~ring~

~ring~

~ring~

'Damn-it!'

~ring~

~ring~

'Can't study with that damn phone going off!'

~ring~

-A HALF MINUTE LATER-

'Good...I can finally think...'

~ring~

~ring~

'Goddamnit!...I wish Sakura wouldn't have forgotten her phone'

~ring~

'Well it might be work related or a family emergency so I guess I better get it'

Sasuke put down his fluid mechanics textbook and walked from the outdoor patio into the kitchen where his roommate's phone was sitting on the counter that also held the microwave and coffee maker. Looking at the screen to see if the call was coming from a familiar name (a prerequisite for him to deign to answer), what he saw was

'Ruto'

"Ruto?...what kind of a name is that?" -he questioned out loud

A mere moment later it dawned on him:

'Na-ruto...so that's who it is'

His first reflexive reaction was to turn the phone off altogether...but of course someone of actual significance might call and he didn't want Sakura to miss an important message. He then thought to just wait out the noise. Naruto was a persistent sort but he wouldn't keep calling on a dead line for too much longer is what he assured himself of. But then through his impatience at the continuing maddening noise, he saw an opportunity present itself

"Hey Sakura...man I'm glad I got through to you...I was about to give up and I don't got much time...hey Sakura, can you hear me?"

"Hn...no she can't but I can"

Sasuke grinned evilly through the period of silence that followed

"Sasuke?...Sasuke quit playing around and give the phone to Sakura..I don't get to a phone too often out here!"

"No can do Uzumaki, she left it at our place while she went shopping"

"Wha, what...what...our place?"

Sasuke's grin widened at the sounds of confusion and defeat laced in Naruto's stumbling words

"Yes idiot, we live together now..." -he proclaimed haughtily, but then backed down to his usual neutral tone because he knew that his opponent could and probably would get in touch with Sakura at a later time- "...as roommates that is"

There was another long pause before Naruto finally spoke

"She...she couldn't find another girl to room with?"

"Well yes, of course she could have...she could be sharing rent with fellow female students or with one or more of the young ladies she works with and be in a place where their boyfriends or lovers wander in and out along with all of their male friends...that, plus the place where they live might be a run-down roach motel in a shady part of town...this isn't back yonder in bumpkin-ville like we came from, the cost of housing is high out here"

Judging by the length of the second pause, Sasuke knew he had his nemesis trapped within a barrier of unassailable possible outcomes (the limited ones that were provided, that is), and now with his opponent on the ropes, he was going to continue to press his attack and deliver a finishing blow on the place where he believed Naruto was weakest: the region between his ears

"You don't like that do you...that she is staying with me"

"No...I don't"

"But the other scenarios are far worse for her wouldn't you say"

"Errrr, yes...I agree that the other options would be worse" -he grudgingly bit out

"Good...we see eye to eye on the matter...we certainly aren't friends, but we're Sakura's friends and should hold her best interests to heart...and being in a low stress environment where she can put all of her energies into learning what she needs to in order to become what she wants to be in life is one-hundred percent in her best interest"

"Uh...low stress environment?"

"Yes m...Uzumaki (he barely just held back saying 'moron')...that's what she has here in this condo...it's of course in a great part of town...a lady comes in and does all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry...and she doesn't even have to pay rent even though she does because she insists on doing so...but even still, I only ask for a third of what she would shell out for a crap-trap house jammed up with a bunch of other girls"

"Oh...I see" -Naruto uttered quietly

"Of course you see...you're a reasonable enough guy (Sasuke winced inside when delivering the insincere compliment) to recognize how beneficial it is to Sakura that she doesn't have to worry about housing conditions or deal with roomates of questionable character and the army of young horny guys that would certainly be associated with them..."

And now is when Sasuke delivered the finishing blow

"...and since you're a reasonable guy, I'm sure you can see how important it is that she have a best friend of many years on hand whom she can lean on when she needs emotional support..." -he thought he heard the faint sound of growling (which was exactly what Naruto was doing) and paused briefly to wait for any potential angry outburst; continuing when none was forthcoming- "...now I know you are also her best friend from way back and would do what you could to support her..." -he finished his oratory by speaking slow and softly and very deliberately, with the main points separated by short pauses in order for the complete implication of what he was saying to sink in- "...but the thing is...you're over there...and I'm over here...and she and I live together"

Sasuke smirked through Naruto's entire final long pause and continued to do so until long after the conversation abruptly ended.

Naruto started off meekly with:

"Well...I guess I should feel happy for her...and I do..."

but then he ended with a loud and defiant:

"...but you better not let her get messed-up by anyone or anything, and you better not mess her up yourself or when I get back there I'll put my size 13 combat boots in your sorry ass!"

And with the call ended, Sasuke considered himself the hands-down winner.

~11 Days Later~

'Junk...'

'...nonsense...'

'...letter from a fortune 500 company looking to recruit me...'

'...more advertisement garbage...'

Sasuke sorted through the mail; some of it being laid on the kitchen table in either a pile for himself or Sakura and the rest being put into the nearby garbage can.

'...letter to Sakura from a biotech company...might be legitimate, I'll have to check on them...'

'...pamphlet from the Eye of the Moon Church...cult idiocy...'

'...letter to me from some photographer...well he's certainly reputable...'

'...letter to Sakura from Naruto...' -the reaction was delayed by a second, but Sasuke did eventually flinch and grimace

"The hell?!...he irritates me with his calling the one day and now he's going to send letters here!" -he raged out loud

He wanted to send the offending mail sailing straight into the garbage but decided against such rash action. Instead he made the decision then and there that he would have to, as much as possible, limit communication between his rival and his future spouse. Of course he realized he could only hinder transmissions from Naruto's end, which he guessed would be easy enough seeing as how the blond seemingly didn't have ready access to a phone, and by logical extension, any other means of electronic communication (thus nearly ruling out emails). What was left was regular mail, and considering that Naruto was the one sending it, Sasuke presumed that there would be alot of it coming his way

'Just wonderful...now just how am I going to keep this and the upcoming piles of the loser's letters out of Sakura's hands?'

Sasuke knew it would be no small feat. He had to keep the letters intact and on the premises, yet in a place separate from Sakura's other mail where she would have difficulty in finding them. Also, the seemingly less than well thought out location of the letters would have to look like an honest mistake on his part. Sasuke spent about a minute and a half in contemplation of a plan of action, after which time he went into the garage to open a plastic bin wherein was stored various office supplies. Finding and retrieving a set of four black stackable sorting trays, he set them up on a kitchen counter under a cupboard and partially behind a set of three brushed aluminum pots that contained sugar, tea bags, and flour. On the bottom tray, butted-up against the back, he put Naruto's letter. On the tray above that one, he put a couple of automotive magazines (which he knew that Sakura had absolutely zero interest in cars other than as a means of transportation) and left them sticking out, thereby effectively obscuring the opening of the tray below it to where one would have to hunch down to about bellybutton level to look into it. On the remaining trays he put his own mail

'There we go...hidden in plain sight...if Sakura somehow uncovers the idiot's letters, I'll just say that I laid her crucial mail out on the table with the rest going to the bottom of the sorting trays and me mentioning that fact just slipped my mind since I have so much to do with school and modeling'

He gave a wide, self-satisfied smile; but then his expression fell, causing his mouth to form a straight line. He was struck by the notion that what he was doing to Naruto and Sakura was quite a bit underhanded and therefore far beneath the naturally in-born Uchiha moral superiority. Sure he was an ass to most everyone, but he was a completely truthful ass who never before crossed the line into deliberate obfuscation. That, plus he truly believed in his own personal superiority over any rival for Sakura's affections; and he believed that times a hundred when it came to his blond rival

'But they're just friends, right?...and he's just a moron anyway...' he was about to pull out the letter and put it on top of the Sakura mail stack; going so far as to take a step toward the sorting trays...but then he further though- '...but then Sakura and the Uzumaki have a history together and for some reason she finds that backwoods redneck useful...I can't discount those facts...a solid friendship is nearly always the best foundation for a romantic relationship..that's my trump card to win Sakura's love, but the blond Gomer Pyle has the same trump card'

Sasuke stood frozen in place as his actions conflicted with his ethical senses and (up until that point) prodigious self-confidence

'I can crush Uzumaki, I'm sure of it..but the unknown factors are Sakura and the fickle nature of love itself (he laughed inwardly at the thought)...of course I'm just a novice at this love and romance thing...hell, until very recently with Sakura, I've never even felt an inkling of an attraction for anyone...' -he paused in his contemplations for several seconds and then came to a conclusion- '...I know I'm better than bozo-maki, but when it comes to love, being better doesn't ensure a win..so I've got to improve my odds anyway I can'

Sasuke felt satisfied that his reasoning skills had led him to the best option in at least the one matter that was troubling him. Unfortunately, cold reasoning was non-applicable to questions of morality; because although reason dictated gaining advantage in a struggle through any means necessary, there were certain things that struck insufferable self-inflicted blows at the moral cores possessed by 'elite' people such as himself. Right then he was certainly feeling a scratching at his own moral core to the point that he took another step and a half which put him right in front of the black trays. He reached his hand out intending to dismantle the outward representation of his inward irritation...

that's when the words of his father came to him

"Do you know the real reason why your brother died?...if you are thinking that it's because a sand-monkey with a bomb strapped to him blew himself up at the range where Itachi was demonstrating our newest model of ballistic vest then you would be wrong..." -the frown on Fugaku's face deepened- "...your brother died because he got it into his head that he was one of them"

Sasuke didn't need elaboration from his father on who "them" was referring to. "Them" were common people. His father also often referred to "them" as the rabble, the great unwashed, the ignorant mob, or sometimes just the scum

"Itachi fell for the patriotic nonsense that only the rabble falls for and he paid the price that only the rabble should have to pay"

The Uchiha family were in the living room after the funeral while the head of the house was giving his none-too-gracious oratory. It was brought on as a very poorly thought-out attempt by Fugaku to console his remaining son who was trying mightily – but failing – to contain his tears. Mikoto (the family's matriarch) seeing at that point that getting into an argument with her husband would make the situation turn from bad to abysmal just stood up from her chair, shot an angry look to Fugaku and then a sympathetic one to her son, and then went to the kitchen

"Harden yourself and learn from this Sasuke...don't ever think that you are one of the ignorant mob...we have plenty of such people we employ to go out amongst the common troops to display our products...I told your brother to stay in the most secure zones...I told him to only deal with Generals and higher officials and other top tier status people..." -Fugaku huffed in exasperation- "...but no..he leaves Konan, Kisame, and Sasori to do the wheeling and dealing while he goes out with our Company's worker ants into the combat zones...I confronted him on the phone about his errant behavior the day before he died and he had the gall to tell me that he didn't want to be stuck high on a pedestal and that he wanted to do something for his country at the ground level like he saw...them (he put a full amount of disdain into the word) doing..." -up until that point, the elder Uchiha was looking straight ahead while speaking, but then he threw his head around to the side to look directly at Sasuke who was seated on a sofa- "...you don't think that do you?...that the way a person serves their Country is to haul themselves off into combat?"

Sasuke, who by then had ceased with any urges to sob, stared at his father for a long moment before answering

"No...I guess not?" -he uttered without much conviction in the words. Fugaku narrowed his brows slightly before looking back at the wall he was not really looking at before

"Well don't guess about it, be sure...people of our caliber don't and shouldn't toil in the mud when conflicts of National interest arise..that's for the scum to do...we support the aims of the Countries we align ourselves with primarily by providing material aid...do you see the difference?...in war, the foolish lowly people do the actual fighting, and their profit is to draw blood and win glory and medals..but for our kind, war is meant as a struggle against the elites on the opposing side in order to assimilate them and their resources...that is our fight...and our profits are the real profits of monetary gain, asset acquisition, and global market dominance...it sounds unfair and wrong at the surface, but this is how things are..how they've always been..and how they will always be...the many at the bottom give and we few at the top take"

Fugaku ended his speech/tirade and then turned his head to give Sasuke a strangely sympathetic look, to which the younger nodded his head feigning understanding. But of course the head Uchiha knew better

"You'll understand these things better as you prepare to take over the business in the future"

Sasuke immediately drew back his hand while taking a step back

'Uzumaki...he's one of THEM'

With that connection being made, Sasuke settled into feeling comfortable and even justified in his actions

'The moron can give up any possible claim to Sakura's Heart..I'm not a rabble like he is so it's only right that her love should be mine for the taking without hindrance from him or his kind'

With a satisfied smile, Sasuke walked into his cohabitant's room, woke her computer out of sleep mode, and proceeded to look through her email for any messages from Naruto that he could delete.