Ugh, no words to describe the fatigue I was in when I got home from shopping. Nevertheless, enjoy this next one, and Happy New Year! :D

Chapter Five

Reminders

"...I should have time then," she heard him say when she arrived in his office with the completed folders, and Sakura subconsciously pushed her hair behind her ears as she patiently waited for him to get off to receive. Now that she got everything she heard from Kabuto, she had another plan in motion, except she had no idea WHAT it was. It was two-fifteen, and she had to get to her other job, but class before that.

"Okay, bye, Suigetsu." He hung up then and there, looking up at her expectantly. "You're finished, I take it."

"I am," she answered, "but if it's not a problem, I'd like to take them home to read tonight."

He didn't look up at her as he went back to writing something. He was a little busy; did he care? No, you don't. She took that as a yes, but on the other hand: maybe he did care, because she was a grown-up woman. And if she said she was gonna do something, he was letting her. "Good day then...Sasuke," she said before walking out.

So, work was normal, but Kiba never showed up. Ino never said a word about him, either, but later when she was home and in her room reading over the booklets, her mobile rang, and it was none other than the dog lover himself. "Want to go out to dinner?"

Just as always... "I wish I could say yes. I already ate, but thanks for asking." There was a sound of disappointment on the other end.

"Movie then? Ino's been -"

"I'm in the middle of something," Sakura interrupted. "Maybe this...weekend?" That was, at the end of her day with Sasuke Uchiha of all people. And to her surprise, he seemed understanding when she told him she was reading for work. He took the hint as to which "work" it was, but it wasn't for school. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was masking his disappointment.

She and Kiba weren't even dating, and he thought they were serious when they barely knew each other. Maybe she could talk to Ino and say maybe this wasn't going to happen, and that Kiba was better off being just a friend. Pig would understand.

The next day, she found Sasuke in his personal entertainment room. The looks of it - it was a small theater with a long TV framed by curtains, and he reclined on a long black leather sofa, one leg crossed over the other. And what made things a bit interesting: there he was in a light blue collared shirt and dark blue jeans. All casual and relaxed. She didn't think she'd really see that part of him. "You finished reading the reports." Him and his statements.

"Yes." He cocked an eyebrow when she laid them down on the empty space beside him.

"Okay, tell me what you learned."

Sakura answered proudly and without a pause, but this wasn't the whole of it. "First, your analysis was damned good." Because pretty good is an understatement. And what was priceless was that he looked at her like she grew a second head.

"That means...so much to me." It seemed like he rarely received praise sincere as she gave him. Then she went on, adding that he was really smart. And she meant every word of it.

"I mean, I figured it even before I found out what you do, but what you've written down..." Okay, now that they established he was smart, onto the big deal. "Obviously, companies go to you for recommendations on how to be more efficient and profitable. And from what you wrote, they all could approve." Oh, there it was, the surprise that she never thought she'd see when she pointed out his little flaw and perfection. "You could find faults that I never thought about, and your analysis makes my head spin with revenues and cutting back debt...but I'm a little confused on your recommendation."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" It was hard to tell if he was amused or annoyed.

"Just that it seems you're...a little harsh on them. I'm not saying you should be nicer outright, but I wonder why if you're supposed to be helping them..."

"Look, Sakura," he cut in, disbelieving that he was even hearing this, "what you're saying about being a little nicer: my clients don't come to me to be courteous. I never get paid for fluffy compliments."

"Right, but your company is an entity - but it's also run by people. People are influenced by emotions," Sakura explained. "Wouldn't it help to be more...diplomatic?" Diplomatic sounds much better. More professional.

Uchiha looked like he was considering it, which made her a little happier, but oh man, was he still stubborn as hell. "Look, you made a few reports, and you think you know everything?" He stood up and turned his back to her. "That's enough. Shut the door behind you. I don't care what else you have to say." Super pissed off once again, Sakura humored him and left him.

How could she describe the annoyance she felt later when she heard him upstairs now - and in his gym? That made her feel a little relieved to know he had another pastime. Working off a good sweat was productive enough. Maybe she could just go and at least apologize - but when did she ever say she was sorry to him? It was a waste of time as far as she was concerned. When she arrived, she just stood there and watched him in his white muscle shirt, working up that sweat mentioned, and how it made his skin glisten.

He just looked at her blankly and gave her the order to pick up his shirt from the dry cleaner on her way in tomorrow. And now she could head home. It was his way of saying she could leave early so they wouldn't have any further problems today like it always was.

Without a word, Sakura nodded and left.

It's working. He won't show it, but I know it's working.

She and Ino were side by side checking the teeth of their patients when she was called out on being quiet - and her friend knew it had to do with her "other boss". "Is it really worth it?" Ino asked, a little worried. "I mean, your dad could find another job eventually."

"No." Sakura shook her head. "It took him months to find this one. He needs stability."

"But what about you? You're working with the Beast."

Sakura couldn't hold back the scoff at the name. "I wish he wasn't called that. Even though he's a jerk like I said, he does deserve...some respect." Ino's blue eyes widened a little. That was her way of saying she owed her whatever it was she was hinting...and the pinkette was just considering telling her everything Kabuto said.

~o~

"Good evening, Sasuke."

He looked up that evening to see Kabuto coming in with some colored folders in his hand, which he recognized as the booklets Sakura left. He realized he'd forgotten to get them out of there. In his frustration at her pointing out his constant criticisms of the way other companies around him functioned - what did an orthodontic intern know about business anyway? - he went up to the gym which was his way of getting it out and wishing he could sprain some muscles just for the hell of it.

Kabuto put them down. "Dinner's ready. Will Sakura be around to join us?"

"...do you see her here?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, just wondering." Kabuto half turned away with a wink, suggesting something else other than... "Don't wait too long, or the food will get cold." Sasuke could only stare after him as if he'd been smacked again.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say his butler and friend was trying to set them up. That's hardly likely. This is purely professional, that's all it is. In a couple of months, maybe, it will all be done, and life is back to normal. She won't want anything to do with me after this, she'll return to her life, and I'll need another assistant to last.

Somehow that thought bothered him. Where would he find another...assistant like her? To distract himself from these thoughts, he picked up the first of the folders to read.

~o~

Sakura chose to accept it like this, officially: he was gonna keep raising his voice whenever she voiced her opinion, but as far as she was concerned, she understood him enough because they were similar in more ways than one. But that did not mean she would jump the gun and say Kabuto told her everything. That would just blow things up and finish both her and Dad for sure.

What mattered was that progress was being made, and without her knowing it, Sakura was starting to see that Sasuke Uchiha was still that little boy who never really grew up. Who never knew what it was like to have someone genuinely care for him after his parents and brother were gone. Kabuto had only done so much.

She didn't think too much about this for good reason, but she knew damned well that someone had to care about that man.

When she arrived with his shirt that morning, she went straight to his room, not seeing Kabuto for some reason, and it NEVER occurred to her that Sasuke was still sleeping in his room when she went right in to hang it in his closet. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry! I thought you were in the office."

He was just sitting up, wearing a gray t-shirt and his hair mussed up, making him look more...human. And he was so flushed he looked like a schoolboy! "It's a good thing I wasn't in the shower," he told her with a chuckle, and that made her pause in her step, jaw slackened. Did - did he just purposefully make her flustered?! But okay, shower...yeah, that would have been doubly worse. Him and those muscles, the towel, and little to the imagination...damn it, imagination, you're not helping.

"Y-yeah," Sakura said. "I think I'll go and wait in the office." But before she could go, he surprised her.

"You should take the day off. I don't feel very well."

Sakura blinked. This was the first time he suggested something like this to her. She never thought she would be facing a sick Sasuke Uchiha, and she couldn't help but think maybe it was just his mild flu or whatever that made him think like this, and then it would be back to the way it was when he recovered. "Before I do, you want me to get you something?" she asked. "My mom used to make me honey lemon tea when I was sick as a kid."

His eyes twinkled. "...that's what my mother used to do for me and my brother."

Oh, there it was again. He didn't mention a doctor on hand, so that meant he took care of himself, or Kabuto at least. But here he was, sick in bed, her present, and he had blaringly made it obvious both their dead mothers used to do one thing for them when they were ill.

That was when she was sure she felt the first spark of a connection between her and her temporary employer. "Well, I'll make it for you, or ask Kabuto," she said, but just as she was leaving, he once again surprised her - no, he shocked her.

"Sakura, this is going to sound strange, but...I'm sorry about my behavior yesterday. You...read everything, and you saw something I never did. So, you're free to take the day off for it. I think I should owe you that much this time."

He...he apologized to her?! This was the first time he did that - and there were no words to describe how...happy she was. Speechless, Sakura hurried out to look for Kabuto before her spinning mind burst. "Thank you, Sasuke!" she called over her shoulder.

~o~

Sakura making him the honey lemon tea his mother used to do for him and Itachi brought back the memories, but it soothed him and allowed him to drop his defenses just that once. However, she didn't stay long enough because he could see she was feeling a little...uncomfortable since this had gotten a little more personal than either was prepared for.

"Can I ask why you keep it?"

Five days later found them in the office again, and it was then that she asked him about the thing in the glass box - the razor that he once used to slice his wrists when he was sixteen. It was still a sensitive topic for him; he wasn't surprised that she would have found out sooner or later. Kabuto must have told her.

"Well, did you ever think to take a razor to your skin in your life?" he challenged, but not to make her mad because he wasn't feeling like it, for some odd reason. It was so foreign because anger was all he'd known.

"...I thought about it once when Mom died, but Dad mentioned he thought of it himself because he loved her so much; he wanted to be with her again so I could live my life - but suicides went to hell. At least, that's what he said."

Suicides go to hell...and you once considered it, Sakura? I find it hard to believe. He never thought there was an afterlife, so to speak, but then again, it wasn't like he ever wasted his time thinking about such things. And as for her mother's death, he found he wanted to know, but it was also sensitive for her as his parents were still to him. "It's a reminder," Sasuke told her, sitting down and looking at her. "To never go there again. Kabuto's parents insisted on it. When they died, Kabuto could have tossed it himself, or me, but some things never go away when you physically toss them aside."

When he was done speaking, Sasuke found himself unable to take his eyes off her - off the entire look of her besides her face, hair, and eyes. He never paid attention to these things before, but Sakura had the body of a goddess. No, not like the Vogue swimsuit models. She had womanly curves outlined by the red keyhole sweater, and her waist was trim. He didn't know how to explain this to himself, and he was certain that Kabuto would give more than just simply two cents on women, which was something the Uchiha could not afford right now.

It was at that moment when his mobile rang, and it was again Suigetsu, asking him if he was still up for that dinner party like they talked about. He hated those things because reasons.

At the same time, his desk landline rang, and Sakura answered it. But he tuned her out to listen to his partner who was one of the few to see him as someone besides "the Beast", but not as a real friend like Kabuto did.

Calls over, he saw her pick up a packet that he recognized as the presentation that was supposed to go to the Uchiha Agency Board of Directors. "Damn it," he swore, cursing himself for forgetting that. It should have been sent out three days ago, but Sakura saved his skin by taking responsibility. She was heading out now to deliver it personally.

See, now he could finally admit one thing he did like about her: she owned mistakes and fixed them. Perhaps he was happy that he gave her the chance she desired, after all.

Whoo hoo, lookie here at what's beginning at last. :D And once again, end of a hectic year and the beginning of a new one.