Thank you so much for the lovely response! Glad you seem to enjoy so far! Wanted to show a bit of Sakura's background life, and the way she got on with her friends. Glad you love my ass-face of a Sasuke! I will try to bring him in often for you guys!


Rule 2: Arrive on Time (Part 1)


Every good assistant must adopt the habit of getting everywhere on time. Punctuality can save many a day and a good assistant is expected to get an early start to prepare so that the working day can run smoothly. Tardiness is unacceptable.


Day 6 (Monday)

3:21 am

Sakura cringed at the harsh raspy sound coming from Ino, and then again at the sound as her friend emptied her insides in the toilet. The pinkette scraped the blonde's hair further away from her face and rubbed soothing circles on her best friend's back. Ino had turned up at Sakura's door at 11:40 the night before, drunk out of her mind and sobbing like a baby.

With a bottle of Jack Daniels in her hands.

Apparently the blonde's boyfriend of two years had broken up with her because she was 'too materialistic', and Ino was devastated. The boyfriend was right, but the way Sakura saw it, anyone that wanted to be in a relationship with Ino had to be in love with the blonde's love for the material side of life. If they couldn't accept that part, and get close enough to the Yamanaka to find out why it was such a big part of her, then they didn't deserve to be with her at all. And she'd told Ino this countless times over the past few hours, but understandably, being newly single and crazy drunk, Ino was not comprehending this so much.

Sakura sent a worried glance at the bathroom clock and stifled a curse.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

It was almost 3:30. Which meant that Ino had been vomiting for about two hours, which made Sakura very worried. It also meant that Sakura had to start getting ready for work in about an hour so she could get there on time.

Shit.

Luckily, Sakura had gone to bed at 9:30 so she'd gotten... about two hours sleep? Damn. 'Luckily' was definitely not the right word. Ino's gasps brought Sakura's attention back to the blonde.

"I... I can't believe the bastard left me," Ino gasped, starting to cry again.

"Okay, Ino. Stop crying. Now," Sakura demanded, pulling the blonde from the toilet.

"No... No just let me..." Ino wailed, trying to hug the toilet. Sakura flushed it, slammed the lid down, and dragged Ino to the sink.

"Wash your face, and brush your teeth. Now," Sakura demanded. "We are not going to allow you to wallow. We are not going to allow What's-His-Face to break you, you hear me?" Ino only whimpered a bit, but stood and allowed Sakura to wash her face.

"You are beautiful. You are not perfect, but you are damned special, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Sakura said firmly, rinsing her friend's face. "Now you are going to get something in your stomach, and you are going to go to bed and sleep off this alcohol, while I go off to work. Get in the shower and bathe while I get you something to eat and call in sick for you," Sakura commanded, pulling off the blonde's loose top and pushing her towards the shower.

"B-But Sakura," Ino whimpered.

"Ino..." Sakura said, pausing by the door. "If you're not clean by the time I get back, I am calling Naruto," she threatened. Ino gave her one of the cutest pouts known to mankind, but having been faced with it ever since they were children, the effect was lost on Sakura. Ino grumbled under her breath but dutifully stripped and got into the shower.

Sakura chuckled - the Naruto threat always worked, because her other best friend was so cheerful it was incredibly annoying if you wanted to be sad - and left the bathroom. She stalked to the kitchen, stifling a yawn and rubbing her eyes tiredly. The weekend had just not been nearly long enough, and getting only two hours sleep was just... painful.

Sakura put on some eggs, bacon and toast and made a large mug of coffee for herself. She called Ino's office and told them that Ino would not be in that day. By the time the breakfast was done, Ino was out of the shower and already in some of Sakura's clothing, which hung a little on her smaller frame.

"I hate you, Forehead," Ino groused, a reluctant smile on her gorgeous face. She sat on the bar stool by the kitchen counter. Sakura gave her a tired grin and poked her friend's cheek.

"I love you too, Pig," Sakura said, dropping a kiss on the side of Ino's head. "Now eat. I have to go get ready for work. I need to get there by six," the pinkette sighed.


"Good morning, Uchiha-sama." Itachi gave his assistant a nod and accepted the mug of coffee she handed to him. She looked a bit more serious today than she had last week, but Itachi paid it no mind. She was, once again, at work before he got there, with his coffee hot and ready for him.

"Good morning, Haruno-san," he replied, taking a sip of the sweet, fragrant beverage. He stalked past her into his office and rested his briefcase on his desk. Looking out over the still quiet city from his office window, Itachi spoke.

"Bring me up to speed on this week's agenda." He heard her clear her throat before she started.

"Well, we have to have that meeting with the Sarutobi and their lawyers again, so that we can go over the contract for the merger. We have to meet with Sai-san again and go over to Kaze no Kuni and to meet with the suppliers from Sunagakure and we also have to review the Yatsuga file and have Financing set up the new trade contracts with Hi no Kuni Shipping," Haruno-san said.

"And what of the budget meetings? Have the other departments sent in their proposed budgets yet?" Itachi asked, turning to face her.

"Well, the Production, Marketing and Sales departments for Uchiha Glass, Uchiha Motors and Uchiha Lumber have already sent in their proposed budgets, and the Purchases departments for Uchiha Glass, Uchiha Lumber and Konoha Office Solutions have sent their budgets in as well. We still have to get the budgets in from the other companies." Itachi sighed.

"The others are cutting it too close to the deadline. Send them some reminders. I do not want a backup of budget meetings. And will you please let my father know that I'm going to be out of office for most of today?"

"Yes, Uchiha-sama. I will get to that now," Haruno-san said, stepping out of the office.


Day 7 (Tuesday)

5:10 am

"You have got to be kidding me!" Sakura growled. The problem?

Her car.

It refused to start.

Shit.

"Why, of all times, did you have to do this now, Koko? You had the entire weekend to quit, and you choose a bloody Tuesday? Are you trying to get me fired?" Sakura continued, her voice building in volume. To make matters worse, it was so early that no car repair shops would be open yet. Sakura reached into her bag for her phone and quickly dialled Naruto's number.

"Hmn?" Naruto mumbled into the phone after the sixth ring.

"Naruto?" Sakura said. "Oh thank Kami you answered." There was a moment of silence over the phone.

"Mmmsakura?" Naruto groaned sleepily over the line. He sounded like his eyes weren't even open yet.

"Yes, Naruto, it's Sakura. Koko quit out on me, so I need a ride to work. Can you give me a ride?" Sakura begged. There was the sound of Naruto's breathing over the line.

"Mmmh... What... What time is it?" he breathed, his words running into each other.

"Umm," Sakura responded, checking her watch. "It's twenty minutes past five. I'm sorry, I know it's early, but I have to get to the office by six. I have to be there before my boss gets in... Naruto please, I'll make it up to you."

"Kami, Sakura..." Naruto murmured with a loud groan as he sat up. "Lemme just-" A yawn interrupted his speech. "Lemme just wash my face and put some clothes on... Be there in a sec..."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll make you beef ramen with the works the next time you come over, alright?"

But Naruto had already hung up.

And apparently when Naruto said 'A sec' he did not literally mean anything close to 'a sec'. Because over twenty minutes had passed and the blonde had not turned up yet. And Naruto only lived a few minutes away. How long did it take him to just drag some clothes on and come for her?

Sakura called him again.

"'Ello?" he answered, sounding just as sleepy as he had the last time Sakura had called.

"Naruto, you have got to be kidding me! Aren't you on your way yet?" Sakura moaned into the phone.

"On my way wh-... Oh shit, Sakura I'm sorry! I got to the bathroom, took a piss and then I kinda... I kinda thought that your call was a dream, so I... I'm really coming over this time," Naruto said, his voice sounding much less tired. There was the distinct sounds of shuffling clothing over the line.

"You had better, because I have to literally be at the office in twenty minutes," Sakura said. "I'll meet you at the end of my street so you don't have to turn in for me," she offered, beginning to walk as she spoke.

"Okay hun," Naruto said, his voice slightly muffled. A door slammed on his side of the line. "Okay, I'll be there in two minutes tops," Naruto huffed. This time, true to his word, Naruto turned up in his pickup truck in less than two minutes, dressed only in his jeans, ratty flip-flops and a beanie. Even though he was her best friend, she had to admit that was kinda hot... okay he and Ino both modelled part time, but Sakura was not supposed to admit that her best friends were ridiculously good looking. It sucked... since she was nowhere close to their league.

"You are gonna have to really hurry, Baka," Sakura said with a small pout, hopping into the vehicle and pulling the door shut. Naruto gave her a sheepish grin and pulled away from the side of the road.

"I don't usually drive slowly, Sakura-chan," he said, fiddling with the radio knob on the dashboard. "We'll get to UC with time to spare."


6:15 am

Itachi stalked from the elevator to see his assistant standing at the doors, a steaming cup of milky coffee in one hand, and a stack of files under her arm.

"Good morning, Uchiha-sama, here's your coffee," she said with her customary small smile. Itachi gave her a small nod and took the coffee. "The other departments sent in their proposed budgets, so the meetings can start any time you've looked them all over. Hopefully we can get them all done within the next two weeks," she continued as she walked beside him. She must have changed her perfume. It smelled nice.

"Hn. Take the Sarutobi reports over to Finance when Shisui gets in, and see if there is anything he would like changed. Another meeting with him is necessary for me to go over the points in detail, but I will be out of office again today. I have several meetings to attend," Itachi said as he stalked into his office.

"Yes sir, is there anything else?" Haruno-san asked. Itachi sighed inwardly.

"Yes. I need you to get the Production Budget Summary from Sasuke. He is supposed to have gone over it and made his report by now," Itachi said, eyeing his pink haired assistant as he spoke. She didn't so much as flinch.

"Yes sir, I will do that as soon as he gets into his office," Haruno-san said, backing out of his office. Itachi randomly noted that she was very graceful in her high heeled shoes. Itachi sat behind his desk and opened the first of the folders, his dark eyes scanning the graphs and tables and numbers that occupied the pages of the Budget Summaries.

An email popping up on his smartphone about an hour later pulled Itachi's attention from the sheaf of papers he was analyzing.

Uchiha-san,

Please see to it that the contract proposal for the shipping deal we spoke about gets to the head office by 8:30 am today so that it can be sent in to Legal ahead of the other contracts.

Have a beneficial day,

Regards,

Hanzo Kimori

Hi no Kuni Shipping

Itachi blinked. He had completely forgotten. And it was already 7:45. He reached for his phone and called Haruno-san's extension.

"Yes, Uchiha-sama," she answered after the first ring. "How may I help you?"

"Can you drive?" Itachi asked.

"Yes sir, although my car is not here today as it needs to go to the auto repair shop," she replied. How had she gotten here before him without a car? The buses didn't start running until 6:30 am since the bus company was under review.

"Yet you got here before I did," Itachi said.

"Yes sir. I found a way," Haruno-san replied, a smile evident in her voice.

"I need you to transport some legal documents to Hi no Kuni Shipping before 8:30," Itachi said, pulling up the general calendar on his computer. "According to the calendar, Sasuke should be heading in that direction in fifteen minutes. Since you do not have a car, please get a ride with him as I need you to stay and wait for a reply from their Legal team before you head back here," Itachi ordered smoothly.

"Yes sir. I was on my way to his office right now, so I will ask for the report at the same time," Haruno-san replied, staying on the line so that Itachi could hang up first.


7: 48 am

Immediately after Uchiha-sama hung up, Sakura left her desk and strode over to the elevator. She made a cup of black coffee on the floor below and swiftly made her way back Uchiha-san's office. She gave a sharp rap on the door with her knuckles, waiting for Uchiha-sama's brother to answer. He was always crabby in the morning, and never made his own coffee. Out of spite, since it wasn't actually a designated duty in the assistant's contract, Uchiha-san's assistant never made him coffee either... which meant he usually went without... which meant Uchiha-san was perpetually annoyed, if the talk in the lunchroom was anything to go by.

"Come in," the voice on the other side commanded. Sakura pushed the door open, schooling her features into as close to a blank mask as she could get it, and prepared herself for the hotness of her boss's brother, as she had to do for her boss every morning... and for his cousin... and strangely enough, for his uncle and father. It was the only way she managed to get through the day without fangirling. She'd thought the Hyuuga hotness was a problem, but then she'd never met an Uchiha before.

Sure enough, even though Dickface, as her Inner had taken to calling Uchiha-san, was obviously surly and bad tempered, he was ridiculously hot. Sakura was beginning to feel left out. Her best friends, previous employers, and now these? It was like she was surrounded.

"What do you want? I cannot believe I have to deal with you so damned early. It's like you're trying to make my day suck," Uchiha-san snapped, only giving her a cursory glance before he turned his attention to the papers on his desk.

"Good morning, Uchiha-san," Sakura said smoothly approaching the desk and resting the cup of coffee on the coaster on his desk.

"Don't bother sucking up with coffee. I already hate you, and that's not going to change," Dickface, ahem, Uchiha-san said, not even giving the coffee a second glance.

"You are welcome, Uchiha-san," Sakura said smoothly, ignoring his attitude and behaving as if he'd said 'Thank you'. "Uchiha-sama would like to know if-"

"Just shut up," Uchiha-san snapped, interrupting Sakura rudely. "If Itachi wants to ask me something, he can just pick up the phone and call my extension. I don't want anything to do with you," he said shortly, waving her away with a dismissive hand.

Sakura waited a moment to control her breathing before continuing to speak as if Uchiha-san had not said anything.

"As Uchiha-sama is busy reviewing the proposed budgets from the company's subsidiaries and extensions, he asked that I retrieve the Production Budget Summary and Report from you before you leave," Sakura said, a polite smile on her face. This time, Uchiha-san looked up, and sent her a rather impressive scowl.

'Just think of Dickface as a cute little black kitten, hissing and spitting, but really quite helpless, since we aren't employed to him,' Sakura's inner said with a wicked smile. Sakura inwardly raised a brow, tried out her inner's suggestion, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the technique worked.

'Well, whaddaya know...' she mused amusedly. Now Uchiha-san's hissy fits were more adorable than anything.

"Fine. Take the damn report and get out of my office," Uchiha-san spat, shoving two folders in Sakura's face. Sakura calmly took the reports.

'I'm sure he find's us SO annoying,' Sakura's inner crowed. 'That will teach him - the bastard. We will never back down!' her inner laughed, the sound having a distinctly evil ring to it in Sakura's head.

"There is one more thing," Sakura said calmly, a genuine smile on her face as she anticipated Uchiha-san's reaction.

"What?" Uchiha-san snapped, his dark eyes disdainful.

"Uchiha-sama requests that you take me down to Hi no Kuni Shipping when you leave in ten minutes," Sakura said, blinking slowly at the man before her.

"Hn. You must be fricking kidding me. I don't know what diseases you might be carrying, you low-class scum, so I sure as hell don't want you in my car," Uchiha-san spat, glaring at her from his desk. Sakura gripped the folders in her hands to avoid scratching his ears. He was seriously adorable right now.

'Oh no you didn't! Play on his big brother issues, or so help me I will come out and do it myself,' Sakura's inner growled, not nearly as amused as Sakura was. Sakura gave Uchiha-san a saccharine smile.

"My, my. What a low opinion you seem to have of Uchiha-sama... to think you would accuse him of hiring disease ridden, low-class scum, and actually accept morning coffee from her nasty hands on a daily basis..." Sakura said in a low, almost-amused voice as she leveled a green eyed stare on Uchiha-san.

The man froze in his chair and refused to bring his dark gaze anywhere close to Sakura's face.

"Don't make me wait on you," he said after a moment. Sakura grinned, knowing he wouldn't look at her face and see it.

"I won't, Uchiha-san," she said sweetly, turning to leave his office. Unable to help herself, she paused when she got to the door. "Enjoy your coffee, Uchiha-san," she said in a slightly sing-song voice before stepping from the office. She was ridiculously pleased to hear his frustrated mutterings as she closed the door behind her.


Day 8 (Wednesday)

4:30 am

The insistent, repeated ringing of Sakura's alarm clock sent pain shooting through her forehead. She rolled from the bed after turning off the alarm and got to her feet. She regretted the motion immediately as her stomach twisted painfully. Sakura barely got to her bathroom before the contents of her stomach came surging up her throat.

She should never have eaten the instant ramen she'd found in the cupboard last night. It had been one day past its expiry date, but Sakura had made it up anyway, being far too tired to actually cook anything.

Now, however, she was paying the price.

Her stomach was killing her.

She couldn't be late for work, and she only had an hour and a half to get there. Damn. What was with this week? First it was Ino, then her car, and now this. Sakura hated being late. She would not be late.

'Get yourself together and fix this, Sakura,' she told herself, even as she hurled into the toilet again. She stood weakly, got into the shower and let the warm water wash over her body. Taking deep breaths to try to stave off her roiling stomach, Sakura slowly showered, trying her best to avoid any swift movements.

A few minutes later, she slowly and carefully dressed, and headed to her kitchen. Even the thought of coffee made her stomach nauseous, so the pinkette settled for a cup of tea, labelled Tummy Mint, instead. Pouring the tea into a Thermos, Sakura locked up the house and got to her car, taking periodic sips every time nausea threatened to have her barf.

Even though she knew she was cutting it close, Sakura drove slower than she usually did, hoping that she would still get to the office in time. Halfway there, Sakura could hold it in no longer, and had to pull over at the side of the road to empty her stomach once again. She knew she should take the medicine she always kept in her large purse, but didn't want to, since the instructions warned against taking the pills on an empty stomach, and the mere thought of food threatened to make her hurl again.

Sakura wiped her mouth, got back in her car and popped a mint in her mouth. She would have to brush her teeth again when she got to the office, because she was determined not to miss work or reach late. Sakura knew that if Ino and Naruto knew she was feeling unwell, they would tell her she was being way too hard on herself and prohibit her from going to work, but Sakura was not used to going easy on herself.

She'd been on her own since she was fifteen, when her parents died, and she had no siblings or other family. Even though she'd been taken into the foster system, she had nothing to fall back on. She had no inheritance, no family property and no job waiting for her. All she really had was herself and going easy on herself was not the best way to get ahead. She had completed high school and college two years early just on talent, hard work and dedication alone, and had accumulated quite a bit of money over the years, which she invested in several businesses instead of banking it all. Still, Sakura wasn't about to go easy on herself. She had made it through days of work being sick at Hyuuga Corp before, and she would do the same at the UC if she had to.

Keeping this in mind, Sakura pulled away from the side of the road and continued driving. She pulled into the parking lot five minutes before six o'clock and drank the rest of her tea in the car. She got out slowly, taking several deep breaths to calm her stomach before walking as swiftly as she could into the building.

She wasn't going to show any weakness, so she smiled at all she passed, as per usual, and boarded the elevator.

It was the wrong move.

On so many levels.

Why? Because not only was she feeling the need to throw up in the worst way, but Uchiha-sama decided to come earlier on the one day that she was sick, and boarded the elevator before the doors could close.

"Ah, good morning, Uchiha-sama," Sakura said, giving him the best smile she could muster while simultaneously trying to stave off a wave of nausea. He nodded silently at her before taking a spot beside her and allowing the door to close.


The first thing that came to Itachi's mind was that Haruno-san looked a tad green around the gills. The second thing that came to mind was that she was later than she usually was today, seeing that he was on the elevator with her. The third thing that came to mind was that he was actually sharing an elevator with someone.

And it wasn't all that horrible.

But that could be mainly due to the fact that her perfume was the same as the one she'd worn earlier that week. The one he liked. And she was easy on the eyes, even with her pink hair.

The elevator's ascent was made in complete silence, and Itachi could see from the corner of his eyes that the longer the ride, the sicker Haruno-san seemed to get.

"Excuse me, Uchiha-san," she said with a smile, the gesture looking a bit strained to Itachi's eyes. "I will take the next stop so I can prepare your coffee," she continued, taking visibly deep breaths.

"Hn," Itachi grunted. "Are you well?" he found himself asking, but then the elevator dinged as it got to the next stop, and Haruno-san fled the machine before answering him. Itachi frowned, about to step forward, but the door slid shut and the elevator began its ascent once more.

Hmmm.

Itachi stalked out of the elevator, almost walking into Iruga, who had a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. The blonde trailed an almost lazy gaze over Itachi.

"Hmmm," the man murmured, one eyebrow raising.

"Good morning, Iruga-san," Itachi said slowly.

"Good morning, Uchiha-sama," Iruga replied, a strange gleam in his eyes as he walked alongside Itachi.

"...Is there something the matter, Iruga-san?" Itachi asked after a moment, curious as to Iruga's almost decidedly accomplished air.

"I beat you this morning," the man said happily, taking a sip of his coffee. Itachi did not respond. "You usually have your coffee before me, ever since Haruno-san arrived, and you always have this little air of frustration when I have my coffee before you... it is very satisfying and I missed it," the blonde said, purposely following Itachi all the way to his office just so that he could rub his possession of coffee in.

"I did not realize that it was a competition," Itachi said after a moment. He realized how silly it was to take Iruga seriously, but at the same time... now that he knew it was a competition... he wouldn't lose.

"Hmm... you are only saying that, because you lost," Iruga said, slurping his coffee as discreetly as one could slurp coffee. "I still win, no matter what you say..." the blonde said good naturedly, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

He was about to respond when the sound of clicking heels caught both their attention. Haruno-san approached them, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand as well as a cinnamon muffin with white frosting on the top.

"I'm sorry to make you wait for your coffee, Uchiha-sama," she said with a slightly tight smile. "I hope this muffin makes up for my tardiness. Oh, good morning, Hashimoto-san," she continued. Itachi took the muffin and coffee and gave Haruno-san a small smile.

"Thank you, Haruno-san," he said. She gave him a small nod before backing out of the office. Itachi turned to Iruga.

"I suppose now I win, as you have no muffin," he said smoothly, taking a bite of the sweet pastry. Iruga scowled playfully.

"May I at least have a piece?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Hn," Itachi grunted in reply, but made no move to share. His assistant was the best.


"Mmm, Sakura-chan. What amazing deed did I do to deserve your company?" Shisui-san said with a smile as Sakura stepped into his office. "Tell me, so that I may do it over, and over again," the Uchiha said. Sakura smiled.

"I just brought back the report you sent to Uchiha-sama, Shisui-san," Sakura said, evading his flirtatious question.

"Hmm, on my desk, please, Sakura-hime," Shisui said in a flirtatious growl, winking smoothly... and the act changed the context of his simple sentence so much it was astounding. Sakura squelched a grin and dropped the folder gently on his wide desk. Shisui's office was her favorite office to visit. She actually felt less nauseous in his office than she did in the others.

"Sakura-chan, Sweetheart... you don't look so good... I mean, you're still so gorgeous that my heart stops when you appear, but... you look a little ill, and that makes my heart sad," Shisui said smoothly, getting up, rounding his desk and approaching Sakura. He looked genuinely worried.

"Oh, no... I am perfectly alright," Sakura said as breezily as she could while taking deep breaths.

"You're not," Shisui cooed, rubbing circles on Sakura's back. It actually helped. "I am going to get you home. Have you eaten? You haven't, have you? I will order you some chicken soup... and you will go home, and eat it, and feel better," he said, patting her shoulder while speaking continuously enough that it prevented Sakura from saying a word. Sakura knew that normally, it would be offensive for someone she barely knew to act so familiar with her, but Shisui was one of those people that you just couldn't be mad at. He was just awesome that way, she supposed.

"No, I-" Sakura started, but the Uchiha was already calling her boss.

"Itachi-chan, you little imbecile," Shisui scolded almost playfully. "How could you keep Sakura-chan here working her cute little ass off when she is clearly unwell?" He paused. "I am taking care of her, so make use of my assistant if you like until I return," he said firmly, but smoothly, and hung up.

"Shi-" Sakura sputtered.

"Don't worry about it, darling Sakura-chan," Shisui cooed, steamrolling her just as easy as he had Uchiha-sama. "Just get well!"

Three hours later, Sakura was thankful for Shisui-san's interference. He'd gotten her gourmet chicken soup, which had settled her stomach remarkably quickly. She'd taken her pills, rid herself of nausea, and now only felt a little weak. She was about to think that she didn't know what she was going to do with all the time she had, since Shisui-san hadn't allowed her to take any work home with her, when the phone rang.

"Sakura? Oh, thank Kami, you answered," a feminine voice said over the line as soon as Sakura answered.

"Kurenai-chan?" Sakura said, her brow raising. "What's wrong?"

"Asuma and I need to go out of town tonight on business, but we can't take Ashio. We were hoping someone could keep him, but everyone else is unavailable tonight. I didn't want to ask you since you just started your new job, but... but you're my last option," Kurenai said, sounding uncharacteristically frazzled.

"Calm down, Kurenai. I'll keep him for the night. I have to leave home at five in the morning, though. How will you pick him back up?" Sakura asked, leaning her hip against the kitchen counter.

"We should be catching the early flight back at three in the morning, so we should be able to come get him," Kurenai said. "Oh thank you, Sakura. You're a lifesaver," Kurenai breathed. Sakura laughed.

"Don't worry about it, Kurenai. Happy to help!"


Day 9 (Thursday)

5:10 am

Sakura eyed her watch for the umpteenth time. Damn. Asuma and Kurenai were not yet here to pick up Ashio, and she needed to leave. Like now.

Sakura eyed the sleeping three-year old and sighed.

Sakura picked up her phone and dialled Kurenai's number.

"Oh, Sakura. I was just about to call," Kurenai said. "No flights are going out today because of bad weather where we are. I am so sorry..." Kurenai groaned.

"Don't worry," Sakura said, forcing herself to sound unconcerned. "I'll work something out."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," Kurenai said, genuinely earnest.

"You always do," Sakura said, her smile coming easier now. "Don't worry about it." After saying her goodbyes and hanging up, Sakura made up her mind. She had no time to wait on someone to come pick up Ashio, and chances were that if they were all unable to keep the toddler for the night, they would not be able to keep him today either. Besides, it was not yet 5:30 am, so she was most likely the only one in her circle of friends awake right now.

She was going to take Ashio to work.

The kid loved her, so he would behave.

Hopefully.

Sakura picked up the sleeping child and carried him to her car, resting him gently in the child-seat in the back of the car and strapping him in.


6:17 am

Sakura waited by the elevator door with a cup of hot coffee and a muffin in hand, waiting for Uchiha-sama to show up. She was a little nervous since she had yet to ask him if Ashio could stay with her for the day and she was a little unsure as to what his response would be. The elevator doors opened, but instead of her boss, the HR manager stepped out, a ready smile coming to his face when he saw her.

"Good morning, Haruno-san," Hashimoto-san said. Sakura returned the greeting with a smile and a bow.

"Say, Haruno-san," Hashimoto-san said as he approached her. "I am terribly hungry. Do you mind..." he murmured, gesturing at the muffin in her hand. Sakura faltered for a bit - Uchiha-sama really seemed to like the muffin when she had given him one yesterday. Still, it wouldn't hurt to give it to Hashimoto-san, would it?

"Not a problem. Hashimoto-san," Sakura said with a smile, handing over the muffin. He'd just taken a bite when the elevator doors slid open again and Uchiha-sama stepped out. Hashimoto's mouth spread into a smile.

"Good morning, Uchiha-sama," the man said after swallowing, waving cheerfully at Uchiha-sama with his muffin-filled hand before stalking off into his office. Sakura handed Uchiha-sama his coffee with a polite smile.

"Good morning, Uchiha-sama," she said. He gave her a blank look.

"Good morning, Haruno-san. Will there be a muffin today?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly tight.

"If you wish one, sir," Sakura said with a smile. He blinked at her in a way Sakura supposed meant 'yes' before moving off towards his office. Sakura bit her lip. She needed to ask him about Ashio.

"Excuse me, sir," she started, waiting until he stopped and turned before continuing. "A situation arose and I was forced to bring a child with me this morning. Will it be a terrible problem for me to keep him for the day? He won't interfere with my work," Sakura said, trying her best to keep her nervousness out of her voice.

"Hn... I trust you to keep the situation under control," Uchiha-sama said smoothly before walking towards his office.

"Thank you, sir. I will get your muffin now," Sakura said, sighing with relief.


She had brought a child with her to work. As plebeian as it was, Itachi was curious to see how she would manage the two responsibilities, especially since she was needed in the meeting with the Sarutobi and Sasuke in just a few hours... And he was curious to see this child. Was it her child?

The thought was unsettling.

As Itachi passed Haruno-san's office, a childish voice called out.

"S-Sakura-chan? I'm scared..." the voice whimpered. Itachi paused by the door, insanely curious to see the - as he'd already been visualizing - pink haired, green-eyed child. Indecision ate at him before he finally made up his mind and opened her office door. There, looking very tiny in her fairly large office chair was possibly the cutest child he'd seen since Sasuke. Large brown eyes looked up fearfully at Itachi and the little boy shrunk back and hid behind his shoulder length black hair.

He did not have pink hair.

"I'm not Sakura-chan," Itachi said smoothly, not willing to assume that he wasn't Sakura's child just because of his hair colour, only to find out that he was and then be... well... disapponted. The little boy shook his head, shrinking further into the chair. "What is your name?" he asked the boy.

"I... I want Sakura-chan..." the boy said instead of giving his name. Itachi blinked.

"She will come after you tell me your name," he coaxed, needing to know. The boy relaxed slightly and looked up at Itachi with wide eyes.

"D'you p-pwomise?" he asked hesitantly.

"I promise." There was silence for a few seconds before the boy spoke.

"My name is Sarutobi Ashio. H-Hajime mashite..." He was too cute for words.

And he wasn't Sakura-chan's son.

When Itachi did open his mouth to speak, Sakura's voice sounded behind him.

"Ah, Ashio-chan. Good boy for staying in the seat like Sakura-chan told you to. Uchiha-sama, I hope he was respectful?" Sakura-chan said with a smile as she passed him and made her way to Ashio. After actually saying her name as 'Sakura-chan' to Ashio, it became a little difficult for Itachi to think of her as Haruno-san again.

"Oh, your muffin," she said, giving him the pastry, which rested on a white napkin. It was a different kind to the one she'd given him the day before. This one was blueberry. Itachi was about to respond, but was interrupted by Ashio.

"Sakura-chan... canna have one?" he asked, his high-pitched voice and large brown eyes pleading.

"Hmm, what is the magic word? If you remind me, I'll take you to get a muffin," Sakura said, speaking to the child as if talking to an adult. There was no silly cooing voice used.

"The... The magic word is 'Please'," Ashio said, a grin splitting his face. "Sakura-chan, you didn't really forget!" he squealed happily. Sakura laughed, and Itachi realized that he hadn't heard her laugh like that since she came, even though it was only a small, short chuckle. He frowned.

Was she unhappy here?

"You're right, Ashio-chan. I just wanted to hear you say it," Sakura continued. "Now, I just have to have a small talk with Uchiha-sama, and then we can go get your muffin. Will you be patient?" Ashio nodded, his black hair flopping into his face.

"Uh huh... 'cuz I love Sakura-chan," he said, reaching for her. Sakura rolled her green eyes playfully.

"Oh, alright, you little player. You can have a kiss to tide you over until I come back," she said on a sigh. Ashio giggled, eagerly accepting the kiss Sakura dropped to his round cheek. "Here, draw something amazing for me in the meantime," Sakura said, handing him her notebook and a pencil.

"Okay," the boy said happily, clutching the yellow pencil in his childishly pudgy fingers.

Then she turned to him, and if Itachi did not see the child behind her, he would have thought she was a different person.

"Uchiha-sama, I believe we have a meeting with the Sarutobi and Uchiha-san in a few hours. Would you like to go over the summary I drew up?" she asked, her voice back to the crip business-like tone she generally used with him.

"Yes, please," Itachi said, moving from her office door and taking a bite of the muffin she'd given him. It was good, but he preferred the one from the day before.

And while she continued to speak, Itachi continued to wonder who it really was that he had hired as his assistant, and when it was that he'd begun calling her Sakura in just that short space of time. She'd gone from Haruno-san to Sakura in no more than five minutes. He knew nothing about her... but he planned to change that.


"So you bring your freaking kid to work now? What do you take us for, a daycare?" Sasuke spat at Sakura, disdainfully eyeing the sleeping child in the corner of the boardroom. In front of the client. Itachi frowned at the blatant disrespect. To his surprise - since he'd not figured it out earlier - Itachi saw the Sarutobi patriarch frown deeply as well.

"What exactly are you insinuating about my grandson?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Sasuke, his white brows pulling together. "And what are you doing with my grandson?" the man continued, looking to Sakura.

Sakura smiled calmly, and turned to the Sarutobi first.

"I thought the name sounded familiar but I did not want to make assumptions. I am a friend of Asuma and Kurenai, Sarutobi-san," the pinkette said, her smile widening. "Kurenai-san asked me to keep Ashio-chan while she and Asuma-san went out of town on business. They were held up by bad weather, so I had to take Ashio-chan to work today. I didn't want to leave him with anyone else."

"And you are the Sakura-chan he's always begging to go stay with?" the Sarutobi asked, his weathered face immediately becoming more friendly. Itachi sent a pointed look in Sasuke's direction. His little brother's face looked... there was really no description for Sasuke's expression. But it was suffice to say that to admonish his brother, even privately, would be overkill. It was also safe to say, that his little brother's hatred of Sakura had grown in just those few moments.

"Yes, I probably am," Sakura said with a smile, offering a hand for the Sarutobi to shake.

"I suppose you are the same Sakura-chan that Naruto is always going on about," Hiruzen chuckled, shaking Sakura's hand heartily. Sakura laughed and nodded.

"I hope you are not the one Naruto-kun calls 'Gramps', Sarutobi-san. If so, I may have to beat some respect into his blonde head," she said with a smile. Hiruzen only laughed.

"It's quite alright, Sakura-chan. When Minato and Kushina were ill, I took care of little Naruto for a while," Hiruzen went on. "He's family and he means well - he can call me whatever he likes."

Wait.

Minato and Kushina? Weren't they the first couple of Hi no Kuni? Itachi felt his eyes widen in shock. Who was this that he had hired as his assistant? The woman who fetched him coffee every morning was close friends with the son of the Hokage?

"I suppose Naruto has taken you to meet Gaara-san too?" Hiruzen was saying. Itachi slid a glance to his brother. Sasuke looked about ready to have an aneurism.

"Well he wanted to, but I had an important meeting that could not be put aside for a social visit. You understand how it is," Sakura said with a smile. She had passed up an opportunity to meet the Kazekage to attend a business meeting?

"If it is no problem, Sarutobi-san," Itachi said smoothly, "it would be within our best interests to start the meeting. I am afraid that I have a full schedule today." Hiruzen gave him a nod and a smile.

"You have a wonderful woman working for you, Uchiha-san, if my observations and the reports are accurate," the man said, sizing Itachi up with an assessing gaze. "Let's get on with this meeting, then."


8:18 pm

Sakura looked up from the report she was summarizing at the toot of a horn outside.

"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan, Naruto-nii and Shika-nii are here," Ashio said excitedly. The little man had been responsible for the successful takeover of Sarutobi Steel when he quickly made friends with Uchiha-sama. Sakura had gotten him ice-cream as a reward, and now he was on a sugar high.

True to Ashio's words, Naruto let himself in, followed by Shikamaru and... Genma. Oh, Genma, Genma, Genma. Sakura felt her face split into a grin immediately.

"You evil bastard," she said, stalking over to him and punching him in the gut. The eyes of all the males in the room with her went wide.

"Okay... I'm sorry I didn't call..." Genma sputtered weakly, giving Sakura a sheepish grin. "I can explain. I promise my phone ran out of battery, then my internet went down, and then I... forgot..." he said with a wince. "Forgive me?"

Sakura could never resist the Shiranui. No matter what he did, he just made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. He wasn't the best looking of her acquaintances, but there was just something about him.

"Fine, but you have to make it up to me," Sakura chuckled. She and Genma had an on and off, fun relationship that had never gotten serious, since the man had an aversion to anything binding or committing, but should he decide to go for it, Sakura was not against trying with him.

"I always do, don't I?" Genma smirked, still holding his stomach. Sakura ruffled his hair, pecked him on the cheek and grinned.

"Yeah, you always do." She turned to the other two, who had busied themselves playing with Ashio. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Mmn, Asuma asked me to take Ashio off your hands," Shikamaru muttered, lifting the giggling three-year old into his arms. "We can take him and go now since you look busy-"

At that, Naruto and Genma's heads shot up.

"What? Leave already?" they both cried simultaneously.

"C'mon, Shikamaru, we just got here," Naruto moaned.

"Why didn't you at least let Naruto drive so that you could leave and we could stay?" Genma groused around the silver senbon needle between his lips.

"Because it would have been too troublesome to go to Naruto's house first when I could just come straight here," Shikamaru sighed, ruffling Ashio's hair with a hand.

"I want to stay at Sakura-chan's house again... Please, Shika-nii?" Ashio begged. "Don't wanna go home now..." he pouted.

"Mendokusai, ne," Shikamaru groaned. "You can't stay here, kid. Sakura can't take you to work again tomorrow, so you gotta stay with me instead," the Nara muttered. "Even though I'd gladly leave you here, troublesome kid." Ashio turned to Sakura, brown eyes pleading with her.

"Please can I stay wiv you again? I will be a good boy, I promise," he pleaded. Sakura groaned.

"I'm sorry darlin', but you have to go back with Shika-nii. How about you stay another hour and then go, hmm?" she offered. Ashio pouted.

"Okay..."


They did not leave in the next hour.

No, because three hours had passed, and they were all still there. Ashio wanted to play Hide-and-Seek, and the little boy was so small, and knew his way around Sakura's house so well, that he was almost impossible to find.

Sakura was beyond tired at this point.

"Guys... maybe it's time for you to-"

CRASH.

Sakura groaned. That came from her bedroom.

"BOYS!" she yelled, storming down the passage. Naruto's guilty blonde face peeked from around the doorway of her bedroom.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, sowwy, Sakura-chan. We didn't mean to..." Ashio said from several feet below Naruto's face. Sakura sighed.

"Fine... just... not in my room, please..."

"Okay!" the two males exclaimed before making their way out of the room and running off down the hall before she changed her mind and got mad. Sakura shook her head and moaned. It was going to be a long night.


Day 10 (Friday)

5:03 am

Sakura downed the last drop of her coffee and groaned. The boys had finally left three hours ago, but it didn't even make sense to try going to sleep, so she'd made a full pot of coffee and drank it all. Seriously.

It had yet to kick in.

Sakura busied herself getting ready. She had a flight today, a three hour one to Sunagakure with Uchiha-sama, over which course they would review the Yatsuga file. She had to stop off at the office to get the trade contracts to Uchiha-san and set up the final meeting with Sai-san first, though. All this had to be done before eight in the morning, since the plane left for Sunagakure at 9:30.

So they were to reach Suna at half past twelve, start the meeting at quarter past one in the afternoon, finish at approximately three in the afternoon and be ready to board the plane back to Konoha at five in the evening... which meant they would get back to Konoha some time after eight in the night.

It was going to be a long day.

Hopefully she could sleep on the way back, but Sakura had a feeling that Uchiha-sama would want to review the Suna meeting with Chiyo, the head of the Suna Medical Bureau on the return flight.

Sakura sighed, ensured that she had everything she needed before leaving the house, her face feeling warm from exhaustion.

Sakura, knew she had to just push through the exhaustion until she was operating on auto-pilot, and then she would be fine for a few hours. She would, most definitely, crash on the way back.

Making sure her travel details and provisions were okay, Sakura left the house, fifteen minutes later than she usually did. She got to work at two minutes to six and moved inside at a trot. She made Uchiha-sama's coffee, her hands shaking slightly, and grabbed an Apple Cinnamon iced muffin. She took the elevator, her feet tapping to keep herself awake. As soon as the door opened, she was moving out and walking to Uchiha-sama's office, figuring that if he kept to his usual schedule, he would be in his office by then.

He looked up when she entered and gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

"The trade contracts are on your desk. Please see that they get to Sasuke before we depart. What time had Sai-san assured us that he would arrive by?" he asked, his deep voice smooth.

"He said he would get here by twenty minutes to seven, which is in... ten minutes time," Sakura said, feeling exhaustion sit on her shoulders.

"Have the boardroom prepared, then," Uchiha-sama said before taking a sip of his coffee.


"It was nice to see you again, Ugly. Come see my at my studio any time," Sai-san said with his signature faux smile. Sakura gave the man a smile and a nod and shut the door to his limo behind him. Their meeting with him had gone well, and all the contracts were signed and the deal would come into effect the following Monday.

"Well, that went well, ne, Uchiha-sama," she breathed turning to face him. Itachi gave her a nod and then turned to head back into the UC building.

"We need to pick up our travel bags and be on our way," Itachi said. "Call around the car, please."

Itachi headed back to the elevator after retrieving his travel bags and briefcase, and found that Sakura was already waiting for him in front of the silver doors.

"Where will we be taking lunch?" Sakura asked, turning her vibrant green eyes in his direction. She had changed her office suit to one more suited for Suna weather, now wearing a double-layered cream sheer top with three-quarter sleeves with a black skirt that stopped several inches above her knees.

And she wore that perfume he liked again.

She'd scooped her hair up off her neck as per usual, but wore it in a twist rather than the bun she generally wore.

She looked lovely.

"We will conduct the meeting at the restaurant of Chiyo-san's choice, since this is the first meeting, and speak over lunch. Do you have the Yatsuga files with you?"

"Yes sir," Sakura replied, leaning her shoulder against the inner wall of the elevator.

"Did you get the contracts to Sasuke?" Itachi asked when the elevator came to a halt at the first floor.

"He was not yet in his office, so I placed them on his desk and left a reminder with his assistant," she replied, allowing him to step forward first when the doors opened. As they stalked through the lobby, Itachi realized that Sakura got almost as many greetings and good wishes as he did, and she had only been working here for about ten days.

Interesting.

The drive to the airport was held mostly in silence, in which Sakura answered corporate emails and sent texts on her smartphone. They went through the motions at the airport, having no trouble with luggage of security, and boarded the plane without delay.


The first thing Sakura noted when she got off the plane was that it was beastly hot, even in the chute that led from the jet to the airport. The air-conditioning inside the massive airport was, however, on the verge of frigid, which made her wish she wore a trench coat or something. At least it woke her up.

The three hour plane ride from Konoha had been torture, since she and Uchiha-sama had been going through legal documents, searching for any loopholes in the contract before Uchiha-sama signed it.

There were none that they found, but Sakura had a feeling that her boss would read it through once more time with the Legal team just to make certain.

Passing through the Suna airport went just as smoothly as it had in Konoha, and they were outside waiting for their drive in a little under an hour. Sakura spotted the Suna Medical Bureau chauffeur before Uchiha-sama did, and began making her way towards the black-suited man.

He led them to the car, a sleek black vehicle with expensive-looking leather seats, and held the doors open for them. As they drove, Sakura found herself gasping at the sheer beauty of the place. There was a lot of sand, but the way sand met sky was beyond amazing. The highway took them across a bit of desert before they got to the Suna City, which was almost as big and almost as busy as Konoha was. A lot of the skyscrapers had beautiful glass windows, which was understandable due to the amount of sand in the vicinity - even Uchiha Glass, the Uchiha glass manufacturers, was situated in Suna because of the natural resources.

Before long, they got to a rather glamorous Suna restaurant, and were met in the lobby by Chiyo-san, who turned out to be a rather ancient woman dressed in robes. She wanted a contract with Uchiha Glass for the manufacture of beakers, test tubes, syringes and other glass products that could be used in the medical field. Funds were not an issue, but she wanted to have the items made to her specifications, and wanted them all from one supplier.

Although the food had been... strange - Sakura could not identify a lot of it, and really didn't want to - it had been quite good, and the meeting was completed within the planned parameters.

Sakura's respect for Uchiha-sama only continued to rise as she watched the manner in which he treated his client. He really was very good at business. He asked the right questions, supplied the right answers, and made very good suggestions.

And he was so young.

Sakura surmised that Uchiha-sama was one of those people with an 'old soul', and she respected the way he thought everything through before speaking.

She would have loved to ponder his every action, even as they got back in the car that would take them on the twenty minute drive back across the desert, but it was almost twenty minutes past three in the afternoon and Sakura was knackered.

The blazing Suna sun had drained her even more, despite the fact that she spent as little time as was possible actually in it.

The sound of the air conditioning in the car, that low rush of air, was so soothing it was difficult to keep her eyes open; a feat made even more difficult because Uchiha-sama was silent for the entire ride as he reviewed the notes she had taken of the meeting and checked his emails. Sakura did not even have conversation to keep her awake. She tried reading her emails, but the words blurred on the screen of her phone.

She focused all her energy on keeping herself awake, turning her face to the window so that Uchiha-sama would not see her face if she happened to nod off.

She did, and snapped awake the moment the car pulled to a halt outside the airport.

Sakura did not remember boarding the plane.


Itachi took his seat in the first class of the plane, sitting at the window, as was his preference. The meeting had gone well, and Chiyo-san's request was just the kind of deal he liked to make. Sure, it would be expensive to customize the glass for the medical industry in Suna, but they were going to be sold in very large volumes over a long period of time, and it was therefore a very beneficial deal. Even before looking over the proposed statistics, expenses and revenues, Itachi was confident that the endeavor would pay for itself in the very first bulk sale.

Itachi turned to convey his thoughts to Sakura the very moment that her head fell to his shoulder. He tilted his head to see what had caused her to do so, and wasn't sure whether to be amused, offended or worried by what he saw.

His pretty pink-haired assistant had fallen asleep.

On his shoulder.

Itachi felt a slightly uncomfortable, unsettled feeling in his stomach, and swallowed to try and stave it off. Then indecision set in. Should he let her sleep, or should he wake her so they could review the meeting?

Itachi did not like leaving meeting reviews over the weekend, preferring to get at them while they were still fresh in his mind so he reached his hand over to wake Sakura... but then she gave a little sigh and nestled her head against his shoulder.

Itachi found his hand reaching around the back of her head to gently move it to his chest instead of waking her like he'd originally planned.

He noticed three things.

One: Her hair was incredibly fragrant, soft, silky... and warm.

Two: He didn't mind her head resting on his shoulder... or the way she snuggled her entire body closer to him.

Three: … His hand had slipped from the back of her head to cup her soft jaw... and he didn't want to move it.

Who was this woman he'd hired?


OMG! This is seriously over 9800 words... the hell? And it's only halfway done... erk. I had planned for this to span 10 days, ie, two working weeks, but I only got to the Friday before I realized that it would end up at like 18k... which IMO is just WAY too long.

Anyway, once again, I feel like it's a little slow, but I wanted EVERYTHING to lead to that one last scene... Hope you enjoyed, and please review! Suggestions are very welcome (^_^).