A/N: Yo! I'm back! Sorry for the long update, but I was seriously not motivated to write this chapter. I almost thought of discontinuing this chapter due to lack of reviews, but I was suddenly inspired by a story that I read, which was written by annabananaa. The story is called Porcelain, and I order you to read it! :) This chapter is dedicated to annabananaa for her amazing story that inspired me to keep on fighting!

Still, I do not own Naruto.

La Tua Cantante

Chapter 5:

MEETING

Sharingan Inc was famous for its uncanny organization and exceptional working standards. This was due to the fact that only highly outstanding employees were hired, employees that did only their job perfectly.

"This is the company that's number one in this region?"

It was definitely an odd sight to behold as two workers fell beneath the expectations like one would fall when bungee jumping. The receptionists weren't the smartest people, as one was nonchalantly doing her nails, while the other was lounging on his chair as he amused himself with a black gaming device.

"Hey, Shark-boy, do you think Sasuke-kun likes me?" asked a redheaded girl snobbishly as she shook a bottle of nail polish in her hand. "I mean, he and I are so perfect together!"

"Excuse me, but—"

Snorting, the boy just continued on with his game, furiously jabbing the controls with his fingers. He watched excitedly as his character darted across the screen and cheered as multiple monsters appeared. "C'mon! Shoot down those hollows li—OI! What are you doing, Karin?!"

Karin lifted her chin haughtily as she dangled the portable gaming platform by the lanyard. "I asked you a question. You're supposed to answer."

"Fine, no man in their straight mind would go out with you."

"Suigetsu; stop lying!"

"I said, excuse m—"

The light haired man shrugged and snatched the PSP away from the girl's dangerous nails. "I'm not. You're pigheaded, wear glasses, and don't have your looks going for you..." Suigetsu affirmed as he nodded his head. "Yeah! Bankai!"

"Whatever." Karin sighed and began to coat her long nails with a nice covering of black. "I swear, Shark-boy, those games will kill you. Oh, and you're going to die lonely and a—"

"Excuse me, but we wish to have access to Uchiha Sasuke's office right away—"

Karin spun around in her chair angrily. "Well, excuse me, but you just..."

"—as we, Byakugan Corp, would like to attend the meeting scheduled at this instance."

A look of utter shock was etched onto the girl's face as the dark contents of her bottle splattered to the tiled floor. "...Byakugan Corp?" breathed Karin as she examined the group carefully.

A group of well-groomed individuals stood there, their stylish suits being proof of this. The man that had spoken sighed impatiently as he crossed his arms, checking the time on his flashy watch. A girl fidgeted nervously behind him and twiddled her fingers together as a young man next to her hovered protectively over her.

"Yes, and we have a meeting to be present at," explained the same man intolerantly. "Just let us escort ourselves up to the room where the conference is being held."

Their attention was drawn away when they heard the fast clicking of heels on the stairs, and a panting voice as the orator stopped in her tracks. "There's no need for that; I shall escort you to the room myself."

There, leaning over the stairs tiredly, was a pink haired girl with vibrant green eyes that stared at them anxiously. "I apologize for any inconveniences we have caused you. Please come quickly, as the meeting is about to start," said the girl politely as she walked over to the group in her noisy shoes.

Sakura attempted to calm her lungs down as she huffed as if she had just run a marathon. Of course, it was quite close; being forced to take the stairs down to the ground level from the highest level was hard work. Brushing a hand through her hair, she straightened herself as she continued to walk towards them, and gestured with her hand for them to follow her.

"As I said, please hurry sir; Uchiha-san doesn't like to be kept waiting."

White eyes scanned her over, and the man scoffed. "Who are you to think you can do what you like?"

A soft squeak was elicited from pink lips as the shy girl moved forward to protest. "Father... maybe she is th—"

"Leave Hiashi-sama be, Hinata-sama. Do not interfere," ordered the young boy as he appeared at her side instantly, wrapping a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back successfully. His long, chestnut hair swung around his face as he lifted his head sharply to glare at Sakura. "Hiashi-sama is correct; a girl like you should not impede on other's business.

"Sharingan Inc has fallen low if they hire employees like you. Such destinies for those like yourself are nothing but full of incomprehensible troubles. Arrogant, nosy and undistinguished workers are better off fired."

Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but clamped her mouth shut as she was interrupted by a strong voice. "Honest as always, aren't we Hyuuga?" boomed a confident voice as a hand came down on her head. "But don't you think you're being out of line?"

Hiashi glowered at the speaker and squared his shoulders. "Tsunade-sama, what brings you here?" he sneered rather disrespectfully at the woman.

Green eyes widened as the pink haired girl jerked her head to catch a glimpse of the woman who had defended her, and she gasped. "T-Tsunade-sama!"

Hazel eyes glanced at her as said woman just smiled at her as she wheeled the rosette around effortlessly to turn to the elevators at the end of the hall. "Follow along Hiashi. You wouldn't want to anger Uchiha by bullying his precious secretary now, would you?"

Trailing after the powerful woman slothfully, Sakura struggled to keep pace as she stumbled over her stilettos clumsily. "Ah, could we please slow down?"

"Nope. We're late enough as it is," said Tsunade seriously, tugging at the thin wrist in her hand eagerly as she dragged Sakura into the elevator with her. She barked at the Hyuugas with annoyance as she tapped her long fingers on the wall next to the pad of control buttons. "Didn't I say to hurry up?"

Sighing, the brown-eyed woman jabbed a button and put her hand on her hip as the contraption moved. This gave Sakura the perfect opportunity to discreetly scope out information—by this, she meant staring blatantly at the object of her attention and asking her nonstop queries— from the bored woman.

Twiddling her fingers nervously, Sakura diverted her gaze to the floor as she spoke softly. "Tsunade-sama? I was wondering, I—"

"What? You think you can talk to me?" derided the busty woman as she leant forward to unconsciously show off her assets. A hearty laugh erupted from her mouth as she looked at the girl in ridicule. "With the way your acting now, I don't believe you have the right to."

Sakura cocked her head to the side as confusion clouded her eyes. "Huh?"

Her personality had changed instantly; from being the sweet, defending woman, she had turned to a cruel, cold businesswoman. The curvaceous figure of the blonde haired woman leant against the railing of the wall as she scoffed. Brown eyes scrutinized the pink haired girl in absolute mockery, crossing her arms across her voluptuous chest.

"Aren't you Uchiha's secretary? I thought you would be a tough nut that could handle the Uchiha, but instead, I see this scrawny little girl who can't even handle her own troubles. Why in the world did that boy hire someone like you?"

The pink haired girl wanted to snap back angrily and throw a hissy fit, but settled for bowing reverently. "I apologize for my irresponsible attitude, Tsunade-sama."

"See? That's the scrawny little girl I'm talking about," Tsunade declared as she swung her hand towards the pink head to thwack it jokingly. "I really don't like tha—OUCH!"

It had happened in a blur, and on pure instinct. As the larger hand travelled through the air to sail into her head, she had dodged and brought her own hand up to dig into her opponent's stomach. It was really just too bad that she had hit the flab of skin before she had time to even think about what she was doing.

Opening her mouth to apologize again profusely, her speech was intervened as the elevator doors slid open, revealing the lazy posture of a silver haired man. "Yo," Kakashi greeted as he waved a hand flippantly. "The meeting is about to start in the main conference room. The Uchiha is a bit... angry right now, so I suggest we hurry."

Sakura gasped and turned to the hazel-eyes woman, bowing contritely as she started to utter profuse amounts of apologies. She was once again interrupted though, as Tsunade walked past her and laid a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "It's fine, just lead the way to the room."

The ever-reading man nodded and strode down the corridor elegantly as the group followed. Once at the glass doors, Kakashi snapped his book shut as he pried the transparent entrance open with nimble fingers. Using those same fingers, he pushed the small of Sakura's back forward as he bent down to whisper softly in her ear. "Good luck... an angry Uchiha is the hardest thing on earth to deal with."

The girl shivered involuntarily as the words replayed over and over again in her head like a broken record. Cautiously, she made her way to the front of the room, where the muscular back of her handsome boss faced her. Sakura manoeuvred her way successfully around the huge table that dominated the room and glimpsed at the various people already sitting in their seats.

Coming to a halt next to the man, she coughed softly to get his attention, only to be hit with the terrifying glare of an angry Uchiha. "How long does it take for you to bring three people up here?"

Huffing, she put her hands on her hips as she pouted crossly. "I had to run down the stairs to the bottom floor, Sasuke-kun. I don't think anyone could have done that in just a few seconds, so don't blame me."

Oh, if only she knew the real beings that could accomplish such feats.

The raven just nodded to her dismissively as he spun on his heel to address the individuals in the conference elegantly. "The meeting can now begin, as all participants are present now."

Meetings were usually rather boring for Sakura, but she found this one to be far from it.

The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Many thoughts swirled around in the minds of the occupants of the room, and despite the fact that almost every member was engaging in conversation about topics that they had little knowledge about; they did well to hide it. This confusion floating around didn't stop them from voicing their thoughts though.

"Well, according to statistics gathered in the last few years..."

Obsidian eyes watched the scene before him with both intensity and amusement. He was supposed to be actively participating in the conference, but kept finding his attention being drawn away from the real point of the meeting.

Tap. Tap. Scribble. Scribble. Tap.

"Stop it. It's annoying," he muttered to his secretary in irritation. "Focus on the topic."

She glanced up at him with shimmering eyes. "Oh, but I am, Sasuke-kun! I have written so many notes already!"

Suddenly, a whole wad of papers were shoved in his face, all covered in a messy scrawl. Pushing it away, he grunted and ignored his secretary who continued to jot down notes excitedly. "It's just so exciting; I've never been to a meeting like this before..." she whispered eagerly, her foot brushing his leg as she brought it up slightly. "Especially one about medical knowledge!"

It seemed she was unaware of the nasty stares she was receiving from a brunette across the table, and she flashed Sasuke a wide grin as she propped her elbows onto the desk as she listened even more intently. Pointing insistently, she picked out a picture of the heart on the boards of paper that were being presented.

"The information is incorrect. The left ventricle is much too small in comparison to the right ventricle, stating the heart's function to be inaccurate. Also, the placement of the aorta causes the whole heart to bear a different structure than normal, which brings me to the conclusion that this operation was performed inc—"

"Enough!" Tsunade boomed, slamming her hands down on the table, her amber eyes gleaming with fury as the books on the table jumped up due to the force she applied to it. Tsunade snarled to the man who was presenting and told him to sit down. When he didn't comply immediately, she glared at him and threatened him with vulgar terms, conjuring up gruesome mental images in everyone's mind. Once that was done, she smoothed back her hair which had gone askew during her fit of rage and approached the podium.

"Is this— this thing what you call a successful operation? Do you know how many things are wrong here?" the woman snarled as she stabbed the cardboard furiously. "Are you trying to disgrace our hospital and procedures?"

Sasuke smirked at Sakura as her hands clasped together and she nodded fervently in agreement. "Now, how would a secretary like you know so much about this?"

Turning her head, she raised an eyebrow at him questioningly and glowered at him. "Are you insulting my knowle—"

"Uchiha! Is there something you and your secretary would like to share?" barked the blonde presenter as she directed the whole attention of the dwellers of the table to the two. Sakura paled and coughed anxiously, turning red at the various sets of eyes that were staring at her.

The dark haired vampire just nodded professionally and intertwined his fingers together in front of his face. "Yes, I would like to contribute to your presentation with the plans for hospital and medical facility integration," he declared, his smirk turning to a business frown. "You don't mind if your speech is cut short do you?"

Smiling cheekily under his mask, Kakashi slid a large folder of papers to the Uchiha, who capably caught them and cleared his throat to signal his begin. "Of course, this idea that is to be presented is a serious issue which can only be headed by a person of exceptional skill and experience. For that, I would like to announce that the representative from Sharingan Inc for this matter is..."

Silence filled the room as all the occupants waited patiently for the name of the person. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair refreshingly as his hand grabbed a hold of Sakura's, and lifted it assertively to the air. The pink haired secretary yelled in both protest and surprise as she tried to pry away the firm fingers that had encompassed her palm. "Sasuke-kun, please let go..."

"Haruno Sakura."

Once again, just like the similar occasion that had occurred two weeks ago, Sakura gaped at her boss with wide eyes.

His comment was followed by the noisy uproar of the other participants, the majority of them bellowing in astonishment. Among them was the same man who insulted Sakura earlier, his pearly irises staring intensely at the commotion. He stood up irately as he banged his open palms on the wooden surface of the table.

"Why that girl?" he hissed at the dark haired president as he leant forward menacingly. "Don't you think that she's too inexperienced to deliver such a big idea? Isn't she just one of your toys?"

A murmur of agreement spread through the room, but was cut short as a loud snort sounded and another woman joined the argument. "What, is every girl in this business a slut? Is that what you're implying?" growled the blonde as she glared at the Hyuuga. Crossing her arms, she huffed as she continued. "I'm pretty sure that there are women out there that could do your job better with their eyes closed!"

"Being a feminist doesn't change the fact that as a woman and a worker at Sharingan Inc, she is unfit to even do her job!"

This time, the girl bolted up wrathfully, having so much force that she knocked her chair over. "I'm not a feminist! This is strictly professional!" she yelled furiously, swinging her arm in the air to add emphasis to her words. "It's because men like you are so pigheaded and st—"

A pale hand shot out in front of the girl's body, and she stumbled back as she stopped her speech. "G-Gaara..." The name was whispered out almost fearfully as she recoiled and sat down in her chair that a fellow person had brought up from the floor. Dropping her head, she laid her hands limp in her lap as the said man withdrew his arm and aqua eyes fixed on clear ones.

The long haired man opened his mouth to say more, but was stopped as a chilling voice spoke. "Hyuuga Neji, the business world has no place for trivial matters. Don't bring it up when that is so," deadpanned the red haired man, his stare becoming deathly intimidating. Doing as he said, Neji reluctantly took his seat again and a pregnant pause engulfed the entire room. "Uchiha, continue."

Sasuke nodded and turned his body to face his secretary. Tightening his grip on her hand, Sasuke whispered gently into Sakura's ear. "Tell everyone how extensive your knowledge is." With that, he released her palm and smirked cockily at her.

Leaving her with no other choice but to reach the podium, she sighed under her breath and gathered her papers on the desk. Tantalizingly slow, Sakura approached the dais where Tsunade was standing impatiently, and flashed the busty woman nervous glance before she replaced her at the stand. This glance then swept across the entire room, and she coughed to rid of the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"I- I would like to start by stating the origin—" she said before she was interrupted by a loud sound, courtesy of the long haired Hyuuga as he slapped his stash of papers noisily onto the desk. He shot her an icy glare, before diverting his gaze elsewhere. "W-well, a-as I was saying..."

Her eyes fell upon the built figure of her boss, and her pink brows furrowed at his posture. Laid back in his chair, he was in a position that suggested mock enjoyment, and his smirk had returned. Onyx eyes were challenging her, and she gave him a brief glare before lifting her chin up high and continuing her speech.

"Originally, the idea of the integration was to have a single hospital accommodate both physically and mentally ill patients. From that, Sharingan Inc has devised a plan to further use the hospital to the people's advantage," Sakura said confidently, her nervous frown slowly turning to a smile. "So, our plan is that the hospital is expanded, and be split into two sections, according to the category of illness."

The remainder of the meeting was spent by sharing ideas over the expanding of the hospital, and Sakura felt both great pride and nervousness as she listened to the others converse in businesslike manners. When the long conference was over, the rosette groaned and dropped her head in her arms as the other member filed out in a fashionable order.

"God... why doesn't that man ever tell me anything?" she grumbled as she gathered all her folders and stalked out of the room. "Geez, Uchiha's and their stupid pr—ouch!"

Her face collided with a solid object, and she brought her hands up to fumble with whatever it was. "Since when was this wall..." her voice trailed off as she looked up to see threatening aqua eyes staring back at her. "G-Gaara-dono?"

The red headed man merely glared at her as he shifted his weight to his other foot restlessly, clearly hinting for her to remove her wandering fingers. "Move."

"Ah, wait!" she cried out as she grabbed his wrist. He didn't even acknowledge her presence as he shook her hand away as if it carried disease, and continued to make his way to the elevator. Sakura huffed as she stomped her foot crossly. "Hey! You didn't have to do that! I just wanted to thank you for what you did this morning!"

"Are you that stupid? Stop approaching people like you know them."

Whirling around, she turned to jab at the Uchiha's hard chest as she scolded him. "I. Cannot. Believe. YOU!" Sakura hissed as she glowered angrily at him. "Why couldn't you have told me that you were going t— hey! Don't just grab my hand and expect me to shut up!"

Sasuke smirked as he dragged the unwilling girl back to his office, with her screaming bloody murder as he did. "You should just be glad that most of the others have left, else you'd be the laughing stock of business."

"Ha, is that supposed to be your twisted sense of humour?" she retorted sarcastically as he pushed open the door to his place of work.

"Sakura, that isn't funny a—"

"My, you seem rather close."

The vampire just growled as he realized that his office was already occupied. Snatching his hand away from Sakura's, he strode forward as he dropped his folders onto the desk. "What are you doing here?"

Chuckling, the woman stood up and lifted her hands in surrender. "Fine, Uchiha. I know where I'm not wanted," she said playfully as she walked around the desk. Shooting the pink haired secretary a quick glance, she smiled at Sasuke as she placed a hand on her hip. "I just want to have a small chat with your little... Sakura."

"No," deadpanned Sasuke while he took the seat that was now vacant, sorting his papers as if he was busy. "Tsunade, if you need to talk to her, please don't do it within her working hours."

The voluptuous woman scowled as she forcefully seized Sakura's arm and proceeded to heave her out of the room. "I won't take no for an answer, Uchiha."

And with that, the door was crashed shut with so much force that a piece of the hinge fell off.

"Damn it..." cursed the now infuriated man as he got out of his chair. "What does she want?"

Neither Sasuke, nor Sakura knew the answer to that. "Um... Tsunade-sama? May I ask what you want to talk to me about?"

Halting abruptly in the middle of the hall, Tsunade pulled her into a secluded room to her right. Closing the door closed softly, she turned to face the green eyed girl who was looking at her oddly. The blonde woman sighed as she put a hand over her stomach, and stared back.

"You know, I actually take back all I said in the elevator," she proclaimed, rubbing the sore over her clothes. "You punch very hard."

Sakura blushed. "Ah... I'm sorry?"

Shaking her head, Tsunade moved to the window at the end of the room and pulled the Venetian blinds up. As a flood of moonlight flushed in, the woman sighed again and beckoned her over with a nicely manicured hand.

"Don't be. Apologizing over something like that will make me regret saying what I just said," she ordered, her hazel eyes gazing out the window. "I heard you both, you know."

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "Huh?"

"The conversations between you and the Uchiha during the meeting. You both were... quite amusing," she chortled, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder as she smiled at her. "At first, I thought maybe you were just annoying him..."

"I always annoy him."

"...but, it seems he really does enjoy your company."

The conversation had taken a drastic turn. How had the topic drifted from injured stomachs due to hard punches to confused brains because of the Uchiha?

Sakura laughed weakly and scratched the back of her head. "I guess it's natural; as his secretary, I have to spend most of my time with him."

Tsunade shook her head and jerked her head towards the scenery outside. "This entire city is practically run by Sharingan Inc, so he has to meet with many people, Yet, the Uchiha isn't the most social person, so the fact that he can freely smile—"

"Smirk, is the more correct term."

"—smirk while he's around you is an amazing thing in itself. It's pretty rare for him to let his guard down around people."

"Ah... I guess so... but that doesn't really have much to do with our relationship, does it?" inquired Sakura as she put a hand to the window while she stared out. "I mean, we don't have much of one."

The busty woman laughed again, this time having to cover her mouth because of the loud volume of her giggle. "Relationship? I don't think you can say that you don't have one when you call each other by your first names."

Blushing much harder than before, she coughed and retreated to other side of the room carefully. "Um... I should go back now, as Sasuk- I mean, Uchiha-san will be angry if I leave all the work to him," she explained as she fumbled with the door knob.

"Just one more thing then."

"Yes?"

"Keep an eye on the Uchiha. Don't get too close to him either."

Sakura's mind was even more confused, and she nodded obediently to cover up her bewilderedness. "Yes, I'll be sure to," she said happily as she exited the room.

Walking quickly, she wiped her clammy hands on her skirt as she entered her cubicle. Sakura exhaled in relief as she fell onto her chair tiredly, covering her eyes with her arm. "Ugh... what was that?" she groaned, flicking her shoes off. "I've never felt so intimidated in my entire life!"

"You've never felt so what?"

As fast as Ino running towards a shop with 'on-sale' shoes, Sakura bolted out of her chair in fright. This didn't prove to be the best way to be surprised, as it meant landing on her bottom on the floor. Rubbing her aching bottom, she squinted at the speaker.

"Sasuke-kun!" she laughed as she grinned at him from her awkward position on the floor. "You scared me!"

"Hn." He smirked as he stepped towards her with his hands shoved in his pockets. "Why are you laughing even after you just fell off?"

Pouting, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Aren't you even going to help me up?"

When he didn't answer, she yelled in frustration and helped herself up. "Fine, be mean."

He still didn't answer, so she took the silence to her advantage. "So, can I have the rest of the night off then, Sasuke-kun? I can do all the files tonight."

Then, she finally got an answer. "Hn," he grunted as he turned back to his office and started to walk.

Frowning, she took her things from her desk and glanced at the clock. It read five minutes past eight, and she moaned. "Ino-pig would have already gone home," she said to herself as she plopped back onto the chair.

"Did someone miss their daily caffeine dose, dattebayo?"

Spinning around in her chair, she smiled widely as she saw Naruto approach with a steaming cup of hot coffee in his hands. "Naruto, you are a lifesaver!"

"Yeah, I know I—" he said before he was interrupted by Sakura's lurching hands that dived for his coffee. Drawing his cup away from the grabbing hands, he stuck a tongue out at her childishly. "Hey! I only asked; I didn't offer!"

Sakura scowled as she lowered her hands and put them to her throat. "Oh, but I haven't had a drink in years!" she whined babyishly. "Let me have it!"

The blonde boy just grinned and drew the mug to his lips. "Too late, Sakura-chan!"

Said girl watched helplessly as the hot liquidation went down her friend's throat. Whimpering, she pretended to cry as she rubbed her eyes shakily. "You're so mean, Naruto!"

Alarmed, the boy gasped and set down his cup of coffee quickly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to make you cry!" he said as he held her hand, his voice increasing in volume at his distressed state. "Don't get mad at me!"

"No! I hate you Naruto!"

"I'll give you my coffee, then! Just please stop crying!"

Sakura cracked a space between her fingers as she grinned mischievously. "Really?"

He nodded vigorously, taking the cup and shoving it into her hands. "Really, dattebayo!"

Stopping her act, she smiled at him as she downed the contents in one go. "Thanks."

Naruto gaped, and pointed a finger at her accusingly. Unable to form coherent sentences, he settled to keep pushing his finger in her direction aimlessly as she licked the inside of the cup, trying to get any excess liquid.

"Seriously Naruto, you are just too gullible," she laughed, patting him on the head like a master to her dog would as he collapsed onto the floor by her feet. "I'm sorry, ok?"

This time, it was Naruto's turn to smirk impishly. "Sorry enough to do anything?"

She nodded, and ran her fingers through his hair absent-mindedly. Settling her chin on her fisted hand, she leant to the side as she hummed a sweet melody. "Yeah, anything."

"Dinner then?"

Sakura stopped her vague sounds and glared at him. Narrowing her eyes, she took her fisted hand and drew it back, preparing to strike. "How dare you! I'm tired, and you're taking advantage of this by asking me out!" she shrieked, punching him on the cheek. "SHANNARO!"

"She wouldn't have been able to accept anyway, dobe."

Both Sakura and Naruto turned their heads to stare the tall figure that stood before them, looking much more mature than them. Of course, they didn't look very mature at the moment; being in poses that one would think was taken from a cliché action movie.

"And why the hell not, teme?" bellowed Naruto as he ignored the throbbing in his cheek and stood up angrily to measure up to the Uchiha. "Sakura-chan likes me better than you!"

"Naruto, shut u—"

Suddenly, Sasuke thrust a red coat at the girl's face, muffling the sentence she was saying. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her up and brought her alarmingly close to his body. The Uchiha used his other hand to take a possessive hold on her waist, and he smirked devilishly at the whiskered boy as he revelled in the look of shock on his face at their intimate position.

"Why not?" he reiterated as he released Sakura slightly, giving her the opportunity to slip her coat over her body.

Naruto watched as Sakura turned a deep red when she felt his hand assist her in putting on her garment. "Yeah, she's going to have ramen wit—"

"Because she's having dinner with me."

Viridian eyes widened, and she looked up to stare at Sasuke incredulously. Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but the next events happened in a blur that she couldn't be sure if she was hallucinating or not.

The dark haired man just put a single finger to her lips, brushed a single strand of hair away from her face, and trailed a single hand down her face. And then, he was walking a few metres away with his black coat on and his hands in his pockets. Tilting his head over his shoulder a bit, he raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Well, are you coming?"

Sakura stammered out a positive answer and ran to his side, speedily falling into pace with him. She looked behind her and offered her blonde friend an apologetic smile and mouthed out words of repentance. Had this been a normal night, with a normal boss, she would have loved to go eat ramen with her whiskered best friend.

But, tonight wasn't a normal night, and neither was her boss. Sakura didn't know what type of spell Uchiha Sasuke was casting, but she was sure that she was definitely under it.

A/N: Another chapter, done! And why yes, that is a BLEACH game Suigetsu is playing on the PSP. :P Of course, I don't have that game...TT...

To clear things up, Tsunade, the Hyuugas and the Sabaku trio were all members of other companies that are joining in the plan. Please review, unless you want me to have another huge writer's block, or get supremely depressed over the lack of such reviews! Note: depression of writer could lead to hiatus of story.