A/N: Next chapter is up! I had fun with this chapter, and actually wasn't going to write it because it's the holidays and I've been doing... stuff (coughsleepingcough). Yer, but I've been thinking about the plot of this story and want to know if I should continue.

So, I present to you the next chapter of La Tua Cantante! Where in this chapter, a lot of things happen!

Still, I do not own Naruto.

La Tua Cantante

Chapter 3:

Office Challenges

"I. Am. So. Fired."

Ino sighed and continued filing her nails nonchalantly. "I know. I think we established that the last 57 times you said it," said the blonde girl jadedly, holding a hand up to the light to inspect it. She turned her head to stare at her friend intensely, before dropping her hand and waving it unremittingly. "And I was so not counting."

"Sure you weren't; that's why you knew exactly the amount of times she had said that sentence."

"Shut up, Sai!"

"I swear; I am going to get fired," wailed Sakura mournfully as she dropped her head into her arms. "Why did I have to act so stupid in front of him? It probably cost me my job!"

"Probably because it's the way you normally act?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up? You aren't making her feel any better!"

"I was just answering her question. A book I have read stated that it is socially unacceptable to ignore one who is asking a question, especially whe—"

"Who cares about the books you re— ah! Don't ruin my papers!"

Acting quickly, the frantic girl shoved her depressed friend off the table and made a wild lunge for her small stack of documents. "Geez... Shikamaru will kill me if I don't have these papers ready by the next time I see him..." Caressing them in her hands carefully, she huffed professionally and started to go over them, subtly admiring her nails as she checked. "And personally, I don't want to be fired or killed, especially by that lazy ass."

Sai smiled and cocked his head over her shoulder to peer at the papers. "You made a mistake here."

The girl twitched angrily, and slammed her papers face down on the table. Growling, she snapped her head to the side and snobbishly shifted her body in her chair so that is would face her miserable workmate. "I don't remember asking you!" she retorted hotly, flicking her head purposely so her hair would hit the boy. "So, Forehe— oh my cow-lips! You look like you just stepped out of a horror movie!"

An outstretched hand brought Sai back into the conversation. "She's lying. You look like someone just stuck a stick up your butt and stabbed you in the eyes. That and you're having a bad hair day," Sai tilted his head slightly as he studied her appearance. "Actually, I think she's calling you a vampire, with the bags und— wait, in the movie she refers to, all the vampires were beautiful. Sorry Ugly, you aren't even close to a vampire."

Sniffing, Sakura grabbed the compact out of his hand and stared at her reflection. True enough, staring back at her was a girl with large bags under her eyes, a red nose and messy hair. "Oh no... I look horrible! Now I have to worry about that too!" moaned Sakura as she threw the compact back at Sai and dumped her head in her arms again.

"I did stupid things, Ino-pig. I ranted to him, made him catch me and then I intervened in his fight with Naruto! Ugh, and Naruto!" A desperate cry rang from her lips at this, albeit muffled, causing the other occupants of the table to jump slightly in fear. "He's hiding something from me! I just know it! He hasn't looked at me directly in the eye since that day!"

It had been two months since that incident, and neither Naruto nor Sasuke had spoken to her about it since. From the time when she had arbitrated their fight, both men had become surprisingly distant. "Not that Uchiha-san wasn't distant in the first place," muttered Sakura to herself, as she moved her head to a more comfortable position.

"The first sign of insanity is talking to yourself, Ugly. I read that in a book as well."

Ino whacked the straightforward man in the head, before leaning on her elbows and intertwining her fingers together. "Not only that, but remember his secret meeting with Kakashi-san? They were talking about... um, they were discussing, uh... Sai, what were they discussing?" asked Ino pointedly, not even bothering to look at the man.

The muddled, pink haired girl lifted her head and stared at Sai expectantly. "Secret meeting? Is Naruto secretly going out with Kakashi-san!? He's gay!?" screeched Sakura as she covered her mouth with her hands. The black haired man just raised an eyebrow questioningly, but put on a fake smile and adhered to her orders.

"No, they were discussing the absence of Sasuke-san; issues such as meetings, how they would get documents signed and other business matters. From there though, the talk began to focus on why he had left, and they mentioned Ugly's name a few times. They talked about things like blood and tablets as well," reported Sai emotionlessly. Both girls looked at him oddly, before he grinned even wider and leaned forward as if sharing a secret. "It's easy to remember anything Dickless says. He's not smart enough to speak properly."

Somewhere in the world, a loudmouthed, whiskered blonde sneezed rather loudly.

Sakura exhaled noisily and brought her finger up to her chin in thought. "Does that mean he's sick? Maybe Naruto didn't want me to know, and that's why he's been taking me out for ramen every time I ask about it!" she exclaimed, eyes brightening as she professed her great epiphany. "Maybe I won't be fired after all!"

"I don't want to know what you're talking about, but hurry up and get ready. We have a staff meeting in five minutes," said a bored voice from behind the bubbly girl. Behind them stood the lazy figure of Shikamaru, who was flicking through a folder as he spoke. Ino whipped her head up and dashed over to him, latching onto his arm as she pushed the pile of papers into his face excitedly. Trying to ignore the unexpected pounce, he cleared his throat again. "This one's really important too; Uchiha-san is coming back today."

Sakura froze. Gradually, she could feel her limbs stiffening up, and her head felt dizzy as she swayed forward and hit her head on the table again. Ino laughed falsely and patted her friend on the back awkwardly. "It isn't that bad, Forehead. He might not fi—"

"I. Am. So. Fired."

-x-

The meeting was held in the conference room on the highest floor in the building, and even though it was one of the biggest rooms in the entire edifice, it was a tight squeeze. Thanking her lucky stars she wasn't claustrophobic, Sakura skilfully weaved her way through the crowd of rowdy employees to where her friends were.

"This must be some important meeting, huh?" said Sakura breathlessly as she clutched her folders to her chest. Ino nodded and scanned the area, stepping onto the tips of her shoes to search above the heads of the horde of workers. "It's been a while since Sharingan Inc has had a meeting with the entire staff."

Everyone became silent as Kakashi, supported by other higher employees, entered the room. Clearing his throat, he signalled for everyone to settle before stepping up to the podium at the front of the room. "Good morning, everyone. Today's meeting will focus on the topics of..."

Sakura yawned. Apart from the fact that she hadn't slept in a while, the meeting was rather boring. Kakashi merely droned on about the importance of raising stocks, and she could have sworn that she had seen some employees dozing. The bored girl entertained herself by making paper airplanes with her sheets, and aiming for her friend's big head.

"Hey Sakura, look! There's Naruto!" whispered Ino fervently in her friend's ear, ducking her head to avoid the incoming blow as she pointed out the aforementioned man. The glass doors to the room opened wide, and the orange covered figure of Uzumaki Naruto stepped across the threshold.

"Yo! Sorry I'm late, dattebayo!"

It wasn't the seemingly fake apology or the loudness of Naruto's voice that made everyone turn their heads to the entrance of the conference room. It was the entrance of a handsome, pale man; whether it was the way he strode gracefully across the room in his expensive shoes, or the way he nodded solemnly at Kakashi before replacing him at the podium, he captured everyone's attention instantly. It was Uchiha Sasuke.

"I apologize for my lateness. Now, to continue on from where Kakashi left off," He may have just been repeating whatever nonsense Kakashi had spoken about, but he held everyone's awareness. The dark haired man spoke briefly, saying as little as he could on each topic. Running a hand through his hair softly –to this, the fan girls swooned and the gay men sighed— he shuffled his sheets before coughing softly. "The next topic is job replacements and promotions."

Sakura paled. Ino looked away ineptly. Other employees shuddered or beamed. Sai smiled and offered his hand to his ashen, pink haired friend. "Looks like this is it, Ugly. It was nice while it lasted."

"You bastard! Are you teasing Sakura-chan again?!" yelled Naruto irately as he stepped behind them and glowered at the still smiling boy.

Grunting, Shikamaru shot them a warning glance. "He's going to be talking about our department soon. Listen, because it'll be too troublesome to repeat everything."

"As we are entering a busy season of economical opportunity, it is befitting of the company to promote certain individuals for their exceptional work within the company. We sincerely congratulate these persons, as they continue to demonstrate outstanding behaviour in all aspects of their vocation. "

Ino gasped, and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Such an introduction, Forehead! When he calls out your name, just get up there whoop his sexy butt with your extensive vocabulary! It is within your capability to present your great fortitude to that ambidextrous man!"

"Of course, my skills of intimidation are of an incomparable level; therefore I will be forced to make the dour man deploy his prose and apologize as he would have adulterated the company by refusing my outstanding abilities that are of great use to this enterprise!" Scoffing, the pink haired girl lifted her chin arrogantly. "Why yes, I just whooped your butt with my big words."

"Hey, Sakura-chan! I didn't know you read dictionaries for fun!"

"Idiot! I so don't read dictionaries for..." Her voice faltered as she became conscious of the numerous stares she was receiving, and she released her grip on Naruto's shirt as she flashed them all a fake smile. "...fun?"

The dark haired boss at the platform smirked condescendingly and cleared his throat to regain everyone's concentration. "Haruno, would you mind coming up to the dais?"

A deer in headlights. No, a pink haired deer with a large forehead in headlights that were actually the glinting eyes of other members of the staff was what Sakura saw herself as. Sakura gulped nervously as she was manhandled into walking up to the stage slowly. "Bye-bye paperwork, rushed lunchbreaks and pay checks. Hello JOBLESSNESS," she whimpered quietly as she shuffled to the man, keeping her eyes averted and her arms wrapped around her.

"Due to my sudden absence, the department of foreign affairs has been forced to handle several big issues. According to Nara Shikamaru, work has become haggard and rushed, therefore slipping up in some aspects."

What ever happened to whooping his sexy (yet totally hateable at the present moment) butt with big words?

"However, the overall result of this was that Sharingan Inc was accredited for arranging an event, organized by the foreign affairs department, which was a huge success. For this we have to express our deepest gratitude, to the sole person who systematized the entire occasion: Haruno Sakura."

Said girl froze in place at the stairs to the stage, and looked up with confused eyes. "S-say what?" she stammered in astonishment. A few hurrays and encouraging comments were shouted—courtesy of the two noisy blondes waving their hands aimlessly in the crowd—and Sakura was broken from her reverie. Shaking her head defiantly, she took another step on the stairs and suddenly, she felt herself falling once again. "Damn Ino for making me wear stilettos... AGAIN."

Swiftly, she felt that she was suffering from déjà vu. Her body was swaying towards the ground, but the same built arm had wrapped around her waist securely, the same hair was tickling her face, and she could smell the breath that had caressed her neck. It was exactly like that incident the last time they had met.

"Again? Was this planned? There's the stairs, the man, me... well, of course, the pap—ah! Uchiha-san!" Sakura gasped as she was hugged even closer to him, so close that her blushing cheek was resting against his chest. The girl looked up, and noticed he was smirking egotistically to himself. "Uchiha-san?"

He held her even tighter to his chest as he stepped backward slowly, inching carefully to the podium. "You're very clumsy, aren't you, Haruno?"

Her viridian eyes widened, and she almost fell down when he released her. "Was he... no he couldn't have been... flirting with me?" Stumbling forward a bit, she craned her head back to him, to see that he was already sorting papers at the plinth, and so she silenced her stuttering mouth and waited for his words.

"Haruno has shown a considerable amount of determination and hard work; so therefore, we would like to offer her the opportunity to become part of the superiors here at Sharingan Inc. She will be promoted to secretary of the head of the company," he stated to the whole crowd, before looking at her and offering his hand. "So, Haruno? What is your decision?"

She wanted to say something, but her voice was stuck in her throat. Her hands started to fumble with together as she tried to speak. "Ah!" she cried as she felt a looming presence over her. His hand went to her shoulder comfortingly as he smiled—or at least, she thought he smiled; you could never tell with the mask over his face— and nodded easily at her. Nodding back, she grinned and stared at her boss straight in the eye, with an unfathomable determination blazing.

"I accept, Uchiha-san. I will become your secretary."

Because it'll be easy, right?

"Are you sure, Forehead? Being the secretary to the head of the company is pretty hard work," said Ino seriously, filing her nails again. "I mean, if you get fired, you'll never be able to get a job ever again because Uchiha-san will hunt you down! And, what if you have an affair with him? Or you find out he's rea—"

"I think she gets it, Ino. Stop trying to make her quit, it's troublesome."

Naruto stood up and slammed his hand on the table. "Yeah, dattebayo! Quit trying to make Sakura-chan quit!" The table shook with the impact exerted by Naruto's fist, causing the items on the surface to shake.

Realization hit Naruto as Sakura's cup of ramen hit her face. "In a book I read in the library, it said that females tend to be violent when angry," stated Sai happily, as he continued to draw in his sketchpad. The artist was right, as Sakura's fist aimed for his face, as she shouted 'SHANNARO' whilst drawing her fist forward.

"Sakura-chan, don't do this! Look behi—"

"Haruno. Office. Now."

The fist was stopped, and the pink haired girl turned around slowly to smile awkwardly at her boss. "R-right away, s-sir," she stuttered as she dropped her clenched fist and started to gather her things. Her friends stared at her silently as she stood up from her seat, and glanced behind her to see if the intimidating man was still there. "Why didn't you tell me he was behind me?!"

"Naruto, you are so dead if I get fired today because of unprofessional attire," Sakura hissed wrathfully as she stormed off to the Uchiha's office, face cloth rubbing desperately over her face to rid of the liquid.

Sighing, she closed the door softly as she entered the large office, and clutched her folders tightly so as to ease her trembling. "What is it you require?" she asked softly, straightening up and standing tall. As an employee that went from being a small worker in the foreign affairs department to big shot secretary, she figured she had to raise her standards professionally.

"Finish these reports, then make two thousand copies. I need them in an hour," he ordered coldly as he sat down in his seat comfortably and pushed forward a large stack of papers. Not even sparing her a glance, he grabbed a pen and started to work.

Sakura nodded quickly and walked forward swiftly and picked the papers off the desk proficiently, or so she thought. Being the clumsy worker she is, she tripped over a snag in the carpet, effectively falling to her knees and having the documents disperse all over the floor. "Shoot..." she muttered, before she stood up and started to retrieve the fallen papers.

Glancing back, she studied his reaction, to which, for some unknown reason, made her disappointed. What had she been thinking, that a replay of earlier events would occur? A constricting feeling tugged at her chest as she turned to face the man again, her pink bangs shadowing her expression.

"I'm sorry, I won't be so incompetent again," she stated dully, before rushing out of the room and to her designated desk.

She collapsed onto her chair and tilted her head back, groaning as she went. The currently frustrated girl slipped an arm casually over her eyes, leaving her pile of paperwork on her desk to wobble whenever a strong breeze blew from a nearby air conditioner.

"Why am I feeling so depressed!? I just got the job I've wanted my entire life, got ramen spilt all over my face, got ignored by boss, have to do tons of paperwork... wait, this is turning into a list of cons!" she wailed as she sat up crossed her arms stubbornly. Cocking her head to the side, she sighed and looked around the office. "Geez, my mind isn't right today."

"Look, it's her."

Sakura jolted, and her eyes diverted to a pair of girls who were chattering incessantly not very far from her. They were both young — made obvious by their freshly styled hair and current fashion items— and were walking to the Uchiha's office excitedly. One of them was staring at her in disgust and was whispering to her friend loudly, as if her intentions were to let the pink haired worker hear them.

"She's not even pretty. Do you think she seduced him?" Sakura scoffed at this and unzipped her bag angrily. "Yeah, I mean there's no way Sasuke-kun would let such an ugly girl be his girlfriend! He's like, in a completely different league. Totally, he's just playing her for fun."

This brought a completely different matter to her head. Flirting? Playing with her for fun? Was that what she was depressed about? "No, that's just completely irrelevant to my issues," she muttered to herself as she pulled out a pen and started to work on the first page. "I don't even want to get romantically involved with him, even if I had a crush on him for years."

"I heard she even has a crush on him! How pathetic."

Sakura's grip on her pen tightened immensely, leaving a hand shaped dent in the writing implement. "What do you girls know?" Standing up stiffly, she shot them a ferocious glare, startling the pair greatly. The pink haired girl smirked and lifted her chin pretentiously, sizing them up and down with her beautiful green, yet absolutely terrifying, eyes. "You girls are just too easy to read.

"Uchiha-san only chooses workers who are capable of doing excellent work in the required time frame. Obviously, you two just weren't good enough," She flipped her hair and sat back down again, continuing her endeavour on the hefty pile of documents she was necessitated to do. "You girls are such hypocrites too; aren't you just here to sneak a peek at your dear Sasuke-kun?"

"If that is so, I request you return to your allocated departments, before you lose your jobs," declared a smooth voice from behind the two insulted girls. Spinning around, their eyes widened as they faced the well-built figure of an irritated man with his hands in his pockets.

A shrill gasp rang from the girl's glossy lips as they bowed reverently to the fuming male specimen and scurried off, squealing to each other animatedly. Sakura could do nothing but cock her head and stare after them oddly. "And Ino-pig says I'm obsessed."

The dark haired boss just sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, before he turned to glare at her. Grunting, he gyrated on his heel sharply and walked back to the office. He paused at the doorframe, and leant against it heedlessly as he slanted his head her way.

"You were hired to do your work, not yell at fellow employees."

With a final slam of the mahogany door, Sakura screeched madly and pulled at the tips of her hair angrily. "Fine, I'll do my work. I'll show you that I am more than capable of being your secretary," she sneered to herself as she picked up her pen and began to do her papers. "Sasuke-kun."

He had heard her yelling at the girls who mocked her. He had heard her mutter to herself as she busily scrawled over the documents. He had heard her murmur his name inordinately seductively as she smirked.

"My, my, Haruno. You sure are as interesting as I first conceived."

For the next few hours, the pair had set themself a goal of finishing the tremendously massive stack of papers. Sakura had been dashing in and out of his office sporadically, bringing and taking papers with her as he ordered. They were a very unapproachable pair as they worked fiercely in silence, apart from the usual commands from the chief. Nonetheless, Sakura wished he didn't say anything at all, as all his comments came with an edge of menace.

"You're too slow. Can't you get these reports a bit faster?"

The pile of documents to be finished was rapidly decreasing, and in the span of just ten hours, the extremely menacing mass of undone papers was almost extinct. However, both were downright exhausted, and Sakura's fingers were aching. Not only that, but her feet were as well, what with all the walking around and photocopying she had to do.

"Copy these, and make sure there are no errors. I need them by 7:30, so in ten minutes," said Sasuke grimly as he jerked his head to a stack of papers near his head. Groaning softly, the tired employee staggered forward to retrieve them, and rubbed her eyes resignedly. Sakura cursed inwardly as her feet suffered another jolt of ache as she strode to the door, but she masked her pain and shuffled out of the office quickly.

Too bad, Uchiha Sasuke was a whiz at breaking composures. "Is the job too hard for you, Haruno?"

He received no answer as the girl marched through the door and banged it close. "Stupid, egotistical, narcissistic, condescending, arrogant..." She froze as she surveyed the long line of people in line for the photocopying machine, all staring at her oddly. "...hello?"

She scuffled slowly to the end of the line and crossed her arms over her chest tenaciously. "What a long line; good thing I decided to get here before checking over them."

Shuffling the papers in her hands delicately, she read over them and slid a hand to the pocket of her black pencil skirt, browsing around in the fabric for a pen. "Eh? I don't have one in there?" she gasped to herself, as she closed the manila folder and tucked it under her arm, so she had better leverage to find the object she sought for. "I swear I had one in here..."

"Looking for this, Sakura-chan?"

As the green eyed girl whipped around, the whiskered boy grinned as he played with a red pen in his tanned fingers. His wide grin grew bigger when she nodded friskily and jumped up to reach it, but he leant away from her, holding it up even higher. "Ah, ah, ah, Sakura-chan! You've got to agree to go on a date with me first!" he exclaimed, jabbing his own chest with his free hand. "There's no other way to get this pen—"

"Except to bash you over the head for not handing it over? SHANNARO!"

While Naruto sat on the floor, moaning over the large lump appearing on his head, Sakura vehemently crossed out the errors with a neat line and wrote the proper term above it. "Mou, there's so many errors here! Did Uchiha-san really type this up properly?" she muttered, jotting down answers. "There's even more on the next page!"

Naruto rested his chin on her shoulder as he scrutinized the papers. "Eh? It doesn't even look like English! I can't even read that!"

"Well, you should go back to elementary school then, Dickless. Maybe then, you'll learn to grow some balls."

"Sai! Don't say stuff like that so loudly," Sakura scolded as she punched him on the cheek. "It's not socially acceptable to do things like that."

The wounded man rubbed his cheek as he looked over the edge of the papers from the front to read along with his two workers. "Did Uchiha get you to do these?"

Sakura nodded, flipping the page over as she shoved the end of the pen in her mouth. "We've been working through the gigantic pile on his desk, and this packet is just about the last of it," she said, her voice a bit stifled due to the item in her mouth. "Though, we worked through them pretty quickly, so I'm glad because I might be able to go home after this."

Her blonde friend sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist lovingly. "Aw... Is our little Sakura-chan tired?"

She let him be, as she was too preoccupied in correcting the mistakes on the new page. "Yes. I am deadbeat. Exhausted. Worn Out. Fatigued," she declared solemnly, flipping another page. "I mean, the man practically has me doing everything, and it's just my first day! My fingers are hurting, my feet are aching and my back is sore from bending over my desk and his reaching for papers."

"Would you like a massage? I can give you one now, if you like," was all the emotionless boy said as he made groping movements with his hands, before he was answered with another punch, except this time on his other cheek.

"Anyway," Sakura continued on, completely ignoring Sai's undeliberate voyeuristic comment, even when he put an arm around her stomach. "That man is just so... ugh! He is the rudest, most infuriating man I have ever met! Is he like this to everyone else?"

"You mean foul, stupid and disrespectful? Yeah, that pretty much sums up the man."

"No! I mean like, does he always have such mood changes?"

"Mood changes? Do you mean extreme or rapid changes in mood, Ugly? Like the ones females have when they are going through their menstr—"

"Yes, those," Sakura jeered pointedly. "I mean, he was acting all flirty and charming before, and now he's the perfect example of the boss from hell!"

Naruto spluttered. "W-what!? That bastard was flirting with you!?"

Sakura sighed and checked over the entire bulk of papers once more. "Well, I think he was. You can never be too sure with that Uchiha," she said as she slipped the papers into an orderly pile. "But if you count whispering softly into one's ear and holding them intimately around the waist flirting, then yeah, he was flirting with me."

"Oi, can you guys move up? You're causing a blockage in the line!" yelled a person angrily from behind them. Sakura gasped and untangled herself from both of the men's arms and stumbled forward in the queue. She flashed the people behind her an apologetic smile and pulled the boys by the wrist so they came to her side.

"Look at her, isn't she disgusting? Having those two men drape themselves all over her; she's such a whore," someone whispered loudly. "I don't understand why a girl like her became Sasuke-kun's secretary so quickly. I mean wasn't she working as an underling for the Nara kid?"

Another person joined in the gossip. "Yeah, I bet she slept with Sasuke-kun to get the job. I mean, why else would he hire her?"

Naruto turned around as he snapped, glaring at them heatedly. "Shut up! You guys are just jealous!" he shouted, before he turned back to Sakura and casually pulled her to the machine as she was next in line. "Don't worry about them, Sakura-chan."

The girl simply nodded quickly, before she placed her papers in the machine and pressed the accurate buttons with ease. "I can't believe there are girls that are jealous of Ugly," Sai murmured, glancing back at the still gossiping ladies. "They must be pretty bad."

Sakura gave Sai a light punch and chuckled lightly, but the boys both noticed the undertone of sadness in her laugh. "I better get back now; Uchiha-san is probably going to kill me!" she said forcibly as she withdrew her papers from the gadget. "I'll see you guys around."

Walking off quickly, she grasped the folder to her chest tightly as she entered Sasuke's office quietly. She found him hunched over his desk, his hand furiously scrawling over a sheet of paper. Her eyes averted to the clock hanging on the wall and she paled. The clock read 7:35.

She walked sternly up to the desk and placed them on the surface carefully. "Ah, sir? I have the documents ready for you."

His head jerked up, and he glared at her coldly. "I asked for these fifteen minutes ago. Was it that hard to get them copied in that time?"

"There was a long line for the machine sir, and I was informed all the others were malfunctioning."

"I don't care. You could have just gone to another, or pushed in," he shot back, returning to his papers.

"I told you sir, the other machines weren't working. And, I can't be rude to other workers by doing that."

Sasuke placed his papers into a clear folder and plopped them on top of a big stack of similar folders. "I told you, I don't care. You aren't being paid to be nice," he said, leaning forward to get the papers. Scanning through them quickly, he tossed them back at her. "Do you know how unprofessional this looks? With all your scribbles?"

Sakura shot her chin up defiantly. "I was unaware that the way I do things was unprofessional. Kakashi-san and Shikamaru-san never had a problem with it."

"Because they don't deal with the finalised things. You do. Get used to doing things my way, Haruno."

The girl fumed as she scrunched the folder in her hands tightly. "Why are you so rude? I don't recall you being so demanding of other workers!" she screeched, and she glared at him when he didn't respond. "I don't see how I have to be treated an—"

"Yeah, I bet she slept with Sasuke-kun to get the job. I mean, why else would he hire her?"

She froze, and she softened her glare to a trained smile. "I-I apologize for my rudeness sir. I haven't an idea what came over me," she apologized gently, bowing her head. Looking up again, she was surprised at the sight that met her eyes.

The man was smirking.

The man whom had previously been wearing a scowl and planting his 'Uchiha death glare' on her was smirking egotistically. He leant back in his chair and rested an arm on the armrest, using that same arm to cup his face with slender fingers. "Come forward, Sa-ku-ra," he beckoned her towards him, using his other hand to gesture with his digits.

She was confused. However, she knew when it was not wise to approach a man. "Is this some sort of test, Uchiha-san? Are you deliberately toying with my feelings?"

He chuckled softly. "Hn."

A vein throbbed in her forehead. Stamping forward, she climbed onto the desk and pulled him forward by the tie. "I don't care. I don't care if you give all the work you have, or if you fire me," she hissed, pulling him closer to her face as she inched her legs more comfortably onto the bureau. "I will accept whatever challenge you throw at me... Sasuke-kun."

"Good. I'd hate to challenge someone who forfeits."

She looked him straight in the eye, and blushed as she noticed his eyes travel elsewhere. Coughing, she backed away, dropping his tie and climbing off the desk. "I apologize for that as well. I'll take my leave now."

He smirked. "Wear proper attire tomorrow. No secretary of mine is to go frolicking about with see-through shirts."

Blushing, she turned around and bowed again. Hurriedly, she scurried to the door and opened it slowly. As she was just about to exit, she paused. "Hit me with all you've got tomorrow, Sasuke-kun. I look forward to it."

"You're annoying."

She stiffened and stuck her chin up as she strode quickly out of the office. "That doesn't change my outlook on anything!" she yelled indignantly from the corridor.

Chuckling again, he spun around in his chair to face the clear panelling of windows. Scanning the dark sky, he picked up a glass of red liquid that rested on his desk and brought it to his lips. He sloshed the refreshment around idly, as he waited for his pink haired secretary to walk out from the building.

"Yes, you are definitely annoying," he murmured as he watched the girl walk across the road and skip happily home, raising her fist in the air triumphantly. "And a bigger challenge for me than I am for you."

He downed the whole contents of the glass in one gulp and he wiped his mouth of stray liquid.

"Because as the greatest smelling object ever to be smelled..."

Sakura grinned as she skipped home, giggling as she went. "I did it! I did it!"

"You are the biggest challenge to a vampire like me."

A/N: Yay! Another chapter! The idea of using the big words was inspired by extraordinaire's story 'don't go changing'. So credit for that idea goes to her. Thank you to all those who reviewed, and please continue to! Also, please go to my account page for a poll on my stories as summaries are there too!