The Garage

Tenten knew she never should have come as soon as she saw the place.

"Akatsuki Garage, the newspaper ad had said.

"Wanted:Auto-technician"

Tenten was an absolutely average person. Average looking; average height, even her personality was pretty average. She had never stood out in school, where she usually had pretty average grades and had an average group of friends. She had strolled through high school and from some strange twist of luck, got into one of the top Universities in her country; Konoha University. That did her no good though, since everybody in there was such a geek, she, in turn, was failing miserably compared to them.

"You can do better, you have the ability." Her professor had told her a day before breaking off for the summer holidays. She had shrugged. She was used to being average, and that was what she was right now. She could not see the point in striving for anything better. One, because she knew she had a pretty average IQ to begin with; she was no genius or even considered bright by any chance. Why waste the time? Her professor had sighed at her reaction.

"What you need is some passion; some fire to inspire you!" He had said. "Why don't you take advantage of your holidays and go get an internship or something? It would benefit and prepare you for next year, and it might even put some kind of emotion in you." He chuckled at his own little joke.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do." She had replied. If it made him happy…

Therefore, Tenten spent the next few days flipping through newspapers and websites. Sure, there were plenty of internships suitable for a Mechanical Engineering student; but it was rock solid hard trying to find something suitable for her. Tenten was only doing this so she could achieve some sort of pass from her professor, so she was not about to apply for something as demanding as:

Hyuuga Motor Company Limited: Internship Program

Wanted: Students majoring in Mechanical Engineering

Must be available 6 days a week

School's recommendation required

That could be saved for somebody like Hyuuga Neji, that big genius who sat in the row behind her. Oh, no wait, his uncle owned that company, so he was probably doing it every summer since he was eight years old anyway.

Ah, but this:

Akatsuki Garage

Wanted: Auto-technician

Young, strong, obedient, no experience required. Training provided if necessary.

Working hours 1pm-9pm; 4 days a week.

Please contact Uchiha Itachi.

It was perfect; everything she had been looking for. The site was only a half hour drive from her apartment; working hours were late, which meant no early mornings; only 4 days a week; and, no experience required. In other words: 'Desperate employers who would drool at their sheer luck a Konoha University student was even considering working there.' Not that she was even real Konoha University material anyway… but they weren't going to know that

Tenten gaped at the place as she stepped out of her car and onto the gravel floor. She had not been expecting some high-tech Mercedes Benz factory; but she had not been expecting this either. The rocky drive she had driven up led to a one story, low, flat roofed building. It was old, and much of the white paint was peeling off the cement wall. She could see a few cars standing through the opened metal garage doors. The large, rectangular sign which was fading and dusted; was the only thing which told her she was at the right location.

She looked around, but nobody seemed to be at work. Where was everybody?

"Hello." Tenten jumped; she had not noticed anyone come up behind her. She turned towards the low, velvet drawl, and saw a blond, long haired man gazing down at her. He smirked and licked his lips when their eyes met.

"Uh…hi." She replied, unconsciously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm looking for Uchiha Itachi."

The blond man cocked his head to one side and grinned wider.

"Itachi, you say?" he asked, amusement radiating heavily from his voice now.

"What would a pretty girl like you…" he lifted her chin up with his thumb.

"…be doing in a place like this; looking for a person like Itachi?" He seemed genuinely curious.

Tenten jerked her head away uneasily from the stranger.

"I saw an ad on the news…" she began, rummaging through her bag. "Let me find it…here somewhere."

The stranger watched her delightedly as she searched.

"Found it." She breathed, handing the crumpled piece of paper to him.

"I want to work here."

The blond man blinked twice at the ad, then, threw his head back to laugh, his howling echoing into the hot air.

"You?" He choked in between his bursts of amusement.

Tenten felt her face heating up. Why was this man laughing? She couldn't see anything funny about it. Was there some kind of joke she had missed?

"Yes. Me." She snapped, putting her hands on her hips. "Where is Uchiha Itachi?" The blond man breathed to calm himself down, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I…I'm sorry young lady. There must be some mistake or misunderstanding here…"

"What's there to misunderstand?" She demanded. "You want an auto-technician, here's one." She pointed to herself.

"No, I mean…"

"I'm a mechanical engineering student from Konoha University." There, that ought to keep his pretty mouth shut. Instead, she was surprised it made him burst out in another round of laughter. She was dumbfounded.

"What!?" She exclaimed. "What's so funny?"

The blond shook his head.

"I'm sorry, pretty. I don't think this place is for people like Konoha University students." He handed the newspaper back to her.

"Go home." He said, and began walking off.

"H…hey!" she yelled. "What do you mean? So…does that mean you're not hiring me, or what? I want to see Itachi!"

He did not stop, but turned around to look at her.

"Itachi's not here today. Try again tomorrow." He grinned.

"M…maybe I will!" She shouted, and stomped back to her car.

Meanwhile, the blond man walked over and into to a small office next to the garage. He chuckled at a pale, muscular boy a few years younger than he was; with raven dark hair and solid black eyes. He was sitting in a couch, head resting on a hand and staring out the window.

"Did you see that, Sasuke?" the blond laughed, shaking his head. "Poor girl; doesn't even know what she's asking for."

Sasuke smirked.

"I have a feeling she'll be back tomorrow, Deidera." He said quietly as he watched the furious girl zoom off in her car. It was an old, black Ford Fiesta from the 90s, not bad for a college student who could only afford second-hand autos.

"Well good luck to her then." Deidera mused. "I hope she comes after 3 o' clock though, or Orochimaru might be a problem. You know him…"

"Hn."

Tenten slammed at the gas pedal, listening as her car complained at her demand for speed. She ignored it. Ok, so she hadn't wanted the job that much anyway, but she hated being mocked. Who did that man think he was? She was not about to give up without a fight now.

Hah! I finally have this story up and about. I spent a huge chunk of time researching on automobiles for this story, since I am no car expert. I've always been a NejiTen, SasuSaku person, but honestly, 'Neji' and 'mafia' don't mix, no matter how you put it. Neither does 'Sakura' and 'engineer' – thus the birth of this sexy pairing in thy story. Lol!