Shall I Count the Ways? Chapter 5: LATE, Karin the Witch, FIRED, Meeting, a naruto fanfic

A/N: It's been too long.

Disclaimer applied.

Chapter 5

There was something nudging her side, constantly—albeit gently. Honestly, Sakura still didn't want to wake up, but she peeled her eyes open a bit too quickly and hissed as the sunlight leaked into them. She looked down to where she was being nudged to find Zander and Destiny, kneading her side. She smiled at them, "Good morning, Mister and Missus Kittykat," she replied, patting them both on the head. The two started to purr loudly, rubbing up against her. She giggled, but pushed them away from her. "Nuh uh, what time is it," she glanced at the wall clock across from her and her eyes opened wide. It was 7:15..A.M.

"OH NO! I'm going to be late! Uchiha-sama's gonna be soooo pissed!" Sakura cried, jumping out of bed, startling the cats. The two lazy beings watched as their mistress ran about the house, like a decapitated chicken. One moment, she would be running around in her room, the next, she went down stairs. Sakura screamed "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!! NO!" as she took a hurried shower. As she got out, she hadn't bothered to dry her long locks, just yanked a brush through them. She threw on some long white tights, a black skirt, and a black blazer with a white tank top underneath. She grabbed her stuff and stuffed it into her bag, looked over her shoulder and bid her kitties goodbye, and ran through her house and out of the door as if the hellhounds themselves were at her heels. Standing at the front door of the apartment complex, she felt the strange feeling of being watched. She looked both ways, and shrugged it off as paranoia. Ignoring the strange feeling, she ran quickly to the nearest hotel, and tried to hail a cab.

One stopped for her, and she smiled tentatively at the driver. "Late again, Saku-chan. Tsk, this better not become a habit!" Kankuro teased, opening her door for her. Kankuro was a strange, albeit kind friend. He had shaggy brown hair, a wide friendly grin, and mysterious purple and red tattoos on his face. Sakura merely rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh, "Please, Kankuro..just get me there—or else Sasuke's gonna have my ass." He nodded and started the car, already knowing full well where her destination was. The car ride was full of laughs and fun—and had she known any better, she would have noticed that Kankuro was deliberately distracting her so she wouldn't be so wound up.

Arriving at the tall, Paper Fan Industries building, he smiled kindly at her. "Eh, you're late enough as it is. You'll just have to pay me back with some of your home cooking, now won't you?" He winked at her as she rolled her eyes. "Fine, but just make sure you tell Gaara-kun and Temari-neechan that they're invited." He nodded at her and she smiled at him, gave a final wave, and then quickly turned on her heel and ran into the building.

People in the lobby greeted her with either warm "hello"s, a friendly wave, or an icy glare. (Coughwomencough)

"Sakura-san! Good morning!" an over friendly voice called—more like mocked. Sakura turned to see Sasuke's self proclaimed "Number One Fan", and stared deadpan at her. "Looks like you're late, bitch." She whispered, a friendly smile pasted on her overly made up face. God, the woman just made Sakura sick.

Karin, was not only a despicable woman, she was also the sole reason why Sakura rarely went to Sasuke's office (to make corrections or help him). Sakura had no idea how the ignorant woman even made it INTO Paper Fan Industries, since Sasuke certainly hadn't liked her. But what was there to like? She obviously did not belong in this type of working environment—the one she truly seemed to belong to, had tall firefighter poles (not intended for firefighters), loud blaring music, and tons of perverted men. Sakura rolled her eyes, but otherwise kept her face blank. "Excuse me, Karin-witch, but I must excuse myself from your presence—its making me sick." She stabbed back. By now, all of the people in the lobby were staring at the two, holding their breaths. Electricity was in the air, and if you concentrated hard enough, you could see the imaginary red spark between their eyes.

"Hmph, whatever," came her unintelligible reply. Sakura turned quickly on her heel, her long hair whipping like a hair model's—and smacked Karin in the face. The red head glared daggers at Sakura and growled, "BITCH, YOU GET YOUR ASS BACK" but she was cut off by a bemused Uchiha. "Miss Oto, my office." The duckbutt headed one replied tightly, his voice void of emotions. Karin smiled like a lovesick puppy, "Coming Sasuke-kunnn!"

"Woah! I think I just lost a few IQ points."Sakura thought. She shivered unnoticeably but Sasuke caught it. "Forgive my assistant, Sakura-san." He replied plainly, blankly. However, in his always guarded eyes, she really did see that he was sorry. She decided to be nice and just smiled, nodding. "Hn, I have to get to Uchiha-sama before I get into more trouble. Thank you." Exactly. She hadn't said a thing about forgiving the bitch. Pfft.

Sasuke, had he been any other man, (except the Ice Queen, Itachi), he would have laughed at her use of the Uchiha language.

The little pixie faced girl bowed to the crowd respectfully, "Excuse me, please!" and she quickly ran to the elevator and disappeared from everybody's sight. The little lady at the front desk sighed and rolled her eyes affectionately, "Some day, Saku-chan will definitely kill Karin-bitch," she muttered, as she signed Sakura in.

Itachi was standing with his back facing the door of his office, staring out of his huge window. His head rested against the cool glass, one hand on the window, the other running through his hair. "What is wrong with me? Things are just so strange to me.." He thought. You see, all morning he had been wanting to see Sakura for some reason—it was like some random urge to always have her with him. And, being the supersmart-but-still-daft man he was, he found himself confused. Not only was he thinking strange thoughts, wanting strange things—he felt oddly worried that Sakura was late. However, he was not worried about the money and time being lost—he was worried if something had happened to her. But, it wasn't like something was special about her, right? No, it couldn't be. He was merely the worried best friend he always was—pfft.

Suddenly, he heard a loud crash, followed by a string of words to substitute colorful curses.

"SON OF A WITCH! THAT LITTLE…ARGH!" and another crash. Yes, Sakura arrived—and he felt himself oddly at peace, even more than usual. He opened the door to his office and leaned against the doorway, watching as she frantically was getting things ready, while still trying to pull her coat off. He smirked smugly—"Having fun, Kura-chan?" he replied. At the sound of his voice, she went rigid and slowly turned her head to see him. She smiled sheepishly, taking a final yank to get her coat off—however, it hadn't played out as cool as she wished, and she ended up on the floor. Itachi chuckled and stood over her as she stared pleadingly up at him. He found he couldn't resist, and he held out a hand to help her up. She smiled gratefully and took his hand, her face growing pink, as she brushed imaginary dust off.

Clearing her throat, Sakura said, "Uhm, what can I do for you this morning, Itachi-sama?" She stared anywhere but at him, and strangely—it hadn't settled well with him. In a commanding voice, "Sakura, look at me." He replied. She took her sweet time, but finally her eyes snapped to his. "Eheh.." she tittered, blushing madly. She was so embarrassed! Usually if she DID trip and fall like that, Itachi was in the next room and couldn't see it—oh man, this was certainly not her day. And now, she was probably going to be scolded by her best friend.

However, Itachi surprised her and gave her that soft smile reserved for her. "I need you to find all of the e-mails from the Yakimura Corporation, print them out, highlight the subject line of each, and have them on my desk by two o'clock." His voice was no longer the commanding tone, but the gentle one he used when talking to either her, or his mother. She nodded at him and waited for him to return to his office—when his door finally closed, she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Oh man, I totally thought Itachi was going to scold me." She thought, sighing in relief. She sat at her desk and opened Outlook Express to complete the task she was given. "Ugh, and I still have to give Sasuke his reports—I'll probably have to deal with Karin again." But for now, Sakura focused on the task Itachi had given her, smiling the whole time.

Sasori woke up to the yelling from his angel. "OH NO! I'm going to be late! Uchiha-sama's going to be soooo pissed!" Sasori smirked, and rolled onto his side, facing his window. He couldn't see her or anything, but he could just imagine her, rushing around like a decapitated chicken, the two creepy cats watching her. He decided that he too, should wake up. He dragged himself out of bed, immediately wishing the warm comfort of his bed when his feet touched the cold floor. He hissed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fucking cold building," he grumped, standing up. He stretched, crossing his arms behind his head and bending back until he heard a "Pop!" Sighing contentedly, he padded to his bathroom and took a shower, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair.

When he was finished, he dressed in a black button up shirt with black slacks, black shoes. Finally throwing on his outer wear, he left his apartment and watched the neighboring building's door, waiting to see his faerie come out. She came soon enough, but then she looked both ways—he quickly hid himself—and she started running towards the Lexington Hotel. Wait, hotel?! Whattt?! She was supposed to work today, right?

He followed her—discreetly as always. He pretended to just be wandering, staring at stuff as he passed. She hadn't even noticed, good thing. Finally, when he got there, he saw her get into a cab. "Well, I guess she IS going to work then." He thought, hailing a cab.

The ride was over and he instructed the driver to drop him off at a restaurant that was 3 doors down from the Paper Fan building. He entered the café and seated himself, and soon enough a young man came to take his order. "Breaking Dawn Café, huh?" he thought, looking around the place. It was actually quite nice—a red, black, and white setting. Very modern. His thoughts were interrupted by a long blonde haired person, looking a lot like that girl from the Purple Cow. However, this one had slightly darker blond hair and a deeper ocean blue for eyes. Also, their face was a bit more masculine—a man, perhaps? No one would ever know—especially since he was wearing thick black eyeliner.

"I'd like some red tea, please." Sasori replied sagely, his eyes subtly following Sakura around as she seemed to argue with some skanky looking red head. (The lobby had floor to ceiling windows, lolz.) The waiter didn't bother to comment on the curt attitude of the handsome man—and he tried to ignore how he was watching the building a few doors down so intently. In fact, he hurried away as if Sasori were the freakin' plague.

Sasori hadn't minded though, he just watched the exchange between the two, wishing he were able to hear it.

"I'm going to do it today," he mumbled. "I'm going to talk to her." The waiter came in at that point, and decided the red head in front of him wasn't so bad. He set down the tea gently, careful to not spill the hot contents. He looked in the direction of what Sasori was staring at—and saw two women.

"Which one?" he replied, expecting the other man to not even answer him. "..Pink.." Sasori replied, turning his head to look at the blond, as Sakura ran into the elevator.

"Not bad, she's pretty sweet lookin'. Name's Deidara!" the blond said cheekily, pointing at his nametag. Sasori raised a brow, "I can read." Deidara merely rolled his eyes, dismissing the nonchalant man. "What are you planning to do to her?" he asked, not even bothering to care that what he asked might sound vulgar. The red head narrowed his eyes.

"Paint her." He replied. Suddenly, Deidara's eyes sparkled. "You're an artist?" he asked excitedly. Brow raised yet again, Sasori nodded slowly. "Hn." Deidara smiled widely and pointed at himself again. "Me too! I do sculptures—and then I blow them up. Yeah," he sighed dreamily. "Art—it's just fleeting beauty, isn't it?" he asked, interested in talking to a fellow artist.

Sasori smirked and closed his eyes, "Negative. Art is long lasting beauty, forever preserved." He replied, opening his eyes to see the blond's reaction. He started to go a little red, "I'd have to disagree," he replied sniffing, and turning to go back into the kitchen. "Heh, pansy..and to think—I thought he might be interesting and have some intelligent response. Too bad." Sasori thought. "I suppose I'll stick here until she's off," he thought—trying to ignore how much he felt like a creepy person. He shivered. He'd be glad when he finally tracked her down and had her.

Sakura finished finding the e-mails, all 7,236 of them. She looked at the clock on her desk and sighed. "At least its only 8:15. I still have time to highlight these stupid things," she mumbled. She reached into her desk and searched for a highlighter—and finally pulled out a red one. Itachi liked things highlighted with red.

She stared blandly at the papers in front of her. Turn page; highlight. Turn page; highlight. Oh god, only 7,234 left.

Soon enough, it was 11:30—time to get Itachi lunch. She get up, smoothed her skirt, and knocked on the door.

"Hn." Enter.

Sakura slowly opened the door and poked her head in. "Would you like your usual lunch, Itachi-sama?" she replied softly, so she wouldn't disturb the quiet atmosphere that was his office. He typed intensely, clacking noises sounded throughout the room—and then he looked up. "Yes, please. How are the e-mails coming?" he replied, staring back at her instead of his screen, as he usually would. Not used to him actually paying this much attention to her in the office, she stammered a little.

"I've found them all, I-Itachi-sama. I just have to highlight 125 more. They'll be on their way soon," she said, staring out the window instead of at him. Again, this seemed to bother him for some reason, and his brows were knit together.

"Sakura-chan.." he started softly, "Is there something wrong?" he looked genuinely concerned. Sakura blinked and came in, instead of hanging on the door frame. She scratched her cheek nervously.

"Eh heh, of course not Itachi-sama. I'm fine! Really, I am." She replied, trying to stare at him. Itachi raised an elegant eyebrow. "Hn." Sakura rolled her eyes, "Alright, fine! It's just that, you don't seem yourself—your office self—today.." she replied nervously, not wanting to make her best friend mad. Itachi blinked—she'd noticed it too? Well, psh. It just wasn't his day. "So Itachi-sama, the question is—are YOU okay?" she replied, looking at him seriously. Itachi felt a weird squirming in his stomach—he'd better get that checked out later. And he started to feel dizzy under her intense gaze.

"Of course I am." He replied—feeling as if this had already happened (which it did). Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and hn'd—Itachi wanted to laugh at her use of his own words against him (heh, take that Sasuke). "Itachi-kun..you're lying." She replied, spinning on her heel and leaving his office, closing the door with a firm noise—net exactly a slam. Oh well, if he didn't want to share, then fine. She could wait. "I'd better go get the dango," she replied. She went down in the elevator, waved to Yoko, and went home to fix Itachi's lunch.

A little while later, she came back and was up on their floor. She knocked on Itachi's door and waited until she heard him say she could come in. She smiled at him, set his dango on his desk, and promptly left. "Eh? Why'd she leave?" he thought, feeling as if she was too disgusted to be in his presence, or something. However, she came back with a thermos. Curious, he raised a brow at her. What is that? His eyes asked. Sakura smiled at him and went away again, coming back. This time, she returned with a traditional Japanese tea cup. "I just thought maybe you'd like some special tea today," she smiled as she poured the tea in perfect Japanese protocol. He smiled back at her—this reminded him how she'd throw him tea parties when they were tiny children. Even then, she was such a kind little girl.

When she finished, Sakura bowed respectfully. "Arigato, Kura-chan!" he tried to keep his voice from cracking—strange emotions running through him. Excitement, happiness, smugness, hunger.

Excitement, because—well, it was DANGO!

Happiness, since it was always Sakura who made his favorite food—what's better than having your favorite person make your favorite food?! Wait, what? Favorite person? Ehh!? Eh..well, she is his best friend. So, that probably DOES make her his favorite.

Smugness, because nobody else **Sasuke, heheh.** gets her great food every day.

Hunger—he'd been sitting there THINKING about the dango, instead of EATING it. Jeez, he'd been working hard all day, fighting with those damn Yakimura—always trying to swindle their supposed "partners". Well, those mergers were just shit, weren't they? Dispelling dark thoughts about the insolent Yakimura, Itachi picked up a dainty stick of dango—and was soon in heaven. He hummed his satisfaction, and Sakura quietly slipped out of the room to let him eat in peace. Still strange—he didn't want her to leave.

Deciding it was the time to get Sasuke's reports to him, she picked his folder up off of her desk and went to the elevator—and Itachi felt a sinking feeling as she left the floor.

Sakura was on the 16th floor now, and in front of a door that read "Uchiha Sasuke" in the nameplate. She sighed quietly and raised her hand to knock, but the door was wrenched open and a pouting Karin came crashing into her. "GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU FAT BASTARD!" she yelled at Sakura, still not aware that it actually was Sakura—and the fact that SHE was on the other girl. Not that he really cared, Sasuke peeked his head out of the door to see the unlucky schmuck who ran into Karin—or who KARIN ran into, and he saw Sakura on the floor, eyes clenched in pain, rubbing her side. "Itai!" she hissed. Karin opened her eyes and smiled maliciously. "Oh, forgive me Sakura-san—I hadn't seen you there, but you should have watched where you were going." She replied snidely. Suddenly, she saw the shadow that was Sasuke, and she quickly got up, and pointed her finger at Sakura. "SHE HURT ME, SASUKE-KUN!" she accused. Sakura merely sat on the floor, bemused. "Karin, you stupid woman. I even saw that you were rushing out—and Sakura probably didn't even know the door was going to open and unleash a hellion on her. Tch, stupid.." Sasuke thought, narrowing his eyes at Karin. She was immediately latched onto him, glaring down at Sakura.

"What the hell?" both Sakura and Sasuke thought at the same time. Sasuke felt mortified, even though this has happened to him countless times. "Remove yourself." He replied stiffly. Sakura snorted at this, which caused Karin to glare heatedly at her. "What's wrong bitch? Can't stand the sight of seeing your love with another woman?" she replied in a "sexy" voice, kissing Sasuke's neck. Sakura still sat there bemused, noticing Sasuke's face—and how it looked like he was trying so hard to not PUKE everywhere.

"No, it's just funny that you can't even do your own work. You just mess around trying to capture Sasuke-sama's attention—even if it is negative. That's not the way to go, you know. You'd be better off by actually doing a good job on your work," Sakura chastised. "Well who are you? Mother Theresa? Fuck you, pink bitch." Karin sneered, clinging even tighter to Sasuke. Finally, he'd just had ENOUGH. His top was blown.

"Get. Off. Of. Me." He bit out, face draining of color—ohhh, she was gonna get it now. Suddenly afraid of his tone, Karin slowly unwound herself from him. "Time and time again, I have told you how you must act in this office. Everything is strictly professional—no skanky clothes, no cursing at other employees, and definitely no tryingto seduce me. I've had it with you, Karin! Just pack up your crap and get out of my office!" he screamed, going back into his office, finding a box, and shoving her crap into it. He came back and threw it on the ground and glared at her. "But Sasuke-kun!" she cried, her mascara was running. "And that! Who are you to call me so familiarly? I am not your friend, your lover. I am your BOSS. Dressing the way you have, acting the way you have, saying the things you say—I HATE IT. Just take your unprofessional self and get out of Paper Fan Industries. We have no need for scatterbrained whores." He continued, not missing a beat. "But, I'm a great worker! I have recommendations!" she tried to give Sasuke puppy eyes—but combined with the fact that they wouldn't work on him (unless she was Sakura *cough*) and that her running make up made it look disgusting, she obviously wasn't going to get anywhere.

Sakura hadn't even felt the least bit of sympathy for the other woman. Everything Sasuke had said about her had been correct. But no, he wasn't done yet.

"Great worker? Tch. Everything I ask you to do is either ignored, done poorly, or shoved onto somebody else! You were hired as an assistant—and if you can't assist me, then you are of no use to me. Besides, I checked you out," at this, Karin smiled smugly, "and those recommendations were by those who were either forgers, or people who were black mailed. Therefore, they were everytype of invalid." He replied flatly, immediately wiping that ugly grin she had off her face. Karin picked her box up, giving one last "sexy" look (even though God knows how it won't work, since she's so messed up looking..) "I'll make you sorry, Sasuke-kun. You'll be begging for me to come back, but you know what? I won't." she replied haughtily, holding her nose up in the air as she walked away, to the elevator. She tried to push the down button, but couldn't get it with her hands full. "Uh, pink bitch, can you help?" she asked. Sakura raised an eye brow, and was about to help her, "No, don't." Sasuke replied, stopping her. Karin glared at Sakura, "Stupid bitch—you're probably fucking everybody in this building anyway." Fuming, Sakura narrowed her eyes to slits and glared at the red head. "Come on, Sakura," she told herself "She's definitely not worth it—you could lose your job if you get in a scuffle with her—even if it is her fault. Just leave it go." Sasuke noticed the feral look in Sakura's eyes—and he wouldn't even try to stop her if she actually DID end up killing the stupid bitch. "I have NO idea how father saw her as a potential love match for me—she hasn't got a brain. She could never be a wife of an Uchiha." He thought darkly, honestly hoping Sakura DID let herself loose.

"Tch." Sakura replied—sort of, and turned her back to the infuriating woman. Sasuke was a bit disappointed—but Sakura bent down and picked up a dark blue folder, which he knew was for him, and smiled at him. He felt his hatred for the red head dim; Sakura always had this strange way of making him feel much better—without having to do anything.

"Here you go, Sasuke-sama. All corrected. Just check them in case you want something done differently," she replied. Sasuke took the folder from her and opened it, paging through the colorful reports—these weren't the colors he used. "Uh oh—Stupid Karin must have written these completely wrong!" he thought darkly, the hatred coming back full blast. He looked over Sakura's shoulder and glared at the red head that was still standing there, crying like the helpless wretch she was. Feeling the eyes on her, Karin looked up at Sasuke and batted her eyes at him. "Heh, sucker already wants me back. Easy!" She thought. Sasuke merely glared at her. "Don't you have somewhere to go?!" he barked, throwing a random stapler at her. She winced and screamed as the offending object hit her in the knee. "OW! SASUKE-BABY, WHY?!" she cried some more. Sakura was really getting tired of this, and she stomped over to Karin. "Karin.." she started, Karin glared at Sakura, and sniffed. "What, pink bitch?" Sakura narrowed her eyes, and before anybody could blink, Karin had a black eye. BOOM BOOM POW!

Yes, exactly—Sakura punched her. The sheer force of Sakura's punch sent Karin flying backwards, into the elevator that finally came. Sakura smiled sweetly and waved. "Sayonara." She replied, voice dripping with venom, and she sent the elevator off. Sasuke sat there the whole time—expecting Sakura to do SOMETHING—but not expecting her to hit Karin like that. He wasn't exactly "dumbstruck", or "shocked"—just caught off-guard. *Psh* Instead of continuing to gawk at Sakura, he looked at her seriously. "Sakura-chan, Karin was the one who wrote those reports for me—I knew it would've been risky to accept something from her. But at least I have you to check for that kind of stuff to prevent anything bad, ne?" he replied—sort of kindly. Sakura, and his other best friend Naruto, were the only people that saw him like this. Sakura smirked at her friend and bowed. "Why thank you for your kind words, Sasuke-sama," she mocked. Sasuke only rolled his eyes, "Shouldn't you return to Ice Queen before he kicks my ass later?" he replied, still proud of himself for making up Itachi's nickname. Sakura giggled, "What was that regulation about not cursing in the office, hm?" Sasuke just glared at her, playfully, and pointed at the elevator. "Seriously—he'll kick my ass." Sakura decided to just be good girl and walked to the elevator. "I expect you to do better, now that she's gone," she called behind her. Sasuke returned the comment with a smirk and nodded.

Sakura returned to her own floor, and then she sat herself down at her desk. She stared at the foreboding looking pile of papers, and started to highlight the subject lines of the emails. Even though she sat through over seven thousand others, these last few emails really made her realize just how boring it was. She sighed deeply, once again wishing she almost done—but even though she was there for the whole fight and firing of Karin, It was still only 1:15. It was still the boring page turn, then highlight. Page turn, then highlight. It was as though her fight with Karin was the only eventful thing in the day.

Finally finished with her monotonous work, Sakura piled the printouts neatly, and ordered them by date—first sent, to the most recent. When she was finished, she paper clipped them together and put them in a red folder. Next, she labeled the folder neatly. Now, it was perfect and ready for Itachi. When she was finished, knocked on Itachi's door. The usual "Hn" sounded, and she went in. "I have the emails. They're organized by date and subject lines are highlighted in red." She reported, bowing her head respectfully at Itachi. He smirked at her—"I said 2:00, had I not?" he replied. Sakura winced. "Oh..why is Itachi such a time stickler?!" she whined mentally. "..Yes." she answered. His smirk turned into a mocking grin, "It is 1:57." He deadpanned. "So, I suppose you'll just have to sit here and wait. I cannot accept it until it is 2:00," he reasoned. "Why the hell am I not just taking it and thanking her? God, she's just the perfect worker and now I'm probably tormenting her. She'll probably punch me out later." Itachi winced subtly, remembering a punch that dislocated his jaw—from a twelve year old Sakura.. Ah, those were the days.

Sakura huffed. Oh, he was sooo, going to get it—but that'd have to wait for later. She stood there respectfully, however and kept her eyes on the floor. Itachi opened a new word document and started to intensely type random nonsense—to seem like he was doing something. But in actuality, he was watching Sakura. He noticed that she seemed to always have some strange grace—even if she hadn't believed it. Whenever she walked, there was a confidence—but not arrogance. She wouldn't sway her hips or stick her ass out. She'd walk with her back straight and shoulders squared—and her steps were soft. Not loud, hunkering stomps. Also, he'd noticed that her eyes always sparkled with some strange viridian flame—it was absolutely inextinguishable.

"Times up, here are your emails, Itachi-sama," she replied. "I have the emails. They're organized by date and subject lines are highlighted in red." She reported—again. She set them on his desk—although she'd felt the urge to slam them down. Itachi smiled at her, "Good job. You are excused for the day," he replied and turned back to his nonsense document. Sakura turned and started to walk away, and Itachi's eyes averted and watched her leave—and he felt that sinking feeling again. "Definitely gotta get that checked out," he thought.

Sakura had gathered her stuff from her desk and threw it into her bag, leaving the place clean. She put on her coat, gloves, and strung her scarf around her neck. "Goodbye, Itachi-sama!" she called, heading for the elevator. Once inside the elevator, she put her bag on the floor and heaved a deep sigh, sliding to the floor. "Such a boring day.." she mused. The elevator 'binged', and the door opened—it wasn't her stop. The person who walked in was none other than Naruto. When he saw her on the ground, his cerulean eyes immediately widened in concern. "SAKURA-CHAN! ARE YOU OKAY!?" he cried, grabbing her arm. Sakura looked up at him and smiled softly, "I'm fine—just bored." She replied, and Naruto let go of her arm. "..Are you sure you're okay? You usually don't sit on floors of elevators," he reasoned. Sakura rolled her eyes, "Pfft, Naruto..I'm just tired." She replied. She stood up and narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. "Happy?"

The blond grinned that foxy grin of his. Sakura's eyes went back to normal and she closed her eyes. Yes, this was the Naruto she'd always known. Caring, kind, overly concerned, overly protective. Too bad he hadn't inkling that she was a grown woman now. She averted her eyes to Naruto, who was messing around with his orange black and orange striped tie. Spiky blond hair—bright blue eyes—whisker marks. Today he wore a black suit, his orange and black tie, and carried an orange folder. "What do you have there, Naruto?" she asked him, pointing at the folder. "Oh, this? It's just some report Sasuke made me do—bastard!" he muttered. Sakura sweatdropped—did everybody swear in this place? Especially when they're not supposed to? Jeez. The elevator 'binged' again and Sakura picked up her bag. "See you later, then! Bye!" she called behind her, running out of the elevator.

Sasori looked at his watch—not time yet.

"Eh, I'm hungry.." Sakura mumbled, as she came closer to the front desk. Yoko looked up and smiled brightly at her. "I saw Karin walk out with her box—does that mean..?" she trailed off, looking like an excited munchkin. Sakura smirked, "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. Yoko's smile became even bigger, if that were possible. "Noo..you didn't!" and she started to giggle, putting a hand on her mouth to muffle the noise. "You're so bad, Sakura-chan!" she said between gasps. Sakura started to giggle along with her. "Well, Itachi-sama released me. So, unless he makes me run out and get something, I'll see you tomorrow!" she exclaimed, signing herself out. She turned and gave Yoko a last smile and wave—which were returned.

Once out of the building, Sakura stood outside, just looking around. "Hm..if I recall, there was a café somewhere here…" and there it was—the Breaking Dawn Café. "Well, might as well try it. What could possibly go wrong?" she smiled at herself—jeez, people were going to think she was totally crazy, just standing in the middle of the sidewalk talking to herself. She walked slowly to the café and as she reached for the door's handle, a blond man opened it for her. "Welcome to the Breaking Dawn Café! How may I be of service today?" he asked. Sakura stared at him and then smiled. "..A table please," she replied. Deidara grabbed a menu and set it on the table next to Sasori. "Tell me when you're ready—my name is Deidara when you need me." He smiled at her and disappeared somewhere in the back. Sakura raised a brow, but dismissed it and opened her menu. "Hmm..maybe a fruit salad..?"

He'd watched her walk towards the café, discreetly of course. "This makes it a little easier.." he thought, staring into his cup of tea. Sakura was just about to open the door, but that sly cad Deidara opened the door for her. He couldn't hear what the two were saying, but Deidara sat her down at the next table over. Sasori still looked down, not wanting to blow his cover just yet—and make her totally think he was some random stalker. (Even if that was almost exactly what he was..) She seemed to stare at Deidara strangely and finally looked down at her menu. Sasori just stared at her—not OHMYGOD HEARTS IN MY EYES! Stare, but sort of, '..hm…'. "She's such a beautiful girl—her pixie like features. She's definitely the ideal girl.." he kept assuring himself.

Sakura looked up, ready to order. She waited patiently, but couldn't help the feeling of being watched. She averted her eyes to the person sitting at the table next to her, and she saw a rather beautiful red head—but he was staring back at her. Sakura widened her eyes, then quickly looked back down at her menu, pretending like she was reconsidering. "He sorta looks like the little boy from my dream! Except..older. And he seems sorta—scary looking.." Sakura sweatdropped at her last thought. She snuck another glance at him, but he was staring down at his tea. She looked away again—but when he sensed her eyes were off of him, he moved his eyes onto her. However, Sakura caught him again. She narrowed her eyes a bit, "..May I help you, sir?" she replied curtly. Sasori flashed her a small smile—Sakura was drawn in. The red head definitely didn't seem like he smiled much…so why would he grace her with one? She merely blinked at him. "Well, I need a model. I am an artist, and you have the perfect complexion." He replied, albeit a bit shyly. His cheeks turned a slight pink and he averted his eyes. Sakura stared at him. "..I don't know you, sir. And are you sure? There's definitely nothing special about me." She said flatly. Sasori's eyes widened fractionally. "Are you kidding? You're so—pixie-like. If faeries existed, they'd definitely look like you. And that is why I need you as my model—up to now, I've been trying to paint something based off of the Faerie Legend that my grandmother had told me.." he finally fixed his gaze back on her. "But then I saw you—and I got this perfect idea. I just need you to spend a week with me, and you'll never have to see me again. What do you say?" "Yeah right, a week? No…Sakura will be mine."

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip, brow furrowed. What should she choose..?