Sakura stood outside the Uchiha office building; she had already finished work and was amazed to see how busy it looked inside even at this late hour she could see people still coming and going, getting in and out of the lifts and scurrying around before they finished work for the day. She tilted her head to one side as she thought; it was strange that inside that giant maze of a building Sasuke and Naruto somehow worked in there although she could only guess at which one of the many floors they were situated in and what it was they got up too. Sakura smiled slightly and probably didn't get lost in there either.
"Oh what's this" A soft voice said behind her "It's not every day we had an attractive young woman such as yourself outside"
"You're too kind" Sakura said turning to face the person. She started, the person had dark hair and his features reminded her of Sasuke's except his eyes which were cold and lacked all the warmth that Sasuke's eyes had. She suppressed a shudder as the stranger's eyes were the dark red colour of blood.
"I'm not that kind, I'm only speaking the truth" The stranger continued. "Let me introduce myself, I'm Itachi" Sakura started and her eyes involuntarily slide to the Uchiha building they were standing next to. He watched the movement with some interest. "Yes, that Itachi" He said confirming her thoughts.
Sakura took a step back as she realised that this person with the cold eyes was the one who had helped create Sasuke's own personal hell. A smile crossed Itachi's face but Sakura noticed that the warmth didn't quite reach his eyes like it did when Sasuke smiled at her. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
"Do you want to come in?" He asked and Sakura shivered uneasily, but if Itachi noticed he either didn't care or put the action down to the bitter wind.
"What?" Sakura managed.
"In the building, its high security, most people do seem to want to try and get passed security anyway and I'm offering you the chance to try and get in legitimately" He gave her a look "With me"
Sakura's unease grew, but she nodded anyway her desire to see Sasuke after what Naruto had told her outweighed how uncomfortable she felt with his brother and her desire to get away from this man. She knew it was stupid but she felt she had to try, and well Itachi had said that there was a lot of security in the building so if she ended up in a situation she didn't like then surely by screaming she could get a lot of attention.
Itachi watched her as she came to her decision, her green eyes turned thoughtful and he wondered what options she was weighing up, but finally he got the decision that he wanted, he always did, and led her inside the office.
"So, an Uchiha, huh?" Sakura asked, Itachi nodded briefly, just a quick jerk of his head, and Sakura wondered if she could discover anything interesting from him. "Do you know the Hyuuga's then?" She continued, guessing that they must have met on the odd occasion.
"Yes, I believe their daughter is the same age as my brother" he replied shortly. Sakura smiled inwardly, perfect.
"You have a brother?" She feigned surprise, "Is he anything like you?"
"No" Itachi said shortly and Sakura guessed that the one thing Sasuke and Itachi shared was probably a mutual feeling of dislike for the other person. There was a long pause before Itachi elaborated "I'm not surprise you don't know I had a brother, he isn't talked about much, he has very little family loyalty" Another pause, but longer this time and Sakura guessed that she wouldn't get anything more from this conversation and started searching for a way to get out of Itachi's company.
"It's very busy here even though it's so late" She said finally hoping he'd start talking about something and then direct her off to see whatever it was with another person.
"We're a very dedicated company" He said and Sakura sighed inwardly no such luck, he was very good at ending conversations, and if he wasn't interested in talking to her then why the hell did he invite her in? Sakura scowled, suddenly she was regretting her decision to go with Itachi, as much as she wanted to see Sasuke whether to confirm Naruto's story of just to see his face and ascertain that he was alright she didn't know.
"In here" Itachi led her into his office and sat behind his desk, it the shadows of the room he looked very imposing and Sakura suddenly felt nervous. "We can talk in here I'd rather not say much in front of other employees" No kidding, Sakura thought. She looked at Itachi, who was watching her with a very predatory gaze, as casually as she could Sakura walked over to the wall of his office and leant against it, her heart was hammering. She recalled their awkward walk to his office and how people almost tripped over each other to avoid him and get out of his path, suddenly she felt very out of her depth and she could see why Sasuke felt the need to get away from work
The door swung open and Itachi showed his displeasure by glaring at whoever dared not to knock, disturbing his time with his new companion. The intruder ignored Sakura's presence and turned to face Itachi. Itachi smirked slightly, of course, only his little brother would have the nerve to annoy him like that, admirable really but he only made things worse for himself in the long run.
Sakura looked at Sasuke's blank expression. His eyes were hard and cold and he was completely unlike the Sasuke she had come to know. Without a word to his brother Sasuke dumped a pile of documents on the desk and turned to leave. Once he was at the door Itachi broke the silence.
"I hope you remembered to send copies of this to our accountants as well" Sasuke said nothing but he had half turned his head and Sakura could see that his eyes were narrowed.
"Well never mind" Itachi continued as if he was oblivious to the tension in the room that was pressing down on them "I don't mean to question your competence" Sasuke left the room shutting the door silently behind him. Through the half open blinds Sakura could see Naruto approach him and strike up a conversation as Sasuke headed down the corridor, she watched the direction they were headed in the hope of finding Sasuke's office later.
When she turned to face Itachi again she saw that he was engrossed in the papers Sasuke had given him, feeling unsure again Sakura cleared her through.
"You can go now if you want" Itachi said without looking at her and Sakura turned on her heel and left in the noisiest way possible, what had been the point in that? She wondered, she found it impossible to read his moods, being flirtatious outside, practically ignoring her later, and then wanting to talk again in his office and then he had the nerve to dismiss her as if she was insignificant. Sakura glared at the floor and she was planning on using him for information, it turned out that it was the other way round but she couldn't yet figure out what he wanted to use her for.
Sakura walked down the corridor in the direction she had seen Naruto and Sasuke head trying to look like she knew where she was going. After a few false turns she finally located Sasuke's office and she could see even from the outside that it was considerable smaller than Itachi's. She took a deep breath trying to steady her nerves before knocking on the office door, but a voice suddenly startled her.
"Don't worry, he's not as bad as his brother" Sakura jumped visibly and the voice laughed, Sakura turned and saw a young woman behind her regarding her with some amusement.
"You're new here right?" Without waiting for an answer she continued "Anyway I'm guessing that you've already had an encounter with the bosses other son but let me tall you Sasuke's not that scary, here let me" Sakura watched open mouthed as the girl stepped forward and knocked on the door.
"There's someone to see you Mr. Uchiha, I think they're new, fresh from an encounter with your brother so be nice"
"Hn" Came the reply and Sakura found herself ushered into the office, the door shutting behind her. Sasuke finished what her was writing and looked up at her.
"I'm guessing you haven't had a sudden change of job" He said folding his arms as he leant back in his chair.
"No sorry, I didn't want to say that I didn't belong here with all the security" Sasuke nodded and gestured for her to take the seat in front of him.
"So…" Sasuke started.
"So?" Sakura repeated, mimicking his tone of voice.
"How have you been?" Sakura bit her bottom lip, this wasn't good, Sasuke didn't usually start conversations like this, he didn't really bother with normal formalities.
"Well I had a scary encounter with your brother" Sasuke stiffened slightly, it was barely visible but Sakura knew what she was looking for.
"Oh?" Sasuke said neutrally and Sakura gave and exasperated sigh.
"You saw me Sasuke, don't try and dodge this conversation, I'd rather not have this hanging over us" Sasuke scowled.
"I had an amazing conversation with Naruto where he let slip your surname one time" Sakura continued "And I don't blame you for not telling me it but I was curious, I wanted to see where you walked and ran into Itachi" Sasuke's gaze was fixed on the side of his computer as he glared at nothing. Sakura sighed.
"You had good timing then anyway" She said trying to lighten the tone "If you hadn't come into his office then I think he would have tried to have a real conversation with me" Sasuke remained impassive and Sakura grew annoyed, she could usually reign in her temper but today had been full of annoyances, and Sasuke giving her the silent treatment was the last straw.
"You know you're really not acting yourself here, or is it that you're only acting like someone else with me" Sakura said angrily "I really don't get you Sasuke once I think that I'm finally starting to understand you something else comes to light. You don't like talking about things that are personal and that's fine but don't shut me out completely Sasuke" This sparked Sasuke's own temper.
"Well what do you want from me Sakura? We only met a few month ago, and you said yourself things were fine"
"Were fine" Sakura emphasised the first word "You don't trust me do you Sasuke? What are you trying to do use me as a new way to piss your brother off? I don't want the two of you using me for some stupid war with each other" Sakura said and even as she said it she knew she was acting irrationally but by then it was too late and Sasuke's anger had increased.
"Don't bring that bastard into this; he had nothing to do with it,"
"Why then or can't you even part with that single bit of information about yourself" Sasuke glared at her, and Sakura trembled in her chair, every instinct she had was telling her to back down, she was more accustomed to smoothing things over in relationships that was always how it had worked someone got angry and she had optimistically made things better, in every falling out she and Ino had she was the one who had come back and smoothed things over.
But not this time, Sakura squashed all those feelings and met Sasuke's furious gaze, she knew she had incensed him by mentioning Itachi and she found herself wanting to push things further.
"The reason I spoke to you was because you were being so annoying, I did it to shut you up" He said and Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, suddenly, against her better nature she wanted to hurt him, she knew she'd regret it later but right now it was her anger that fuelled her words and rational thought could come later.
"Is that so? Well maybe I was wrong to leave Itachi" She said harshly. Sasuke's eyes glittered dangerously at that name and Sakura's heart was hammering in her chest, "At least he said I was pretty, something you never did" She braced herself waiting for Sasuke to reach breaking point, there was a slight flicker in his eyes and Sakura expected him to shout at her, to really lose it, as opposed to the simmering rage she had encountered before. But Sasuke abruptly shut her out, his face changed to look completely composed.
"Fine then" He said emotionlessly. "I hope you enjoy yourself, and who knows maybe you can get him to tell you his life story if that's what you want" Sakura shut her eyes and sighed. Her sudden anger had left her completely and she felt completely drained and wishing that she could take back all her words.
Sakura turned and left the office, she paused in the door way.
"I just want you to trust me Sasuke" She said softly "If you want me you know where to find me" There was no reply.
Sakura found her way out of the Uchiha office buildings and walked along the now dark street to get home. She was shaken from her encounter with both Sasuke and Itachi, and was startled to feel wetness as she rubbed her eyes. Great, she was crying, and over a relationship with a stubborn and impossible man that had never really begun. She sighed and wiped her eyes, although she did have fun when she was with him.
Did that make it worth it?
Did she really want to throw that away?
Sakura sighed again and decided to rethink these questions when she was in a more rational frame of mind. But she couldn't deny that she would miss him if she never saw him again.