He watched, in barely contained shock, as the stack of papers organized themselves meticulously, his cigarette dropping from his mouth. Never mind that Temari was always nagged at him for not disposing of it properly into an ashtray, he thought. He had already gone crazy to the point of no return, if he was actually observing an invisible being burglarise his office.

Okay maybe not burglarising his office but more like whipping it into shape.

Shikamaru took 50% responsibility for the state of his office. He was usually too lazy to organize everything according to meaningless categories like colour, country, village, type, whatnot.

His usual two piles on his table consisted of 1. Paperwork he hadn't gone through and 2. Paperwork that he had. Needless to say, the first pile was much bigger than the second.

"Why me?", he often complained, but one thing that he hated most about being smart, was that he always knew the answers to the questions that he didn't want answered. Shikamaru was known for doing only the necessary with the least amount of work, yet as the Hokage's advisor he received almost the most amount of meaningless paperwork in the village. It was too troublesome, really.

He took 50% responsibility because currently, half of his office was sparkling clean and organised due to this invisible "ghost". Shikamaru watched as the "ghost" glided around, making dust particles fly around it in the process. A sort of silhouette was formed, revealing this ghostly figure to be quite normal sized for a human being. Indeed, it had been a long time since his cupboards were last cleaned if such a definite shape could be made out.

This "ghost" not only took care of the organisation, he or she practically reinvented the place! His furniture was being dragged to more practical places and his books were sorted first in function, then in alphabetical order. Just as he liked it. How did the invisible being know? This ghost was psychic, that was official.

Or the ghost could be a woman. Then, he saw something that startled the bones out of his body.

He choked on his saliva. What, the hell, was that?

The "ghost" poured a cup of tea for him? Checking the office clock, he instantly understood its intention when he realized it was ten seconds before he usually came in on the dot at 8 am sharp.

As the clock struck 8, all movement ceased to exist, and he cautiously entered his office. He sat at his desk, and swiveled his head around for telltale movement from the ghost. Nothing happened.

He began gazing into no where and bringing his hands together into his usual thinking position. After concentrating for a few minutes, he came to a decision on the situation and spoke aloud.

"Hey Mr or Ms Ghost, I saw you organizing my office and I want to say thank you. Are you able to become corporeal so I could see what you look like? If you can't, please introduce yourself on this piece of paper before I get an exorcist. I would prefer you to introduce yourself though, calling up the church is such a drag."

A pen next to his hand was picked up by an invisble hand, making him jump at the sudden movement.

No, it wrote on the blank sheet of paper. But I can tell you who I am. I am Sakura Haruno, your old friend and I really had nothing to do while dead after being killed by Sasori from Akatsuki so here I am. Honestly, Shikamaru, I expected your office to be a lot more organized but I guess your reputation as a lazy man has to be proven in adulthood one way or another. If you like, I could be an assistant since there is literally nothing to do in the world of the undead except talk to more dead people which gets boring after a few years. I even had to get special permission to haunt your office, so you better not exorcise me!

Shikamaru was shocked, intrigued, and surprised at her proposal. He wondered on his next course of action and made a decision. He also pondered about the idea of Sakura being psychic and one day going so crazy that even her death couldn't stop her from paperwork. Shuddering at even the thought of him having that fate, Shikamaru set fire to his train of thought.

"Sure", he accepted easily. "I really need an assistant anyways, and it would be a bother to hire one on my own accord and have to go through all the interviews and even more paperwork."

He looked in the direction in which he thought Sakura would be standing, or hovering, since she was a ghost.

"Thanks, though normally people apply for a job interview first, before doing the job." he drawled.

Oh I apologise for my rudeness on not submitting a portfolio despite being your dead ghost friend, Nara-sama. Could I apply for a job interview as your personal assistant?

"No."

Nara-sama, I feel like haunting your office would not be so boring as the afterlife after all.

"Sorry, Sakura-san, I promise not to make fun of you for now," he hastily apologised.

Fine, I can accept that. I will start work today, and get your tea every morning. I will also help to organize your paperwork, advise you on decisions, and whatever the job requires. Thank you for hiring me, Nara-sama.

"Now that's the spirit."

He heard a slap resonating around the office walls, and realized it came from his right now very sore and very red right cheek. He grinned. Worth it.