Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. If only I did…

A/N: Okay, just to clear things up, the setting of this fic is somewhere in America at the made-up University of Konoha.
Also, sorry for taking so long to update Been busy with school... _


*~*~* Chapter 02 *~*~*

"Sakura! What are we doing for dinner tonight?"

"I don't know. What do you want?" I stood, walking over to Lee's food stash. I was hanging out in his room tonight. After spending so much time together during the past semester, it felt weird to not be around each other. "We need to go shopping. You don't have much food in here, and my room isn't a whole lot better."

"Oh! Let's order pizza!"

"Sounds good to me! Do they still have the two mediums for $10 deal?"

"Yeah I think so." Lee bounced up and down in excitement. "Okay I'll put the order in."

Training was finally over, but overall it was just boring and not that helpful. The most I learned was that our staff was made up of a lot of perverted, hilariously sarcastic people. They were a fun group, but also had a lot of potential for drama. One of the higher ups who worked in the office even predicted that our staff would turn into an episode of The Real World.[1] As of now, they seemed more fun than anything.

During training, we did a few "how to deal with this situation" role-plays, a lot of poster-making—it was like we were high school planning a pep rally—and more manual labor than I would have thought this job required. The role-plays but they were kind of stupid and to be honest, I still didn't remember what all the acronyms stood for and which paper was for what and where to write whose name… it was all very confusing. All I knew was there was a giant binder with different colored papers for various tasks and logs. I was beginning to doubt my capabilities.

The manual labor was a lot more difficult than it originally sounded. We had to transport a hundred-plus trash bags filled with linen and pillows from the school cafeteria (why the hell was it being stored there?) to the dorm. It doesn't sound too bad, but imagine a bag filled with 50 sets of sheets. It's heavier than you'd think. Now imagine lifting this bag and throwing it into a cart, filling said cart with similar bags of heavy linen, and then having to lift the bags out of the cart after transporting them. One giant pain in the ass if you ask me. On top of that, I'm a little on the short side so having to get the bags at the bottom of the cart was definitely a challenge. I never imagined that I would sweat so much from this job. But I did it without complaints and even got a few compliments on my work ethic. The tough-looking guy, Zabuza, mentioned more than once that I was a lot stronger than I looked. Damn straight I was! We then had to put sets (mattress covers, sheets, blanket, towels, cups, soap, postcards, etc) into EVERY room. Twelve floors. About 30 rooms per floor give or take. You do the math.

It took us half the day to just transport and sort out all the different things. Half of us divided everything into sets (two sheets, a blanket, two towels and a pillow case) while the rest of us delivered the sets to each room. Lucky for the people dividing, they were in an air-conditioned room while they worked. My group, on the other hand, was going back and forth between a room filled with cold air and a building filled with the heat of summer. Guess I got the short end of the stick. It was my own fault though. I volunteered to be in the group that had to run around the whole building. Naruto was in charge of that group—not that that was my reason for choosing it. I would rather do manual labor than sit around doing mindless work. In any case, I was beginning to think we were going to be doing a lot more than what was written in the job description.

It was hard work, but I got to know some of my group members a little better during that time—Naruto included. He was our boss, but he worked his ass off like the rest of us so it didn't really feel like he was a higher-up.

~Flashback~

"I want nobody, nobody, but you." Clap, clap. Point. Clap. "I want nobody, nobody, but you." K-pop sensation, the Wonder Girls, sung by none other than my blonde-haired boss, Naruto Uzumaki. The idiot was dancing around in between the rooms as he went in and out with sets of linen. I couldn't help but smile.

"You really like K-pop, huh?" I laughed

"Sure thing!"

"Yeah, that's all he listens to." Tsuchi rolled her eyes. "He definitely fails at being Japanese."

"Hey, I'm only half!" Naruto pointed to his blonde hair to emphasize.

"You bleached your hair!"

"Did not!"

The two continued arguing, Naruto randomly pausing to sing the chorus and dance along with the song. What did I sign up for when I took this job? I wonder if he really is a natural blonde… I stopped my thoughts before they could go any further.

"Wait, so you like K-pop too, right?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, definitely!"

Tsuchi looked at me, scrunching up her face. "Seriously? You guys aren't even Korean!"

"Hey, you don't have to be that ethnicity to like their music." I shrugged.

"That's what I always tell her! She just doesn't believe me." Naruto turned to Tsuchi. "Just wait, one of these days I will convert you!"

Tsuchi just rolled her eyes and continued working. "But you don't even understand what they're saying! What's the point? Give me some music in English and I'm a happy girl."

"Psh. Whatever. You don't have to know what they're saying, as long as it sounds good, right Sakura?"

"Well…" I laughed. "I can kind of understand them. I've studied some Korean here at UK."

"SERIOUSLY? TEACH ME!"

I shrugged. "I can if you really want."

Naruto dropped the sets of linen he was holding in the cart and ran up to me, grabbing my shoulders. In the most serious tone I've heard him use since I got the job, Naruto looked into my eyes and said, "Please teach me. It is my dream to be Korean."

I stared blankly at him. I really couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "You're gonna have to keep dreaming then, buddy. You're born the way you are and no amount of dreaming is going to change your ethnicity." I replied just as serious.

Naruto crumpled to the floor in defeat. "Why must you crush my dreams so completely!" he wailed.

Tsuchi stared at him before looking back up at me. "I apologize for my friend here. He forgets how old he is sometimes."

I laughed. "No problem."

"Wait, so you're studying Korean? But didn't you say that you're taking Japanese right now for summer school?"

"Yeah."

"You're crazy."

"A little." I shrugged. "I like a challenge." I looked at Naruto who was still in a heap of agony on the floor. "So… this is our boss, huh?"

Tsuchi looked down at him. "Unfortunately, yes."

"This is going to be an interesting summer…"

~End Flashback~

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who's that?" I asked around a mouth full of pizza.

He shrugged and stopped dancing around the room to answer the door. "Maybe one of our new friends from staff!" He suggested excitedly, finishing off his own slice of pizza.

Lee opened the door. "Hello, my children!" Naruto greeted us with a smile.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. What is he doing here? My inner fangirl seriously needed to get it together. And did he just call us his children? "Hey, Naruto!" I said out loud, walking over to the door. "Hi, Shizune," I added, noticing her standing in the hallway.

"Hey," said Shizune.

"Hello!" Lee greeted enthusiastically. "What are you two up to?" He looked back and forth between our bosses anxiously. Sometimes the guy seemed like an excited puppy that wanted to play with everyone he came in contact with.

"We're just doing rounds," Shizune answered. Naruto and Shizune had to do the first night of rounds. Starting tomorrow—I had the first shift with Tezuna—the rest of us would be covering rounds every day. She yawned. "I'm so tired though."

"And I'm hungry!"

"We have some left over pizza if you want," offered Lee.

"Really? YES PLEASE!" Lee went back inside to grab a slice of pizza for Naruto.

I looked at the time. "It's only a little after midnight though!" I said, addressing Shizune. Lee returned, handing a slice of cold pizza to Naruto.

"But I usually sleep by eleven."

Lee and I stared at her.

"I'm an old lady, I need my sleep," she grumbled, giving us a sour face.

"Surely you aren't that old…" Lee trailed off.

"I'm twenty-eight."

"EH! Okay, you're definitely old." Naruto burst out laughing.

"These are our bosses, right?" I whispered to Lee. He nodded.

Naruto finally stopped laughing. "Nah, I was just joking. You can go sleep though, Shizune. I'll finish rounds tonight if you want."

"Are you sure?" Shizune looked up at him, eyes half closed.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. You can count on me!"

"Okay. Goodnight guys." Shizune turned to leave, barely walking in a straight line.

Naruto stuck around and ended up hanging out in Lee's room with us, trading stories and just getting to know each other better. We found out that he was 21, only a couple years older than the both of us. It was kind of a strange experience. It seemed like Naruto had no problem talking about himself and opening up to us, people he hardly knew, but at the same time it was like he was holding something back. He told us about his weird family situation. He never knew his parents, but his guardian, Iruka, took him in and was the closest thing he had to a father. We also learned that Naruto failed in most aspects of life.

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. I couldn't believe this guy.

"What? There's nothing wrong with that…" he trailed off.

"You honestly did not learn how to make instant noodles until you were EIGHTEEN? How is that even possible?"

"I don't know! Cos whenever I wanted noodles, Iruka made them for me!"

Rock Lee just stared at our boss in shock.

"How have you made it through life up 'til now?" Naruto shrugged at my question.

"With my good looks and charm?" He gave me what he thought was a winning smile.

I face-palmed. "Are you delusional?" I asked skeptically. "Have you looked in the mirror?"

"Whatever." Naruto pouted. "I could make the cup noodle kind at least!"

"Oh, because boiling hot water and pouring it into a Styrofoam cup is so difficult." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, see? I'm not a complete idiot!"

"Now Sakura, he is our boss! You should show some respect!"

"Thank you, Lee!" Lee gave Naruto a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh wait, I have another story!"

"If you're trying to impress us with your intellect, you're failing miserably." I joked. I really couldn't tell if I liked talking to this guy or just thought he was a complete idiot.

"Haha, I'm just trying to make you guys comfortable around me!" I rolled my eyes for what must have been the hundredth time that night. "Okay, so nothing that has been said tonight leaves this room okay? It doesn't leave this circle of trust," he said, drawing a circle between us. "Hmm… there's three of us… more like a triangle. Okay, nothing leaves this triangle of trust!"

"Triangle of trust?" I repeated skeptically.

"You can count on us!" exclaimed Lee. The guy was seriously too enthusiastic about everything.

"Okay, now keep in mind that this was two years ago. I was a young and naïve freshman," he began.

"Did you really do something so stupid that you have to have a disclaimer?"

"Shut up, Sakura. I'm just saying… I was young and naïve. I've grown a lot since then!"

"Have you now?" I questioned raising an eyebrow, my tone laced with sarcasm.

"Let him tell his story, Sakura."

"As I was saying," Naruto continued, "I was young and naïve. Okay, so you know at the cafeteria how they have the hot water maker thing to make hot chocolate with?"

"Yeah."

"The caf has the best hot chocolate EVER!" Lee had a chocolate addiction. Just hearing the word got him excited.

"Yeah, so I was done with dinner, but I really wanted some hot chocolate," Naruto continued. "So I go over, open a pack of hot chocolate into a cup and then turn to the hot water maker. I pressed the button, but no water came out! I thought something was broken or something, so I went to the hot water pot next to it, pressed the button, but the same thing. No water! So I'm standing in front of the hot water pot, pressing the button over and over, and no water is coming out! I even opened the pot to make sure that there was water inside! I honestly couldn't figure out what was wrong. And then some guy next to me was like 'Hey bro, you need some help?' and then he pressed the 'unlock' button and held down the other button to make the water come out." Naruto finished his story laughing.

"Are you serious? The unlock button is RIGHT NEXT to the water dispenser button! It even SAYS 'unlock' in giant letters on it! I couldn't believe it! I broke into a fit of laughter. Lee looked bewildered and unsure what to say. He typically didn't insult people who he's not particularly close with, but Naruto's idiocy was just asking for it.

"You… didn't read the button? There are also directions of how to use the hot water dispensers right next to them. The signs are pretty big too…" Lee trailed off.

"Yeah, but who reads now-a-days?" Naruto shrugged unconcerned. "Plus, I was young and naïve!" Naruto said in his own defense, almost whining at this point.

"More like young and stupid," I corrected before bursting out into laughter. Even Lee began to laugh at the lack of content Naruto had in his defense.

"Whatever, I've grown since then." He pouted.

"How? Because you can make instant noodles now? That hardly counts!" True, Naruto was my boss, and true, I didn't know him very well yet, but he was just one of those people you couldn't help but tease, especially when he told us stories like the water dispenser one. How could you not call him out on that one? Plus he was only a couple years older, so it was easy to forget that he was our boss when we weren't at training or behind a desk working.

Naruto hung out with us a little longer before announcing he was tired. "It was nice talking to you guys, but I'm beat. Time for some beauty sleep!"

"Yeah, you definitely need it." I said, earning myself a playful glare.

"Whatever, Sakura. I think you need it more than me."

"Wait, but don't you have to finish rounds?" asked Lee.

Naruto scrunched up his face. "Nah, it's no big deal. No one did rounds last summer. Plus, we don't even have any guests here yet. It's just you, me and the rest of the staff." Naruto had our job positions last summer and moved up to being one of the big guys in charge this year. "As long as Shizune doesn't know, it doesn't matter. Karin said it herself, 'What she doesn't know won't hurt her.'"

Did Karin really say that?

"You'll learn. Shizune's kind of crazy. I'm the chill boss." He yawned. "Anyway, time for sleep. I'll see you guys later!"

After the door closed behind him Lee turned to me. "That's not right. He should still finish the rounds even if there are no guests staying here yet."

I was actually thinking along the same lines, but instead I shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. But if they never did it last year, it can't be too bad, right? Even Guren was saying they slack off a lot. She worked here last summer too." Lee looked unconvinced. "I mean, it's not like we're a real hotel. We're all students, Naruto and Shizune included. Well… maybe not Shizune, but the rest of us are students. College students. They can't be expecting too much right? And it's the first night. Relax." Or maybe I was just giving Naruto the benefit of the doubt, but honestly, it wasn't too big of a deal.

Lee didn't say anything, but I could tell he wasn't exactly happy.

"Is something wrong?"

He just shrugged, mumbling something about Naruto that I'm pretty sure wasn't a compliment. I brushed it off, not giving it as much consideration as I probably should have.


[1] For those of you who don't know, "The Real World" is one of those drama-packed, incredibly scripted, stupid reality shows that people are so addicted to.

A/N: Okay! That was chapter two… let me know what you think? Too boring? Pace too slow? Full of awesome? Haha I'm still trying to improve, so critiques are welcome! Compliments to boost my already large ego are also appreciated :3