Sasuke sat in his Mid-Century recliner, reading N. Hyuuga's Caged Roar, a book about power and life. He was currently on Chapter 23 and, if not for his pride, he'd praise the author for knowing how to keep the audiences attention, not once faultering in skill. Reading was his guilty pleasure if it could be called a guilty pleasure at all. It was one thing in life he looked forward to other than the success of his business.
He reached to the right side of him and took hold of his coffee, silently thanking the Heaven's for such a beverage being created as he took a sip. The black liquid was a life savor, keeping him sane at the most tense of situations.
He groaned when his phone rang on the stand. He could never just have a peaceful day without somebody interfering. He let an irritated breath escape his lips before letting the call go to voicemail. When the answering machine picked up, he grew even more irritated at the voice that spoke.

"Sasuke."

Sometimes Sasuke wondered why Naruto pushed so hard for him to 'get a life' as he so put it. Obviously, he didn't have one of his own if he always had time to bother him. "Sasuke. I know you're there.", Naruto's voice rang out once again.

"…"

"..bastard."

Sasuke heatedly glared at the machined. Of course Naruto couldn't see him, but if he could, he'd be burnt to crisps. He listened intently as his blonde friend continued. "Well, I was calling to let you know that there was a company wanting to meet with you. I think they'd benefit you greatly. Here, I'll send the link to their webpage to your email." What the blonde said had interested Sasuke. No matter how big of an idiot he was, Naruto was a genius when it came to marketing.
He got up and went over to his laptop. After putting in his password, he checked his email and clicked on the email Naruto sent him. The website was indeed alluring. The layout was well put together and apon further inspection, their concept was brilliant. Making a mental note to thank the idiot later, he began chatting back and forth with the owner, Hatake Kakashi and they'd come to an agreement on the date of their meeting.
Exiting out of the webpage and going back to his inbox, he caught site of another email. He rolled his eyes at the headline.

We miss you, Sasuke. Please, come back to Mid-Kiss soon.
You currently have 112 Notifications.

The raven-haired male clicked on the link below and was brought back to the revolting site. It never failed to make him grimace. Scrolling down, he shook his head at the 29 message requests and 83 kisses he'd received. His expression clearly read that of annoyance. He clicked on a few of the messages and quickly grew disgusted.

Subject: Hello!
I luv ur eyez! We shuld tots meet up! 3 3
From:
IH3 rtU!

Subject: OMG!
So, ur really a CEO? Idk. Ur picture could be fake 4 all I know.
Send a personal one to my inbox for confirmation. ;)
From:
Pink32Cupcakes

Subject: Notice Me Sempai!
Ugh. Your too bad for mii heart.
From:
12343

He never knew he could be as disappointed in the human race as he was now. He skimmed over all of the messages, not even bothering to click on anymore of them. The subjects were more than enough for him. When he'd finally reached the bottom of the heaps of mail, he came across one specific message. The subject just simply said [No Subject]. He dragged his cursor over it and clicked on it.

[No Subject]
Hi.
From:
Simply-Irresistible

..It was plain. So vague. She didn't attempt to make it exciting at all. Intrigued, he clicked on her username. The first thing he saw was her picture. She was sitting on a bench in a badge dress, laughing obviously at the person who snapped the photo. She had a nice smile, Sasuke would give her that much. He then scrolled down to her info.
She was shorter than him, two years younger, had a smaller frame and held a respectable job as a Commercial Artist. After he read her info, he let his eyes trail over her 'About Me'.

About Me: If you have any further questions pertaining to me, then you should message me for answers.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. It didn't sound too bad. He then decided he'd give it a try. He typed a reply in the chat box, sent it and then sat back in his chair, waiting for a response.
Sakiko stepped out of the shower. She was grateful to the hot water as it helped to relieve some stress. The fact that Kiba was getting married had her emotionally drained. After changing into her sleep attire, she climbed into bed. All she wanted to do now was to sleep.
Just as she was about to let the sleep consume her, she shifted her sleepy eyes over to her cellphone as it gave off a notification sound. She reluctantly sat up and reached for it. She put in her passcode and rubbed at her eyes before reading the message. It was from Sakura.

Don't forget to check that dating site. I want to hear all about it tomorrow.
Received: 10:01 pm

Sakiko let out a sigh. She'd forgotten all about that site. Part of her wanted to just fall asleep and tell Sakura that she didn't receive her message, but she knew she was only trying to help her. She yawned and retrieved her laptop from under her bed. What was the site called again? Mindless… Mid-lips… Mid-Kiss? Yeah. That sounded about right.
She typed in the website name and was redirected to the site. She had to search her foggy memory for her username and password. After typing it in, she saw that she had 15 kisses, 3 new message requests and 1 reply. She clicked on the reply, ignoring the other notifications. After all, this was the only guy Sakura and Ino had said for her to talk to.

[Re: No Subject]
Hey. How are you?
From:
Sasuke1993

She sighed again for the umpteenth time that night. Did she really have to talk to this stranger? What if he turned out to be some stalker or something? She stared at the message displayed in front of her before ultimately deciding that if she didn't like it or if something got too far out of hand, she'd delete her account. She sent her response and it was seconds before she got a reply.

I'm fine and yourself?
To:
Sasuke1993

[Reply: No Subject]
Fine.
From:
Sasuke1993

She rolled her eyes at his response. She hated whenever people wrote one word responses. It defeated the purpose of the conversation. She began to wonder why he signed up for this site, anyway. He didn't seem like he enjoyed it much.

What made you decide to sign up for a site like this?
To:
Sasuke1993

[Re: No Subject]
I was forced by two idiots.
From:
Sasuke1993

Sakiko found herself smiling at his response. She'd guessed it were a number of people put up to such a thing as online dating. She, herself was put up to it, so she could relate.

Lol. I didn't want to try this site out, either.
To:
Sasuke1993

[Re: No Subject]
So, you were a victim, too.
From:
Sasuke1993

..Victim? Well, actually my friends thought it'd be best so that
I could get over someone.
To:
Sasuke1993

[Re: No Subject]
Is it working?
From:
Sasuke1993

..Was it? She couldn't really be sure, since she'd only just joined the site. If she had to be honest, though, talking to Sasuke wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, but it still didn't fill the hole in her heart that had been created by Kiba.. Unbeknownst to him. Maybe if she had been the one to say something to Kiba and not waited for him to make the first move, she'd be the one to walk down the isle to him and not Hinata.. But, she wasn't and she had to face that fact. She let out a breath. All this thinking was tiring her out, plus she had to get up early for work the next day. She subtly yawned and then typed her reply.

Can't be sure. I haven't been on here that long. We can continue
This tomorrow, though? Sorry. I'm really sleepy.
To:
Sasuke1993

Sasuke glanced at the clock on the bottom right hand side of his laptop. It read 5:53 pm, so he guessed they were quite a distance from each other which resulted in two different time zones.

No need to apologize. Good night.
To:
Simply-Irresistible

[Re: No Subject]
Night.
From:
Simply-Irresistible

Sasuke sat back in his chair and stared at the message in front of him. It wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be. This 'Simply-Irresistible' girl didn't seem extraordinary or anything, but she was easy to talk to. No over flirty attempts or fake laughter where it wasn't needed. He actually wouldn't mind conversing with her a little more from time to time.
Caught up in his thoughts, he failed to check the caller I.D. when his cell phone rang in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke. Can you open the gate?"

He closed his eyes and mentally scolded himself. If hed've known it was Shisui, he never would have picked up. He had half the mind to hang up on him, but decided against it. He didn't want to hear him complaining later. He let out a breath. "You're here?"

"Yes.", Shisui replied.

Sasuke walked over to the window and looked out to see that Shisui was indeed there, his black BMW parked just outside the pastel colored gates. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I can't drop by and surprise my cousin?"

"I don't like surprises."

Despite his answer, Sasuke went over to his desk and pushed the button down before speaking into the microphone. "Open the gates.", he told his guards. He then hung up the phone and went to go meet his cousin at the door. It didn't take long for Shisui to come in and invade his privacy. He came in and made his way right over to Sasuke's sacred chair, taking a seat.

"…yes, Shisui?", Sasuke asked, not even attempting to mask his irritation.

"Honestly. I think you should just tell the guards to let me in as I wish. I am your cousin."

Sasuke folded his arms over his chest. "No. Because, if I did that, you'd always be over here. Is there something that you needed?", he asked. He knew he had to want something. He always did. He really just wanted for him to spit whatever it was out so that he could get back to his book and spend the rest of whatever was left of his day reading it alone.
Shisui sat up in his chair, completely unfazed by the cold gaze directed at him. "Itachi just arrived in town last night and he wants to celebrate the new business deal he just struck.", he replied, causing Sasuke to raise a brow at him.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, I don't know, Sasuke. Wouldn't it make sense that he'd like to celebrate with his friends and family?"

"My answer is no.", he said with a glare directed at him.

"Why not? You'd be so cold that-"

"I'm busy.", Sasuke cut him off.

Shisui gave him an exasperated look. "With what? This book here?", he asked before picking up the book that lay beside the chair, by the edge, causing the bookmark to fall out of it's place. Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and let out another breath.

"I've already made up my mind, Shisui."

It was now Shisui's turn to glare. "Oh. You'll go to this celebration." The gaze he received from Sasuke could not be more dull. "Mm. If I don't?", he challenged him. He grew irritated as Shisui stood up with a stunned look on his face. "If you don't..", he said while walking towards Sasuke. When he was just inches away from him, he continued.

"My hand and your face will be best friends!"

Here he went again with the threats. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "..so, you've retorted to threatening me, now?"

"Yes. I have. I will act real nice to you and when you go to sleep, I'll set your axx on fire!"

Sasuke sighed. His threats didn't scare him. They never did. He was just annoying. "Why do you want me to go so bad?" Shisui's facial expression softened. He really didn't understand Sasuke sometimes. They were polar opposites. "..he's your brother, Sasuke."

"I didn't ask for him to be."

"He's always gone to every one of the celebrations that have been thrown for you."

"Again. I never ask him to. He just shows up."

"Sasuke…"

Having had enough, Sasuke let out an irritated sigh and caved in. "Fine. If I go, will you leave?" Shisui was so annoying and Sasuke refused to stand here and entertain him any longer. This was all wasting his time.
A smile spread across Shisui's face. "Yes.", he said. "If you go." Sasuke once again rolled his eyes before agreeing to go. He wanted to wipe that smile right off of his face. He hated his cousin with a passion. Maybe he'd done something bad in his past life and was now being punished for it, because he could swear that just about everyone lived to bother him.
That night, Sasuke walked into the bar and grimaced at the drunks who stumbled over there own feet. He could recognize some of them as Itachi's friends and business partners. This 'celebration' was much too sloppy for his taste. He really didn't want to be there. He searched the crowd for his brother. His plan was to just congratulate him and leave. He'd showed up and that's all he promised to do.
With each passing second, he grew more and more frustrated. He couldn't spot Itachi anywhere. Still searching over the crowd, he grew somewhat content after spotting familiar red hair and strolling over to it. Gaara No. Subaku. He was one person Sasuke felt he could put up with, mainly because they were similar in some aspect. Gaara was never loud company and they both enjoyed a good book as well as time alone.
The red-head looked up from his wine and nodded to Sasuke in acknowledgement. "Hey.", he said. Sasuke nodded back. "You dragged into coming, too?"

"Yep.", Gaara replied cooly.

Sasuke put his left hand in his pocket and continued. "I'm looking for Itachi. Just need to congratulate him so that I can go home." Gaara's bored expression did not change as he replied. "He's over there." Sasuke followed Gaara's gaze. He saw his brother in a dimly lit booth shacked up with Shisui, Naruto and a few girls. How unfortunate.

"Thanks.", he said.

"Don't mention it."

Sasuke made his way over to the familiar people, causing them all to look up. "Congratulations, Ita-"

"Hey, Sasuke.", his brother said with a simple smile plastered apon his pale face.

"Why don't you have a seat?"

Sasuke briefly refused his older brother's offer. "I'm actually about to-" He was interrupted by Itachi once again. "Sasuke. I just got back in town. You can't spend just a few minutes with me?"

"Boy. You sure are a horrible person to be that way, Sas.", Naruto joined.

The young raven stood there, starring them down a little longer before calmly sitting opposite the two. It was only a few minutes, he figured. Nothing he couldn't handle. A slight smile made its was onto Itachi's face. "There. Now was that so hard?"

"Yes.", he replied.

Itachi let out a brief chuckle before filling them all in on exactly what kind of business deal he'd succeeded in landing.

"Akatsuki Enterprises is quite the catch. I honestly don't understand how you do the things you do.", chided in Shisui.

Itachi smirked victoriously. "It wasn't that hard. You just have to know what people want and reel them in." Itachi's attention then went from Shisui to Sasuke who wore a bitter expression. "Stop glaring, Sasuke." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Itachi before he continued. He didn't think he was glaring. He wore his face as he always did.
As Itachi continued his conversation with Naruto and Shisui, one of the girls from the table kept smiling at Sasuke as she twirled a strand of her hair around one of her fingers. Sasuke scowled at her. "Sasuke. I said stop glaring.", Itachi demanded and jumped right back into his conversation. Sasuke sighed. The girl would not take her eyes off of him and it irked him to no end. What? Did she have a staring problem?
A few seconds later, Sasuke noticed Naruto look down at the bright screen of his phone and then lean in and say something to Itachi before getting up from the table and leaving. He knew they were planning something. A few seconds later, Naruto returned with a girl and retook his seat as she took hers nest to Sasuke. She wore all red as it matched her red hair. Her heavy perfume began to nauseate Sasuke.

"Hey.", she spoke.

"…"

He said nothing in return. Her trying to strike up a conversation with him was no coincidence. She'd been put up to it by those at the table. They were trying to hook them up. They were crazy they all thought something like this would work on Sasuke.
She inched closer to Sasuke until her hips were touching his. "Sasuke, right?", she questioned. Sasuke wanted to just push her away, but even he wouldn't put his hands on a woman. When one of the servers brought over two glasses of wine and set them in front of Sasuke and the young woman, Sasuke looked over to Naruto who was smiling at him.

This was so stupid.

The girl placed a strand of hair behind her ear. "My name is Karin, in case you were wondering.", she said. Sasuke sighed. Noticing their conversation was getting nowhere, Naruto spoke up. "That's a beautiful name. What's your profession, Karin?" The girl smiled and replied, "I'm a lawyer."

"Wow. A lawyer? That's amazing.", Shisui answered.

Sasuke shook his head. Some people's stupidity really baffled him sometimes. Did they really think Sasuke didn't know this was all a part of their plan?

"Smile, Sasuke.", Itachi said.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, Sasuke.", the girl went on. "Maybe, la-"

"Look.", Sasuke cut her off.

He sighed once again. "I understand that you came here under good intentions and I know the idiots at this table put you up to this. They probably told you that I am really lonely and that I am in need for a whore, but I assure you that I am not as I am not into whores, so your company is not needed."

"Sasuke!"

"I-I'm not..", she started in disbelief.

"..and I would appreciate it if you would just leave me alone."

"..okay."

She got up and walked away in tears, leaving everyone speechless. Sasuke took a sip of the wine in front of him. "This wine is really good.", he said. It was somewhat different from the kind he usually drank, but it was nice. He'd have to ask the bartender what kind it was.
Everyone at the table exchanged looks before turning their gazes back to Sasuke. He took another sip. He didn't know why they were looking at him like that.

..the wine really was good.