Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto did. I'm just a humble writer who's trying to go wild with her imagination borrowing his characters.
Author's Note: Hello everyone how are you guys? I hope you are all ok and were waiting for this update. Thank you all for your review and support again. Here is the tenth chapter for you. Enjoy...
Chapter – 10
Next morning Sasuke woke up at the shrill ring of his alarm going off with slight headache; he was up late last night pondering over the day's events and skipping dinner in the process was not a very good idea, but he was irritated and didn't wanted to face his father to start an argument with him when their relation is just coming to track. So, he had decided to lock himself up in his room and find a solution of the problem on his own, but no matter what he came up with nothing worked except admitting defeat and accepting that blond moron for the project. He knew his father and once he had taken a decision it's very rare that he change it; Sasuke had thought of taking a chance and talk with his father but he knew it will just be his waste of time and energy. That's why he was up late despite having come home earlier and now he has this wonderful headache.
Sasuke groan as he opens his eyes and sits up. He walk to the window and removed the curtains but instead of a bright sunny day he is greeted with a cloudy once; the sky was grey and it was drizzling outside which did nothing to brighten his already dull mood. Sasuke frowns at the unseasonal rain and wished it was sunny outside which thought in turn attack him with image of vivid blond hair and shiny blue eyes. He growl under his breath and stopped to his bathroom; he need to calm down and face his father now, it will not do him any good if he avoid him any longer after their argument yesterday. He saw his father already at the table when he finally comes down for breakfast and his mother was by his side.
"Ohayo otou-san, okaa-san" he softly greeted to taste his waters as he takes his seat.
"Ohayo Sasuke" Mikoto greeted back with mild smile and passes Sasuke's plate to him.
Sasuke turns towards his father who just grunted behind the paper in response. He resists the urge to sigh; he knew it was his fault for making his father angry and he is prepare to deal with the consequences; so he was little taken aback when his father broke the silence after a moment.
"Sasuke" Fugaku said after receiving a hard poke from Mikoto under the table for the lack of his response and an evil eye "have you read the file I sent to you yesterday?"
Now Sasuke was feeling nervous; he knew where this conversation is going and he dreaded it with all his heart but he didn't want to get into a fight with his father this early in the morning so he replied in an even tone "no otou-san."
"Why not?" Fugaku asked with slight frown in his brow; thought he trusts Kakashi with his works but there is always a chance for him to slip his responsibilities, so he asked his next question to make sure "haven't Kakashi gave you the file I sent for you?"
"Yes father he did" Sasuke answered in a soft voice knowing the next talk ahead is not good for him.
"Then can you tell me why didn't you read it?" Fugaku asked irritated as he sip at his tea and turns towards Mikoto who was glaring at him; he sighed at Sasuke's lack of response and continues "Sasuke, it was very unprofessional of you to leave the meeting yesterday and I think you realise that, right?"
As Sasuke nodded Fugaku continues "I don't know what problem you have with Naruto but take a look at the file Sasuke you will realise you are wrong about him."
"I don't have any problem with him otou-san" Sasuke said softly "except that he is an idiot" he continues with a groan.
Mikoto chuckled softly as Fugaku groan at his son's response "Sasuke you two are going to work on the same project for a long time so suck up whatever problem you have with him and he seemed as an understanding person to me, try to get to know him and keep your anger in check. Do you understand?"
As Sasuke opens his mouth to argue this time Mikoto continues in a gentle voice "I don't want any more excuses Sasuke; try to adjust and get to know him. Sometimes people are not like what they seem; maybe he has his fair share of problems to face. You don't know anything about him so you can't judge him on basis of an accident."
Sasuke slowly nodded his head as he proceeds with his food. His father and mother had a point he know that, but he lost his cool whenever he meets with that infuriating blond. 'Maybe I was little harsh yesterday, I should give that dobe a chance' he thought as he said "I understand otou-san" he continues aster a thought "I have to meet with Neji and I will ask him to bring him for our next meeting and try to apologise to him for my behaviour."
"It's good to hear Sasuke" Fugaku said with "I trust you to solve this problem on your own" he continues with a slight smile.
Sasuke nodded as he finishes his food and they both stood up and walk towards the door after wishing Mikoto good bye for the day.
Naruto meets Neji at the front as he enters the company; they discussed about the project they are working on as they walk through the hallway towards their team room.
"Ohayo" Naruto said excited as soon as he enters the room.
"Ohayo" everyone greeted back as soon the spotted their bundle of energy.
As soon as Naruto fully enters the room he received several hugs in the process.
"Naruto it's good to see you back" a girl with long blond hair and pale blue eyes greeted him with a tight hug.
"Ino, it's good to be back" Naruto said as he returns the hug and leans into the gentle touch "I missed you."
Ino is one of the first women he had associated and over the years she has became a very good friend to him, and with her blond hair and blue eyes they really do look alike. At first Ino use to avoid him much like other kids but her gentle and kind nature allows her to befriend him one fine autumn morning when he was roaming around the back hills of the town and she was there to pick some rare flowers. Yamanaka's are into flower business for many generations and the top flower suppliers to the whole country and outside world, there are not any flowers that they can't export. From young age Ino started to help with their company and now she knows everything one can know about flowers.
That day Ino saw him walking through the fields alone. He use to think that she hates him much like others so he decided to get away when Ino approaches him and befriend him. He learned that she is different from other peoples and kind, she offered him to come with her to her house which he declined at first but when she assured him that her parents are not going to judge him, he hesitantly accepted and true to her words he was not judge and easily accepted him. He later met the rest of her friends -Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji- and quickly joins the group. Choji is a famous chef now and the rest of the two work with them in the same company.
Naruto smiles a little as he remembers the past and takes his seat beside Ino where she had guided him when a sharp pain tore through his back.
"Hey fox-boy it's good to see you came back safely to us" a boy with shaggy brown hair and red triangle tattoos on his face said, who is the reason of the sharp pain on his back.
"It's good to see you didn't die in a dumpster while I was away dog-breath" Naruto said turning his head back and fixing his enemy with hard stare "I would have hate it if you had gone missing while I was not here to help you."
"Ha ha ha, very smart idiot. Did they give you a brain treatment while you were there" the brown haired boy said in a mocking tone "looks like you got some extra bite in you now."
"No but looks like they got the rest remaining brain cells from your brain while I was gone" Naruto said with a small smirk; he always know how to get raise from this guy "at this rate Hinata-chan will never even look at you, tsk tsk."
"Why you little brat. I will kill..." before he could jump on Naruto he was held back by his collar.
"Kiba stop it" Ino said in an irritated voice "there is no need for you to be angry. If you can't get him back don't even start a fight with Naruto" she continues while Kiba was still thrashing in her hold.
"This is soo troublesome" said a bored voice from a chair; a boy with spiky pony tail said, he already seems half asleep "why you guys have to be so damn noisy this early in the morning and Kiba you are too much of an headache."
"Shut up Shikamaru" Kiba said turning to him "everything is troublesome for you and it's already ten now why are you sleeping now?"
"Pipe it down you savage" Ino said knocking him over the head while she let her hold loose on his collar "you are the one who started the whole commotion with Naruto, don't irritate him he just came back from an important journey."
Neji's phone rings while he was watching all the commotion silently from the doorway -he didn't even get the chance to fully enter the room before all this started- and wishing at least once his team members starts the day properly, not like a bunch of wild animals. He takes his phone out and sees it is Sasuke calling him; he takes a quick glace around the room and seeing no hope for his team to settle anytime soon, left the room.
"Why are you always defending the fox-boy Ino" Kiba said in a loud tone "is he you r boyfriend or something?"
"Why dog-breath are you jealous?" Naruto said smirking while putting his hand around Ino "that this lovely lady is with me not you."
"Huh, like hell I would be" Kiba said turning sideways as Shikamaru groan and went back to his much needed sleep "Hinata-san is way prettier than this flower stick" as soon as he finished the sentence Kiba feels a wave of killing aura coming towards him and he broke into sweat.
"What did you just say to me Kiba?" Ino asked in a slow voice that sends shiver down through everyone's spine "can you repeat that again?"
"Uuh...mmmm...I...Ino. I...I didn't mean it like that" Kiba replied in a shaky voice mean while Naruto was laughing his ass off at the situation and Shikamaru is still sleeping.
When Neji comes back after five minutes he looked around the room and saw a laughing Naruto, a fuming Ino, a thoroughly beaten Kiba -with black eye and all- and a still sleeping Shikamaru occupying four chairs of the room. He shook his head gently and takes his chair at the head of the table, on his left was Shikamaru and Kiba, and on his right a laughing Naruto and Ino, her fist still clenched on the table.
"Why don't you guys at least try to start the day in a decent way?" Neji asked once he was settled.
"But Neji this is the best way to start a day" Naruto said still snorting under his breath "this is soo energetic and fun."
"Naruto Uzumaki, if you want yourself in one piece at the end of the day, I suggest you to shut up" before Neji could say anything Ino cut in.
"Your wish is my command princess" Naruto said as he turns towards her and softly takes her hand as he continues "I will do whatever you say, even jumping from this table and take my own life if you wish."
This brought a small smile on her face as she continues "you are such an idiot" Ino said slapping him slightly on the arm but there was no harshness to it.
"But you love me anyways" Naruto replied with a cheeky smile.
Neji clears his throat as Ino smiles at the comment and the mood of the room brighten up "good, now that we are finish with our morning routine we need to dis..."
The door of the room bang opened before Neji could finish his sentence and two figures stood there one a girl wearing jeans and Chinese style top, her hair tied in two buns above her head and another one boy clad in a green suit with bowl cut black hair and perfectly round black eyes.
"We are soo sorry for our tardiness on this youthful day my youthful companions" the boy in green suit exclaimed as they enters the room.
"Lee, you are being over dramatic again" the girl with bun said in an annoyed tone as she takes her seat beside Ino and greeted everyone with a nod.
"But Tenten, it was our fault for showing up late and we should apologise properly"
"Lee, it's alright" Neji said with a sigh 'why did I have to be one to lead this bunch of nuisance' he thought but soon remember that despite their behaviour they are the best in what they do "no need to worry about that, take a seat so that we can finally start the meeting."
"Oh yes, of course Neji, please pardon my interruption" lee bowed deeply and takes a seat beside Kiba who was feeling little better now, seeing that he is now slumping in his chair rather than half draped over the table.
"If we are all over with our interruptions now, shall we start discussing about the project?" Neji asked and as a result he gets several nods and a "yes Neji, we are beaming with youthful energy this morning."
"All right then, let's discuss about our ongoing project now and later I will tell you about our new ones" this caught everyone's attention as Neji takes out a file from his bag.
"What new project?" Tenten asked curious.
"We are doing it in collaboration with Uchiha Corporation; I will give you the details later" Neji said as he opens the file.
"This sounds interesting" Ino said her earlier temper now receding "can we discuss about that now?"
"No, not now" Neji said "first of all we need Sai for that, who is busy right now and not be available till afternoon and secondly Sasuke had called me earlier to inform that he will be coming down here to discuss something over."
"Sasuke, you mean Sasuke Uchiha, the young heir of Uchiha's?" Ino asked curious.
"Yes, that's the one" Naruto replied this time "but don't get soo excited, he is a total teme."
"I am not getting excited" Ino huffed under her breath "I got over that crush a long time ago."
"Yeah... That remind me you had a huge crush over that guy in our college days" Tenten replied smiling a teasing smile from side.
"Hey, I didn't have a crush on him, I just appreciated his looks" Ino protested embarrassed.
"I can support you in that" Tenten replied "Uchiha's are all handsome."
"I don't see what you guys see in that teme" Naruto grumbled under his breath which earns him groans from the other boys in the room "I personally think he is just a pretty princess, I can't even get past the idea that I have to work with him of all people."
"Yeah... he is right you know" Kiba stated but soon closes his mouth as he receives a glare from Ino.
"Naruto don't insult him when you don't even know the guy" Tenten said.
"Don't worry, I am not the one to judge people without knowing them; you guys should know that of all the people" Naruto replied little irritated "I have met him and let me tell you the only thing that guy has to go with is his good looks, which is somewhat girly if you ask me" he continues which earns him protest from both girls.
Neji sighed; this conversation is going nowhere. He has to take the matter in his own hand; he knew Naruto and Sasuke didn't start in the right foot but they have to get along if they want to work together peacefully. He cleared his throat as he speaks "can we stop this useless conversation now?" Neji said with an irritated voice and once he gets the attention of everyone he continues "we will be discussing about an important project, so it will be very helpful is you girls don't jump on him at the first sight" he turns his narrowed gaze towards Tenten then fixed Naruto with a stern look once he is sure the girls gets his point "and Naruto no fighting" as Naruto opens his mouth he quickly continues "please, you know how important this is for both the companies and we all need to work together with is impossible if you two are always fighting" Neji watches Naruto as he didn't tried to argue back and continues in a gentle but firm voice "did I make myself clear?"
"I know that Neji" Naruto said once Neji is finished "but it is not me who started the fight in the first place" as Neji narrows his eyes he continues hastily "yeah I know it was somewhat my fault but he was also not subtle about it and when I went to their office yesterday he was rude and didn't even stay there for the meeting. What do you expect me to do now Neji?"
"If that's true then I think Naruto has a point to hate him" Tenten stated her opinion once Naruto was finished.
"I also support Tenten in this" Ino said, her earlier dreamy look fading from her eyes "we knew Naruto can be idiot sometimes" at Naruto's protest at the comment she continues "but he means no harm to anyone and if Sasuke has done that then I must admit it was completely wrong of him."
"Well coming from Ino it is a huge thing" Kiba commented after his long silence still wary of the blonde girl "but I completely support Naruto in this. That was really not very professional in that Uchiha's part."
"I also support Naruto-kun completely with all my youthfulness" Lee said enthusiastically once he heard everything.
Neji sighs exasperated; his team is soo handful and now the situation is getting even worse they all are starting to judge Sasuke, he have to stop it "look guys I know it was not very professional of him to abundant the meeting like that just because he had some grudge against Naruto" Neji started as he look at everyone then continues "but he is also new to the corporate world, so you also have to give the guy sometime to adjust with that; you know what I mean and I want Naruto to start with it" he fixed Naruto with a look and said "two are the one who has problem and I know you have it within you to adjust with everyone. That's why I am asking you to give him another chance."
Everyone stare at Naruto as he keeps his silence and didn't said anything for sometime then he continues "I can understand your point Neji but I am not sure but I will try"
Neji sighs in relief as he said "that's enough for me" he smiles a little then continues "now shall we start with the meeting?" as he receives several nods the proceeds with the meeting.
It took the better part of the morning to discuss about the ongoing project and as it was already nearing lunch time Neji decided to take break.
"Ok guys, this is all for today" Neji said as he arrange the papers and gather his files "let's take a break" he watched the time as he continues "Sasuke will be here soon, so let's have lunch while we can."
"Yeeppiee... ramen time" Naruto said excited as soon as Neji finished "I was soo hungry my brain was almost shutting down."
"What's new in that, you are always hungry" Ino comments from beside as she too stands up to join everyone "and how can you eat that unhealthy food anyway?"
"Hey, don't insult my ramen" Naruto protested loudly as they walk through the door "it's the best food one has ever created in the whole universe."
"Ramen is good but my curry of life is the best thing to hold your youthful appearance for a long time" Lee joins the conversation enthusiastically.
"Like hell it is, it can take anyone's life if they eat it without any caution" Kiba butt in before Naruto could protest.
"Thanks Kiba, I knew I can trust you" Naruto said happily as he put a hand around the brunet's shoulder "you are truly my best friend."
"Oh please, don't flatter yourself" Kiba said with a smirk "my beef jerky is way tastier than any of your lame foods."
"How dare you call my ramen lame?" Naruto protested in an angry voice.
"I will call ramen lame as much as I can" Kiba said turning towards him as they enters the cafeteria.
"Guy's you are creating a scene again" Ino said irritated as all heads turns to their group as soon as they enters the place.
"Yes Ino is right, we shouldn't create a scene here" Lee said in a high voice "let's fight for the honour of our favourite foods somewhere else."
As soon as Lee finishes the sentence he is hold in a choke hold by Tenten "shut up Lee, you are worse that these two idiots here, what are you thinking proposing a bizarre thing like that" she as trying to squeeze the life out of the poor boy "and you two" Naruto and Kiba takes couple of steps back as she turn her eyes to them "if you dare to think off going through his plan I will personally make curry out of you. Do you understand?"
Naruto and Kiba gulped hard and nodded vigorously as they are still shaking "ye...yes ma...mam, of course, we understand" they said in a shaky voice as they saw Lee slowly turning green.
"Ummm, Tenten, don't you think you should let him go now?" Naruto said pointing towards Lee who was almost verge of passing out.
"Oh, my bad" Tenten said as she drop the poor boy and host his up with his collar "let's go guys, I am feeling hungry now after all that commotion" she continues as she drags a still disoriented Lee, rest off the group quickly following.
Sasuke is driving towards the Byakugan Corp. for his meeting with the team. Neji had told him earlier that the candidates selected are all available for today and it will be a good idea for him to get to know them. He thought about the team and his mind swiftly drifted off to the blond annoyance, he groans under his breath as he stops at a signal.
He promised his father that he will be polite next time he meet the headache but he himself is not sure about it now, there is something about the blond that trick him off every time he meets him. Sasuke checks the time and sees that it is lunchtime already; he stops his car at a decent looking roadside restaurant and walk in, as he orders his food and sits on a table at the corner. As his food arrives his mind again drifted to the meeting he is going for and its occupants; he knew he should have look over everyone's profile once again before he left the office but now he didn't have any other way, he have to wait to meet all of them and know about their abilities.
The group is almost finish with lunch when Neji decided to speak "Naruto" he said in a gentle voice, as he gets said boys attention he checks the time and continues "I want you to find Sai and bring him to our meeting room once our lunch is over. If I know correctly he is already free, give him some time to have lunch then escort him to the room."
"Why do I have to do that?" Naruto whine eating happily from his forth bowl of ramen.
"Because you are probably the only one whom he will not give any hard time" Neji replies casually "though I have already informed him."
"Neji I think you mean to say the opposite, right?" Ino asked in a questioning tone "they usually argue when they are together."
"No, I mean what I said" he replied casually then watches Naruto from the corner of his eyes and continues with a smirk on his face "besides it's only a lover's quarrel; Sai like Naruto too much to ever really fight with him."
This comment causes Naruto to choke on his noodles and everyone to laugh out loud even Shikamaru was chuckling under his breath.
"Shut up Neji" Naruto replied once he composes himself, slight blush on his cheeks "you know I don't have any such feelings about him, we are just good friends."
"You can say that all you want Naruto" Kiba replied patting his back and still laughing hard.
"Shut your mouth dog breath or I will shut it for you" Naruto shouted angrily.
"Oh, Naruto but he is right you know" Ino said smiling at the pouting face she received "he is trying his best to woo your heart since...ummm..."
"Since forever I guess" Tenten finishes for her as she smirks at the still blushing boy "I think you should give him a chance."
"Tenten is right you know" Neji said supporting the fact "you two get along pretty well and he is a decent guy."
"Yeah, he is decent" Naruto replied grumpily "whenever he is not commenting on any of my body parts" this cause another round of laughter to go on.
"And whenever he is not trying to grope you" Kiba said still laughing.
Naruto groan as he buried his face in table sliding his finished bowl away "please guys, can we drop this topic for now?" he mumbles into the table.
"Why Naruto?" Ino said in a teasing tone "I think you like all that attention, after all you are an attention seeker."
Naruto raise his head a bit and glare at the girl next to him "don't make me open my mouth Ino" he replied in a serious tone "or you are gonna regret it."
This makes Ino to shut up instantly and everyone to look at the pair with questioning eyes.
Naruto sits up straight as he slide s hand over the girl beside him as he continues "don't worry dear it's not like I will let anything slip intentionally."
Ino swats the hand from her shoulder as she replied "you better not be" she turns to glare at the boy as she continues "or I will kill you personally."
"Nah, you can't do that" Naruto answers in a dismissive tone "you love me too much to such a horrible thing to me."
"If your banter is finished can we go now? I think it's time" this time it is Shikamaru who interrupt the conversation, which earns him surprise look from everyone "what?" he continues irritably.
"This is the first time I have seen you interested for well... well like anything" Ino said "is there a reason behind that?"
"You do many things without reason" he replied as he stands up "why do I have to give one? Shall we go now?"
"He is right we should go now" Neji said while standing up too "you guys go ahead and I will escort Sasuke to the room, he doesn't know his way around here and Naruto..." he pauses for a moment and continues in a serious voice "go get Sai and no excuses."
"Yes sir, as you wish" Naruto replied in a playful tone as Neji shakes his head and left the room rest of the group quickly followed behind.
Sasuke meets Neji at the lower reception of the Byakugan Corp. He quickly checks the watch and sees that he is in time they exchange greetings as Neji ask him to follow.
"I hope your drive was all right" Neji asked to start simple conversation.
"Yes, it was pleasant" Sasuke replied politely as they walk in the lift.
"That's good to hear" Neji replied with a polite smile "my team is very eager to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet your team" Sasuke state as they exit the elevator and walk down the hall way "after all we all are going to work together. Have you given them the details of the project?"
"No, not yet" Neji replies shaking his head a bit "I was hoping to give it out together with you, that way we can cover up all the points if any of us miss something. Except Naruto no one knows any details about the project."
"I see" Sasuke's heart skip a bit hearing that name; he quickly narrows his eyes to control the situation.
"Sasuke I have heard what happened yesterday" Neji said catching a sideway glance at Sasuke as he continues "Naruto is somewhat upset about the situation."
"It's not my fault if that dobe can't handle criticism" Sasuke replied sarcastically.
"Sasuke" Neji said in a straight voice as he stops abruptly as Sasuke turns around in surprise he continues "I don't think you are being fair to him. I have heard the whole situation and I don't think this time it was his fault, from what I have gathered you were the one to insult him this time" Neji said in a simple tone but his eyes shows hardness that can only be possible when someone is defending the person close to them.
Sasuke sighs at the look; he didn't came here today to argue with that dobe further, so it will do him no good to make such off handed comment "I am sorry if I offended you, but I didn't meant it like that. I am sorry."
"It will be good for you to not really mean that" Neji said as he starts to walk beside Sasuke again "he is a valuable member of my team and this company, and he is also a very close friend of ours. If you start to fight then I am afraid I will have nothing to do if my team decide to disregard you and that will not be good for the project. I think you know that" Neji finishes as he comes to a halt at the front of a door.
As Sasuke nodded his understanding he continues with a smile "do you remember this room?"
"This is the room you brought me that day I think" Sasuke replies with a frown.
"That's right; your observation power is pretty sharp. This is my team room and my team is inside. Are you ready to meet them?" Neji asked as he keeps his hand on the handle as Sasuke nodded his approval he pushes the door open.
Sasuke enters the room and sees five people occupying the chairs around the table. He quickly scans the room; there are three boys and two girls in there and as soon as they enters the room they looks up at him with polite smile on their faces; but Sasuke feels somewhat disappointed as he doesn't see the blond moron anywhere, as he is going to ask Neji about that he is interrupted by the girl with bleach blond hair.
"You must be Sasuke Uchiha" the girl in blond hair said excitedly as she continues "I am Ino Yamanaka; it's nice to meet you."
'Geez, another fan girl and on top of that blond again, there couldn't be any worst combination that that' Sasuke thought with a frown after giving his typical "Hn" in response; 'but her blond is not as bright as that baka's' he thought as he takes his seat at Neji's right, where he is mentioned to.
"Geez, you really are antisocial" Ino exclaimed as she didn't get any response for her hearty welcome "Naruto was right after all."
Sasuke's eye twitch at that; 'that moron, how dare he comment like that about me? I am going to kill him for that' he thought angrily as he desperately tries to hold back his anger and clenching his fist.
"Ino, shut up" the bored looking guy with spiky ponytail who appeared to be half asleep earlier replies with a groan "you are not making the situation any better."
"Shikamaru, you don't have to tell me what to do and what not" Ino said irritated "and why are you even being this talkative today? You hardly react on anything."
"Ino-san it is not polite to shout when we have a new youthful guest among us" Lee said enthusiastically which earns him a punch from Tenten.
"Shut up Lee" Tenten said dragging him down with his collar "you are the one whose voice is echoing through whole office."
Kiba is sitting quite through the whole commotion; he is itching to comment on something but remembrance of his earlier beating urge him to keep quite.
"Troublesome" Sasuke watches the guy with spiky ponytail tried to go back to sleep after that comment but distantly thought how anyone can go to sleep when someone is eating their ear off with complains; he really admires this Shikamaru guy for that.
Neji sighs at the commotion going on 'there goes the first impression of my team' he thought dejectedly as he watches the chaos going on. He turns towards Sasuke to see him watching everyone with calculating eyes and sighs again.
"I am sorry about all this" Neji said to gain Sasuke's attention then continues "you must be thinking what a bunch of weirdoes."
Sasuke is not sure how to answer that so he only smile politely as he said "it's all right, as long as they do their work ok, that reminds me" he hesitates for a moment then continues with the question he wants to ask since he got here "where is that idiot in all this commission?"
As Neji opens his mouth to reply a loud voice entering the room catches everyone's attention.
"Sai quit it. Stop touching me you pervert" Naruto shouted as he enters the room.
"But Naruto-kun I just wanted to fix your shirt for you" a small voice comes from his behind and Sasuke saw a guy enter into the room who look a lot like him but more paler.
"No, you are not" Naruto said as he rounded the table and takes the seat to Neji's left just opposite to Sasuke "you were just finding an excuse to touch me."
"But I like touching you Naruto-kun" Sai said as he take the vacant seat beside him "your skin is really soft."
Naruto glares at the boy sitting next to him "shut up Sai and don't give such off handed comment."
"But it's really true" Sai replied with a polite smile.
"Oh yeah" Kiba asked curious from his side "and how do you know that?"
Sai opens his mouth to reply as Naruto quickly clamps his hand over it as he said "it's none of your business dog-breath" then he fixes Sai with a glare as he continues "not another word, or I will definitely kill you this time."
"But you like him too much to do that yet" Ino said in a teasing tone and continues as an afterthought "Naruto-kun."
"Well here is my guess" Tenten said after chuckling under her breath "he tried to jump you at shower."
"Naruto I didn't thought that you will cheat on me like that" Ino said in a teasing voice as she put her hand over her heart "I am soo heart broken."
Naruto's cheeks dusted pink as everyone laugh at that -Neji chuckling-, well everyone except Sasuke, who is busy glaring daggers at the pair which was at the centre of all this commotion. He can't believe this dobe; what does he think of himself, flaunting his personal life like that? Sasuke's eyes narrows once again as he sees Sai trying to slid his hand over said dobe once again.
"Sai, I said quit it" Naruto shouts jumping off from his seat, his fist clenching.
"Why is it that every time I see you, you are in the middle of some kind of commotion?" Sasuke said in an irritated voice "you are a headache; I think you know that dobe."
"Grrrrr... teme" Naruto tries to jump around the table and choke the bastard but a quick look towards Neji stops him in his track; he controls his temper and took a deep breath then he smirk while sitting back on his chair "are you jealous that I am so popular? What can I say, I am a people's person, you know."
"I would like to die before I get jealous over you" Sasuke growl under his breath as he continues "and have some decency to keep your personal life at your home, I don't know about the others but I certainly don't want to see your love life for that matter."
"Aww... Are you frustrated teme?" Naruto said smirking wider and Sasuke for his part didn't know that anyone can smirk like that and not quite able to decide how to counter that "should I arrange something or should I say someone for you?"
Sasuke's blushed lightly at the innuendo 'I swear I am going to kill this dobe one day. How dare he say something like that in front of everyone; have he not any shame?' Sasuke opens his mouth to reply though he didn't know what he is going to say but is quickly saved by Neji's interference.
"Naruto, shut up" Neji said in a straight voice "you are embarrassing him." "But..." Naruto's protest dies down as Neji continues "no buts, we have work to do if you have not completely forgotten that."
"Yeah yeah, I remember that" Naruto grumble under his breath "but I am not the one to start the commotion."
Neji ignore the jab as he looks at everyone and said before Sasuke could open his mouth to start another round of argument, which is most likely he is thinking about judging from the expression on his face "if the forth commotion of the day is over can we proceed with the introduction?" Neji said as he gets several nods he continues pointing towards Sasuke "this is Sasuke Uchiha, young heir of the famous Uchiha Corporation; I think you all know that" he then turns towards Sasuke and said "this is my team Sasuke or our team for the project let me introduce you to them all though I think you have gathered most of their name by now. The blonde girl here is Ino, the girl with two buns is Tenten, the boy in green suit is Lee, beside him the half asleep one is Shikamaru, the guy with triangle tattoos is Kiba, beside him is Sai and you already have met Naruto before" Sasuke nods in response to everyone which is returned with nod or polite smile, everyone except Naruto who was busy doodling and after introductions are finished he turns towards everyone and continues "Our company is doing a government based project together to build an ecological park in Tokyo and as you can guess this is a very important project, we have selected you all as the candidates to work as a main team in this project while Sasuke and I will work as the team leader."
"How the selection procedure was done?" Tenten asked curious "I never heard of this project before now? We had no idea about this."
"We had short listed the candidates which we had thought will be good for this project because our company have more experience on this type of project and a team from Uchiha Corp. had finalises them" Neji said once he gets everyone attention back.
"Don't you think we also need someone senior and more experienced to guide us through this?" Sai asked this time, a little doubt shading his voice.
"We are aware of that" this time it was Sasuke to answer; he doesn't like this guy for some reason so he narrows his eyes a little as he continues "a team from Uchiha Corp. will also be working with us in this; team Kakashi, I think you have heard about them."
"OMG, you mean the famous team Kakashi?" Ino said excited "I can't believe this that we will work with them."
"And not only that" Naruto said as he stops doodling on his notepad, finally giving his attention to the meeting "the company heads are taking personal interest in this project; by that I mean Hiashi-san and Fugaku-san."
"And how did you know that, fox boy?" Kiba asked curious.
"Well, I already had a meeting with the Uchiha head yesterday to judge my ability, seeing that I am a fresher and all that" Naruto said keeping his pen down "I know quite few details more than you about the project. Apparently the final report and decision will be taken by the company heads while Neji and the teme here will be working as our leader" he said pointing towards now scowling Sasuke.
"Thank you for your information Naruto" Neji said with a frown towards him for the remark towards Sasuke "as you have heard, that's the whole thing and you all are very lucky to be a part of such big project" he takes some files out as he continues "these files contains the details of the project, I am giving you each one, study them in details and if you have any other question ask me or Sasuke."
"When is the project starting" it is Shikamaru who finally speaks for the first time throughout the meeting.
"We still have some loose ends to tie up like a final meeting with the whole team and the higher ups, selecting the contractors and many such things. My guess is it will take us almost two months to finally start with the project" he turns towards Sasuke for conformation which is supported by s simple nod of head.
"While my meeting with you is complete there is two meetings left one for team Kakashi to join us and the second one will be with my otou-san and Hyuga-san" Sasuke said once he gets everyone's attention "I can try to manage the both meetings together and I think it will be convenient and save our time."
"That's good idea Sasuke that way we can start with the project as soon as possible" Neji said with a small smile "I will talk to oji-san about this and I think he will also be agree with that. I think you all have understood everything, any problem and you can ask me. That's all for today's meeting" Neji turns to Sasuke for conformation who is busy glaring at the pair opposite to him as he saw Sai slide a note to Naruto which was returned quickly.
'I wonder what that dobe is planning now and not less with that weirdo, and why is he even smiling like that, I thought that dobe didn't like him seeing the earlier commotion and all that' Sasuke though angrily as he sees them to exchange notes back and forth both having smile on their face but he is quickly interrupted as Neji clears his throat to gain his attention; he turns towards Neji with a questioning look as he saw Neji looking at him with curious eyes.
"Oh yes, I think that's all for today's meeting and I will talk with my father as soon as possible" Sasuke said once he remembers what they were discussing about while standing up "if you will excuse me now, I have to be back at my office as soon as possible."
"Very well then" Neji said with a smile as he stands up as well as rest of the occupants of the room "see you soon Sasuke and I will also talk with oji-san as soon as possible" he said shaking Sasuke's hand who was trying to look at the pair opposite to him from the corner of his eyes "don't mind them" Neji said as he notices Sasuke's eyes and continues when he gets his attention "they are usually like that, one moment they are fighting and the next they are patching up."
Sasuke takes a quick look at the pair now doodling over a same notebook their head bumping into each other every now and then "are they..." Sasuke trail off unsure of his question "are they... u know...mmm.."
"Couple?" Neji finishes for his chuckling lightly "everyone has that confusion but no, not yet. Thought we will not be oppose if they became one" he continues in a fond voice as he look at the pair ignorant of the slight change of emotion in Sasuke's face "Sai has this crush on Naruto form our college days and we really wish that Naruto at least give him a chance" he finishes looking back at Sasuke.
"I really don't care about all that details" Sasuke said in a straight voice as he notices the confused look on Neji he continues "if you will excuse me I have to leave now."
"Let me escort you to your car" Neji said politely but before Sasuke can reply they are interrupted by none other than the loud blond.
"Neji, I am going out with Sai and leaving for the day" Naruto said standing up while dragging Sai behind "see you tomorrow" he said over his shoulder as they left the room.
"There they go again" Ino said with a huff "don't you guys think that he really should give Sai a chance now?"
"Ino you don't understand anything at all" Shikamaru comments as he finally stands up.
"You are one to talk Shika, seeing that you are always asleep and don't pay any attention to your surroundings" Ino replies angrily "what do you know about any one's feelings?"
"More that you I guess" he replies lazily.
"No Shika you don't know anything" Ino said in a small voice "seeing that you can't even see past around friendship."
"Troublesome" Shikamaru mutters under his breath as he proceeds to leave the room Ino quickly following behind.
Neji only shake his head as he is already adjusted to the usual routine of them and turns towards Sasuke who was looking at the door with a frown on his face.
"Is there something wrong?" Neji asked to gain Sasuke's attention.
"No, nothing's wrong" Sasuke answers a moment later as he proceeds to exit the room after collecting his things.
"Well then let me escort you to your car" Neji offers politely as he follows Sasuke out "and please don't mind about the team; they can seem a little off at the times but I can assure you they are the best in their own way."
"You really don't need to see me off, I know my way around now" Sasuke said politely as they enter the elevator "and no I am not worried about them; if all of you have faith in this team then of course you have seen something potential in then and you are much more experienced than me in this field."
"Thank you for putting your confidence on them" Neji said civilly as they exited the lift and walk towards the parking "I will be looking forward to the message from you then about the next meeting."
"Yes I will talk with otou-san and let you know by tomorrow probably" Sasuke said with a small smile as he enters his car "see you later" he exited the parking after receiving greetings from Neji.
Sasuke eyes narrows as he spots the pair of Naruto and Sai entering inside a coffee shop, chatting happily to each other. There is a twist inside his gut which he cannot explain properly, he is feeling like this ever since he had entered the team room at Byakugan earlier; maybe it was something he ate on his way here, that's the reason he didn't prefer junk food. Sasuke drive away with that conclusion in mind, far from reaching the truth.
Sasuke enters his office after coming back; he quickly checks the watch and sees it is almost time for him to leave; he quickly gathers up everything and went out to his father's office. He sees Kakashi and Fugaku having a conversation over some papers and takes a seat at the couch as he is been ask to wait for some moment.
Sasuke watches them back and forth to go over the files and it takes them almost half an hour to finally finish with the work. They quickly gather the files and stands up.
"Sasuke you must be bored right now" Kakashi said as they finally left the office and walk down the hallway.
"Not really, it was quite fun to watch you to get a scold from otou-san" Sasuke replied with a smirk.
"I wouldn't call it scolding" Kakashi said as they enter the lift "it was more like a gentle banter."
"I believe it was exactly what Sasuke said" Fugaku interrupts this time and as he sees Kakashi groan and Sasuke smirking a bit he continues "you can be quite lazy with your work sometimes."
"But it wasn't my fault" Kakashi tries to protest as they exits the lift and walk into the parking "I wasn't the one who did that."
"Of course and whose fault is that to dumping his work on others in the first place?" Fugaku said as he unlocks his car and gets in "now meet me at home and don't be late this time for dinner."
"Is he coning with us tonight?" Sasuke asks as he watches his father drive out the parking.
"Yes, we have much unfinished work to do" Fugaku said controlling a sigh to escape "I am never going to let Itachi leave the office anytime soon."
"Aniki's absence is sure getting to all of you" Sasuke comments as he looks out of the window.
Fugaku notices his son to look out through the window and he realises he didn't saw Sasuke around office much "what were you doing all day long today" he asks after a moment of silence.
"You haven't got my message? I left one with Maira" Sasuke asks turning back to his father.
"I didn't saw her all day also" Fugaku said as he turns towards their lane "I was too busy today."
"I went to Byakugan today" Sasuke said as they enters their driveway "we had a team meeting today and I met all the candidates of our team."
"You didn't say anything about a team meeting this morning?" Fugaku asks curious as they exit the car.
"Yes, actually it wasn't planned" Sasuke said as they enters the house and proceeds to take off his shoes "I called Neji this morning to ask something when he told me that if I want then he can arrange a team meeting today. I thought it will be a good idea to meet all of them, seeing that we will be working together and all."
"That was a good decision" Kakashi's voice interrupts them as they walk into the leaving room.
"Boys, no discussing office work now" Mikoto said as she enters the room and saw them chatting "go upstairs and freshen up then we can talk over dinner" she says as he mentions them towards the stairs "and that includes you too Kakashi, now go and hurry up."
When they all come downstairs later they saw the dinner table is perfectly arranged and Mikoto is waiting for their arrival. As they take their seat Mikoto starts to serve them.
"Now Sasuke tell me how was your meeting today" Fugaku asks as he takes a bite of his food.
"It was overall good otou-san" Sasuke replies as he swallow his food "I meet everyone today and we also have a advantage in choosing them, they all are from Neji's team."
"I see, that's good" Kakashi said this time "that way they will be comfortable with each other and we can avoid any conflict as they all have experience about how the other works."
"Indeed" Fugaku said nodding his head "we have make good choices."
"Yes we have made good choices but I wouldn't be so sure of the conflict part" Sasuke said and continues after he sees the confuse look on both his father and Kakashi's face "the whole time I was there they all didn't do anything but fight with each other and calling each other names except for some people."
"Now now Sasuke, don't be soo rude" Mikoto interrupted as she sees the troubles expression on everyone "that can only be their friendly banter; I am sure they must be a lively group of people to work with."
"I don't know about that okaa-san, they all are a bunch of headache" Sasuke said as he takes another bite of his food and continues after swallowing "though no one is as annoying as that dobe" Sasuke finished as he narrows his eyes, the earlier events coming back to his mind.
"Sasuke don't say like that sweetie" Mikoto reprimands him lightly as she continues "and you promised us that you will talk with him properly the next time you meet him, have you done that?" she asks in a sharp tone to gain even the rest of the two males attention to the conversation.
In any other situation Sasuke would have flinch to that tone but this time he is too much irritated to even think about that "I didn't get any time to talk with him today; apparently he was too busy today to give me any attention" Sasuke said as he narrows his eyes and stab a piece of tomato with his chopsticks. The elders exchange worried looks with each other as they watch Sasuke continue to stab his food.
"Umm... Sasuke dear" Mikoto said after a moment as she put a gentle hand on his shoulder "its ok, you can talk with him later. I am sure he has his own work in the company to look after."
"No, that idiot was busy in something else" Sasuke said irritated "he was... forget it who am I to interfere with him" he sighs then turns towards his mother "you are right okaa-san; I will take with him later when we met."
"That's great" Mikoto replies with a smile "now let's finish the dinner" she continues in a cheerful tone but exchange a glace with Fugaku and watches Kakashi to watch Sasuke intently for a moment and then get back to his food. The rest of the dinner is spent in comfortable silence with few words here and there.
After dinner is over Sasuke comes to his room and think about the earlier event at dinner; he didn't know why he reacted like that when he heard the dobe's name. The only thing he could remember at that moment was the dobe interacting with that weirdo and his temper flare automatically and even now he is getting irritated to remember that. He takes a deep breath to control himself and walk out of the room towards his father's office; he knocks on the door when he reaches there and enters the room once he gets permission.
"Sasuke" Fugaku greets over the files once he enters the room "do you need anything?"
"Otou-san, you look really busy" Sasuke said as he stands near the table "there is too much work for you to handle, is there anything I can do to help?" Sasuke finishes as he sees both the other occupants of the room looks at him weirdly. 'Is my request for help that much of a surprise? Granted I never wanted to do anything with the office work before but now I am part of this company so it's quite natural I guess and I also need something to distract myself' he thought with a frown but didn't show any outward reaction.
"I am not so sure about this" Fugaku said after a moment of silence as he exchanges glance with Kakashi, both thinking the same thing "there are few very complicated projects included in this and you are not enough experience to handle them."
"Oh, I see" Sasuke started in a dejected tone.
"But if you insist" he is quickly cut off by Fugaku as he shuffles through the files "there are few new projects from some small companies which you can read over and if you can handle them you can also lessen the burden for us" Fugaku said as he handle Sasuke four files from under the pile of work.
"Thank you otou-san" Sasuke replies with a smile as he takes the files "I also have something else to ask you."
"Of course, what is it?" Fugaku asks as he looks towards Sasuke.
"We talked about this in you meeting today and we wanted to do a full team meeting later on."
"Yes, I am aware of that. it is important to do a full team meeting before we start a project."
"Yes, actually we are thinking to do the full team meeting and final meeting together to save the time" Sasuke said as he watches his father and Kakashi for their response "Neji's team is busy with another project now and he also said that he will talk with Hyuga-san about this, I just wanted to ask for your opinion."
"I get your point Sasuke" Fugaku said as he nodded his head "and I think it's a good idea seeing that both me and Kakashi are now very busy to spare two different days on same meeting" he looks toward Sasuke as he continues "I will talk with Hiashi about this and let you know. Is that all?"
"Yes otou-san" Sasuke said as he nodded his head and turns to walk to the couch.
"And Sasuke" Fugaku said and continues once Sasuke turn around towards him "you are doing good" he said with a smile as he went back to his work along with Kakashi who was silently watching everything up until now.
Sasuke walk towards the couch and sits down as he starts to read out the files a small smile playing on his face all along.
TBC...
A/N: So what do you think about this chapter? Was it good?
I have left some hints here and there for you guys to follow. Please give me your reviews on the story. I will be patiently waiting for your feedback.
Please R&R.