Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Paper or plastic, sir?" asked the cashier. A pink haired woman with the name tag ‘Sakura’. It was appropriate name for her.

But pink hair though?

"Uh…plastic, please." He said looking at her. He had to run to the store and buy some things. It never occurred to him that he might run into a little trouble. He had gotten three different calls, all about the same thing. The first call came from Tsunade, his grandma, the second one came from his best 'female' friend, Hinata, and the last call came from Kakashi, his uncles.

They were all about the same thing.

Booze…

What was missing from the party?

Booze…

There was a party going on at his house and there just happened to be a shortage on a few things. So what happens, Tsunade, that's what happened…

The blond inwardly groaned at the thought.

Tsunade had told him to pick up a few things from the store. Those few things turned out to grow with each phone call he received. Everyone wanted this drink or that drink.

He was racing throughout the store gathering the items that were listed over the phone. Luckily there was no one in the store, but a few elderly shoppers and some employees.

He had passed up one employee that caught his eyes. She was in the cereal aisle restocking. She had pink hair; it was short and kind of spiky. She was young, and hopefully not under the age of eighteen.  He didn't have time to ask her out. Maybe if he came back he could ask her, if she still works here.

He began his exploration again, venturing from aisle to aisle, but he couldn't seem to find that one item. The blond sighed. His azul eyes glanced around him.  He didn't want to bother anyone. Maybe he wasn't looking hard enough, but damn was he on a schedule. He had to ask for help. He walked back to the cereal aisle; where he had seen the rosetta.

She wasn't there. So what was a man in his disposition to do?

Well…

Look for her of course.

How hard would it be to find a woman with pink hair? Honestly there was virtually no one in the store. So it should be ease.

Or so he thought.

He looked through the whole store and didn't find her. He glanced at his watch. It was 4:15pm and he was running out of time.

"May I help you, sir?" The voice behind him sounded bored.

He willed himself not to jump in surprise and turned around. It was the pink hair woman he had seen earlier. She was standing behind in full uniform holding a price labeler gun. She was taller that he had originally thought ranging from 5'8 to 5'11 like a model. She was wearing a pair of white sneakers, khaki pants and a dark blue polo that said 'asks and you'll get an answer' with her name tag. She was pretty, he thought. Her pink hair was short – that he knew – but her two bangs were long on both sides of her face. Forest green eyes with a lighter green – apple green – were around her pupil. A little button nose with a small diamond stud on the left. She had a heart shaped face with high cheek bones and a slightly large forehead. She really could ditch this job and become a model and he knew a couple of people off the top of his head that would accept her.

"Uh…yes. I was wondering where I could find the sake."

She raised an elegant pink eyebrow. "You want to know where the sake is." She passed him up and he followed.

It wasn't a long walk, but it was embarrassing to know where it was. The bottle of sake that his grandma wanted was right there by the other different alcoholic beverages.

He had passed up this aisle so many times before it was silly how he could have missed it.

"You want the super-size or the regular size, sir?" she asked kneeling to grab either bottle.

"Super." He knew Tsunade would run through the stuff like crazy.

Alright." She said grabbing the giant bottle and handed it to him. "Anything else I could help you with, sir?" She asked him standing to full height again. Man, she was tall, almost his height.

"No, thank you." He flashed his famous foxy grin at her and proceeded to walked to the fronted counter.

And that's how he got here. He was surprised to see that she was his cashier.

"Hello, again." He smile, but frowned when she didn't fully acknowledge him. She was looking at the computer screen typing something in.

"Hn. You ready?" She flipped she bangs away from her eyes and looked at him. She was the type of woman that could intimidate a man.

"Yeah…" She didn't wait for a reply and just started scanning items and put them in his cart neatly.

"Your total is 148.98." She announced checking the computer screen.

"Okay." He fished out his wallet and pulled out his master card.

"Credit or debit?" Her lime green manicured nail tapped lightly on the little stand.

"Uh…credit."

"Please slide the card." She said this like she had done this for a million customers already. "And show me your ID, please."

He forgot all about the whole ID check.  He had already put up his wallet.

This was so awkward.

He gave the pink haired woman a shy grin and got out his wallet again, showing her his ID. She nodded and gestured for him to put his code in.

"Thank you for your patience." She must have recited this so many times before. Her voice was so dull. "And have a nice day, Mr. Uzumaki." She handed him his receipt.

She handed him the receipt and watched him walk out the door with his shopping cart. She didn't mind that he was checking her out. She secretly loved the attention and he wasn’t so bad looking himself. He was cute little blond. His features did, however, look familiar like she had seen him before. The pinkette didn't dwell on it too much and went towards the back of giant store.

"Karin, take the rest of my shift, ok?" She looked towards the fire-red head dancing to the music in her earphones.

Karin was one of the annoying people she tolerated. She was loud and whiny, but when it came to working she got things done. The best part was that she was pretty quick when working. Plus she was one of the few people that would want to take her afternoon shift.

"Karin, you hear me?" She was right in front of the red head, but she didn't look like she heard the pinkette. "Karin!" This time it worked. She took one earphone out. The small device was blaring some alternative rock music.

"Yeah, what you want?" She looked slightly confused and out of breath. Her face almost matched her hair. "Sorry, you want me to take your shift?"

"Yeah, just for…" Sakura pulled out her cell phone. "Two hours, if more I'll call you." The pinkette started walking towards the back door again. "Karin! Remember to have only one in." She said walking out the door. A long sigh escaped her lips as her back touched the wall behind her.

"Long day?" A bored voice found its way to her ears. The owner of it was sitting on one of the many crates. His long dark hair was in spiked up ponytail. Those lazy brown eyes were always a little too knowing. He had on the same uniform as her, but the polo was currently tossed on one of the crates leaving him with only a black tank top. "Yeah, you can say that." She looked up at him. "Shika, do you have my stuff?" She asked her co-worker.

"Yeah, right here." He tossed her a black bag. "Your shit is heavy as hell." He said taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Wow, thanks." She said dryly. She dug in and grabbed the two medical books, a text book, pen and paper.

"Last time I checked Sakura homework is supposed to be done at home." Shikamaru Nara got a kick out of teasing his best friend.

"It's easier to do it here, where I'm awake." She replied. Her nose was already deep into the book scribbling down notes and questions. She was a med student. "And besides didn't you quit smoking?" He didn't respond. "That's what I thought."

She was inwardly laughing. Shikamaru was looking at his cigarette with mild interest. "If I quit then I'll have to go back to gum." He took one last drag and threw the bud in a nearby trash can.

Their boss would always throw a hissy fit if she found a bud on the ground. Lone buds were proof that someone was smoking in the back. It was also proof that someone was breaking the ‘no smoking within fifteen feet of doors’ sign. This was Boss Anko’s pet peeve Anko – when they were short on workers and Sakura and Shikamaru were nowhere to be found – would come to the back of the store and find them either smoking, sleeping, talking or doing homework (on Sakura's part). This was why Boss Anko thought they were slackers.

"You could always chew tobacco to slow down the addiction." She had already written three pages, front and back, worth of material. Geniuses must stick together; it was the only way to explain their weird friendship.

"Chewing tobacco leaves awful breath and what the point of chewing it if you’re going to spit it out." He took out another cigarette.

"Done!" The pinkette said blissfully. She gathered her stuff, stuffing it back in her bag and tossed it to Shikamaru, who was looking at his watch.

"Who'd you get to take you shift?" He stood up from the crates and tossed the bag over his shoulder. Ami was too full of herself to take the shift, Shino was taking his break, and Shion didn't come to work today so that left…

"Karin." She said simply and walked back into the store followed by Shikamaru. The two passed up the aisles and went to customer service.

The store was filled with people, who were now running and hustling about just like the blond she had saw earlier. He had such captivating eyes, tan skin and little scars on his face that reminded Sakura of whiskers. It was a strange combination, but it worked for her. It didn't help that he seemed interested in her.

How many times had she gone to the club or bar, had a drink and had a man ask her out or to dance only to have them change their mind because of her height? It wasn't that she couldn't get a boyfriend. It was just that some boys stayed away from her because of her intimidating height…and temper. It was good to see somebody react to her in a positive way.

"Karin." She had almost forgotten that Shikamaru was behind her.

"Karin." He was calling the red head who didn’t notice their presences yet. The girl was bobbing her head to the loud music that was bleeding from her earphones. She had both of her earphones in. Didn't she tell the girl to only wear one? Some people just don't listen. It wasn’t helping that she was not paying attention to one damn thing around her.

She could have been ignoring customers!

It irked her.

"Karin." This time Sakura called her name.

Sakura didn't want to take her shift back, she didn't want to speak to this girl right now, and she didn't want to take the hot-rod red MP4 with the matching case followed by the red earphones, but sometimes it's not about what you want.

"Hey, what you do that for?" Karin whirled around to face them and froze. If it had been anyone else the red head would have snapped at them, but she was facing the two most effective yet lazy people in the store. Sakura and Shikamaru always had a positive or neutral attitude toward everyone, but God forbid you cross their path.

"Didn't I tell you to only wear one? What does that mean? It means that you only have one fucking ear piece in your ear.” She hissed the last part in the other girl’s ear. Sakura was having a hard time containing her anger. “Customer could've been trying to get your attention. I know, I have." Sakura said looking at the shorter girl.

"Well…I" She had no excuse as far as Sakura could see. The girl's face matched her hair.

"You know what I don't care, anymore. Just go in the back and restock, ok?" It was true; she didn't care to be mad at the girl for long. She sighed; Shika's laziness was getting to her.

The girl nodded and walked away leaving her MP4 in Sakura's hands.

"Don’t you think you were too hard?" Shika asked walking next to her.. He was walking at a slow pace, but somehow keeping up with her fast strides.

"Nara, pull your shirt all the way down. This isn't a peep show!" The voice was not hushed or discreet in anyway. She yelled out her words without caring who heard her, but never the less Shikamaru pulled down his shirt – much to the disappointment of the young shoppers – without the care in the world even when the 'viewers' were watching his every move.

Sakura looked at her best friend and smiled. "There's no such thing as too hard."

“That’s what she said.” Apple green eyes gave brown ones a side glance.

"Come on you lazy slackers." Anko was waiting for them.

"I think she's talking to you, lazy ass." She couldn't help it.

"Who you calling lazy ass, lazy ass?" Shikamaru knew where this was going.

"Takes one to know one."

"Yo mama."

"Sucks dick."

"Yeah, she was doing that last night." That comment earned him a light slap on the arm.

"Ok, that's enough jokes for now."

"Fine, but you started it."

"Yeah, I did."

"So what took you so long?" A raven haired man asked sitting next to his childhood friend. He was sipping a cocktail from the family bar.

"What do you mean 'what took me so long'? I was at the store and I had trouble finding some things. That's what took me so long." The blonde stared at his friend wholeheartedly. "But I'll tell you this, I saw the strangest girl."

Sasuke gave his friend a look. "Strangest girl," he repeated. "I hope that’s strange in a good way." He took another sip.

"Yeah, she was working at the store I went to." He thought for a minute.

"Not the red head."

"No, she was tall and had pink hair." Naruto smiled thinking back at the girl. She seemed laid back, but if you really looked at her you could see that fierce attitude underneath.

"Pink hair, I think I know who you're talking about. I saw her a few times." The raven haired finished the rest of his drink and walked into the entertainment room.

"You've seen her?" Naruto was slightly jealous that the notorious playboy Uchiha knew of the rosette. The blond held his tongue. He was curious, wanting to know all the Uchiha knew about the girl.

"Yeah, she goes to that real prestigious school. You know, on the west side?" Sasuke stopped by the pool table. "The one with the long name." He picked up the pool stick.

"Konohagakure, the medical school." Naruto said. He knew of the School only because Tsunade worked there as the President. Come to think of it, he could just ask the old woman about her students. She was bound to known the pink haired hell cat.

"Yeah, that's the school." Sasuke said focusing on the white ball. "I can only imagine how hard it is to get into that school. I saw her walking the halls looking all determined." Red ball, side pocket.

"Why were you at the school?" Naruto gave up on watching and started playing too.

"Tsunade had me running errands and I kind of got lost." He hit another solid. "She found me. I swear to you she looked like she was looking for blood when I bumped into her. Her books and papers were on the floor and she was glaring at me. She told me that I should pick them up." The raven let out a low chuckle. "I had to rephrase some of her words."

"Wow." Naruto thought about this new information. She had a fowl mouth.

"No and yes. I guess she has a temper." Sasuke said reading his friend's mind. "Where are you going?" The raven looked at his best friend as he left the room.

"You'll be in for a surprise, Naruto." He hit the last ball into the right pocket.

"Tsunade, Tsunade!" The blond called out looking for the busty woman. She had to be here somewhere, he knew. He passed the guests nodding and flashing smiles on the way. He checked several rooms and (some bathrooms) and had no sign of her.

"Naruto-kun!" He turned around at the mention of his name. Dark hair engulfed him in an embrace as lavender perfume invited him to hug this person.

"Hi, Hinate-chan." Naruto looked at the petite Asian woman in front of him. She was wearing a nice little number of a modest person.

"Tsunade is looking for you." She said with her soft voice and grabbed his arm, pulling him out the house into the garden.

The garden?

Why would Tsunade be in garden?

Hinata let go of his arm and Naruto looked at the three people in front of him. Tsunade was sipping the sake. he had just bought, in a little flute. She looked a little out of place drinking out the delicate glass. Tsunade was a strong woman; literally, the woman seemed to possess strength that had some men baffled. He had seen her drink three to four bottles of sake out the bottle.

The next person was very familiar. He would come and visits from time to time bringing gift and stories back. The man was Jiraiya, he was a big pervert. Always making dirty comments and inappropriate jokes, but that's what made him funny. He didn't want to admit that some of the old man’s ways were rubbed off on him.

"Oi, Naruto." The last person at the table was none other than Kakashi Hatake. The young silver haired man was reading his favorite book (a trashy smut like novel) made by the perverted Jiraiya himself. Naruto wondered who the bigger pervert was. Was it Jiraiya or Kakashi? Was Kakashi the bigger pervert because he read Jiraiya’s novels or was Jiraiya the bigger pervert because he wrote the said novels? That thought always got him thinking.

 "What’s up Kakashi, Pervy man, Granny Tsunade?" He gave them a small nod. They were sitting down under a large umbrella.

"Hinata-chan said you were looking for me." He said.

"Yeah, we just wanted to congratulate you," Tsunade's hazel eyes looked at him as she took her sip. "On your success."

"Thanks, you old hag." Naruto gave his grandma a nervous smile as she glared at him. She hated that nickname. He looked at the other two men.

"Well…Kakashi, I think it's time to go inside." The white haired man said to the younger one.

Kakashi looked at him and then at Tsunade and agreed to go inside to leave the two alone.

Once he knew the older woman wasn’t going to put him in a head lock, he gathered up the courage to ask. "What can you tell me about your students? Do you still keep in touch with some?" Naruto asked once they were gone.

"Why would you want to know?" She narrowed her honey eyes a bit. "It's confidential." She pinned him down with a glare. “You never had interest in my students before.”

"I know, but I've ran into one of your students. I just thought you would know something." Tsunade looked at her grandson. His eyes held some mischief in them…but what the hell, what's the worst that could happen?

"Who'd you run into?" She just might regret this.

"Uh…a tall girl with pink hair. I think her name was Sakura."

Maybe she won’t regret this.

"Sakura, Haruno Sakura." Tsunade mused for a bit. Sakura was one of her favorite students before she became the President for Konohagakure Medical University. Sakura was one of her smarter students, but that didn’t seem to help the pinkette financially.  The poor girl couldn’t get a full ride into KMU. She was extremely hard worker with working two jobs and continuing her studies. This left her student with fierce, yet tired attitude. The girl only had about a year or two left, if she was correct.

"Sakura Haruno, does ring some bells. She was at the top of her class." The blonde said simply looking over to the blue eyed blond.

"That's it? There's nothing else?" Naruto pressed.

"No, that's all the information I can give you." Tsunade said closing her eyes nonchalantly and taking a sip of her sake.

"You're kidding me." Naruto looked at his grandmother. He gave her a small pout and puppy dog eyes. None of his charm seemed to be working, because all that earned him was a slap in the face with a rolled up newspaper.

"Nope. Take your shit somewhere else kid." She opened her eyes slyly. "Go back inside. There is a party going on."

"Fine, but sooner or later I'll find something." Naruto walked away feeling down. His forehead hurts too, he thought walking back inside the house.

"Is the idiotic still thinking about this mysterious girl with pink hair?" Sasuke asked. The Uchiha had a slight smirk on his pale face.

"Would you care?"

"Truthfully…no, but you two would be an interesting couple."

"You think?"

His dark haired friend chose not to respond at that moment. He seemed to busy himself with rocking back on his chair. Naruto was sure he would fall if he wasn’t too careful.

"Is that how you feel?"

"Next week," Sasuke began. "I have to run to KMU to run some more errands, but there might be a chance that you might see her."

"It almost seems like you’re trying to be nice to me, you old bastard" Sasuke, for all is smooth talking and demeanor, was terribly socially awkward. He could go after something he wanted, but when it came to doing nice gestures for friends and family the raven was a little lost. Naruto didn’t want to ponder about this too much. His heart was jumping in his chest. He might get to see the lovely pink haired girl soon. He almost hugged his friend, but stopped when he realized both of them could fall on this floor with the chair making their landing more painful than it should be.

"Let go, dead last." The blonde was too close for the raven's liking. He had just gotten over the incident that happened in eighth grade.

"Sorry, no homo." Naruto said using the phrase they made up in high school.

"No homo?" A new voice came from behind the two. "How old are you exactly?" Naruto turned his head and was greeted with the oddest couple he knew: Ten Ten and Neji Hyuuga.

They were the oddest couple right along with Hinata and Kiba. Ten Ten was wild and crazy. She was extremely outspoken. Naruto guessed that the fact that they were both extreme weapon enthusiasts that keep their relationship going. Ten was like one of the guys. In high school all the boys thought she was self-conscious of her short hair which was why they thought she always wore her hair in buns. Everyone was shocked when the usually tomboyish girl stepped out her box on Prom night with her long hair let loose and the most unlikely man on her arm.

Neji Hyuuga was a 'quiet egotistic'. He had a superior complex which made it hard to talk to the guy. He was a stoic man, but he gets better when you got to know him.

"I'm twelve, thank you." Naruto grinned. "I just look mature for my age."

"Right, so how have you been Naruto?" She asked taking a seat next to them.

"I've been good, could be better." Naruto said looking at Sasuke who just remained quiet. "You know…”

"Why!" Sakura sighed today was going to slow for her liking. She had just turned in her paper and was walking home only to find out that she had to walk back to school. "Tsunade should know better to do something like that." She was murmuring to herself, which wasn't a good sign.

She didn't live anywhere near the area and her car decided not to work the last couple of days. So to put two and two together, she didn't have a car and it was going to be one hell of a walk to KMU from her house. She could call Amaru. The brown-skinned girl would be on her way to her afternoon classes.

The pinkette whipped out her blue cell phone and dialed the number quickly. There were a few rings before she picked up the phone.

"Hey!" There was some movement heard in the background. "This is Amaru."

"Hey, Amaru I was wondering if you were heading to KMU." Sakura waited patiently.

"Yeah, I'm actually leaving the house now. Why?"

"Could you pick me up? Tsunade decided at the last minute that she wanted to see me." She said frowning at the thought again.

"Sure, what street are you on?" Green eyes looked up searching for a street sign.

"Austin, Austin Avenue."

"Ok, I'll be right there."

The line went dead after that; leaving Sakura to believe that Amaru hung up.

Sakura was sitting on the steps of someone else’s house when a red Nissan rolled up to the curb. The car was cute, but there was always one problem…

"Your car is too damn small!" The rosette complained trying to adjust the seat.

"Well, maybe you should shrink a few inches." The redhead said fixing her mirror.

Sakura looked at the darker girl; Amaru was one of her most trusted people. She was going to graduate with her. They both dreamed about working at one of the top Hospitals in Konoha.

But truth be told, Sakura was going to have to get a new car because this was horrible. Her long legs were pulled closely to her chest and her head was slightly tilted forward to avoid collision with the roof of the car.

"I know you love me."

Amaru looked at the pinkette with cerulean eyes. "You love me enough to put me in you fav five?"

"I'm still thinking about that." Sakura mused out loud, playing along.

"Whatever, Haruno." Amaru said faking a hurt look that got Sakura laughing.

The two of them were kind of the best friends – at times – with their over the top sarcastic humor. They were almost the same. Their height was one of the many differences in their friendship. Sakura was 5'10, but she was never ashamed or embarrassed about being 'freakish tall' as some people – Amaru -  put it. It didn't really help that she had pink hair and green eyes so not only did people see her for her unusual height but her hair too.

'Like a walking clown.' Amaru once said.

But Amaru was in the same boat. Her light brown skin and long reddish hair made an unusual sight. Paired with her cerulean eyes it seemed like a very rare slight. To top it off the red head had a small beauty mark under her eye. She was short, but big things come from small packages.  Sakura was always surprised how such a small girl could beat up men three times her size.

"Do you know why Tsunade called you?" She asked adjusting her favorite baseball cap in the mirror. Somehow she managed to keep both eyes on the road.

"No, I just hope that's she's not going to waste my time." Sakura said looking at the scenery passing by.

Trees, building, stores, people and other whatnot…

Soon they came up to a giant campus adored with five separate buildings. Amaru pulled into the parking lot and looked around.

"Was her office by the main office or was it in Building C-3." The shorter girl asked once they made their way out the car.

"You know, I don't remember. When she wanted to talk to me she would always find me or we would somehow bump into each other."

"Like you bumped into that sexy raven in the halls." Amaru had a smirk on her face when Sakura turned around.

"That was a month ago, and he was not sexy." Amaru was still staring at her. She didn’t look convinced. "He wasn't!" The stare didn't let up. "Ok, fine! He was good looking, but he had that: 'I'm all that' aura."

"Fine, but it thought you went for those types of guys." Amaru giggled when Sakura threw a glare her way.

"That was only one time! Besides I saw this guy a week ago."

Amaru's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, he was cute and kind of goofy." Sakura said thinking back at the blond.

"Hmmm, cute and goofy." The red-head opened the door to the main building. "Is he blond?"

"Yeah how did yo–"

"And does he have blue eyes."

"Yes, but how–"

Amaru stopped in front of her very tall friend. "You. Have. The. Hots. For. Tsunade's grandson."

"What?"

"Tsunade's grandson, Naruto Uzumaki."

"I don't want to know how you know this information." Sakura walked down to the main office.

"You can only read patients’ files for so long."

"Right…" Sakura stopped by another set of glass doors. "I'll be seeing you Amaru."

A brown hand popped up and waved as a sign that she heard her.

Sakura looked at the short girl walking down the hall. For someone so small you would think giant was walking down the hall the way her heels were clicking and clacking.

The fierce pinkette looked back at the doors and walked in. The office was big, but it looked like no one was in.

"Hello." Sakura leaned forward on the desk a little to see if anyone was down the hall or behind the desk. There was a rustle of papers which meant that someone heard her call.

She took a seat and waited patiently for the person to come.

Her thoughts went back to the blond male. He was Tsunade’s grandson, which was a shock. Tsunade never really talked about her family life around any of her students or facility for that matter - except for Shizune that is. The honey eyed woman was always talking to the brown haired assistant.

In her thoughts, Sakura almost missed the fact that someone was walking in the room. The pinkette didn't want to seem rude by staring at the person so she did the next best thing.

She ignored them.

She ignored them when they sat next to her. She ignored the eyes she felt staring at her from this said person. She tried to ignore them when they 'accidentally' knocked their elbow into hers which caused her to slam into the wall that was next to her with enough force. She felt it coming, but she could not hold back her temper. Now don't get her wrong, she tried. She tries very fucking hard not to go off on strangers, but the thing was…her elbow fucking hurts. The counting to ten crap that Shikamaru taught her wasn't getting it today. She wanted to hit something, preferably the person that dared to get in her personal space.

"What the fuck is your problem!?" She turned around. Eyes glaring, nose flaring and all the fury of a woman scorned behind her.

"I could ask the same of you." The person said holding his hands up in submission. He looked familiar, so familiar that if she wasn't so mad she could actually say his name.

His wild blond hair, beautifully deep cerulean eyes, tan skin, and noticeable whisker like scars were undeniable. Naruto Uzumaki was the one sitting beside her. He was also the one to knock her against the wall.

Sakura looked at Naruto and then the person who came in with him. Surprisingly enough it was the 'sexy raven' Amaru and her were talking about not too long ago. He was sitting in the far corner away from them, but watching them all the same. He looked amused with that damn smug smile tugging at his lips. It made Sakura's unresolved temper surface quickly. This was one of the reasons she yelled at him in the halls. His damned arrogances will get him in trouble.

"What the fuck are you smiling about?" She was certainly not amused.

"You still have that beautifully temper of your." He held his hands up in defeat, but that didn't mean that Sakura wasn't going to drill him about his comment.

"Hey you arrog–"

"Ah, Sakura. I see you've met Uchiha Sasuke and Naruto" A dark haired woman walked in the room followed by an angered blonde.

"Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke what is the meaning of this?" The busty blonde had her hands on her hips glaring at the three like they were little kids stealing out of a cookie jar. "I can hear ya'll down the hall."

"I didn't do anything." Sakura said looking at her former teacher.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Tsunade straighten her posture and looked at the pinkette. Sometimes the little hell raiser reminded her of herself back in her younger days. "Sakura follow me."

 Said person followed the older woman into her office and sat in a nearby chair. "Yeah?"

Tsunade sat down in a large chair behind her oak desk. "Sakura, I called you here because of your funds are due."

"You called me because of the money I own?" Sakura said sitting up in her chair. "You now I'll pay." Her emerald eyes were casted down. “Money is kind of low right now and those payment plans aren’t every helpful.”

"Yes, I know.” The older woman paused. “I was wondering if you would be interested in a job offer."

The stunned pinkette looked at KMU's President. "Are you shitting me? You're offering me a job?" Sakura stopped to think about this. "Will this job pay more than what I'm doing now?"

"Yes, way more." The blonde laughed not minding the profanity from her former student.

"Okay, what is it?" The short haired woman leaned forward in her sit. Tsunade could actually see the eagerness in her apple green eyes.

"You will be working for my grandson." Sakura had to replay the message in her mind.

 "You said…grandson? Do you have more than one grandson?" Please let her say yes.

"No, in fact you where 'talking' to him in the waiting room." The older blonde brushed her hair out the way of her eyes before continuing. "I know you want to be a doctor, but if you don't pay your fees this year you wouldn't be able to continue to your senior year."

"So you want to give me a job working for your grandson doing what?"

"Assistant, you're a hard working girl. You like that have things working in order, even if you're just sitting on your ass barking out orders." Sakura grinned at her.

"Why?"

"Because you are my favorite and I don't want you dropping out just because you didn't have the cash to be somebody." Tsunade stood up and began to walk to the door. "Remember all you have to do is keep the brat in line, ok?”

"Yeah, sure." Sakura stood up to her full height only towering Tsunade by a couple of inches.

"Oh, and Sakura." The pink hell raiser looked over her shoulder. "You start next week." With that she closed the door to her office.

Sakura stood there in the hallway thinking about the weird turn of events. She has a new job. That was interesting. She wondered, absently, what Shika would say. He would probably shrug and tell her to go for it. He's not known to express himself. Amaru would tell her congratulation and drive her to the bar or some kind of club downtown.

The pinkette involuntarily shivered. She hated clubs. Every time Amaru or Temari tried to drag her to go clubbing with them, it is always awful. People in an enclosed place like rats; dancing into each other like they were trying to become one person, not cool. The smell was worse. It's like a middle school gym class, finding out who was wearing deodorant and who was not. She could go on and on about this one subject, but she had to get going.

"Hello, Sakura!" A blond blur made its way to the pinkette.

It was that Naruto boy. He was standing in front of her now, his blue eyes staring at her green ones. He was handsome, but Sakura wasn't easily done by good looks

"What do you want?" She was glaring at him. She almost had no patience for him.

"I think she wants to murder you."

Or the Uchiha.

"I was wondering if…you…if you wanted to go out some time." He had a small blush spreading across his face and his blue eyes were cast down.

"You just employed me…" She looked down to where her short hair covered most of her face. "…and you just asked me out?" She looked at him with fire and hell's fury in her apple green depts. Naruto thought for a split second that Sakura just might actually kill him. "Idiot!"

But luckily she didn't…no instead she threw a powerful punch his way. It was painful. Maybe he should have asked her out later that day.

"Sakura!" Tsunade called out.

"I know." She called back to the woman and walk out the door.

"I think she doesn't like you." Sasuke squatted on the floor next to Naruto's fallen form.

"Shut up, she just needs to warm up to me." The blonde said his face flat on the floor. This girl was tougher than he thought. He just might have to work extra to win her affection.

"Good luck with that." The raven said to his friend and walked out the room.

"Uchiha!" The blonde quickly went after his dark haired friend. "You can't leave me. We drove in the same car!"

"You think it's a good thing to put those two in this kind of situation?" Shizune looked at the blonde woman.

"Yes, even though it may not seem like it now, something will happen." Tsunade knew that Sakura was a little violent and stubborn, but she was one of the only few people that she would trust her only grandchild with.

~ A week later ~

"Wow, you look good girl." Amaru commented as Sakura did a little twirl.

"You like it?" The pinkette looked at the three way mirror. "I personal think it's too much. Tsunade said that I should wear something casual and business like." She said. It look like too much, if only she knew what she was really going to do then maybe she'll have a better idea in what to wear. Don't get her wrong the tan pencil skirt, the red blouse with black designs and the black open toe heel were kind of cute.

"It's not cute, Sakura, it's sexy" Her red head friend said reading her friend’s mind.

“ Whatever." Sakura walked away from Amaru and grabbed her car keys. "Lock up when you're done, okay Amaru?"

"You're not going to take off the nose ring." Amaru called to the pinkette.

Sakura stopped and touched her face and sure enough there was a small diamond stud on her nose. She's been wearing it for so long that she would forget that she was wearing it. It doesn’t matter, he saw her with it before.

Sakura closed the door and walked to her new car. She was kind of shocked that Tsunade had called her today saying that she didn't need to get a ride, because when she looked out the window of her house she saw a nice black Mercedes.

A company car…

Personally, Sakura thought it was over the top, but could she really complain? She was going to work – in a new car - to a job that paid five times more than her other jobs.  She will get to boss people around and she had some eye candy to look at while she worked.

The pinkette opened the door and hopped in. The GPS was already set towards the .

Shifting gears, she pulled out the drive way and drove to work.

The place was big with guards and everything.

Now she really wished she knew what she was doing. Fancy foreign cars were all lined up neatly in the parking lot as she looked for a space for her new car and to her surprise - not really - there was a parking space reserved just for her - doesn't she feel special - right next to 'Mr. Naruto Uzumaki'.

"Wonderful." She said not caring who heard her.

'Today will be great' she told herself over and over again as she walked the halls of the building. Eyes followed her, her body, and her movement.

Her black heels made very little noise despite her powerful footsteps. The pinkette walked to the door and was yet again to her surprised - not really - to see Naruto Uzumaki. It wasn't that he was in her office that got her, it was the fact that he looked so damn relaxed sitting in her chair looking bored when he was supposed to be running his company.

"What the hell?" The handsome looking blond looked up at her and smiled.

"Hello, Sakura!" His voice was a little too loud.

"What are you doing in here?" She was getting annoyed.

"I wanted to greet you…personally" He said looking her up and down. "I see you dressed up for me, how thoughtful."

 And those weren't good combinations.

"Hey I thought we're at least supposed to go on a date first!" That's why she was holding him up by his collar with her unnatural strength.

Sakura looked at him with a glare in her eyes. "Idiot, why are you sitting on your ass when you're supposed to be working!" She shook him a little.

He just looked at her not saying anything, just stared and nothing else.

"You know, you look kind of cute when you're all worked up." She felt her face get hot, but she wasn't sure if it was because she was mad for his random comment or that she liked the compliment. She wasn’t sure, but what she was sure about was that she was going to kick him out.

"Get to work Uzumaki!" She said slamming the door at the end of her command.

Naruto dusted himself off and walked down the hall towards his office. He wasn't mad at all about what happened; in fact it made him kind of happy. Sure she was violent, but that was expected.  She was his grandmother’s former student. She took after her a lot.

He wasn't lying when he said she looked cute when she was mad…actually it wasn't cute, it was downright sexy. Her face would get a little flustered, her chest would rise and fall, her short pink hair was a little messed up, she was wear that outfit and the nose ring made her kind of edgy. It turned him on a bit.

 She had a lot of strength to be able to manhandle him like that.

This was the one he chose and his grandmother approved of her. All he had to do was convince the pinkette, but after seeing that blushing face from his compliment…

Naruto felt that he wouldn’t need much to do much to convince her.

He smiled and began working on what his assistant demanded he do.

She probably didn't even know why she really got the jobs, but it didn't matter. She'll find out one day.