Hi there guys! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad all of you are still here with me and reading this story. So here's chapter 4 of Mysterious Lover. Enjoy Reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It only belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Shisui was right. As soon as they turned off the paved road, Sakura woke up.

"Road maintenance is a little slack in this area, wouldn't you say?" she managed to get out while bracing herself against the dashboard of the truck.

Shisui chuckled. "I warned you."

"So you did. How much farther do we have to go?"

The sun had set and the evening light was rapidly fading. Shisui flipped on the headlights, and then glanced at his watch. "I haven't been here in a few years. It seems to me we have at least a couple of hours of this before we get there."

"No wonder Itachi felt bruised and shaken."

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you. How did he managed to call and let you know what had happened to him? It doesn't really make sense, anyway. If he was going to contact anybody, why you? Why not me?"

Now what do I say? She asked Itachi. There was no response. Itachi…Itachi! What do you want me to tell him?

"That's up to you." Itachi replied.

"Thanks a lot!"

"What do you mean?" Shisui asked, surprised at the tone of her voice.

"Oh! For, uh, thinking that he should have called you instead of me, of course. That was not very kind of you." Sakura said.

"Maybe not, but it makes sense. Why didn't he call me anyway?"

"Maybe he's run out of quarters."

"Besides, that place is so primitive. I can't believe there's a phone for miles."

"Maybe it has a ham radio unit and he got someone to relay it over a phone somewhere."

"I suppose. I can always ask him when we get there."

If we ever do. She thought, knowing that she was going to have bruises all over her bottom by the time they arrived, not to mention on her arms and legs.

"I tried to warn you."

"I know."

"You know what?" Shisui asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not really. I suppose it's from being alone so much. I have a habit of talking to myself."

Shisui shook his head. Sakura knew he was beginning to wonder about her. She looked out the window, trying to hide her smile. Shisui obviously didn't have too good an opinion of women anyway. She doubted if it would improve staying around her.

"I take it you live alone?" he asked after they had bounced along in silence for a few miles.

"Sort of. I share an apartment with a five year old cat named Sam." She would no more consider that she owned Sam than that he owned her. They had a workable relationship where each other understood the other. Sam allowed her to feed him, pay his rent and keep him entertained. In turn, he looked after her, pointed out when she stayed out too late or tried to get away with oversleeping in the morning and made judgments on any of her friends who happened to drop in.

"I thought about getting a pet, but I am not home enough to look after one."

"Sam's been a lot of company to me. Since I don't travel much, he's never been much of a problem. This is the first time I have ever been gone off and left him for a weekend."

"Aren't you afraid that he'll get hungry?"

"Oh, no. I left him plenty of food and water. That's never the problem. He doesn't like being left alone. He has learned to tolerate it during the day, since he knows I have to work. But he gets irritated when I'm out all evening. I have a feeling he's going to be irate by the time I get home."

"You know, there really wasn't any reason for you to come out here with me, once you let me know where he is."

"That's what Itachi said," she muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something?" Shisui asked.

"I was just agreeing with you. If I had known what the roads were going to be like, I might have given more serious thought to returning to home."

She turned her head to look at Shisui and a brief flash of light caught her eye. She stared out at the back window.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"I thought I saw a light flash behind us."

Shisui glanced up in the rearview mirror and they hit a particularly deep hole. Sakura almost hit her head on the ceiling of the cab. "Sorry. I don't dare take my eyes off the road for a second. What sort of light?"

She continued to watch out the back window. "I'm not sure. Could there be another car coming this way?"

"There could be but it's rather hard to believe." He was quiet for a moment. "Unless it's the same person or persons who brought Sharingan out here and left him."

Sakura discovered a knot in her chest that was making it difficult for her to breathe. She had no idea what she was getting into, but this wasn't her idea of a fun evening at all.

Shisui cleared her throat nervously. "You know, this really isn't my style. I mean, I can handle myself all right in my own environment, but getting here in the Great Outdoors – Well, Sharingan is able to handle anything, anywhere. But not me."

"He wasn't able to handle this particular situation or he wouldn't be stuck out here."

"Don't rub it in, Pinky."

"Keep watching and see if you can catch a glimpse of that light again, okay?" Shisui asked, continuing to concentrate on the road in front of them.

They were silent during the next hour, each watching the road – Shisui the front, Sakura the back. Twice she thought she saw a flicker of light, but the curving road didn't reveal much.

"Not much farther now. I bet Sharingan is going to be glad to see us."

Sakura had been growing more and more tense. She didn't know how she was going to react when she saw Itachi for the first time, particularly since he had made it clear that he didn't want her there. She was sorry she had insisted on coming along. After all, he had as much right to his privacy as she did to hers.

The light hadn't appeared in several miles and Sakura decided that if it had been a car, the car that long since turned off, turned around or reached its destination.

"Ah hah!" Shisui exclaimed with a sound of satisfaction. "He's got a light on, waiting for us." He pointed across a wide ravine and perched on the side of a steep slope, she saw a small cabin with a dim, flickering light in the window.

"Are you sure that's the right place?"

"Fairly sure. Of course, we have several more miles to go to wind behind the ravine and get over there, but we are almost there."

By the time they pulled up in front of the cabin, Sakura was shaking. As soon as the truck stopped, Shisui jumped out of the cab and hollered, "Hey, Sharingan, it's me Shisui."

The door of the cabin opened and a man stepped through, caught in the glare of the truck lights. Sakura had no trouble seeing him very clearly.

He was tall, over six feet with long, tied, dark hair reaching at his back. He wore khaki pants tucked into combat boots and a red and black plaid shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to above his elbows, emphasizing his muscular arms. He stood there in the light, his hands resting casually on his hips and waited patiently for them to join him.

Sakura could not seem to make herself move from where she sat inside the truck. Frozen, she continued to stare at the man who had been such an integral part of her life for the past twenty years.

Snatches of intimate conversations they had had came back to her and she cringed at the thought. How had she dared to be so open with him? He knew everything there was to know about her: her thoughts, her dreams, and her ambitions.

She knew nothing about him. Most particularly, she hadn't known that Itachi was also the man she worked for, I. Uchiha.

"You might as well get out of the truck, Sakura, now that you are here." Itachi said in a voice that clearly carried to where she sat.

How could he have done this to her? She continued to stare at him in shame and disbelief. There was no way in hell that she could have known. I. Uchiha was nothing like Itachi. Absolutely nothing.

She would never forget the first time she had been introduced to him…

Flashback…

She had worked for his company as a stenographer for almost three months. Of course, she caught glimpses of him as he came in and out of his office but that was all.

His assistant, Marlene, had recently announced her engagement to a man from Chicago and was happily making plans to move. Everyone had been wondering who would take her place. There was a chance someone might be promoted. Then again, they might look for someone outside the firm to fill the position.

When Sakura was called into his office, she wasn't sure whether to be pleased or not. She hadn't been out of school long and probably had the least experience of anyone there.

Mr. Uchiha motioned for her to sit down in the chair across from his desk. Timidly, she perched on the edge of the chair. She glanced down to see what he was reading and saw her name on the folder. He must have gotten her file from the personnel.

He glanced up without smiling. "I apologize for the delay in this meeting, Ms. Haruno. I generally get acquainted with all of my employees within a few days after they arrive."

Sakura forced herself to relax. So she wasn't here to be interviewed for a new position. This was just a delayed welcome on board type of meeting.

Mr. Uchiha continued, "I'm afraid things have been a little hectic lately and my schedule has not gone as smoothly as I would have wished."

Sakura didn't know what to say so she sat there with her hands clasped together in a death grip, trying to look relaxed, intelligent and at ease.

He glanced down at her folder then back at her. "I notice that you made very high grades at the business college you attended."

"Yes, sir." She admitted shyly.

"I'm curious to know why you didn't go on to college."

She looked at him in surprise. "There weren't enough funds for that, I'm afraid and it would have put an even greater burden on my mother. I needed to go to work as soon as possible."

"Have you thought about taking night courses?"

Again, she looked at him surprise. He was treating her more as a counselor would than an employer would.

"I am not against that, of course. I just don't have a particular field that I would be interested in pursuing."

"I see."

She could almost hear him thinking "no ambition." Perhaps that was true. She enjoyed her work and was quite content with it.

"You have done a remarkable job since you have been here, Ms. Haruno," he offered quietly.

"Thank you."

"I have noticed, though, that when you transcribe my dictation it does not come back to me in the same form in which I dictate it."

Sakura tried hard not to show how his comment affected her. She had tried only the revisions she felt absolutely necessary.

"You seem to feel the necessity to correct my grammar and my sentence structure from time to time," he pointed out in a dry voice.

She forced herself to meet his bland gaze but she could read nothing. The deep dark eyes seemed to look right into the most vulnerable part of her being.

"Tell me, how did you hear about this job?"

Sakura was surprised at the sudden change of subject.

"A friend at school mentioned that the agency was looking for stenographers. So I applied."

He continued to sit there, waiting, as though she had more to say. Sakura had never seen a man who could be so still. His hands rested on the desk in front of him and she covertly studied them. They were large, strong hands. He was a large, strong man.

"Had you ever heard of the agency before? Or of me?"

She glanced up at his face again, startled at his questions.

"No, sir."

"You don't have to keep calling me 'sir.' I may look old enough to be your father but that's not quite the case."

The personal remark unnerved her, just as their whole conversation had done. She had never known anyone like him and didn't know how to respond to the man.

"Are you always so quiet?" he asked.

"When I don't have anything to say," she admitted.

He smiled and she was amazed at how the smile softened his harsh features. The smile quickly disappeared.

"I'd like you to begin working closely with Marlene for the next few weeks and learn her job before she leaves us, if that's agreeable with you."

Sakura gasped. "Me?"

He glanced quickly over her shoulder, then his gaze pinned her to her chair. "I believe you're the only other person in the room. Why? Do you see some problem?"

"I, well, I, uh, no, not exactly. I mean, I don't have much experience and–" she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I realize that. What I also realize is that despite your rather tender years, you show a great deal of initiative, intelligence, ability to grasp a new situation, willingness to work – in other words, all the attributes I want in an assistant. Do you want the job?"

Dazed, she stared back at him. Did she want the job? Did she want to work closely with this man everyday? She knew so little about men. Itachi? What should I do?

There was no answer. Itachi was good at that. He might spend time with her going over her options but he never made up her mind for her.

"Mr. Uchiha, as you may well guess, this comes as quite a surprise to me." She searched for the right words. "If you don't mind, I'd like a day to think it over."

He watched her for a moment then said, "Ah, yes. I did forget one rather important piece of information: your salary." He named a figure that doubled what she was presently making. "That's a beginning salary. As you progress and take on more responsibility, I will see that your raises reflect your increased worth to the company."

He stood up and she immediately got to her feet. "Perhaps you are right, Ms. Haruno, to want to think this offer over. I will be waiting to hear your decision."

Sakura leave his office and return to her desk. She worked the rest of the day with no idea of what she was doing. Thank goodness the transcriptions of tapes had become so routine by then she could manage without her total concentration.

As soon she got home that night and greeted Sam, who was still a little more than a kitten at the time, she said, "Itachi? I really need to talk to you."

"Go ahead, Pinky. Talk."

Sakura gave a sigh of relief. There were times when she could not get in touch with him and she had been afraid that tonight of all nights he wouldn't respond.

Kicking off her shoes, she sat down in her favorite chair with a sigh.

"I got a terrific job offer today, Itachi. I need to talk to you about it."

"I thought you just started a job?"

"I did. It's the same place only a different position, a much higher position. I'd be working as Mr. Uchiha's assistant."

"Isn't he a fellow who runs the place?"

"That's right."

"Who is he?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what do you know about him?"

"Not all that much, really, except for office gossip. He is single, attractive –"

"And that's why you'd go to work for him?" she could almost hear the disgust in his voice.

"Of course not. I am not even sure if I want to work for him actually."

"What's the problem?"

"The problem is that I don't know that much about men. I don't remember my father that well. I never had any brothers. The boys I knew in school were more friends than anything. I think I am a little afraid of him."

"You mean you think he would chase you around the desk?"

She thought about that for a moment. "No. I don't think so. He doesn't seem to be the type of person. If he were, I am sure that the office staff would know about it. There's never been any talk about his personal life."

"Then what's to be afraid of?"

"He is so stern, so rigid. All business. He doesn't ever seem to relax."

"Maybe he's busy."

"I am sure he is. I understand his dad opened the agency some years ago and when he was killed, his son came home to run it." She got up and wondered into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of apple juice. "I am sure that wasn't easy for him to do."

"Probably not. What had he been doing before then?"

"Nobody has ever said."

"I don't quite understand what you want from me, Pinky."

"I am not sure, either. I think I am afraid of failing. The job has so much responsibility attached to it. I am not sure if I can handle it."

"Your boss must think you can or he wouldn't have offered you the position."

"I thought of that. I just don't know how he can tell so much about me. He doesn't know me at all."

"Maybe he's a good judge of character."

"What if I let him down?"

"But if you don't try, won't you be letting yourself down?"

"I suppose. I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Only you can decide what you want out of life. Nobody else can do that for you. If you are content working as a stenographer, if you don't want to learn anything more, then be the best stenographer you can be and be happy doing it."

Sakura was quiet for a few moments. "I guess I've still been blessing my opportunity to get a job as soon as I finished school. I hadn't looked any farther down the road than that."

"Now you're being challenged to look down that road to your future."

"Yes."

"Well, for the record, I believe in you, Pinky. I know that you can do anything you decide you can do."

"Thank you, Itachi. What would I do without you?"

The next morning she went into the office and told Mr. Uchiha that she would be pleased to work as his administrative assistant.

End of flashback…

Sakura sat there at the truck, watching the two men talking. Slowly, she opened the door and crawled out of the cab, already feeling bruises on her backside. When she approached the two men, they stopped talking and turned to her. Shisui smiled, obviously pleased that they had found his friend. Itachi or Mr. I. Uchiha, she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to think of him from now on, stood there waiting, watching her expression, revealing nothing of his thoughts to her. He never had. Only Itachi had done that. Itachi. She felt such a sense of loss that she almost crumpled in pain. Itachi, her lifelong friend, seemed to be gone. In his place stood the cold, aloof, and distant twenty six year old man she had worked for all these years.

She didn't know what to say.

I. Uchiha suddenly smiled a warm, relaxed smile that caused a feeling of light and energy over her. He took a couple of steps toward her and enfolded her on the top of her head. "You finally found me out, didn't you, Pinky?"

A/N: Chapter 4 done! Well, hope you like this chapter! See you on chapter 5!