A/N: For Runespoor Riddle. Because seriously, that is one freaking awesome snake.

Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas

By Luchia

"Hey baby, do the curtains match the carpet?" yet another gambling moron asked her. Sometimes Sakura hated having naturally pink hair.

She dodged the frisky fingers heading for the puffy bunny tail on her outfit. 'No, you bastard, I just suddenly decided to dye my eyebrows and hair pink last week,' she wanted to say. And then possibly punch him in the face for being an idiot.

Instead, Sakura sighed as she tossed a small smile at the fool at his slot machine, thanking God that her shift on the first floor was over and she got to change out of the bunnygirl outfit into, surprise surprise, the very obnoxiously tight red cocktail dress at the high-roller's lounge. She handed her empty tray over to Ino, who looked just about as thrilled with first floor duty as Sakura.

"I don't think I'll ever get how a Asian-themed casino picked playboy bunny outfits for cocktail waitresses," Ino sighed, already stacking the thing full of martinis.

Quite honestly, Sakura tried to not think about that sort of thing. She already hated her job enough that her paycheck would be in mortal peril if she started to try and think about things like that.

"Anything I need to know about the high-rollers?" she sighed, and Ino giggled. Usually that meant 'which ones will I need to dodge most?' but the giggle was certainly out of the ordinary.

"Man, you have no idea how sad I was to leave," Ino grinned. "Whole place is taken up by the Uchiha family, and…oh, it's just too good to spoil. Just be sure to say hi to Naruto for me, hmm?"

"Didn't you just see him?" Sakura frowned, and only got a smirk and a peck on the cheek before Ino walked into the horror of first-floor waitressing, and Sakura was off into the disturbingly white corridors inside Konoha casino. A left turn, another left turn, and through a door on the right, and she entered the locker room. Pulling off the bunnygirl suit was like pulling off a bloody Band-Aid sometimes. Luckily, the headband-ears and fishnets came off easily, although the ridiculous heels tended to take a bit more time than she'd like. Costume and subsequent shift changes were supposed to take ten minutes maximum, and her chat with Ino had already stripped two minutes off of that.

Bunnygirl costume off, she pulled her hair up into the bun-and-dangly-chopsticks that all high-roller lounge waitresses wore, and changed into the beige tights and thanked whatever God was up there that this outfit, at least, got a bra to go with it. Over that went the oriental-styled, extremely tight red dress, and then the slipper-looking heels, finally completed with the matching arm-length red gloves that were the entire reason you had to be good to be a high-roller waitress. It took extreme skill to balance a slippery tray of drinks and not drop glasses while wearing silk gloves.

With a quick glance into the mirror, she slammed the locker shut, spinning the actual lock in the process as she hurried towards the company elevator and towards the high-roller lounge.

The moment she stepped through those doors, however, it took every bit of her first-floor experience to not stop and stare.

Naruto Uzumaki was an infamous dealer throughout Vegas. Uncannily lucky and unerringly trustworthy, the blond was usually a ray of sunshine in a dim room of drunken gamblers. They were even good friends, even considered dating before remembering company policy would fire them both immediately, and they remained good friends, and especially eye candy for each other.

Today the blond was, obviously, in the high-rollers dealer ensemble, which was more or less a black suit and slacks over a mandarin-styled red shirt. Naruto always had and always would look better in his normal semi-goofy baggy clothing, but anyone would have to admit that man looked damn fine in a suit.

In fact, so did the man at his table. The only man at his table, actually. It was probably the shouting that had everyone shying away from the table.

"You're obviously cheating!" the dark-haired man snapped out in a voice that was like angry, rough sex. "How can anyone win five rounds of poker in a row without cheating?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe it's luck?" Naruto glared, shuffling like a madman and dealing like a loon, glaring bright blue eyes at the patron. "Or maybe you're blind and can't tell the difference between a jack and a four. Dealer takes one."

Swish. Out came the card from his hand, in went a card from the deck.

"Two," the guy said, and then paused. "I fucking hate you, Naruto."

The bartender shook his head when Sakura finally remembered to do her job, although it obviously wasn't at her. "Naruto's table is all yours, Sakura." Two drinks were immediately put onto her tray. "Screwdriver's Naruto's obviously, Black and Tan for Mr. Uchiha." He sighed. "Although that seems to change every three hands. You'll be busy."

"I like being kept on my toes," Sakura smiled, and with a smile the bartender shooed her off, right in time for Naruto to slam his hands down and shout "DAMN IT!"

Never once had Sakura heard her friend curse at work, let alone over a card game, so it was with a massive amount of caution that she approached the table. Then again, she couldn't remember Naruto ever drinking while on duty either, but it must have just been one of those topsy-turvy days, she figured.

The dark-haired man was already gloating. "A four from an jack?" He made a 'tsk' noise. "Now now, Naruto, no need to insult my intelligence."

The cards were swiped off the table and pushed back into the deck, again shuffled furiously as the two glared at each other. "Just you fucking wait, Sasuke. I am going to pound you into the ground."

Chips were tossed onto the green table – a hell of a lot more chips than Sakura's entire apartment was worth, that was sure – and Sasuke smirked back at Naruto. "We'll see who pounds who this time."

"Ah, sorry to interrupt," Sakura said, truly apologetic. After all, it was rare to see Naruto actually having fun at work, and yes, that was definitely Naruto's version of 'fun'. The blond liked to build sandcastles in the middle of the desert and then see how big of one he could run over with his poor little sedan. "I have your drinks."

"You are an absolute angel, Sakura," Naruto muttered, taking the Screwdriver and downing it in one gulp. Sasuke was giving her a strange look, but she ignored it and handed him the Black and Tan with a smile. "Hey, hey, you bastard, don't look at Sakura like some piece of meat! Don't even think of it! She's a thousand times better than you, Sasuke, you get it?"

"…Sakura, is it?" Sasuke said hesitantly. Damn, the man was gorgeous, and she just smiled and nodded.

"Nice to meet you. Sorry if Naruto's being a moron," she said.

That actually got a tiny smile out of the man. "It seems to be his only setting, as far as I can see."

"Oh, that is IT, Sasuke," Naruto growled. "Sakura, sit down and watch me beat the shit out of pretty boy here." Sakura paused, but when Sasuke just grinned and pulled out the seat next to him for her, she sat.

"I have a feeling he'll be needing a bit more alcohol," Sasuke said to her with a small smirk as the cards flew across the table. He glanced at the cards. "Two." Two cards tossed both ways, and the chips were flying across the table.

Sakura was not an idiot. She could tell that not only did Uchiha have money, it was highly likely that he'd only really started betting it when Naruto started pissing him off. The man clearly liked competition. Or Naruto. Neither would surprise her, really. For nearly twenty minutes it went on, the boys talking smack to each other and Sakura ensuring both stayed on uncertain footing with her own comments.

Two more hands, and Sasuke turned to her, still tied with Naruto for wins. "Am I allowed to bid you in?"

While Sakura was not an idiot, she was embarrassingly ignorant with poker terminology. She just avoided people's fingers and served drunk men even more alcohol. Sure, she'd played poker against Naruto – the blond hated his job but loved card games – but that was almost the end of her knowledge when it came to the game.

"Oh, right, sorry Sakura," Naruto said, thankfully picking her brainwaves out of the air. "That means can he pay for you to get into the game. As far as I know it's entirely legal for an employee to be bid in if someone wants them to be, so it's up to you."

Sakura smirked at Sasuke and tapped the felt top of the table. "Well get on with it then, Naruto," she grinned at the dealer. "I usually whip you in poker, we might as well put you out of your misery before your shift ends."

Sasuke looked absolutely shocked. "Your shift ends?"

"Yeah, you know, when you go home and eat and maybe even sleep?" Naruto said dryly, but paused at the very, very disappointed look on Sasuke's face. "…It's not like I won't be here tomorrow, you know."

He looked over at Sakura, and he didn't even need to ask the question. She shrugged, feeling a bit abashed over the entire situation. "We work the same shift, Sasuke," she said, honestly. "I'm sorry. But Naruto's right! We'll be here tomorrow, same spot, same time."

The dark-haired man slung back his drink. For the first time, Sakura noticed the other side of the table was covered in completely full glasses of alcohol, each one different than the last. "I won't. I leave for New York in the morning."

Naruto looked like he'd been stabbed in the gut. "Seriously?"

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered to the both of them.

Sakura sighed. "You have nothing to apologize for, Sasuke. It's just…well, I guess that's just the way things go in Las Vegas."

"Still sucks though," Naruto added.

Sakura really didn't know when it had happened, but for the first time she could ever remember, one of the patrons of the casino had turned into her friend. And not just hers, either. Naruto looked just about as heartbroken as when he saw the end of Old Yeller.

And Sasuke…well, Sasuke just about looked dead inside. All that passion and fire from the game had vanished when reality had crashed down on the three.

But then…something inside him snapped.

"How much do you two make?"

Sakura gaped at him. Naruto croaked out a "WHAT?"

Fierce dark eyes looked at them. "I'm ridiculously rich, and it's my birthday. I can tell neither of you like your jobs, and honestly, I don't blame you." He paused, and gave her a sympathetic look. "Especially you. I've seen the first-floor outfit."

Sakura just made a face, not too keen on the reminder.

"So I'm proposing that I hire the two of you. Sakura, you seem far too intelligent to be a casino waitress, and have every skill I could ever want in a personal assistant, especially since my current one is too busy being engaged to do anything else." He nodded behind him to a man with long black hair looking dotingly down on a younger woman who looked a lot like him.

"…I thought they were brother and sister," Naruto commented.

"First cousins, actually. Used to hate each other, but now they're head over heels," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "And as for Naruto…hm."

Naruto gave him a wary glance. "What."

Sasuke smirked at him. "I'm just trying to think of anything you're good at except for getting your ass beaten at poker so I can hire you for it."

Sakura gaped. "Oh my god, Naruto, you might actually be able to use your degree!"

Sasuke blinked. "This moron has a degree in something?"

"Noooooo, Sakura, NO," Naruto said, glaring. "I tried that before, remember? Never. Again. It was stupid enough for me to let Granny talk me into it but no way in HELL am I doing that again."

"Do what?"

Sakura grinned. "He graduated with honors from Arizona with a bachelor's degree in business administration."

Sasuke blinked. "…and I just fired Ebisu, too."

"Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," Naruto whined, but Sasuke was already standing up from the table, actually grinning.

"This is perfect," he said. "Go quit, I'll quadruple your salaries, and help you move to New York tomorrow morning."

"What the hell are we, your birthday presents?!" Naruto snapped, hands slamming down onto the table.

"No, you're new, raw talent for my billion-dollar company who also happen to be my friends," Sasuke smirked, obviously proud of himself. "The jet leaves at ten in the morning. I'm staying in the blue suite."

And with that, the man strode out the door. Sakura and Naruto spent the rest of their shift staring at each other.

When it was over, they went their own ways, Sakura to the ladies' locker room and Naruto to the dealer check-out and then to his own locker room.

Changed into a comfortable pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a simple tank top, Sakura wondered about her mental health as she turned in a hastily-put-together letter of resignation to her boss. As she wondered, an equally befuddled Naruto walked in holding a paper that said nothing but "Thanks a lot, but I quit."

Looking like a confused, lost little kitten, Sakura linked arms with him as they walked through the halls, not even noticing they were heading for the elevator.

"…I don't really have anything to pack," Naruto muttered, and Sakura gave him a quick peck on the forehead.

"Don't worry," she said. "Me neither."

The door to the blue suite was big, blue, and opened on the first knock, ending with Naruto's fist smashing straight into a jacket-less Sasuke's forehead.

"OW, FUCK," Sasuke cursed, glaring at the casino's two ex-employees.

"Uh. Um. I mean…" Naruto said helplessly.

"Hi," Sakura smiled.

"Hi," Sasuke smiled back, and opened the door the rest of the way, letting them in completely.

"I, uh, brought cards," Naruto said, and finally smiled when he looked at the other two.

They never opened the deck.

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A/N: (This is where the porn music goes.)