Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I'm not making any money off of this. Just the warmth in my own cold, dead heart :')

Summary: Uchiha Sasuke left his friends behind to follow in his father's footsteps. 7 years later, he finds himself in an elevator with the last person he wanted to see. Will he walk away again? Will Naruto let him? Rating may change!

A/N: So this is the new project! But don't worry, I've learned my lesson this time. The full story is actually, as of now, complete! So I will be posting a new chapter everyday. Of course, if I get an influx of things to add/change, I may need to take extra time to edit through the story - but that's up to you guys! Anyways - I hope you enjoy!

Strictly Professional

Chapter 1: Prologue

Now, normally, when you're in an elevator, things are pretty quiet. You keep to yourself, move as little as possible, and stay within your own thoughts while absentmindedly watching the numbers change. In a corporation of this size, you very rarely met anyone you knew, let alone anyone you wanted to speak with—and this was doubly true if your name was Uchiha Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke, who was a shoe-in to replacing his father as President of the company, was nearly his double in every way. The no-nonsense business attitude, legendary temper, and disdain for generally everyone around them—they handled the business with the same cold efficiency.

But despite Sasuke's many years of practice in this attitude, there was an exception to the rule. No matter how hard he had tried, Sasuke had never been able to ignore one man—he was so loud, so obnoxious, so incredibly infuriating that no one could ever get away with ignoring Uzumaki Naruto. Dislike him, sure. Find him absolutely unbearable, definitely. But ignore him? Never.

And being stuck with the loudmouthed, bright-coloured idiot in an elevator that seemed to be shrinking with each passing second definitely didn't help matters. Especially when travelling for 20-something floors—and especially when the last time you had spoken to him, you had completely betrayed his trust and his friendship.

But Naruto was watching him with a curious expression on his face—not the anger-filled, 'I'm-about-to-punch-you' expression that Sasuke had always pictured would be there. No, this was something much different.

"You look good, Sasuke." Of course, Naruto was never one to stay silent. He couldn't let Sasuke have such pleasantries. But then again, he wasn't yelling. This Naruto was almost…calm? No, that was impossible. Even Sasuke wasn't calm—not that he showed it in the slightest, of course. He was an Uchiha.

"You work here now?" Sasuke asked the first question that came to mind. Maybe not as eloquent as he ought to have phrased it, but it did the job.

But Naruto only did the strangest thing—he smiled. But he didn't grin—no, this was…soft. It was barely a curve, let alone the blinding grin that threatened to split his face in two that had been glued to his face when they were kids.

And then the elevator made a noise that made Naruto step outside—why was Naruto stepping outside?

"See you around, Sasuke."

The doors shut.

A/N: That's it for the prologue! Future chapters will be longer, don't worry. Please let me know if you have any thoughts! I'm a bit nervous, but I've read through the story enough times that I really think I ought to post it already.

See you tomorrow!

- Kinomi Akai