Here's a new one. I had pretty bad writer's block on my fic on The Ways To Redemption fic so I decided to start another one. This one might be a bit better.

Let me know how I do! Thank you!

summary: Sakura's partner makes a merger with their compeditor for mutual benefit. The owner shows himself to be all she hated in a man, but when she finds herself drawn to his dark looks and nature it heats up. S/S

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Heels That Tread On
Love

Chapter 1: Lunch Hour Merger

Sakura Haruno, the editor and notorious hot-tempered and bad karma extraordinaire, walked- no- barreled into her office where her phone was already ringing shrilly. She threw her shoulder bag on the floor, not giving a rat's ass that a two caret diamond ring lied in the thing.

She swiped a tress of her pink hair over her shoulder as she reached over and picked up the phone. "Haruno Sakura, junior Editor in-chief."

"Sakura, I need you to meet me for lunch today at twelve thirty. Business."

"Tsunade, I have a busy day going here already." She tapped the power button for her computer with the sharp tip of a Gucci high heel.

"Huh? I can't believe you talk to me like that. Who raised you, you little brat?"

"You did." Sakura amended, hoping to end the conversation swiftly. "My day's been pretty bad so far, Tsunade."

"Hm. Do tell?" the sultry voice on the line drawled.

"I am serious Tsunade; I really don't have time here!" She glared down at her computer and the forty messages in the mailbox. She debated with herself for a minute while Tsunade listed legers to herself over the line until, finally, the twenty two year old woman succumbed to her womanly urge…start the chain of girl-talk.

"I just dumped Hojo last night. That prick was cheating on me. I walked right in on 'em doing the suspended congress."

"Oh! That's a good one and hard to do. Didn't know the shrimp had muscles like-"

"Anyway, like I was saying they-

"And how do you know about that position? Hmm? Has my little girl finally grown up?"

"Ah…um…I…bought a Kama Sutra book…" Sakura whispered, and heard the expected laughter on the other line. "I was curious!"

"Okay, so you walked in on the rat and his bitch…"

"Oh, and the bitch by the way, was Karin."

"That little slut we fired two days ago?"

"Oh yeah, the same."

"What did you do?"

"Well, you wouldn't be too proud of me. I only walked over and gave him a good punch in the face. Then I said 'we're over' and I left, but not before I said to Karin 'he's all yours'. I can't believe that guy. He even proposed to me three nights ago."

………

"Did you keep the ring?"

"It's in my bag on the floor, right here."

"Well it's yours. He sucked a whole year out of you and for what? Nothing. So you keep that, he's not gonna come back for it anyway. It's too much for his male pride to handle. Which reminds me…did you ever…you know…Eh, I'm sorry but I have to ask, Sakura… Did you give him your virginity?"

The younger woman hissed clearly and pulled the phone from her ear to stab at the mouth piece with her finger. "What kind of floozy do you take me for!? I knew I wasn't going to stay with him!"

"Then why did you stay for so long?!"

"…I guess I was hoping he'd be it for me."

Tsunade was silent for a while then sighed over the mouth piece. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I really am…Now get out of your hole, It's not your style. Today you need to come with me to the lunch meeting. Jiraya is going to be there you know and he likes you around. Not to mention, I need you there for a merger."

"A…a merger? You didn't decide to tell me this!? How long have you been-!?"

"His nephew is going to be there, also. The two from our best competitors there will also be there; from Uchiha Prints. We're making the merger with them and all thanks to Jiraya. Be at the Four Seasons; Twelve Thirty and don't be late again. It looks really bad when you are."

"You better tell me when you planned on letting me in on your damn-"

"It's your ass if you don't come…"

"Fucking hell…"

"…Twelve thirty."

The line went dead and Sakura scowled. "Bitch." she muttered without heat as she turned to her intercom and pressed a button. "Morning, Hinata."

"G-good morning, Sakura-chan."

"Could you come here for a sec?" the editor shut off the intercom and looked up as her assistant with a short crop of black hair framed her cute face and her lavender eyes looked naturally shy.

"I need you to come with me to a business meeting today. Is that alright?"

"Of course." Hinata said with a smile. "Should I bring the laptop for notes?"

"Yeah, we're discussing Jiraya's new book and we don't want to overlook a thing."

Once Hinata was gone, Sakura looked at her messages, not willing to open them up.

She felt broken though she hadn't loved Hojo, not at all; she felt hardly anything for him. But she had been faithful and she had been pure, but clearly he had wanted someone willing to do things she wasn't.

Was that why she was still a virgin? Because she wouldn't put out like so many other women did? That had to be it…

She went through her messages painstakingly until twelve o'clock rolled around. She stood up, slipped on her Prada shoes again, and looked into the mirror to run her fingers through her pink hair and touch up her face. Her pinstripe suit had lint on it, so she ran the sticky-paper roller over it to clear it off.

At exactly twelve o' two, Hinata opened the door with their coats on her arm. "All set, Sakura-chan."

Together, the two women in suit-skirts clicked out to the elevator and rode down to the bottom floor. It was raining, of course, so the two of them stood for a moment, huddled under their coats as until a taxi showed up.

Sakura's phone rang to the jingle 'Black Magic Woman' and flipped it open as they stepped into the cab. "Hello?"

"Get here soon, the clients just walked in- Jiraya! How is the new series coming alo-?

The line was cut off and Sakura cursed. "Damn it."

The taxi arrived at just barely twelve thirty and the two women ran inside the Four Seasons. They passed by the hosts, heading straight to the bar where this particular client loved to meet.

"Ooh! The waitresses here are lovely!"

They heard the distinctive high pitched voice that said clearly to Sakura that their favorite client was in, what she had affectionately dubbed, 'pervy mode'.

"Jiraya-sama," Sakura held her hand out as the white-haired man awed.

"Sakura, just look at the all women here! All perfect for my research…"

Hinata, very shyly, reached out and shook Jiraya's hand. "Don't worry; this guy's harmless to us. He likes tall busty babes." Sakura whispered. "Not short, petite women."

Sakura saw her mentor drinking the sake as though desperate as turned and saw to see familiar blond head.

"Naruto!"

"Sakura, long time no see!" the hyper, tall young man stood and snatched her into a hug then turned to look at Hinata.

"Hi! Who's this Sakura?"

The Hyuga woman was blushing heavily as she tried to look Naruto in the eye. From her place beside the man, she could see her shy friend secretly eyeing the tall blond.

"Ah, I-I'm, um…H-Hinata Hyuga…" she whispered and bowed low.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" he pronounced and grabbed her hand. "Are you thirsty? I know a great drink!"

Before Hinata could even answer, Naruto had dragged her away, leaving Sakura to get her own drink.

"Martini, dry."

"Chick drink." She heard muttered by a dark, very male voice. She looked over and caught sight of one of her publishing company's rivals. She'd only known him by photo but his handsome face was unmistakable to her.

"Sasuke Uchiha." She said and held her hand out politely. He didn't take it, so she frowned and took her drink when the bartender set it down for her.

"You must be Sakura Haruno," he said. "I've heard of your work under Tsunade-sama."

She took a sip of her alcohol and shot a slight glare at him. "With, Tsunade. I am her partner and I have been for four months now."

"Do you like the idea of our companies' merger?"

"I do. It's very advantageous." She said, rather curtly. She didn't like that Tsunade had left such an important detail under wraps for so long. It screamed lack of trust to her.

"So, are you always so crisp and cool as a cucumber?" she asked; the mocking edge in her voice was clear.

He smirked at her with a devilish charm and she took a long moment to take in his features. A slim nose, kissable lips, she noted, a face that look sculpted to make women cry with one look. His eyes were dark as his pupils were ebony, but it gave him a certain air that made her want to know just how mysterious he was. She didn't know, but she warmed when he turned those dark eyes on her.

He was so different than her Hojo; he looked like an angel, though he'd shown that was far from the truth. But this man…he looked like a demon, dark and dangerous.

And she was getting curious about him…like a lamb to a wolf.

Sasuke noticed her momentary assessment of him and he found he liked her witchy green eyes traveling over his skin. "You mean why am I such a rude smartass?"

"I'd say that'd hit the mark, perfectly."

A man, slightly taller than Sasuke, stepped up behind. "That is no way to treat our new partner."

Sakura found her hand being taken as she gazed up at the man; he was nearly identical to Sasuke, but for being older and slightly different in subtle ways. His hair was longer, and was worn down like Sasuke's; his eyes were a shade lighter.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"Sakura Haruno. And he must be your younger brother."

"Yes, yes he is."

Sakura looked over to Sasuke who had whiskey in hand and was drinking generously. She smirked. "I suppose we'll all be partners now."

"Yes. Jiraya is our top client, like yours, and he was sick of going back and forth to separate publishers for his two series, as he'd grown loyal to us both."

"So he was the one who proposed the interesting prospect of a merger. There are so many benefits within that option. Sakura smiled and enjoyed the fact that these two brothers took care of their clients and actually listened to their opinions.

"Yes. We are a small corporation with hardly any roots, but Tsunade-sama's company is large and has many authors."

"True, but the few clients you have are genius and their books sell like hotcakes." Sakura added.

Tsunade waved Sasuke over as she and the elder Uchiha continued. He was fine company and a good conservationist; intelligent too. She found herself enjoying herself unlike most business lunches where she was all fake smiles and overly cheerful eyes. She was a bimbo for lack of a better word.

But here, she'd been herself since the moment she'd stepped into the restaurant.

Itachi left her to her drink to speak with Tsunade and Jiraya as Sasuke stepped up behind her, just a little too close, and leaned over to whisper in her ear. He sent hot shivers of pleasure down her spin and she struggled to keep her eyes from rolling into the back of her head.

"Tsunade-sama asked that we begin the merger at the table now…"

Sakura looked up at him and caught something in his eyes before they were blank and dark again.

She nodded and downed the rest of her martini before grabbing her purse and clicking over with her sharp heels with the others. Sasuke was her escort for the moment and she strung a hand through the arm that he offered. "This is going to be an interesting merger." He said and looked down at her.

She dodged his gaze and looked up as they entered the private dining room.

Oh, it was going to be interesting alright…

Oooooooooooooooo

So? What do you think? Is this at all interesting? It's my first AU ever so I'm curious about what you think. Review and tell me, I just looove feedback! Thank you!