Beta'd Ver. updated: 7/25/11

Welcome to my first fanfic in years!

This new story will be very different from the last. The story is loosely about fashion, loosely about clothes, and loosely about how two very different people can help each other and develop a relationship that way. And it's actually going to be... humor. Yeah, I'm generally more used to subtle angst, but I really want to write a fun, lighthearted story, because I know they are the ones I like to read the most on FF, and the ones a lot of SasuNaru writers seem to not like writing?

Anyway, please keep in mind that all of the companies and jobs mentioned in this story are in no way of any direct relation to the REAL company or the REAL job - what I mean to say is, how I portray them is probably gonna be nothing like what they're like in real life. So don't expect me to be 100% accurate! I'm not, and I don't actually know what it's like to work as the so and so executive of whatever company.

I do not own Naruto, Giorgio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Polo Ralph Lauren, or any of the other brands I happen to mention in this story. I will make this disclaimer once.

Now enjoy the story!

To say that Uchiha Sasuke was nervous was an understatement. He was practically shaking underneath the new black suit he bought for this occasion. Hell, he'd been looking forward to this ever since he could remember - ever since his father began training him to follow his brother's footsteps in continuing the Uchihas' legacy in the fashion industry.

Rewind a second - Sasuke and fashion? Why, the Uchiha Group, a company built by Sasuke's ancestors was the biggest fashion conglomerate in the world. It owned many different famous fashion labels as well as producing apparel and accessories under the 'UCHIHA' brand. Growing up, Sasuke was surrounded by designer labels and names of rival companies and their state in the financial world - topics naturally discussed during every dinner conversation. All in all, you could say that Sasuke was a bit of a fashion expert, at least, in terms of knowing about fashion.

Right now, Sasuke was stepping out of the elevator onto the 22nd floor of the Uchiha Group building. It was a beautiful building in a shade of desert brown, that stood regally amongst many other giants in the big city square. Some say that it was the most beautiful building in the world. Dressed in his crisp black suit, Sasuke headed towards his first ever meeting with the board of directors, which included Itachi, his older brother. However - he was not attending the meeting as one of the directors - he was only a year out of college and fresh out of his father's management training course.

He had to start somewhere.

Sasuke was now the newly appointed marketing executive of the company. It was only a mid-level position, but if he performed well, he'd be promoted in a year or two.

Sasuke paused for a moment as he approached the door of the meeting room. Taking a deep breath, he patted his suit, smoothing out all the non-existent wrinkles. Okay, you can do this, he told himself. Swallowing quietly to lessen his anxiety, Sasuke knocked on the door lightly and entered the meeting room without another thought.

He must have stood in that doorway for about a minute, watching Itachi and all the other associates as they stared at him with their scrutinizing gazes.

Itachi cleared his throat and tilted his head, his expression unreadable - as expected. When he opened his mouth as though to speak, Sasuke felt as if a lion was doing flips in his stomach - he was seriously way too nervous for this day!

"Sasuke," Itachi began. Sasuke gulped, not quite able to guess what his brother was about to say. He wondered why he hadn't been invited to sit down.

"What... do you think you're wearing?"

Yes, Sasuke knew all about fashion, but he honestly knew nothing about clothes.

Uzumaki Naruto was a man of boundless energy. When he graduated high school, he managed to bag a job as a part-time sales associate at a large fashion company - all the while studying at college part-time. It was really funny, because at first he didn't even know the name of the company he had gotten a job at.

But how could you blame him?

He applied for at least a million jobs, so of course he didn't know which one called him back... he thought it was going to be some small store in some dingy alleyway, because, who hires a fresh high school grad with no experience anyway? Not some big shot brand, and especially not... Polo Ralph Lauren! Holy shit, for real!

When he went for his interview... well, Naruto's not a slob. He was actually very well-dressed for a guy running low on cash to pay his bills, and you could say that he was very charismatic. However, he was definitely dressed too casually for the interview. In his favorite slim-fit jeans and his best pale orange button-up shirt, he looked as smart casual as he saw fit. But when he went to the company's human resources department for his interview, he honestly felt completely under-dressed, and intimidated.

Everyone there was dressed impeccably!

Some were in suits and others dressed down slightly but still carried themselves elegantly... and they just all looked so GOOD that Naruto could have sworn they were all sparkling. Oh sweet Jesus, what company was this?

Then, Naruto took the time to glance at the company logo - Polo Ralph Lauren. Oh wait, didn't it say that on the address as well... what did that mean - wait, POLO RALPH LAUREN, as in, like, POLO? That Polo Ralph Lauren? OH SHIT!

And so Naruto's inward freak out session ensued. He almost forgot to start filling in the form placed on the desk in front of him due to his panicking. It wasn't until the receptionist tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if something was wrong, did he settle down. She pointed over his shoulder and indicated that he needed to fill in a form on the desk.

There was a large banner above the desk that wrote, "The Human Resources Department of the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation welcomes you. Please fill in the appropriate form and wait for the Human Resources staff to further assist you. We will meet with you shortly."

About 10 minutes later, a well-dressed man walked out from the door that led to the main office of the HR department. He asked for Naruto's name then told him to follow him into the office.

For a guy so unprepared for an interview for a large fashion company, Naruto did well. He had a natural charm that shone through and a real knack for words. In short, he was great sales material and was certain to attract loyal customers at any store he worked for. The only problem the HR staff saw with him was that he was also a part-time student and they didn't how much time he could spend on the job each week. But there really was something about him - and that something led to Naruto's recruitment as a part-time sales person at Polo Ralph Lauren, a company he had now worked at for 5 years.

Initially, he was only a part-timer and was completely disposable. But he worked hard and excelled at his job despite not being a full-timer. The store manager was especially pleased about Naruto's ability to attract customers and cause them to return and become loyal. So much so that the manager recommended Naruto to the higher-ups as a potential candidate for a supervisory role.

Yes, as a part-time college student who still needs at least a year to graduate*, Naruto was getting promoted to be an assistant store manager at Polo Ralph Lauren.

Sasuke was furious. His first day was over and the board of directors said that they would postpone his meeting until tomorrow, when he was dressed seriously for it. How could Itachi do this to him? And of all people, in front of the board of directors of the Uchiha Group. What the hell was he thinking? Okay, so maybe his suit wasn't up to par for the company, fine. Maybe he didn't style his hair (but he usually didn't anyway) - he was going for the bed head look, okay? Maybe he was wearing his scruffy black leather shoes he'd had since last year... and maybe they were not polished. But whatever! That didn't justify what Itachi did to him. He pointed all of that out to him in front of all of his other bosses - making Sasuke feel like a complete joke! This was just not fair. Just because he wasn't born with a natural ability to judge style and determine what looked good and what didn't, didn't give Itachi the right to persecute him this way!

The younger Uchiha was currently sitting on the black leather cushioned seats of a sleek black Mercedes-Benz with his arms crossed like a child whose toy got snatched away. He was also sneaking deadly glares at his brother beside him who looked out the window as though nothing happened. Itachi told the driver to take them somewhere - somewhere in one of the downtown shopping areas of Konoha. Wherever it was, Itachi didn't tell him, but he would surely find out anyway. He knew for sure that his brother was personally taking him to fix his appearance. That really hurt his pride.

The car stopped outside a large shopping district with the flagship stores of many fashion brands - most of them were owned by the Uchiha Group. Stepping outside the car, Itachi motioned for Sasuke to follow. He was led inside a shop he knew to be one of Itachi's favorites. Polo Ralph Lauren. Itachi purchased almost all his suits from there, with the exception of a few, like the Ermenegildo Zegna one he had. Itachi's loyalty to Ralph Lauren was beyond Sasuke - he honestly didn't understand it. Other brands, still under the Uchiha Group, also sold similar suits - why not go for those?

Sasuke saw Itachi head towards a sales woman at the store and whisper something into her ear. She nodded and motioned for Itachi to wait before she walked off. Sasuke stared at them inquisitively but decided not to ask. Instead, he demanded Itachi to explain why his new suit didn't cut it.

"Foolish little brother," Itachi sighed under his breath. "Look at yourself properly in the mirror, will you? Your suit, it's too big for you."

Just as Itachi said, Sasuke looked at himself in the mirror. And just as Itachi said, Sasuke began to notice the signs of bagginess around his legs and the way his suit went way past his thighs. That... probably wasn't right, was it? Uh... he couldn't tell.

"Where did you get your suit?" Itachi asked.

"I got it from Armani, yesterday," Sasuke answered with a sense of pride - yes, he went shopping and bought something!

Itachi sighed again. "And pray tell, why did you spend a fortune on a suit that doesn't fit you? Why didn't the sales people tell you to size it down?"

Sasuke paused for a second, wondering about the answer to that himself, but just when he was about to respond, a loud voice disturbed the two Uchiha brothers from their conversation.

"Hello, Itachi! What can I help you with on this lovely evening?"

Both Uchihas turned to face a smiling blond man. His spiky bright blond hair was styled in a structured kind of messy. He was wearing a crisp, white button-up shirt with a Ralph Lauren logo on the breast pocket and a pair of slim-fit black pants rolled up to reveal his ankles. His shirt was only half tucked in - but it clung to the blond effortlessly like that was the way it was meant to be. On his feet were a pair of Ralph Lauren canvas boat shoes from the latest collection - that much Sasuke could tell. But what - what kind of outfit was what? Sasuke had never thought it possible to style an outfit like that.

"Let me introduce you, Naruto, this is Sasuke, my little brother, and Sasuke, this is Naruto, the assistant store manager of our Polo Ralph Lauren flagship store." Naruto held out a hand for Sasuke to shake. Reluctantly, Sasuke took the hand and shook it, ignoring the way he felt a slight spark pass through the connection.

"... He will be your personal stylist. Hopefully you two can develop a professional relationship where Naruto can assist you, and perhaps cure you, of your fashion dilemmas." With that, Itachi nodded at the two and turned to leave. "I'll be going now. Please assist him, Naruto. Call this a favor from a long-time customer." After flashing the trademark Uchiha smirk, Itachi walked out of the store and into the distance.

"I don't want a personal stylist," was the first thing Sasuke gritted out between clenched teeth. "I can very well choose my own clothes."

Naruto chuckled. The sound of his chuckling was... oddly nice... no, this was not the time to think about that!

"Well, if Itachi asks a favor of me, I gotta do it. He's one of my top customers," Naruto said with a grin. With that, he dragged Sasuke into the hell that was the men's section of the Polo Ralph Lauren store. To be honest with you, Sasuke hated shopping. He had no sense of style whatsoever and had absolutely no idea what looked good on him. Plus he hated trying stuff on because it wasted time and he couldn't tell if it looked good on him anyway. He also always glared away all the sales associates who wanted to help him, because he didn't trust the way they tried to sell him shit. So he just grabbed anything in the store most of the time and bought it. Perhaps the same thing happened with the Armani suit. Honestly, it looked fine when Sasuke looked at it. He didn't think it would be so big! It did feel more.. comfortable and breezy... than usual when he put it on, but he thought that was because he bought a nice suit!

Naruto's voice broke Sasuke out of his thoughts.

"Heh, though you do look like you need some help. Honestly, what possessed you into buying that?" Naruto chirped, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke's now infamous suit.

Sasuke removed his arm from Naruto's grip and glared. "Stop rambling and get this over and done with."

Naruto's grin didn't falter at the tone of Sasuke's words or the harshness of his glare - guess he had to admit that Naruto was somewhat professional.

"Yes sir!" Naruto mock-saluted.

The blond asked Sasuke to hold on a second and take a seat on one of the plush couches at the store near the fitting rooms. Meanwhile, Naruto went off to help Sasuke choose some clothes.

The Uchiha thought about leaving, but he grudgingly admitted to himself that Itachi was right. He needed help with his clothes, and fast. How was someone who didn't even know what to wear themselves going to decide that for others? Marketing was the same thing. If Sasuke was going to worry about how to convey the company's image towards the audience, then he had to learn what looked nice and what didn't.

End of Chapter 1

First of all, PLEASE REVIEW! :) I really appreciate any kind of feedback. I know it's annoying when authors ask for revuews but these stories take time to write, and reviews make us write faster because it's a really good motivation to know that people are genuinely reading the story. I want to know if you are enjoying the story, and if you are not, then tell me what I can do to improve it! It's a win-win situation since that will make the story better AND make me update faster!

*Naruto will take over 6 years to graduate because he is a part-time college student, but I'm putting this number out there as an estimate because I'm also assuming that Naruto transferred credits from High School (AP or IB, etc) and he took as big as a course load as he possibly could with his job paying for his bills and tuition. He also has student loans.

Naruto lives independently as you can tell - because he's quite an individual and wishes to provide for himself after graduating high school. He's a man of his word so he'll do anything to make sure he sticks to what he says. His parents are still alive in this story and they are a nice upper middle class family, i.e. Naruto is quite well-off but he's not cocky. But we'll see about Naruto's family background and what Minato and Kushina do in the future, hopefully.

This story is based in Konoha, which is what I suppose you could call the Naruto-fanfiction-verse version of New York City, as a kind of fashion capital... It's like how I named Uchiha Group after... Gucci Group and LVMH Group, hahaha.

And please keep in mind that while I sort of work in the fashion industry, I am in no way a fashion expert or an insider!

See you all later!