Business shark. That's all that could describe Mikoto Ushiba. The woman knew every trick in the book, and it infuriated everyone she came across. Only 17, and eating the game up like a shark. A business shark. Fugaku has no idea what the hell he's getting himself into trying to outdo her. But his idiot brother - Madara and his ideas, really - told him it would be great to try and compete with her for a new architecture that is the godliest thing he's ever seen. Indra and Tajima advised against it, but hell if Fugaku would lose. Kagami told him doing it would be "absolutely sickinening" as did Izuna. In the end, he's decided to go against the woman. The woman that makes men run away crying. The woman that makes grown men shit their pants. The woman that is known as 'The Legendary Queen' of business and whatnot he guessed. He's never run away from a challenge before, hell if he'd start now. That's at least what he believed, until he walked into that meeting room and saw her.
He knows he should start off by being professional. But damn, she's gorgeous. Like, insanely so. Her silk brown hair cascading down her back. The skin tight navy dress she was wearing with a black business jacket draped on her. Black heels, with a golden tinge. That golden necklace around her neck. He gulped.
A shark, and she's beautiful. Fan-fucking-tastic. She glanced up at him, those eyes could pierce his family's heirloom sword. He took a deep breath, stepping further into the room. He looked around, just the two of them. It's official, he's screwed. "Hello Uchiha sir." Her voice was just as smooth as her skin looked.
"Ah. Just Fugaku is fine." Great, professional is out the window. She smiled. A baby was just born, no, an angel just cried seeing that smile.
"Then it's just Mikoto then. Nice to meet you Fugaku," Say it again, jesus, "So. We are here to discuss the architecture, correct?" She pulled out piles on piles of paper. Fugaku thought he was dreaming. He was about to spend five hours with this goddess, and they were only going to talk about a building. He was going to kill himself before this is over. Actually no, he'll just take her hostage. That'll work.
He took a seat, near her mind you. But he could still smell her from that distance, peppermint. Pepper and mint. That's what she smelled like, not peppermint candy. She smells like spicy mints okay? But the smell was intoxicating, he could get high off her aroma. "Yes. Uh - my top offer was and still is $500,000." She did something that sounded so close to a giggle. He brought that sound out of her mouth. There's something to take a cold shower to.
"Starting with money already? You Uchiha really don't play. Okay then, my top offer was - and still is, $475,000. So you beat me there Fugaku. This meeting is basically supposed to be us playing all our cards on the table. Five hours straight, in the other room are the architects and the business bureau, whatnot. They'll decide which of our top offers have been," honestly he didn't hear anything she was saying, he was too entranced by her rosy lips, she was only wearing lip gloss, the extra shine did help for him to get distracted easily.
"You're beautiful." Shit, did I just say that outloud, no, no, no, nono-
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Repeat it please?" Damn, that smirk, she was playing with him. She heard him fine.
"I said, do you always give your competition the play by play, or can we get this started?" She seemed shocked by that and widened her eyes. Score. He just got the business shark off her game. Take that Indra.
"I see." She smiled (he's having a heart attack), "Then let's get to business."
He's never been so happy to do business.
.
He's never been so happy to finish business.
Damn, that took forever. Longest five hours of his life. In the end, it put Mikoto in the lead with $100,000 on her name, and the architects happended to all be men that ogled her body constantly. Unfortunately Fugaku doesn't have breasts and a silky smooth voice that lure men towards him. He was too tired to even walk, that woman is deadly. Speaking of her, she approached him after the meeting.
"Sorry I had to go in on you so hard in there." That could be sexualized by his idiot brothers, kids shouldn't know sex better than him. "I hope I didn't scare you."
"Please. That was nothing compared to when Indra gets angry at me." She laughed, he didn't know he told a joke. Because it wasn't a joke when Indra gets angry.
She stared at him a while, he couldn't crack what she was thinking. Until she finally spoke, "You know, business isn't everything around here. Maybe...tomorrow or any other day, we could grab a coffee."
Fugaku blanked, "Are you asking me on a date?"
She smiled, "Why yes I am. And is that a no?" He widened his eyes, waving his hands frantically.
"No, no, no, God no!" He realized he'd been saying no, "No as in, no to it being a no. It's not a no, the opposite of no. I don't mean no, I just-"
"Fugaku." He looked over at her, "So, Saturday then? At four?"
He chuckled nervously, "A-ah yes. S-so where do you want to m-meet or should I pick you up, or?"
She laughed this time, "Don't worry. Just meet me there, at the one near the architecture, 'kay? See you then." She walked away, was she swinging her hips? Fugaku needed an aspirin.
.
"I feel bad for you. You really suck at initiating things with girls." His kid brother picking on him is not something he needed right now. Madara being only 12, barely in any place to pick on him for any relationship. Even if he knows more about sex than him. Even Izuna, Izuna is only 6 man, that's just fucked up, but he picked up on words like sex or blowjob or the saddest of them all. Threesome.
"Shut up."
Kagami decided to join in on the teasing, Kagami being his cousin, ruffled his curly hair while looking in a mirror. Him being 18, only a year older than Fugaku. "It's cool that Tajima and Indra are letting you run the company until Teyaki and Uruchi get back from Japan."
Fugaku sighed, "When they get back, they're just going to leave again. Sickening that they're such a lovey dovey couple as old farts."
Izuna cocked his head to the side, "Aren't they 100 years old?" Kagami smiled, patting his head.
"Yes, of course they are." He looked back at Fugaku, "You'll never have a normal life running their company. Why don't you call Inabi to handle it or something?"
Madara chuckled, "Inabi is such a deadbeat, he and Yashiro went with Teyaki and Uruchi to Japan." Kagami and Fugaku widened their eyes, "Did you not know? Setsuna told me so. Speaking of, why not ask Setsuna to take over?"
Kagami shook his head, "He's got his own worries over in Canada."
Another sigh from Fugaku, "I can't pass it off to anyone guys. The only Uchiha near is Yakumi, and he's on a long, long, long leave. Broke his leg and arm."
Kagami rolled his eyes, "Pish posh, he shouldn't have tried parkour," He lifted Izuna and let him sit in his lap instead, Izuna pretended to detest that, but was happy at the elevation he received. "Back to your date. You know, a lot of guys want Mikoto, sure you can handle her?"
"She asked me out, so it's likely she'll dial back her business attitude, it won't be hard to "handle" her, statistically-"
Kagami groaned, "That's not what I meant, you human calculator. You need to stop looking at life like that. This is a date. You do not need to be hardwired for it. Just be charming, like me." He grinned and suddenly they heard fangirls screams from afar. "I also mean, are you ready to date again?" Fugaku stayed silent for a bit, before he spoke.
"I knew Dianna since I was 9, three years after we start dating. Three years pass again and people think we'll get married-"
"But she's-" Madara started.
"Passed. It's been two years since then. I think I've had enough time to grieve." Kagami furrowed his brows.
"You haven't dated in the longest. How're you supposed to prepare?"
"Ooh, do a mock date!" They looked down at Izuna, bouncing on Kagami's lap.
"Huh?" Madara was the first to ponder.
"I saw daddy," Tajima, "with his friends getting ready for a date. His friend said a mock date is a fake date that helps you for a real date!" They knew that, but wanted to know where the hell Izuna learned that.
"Wait, wait, wait, dad had a date? He's like 1,000 years old!" Kagami laughed, while Fugaku sighed.
"Thanks for the advice guys." Madara shot up.
"I didn't give you any advice." He smirked, "Here's my advice. Be extremely provocative!" Madara was very confident (only because he ignored Kagami in the background saying, "do you even know what that word means" and snickering) with his advice. "Show a little skin, breath near her neck, smile like it promises mind blowing sex!" Kagami covered Izuna's ears, much to his chagrin.
Fugaku rolled his eyes, "You know that's highly inappropriate for a first date. And mind blowing se-" he stopped when he saw Kagami motion to Izuna playing with his fingers, "Mind blowing that, is not guaranteed on a first date. Not even a first kiss is."
Madara sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, "It is guaranteed if you try hard enough." Madara seemed almost angry that Fugaku didn't take him seriously and grabbed Izuna's hand, pulling him out of the room and wherever the heck he storms off to. Kagami laughed at his antics, standing and stretching his legs, because Izuna is not a feather.
"Well, I have another date with Hae, so I'm off."
Fugaku rose a brow, "Hae? Didn't you get her pregnant?"
"False." They all knew Kagami was a hilarious idiot jokester, but he was not the father type. He'd probably skip town. "I'm off. See you around."
Fugaku might as well try to prepare for this inevitable date.
.
He might as well die now. There she was, sitting down with her phone in hand, texting someone. He didn't care who, he was just glad he could stare without creeping her out when she turns to see him. Her brown hair was braided into two separate braids, she had on no makeup from what he could tell. Only pink lipstick, until he realised that's just what her lips natural color is. Without makeup, he could see small freckles on her nose and her neck had a few. She was wearing a plaid shirt with black jeans, and white vans. So, he was correct, this is a casual date. Then he's dressed appropriately. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat to make her notice him. She smiled seeing him and turned her phone off.
"I actually didn't know if you'd show." Her voice was less sharky this time around. Good, he thought this was some business date at first, good that it isn't. "But I'm glad you did."
He took a seat across from her, "Well, anything to get out of the house," He widened his eyes, "Not that you're just an excuse to get out of the house. 'Course not."
"Of course not." She leaned back with a smile on her face that he just couldn't decipher. "Since this isn't business, let's use this time to get to know each other."
Oh God here it comes. "There's nothing that interesting about me."
She clicked her tongue, "17 and running a company single handedly. I think there has to be something interesting about you."
"You're 17 and running a company as well. You've got to be more interesting." Are they really about to debate about who's more interesting?
"With help, mind you. But fine, I guess I'll 'tell you about myself.' Standard date talk," What's happening in the world for 17 year olds to talk like this? "Mikoto Ushiba, Japanese obviously, but I was born here, I did take time to learn the language."
"Really?" Fugaku had to force Madara to learn kanji, they naturally know Japanese but never write a word. "What initiative."
"Yeah, well. Culture and whatnot has always been my thing. Anyway, what else. Oh, I finished high-school when I was 15."
"Were you home schooled?" She nodded, "Lucky you."
"Were you not?" What a mocking tone.
"No. I actually finished high-school when I was 16," quick think of something else before an awkward silence comes around, "So, why did ask me here?" She immediately stiffened, causing Fugaku to immediately regret asking.
She chuckled nervously, "Well, uh...this is going to seem very unprofessional. But to be honest, before we met I'd always had a small, little...crush on you." Fugaku's eyes widened and his mouth went slack. Words didn't leave his mouth. Only little noises of shock. Mikoto chuckled nervously again and leaned forward to catch his eyes. "F-Fugaku? Everything okay?"
"Are you serious? Do you know how many men want to date you - and you like me?"
"Well, you are an Uchiha. And well, who cares if they want to date me? I want to date you." God, bless her heart.
Fugaku's never stayed out past midnight with a female for any purpose other than a business reason or because he had to go bail Kagami and Hae from wherever the hell they end up. He'd been on dates after Dianna, but never for this long. Mikoto was so uplifting and didn't hurt that she was prettier than any human being he's ever seen in his entire life. Damn, what did he do to get such a gift? As of now, they were technically window shopping, well actually, Mikoto was pointing out mannequins with weird poses after copying them while Fugaku laughed and took picture of every outfit, promising to buy every one for her. He also got them both licorice. She loves it, who knew.
She let out a breathy sigh, "This was fun," she admitted genuinely. Glancing up at him with a cheeky smile, "You know, you're a very interesting guy."
He returned the smile, "Thanks, not so bad yourself."
"I told you I like you, but originally my idea for asking you out was to get all your business secrets out. I lost track though."
Fugaku sweat dropped, muttering, "Really is a business shark..." He shuddered after he finished talking under his breath.
"Thank you, Fugaku, and uh...I'm glad you agreed to this."
"I couldn't have disagreed," fuck, I said that outloud, what's wrong with me, "I did have - still have a little crush on you." The smile Mikoto gave him had butterflies flying around every part of his body. She stopped in her tracks and looked up at him. He hadn't noticed she was leaning up until her lips were on his cheek, his cheek, man, she's really trying to kill him. Right before she was about to back down, he grabbed her hand that rested on his chest, and turned her head to plant her lips on his instead. There's a proper kiss for you. He could smell the cherry licorice on her breath, mixed with mint and cola. The combo smelled delicious on her. He was over the moon when she kissed back. The kiss only lasted about ten seconds, so when she pulled away, Fugaku couldn't help but to make a frown. It is guaranteed if you try hard enough. Damn it, Madara was right.
Her smile was even wider, "Thanks again," she whispered. Fugaku concealed his sigh.
This woman is going to be the death of him.
.
When Fugaku first proposed to Mikoto, she said no. He was in shambles because he couldn't believe she hadn't said yes when she kept dropping hints about them starting a new chapter in their life and starting a family of even more gorgeous Uchiha. He felt awful when she said no with such seriousness on her face. She looked him right in the eyes, no regrets from saying it.
"Maybe she still isn't ready." Kagami reasoned.
"She kept hinting at it though."
"Then she thought she was ready, but realised she isn't."
Fugaku shook his head. "No. Her eyes were so cold, maybe she doesn't want to be with me anymore..." Kagami got up with furrowed eyebrows, walked over to Fugaku and slapped him in the face. "Ow!"
"Get a grip man! You're an Uchiha, you always get what you want! Especially when what you want, wants you back. She wants to marry you, just think back, what'd you do wrong?" Fugaku kept thinking back, but he didn't find anything. "Wait a minute, Fugaku. Where did you propose to her?"
"Why does that-"
"Where did you propose!?"
"Okay, chill, chill. Sort of out of the blue. In bed. After sex...as I'm saying this I see why she said no. But in my defense, she told me she wouldn't care where I'd propose."
"Dude, she's a girl. They say one thing and mean the other. You should propose again at the Uchiha rendezvous." The Uchiha rendezvous is a place that Indra first proposed. Then Tajima, Inabi, Uchihas who really love their significant other propose there. It's just another Uchiha tradition.
"I hadn't even thought of that."
"No shit. Go propose dumbo!"
.
Their first child was such a sight for sore eyes. For Mikoto, after being in labor for almost a whole two days with this kid. And for Fugaku for having to go through her nine month pregnancy and hold her hand throughout, her strength increased times one thousand. The child was cute as anything, and usually babies are cute, but this child was too cute. With his small little hands, touching Mikoto's hair like it was a treat.
Fugaku had to stop himself from saying aww like every person in the hospital has so far. There are literally nurses cooing outside of the room. Fugaku smiled and sighed inwardly, yeah, he's definitely going to be a ladies man. Mikoto looked up at Fugaku. "What should we call him?" It was if the baby knew he was being addressed and blinked, looking over at Fugaku. The baby at first only stared, but after a minute or two, he smiled and clapped giddily. That's it, enough of that or Fugaku will really aww.
"Itachi." He said aloud.
Mikoto rose a brow, "You want to call my son a weasel?"
"Hey, look, I'm pretty sure someone wanted to call our kid Kuso-"
"I forgot what it meant at the time! Fine, fine. Itachi is a great name," she looked back down at her newborn son, "Do you like that name, honey? Itachi," the baby in question only continued to play with her hair, whilst rubbing his gums together.
Fugaku sat on the bed next to his wife. He wrapped an arm around her and placed a hand gently on Itachi's head. Thus began a new chapter in his life.
.
"Come on Itachi, you can do it, walk towards mommy!" Fugaku was the one tasked with holding the camera as Mikoto tried to get their son to walk towards her. Itachi at first ignored her, choosing to attempt to chew on dango. Then he began to crawl to her when she held a box of pocky in her hands. He almost began to run, but fell back on his butt. Fugaku was about to drop the camera and help his son, as was Mikoto, but Itachi got up himself with a determined look on his face, going over to his mother and jumping in her arms.
His only goal was the pocky of course, so he was sad when Mikoto only gave him half of a stick.
.
Itachi was five years old when Sasuke was born. The two of them were too adorable for most people. Itachi had already shown that he dislikes children in general, same going for certain animals. Other than cats, he loves those. But it was of course different for Sasuke. Itachi didn't mind it when Sasuke would follow him around. He didn't mind it when Sasuke would scratch at Itachi's door at night to try and go inside. How he'd escape his crib, he never knew. Itachi even felt bad when Sasuke would cry if Itachi left the room or be gone for hours on end.
Mikoto always found a way to take pictures of the two playing together. She even took little films of them, "Sasuke, who do you love the most? Me or daddy?"
Sasuke couldn't speak, but he actually understood the question and crawled over into Itachi's lap, clapping happily. Mikoto sweat dropped.
.
Fugaku decided to have and bonding session with his now nine year old firstborn, and four year old youngest. He asked casual dad questions. How's life? Have any sexual urges yet? Maybe he didn't ask that second one, that'd be weird. The both of them only smiled and answered every inane question he had.
He did the same thing when Itachi was fourteen and Sasuke was nine. Sasuke told him life was the same. Describing it as hordes of fangirls and moms pinching his cheeks. And the second question he didn't ask the previous time he indeed asked Itachi this time. Itachi smiled yet again, saying, "Ask again in four years."
He did, he didn't especially like the answer. Because Itachi frowned this time around and didn't look him in the eye, "She messed me up real bad, dad."
Fugaku thinks what they shared was a very manly hug.
.
Fugaku and Mikoto decided to confront Sasuke about his little party problem, of course they weren't rational at first. Forcing him to clean the whole mess and not the cleaning staff. Sasuke was surprisingly not sarcastic and honest with them.
"Maybe if you were ever around, I wouldn't need to compensate with parties." Well, as non sarcastic and honest as he can be.
You can bet Fugaku and Mikoto took the rest of the month off and spent time with him. He pretended the whole time he didn't like it, but Mikoto and Fugaku caught his small smiles every now and then.
.
Years later. Itachi is 27 years old. Sasuke being 22 years old. Both of them going through their respective problems, but Fugaku and Mikoto loved them through it all. Itachi and Sasuke would never know just how much their parents loved them.
Mikoto and Fugaku were hand in hand, gazing at their pride and joy. Then looking at Sasuke. Totally a joke, they're both their pride and joy.
"What?" Itachi decided to ask first.
"Why are you staring at us like that?" Sasuke furrowed his brows.
Fugaku answered for the both of them, "You guys should be glad I met your business shark of a mother."
~.~ This has been in the works for months actually. Since the Thanksgiving special. I forgot about it after a while, sooorry. Here it is though. Speaking of specials, here's something for you guys. There will most likely be a Halloween special. And if I made a special of something before, it probably won't be a special this time around. Guaranteed ones is no Thanksgiving special or new years. But there will maybe be other Christmas special and another valentine's day special. I doubt there'll be a special in the summer again. It all depends if you guys change my mind.
~SpaceIsTheLimit~