Two things surprised Sakura as she woke up. The first was her cat sitting right beside her and purring as he slept. Phantom never did that. The second was the smell of something delicious hanging in the air. After a few seconds, and blinking around the room sleepily, Sakura remembered that she was living with her hotter than fuck boss and currently napping in his spare bedroom.

After a quick trip to the bathroom to pee and to make certain that she didn't have a horrendous case of bed hair, Sakura ventured back downstairs to see what her boss was up to. Having used the oxygen machine earlier and then taken a nap had the pinkette feeling rather well at the moment. That could change considering the man she was currently staying with had the ability to make her heart stop. It was quite painful.

The sight of Sasuke working at the stove in the kitchen definitely did something to Sakura's body. Her heart might have started to beat a little faster and her breath definitely hitched at the sight of that man cooking, but that wasn't the worst of it. Sakura didn't even want to think about what else was going on... down there. Not with Sasuke right in front of her. She wouldn't be entirely surprised if her boss could read her mind.

Turning just slightly, Sasuke caught sight of a tired girl standing in his doorway. "How was your nap?"

Snapping away from her thoughts, Sakura brought one arm up to stretch before slipping into the room and sliding into a chair at the table. "All right, I guess. I needed that."

Smirking, Sasuke went back to check over the contents in his pan before taking it off the heat and carrying it towards the table where he already had plates set out for the two of them. "You woke up right on time."

Blushing at that, Sakura nodded her head before saying her thanks and digging into the meal that Sasuke served to her.

The silence that came with eating was something that Sasuke didn't want. It was already silent when he ate his meals because he was usually alone. Sakura was there and he wasn't going to pass up this chance. "So, Sakura, how come you live alone?"

Grimacing at the question, Sakura chewed the food in her mouth-choking was not hot and she did not want to display that sort of behavior in front of her good-looking boss-before swallowing. "I uh, used to have a roommate. She got married and moved out though."

"Well good for her. Did you know her husband? Is he a nice guy?"

This was something Sakura didn't particularly want to talk about. Not that she had anything against her old roommate or the man she married. They were a lovely couple and still happily married. It was just how they met that rubbed Sakura the wrong way. "I guess you could say he was all right."

Actually intrigued, Sasuke pushed on for more information. At least he had a conversation going. "Why do you say that?"

The man just couldn't let it go. Fine. If he wanted to know then Sakura was going to tell him. "Because he's my ex-boyfriend. Sai and Ino met when I brought him home to introduce him to my roommate. Apparently, they hit it off so well that he decided to break up with me and date her. Not exactly in that order."

Sasuke sat stunned. Partly because Sakura didn't sound bitter about being cheated on, but mostly because someone would actually cheat on her. Was her ex blind? If he wasn't at the moment, Sasuke definitely felt like taking away the use of one of his eyes. "What!?"

Waving her hands in front of herself, Sakura tried to change the subject quickly to something else. Talking about her horrible judgment and luck with men wasn't something she cared to converse about over dinner. "They had a nice wedding and are living in France now. That's where Ino is from. They really do suit each other. I'm perfectly happy for them."

As much as he hated the fact that Sakura had to go through that experience, Sasuke was grateful for it. If Sakura had a boyfriend in her life, she wouldn't be there with him. "Still, sounds like a rough situation."

"Did you know you have a fan-site?" Smooth, Sakura. Real smooth. Changing the subject was a good idea. Proving that you're a stalker, not so much. "I mean, uh, yeah."

For a moment, Sasuke didn't know what to think. His secretary looked completely embarrassed as she picked at her food with her chopsticks. The poor girl wouldn't even make eye contact with him. Finally, Sasuke just started to laugh. "How do you know that?"

Giggling a little, more out of awkwardness than anything, Sakura rubbed the back of her head. "I've been to it. Had to know something about the man I was going to work for. I think I got more than I bargained for though."

Unable to stop his laughter, Sasuke couldn't help but think that he was right in assuming that living with Sakura would be fun. Not only was she beautiful and had a body of a goddess, but she was funny, too. Personality and looks. Sasuke hadn't thought he'd ever find someone as amazing as himself until he met her. "Wait, is that why you knew that information about me the first day you met Naruto?"

Less embarrassed now that Sasuke wasn't making a big deal out of her little confession, Sakura nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm actually surprised that you didn't ask me about that sooner. I mean, I knew things about you that you hadn't told me. Shouldn't that have thrown up some red flags?"

Shrugging, Sasuke didn't want to admit that he hadn't thought much into it because he didn't want to have to fire his cute secretary. They were having a good meal-now that Sakura was actually eating again-and he didn't want to throw it back into that awkward mood. "I'm kind of used to people just knowing things about me. Is that bad?"

Laughing at her boss, Sakura shook her head. "Not at all. It just means you're confident."

"Which is a polite way of saying that I'm cocky."

Thank the high heavens that she hadn't had any food in her mouth when he'd made that comment. The snort she let out was bad enough. Spitting food all over the table would have been too much. It also led the pink haired girl into another coughing fit that only ended once Sasuke raced to grab her oxygen machine and she had her mask strapped in place. "Thanks."

Sasuke felt like such an idiot. He wanted Sakura to live with him so he could protect the girl and so far, he'd almost killed her twice. "I'm sorry."

"You said it, not me."

He supposed that was her way of saying that she was fine and it was fine and everything was fine. At least her voice sounded stronger even though Sasuke knew it wasn't as fine as the pinkette wanted it to be. "What should we do this evening?"

"Don't you have files to go over or something?"

Shaking his head, Sasuke couldn't help but send the girl a grin. "Ah, but being your own boss has its perks. I can never be late with my work."

Sakura couldn't argue with that so she just shrugged. "I don't really feel like watching some more TV. Do you have a deck of cards anywhere?"

The grin turned into a smirk as Sasuke pictured the two of them playing strip poker. "That I do. What do you want to play?"

"I've been told I can hold 'em."

The two looked at each other for a few minutes before Sasuke started laughing again. "Was that a Texas Hold 'em joke? Dear Lord, where do I get one of you?"

Giggling at the response and relieved that her boss didn't think she'd gone insane from when she'd practically been poisoned in her own home, Sakura tried to act all smug. "I'm one of a kind, Sasuke. One of a kind."

This, this was what Sasuke wanted. Someone he could joke around with without feeling like he was being childish or a dork. Someone that would laugh at his jokes and then make ones that were twice as bad so they could laugh at them, too. Out of all the someone's he could have, however, Sasuke only wanted Sakura. "You think so?"

Not knowing where her confident attitude came from, especially with the extremely unappealing gas mask on her face, Sakura continued to smirk at her boss. "Oh, I know so."

"You're going to have to prove your skill. I don't just let people talk big. They got to walk the walk."

"What are we betting?"

Oh, the possibilities. Sasuke was so very much tempted to make it something extremely dirty. Very tempted, but he didn't want to scare the girl off so he settled for some innocent skin ship. "Backrubs."

Thinking her options over, Sakura held back her blush at the thought of either getting to rub her hands all over that for having those hands all over her. She really couldn't lose. "My back has been kind of stiff since I got out of the hospital."

"Deal?"

"Deal."

Sasuke returned the smirk directed towards him. Even with that plastic thing on her face, Sakura was beautiful. He learned, however, through a rather painful game of poker that his secretary wasn't someone to be trifled with. When the girl said she could play, she meant she could play. It wasn't even fair. Due to a certain someone's skill, the game ended rather quickly. It wasn't all bad as that left plenty of time for Sasuke to give Sakura her rub down while they watched a random TV show. He quite enjoyed listening to Sakura quietly giggle about whatever was going on. Sasuke wasn't paying attention to that. Not with so much Sakura available for him to touch.

All too aware of those hands on her back, Sakura pretended to be watching the TV. The girl wasn't even certain if the things she was laughing at were funny, though she hoped that Sasuke would just assume that she had had too much oxygen earlier and it was affecting her brain. She couldn't tell him that the only thing affecting her brain was his large and rather skilled hands. Those feelings she'd willed away earlier in the night when she'd walked into the kitchen to see him cooking were coming back. Sakura didn't know how much more she could take.

With much regret, Sasuke called the backrub to a stop. Any longer and the girl in front of him might be concerned that he had ulterior motives. That and Sasuke didn't know how much longer he could keep his hands from wandering any lower. These were dangerous games they were playing, even if the other player wasn't quite aware. "There you go. My payment has been made. Ready for bed?"

Humming, Sakura stretched out. Sasuke really had done a nice job. The secretary hadn't been lying earlier when she'd said that her back was hurting from her hospital bed. "I suppose."

Sasuke wasn't entirely surprised to see Sakura yawning again. The girl was still getting healthy and would need plenty of sleep to get her body back to where it was before the gas leak incident. Taking her oxygen machine with them, Sasuke walked Sakura up the stairs and towards her bedroom door. After placing the machine in her room, he turned to bid her goodnight only to pause in his movements and just stare.

Sakura stood just a few steps from her boss with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She wanted to say how thankful she was for him and everything he was doing for her, but words failed. Instead, Sakura moved closer, raised up onto her toes and placed a soft kiss against his cheek. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

A little bit stunned, Sasuke muttered the words back before leaving her room. Sakura had kissed him. Maybe just on the cheek, but it had still been a kiss and it still counted. Ah yeah!

xxx

- Tsu