Chapter one: The Candidate

By:Sweetcandyzz

Disclaimer: Obviously, If I were Kishimoto, He wouldn't have picked my username.

"This is exactly why shopping baskets were invented." I muttered, glancing down the load between my arms. About a dozen party supplies stacked up under my chin like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Both my pinkies alone held two packages of multi-colored balloons.

'This is for the greater good, this is for the greater good, this is for the greater good…' I chanted –sort of, trying to regain my balance. So much for poise and stability.

I looked like an amusing one-woman-show with my pink hair and all that shebang. Well, that's what I thought judging by the look a personnel gave me. Anyway, in my attempt to regain some of my dignity, I reached for my final purchase for the day: a bag of paper hats with fuzzy things at the end. Yup, very dignified indeed.

I was determined to (at least) appear to look like I knew what I was doing while leaving the decoration aisle. I maneuvered myself toward an empty checkout lane, plopped my stash down the conveyer belt and smiled to the cashier. And that was the perfect opportunity to notice the lane that I was actually in. The express lane; for senior citizens. The cashier gave me a look but shrugged.

This is embarrassing.

She raised a quizzical brow at the merchandise and smirked "Kid's birthday party?" she offered "Um, no actually." I laughed awkwardly then pointed to the name plate on my shirt. It read:

Haruno Sakura

Head of Junior Volunteers

Fire Country General

The cashier whistled. "Wow. Mine just says my name and my job" ,she joked, " So what kind of people do you handle?"

"Practically anybody actually, but most of the time I get stuck in the senior and children's department." I shrugged.

"Hmmm. So you're telling me that the old folks are having a party with these?-" she held up a noisemaker and rung it around. "-now that I have to see for myself." We both laughed as she continued to scan my stuff. "We're having a party today on short notice 'cause this sweet kid got a successful operation." I smiled at the brunette girl. Then something clicked "Hey, wait. Aren't you a senior in KO-GA?" I slightly gawked at her.

"Uh…yeah?" she blinked.

My eyes widened in realization "Yeah! You're that girl who made M.V.P. for soccer and kendo right? –my classmates nicknamed you the 'Buns of Steel'!" the brunette's eyes bulged, then she snapped her head at me and blushed 'is it me or is her left eye twitching too much?'

"Wh-what?!" her voice cracked at the end.

"Uh…oh , I think they meant your hairstyle." I sheepishly said while pointing to her head.

"Oh. Ahehehe…he" she laughed rather forcibly "-So, you go to KO-GA too huh? What year are you in?" she erased the awkward atmosphere like it didn't happen, wow I gotta take notes form her. "Third year." I replied giving her three bills when I saw the total at the register .

"Ok, here" she handed me my change and receipt "-by the way, The name's Tenten" she pointed her name plate, and true to her word it did just contain her name and her job, it even had a period in it.

Tenten

Cashier.

'Ouch.'

"Nice to meet you." I held my hand out for her to shake. "See you at school sometime, and try not to party too hard." Tenten laughed at her own joke. I smiled and waved goodbye.

"Oh hell." I felt animated tears falling from my face as I hooked the plastic bags on each of my fingers. Well, it wasn't that they were heavy, I mean, come on. You expect Haruno Sakura to be beaten by decorations?...-it was just that I couldn't help but to complain since:

A) I have to endure carrying these till the ninth floor. 'Though, there's an elevator'

B) I looked like a mule. 'Okay, so I'm exaggerating a bit'

C) A family of heavenly creatures just arrived at the entrance. 'well, not really mythical, but still pretty.'

D)Compared to them I- 'see preference to letter C.'

E) I think I'm still going to be the (only) one to decorate the room. 'no comment.'

But hey. That's just me.

So there I went, I passed by the group of descended-from-kingdom-come looking people. There were four members: a woman, a man, a dude and a little boy . Except for the woman, they all had black eyes with matching hair, by the looks of it, they needed a tan and boy do they look sharper than Tsunade's scalpels.

I went through the automatic doors and walked to the hospital (which was a good five minutes away), while avoiding the mid morning traffic. And then, there it was: Fire Country General.

Stepping in the building, the "Pine-fresh" scent of the first floor filled my olfactory nerves.

.

Tired. Was probably the most appropriate word to describe/asses the current situation (s). The florescent in the supposed party room was 'tired' so maintenance-san, who was extending his shift. Had to work more 'cause the first intern hasn't arrived yet. The clown that we hired (who was by the way, the cheapest one we could get) was getting worn out with the kids who were demanding balloon animals that were neither snakes nor tangled earthworms . He is currently being attacked by able patients with I.V. poles as we speak.

Kabuto-san, who was not tired, ordered the tired Haruno Sakura, who was previously predicted to set up the whole venue,-said premonition is already a fact, to go fetch condiments for his patient for he/she was having a sudden craving slash fetish for chip n' dips or whatever at the moment.

But things turned for the better as a radiating angel who was bestowed with the heavenly name Shizune descended from above (the tenth floor). With the heavenly creature was a God-given creation called caffeine and Shizune (being the heavenly creature that she is) gave it to the lowly pink-haired peasant. Bless her soul.

As the hot liquid coursed through her throat… I felt proper consciousness slap me like BAM! 'Wow, was I really talking in third person?' My body automatically shrugged. I shook my head 'I gotta stop doing that.'

'Mmmmm, french vanilla.'

But alas, my short moment of comfort was caught abruptly by a voice (that I knew too well) which pulled me back to Hel- I mean Earth. "Haruno-san, I do believe that I had asked you to perform an errand for me. If it were too much of a trouble for you, being an assistant of one of the board of directors, you could have told me." I winced, my grip on the cup tightening. I tilted my head toward him, And there it was. Those evil glasses of his, reflecting some kind of sadistic light, beaming at me.

My skin crawled from toe to scalp "N-no, Kabuto-san, I just got a cup to drink." I sheepishly brought up and pointed to the cup I was holding in my other hand. He quirked a brow, sighed and waved me off.

I slumped a bit in relief, threw away the now empty cup then headed for the elevator. It's not that Kabuto-san was that bad, but I had to be a bit conscious when interacting with him. After all, he is one of the assistants of the three board of directors, as same with me and Shizune-senpai. Plus, I couldn't even diss him. When I think of something, It's like he can read minds. My face grimaced at this thought and I involuntarily shuddered.

You see, the directors are sort of in a rocky relationship right now, so being a direct 'coughpart-timecough' assistant to Tsunade, who is the main director, it's part of my duty to ensure the relationship is not-so-rocky, or I'll probably lose my job. Get my drift?

My elevator 'dinged' at my destination, and I was off to the Supermarket again. A glaring gun and noisy traffic greeted me as I stepped out the building. 'Shoot. We still have to do that take-home trigonometry thing.' I crossed the intersection and approached the front of the Store's parking lot 'Hmm…maybe we can ask Shizune to help later.' That's…actually not a bad idea. 'Of course it's not. If you're a genius, I wouldn't be one either.' Hn, good point.

And yes, I have this alternate-ego-person in my head that I…um talk to, I labeled her Inner Sakura when I was a kid. Although she only materializes when a strong emotion was provoked in me, like determination, anger and etcetera. Though she evaporated a long time ago, she still comes back from time to time. And no, I am not insane. I always thought that sanity was a realization from within and its definition was technical, no less than the concept of beauty. What made sense to me might not make much sense to you. So there fore, I delved with the category in sanity.

And yes, if that did not made sense at all, I do have another 'person' living inside me without paying rent. 'Um, did I mention I ramble too much sometimes?' I had already passed the entrance of the grocery store and right now, I'm looking for the dip section. "Ahh, there it is. Aisle thirteen." I jogged a bit then slowed when I got there.

Then something caught my eye. There was a little boy reaching for a jar of cheese dip. 'Hey, wasn't he the little boy we saw earlier?' I absentmindedly grabbed the thing Kabuto told me to buy since I was too busy looking at the kid's cute attempt at reaching the item.

He was tip-toeing, about my abdomen level, and he had black hair. He had this adorable expression on his face, the tip of his tongue pressed at the corners of his lips and eyebrows that seemed to go "Why couldn't I be a girl so I can wear heels to reach this thing?" -Okay, maybe that's just me, being the thought-dubbing-feminist dork I am.

Then everything went like a blur. I heard a beeping noise like a truck was backing up, a guy shouting and the shelves shook, my eyes widened at the sight of two jars from three shelves up from where the kid is standing was knocked from their place. My body jerked in reflex and reached for him.

"CRASH."

"CRASH."

"MY KID!"

"Nooo, my paycheck!"

'Ugh...my head.'

.

"Haruno-san?"

'Mmm, somebody's calling me.

"Haruno-san."

Where the Hell was it coming from? I tried opening my eyes 'Shit, bad mistake. It's too bright in here.' Everything was still blurry when my eyes focused on this woman. 'What's up with the cheesy outdated music?'

"Uh, miss? Could you tell me where am i?" I asked her, I'm genuinely confused right now. The lady looked at me weirdly; opened her mouth and "Excuse me?"

"WHOAH!" my eyes bulged and I backed away, from the male sounding girl, hyperventilating. My right arm had hit a shelf and it sent a shock to my brain "Shit, ow." I looked at it to find it bleeding. 'Must have happened when the jar shards flew all over the place.' Wait a minute. "Where's the kid?!" I looked under me.

"Ah Haruno-san, may we tend to your injuries first?, My Uncle is over there." He gestured to a woman kneeling towards the kid. 'The kid's his uncle? -where the hell's the logic in here?!' Being the idiot I am, I blinked and stuttered a "H-hai?" as my dignified response.

"Uh…um, excuse me miss." I turned to a personnel with a first aid kit in hand "On behalf o-f my st-staff, I w-would like to -tto apologise for the commo-otion." He bowed repeatedly that it was almost comical.

I waved both of my hands at him "N-no, it was nothing reall-?" the she-man beside me grabbed my right wrist and started to clean my nicked skin, which started to prickle a bit. Then this other man, much older than this guy approached the personnel "I would like to have a little talk with the head management around here," He spoke with so much authority that I shuddered, inwardly of course. The poor personnel shrunk under the man's face and led him away.

"Haruno-san." I turned again "Huh?" The she-man tucked my bangs and leaned closer. In under a span of a second, my skin turned beet red like a chameleon and oxygen stopped flowing to my brain. 'He leaned more, ahhh!' He then brought up his hand…'With an ice pack?' And place it on my huge forehead. "Eiiiiiiiiiiiii!" I shrieked like a banshee when it made contact with a sore spot on my huge forehead. The dude seemed unfazed when I screamed bloody murder at his face. "Can you hold it for me?" he asked me, voice so smooth like peanut butter. 'Pfft, peanut butter?' I could only nod meekly as my fingertips brushed against his for the briefest second.

He stood up and offered me his hand (which I eagerly accepted, much to my liking) "May I introduce myself as Uchiha, Itachi-" Itachi then made eye contact with the kid who was watching us and he came over "-and this is my uncle Uchiha, Katori." Itachi placed his hands on the little boy's shoulder. 'and again:-uncle?' The little guy looked at me and bowed. "Arigato onee-sama, and I apologize at the inconvenience I've caused you." Wow, fluent kid.

I smiled at him "Aww, it's okay. Not much harm done." I gestured to the ice pack. And he gave me the cutest smile in return. "Um, Uchiha-san…I was wondering how you knew my name." I looked at Itachi.

"I acquired it by the use of your name plate." He said.

"Oh, hahehe." And here I thought he was psychic and we were destined to meet or something.

"Pardon me for asking Haruno-san, are you good with children in the Hospital?" the woman earlier stepped-or rather, sashayed towards me.

"Some kids admitted out of the hospital visit me sometimes, if that's any consolation." I shrugged at her. But it seemed that none of what I said entered her head as she inspected her nails "Um, Yes? I guess I am." She perked up at this and handed me a calling card. "We are sort of having a little problem" She eyed Katori for a second "-on finding a governess while we are staying here. Would you mind being a temporary babysitter for our Katori-kun over here? The Uchiha family will pay you a bundle"- she was stopped short when Itachi interrupted her.

"Don't you find it quite idiotic that you're squawking too much information to a complete stranger? And I believe it is proper to give your name first in engaging a conversation." He wasn't even looking at her when he said this, instead he was looking at a can like it was much more interesting to look at than the model-lady in front of me. 'I'm not sure whether to hate the pretty looking she-man for implying something in the 'complete stranger' or respect his/her un-bias approach on the foxy lady.

'I go for the latter.' I faced the woman, she was red all over the face but held her hand out none the less "I'm Nodame, Maka. Uchiha, Madara's-" "Supplant girlfriend." Aaand, she was cut off again. But will you believe me if I said it was the Kid? Yeah, and by the looks of it, Nodame-san doesn't know what "supplant" meant, judging by her confused (most likely cosmetically enhanced) face.

Probably out of a snarky comeback, she settled for a grimace and bent down to Katori's eye level "Look here, you little Hobbit, you better give respect to people older than you or Santa won't give you anything this year." She told him in a sickeningly sweet tone. With the same amount of enthusiasm Itachi had earlier, he snapped back "First of all, Hobbits are already small. And second, I stopped believing in gift giving obese (no offence to any of my readers who are vertically challenged, really sorry.) men when I was four. And of course, the day I give you respect is the day you'll earn it, grandma."

As much as this was entertaining, it's sort of freaking me out. So I side-stepped to Itachi and hesitantly whispered to him "Uchiha-san, How old is that kid again?" He glanced at me at the corners of his eyes "He'll be ten soon."

I think he sort of caught my head twitch so he answered "Prodigy. He's in fourth place in the time progression in my age generation though." Wow. Now I think I choked on oxygen knowing that this kid who knew S.A.T. words placed freaking fourth on this dude's age radar.

"Itachi."

In an instant, it seemed like everything froze. The man that looked like one of them approached us. "We're leaving." At the side, I could see an unconscious employee being dragged away by Tenten. Then suddenly, he noticed me as if I appeared magically at the very moment. A perfectly shaped eye brow was raised.

"She's a candidate, Uncle." Itachi answered, fully facing the man like it explained the universal truth, he turned around and started to walk away "Hn."

I see this guy is a man of few words or was verbally deprived, hmm…maybe both. Suddenly, a hand was presented to me "It was nice meeting you Haruno-san, if you are interested in the proposition Nodame-san gave, please give us a call."

I responded with my right hand, which is now numb from holding the icepack, "The feeling's mutual. Though, I'm sorry, I'm sort of busy in dealing with the Hospital and the starting of the second quarter of my semester in school." I said sheepishly "We just finished the exams a day ago, Hehe."

Itachi nodded, his hair, slightly following the motion. "I see, if you change your mind, the offer still stands. And then he bowed. Both of his long bangs covered his face like a silk curtain, covering that pretty face of his. I could just sigh happily now, -inwardly of course.

Then he straightened up and handed me something "Sour Cream and Onion Dip with five percent more zing!" 'Huh. Talk about unexpected'. It was what Kabuto told me to get.

And away they went.

Wait.

Kabuto. Kids. Party. Shit.

I ran to the cash register at the express lanes, avoiding several obstacles of other shoppers and demonstrating salespersons and went for a touch-down. "Hm, I'm guessing this time it's an emergency that you're using this lane again. So, what's up with you?" Hey, it's Tenten.

"I just met the highlight of my day." I can't help beam at her.

"HA. Me too." She tried to scan my can of onion dip, but failed "My boss got dissed by this big shot then he fainted." She snorted while typing the code instead.

"Ahehe, here." I handed her the money, feeling a bit of something in the pit of my stomach. And on a side note, it's not diarrhea.

"See you Monday."

"Kay." I waved weakly at her, this is turning to be a great day despite the usual casualties.

"By the way, there's something on your forehead!"

.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THERE'S GOING TO BE A STRIKE?!...Kabuto-san?" I added hesitantly. He took the plastic bag (with the dip inside) "I was informed that the company's going to have another investor, granted that he has some conditions.-" I piped in "wait, how'd you know it's a he?" he threw me a look that said "obviously" and "stop cutting me off" 'sexist bastard'. He pushed his glasses back and continued "The directors each have different opinions regarding these conditions, so it has thrown the Entire Hospital's fan bases to a catastrophic mess."

'So that's why I there was a wrestling match on the Nursery's floor.'

"Shit." And a slap to my face was my intellectual reaction –which I regretted immediately, and hissed 'Aaah. Owie, I forgot about my bruise'. This is not good, you see, it was very crucial an unspoken rule, even that every employee in the company had a certain liking or admiration towards one of the directors (and you can only like one.) then you are sorted in the "fan bases". Katsuyu, Bunta, and Manda (mascots) to the three of them respectively.

And as you can see, I am with Tsunade –shoot, I just realized. There's probably a HUGE bet on this, if Tsunade loses, the whole base goes down with her too 'Big bets (that has Jiraiya involved) comes with even larger consequences' , But if she wins it means that the investor guy will lead the company to some kind of grave shit.

Then, as if Kabuto sensed that I realized it, he grinned "Good luck with that." He pushed his glasses back again, blinding me for a moment and slid away. 'What was great about today again?'

"Ah, by the way, there's a blue spot on your upper left temple."

'Graaaaaaaaarh!'

.

"I'm home." My voice echoed throughout my house "Huh, that's weird. Normally he'd-" I was tackled with a bear hug. "Saaaaakura-chaan. Why didn't you call? I was so worried…" 'here we go again.'

"F..Father. I'm okay." Yet I was drowned out by my dad "…and you're late!" I looked, over his shoulder, pointedly at the round clock "6:01." Seeing everything was futile, I stopped struggling.

"I'm having a bad day." I said gravely. He immediately stopped chatting animatedly. Haha, that 'emotional-card' always works wonders. Dad pulled away from me and does one of those fatherly smiles that always gets to me

"Then let's make it a good day." He gushed, turned and pushed me into the dinning room "I've already made dinner." I spotted a note on the fridge "Rent's next week, Haruno."

He opened the rice cooker, scooped some rice into two bowls and placed them in front of me, steam emitting from it. It's always been like this, since mother was gone. He always tried to fill in both roles. Sometimes, seeing this when I come home, it's like the only thing I needed to think about to get me through a shitty day. Dad plopped across me and grinned.

'What the - that grin...'

"Itadkimasu."

I placed my bowl down, making a dull 'thud' "Did something happen at work today?" Dad was in the motion of entering a piece of meat in his mouth but set it down and sighed. "I got demoted."

"What happened?" I asked lightly. 'How can this...how the hell could this happen? this type of thing does not happen to fathers like mine.' "I tried to cover for Shinichi-san again..." he trailed off "-B...but, don't worry musume-chan! Daddy has a plan to land his feet on a promotion he's been eyeing on!" Dad tried his best to smile at me.

'Dad...'

I mocked a scoff "If I didn't know better, i swear you're losing your touch, old man!" He pretended to look flabbergasted "Oi, your father is working his behind off and this is the thanks I get?! What an annoying daughter with a huge forehe-" I eyed him warily, daring my father to complete his statement "-cute forehead."

Then for some unknown mutual reason, we both laughed.

And we continued on inhaling our dinner. "Ah, I almost forgot to ask, how was your day, musume-chan?" I swallowed some water before answering

"You'd never guess wha-" The doorbell rang, Dad was about to get up, but I was already near the door way "I'll get it!" I insisted. So I opened the door, revealing one blonde Yamanaka, Ino.

"Ino?" Said girl grinned at me. "Ei, Forehead. "Sorry, but can I borrow your chemistry book?" she sheepishly grinned at me. I rolled my eyes in response, and swung the door open.

"Bedroom."

She went in and proceeded to the stairs "Hey, Haruno-san!" She waved.

"Ah, Ino-chan, join us!" dad offered.

"Nah, I'm fine Haruno-san. Excuse me." She bowed and went up.

"I'll do the dishes later!" I hollered back down when I followed Ino upstairs. Ino immediately grabbed my text book from my desk and made a plunge for the bed "Oi, keep your piggy germs from my bed." I made for the chair near my desk when Ino threw a pillow at me... and hit me squarely in the face. My hand automatically went for the sore spot on my forehead "Aw, shit. You Pig!" I hissed at her.

"What? can't handle a hit from moi?" she looked smug. I deadpanned, lowered the hand covering my bruise and sternly pointed at it. Her eyes widened for a moment "What happened?! Did someone hit you?" Ino reverted to scary-protective-big sister mode. "For the sake of my ego, I want to say yes, but no." She snorted like a real pig 'that she was -haha.'

"Spill." She demanded.

So I started to re-tell the glorious adventures of my Saturday, from the haphazard scenarios from the supermarket, to the nut-house that I worked in, which was the Hospital, and finally to the problem which was the rent. I took a few moments to catch my breath while I waited for Ino-pig's reaction.

"Forehead, you're not normal."

Somewhere at the back of my head, I felt a vein throb. So I threw the pillow back at her that she caught, without effort, much to my irritation.

"Well, would you consider meeting a hot guy that you met in a supermarket that offered you a job just when Hospital goes berserk on your ass when you need rent money stat, normal?" She challenged.

My face reconstructed to a look of slight mortification that pig had a point. "Exactly." she gave me a knowing look.

"So what the hell are you waiting for?! You should call now, before they give the job to some other chick!" Ino threw her hands up in exaggeration.

"Fine , I'll do it, I'll do it!" So I went for the phone.

"Geez, What would you do without me?"

"Well, for one thing, I wouldn't have you "borrowing" homework from me."

"And I wouldn't be here because of the reason why again?"

"Touché."

We both laughed, then she got up "I'm going to get a glass of water." I nodded my head, listening to the dial tone.

.

I closed the door to Forehead's room and smiled a little. Some people really do have the luck on having a non-dull life. I went down the stairs and headed to the Harunos' fridge. "Rent's next week, Haruno. Ah!, It's that asshole landlord Sakura keeps telling me about." I opened the door, getting the pitcher and setting it on the counter. "Glass, glass, glass..." I keep muttering, opening some cupboards "Aha." I pulled one out and filled it with cold water. I took a sip and place the pitcher back.

I backtracked to Sakura's door and opened it, taking a huge gulp of water in the process.

"Hai, Uchiha-san."

I feel my throat close up and water spluttering into the face of my pink-haired best friend. For a second, Sakura looked livid, but transformed to a look of worry when I started coughing madly -Well, duh. I'm choking here.

She continued to pat my back as she talked to somebody on the phone. When I finally stopped, I went in front of her and started doing body language signals. Judging by the look on her face, My face probably looked constipated or something. So I tried to combine mouthing what I'm trying to say 'Put tha phoone dawn. Do yuh rehmember who Ucheeha is?!'

She gave me a confused look "Stop it. -Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean you ahehehe." She gave me the finger. This is the thanks I get for trying for trying to be a good friend here? I gave her the look that said 'Ugh. I can't believe you.' (and gave the finger back too.) then fell back to the bed.

.

"Okay. Thank you and have a good evening." I hung up and wiped water infused pig spit from my face "What the hell, Ino-pig?!" She gave me another look like I sentenced myself to some horrible fate.

"Sakura. Did you hit your brain that badly behind that huge forehead of yours?!"

"What are yo-"

"Don't you remember another person with the same fucking last name?!"

"SHI-"Ino covered my mouth before I woke up my father.

If I didn't have a headache before, I most certainly have one now.

'Uchiha, Sasuke.'

Note to self-I mean reader, corner: Hey guys. Here's chap1, hope you guys liked it. And by the way, why the hell didn't anybody bother to guess who the 'sexy voice' was? XD haha, you can still guess though. AND ABOUT ITACHI : he is just one of the three -yes three, i'm dropping plot hints here. people who are in the battle for our herione. So review please, if you want a faster update. and thanks again for charredfeathers, (who-is-formerly-known-as-smartalecs) for beta-ing for me. R and R please!