~Bulletproof~ SasuSaku Mafia Story

Chapter 29 ~ Treacherous

The red rose sat elegantly in a vase on Sakura's bedside table. It really added to the ambiance of the room, considering how long she'd stared at it while lying down on her stomach with her feet kicking in the air. She felt like a teenager again.

Things had been quiet in the mansion for the past several days. Neji's murder was a big accomplishment for the Uchiha, since the last surviving Hyuuga man was skilled at remaining undetected. In fact, it had been Shisui's most successful mission, and he was on cloud nine. Juugo got himself a fat raise as his companion on the operation, so everybody was happy in the Uchiha clan.

Izuna, however, was too buried in tedious paperwork to share the celebratory energy with the others. He was assigned to work with Madara on gathering all the files and documents from potential future partners. Since the untimely demise of the Otsutsuki, Sasuke was in a dire need of another business partner to take over the ammunition trade deal, which would boost the Uchiha business drastically. Izuna was in constant communication with Madara to organize and collect all necessary intel and data on the candidates, which would later be analyzed by none other than Sakura Haruno.

Suigetsu had been officially relieved of his bodyguard duties, since she now was a trained shooter and had completed enough self-defense classes to land a few punches on Shisui - moments she cherished greatly. Sakura was still annoyed by the absence of her keys, and could no longer guarantee herself privacy by locking her door, or have 24/7 access to the facilities. It just meant that she was much more inclined to hang out with Shisuigetsu. She missed Izuna, but understood the time commitment his new task required.

It was around lunch time, and Sakura knocked on Obito's office door. He faintly called for her to go inside.

"Sakura, what a nice surprise!"

The pair occasionally got lunch together with various Uchiha members, but it had been a bit since Sakura paid him a visit.

"Hey Tobi! You busy?"

He quickly closed his laptop and stood up.

"Whatever it is, it can wait. How are you doing? I heard you survived the... library hiatus."

Sakura smiled and walked past him to the window. She loved the view of the trees.

"I'm okay, somehow. Sasuke was very kind about that, actually. He let me look into Uchiha history."

Tobi sighed. While this was quite unexpected from his cousin, he did not blame Sasuke. If Sakura had broken any rules in his presence, he was not sure if he'd have the guts to harm her either. She just had an aura about her that he found so endearing.

"I'm glad, but I recommend keeping your ventures to a minimum."

Sakura rolled her eyes playfully.

"Say, Tobi, want to go on a walk or something? I'm bored, haven't had an assignment in a minute. Plus, I'm sure you've been losing your mind sitting in this office." She gently tugged on his wrist.

"Oh, I don't often take walks, but I suppose I can accompany you..." He awkwardly stumbled past Sakura toward the door. Not many people had asked him on a walk before.

"So, what's this about?" Obito mumbled as they walked through the vast Uchiha gardens. It was now early August, and the sun was beaming down.

"What do you mean?" She stopped by a random bush, and picked two stems with flowers attached. She grinned at her findings and handed one to Tobi, who stared at it hesitatingly before taking it from her.

"Oh, just this walk. I assumed you needed something?"

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Can't I just spend some time with a friend without asking for favors? Geez, Tobi!"