Disclaimer: Naruto and the Tool are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Sabrina Paige
Chapter 7
Sakura POV
"Oh my God, how much did you miss real Konoha umeboshi when we were in Suna?" I dip my spoon into the bowl and shove the entire thing into my mouth. "I am absolutely starving."
"Here are your drinks." The waitress sets our glasses and silver shakers on the table and disappears as quickly as she arrived.
"Cheers to your first day at work," Sai says, holding up his glass. I met Sai two years ago at Suna – I literally bumped into him while he was on his way to an audition. It turned out, he was from Konoha, and we became instantaneous friends.
"Even if it doesn't really count?" I take a sip of the drink, a Konoha specialty that's like a margarita in a martini glass, complete with olives.
"Shut up," Sai says, sipping his drink. "Who cares if your daddy is the CEO of the company? That's how the world works. At least your mother didn't have you auditioning for commercials before you could walk."
Laughing, I crunch on another chip. "But the commercials from when you were a toddler were totally adorable."
"It's appalling that they're on the internet," he says, rolling his eyes. "It used to be that people's shameful childhood experiences didn't live on forever and ever."
"They're cute," I insist. "And besides, now it's saved for posterity. When you become super famous, they'll use them in one of those throwback episodes: a glimpse into Sai's childhood."
"Now I feel tons better," he says, waving his hand dismissively. "Cute is just fantastic for my dating life, by the way."
"How is the dating life?"
"Oh, you know," he says. "I'm seeing a few guys, no one special."
"What about the lawyer?"
"Too work obsessed, of course," he says. "There's nothing new with my dating life. I'll die a spinster."
"You're not going to die a spinster. But if it's any consolation, you'd make a fabulous spinster," I note.
"I really need to date someone with a title," he says, sipping his drink. "Like a prince. Or an earl. Oh, but I want to hear about the famous stepbrother."
"What?" My voice goes up an octave. "How did you know he was here?"
Sai's eyes narrow and he sips his drink. "You didn't think you could hide this from me, did you?" he asks. "I read an article."
"You follow motorcycle racing?" I ask, my voice dripping with disbelief.
"No," he says. "But I follow hot guys. And Sasuke Uchiha is hot as hell. Isn't he? Tell me he's lying around the pool sunning himself. Oh, tell me he needs a cabana boy."
"Ugh, cut it out. That's my stepbrother you're talking about."
"So what?" Sai asks.
"So, it's repulsive," I say. Is it obvious that I'm lying? "I don't think of him that way." But my protests sound weak, feeble, and I have to take a sip of my drink to cover up my faltering voice.
Sai studies me from across the table. "First of all, you're not related. Didn't you only meet a few years ago, anyway?"
"When we were seventeen," I say. "Anyway, he's completely skeevy. He's a total manwhore."
"You know that's how I like 'em," Sai says, wiggling his eyebrows. "Maybe he's just not finding what he needs, screwing all those girls."
I laugh. "You want me to set you up, let him know you're hot for him?"
"I'll settle for the opportunity to ogle him as he lays out by the pool," Sai says. "You can even join us if you like."
"Well, you'll have to wait on that, because he's in Vegas for the weekend. With my new boss, Karin." The drink is making me a little tipsy, and I put extra emphasis on her name, punctuating it at the end with a dramatic eye roll.
"Ooh, this sounds good," Sai says. "The first day at the job and we already hate the boss? Doesn't she know you're the CEO's daughter? How dare she get on your bad side?"
"She definitely knows I'm the CEO's daughter," I say. "I'm sure that's why she hates me. That, or..."
"Or what?"
"I don't know," I say. If I tell Sai that I think Karin has the hots for Sasuke, he'll think I'm crushing on Sasuke myself. And that's not something I want to discuss, not with anyone. "It's nothing. I'm going to be stuck traveling with them to Kirigakure. I'm babysitting Sasuke, basically. Can you imagine?"
"Mmm," he says, closing his eyes. "Wait. I'm imagining it right now. In this scenario, he's shirtless. Uh oh, all of his pants were lost by the baggage handlers. How unfortunate."
I reach across the table and slap Sai's hand. "Open your eyes. You should be expressing your sympathy for me, not fantasizing about my asshole stepbrother."
"Traveling to Kirigakure to babysit one of the hottest men on the planet?" he asks. "Yeah, let me see if I can muster up some sympathy for you." He pauses for a second. "Nope, I just can't do it. Sorry."
"You're a terrible friend."
"Aw," Sai pouts and flags down our waitress as she passes, ordering another round of drinks. "Fine. We won't discuss your stepbrother and how sexy he is. We'll talk about the boss instead. She's a bitch, right? Tell me all about what a bitch she is."
"She hates me, and -" I start, but Karin interrupts.
"Wait. Okay, we can get back to bitchface in a second," he says. "Of course, I already hate her because she's on her way to - where did you say she was taking my future husband?"
"Vegas."
"Okay, because she's on her way to Vegas with my future husband," he says. "I will say one more thing, and then mum's the word, okay?"
I exhale heavily, downing the rest of my drink. "Go ahead. What?"
"So they call him Tool, right?"
I groan loudly. "No way, I'm not talking about this. No, no, no, no."
"What?" He puts his hands up. "It's what they call him. You're acting as if I made this name up. All I want to know is if it's as legendary as they say it is."
"Holy shit, Sai." I feel my face flush as I think about the tool Sasuke left me in the office. It's not in the office anymore, though; obviously, I couldn't keep it there, so the box is carefully hidden behind some clothes in my closet. I'm so tipsy, I almost tell Sai what Sasuke did. Except I can't quite bring myself to do it. I suddenly feel like holding on to this, my little secret. "I'm not telling you about Sasuke's tool."
He leans forward and lowers his voice to a conspiratorial level. "So you know about it, then."
"I do not know about it!" I yelp, sounding defensive. "I know nothing about Sasuke's dick, thank you very much. I'll leave that to whatever floozy of the hour he's hooking up with."
Sai raises his eyebrows and leans back in his chair, cocktail in hand, surveying me. "Floozy, huh?"
"That's right. Floozy."
"Are you ninety years old?" he asks. "And you're calling me a spinster."
"Floozy is not an old term," I protest. "It's...okay, fine, it's an old term. But it never goes out of style."
"So Sasuke is hooking up with floozies," Sai says. "And maybe your boss, judging by your reaction."
"Can we talk about something else?" I ask. I don't want to think about Sasuke anymore. And I definitely don't want to think about whatever he and Karin are doing in Vegas. I'm sure the liquor is flowing like water, and Karin is doing exactly what she did with him in the office, her hand lingering too long on his arm. Except for this time, she's probably wearing some skimpy dress and he's all over her. I shake off the feeling of disgust I get when I think about the two of them together.
"You're a little touchy about this," Sai says, studying my expression. I avoid looking at him, grateful when the waitress interrupts us with our checks.
"What?" I ask after she leaves.
Sai shrugs. "I've never seen you so touchy about someone before," he says. "You're not into him, are you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," I say, forcing a laugh. "That would be insane. Of course, I'm not into him. I don't even like him."
"Sure, doll," he says, still looking at me. "Whatever you say."
