Chapter 3: It's A Man's World

The phone was ringing. Shikamaru picked up. "Sharingan Incorporated Main Office speaking. How may I be of service today?"

"Hello, may I speak to Sasuke?" The voice was eager and sounded very worried. Shikamaru predicted it was most likely another fangirl.

He decided to remain civil for the time being. "Who is this?"

"I'm a friend of Hinata's. It's very urgent." That was a surprise. Hinata and Sasuke were not publicly known to hang out together. Only a select number of people knew that they were friends. Maybe Sasuke did know this one after all. But still, he had to be careful. There were too many spies in this line of work…

"Why would you call Sasuke's work?" he asked suspiciously, "Don't you have his number?"

The girl only scoffed, "Of course not. I'm Hinata's friend, not Sasuke's. This is the only number I could get a hold of since Hinata didn't want me to confront him."

"About what?"

"About making her cry last night."

Shikamaru's eyes widened, surprised that Hinata would be so quick to tell someone else about what happened the night before and also concerned that his old friend had been so upset.

"Is she alright?" he asked.

"Of course not!" Shikamaru flinched at the shrill sound of her voice, "The bastard practically harassed her. She says she never wants to see him again."

Shikamaru was slightly reluctant to believe that Hinata would say something as dramatic as that but this girl clearly knew what was going on.

"Can I speak to her?"

The other end of the phone was silent. The next time she spoke, her voice was full of suspicion, "Who are you?" she asked accusingly.

Shikamaru chuckled, "No need to take that tone with me. I'm Hinata's best friend. She must talk about me a lot right?" It was a blatant lie but he had be double sure that this woman was acquainted with Hinata. Anyone close to her would know that her best friend was Naruto. The girl never failed to praise him at any given opportunity.

Shikamaru waited for her to take the bait. But she simply laughed, "Yeah right. She has never mentioned you even once to me. She literally only talks about this Naruto guy. If you have a crush on her or something, I suggest you back off because she is clearly not interested."

"No, of course not. Although I am hurt that Hina does not talk about me." Shikamaru sighed. She really must be one of Hinata's friends.

"Considering how lovely she is, Hinata must have too many friends to tell me about. That is, if you truly are Hinata's friend."

Shikamaru pressed his lips together in moderate annoyance. Now he was going to have to convince this girl that he was really a friend of Hinata's. What a drag.

"Miss, I don't have time for this. I need to get back to work so just leave me a message and I'll pass it on to Sasuke."

"No."

For God's sake…

"Why not?"

"Because this is a personal matter. From all I can tell, you are simply Sasuke's employee. Since you are their friend, surely you know that Hinata and Sasuke would both hate to mix their personal lives with work, wouldn't you agree?"

Shikamaru didn't know whether he could agree or not. Both Sasuke and Hinata were too reserved and quiet for him to know what they hated or loved. The two of them clearly liked to keep to themselves but recently he wasn't so sure. Especially considering the fact that Sasuke was going to…

"Alright, fine." Shikamaru replied, "I will ask Sasuke to call you back when he returns to the office."

"Thank you very much." She replied, completely chipper, "You'd better make good on that promise, Mr…?"

"Nara. Shikamaru Nara." He replied and then wondered why he had given this stranger his name so easily.

"Well Mr Nara, I hope Hinata gets a chance to introduce us in the near future."

Now Shikamaru found himself smiling. "Likewise, Miss…?"

"Sabaku. Temari Sabaku."

"Temari?" Sasuke thought hard about it when he came back. "It sounds familiar but I don't know her personally."

So she wasn't lying after all, Shikamaru thought to himself. "That's what she said. She said she is friends with Hinata but she doesn't really know you."

"Did she tell you why she called?" Sasuke asked.

"It seems that she is upset about you hurting Hinata in some way."

Sasuke furrowed his brows, "Hinata is already telling people about it? Besides, if anyone was hurt, it was me. She slapped me."

"Yes, I know that." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "But you were the one who fucked up in the first place. You were too harsh on her according to the Sabaku woman."

Shikamaru thought he saw a hint of guilt in Sasuke's eyes but as always, his pride took precedence over his emotions. "I only did what I had to do."

"By calling her a whore?"

"I never called her a whore." Sasuke insisted.

"You must have implied it."

"What does that matter anyways? 88% of people sell their bodies in all different ways to get what they want and to live a good life in this world. I was merely commenting on human nature."

Shikamaru shook his head in disappointed awe, "If only your fanclub could hear you now. You wouldn't be as marketable once they realise how much charm you lack."

"I don't give a shit about their stupid fantasies. I have my goals and as long as they don't get in the way of them, they can live in my office for all I care."

Silence.

"Don't tell Naruto I said that. He might actually let them into my office."

Shikamaru chuckled, "Of course not. So are you going to call her or not?"

"I should call Hinata first." Sasuke moved to take out his iPhone from his pocket but Shikamaru grabbed his forearm.

"Are really that clueless? You're probably the last person Hinata wants to speak to right now. I suggest you talk to her friend first and try to make amends slowly through her."

Sasuke blinked confusedly. "Why?"

"That woman is not going to let you call Hinata just yet. She told me that Hinata is currently staying at her place and she is not in a good shape."

"Are you blaming me for that?" Sasuke challenged him.

Shikamaru sighed, "No. She clearly had her own troubles before your little date fiasco."

"She told me she was going to pick up her acting career again."

Shikamaru stared at him disbelievingly, "You can't be serious."

"She told me herself last night." Sasuke said casually.

"After all the shit she went through back then, now she wants to go back to that?"

Sasuke shrugged, "If she is ready I don't think we have any right to change her decision."

Shikamaru scoffed, "That's rich coming from the man who tried to pressurise her into marriage."

Sasuke glared at him, "That's different."

"Of course. It's always different when Sasuke Uchiha can make a profit."

Sasuke was silent for a few seconds. Then he picked up his work phone and dialled the number Shikamaru had written down for him.

As he waited for the speaker on the other side to pick up, Sasuke held Shikamaru's stare with defiance. Shikamaru was reminded of what Naruto had once told him, "If Sasuke decides to do something, that thing will be done."

Sasuke maintained eye contact with him even when he began to speak, "This is Sasuke Uchiha. I would like to arrange an appointment with you, Miss Sabaku. I decide when and where we meet. No negotiations."

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.