Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 6

There were so many questions Sakura could've asked – are you kidding me; who are you and what have you done to my generally merciful boss; and, if I'm fired then who will make sure the bombs are stopped? It was like facing a multiple choice question. Only one could be chosen, and out came, from her quavering mouth, a soft, shaky "Why?"

"Because there are limits, Miss Haruno, and you broke them," Kankuro stated. "Sai will take your job from now on –"

"Wha– no –"

"The keys, please," Sai held out a hand, "to the camera room."

"Enough already," said Kankuro. "Kiba, please escort Miss Haruno out."

The door shut behind them. Sakura saw her ex-boss lean to talk to Lady Tsunade and Sai's smug face right before the mahogany wood cut off her view. With Akamaru between them and wagging his tail, Sakura and Kiba made their way to the elevators, where they waited for the one that was coming up from the 22nd floor.

"You know," Kiba said, tucking his hands behind his head. "You're probably better off elsewhere."

"We'll see," Sakura managed to smile. "At least it makes sense now, Kankuro's inability to call me by my first name. He never liked me much, did he?"

"He called you Sakura just now, before the – uh…"

"Bomb threat?" Sakura asked. If she had a chance to do it all over again, she'd rather dedicate a shrine to Sai than warn Kankuro.

"Bomb – yeah, no," Kiba ruffled his hair.

Ding.

"Ah, my ride's here," Sakura sighed and stepped in.

"Sakura…the bombs…"

"Don't worry about them," she assured as she pressed 72.

Kiba reached out to stop the elevator doors from closing. "Stay in touch, okay?" he grinned; Akamaru barked in agreement.

"I'm not going anywhere, Kiba," Sakura laughed.

"Right, Kankuro never told me to kick you out of the hotel."

"Even if he did, you still wouldn't," Sakura said; Kiba shrugged and let go of the doors. "See you around."

Should I manage to get rid of the exploding pipes of evil, she completed the sentence in her head. Back to the questions – how would she stop the bombs? Who was going to help her? She had no idea where the explosives were; they could be anywhere and everywhere. The best and quickest solution Sakura came up with from 52 to 72 to cross the bridge and then head to the ceiling party room was to find Uchiha Sasuke. She paused at the entrance and scanned the crowded hall – to find one man in all of that…

Sakura checked her wristwatch. She adjusted her hat and took in a big breath. There were three more hours to go.

- -

"Naruto," she yanked at the blond's sleeve. "Have you seen a guy–"

"Of course I have! But that doesn't mean anything, I just see them and –" he shut himself up by stuffing a cupcake in his mouth. "Oo er faying?"

"I was saying, have you seen a guy that's taller than you, pale, has raven hair –"

"Yeah…yeah, he's the real cocky one," Naruto grumbled. "He took the last of the roasted chicken."

"That's him," Sakura rolled her eyes. The man sure liked his barbeque. "When was that? Do you know where he went?"

"Uh – it was, I dunno, a couple minutes ago."

"At the food tables?"

"Yeah. Why? Who is he?"

"Just be glad you didn't spit in his face," Sakura patted Naruto's back and took one of the funky little yellow crackers on his platter. It tasted pretty bad. "On second thought, be glad he didn't throw the meat at you."

Compared to before she left and got fired, the place was much more packed. Sakura wished that she could've paid attention to the physical descriptions in Sasuke's file, like his height. His weight might come in handy – she could get all the guests line up and weigh them one by one. Maybe she would add a few pounds for the roasted chicken he stole from Naruto. You'd think a young, handsome boy would be easy to spot in a sea of "big-boned" middle-aged rich ladies, wealthy bald-headed men with big bellies, obnoxious children of the loaded and their gold-digging significant others. He probably belonged to one of the categories – the second to last group, most likely. Sakura wondered if he had a girl as she plowed through everyone; the absence of a serious girlfriend could explain his bitterness, though.

She borrowed the shoulder of a rather drunk man next to her and went on her tippy-toes. Sakura spied with her little eyes something blond and made of best friend material by the sandwiches. Figuring that Ino would remember seeing the man who cold-shouldered her in an elevator for the second time, Sakura approached her.

"You look sad. Why is that?" Sakura nudged her skinny pal.

"Shikamaru bailed on me," Ino gave an indifferent pout, as if it was no big deal. As if.

"Then bail on the party that he bailed on you at," her green eyes twinkled.

"…Good idea," Ino nodded, putting her usual confident façade back on. "You wanna join me?"

"I'm the goody-two-shoes, remember?" Sakura stuck out her tongue. There was nothing more that the girl wanted than leaving with Ino, but – what a terrible word – she had to stay. "Sorry, I really am, Ino. And I think there's a Spiderman marathon showing around 10."

"Spiderman? Spiderman? I don't want to watch Spiderman."

"Don't lie to yourself. Now go, I'll be back as soon as you call me to confirm that you've finished with the first one."

"Like at midnight? Why don't you want to watch the first one?" Ino inquired, narrowing her eyes as she resisted Sakura's push.

"Because I don't want to see the graveyard. Do you have any idea how many times I've seen that scene on the airplane?"

"Excuses, excuses. Alright, I'm going. Later!"

And Miss Yamanaka swayed her hips all the way out. Sakura giggled. At least she evacuated one person. Instead of searching for Sasuke, she felt that she should chase Hinata and Naruto away, too, before it was too late. Yet a fragrance caught her nose, Sakura was as good a smeller as she was a listener. She would make a "nosy" pun to herself, but – ah, and here it is again – it was not the right time. Her eyes soon found themselves staring at the source of the smell: tomato soup. She reached for the soup ladle; however, another hand beat her to it. Sakura looked up. There, in all his stoic glory, stood Sasuke.

"Go ahead," Sakura drew back her hand and said.

He accepted the ladle and took a scoop. Sakura watched him closely as he poured the gooey redness into a bowl. She thought he was the quintessence of un-chivalry until he handed her the soup. After the bowl was safe in Sakura's palms, Sasuke filled another for himself.

"Cheers," he muttered and drank up.

Sakura freaked out. "Uh, sir, what –"

"You're a security guard here?" he asked without looking at her. "We met the other day. In the stair way?"

She pretended to think real hard. "I think so. And yeah, I…work…here," she said. If he knew that she was fired, who knows what would happen? Why was he chatting with her anyway?

"You tailed me in The Rosemary. Why is that?"

The sour soup made her wince. "Because it's my job," answered Sakura.

Sasuke took his time trying to continue the odd conversation they were having. Well, Sakura thought. I found him. He's here. Now what?

"Uh…" Sakura stammered and his eyes were fixed on to her. "What exactly do you want?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied while refilling the bowl with soup. He was no longer looking at her. "Many things."

Another beautiful response; Sakura slouched a bit. Out of the corners of her eyes she checked the time. Then she had a thought. This talk she was having wasn't going anywhere, obviously. Was he stalling her? She narrowed her eyes at the man; he was staring from place to place. You think you got me, don't you?

Sakura was about to leave when he opened his mouth. "Good party," he said.

"Look, I would be happy to keep you company…" she stopped. He was looking at her again.

"You…" he had on a smile for a mini-second. "You should do the right thing."

It was déjà vu as he walked away. Sakura gazed down at the bowl he left on the table – it was half empty. The right thing? Who was he to tell her to do the right thing? What was the right thing – saying no to drugs? Sakura found it hard to breathe as she realized that time was scarce. She could almost hear the timer on the bombs ticking away.

The desperate pair of green eyes looked around. She saw Hyuuga Neji dancing with a pretty brunette – Tenten, probably. They just celebrated their 5-month anniversary; Sakura recalled the moment Neji was in the elevator. Near them was Rock Lee. He was dancing off beat – getting groovy with his own tune. Her smile widened at the sight of Madam Shijimi. When the lady bumped into the couple behind her, Tora escaped from her. "Some one catch my baby!" she was crying as she shoved people out of her way. Sakura squinted her eyes. The couple Madam Shijimi hit was Kurenai and Asuma. Has he proposed yet? Sakura wondered.

All these people – their lives would come to an end if the bombs weren't stopped. There would be no 6-month anniversary for Neji and Tenten. Sakura wouldn't be able to tell Lee about the action-packed job she would get in the future. Tora would be caught and never to escape again. And even if Asuma already proposed, there would be no wedding.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the mike. She looked to the stage. It was Temari.

"Good evening, everyone," Temari greeted. No more donuts from my boss, Sakura thought. "Um," the hotel manager continued. She sounded nervous for some reason. "I want to announce something. But first, thank you all for coming. Hope you're having a great time."

There was laughter in the crowd.

Temari smiled. "I have to say, I've been itching to tell this to everybody –" she paused and the audience fell silent. "– I am engaged!"

Damn it, Temari, Sakura bit her lip as the ring was flashed. She turned and saw the bowl of soup once more. It looked to be half full this time. She had to stop the bombs. Neji and Tenten would spend more months together, many, many more; Rock Lee would hear about her new job, and maybe get dance lessons; Tora would get the chance to run away; and there would be a wedding, for both Kurenai and Temari. Somewhere between the name of Temari's fiancé and Asuma getting on stage to reveal his and Kurenai's good news, Sakura suddenly knew what to do and raced out.

- -

She never thought that she would face the cold metal door again. Sakura knocked and checked her watch for what seemed to be the millionth time that night. It was 9:21. Two more hours.

"What do you want?" Sai asked, peeking out from inside her old office.

"Many things," Sakura found herself quoting Sasuke; Sai raised an eyebrow. "Just – step aside."

"You know I'm not supposed to let non-staff people come in," he said, closing the door.

"What about ex-staff people?" she asked as she tried rewinding the tape on the camera of Elevator A. "I'm going to give you evidence that – did you switch the tape?"

"Yeah. The old one's in that box over there," Sai pointed to the corner.

"So that's what you do to all my hard work," Sakura sighed. She walked to the box and began digging. "Where's the one from 6-8 tonight? I need the clip at around a quarter past seven."

"The one with Uchiha Sasuke on the phone?"

Sakura terminated her search and stared at Sai. "Yeah. Did you…watch it?"

"How else would I know the contents?" Sai questioned. "Anyway, I already showed it to Kankuro."

"Sai, this is not like you!" Sakura exclaimed with glee. "What did Kankuro say?"

"The bad news is that you're not getting your job back. But yes, he believes the bomb thing now. Police are on their way."

"And Sasuke? Do you know where he is?"

"Yes," Sai nodded.

"What about the boy in red?"

"Arrested him just now. I think Kiba did. They're interrogating him about the locations of the bombs."

"So –"

"Save your questions for later," he said as he sat down in the rolling chair – her rolling chair.

"I paid for that you know," Sakura tapped at the leather. "One more question."

"Answering is an option, correct?"

"Is Bob Herris still in the hotel?"

"…Yes. Kankuro asked the police to 'lay low,' so they won't disturb Herris, or else the guy will escape."

"Looks like they listened," Sakura gave a sigh of relief as she saw a dozen police cars and one van pull up in front of the hotel main entrance. It must have taken a lot of self-control for them to not park all over the place and make a scene. Bob Herris' hotel room faced the other side, so as long as he was in it, he wouldn't know a thing. The armed men marched in and the lobby camera took over.

"Do you need anything else?" Sai's dull voice chopped her concentration into pieces. "I prefer to work alone."

"I will leave as soon as I get my bag," Sakura said. She took it and walked out. She'd imagined that her goodbye would be a glorious one when she replaced Kankuro, but that would never happen.

Everyone would be safe; was this the "right thing?" Sakura's thoughts kept drifting from the plans of her future to Sasuke as she changed out of her uniform in the bathroom. She almost wanted to show him some gratitude for calling Herris at the right moment. Her hands trembled while she combed her hair – she needed to see Sasuke before he got arrested.

- -

Ding.

Sakura made a face at the camera before exiting Elevator B; Sai was watching, there was no doubt about it. Please still be in the Y building, she crossed her fingers and darted through the hall of the 72nd floor. Her steps slowed down when she caught sight of a couple policemen standing at the opening to the glass bridge.

"Miss, you shouldn't be here," one of them held up a hand as she got closer.

"I," she inhaled deeply. "I'm staff."

"Oh yeah, the security guard," another stepped forward to get a better look. It was the officer she talked to on the night of the fire.

Sakura nodded. "Did you –"

They all looked to the other side. Held between a bunch of police with a pair of handcuffs on his wrists was Sasuke. Sakura followed the other cops to meet the guys coming their way. Walking to the end of a plank would have been less stressful than what she was facing. The heavy tension could cause the bridge to collapse; a fall from 72 might hurt. Both sides stopped in the middle. Sakura stared down – how pretty. All the shimmering lights and the glittery fountain right below…

"Miss, you should leave this to the," that snob of a police said, "officials."

'I'm afraid I don't see any here," Sakura glared.

"We have more cuffs. Should you wish to join Mr. Uchiha, just say so."

On a good day, Sakura would've smacked him and stormed away muttering curses. Yet she chose to step aside. Sasuke passed by her, their shoulders brushed against each other – or at least Sakura's shoulder and Sasuke's upper arm, considering their height difference. She blinked and they were no longer touching; that's when he bent down and whispered in her ear.

– They left –

She sank down onto the transparent floor, her eyes reflecting the red and blue flashes from the police cars. It somehow made sense all of a sudden. She was not the hero. Sai called minutes after they – he – were out of her sight. Bob Herris was arrested; the red boy spilled the rotten beans. That wasn't what snapped, though. Perhaps Sai was a better security guard than her. It wasn't really a woman's job anyway. Sakura would live with the fact that Sai was happier to work at the dreadful hotel. What she almost couldn't live with was when Sai told her that the mikes worked. Leave it to Kankuro to fix the problems behind his employee's back. So the Uchiha man heard her therapy session with him – big deal.

Her hand, shaking, reached up to grab her left shoulder. She could feel the graze over and over again. The Uchiha man knew she was watching him; Sai the all-mighty had checked the phone records, and no calls were received in Herris' suite during the time Sasuke was talking on his cell. Uchiha Sasuke was either delusional and pretended to have been speaking to Bob or he did it on purpose. The vicious pork-throwing villain warned her. Talk about subtlety…

The handcuffs on him should be elsewhere. It was what Ino would call a fashion faux pas – a very big one for the strange hero-like man.

Her phone began to vibrate. Sakura grunted at the caller when she picked up. "Ino…what is it?"

"Oh, you know, it's like midnight."

"That's past 11:27 isn't it?" Sakura put her hand over her mouth.

"No idea."

And the tears came, flowing like little streams. The bombs were stopped. She just had to remind herself that everybody was alive. "W-Why are you calling?" she asked, trying to sound normal.

"Just to say that there wasn't a Spiderman marathon. Shikamaru checked."

"…Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, um, see, I never went home."

Sakura sniffled and frowned. "What?"

"I'm in the café on the first floor of the hotel right now."

She didn't go. Her best friend didn't leave. Sakura tried to suppress her sob. Ino had been in the danger zone the whole time.

"Sakura? Are you crying?"

"I told you to go back!"

"But Shikamaru was – ugh, the idiot just went to get chips. Can you believe that your hotel's party doesn't have chips? No, actually, did you even know that Shikamaru ate chips? I mean – Sakura…why are you crying? I only missed a non-existent Spiderman marathon…don't get your panties in a bunch."

Ino went on to discuss her little café date. Sakura dried her tears and responded every so often with an "uh-huh." Everyone got to live. She wanted to return the three words he whispered to her, the words that comforted her when her best friend's innocent disobedience could not. All that Ino had said warped into the words, and echoed on in her ear – just a while ago, Sasuke's moving lips had been inches away from it, and an even longer while ago, she was drinking tomato soup with him…

"Sakura…Thank you."

Author's note: Yeah...so, I basically redid the Thank You scene. :( Kishimoto needs to put more SasuSaku in the manga...It's been a long time since my last update; I hope you liked reading this chapter! Please leave a review :)