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Heels That Tread On
Love

Chapter 4: Reflection

Sakura didn't drown herself, but she did draw the biggest, most self-indulgent bubble bath of her life. She had some lonely singer on her outdated cd player and that glass of red she'd forgotten was in hand. And in the other, twirling between her fingers, was that gaudy three caret diamond ring Karin had so viciously humiliated her for.

Sakura really didn't give a damn about the ring; it was the principal that Hojo had traded his fiancé so easily. And he knew Sakura never wore gold; it wasn't her color and she prefered silver, platinum and white gold colors. She'd told Hojo that many times when they went on a rare date and had a seemly unplanned walk into a jeweler to pressure her about marriage.

Now that she thought about it, he had done that many times.

She knew he wanted to have sex with her, but marry her just for that? It wasn't worth it in her book. Hojo's in deep dept, though…

She shook her head, thinking that even that spineless rat wouldn't stoop so low at to marry her for her money. She wasn't born rich. Her parents had died when she was two and Sakura was placed within a young Tsunade's hands, molded into a strong intellegent woman who was raised to be wily with her budget and funds. She'd made a future for herself with a high-paying job at a successful author house and she'd worked hard for her success; Tsunade would have never let her cut corners.

So it was possible Hojo was only going to marry her for her money and her body.

Sakura took one last look at the ugly ring between her fingers. Why Karin had wanted a ring meant for another woman, she didn't know, but if that was what floated her boat than so be it.

She leaned up out of her mountain of self-indulgent bubbles and threw the ring out of the bathroom. It felt like she was throwing every thing to do with Hojo out of her life, just like the ring, and she felt liberated.

Now for Sasuke Uchiha…

She had to admit, she'd never met a man she wanted to give herself to. The idea of being dominated by a man always made her cringe and instantly put her dukes up in fighting stance, but when she thought of him over her…

Sakura smiled cattily to herself and leaned into her bubbles with the wine, the warmth surrounding her. She deeply regretted that he wouldn't come up with her and show her what it felt like to be taken by a real man, but he had been right. She'd been too upset earlier for Sasuke to take her seriously. He might have thought she'd choosen him on a whim to take her.

She shot up in her tub, eyes wide and her heart pounding. What if he thought she'd just reached out for any man nearby so that she would lose her virginity as soon as possible?

Sakura was reminded of his kiss and his vow. I will take your virginity Sakura…

She nearly purred at the thought that a man like him wanted a little plain mouse like herself. She had a rare hair color and her eyes were misty green, but other than that she had a forgettable face and her body wasn't tall and voluptuous like Karin's, though she was loathe to admit it. She was short and had some breasts but she sported, what Tsunade called, boy-hips.

She scowled, angry that she wasn't what Sasuke should have. But then, he would have done it before. She would have fooled herself if she thought he hadn't had sex with many women. He probably had lines upon lines of broken hearts behind him.

Sakura momentarily wondered if he was the one she should give herself to. What if sex was all he wanted? Then they would have an awkward working relationship and she would hate him. And the merger might fail…

She decided she should take it slow, but she knew she wanted her first to be Sasuke. There was some animalistic instinct that told her he was the lover for her and she'd never felt so hot and frustrated before in her life until that morning when she first met him.

Had it only been a day? It felt like weeks;, even months...

She heard the cd played click over the same disc again and she decided an hour of lonely violins was enough.

Sakura pulled the cord on the drain of the tub and stood, the bubbles rolling down her wet skin. She stepped out, grabbed a robe and drained the last of her wine before heading to her bedroom. She needed to be at work at eight the next morning to catch up on her messages and manuscripts, so she decided twelve thirty in the in the am was a good time to sleep.

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Sasuke had a rough night. He'd tossed and turned, taken two cold showers when he was woken by stiffies and laid awake thinking about her for hours.

When his alarm went off, he was already awake and staring up at his ceiling. Tired, he rolled out of bed and walked to his shower. The water was warm, better than his last two, and he leaned against the wall dejectedly.

He really should have gone up with her…

Sasuke got out and dried his hair with a towel, combed it out and got dressed. He sported black slacks and a black button shirt he left untucked and put on some comfortable shoes. No reason he had to wear a damn suit like yesterday.

He stepped out of his suite of his brother's house and went down stairs. Itachi was just finishing his coffee and Sasuke snarled darkly at him.

"Couldn't you have tapped her mouth over or something last night?" He snipped, grabbing a cup down for himself.

Itachi looked dully at his younger brother and smirked. The blonde he'd had for several hours before sending her home, satisfied. "Well, I have to admit it; she was an overzealous screamer. But normally it doesn't bother you…Are you sexually frustrated by our petite new partner?"

Sasuke glared at his brother and chugged a full cup of coffee before setting the cup harshly on the counter. "Watch it."

Itachi shrugged. "Don't worry. I like to keep business relations clean. And besides, I like her as a friend. She's witty and wonderful conversation. She's like the little sister I never had."

Sasuke's ire was lowered considerably, but he still frowned. "Fine."

Itachi watched his brother carefully, measuring. "Just don't do anything stupid with her feelings. She is professional, but a woman is still fragile in some areas, mostly concerning her heart."

"Oh yeah? Since when can you lecture me on the hearts of women, Dr. Phil?" Sasuke snarled and grabbed his keys from his jacket and opened the door to their large garage.

Itachi was laughing as the door slammed. It was so much fun torturing his brother.

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Sasuke drove fast, but he still had his head on and didn't make any illegal moves. He made it to the building that held their newly combined business and he looked up, pleased to see the new Nakama Press emblem being placed.

He walked through the comfortably decorated lobby and rode the elevator up to the second to top floor where he knew his and Sakura's office to be located. He stepped in, spotted his incredibly infuriating assistant Sai setting up his new desk in front of his own office.

"I don't know why I don't just put in my notice." The man said; he wore a purple button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and was busy nagging like usual.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he was handed some documents. "Because you get an insane annual pay and I don't fire you for being a total ass. Most bosses would fire you for calling them a homo."

Sai smiled with his eyes closed and seemingly blissful. "Now you're just being a pussy."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and was about to say something particularly rude when Sakura appeared though her office, hands on her face with obvious exaggeration.

"Could he be any more goddamn perverted?!"

"Oh ah, you mean Jiraya-sama's new manuscript?" Hinata said, slightly smiling.

Sakura sighed and laid over the tall part of her assistant's desk. "The only reason they're published is because of his crazy hentai fans. That's why they sell so many. We can't even distribute them fast enough…"

"So, you approved it?" Hinata asked, though she knew the answer. The whole company loved Jiraya with his fat-mouth and wandering eyes, though not so much the latter.

Sakura sighed, dramatically. "I only approved that pervert's book out of the goodness of my heart."

Sasuke smirked and stepped over to her, ignoring a snarky comment from Sai for ignoring him. He stepped up behind her while she continued talking to Hinata. He stood back semi-patiently, while looking her over from behind.

Her ass was well-rounded, despite what Karin had said, and it swelled comfortably against her black skirt. Her suit-jacket hugged her tiny waist and made in want to reach his arms out and grab her. She even wore her heels from the night before.

Sasuke decided to lean over her shoulder, purposefully annoying her, and looked over the manuscript she held.

Sakura had known he was there. How could she not when her whole body seemed to go up ten degrees whenever he came near. She turned, a cool smile on her lips, and looked up at him. "Curious are we?"

"Yes. I wouldn't be caught dead reading a book like that unless it was for Jiraya."

"Hm. I wonder how he got accepted by you and your brother for publishing if you don't like hentai books." She smiled. "I don't think Itachi would read them either."

"Naruto was my best friend while we grew up. He never asked me for a favor before he brought his uncle and that first book to our new office."

Sakura smirked. "Was your best friend?"

"No, he still is…most of the time."

Hinata was watching the interaction between the two of them, fascinated. She wondered what had happened overnight to make her boss and Sasuke act civilly. She had seen the death glares of Sakura the day before and they had pointed directly at the tall ebony-haired man beside her.

Sasuke smirked down at her and backed up a step. "I need to work."

Sakura watched him leave and get tossed some threats by Sai as he went by. She had noticed his assistant was a whiny conceded prick and she wondered why Sasuke suffered that kind of daily abuse. But later, when she was going through reports that were done by him, she was blown away.

She had searched for months upon months for an assistant as capable and precise as Hinata, and she found Sai to be just as gifted. So, she knew why Sasuke took the abuse from his assistant. He wanted things done right, even if it meant an asshole had to do it. At least he was an asshole that got the job done…

At eleven, Sakura decided to bring up a manila envelope to Hinata with the ring wrapped inside some bubble wrap. She wasn't shelling out a hundred dollars just to secure an expensive ring for somebody who might have even sent it in a normal letter envelope.

Hinata took it and looked up questioningly. "What is it? I've sent everything I think…"

"No. I'm just sending back my ex his ring. Hojo wants it for his bimbo Karin. You remember that-

"I hated Karin." Hinata interrupted with surprising anger.

"Whoa, there!" Sakura laughed.

"I am serious; she was nothing but trouble for the department downstairs. Every time I had to go down and grab something from her, she would make it so difficult. And nothing ever got sent out on time."

Sakura busted into laughter and slapped a hand on the desk. "I see. Well I have to go upstairs for a bit. Just make sure that gets sent out eventually. Do not make a special trip, Hinata. That's an order."

The Hyuga woman actually smirked and tossed it somewhere behind where it plotted into some pile of papers. "I'll see that it gets there slowly."

Sakura grinned back and turned to leave the room and walked down the hall to the elevator. She entered and rode up to Tsunade and Itachi's floor, listening to Fur Elise on the speakers.

The doors opened and she spotted Shizune not doing work, which was very unusual. The woman was talking to Itachi and they seemed to be having an in-depth conversation by the way he leaned over the top part of her desk and she was leaning closer in to him.

She pointedly ignored them, so not to disturb, and walked to the left into Tsunade's office. The blond woman was typing away on her computer and she looked busy.

"Hey, how's your first day without so much work?"

Tsunade looked up, smirked and leaned back. "Much less stressful now that there are four of us instead of you just me and you. It's nice with two presidents and two vices splitting the work. I never trusted anyone else to move up with us enough to partner with us except maybe for Shizune and Hinata, but neither of them have our social skills."

Sakura looked out the window and down at the park across the street. "You trusted Itachi right away."

"Well I've known him for years. He went to those old 'How to publish a book' sessions with me. He was barely fourteen when he started going with me and I was twenty seven at the time; I treated him like my own son because he was all alone except for an old family friend. I think you were somewhere around nine years old at the time."

"I remember those days. You always went to those classes and you brought me sometimes. So Itachi is the boy you introduced me to!?" Sakura was pleasantly surprised. "No wonder it's so easy to talk to him!"

Tsunade smiled and looked at her computor as it beeped, sending her back into working mode. "Would you get Shizune for me? I don't think she has her headset on."

"Oh, she doesn't. She's preoccupied."

"Oh?"

Sakura backed up a step. "I'll get her for you though."

Tsunade nodded and said thank you as Sakura left the office.

Sakura first noticed that neither Itachi nor Shizune were in the room and she stood on her tip-toes to find them, though it wouldn't have mattered. She spotted Itachi's assistant, a man with long blond hair and clicked over to him. He looked up, smirked and she knew immediately that she liked his attitude.

"Ms. Haruno, nice to meet you." he said as he stood and held his hand out for her to shake.

"Just Sakura, please. I hate formal names."

"Then call me Deidara." He said and winked.

She didn't immediately place his sexuality; straight, gay, or bi. She'd probe some later to figure it out, but she thought he was good looking no matter what. "So, how long have you worked for Itachi?"

"Eh…about since he started up his company."

Sakura nodded and noticed his computer's screen saver: a mushroom cloud of fire and smoke. Oh, great…a pyromaniac.

Still, she smirked at him. Geniuses were known to be eccentric, so she'd rather a genius with a weird fetish than an idiot with no abnormalities any day.

"Have you seen Shizune?"

"Nope. She was going to grab me some chow mien soon, but Itachi needed her for a bit in his office. You can go in if you need to."

Sakura heard muffled voices and found it safe to walk in. Wonder why his shades are drawn? He probably just liked his privacy.

She opened the door silently and was just about to open her mouth to speak when she spotted Itachi smothering Shizune against his desk. His was mouth attacking her neck and her fingers were tangled in his long black hair, both of them moaning and groaning. He was steadily inching her butt onto the desk when a strangled noise escaped Sakura's throat.

The two of them looked up to her, shocked and groggy from their ravishing of each other and she blinked away her mezmerization.

"Oh, shit! I'm sorry! Shizune when you get a minute, Tsunade needs to see you." she quickly shut the door and spotted Deidara grinning like an idiot.

"You knew they were in there like that!" she snapped as she trotted over to his desk, ready for murder. But his smile and good natured laughing stopped her from punching him.

"I don't know what you mean; I'm just as shocked as you!"

She didn't have anything to say, so she shook her head and went back to the hall. "Fine, I have work to do."

But she burst into laughter once she got back in the elevator.

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Ha ha! Itachi, you horn-dog. Sorry there wasn't much Sasuke/Sakura action in this one, but there with be in the next one. Possibly a lemon. Please review and tell me what you think!