A/N: New chapter up! I still don't own Naruto!

La Tua Cantante

Chapter 4:

BONDS

"Sakura-chan, you look really tired."

The rosette haired woman glanced up from her cup of coffee and stared at him despairingly. She shook her head lightly and brought the steaming liquidation to her lips flippantly as she turned her head to stare out the window. Sighing, her eyes drooped indolently before she opened her mouth to reply.

"Just a bit," she answered, stifling a yawn with her hand. Sakura put her cup down, and rubbed an eye absent-mindedly as she reached forward for another packet of sugar.

Naruto watched her intently as she ripped open the sachet and spilled its contents into the awaiting drink. "Maybe I shouldn't have woken you up so early..." he said uneasily as the sleepy girl downed her beverage in a single gulp. The whiskered boy regretted saying anything as she jerked her head to face him with an angry stare.

Slamming her cup down onto the table, she growled. "You think?"

When the sound of wailing reached Sakura's ear that morning, she had promptly ignored it. The girl was still tired, and she wiggled around in bed to be in a more comfortable position. Her legs still ached and her fingers were still stiff from all the writing she had done the previous day.

"Don't...no...Leave me alone," Sakura said sluggishly as she turned over in bed. "I want to sleep."

The wailing didn't stop, even when she had tried to block it out as she shoved her head under the pillow. She turned over again, this time moving further away from the bedside table. Unfortunately, not being very sensory in the dark, Sakura had toppled over the edge of the bed, thus creating a noisy ruckus as she brought all her blankets down with her.

Sakura growled as she thrashed, before emerging from the mass of blankets the same way one would if they had just broken the surface of water. "Damn it, I wanted to sleep more," she roared irately, crawling over to the still shrieking gadget that was her phone. Pressing a button, she hissed a greeting in an unwelcome manner. "What?"

She recognized the voice as soon as she had picked it up. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Are you up for some coffee?" Consequently, being unable to resist Naruto's teary voice and the offer of free coffee, she had sluggishly made her way to the coffee shop that was her destination.

"Seriously, Naruto! If you were just going to complain to me about your crappy work life, you could have just done it at work," Sakura grumbled, tipping her foam cup upside down as she mourned over the loss of its contents. Sighing once again, she dropped her cup despondently and yawned.

Naruto laughed heartily as he grabbed his things –including his mug of caffeine that the pink haired maiden had attempted to swipe hungrily— and stood up. "See you at work, Sakura-chan! I want to get some ramen before Ino gets angry at me again!"

Waving reluctantly, she groaned as her supplier of coffee left the shop. Sakura plopped her head onto the table wearily, only to hit her forehead on a scrunched up napkin. "What the heck is this?" she groused as she unrumpled the creased fabric. "From Naruto?"

Whispering to herself quietly, she read it out. "Sakura-chan, don't get down just because the bastard is your boss. Dattebayo."

Sakura laughed gently as she covered her mouth to asphyxiate her giggles. Dropping the napkin, she stood up and made her way to the counter; she figured she could abide by Naruto's wishes if she drank more coffee.

"I'd like a Caramel Macchiato," she said lightly to the worker across the bureau, pulling out her wallet gingerly. "With extra sugar, please."

Whether it was due to the atmosphere of the cosy shop, or just the fact that she was about to get her daily caffeine dose, her mood had improved considerably. A small smile adorning her features she nodded thankfully to the girl as she pushed the cup in front of her carefully.

The worker looked at the pink haired girl expectantly. "That will be ¥272, thanks."

Finding no extra change, she looked through the other pockets of her wallet, only to find it empty. Sakura flashed the girl a gauche smile as she fumbled around in her pockets for the miracle that money would suddenly appear. "Sorry, just let me check my bag ag—"

"Here," a figure muttered as he loomed over her, slapping down a couple of notes carelessly. "And a black coffee with no sugar."

Turning around, Sakura gasped and bowed quickly. "Sasuke-kun! You don't have to pay for me! I just found...um..."

The dark haired man just nodded briskly before he picked up both cups that he had paid for and walked over to her table. "How did you... my table?" she said unintelligently, still baffled by the fact that he had bought her coffee. Sasuke just looked at her knowingly as continued to walk elegantly to the vacant table.

Sitting down, he smirked at her from his spot and she swore that he was challenging her to sit with him. Sakura gave up as she strode over to his table in defeat; after all, she would be getting free coffee.

In silence, the pair started to drink; Sasuke pulling out a folder as he sipped stylishly while Sakura just stared at him as she brought the foam to her lips, blowing carefully as she watched. After a few moments, the vampire sighed and ran a hand through his hair amusedly. "Am I that pleasant to look at?"

Sakura spluttered over her coffee as she took the first taste. "N-no! I was merely... looking at the person behind you!"

Smirking, Sasuke returned to his papers, flicking through them efficiently as he pulled out a pen from an inner pocket in his expensive suit. She watched, somewhat entranced as the sunlight hit his hair faintly through the glass panes of the window, making it look like a dark shade of blue. The man shifted his head slightly, and the rays of light danced around with the dust in the air.

"He must be in a good mood today," Sakura murmured to herself as she continued to gulp down her refreshment. She brought a hand up as she cupped her cheek with her hand and gazed distractedly out the window. "I hope today isn't like yesterday. I've already had a bad enough morning."

"Bad morning?" he asked quietly, still writing over the papers in his neat scrawl.

She nodded, licking her lips as she turned her gaze on him again. "Yes. I fell of the bed, had no coffee left in my house and had to walk here in these dastardly heels because my friend stole my flats."

"You do look awful."

Sakura gasped, and blushed as she brushed her hands through her hair embarrassingly as she averted her eyes. "Well, sorry for that. At least I'm wearing proper attiretoday." She said as she gestured to her pinstriped ensemble, which consisted of a pencil skirt and a short sleeved blouse. Leaning forward, she crossed her arms and grinned mischievously. "What do you think?"

The girl received no answer, and she pouted childishly. Snapping her head back to watch the happenings of the city, she picked up her cup of coffee and brought it to her lips once again, sloshing around as she observed the people loitering idly around the buildings. Sakura yawned loudly, and she covered her mouth with her hands as exhaled.

"It's nice, isn't it?" she whispered quietly as she smiled softly.

The small shop gave off a nice, warm sensation. A comfortable silence hung over the place, being broken only by the quiet chatter of customers and the hearty greetings of employees as they took orders. The aroma of rich coffee beans wafted in the air, along with the delectable scents of pastries and delicacies. It was definitely one of the most perfect places to be in the morning, especially in such a busy city such as Tokyo.

Sakura sighed in relief. "At the least, it's keeping the man across me in a good mood."

She heard a rustling of papers and the swishing of a large coat being put on she watched her boss stand up with his belongings. Sasuke edged out of the booth and started to head out into the cold weather outside the glass door of the toasty shop.

The girl had blurted it out before she could even think about it. "Where are you going?"

She slapped herself inwardly. How could she say that? He was bound to leave eventually, as he was—

"Morning conference. Finish whatever work Nara gives you."

And he left, leaving the green eyed girl to slump back in her seat as she scolded herself for being so out of line. "I should probably go—" she muttered as she slipped on her coat and glanced at the time. Doing a double back, she paled as she stared at the hands on the dreaded numbers. "Damn it! I wasn't paying attention to time!"

"Shoot! I'm late!" Sakura fussed as she ran in her heels to the building, knowing it would be quicker than taking a taxi in the busy traffic. Rushing, she dashed through the glass, sliding doors effortlessly as she signed in hurriedly. "I am so dead if Sasuke-kun finds out that I was late!"

The green eyes girl hastily stopped an elevator door from closing as she squeezed in. Jabbing her allocated floor button, she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the enclosed bow to halt at her destination. "So slow...hurry up, you stupid thing!"

"Eh? Forehead?" said a female voice behind her curiously as a hand met her shoulder. The hand however, didn't match the tone of the voice as it was too calloused and big, so Sakura reacted defensively. Ducking evasively, she spun around and grabbed the hand tightly with both of her own, growling as she turned her grip to that of a vice.

"Who are..." her voice waned slowly as she came to know who had been speaking to her. "Shikamaru?"

The shirker frowned and shook their intertwined hands a bit, before Sakura gasped and let go immediately. "That hurt, you troublesome woman," he muttered as he rubbed his throbbing hand. Whilst stroking his appendage delicately, he raised an eyebrow at her and peeked at his watch. "Aren't you supposed to be up there already?"

Sakura gulped and shook her hands in front of her face dismissively. "What are you talking about, Shikamaru? I've been here the whole time!" Sakura lowered her hands slowly as she realized something. "Hey, Shikamaru, what happened to your voice? It was all high a minute ago..."

A high heeled stiletto suddenly swung at her shin. "How dare you, Forehead!? Can't you even recognize your own best friend's voice!?"

A sudden jolt of understanding hit Sakura as Ino stepped out from behind the lazy dawdler. In her hands, she held an enormous pile of papers, almost as large as the stack Kakashi had made her do the morning she had tripped into her boss's arms. "Ino? Sorry, I didn't see you behind the... papers."

The sound of the elevator doors swinging open on her floor caused Sakura end their conversation and wave a dismal good-bye as she awaited the work she had been assigned to do by her hellish boss.

She heard two sets of footsteps behind her. "Mou, wait up, Forehead!"

The pink haired girl turned stubbornly around as she reached her desk, plopping her bag down onto the floor beside her. "And what is tha—ah!" she gasped as Ino abruptly skipped over and dumped the large mass onto her desk with a relieved sigh. Sakura stared astounded at the towering mass that now inhabited her desk. "Wh-what is t-this?"

"It's too troublesome to explain fully," muttered Shikamaru as he stuck his hands behind his head and walked off. Sakura just gaped after him. "Just finish all those before Uchiha returns."

Ino smiled at her apologetically, before she too, began to retreat back to her own department. Sakura just reached out for her wrist, but she dodged. "Sorry Forehead. Orders from the top dog."

The pink haired girl grumbled as she proceeded to start the massive mass of documents she had to do. "Some friends I have," she hissed to herself as she began scrawling over the papers. "It wouldn't hurt if they would help once in a while."

Scribbling furiously at a fast pace, Sakura continued to work diligently for the rest of the morning. Fellow workers stayed away in fear of disrupting the dangerous aura that she emitted, and several rumours started to drift about the cause of her newfound determination to work.

"Yeah, wasn't she fighting with the boss yesterday about her job?" they whispered to each other excitedly. "I bet she's going to get fired by the time he gets back; I bet my pay on it."

Sakura snorted deliriously. "I bet my pay on it," she mimicked childishly as shook her hand to rid of the cramps that were starting to frequent. "Too bad; your pay's been wasted on something stupid!"

"Somebody told me once that talking to yourself was the first sign of insanity."

Green eyes stared at him unenthusiastically as Sakura spared him a glance before recommencing her signing. "You've been talking to Sai," she accused warily, pushing back some stray strands of hair with her hand. "And I am not going insane."

Kakashi chuckled and turned a page in his book. Stretching slightly as he departed from his previous lazy stance by the doorway, he made his way to her slowly. "Someone's in a bad mood."

The girl ignored him, hunching over her work even more when she heard him approach. "And look where it put you. My, we leave you here with a big stack of unfinished papers, and look what's happened! I've taught you well," he commented as he plopped down onto a vacant seat and rolled over to her. "But..."

With no warning whatsoever, the masked man snatched the papers away from her and held them in his hand calmly. "You really should learn to take a break."

Sakura pouted, and crossed her arms obstinately over her chest. "Sensei,you didn't teach me well enough then."

"I'm quite aware that I was told not to meddle with your personal preferences to resting times," Kakashi lifted eyed her over the top of his pages before he thrust the documents in his hand to a clear desk. "For blaming me such a trivial matter, you have to face the consequences.

Gawking, Sakura watched as her finished papers fluttered precociously to another location, and she spun around in her chair adamantly. "Consequences?"

He grinned, or at least, she thought he grinned, as he jerked his head towards the window on the far side of the room. "See that coffee shop down there?" he inquired, standing up and brushing his pants with his available hand. "Let's go out for some lunch."

Again, without warning, he grabbed a hold of her skinny wrist and proceeded to drag her into the elevator. "NO! I need to check over the reports one more time!" Sakura struggled dearly with trying to pry his strong grip from her wrist, and gave up when the doors closed. "If I get fired—"

She was interrupted as the man she was conversing with started to publicly giggle at literature that was deemed as inappropriate in society. Sighing, she leaned on the railing of the elevator and stuck her hands in her pockets as she fumbled around for some money.

"Once again, I'm broke," she grumbled as she scratched her head thoughtfully. "To think about it, I haven't got any money in my wallet at all."

Sakura supposed she should have been used to being hit with surprises, but it wasn't everyday that a surprise hit you smack bang in the face. As the green eyed girl recovered from a devastating hit from a small item, she glared at the silver haired offender. "What is..." she said quietly as she examined the object. "...is this money!?"

He ignored her as he pulled her out of the lift and walked briskly out of the edifice. Groaning, Sakura kept in stride with him, though his hand had left her wrist and was now shoved deeply the pocket of his slacks. No conversation was shared between them as Kakashi was too engrossed in his reading material and Sakura was bleakly mulling over job options she could take if she was fired.

"Eh? This is..." she whispered as he opened the glass door of the cosy shop for her, and she graciously entered. Kakashi grabbed her hand and led her over to a booth at the far corner of the shop, where a man had already occupied a seat.

"Sorry I'm late. My friend had a bit of trouble agreeing to lunch preparations."

The man answered with a grunt as he continued shuffling papers professionally before placing them all in a single folder. Kakashi pulled Sakura's elbow softly and ushered her to sit, which she did, albeit reluctantly next to the stranger. Fidgeting, she glimpsed at him through the bangs of her hair, and looked away quickly when she comprehended the identity of the man.

"You're always late anyway," the man said listlessly, finally looking up. His onyx drifted to her briefly before settling on the still reading man across the bureau. "But why did you have to drag my secretary along as well?"

Kakashi lowered his book slightly and exchanged looks with the dark haired man. Leaning back again, he closed his book shut and placed it on the surface of the table. "Does it bother you?" he asked playfully, his lone eye crinkling in amusement.

A heavy tension fell over the table as both males engaged in a staring competition of sorts. It seemed like a stalemate, and Sakura started to intervene. "S-shall we get our drinks?" she said hopefully, trying to receive an answer but to no avail. "Or shall we get some food?"

Finally, after what seemed like eons, Sasuke grunted again and excused himself from the table, making his way to the counter. "I guess its Sasuke's treat again today," Kakashi said as he resumed his reading. "Ohohoho... don't do it, Yuki!"

Overlooking her previous teacher's odd discussion with his book, she stood up and scuffled nervously over to the Uchiha, who was still waiting in line. "I can do this..." she told herself as she pulled out her wallet, double checking she had money in there. "It's just to pay him back; no big deal."

"A Vanilla Hazelnut, black coffee with no sugar or cream," he said monotonously to the worker behind the cashier. Sakura stumbled over to him, bumping into his arm a bit with a soft thud. "And a Caramel Macchiato."

Sakura shyly placed some money on the counter as Sasuke began to pull his own wallet out. He looked at her oddly before continuing to open the item in his hands, but the rosette haired girl just smiled lightly and placed a soft hand over his own.

"Here," she helplessly tried to imitate Sasuke as she repeated her action of putting down the bills. "And a black coffee with no sugar."

Laughing, she covered her mouth as she stared back at him, and her soft smile turned to a grin. "Take it as me owing you for the coffee this morning."

He grunted, and shook her other hand off his own as he reached for his own cup of coffee as they came. "Hn."

Sakura pouted again and grabbing the two remaining drinks, she skipped over to the pair of males at their booth. Handing Kakashi his Vanilla Hazelnut, she sat down next to Sasuke again, opening the top of her coffee to blow carefully.

"Ah! It's been a busy day, huh?" Sakura chirped, rubbing her hands around the material of her cup. "How was your conference, Sasuke-kun?'

He grunted, sipping his own drink as he inched away from the girl as she leaned towards him. "Fine."

Sakura sulked as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Mou, everyone is being mean today!"

She received no answer from the two males, and she proceeded to gulf down her hot refreshment angrily. "Fine then, don't answer— ouch!"

Hissing, she dropped her cup as she felt drops of hot coffee hit her skin. The rosette haired girl began to bring her burnt arm up to her mouth to caress it with her tongue, but a blur stopped her from her action as she felt something cold engulf her wrist. She felt cold fingers press against her warm skin, and her injured arm was brought upwards.

"Are you alright?"

Onyx eyes stared at her deeply as Sasuke whispered the words. Her arm was so near his mouth that she could feel his breaths touch her in time with his breathing pattern. Unconsciously, she leant towards him, and shivered when his icy digits ran down her arm to her miniscule burn. Her shuddering became even more extreme as she felt the ghost of his lips brush against her injury, before he straightened and set more distance between them.

Kakashi watched the silent, yet meaningful exchange between the two as Sasuke held her arm delicately. Smiling, he put his cup down quietly –how he had finished it without anyone witnessing was an unknown mystery— and coughed noisily to get their attention.

"Well, I've got to get going," he said as he stood up, shocking the two at his sudden movement. "I have some important matters to attend to, so look after my share of papers, ok?"

"EH?" Sakura gasped as the silver haired man waved them a small good-bye as he disappeared through the glass doors. "He's making me do more work, even though he knew what I went through this morning?"

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he too stood up and gathered his papers. "Let's go. We have work to do."

True to his word, Kakashi had left an astounding pile of papers on his desk, with a small post-it attached instructing them on what to do. Grunting, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and ordered her to take them to his office, to which Sakura immediately, yet very grudgingly, complied.

"And tomorrow, I'm going to have bags under my eyes from lack of sleep," she muttered as she scuffled to his office. "I really need to send in a compla—ah!"

Almost tripping over an item on the floor, Sakura stumbled over to his desk quickly, and laid down the stack of credentials before she could commit anymore clumsy acts. "I really am too clumsy..."

"Start these," Sasuke commanded impassively as he looked up at her from his work on the desk. Grumbling under her breath, she snatched away the stack of papers and stomped out the door. Sakura took care as she walked out, making sure she didn't make a fool of herself again.

However, this didn't last long as she stopped and fumbled with her papers when she received another order. "Work here."

Sakura spun around and gazed at him in anticipation. "And where shall I work... sir?"

He pointed with a single, slim finger to his own desk, making the girl jump in surprise. "Yes, Sasuke-kun," she whispered, and trod slowly to the table as she set down her pile of documents. Brightening up, she smiled and raised her fist in the air triumphantly. "Cha, let's finish these!"

With that, Sakura proceeded to start her work, but was halted in her act as those same cold fingers touched her wrist again. "Is your burn still hurting?"

Examining her injury, she shook her head and grinned at him. Lifting her arm up proudly, she showed him the light trace of her burn, which was starting to fade away. "Nope, see! It's healing really fast!"

A grunt was his reply, and he detracted his hand to continue his work. Sakura's grin softened to a gentle smile as she leant forward, causing Sasuke to lift his head at her sudden proximity. "Ne, Sasuke-kun, we have a bond here don't we?"

He scoffed, and moved back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest cockily as he smirked at her. "What? How can you think we have a bond?"

"Well, a bond is a relationship between two people, right? So, I guess we have a boss-employee bond."

"Are you sure we have justa boss-employee relationship?"

Sakura froze. Staring incredibly unintelligently, she raised an eyebrow at his words. "W-what do you mean?"

To her infuriating frustration, he just grunted and scooted his seat frontward. Picking up his pen, Sasuke simply ignored her gaping mouth and wide eyes as he resumed his signing of credentials. The perplexed girl soon gave up when she realized she wasn't going to get an answer and sighed. Sakura continued her work again as well, and for the rest of the night, the two worked soundlessly.

Soon enough, it became late, and the two tired workers were still busy signing away at the papers. "Exactly how much more do we need to do?" asked Sakura as she picked up another file and started to read over it. "I'm going to die if I ever have to this much again."

Glancing over the remaining piles of unfinished files, Sasuke turned to her. "If we work fast enough, we can get these done in another hour."

She groaned, and began to fiddle with the papers she was working on. "We should have gotten some coffee back at the shop; I'm in dire need of a caffeine boost," she said resignedly. Yawning, she covered her mouth with her hands before she stretched them high over her head. "I feel like I'm going to fall asleep any mo—"

"What did you think I meant?"

Sakura froze in her stretch and looked up him curiously. "Eh?"

Sighing, Sasuke shuffled some more papers and put them in another folder. "About our... bond."

"Oh... I don't really know. Maybe that we were even more distant than that?" she said questioningly, though the question was more directed to herself.

The dark haired man shut his drawer with a loud close as he tilted his head to stare at her directly in the eye. Sakura jumped at the impact he made, as it made the whole desk shake, and she gazed back at him oddly.

His expression was one that she had never seen before; it was a look of amusement, sadness, and a bit of bitterness. "Distant? Is that what you think we are..." he drawled as he picked up a folder and passed it to Sakura, who clutched it to her chest. "Sa-ku-ra?"

She gasped, and looked away fervently. Coughing, she pretended to be working on another file, but Sasuke once again interrupted her by taking a hold of her wrist. "Do distant people spend lunch together, or call each other by their first names?"

"Sasuke-kun..."

Like what had happened in the coffee shop, she instinctively leaned closer to him, entranced by whatever spell he was casting. He was now in such close proximity that she could touch his face with her hair, or caress his lips with her own... but he moved away too quickly, and straightened up.

"Get back to work," he commanded coldly, as if she had done something wrong. Sakura frowned and opened her mouth to protest, until he got out of his seat to examine files on the other side of the room.

An awkward silence fell upon them once again as they got deep into their paperwork and it became even later as the entire building was almost empty. Time was going by quickly for Sakura, as she worked and she was glad. She was grateful for the amount of work she had to do as it gave her an excuse to be quiet, even though the thing she wanted most was to ask why he had acted so unexpectedly.

"I'm done, Sasuke-kun," Sakura stated as she returned from putting the rest of the files back into Kakashi's office. "May I take my leave now?"

He grunted, and she fled quickly. "I'm sorry for being a bother today, sir!" she yelled somewhat quietly as she stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the button. "I will try not to be too distracted next time!"

Sasuke didn't answer as she stepped through the metal doors her head down as she shuffled in listlessly, but spoke when the doors were closing slowly. "Next week..."

The girl looked up, and she flashed him a small smile. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"A meeting. Be prepared, as we will have to get more work done."

Nodding the girl smiled even brighter as she replied with an enthusiastic cheer. The doors still hadn't completely closed, so it spared her a few moments to watch as her boss turned swiftly and strode down the corridor gracefully. Sakura deeply admired the way that Sasuke portrayed himself, and tilted her head to the side as she played with a lock of pink hair. His muscular back facing her, she hit herself inwardly as her thoughts drifted to a more sexual path.

"I do not think of Sasuke-kun that way. I don't like him anymore," she chanted, making it her own mantra as the doors of the old contraption snapped close. "Of course, I don't; he's my boss now! I can't eve—" The sound of familiar wailing filled her ears as she groped quickly in her pocket for her phone. "What is with people interrupting my inner monologues all the time?"

She answered the phone quickly, and winced as Ino's noisy voice filtered through the earpiece at full volume. "Forehead! Are you still at work? We've been, like, looking for you everywhere!"

Sakura made an approving sound into the phone, and pulled the phone away from her ear as the voice got even louder. "You are going home now, right? Naruto and I are at your apartment, and we're totally raiding your refrigerator tonight for your lateness, so be pre—"

The deafening voice from the phone crackled and buzzed, and Sakura sighed into the phone. Her friend apparently heard her soft groan and instantly spoke up even louder, making the bad signal even worse. Although it was hard to understand, Sakura understood the gist of her friend's tantalizing speech.

"You're in the elevator, aren't you? Cow-lips, the reception is so bad there, they really should get them upgraded."

Sakura shook her head furiously at her blonde friend's suggestion waited to speak until she had stepped out of the enclosed box with bad signals.

"Oh, I disagree. I think we should keep the elevators."

A/N: I would so keep those elevators if it got me a good eyeful of Sasuke-kun every time he walked away! Sorry for the really long wait, but I have been busy with...hellwo— I mean homework! If I get straight A's in my report again, I might just get a reward from my parents!

So anyway, please review, as I would really like feedback to know if I should continue this story or not. Also, please check my profile for the poll, as the poll will sort of determine which story I focus on...