Author's Rant: I think only one person guessed who is appearing in this chapter- Let's see if you were right! I hope you like it.
Sasuke stopped Naruto outside the door of the conference room.
"Before we go in," Sasuke spoke in hushed tones, even though their was no one else around to hear them. "I need to educate you on a few things. I can't have you asking stupid questions because your job is to listen. Not speak."
"Wow, what a job that is." Naruto wasted no energy on the sarcasm, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were embarrassed of me."
If Sasuke didn't know any better, he'd say he was losing brain cells just trying to stand here and explain everything to him, but he digressed. Sasuke sighed.
"The man you're about to meet is from a competing company. His name is Sarutobi, and he is a member of that companies board of directors. They are in favor of the recent merger."
Naruto took the chance to raise his hand.
"We're not in school, stupid."
"Shut it Sasuke- what's a merger?"
Sasuke paused to take in Naruto's lack of business knowledge despite working in an esteemed business.
"Did you learn anything in class?"
"We learned that stuff in high school?"
"I meant college, Naruto."
"Oh..."
Naruto scratched his cheek.
"Well, I was only in college for a year. Funds yanno? 'Sides I had to work to pay off a few things...I thought you creeps knew everything." Naruto's lip made a direct downwards turn, his brilliant blue eyes suddenly clouding with somber discomfort.
Itachi knew everything. Sasuke could know everything, if he made it his business to know. But he never tried to look into Naruto's background. Though now, their was that nagging curiosity that made him wish he had. This wasn't the first time Sasuke heard about Naruto and his financial troubles. Itachi also mentioned once that Naruto owed a lot of money...but since when? Since high school? Why in the world would Naruto owe anyone anything? He could talk his way out of a paper bag, much less his way out of debt. Then again...no, wait, maybe this wasn't his first time hearing about it. Sasuke vaguely recalled the dipshit mentioning something to him once about home troubles and-
Sasuke froze.
Hah...Sasuke ran a hand through his hair in a motion of sudden perpetual anxiety. That was such a long, long time ago, it was silly to think it had anything to do with the rut Naruto was in now. Yet just remembering how they used to be, how Naruto at one point confided in him during a brief peace where they weren't at each others throats, was enough to make Sasuke's placid outer shell crack, if by a slither. Such a time did in fact exist, but it only lasted a few months...until- well, things happened.
Why was he even wondering about him? It was ridiculous to imagine Naruto handling money. He shouldn't be wasting his energy. After all, this was the same Naruto who trusted a hobo with his wallet while incapacitated. Knowing him, the imbecile probably maxed out all his credit cards on ramen or something. Still...Sasuke was, if you could put it lightly, intrigued by Naruto's words. He didn't plan on helping him out. As if. However, as Naruto's boss wouldn't it be in his best interest to know what financial predicaments his employee was in? Thinking about it that way, it suddenly made more sense and justified the snooping he would eventually do. But right now...
...he noticed Naruto had gone quiet.
Naruto was too busy thinking about his next payment due at the end of the month. That, plus the rent, plus helping Kiba out with the electric bill- man he was so screwed. He hoped his first pay check was big, (which it promised to be) because he sure needed a miracle if he didn't want those two hounding him. Kiba fended them off last time, but Naruto didn't want to depend on his best friend for help. Hopefully he would have enough before the two debt collectors came knocking at his door. The same debt collectors that mysteriously showed up just hours after Jiraiya's demise.
Naruto's mind reluctantly began to recount the steely gaze of a bespectacled, merciless silver head. The voice of a money-hungry, unforgiving snake whom for a long time, tormented him with phone calls and weekly visits to make sure that what Jiraiya had owed was paid in full. Now that he thought about it, changing jobs so often when you have a massive amount of money to pay off was probably not so smart, but Naruto wanted...well, something out of this. If he was going to work until he dropped for life, which seemed to be the case with what the old man owed, he wanted to find something he loved doing. Most people went to college to figure that out, but Naruto wasn't that lucky, so hopping jobs was the only alternative. Pretty sad, yeah, but true.
"Naruto."
Naruto steered away from his endless gateways of thought and noticed Sasuke was staring at him with evident...concern?
Sasuke looked away. Such a look was gone in an instant and replaced with irritation.
"Pay attention. A merger is when one company buys out another. This won't only be in the best interest of my company, but theirs. And they know this, so they've willingly agreed to let us attain them."
Naruto nodded his head, sort of half-getting it but he wanted to make doubly sure. "So uh...basically they're not doing so well, and you're being a dick by taking advantage of them?"
Sasuke's eye twitched. Seems like he was developing a permanent tick.
"Well...if you want to put it that way, yes." Sasuke recovered and smirked, "That's exactly what's happening." Though for public appearances they could never voice that out loud. Saying, "Well we're in some pretty deep shit, so we sold out," would only hurt stocks, and Sarutobi's company, Anbu, prides themselves on keeping their stockholders best interest in mind. Thus, why they've agreed to merging. Else it would be downhill for them.
Naruto frowned and crossed his arms.
"Wow, kind of an asshole move there."
"If you think about it, I'm actually helping them." Sasuke mused, fixing his collar and resting his hand on the golden doorknob. "Otherwise they would sink on their own, and then nobody wins. Their would be no benefit for either of us."
"...Still, that's pretty messed up. The business world is brutal." Sasuke clutched the handle. Yes, it was quite brutal, but that's what it took to survive in Sasuke's world. It was either eat, or be eaten. Quite the doggy dog world indeed. Naruto watched Sasuke turn towards him with a pretty evil sneer.
"Welcome to the real world, dumbass."
And then, the two of them stepped inside...
...to see a man straight out of the stone age.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was living proof that dinosaurs still walked the earth.
As they entered the conference room, Naruto half-expected to see another dark-haired, self-righteous, worship-me-peasant businessman at the end of the large rectangular table. But instead, he saw an elderly man with enough liver spots on his face to warrant a hostile takeover. The crow's feet were long, pronounced lines running from his sagged eyes, to his high, definite cheekbones. Sarutobi had a deep crease running along his wrinkled forehead, and he wore a dark blue robe and wooden sandals, making Naruto question if they were in modern day Japan or the Feudal Era.
With further analyzing, Naruto realized he was a short fellow, with light brown skin and grey hair, and he had a long goatee that looked like it nested all breeds of wild birds. Naruto stopped his inspection to listen for the sounds of chirping. He squinted his eyes in a weak effort to pinpoint a beak, but his attention was easily driven away to the puffy wart under Sarutobi's nostril, which gave him a new ambition to stalk over and pop it. A wart here, and a wart there, Naruto was counting them like he counted candy in grade school before Sasuke jabbed him hard in the kidney, his face screaming what the hell are you doing?
The other man in the room could feel the blonde assistants eyes on him, and he felt highly uncomfortable by it. Naruto smiled warily at the confused elder. It wasn't his fault. Naruto realized he'd been staring, but he couldn't help it. Sarutobi's appearance permitted Naruto to gawk. He was freaking ancient. Definitely not what Naruto expected when Karin had given Sasuke the news. It was pretty lousy of him, yeah he knew, to make such biased assumptions. Naruto had expected someone young and vibrant (or in Sasuke's case, somber) to turn up at this conference, but now that he thought about it, he guessed it wasn't too surprising that an older dude was here. Besides, Jiraiya worked hard until the day he died, so Naruto admired Sarutobi for not taking it easy. He must've been passionate about his job, and passion was something Naruto highly respected.
Sasuke noticed Naruto's out of character silence. He nudged Naruto again in the side, causing the other to tip over and almost lose his balance. Call it punishment for getting lost in space, or revenge for the elevator, but the raven was getting annoyed of that glazed over look on the idiots face. Seems like Naruto still had that horrible case of attention deficit disorder, and if need be Sasuke would medicate Naruto himself if it'd save face the next time they met with important figures. Sasuke cleared his throat. For now, he would have to deal with it and fly through this meeting quickly and smoothly. As long as Naruto didn't say anything, do anything, or touch anything, there would be no problems. None at all.
Sarutobi cleared his throat.
"Shall we begin?" His voice was a low, raspy rumble.
"Yes," Sasuke responded flatly. "Naruto, sit."
The command was said with such domineering finality that it caused Naruto to steer his head towards Sasuke in disbelief. What. Did. He. Just- Naruto couldn't hide his anger any longer (not that he did such a good job at hiding it before). Did Sasuke just talk to him like he was some damned pet in training? Naruto didn't know who Sasuke thought he was talking to, but there was no way in the four corners of hell that Naruto would let him get away with treating him like a dog.
"With all due respect, boss," Naruto muttered icily, "I don't think I need your permission to sit down. I'm pretty capable of doing that on my own without his holiness havin' to tell me. So why don't ya just focus on the meeting and I'll focus on sitting whenever the heck I want."
Sasuke's knuckles turned white.
No surprise Naruto couldn't control that mouth of his, but to say such a thing in front of him with not a hint of restraint warranted severe punishment. Punishment Sasuke's fingers were have been itching to distribute. Sasuke's expression, however, held no such indignation or purpose. He continued to stare at Naruto as if his arguing didn't irritate him, but was pointless and foolish. Naruto's breath hitched when Sasuke leaned down and whispered into his ear. "If you don't need me to tell you, then why are you still standing?"
His warm breath fanned against the lobe of Naruto's ear, causing Naruto to shiver at the smell of expensive cologne, coconut, and Sasuke. Even though Naruto's mind was hazing over, for reasons he just couldn't connect the dots with, he was determined to not let Sasuke make him look stupid. Naruto's cheeks dusted with a light sheen of red. Fat chance there. What was going on with his face? Was his tie on too tight? He swore the temperature spiked some.
Because of the shitty clothes he was forced to wear, Naruto concluded it was obviously cutting off circulation to his face.
He shakily inhaled and whispered back just as harshly, knowing he probably looked ridiculous.
"I'm standing because...'cause uh-..." Naruto trailed off inarticulately. Sasuke smirked. Waiting for something clever.
"...I was...-I was gonna pull your chair out for you!" Naruto smiled to himself. Good save, good save. "Y'know, 'cause that's what good assistants do. Didn't your parents ever teach you about common courtesy and junk? Manners, Sasuke." Naruto lightly tsked, wagging a finger. Then he pulled out the chair, which dragged against the floor with a loud, graceless screech, before bowing dramatically.
"After you, sir."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Did Naruto think this was a conference, or a dance? Responding with that trademark Uchiha sound, Sasuke allowed himself to be seated. Albeit being extremely hesitant, given Naruto's track record in the past of pulling the infamous empty-chair pranks. So he was relieved when Naruto pushed in his chair for him.
"Now I'll sit down." The idiot announced.
"Great." Came Sasuke's stale response. This time, with the obvious manifestation of Sasuke's anger, Naruto was more than happy to oblige. He pulled out the cushioned office chair and slid in merrily next to Sasuke. He then rested his forearms on the tabletop, peering at the geezer (who was watching them in quiet amusement) curiously.
"S'rry about that. Me and grumpy here were just having a friendly morning spat."
Sasuke stepped on Naruto's foot from underneath the table.
"GAH!"
"I apologize for the delay." Sasuke covered it up smoothly with his own voice, gaze unwavering. "I had to grab a few things."
Sarutobi gave the businessman a light smile while Naruto clenched his hand into a fist, biting his lip to hold back a few deadly expletives.
"That is quite alright. I have not seen you before. Are you new?" Sarutobi asked, extending a bony finger towards the prickly blond. Naruto composed himself and smiled widely in return.
"That's right, I just started today."
"Aah, I see." Sarutobi chuckled. "Well, I'm happy to see someone so young and eager to work. This is quite a change, Sasuke. From what I remember, you've always had a female assistant."
"Things change." Sasuke quipped sourly. "Accidents happen."
The jab didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, who folded his arms and opened his mouth to rip Sasuke a new one. But Sarutobi was quick to cut him off.
"Well, I'm sure he will do a fine job," Sarutobi looked to Naruto once more, who grinned back appreciatively. "and your name is...?"
"Naruto. Nice to meet ya."
"Indeed it is, Naruto. I look forward to seeing you again in the future-"
"-very unlikely." Sasuke quickly interjected. He was getting real tired real quick of Naruto's charm (if that's what you could even call it) winning people over, and they needed to get to the matter at hand. Slapping the folders he grabbed from his office on the table top, Sasuke opened the one he needed and pulled out a few papers before sliding them all the way down to Sarutobi. Naruto wondered why the two elite men were sitting on opposite ends of this grossly, over sized black stretch table, but he guessed it must've been for appearances or some dramatic display of power. Talk about havin' a huge ego.
"I'm sure you two can get more acquainted after we discuss that...important matter."
Sarutobi grunted.
"Hm...yes, quite the important matter indeed."
The old mans features hardened and Naruto was pretty sure he turned into a different person. Sarutobi regarded Sasuke with caution, whereas Sasuke's own demeanor morphed into a deadly faction of his former self. Completely on his guard. The powerful men engaged in a silent, tension-filled standoff until Sarutobi was the first to speak.
"I've come here to inform you that Danzo is against what is taking place, so you might want to take care in how you intend to proceed..." The words were laced with heavy warning. Sasuke sneered.
"I see." He wasn't pleased by whatever secret message was just communicated, (not that Naruto could read minds because their seemed to be a LOT more going on here). Sasuke rubbed the skin between his forehead then leaned back in his chair.
"Does Danzo intend to try and stop it himself?" Sasuke reached into the folder he brought along with him and brought the paper up to his face. "Or is that why he's sent a spy to try and dig up what he can?"
"I don't know anything about that. It's news to me, and the board has no knowledge of such underhanded tactics occurring. Do you have any proof?"
"Itachi is on it. Meanwhile, someone I trust has been keeping a close eye on him."
"Hm." Sarutobi hummed, standing up to walk towards the nearest window and gaze beyond the glare of other office buildings. "Then if that's the case, if their are any new developments, I would hope you'd let me know..."
Naruto tried to take it all in. With all the hidden undertones, this conversation was taking a quick turn into yakuza territory. Naruto couldn't follow it at all! They even had the secret dialogue going on, down to the over-top emphasis on words, and the cliche, overbearing pauses. Just who were they talkin' about here? It was almost like Naruto was watching an office soap opera. Then suddenly, Naruto's mind began to piece some of it together. Sasuke mentioned a spy, someone Juugo was watching. Didn't Juugo say earlier that he was keeping a close eye on Sai at Sasuke's request? So did that mean that that asshole Sai was the spy?!
"What's going on?" Naruto whined so only Sasuke could hear. "Is that why you've got Juugo watching Sai? 'Cause this Danzo guy, or whatever his name is, is watching? Who's Danzo? Oi, Sasuke, what are you talking about? Help me out here."
Sasuke closed his eyes.
"We, Naruto, are the ones talking. You, moron, are listening."
"Well the guy that's listening sucks at morse code- maybe try speaking a language I understand?" Naruto rebutted.
A snort.
"Then I'd have to speak idiot; and fortunately, I don't know that language."
"You know what-!"
"Ahem."
They heard Sarutobi clear his throat again. Naruto and Sasuke pulled away from each other. Sarutobi picked up his things and walked towards them. He held out his hand and Sasuke took it in a firm grip.
"That's all I needed to know."
Sasuke stood up with Naruto following his lead.
"Worried I can't take care of myself?"
Sarutobi chuckled.
"No. I expected this of Fugaku's son. You remind me of him you know. He never ceased to surprise me, and you take after him, Sasuke."
Those words caused a familiar sensation to bubble up in Sasuke's chest, but before he could give way to it a hand was placed on his shoulder, wise eyes peering into his own with genuine care.
"But I do advise that you are careful."
"There's no real threat. Just the pathetic attempts of a desperate man."
"Well, that man is also my brother..." Sarutobi's words were full of obvious disappointment, "and if what you're saying is true, as pathetic as it may be, it will fall on me to distribute the proper punishment."
They broke off from one another. Understanding communicated with no more words. Sasuke trusted that he would. Sarutobi was a no nonsense man. A patient man, yes, but would do what was necessary if it were for the benefit of his company, even if it meant taking steps against his own brother. Naruto stood a little ways away from the two of them, feeling out of the loop. Maybe someone could clue him in on what happened later. This whole mess was confusing, though he supposed whatever it was, Sasuke had it handled.
There was an abrupt, hasty knock on the door.
Naruto opened it to find a thin guy with black shades and a dark blue flak jacket panting like he'd been running from angry pirates. He shakily held out his hand and reached out for Sarutobi.
"S-sir..! Sir!"
He clutched his chest.
"Oh god- Let me catch my breath!"
Naruto looked back and forth between the two men to get the signal to call for an ambulance, but no such signal was given.
"Let me guess..." The elder began tiredly.
"Y-yes! I swear, I let him look around for ONE second and he vanishes. T-the young master is ridiculously fast- he ran before I could catch him."
"...I knew this would happen."
Sasuke lifted an eyebrow.
"Just what is the problem?"
Sarutobi placed a hand on his forehead and sighed. "My grandson Konohamaru asked if he could tag along. He was curious as to what the inside of the Uchiha building looked like, so I said why not."
"And now he's loose somewhere doing god-knows-what?"
"Yes! I can't trust him to behave himself!" The assistant screamed, gripping his head as if on the verge of a panic attack. "H-he tripped and fell earlier and was threatening to sue for reckless endangerment- your heir is a danger to himself sir." Naruto had a feeling the poor guy was used to dealing with the kids shenanigans. It kind of reminded him of his mischievous days as a ten year old. Jiraiya really had his hands full raising him. The panic-stricken shaded dude fell to his knees in a heap.
"Oh god, what if I don't find him? What if he stirs up trouble?"
"Ebisu, calm down. I'll search the building."
"No sir!" Ebisu hastily bit out, "I must insist that I find him! A man in your prime shouldn't be exerting himself. It was my mistake, and I'll correct it."
"Ehrm..."
Naruto volunteered a hand, giving a non-threatening smile to Ebisu who looked almost close to tears. "Yanno...I can always, uh, try to find the squirt?" He offered.
"REALLY?!
Ebisu grabbed Naruto's hands and shook them furiously. His eyes sparkled like he'd won the lottery or something.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Uhhh..no problem?"
Just what was he getting himself into?
"How hard can it be to find him?" Naruto lightly asked.
"..."
Ebisu brought his knees to his chest. The look of horror on his face could out match any other, even Naruto's when he was hanging off the side of Sasuke's building.
"Y-you..." the man trailed off shakily, "you have NO idea..."
And thus Naruto began his epic journey:
Trying to find Sarutobi's grandson in a big-ass office building.
Author's closing Notes:
Welp this was harder to write then I thought. Holy crap this chapter is long, but the next one should be finished up soon. Any feedback is appreciated! (be gentle dear god,) and tell me what you think?
Also! For those of you who are following my other story: Private Paranormals, that one should be updated within this week.
Konohamaru! One of my most favorite characters ever appeared finally!
A lot of fics these days lack this kid, but he's SO fun to write. I don't see why he isn't used more often. It paaaaaiiins me. Hopefully I can write him decently, and I look forward to updating soon! Also! To all reviewers, I really love your comments and critique and you guys just make my day. If there's anyone I didn't respond to, let me know! =)
Thanking the reviewers: hananotsuki hime , SasuNaruShipper, Sweetikkie, Of Fans And Flames , Akirakun17, Chibimichichi, ColorlessxrainboW, Sake-Chama, Fukochan-starfish, pervyprincess, SaVvYsWeEt, NiwaKonzen, appl3xpie , Guest, Killua17, TKM, Goten trunks5, and Shia Naru. (I hope I'm not missing anyone!)
Till next time!