Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto

"Okay, so if I was a stoic, anti-social genius with hordes of fan girls following my every move, where would I hide?" Sakura mumbled to herself as she crept around the school building.

She had waited till lunch period to go searching for her first potential new worker. Now just to find him.

"Uchiha-san, where are you?" the petite girl mumbled in a singsong voice as she poked her head down another deserted hallway. Nothing.

"For the love of kami-sama where the hell is that boy?"

"What boy?"

"AH!"

Jumping about a foot in the air, the pink haired girl spun around only to turn face first into a hard chest. Still off balance, she squeezed her eyes shut as she felt herself fast approaching the ground.

After a moment, she cracked one eye open slightly to see that she had been saved by a pair of buff slightly blue tinted arms.

'What in the- oh!'

There was only one person in the whole school who has that skin tone, and he just so happened to be one of the men on her list.

"Oh! Thank you so much for catching me Hoshigaki-san," the girl said as she pulled back and bowed deeply.

"Hey hey hey, no need to be so formal," the tall senior joked as he looked at the small girl who had bumped into him.

Long, straight bubblegum pink hair with the largest and greenest emerald eyes he had ever seen along with a milky white completion and curves in all the right places, all wrapped up in a frame that couldn't have exceeded 5'4.

Looking at her sheepish expression as she straightened out, he couldn't help but think she looked almost like a small fairy.

"A-ah Hoshigaki-san, um, I was kind of wondering if you could help me out with something," she asked, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. Peeking up at him through her bangs she saw that he had raised one blue eyebrow and was regarding her carefully.

"You see I work at this place. A store! Um, in the mall and it kind of isn't doing so well. So now, my boss told me to get some new staff but I'm not allowed to get girls so-"

"So you're not asking for money? Cause I'm sorry but I don't give hand outs."

Sakura felt a vein pop in her forehead. Had he not just listened to her entire rant she had started just a moment ago?

"No Hoshigaki-san, I'm not asking for money. In fact, this is a way for you to make money. All you have to do is-"

"So you're trying to get me to help you at your job?"

On the planet earth there were very few things that Sakura hated.

1. Rude people

2. Being interrupted

3. Grapefruits

So far the 6'11 man in front of her had violated two of those three things. Lucky for him, unless he was actually a fruit hidden in a human body he was safe from the third item on her list. Feeling her temper snap, Sakura narrowed he eyes at the tall senior.

"You know what, fine! I don't need your help anyway you big mean over grown fish stick!"

Turning on her heel, the pinkette stalked away from the shocked senior before she lost her temper completely and decided to rearrange his body parts so that he actually was a fish. Now that she thought about it...

"Oi!"

Suddenly a giant hand gripped her shoulder. Turning around she looked (up) at the captain of the swim team. Damn her shortness.

"What?" she hissed, pulling her shoulder back.

"What's this job you need help with?"

Surprised, emerald flew up to meet black.

"Really- I mean, um…well…it pays well?"

'Real smooth,' she thought to herself as she looked up at the towering senior. She really needed to learn to think before she spoke.

Kisame watched the small girl as she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Just seconds ago she had called him a fish stick, fish stick, and now she was acting shy? What an odd child.

"Um, what I was trying to explain earlier was that I'm working at this store in the mall and right now our sales aren't doing so well. So, my boss told me to go and hire some new staff but I'm not allowed to get girls because we have to many already."

Kisame just continued to stare at the girl.

"But it pays really well and the hours are reasonable. Not to mention, you're in the mall so on break you can go walk around and shop and eat and stuff."

She was totally bombing this.

"What would you have me doing?"

"Shoes."

Sakura noticed a giant twitch in his right eye at her words and she rushed to fix it.

"But only because out of all the guys I want to ask you're the only one I trust not to try to look up some woman's skirt!"

Silence rained for a minute before a large shark like grin over took Kisame's face.

"Oh, and how are you so sure of that? I am after all a teenage boy with urges. What if the chick is smokin' hot and I just can't control myself?"

Choking on her own spit, Sakura almost fell over.

"Well, I haven't heard any rumors that entail that you're a pervert…"

"What if I'm just really sneaky? For all you know I could be the worlds biggest closet pervert. Hell, I could keep porn under my bed and how would you know?"

He was just testing her now, trying to gage just how honest she was being. Really, he would never try to look up a woman's skirt but this girl, who practically radiated innocence, didn't know that. Besides, the way her entire face was exploding in a blush that rivaled her hair color was very cute.

"Maybe I was wrong in picking you. I'm very sorry Hoshigaki-san, thank you for your time."

Practically tripping over herself, Sakura turned and was about to bolt away when a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Hey hey I was just kidding! Actually, this job sounds kind of interesting."

Leaving one arm still wrapped around the shocked sophomore's waist, Kisame started to walk towards the cafeteria. Briefly, he wondered what he really thought was more interesting, the job or the pink haired girl next to him.

"That's great news Hoshigaki-san and I'm like super happy but I still sort of have other people to find," Sakura muttered, looking down at the ground as she started to fidget slightly.

She had finally gotten him to agree to the job and she was leaving him already. Now she was the one being rude! Like hell she would ever be called a hypocrite.

"Who are you looking for?" Kisame asked.

"Itachi Uchiha. That's who I was looking for earlier before I ran into you."

"Hm…," rubbing a hand across his jaw in a thinking manner, Kisame thought over the situation.

"Well, I usually see him hanging out under the giant oak tree near the front door during lunch," he replied after a moment.

"Really?"

Kisame looked down, confused at the girl's shocked tone.

Sakura on the other hand was trying to hold back the urge to smack herself across the face. She had checked the east wing, the west wing, the cafeteria, and the gym already. She had practically searched half the school (and KHS was a pretty big school) and she had forgotten to check the front door. So much for being an honor roll student.

"You okay down there pinky?" Kisame asked after they had passed through three hallways without the girl's expression changing.

"What? Oh! Yeah, sorry, I'm good. Just zoned out there for a second."

"Oh."

Sneaking a quick peek at her watch, Sakura gasped when she saw lunch was almost over.

"Kisame thanks for all your help but I've gotta run if I want to talk to Uchiha-san today."

"Hey wait, I never got your name," Kisame called as he watched her turn back down the hall and run off.

Popping her head back around the corner, she gave him a playful grin, "Sakura Haruno. And I wouldn't forget it if I were you considering I'm going to be your boss and all pretty soon."

She could hear Kisame's laughter echoing off the walls even from an entire hallway away.

Slowing to a stop just outside KHS's front doors, Sakura leaned one hand against the wall as she struggled to get her breathing back to normal. Konoha High was a big school.

Smoothing out her cloths, she straightened and pushed opened the doors. Gazing over the rolling green grass she spotted a towering oak tree. Squinting slightly, she was just able to make out the outline of a person sitting in the shade.

'Bingo,' she thought as she jogged lightly down the steps and towards the ancient tree.

As she closed in on the tree and the boy behind it Sakura found herself hesitating. She had gotten lucky with Kisame, but what if she didn't get lucky this time? What if he thought she was some kind of stalker or something and unleashed his army of fangirls on her? That would be bad, Sakura could hold her own but not against the endless population of females that practically worshipped the very ground the Uchiha walked on. Oh boy.

Itachi stiffened at the sound of approaching footsteps and tilted his head back slightly to see who had discovered his hiding spot. A girl was standing a few feet away from him, biting her lip slightly with an expression on her face that suggested she was debating something in her head. Her right foot kept inching forward slightly before pulling back as if she couldn't decide whether or not to take the last few steps between himself and where she was standing.

"If you're trying to hide, you're doing a poor job of it," he called before turning his gaze to stare up at the sky.

"What? Oh, well, inconspicuous has never really been my thing," she replied.

Sakura squirmed in the awkward silence. Why was he just staring like that? Was there something she was missing going on in the sky? Looking up, the most exciting thing she could find was a bird circling slowly overhead.

"Um…" she tried. This was seriously starting to get creepy.

"Please leave."

She stiffened. What the fudge nuts?

"Huh?"

"I asked if you would please leave. Unless you have a valid reason to be here."

Clenching her fists, Sakura gritted her teeth to stop herself from snapping at him. Why in the world was he being such a jerk?

"Well Uchiha-san, I'm here to see if I can persuade you into taking a job."

Surprised by her statement, Itachi turned his eyes from the sky to the pink haired girl behind him. Raising a slender eyebrow, he gave her a silent command to continue. Or at least, she thought that was what it was.

"It's a job in a department store in the mall. It has reasonable hours and good pay," she explained, nerves quickly starting to set in again.

"And why should I?"

It was a valid question. Why should he take a job when his family had more money than most third-world countries? Heck, his family could probably buy a small country. That is, if they didn't already own one. Wasn't there something on the news about a family buying their own island or something like that? Gah she should have watched it! Stupid boredom making her change the channel. Stupid meerkats on animal planet for looking so damn cute.

"Because I've got a raise and a promotion riding on this. I'm Sakura Haruno by the way."

"Well Haruno-san, considering this is the first time I've ever met you I don't see why I should be doing you any favors."

"True, but why are you looking at it as me asking you a favor?"

Itachi paused at that, turning his body more to face the petite girl fully. There were few people who dared to challenge his commands, but she did when she didn't leave. There were also very few people who would dare to challenge his opinion, which she had just done. This just kept getting more interesting by the second.

"I'm simply offering you a job," she continued," all I did was state my reasons behind my actions."

Itachi bit back a smirk. She was witty that was for sure. Covertly, he quickly scanned her form, realized for the first time just how attractive she was.

She was short but with a nice body and curves in all the right places. Her long bubblegum hair fell gracefully to her mid back and bright green eyes looked at him intently. She was dressed modestly in skinny jeans and a work shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Over all, she appeared to be very different than most of the girls who perused (stalked) him.

Standing up, Itachi stepped out from behind the tree and stopped in front of the small girl, staring blankly at her.

"What exactly would I be doing if I accepted this job?"

'Yes!' Sakura mentally cheered. She had managed to get his attention.

"You would be working in the shoe department," queue the furrowing of the eyebrows, "because I believe in your character enough to trust you not to try looking up any woman's skirt and to stay professional while working."

Itachi relaxed. His initial reaction was to ask her if this was a joke. Did she really think he was going to work in a shoe department? But after hearing her reasoning, he saw her logic behind the decision. Most boys his age did tend to not show…restraint- or bashfulness when working with the opposite sex.

"I hope you see the logic behind my choice and do not take it as an insult Uchiha-san because I honestly mean it to be a compliment," she stated.

Itachi found himself slightly taken aback by the pure honesty in her stare. He could tell that without a doubt that she was just trying to do her job and the fact that she trusted him, a person she hardly knew, enough to ask for assistance when she was at a crucial point of her career made him feel honored.

Also, the blind trust in her eyes and the innocence that radiated off of her was doing funny things to his insides and he found himself taking a step closer. Putting his hand out, he watched surprise flash through her eyes before a blinding smile took over her features. Instantly butterflies erupted in his stomach and he had to swallow thickly before speaking.

"You have a deal Haruno-san," he said as she gently placed her hand in his. The feeling of her hand in his- was it normal for peoples' hands to be this soft- sent jolts of electricity up and down his spine. Tightening his grip slightly when her felt her start to pull away, he gave her arm a tug.

Sakura was confused as she found herself colliding with a chest. A very muscular, well developed chest with- oh kami was that a six pack she felt? Her inner fangirl had just died and went to heaven.

"Is there anything else I'll need to know Sa-ku-ra?"

Fighting back a shiver, Sakura licked her suddenly dry lips but cringed slightly when she saw the senior's eyes follow its actions. What in the world was going on?

"N-no, I still have a few more people I want to talk to about taking jobs at the store before I start giving out work hours and such," she choked out, mentally slapping herself for stuttering. She was supposed to his boss, not one of his mindless, make up wearing fangirls!

But oh kami, the way he said her name. How was it possible for someone to have a voice that sexy?

Giving herself another mental slap, Sakura stomped down her hormones. Now was not a good time!

"Hn."

And with that, he released her hand and backed away from her body to return to his earlier position on the ground.

Sakura wasted no time in turning and running back to school. What was that all about?

So, not sure how great this was, but I thought it had its moments. So just a little preview of some on the romantic action that's going to be happening between our dear Sakura-chan and some of the delicious man candy- *cough* I mean male characters.

Well I hope you all liked it and to all of you silent readers (yes I get the emails) please consider just putting in a few seconds to review, even if it's short. It really means a lot to me, your reviews are my fuel and my inspiration. Have a good day (or night)!

Review please!