Chapter 8: Mysterious Found A New Watchdog
Sakura's POV
It's been three weeks since the breakup with her ex. No word of Sai made the pinkette certain that he cut off all ties; wanting nothing more to do with her. The fact that their lease on their apartment had broken off and none of his stuff was all but gone meant it was over.
Sakura's heels clicked against the translucent tiled flooring as she strutted down the mirror panel corridor of her establishment, AGENDA. Unaware of her supervision, the pinkette observed her worker bees from above as she walked; they buzzed around the big room, distributing files, and presenting privy information for their next client. Her boys were working hard, Sakura admired and spotted her top ranked employee, Idate Morino, typing away on a computer, probably chatting up his client for a date. Anything to get her off the streets…and out from harm's way.
If only Sai was half as what Idate is… No, she shouldn't be thinking of the past.
"Seems like you're in a good mood," Came her secretary's voice. Sakura peered at the man that helped make her career happen. Donning a modern, formal wear of a white button up shirt under his brunette blazer and green khakis was Shikamaru Nara, a man of intelligence and strict meticulousness, yet he always seemed to show disconcertment in general. Shikamaru has been Sakura's right hand wing man since the start of her establishment and without having to ask, he'd be at her beck and call—no less than what a secretary's duties are—not that she expected him to, anyway.
"Mr. Nara," Sakura greeted and glanced back at Idate—now leaning back into his swivel chair—who looked focused and ready to roll out, dressed in a smart casual wear.
"Shikamaru will do just fine." He said, curtly, coming closer.
"I know. But I rather do it this way." Sakura answered, knowing what his next response would be. In professional terms, she wanted the respect between her employees and herself on a surname basis rather than first names. "Walk with me."
"What a drag." He sighed but followed obediently. "What's the point of that though? You prefer I call you by your first name than your last name."
"We've been over this. The reason is an interpersonal matter," Sakura said, dismissing the topic with a wave of her fingers. "Besides, you're the only one who won't call me boss."
"Not that you give me much reason to."
The pinkette shot her secretary a sly grin and stopped at an elevator. A keypad glowed blue from the wall asking for access. Placing her palm on top, Sakura glanced back at her subordinate who, hands in pocket, stared back at her with a crease in his brow. "Don't sweat the small stuff."
Ding! Both the elevator doors slid open and closed after Sakura and Shikamaru entered. A brief quietness engulfed the small space between them as she pressed a leaf symbol button followed by a letter G. Suddenly, the box they were in moved, ascending towards the designated floor.
Sakura leaned back against the mirror wall, watching as brighter lights came into sight and disappeared, reappearing to a dim lit of offices, and disappearing again.
To the public's eye, AGENDA may look like a three story motel, but its building is connected to the ANBU's abandoned and rundown dormitory, granting her possession of the leased property. From a standpoint, Sakura's intention was to design her establishment to resemble Kidney World (1), a place for people to take refuge and start up a new agenda for themselves. Unfortunately, her father didn't see it the way she did. He assumed her company was some sort of jacked up market for human trafficking since her firm acquired men to rent themselves out for inexplicit means to satisfy in exchange for ryo.
Well, he isn't technically wrong, Sakura thought darkly.
"You don't find me calling you by your given name intimate at all?" Her secretary's sudden inquisition broadened.
"I would say that it's more platonic than intimate." She replied, not giving it much thought.
Ding! The double doors slid open, welcoming the two to a chillier space in the building: the Garage.
"I'm pressed for time, Mr. Nara. If you please?" Sakura stepped out and waited for her secretary to follow.
"Where to?"
"To pay someone a visit."
Sasuke's POV
What was once beautiful, golden, and held a strong presence in his mother's garden was now a dull, dried sandy-colored foliage of lifeless cascading Hakone grass. Sasuke sat in his R23 with the heater on full blast. Though his decision to sweat out the remaining anguish he held onto, the logical option of getting out of his car into the winter's day for some fresh air was only a step away. So why was it that he couldn't do so much as inch his window down?
"Dude, I'm sweltering back here!" Naruto huffed, fanning himself from the backseat. He then reached for the door handle, "Do you mind?"
Yes, Sasuke did mind. In fact, as the driver, he had full control of the car as well as it's switches. Locking the backseat doors and windows, he heard Naruto's gape and let an impish smirk slide onto his lips.
"Bastard." He heard Naruto grumble under his breath. His glare could hardly compare to his own icy one and the bond the blonde has to his distant family is nowhere close to what he lost in such a short period of his life. He had nothing, except a traitorous criminal for a brother and he wanted nothing more than to bring Itachi down as he did to their immediate family.
A sudden thump was heard from the trunk. Then, as if someone woke up on the bad side of the bed, came the grumpy whines and anxious kicks to get out. Not on his watch, Sasuke inwardly glowered with a frown, catching Naruto's surprised gaze through the mirror.
"Did you…?" He started, confused as to who was in the trunk and why Sasuke had not said anything prior to picking him up. And ended with, "Pick up another stray dog?"
Sasuke grunted in response. Yeah, a watchdog. Metaphorically speaking, Kiba Inuzuka, former Canine Officer and insider agent of Konohagakure Military Police, was presently Sasuke's newly recruited watchdog. Or at least, that's what he had intended to do before finding Kiba stocked up on alcohol, ready to drown his sorrows on his man's best friend and recently deceased pet, Akamaru. What Sasuke needed was someone with their head screwed on right, focused and ready to go; someone who's inconspicuous to his operation and trustworthy to get the job done. Someone like Kiba—when he's not preoccupied—whose loyalty lies with his close family and friends.
A ringing chime fills the car and Kiba's name pops up on his dashboard. Answering the call, the said man's voice goes off in barks and curses. Naruto's eyebrows shoot up and whips his attention back to the trunk which stowed their consociate away and then back at him. He mouths out Kiba?
"I have an assignment for you."
"No chance, Uchiha!" Kiba's enraged tone doesn't deter Sasuke seriousness as he gets down to business. "After you abducted me and locked me in your freakin' trunk, like hell I'll take part in your sch—"
"We have a lead to getting closer to the Akatsuki if that helps. You play an essential role, Kiba." Naruto intervened, catching Kiba off guard. "You know how brazen Sasuke can be. He's just like that because he got dumped—OW!"
Sasuke met the blonde's glare with his own. He held up the ballpen he used to jab Naruto with after letting that comment almost slide and silently threatened to use it again if he continued to finish his sentence. Kiba let out a boisterous hoot in mockery.
"That's unimportant and untrue." Sasuke added.
"He's in denial," Naruto quipped, jumping back before Sasuke could swing his aim again.
"Now, I want to know who the lady is that got your undies in a twist." Kiba grinned through the call.
"Forget it." Sasuke said in a clipped tone, bringing the matter to a near end. "There's nothing to say. Anyway, Inuzuka, I need you to go undercover as a cab driver. You'll take to the streets, keep an eye out for any suspicious activity happening and report your daily routine to me. Understood?"
"And if I say no?"
A brief pause flooded the car. If Kiba refused to take up his assignment, then he'd be endangering the many lives of women being trafficked and the undercover agents including Ino to infiltrate the pimp industry and take them down.
"You know better than to refuse."
"Yeah? Give me one good reason why I should?"
Sasuke rests back into his seat, staring through the windshield to the wilting garden. He could feel Naruto's presence sneaking behind him, his hand outstretched as it reached for his control panel. "Would you if Akamaru were still with you?" He asked, solemnly.
A hint of tiredness entered Kiba's voice as he replied back, "In a heartbeat."
Yeah, they all lost an important piece of their life, Sasuke thought inwardly and held up the pen. Suddenly, Naruto's arm retracted back as if shocked from static. "Life must go on, Kiba. What's holding you back?"
"The fact that my best canine isn't here anymore? He was family, Uchiha."
Naruto sighs and notes, "We know it best, man. Mostly Sasuke since I've only known my parents through stories."
Sasuke flinches, eyes flying to Naruto's in the rearview mirror and understands the sympathy he held in them. Eyes somber as a storm, Sasuke couldn't fathom what it was like to be Naruto, never knowing if his parents ever loved him at all—despite what he's heard and/or been told— and always having an optimistic outlook on life. After his brother's betrayal, the only thing Sasuke felt was the level 3 of grief which overtook the majority of his life. Now, at stage 6, Sasuke is taking out his failures to catch Itachi on the targets he's assigned to terminate.
"It's not easy to detach yourself from something or someone you hold dearly to your heart, but unless you want to restore your sanity and avenge them, you must have an open mindset." Sasuke advised.
"Well, damn, Uchiha, such wise words coming from a merciless assassin."
"Can't have feelings getting in the way of the mission."
"Okay…so, say I do take up this job, can't you do anything about this heat though? It's hell back in here!" Kiba droned, his breaths becoming coherent from talking so much.
Sakura's POV
Arriving at the Haruno manor, Sakura stepped foot out of the company's car and descended down the garden's cobbled path to her father's dojo where a certain homebody spent his evenings mastering taijutsu. Shikamaru dawdled behind, putting as much space between him and Sakura.
Inside the dojo, Sakura could hear the whirlwind of kicks, and the kiais made as the impact of bodies being thrown on mats were heard. Sliding the door open and stepping onto the tatami platform, sudden silence emerged from the training ninjas.
All eyes were on her, specifically her heels. Oops, she had forgotten the utmost indoor etiquette to managing a dojo: no shoes allowed on the tatami flooring. Cracking an innocent smile, she called out a name that seemed to have forgiven her rudeness and rushed to her aid.
"My dear Sakura!" Lee compounded, arms out, ready to swoop her off her feet. "What a sudden and youthful surprise! What brings you all the way out here all of a sudden?"
Before he could even get a hold of her figure, Sakura stepped down from the platform. Suddenly, Lee came to a halt before teetering off the edge. He looked just the same as he did during their first meeting: bowled shaped haircut, green spandex suit, and round eyes with long eyelashes. The first time she met Rock Lee, he reminded her of Keroppi, the frog. Sakura wasn't fond of frogs growing up, so having his attention flaunted at her became a nuisance—not that he minded, all he saw was her beauty and youth— and she hid her disdain for him since then.
"We need to talk, Lee." Sakura turned, jerking her head to the side, and added, "If you're up for it?"
"I'm always up to talking with you, Sakura!" Lee exclaimed, his face lit. She didn't really know what he saw in her, other than her being the dojo's master's daughter and the benefits it came out of being friends with her.
Closing the door behind him, Lee followed Sakura without a question to a more quiet and secure place in the garden. A gazebo sat at the center of a lake opposite side from the dojo, meanwhile Lee was gushing about his arduous training and how joyous it'd be to train beside her again—if she could count it as training.
She recalled the days she watched her father train the Might younglings as she tended the garden. The rigorous labor he placed over them and how each one of the Might members sought to see their training through made Sakura feel little to no importance in her father's line of sight. For every seed she planted, the boys grew into men; for every flower that bloomed, the men became better ninjas; for every day that rained and shined, she never once stepped foot on the tatami mats, nor had she never once trained under her father's command. According to her father, it wasn't proper for girls to train with the big boys. So why had he become so insistent on making her inherit the dojo?
Sakura sat down, took a heavy breath before turning to her acquaintance. He looked at her expectantly, giving her his full attention that her father couldn't do all those years ago. Sakura fisted her hands on her knees, hoping her expression showed neutrality and not the resentment holding her back all these years.
"What is it, my dear Sakura?"
"I came by to make a proposal." She announced.
Notes:
(1) Kidney World is actually referenced to Disney World but for disclaimer purposes, I changed it to G-rated. "Kid" = "child", so Kidney World. If you thought the organ, then this too can be just as important since kidneys remove drugs from the body and since you can't live without them, this place would serve as a healing place for the victims to recuperate in.