fingers touched her wrist again. "Is your burn still hurting?"

Examining her injury, she shook her head and grinned at him. Lifting her arm up proudly, she showed him the light trace of her burn, which was starting to fade away. "Nope, see! It's healing really fast!"

A grunt was his reply, and he detracted his hand to continue his work. Sakura's grin softened to a gentle smile as she leant forward, causing Sasuke to lift his head at her sudden proximity. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, we have a bond here don't we?"

He scoffed, and moved back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest cockily as he smirked at her. "What? How can you think _we_ have a bond?"

"Well, a bond is a relationship between two people, right? So, I guess we have a boss-employee bond."

"Are you sure we have _just_a boss-employee relationship?"

Sakura froze. Staring incredibly unintelligently, she raised an eyebrow at his words. "W-what do you mean?"

To her infuriating frustration, he just grunted and scooted his seat frontward. Picking up his pen, Sasuke simply ignored her gaping mouth and wide eyes as he resumed his signing of credentials. The perplexed girl soon gave up when she realized she wasn't going to get an answer and sighed. Sakura continued her work again as well, and for the rest of the night, the two worked soundlessly.

Soon enough, it became late, and the two tired workers were still busy signing away at the papers. "Exactly how much more do we need to do?" asked Sakura as she picked up another file and started to read over it. "I'm going to die if I ever have to this much again."

Glancing over the remaining piles of unfinished files, Sasuke turned to her. "If we work fast enough, we can get these done in another hour."

She groaned, and began to fiddle with the papers she was working on. "We should have gotten some coffee back at the shop; I'm in dire need of a caffeine boost," she said resignedly. Yawning, she covered her mouth with her hands before she stretched them high over her head. "I feel like I'm going to fall asleep any mo—"

"What did you think I meant?"

Sakura froze in her stretch and looked up him curiously. "Eh?"

Sighing, Sasuke shuffled some more papers and put them in another folder. "About our... bond."

"Oh... I don't really know. Maybe that we were even more distant than that?" she said questioningly, though the question was more directed to herself.

The dark haired man shut his drawer with a loud close as he tilted his head to stare at her directly in the eye. Sakura jumped at the impact he made, as it made the whole desk shake, and she gazed back at him oddly.

His expression was one that she had never seen before; it was a look of amusement, sadness, and a bit of bitterness. "Distant? Is that what you think we are..." he drawled as he picked up a folder and passed it to Sakura, who clutched it to her chest. "Sa-ku-ra?"

She gasped, and looked away fervently. Coughing, she pretended to be working on another file, but Sasuke once again interrupted her by taking a hold of her wrist. "Do distant people spend lunch together, or call each other by their first names?"

"Sasuke-kun..."

Like what had happened in the coffee shop, she instinctively leaned closer to him, entranced by whatever spell he was casting. He was now in such close proximity that she could touch his face with her hair, or caress his lips with her own... but he moved away too quickly, and straightened up.

"Get back to work," he commanded coldly, as if she had done something wrong. Sakura frowned and opened her mouth to protest, until he got out of his seat to examine files on the other side of the room.

An awkward silence fell upon them once again as they got deep into their paperwork and it became even later as the entire building was almost empty. Time was going by quickly for Sakura, as she worked and she was glad. She was grateful for the amount of work she had to do as it gave her an excuse to be quiet, even though the thing she wanted most was to ask why he had acted so unexpectedly.

"I'm done, Sasuke-kun," Sakura stated as she returned from putting the rest of the files back into Kakashi's office. "May I take my leave now?"

He grunted, and she fled quickly. "I'm sorry for being a bother today, sir!" she yelled somewhat quietly as she stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the button. "I will try not to be too distracted next time!"

Sasuke didn't answer as she stepped through the metal doors her head down as she shuffled in listlessly, but spoke when the doors were closing slowly. "Next week..."

The girl looked up, and she flashed him a small smile. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"A meeting. Be prepared, as we will have to get more work done."

Nodding the girl smiled even brighter as she replied with an enthusiastic cheer. The doors still hadn't completely closed, so it spared her a few moments to watch as her boss turned swiftly and strode down the corridor gracefully. Sakura deeply admired the way that Sasuke portrayed himself, and tilted her head to the side as she played with a lock of pink hair. His muscular back facing her, she hit herself inwardly as her thoughts drifted to a more sexual path.

"I do not think of Sasuke-kun that way. I don't like him anymore," she chanted, making it her own mantra as the doors of the old contraption snapped close. "Of course, I don't; he's my boss now! I can't eve—" The sound of familiar wailing filled her ears as she groped quickly in her pocket for her phone. "What is with people interrupting my inner monologues all the time?"

She answered the phone quickly, and winced as Ino's noisy voice filtered through the earpiece at full volume. "Forehead! Are you still at work? We've been, like, looking for you everywhere!"

Sakura made an approving sound into the phone, and pulled the phone away from her ear as the voice got even louder. "You are going home now, right? Naruto and I are at your apartment, and we're totally raiding your refrigerator tonight for your lateness, so be pre—"

The deafening voice from the phone crackled and buzzed, and Sakura sighed into the phone. Her friend apparently heard her soft groan and instantly spoke up even louder, making the bad signal even worse. Although it was hard to understand, Sakura understood the gist of her friend's tantalizing speech.

"You're in the elevator, aren't you? Cow-lips, the reception is so bad there, they really should get them upgraded."

Sakura shook her head furiously at her blonde friend's suggestion waited to speak until she had stepped out of the enclosed box with bad signals.

"Oh, I disagree. I think we should keep the elevators."

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_**A/N: **_I would so keep those elevators if it got me a good eyeful of Sasuke-kun every time he walked away! Sorry for the really long wait, but I have been busy with...hellwo— I mean homework! If I get straight A's in my report again, I might just get a reward from my parents!

So anyway, please review, as I would really like feedback to know if I should continue this story or not. Also, please check my profile for the poll, as the poll will sort of determine which story I focus on...


	5. Meeting

_**A/N: **_Yo! I'm back! Sorry for the long update, but I was seriously not motivated to write this chapter. I almost thought of discontinuing this chapter due to lack of reviews, but I was suddenly inspired by a story that I read, which was written by annabananaa. The story is called _Porcelain, _and I order you to read it! :) This chapter is dedicated to annabananaa for her amazing story that inspired me to keep on fighting!

Still, I do not own Naruto.

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_**La Tua Cantante**_

_**Chapter 5:**_

_**MEETING**_

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Sharingan Inc was famous for its uncanny organization and exceptional working standards. This was due to the fact that only highly outstanding employees were hired, employees that did only their job perfectly.

"_This _is the company that's number one in this region?"

It was definitely an odd sight to behold as two workers fell beneath the expectations like one would fall when bungee jumping. The receptionists weren't the smartest people, as one was nonchalantly doing her nails, while the other was lounging on his chair as he amused himself with a black gaming device.

"Hey, Shark-boy, do you think Sasuke-kun likes me?" asked a redheaded girl snobbishly as she shook a bottle of nail polish in her hand. "I mean, he and I are so perfect together!"

"Excuse me, but—"

Snorting, the boy just continued on with his game, furiously jabbing the controls with his fingers. He watched excitedly as his character darted across the screen and cheered as multiple monsters appeared. "C'mon! Shoot down those hollows li—OI! What are you doing, Karin?!"

Karin lifted her chin haughtily as she dangled the portable gaming platform by the lanyard. "I asked you a question. You're supposed to answer."

"Fine, no man in their straight mind would go out with you."

"Suigetsu; stop lying!"

"I said, excuse m—"

The light haired man shrugged and snatched the PSP away from the girl's dangerous nails. "I'm not. You're pigheaded, wear glasses, and don't have your looks going for you..." Suigetsu affirmed as he nodded his head. "Yeah! Bankai!"

"Whatever." Karin sighed and began to coat her long nails with a nice covering of black. "I swear, Shark-boy, those games will kill you. Oh, and you're going to die lonely and a—"

"_Excuse me_, but we wish to have access to Uchiha Sasuke's office right away—"

Karin spun around in her chair angrily. "Well, _excuse me, _but you just..."

"—as we, Byakugan Corp, would like to attend the meeting scheduled at this instance."

A look of utter shock was etched onto the girl's face as the dark contents of her bottle splattered to the tiled floor. "...Byakugan Corp?" breathed Karin as she examined the group carefully.

A group of well-groomed individuals stood there, their stylish suits being proof of this. The man that had spoken sighed impatiently as he crossed his arms, checking the time on his flashy watch. A girl fidgeted nervously behind him and twiddled her fingers together as a young man next to her hovered protectively over her.

"Yes, and we have a meeting to be present at," explained the same man intolerantly. "Just let us escort ourselves up to the room where the conference is being held."

Their attention was drawn away when they heard the fast clicking of heels on the stairs, and a panting voice as the orator stopped in her tracks. "There's no need for that; I shall escort you to the room myself."

There, leaning over the stairs tiredly, was a pink haired girl with vibrant green eyes that stared at them anxiously. "I apologize for any inconveniences we have caused you. Please come quickly, as the meeting is about to start," said the girl politely as she walked over to the group in her noisy shoes.

Sakura attempted to calm her lungs down as she huffed as if she had just run a marathon. Of course, it was quite close; being forced to take the stairs down to the ground level from the _highest _level was hard work. Brushing a hand through her hair, she straightened herself as she continued to walk towards them, and gestured with her hand for them to follow her.

"As I said, please hurry sir; Uchiha-san doesn't like to be kept waiting."

White eyes scanned her over, and the man scoffed. "Who are you to think you can do what you like?"

A soft squeak was elicited from pink lips as the shy girl moved forward to protest. "Father... maybe she is th—"

"Leave Hiashi-sama be, Hinata-sama. Do not interfere," ordered the young boy as he appeared at her side instantly, wrapping a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back successfully. His long, chestnut hair swung around his face as he lifted his head sharply to glare at Sakura. "Hiashi-sama is correct; a girl like you should not impede on other's business.

"Sharingan Inc has fallen low if they hire employees like you. Such destinies for those like yourself are nothing but full of incomprehensible troubles. Arrogant, nosy and undistinguished workers are better off fired."

Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but clamped her mouth shut as she was interrupted by a strong voice. "Honest as always, aren't we Hyuuga?" boomed a confident voice as a hand came down on her head. "But don't you think you're being out of line?"

Hiashi glowered at the speaker and squared his shoulders. "Tsunade-sama, what brings you here?" he sneered rather disrespectfully at the woman.

Green eyes widened as the pink haired girl jerked her head to catch a glimpse of the woman who had defended her, and she gasped. "T-Tsunade-sama!"

Hazel eyes glanced at her as said woman just smiled at her as she wheeled the rosette around effortlessly to turn to the elevators at the end of the hall. "Follow along Hiashi. You wouldn't want to anger Uchiha by bullying his precious secretary now, would you?"

Trailing after the powerful woman slothfully, Sakura struggled to keep pace as she stumbled over her stilettos clumsily. "Ah, could we please slow down?"

"Nope. We're late enough as it is," said Tsunade seriously, tugging at the thin wrist in her hand eagerly as she dragged Sakura into the elevator with her. She barked at the Hyuugas with annoyance as she tapped her long fingers on the wall next to the pad of control buttons. "Didn't I say to hurry up?"

Sighing, the brown-eyed woman jabbed a button and put her hand on her hip as the contraption moved. This gave Sakura the perfect opportunity to discreetly scope out information—by this, she meant staring blatantly at the object of her attention and asking her nonstop queries— from the bored woman.

Twiddling her fingers nervously, Sakura diverted her gaze to the floor as she spoke softly. "Tsunade-sama? I was wondering, I—"

"What? You think you can talk to me?" derided the busty woman as she leant forward to unconsciously show off her assets. A hearty laugh erupted from her mouth as she looked at the girl in ridicule. "With the way your acting now, I don't believe you have the right to."

Sakura cocked her head to the side as confusion clouded her eyes. "Huh?"

Her personality had changed instantly; from being the sweet, defending woman, she had turned to a cruel, cold businesswoman. The curvaceous figure of the blonde haired woman leant against the railing of the wall as she scoffed. Brown eyes scrutinized the pink haired girl in absolute mockery, crossing her arms across her voluptuous chest.

"Aren't you Uchiha's secretary? I thought you would be a tough nut that could handle the Uchiha, but instead, I see this scrawny little girl who can't even handle her own troubles. Why in the world did that boy hire someone like you?"

The pink haired girl wanted to snap back angrily and throw a hissy fit, but settled for bowing reverently. "I apologize for my irresponsible attitude, Tsunade-sama."

"See? That's the scrawny little girl I'm talking about," Tsunade declared as she swung her hand towards the pink head to thwack it jokingly. "I really don't like tha—OUCH!"

It had happened in a blur, and on pure instinct. As the larger hand travelled through the air to sail into her head, she had dodged and brought her own hand up to dig into her opponent's stomach. It was really just too bad that she had hit the flab of skin before she had time to even think about what she was doing.

Opening her mouth to apologize again profusely, her speech was intervened as the elevator doors slid open, revealing the lazy posture of a silver haired man. "Yo," Kakashi greeted as he waved a hand flippantly. "The meeting is about to start in the main conference room. The Uchiha is a bit... _angry_ right now, so I suggest we hurry."

Sakura gasped and turned to the hazel-eyes woman, bowing contritely as she started to utter profuse amounts of apologies. She was once again interrupted though, as Tsunade walked past her and laid a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "It's fine, just lead the way to the room."

The ever-reading man nodded and strode down the corridor elegantly as the group followed. Once at the glass doors, Kakashi snapped his book shut as he pried the transparent entrance open with nimble fingers. Using those same fingers, he pushed the small of Sakura's back forward as he bent down to whisper softly in her ear. "Good luck... an angry Uchiha is the hardest thing on earth to deal with."

The girl shivered involuntarily as the words replayed over and over again in her head like a broken record. Cautiously, she made her way to the front of the room, where the muscular back of her handsome boss faced her. Sakura manoeuvred her way successfully around the huge table that dominated the room and glimpsed at the various people already sitting in their seats.

Coming to a halt next to the man, she coughed softly to get his attention, only to be hit with the terrifying glare of an angry Uchiha. "How long does it take for you to bring three people up here?"

Huffing, she put her hands on her hips as she pouted crossly. "I had to run down the stairs to the bottom floor, Sasuke-kun. I don't think anyone could have done that in just a few seconds, so don't blame me."

Oh, if only she knew the real beings that could accomplish such feats.

The raven just nodded to her dismissively as he spun on his heel to address the individuals in the conference elegantly. "The meeting can now begin, as all participants are present now."

Meetings were usually rather boring for Sakura, but she found this one to be far from it.

The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Many thoughts swirled around in the minds of the occupants of the room, and despite the fact that almost every member was engaging in conversation about topics that they had little knowledge about; they did well to hide it. This confusion floating around didn't stop them from voicing their thoughts though.

"Well, according to statistics gathered in the last few years..."

Obsidian eyes watched the scene before him with both intensity and amusement. He was supposed to be actively participating in the conference, but kept finding his attention being drawn away from the real point of the meeting.

Tap. Tap. Scribble. Scribble. Tap.

"Stop it. It's annoying," he muttered to his secretary in irritation. "Focus on the topic."

She glanced up at him with shimmering eyes. "Oh, but I am, Sasuke-kun! I have written so many notes already!"

Suddenly, a whole wad of papers were shoved in his face, all covered in a messy scrawl. Pushing it away, he grunted and ignored his secretary who continued to jot down notes excitedly. "It's just so exciting; I've never been to a meeting like this before..." she whispered eagerly, her foot brushing his leg as she brought it up slightly. "Especially one about medical knowledge!"

It seemed she was unaware of the nasty stares she was receiving from a brunette across the table, and she flashed Sasuke a wide grin as she propped her elbows onto the desk as she listened even more intently. Pointing insistently, she picked out a picture of the heart on the boards of paper that were being presented.

"The information is incorrect. The left ventricle is much too small in comparison to the right ventricle, stating the heart's function to be inaccurate. Also, the placement of the aorta causes the whole heart to bear a different structure than normal, which brings me to the conclusion that this operation was performed inc—"

"Enough!" Tsunade boomed, slamming her hands down on the table, her amber eyes gleaming with fury as the books on the table jumped up due to the force she applied to it. Tsunade snarled to the man who was presenting and told him to sit down. When he didn't comply immediately, she glared at him and threatened him with vulgar terms, conjuring up gruesome mental images in everyone's mind. Once that was done, she smoothed back her hair which had gone askew during her fit of rage and approached the podium.

"Is this— this _thing _what you call a successful operation? Do you know how many things are wrong here?" the woman snarled as she stabbed the cardboard furiously. "Are you trying to disgrace our hospital and procedures?"

Sasuke smirked at Sakura as her hands clasped together and she nodded fervently in agreement. "Now, how would a secretary like you know so much about this?"

Turning her head, she raised an eyebrow at him questioningly and glowered at him. "Are you insulting my knowle—"

"Uchiha! Is there something you and your secretary would like to share?" barked the blonde presenter as she directed the whole attention of the dwellers of the table to the two. Sakura paled and coughed anxiously, turning red at the various sets of eyes that were staring at her.

The dark haired vampire just nodded professionally and intertwined his fingers together in front of his face. "Yes, I would like to contribute to your presentation with the plans for hospital and medical facility integration," he declared, his smirk turning to a business frown. "You don't mind if your speech is cut short do you?"

Smiling cheekily under his mask, Kakashi slid a large folder of papers to the Uchiha, who capably caught them and cleared his throat to signal his begin. "Of course, this idea that is to be presented is a serious issue which can only be headed by a person of exceptional skill and experience. For that, I would like to announce that the representative from Sharingan Inc for this matter is..."

Silence filled the room as all the occupants waited patiently for the name of the person. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair refreshingly as his hand grabbed a hold of Sakura's, and lifted it assertively to the air. The pink haired secretary yelled in both protest and surprise as she tried to pry away the firm fingers that had encompassed her palm. "Sasuke-kun, please let go..."

"Haruno Sakura."

Once again, just like the similar occasion that had occurred two weeks ago, Sakura gaped at her boss with wide eyes.

His comment was followed by the noisy uproar of the other participants, the majority of them bellowing in astonishment. Among them was the same man who insulted Sakura earlier, his pearly irises staring intensely at the commotion. He stood up irately as he banged his open palms on the wooden surface of the table.

"Why that girl?" he hissed at the dark haired president as he leant forward menacingly. "Don't you think that she's too inexperienced to deliver such a big idea? Isn't she just one of your _toys?_"

A murmur of agreement spread through the room, but was cut short as a loud snort sounded and another woman joined the argument. "What, is every girl in this business a _slut_? Is that what you're implying?" growled the blonde as she glared at the Hyuuga. Crossing her arms, she huffed as she continued. "I'm pretty sure that there are women out there that could do your job better with their eyes closed!"

"Being a feminist doesn't change the fact that as a woman and a worker at Sharingan Inc, she is unfit to even do her job!"

This time, the girl bolted up wrathfully, having so much force that she knocked her chair over. "I'm not a feminist! This is strictly professional!" she yelled furiously, swinging her arm in the air to add emphasis to her words. "It's because men like you are so pigheaded and st—"

A pale hand shot out in front of the girl's body, and she stumbled back as she stopped her speech. "G-Gaara..." The name was whispered out almost fearfully as she recoiled and sat down in her chair that a fellow person had brought up from the floor. Dropping her head, she laid her hands limp in her lap as the said man withdrew his arm and aqua eyes fixed on clear ones.

The long haired man opened his mouth to say more, but was stopped as a chilling voice spoke. "Hyuuga Neji, the business world has no place for trivial matters. _Don't bring it up when that is so,_" deadpanned the red haired man, his stare becoming deathly intimidating. Doing as he said, Neji reluctantly took his seat again and a pregnant pause engulfed the entire room. "Uchiha, continue."

Sasuke nodded and turned his body to face his secretary. Tightening his grip on her hand, Sasuke whispered gently into Sakura's ear. "Tell everyone how extensive your _knowledge _is." With that, he released her palm and smirked cockily at her.

Leaving her with no other choice but to reach the podium, she sighed under her breath and gathered her papers on the desk. Tantalizingly slow, Sakura approached the dais where Tsunade was standing impatiently, and flashed the busty woman nervous glance before she replaced her at the stand. This glance then swept across the entire room, and she coughed to rid of the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"I- I would like to start by stating the origin—" she said before she was interrupted by a loud sound, courtesy of the long haired Hyuuga as he slapped his stash of papers noisily onto the desk. He shot her an icy glare, before diverting his gaze elsewhere. "W-well, a-as I was saying..."

Her eyes fell upon the built figure of her boss, and her pink brows furrowed at his posture. Laid back in his chair, he was in a position that suggested mock enjoyment, and his smirk had returned. Onyx eyes were challenging her, and she gave him a brief glare before lifting her chin up high and continuing her speech.

"Originally, the idea of the integration was to have a single hospital accommodate both physically and mentally ill patients. From that, Sharingan Inc has devised a plan to further use the hospital to the people's advantage," Sakura said confidently, her nervous frown slowly turning to a smile. "So, our plan is that the hospital is expanded, and be split into two sections, according to the category of illness."

The remainder of the meeting was spent by sharing ideas over the expanding of the hospital, and Sakura felt both great pride and nervousness as she listened to the others converse in businesslike manners. When the long conference was over, the rosette groaned and dropped her head in her arms as the other member filed out in a fashionable order.

"God... why doesn't that man ever tell me anything?" she grumbled as she gathered all her folders and stalked out of the room. "Geez, Uchiha's and their stupid pr—ouch!"

Her face collided with a solid object, and she brought her hands up to fumble with whatever it was. "Since when was this wall..." her voice trailed off as she looked up to see threatening aqua eyes staring back at her. "G-Gaara-dono?"

The red headed man merely glared at her as he shifted his weight to his other foot restlessly, clearly hinting for her to remove her wandering fingers. "Move."

"Ah, wait!" she cried out as she grabbed his wrist. He didn't even acknowledge her presence as he shook her hand away as if it carried disease, and continued to make his way to the elevator. Sakura huffed as she stomped her foot crossly. "Hey! You didn't have to do that! I just wanted to thank you for what you did this morning!"

"Are you that stupid? Stop approaching people like you know them."

Whirling around, she turned to jab at the Uchiha's hard chest as she scolded him. "I. Cannot. Believe._ YOU!" _Sakura hissed as she glowered angrily at him. "Why couldn't you have told me that you were going t— hey! Don't just grab my hand and expect me to shut up!"

Sasuke smirked as he dragged the unwilling girl back to his office, with her screaming bloody murder as he did. "You should just be glad that most of the others have left, else you'd be the laughing stock of business."

"Ha, is that supposed to be your twisted sense of humour?" she retorted sarcastically as he pushed open the door to his place of work.

"Sakura, that isn't funny a—"

"My, you seem rather close."

The vampire just growled as he realized that his office was already occupied. Snatching his hand away from Sakura's, he strode forward as he dropped his folders onto the desk. "What are you doing here?"

Chuckling, the woman stood up and lifted her hands in surrender. "Fine, Uchiha. I know where I'm not wanted," she said playfully as she walked around the desk. Shooting the pink haired secretary a quick glance, she smiled at Sasuke as she placed a hand on her hip. "I just want to have a small chat with your little... _Sakura._"

"No," deadpanned Sasuke while he took the seat that was now vacant, sorting his papers as if he was busy. "Tsunade, if you need to talk to her, please don't do it within her working hours."

The voluptuous woman scowled as she forcefully seized Sakura's arm and proceeded to heave her out of the room. "I won't take no for an answer, Uchiha."

And with that, the door was crashed shut with so much force that a piece of the hinge fell off.

"Damn it..." cursed the now infuriated man as he got out of his chair. "What does she want?"

Neither Sasuke, nor Sakura knew the answer to that. "Um... Tsunade-sama? May I ask what you want to talk to me about?"

Halting abruptly in the middle of the hall, Tsunade pulled her into a secluded room to her right. Closing the door closed softly, she turned to face the green eyed girl who was looking at her oddly. The blonde woman sighed as she put a hand over her stomach, and stared back.

"You know, I actually take back all I said in the elevator," she proclaimed, rubbing the sore over her clothes. "You punch _very _hard."

Sakura blushed. "Ah... I'm sorry?"

Shaking her head, Tsunade moved to the window at the end of the room and pulled the Venetian blinds up. As a flood of moonlight flushed in, the woman sighed again and beckoned her over with a nicely manicured hand.

"Don't be. Apologizing over something like that will make me regret saying what I just said," she ordered, her hazel eyes gazing out the window. "I heard you both, you know."

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "Huh?"

"The conversations between you and the Uchiha during the meeting. You both were... quite amusing," she chortled, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder as she smiled at her. "At first, I thought maybe you were just annoying him..."

"I always annoy him."

"...but, it seems he really does enjoy your company."

The conversation had taken a drastic turn. How had the topic drifted from injured stomachs due to hard punches to confused brains because of the Uchiha?

Sakura laughed weakly and scratched the back of her head. "I guess it's natural; as his secretary, I have to spend most of my time with him."

Tsunade shook her head and jerked her head towards the scenery outside. "This entire city is practically run by Sharingan Inc, so he has to meet with many people, Yet, the Uchiha isn't the most social person, so the fact that he can freely smile—"

"_Smirk, _is the more correct term."

"—_smirk _while he's around you is an amazing thing in itself. It's pretty rare for him to let his guard down around people."

"Ah... I guess so... but that doesn't really have much to do with our relationship, does it?" inquired Sakura as she put a hand to the window while she stared out. "I mean, we don't have much of one."

The busty woman laughed again, this time having to cover her mouth because of the loud volume of her giggle. "Relationship? I don't think you can say that you don't have one when you call each other by your first names."

Blushing much harder than before, she coughed and retreated to other side of the room carefully. "Um... I should go back now, as Sasuk- I mean, Uchiha-san will be angry if I leave all the work to him," she explained as she fumbled with the door knob.

"Just one more thing then."

"Yes?"

"Keep an eye on the Uchiha. Don't get too close to him either."

Sakura's mind was even more confused, and she nodded obediently to cover up her bewilderedness. "Yes, I'll be sure to," she said happily as she exited the room.

Walking quickly, she wiped her clammy hands on her skirt as she entered her cubicle. Sakura exhaled in relief as she fell onto her chair tiredly, covering her eyes with her arm. "Ugh... what was that?" she groaned, flicking her shoes off. "I've never felt so intimidated in my entire life!"

"You've never felt so _what?" _

As fast as Ino running towards a shop with 'on-sale' shoes, Sakura bolted out of her chair in fright. This didn't prove to be the best way to be surprised, as it meant landing on her bottom on the floor. Rubbing her aching bottom, she squinted at the speaker.

"Sasuke-kun!" she laughed as she grinned at him from her awkward position on the floor. "You scared me!"

"Hn." He smirked as he stepped towards her with his hands shoved in his pockets. "Why are you laughing even after you just fell off?"

Pouting, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Aren't you even going to help me up?"

When he didn't answer, she yelled in frustration and helped herself up. "Fine, be mean."

He still didn't answer, so she took the silence to her advantage. "So, can I have the rest of the night off then, Sasuke-kun? I can do all the files tonight."

Then, she finally got an answer. "Hn," he grunted as he turned back to his office and started to walk.

Frowning, she took her things from her desk and glanced at the clock. It read five minutes past eight, and she moaned. "Ino-pig would have already gone home," she said to herself as she plopped back onto the chair.

"Did someone miss their daily caffeine dose, dattebayo?"

Spinning around in her chair, she smiled widely as she saw Naruto approach with a steaming cup of hot coffee in his hands. "Naruto, you are a lifesaver!"

"Yeah, I know I—" he said before he was interrupted by Sakura's lurching hands that dived for his coffee. Drawing his cup away from the grabbing hands, he stuck a tongue out at her childishly. "Hey! I only asked; I didn't offer!"

Sakura scowled as she lowered her hands and put them to her throat. "Oh, but I haven't had a drink in years!" she whined babyishly. "Let me have it!"

The blonde boy just grinned and drew the mug to his lips. "Too late, Sakura-chan!"

Said girl watched helplessly as the hot liquidation went down her friend's throat. Whimpering, she pretended to cry as she rubbed her eyes shakily. "You're so mean, Naruto!"

Alarmed, the boy gasped and set down his cup of coffee quickly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to make you cry!" he said as he held her hand, his voice increasing in volume at his distressed state. "Don't get mad at me!"

"No! I hate you Naruto!"

"I'll give you my coffee, then! Just please stop crying!"

Sakura cracked a space between her fingers as she grinned mischievously. "Really?"

He nodded vigorously, taking the cup and shoving it into her hands. "Really, dattebayo!"

Stopping her act, she smiled at him as she downed the contents in one go. "Thanks."

Naruto gaped, and pointed a finger at her accusingly. Unable to form coherent sentences, he settled to keep pushing his finger in her direction aimlessly as she licked the inside of the cup, trying to get any excess liquid.

"Seriously Naruto, you are just too gullible," she laughed, patting him on the head like a master to her dog would as he collapsed onto the floor by her feet. "I'm sorry, ok?"

This time, it was Naruto's turn to smirk impishly. "Sorry enough to do _anything_?"

She nodded, and ran her fingers through his hair absent-mindedly. Settling her chin on her fisted hand, she leant to the side as she hummed a sweet melody. "Yeah, anything."

"Dinner then?"

Sakura stopped her vague sounds and glared at him. Narrowing her eyes, she took her fisted hand and drew it back, preparing to strike. "How dare you! I'm tired, and you're taking advantage of this by asking me out!" she shrieked, punching him on the cheek. "SHANNARO!"

"She wouldn't have been able to accept anyway, dobe."

Both Sakura and Naruto turned their heads to stare the tall figure that stood before them, looking much more mature than them. Of course, they didn't look very mature at the moment; being in poses that one would think was taken from a cliché action movie.

"And why the hell not, teme?" bellowed Naruto as he ignored the throbbing in his cheek and stood up angrily to measure up to the Uchiha. "Sakura-chan likes me better than you!"

"Naruto, shut u—"

Suddenly, Sasuke thrust a red coat at the girl's face, muffling the sentence she was saying. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her up and brought her alarmingly close to his body. The Uchiha used his other hand to take a possessive hold on her waist, and he smirked devilishly at the whiskered boy as he revelled in the look of shock on his face at their intimate position.

"Why not?" he reiterated as he released Sakura slightly, giving her the opportunity to slip her coat over her body.

Naruto watched as Sakura turned a deep red when she felt his hand assist her in putting on her garment. "Yeah, she's going to have ramen wit—"

"Because she's having dinner with me."

Viridian eyes widened, and she looked up to stare at Sasuke incredulously. Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the next events happened in a blur that she couldn't be sure if she was hallucinating or not.

The dark haired man just put a single finger to her lips, brushed a single strand of hair away from her face, and trailed a single hand down her face. And then, he was walking a few metres away with his black coat on and his hands in his pockets. Tilting his head over his shoulder a bit, he raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Well, are you coming?"

Sakura stammered out a positive answer and ran to his side, speedily falling into pace with him. She looked behind her and offered her blonde friend an apologetic smile and mouthed out words of repentance. Had this been a normal night, with a normal boss, she would have loved to go eat ramen with her whiskered best friend.

But, tonight wasn't a normal night, and neither was her boss. Sakura didn't know what type of spell Uchiha Sasuke was casting, but she was sure that she was definitely under it.

* * *

_**A/N: **_Another chapter, done! And why yes, that is a _BLEACH game _Suigetsu is playing on the PSP. :P Of course, I don't have that game...TT...

To clear things up, Tsunade, the Hyuugas and the Sabaku trio were all members of other companies that are joining in the plan. Please review, unless you want me to have another huge writer's block, or get supremely depressed over the lack of such reviews! Note: depression of writer could lead to hiatus of story.


	6. Interrogations

_**La Tua Cantante**_

_**Chapter 6:**_

_**INTERROGATIONS**_

* * *

One could say that Sakura was used to seeing wealthy people dining in fabulous restaurants. She had heard of the mature waiters, the delicious food and the classy small talk being shared. She had seen the snobby rich people who picked at their food and the pricey plates sitting innocently on tables covered by expensive fabrics.

Of course, these experiences were all done through _television_.

"Do you have a reservation?" asked the man behind the counter politely, as he flashed the customers a dazzling smile. Gesturing towards the interior of the restaurant, he courteously pointed a slender hand to the workers. "I assure you, this restaurant is of top class, complete with exquisite food and wonderful service."

As if on signal, a worker, clad in sleek attire consisting of a black vest over a white blouse with matching pants, smiled at the pair graciously before returning to complete the order of an elderly couple. Despite the fact that her feet were touching the marble floors of the luxurious scope, the pink haired girl was still baffled and unsure if she had been whisked away by her handsome boss to an upscale restaurant, or if this was all mere fantasy.

Fiddling with the sleeve of her coat, Sakura turned to her dark haired companion for help. "Well... do you have one, Sasuke-kun?"

With a slight jerk, said man rotated his body to face the maître d' casually. Onyx eyes scanned the employee lazily before he sighed and leant forward on the bureau. "No," said the man stoically, as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Would we be able to eat here without one?"

The host shot them a smug grin, before running a hand through his hair refreshingly as he played with the reservation papers in front of him. "I'm afraid that without a reservation, there is no place for you here, sir."

"That's too bad; I'd hate to close this restaurant because of bad service."

Growling, the man lifted his chin up haughtily as he pointed a finger accusingly at him. "Who do you think you are? I can have security take you outside right now i—"

He was cut off as a hand quickly slapped down a card onto the mahogany surface of the desk. "Who do I think I am?" Sasuke reiterated as his pale hand rose away from the card to permit the scowling man to get a glimpse of its readings. As if the action was done with absolute mockery, the vampire ran his fingers through his raven locks, glaring at the man as he did so.

Eyes widened and a gasp was heard as the man cupped his hands to his mouth in horror. "Sir, I-I really didn't know tha—"

"That what? That Uchiha Sasuke was coming?"

The very name sent shivers down the poor server's spine, spread fervent whispers around the room and caused female workers to swoon.

Sakura glowered at the numerous stares she was receiving from her comment, and flicked her head to ignore them. "Just get us a table," she barked irritably, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now that you know _he's _here, aren't you going to do something about it?"

Blushing at the revelation, the host put his hands up in surrender and ushered a nearby waitress forward as he uttered directions subtly into her ear. A high pitched squeal erupted from the girl's lips when she assessed the handsome man appreciatively, and she drew herself up as she sashayed ahead of the pair. "This way, please."

"That was unnecessary," whispered a husky voice into Sakura's ear as a firm hand touched the small of her back. "And annoying."

Sakura grimaced inwardly as she allowed herself to be steered to the table that was being graciously offered by the flirty waitress. "It was not unnecessary! We would never have gotten anywhere if I hadn't stepped in!"

"Hn," grunted Sasuke as he pulled a chair out amiably. Sliding into it elegantly, he watched as his pink haired secretary yanked her seat out and plopped onto it angrily. "Order, now."

"Hah! I just sat down, and you expect me to order straight away?" Sakura sneered, snatching the menu from its place on the table. She flipped it open and buried her nose deep into it, effectively hiding her face from the bossy Uchiha.

The waitress giggled and posed her body in a seductive manner as she bent forward to speak softly into his ear. "What would you like to drink?" breathed the ditsy girl as she deliberately showed off her assets. "If you have trouble choosing... _I have some recommendations_."

Sakura snorted at the double meaning in those words, and avoided a brief glare as she hid behind the paper once again. Sighing loudly, she muttered inaudible curses before clearing her throat. "Oh no, I don't know what to get," she drawled ostentatiously as she lowered the menu to reveal her viridian eyes, which were brimming with mischief. "Would you help me?"

As the rosette expected, she was completely disregarded by the busty worker, who pretended not to hear her. Sakura shared a succinct peek with her boss before she shrugged, pursing her lips as if trying to deliver a telepathic message. "I tried," she mouthed sarcastically as she laid down the menu.

"That wasn't trying," he mouthed back, feeling disgruntled when the woman put her hands on his shoulders.

"Well, then my efforts were wasted." Sakura crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, still holding the paper as she sat back in her chair in mock comfort. Tightening her taut frown, she continued to mouth messages. "I don't care."

Sasuke smirked at her unspoken comment. "You don't care?"

With that, he charmingly shot his pale hand out to reach for another menu that lay neatly in the middle of the table, and he turned the pages as he convincingly searched for a suitable beverage. Sakura could evidently tell he was pretending; his eyes hadn't left hers since his last silent remark. "We'll just have two Cokes."

"I'll be right back with your drinks," she assured him with more warmth than necessary. He didn't notice her superfluous smile as he intertwined his fingers together and continued to stare arrogantly at his secretary.

"Are girls that easily swayed by pretty boys?" Sakura sent a cold scowl the waitress's way as she set down the menu.

"So you think I'm pretty?" asked Sasuke as he too put down his menu. "I was never under the impression that you thought of me that way, Sakura."

Sakura lifted a brow. "I was never under the impression that men were fine with being called pretty."

"I never made any implications. Maybe your hunger is making you stupid."

Right on cue, the waitress returned with their promised drinks and complimentary bread rolls. She stood with her back to the insulted girl as she placed them on the table.

"Would you like to order now?" she asked Sasuke nicely, before turning reluctantly to the pink haired girl behind her when the man nodded his head towards Sakura.

"Um... can I just have the..."

"She'll have the fried salmon with the Caesar salad," cut in Sasuke monotonously as he grew impatient with her indecisiveness. "I won't be ordering anything."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the Uchiha just grabbed the waitress's hand and pulled her closer to him. Green eyes narrowed at the intimate position that was being exposed, and she flicked her head away in disgust. "Good-for-nothing playboy..."

With the coy smile still in place, the server nodded zealously as she left satisfied, speaking one last innuendo. "I'll be sure to do what you asked." She strutted off unsteadily when Sasuke nodded at her briefly, and Sakura swore she saw the girl trip as she made her way quickly back to the kitchens.

"Stop doing stuff like that." Sakura's voice was disapproving.

When he didn't reply, the girl threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "I don't understand why you're so... so... _influential. _It's hardly fair. What if I was allergic to salmon?"

There was still no answer. "That, and you should be nicer. I mean, the poor girl's probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now!"

Sakura growled when he remained silent and she leant forward. "Do you think just because you're Uchiha Sasuke, you can get anything you want? You shouldn't use your status or looks to gain things like this, no matter how overwhelming you may b—"

Sasuke cut off her long rant. "Didn't you say you _didn't care_?"

"I lied," Sakura admitted.

Then, the server strode back to their table, where she put the dish in front of Sakura before turning to Sasuke. "Will that be all you need tonight sir?"

Sasuke nodded, and didn't discontinue looking intently at the girl opposite him, even as a bulky folder was placed on the cloth. Sakura remained oblivious as she picked at her food with a shiny fork.

"Just eat it; it isn't poisoned."

Sakura looked up at him oddly. "That makes me even more suspicious, you know."

A silence engulfed them following her comment, and she obediently began to scoop the fish into her mouth, chewing carefully as she thought. Cocking her head to the side, she licked the tips of her fork as she stared back at him. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, why did you take me out to dinner?"

No response was given— as Sakura somewhat predicted. "You're sometimes really mean to me, so I don't understand why you made me decline Naruto's invitation for ramen."

"Would you rather I was mean?" replied Sasuke finally, as he unlinked his fingers and put his right over his left offhandedly.

Sakura shook her head furiously. "No! Not at all! It's just..."

"Just?" Sasuke prompted as he leant toward her.

"You have issues, Sasuke-kun! One minute, you're all strict and hellish, the next you're all nice and... _smirky!_"

The dark haired man smirked. "_Smirky?_"

Glaring, the girl pointed a long finger at him flamingly. "See! You're doing it again!" Sakura ignored the man's minute withdrawal as she stretched her hand out to grab his, and wrapped her fingers around it loosely as she pulled it closer to her. "Tell me the truth; what did you take me out here for?"

Sasuke stared blankly at her before making a move to extract his hand, but Sakura lurched forward to cover it with both of hers. Tightening her grip, she returned his stare. "Why did you take me here?"

His face hardened and he moved his hand out from under hers as he put underneath the table. "I took you here to interrogate you about your talk with Tsunade," he confessed, leaning towards her.

"Tsunade is, in some form, my superior. The fact that she was interested in you startled me. That woman isn't ordinary."

"Ordinary?" speculated Sakura, as she pondered on the exact reasons of why she had spoken to the woman in the first place.

"She's not normal. Her beliefs are different from ours, so don't believe anything she says."

Sakura blushed as she recalled exactly the types of things they had talked about. Hurriedly, she stuffed some more food in her mouth to avoid having her redness noticed. "Um... yeah."

The vampire looked at her strangely, before taking a hand and lifting her chin up. "What's wrong?"

Green irises widened as Sakura gasped and scooted her chair back quickly, and Sasuke pulled his hand back immediately. The pink haired girl blushed an even deeper shade of red as the feeling of her boss's cold skin amplified the memories that were currently running through her head.

"N-nothing," she stammered as her hand fisted itself in her skirt.

Sasuke sighed and fiddled with the straw of his untouched drink. "What exactly did she talk to you about?"

"Um... just about the plans for the hospital enlargement," Sakura lied smoothly, hoping he would believe her. He didn't, shown by the way he grunted and crossed his arms condescendingly.

"Tsunade isn't normal. She wouldn't go through all the trouble of sneaking into my office just to talk about _that_."

A vein popped in Sakura's forehead as she registered the mocking tone of the Uchiha's voice. "I _know. _Why. Do. You. Think. I'm. _Lying?_" she hissed, leaning even more forward as her palms lay flat on the surface of the table.

"You aren't a very good actress."

Sakura snarled and swiped her drink from the centre of the table and gulfed it down with ease. "It's nothing to worry about," she said, slapping herself inwardly as she cursed for reassuring him, no matter how discreet it seemed. "Believe me."

With those words announced, the vampire merely nodded and pushed his drink towards her. "Hn," he sounded, looking away from her face. Calming down, Sakura thanked him softly and began to sip through the straw gently.

"It really is nothing to worry about, ok?"

Sasuke turned his head to face her and smirked. "Who said I was worrying?"

"Why you— never mind," grumbled Sakura as she pouted around the straw in her mouth. Shrugging, she took the cup in her hands and leaned back in her chair. "So, is that all you asked me for?"

"You still haven't answered my question."

"I think I did; I told you, all she wanted to talk to me about was the plans for the ho—"

"Not that."

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "Eh?"

In a single fluid motion, the vampire had thrust the folder that had been put on the table earlier by the flirty waitress in front of her. Leering, he repeated, "You still haven't answered my question."

The rosette haired girl examined him closely before using her free hand open the folder. "I still don't get..." Her eyes widened as she read out the title of the entire file. "'Konoha Hospital Expansion Project'?"

"'Now, how would a secretary like you know so much about this?'" he restated.

Sakura peered at him with understanding as she gasped. "Oh, you want to know why I was so interested in the medical side of things, huh?"

Sasuke nodded, and watched as she set her Coke down and shuffled through the papers. "Ah, I never thought we were this far ahead in plans already. I though—"

"Hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute." Putting the file down, she took another sip of her drink as she thought carefully. Sasuke's empty looks never wavered, and Sakura only ignored him as she sighed. "Where to start..." Sakura placed a finger on her chin as she hummed to herself while she considered how to begin; the man opposite her merely awaited her words.

"Hurry up."

Sakura glared at him. "Would you like to hear my story about my poor dreams then, Sasuke-kun? I'm sure it will interest you. Not," she seethed, her voice dripping with uncanny sweetness. "That you'd care to listen, huh?"

The man was getting intolerant. "_Hurry up_."

Teasing tone gone, she sniffed and turned her head away in exasperation. "Fine! I've just always wanted to be a doctor, ok? Ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted to help people.

"But, this world..." Her tone darkened. "Is full of horror."

Sasuke stiffened at the edge in her voice. "What do you mean?"

"It's disgusting; the amount of people who are hurt around the world," said Sakura grimly, clenching her fists. "This world, is full of people who would hurt others for their own sake... it's just disgusting."

"Some deserve it," said Sasuke roughly, his body slackening. "Some deserve it because of the things they did."

"No one deserves to die."

There was a pregnant pause, and Sakura coughed to regain her voice. Changing the subject quickly, she began to speak again. "People in this world have to do something—"

"Why? Not all people were born to help others."

"I know. It doesn't matter who you were born as, anyway.

"I mean, with my weird hair and big forehead," Sakura laughed as she fingered the strands of her hair. "I was bullied at a small age, but that didn't stop me from wanting to help everyone. Many people thought of me as a weak, little girl who wouldn't be able to accomplish anything so big as becoming a big time doctor..."

Her eyes drifted away from the Uchiha as she stared out the window at the pale moon, her face cast in a far away expression.

"My parents aren't rich, so their hopes for me weren't that high. I wasn't exactly the smartest person ever either, but I was passing school. Ha, you should have seen my parents' faces when they heard that I wanted to study medics.

"'Why do you want to do that? Do you just want to waste your life away?' my mother said, with my father nodding absent-mindedly at the back.

"I didn't know that my parents were so against my dreams becoming a reality, and I remember crying for days on end because they wouldn't le me study it. I was such a baby back then. I knew that getting me into a good school was hard enough, but I seriously thought that they would try to get me into a medical college, because parents are supposed to do that, right? They're supposed to support you, right?"

Sighing, a soft smile formed on her face as she continued. "And it was at this time that I became friends with Naruto.

"I'd gone to the same school with him for years, but he always seemed like the boy who was better off alone. I was wrong, obviously. That boy craves company almost as much as his ramen."

At this, Sasuke chuckled quietly while Sakura laughed along with him, but with wistfulness in her sounds.

"He found me when I was crying at the playground once; don't ask what we both were doing there. Naruto's too nice to ignore a 'damsel in distress' as he called it, and he was my source of comfort for a while. His smile cheered me up instantly, and his words were always terrifyingly honest, which he found to both good and bad; I pack a good punch when I'm mad, you know!

"Naruto is... the type of person that just has a natural habit of making friends with anyone. 'You're weird,' I told him once, but he just grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. I remember thinking that he used to have some sort of superpower where he could read my feelings, but I found out it was just that I was too predictable sometimes.

"'Hey, I think you'd make a great doctor, Sakura-chan!' Naruto yelled one day when I was patching him up at my house. He had fallen over like the clumsy boy he is, and I was just treating him. However, his words were what gave me courage to get a job and pay for my own tuition at college. After that, I think I developed some feelings for him, bu—"

Sakura gasped and looked at the Uchiha suddenly, covering her mouth with her hands hurriedly as she realized what she had just said. "I-I didn't mean to say that! I-I just m-meant..." she said quietly. "Ah, please just forget what I said."

The man grunted and smirked at her. "I didn't expect you to tell me your life's story."

A vein twitched in Sakura's forehead. "Sasuke-kun, I just told you really, _really _personal things! You're such a bigheaded jer—"

Her insult was stopped in her throat when she heard him chuckling softly, and she grinned mischievously. "You know what, Sasuke-kun?" Leaning even closer to him, she took both of her hands and placed them on either side of his face. With her nose almost touching his, she laughed as well. "You may be a jerk but...

"You sound nice when you laugh. You should do it more often."

Sasuke's face lost all its humour as he roughly pulled his face out of her grasp and stood up. Sakura squealed in surprise as she fell onto her chair at the man's sudden movement. "We're leaving," he declared, shoving his hand in his pocket to grasp for his wallet.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just do the wrong things, right?" said Sakura sadly as she too got out of her seat. Zipping her purse open, she pulled out some bills and looked up at him. "How much do I have to pay?"

The man picked up the bill that came with their food and examined it. "¥300, 000."

Sakura gaped. Snatching the bill from his hands she stared at it incredulously and her hands shook at the realization. "Why is it this much?" She turned her head to glower at Sasuke. "And why am I paying for all the food?"

A soft yawn was elicited from the vampire's lips as he stifled it with his cupped hand. "You ate all the food we bought."

"Eh?" Sakura searched her wallet frantically for some magnificent amount of bills to appear. "I don't have enough money..." Collapsing back onto her chair, she groaned as she set her head on the table tiredly. "I'm dirt poor."

"I'll pay then."

At those words, Sakura's head shot up excitedly, her face adorned by a huge smile. Standing up, she clasped her hands together. "Really?"

_Splash. _

A look of utter terror took over her features as she comprehended what she had just done. The bubbly liquid had spilt all over the sheets that were previously in the folder she had been scrutinizing. She paled. "Oops...?"

Sasuke grunted and ran a hand through his hair. "You're annoying."

With the same terrified look on her face, she squeaked and began peeling the papers away from the table unsuccessfully. "A-ah, the papers are sticking to the surface," she said nervously, her voice full of tremors as she spoke. "I'm really sor—"

She was cut off by a pale hand resting over hers, and her skin tingled as she felt that ice cold skin skim the epidermis of her own hand. Electric shivers bolted through her system at the contrast of their skin— his being extremely chilly to her toasty warm — and it made her blush at the fact that his slight fingers were close to encompassing her own. It seemed like centuries that they were touching, and she was too embarrassed to look up at him.

However, the moment was brief, and her hand was released as soon as they had touched. Recoiling, Sasuke murmured something inaudible to her ears, before he was expertly picking up the sheets and placing them back into the folder, even in their soaked state.

"I'm sorry; I'm just really clumsy..." said Sakura, as she laughed falsely. She sighed depressingly after realizing that he wouldn't join her in her laughter.

He didn't answer, and Sakura took this is a sign of rejection as her shoulders slumped. "I-I'll take that," she chirped fallaciously as she circled around the table then extended her arms out to offer help.

By pure accident, her hand brushed his, and a resounding slap sounded through the room.

Shocked, Sakura took her uninjured hand and clutched at the newly forming bruise on her skin. "S-Sasuke-kun..."

The Uchiha, prior to his unexpected blow, was now crouched slightly in a defensive position. An arm was hung in front of his chest, yet away from his body. His other had attached itself to the fabric of his pants. Dark locks were shadowing his face and his whole body was tensed and ready to attack.

"Sakura..." whispered Sasuke as he lifted his head to look at her. His eyes averted to the hand she holding close to her chest, and he stared at it closely.

"I-I..." With that, Sakura fled the scene. Running urgently through the crowd, she was desperate to escape the flooding whispers, the startled stares, but most of all, the edgy figure of her boss.

She heard no chasing footsteps behind her, and ran faster.

As her feet brought her outside, she felt the frosty night air hit her face, and she fell to her knees at the entrance. Tears threatened to fall, but she shook her head to rid of them furiously. "I won't cry, I swear..."

Wrapping her arms around herself, she shivered from the cold engulfing her body, and she gripped her arms tighter. It felt as if spikes of ice were devouring her skin and piercing holes, and remembered the coat she had left behind in her attempt to run away from her boss.

"What a mess," she muttered as she moved her hands up to grasp at her hair frustratingly. "I've just made a big mess of myself."

Suddenly, she felt a large object drape over her. Inching her hands up slowly, she fisted her hands in the fabric and found it to be her coat. "Eh...? I thought I left this behind..." she mumbled, slipping the clothing off her head and pulling it down to fall over her knees. "How did this..."

"What, no 'thank you'?"

Sakura's eyes widened and a shrill scream elicited from her mouth as she jumped, and fell onto her bottom uncomfortably on the hard concrete path. "S-Sasuke-kun!"

The man snorted at her delirious pose on the floor. "Hn."

Standing up shakily from her scrawled position on the ground, Sakura mirrored the Uchiha's pose. "W-what are you doing out here?" She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped back a bit to offer some distance. That gesture was ignored as Sasuke dropped his hands and stepped forward.

"Look, Sakura..."

She contemplated her options. One, she could stay and listen to her boss's apology. Two, she could bang her head against the wall in hopes of this all being a dream, because she was pretty sure her monotonous boss wouldn't do something like a, a _dinner date _with his secretary. Three, she could run and escape from whatever Sasuke was going to say, which most likely wasn't going to be an apology.

Sakura liked Option Three best.

"I'm really sorry about tonight; I didn't mean to be so... um, unreliable." She flashed him a fake smile and turned to walk away, but the tip of her elbow was caught by the same cold fingers that had slapped her. She flinched and a fevered scream was torn from her throat as she jumped away.

Her eyes enlarged at the realization of what she had done, and she bowed down and began to apologize profusely. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun, I'm really sorry! I was simply surprised t—"

Sakura was cut off as a solid item smacked the top of her head. "Let's go."

Making her gaze rise up to meet him, she was greeted by the sight of the Uchiha with his hand holding the folder of shoddy papers, and his other dug into his pocket. His grip on the folder loosened, and Sakura was forced to stand up speedily to catch it before fell.

"You're still a baby."

For the umpteenth time that night, Sakura used her eyes to reveal what she was thinking as they widened. "What?"

His pale hand reached out, and a lone finger caught a tear as it cascaded down her cheek. "You're crying."

Then, Sakura lost control. All the tears spilled over, and quiet sobs radiated through her chest. Bringing her free arm up, she used her sleeve to wipe away the beads of wetness that kept falling. "I'm sorry..."

Her tears continued to plummet down her face and she dropped the folder as she brought both of her hands up to cradle her face. "I'm sorry..." she said again, smearing the salty moisture over her cheeks as she rubbed ardently. "Back there..."

The hand marked by a scary bruise fell down to her chest and she fisted it. "You scared me... I was just so scared..."

Sasuke turned his head away from her crying face with a distant expression. "I'm not a good guy, Sakura.

"_It's only natural to be scared of me_."

No skin needed to touch prior to the startling blow that was delivered this time. Sasuke stepped back as he touched his throbbing cheek, and stared plainly at Sakura as she stood before him, huffing as she had her fist clenched and outstretched.

"I'm not scared of you! It's just what you did that scared me!"

Sakura panted and covered the hand she had used to punch him –which was aching much more, being the hand with the imprinted bruise— and looked at him indignantly. "I'll see you at work tomorrow," she declared, stomping off.

"Sakura." She froze.

Not looking back, she answered, "Yes?"

She heard a soft chuckle, and the fading footsteps of the Uchiha. "I'm..."

The footsteps stopped. "Sorry."

Sakura smiled to herself and exhaled noisily. Continuing to walk, she nodded to herself. "Yeah, and I forgive you."

"I don't forgive you for wetting those files though."

Stopping again, she wheeled around to face the vampire, who was already several metres away from her. "What?"

Sasuke lifted a hand in the air, and waved in nonchalantly. "Extra work for you, _Haruno_."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, about to run after him, but he disappeared into the darkness. Content somewhat with the happenings that had just occurred; the pink haired girl pivoted on the spot and turned to walk home. Looking up at the night sky, she grinned slyly to herself.

A soft hand was brought to her face as Sakura wiped away the remainder of her tears. "I guess I still am a baby, huh?"

* * *

_**A/N: **_Well, we found out a bit... I think? I know there isn't much fluff yet, but it's because it's really early in the story, so just wait a bit, ok? To clear things up, the thing between Naruto and Sakura... will be discussed later on, ok?

Please, review! Especially if you are going to favourite or alert this story... if you read my previous notes, I was feeling really discouraged at the lack of reviews. Please review, and I wish you all a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

And on this vampiristic note, has anyone watched the new scene from the Twilight movie? Don't you just love how Edward says: "I had an adrenaline rush. It's very common. You can google it if you want." Yer... I end this fangirly author's note here.


	7. Closeness

**_A/N: _**I deeply apologize for the long update! I've been really busy with school and other things, that I just couldn't write this for a while. And, I'm sorry to add, that this isn't the best chapter I've come out with. I tried to make it better, but it just... well, you'll see once you read it. My files with the original chapter were lost and... so I had to rewrite it, and I don't like it so much. But, thank you for all who read this, because you guys are so awesome for sticking with me this long! (Even though its only been 7 chapters, you guys must be tired of it, right?)

Once again, I don't own Naruto.

**_

* * *

_**

**_La Tua Cantante_**

_**Chapter 7:**_

_**CLOSENESS**_

* * *

"So, what happened last night, Forehead? Tell me _everything!_"

Sakura groaned and dropped her head on her arms. Her blonde friend had been continually pestering her for the entire morning, and quite frankly she was tired of it. "Nothing happened! It was just a normal business dinner."

Ino gave off a melodramatic sigh before she slapped a hand to the girl's forehead. "Are you feeling ok? I'm sure your memory was muddled because of the things you did with the Uchiha, yes? You know, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, darling."

"I'm fine. And no, I don't have a problem," Sakura replied, shifting her head so that the hand was drawn away. "You got that from one of Sai's books, didn't you?"

"Yes, she did," contributed said owner of books as he overheard their conversation. Sai pulled a chair out silently as he plopped down into it, dumping his bag –presumably filled with books— onto the floor.

"Thought so." Jutting her bottom lip out, the green eyed girl slanted her eyes towards the man next to her, who was casually leaning back and on the verge of sleeping. "Shikamaru, being the smart person you are," Sakura muttered sarcastically. "Would it hurt for you to shut up the girl who's been talking for the past three hours?"

The boy snorted. "Too troublesome."

As a yawn came out from her mouth, Sakura stretched her arms tiredly. "Life sucks," she declared as she stole Ino's plate of salad from across the table. "Especially when you have a stupid boss who makes you do tons of work."

Ino raised an eyebrow questioningly as she handed the rosette a fork, obviously unaffected by the absence of her lunch. "Tons of work?"

"Yes, tons of work."

"I knew it."

Stopping midway through a bite, Sakura lifted her head curiously. "Knew what?"

"That you were screwing the sexy Uchiha."

Viridian eyes widened horrendously as the girl choked on her piece of lettuce, and forcefully snatched away her lazy friend's water as she gulped it down. "That— where did you hear that?"

Sai smiled as he leant forward. "So it's true then?"

Sakura glared at him, pushing the plate of salad away to prevent anymore choking on her part. "No, it isn't," she deadpanned, screwing the cap back on furiously onto Shikamaru's bottle.

"We heard a couple of new workers whispering about it. They weren't exactly discreet about it," said Shikamaru as he accepted the bottle from the angry girl. "And Ino thought it was true."

Ino laughed and took a sip of her white mocha. "Oh, you should have seen their faces though, Forehead! It was absolutely HILAR," squealed the girl as she stretched out her arms.

"Lovely," commented Sakura dryly. Playing with the tips of her hair offhandedly, she yawned again and cupped her cheek with her free hand. "It's absolutely entertaining to watch the horrified looks on the poor girl's faces."

"Didn't know you were such a sadist, Sakura. That's quite surprising."

Sakura flicked her head around to catch a glimpse of an orange book before a firm hand fell on her shoulder. "You know, it's even more surprising how you sneak up on everyone like that," she noted, her eyes watching the figure as the silver haired man took a seat calmly beside her.

"I pride myself on being stealthy enough to sneak up on anyone."

"Not that you need stealth to sneak up on Ugly; she's as unobservant as Dickless."

A strong whack was blown to Sai's hand as Sakura scowled. "Shut up," she grumbled as she buried her head in her arms again. "I'm not as bad as Naruto."

Ino huffed and poked at her friend's face impatiently. "You may not be as unobservant, but you dodge the subject as well as him. Hurry up and tell me what happened last night!"

Kakashi lowered his book down to reveal mischievous eyes —or in his case, a single eye— that stared at Ino in interest. "Last night...?"

As if a flame was suddenly lit, Ino's eyes brightened as she turned in her seat excitedly to face the man who had busily resumed his reading. Shikamaru groaned as a whole string of theories, which in his opinion were all off the mark by several miles, leaked from the girl's big mouth relentlessly. "Ino, I doubt Sakura would appreciate you talking about her like that," muttered Shikamaru warningly as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Pssh! Like Sakura would care. In fact, I'm doing her a favour by explaining what was going on last night between her and the sexy Uchiha," she scoffed in reply, flicking her luxurious hair. "_I'm doing her a favour._"

"Yeah, because spilling out most of her secrets to her previous boss is mighty helpful, Ino-san."

"Kakashi wasn't her boss; Shika was. Get with the program, Sai!"

Shikamaru sighed. "No, you're wrong Ino. Kakashi was her boss, and I am Kakashi's boss."

"Get with the program, Ino-san!" sang Sai mockingly.

"It's not my fault no one ever tells me these things!" Ino shrugged and turned her attention back to Kakashi. "Well, as I was saying... I can tell Kakashi because Forehead isn't objecting to it."

"That's because Ugly fell asleep."

All attention was diverted to the sleeping Sakura on the table, who had a content smile on as her hair flopped all over her face.

Disgustedly, Ino poked the dozing girl's face once more, only to withdraw it quickly as she felt a wet substance on the tip of her finger. She stared blankly at the pink haired woman before moving her eyes to stare at her finger, which had some remnants of saliva that had somehow trickled out from Sakura's mouth. "...Yuck."

Chuckling, Kakashi stood up and brought the hand that had strayed from Sakura's shoulder to the back of her neck, and smiling cheekily, winked at the occupants of the table. Quietly, he drew forward towards the ear of the sleeping rosette. "Wake up," he whispered huskily and with that, he withdrew his face from the girl as he used two fingers to pinch the sensitive skin where his hand currently was.

With a jolt Sakura shot up, her emerald eyes widening as they darted wildly across the room. "What'd I miss?!"

Unable to hold it in, Ino burst into hysterics, causing her friends to eye her warily. "Forehead, you— seriously, no— oh my gosh, that was—" she wheezed in between fits of laughter, clutching her sides for support as her upper body leant over the table. "ABSOLUTELY HILAR."

Sakura pouted, not knowing what was going on. "Ino-pig, what happened?"

"Now, now; I'm sure that the past can stay in the past," said Kakashi as he brought a hand out and took a strong hold of Sakura's wrist. Proceeding to hoist her out of her seat, he flashed the others a small smile –though how they knew it was a smile was a complete mystery— before walking away with Sakura in tow. "Sorry, but I'll be monopolizing the remainder of this girl's time; so say good-bye to your friends now, Sakura."

It was safe to say that the pink haired girl was utterly confused, as only jumbled nonsense erupted from her mouth, none being farewells directed towards her friends.

"Hush now, Sakura. It's not attractive to speak like that," chimed Kakashi as he interrupted her incoherent rambles, saying it slowly as if he was speaking to a three year old. "Didn't I tell you angry Uchiha's are hard to deal with?"

Sakura whipped her head around to stare at him pointedly. "You say that because..." she prompted impatiently, digging her heels into the carpet of the corridor that they had entered.

Her answer was a soft smile and an even harder shove, causing her to stumble into the elevator. She gaped at the reading man awkwardly as he jabbed a button nonchalantly. "No... you don't mean that—"

"That Sasuke is interrupting your lunch break to have you work? Actually, that is exactly what I mean."

As if forgetting that she was a grown woman that she prided herself in being, or that she was in the presence of another grown man, Sakura stomped her feet childishly and let out a small scream. "I'm tired and hungry... and all that man wants to do is give me work?! I'm going to send in a complaint and... and... ugh! I swear; I will do something! This world isn't fair!"

Kakashi smirked and closed his book with a snap. "Sakura, you should know by now that the world _isn't _fair," he drawled leaning back against the railing that was nailed to the wall. "Welcome to the world of business; where everything is the opposite of what you want it to be."

The pink haired girl sighed and crossed her arms over her chest hotly. "Well, I'll be getting myself a one-way ticket out of this place."

"Are you sure? If it's a one-way ticket, you can't go back."

"Not true. I can always buy another ticket on the other side if I feel like coming back."

"But what if the ticket holder is Sasuke?"

Sakura froze, and shuddered at the thought of her boss smirking at her cruelly as he held the beloved tickets she wanted to buy in his hands. Shaking her head, she smiled determinedly. "I'll buy it off him."

"It won't be easy now, will it?" Truthfully, Sakura had no idea how she would plan to make true of her words. She had assumed that maybe she could use feminine wiles? Or blackmail? Also, if she was desperate... threaten him into bankruptcy?

"No, it won't..." Sakura dragged on slowly, as if hesitant. "But if I get him in a good mood, I have a better chance of getting the tickets off him...?"

The silver haired man laughed as he opened his book expertly to his page, and continued reading. "My, my Sakura; didn't you listen? An angry Uchiha is hard to deal with," he said as the doors chimed open and left a view of the passageway to the office. "But I'm sure you can handle it."

Searching eyes gazed at him suspiciously before Sakura stepped out of the elevator. "I have no idea what you are talking about, but I'll pretend I do."

Another round of chuckles escaped the reading man as he put his open palm to the small of her back and pushed her forward. "Unobservant as Naruto, I see," he commented, earning himself a slap that he narrowly avoided. "But I think you can remember."

Sakura huffed and out a hand cautiously onto the doorknob to the Uchiha's office. "Here goes... the beginning of my downfall in the business world that is headed by the one and on—"

"Teme! How can you resist this stuff?! You ain't human at all, dattebayo!"

The green eyed girl stiffened, and craned her neck to see through the crack that she had just made by opening the door slightly.

She was greeted by the sight of Naruto sitting comfortably on Sasuke's desk, swinging his legs back and forth like a small child on a swing. "Hoi, Sasuke! Pass me the chocolate truffles over there!" yelled the blonde loudly as he gestured for the sweets with his hand. Plopping another block of dark chocolate into his mouth, he repeated his command again, but this time with a muffled voice and even more dramatic actions.

"Hn," replied Sasuke as he sorted through a packet of files in his hands. Not even looking at his hungry friend, he picked up a pen absentmindedly and began to twirl it in his fingers as he examined the papers. "Get it yourself, dobe."

Naruto yelled indignantly and chucked the box of finished chocolates in the general direction of the dark haired vampire. "It's right in front of you! Just pass it, man!"

Following his order, Sasuke picked up the tin of truffles and in a flash, the metal had clanged against the side of Naruto's head. "Damn it, that hurt, teme!" shouted the whiskered boy as he brought his sticky hand to massage his temple.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the type of friendship the two had, and brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle her laughs. "Kakashi, aren't they just the— WAH!"

At first, Sakura's goal was to stay hidden and watch from afar the amusing trifle her boss and friend were having. Unfortunately for her, things didn't go as planned.

Accidentally putting too much pressure onto the door that was ajar, it flung open, thus bringing the poor girl who was leaning on it into the room in an inelegant manner. Flopping onto the floor like a dead fish –perceived through the eyes of Naruto— Sakura made her gallant entrance into the office.

"S-Sakura-chan!" roared Naruto as he lunged forward to assist the girl in heaving herself up, though his voice was marred by mirth. "Are you o-ok?"

The pink haired girl merely sniffed and ignored the helping hand that was offered to her, and stood up on her own. "Shut it Naruto, or I'll punch you to Mars. I know you're laughing."

She heard the sound of papers ruffling, and she swore she _heard _his smirk appear on that godly face. "Such a noisy entrance Sakura."

Blushing, Sakura turned around to face her boss who was still busy flicking through his documents. She scrambled around in her head, looking for a decent comeback to speak, but found that no words would escape her mouth.

Just in time to save the rosette from looking like a goldfish with its mouth hanging open wide, Kakashi stepped in and slapped a hand on Sakura's shoulder roughly. "Sasuke, I brought what you requested."

The pale skinned man chose this moment to look up from his stack of credentials to glare at the older, and grunted. "I asked for her _over an hour ago._"

Sakura sputtered. "Wait... you mean that..."

"On the contrary, you asked for her over... let's say... an hour and a half?"

"Amusing. Now, the reason I asked for all of you is t—"

"Wait a moment!" Sakura interjected desperately. "Are you trying to say that you were planning to make me work even before lunch break began?!"

Sasuke's brow lifted. "Of course, especially since you came late to work today."

Kakashi gave out a small chuckle as he removed his hand from Sakura's shoulder to position himself against the full glass window on his side. "I suppose one would say, 'what goes around comes around' in this situation."

"Yeah, like how one day, some big, fat monster is going to come up behind Sasuke and eat him. All because he didn't eat the chocolate he had received fr—OUCH!"

With a small cough to signal that he was going to continue talking, Sasuke intertwined his fingers and leant on his elbows. "In the recent meeting, it was discussed that Sharingan Inc would handle the majority of the hospital expansion. Also due to certain circumstances, Sakura was chosen to become the representative for this."

Sakura scoffed, and set her hands on her hips heatedly. "Well, _excuse me _for being forced to go up there because my boss made me do it."

Ignoring that his secretary had even spoken, Sasuke continued on. "Sakura can't handle this on her own, so we're going to have to help her."

"Hey! I'm not incompetent that I can't handle a small matter by myself!" protested the pink haired girl as she took a seat across the Uchiha. Drawing her knees up to her chin after kicking her shoes off, she yawned and glared at the nameplate reading her boss's name as if it were the man himself. "It isn't that big anyway."

"Actually Sakura-chan, it's pretty big. As in, 'dude! That's like bigger than an elephant that eats ramen all day, dattebayo!' big."

"Quite the description, Naruto. You're a grown man now; start learning to use proper words. And stop staring at Sakura's legs."

"'Elephant' is so a word, Kakashi! Look it up in the... um, the book thing! Yeah, the book thing! And, FYI, I am not a pervert for staring at Sakura-chan's legs. She's wearing pants."

"My theory of men becoming stupid while in this business has been proved. I rest my case."

Sasuke grunted to get both of the bickering men's attention, and handed each of them a folder of files. "Look over it. That's what we'll be working on today."

"Che, this is easy work, teme! It's really easy, eh Sakura-chan?" shouted Naruto triumphantly as he flicked through the pages. "Eh? Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi set down his files to the desk as he walked over the girl who had fallen asleep again. "Dear, asleep again? What did you do to the poor thing to make her like this, Sasuke?"

Naruto straightened up and pointed a finger accusingly at Sasuke. "Yeah, teme! What did you do to my Sakura-chan, you bastard!"

"Shut up dobe," muttered Sasuke as he got up from his seat. Gathering a few piles of papers, he made his way around the table to stand beside the dozing woman, who was again smiling peacefully as her subconscious conjured up sweet dreams.

"Yes... I can buy those tickets off you, FO' SHO!" she whispered happily to herself, shuffling her feet as she spoke. The men in the room stared at her oddly, before Kakashi laughed and excused himself from the room.

"Oi, wake up," commanded Sasuke softly as he plopped his collection of papers on her head. When she didn't move, he sighed and poked her arm impatiently.

Slowly, the girl stirred and opened a single eye lazily. "Ah..." Sakura straightened up, only to have to lurch forward to catch the falling papers from her head. She looked around the room while stretching with the documents in hand tiredly, and let out a small grin as she realized her small nap. "Sorry... I fell asleep right?"

Sasuke made a small noise before heading back to his desk. "Work on those papers. Have them finished before 8."

Groaning, the cotton candy haired girl slipped her shoes on before getting up to reach for a pen that was hopefully in the same place on her desk. "Gotta get myself some coffee..." she mumbled sleepily, yawning as she shuffled at a snail's pace.

"Sakura-chan!" called out Naruto from his comfortable spot on the floor. Pausing in her slow steps, she craned her neck around to glance at her blonde friend, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat, holding up a silver pen. "Want it?"

The girl nodded eagerly –at least, as eagerly someone can be when they're dead tired— and made her way towards Naruto. "Nah-uh! Go on a date with me first!" sang the tanned boy as he threw the pen in between both of his hands.

"C'mon! Hand it over, Naruto!"

"Nope. Date comes first, dattebayo!"

"Naruto, we're at work and are being watched by our boss. How can we go on a date _now_?"

"True... well then, how abou—"

Sasuke, growing tired of their argument, looked up from his work to glare at the blonde boy. "Just give her the pen, dobe."

Reluctantly, Naruto gave the pen to Sakura, who slumped back into her seat. "Well, let's get to work," she cheered pathetically, before putting her head down and working. The stack of papers she had to do were small compared to the pile she done last night. In a sense, she was thankful that Sasuke had given her that huge workload.

"Ugh... headache." Yet truthfully, she wasn't glad about it AT ALL. Perhaps she should have taken that Panadol before she left the house.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok?" asked Naruto worriedly as he watched the girl double over the desk, grasping her head tightly. Sakura lifted her head drew her hands away from her head as she flashed him a painful smile.

"I'm fine, Naruto. I guess I should just sleep more," she replied, resisting the urge to bring her clammy hands back up to her temples to give them a massage. "Yes... sleep..."

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she returned her focus to her work. The words looked a bit like a blur to her, and she rubbed her eyes again. "Crap, it's hard to concentrate," Sakura muttered, flicking through the pages. "Stupid headache; I just had to have one now..."

In frustration, the stressed female brought her arm up to cup her cheek as she checked the sheet in front of her. Sakura hummed softly to herself as she used her black pen to write in the needed information. Maybe humming would keep her awake, even if for just a bit.

However, after a few moments, the humming stopped, and an uncanny silence reverberated through the room.

Sasuke stopped his scribbling to glance momentarily at the now quiet girl, who had fallen asleep again. Her head had fallen from her palm down to the mahogany desk, and quiet snores were emitting from her. Her pen, now free from her grasp, rolled to the side of the bureau. Thrusting his hand forward unceremoniously, he caught the pen as it slid nicely off the edge. "How annoying," he murmured, catching the attention of the blonde boy on the floor.

"Eh? Did Sakura-chan fall asleep again?" asked Naruto naively as he lifted his head to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

"Sakura, wake up," ordered Sasuke, dropping her pen in front of him so that she could retrieve it easily. He heard no movement, and stared at the still unconscious girl as she dozed. Turning his gaze to a hard glare, he looked at Naruto. "Wake her up."

"Why should I do it? I'm gonna get hit by Sakura-chan if I do that!" complained the boy exasperatingly, already imagining the scenario in which he would obey his friend's orders. "She hits really hard!"

"What? Scared that you'll be hit by a girl?"

"A _really scary, hits-like-a-hippo-because-she-has-monstrous-strength _girl!"

Sasuke smirked at the cowardliness of the boy on the floor who refused to go near the girl while she slept. "Hn, weak."

With that, he cut off Naruto's protests against his statement and put his hand on the desk. Lifting it slowly, he leant forward as if going to approach Sakura over the desk, and his smirk turned to one of amusement. "Wake up, _Sakura._"

He slammed his hand down, and from a distance, it would seem as if he just normally put his palm back onto the desk the same way one would if very unenthusiastic. In reality, his hand had sent numerous waves of tremors through the table, shaking the girl awake.

Sakura's eyes snapped open at once, and she bolted her head upright. What met her eyes was the teasing smirk of the Uchiha, and his endless onyx eyes.

"Sorry!" she apologized with a squeak, bowing her head. "I'll try to stay awake, I promise!"

Not saying anything, he moved away from her, and picked up his stash of files. "Why are you so tired?"

She blinked at him; as if in a daze, before answering him when he stared at her questioningly. "A-ah! Um, it was because I was up all night doing those papers again..."

Sasuke sighed. "_All night? _It wouldn't have taken you that long to do them all again."

Sakura's brow twitched. "Well, I'm sure you were able to do them because the originals weren't stained with Coke!"

"It wasn't my fault you were clumsy."

"You should have kept some extra copies!"

"Why, when that's the secretary's job?"

Her next comeback was frozen in her mouth, but whether that was due to the incoming yawn that came out in instead or because she had absolutely nothing to say to that, the inhabitants of the room will never know.

Naruto groaned, and interrupted the quiet that followed Sakura's yawn. "Ugh, can we take a break now? I'm craving ramen!" whined Naruto.

The dark haired vampire sighed as he pocketed the pen he had in his hand. "Hn."

While Sakura raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha skeptically, Naruto merely jumped from his spot and cheered. "Hell yeah, dattebayo! Let's go out for some ramen, Sakura-chan!"

At the thought of having to stay awake during a dinner date —technically, being nothing more than a late lunch break, as it was only half past three— Sakura moaned and shook her head. "Sorry Naruto, but I don't think I can keep myself from falling asleep if I accept. Maybe next time?"

Naruto's face fell instantly, but it brightened up quickly after. He was known for being very resilient after all. "It's fine, Sakura-chan. I get it. If you come, you'll probably fall face first into your ramen, right? Then you'll get all the soup around your face, and the ramen will be wasted, right? Oh, and everyone will laugh at you too, especially because, like _everyone _will be there. Oh, except the bastard, because he has no friends! But, yeah... and you just don't want to be embarrassed, so I totally get it Saku—"

He was interrupted as a very strong whack to the back of his head was delivered successfully. "Let me correct myself; there _won't be a next time._"

The girl huffed heatedly as she stepped away from the boy who dropped to his knees in pain. Stalking towards the back of the desk where her boss was still sitting examining files, she came up behind him.

Noticing her presence immediately, he looked over his shoulder, only to flinch as he realized how close she was. "What do you want, Sakura?"

She looked surprised when he questioned her, but she shook it off with a small laugh. "Kakashi left his files behind, didn't he? Do you want me to give to him?" she offered, her breath coming in even puffs that reached his face. "Which folder was it?

"No need. He can come up and get it himself," Sasuke replied monotonously, reaching out to finger the allocated files for the man. "Or Naruto can give it to him."

Sakura laughed again, and bent forward to grasp the files, accidentally touching the vampire's cold skin. An electric shock shot through her, but she classified it as shock from how cold he was, and not from fear. Having touched his skin some time before, she had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

On the other hand, Sasuke was far from accustomed to it. It wasn't necessarily the fear he thought she would feel when he touched his skin, because he was sure that his skin would frighten any who touched it. His skin was just much too abnormally chilled, so he was used to the natural reactions people had. Nonetheless, he felt uncomfortable with the fact that she would be fearful in touching his skin, though he brushed that discomfort aside.

It was the warmth of her skin that the vampire found surprising. To his misfortune, he had experienced being touched by several humans, but he was sure none had the same temperature she had.

She was exceptionally warm, and he could feel her heat radiating off and warming his own body.

"Sasuke-kun, I'll just take these files down, ok?"

"You don't have to," he rasped out, feeling strange at their closeness.

Sakura sighed and slipped the files from his hand. "Don't worry about it. I fell asleep, so I should make up for it somehow." Her body arched off the back of the seat she had been subconsciously leaning on, and she stepped back. "I'll see you tomor—"

It happened, all in a quick flash.

It was an immediate reaction; to just suddenly leap out of his seat and grab her wrist. Her eyes widened, shining with curiosity as she stared at him. Her pink lips parted slightly in surprise, and she stepped back once to steady herself as she felt my figure loom over her.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

His grip moved from her wrist to the skin near her elbow, and his other hand curled itself around her petite waist, balancing her. "Tomorrow, at noon..."

Moving his head down gradually as he spoke, his raven bangs touched her face as he drew his face closer to hers. "In the coffee shop..." he whispered, this time his breaths caressing her face. "For last night."

Then, he released her. Smirking at her teasingly, he backed away, and watched as she hurried out of the door, a delicious blush spreading over her cheeks. Naruto stepped back innocently as she scurried past him, and he turned to grin at his friend devilishly.

"Hey, think you can warn us next time you fall in love with a human?"

Sasuke growled, and slammed his hand on the table as he glared at his friend. "I am not in love with her."

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his blonde locks. Walking slowly up to the window behind the desk, he spoke again as if he had completely ignored the vampire. "And my Sakura-chan too! You're one mean guy, teme!"

Controlling his anger, the pale man turned himself away from the bothersome boy and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Hn."

"Man, you've gotten soft."

At this, Sasuke turned around to glare harder at him. "What?"

Naruto shrugged. "I mean, teme, you seriously haven't hurt me in ages!"

"That's because your head has suffered too much damage to feel pain."

"I resent that, teme!"

The boy walked proudly over to his friend, and clasped a hand tightly onto his shoulder. "Don't worry about doing everything on your own now, Sasuke. We're here to help you now," said Naruto wisely, grinning widely. "We're a team."

Sasuke shook the hand off coldly. "Shut up," he said as he continued to look away from the blonde. "I can handle everything by myself."

"Oh, so that little scene between you and Sakura-chan was an act? To prove that you've got more self control?"

"It wasn't an act," Sasuke turned to smirk at the confused boy. "But I did gain more self control. Why do you think I left a few weeks ago?"

Realization dawned on Naruto as he watched the once bloodthirsty vampire gaze out the window at the object he once desired so deeply because of the blood running through her veins. Piecing two bits together, he cracked a giant smile as he laughed.

"Can you feel the love tonight!" sang Naruto loudly as he shot his hands out spectacularly. "The peace the eve—"

"Shut up, dobe."

* * *

**_A/N: _**Well, how'd ya like it? To clear things up, this chapter was about how Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto are linked to eachother. This connection will be shown more prominently in the later chapters. That's why its called, 'Closeness'. Oh, and because Sasuke is denying his feelings, even though we all know he as them! Denial isn't a river in Egypt, ya know.

It was my birthday on the 8th, and I planned to post this then, but had no time! T_T. Instead, I post it two days after, at 12:15 in the morning. Lovely, isn't it?

Please review, to make this author happy... coz dude, she just got older. She needs all the support she can get.


	8. Rendezvous

**La Tua Cantante**

_**Chapter 8:**_

_**RENDEZVOUS**_

_**

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_A disease is considered to be a harmful condition of abnormal functioning within an organism. Symptoms are usually exhibited by the diseased organism to indicate the deviation of its usual state, but a sharp demarcation between disease and health is not always apparent. The most common type of disease found in bodies would be those under the infectious category. An infectious disease results from the potentiality of transmission that is made open, thus—_

Sakura groaned as a wave of pain shot through her skull, causing her to pause typing as her head tipped forward. Closing her eyes tightly, she waited for the ache to cease as she brought her hands up to her temples to massage them lightly.

It was definitely not the best day to be stuck inside writing reports. Rain was pouring down by the buckets; it made quick beats on her windowsill while the hassles of the city outside her home were drowned out by the soft voice of the newswoman that appeared on Sakura's television screen. Unfortunately for the pink haired girl, she was laying on her couch lazily with her MacBook Pro seated on her lap because she had an essay due in two days. With only a paragraph done within the fifteen pages she had to do accomplish, she figured she better get started.

"Headache, headache, headache..." Sakura whimpered as she crawled slowly off the comfortable couch with her laptop balanced carefully on her wide palm. Throbbing heads just didn't help make finishing a report easier. Making her way to the kitchen, she rummaged through the drawers messily before pulling out a packet of pills.

Sakura downed two pills at once with a large glass of water, before she began to make her way back to the lounge where she had made her illustrious fort of study: an entire sofa covered with open textbooks and scattered notes.

"A murderer said to have been lying low has now appeared, according to the death of Fujiwara Midori," stated the newswoman monotonously as Sakura walked back into the living room. "Her body was found early this morning near the Sabaku Enterprises building. It appeared that she had been dead for over seven hours before an anonymous tip was given to the Konoha police force."

Finally collapsing onto the couch again, Sakura shook her head disapprovingly at the scene being shown on the screen. "The world is still full of horror I guess," she sighed, settling the MacBook Pro atop her lap. She shook cherry pink locks out of her eyes before she began to type ferociously again. "Disgusting."

"Friends and family of Fujiwara Midori are devastated by the news, and police are currently investigating the issue. Full news report at 5:00; the time now is 1:53."

Stretching her arms, she yawned as she finished typing a page. Although the rain outside was loud and a tad distracting, Sakura found it much easier to work with than when it was sunny. Fidgeting in her seat a bit, she made herself more comfortable so she could continue writing. "14 more pages, 47 diseases to go..." Sakura sighed dully.

The feeling of vibration tickled the toes on her foot, and she supplely bent forward to retrieve her wailing Blackberry. Sakura pushed the gadget to her ear as she muttered out a weary response to the phone call. "Sakura here."

"Forehead? It's me."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because just by saying that I know exactly who you are," said the girl sarcastically to her caller. Heaving a sigh, Sakura used her other hand to go on with jabbing at the keys while she continued to speak. "Yo, '_me'_."

She heard an impatient scoff. "Real mature, Forehead. I mean, who could not know me?"

"Um, I don't know... maybe that hobo I ran away from last week down on Takeshita Street?"

"Ew! Do you mean the weird one who just sells used ramen cups in front of JR Harajuku Station?"

A pink eyebrow rose questioningly. "Yeah..." dragged on Sakura slowly. "Why do yo— actually no, don't answer that. I don't want to hear the story of another one of your _customers_."

"Excuse me? Are you calling me a prostitute? Are you saying I would sell my body for money? Are you seriously, and I mean seriously, putting me in the same category as _four-tails?_"

"Ino, I never said you were a prostitute. Get with the program! And prostitutes sell their bodies for money, so the second one's a no-go." The pink haired girl smirked maliciously as she stopped talking. She heard Ino whine over the line. "But the third..."

"Sakura, you traitorous, conniving, little... um, whatever you are! I thought you were my friend! On my side! But noooo, you decide you want to cross over to the dark side. Well hah, no chocolate chi—" Ino stopped talking as she drew the phone away from her mouth while she coughed.

Wrapping her blanket around her tighter, Ino smiled when she heard the worry in her friend's voice. "Ino!? Are you ok?"

The sick girl blew her nose loudly, chucking the snotty tissue accurately into the trashcan on the other side of the room. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a cold is all," rasped Ino as she rubbed her throat stiffly.

"Bah, yeah right. I can hear you coughing your lungs out over there," Sakura's voice turned soft while she listened to Ino sneeze noisily. "Go to a doctor or take some meds."

Ino wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Doctor? Meds? No way, Forehead. I'll stick to the plain old fashioned way of sleeping it off, thank you," she told Sakura haughtily before grinning a coy smirk, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "But... you can come over and keep me company..."

Sakura laughed. "And get sick? _No way Ino-pig_," she said mockingly.

"Aw, come on! I'm dead bored over here! I'll let you take me to the doctors? Let you give me NyQuil? Let you borrow some shoes?"

The pink haired girl's resolve faltered at the mention of borrowing some stylish Italian boots, but she brushed it off. "No can do, darling. I'm probably booked all day today," she responded, her thoughts once again focusing on the report that was now bordering on 3 pages. "I have to finish this stupid essay, and... wait; did I have something on today?"

Stopping her typing, she shifted her body slightly and leant over the endless mass of books to a small diary that was conveniently placed on top of a pile of closed volumes.

Ino snorted into the phone when she realized what Sakura was doing. "You're such a _geek_ Forehead. Having to check your schedule when you are supposed to be hurrying over to your sick friend's place with a big tub of chocolate ice cream is so nerdy."

Humming a soft tune, the green eyed girl flicked through the pages leisurely while she ignored the complaining friend, before stopping at the page marked with the present date. Viridian irises widened.

"Crap!" cried Sakura as she shut her laptop closed roughly, pushing it to the side before rushing to her room. "I totally forgot!"

"What? What did you forget?" Ino's concerned voice filtered through the earpiece.

With a quick glance to the clock, Sakura hurriedly wriggled out of her panda decorated pyjamas to change into a casual ensemble of jeans with a white slim fitting sweater. Pushing her shoulder up so she could talk to Ino whilst buttoning her pants, she began to explain. "I was supposed to meet Sasuke-kun for something today! And I completely forgot! I was meant to meet him at noon!"

Ino gasped horrendously. "Geez, are you serious? Hurry the hell up then Forehead!" she ordered, accidentally knocking her box of tissues to the floor. She stopped short, thinking. "Hey, what are you wearing by the way?"

The busy girl was now hurrying around the house, picking up bits and pieces to shove into her bag, and some onto herself. "Just jeans and a sweater."

"What am I going to do with you?! You seriously cannot wear that on your date."

"Well, I don't have time to change to anything sexy right now, Ino. And if I do, I'd just get sick like you. So, shut up and sleep."

"How rude! I'm sick and tired with a bloody freaking red nose and all you say is tha—"

"Shut up and sleep. Don't forget to take your medicine," interjected Sakura as she hung up abruptly on her friend, grabbing her essentials —which she deemed as keys, an umbrella and pepper spray— before stepping out of the house as she clumsily locked the door.

"I'm better off walking; I'll just be stuck behind a big load of taxis," mumbled Sakura while she opened her umbrella, shivering as a cold breeze blew by and caused her warmth to escape. "Stupid weather, it just had to be a rainy day when I had to meet him." Quite grumpily, she took long strides to the curb of the sidewalk before crossing it, cursing at the miserable weather.

In a matter of minutes she had reached the coffee shop where she was supposed to meet Sasuke. Entering, she sighed in relief at the warmth that flooded her body from the high temperature of the heater. Sakura stripped off her thin gloves (which hadn't been a good choice as the chilliness of the outside air had almost frozen her fingers) and began to awkwardly make her way to the end booth in the far corner of the shop where she had an uncanny feeling her boss would be.

True enough, the dark haired man was seated comfortable on the cushioned chair, his onyx eyes scanning a book as he read. One slender hand was enclosed around the spine of the book while the other was curled up by his cheek. Long bangs fell over his face elegantly, highlighting the perfect outline of his nose, the flawless complexion of his skin and the seamless shadows of his eyes that looked as if he hadn't slept. Lastly, classy, black rimmed glasses adorned his eyes, and obsidian from behind glass lenses looked up through raven tresses.

"You're late."

Sakura quickly sat down opposite him, fiddling with her fingers nervously. Her mind had been so filled with thoughts of impudent weathers and how she wished she had worn thick woolly gloves that she hadn't come up with a liable excuse as to why she was tardy. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun; I was, um, working on something."

He grunted and turned a page. "On?" Sasuke prompted.

"A report on the generic topic of disease. It's for an assignment due in two days and I just started this morning," answered Sakura through a yawn. "It's taking way too long to finish. I mean, fifteen freaking pages in 10 point font is absolute hell. My teacher is seriously, the most boring person in the planet, so he just assigns us work while he doe—"

She paused in her ranting. "I'm talking too much, aren't I?"

Sasuke nodded as he carried on reading, his eyes never seeming to have left the book's pages. "Yes, and I don't particularly care."

Sighing, Sakura drooped her head down, sinking in her seat. She was feeling a tad tired, what with having been awake for more than 24 hours – minus her multiple naps she had unconsciously taken during working hours the previous day. "I am so tired," she moaned, pouting childishly.

The reading man lowered his book slightly to stare at the troubled girl who had her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Taking his cup of coffee, he slid it expertly at her. The cup skidded to a halt at the edge of the table, making Sakura look up hesitantly. Her eyes questioned whether she could have it or not, but in a few minutes, the beverage had been chugged down.

Sakura pondered over some facts as she scoffed down the hot liquid (which leads her to think that the man had purchased several cups, as coffee could not possibly stay warm for the two hours in which he had been waiting).

One, the Uchiha wasn't as angry as she had expected. Her imagination had been of a scenario in which he had reprimanded her, furrowing his brow and aiming his trademark scowl at her. The fact that he had coolly taken it wasn't too much a stretch for her imagination, but it was quite the opposite of what she had fantasized.

Two, he was wearing glasses. She had to say she wasn't really into men who wore glasses, but she admitted that they gave him a rather, sexy look. They made him look professional, and Sakura wondered whether he needed them because he was short sighted or wore them for fun. Most likely it was the latter, she concluded.

Three, she was sharing an indirect kiss with Uchiha Sasuke.

Her boss, her male best friend's best friend, and the man who she was currently watching read.

"Um, thanks for the coffee," she said awkwardly as she fumbled with the now empty cup in her hands. Glancing out of the window, she admired the way the raindrops streaked across the glass, as if avoiding eye contact would lighten the atmosphere.

"Hn," he grunted as he stood up, snapping his book shut. The vampire tucked his free hand into the pocket of his black coat as he bent forward slightly to fix a bored gaze at her, before he straightened up and began to walk away to the door of the shop.

Sakura felt a pang of guilt as she realized she had most likely ruined this date. It was supposed to be a 'date of sorts where she was repaid for something she had already forgiven him for', yet she had ruined it. Chewing on her bottom lip nervously, she wondered what she should do, or moreover, what she should have done to remedy the situation.

Yet, she was completely shocked when her hypothesis of being abandoned was proved false.

"Let's go," he said as he passed her, before disappearing out of the shop.

"Y-yes!" Sakura stuttered as she too got up and followed him, leaving her finished cup sitting on the table. She rushed through the door of the shop, her eyes hastily scanning the metropolis that was being pelted by rain. Catching sight of him, she put a hand over her head as she stepped into the downpour. His back was facing her, and his steps were slow so it was easy for her to catch up to him. "Wait up!" she yelled, running after him, hoping to decrease the wetness factor for her clothes by running quickly.

The rain hadn't lightened up at all; it was quite heavier. Numerous puddles scattered the crowded sidewalks, and beeping cars sounded as traffic got busy.

However, being the clumsy girl she was, mixed in with the stormy weather which left behind large puddles of rain water, black boots slipped and a surprised yelp was heard.

"Wah!" Sakura frenziedly groped around for something to support her, and the nearest thing just happened to be the back of Sasuke's long coat. Grasping the collar of the dark material, she put all her weight forward as she tried to steady herself, but to no avail. Instead, her plan of balance backfired, and Sakura ended up on the wet sidewalk on her knees.

Sasuke coughed as his coat was pulled down roughly, almost choking him when he hadn't bent back as the girl toppled ungracefully to the ground. "Annoying," he muttered, turning around to lend the girl a hand.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly to him when she was pulled up easily. "I guess I shouldn't run when there are puddles everywhere."

The vampire agreed through a grumble, and proceeded to fix his coat which had been brusquely yanked, but was stopped as cold hands —though not as cold as his— enclosed his own. Looking down, his eyes met innocent, emerald ones tinted with curiosity.

"Ne, is that a tattoo?"

Sasuke growled lowly as he gruffly tugged his hands out of hers to fix his coat like he had planned. He figured that Sakura had seen the mark when the collar had drooped down. The girl noticed that one hand had immediately bolted up to neck to cup the design engraved there.

"It's none of your business."

"Mou, that's a bit mean." Another pout appeared on Sakura's mouth as she reached out to touch his hands, thinking to withdraw them from the mark, but Sasuke flinched away from her and sent her a hard glare.

"Leave me alone," he snarled coldly, instinctively moving away from her and getting into a subtle self-protective pose.

Sakura gasped as she too, backed away, fearing the tense atmosphere that had come with the weather and such would become staler. Shutting her eyes tightly, she dropped her head down and bowed. "I-I'm sorry!" Sakura yelled as an apology.

Looking down at the bent over girl in front of him, he frowned. The memories of the dinner spent two nights ago flooded Sasuke's mind, and he relaxed his pent up conscience swiftly. Sakura had her hands placed stringently on her knees as she kept her head lowered, waiting for the statement that would either leave her forgiven or guilty. She refused to raise her eyes to meet the inky depths that she knew were staring at her pathetic form, because she was absolutely desperate to make this outing work for the both of them.

Unbeknownst to her, the other party was thinking along the same lines. However, Sasuke's thoughts were more fixed on the dilemma that the girl he was supposed to making happy was scared of him. Sasuke walked towards her, ignoring when she twitched as she heard him approach and stopped in front of her.

"Huh?" she whispered, looking up as the vampire stared remorsefully at her.

"I won't hurt you. I promise," he mumbled. As a vampire, he knew he couldn't stand not having the urges she coaxed forth whenever she was around, but the time he spent away had not been wasted. "I won't stand losing anything anymore."

Sakura rose from her bow and lifted an eyebrow at the sudden turn of events. She had no idea what her companion meant by the words he had last uttered, and opened her mouth to ask.

She was cut off when she was distracted as the Uchiha exhaled tiredly and ran a hand through his hair, shaking from it some droplets that had fallen into his tresses. It was then that Sakura realized the close proximity they shared. Having to look up; the man was about a head taller than her, she was able to see closely the small details of his face.

As a woman, she was ashamed to say that she was jealous of a man's skin. Unconsciously, her surprised, open mouth tightened to a pout, as Sakura examined the unblemished complexion Sasuke seemed to have. Although it was pale, the girl had to admit, it was _perfect_.

"This isn't going the way I planned," he said bleakly, taking no notice of the skeptical looks Sakura was shooting him as she compared their skin textures. Sasuke turned his head to the side as he tried to recompose himself. "What a mess."

His words snapped Sakura out of her odd reverie about epidermis, and she shook her head zealously. "No! I'm actually quite enjoying it," she confessed nervously, scratching the back of her damp head. "It's my fault that this isn't going well, I suppose; I did come late."

"Hn."

Sakura laughed as she realized that things were back to normal. "Well, where to next?"

The vampire shrugged. "I don't have any plans," he said slowly. "Or at least, the plans I did have were ruined by lack of good timing."

The light rosette blushed and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry for raining on your parade then," she said cheekily, stomping her foot childishly. Some water from her trudge splashed onto her boots, but she paid it no heed as she stared at Sasuke ardently.

"Hn, you should be."

Sakura's brow twitched. "Stop being such a killjoy! I'll pick a place if you can't think of anything!" She received no answer, so she began to list off places they could go to. "Park?"

"It's raining."

"Movies?"

"Seen them all."

"Restaurant?

"Not hungry."

The girl let out a frustrated scream and glared at Sasuke. "Where do you want to go then?"

An amused chuckled rang from Sasuke's lips, and he shrugged as he shoved his hands into his pockets – a sign of nonchalance. "I don't care."

"This is hopeless..." Sakura inched closer to him, trying to escape getting any wetter by sheltering under the umbrella Sasuke held up. "Can we go to the bookshop then? I think I need to get more books for my report," she asked, copying the stoic man and pocketing her hands in her coat pockets.

"Aa," he said dryly. "If you needed to go, why didn't you suggest that earlier?"

She giggled and gave him a toothy smile. "Maybe I just thought of it?"

Sasuke took a hand out and glanced at his watch. "Kinokuniya is still open," he commented monotonously.

The green eyed girl nodded and pivoted on the spot. "Well, off we go then!" She raised an arm triumphantly in the air and began to walk off in search of the bookstore.

Sighing, Sasuke took hold of her wrist and started dragging her the opposite way she had been walking. "It's this way," he muttered lowly.

After a few minutes of walking in the rain, dodging large puddles on the sidewalk and dashing to the other side of the road, the pair reached the bookstore that was their destination.

Sakura quickly wrung her hair as her eyes darted excitedly around the shop. As a small child, she'd always loved books, and that hadn't changed at all. Her viridian irises still glimmering with raw enthusiasm, she turned to her companion. "We have to go to the medical section..." she trailed off.

Sasuke gave her a quick nod, and she happily skipped to the segment of books in which books stating several medical facts were kept. The man smirked at her childishness, but followed anyway. Turning sharply, he entered the aisle where Sakura was already crouched, searching through the shelves for a book she desired. He approached her stealthily, and then bent down a bit as he hit her lightly on the head with the book in his hand. "Oi, wait sometimes."

Sakura laughed and went back to book searching. "Sorry Sasuke-kun, I just got a bit excited," she picked out a book titled, 'Diseases Galore: Volume I' and stood up. "Got one!" she exclaimed, proudly gesturing the book she held.

Stepping away from her to give her space to move to another space, Sasuke marvelled at the girl's miraculous mood change, even though they had a bit of a stalemate just before. "Girls change moods easily," remarked the vampire observantly as Sakura walked past him to the other shelf.

That comment forced Sakura to freeze as she remembered the overlooked query she had not long ago. She glanced over her shoulder at him carefully, before looking back to the piles of books when he caught her gaze.

"Boys change subjects easily too, you know," Sakura pointed out slowly, spinning around to face him. Taking a deep breath, she leant against the shelves of medical fact books behind her and stared at him as she gathered up the courage to ask the question she had forgotten to ask. "What did you mean by what you said before?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow questioningly and stared back. "I mean, why did you say, 'I won't stand losing anything anymore'? Or, 'I won't hurt you'?" the girl clarified, fiddling with the book in her hands. "I tried to ask before, but I got a bit, um... distracted. Please tell me though; I'm curious."

"You're always curious. That's why this sort of situation occurs a lot."

Albeit a bit ruffled by that statement for some reason, Sakura persisted on. "You're doing it again! Please stop changing the subject all the time and tell me the truth straight out!"

The vampire stiffened and stayed silent.

"Sasuke-kun, aren't you supposed to be repaying me?" Sakura pouted and put her hands on her waist as she stared at him candidly. "You can count this as sort of payment."

Still, she received nothing. "It's not fair. I told you my story; I deserve to know yours."

Once again, she was answered with silence, until her frank gaze was met with a deep, empty one. Determinedly, Sakura marched up to him and grabbed his shirt in her hands. An unvoiced conversation occurred between the two, until Sasuke gave in. "I'll tell you," he said softly, averting his gaze awkwardly. Whether it was out of embarrassment or something else, Sakura couldn't tell.

"A few years ago, I lost my family," he told her quietly. "I'd just come home from school, and nobody answered when I entered the house. I was just a kid, I didn't think anything was weird because it was too quiet, so I just headed up to my parents room."

He took a deep breath and slumped against the shelves behind him too, mirroring Sakura. "When I opened the door, they were dead. They were on the floor, with their blood everywhere," Sasuke clenched his fists angrily.

"As a kid, my father never paid attention to me, and my mother was always doing the same things everyday. It wasn't until they were actually gone that I realized how important they were. The fact that they were gone, dead and just _gone _just wouldn't register itself in my mind. By chance, I happened to meet their murderer too."

Sasuke's careful facade was cracking. "I will never forgive him for taking away everyone I'd ever loved. He's never been caught, and the entire case was covered up because it was bad for the company's reputation. I promised myself on the day of my parents' funeral that I'd catch him and give him what he deserves, but that hasn't happened yet."

Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as Sasuke merely closed his eyes and continued. "I also promised that I wouldn't lose anyone I cared for anymore, so there's your explanation."

He opened a single eye as he felt two warm hands hold his, and saw Sakura grasp it tightly as she smiled sadly at him. "I-I'm sorry for asking, Sasuke-kun." Tears were rolling down her cheek, and she held Sasuke's hand even tighter as she kept on whispering. "I'm so sorry."

"Whatever," he said stoically, pulling his hand out of hers and stuffing it in his pocket.

Sakura wiped her tears away quickly and picked up the book that she had dropped. "Sorry, I just get overemotional sometimes," she laughed falsely, trying to cover up her vulnerability.

She felt the book being tugged from her hands, and looked up at Sasuke as he twiddled it in his fingers. "Stop apologizing," he said firmly, walking away to the counter where another lady was already purchasing her large stack of books.

The pink haired girl hurried after the Uchiha, and stopped at his side, where he had already laid the book down on the counter top. The salesmen scanned it and drawled lazily, "That'll be ¥4,900, thanks."

Sakura's mouth formed an 'o' shape as she recalled forgetting to check the price, and resisted the urge to slap herself in the head. Pulling out her wallet and getting ready to empty it out, she sighed as she became conscious of the fact that she was going to lose all the money she had spent weeks working for. While Sakura was busy brooding over the fact that she was going to have to bid goodbye to her stash of bills, Sasuke had already slidden the skinny man behind the desk his credit card. A look of absolute inquisition plastered itself on her face, and Sasuke smirked at it. Accepting the book as the boy handed him back his card along with it, he urged her forward as he made his way out of the shop.

"Here," he handed her the book in its bag. "Is the payment done now?"

Sakura nodded her head ardently. "Of course! You know, you didn't have to buy me an expensive book to win back my forgiveness," she noted playfully, swinging the bag against his arm as he opened the umbrella. "This adds to my list of debts for you."

He shot her an inquisitive look.

"You paid ¥_300, 000 _for a meal you didn't eat. And now, you pay ¥4,900 for a book you aren't going to read," she stretched her arms out before ducking under the umbrella with the vampire. "It just goes to show that you care for me, ne?"

Sasuke noticeably became rigid and Sakura laughed. "I was joking!" she said between giggles, linking her fingers together behind her back. "Naruto was right; you really don't have a sense of humour."

The two began to walk side by side through the downpour that had lightened up slightly since their escapade in the bookstore. Silence overcame them, but it was comfortable; both were content to listen to the noises of the conurbation. Stealing a quick glance at her partner, she grinned wistfully as she saw that Sasuke's impassive facade had been successfully put back on. In a certain way, she was glad for having had been able to get past that pretense for a little while, but her happiness didn't subside even when she was pushed out again.

He was there; with his spiky hair drooping at the ends because it was slightly damp, his glasses riding at the bridge of his nose, his obsidian eyes cold and hard, _he was there._He hadn't run away, or reacted defensively like before. Sakura smiled, because frankly, he was by her side.

He was the same old Sasuke she had gotten to know over the few weeks she had worked under him. The same old one that she liked to think was someone she could be close to.

"The weather's awfully gloomy today," she commented, looking away to the sky.

Sasuke peeked at her from the corner of his eye, and remained quiet. She continued to speak, rambling on about incessant nothings as if the weather she had just mentioned somehow cleared and revealed the sun shining brightly on them. She acted as if the miserable atmosphere surrounding them meant nothing.

"How can you do that?"

Sakura looked at him curiously, having not been able to hear him. "What?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing."

The pinkette scowled. "There you go again, not telling me the important stuff," she whined, spinning around so that she was walking backwards as she scolded him. "You really need to break that habit, Sasuke-ku— ah!"

Once again, she felt one of her boots slip on a slippery surface where a puddle lay on the path, and her balance was overthrown. Before she could even brace herself for the pain of falling _again_she had been caught by the wrist.

"Be more careful," he said to her touchily as he pulled her up for the second time that day. "You're so annoying."

Sakura glared at him, and snatched her wrist from his grip as soon as both her feet were steadily on the ground. "Well, it's not my fault I'm clumsy! It's stupid genes!"

The vampire smirked at her in amusement. "I'm sure such extreme clumsiness is hereditary," he noted sarcastically.

"You're sense of humour is so not fun—" This time, she wasn't interrupted by her surprised yelps because she had fallen off her feet, but because a rather odd sound had just erupted from her stomach. Covering it quickly, she blushed as Sasuke stared at her. Her eyes narrowed when his smirk, by some incredible means, appeared even more mocking than before. "I haven't eaten since last night," she tried to explain.

He continued walking, forcing Sakura to run after him to avoid getting soaked. "Aa."

A familiar ring tone rang, and Sasuke groaned as he pulled his lustrous EnV, silencing the song that played as he brought it to his ear. "Dobe."

"Hey, Sasu-chan!"

Sasuke frowned. "Shut up, idiot. What do you want?"

He heard a laugh over the other end. "Well, _Sasu-chan,_is your pretty little gay as—"

"_Dobe_. What do you want?" seethed Sasuke as his brow throbbed.

"Fine, fine, you party pooper!" Naruto frowned, and blew a raspberry into the mouthpiece of his phone. "Something's up, and Kakashi wants you down here ASAP."

The throbbing stopped, and his eyebrow lifted. "What for?"

Naruto sighed exasperatedly. "Who cares, bastard? Just get down here already."

He heard a click, and the dull beeping signalling he had been hung up on. Sasuke stared at the LCD screen for a moment, which was now flashing his wallpaper, then pocketed his phone swiftly.

"Are you going now then?"

The dark haired man turned his head to look at Sakura, who was at his side staring back at him in disappointment and half-hearted understanding. With a sigh, he nodded and began to walk away.

"Wait!"

He halted, and glanced over his shoulder. "Can I come?" she asked hopefully.

Staring for a second, he shrugged his shoulders and resumed his steps. Sasuke heard a soft laugh behind him before Sakura appeared next to him again as if she'd never left. "The date doesn't end yet..." she sang as they made their way back to the edifice they both worked at.

Naruto greeted the pale man as he stepped through the door to his own office. "Hiya, Sasu-cha— eh, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Lovely nickname you have for your boss, Naruto."

The whiskered boy blushed. "The bastard has nothing over me, so I can call him what I want!" he yelled indignantly.

"We weren't expecting you to bring company, Sasuke."

The green eyed girl darted her vision to the desk, where a lean figure was sitting casually on the edge. "Yo," said Kakashi as he mock-saluted the pair that had just entered.

"I offer my greetings too," chimed Sai as he spun around in Sasuke's swivel chair from behind the table. "Hey Ugly."

"What are you all doing here?"

While Sakura's brows furrowed in utter confusion, Sasuke unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it onto the back of a chair indifferently. "What's the situation?"

Kakashi didn't look up from his book, and ushered to Naruto with his free hand. "Naruto, escort Sakura out."

Confusion was now beyond what Sakura was feeling as her blonde friend grabbed her hand excitedly and proceeded to tow her from the scope. "Come on, Sakura-chan! You should get to Ino's place and cheer her up... she's been shouting at me all day," he said oddly cheerful for someone that apparently was getting earfuls from the sick banshee for hours.

Sakura yanked her hand out of his and glared at him. "Stop hiding whatever you're hiding! I'm sure I can handle whatever manly things you're going to talk about!" she fumed, flailing her arms in the air to prove her point.

"I know that, Sakura-chan. We just don't want you to see this, dattebayo."

"I'm not a weak little girl, you know..."

Her voice trailed off as the sound of a television attracted her attention. The same newswoman she watched earlier was seated behind the white bureau, her face set in a grim expression. "Friends are horrified, family are devastated and police are mystified by the recent murder case of Fujiwara Midori, whose dead body was discovered today by the Konoha police force."

Whirling around, Sakura fisted her hands in the fabric of Naruto's orange shirt. "This is what you tried to hide from me? Do you think I'm a child?" she hissed angrily, narrowing her eyes at the poor boy in her clutches.

"Just watch, Sakura," instructed Kakashi lazily, leaning back on his other hand freely. She glowered one last time at Naruto before releasing him, crossing her arms snappily over her chest.

"Seemingly, an anonymous tip was given to officer, Kotetsu Isane at the time 11:56 p.m. yesterday. Kotetsu comments, 'The tip was given by a middle-aged male, but chances are the voice was bugged. It was like listening to the guy threaten me, but what really scared me was that he sounded deadly serious.'

"Following the directions indicated by the unidentified person, the police set off to Shibuya, where the main building of Sabaku Enterprises is situated. In the northern back alley of the office block, the corpse was found lying on the floor. Forensic investigators have concluded that the body was killed at least 7 hours before midnight.

"The method of killing was narrowed to strangling or poison, but investigators insist these methods were not used. Investigator Ohgi Shio reports, 'There are no marks of any kind on the neck, and her blood tested as clean. We have no idea what went on.'"

Sakura gasped as a picture of the covered up corpse was shown, and Naruto gazed at her queasily. "You ok, Sakura-chan?"

She nodded her head, gripping the periphery of the shelf near her severely. "The woman is just so pale..." Sakura said vaguely, examining the image carefully. An arm was the only thing one could see apart from the fabric, but it was enough to base off. "It's as if all the blood was sucked out of her..."

The men in the room froze, but the girl didn't notice as she continued on. "It's disgusting though. The fact that someone would do this type of thing," she remarked harshly. "It's real life horror."

Sasuke clenched his molars together, and was about to give into the compulsion to turn away from the entire scene and just run until a firm hand landed on his head. "Kakashi," he said warningly, moving his hand to wrap his own fingers around the older man's wrist.

The silver haired man laughed and ruffled the spiky hair anyway. "Don't worry about it; the organisation will handle it," Kakashi removed his hand from the Uchiha's iron grip and began to walk out the door. "Be there tonight, and we'll discuss the details properly."

"Hn," he grunted in response before reverting his attention back to the other occupants of the room. "Dobe, clean up your mess."

Said man looked at him weirdly, before scanning the untidy floor distastefully. "No way, teme. Clean it up yourself." The majority of the floor was covered in empty ramen cups, bottles of several drinks and foam cups that held coffee prior to being drunk. "It's your office."

"It's your mess."

"TEM— OW! Sakura-chan, don't pull my ear!" Naruto cried as Sakura pinched him, jerking him towards her.

"Clean it up," she growled, squeezing the skin between her fingers harder. "Do you know who has to clean it up if you don't? That's wrong, it's not the stupid janitor, it's _me._"

"Ok, ok... it's obviously someone's time of the mon— OW! I mean, yeah, I'll do it!" screamed the boy, holding Sakura's hand as he tried to wrench it off his throbbing ear. "And why did you think I wouldn't have guessed yo— OW! Stop it, please! My ear is dying!"

Sakura beamed and liberated Naruto's skin from her fingers. "Thanks for the clean-up, then!"

Naruto glowered at his female friend before obeying her, afraid of another attack. "Now I won't have time to get ready for the party..." he mumbled, bending down to retrieve some ramen cups.

The pinkette looked at him strangely. "Party?"

Sai stood up from the chair, scooping up his art utensils and books before making his way to Sakura's side. "It's a business party being held at the Peninsula tonight by Sharingan Inc. It's to celebrate the merging of the three companies," he explained. "Where have you been if you don't know this, Ugly?"

Sakura was about to retaliate with an onslaught of verbal assaults, but was cut off as Sasuke walked past her to repossess the jacket he had taken off. "8:00, meet me in the Grand Ballroom. Wear something remotely formal; we'll have to greet many people," he said briefly.

He paused at the doorframe, and looked at her attentively. "Don't be late," Sasuke commanded before walking out the door completely.

"A party? And I have to go? I won't have time to finish my assignment!" Sakura groaned, sliding a hand down her face. She tilted her head up to get a glimpse of the clock above her head hanging on the wall, and paled considerably. "Three hours? I only have three hours to get ready as well?!"

"At least you'll be going with Uchiha-kun, Ugly. You have a date for once."

"Shut it, Sai. I don't fancy being glared at by like, the entire female population."

"Well, could you both shut it and help a guy out here? He wants to go to the party too, dattebayo!"

Sakura flashed the pale boy by her side a wicked, Cheshire cat smile before prancing out the door. "Did you hear something, Sai? I don't think I did."

"Dickless just said something Ugly. Are you going deaf?"

"Sai!"

Completely ignoring the tanned boy who asked for their assistance, the two strode down the corridor, bickering the entire way until they reached the elevators. Even when their forms had disappeared, their voices were still ringing through the air.

"Oh, were we playing a game where I was supposed to pretend not to notice Dickless?"

"Never mind, Sai. Never mind."

However, even through their arguing, Naruto swore he could hear the pair laughing.

* * *

_**A/N:**_Whee! Update after a long time! This chapter is longer than usual, to make up for the time I've been procrastinating instead of writing this... it's 16 pages! Definitely the longest chapter ever, but not the best, I have to say. Hm, I wonder if Sakura is the only one to see him when he wears glasses... wait, Sasuke wears glasses? Haha, he sure does... The evil mastermind-esque plot starts here though! This will be the last time I say (type) it, so listen. I don't own Naruto. Thanks for reading, and please review.

Oh, and about my name change... It'll stay like that from now on. It's a new year, so a new name? Haha, I think I'll stick with it. I like the sound of it.


	9. Revelry

_**La Tua Cantante:**_

_**Chapter 9:**_

_**REVELRY**_

_**

* * *

**_

"So, how's the party? Is the food good? Are there any hot guys I should be aware of? Did they hire that stupid pianist to play again? Is Forehead there ye—"

Shikamaru sighed and leaned against the wall tiredly. Talking to Ino, even on the phone, was tiring for the shirker. "Everything's great, you psychotic woman. Just get back in bed."

The female on the other line scoffed. "How do you know I'm not in bed? Quit being such a smart aleck!"

"I don't need to be whatever you just called me to guess that you're out of bed, eating choc—"

"Shikamaru!" whined Ino, dragging out his name like a child. "I am home, sick and well… _sick, _so I need a gossip source to tell me everything that's going on! Oh yes, is Forehead there yet?"

Biting back the urge to just hang up, Shikamaru tapped his cigarette with his pinkie finger in irritation. "How should I know? It's not like I'm keeping tabs on her or anything."

"_Is Forehead there yet?"_

"No, she isn't," muttered the brunette as he brought the cigarette up to take a drag. Scratching the back of his head with the same hand holding the stick, Shikamaru continued on. "Why don't you just call her yourself?"

"I can't! God, boys just don't understand these types of things," moaned Ino as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

"Ino, I am a 24 year old man who is smoking in the bathroom whilst listening to some blonde imbecile trying to pluck information out of me. What am I supposed to understand?"

"I'm going to pretend that the 'blonde imbecile' you are referring to is Naruto. And why the hell are you smoking in a bathroom?"

Shikamaru sighed again and glanced at the door as he heard footsteps approach. Making a clicking noise with his tongue in exasperation, he disposed of his cigarette in the tray provided which rested on the counter. He stuffed his now free hand in his pocket, deciding finally to answer the blonde's question. "It's too troublesome to explain."

The reply to his statement was cut off as Shikamaru slid the phone down to his neck when someone appeared through the doorway. The corners of his mouth turned slightly, giving a quick wave to the man who stopped in front of him. "Yo, Chouji."

"Don't 'Yo, Chouji' me. There's a whole buffet outside that you're missing out on!" complained the chubby man, pointing to the door eagerly. "C'mon, move your ass Shikamaru!"

"Aa," nodded said man, placing the phone to his ear once more. "Sorry Ino, I gotta go. Go ask Sakura or somebody for whatever you want."

"Hey, I wasn't finished talki—"

Chouji chuckled as he watched Shikamaru hang up and thrust the phone towards him resignedly. Catching it, he fingered it idly while he grinned teasingly at his friend. "Ino-chan again?"

Not even bothering to give any sort of affirmation to the question, the shirker strode out of the bathroom with a groan. He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly as he waited for his stout friend to walk out first, before the pair ambled on towards the main hall.

"I was looking for you everywhere, and then some kid told me you'd gone into the bathroom with some high voice yelling at you from your phone. I had to find you, of course, I mean, it wouldn't be fun just eating all that food by myself! You know, this year, they have scallops and lobster…"

Chouji's voice trailed off as he felt the presence of the person he was talking to halt, and he looked over his shoulder begrudgingly. "Shikamaru, what is it this time?" When he received no answer, he stomped up to his companion and shoved his shoulder roughly. "Oi, Shikamaru!"

Another retort was supposed to come out of Chouji's mouth, but was stopped in its tracks as a hand was slapped onto his mouth urgently. "Shush," he ushered, scanning the seemingly deserted hallway quickly before retracting his hand just as swiftly as if he'd just been bitten. Well it was close to the example, in his opinion.

"You licked my hand," accused Shikamaru calmly as he wiped his hand disgustedly onto his attacker's shirt. "How troublesome." His eyes looked bored and he stuffed his hand into his pocket roughly, further preventing it from getting infected with saliva.

Chouji snickered. "You deserved it."

No response. The stout boy smacked a hand to his face and slid it down exasperatedly. "Shikamaru, all the food is gonna be gone!" he complained, before Shikamaru turned his head and stared down the long hallway in which they'd just walked up. "Shika—"

Then he heard it. The soft sound that was reverberating almost noiselessly through the passage could not possibly be heard by normal human ears, but it was loud enough for the men's trained ones to hear it. "What is that?" whispered Chouji restlessly, inching closer to his friend in anxiousness.

Shikamaru sighed and sauntered lazily towards the closed window that sat on his left, just a bit further down the vestibule. Halting at the glassy pane, he lifted a hand and flicked two of his fingers forward, gesturing for the chubby companion to follow. Once he felt the man's presence behind him, his hand shot out to flick the switch to open the window.

But eerily, it had already been done for him.

The clear panel rocketed upward, letting in the cold night breeze. Shikamaru stepped backwards unconsciously in surprise, before he grumbled, "I knew that giggling sound was familiar." Leaning onto the window pane, the man stared ahead and lifted his chin in a manly fashion. "Kakashi."

Said silver-haired man looked up from his sitting position on the fire escape stairs, and grinned as he saluted the shirker mockingly. "What brings the two of you here?"

With a roll of his eyes, Shikamaru climbed expertly through the window, landing on the balls of his feet as he crouched. "I should be asking you that," he muttered, watching Kakashi turn a page in his book. "You are the one giggling at porn in public."

He heard Chouji guffaw behind him quietly as he too climbed out onto the staircase. "It's not porn," the older man began, shooting the laughing man a scary glance. "It's merely adult literature."

Waving his hand dismissively, Chouji nodded aimlessly. "Yeah, yeah. Aren't you supposed to be supervising the party?"

"I'm sure they can still have plenty of fun without me."

"Some of those guests… their idea of 'fun' might be a little different to the human version don't you think?

A crinkled eye moved to gaze through the large glass panels where the business party was being held; it was crowded with men and women of high status, chandeliers were flashing vibrantly and soft classical music was floating through the air. "My, it seems we have been graced with the presence of some supernatural company tonight."

There was a woman with long, midnight hair, tightly done in a bun that flaunted her flawlessly pale neck. Her figure was tall and slender, and her eyes were a satin lilac colour. "Hinata Hyuuga? A werewolf?" Light pink lips pursed themselves as her ivory eyes slanted and she glanced in their general direction, before she swiftly turned her attention back to the man she was talking to.

"There're demons and death gods here too. When the Uchiha throws a party, he sure knows who to invite," muttered Chouji while he gazed at the numerous business icons, artistic performers and even athletes who had been invited. "You gotta wonder though; aren't they being cheaters? Using their er, um..."

"Paranormal?" Shikamaru suggested, linking his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, paranormal powers to gain fame like that... they're a bit like cheaters, aren't they?"

Kakashi laughed quietly as he lazily stood up and snapped his book shut. "Well, I suppose so. That desire to become popular and well liked – it's what makes them more humane, I guess." Gyrating on the heel of his new Italian shoes, the light haired man shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way up the stairs.

An eyelid opened to reveal an almond coloured eye that trailed after the man's footsteps. "What a drag," Shikamaru pulled out a pack of cigarettes as Chouji simultaneously offered him a lighter. "He left before I could scold him for not doing any work this week. How troublesome."

The pair heard a soft giggle, and they knew the man had left to read his 'adult literature' in private once more.

**-x-**

"Dammit. These heels are killing me. Can we at least walk a _little _slower?"

Sakura blew a stray strand of her from her face as she was ignored and made to stumble through the throng of guests awkwardly, her green eyes searching for the pale skinned boss she sought. She'd just made it to the event in time; the silver wristwatch –that had been cleverly disguised as a flashy bracelet by a jewellery designer whose name always failed to register in the girl's mind— on her arm read that she was a mere 3 minutes early.

Despite her timely entrance, the pinkette had been forced to undergo the tedious process of reaching the location of the actual event. Discreetly, she glanced next to her, where the ever stoic Hyuuga Neji stood, his hand guardedly situated on the small of her back and his face turned away from her. Sakura sighed as she was pushed forward by the impatient man once more, instantly recalling how she had gotten herself into this ever peculiar scenario.

After suffering Ino's ostensible makeover due to her own lack of formal wear, Sakura had to take quick, but hesitant steps towards the curb of the path, stopping for a moment to observe the packed roads. Waving her purse haphazardly to gain the attention of the nearest taxi, she found herself being driven to her destination moments later.

As the car moved, Sakura had used the time to check over herself. It was most possibly the very first time she had ever attempted to make a formal impression at a party, so she was incredibly naive about the attire she had to don. Ino had taken the initiative to provide her with a glamourous evening gown; it was a full length dress that tightened around her stomach and just above her knees before draping downwards towards the floor. It was black in colour and done with an elaborate bow; the girl found it absolutely gorgeous and was very proud of the way it fit on her.

"This your place, Miss...?"

Being snapped out of her trance by the gravelly voice of the driver, Sakura had looked out the window and, not being able to conjure up any other reaction, just nodded mutely. Normally, had she been working for a _boss _who owned a _normal _business, she wouldn't be surprised to the extent of speechlessness. It was just her luck she worked the vocation of the secretary to the CEO of Sharingan Inc.

"Ah yes, this is the place," she replied conformably, nodding her head slowly as she walked out of the vehicle after having paid. "The Peninsula... of course, the party would be held in the fanciest and most luxurious hotel in all of Tokyo."

The green eyed woman heard the operator of the car snigger. "Good luck kid; them rich people ain't the best company."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura scoffed as she fisted her hands in the fabric of her dress and marched through the doors, the sound of her footsteps being accompanied by the rushing water of the jet fountains outside. "Don't you think I know that already?" she muttered to herself as she stomped right into the lobby, ignoring the odd looks she was receiving. A concierge smiled politely at her before gesturing towards the elevator, which she had opted not to utilize –thus ignoring the poor man and his incredulous expression— and decided to take the stairs.

"Stupid Uchiha and his richness; if I wasn't his secretary and didn't have my job on the line, I would punch his pretty little fa—" A plain door to her right had caught her attention. Stepping down the stairs carefully, she made her way to the simple mahogany door, which she concluded was suspicious just because it was _too plain_ to exist in such a fancy hotel. As she opened the door quietly, she saw that is was an inner stairwell; the steps winded both upwards and downwards, so she expected that one direction would lead her somewhat inconspicuously to her intended place. "It's better than strutting around that lobby where everyone one can... see..."

Her voice dragged off as she spotted a sight that she feared would be forever etched into her mind.

There, leaning on the cold railing of the stairs, standing elegantly on the grey concrete steps, was the man who was second —right after the Uchiha— on her hit list: Hyuuga Neji. Draped over another figure in a private position. A figure in a suit. A figure who was putting their hands in places only lovers should.

Sakura gasped as she realized that the long haired male was most likely making out with another _man. _

In the next second, she fell back clumsily as the shock of the head of two revolvers being aimed at her settled in. "Who—" the man lowered his gun slowly as his white eyes widened and zeroed in ostensibly on the pink haired woman. He unwound his other arm from his _lover's _waist and pocketed his gun swiftly, walking up to the fallen pinkette. "You're Uchiha's secretary."

His blunt, and almost disgusted tone, insulted Sakura. "And you're that stingy man who could do nothing but make noise at the last meeting!" she retorted stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest in protest. She disregarded, or at least, tried to disregard, the fact that she could possibly be fired or even sued for her reckless comment. Pushing it to the back of her already crowded mind, Sakura focused on the supposedly gay man in front of her.

Her concentration was broken when a feminine giggle, which was not her own, sounded through the air. "Hey, Neji; this girl's pretty funny," said the same feminine voice as a hand slipped into Neji's cool one effortlessly. Hazel eyes stared into green as a _woman _in a _pinstriped suit_ dropped the gun to her side and smiled cheekily at Sakura's astounded face. "I like her."

There was silence as the couple holding hands on the stairs waited for a reaction. Sakura, on the other hand, was too busy trying to register what had just happened in her mind to devise one.

The suit clad woman pouted and tugged on Neji's sleeve, angling her mouth near his ear to gently whisper, "Has she gone mute?"

Would the Hyuuga have been the type of man to snort, he would have, but instead settled on smirking condescendingly at the silent girl. His eyes drifted briefly to his watch before he coughed to break the discomfited quiet that loomed over them. "Tenten, get back to work," he ordered strictly to the girl embracing his arm. The bun-headed brunette just grinned and nodded, detaching herself from him and walking down the stairs.

"Oh yeah," Tenten halted, looking over her shoulder audaciously. She looked at the pink haired girl who was still sitting on the stairs fiddling with the material of her dress, and beamed. "It was nice to meet you, Haruno-chan."

Viridian pupils contracted as her eyes widened, and Sakura gazed after the slowly disappearing figure. "Eh? How did she know my na— EYAAA!"

She was heaved up by the arm roughly with a squawk, and the fact that her heels were once again, higher than 3 inches, didn't help with her goal of achieving a vertical standing. Just as she was about to tumble down to meet an unfortunate demise, Neji had managed to execute a problematic technique to save her; he simply used gravitational force combined with the inertia of the person he was saving to push her back smoothly so as not to cause her stumble over backwards.

"We're going," he deadpanned, dragging her by her upper arm discordantly.

"Hey—" Sakura twisted in his grip and tried to pry his fingers loose from her skin. "Let—me—go!"

"You're making a fuss. Pipe down."

"Why you... who are you to tell me wh—"

"_Eh—? Is that Hyuuga Neji with his date?"_

Frowning, she took heed of his advice as she realized they had left the cold, dank stairwell and were now heading up the lavish, carpeted flight of steps in the middle of the lobby. Many guests had arrived now, and Sakura had gotten the feeling that the majority of eyes would flock to her and the man next to her due to their friendly pose. The girl lowered her head, trying to escape the attention, but it seemed it had the opposite effect as Neji suddenly positioned his gloved hand at her lower back.

Nodding, Sakura concluded presently that it was all the Hyuuga's fault that she had gotten into such an embarrassing situation.

"He's there."

Sakura's head snapped back to look at Neji as his voice broke her out of her recollection of memories. "You, go now," he commanded arrogantly, and he pushed her rapidly from behind towards the man she was looking for.

Sakura glared at him swiftly, hissing, "I have a name." She removed his slowly moving hand from her body and unconsciously straightened out her dress. "It's Haruno Sakura. Don't forget it."

The man smirked coolly. "I forgot already."

With a puff of indignation and another cold glare, she stomped away from him. Almost blindly, Sakura moved through the crowd of chatting people, her eyes scanning the area until they landed on the Uchiha.

He was politely conversing with a group of business associates, although he looked silent and just sipped his champagne elegantly. His suit was a marvellous black ensemble, and only proceeded to make him look like a wealthy, unattainable beauty which was, in Sakura's view, his actual being. She watched him nod his head courteously as he responded to something told to him, and she noticed his eyes reflected that he was growing tired of conversation when they disappeared behind closed lids briefly before they lazily re-emerged.

Sakura shook her head to redeem herself of her purpose and opened her mouth to speak once she felt she was close enough, but before words could even leave her lips, a head of spiky dark hair turned her way as if he had heard her voice even though she hadn't called his name. "Excuse me," she heard him excuse himself quietly as he made his way quickly, and unsurprisingly sophisticatedly, towards her.

"Hello," said a low, familiar voice. Sakura blinked once, before staring at him, who she swore was at least a metre away from her just a second ago, intensely. The man didn't seem to notice as he smirked devilishly at her, his teasing eyes directed at her. "You're finally here."

She pouted, reassembling her thoughts hurriedly, before tearing her gaze away from him as she realized it was near impossible to stay un-jumbled whenever she gazed at him. "W-Well, for your information, I was not late! It's not my fault you're exceptionally hard to find."

"It's not my fault you're exceptionally unperceptive," Sasuke looked over her shoulder for a split second before angling his body in a gesture for her to follow his lead. "You were with Hyuuga?"

Sakura nodded while she followed him. "Yes, he was…" she paused mid-sentence as she decided it was best not to spill all the details. "He was escorting me here. It seems that he wanted to apologise for his behaviour before."

Sasuke resisted the urge to snort. "Aa," he said, unconvinced. He stopped at a table covered with a gloriously patterned tablecloth, and sat down in his assigned seat. The Uchiha waited for her to follow his example and seat herself as well, but heard no movement. He craned his head around to see Sakura standing behind the chair nervously, twitching her fingers restively.

Her reason for nervousness wasn't because she spoilt her dress or steadily embarrassed herself, but for the basis that she had noticed that they weren't the only occupants of the round table; there were three others. One, she recognised, was Temari, the blonde feminist who had righteously stood up for her at the previous meeting. The second was a brunette whom she presumed was the woman's brother, as he was currently being scolded for drawing designs of some sort on the napkins in a way that was reserved for family disputes. The last was a red-haired, aqua-eyed man, who was watching –or in her honest perception, glaring— at her.

All of those people she had already had the pleasure of seeing beforehand, thus she knew of their high status. Hurriedly, she bowed her head graciously so as to show respect, but this resulted in her stumbling forward in her heels and smacking into the back of the chair. Safe to say, she had caught their attention – though not in the way Sakura had first anticipated.

"Sit," deadpanned Sasuke as he crossed his arms impatiently over his chest. Sakura blushed and plopped herself down beside him, obeying his orders like a dog obeying his master. She kept her mouth shut, hoping that the other occupiers of the table would miraculously overlook the gauche incident. However, as she had just started to regain her composure, she was yanked forward when her hand was taken into a hard grip. She was met with a pair of very interested eyes, and the pinkette doubled back, startled.

"Pink hair…" uttered the blonde woman curiously as she examined the girl in front of her. Said girl fidgeted restlessly under her gaze, trying to look away in discomfiture. "So this is the famous Haruno?"

Sakura, not being able to retain her uneasiness, raised a brow and leaned forward, inching slightly closer to the female who was now clasping her hand. "Famous? What do you mean?"

The blonde blinked. "Wait," she said coyly, slanting her eyes towards the nonchalant Uchiha. All she received was a subtle glare back. Then, as if that was all it took to answer the unasked question in her mind, the woman dropped the hands in her hold and covered her mouth instead. "Ah! AH!"

An order rang through the air with a noxious aura. "Temari; quieten down." The cold voice made Sakura's head flicker towards it unconsciously, and she suddenly wished she hadn't. She cringed at the deadly look the red haired man sent his presumably older sister, even though it wasn't directed at her.

A hearty laugh from behind the women caused the two to turn their heads. "Now, now, if you do that, everything will be too quiet," teased a preposterously dressed lady as she slung her thin arms over the backs of their chairs. Pulling up her sunglasses to the top of her head stylishly, Tsunade grinned. "Sakura! I was wondering when you'd show."

"Yeah, you'd probably think that Uchiha here was gonna keep her all to himself," taunted Temari mischievously, leaning backward in her chair to grin at Tsunade. She made sure to keep her voice lower than before, so as to comply with her younger brother's instructions. "I'm surprised I even got to meet the girl."

Sakura raised a brow. "What are you talking about?" she voiced her impatience bluntly, crossing her arms now that her hands were free from any strong holds. "I don't exactly understand why I'm constantly being referred to as if I'm— as if I'm some sort of monster trapped in a cage by my boss!"

The hospice possessor smiled grimly. "Oh, but Sakura— in short, that's what you are."

"Tsunade," asserted Sasuke sharply just as Sakura was about to open her mouth. He unfurled his limbs and intertwined his fingers together while flicking his head indiscreetly towards the west of the room. "Your table is in the other ballroom."

Raising an eyebrow, the hospital owner scoffed. "Uchiha, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar figure stepped forward to join their conversation.

"My, Sasuke-kun, you seem to have lost all subtlety since the last time we met."

Slowly, Tsunade whipped her head around. Her gaze grew hard and she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to spit out her next word. "Orochimaru."

A soft chuckle escaped the man's mouth as he strode to the table. "Not even a greeting, Tsunade?" he hissed in a chilling voice, his cat-like golden eyes flickering dangerously. His foot stopped when it brushed contact with the stub of Sakura's chair, and the pale skinned man stooped down vaguely so that his long, black hair –that was fancifully tied into a single ponytail— swept over the rosette's bare shoulder faintly.

"You've always been the chatterbox," Orochimaru continued while his silk clad arm snaked itself around Tsunade's waist. "It might not be the great reunion you'd always dreamed of, but couldn't you at least say a few words? I'm sure you're bursting with things to say to me right now."

Tsunade frigidly slapped away the man's appendage. "I have nothing to say to you," she snapped irately. "Absolutely _nothing_."

"Well then," he smiled cruelly, lifting his hand from its post, which ironically, happened to be Sakura's shoulder. "Should I assume that you want to postpone this party for when the last member rejoins us?"

"Party?" Tsunade echoed, her voice wavering when Orochimaru's eyes finally focused on her own amber ones menacingly. She brandished her hand shakily around the room as a sign of show. "You call this messed up event a party?"

"Kuku, you seem to be intimidated by my acquaintances," he beckoned unsettlingly with two thin fingers. No sooner than a few moments from which he had summoned him, did the taller man appear behind him with his glasses glinting from the chandelier lights. "I'm sure you remember Kabuto-kun."

The busty woman glared. "This place is crawling with your cronies. What makes you think I'm going to remember this fool?"

Kabuto pushed his spectacles up gingerly as he smirked. He mumbled something quietly into Orochimaru's ear, reaching into the inner pocket in his suit to withdraw a card. The small slip was placed into the other's hand smoothly and a silence followed until it was broken by the sound of a chuckle. "Ah. So this," Orochimaru started disturbingly, resting his cold hand onto Sakura's bare shoulder again. His eyes were speckled with disconcerting curiosity as he licked his lips while he examined the girl. Threadlike lips parted and Sasuke spared the man a sidelong glance, Tsunade growled and Gaara closed his eyes.

"Orochimaru! You bastard! Don't—"

"Orochimaru."

"—must be Sasuke-kun's dear bloodsinger."

Sakura shivered. Her entire body was paralysed completely; she couldn't even close her eyes no matter how much she craved to. She was extremely uneasy about the shivers that were being sent down her spine at the man's cold touch. Her brain, her inner conscious, her own body – it screamed at her, telling her to move, telling her to run, telling her to _scream_. Alas, her jaw was locked and her fingers were frozen in clenched fists in her own dress. Sakura felt his grip loosen for a split second then immediately tighten again, and the scream she had been building up was pushed to her throat.

"S-Stop," she croaked. Her throat was too dry to produce a loud enough volume to make her seem unaffected by the scary male. With the sudden confidence to speak, albeit softly, she gathered up the excess control to shut her eyes forcefully. "Please... stop."

Then concurrently, an abrupt wave of warmth spread through her as something grabbed her hand and pulled her away from Orochimaru's grip. Her closed eyes still refused to open even as she felt a warm body brush her side gently. Her other fisted hand still refused to unclench even though her other was in the presence of safety.

"Stop." That single word was all it took for Orochimaru to smirk and draw away considerately.

"You're quite patient, Sasuke-kun," he clapped his hands slowly, gazing intently at Sasuke who had shone his eyes perilously. A laugh was torn from the snake-man's throat as he spun on his heel and continued to clap in the same slow, agonizing fashion.

"Orochimaru-sama, we should leave now."

"Kuku," the man laughed again before glancing back to meet Sasuke's even glare. "Try if you must to kill me with your eyes, but remember..."

Gaara opened a single eye lazily and stared at Orochimaru as he took the hat Kabuto offered him. Tipping his fedora, the black haired man quirked his lips, making his sinister beam grow wider.

"I'm not Snow White. I can't be killed with poison."

Without another word, he left amiably. Soon, his footsteps couldn't be heard to be clacking against the floor, nor could you see the pinnacle of his top hat as he walked.

Tsunade scowled and leaned through the gap between Temari and Sakura's chairs to swipe the filled wine glass sitting on the tablecloth. Chugging it down, she wiped her mouth of any spare liquid and moved to grab another goblet. Temari watched her with astonishment evident on her face. Before the drinking woman could stumble around the table to reach for another cup, she pushed the bottle of wine in her face.

"Sheesh," the four-tailed blonde muttered, her eyes mysteriously glued to the other blonde woman as she continued to drink. "Is that like, a habit?"

At those words, the fluid stopped flowing past her lips. Tsunade lowered the bottle and shook her head sadly. "I can't believe it," she laughed hollowly, sitting in an empty seat that was designated for someone else. "Even after everything, it's still here. It's still freaking here."

She stood up, taking the purple jug with her as she smiled grimly. "I'm going to forget about this. I will," the voluptuous woman stared at Sakura who had now pulled away from Sasuke awkwardly, but still gripped his hand as if it was her lifeline. "But she won't. You might want to do something about that." Then, she walked away, sculling down the remainder of the contents in the nicely shaped urn.

Sakura opened her eyes. Her thoughts were still perplexed, and she felt that Orochimaru's cold touch had somehow stilled her completely, and she was glad that a warm hand was grabbing hers otherwise she'd fear her body would freeze up. Then, something in her mind clicked. That hand, _Sasuke's hand, _the hand that was usually cold in more ways than one, was _warm._

Viridian green gawked at connected hands, and she looked up to scrutinize Sasuke's seemingly perfect face. Moving her hand up gradually, she reached out to touch his hair. Her fingers brushed through the locks easily; the strands were so soft. The vampire on the other hand, did nothing but stay still. He felt he had no need to detach her touch from his scalp, as she had just encountered the man who seemed to know more about her than she did herself.

"Saku—ah."

Inky black hardened into a scolding grimace. She'd just tugged his hair.

She then tilted her head to the side as her eyes widened. Sakura gasped and bowed her head quickly. "Sorry!"

Sasuke sighed as he shook his head as a gesture for her to remove her appendage from his head –most likely, to prevent any further damage to his _beautiful _hair— and turned away from her. "Whatever."

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, smoothing out her dress in an inept attempt of becoming comfortable. "I guess I'm just a bit… disorientated." Sakura sighed as she lifted her hand that had stopped it's grooming duty to her hair gawkily. "I really do apologize for um, not being as professional as I should have been."

There was no answer, but Sakura continued to babble on in her nervousness. "Well, er… did you happen to know that, um, Orochimaru-san?"

"That's none of your business."

The green eyed girl exhaled lightly. After working for the stubborn man for over a week, she'd learnt not to be insulted when he tried to close himself up. "I suppose so. Sorry for asking."

"Don't be like that, Uchiha," Temari boomed as she swathed her arm around Sakura's shoulders. "You can't blame the girl for asking. That guy's as scary as anything can get and you kn—"

"SAKURA-CHAN! Help me!"

A flash of orange darted towards Sakura and engulfed her in a hug that smelled strongly of spices. "Naruto?" she asked, trying to wiggle out of strong arms. "What's going o—?"

"It's really bad, Sakura-chan," wailed Naruto as he snuggled the girl harder into his chest. "Kakashi is mad because I played a prank on him and got chalk dust in his hair –even though it didn't really make a difference, c'mon– and now he's after me! I swear, I heard him running after me around the buffet, and now he's going to kill me! His eyes are going evil and he's giving out the same aura as the bastard over there always does! Help me!"

"My, my, Naruto; you're really making me out to seem like the bad guy, aren't you?"

Sakura pushed Naruto off her and flashed the man across the table a radiant smile. "Kakashi! You made it!"

Naruto snorted while he caressed his throbbing cheek. "Of course he made it. Someone told him there was gonna be an Icha Icha book signing here," Kakashi plonked into his seat next to Gaara casually. "Then, he took so long looking for it, that's why we're late!"

"Don't tell lies, dumbass," Sasuke deadpanned. "Kakashi arrived here hours ago. You're the only one who's late."

The whiskered boy stuck his tongue out immaturely. "Whatever, _Sasu-babe._"

"Naruto," Kakashi started, flicking a page in his book absent-mindedly. "Stop addressing Sasuke with such frivolous names." His eyes scanned the words on the paper avidly and he ignored the odd stares he was receiving for reading his book while participating in conversation. "They make you sound…"

"Gay?" Sakura supplied helpfully, trying to contain her giggles as her tanned friend glared dejectedly in her direction.

Despite the hurtful jibes, Naruto perked up instantly. "Feh, you know you like it, Kakashi."

"I beg to differ. I have no interest in homo erotica," the silver-haired man eyed the Uchiha suspiciously. "Especially between the two of you."

"Yeah, well… hey, wait!" Realization dawned upon Naruto as Sasuke shook his head at his friend's slowness. "Ew, _gross! _I'm not going out with him! Kakashi, that's just wrong because I'm not gay—OW! Why did you hit me, Sakura-chan?!"

"Shut it," she hissed, pulling his ear fiercely so he sat down on the floor near her chair. "Hyuuga Hiashi-san is giving a speech now."

True enough, the older Hyuuga was standing at the podium, clearing his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Firstly, I would like to thank you all for attending…"

Naruto paid no attention the words the man was speaking due to the fact that he was crawling rather strangely around the table to his seat. Clambering onto the chair incongruously, he crossed his arms and glared at Kakashi, who was seated next to him. "I get my ear pulled for standing up for my sexual preferences, and you get away with reading porn in public. It's not fair."

He was ignored, and he pouted as he sulked while Kakashi raised a hand civilly. A waiter came around swiftly, offering the occupants of the table a practised smile. "A bottle of Chardonnay, thanks," Kakashi whispered lightly, so as to not rouse any who were actually intently listening to Hiashi's drone. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura's eyes light up, and he would have groaned if not for the mask covering his lips. Reluctantly, he called the waiter back with a sigh. "Make that two bottles."

Sasuke stared at Kakashi squarely. "I'm sure there are things you'd like to discuss," the masked man explained quietly as he slid a glass over to Sakura who caught it in her nimble fingers. "This would be a great opportunity."

A sidelong glance was spared to Temari and her siblings, before the Uchiha deduced that she was not paying attention. "Aa."

Kakashi smiled. "Now then," the waiter appeared with two bottles of wine in his hands, and he set them on their table agilely. As if he was a professional, the older male who had ordered the beverages poured them into all the wine glasses without spilling a drop. His eyes, which were previously trained on the sloshing liquid in his cup, turned to Sakura with an even gaze. "How have you been?"

"Things have been a bit iffy, Kakashi. You should already know that though, I mean, you did know I wasn't so _fine _because you were hunting me down like some sort of—"

"He wasn't talking to you, dobe."

"Well," Sakura placed a finger on her chin as she imbibed some liquor. "I suppose I have been fine. That is, if you call having multiple assignments due but having to go to work as well fine."

Kakashi's lone eye crinkled nostalgically. "Ah, that's right. You still take those lectures down at the University."

The blonde boy lifted a finger, feigning judiciousness. His nose upturned in the air as he spoke with a haughty tone. "Yeah, of course! Sakura-chan's so smart that she can handle that!"

Sasuke intertwined his fingers and kept them under his chin. "Lectures?" He hadn't heard of that before.

"Yes," the girl turned to vampire as she nodded her head. She smiled delicately. "It's for medical study. I guess you can say that's where I got all knowledge from."

"Hn, so that's why you're so distracted and slow at work."

Sakura twitched. "That's not true, Sasuke-kun!"

"Kids, now's not the time to squabble," Kakashi intervened nonchalantly while Sakura scowled and took a large chug of her wine. It was preferably best she didn't retaliate any longer, lest she wanted to become unemployed. She slammed her glass maladroitly back onto the table surface and Naruto hurriedly poured her another glass. He knew what she was like when she was mad.

"Sheesh, teme. Did you have to make her angry?" Naruto scolded in a stage whisper. "Remember, she's scary when she gets mad!"

The pink haired girl who, not all too wanting of hearing her friends gossip about her in front of her, looked away and drank her drink. Hiashi Hyuuga was still up at the dais, and his deep voice was echoing around the room. The other occupants of the table, the Sabaku Enterprises representatives, seemed to be intently listening, although the oldest brother was once again doodling on new napkins. Craning her head backward, she inadvertently saw the further party-goers. The Hyuuga Corp. was sitting at a table with Tsunade and her hospital troupe, and all were also paying attention to Hiashi on the stage. Another look around made Sakura pick out Shikamaru and Chouji — friends from her previous job section— who were busy sleeping and eating respectively.

"Sakura," a voice called. "Sakura!"

She turned her head back to Kakashi, who had called her. "Huh? What did you say, sorry?"

He smiled whilst pouring her another glass of Chardonnay. "Out of it again, I see. Sasuke must be very hard on you if you're always like this."

Sakura frowned. "I'm not that bad. I do my work well and efficiently. I don't know what Sasuke-kun's being telling you."

"That's not what I want to know," Kakashi's smile faded to a gentle melancholy line, and he leant forward as if sharing a secret. "What I do want to know is," he drummed his fingers rhythmically on the table. "Who was that creepy man you just met, Sakura?"

The girl blinked. "You mean, Orochimaru-san?"

Naruto choked on his drink. Kakashi nodded whilst thrusting a batch of napkins in the blonde's face. "Yes, that one."

"Well, I'm not exactly sure… it was the first time I'd ever met him, to tell you the truth. What do you want to know about him, anyway?"

Sasuke took a sip of his wine, before pushing it away from his lips altogether. He'd never liked the taste of wine. "Kakashi," he said warningly, as if telling him not to reveal too much.

"Sakura, that man," Kakashi continued on as if he hadn't heard his boss speak. "Do you know who he really is?"

She shook her head. "No," taking a swallow from her glass, she licked her lips. "Actually, I don't really know much about him. Is he dangerous?"

"Deadly."

Sakura downed the rest of her drink. "I thought so."

"Sakura-chan, you don't know how dangerous that guy really is! He's—"

Shaking her head, the girl poured herself another glass of wine. "Naruto, stop worrying. It's not as if this guy can do anything to me with you around all the time."

"That man has killed over 50 people."

The movement of manoeuvring the wine bottle halted. "W-What?"

Sasuke looked straight into Sakura's eyes as he repeated his sentence with conviction and seriousness. "Orochimaru is a man who's killed over 50 people."

Sakura nodded her head several times, positioning the bottle upright so that she wouldn't drop it. Her hands were shaking so much when she'd heard Sasuke's sentence, and when he'd repeated it, she felt that there was no feeling at all in her limbs. "O-Oh really? Then, why is he here?" She wished desperately that she sounded stronger.

"I don't know."

The girl moaned and chugged down the glass before once again filling it up. "Great."

Kakashi chuckled. "No need to get so scared, Sakura. All businessmen here have to sacrifice people."

"I'm not scared. I just don't understand why such a man is hanging around the business world when he seems much more needed in the circus," she muttered to herself, though all the men she wished to keep her comments from heard her loud and clear.

Naruto laughed. "You're funny, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, just hilarious," she remarked sourly, trying to reach for the other bottle of Chardonnay. Sasuke passed it to her fluidly. "Now, why exactly are we talking about a serial killer then?"

"Stay away from him, obviously."

Sakura sighed and stared at her boss dismally. "I know that I should do that. Why would I go looking for someone who could kill me?"

"Morons like Naruto would do that. I just don't want you to end up like him."

"Hey! I object to that!"

Sakura heard them bicker relentlessly, although Sasuke was more silent while Naruto was whispering loudly as if he was shouting. She rested a hand on her cheek as she poured herself another dose of wine, and drank it down.

"Don't drink so much. You're lightweight, remember?"

Waving her hand dismissively, she cracked an uncharacteristic grin. "No problems, Kaka-san! I can handle my alcohol perfectly!"

"Kaka-san?" He shoved a glass of water towards her. "I should've known better than to choose Chardonnay as our drink choice."

She shook her head enthusiastically and spread her arms as if to block the incoming drink. "I don't want water! I want another bottle of wine please! Hm, what about Bordeaux?"

Naruto snickered and slung an arm over Sakura's shoulder. "She doesn't want water, Kakashi!" he chortled gleefully. When Sakura was tipsy, she tended not to act so violent when he touched her. "Listen to her."

His mouth let out words of pain instead of the seemingly witty comments he was about to speak of, as Sasuke whacked him thoroughly on the back of the head. "Stop trying to take advantage of her, idiot."

Sakura groaned and banged her head on the table with a loud thump. "Kaka-san, my head hurts." She closed her eyes tightly and brought her arms up to cover her head. "Everything's spinning and my head is throbbing."

"Drink some water, Sakura."

"No." She pouted and instead swiped Sasuke's still full glass of wine and slurped it all down. "Ah—" the green eyed bombshell smiled drunkenly. "That was nice."

Sasuke sighed and removed any liquor from Sakura's reach. "She's got low alcohol tolerance. Why didn't you stop her?" His blaming resentments were directed unswervingly at Naruto who was now rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry. Ino-chan told me she had a bit of alcohol before she left, you know for a 'girly congratulations thing', but I kinda forgot that she wasn't supposed to drink anymore afterwards."

Kakashi glanced at Hiashi Hyuuga, who was still speaking, and flicked his head towards the opened doors on the other side of the ballroom. "Take her out for some fresh air," he advised. "It might be best to get her out of here before she disgraces Sharingan Inc. with her tipsy-ness."

"I'll do it!" Naruto raised his hand cheerfully, already standing up.

"Dobe," Sasuke glared at him and pulled Sakura up roughly by looping his fingers around her upper arm and tugging her so she stood drowsily. "You'll end up killing her."

Kakashi laughed. "No, I'm afraid it would be the other way round."

With a smirk, the Uchiha dragged Sakura with him as he made his way inconspicuously to where Kakashi had pointed out, and he stepped across the threshold elegantly, although he had a clumsy and drunk worker stumbling behind him. He released his hold on her and allowed her to step forward to the banister of the balcony. "Don't go too far over the edge."

Then, as if she hadn't heard him, she leaned forward over the ledge so that one of her feet had left the ground and more than half of her body was swaying in the air away from the railing.

"Saku—" he sighed as she withdrew and stepped back safely onto the tile. "What are you—"

She thrust her hands in his face as she beamed. "Look!" In her small hands was a small flake. "It's a _Santa! _You get to make a wish now!"

Turning away, he stuffed a hand into his pocket. "There is no such thing as wishes."

"Nah-uh! There are!" Sakura moved even closer to him, so that her arms had separated and swept over his shoulders. Soon, she was so close; he could feel her breath on his collarbone. "Haven't you ever wished for something, Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura." He said monotonously, trying to draw away, but her hands clamped together as if to keep him in place. The tiny fleck was now squished in her hand, but she didn't bother to let it fly away. Her head had now burrowed itself in the expensive fabric of his suit, and her arms that were once strong –in her opinion, anyway— had now loosened, so that she looked like she was just hanging onto him.

"Ne, why don't you make a wish now, then?"

She lifted her head and stood on her toes so that her face could get in even more closer proximity with him. Sasuke stiffened; she was now too close. Much, much, too close.

"Kakashi," he called, taking a hand and putting it over Sakura's entire face to stop her advance. "I'll take her home."

He didn't receive an answer, but instead, a black overcoat which he draped over the girl's frail shoulders. Then, as if it were completely instantaneous, he took her hand and forced her onto his back before crouching down so that his knee touched the floor. "Sakura?" he turned his head and his hair flicked her in the face. She made no sound but a light snore to signal that she had fallen asleep. "Hn," he grunted as he propelled himself and Sakura off the balcony, and into the sky.

The pair fell to the ground with a great gush of wind providing resistance, before Sasuke landed on the next roof platform and ran quickly along it. It was a cold night, but it only drove the vampire to run faster as he pumped power to his legs. Soon, he had leaped off the hotel enterprise altogether, and was now dashing across the clouds.

He had remembered where his employee lived, having been there once himself. In the span of around 3 minutes, Sasuke was standing in front of her door, his forehead leaning against the wood of her entrance way. With a swift kick, the mahogany block swung open, and he strode in quickly, making sure to stop his breath intake. He knew how devastatingly good this place smelled.

Not being too overly familiar with his surroundings, he deposited Sakura in the first room he entered upstairs, which he presumed was most likely her bedroom. A quick scan made him see that her room was neat, and that it was full of mementos of the past.

He turned as Sakura fidgeted and turned over on her bed, trying to get comfortable despite the largeness of her dress. Sasuke smirked and promptly unzipped the back of her dress. That proved not to be the best move, as her scent overloaded his nose regardless of the fact that he was not breathing.

"Sasuke-kun," she murmured in her sleep as she arched her back unconsciously. Said man gritted his teeth, but couldn't help himself when he dipped his head towards the fleshy exposure of her neck. His lips now rested on her throat, while his hand had fisted itself into her pillow. Somehow, he could imagine the blood flowing past his lips. With that, his mouth opened, and a fang rested on her skin. He could imagine the absolutely appetizing taste of her. He could imagine her face; scrunched up in surprise, or fear, or even pain.

That thought alone made him withdraw quickly. Putting the back of his free hand, which was also placed in a fist, onto his mouth, he berated himself.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He stood up, dragging his hand away from her pillow which left the strange indent of his fingers, and he sighed. Putting that hand to her throat, he narrowed his eyes. Then, without another sound, without another movement drenched in bloody desire, he left.

* * *

**A/N: **Update. After a long time. I apologize for that. I could give you a million reasons to why I didn't publish this earlier, but really, the main reason was that I was just too plain lazy. At times, I was fueled by my reviewers, but then they sorta… stopped. Please, (not wanting to sound like a review whore or anything, but c'mon!) if you're gonna alert, read or favourite this story, please drop a statement by. It'll give me inspiration. :D

On a slightly more happier note, there was more SasuSaku goodness here! I hope that fulfilled the wants of some of you readers, but although there was no _kiss_, the future is still unknown. –Oh, is that a hint?

Hm, well, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my darling Jaeplane, who, although does not read this story, helped out a lot by providing me with a muse and inspiration through all my boring library write up sessions. You saved this chapter from becoming a total disaster. That, and I'd like to just include that _music really helps authors write. _I had a playlist of 6 songs that were repeated just as I kept writing this chapter. Harhar, if you'd like, please recommend some nice music pieces – it can be in any language (although, I'm more tilted towards Japanese music right now), it can be an instrumental, or whatever.

Well, that's all. Stay tuned for the next update of 'La Tua Cantante'!


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