A Truce and A Split

(A/N: Ok, my muse is back and functioning at full capacity. Sorry to keep you waiting. This chapter is dedicated to Covered In His Blood (tell your Madara plushy that I'm terribly sorry and I'll make it up to him soon! I love you Madara-sama!) and MoonCrier (thanks so much for getting me off my ass!). You can blame my recent lack of updates on the damn flu!)

~xxx~

Madara scowled down at his fingers before pulling on a pair of leather gloves. Days of scrubbing at his fingernails yielded no results. That blasted nail polish was still on his fingers, not even a damn scratch. He reminded himself that he needed to torture the Yamanaka girl for doing this to him. Tight-lipped and glaring, Madara made it a point not to speak to anyone as he entered the building from the parking garage. He was alone in the lobby, save the receptionist and guard on duty, at seven in the morning and he was slightly pleased by the notion. Never in his life had he felt so embarrassed than having this happen to him… and he was stuck with it for a goddamn week!

"G-good morning, Uchiha-san." Hinata greeted with a polite bow as said man strode passed the front desk, on his way to the elevators.

"Hn." he replied back, not really paying attention. Revenge was the only thing on his mind and Miss Yamanaka was going to pay… dearly. Madara tapped the elevator button while biting the inside of his cheek impatiently. Today was going to be a long day.

~xxx~

Sakura arrived early that morning, fully prepared for whatever Madara had planned for the day. The day's files and a steaming mug of coffee were already set on the table, waiting for the Uchiha prick when he came in. And she didn't have to wait long. She had just taken a seat at her desk when the office door opened and Madara stalked in. And boy… did he look pissed. Sakura was about to question him about it when suddenly, everything went dark. Madara had tossed his coat to her and it landed on her head, giving him enough time to grab the files and coffee off the table and skirt into his office before she could even speak.

"Well… good morning to you too, jerk!" she hissed, tearing his coat from her face and fixing her hair as she grumbled and cursed under her breath. After putting his coat away, Sakura sat back down at her desk and returned to updating the weekly schedule. So far, Madara's day was mostly free except a board meeting at eleven. That meant that she was stuck with him right around the corner for most of the day. She penciled in a few more meetings for later in the week and checked for emails from clients. A loud thump sounded from Madara's office followed by what sounded like a 'son-of-a-bitch!' before the intercom buzzed.

"Wench, get in here!" he barked through the speaker. Sakura didn't respond as she sighed and twirled her chair around to stand.

"What did I do now?" she asked sarcastically, entering his domain with a roll of her eyes. Madara scowled at her with a finger in his mouth, blood on his shirt and his coffee mug on the floor. "Correction: what did you do?"

"Where is the first-aid kit?" he demanded hotly, obsidian orbs narrowed on her like a sniper on his target. Sakura blinked a few times before exiting his office to retrieve said item. It had to be serious if he was asking for the first-aid kit. She returned moments later and placed the kit on his desk before turning to face her asshole boss.

"Let me see it." she said, stepping closer to the hot-headed Uchiha. Without a second thought, Madara popped his finger from his mouth and presented his hand to her, palm up. There was a deep gash extending from the first knuckle to where the second knuckle met the rest of his hand and the bleeding wouldn't stop. "Holy shit," Sakura hissed, reaching into her pants pocket for her handkerchief. She wrapped his hand with the cloth before turning and snatching up the first-aid kit. "Take a seat and I'll fix you up."

"Do you even know what you're doing?" he snapped at her but sat down nonetheless. Sakura rolled her eyes, kneeling down in front of him with the kit open on the floor.

"For your information, I'm certified in first-aid and CPR." she didn't bother looking up at him as she spoke, too busy with digging through the kit to pay him much mind. Pulling on a pair of latex free gloves, Sakura turned to face Madara and lightly pulled his hand closer to her for a better look.

It was at this time when Madara started to consider his options. No, he did not injure himself on purpose. The handle had broken off as he took a sip and he tried to catch a broken cup. Stupid on his part? Maybe. But he had been running on instinct at the time… so, he couldn't blame himself. Nor could he blame his secretary, who had taken the handkerchief off of his finger to see the wound.

'Stupid freak accidents,' he thought with a growing frown. Speaking of freak accidents… there was still a bet to be won and now was as good a time as any to clear the air between them. He had to play it cool on this one, the time spent with Yamanaka girl (whom he still had to torture) would not go to waste. Sakura had tweezers in her free had by the time Madara finally focused on the task at hand.

"Just hold still," she told him, determined emerald eyes narrowed in concentration. A jagged piece of his coffee mug protruded from the hole in his index finger; a gnarly and thick piece at that. Madara barely felt the sting of the alcohol soaked tweezers that gripped the shard and gently pulled it out. Blood oozed from the gash the moment the shard was removed. Sakura countered this with a thick gauze pad she had at the ready. "There we go. Give it a minuet then we'll see how bad it is."

"I'm sorry," Madara whispered, keeping his eyes on his injured hand. Sakura blinked, looking up at him with a questioning gaze. "About your mother; I'm sorry." she stared up at him for a moment, thinking.

"Thanks," Sakura said lamely, "and I'm sorry about your dad." Madara scoffed lightly as Sakura returned her attention to his finger. Her hands were warm through the gloves, he noticed. More of an after thought as she pulled the gauze away. "It looks like you'll need a few stitches."

"And I'm assuming you know how to do that, too?" Sakura gave him a dry look.

"Yes." she answered. "But I don't have the tools to do that. You're going to have to deal with butterfly stitches until you go see a doctor." he scowled at the prospect of seeing a doctor. "Or you can go the cheap route and superglue it shut." Sakura chimed with a tight-lipped smile.

"The butterfly stitches will be fine for now." he told her as he watched Sakura fiddle with the box of stitches. "Where did you learn how to do this?"

"My great-aunt Tsunade used to be my babysitter when I was younger. She's the chief of medicine at Konoha General." Sakura explained with a shrug. "Naturally -with my dad being a cop- I picked up a few things, more or less to make sure he was alright."

"Then why didn't you become a doctor then?" he heard her sigh softly as she tore open the package of butterfly stitches.

"Honestly, I don't think I'd be able to handle all the death that surrounds that profession, so I chose a… safer career." she pinched the tare in his skin together, causing Madara to let out a little hiss, and placed the first butterfly stitch. Sakura mumbled an apology before placing the next stitch, sealing the wound as best as she could. It took four butterfly stitches to close the gash on his finger and by the time she finished, Madara was impressed; not that he would openly admit it. She then wrapped his finger with more gauze and tape, stating that it can and will re-open if he didn't see a doctor about getting proper stitches and a splint.

"I appreciate the help." Madara mumbled, standing and moving Sakura's crouched figure as she cleaned up the mess. "Get my spare shirt and tie from the closet when you're done." Sakura did as she was told without complaint, though something was nagging at the back of her mind.

"If you don't mind my asking, why are your fingernails painted different colors?"

~xxx~

Ino grinned as she walked passed Uchiha Madara's office, spotting Sakura fixing his tie for him while Madara sported an annoyed look. Of course her plan would work, she fancied herself a genius after all. Showing up to work a half hour early had been the only draw back to her plot to get her best friend and her asshole boss together. As the saying goes, opposites attract and there was some serious chemistry in the works between the two. Of course, it also helped that Sasori had paid for her shopping trip over the weekend. He had explained that here was a bet to get the two together by Christmas and he was up against Kakuzu and didn't want to loose.

Replacing Madara's normal mug with the piece of crap and falling apart one had been so worth it. She stopped walking after she passed the door and listened in on their conversation.

"… Really? So, they painted up your nails with at new stuff that doesn't come off?" Madara sighed heavily with a slow nod.

"I will never go clothes shopping again."

"Scarred for life, I see." she giggled, straightening his tie. "That's how it normally is when you shop with Yamanaka Ino." Sakura smiled up at him, not bothering to hide the mirth in her eyes. "Why on Kami's green Earth did you go shopping with her anyways?" how was he going to answer that, Ino wondered.

"I ran into your friend when I came back for my briefcase." Madara had to play it cool from this point on. "I wanted to apologize for everything that's happened. We got off on the wrong foot and I wanted to say that it was wrong of me to treat you as I did. So, that's why I went shopping with Yamanaka-san; to find out a little more about you in order to apologize properly." Sakura was floored by his confession, gaping at him like fish, mouth opening in shock then snapping closed as she let go of his tie.

"Um… apology accepted." she said awkwardly as she stared up at him. Ino grinned, biting her thumb in order to keep from laughing at how perfectly her plan worked. Sakura's dazed tone was enough to solidify the fact that 'Operation Hurt Madara To Get Them Talking' had worked out down to the 'T'. She skirted away from the wall and back to her own office to phone Sasori of her success, completely missing the last few seconds of their discussion.

"If you have anything to get rid of this nail polish, I'll let you help plan my retaliation." Sakura extended her right hand towards Madara with a grin.

"We have a truce then?" Madara shook her hand with a tight nod.

"Yes, of course."

~xxx~

Deidara raised a brow as his dear girlfriend who glared at her sandwich. When Deidara said he'd take her out to lunch… this was not what Sakura had in mind. Apparently, the fourth time was not the charm. It was back to the same routine where they started off great but then he'd mess it up. Then Ino's words penetrated her mind.

'You've been seeing the same guy on and off for the last four years. Give some other guy a chance!'

'I hate it when she's right.' Sakura thought with a bitter frown. She glanced up at Deidara who stared at her with a frown of his own. Kami, why did she keep doing this to herself. Countless people had told her that he was no good for her, had cheated (more than once) on her and that he would continue to do so until she put her foot down. But she just didn't have the heart nor the guts to voice her opinion… unless she was pissed off. And it was starting to turn out that way. He had called Sakura while Madara was in a meeting, asking if her wanted to get together for lunch, she had agreed immediately. The blond had picked her up and drove her half way across town to this dinky sandwich hut and proceeded to stare at his food as if it were more entertaining than her. Clearly, there was something going on here that made her rethink dating him… again.

"Something on your mind, yeah?" he asked before taking a bite out of his food.

"I could ask you the same thing." she snapped back, surprising herself with her statement but she continued on. "You've been staring at that turkey and Swiss sandwich like it's your last meal and must be savored."

"I'm sorry, yeah. I've been a little distracted lately."

"A little?" she questioned sarcastically, crossing her arms. "Dei-kun, I'm beginning to think that this -us being together- isn't the best idea. It's like we're heading down that road again only taking a different route." Deidara sat up in his chair and reached across the table, finding her hands in the blink of an eye.

"No. I'm doing my best to make things better this time, yeah." he told her with a sincerity and conviction that made her blink back tears. "I know I messed things up and I'm trying to make it up to you, yeah. I really am."

"But Deidara, trying to convince me to go to a mud wrestling match isn't the best way to fix our relationship." Deidara hung his head.

"Sorry about that, yeah. I won the tickets in a raffle and thought it would be interesting." Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I think you need to tell Commander Morino that the raffle is a cheap waste of time and extremely stupid." Deidara gave her a lop-sided smirk before he kissed her hands.

~xxx~

The week passed with little trouble. Sakura and Madara's witty banter was ever present to fools Ino (whom they know would be listening in) and others from their devious plot. It was actually kind of fun for the both of them, plotting revenge was a common interest. It was a shame that they still hated each other and the situation forced upon them. Yes, Sakura had agreed to take the job but, it was Fugaku's fault for going behind Madara's back and hiring her. Oh well. They were in it for the long haul now.

"So, Yamanaka's weakness is her hair, you say?" asked Madara with a sly grin. Sakura nodded with a grin of her own. A part of this little plot was Sakura's own revenge on the blond for a trick she played on Halloween that nearly gave the pink-haired secretary a heart attack.

"Oh, you have no idea. Her hair is like the force… and the force is strong with her." Sakura chuckled, waving a have as she laughed. "I think she actually would die without it." if it weren't for the fact that Madara had seen Ino playing with her hair (constantly), he would have guessed that makeup was the blonde's crutch.

"What do you suggest we do?" queried the Uchiha as he leaned forward on laced fingers, mindful of his stitched left index finger. After the car stunt, his respect for Sakura's devious ways was kicked up a notch or two. So, anything she came up with was much appreciated because he planned on stuffing Ino's chair full of firecrackers and lighting them. At this point, Sakura clapped her hands together before reaching for the plastic bag by her feet.

"There's a little get-together going on this Saturday at Ichiraku's Pub," she reached into the bag and pulled out a mop of blond hair clippings. "Attack her where it counts and make her think her hair's falling out." this was even better than he had imagined. With a cruel smirk, Madara leaned back in his chair with a chuckle.

"By all means, go ahead… I'll be there to see it." he told her, watching her evil grin widen. "But for now," Madara pushed his empty mug towards Sakura. "Get me more coffee."

~xxx~

Ino checked her reflection in the rear-view mirror on more time before she got out of her car and locked the doors. Sakura had done wonders with her hair, having spent two long hours to make it look perfect with a salon brand sprits to soften her blonde locks. Hoping to catch some hottie off guard tonight and take him home, Ino dressed in a purple half-shirt with a matching skirt and a pair of heels that would make the ankles of models ache at their height. To her surprise, Sakura was already at the pub; Deidara's car was parked three spots to the right of hers. With a shrug, the blonde stepped into the pub.

Everyone was gathered around the 'Watering Hole', a sign that hung over the bar area, when she walked in. Ino grinned widely as her pink-haired best friend/enemy waved her arms frantically over her head. Sakura was surrounded by the guy, of course. The tiny secretary had always been more of a tomboy, especially after her mother's passing, but tonight was different. Ino took in Sakura's red halter top and black miniskirt with envy (an outfit the blonde had given Sakura because her ass was too big to fit in it).

"How did you get here so fast?" asked Ino as they shared a quick hug. The pink-haired girl chuckled at her friend with a shake of her head.

"Unlike you, I don't spend hours looking for the perfect outfit. Is that new, by the way? I've never seen you ware that before." blinking, Ino looked down at her clothes then back at Sakura with a sly smirk.

"This old thing? Nah, it was laying around in my closet. I just thought I'd go retro tonight." in fact… it was new but Ino wasn't about to tell her friend that and then get a lecture about wasting money on material items. With a wave of her hand, Ino grabbed Sakura's wrist and dragged her friend away from the guys. "Sorry boys, me and Ms. Kitten need to talk." of course the boys had protested with a loud 'aw' (and a 'damn it' from Hidan).

Madara strolled into the pub with an air of impassiveness that fit every Uchiha male alive (except for Shisui who was the only bubbly Uchiha… ever!) and made his way to the bar for a dirty martini. Sakura, being dragged to the bathroom by Ino, winked as she passed him. Everything was in order. Now all he had to do was wait and watch the magic happen.

"Look who decided to crawl out of his dungeon; it's Mada-kun!" Shisui cheered with a bottle of beer in his hand.

"Can it, twerp." snapped the older Uchiha, sipping on his martini with vigor. He was ready to leave the moment he stepped in the door. How long was this going to take?

"Ne, Mada-kun, we're going to play beer pong later… wanna join in?" yup, tonight might just kill him.

In the bathroom, Ino fiddled with her bag, pulling out an assortment of items from her Gucci bag with a huff. Sakura did the same, carefully slipping a tiny plastic bag under her purse. Ino's brush sat ever-so-innocently close to Sakura's hand as the blonde busied herself with touching up her make up. From the corner of her eye, Sakura watched her friend as she caked on lip gloss. It was now or never.

"Ino, you've messed up all my hard work." Sakura chided, grabbing the hairbrush before her friend could even blink. "Let me fix it for you." Ino didn't have time to reply before Sakura grabbed the softening sprits Ino carried and began working with her hair. After a few passes with the brush, Sakura decided to distract the blonde to work her evil magic. "So how was the sale last weekend?" she asked, moving to the side a little, after brushing Ino's hair and set the brush down by her bag. Ino's blue eyes lit up, blonde hair flicking back over her shoulder, putting her hair lip gloss down she turned to the rosette.

"It was amazing, do you have any idea how much I was able to get off - it was an eighty percent sale, eighty percent! They had the most fantastic shoes and I got the most fabulous pumps! Oh and I found the new diamond dust nail varnish!" as Ino mentioned the nail varnish she turned back to the mirror, Sakura smiled away, cleaning up the counter and arranging the many items between herself and Ino.

Sakura's quiet staring suddenly caught her attention.

"What?" Ino's eyes met Sakura's widened emerald ones, the concern scaring her. "Sakura what is it?"

With growing horror Ino watched Sakura's hand reach out and touch her hair. She felt the fingers combing through it and suddenly gasped as a few long blonde strands were held in Sakura's hand.

"Did you get your hair cut?"

Ino felt the tears fill her eyes as she whispered, "n-no…", just as Sakura reached out again, fingers running over her scalp and once more and more strands were held up. Ino's hand reached up in abject fear, hand to her scalp and gently tugging it - blonds strands filling it. Blue eyes fell on her paddle hair brush, tears falling down her paling face as she saw the amount of hair on the bristles. Hearing the whimpers, Sakura stood back, Ino fulfilling her expectations as she grabbed and threw her things in in her had bag. Whimpers and cries of pain falling from her lips with one hand over her head and the other clutching her bag as she dashed from the bathroom screaming she needed to go to the hairdresser. Smiling Sakura took out the plastic wrapping from under her bag and carefully threw it in the bin, the plastic writing - Blonde Hair clippings, face down.

Madara couldn't have been more pleased, if he could say so himself. Watching the blonde run through the bar, shrieking in true horror, had been the most satisfying sight he'd seen in ages. He slightly raised his glass to Sakura as she slipped passed him, trying desperately to quell her laughter as she walked back to the curious men in the corner.

"You guys, it was awful! Ino's hair is falling out!"

~xxx~

A few drinks and an angry phone call later, everyone was having a good time. Madara had even decided to stick around for a few more martinis as the group paired up to play darts. And it was about this time where Sakura needed to go pee… really bad. She excused herself after giving Deidara a quick kiss on the cheek. As she walked away, Deidara sighed and reached for his phone as it buzzed with an incoming text.

"So," Kisame huffed, reading the text over Deidara's shoulder. "How's paradise been treating you?"

"Could be better, yeah." the blonde answered as he flipped his phone closed and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"Really?" Shisui spoke this time, giving a tiny glare. "And just who was that?" Madara watched the exchange with interest. It seemed as though he was going to see just how protective everyone was for his secretary.

"None of your damn business, Sunshine, yeah." Deidara replied hotly, standing to confront the Uchiha who dared to question him. The ever- quiet Itachi stood between them, a glare so fierce in his eyes that Madara was forced to take a step back as he watched the brewing fight.

"You're fucking cheating on her again, aren't you?" this time Hidan spoke, scowling at the blond. Deidara crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, I'm not."

"Then who just sent you a text?" Itachi growled, having know Sakura since she was five, he was her as a little sister and wanted nothing bad to ever happen to her. "Is it that Ayame girl again?"

"So what if it is? Sakura knows about her. We have an open relationship and she knows Ayame is just a friend with benefits."

"Did you tell her or assume?" Kakuzu asked, standing his full height to tower over the sputtering blond.

"Answer. The. Damn. Question. Deidara!" a new voice broke into the conversation. Everyone turned to see a seething Sakura cracking her knuckles as she glared at her, soon-to-be pulverized, ex-boyfriend. Save to say, Deidara left the bar with blue balls, a black eye and fat lip courtesy of one pissed off pink-haired secretary. "I'll need a ride home now." she said, gripping her beer bottle loosely to ease the pain of hitting someone in the jaw.

"Do you want to leave now?" it was Madara who asked, surprising everyone.

"Not just yet, I want to get shit-faced first." and so he watched her down a six pack before calling it a night.

(A/N: Thank you Rose for playing plot bunny with me, lol. Review if you liked it… or not.)