---Thursday

"Look underneath my shell."

Working at the hospital meant a 100 commitment, which was why Haruno Sakura was dragging herself there at six o'clock in the morning.

About half an hour ago, she had received an urgent phone call from Tsunade-shishou, telling her to be at the hospital as soon as possible.

The pink-haired girl's light brows drew together as she pondered what the emergency could possibly be about, fiddling with her brand new subway season pass. (It was red and white, with a barcode on the side and a serial number on the back).

It was a ridiculous time of the day; the subway had just opened and was sparsely populated. Most people, especially lazy old businessmen, took the 7:30 subway. There was pretty much no such thing as being tardy when you were a CEO, after all.

Sakura sat with her head on her knees, her deep red purse clutched in her hands and her medical clipboard on the seat next to her, loaded with papers about her patients. She faintly registered the antics of a youngish couple a few seats away from her, the man grunting in a good-natured way and the woman berating him over something or another. A few seats in the opposite direction, there was an old man who seemed to be nodding off to sleep, clutching a cane.

She fiddled in her purse a little bit and found a scrap of paper and a blue ink pen, and started doodling, just curlicues and hearts. She still absentmindedly listened to the conversation of the pair, not really processing the information until a phrase caught her attention.

"Aah, the stock is rising."

"And it's all because of me, Doujutsu's senior PR expert!"

"Umhm." The tone was sarcastic.

Sakura chewed on the information for a while, taking her head off of her knees and covertly examining the pair. The girl wearing a beanie, long-sleeved shirt, and baggy pants must be Tenten. She wore her chocolate-colored hair in wispy pieces around her face, cut to shoulder-length and flipped a little bit, and when her head moved, you could see a small cartilage piercing.

The boy was more difficult to see, as he was sitting on the other side of Tenten. Sakura was able to see glimpses of dark brown hair that seemed to be tied in a tight ponytail, front pieces that were too short left out, and blue eyes that were hidden behind black frames.

She opened her cellphone, connected to the internet, and wikipedia'd Hyuuga Neji, to come up with a picture that had startling resemblance. The face shape, the nose, and the hair color were all the same.

Was this Hyuuga Neji in disguise?

But why wouldn't he be driving one of his 50 billion cars?

Maybe she was overanalyzing and this was just Tenten's brother. Or something. They did have similar colored hair.

She looked over at the pair again, curious about the man that could be Naruto's boss and Sasuke's colleague.

He chose that second to look at her. They locked eyes, and she looked away, terrified.

She watched through the corner of her eye as the man got up, spoke a few words to the woman, and eventually dragged her out of her seat by the wrist.

They quickly crossed the distance of about 10 feet and took seats across from her.

The woman spoke first.

"You're Haruno Sakura."

Sakura tried to flood her head with determined thoughts, and visualized the three of them laughing together good-naturedly.

"You're Tenten. And you're –" she mouthed the words to his name,

He smirked. "There's no need to be secretive."

"Then why the disguise? And why is there no need?"

"There are five people in this subway car. Me, you, Tenten, and 2 people that work for me." He nodded toward the old man and a young-looking woman with black hair.

Tenten spoke up, "Sakura-san, the disguises are for when we get out of the subway. Nice to meet you, by the way."

"I see. Nice to meet you as well. Naruto and Sasuke-san have told me much about you."

Tenten looked fake-shocked. "How could they, those gossipers, telling my deepest secrets?"

"Stop the theatrics, Tenten. You are not a drama queen."

"No. You are." Tenten mimicked the CEO, "Ooohhh My name is Hyuuga Neji and you will bow down to my CEO powers!"

Sakura watched their banter, seeing confirmation of Hinata's certainty that Hyuuga Neji would not cheat on Tenten. His blue eyes followed her every move, and sometimes he smiled a bit.

Eventually their attention turned back to her, and Sakura braced herself for a sure to be interesting conversation.

"So, Sakura-san, what brings you out at this time? Naruto told me that you take the 7:13 subway?"

"Ah, yes. Did he tell you that I work at the hospital?" Sakura waited for confirmation from the brunette. "Well, my mentor boss-person, Tsunade-sama, called me this morning at about 5:30 telling me there was an emergency at the hospital and to get there ASAP."

"I see. Wait—You work under Tsunade?"

"Yes, the legendary doctor."

"No way! Did you know that she also used be a karate master?"

"Aah, yes. I may have heard something like that. I heard that she was incredible at it when she was in high school and college."

"Yeah, but then medicine took up too much of her time and she had to quit. She's like my idol."

"Do you do karate?"

"Yes, but I incorporate weapons into my style of fighting. Neji is the one that really does close-range stuff."

The man spoke, saying, "Yes, in fact, we were headed to the dojo this morning."

"Why do you use the subway? Couldn't you just get driven to the dojo?"

Tenten laughed. "I don't let him drive his cars very much, only to events. It's really bad for the environment. Especially those super-expensive Hummers and stuff that he has." She glared at the Hyuuga.

"Anyways, yeah, we were going to the dojo. That's why we have these." Hyuuga Neji quickly changed the subject, obviously uncomfortable around the topic. He pointed toward twin duffel bags under their seats. One was a navy while the other was black.

"Yep, they have our gear and weapons and stuff in them," Tenten piped in.

"Aren't weapons illegal?" asked Sakura bluntly.

"Neji is the CEO of a major company. Really, it's not a problem. Plus I'm not going to go and kill him."

Sakura and Tenten chuckled, while the Hyuuga merely quirked his eyebrow.

He decided to change the topic to something more serious (and less life threatening for him.)

"So, Haruno-san, you met Uchiha on here."

"Yes, that is true, Hyuuga-san."

"Did he seem…suspicious to you in any way, shape or form?"

"Not especially. He doesn't talk much though, so it's hard to gauge. Why do you ask?"

"He is unreadable. I need some information on him, but I have no idea where I am going to get it. He is very…mysterious and I need to know that I can trust him with the company's fate."

"It seems to me that you already have."

As she continued the conversation, Sakura thought carefully about this new piece of information. Even though just yesterday Sasuke had been telling her about how Shikamaru was a mystery man, it seemed that he too guarded his secrets zealously.

The subway car was now quiet, Tenten and Neji fiddling with each other's fingers. Sakura shook away the thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke from her head, and remembered something.

"Tenten-san, did Sasuke-san tell you about our meeting on Saturday?"

"Oh! Yes. Thank you so much for the generous offer." The girl radiated goodwill, but the Hyuuga merely looked puzzled.

"What meeting?"

"Oh, I have a double date on Saturday with Sasuke and Sakura," she teased.

"Be serious," her boyfriend(ish) admonished. "Sakura, what is this about a double date?" The man tried to look nonchalant, but his anxiety over this possibility showed through.

Sakura blushed. "Oh, haha, there is no date. It's just a couple of friends getting together at a café."

"Female friends, right?"

'Umhm."

"What, Neji, afraid that I'm C-H-E-A-T-I-N-G?"

"No," he said gruffly. "Who else would date you?"

Tenten punched him back playfully. "As if, you bastard."

Sakura said goodbye to the couple, gathered her things, and then got off at her stop. She stopped by a Starbucks on her way to the hospital, as she hadn't had to time before the subway left. Then she entered through the wide, glass double doors to find mass chaos.

Snapshots

A man surfing the internet, expertly twiddling the roller-ball.

A woman looking desperate, concern etched all over her face.

Two brunette heads, flipping gracefully in the air and covered with grime.

The day had been exhausting, and not just because of her early morning wakeup-call. Nope, the hospital had been flooded with the survivors of a horrific accident on the bridge that connected Konoha and Suna.

One drunk driver (who got drunk that early in the morning?) had started driving the wrong way, and the incident had ended in a thirteen-car crash that had affected people from all walks of life, from McDonald's workers to a foreign dignitary.

Let's just say that it was not pretty. Out of the 15 cars and 45 people involved in the crash, 18 had died immediately.

Once the ambulances managed to get to the scene, they had tried to rush the victims to the hospital, but 7 others died on the way there, mostly out of blood loss.

20 people had been packed into the emergency room, and the lucky ones, who had suffered only minor injuries like broken legs and gashes, were quickly dispatched.

That left 13 people who were all seriously injured.

Although Konoha Hospital was well-equipped and one of the best hospitals in the area, that did not mean that they were able to effectively deal with 13 critically injured humans.

The other hospital in town quickly rushed over surgeons and nurses, but that was barely enough to tide the hospital over.

By the end of the day, though, 9 of the 13 people were stable. The other four had died.

And the sad thing was? The drunk driver got out with merely 5 stitches on his forehead.

Haruno Sakura was tired, angry, and about to collapse on the subway. She had barely had any fluids all day, had personally rescued about three people from near-death positions, and was so not in the mood for…

"What's with you?"

She practically banged her head on the side of the door when she saw who it was.

"Uchiha. This is not the time for banter."

"Hn. What happened to the sweet girl who called me Sasuke-san? All a façade, huh?"

"Listen. While you were sitting in your cushy little job playing strip poker or whatever with Shikamaru or one of those bimbo secretaries, I was digging my hands into people's bodies trying to save their lives, alright? I've seen more death today than I ever did my entire stay at med school. The only reason I'm even on this subway right now is that I was freaking about to pass out on the ER, okay? I am running on adrenaline and caffeine, none of that pinot noir crap you drink. So just give it up and shut up for about 20 min---"

She fell asleep, her head leaning against the pole and her sweat-covered forehead still scrunched up from the lecture that she had been in the middle of delivering.

Sasuke, sitting next to her, noticed that her hands were red and raw, as if they had been over-scrubbed with something stronger than soap. Her body was also shivering, since the hospital scrubs that she hadn't bothered to change out of were thin and provided no warmth whatsoever.

She looked exhausted. She was exhausted mentally; she'd obviously gone through hell and back.

Sasuke thought about what she had told him about himself. Strip poker and bimbo secretaries? Hardly, he scoffed. Those criticisms were easily done away with because firstly, Uchiha Sasuke did not have secretaries, and secondly, he would never play strip poker.

But was his job too 'cushy'? Had he lost sight of his ultimate goal? Was he…dare he say, straying from his path?

No, he thought. What did this little pink-haired freak know? Since when had he listened to anyone but himself? Why should he start now?

This was stupid. Why was he even considering listening to her? A girl, no less. A stupid girl. She did go to med school. Great. Now even his own freaking mind was debating with him.

The last time he had obeyed a woman:

Sasuke! Hurry up and run! Go! Don't look back and get the police!

He was gone.

And as he passed out, he found that there was suddenly something there.

"…."

"Sasuke-san."

Sakura had woken to find a certain Uchiha's head on her shoulder, his face screwed up tightly, like he had some sort of nightmare. Using her free hand, she tapped the top of his head.

"Uchiha. Get up."

"Uchiha. Get up!!"

She was surprised when he replied, so deep had his sleep seemed.

"…kaa-san?"

Uchiha Sasuke woke in the most humiliating situation that he had been in since high school. For a long time.

As he looked away from Sakura, smoothed the back of his hair, and retracted his grip around her arm, he berated himself for getting into that kind of predicament.

Now she had something to blackmail him with.

"…."

"Sorry." He apologized.

"For what?"

"I must be heavy."

She laughed. "Maybe a little. Sorry I was such a bitch."

"No need."

There was an awkward silence as Sasuke adjusted his posture, his knees now spread with his elbows resting on them.

"I met your boss today, Sasuke."

"I don't have a boss."

"Oh, right. Nevermind. I met your business partner, Hyuuga Neji?"

"Why?" He spoke sharply.

"We met on the subway this morning."

What? I didn't see you two, he thought.

"Hn?"

"It was the 6 o'clock subway."

"Aah."

"Because of the bridge emergency, you know."

"Hn. What did he want?"

"It was just a coincidence. Your PR person, Tenten was with him." Sakura sounded a bit defensive, which was quickly picked up on by the navy-haired man.

"Had a nice chat, did you?" He smirked slowly, drawling the words.

"As a matter of fact, we did. Tenten and him were on their way to some weapons place."

"Yes, they go to the dojo every morning."

"Right."

"In fact, I have accompanied them before."

"No qualms in being a third wheel, huh?"

"Never had any and never will."

"Pompous bastard."

"So…are you interested?"

"In what?"

"Fighting, weapons, that sort."

"To some extent. At least I can bandage myself up if I get hurt, right?"

"Aah."

"You sound condescending. Stop sounding condescending. I pack quite a punch, you know, and I don't lift any girly 8-pound weights, Uchiha Sasuke."

Now Uchiha Sasuke was amused. Definitely amused by the antics of this anomaly.

"Oh, you do, do you?"

"Just ask Naruto. Remember that pretty little rainbow-bruise he came in with the first day of his job? Guess who gave it to him?"

"Interesting."

"That's right, be intrigued."

"Hm. How about we go for a spar Saturday after our meeting?"

"You're on. And paying for any medical bills."

"Deal."

They shook hands, and Sakura started giggling.

"What?" He was annoyed.

"You have this highly determined look on your face. It just screams I will not lose to you!"

"Don't mock me."

"Don't mock me."

"Don't copy me, teme, dattebayo!" said Sasuke, mocking Naruto.

Sakura doubled over, laughing and gaining a few odd looks from their fellow subway-goers.

"Stop, you're making me make a fool out of myself."

"Are you implying that you weren't a fool in the first place?"

"Hmph."

"You're quite easy to get a rise out of, you know."

"Well, some of us don't have the emotional range of a teaspoon."

"Harry Potter fan?"

"Aren't we all?"

"I guess."

"You're a Snape type."

"I use shampoo and conditioner, thank you very much. And my patronus would be much more manly than a deer."

"Keep on telling yourself that, Sasuke."

"What happened to the –san?"

"You don't deserve it. Anyways, I dropped it for Naruto like, within the hour, so I think it's time you start earning your –sans."

"Fine. I guess you were never Sakura-san so I can't even retaliate."

"Haha. In your face, Uchiha."

"Shut up. And, it's your stop."

"Right, thanks."

"No problem."

As the subway slowed, the grins on their faces slowly faded.

"Sasuke?"

"Aah."

"Why did you come on the subway today?"

Silence.

"I wanted to."

She smiled and stepped off.

"See you tomorrow then."

Author's Note:

Sorry if Sasuke seems a little bit OOC in the chapter, it is kind of necessary for the plot to work. Sorry for the long delay as well, these last few weeks have been super hectic and stuff!

Hope you enjoyed this longish chapter, and I am begging for reviews.

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