A/n: Quick update, no? I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimed: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned here.

REVIEW PLEASE. Anything would be nice.

It was bright outside, much to Sakura's disappointment. She had hoped that it would be pouring rain or there would be a tornado, so Ino would take pity on her, let her sleep in, and forget about this whole interview thing.

Of course, it's not that Sakura was opposed to work. On the contrary, she adored working. She loved being challenged and being occupied by problems. She enjoyed the small headache that sometimes came with a hard medical case or the confusion and wonder that was generally associated with a little known disease. And the best part was when the patient was happy and healthy.

But as an assistant for a notorious playboy, Sakura knew she would not get the kind of challenge associated with medicine sitting behind a desk answering the phone.

"Ino's right, though," Sakura mumbled to herself. "I quit my job, and I need a new one."

The waiting room located inside the law firm was incredibly large, and had seven doors. One lead to the outside, and the other six lead to the offices of the personal assistants. The room was filled with young women, ranging from the late teens to early thirties.

Ino had warned Sakura about this interview today. Usually, the interviewee was called in by the employer or human resources department. They met, one on one, with no one else in the waiting room. But Ino relayed the information Shikamaru gave her, and said the person conducting the interviews could only be here today, and was very efficient in making decisions.

Sakura noticed with a strange disapproval something that all of these women, excluding her, had in common: they were all dressed slightly, well, sluttily. A woman Sakura guessed was in her early thirties wore a tight shirt that was unbuttoned to the beginning of her breasts. Another girl wore a tight, short skirt.

"I feel slightly overdressed,' Sakura thought, looking at all the women compare their outfits with other applicants as they were called. Some seemed smug, others seemed devastated. And as each girl came out with a slightly disappointed look on her face, the remaining women seemed to brighten, and then begin comparing themselves again.

"Sakura Haruno?" a woman asked hesitantly to the room. Sakura's eyes were drawn to her, and she realized she was being called.

"Oh," Sakura muttered as she stood up. All the eyes in the room were drawn to her in a second, and Sakura knew they were all satisfied. She was not wearing something slutty. Sakura had dressed for a job interview, not a chance to be in a brothel.

"Take a seat in here. Mrs. Uchiha will be out in a moment."

"Wait," Sakura said to the quiet woman. "If you're here, why does Mr. Uchiha need an assistant?"

The girl smiled, and her lavender eyes lit up. "I'm actually the personal assistant for Mr. Hyuuga. My name is Hinata Hyuuga, his cousin. You're the first person to take notice of me and ask that."

"That isn't part of the interview, is it?" Sakura asked Hinata, who shook her head.

"No, but it just feels nice to have someone take notice of me," she said with a smile. "Mrs. Uchiha will be here any second, but don't be scared. I think she'll like you." Hinata left the room, which Sakura assumed would be Sasuke's assistant's office, and left Sakura by herself.

As she waited, her eyes taking in the bare room with one plant, three exits, and a large window, the door to Sasuke's office opened, and a woman with dark hair and critical eyes walked in. Sakura immediately stood, and stuck her hand out.

The woman looked at it, looked up at Sakura, and then shook the outstretched hand. "Ms. Haruno, I presume?" the woman inquired as the two took their respective seats. Sakura nodded. "I am Mikoto Uchiha, but you can just call me Mrs. Uchiha."

"Hello, Mrs. Uchiha," Sakura said with a smile. Silence followed her greeting, and suddenly Sakura felt nervous for even speaking.

"You're not dressed like a whore," Mrs. Uchiha noted.

"I'm not accustomed to dressing inappropriately, especially in the workplace," Sakura replied. "Is this a problem?"

"No. All the other applicants have come in, dressed like harlots, expecting Sasuke to be the one who is interviewing them. It's nice to see change. But would you do it if Sasuke asked you to dress like a whore?" Mrs. Uchiha asked.

Sakura wondered where she was going with these questions. "Oh well, better answer them truthfully," Sakura decided. "Especially not if Mr. Uchiha asked me to dress inappropriately."

A smile erupted on the face of Mrs. Uchiha, and suddenly Sakura felt uneasy. "What did you do before this, Miss Haruno?"

"I worked in Konoha General Hospital as a doctor."

"So you have a PhD in Medicine?"

"Yes ma'am," Sakura volunteered easily.

"If you were a doctor, why were you fired or why did you quit?" the woman asked quickly, watching Sakura.

Sakura gulped uncomfortably. "I quit because of personal reasons. There were some parts of my job that I couldn't deal with. A friend of mine died and despite my best efforts, I could not save him. I would go into detail, but it is unnecessary. This reason, however, will not affect this job in the least."

"Oh." Mrs. Uchiha was silent for a few moments, and Sakura knew, right then, that she had ruined the interview. Not being able to withstand the death of a friend was a sign of weakness. Sakura was unstable. She was unwilling to accept failure. These were all bad signs. All turnoffs for prospective employers.

"You come highly recommended from Mr. Nara, Miss Haruno. He says that you are very organized, incredibly smart, and extremely capable of taking care of Sasuke's every need within the workplace. You have experience with computers from your previous job, I'd assume, and I can infer that you are dedicated, seeing as you went through medical school. Also," she added softly, "you have a lot of heart, and your emotions guide some decision you make. You'll make a superb personal assistant for my son," she finished cheerfully. "Now, we need to talk about hours, salary, overtime, reimbursements, and the works. Hinata!"

The lavender eyed girl appeared through the entrance on the side wall, not from the waiting room but not from Sasuke's office, either.

"Tell all those women to go home. I've found the girl I'm looking for, the only one in the room who dressed appropriately. She will make a fine addition to our staff." Hinata nodded, a smile evident on her face.

Sakura stared at the woman in disbelief. "You haven't even interviewed those other women yet. How do you know there isn't one who comes better qualified than me?"

"I've seen all of their résumés. And Shikamaru is quite intelligent. His recommendations are usually spot on. So, for the job you will be doing, I'd say about 70,000 dollars a year sounds about right."

"S-Seventy thousand? That's a lot of money for this position," Sakura said. Of course, she had been paid about 80,000 dollars more in her last job, but still. A lot of people would kill for this salary.

"Trust me. Seventy thousand dollars is about right. And since I like you, I'll boost it up to seventy five thousand a year. You'll work Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm. Your hours might extend longer than that if Sasuke needs you to be here, though. You will be on call all weekend, just in case. And so that way you won't use up your own cell's minutes, we'll issue you a work phone. You will need to drive your own car, but we will pay for all gas mileage used while on the job.

"Your job entails answering the phone, taking messages for Sasuke, informing him of visitors and clients, writing reports, writing emails, responding to emails, running papers to other offices, checking his mailbox every day, making any copies necessary , faxing, scanning, getting food, taking care of his social schedule, and really anything else he needs you for. You may be asked by another of my son's associates to help them. This is fine, but Sasuke and his needs come first. If he calls you over the weekend and needs your help with something, you are to help him. Let's see, what else…

"Ah yes! Dress appropriately every day, and beware of the women who will try and sexually harass my little boy. Because they will come, and you must be prepared. Shiho, the secretary, will call you if one of the girls comes through the door demanding to see him. It's your job to deter them. You'll start tomorrow morning!"

Sakura could only nod, taken aback by the woman's excitement. Mrs. Uchiha stood up, and walked back into Sasuke's office. Sakura just sat there, stunned.

"Sakura?" came a timid voice from behind. "You can leave now, if you'd like." Hinata was fiddling with her thumbs as Sakura jolted back to reality, and stood up.

"So it seems we're going to be working together now," Sakura said with a smile. Hinata smiled back.

"It will be nice to have you here. You're more conversational and nicer than most of the other people that work here. Most of them just keep to themselves."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Hinata looked toward the slightly open office door, and then pulled Sakura into the adjacent room. "This is my office. Through that door is Mr. Inuzuka's assistant Ryo, which is next to the break room, then Mr. Uzumaki's assistant Konohamaru, followed by Mr. Nara and his assistant Mei, and then Mr. Sai is the last associate down the hall. We're all connected. Ryo and Konohamaru are very rambunctious and womanizers; I try to stay away from them. You probably should, too. Mei is quiet, and never talks. Shiho, the secretary, is strange, but nice. As for all the lawyers, well… Mr. Nara is smart but doesn't talk a lot. Kiba- Oh! I mean Mr. Inuzuka- is an old friend of mine, but I don't have the chance to speak to him a lot. Mr. Uzumaki is wild and funny but very busy, Neji doesn't like to be disturbed, and Mr. Sai… well, I've never actually spoken to him very much. Mr. Uchiha is quiet and rarely comes into anyone else's office.

"You know, you're the first assistant Mrs. Uchiha has personally picked for Sasuke?" Hinata clamped her hand over her mouth, obviously thinking she had either said too much or said something wrong. "Oh, I apologize! I've been monopolizing the conversation!"

It was apparent to Sakura that Hinata got bored at work, and had no one to talk to. "It's fine! It's good to hear about my fellow future staff members," Sakura assured her. "Why did she pick the assistant this time?"

"Well, Sasuke's past assistants have all been friends of the family, and therefore rich and only interested in Sasuke, not work. We're not all like that, though… Most of the people working in this building come from old, prestigious families; my family has always been close with the Inuzuka's, Uzumaki's, and the Uchiha's. Mr. Nara comes from an old family as well, but he never really attended any of the parties when he was younger, so I've never really talked to him."

Sakura snorted. "Typical Shikamaru. Everything was probably 'too troublesome' to do," she said, shaking her head.

"You know him?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, Shikamaru and Sai are two very good friends of mine."

The door opened behind them, and Sai walked into Hinata's office. Hinata looked surprised to see him, but Sai was all smiles.

"I come in here to see Neji and instead I get to see the ever amazing Miss Hyuuga!" Hinata blushed at his compliment, and mumbled an intelligible response. Sai turned his ever present smile to Sakura. "You're here too, Sakura?"

"You knew I was coming in for an interview, Sai. I told you last night, and you just laughed and said you thought I would fit the job perfectly." Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, and Sai laughed again.

"Miss Hyuuga, if you'll excuse us, I have a lunch date with Miss Haruno here."

"Wh-huh?" Sakura stuttered, her arms dropping and eyebrows knitting together.

Hinata smiled. "N-No, it's okay. Goodbye, Sakura, Mr. Sai. See you tomorrow." Hinata offered a small goodbye wave as Sai pulled Sakura out of the office.

"A lunch date? Really, Sai?"

"I wanted to hear all about your exciting interview with my employer. And now, your employer as well." His amused grin grew as Sakura just rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be lead out of the building. "That is, if you got the job? I don't really hear much on my side of the building, it's so far away from the action. And there are no gossiping secretaries near me," Sai said, opening his car door for Sakura.

"I drove my own," she pointed out. He just shook his head, and offered her the seat again. This time she took it, climbing into the black, sleek car and sitting on the tan leather seat.

Sai shut the door behind her, and quickly moved onto the driver's side. The car started as he got in, and he quickly backed out of the parking lot. "You'll just have to retrieve your car later. I couldn't let you drive that piece of junk car while my brand new one was only a few spaces away, now could I? That would just be rude," he said pleasantly.

Sakura's eye twitched angrily. "For your information, my car is not a piece of junk. It might not be up to your car's standards, but it most certainly runs."

"If you insist, Sakura," Sai replied with a grin. "Maybe with your new salary you can afford something better?"

"If I wanted a lot of money, I would have just stayed at the hospital, Sai. I made at least twice as much there. I'm just doing this to help contribute to the rent and to get Ino off of my back."

The dark haired man tapped his chin thoughtfully for a few seconds as he pulled up to a stoplight. "Yes, you were making more working as a doctor. Well, I guess you won't trade that thing in until it falls apart. But then again, I guess the car matches you quite well – Old and messy, but you work just fine," he said cheerfully, as though he wasn't insulting her.

The car pulled into a small parking lot filled with other expensive cars. Sakura sunk into her seat, eyeing the women walking in and out of the restaurant. Each and every one of them were in long dresses with necklaces adorning their necks and purses hanging from their shoulders.

"Can we go someplace that's not here?" she asked quickly.

"Nervous about the number of rich people?" Sai said with a snort. "These are the people that we deal with on a daily basis, Sakura. Our clientele is composed of only people from rich, wealthy families, just like all of our lawyers and even secretaries."

"Expect for you," Sakura said.

"And you."

"I guess we make sort of a pair, huh? The two of us in a rich and prestigious company such as the Law Firm of Uchiha, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Uzumaki, Nara, and Partner."

"Why am I the only one that doesn't get to be in the firm's name, huh?" Sai joked, a very fake pout on his usually smiling face.

Sakura just smiled, ignoring his question. "So are we going in?"

Sai nodded, the smile returned. He slipped out of the car quickly, and was opening the door for Sakura before she even registered what was going on. He gripped her hand and helped her out of the car, and Sakura couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Sai."

The pair walked into the restaurant. Sakura was looking around, awestruck at how amazing the inside of the place looked. "This is beautiful," she commented.

"Well, God knows this place can afford it. The prices are astronomical," Sai joked as they sat down and the host announced the waitress would be around in a minute.

After a short amount of time looking over the menu, Sakura decided to take Sai's advice and let him order for them. The waitress walked over. "Are you ready to order?" she asked politely.

"Yes," Sai responded. "I will have this, and a side of this, while she wants to order this with this on it."

The woman smiled, thinking that this was a surprise type of date. Sakura could almost hear the "I have the sweetest couple sitting over at table four, you simply have to see them!" as she rushed over to place the order.

"So what type of food am I going to be enjoying on this lovely lunch outing?" Sakura asked.

"It's a secret," Sai said, pressing a finger to his lips as he smirked. "How was the interview?"

"Well, I got hired because I wasn't dressed like a… like a lady of the night, if you catch my drift. I was almost sad because of how easy it was, but hey, I guess I can't complain. It is a job."

"And you get to work with me! It's like karma smiled down on you today."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, because it's my life's ambition to be the secretary of Sasuke Uchiha, just because I work in the same building as you. Speaking of, why did I have to become his secretary when you don't have one?"

His response was a shrug and a light smile. "I don't need one. I'm too efficient for one. Even one as pretty as you are." He winked.

The compliment was a rare one from him, and Sakura felt herself blush in response.

"Aha, that's perfect! So compliments really do make you blush? Or was it because I was the one who complimented you?" he asked, a laugh sprouting from his mouth.

Sakura fought to keep the blush from deepening at her embarrassment. "I only blushed because it was a compliment, not because it was from you," she said, trying to keep her composure.

"Oh, so now my compliments aren't special?"

"I didn't- That's not what I meant and you know it."

The waitress took this opportunity to interrupt and set down the food Sai had ordered for them. "Here you go. I hope that you enjoy the meal, ma'am, sir." Sai smiled at her, and Sakura could tell she was having a hard time not blushing.

"Thank you very much, miss."

Sakura had to admit, it was hard to ignore Sai. He was perky, funny, and, dare she admit it, cute. Handsome. Very handsome. His skin was pale and flawless. His hair was dark, medium length, and it could be messy one day and perfectly styled the next. Sure, he could be mean, but he was there when she needed him. And his smile, the genuine one, could lift anyone out of a bad mood. It was such a pity he barely ever really smiled.

"This looks delicious, what is it?" Sakura

"Well, the dish I have is called tartiflette. It a special dish made with a certain type of cheese. And what you have is blanquette de veau, which is veal in a white sauce. I hope you enjoy."

She took one bit of her food, and her taste buds screamed in joy. She savored the first bite, unaware of the way that Sai was watching her as she closed her eyes in ecstasy. He smiled one of his rare genuine smiles, and dug into his own food.

"You know me too well. This is just perfect," she said, looking down at her food.

"What can I say; I know what type of French cuisine you'd like to eat."

"I want to try some of yours," she said, looking at the cheesy dish her friend was eating.

Sai shook his head. "No, you won't like it."

"You're only saying that so you can have it all for yourself!"

"So what if I am?" he asked, his eyes glowing with amusement. He took another bite as Sakura sat back, her hands folded over her chest and a visible pout on her face. "Oh, that's not fair," he said after he swallowed. "You're pouting. How can I ever resist you pouting?"

He pushed the dish toward her, and she took out a small portion. Soon, the fork was coming out of her mouth, clean.

"This is good, too!" she said when she swallowed. "I never knew I liked French food."

"You learn new things every day," he said. "I learned about this restaurant from your new boss, actually. He usually gets take out from here."

A look of confusion donned Sakura's face. "But there was sign before that said: 'No Take Out – We are NOT Fast Food.'"

Sai smirked. "Ah, but you forget. That sign means no take out for ordinary folks, such as us. For Sasuke Uchiha, anything is possible."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous. No one should play favorites. It's not my fault I wasn't born into a rich family."

"In their eyes," Sai said, gesturing to the customers, "it is."

The waitress arrived with the check, and Sai took out his wallet.

"No, here, let me pay for mine," Sakura protested. She moved her hand to her purse, but Sai stopped her.

"This is a congratulatory lunch for you and your new job, Sakura. I couldn't let you pay for it. And Shikamaru would kill me if I didn't take care of my female companion."

Sakura sat back, a warm feeling creeping up inside of her from her stomach. She had such good friends, didn't she?

"Thanks, Sai. This was… amazing."

"No problem." His glance shifted from the bill, which had just returned with his change, to Sakura, who was smiling. Her eyes held a warm, happy expression, and her smile was soft.

He felt his cheeks grow warmer, and so he shifted his head down to hide his light blush.

Yes, this lunch was amazing.

A/N: Long chapter. Anyway, I hope you liked. I'm working on chapter three. There will be MUCH more SasuSaku in that one, I promise! You'll just have to bear with me for a bit! sorry for any mistakes, very unbetaed. AND REVIEWS MAKE ME WRITE FASTER, I PROMISE!