Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry it's taken me such a long time to update... summer college courses suck the life out of you! But seeing as I wanted to get ahead with school, it's a necessary evil :'-(. Anyway, thanks again for all the support! Here's an extra long chapter for all those who reviewed and favorited.

Also, can you guys just do me a favor and leave a quick review if you read this fic? I appreciate the many story alerts and favorite-ing and everything but can you please just leave a review? As authors, we work hard for you guys so it's nice to just leave some comments for us to let us know how we're doing. Thanks!

Chapter 2: Please Don't Say That Word

"Well? WELL?!" Sakura screamed in frustration at the now frozen stranger.

He slowly turned his shocked face, away from the shiny band on his finger to look at her, reminding himself to close his gaping mouth. "Well, what?"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura leaned over the bed to grab his left hand whilst holding up her own. "Explain this!"

Sasuke rolled his own eyes. "They look like a pair of wedding rings to me."

Exasperated, Sakura threw her hands up in the air. "Great job, Sherlock. Like I couldn't figure that one out on my own," she spat sarcastically.

"As in we're married," Sasuke clarified.

"God, please don't say that word," Sakura muttered as she pinched her nose in aggravation. "What I meant was, what in God's name are they doing on our fingers? More importantly, mine?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort but Sakura cut him off.

"And by that I really mean, what the hell did you do to get this ring on my finger? Hmm? Did ya drug me? Knock me out and drag me to the alter, perhaps?" Her eyes glared at him accusingly.

Sasuke scowled. "What makes you think I did this? Like I want to get married-" Sakura groaned at the word again, "-and to a stranger no less! Don't flatter yourself. Look, I have a killer headache that could only be from a hangover, what do you feel like?"

She pondered his way of thinking for a moment. "Yeah me too. Hangover. Wait, that means we were drinking last night. But where was I again?…"

- - - - - -

"Come on, Sakura! This is the merger of our company! As in part yours since you're a partner. You should be thrilled to go to this party! Plus God knows how long it's been since you've actually let loose and had some fun. " Kiba, one of Sakura's co-workers and one of the partners of the company, was trying to get her excited for the party thrown in celebration of the their company making a huge deal with the Sharingan company, who had just gotten a new CEO, some Sasuke Uchiha or something.

Sakura glared at him. "I do have fun!" she replied indignantly and a little immaturely as she stuck her tongue out at him.

He was standing on the opposite side of her desk as she sat at the computer, typing away.

Sakura sighed and relaxed in her chair, her bright green eyes closing in exhaustion. "I know you're right… but you know how these things go. A ton of business men and women all together with champagne don't mix well."

Kiba raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know! Drunken hook-ups, killer hangovers, vomit… the whole works," Sakura finished with a shrug as she moved some papers around on her desk.

The work day had finished early to allow for everyone to get ready for the party. Sakura of course, not excited to go to the party in the first place, was still finishing up some work in her office when Kiba waltzed in.

Grinning wickedly, Kiba leaned forward, his hands on her desk, forcing her to look up into his face. Their breaths mingled.

"I could do without the hangovers or vomit but the drunken hookups don't seem so bad to me," he murmured huskily, his eyes on Sakura's pink lips.

Sakura grinned back at him. "Oh, really? What did you have in mind?" She moved her face closer, her eyes looking up at him from beneath her lashes.

"Mmm. Ya know… a little kissing…"

Sakura nodded her head as if it were common knowledge. "Of course."

"…Perhaps some touching…"

"Why not" she smirked.

"… Maybe the occasional rumple in the bed…" and with that Kiba's face moved towards Sakura's. At the last moment, Sakura turned her head, allowing Kiba a mouthful of hair.

Sakura got up from her desk. "Who knows, Kiba, maybe there will be something exciting to talk about tomorrow! I'll see you tonight," she smiled at his sour expression of her leading him on, yet again.

Kiba was definitely hot for Sakura, that much was obvious to anyone. However, Sakura knew where her priorities lie and sleeping with the resident bad-boy of the office was not very high on her to-do list.

Sakura stepped from around her desk and began putting papers away in the file cabinet. Kiba took in her long creamy legs and Sakura could feel his gaze linger on her back. Turning around, she caught him staring at her.

"Like what you see?" she asked sarcastically, her hands resting indignantly on her hips.

Arms crossing his chest, Kiba cocked his head to the side as he made a careful and deliberate scan of her body. When his eyes finally reached hers again, he smirked and Sakura suppressed a shiver- and the urge to jump him. "Mm hmm," he hummed in appreciation.

God, she didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or smack him…. Or perhaps kiss him. Focus, Sakura! "Kiba, I know that you perhaps have nothing to do, and probably only come to work to annoy me to death, but if you'll excuse me, I actually have work to finish."

Kiba smirked at her again and this time Sakura was able to make a more coherent decision; she definitely felt like smacking him.

"You know, Sakura, it's a shame to let a body like yours go to waste," he said offhandedly as he turned to leave.

"I assure you, it's not going to waste, thanks," Sakura replied. "Now get the hell out," she replied with a sweet fake smile and a polite sing-song voice.

Kiba grinned cheekily at her before waltzing out of her office.

Sakura sat staring at the massive pile of papers on her desk. Sighing deeply, she buried her head in her hands as a small frown appeared on her face.

She wasn't wasting away, right?

No. She had plenty of fun with Ino and Hinata. I mean, sure, it's been a while since she went with them to the club and hung out but she saw them every day at the office. That should count as "hanging out" time, right?

Her frown deepened and she dropped her head on the desk. Argh. Who was she kidding. She had no life if she thought that by going to the office every single day- sometimes even Saturday and Sunday- she was having fun with her friends/ co-workers.

But at least she could reason that they were friends first from college and then all applied together to work at the same office once they all graduated.

Yep, at least she had that solace.

… yeah right.

Groaning, Sakura let her head hit the desk again as she turned her face to look out the window. But according to Ino, who hadn't exactly learned the art of tact, if Sakura didn't come out and didn't start acting like "a freakin' best friend should!" (Ino's words,) and have fun with them tonight at the party, she would eventually "become friendless, turn into a workaholic, and eventually be a spinster or cat woman!" Again, her words.

They acted like she was an old maid already!

I mean, sure, she hadn't been on a date in forever and only had drunken (and messy) hook-ups so that they all ended in a one-night-stand sort of fashion so that she could go to work the next day without having to worry about splitting time between work and her personal life (or any life for that matter.)

But it was better that way, right? No strings attached. No commitments. No relationship problems. No date nights. No coming home to someone else. No… love.

Shaking her head so her long pink hair bounced around, Sakura dispelled the rather disturbing and distracting thoughts from her mind.

Her friends seemed to know what they wanted.

Ino had plenty of boyfriends to last her a lifetime. Sakura snorted. Yeah, she practically had a new boy toy every week. One who would buy her dinner and pretty necklaces and show her passion and love and… UGH!

Hinata, while she wasn't in a relationship, still had a life outside of work. She regularly hung out with Ino for a girl's night out, unlike Sakura who always wanted to work. And very recently, Hinata had started seeing a mysterious boy that Sakura had yet to meet.

Well, he was mysterious because Sakura hadn't met him yet but they had been exclusive and going out for about a month now.

Man, what kind of friend was she.

Sakura had worked her butt off to get to where she was now. The promotion to becoming a partner of the company was something she always wanted. She had taken almost every business trip offered to them so that she could get more clients. And she had. Sakura was now the youngest partner of the company due to her determination and hard work. So it hadn't been for nothing.

But still… now that she saw her friends happy with their lives, she secretly wondered if she was missing something. Because truthfully, she was happy too, now that she had gotten the promotion. But she was curious as to why everyone else seemed to think she needed something else.

She was satisfied, damn it! She didn't want distractions!

Plus it pissed her off that everyone thought she needed to loosen up. They acted like she was an old woman.

"God, I'm only 25!" Sakura screamed to the empty office room.

- - - - - -

"God, I'm only 25!" She found herself yelling at Ino at the celebration several hours later when the blond had decided to repeat her future as a lonely cat-woman to her.

The fancy ballroom hall in the hotel the company rented for the occasion was certainly very expensive with a large dance floor, crystal chandeliers, and of course, a bar in the corner.

"You sure don't act like it! Why the hell are you working all the freakin' time?! Go out and meet someone! Or at least get laid!" The blond screamed at her pink-haired best friend who had been sitting at the bar all night long, refusing to dance with the many men who came to ask her.

The people around them looked at the pair with scandalized eyes.

"Ino," Sakura growled in warning to her friend, her emerald eyes narrowing. "If you screw up my reputation, Pig, in front of all our coworkers and the other partners, I swear I'll make sure to give you enough work so you'll have to come into the office on the weekends as well.

Ino snorted, unfazed by the threat. "So what? Maybe then I'll see more of my best friend seeing as she doesn't do anything besides work anymore."

Sakura eyes softened as she touched Ino's shoulder. The blond turned her head away with a stubborn 'humph!' "Ino-pig," Sakura muttered the nickname with fondness, "I'm sorry, I know I've been busy-"

"Busy?! Sakura, come on, you've been swamped! And it's not even that! You want to work- all the time! You take on more and more work for yourself! We've barely hung out, save for business and client parties. And your love life is non-existent. I mean really NON- EXISTENT!"

"That's not true," Sakura replied indignantly, "I go out-"

Ino snorted again. "One-night stands don't count, hun, not that you ever had many of those either. I mean sure, the sex is exciting when you do it with different guys but come on! Don't you want love and passion from a guy who really cares about you?!"

Sakura glared at her so-called 'friend.' "You make me sound like a slut. I've only had two random hook-ups while you go out with a different guy every other week!"

If that was supposed to faze Ino, it didn't.

"At least I am looking for love! The guy just isn't the right one yet! You, Sakura, actually go out, when you actually do go out, with the mind set that whatever happens tonight is a one-night thing. So you might go to the club and talk to a guy or dance with him or kiss him with the idea that in the morning you are still single and uncommitted. Doesn't that bother you? Don't you want to fall in love and get married?"

Sakura groaned loudly. "Must you always bring up that word? I'm still young and I haven't even accomplished all I wanted to. I don't want to think of… that, yet."

Bright blue eyes rolled at her friend's antics. "You can't even say the word, can you? Marriage."

Sakura flinched lightly causing Ino to slap her own forehead.

It wasn't that Sakura was afraid of marriage or anything. She was just unsure if she could ever love someone like the love they described in movies. An all-consuming love. She was just concerned that she would have to give up her career for it. And she had worked sooo hard. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to give it all up for someone else who had the power to break her. At least that's what she heard in the movies. That if you gave someone else your heart, they could possibly break it.

Who wanted that?! Certainly not her!

Her musings came to an end when she saw Ino tapping her foot impatiently, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Errr, what?" Sakura asked.

Ino threw her hands in the air. "I said maybe you're bound to be boring for the rest of your life, Sakura Haruno."

"Boring?!" Sakura scowled and motioned for the bartender. "Gimme your strongest," she muttered to him as Ino gave her a grin.

"See? It's not so hard to do something unpredictable and fun, is it?" Ino's smile widened.

Sakura scowled as she picked up the drink the bartender put on the counter and pounded it down, wincing slightly at the bitter taste and ignoring the mirth in Ino's amused expression. "Shut up, pig. I'll show you unpredictable."

With that, Sakura walked away from the bar and towards the crowd.

Kiba stood leaning against the wall, his expression bored. As Sakura approached, he turned his head and gave her a smirk, opening his mouth to give her a smart retort.

Sakura stopped in front of Kiba, a determination on her face. Surprising him, she grasped his tie in her hand and tugged him onto the dance floor, his expression surprised but pleased nonetheless.

Ino laughed quietly to herself. Hmm, this will be interesting, she thought.

- - - - - -

A few hours- and many drinks later, Sakura was giggling loudly, her arms draped around a handsome stranger's broad shoulders as he spun her around, dancing.

Sakura's alcohol tolerance was very high so when Hinata saw her friend finally getting tipsy, she knew that she had probably been drinking all night. With some strong drinks as her companions.

Ino and Hinata had found Sakura dancing with Kiba, his hands moving possibly a little lower than appropriate on the pretty girl's back. That's when they decided to intervene.

"S-Sakura, perhaps you should take a break," Hinata whispered as Ino grabbed Kiba by his lapel and began to drag him away.

Sakura giggled loudly. "What? Nooo way, Hina-… I was just… just havin' fun with Kiba. You know, he's an awful dancer," she thought she had been whispering it as a secret but her voice was loud and clear to those around her.

"Babe, I might not have great dance moves but that's 'cause I have other moves… bedroom moves, if ya catch my drift," Kiba winked at the pink-haired girl as Ino gave him another disapproving tug. His eyes were slightly unfocused and he was swaying a little. They both obviously had a little too much to drink.

"I think you better call it a night, Casanova," Ino muttered.

"Oh hey there In-Ino!" Kiba said as if he had just noticed her.

He tried to plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek as she frowned.

"Eww, Kiba! Come on, I think I actually like you better when you're sober!" Ino growled in disgust as she wiped her cheek clean and gazed at her coworker.

Ino tried to drag the man away but Kiba was putting on a good fight, uh well, more like he was stumbling in the wrong direction before he slumped over Ino's form, his weight making her stumble backwards. Hinata rushed towards them and helped Ino balance the man's weight on both of them as they each held one of his arms around their shoulders and supported him.

"Come on, let's take him to the front desk so they can take him upstairs to one of the rooms. Thank God the hotel's rooms are rented out for us as well for tonight! Kiba's pretty heavy!" Ino groaned as she and Hinata slowly turned around and headed towards the exit.

"W-wait, Ino! W-what a-about Sakura?" Hinata turned to look at the pink-haired girl who was pouting because they took her dance partner away.

Ino glanced back at her as well and hesitated. "Try not to get into trouble while we're gone, Sakura," she snapped.

Sakura's expression turned to a glare and she seemed to instantly sober up. "I can take care of myself, thanks!" she said, sticking her nose in the air before making her away across the dance floor.

"Well, I guess that's your answer," Ino muttered under her breath as she gave one final glance towards the form of her friend disappearing into the crowd. "She'll be fine until we get back, right?"

Hinata gave a shy smile. "Y-yeah, I-I think so. Sakura's never d-done anything r-rash."

Ino grinned at her. "Yep. You're right about that one!"

Her grin disappeared. "Kiba! Hands off!" she yelled at the now-conscious and flirty man whose hands had 'accidentally' found her behind.

- - - - - -

Sakura slapped her hand across her forehead. "Oh my God…"

"What?" the stranger asked curiously, his dark eyes gazing at the pink-haired girl still sitting in his- well her- bed.

"Yeah," she groaned lightly, "yeah, I was drinking all right... But that still doesn't explain why I'm marri- well it doesn't explain this stupid ring… or you, for that matter! Ugh, I could kill Ino!"

"Ino?" his voice echoed.

Pulling a hand through her messy, tousled hair, she turned to glare at the man on the floor of her room.

It was precisely at that moment that she noticed their clothes… or well, lack of clothes.

She gave out a shrill shriek that had the other occupant of the room flinching and covering his ears with his hands. She grasped at the white sheets and tried to cover herself.

Sakura was dressed in only her black bra and panties while the stranger was lying on the floor in his dark blue boxers.

"Quit yelling!" the man groaned from the floor.

"I will when I find out why the hell I'm only in my underwear and you are only wearing those!" She pointed an accusing finger at his boxers.

Sasuke glared at her for a moment before following the line of her accusation. "I-"

"- Oh, God! Don't tell me we did… it! No way, how could I-" She rambled on in a panicked tone. Sure she had slept with other guys before but she was always rational enough to know that she was doing it. It kinda freaked her out that she couldn't remember if she had done it with this (gorgeous) stranger or not.

The stranger's eye twitched as he continued to listen to the drone of her voice as she tried to figure out what happened between them last night.

"-believe me," he said, interrupting her ramble, "if we slept together, you would have remembered it." He smirked smugly to himself as he thought it over. "Yep, it would definitely be unforgettable for you."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. The cocky bastard. "Oh yeah? Well, I don't remember, you asshole." His smirk disappeared and his face twisted into a scowl. "I assure you, if I slept with you, you wouldn't have even been able to get up," she countered smiling, her arms across her chest.

The stranger stood to make his point. "Well then I guess we don't need to worry about that," he snapped at her and her smile wiped off her face.

Suddenly she remembered something. It was stupid but it was a fool proof idea to see if they had truly slept together or not. Her hand flew behind her back, trying to reach for the band of her bra.

"Ah hah! Yep, I have nothing to worry about."

The stranger quirked his eyebrow at her in question.

"Nope, we didn't sleep together," she clarified. "See I have this safety pin on the back of my bra-" she blushed slightly but continued, "-because it was a new bra and all and kinda didn't fit exactly right-" she was rambling quickly out of embarrassment as the stranger continued to gaze intently at her. "So we would have had to either rip the bra off or actually undo the pin and since we were drunk enough not to remember that we got marri- ugh, well we didn't okay!" she finished frustrated.

He continued to stare at her blankly. "I know we didn't. We're still clothed. If we did, we wouldn't have put our clothes back on seeing as we were drunk enough not to recall that we got married."

"That word again," Sakura moaned as she fell down on the soft bed, her arms covering her face. "Why didn't you just say that you knew we didn't sleep together from the beginning instead of making me explain everything?" she mumbled.

The man shrugged. "I tried to. You interrupted me."

She removed her arms to glare at him. Opening her mouth to retort, she was suddenly cut off when the door swung open and a person came running in.

"HEY! ARE YOU IN HERE, YOU BASTARD?!" A voice yelled in excitement as someone entered the suite.

"Naruto, shut up," the stranger groaned in pain as his fingers massaged the bridge of his nose.

Sakura squealed and jumped up, the white sheets pulled around her to cover her body.

"You bastard, I've been looking all over for you! You won't believe the rumor that's going around about-" A boisterous blond bounded his way into the bedroom, his sky blue eyes bright with laughter that suddenly froze as they locked onto the two occupants of the room.

His eyes traveled to the blushing and startled form of the beautiful girl in bed to his best friend and partner standing, Sasuke Uchiha. "-you," he finished unsurely. "Sorry, didn't know you were busy," he muttered as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

The stranger glared at him. "I'm not."

"I thought it was a rule of yours not to mix business and pleasure, you ass! Not that any girl would risk herself to an emotionless bastard like you," he said slapping his less-than-enthusiastic friend on the back before turning to Sakura again. "Hope the human iceberg wasn't too cold to ya, babe!" he grinned at the girl, obviously all of his embarrassment at catching them in such an intimate position had faded quickly.

Sakura's eye twitched at the connotation.

"We didn't sleep together," Sasuke clarified, his headache seeming to only increase ten-fold since Naruto's arrival.

"No big surprise," Naruto muttered under his breath to which Sasuke sent a death glare.

"We did, though, happen to get married," Sasuke muttered as he held up his hand to reveal the innocent sparkling band.

Sakura groaned at the word again and flung herself into the bed, her screams muffled by the soft pillow.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the girl's antics. "Annoying," he huffed under his breath.

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU GOT MARRIED?!" Naruto screamed, making the other two occupants wince from the sheer volume of his voice coupled with the aftermath of drinking much too much liquor.

"Just what it sounds like you idiot!" Sasuke hissed.

"I guess the rumors are true," Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"What rumors?" Sasuke inquired, not liking the idea of rumors spreading about him.

"Just that the ice bastard was seen in the hotel chapel with a girl yesterday night," Naruto said shrugging, not noticing the look on Sasuke's face. Naruto's face suddenly cracked into a huge grin. "So how'd you get such a pretty girl to agree to marry such an emotionless brick, like yourself? Did ya knock her out and drag her to the alter?"

"Already asked him that," came Sakura's voice from the pillow.

"Haha, well, congrats!" Naruto said again, thumping Sasuke again on the back as the dark haired man stumbled from disorientation.

"Seriously, why me?" Sasuke muttered as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the blonde's snickers. He needed to think and do some quick damage control to save his reputation.

"Aww, don't be selfish. Your wife should be asking that," Naruto grinned as he turned to the girl. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the bastard's best friend and partner, well sort of partner, even though he's on a huge power trip since it was decided to promote him higher for the company's sake. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Uchiha," he laughed as he held out a hand.

Sakura once again snapped into a sitting position on the bed, her emerald eyes bright as she froze. Uchiha. He had called her Mrs. Uchiha. "Uchiha, as in Sasuke Uchiha?!"

The stranger with the dark eyes turned to look at her, frowning a little. "Yes, I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke Uchiha. She had married Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke Uchiha, the new CEO of her partnered company.

Everything turned to black around her.

Well, well, well! Another twist in the plot! Poor Sakura learns she is married to none other than the new CEO her company just partnered with!

Just to clarify, Sakura is not "easy" or anything when she and Ino talk about her past "hook-ups." She just doesn't like the idea of committment and doesn't really have the time for a serious relationship so the few times she is out, she usually just hangs out but sometimes might hook-up with a guy. She always knows what she's doing... umm except now when she finds herself married to Sasuke Uchiha!

Review, please!