I do own Naruto, at least inside my head. Masashi Kishimoto owns him in the real world though.

Chapter One

He was going to drive her crazy. Possibly in a good way, but still undeniably, unacceptably crazy.

This blonde boy with oddly spiked hair and bright blue eyes. This boy with a large grin as he introduced himself as her boss. This boy was her age, and was going to be her boss? How did she get mixed up in this?

She was dressed to impress, in a maroon blazer and matching skirt, with a champagne shirt underneath. He was dressed…to laze around the house. His black sweatpants were tattered at the heel, and his orange tee was baggy, but clean.

He was still grinning as she pondered this, his eyes closed and his hands intertwined behind his head.

She figured it would make a better impression if she spoke up. "Uhm, so…I guess you already know…I'm Hinata Hyuuga." He opened his eyes, which held a hint of disapproval, and she felt her chances of a good first impression go down the drain.

"You're gonna hafta speak louder than that, unless you wanna get run over around here." He said truthfully. His grammar was awful. Not that she was a grammar snob or anything, but she figured a boss, even one so young, would sound more…authoritative. "So, Mr. Uzumaki—?"

"Please, anything but that!" he recoiled dramatically, "I prefer Supreme Ruler, but at least call me Naruto." Supreme Ruler…? Anyone else would have rolled their eyes at the fact that a twenty-one year old man would refer to himself as Supreme Ruler, but Hinata actually found it kind of endearing, and held her hand in a way that covered her smile.

"Ah, S-Supreme Ruler, sir?"

"That's more like it! What is it?"

"Well, I uh…I j-just…."

"Are we gonna have to play a game of charades or something? Because I'd be more than happy to!" Again, hardly professional, but Hinata didn't do well under pressure anyways and quite enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. "Well, it's just that I don't really know what my job is, sir."

Her father, a business mogul who owned more franchises than Hinata could count, insisted that she get a high-ranking job, since she disapproved of every business he owned. Cutting forests, selling furs, laying highways, and basically any other environmentally-harmful activities were foremost on the list, although he owned everything from restaurants to shoe stores. When she refused (although refused might be a bit strong, maybe more like stammered until he gave up) to work in his office, he set her in the first large important-looking building he could find (and there were a lot to choose from) and ordered her to get a job there. Fortunately she did, and a week later was introduced to her new "boss," Naruto Uzumaki. Although she was never told what the job was. All the man working at the desk had said was, "Your resume looks good, so be back here in a week, same time same place."

"Uhm, right, your job…well, I guess you just basically do whatever I ask, you think?" he looked just as lost as she felt, and she wondered…

"How did you become a boss?" her tone was beyond mild curiosity, and she blushed in embarrassment as he raised his eyebrow. "I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean that you-" he held up his hand, cutting her off.

"Hey, it's totally fine! That's the nicest way anyone's ever asked me, actually." He sighed, a deep breath full of weary emotion. "I ah, grew up on the streets, you see…never really learned much about manners and all that." He avoided looking at her, his blue eyes full of emotion. "Everyone told me I would be lucky to qualify as a fast food worker. Which is fine, because someone has to build the Big Macs, right?" Hinata nodded, and he gave her a crooked smile. "But to be told that I couldn't possibly amount to anything better…well, I just had to try. I walked up to every guy in an expensive-looking suit and told him about myself. A lot of them looked disgusted, but one guy," his eyes lit up as he came to the good part of his story, "liked what I was about, and took me under his wing, so to speak."

He cleared his throat, and Hinata got the feeling that he didn't often talk about himself. "I worked hard, and after a lot of boring jobs, I finally got a top-dog position!" he leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet onto his desk, moving them sideways so he could still look at her. "The guy who took me in is a workaholic, and for some strange reason enjoys paperwork." He stuck out his tongue. "But every once in a while he gets swamped, and so I handle the excess. I also handle anything international—there isn't much—and pick through products designed for a younger audience." He took another deep breath, but this one was more relieved surprised. "Oh man, you sure got me talking! So that's me, but what about you?"

He felt more interested in her than himself. Her eyes were such a strange light purple, but her hair a normal, pretty black color. She looked shy any time there was a silence, or when she had to talk. But any time he had something to say she listened closely. It was a new experience for him.

"M-my family's pretty successful, my father owns tons of companies that I don't really care for, and so I got sent here." Short and simple, the best way to keep herself from stuttering too much in front of her new, incredibly-good-looking-although-she'll-never-admit-that boss.

"Ah, I see. Well if you grew up around so many big shots, I can see why I would be a bit of a letdown."

"No, not at all! My father's always strict, and I've never been comfortable around him. This is much better than anything I could get with him as my boss," she stated truthfully. He looked at her with surprise, then gratitude. "Glad you think so. I've never been the boss of anyone but myself, and I'm obviously way too easy on me." His grins would make the Cheshire jealous, Hinata observed. He stood, and she followed suit.

"Well Hinata—can I call you Hinata? Good-I think this will work out just fine! I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll uh, have something for you to do." He reached and took her hand in hers, causing her to stiffen in order to hide her sudden unexplainable urge to blush in a very unprofessional way.

Yep, she was going to be crazy when this was all over.