Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

I do own the plot, though. You steal it, you're frigging dead.

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Chapter One

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Blackjack and the Job

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She tossed down the pair of cards she held. "I win. Vingt-et-un, brother." She stared at her apparent brother, waiting for him to give a sign of recognition.

The redhead muttered an incoherent curse, looked up straight into her eyes. Angry clouded jade clashed with laughing clear emerald. "Again?" He breathed, showing no sign of joy in losing to his sister. She only smiled, flashing him a long pearly white fang in response.

"We've been playing for an hour." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder. Her vivid pale pink hair glinted in the sunlight that drifted through between the thick velvet curtains that hung on the window. She stared at him impassively. "We won't have time tomorrow."

"Oh? Why?" He expertly flicked the leftover cards into his unmoving hand with an impossible speed and delicacy. He easily shuffled the cards with a practiced air, as a gust of wind blew in, exposing his hairline and his tattoo. "We going somewhere?"

"I need to get a job. I'm bored. You need a job too. It would look strange that a pair of twin-sixteen-year-olds are walking around during school hours." She held out her hand for her cards. Neither of them went to school. They completed that a long time ago. "He'll probably hire us."

The redhead raised a nonexistent eyebrow. Her deliberate ambiguity annoyed him a little sometimes. He nodded to her, signaling that she could look at her cards.

"Who?" He inquired delicately. He flicked a card into the air, and snatched it with his teeth, his twin fangs piercing the thin plastic cardboard material. He glanced down at it, and flipped it back down.

Twelve. Not bad to start with.

"Remember Uchiha Fugaku?" She said plainly. She glanced at her cards. Twenty. Well, she did have unusual luck. "Hit me."

He passed her a card. She glanced at it. Ace. Twenty-one. "Another win, brother. Vingt-et-un." She looked at him. "Do you remember?"

"I remember. He knows, doesn't he?" He swept up the cards into his shuffling hands. His pale unblemished hands stopped shuffling, and placed the deck down on the rickety old table. He ran a hand through the mop of dark red hair.

"Yes, he knows." She sighed.

"Sakura. Let's go now." The redhead stood up, and extended a hand to his sister. "It's nearly three, and in about two hours, we won't have the chance to talk to him."

Sakura daintily placed her hand into his. She was pulled up. She shook her head, rippling her long candy-pink mane. She squeezed his hand. "We might as well, Gaara."

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The two stood in front of the tall building that was known as Uchiha Corporation. They stepped inside, fingers interlaced. They went up to the receptionist at the front desk.

"We need to see Uchiha Fugaku." Gaara said clearly. His fathomless jade eyes flicked around the room.

The receptionist said tonelessly, "He's in a meeting right now."

Sakura leaned over on the desk. "How about this? Mention to him that this is important, because Haruno Sakura and Subaku No Gaara are here to see him. Oh, and show him this, but make sure that no one else sees it." She leaned down even further, and nipped at the sitting female's neck. She pierced the skin, and only drained a little, but the puncture marks were clearly seen.

The receptionist blinked, and left without a word. Gaara smirked, amused, at Sakura. "Was that really necessary?" He inquired, but obviously not caring much at all.

"Nah, but I thought in case Fugaku forgot us." Sakura smiled slyly. "People tend to forget we exist." She laughed softly, and leaned against Gaara's shoulder.

"We look like a lovesick couple than brother and sister." He observed wryly. She pouted at him, and with a flash of her free hand, swept up her waist-long hair in a messy bun.

"Still, our hair and eyes are only shades different." She yawned.

The dazed receptionist returned, followed by a tall, dark man. "Here they are, Uchiha-san." The receptionist said.

"Thank you, Hinamori. Come." Uchiha Fugaku led them up an elevator to a penthouse office. They sat down in squashy leather armchairs.

"What are you here for?" Fugaku asked. He glanced fleetingly at the pair. Gaara and Sakura didn't sense any kind of recognition in the man's demeanor.

"Fugaku-san. Remember me? I'm Haruno Sakura and my brother, Sabaku No Gaara. We need a job." She leaned back, watching the older man remember.

He blinked. "Miss Sakura and Mr. Gaara. I remember now." He gave a small smile. "The twins. How are you?"

"Our parents have disappeared. Probably on a long vacation. Sasori, if you remember him, one of our brothers, he's off in France. Versailles, if I remember correctly." Gaara shrugged. "We're doing quite fine. Very good, in fact."

Fugaku nodded. "Of course, of course." He leaned back into the chair. "Your parents… they did send me something. Don't worry. They are traveling the entire world, hoping to be able to visit every city in the world." He paused. "Why do you need a job, pray tell? You two are very old-time wealthy."

"Well, Fugaku-san, it's been a long time, and people are wondering why an odd pair of teens are wandering around. Should they be in school?" Sakura said mockingly. "We already completed that. So there's no point in going. Plus, we'll been seventeen forever. Might as well do something. Playing blackjack is getting boring, especially since I kick Gaara's tiny little butt every time." She winked at her brother, who frowned back.

Fugaku smiled a little at the twin's antics, and thought for a minute. Then he spoke. "My wife, Mikoto, just fired a maid for stealing her jewelry. She took care of my grandson, as well as cleaned the house and things like that. And we would like someone to fix up our grounds, but we haven't found anyone to even start yet."

He paused. "Knowing you, Sakura, and your kinds' strength and speed, could clean up in minutes or so. I remember you are good with children also."

He turned to her brother. "And you Gaara, you like peacefulness and quiet. To an extent, as I remember. Would you mind gardening?" The jade-eyed male shook his head. "That sounds wonderful, Fugaku-san."

Sakura said cheerily, "Oh, Fugaku-san! Thank you!" She leapt up, and hugged the old man. The Uchiha returned the embrace.

"Alright then. But you should know, I have two sons. One, Itachi, he and his wife are currently on a business trip for me. He isn't home much at all, and they have their own house. He has a child, my grandson, Satoshi-chan."

The older man sighed. "Second, I have Sasuke. He is about your ages. I mean, the ages you look like. Seventeen, eighteen-ish? He's still in school. He still lives at home."

"And Satoshi, he's about six. He is the most adorable little boy. He doesn't see his parents much at all." The pair heard the affection in his voice. "The boy, well, my wife is currently in Konoha, but she normally isn't home much either, nor is myself. She will explain to you about Satoshi."

The pair nodded seriously as they stood up. "We would like to accept your offer, Fugaku-san." Gaara said.

Fugaku gave a thin but sincere smile. "That is excellent. But it is not up to me to make that decision. My wife does. How about you two join us for dinner today?"

Sakura grimaced, and Gaara twitched, gestured at them, and his mouth. Fugaku smirked. "Do not worry; you do not have to eat."

Sakura sighed in relief. Gaara smirked. They all glanced at the clock. It was five-thirty.

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About an hour later, they were seated at a fancy table with Mikoto, Satoshi, Gaara, Sakura and Fugaku. Greetings and names were exchanged.

"Aren't you two a little young to be working? Shouldn't you be in school?" Mikoto inquired.

Gaara already had an answer ready. "We have already completed high school and university."

This went on, Mikoto asking and Gaara answering. Sakura introduced herself to Satoshi. "Hey, you're Satoshi, right? I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Yes, I am." The little boy nodded studiously. His eyes glinted with a childish mischief. "Do you know how to fold cranes, Miss Sakura? How come your hair is pink?" He asked, trying not to be excited in case she didn't know because he really wanted to learn how.

"Why, yes, I do." She called a maitre'd over and asked for some paper. "Just watch. And I was born with pink hair." She began to carefully crease the piece of paper into a crane, trying hard not to use super-speed to fold. She probably had made millions in her lifetime.

Finally, Fugaku broke into his wife's interrogation. "Mikoto-chan, the boy and girl won't steal from you. They are wealthy enough to overpower ourselves, they are trustworthy, very reliable, and have all the time in the world. I've known their family for a long time; I assure you, we can trust them."

"Where do they live?" Mikoto questioned.

"We live by the seaside, in a mansion that covers at least twenty acres, and have an old-hunting forest beside it." Gaara didn't mention that the forest was still used for hunting.

Throughout the entire meal, as Gaara and Sakura sat there, sipping water, they answered questions still shot from the matriarch of the Uchiha family.

Finally, as the last plate was cleared, Mikoto decided they would be fine for this job. And judging by the many silver bracelets that were around Sakura's wrists, her blood-red ruby pendant the size of her thumb, they were probably much richer than herself, and wasn't likely to steal her jewelry; it'd be more probable that they'd buy out her husband's company at any price.

Another, they seemed polite, and kind for seventeen year olds. And a slightly-old fashioned grace in the way they carried themselves. And Satoshi liked the pink-haired girl, by the way he was pestering her to teach him more, and she promised with a pinky-swear.

"I suppose they may be perfect for the jobs. They are hired." Mikoto said happily. Fugaku sighed in relief. Gaara smirked, and Sakura gave a slight smile in case of her fangs. Satoshi beamed happily.

As they left, Mikoto turned to the pair. "Come tomorrow, around eight or nine in the morning." The three Uchihas left the restaurant, chauffeured in a Porsche.

Sakura turned to Gaara. "Well brother, let's go home. I'll race you."

"As long as you let me win in blackjack, at least sometimes." Gaara muttered.

Sakura cocked an a pink eyebrow, and took off in the blink of an eye.

"I should've known. Selfish sister." Gaara grumbled, knowing perfectly well that Sakura could hear him, as he too disappeared in a flash.

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That very day two seventeen-year old vampires, Sakura and Gaara, received jobs as a maid and nanny, and a gardener to the Uchiha family. What chaos is going to follow that?

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…Review. Please. I need at least eleven reviews to update.

Vingt-et-un means twenty one in French. It's also another name for the card game blackjack.

Love,

pureazure