Part 1 – The Meeting
Shelley's Backroom, a place where the who's who of Washington go to spend money when they want a little extravagance.
It was around 11:00 P.M., the smell of beer that had been spilled on the bar by people who had long been kicked out was not a smack in the face, but it was still there.
Sitting at the end of the bar, nursing a glass of Johnnie Walker 'Black Label', watching CNN bellyache about the President was a young man, couldn't be more than twenty-five years old, he looked like he could have been a run-down office worker, casual black loafers that covered a pair of black mid-shin high socks, a pair of black dress pants, a button-up white shirt with a single gold pen in the shirt pocket and a black tie, and resting on the seat next to him was a black jacket.
He was defiantly a mixed Caucasian-Asian male which was evident because of his skin tone, but the way his hair was styled, or should I say un-styled made him look like an anime character, the slant of his jaw made him seem like he probably had a small tough time shaving, but being as cleanly shaven as he was, that assumption would be wrong.
What was most interesting about him was his eyes, irises that were almost pitch black that seemed to be staring into your very soul as you looked into them.
A young blonde woman in her late twenties looked over to see him, and instantly thought, "He seems like an interesting young man," then began approaching him.
"Mind if I join you for a drink," she asked as she sat next to him.
"Not at all," he said as he continued with his drink.
"Name's Rebecca," she said as she held out her hand.
"Sasuke," he said as he shook her hand, "What can I do for you miss?"
"How about another drink," Rebecca asked.
"As much as I'd love to, I can't," Sasuke said as he put his finished drink onto the bar, "Got to pay taxes this week, and so far I've spent a lot of it on my bosses."
"Sounds like you have some bad bosses," Rebecca said.
"Yep," Sasuke said, "Been working for them for four years, and not one pay raise to show for it."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Rebecca said, "Where is it you work?"
"The Konoha Group," Sasuke said.
Rebecca looked over at him with a shocked look on her face, The Konoha Group was one of D.C.'s biggest law firms that managed roughly two and a half billion dollars, and he was probably making about one hundred thousand a year, so what was he complaining about?
"You work for The Konoha Group," Rebecca asked.
"Yep," Sasuke said, "I've been the forerunner for many of their greatest deals. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been brought into the group thanks to me, but I have nothing to show for it."
"Sorry you have to deal with that one," Rebecca said.
"Thanks," Sasuke said as he paid for his drink before standing up, grabbing his jacket, and holding a twenty out to Rebecca, "Have a drink on me."
Sasuke walked out of the bar, and as he stepped out onto the street, it was a cool night in Washington as he continued down the street to the nearest bus stop which would take him to his apartment.
He probably would have had a great night if he had taken that woman up on what she possibly could have been offering.
The Number Ninety two bus heading out of the D.C. Metropolitan area into the suburbs was about a forty-five-minute trip, thirty-eight minutes by bus, and a seven-minute walk.
His apartment was a small two-story three-building wide apartment complex that was protected by a single security gate that could be opened with the cut end of a Popsicle stick.
The key he was using was about as basic as a flat-head screwdriver, but it allowed him access to his apartment complex, and after closing the door to the gate, then walking up to the front door of his building, he used the same key to unlock the front door.
The apartment was almost as basic as a boarding house, so many people who had a job that in a small town would get them a comfortable three-bedroom house, but would get them one room with a bed, a toilet, and a shower in a major metropolitan area like D.C.
Sasuke walked up the stairs, looked through his keys to find the one to his apartment, and unlocked the door to enter.
As he entered, he realized the cleaning lady must have been through there while he was at the office being as the room was vacuumed because the carpet had uneven, dingy lines from when the vacuum when over it, and there was the faint smell of cigarette smoke.
Tossing his jacket onto the couch, Sasuke went to work on his dinner: a thing of Ramen noodles he made in his coffee pot.
As he set the noodles in his coffee pot, he pressed the start button and walked into his bathroom to take a shower.
As he was showering, he could tell that the entire floor had taken several long showers because the water was barely warm, as he was washing his hair, he knew once he got his paycheck he had to buy some new shampoo because there was very little left in the bottle.
He had a bachelor's degree from Tulane Law which he got admitted into when he was only seventeen.
He had a summer associateship with the firm when he was twenty, right before he graduated, and yet he was still on about ninety-four thousand dollars a year.
It wasn't all bad, his best friend was still working at the firm, and they carpooled to work every day because he didn't have a car.
As Sasuke finished up in the shower, he pulled on a pair of black warmup pants, and walked into his living room where his ramen had just finished cooking, but what he didn't realize is that he had accidentally hit the brew button instead, so his ramen had been cooking in a pot of Community Ground medium roast coffee.
"Might as well eat it," he thought as he poured out the coffee, and plopped his noodles into the nearest cup he could find before sitting down in front of his ancient flat-screen, and turning on the TV, it was another program about the political climate in D.C. which was pretty much all he saw on TV around that time, and he hated every second of it.
As he ate, he actually thought the taste of the ramen wasn't so bad, being as ramen has no taste, it was just like he was eating his coffee rather than drinking his coffee, which wasn't so terrible.
His father was a well-known criminal prosecutor in D.C., but when Sasuke decided to go into practice, he decided not to go with his father's firm because criminal law wasn't his strong suit.
As Sasuke finished his dinner, he put his cup in the sink, and turned off the TV, just before they began talking about the president's new initiative on housing reform which he wasn't interested in.
His bed was rickety and old, he had had it since he moved in four years prior. The frame was leaning because he often slept on the left side of the bed, the pillow was slightly deflated because the seam on the side of the pillow had busted.
Before he fell asleep, he knew he was in for a rough day tomorrow because he got a message on his phone saying that his boss, Tsunade had an announcement to make.
He was just getting into a good dream about him taking over his firm and living the life he wanted to live, that was however interrupted when the sound of his alarm clock going off jolted him back into reality.
Walking over to his closet, he chose his wardrobe for the day: a pair of black loafers, a pair of black suit pants, a black button-up shirt, and a khaki suit jacket.
As he was buttoning his shirt, Sasuke heard the sound of a horn beeping outside, he looked outside, and his friend Naruto was sitting outside in his 2014 Mercedes C250 that he bought brand new.
As Sasuke walked outside, Naruto revved the engine a few times, "Morning," he said as Sasuke stepped into the car.
"Morning," Sasuke said as he buckled himself in, "You enjoying this morning?"
"Very much," Naruto said as he put the car into drive, and took off towards the office.
Naruto's father was a co-owner of Konoha, and would often help Sasuke's father out on cases which is how the two of them became friends.
Now Naruto was being groomed to take over once Tsunade left the firm, and in doing so he had a very large yearly wage, well beyond what Sasuke was making.
"You got the car cleaned," Sasuke said as he grazed his finger across the car's armrest.
"Yep," Naruto said, "You know, I keep saying you should try to buy yourself a car so we don't have to carpool every day."
"With the money, I'm making," Sasuke asked, "The only kind of car I could afford is one where you'd have to pick me up every time I'd take it to the shop."
"You'll get to where you're making more money someday," Naruto said.
"I don't know," Sasuke said, "I can only hope."
"You see Sakura again," Naruto asked.
"She's ok," Sasuke said, "We talked a little when I went in for my last checkup."
"You know you should ask her out," Naruto said.
"Maybe I should," Sasuke said, "If I could afford to take her on a date. I work at the biggest law firm in D.C. and all I can afford is to go to Shelly's Backroom and have a glass of Johnnie Walker Black."
"So that's where you went last night," Naruto said, "Dude you gotta lay off on the booze. If you're not working, you're drinking."
"What's there to do," Sasuke asked, "I can't afford to do anything else."
Arriving at the office, most people were just arriving so there wasn't a lot of parking space available in the underground parking garage, but there was one that caught his curiosity: there was a new parking space that had a large orange cone inside that was right next to Naruto's designated spot.
"That's interesting," Naruto said as they exited the car, and walked toward the main elevator.
"The parking spot," Sasuke asked, "Very curious. Must have something to do with the announcement that Tsunade messaged me about last night."
"I didn't get a message," Naruto said.
"Weird," Sasuke said as he and Naruto entered the elevator to see Tsunade standing there waiting for them.
"Good morning you two," Tsunade said as she stood there dressed in her signature grey dress-suit, dress-skirt, and back high heels, "I was wondering whether or not you were going to be late today."
"Well we're on time now," Sasuke said, "So what's the big announcement that you messaged me about?"
"I'm glad you asked," Tsunade said as she opened the door to their offices.
As they entered, everyone looked at Sasuke, clapping as Tsunade led them to a new office.
When Sasuke walked up to the door, the firm's second, Kakashi Hatake was standing next to the brand-new desk.
"Kakashi," Sasuke said as he entered, "What is this all about?"
"Your new office," Kakashi said as Tsunade walked over to stand next to him, "We think it's time for your contributions to Konoha to finally come to light," a single office worker then walked over to them carrying glasses of champagne, after which, Kakashi turned to the office, "To Sasuke, Konoha's newest partner."
"Partner," Sasuke asked.
"That's right," Kakashi said, "You've just become a partner at Washington's biggest law firm."
How do you like that one…