Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 2

Twelve angry men – and a woman – were in the meeting room. Are we even allowed to be in here? Sakura wondered as she stared at her intense colleagues. Kankuro took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Well, intense was somewhat of an understatement.

"Sir, would you like me to lower the temperature of the AC?" she asked.

"Please do; I had no idea the thing was turned on," said Kankuro. Sakura got up and walked to the switch while her boss continued on, "Gentlemen, and, uh, Miss Haruno –" she scowled "– I have some important news to announce."

"Now, as you all know, Macs Inc. will be holding its 60th anniversary celebration here in a few days. My job is riding on the success of this event," he chuckled; nobody else laughed. "Uh, right…just keep in mind that it is very important."

"And the connection between the party and our department is –?" questioned one of the officers.

"Moron, we need to make sure no psychos come dancin' in," another officer mocked.

"Aren't we supposed to do that every single day?" the first man retorted.

"That's exactly right, but the police will be doing that with us on the day of the celebration," Kankuro cut in." Our primary 'use' in all this is to watch the actions of a certain man."

Sakura took her seat and narrowed her eyes with interest. Kankuro threw a file on to the table and slammed his palm on it. "This," he said as he took a picture out of the folder, "is him – pass it around, please."

"I've seen him somewhere…"

"Yeah, me too. The eyes seem especially familiar – here."

"Yikes."

"Looks like trouble," said the person next to Sakura while handing the picture to her. It was a middle-aged man with gray hair and wild, dark sideburns. He did look like bad news. One of his eyes was green and the other was blue. Color contacts – even the nasty guys used them.

"His name is Bob Herris," said Kankuro. What a name, Sakura thought. Many guards in the room started mumbling. "He's been suspected of running several parts of the black market, some chains of drug trafficking, and other terrible things."

"There are rumors that he was behind the big robbery last year."

"And that train explosion –"

"But in the end, they are just rumors," Kankuro said. "It's quite obvious he's a part of the mafia."

"It seems like he owns it," said Sakura.

"We can't assume anything, Miss Haruno. The only thing we can do is to carefully watch his every move. A lot of big figures will be at the celebration, including Lady Tsunade."

"Where is he staying, sir?"

"Room 91A; he signed in a few days ago," said Kankuro. "I will provide each of you with a key to the suite, in case of emergencies. Don't be rash. Meeting dismissed. And, uh, Miss Haruno?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to make the room so cold next time."

"You're the boss," Sakura grumbled. She was the last to leave the room; she liked to be behind everyone, to get a chance to see everything. The things people do in the back were much more scandalous. They might look happy and shiny in the front, but there's a whole different story on the other side of the coin. She walked down the corridor, sighing. The meeting room plus various other places, including the gyms, tennis courts, the ceiling party hall, were in the Y Building. The hotel rooms, restaurants and such were in the X Building. Sakura's office was also in the X. She had – how very symbolic – a long road ahead of her.

Sakura felt better when she was crossing the glass bridge between X and Y. The ground she walked on was transparent as well, making her feel like she was defying gravity. According to legend, Le Grand Hotel didn't always have two buildings. A woman founded the hotel, and the hotel was just the X Building in the beginning. The Y Building was a recreational center owned by a man. Both their offices were on the 72nd floor, and one day, when the two hermits decided to pull the curtains and let the sun shine through, they saw each other; on that day, they were also penetrated by love. The two got married and joined the two buildings by a glass bridge connecting the two 72nd floors. The bridge was supposedly clean, pure, and strong like their love. It would suck if they got divorced, Sakura thought. Most people, especially those that were afraid of height, chose to cross the road. She liked the view and the silence.

She got to the other side and stopped at the elevators. At that moment, the doors opened and a trolley came out. A pretty girl with long indigo hair and light lavender eyes was pushing it. Hotel maid, Sakura thought. The trolley rode over a bump and some apples fell out and rolled to Sakura's feet.

"I-I'm sorry!" the girl cried.

"It's alright, I'll get it," Sakura said. "You might want to wash them; who knows what's been on these carpets."

The girl smiled and took the apples. "Thank you," she said. Her voice was very soft.

"What's your name?"

"…Um…"

"I don't mean any harm," said Sakura. "I just thought that it'd be nice to have a friend who isn't obsessed about…rich and potentially dangerous men."

"…?"

Sakura groaned. Social skills, may you rest in peace.

"Well, m-my name is Hinata," the girl said. She looked like she was amused. How many people can look modest and sweet when they're suppressing laughter? "Hyuuga Hinata."

"Hyuuga? You mean you're related to that pretty boy Neji?"

"P-pretty – uh, yeah, he's my cousin."

"Ugh, I'm sorry, I'm not a stalker, I just – he," said Sakura as she gave herself a mental slap, "was one of the rich and potentially dangerous men, but it turns out…well –"

"I think I know what you mean," Hinata said. She checked her wristwatch – Omega, Sakura noted. "Ah, late for room service. I'll see you later?"

"You bet," Sakura smiled and waved. "Bye!"

Rich, but working as a hotel maid…

"You must be a very independent girl, Hinata," Sakura whispered and pressed the up button.

--

The blinding blue screens flickered before showing what they were supposed to – the hallways, the lobbies, the areas outside the bathrooms, and last but not least, the elevators. Sakura twirled around on her super rolling chair full of anticipation. No one had gone in any of the elevators yet, and no one would until half an hour later. She felt some drool ooze out of her mouth and her eyelids droop while four of her fingers were placed on the red button under each of the elevator screens. And then it happened – the ping; Sakura realized that she would never get tired of hearing it.

It was a young man who looked to be a bit older than her. Hold on, she thought as she leaned forward. Hyuuga Neji? She zoomed in on the rich and potentially dangerous man who was reaching for the "78" button. Are those flowers? She gaped at the colorful mass in his hands.

Out of curiosity, Sakura pressed the red button. She watched – and heard – the man let out a large breath of air. He was nervous about something.

He lifted the bouquet up in front of him and stared with sincerity at an invisible audience. "Tenten, as weird as this might seem –" Tell me about it, Sakura pursed her lips "– I just wanted to say," he paused and cleared his throat, "happy anniversary."

Sakura smiled. Who knew?

The elevator was on the 67th floor. Neji looked up at the mirrored ceiling and sighed. "Five months already…"

She took her eyes off of Neji and his flowers and scanned the rest of the neglected screens; she wouldn't want them to have abandonment issues. There was an endless flow of people coming in and out of the front doors. The workers in the restaurants were playing poker – if you thought that the place was really closed, think again. Most of the corridors were vacant, peaceful, and clean. Most of them. The souvenir shop which is connected to the cake store that leads to one of the cafés had, for once, hardly any people in it. What a boring, but serene, afternoon it was. That serenity was ruined when someone got in the elevator on the 78th floor after Neji got out of Elevator D.

And was he something: forest green suit, round eyes, eyelashes that actually abided to the Universal Law of Gravitation – très saggy, a shiny bowl cut, and a pair of bushy brows. Bushy was a nice way to put it. The man spun around five times and, with his eyes closed, hit a button while Sakura's finger found its way to the red one.

"Yes! B1! Just the floor I wanted to go to!" he shouted. With both fists clenched, he bounced up and down.

Kankuro, I think I found the reason for the elevator malfunction yesterday, Sakura thought. He's back to ruin the other elevators too?

The man paused in his jumping when he, like Neji, looked up at the ceiling. His eyes flared up and Sakura shrank into her chair. Maybe Kankuro wasn't that intense after all. "I, Rock Lee, will touch the top!" he bent his knees, ready to spring up.

Lee leapt again and again, trying to get to the ceiling. It was a tall elevator; the hotel couldn't exactly predict the heights of their guests. Sakura was sneering at him, but only for a while. The lift was going down past the 19th floor, and he was still trying. There was just something about people who set goals, no matter how simple, and go crazy- not necessarily in a bad way – achieving it. Sakura admired them; she admired him, as ridiculous as he might have seemed. She rooted for him on the inside.

The elevator had reached B1. Lee was sweating and panting; Sakura thought that it was the end of the little adventure, but to her dismay, instead of stepping out, Lee stayed in and pressed for the highest floor – 101.

She laid her forehead down on the cold table. I need a break.

Sakura put the walkie-talkie next to her mouth. She got her "baby" back the day before, not from Ino, but from the lady at the lost and found counter. "Lost…" she grumbled.

"Boss," she said into the tiny machine. "May I please be excused to get some food down at the café?"

She winced at the cackling noise. "Fine, but make sure it is done quickly," Kankuro's bitter voice sounded.

Someone's in a good mood today, Sakura shrugged.

--

The elevator stopped and opened. She frowned a bit when she heard a couple thumps. When the doors opened, her eyes bulged out. "Uh – I, um, h-hello," Rock Lee said. He was still trying to reach the ceiling?

"Hi," Sakura said and entered; the doors shut soon after she pressed "1." If anything made the situation more awkward, it was the new elevator music. So that's what the repair team was busy doing instead of fixing my mikes, Sakura crossed her arms.

It was interesting seeing Lee up close instead of on a screen.

"Hot in here, isn't it?" she asked, indicating at the trickles of perspiration on his cheek.

Lee laughed and wiped some of his sweat off. "It's a pity that they don't have air conditioning," he fanned himself. "My youth is boiling."

"That's nice," Sakura smiled and looked down at her feet. If there really weren't any air conditioning, his youth would be vaporizing. "So, are you enjoying your stay here?"

"More than any place else," Lee nodded. "I will be performing a martial arts act at the anniversary party. My teacher is the great Master Gai."

"I'll be looking forward to see it then," said Sakura. There were ten more floors to go.

"You must be good at taijutsu yourself, Miss," said Lee, his eyes on her uniform.

"Nah, my job's much more passive."

The ding rang and she felt a swooping feeling in her stomach as the elevator stopped. "I'm going to go now," she said while stepping out.

"Go kick some butt!" Rock Lee whispered. "Oh, wait, job – passive," he grinned and winked with a thumb's up.

Where would the world be without optimistic people? Sakura shook her head. She stretched out her arms; it felt good to be on ground level again. The people were socializing in the lobby, talking and patting each other on the back. Some welcomed relatives and friends, helping with the luggage and shedding the occasional tear here and there. In the background were the ringing of telephones and the clicking of heels. The place was like sophisticated flea market – buzzing and full of activity. Sakura nodded at a fellow guard on her way to the café.

"A cup of hot chocolate and a dozen donuts please," Sakura tapped at the counter.

"Donuts? You're becoming more like a cop every day," the woman processing her order said.

"And you should be in your office," Sakura rolled her eyes, "Temari."

"There was a spot on the market," said Temari, hitting the enter button with force. "It's easier to observe my hotel this way, not locked up in some fancy room."

"At least yours is fancy," Sakura sighed. "Hand me the whipped cream bottle, will you?"

Temari smirked. "Getting kinky with your hot chocolate?"

"No, you sick woman."

"Rude."

"You've taught me well."

"Still not good enough," Temari laughed and took out her folding fan. A shine on her hand caught Sakura's eye.

"Is that an engagement ring?"

"Your donuts, Sakura," Temari thrust the bag in her hands.

"Tem –" Sakura tried to grab on to her, but she had already went into the kitchen where the deserts were freshly prepared.

--

Donuts and hot chocolate armed in her hands, she headed back to her office. The screens showed the same things they showed before she left. Sakura opened the box of donuts and took out the one with the rainbow sprinkles. It was probably the least healthy one, but hey, life was short. Strange particles of loneliness were bouncing within her, attaching themselves to her good, happy cells. She got down to her only solution – call Ino.

"Hello?" the soothing, or what she would normally consider grumpy, voice of her best friend crept out of the phone.

"Ino, it's me."

"Sakura? I have caller ID you know," she was laughing to herself. Without Sakura beside her. That just made Sakura more depressed. "You sound tired…"

"I'm eating a donut."

"…I'm not tempted."

"Wasn't trying to tempt you," Sakura felt a vein pop out. Frustration with Ino somehow always cheered her up; it took her mind off things, maybe that's why.

"Well? I haven't got all day."

"I know you don't have any customers right now."

"Oh my gosh, is that a wrinkle? Sakura, it's all your fault."

"Go stick your skinny face in a vase full of water or something."

"I'm hanging up."

Sakura smiled. "So, the thing with Shikamaru. I think I know who the bride-to-be is."

"He is not getting married, Sakura. I asked him."

"Oh…"

"You sound disappointed," Ino pointed out in a demanding voice. "Who is that woman you were talking about anyway?"

"No one. I might've been wrong."

"I am seriously going to hang up. I mean, you –"

Sakura groaned as the girl went on rambling about respect and phone call etiquette. She stole a glance at the elevator screens. They were luring her. She slowly rolled her way to the front of them in her chair. They were so pretty and exerted such dangerous and harmful rays. "Ooh, one of them is moving," Sakura breathed with suspense.

"What?"

"Nothing, Ino."

There was no one in the elevator, so it was going to get somebody. I wonder which floor it's going to, Sakura thought. It was in the 80s. Something was odd. It was now on the 90th floor. Oh no…

91.

"Ino, I'm going to have to hang up. Bye."

"Wha- click."

The doors slid open. Sakura bit her lip. Was it the mafia guy?

She watched a pair of fine, black leather shoes step in. Her eyes traced upward to take in the poison bit by bit. The suit was a tad too gentleman-like.

Raven hair and black eyes. Pale skin – he didn't look anywhere near weak or sickly.

Who was this man? Whoever he was, once he stepped out of the suite on the 91st floor, he was definitely dangerous.

Author's Note: Saucekay arrives at the scene! Finally. Leave a review to tell me what you think. Thanks! :)