Chapter Fourteen: Times Flies

It was hard to believe how quickly time had passed. So many things had happened in such a short space of time that the sudden realisation over five months had passed was unbelievable for Sakura. She had come into work feeling chirpy as it was a beautiful day, when she checked her calendar and saw she had marked onto today: NARUTO'S TRIAL PERIOD ENDS ON FRIDAY! How had that gone so fast?

Naruto was a shinier, more improved version of the self he was before. He was more confident, able to articulate his arguments better, more knowledgeable about the business world and feeling overall positive and optimistic about everything. His attitude was catching on floor ninety six; he had made several new friends which he babbled about often. Konohamaru had come out with the group a few times, bringing with him his girlfriend Moegi who had gotten along well with everyone. Naruto had dazzled investors countless times at presentations and was becoming a star player on the floor despite being only an apprentice. Uchiha Powers was gaining good publicity from hiring an apprentice and there were even talks of an official scheme, taking on half a dozen a year for the same six month period because it was going so well.

Sasuke wasn't so sure about this idea apparently – although again there were talks of delegating the task to someone else so Sasuke wasn't so personally involved. Sakura was reading a memo about this at that very moment, smiling to herself. Sasuke had taken such a shining to Naruto, she wasn't sure why although the blond was very infectious. The past half a year had been good to him.

It hadn't been quite as good for the rest of her friends. Ino was still living with Sakura, but she wasn't quite as sad as she had been. She and Choji had managed to endure an evening out together, where they spent most of the time ignoring each other. This was generally how their nights out as a group went now for the two of them – but at least both of them could be invited out. Choji and Shikamaru were less able to be in the same place, despite Shikamaru trying his hardest each time to strike up a conversation. Choji either got angry or had to leave or ignored him completely. That was still very awkward. Especially when Choji saw Shikamaru happy with Temari – the two of them insisted their relationship wasn't really a relationship and it wasn't serious but anyone could see they loved each other.

Sakura sighed as she thought about her friends. How she wished she could mend Shikamaru's friendship with Choji, and Choji's relationship with Ino. It was obvious Choji and Ino still loved each other, so why weren't they trying to figure it out? Sakura tried to imagine taking someone back who had cheated on with…well; she supposed it would have to be Naruto as he was her best friend. Whenever she put herself in Choji's shoes she knew she couldn't do it. She just secretly hoped Choji was a more forgiving person than her.

What about her life? Everyone else seemed to be at least doing something. Naruto was excelling, Sai was showcasing his paintings in a museum this weekend and they were all going to go and see them, Shikamaru was remarkably starting a PGCE in the coming September after a lot of deliberation and a bit of luck, Choji's restaurant was going well and he was even expanding with three new restaurants, Gaara had been elected as the local MP…maybe she should start thinking about her dream job as a nurse and feel like she was moving forward with her life.

Before she could question the progress of her life and where she wanted to be now any further, her best friend strode confidently into the building, his ready smile always on his face. Naruto was so happy now; he made everyone around him unbelievably happy too. Sakura's worries faded as soon as she saw him. How could anyone be sad with this loveable blond around?

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto yelled excitedly, earning himself an eyebrow raise from a haughty looking man in a suit waiting for the lift. Naruto didn't care what he thought, he didn't even know him. And he was in a particularly good mood today as a presentation last Friday had gone brilliantly. He wondered what would be in store for him this week.

Sakura found her expression mirroring Naruto's as her grin stretched wider. "Hey there you," she said warmly, ignoring a notification that had popped on her computer informing her of something to do, "how was your weekend?"

The group hadn't met up this weekend. Well, Sakura was sure Lee and Shikamaru must have collided at some point over the weekend visiting Gaara and Temari respectively, but other than that nothing had happened. She and Ino had stayed in and ordered a pizza on Friday night and then on Saturday Ino had a night shift so Sakura found herself alone with the leftover pizza. It was strange for them not to meet up for their usual jaunts and as Sakura realised this she decided to organise something particularly special for this Friday coming, to celebrate Naruto's end as an apprentice.

"Great thanks. Mainly was catching up on some work, but I spent some time with Hinata and Sai." He replied. "You should have come over, or we should have all done something."

Sakura nodded. "I was just thinking that. We're all going out this Friday though for a big posh dinner to celebrate you!"

Naruto looked puzzled. "Me? What are we celebrating me for?"

Sakura chuckled. "You've forgotten, haven't you? Your trial period ends this Friday!"

Naruto's face drained itself of all colour as this news sank in. It couldn't be over so soon, surely! Where had the time gone? Was he ready for the next step? Was there even going to be a next step? He had a good relationship with Sasuke but it was and had been for the past five months purely professional. He hadn't ever had that awkward conversation with Sasuke about how he felt, and by now he was pretty sure Sasuke had forgotten all about that and didn't care about him anymore. But what if he was secretly angry about that and didn't want him working in the company now? Once the trial period was over he would be back at square one again, only with a little more experience. He was suddenly panicked. He had to talk to Sasuke.

A hand was waving in front of his face and his eyes blinked and focused on the movement, startled. It was Sakura, who was looking very amused.

"You just completely zoned out there. Are you okay? You're looking kind of pale." She said. She took a long look at Naruto and gave him a sympathetic smile. "You have nothing to worry about, you know that. He'll offer you a job."

"I just completely forgot how much time had gone by. I was so used to doing this…" Naruto stopped, frowning. "Didn't I start on a Tuesday? Why don't I have until next Tuesday?"

Sakura shrugged. "Beats me. This is Sasuke we're talking about after all; he makes his own rules within his own company."

"Damn it." Naruto muttered under his breath. However, he couldn't stay and talk with Sakura any longer as his shiny watch told him it was 8:56am. He had to hurry or he'd end up being late exactly when he didn't want to.

"I'll see you later. At lunch?" Naruto asked Sakura.

"Sure thing. I'll wait here for you and we'll go get a baguette or something, okay?"

"Definitely." Naruto answered, already hurrying to the lift and pressing the button. Luckily, it was only on the tenth floor and came down pretty fast. He was in the lift and going up after only a minute. He was going to be on time, just about. He knew he was going to have to confront Sasuke about their situation, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Sakura went back to her computer, looking forward to spending some time with Naruto later. She hoped he was with her. She didn't know why he looked so worried. What was there to worry about? Sasuke clearly liked him and would keep him on. Surely there was no tension between them. It was just Naruto panicking unnecessarily.

XXX

When Ino woke up blearily to the sound of her phone ringing, she couldn't believe the ringtone. About a year ago, when she had first gotten this new phone and was excited by all it could, she had set a personal ringtone for everyone so that she could know who was calling before she even checked. And this ringtone, a jaunty, happy tune, was Choji's. She sat bolt upright in bed and then fumbled around helplessly looking for it. Tucked ever so slightly underneath her bed was her phone and as she scrambled to answer it she felt sure her voicemail was going to kick in.

She hesitated a brief moment as she finally had the phone in her hand, thumb hovering above the answer symbol on the screen. She could wait no longer and pressed it.

"Choji?" She whispered, her voice hoarse from lack of use during the night.

There was a silence on the other end for a few seconds, before she heard Choji exhale and it felt like her heart was going a mile a minute. "Ino." He said, and suddenly everything came rushing back as if it had all happened yesterday.

"Choji…" Ino said again. She was at a loss for what to say. "I don't understand…why, after all this time, are you calling me?"

Again, Choji paused. "I'm not sure." He replied slowly. "I am walking to work at the moment and I remembered how I used to call you as I walked. I missed that. And for a moment I forgot everything and called you." Another pause. "But I remember again now."

Ino's eyes pricked with tears. She yearned to hold Choji. Even after months had passed, she still loved him and regretted what she had done with all of her heart. "I miss that too." She told him quietly. "I miss everything about you, Choji. I wake up every day wondering why you're not lying next to me and then reality floods in and oh God; it's so horrible remembering…" Her voice became too choked up to continue.

"Please don't talk about it." Choji said. "I can't bear it. Can we just pretend we're normal for one phone conversation? Please? If I ask you how work was, will you just tell me?"

Ino wanted to pretend. She wanted to pretend everything was fine so badly it hurt her inside. But pretending would hurt her even more, because she knew she couldn't ever get back to how she was. A flicker of hope lit up inside her as she wondered if Choji was beginning to weaken by wanting to pretend. But she couldn't play the game he wanted to play, no matter how much she wanted to.

"I can't." She sighed. "You're not remembering our phone calls very well, Choji."

"What do you mean?" He asked immediately, sounding confused and hurt.

"When you called me on the way to work it was to continue the argument we were having before you left. We would spend the whole time yelling at each other until you arrived at work and then that was it until you came home." As Ino informed him of this, she realised she had forgotten about the bad times too. It was mainly why she had cheated – not that she was using that as an excuse anymore. They hadn't been happy for a long time. Ino wanted to get married and have children and Choji…well, he didn't. He was perfectly happy with the two of them and claimed a piece of paper wouldn't change that; it would only be a waste of money.

She sat and thought about this seriously. Why was she so keen to get back with Choji when their relationship had been so awful by the end? They were barely spending any time together that wasn't arguing and they hadn't had sex in weeks. Shikamaru had, for that brief encounter, made her feel more wanted than Choji had in a long time. That was why she had done it.

"I forgot about that." Choji murmured eventually, breaking Ino out of her thoughts. "We weren't happy, were we?"

"We weren't happy," Ino echoed, feeling the saddest she had in a long time, "we were stuck in a cycle of arguing and disliking each other and disagreeing."

"That's why you cheated on me, isn't it?" Choji wondered aloud.

It was the conversation Ino had wanted to have with Choji, back during that awful confrontation where Shikamaru had ended up being punched. She needed the two of them to talk privately. "I'm not going to use it as an excuse," Ino told Choji solemnly, "but yes…that was a big part of it. It felt like you didn't want me anymore and I had become a habit. You didn't want to move forward in the relationship but I did, so badly. I wanted to marry you and have children with you. I…still do. I know we're still young now, but we'd been together for so long and I can't imagine spending my life with anyone but you."

She waited for Choji's response so nervously it felt like her insides were churning. She wondered what he was thinking right now. Were they finally going to be back on track?

"I couldn't imagine life without you either. But we were so unhappy. I don't know what I was waiting for. I don't even know why I still have it. I can't bring myself to realise it was all a waste, I suppose." Choji mumbled.

Ino wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. "Still have what?"

"It doesn't matter." Choji said hurriedly. "I wish things had been different. But I think it's finally time for the two of us to move on." He exhaled slowly before adding, "I forgive you for what you did to me."

It was what Ino had always wanted to hear from Choji – but it was preceded with the worst possible sentence imaginable. It was time for them to move on? How could he say this? How could he forgive her, for that matter? "Why have you forgiven me? What I did was…unforgiveable." Ino murmured.

"You had your reasons to do it, inexcusable though they are. I can't carry around this hatred for the rest of my life. I have to let it go. It has been long enough for you." Choji's voice sounded choked, as though he was trying to stop himself from crying. It broke Ino's heart to hear him like that. "One thing I want to know though. Why Shikamaru? Why my best friend?"

She thought she had avoided this direct interrogation by now. Why Shikamaru indeed? She was instantly transported through her memory to that fateful night…

"Oh, God, I can't go home." Ino mumbled, slurring her words slightly as she stumbled out of the club, Shikamaru supporting her in her heels. Behind them, the music was still booming and the night was still pretty young. They were both unbelievably drunk.

"Have you had another argument with Choji?" Shikamaru asked rather loudly, earning a nosey look from one of the bouncers as they staggered away from the club and down the street towards a line of taxis.

Ino nodded and tears were immediately spilling from her eyes. "Another argument, how bad does that sound? Yes we have. All our relationship is now is argument followed by another argument, followed by another. I thought we were getting along earlier, but then he started again, talking about how happy he was with just the two of us and how we were too young to get married and – and –" That was as far as she got before she burst into uncontrollable sobs.

Shikamaru managed to get her and him into a taxi. "How much will this be?" He asked, trying to be the more sober of the two in order to get back to his. "We'll only be making one stop. It's not too far from here." He told the taxi driver his address and was informed it would be eleven pounds.

"That's not bad, thanks!" Shikamaru said, before leaning back and allowing Ino to rest her head in his lap while she cried.

"Hey, is she alright?" The taxi driver asked in a concerned voice. Clearly he was worrying about the implications of letting a crying drunken girl go home with a drunken guy.

Shikamaru nodded. "She's my friend. I promise. Ino, tell him we're all good, yeah?"

Ino sat up and wiped her eyes. Her mascara was running everywhere and she had seen better days, but she managed a watery smile. "He's one of my best friends. He's my boyfriend's best friend. We'll be fine. He's looking after me because my boyfriend won't listen to me!" She started to cry again, and this time Shikamaru snaked an arm around her for the remainder of the journey.

When they got into Shikamaru's apartment, Shikamaru tucked Ino up in his bed and told her he was going to sleep on the sofa.

"Wait," Ino sniffed, "can I have a hug?"

Shikamaru's head was pounding by this point and he wasn't feeling too good. The world was still mostly a confusing blur to him, but he nodded and gave her a hug. Ino pulled him down so he was lying next to her.

"You'll be okay, Ino. This is just a bad patch, alright? Things will work out." Shikamaru mumbled at her, pretty sure he was saying the right thing.

Ino turned so they were facing one another. She looked at him for a long time before saying, "We haven't had sex in a very long time."

"What are you saying?" Shikamaru said, trying to figure out what to do, but his mind wouldn't work while he was drunk.

"I'm saying…" Ino didn't know what to say. Instead she leaned forward and kissed Shikamaru.

"Ino…! What are you – doing…" Shikamaru protested, even as he found himself wrapping his arms around Ino and pulling her closer.

They were kissing frantically, tearing each other's clothes off and tracing each other's skin. Ino felt wanted and secure again. She had someone's touch. Someone found her attractive. Shikamaru felt confused but horny. Somewhere in the back of his brain his conscience was screaming at him to stop. Shikamaru didn't hear it.

And things escalated from there.

Ino told Choji this in the phone call, her account of the night. She was crying again. "I pretended not to remember it. But even though I was drunk I could remember most of the night, and I could remember it was me who initiated it. I'm so sorry, Choji. I had to tell you. Please don't hate Shikamaru. I know he went through with it but he never would have touched me if I hadn't kissed him first."

"I…don't know what to say to all of that." Choji told her. "I'm glad I know the full story now, I guess. Perhaps Shikamaru and I need to talk. But we're done talking now Ino. I have to go to work."

"Have you still forgiven me?" Ino asked, almost desperately.

"I'm not sure." Choji replied truthfully. "I need to think about everything. I may call you soon. Goodbye, Ino."

"Goodbye, Choji. I love you." Ino whispered. Choji, however, had already hung up without waiting for her goodbye.

XXX

"I have to talk to you!" Naruto burst out as he hurried into Sasuke's office without even knocking, slamming the door behind himself and coming to a standstill, flustered.

Sasuke, who was watering one of his plants at this moment, put the watering can down and raised an eyebrow curiously. "Is everything alright?" He inquired. "You seem awfully energetic this morning, Naruto."

"I completely forgot, but my trial period ends this Friday, doesn't it?" Naruto asked, using one hand to pluck at his shirt nervously.

"That is correct." Sasuke informed him. His expression was still bemused though. "Is that a problem?"

"I just…" Naruto realised he had rushed in here without planning exactly what he was going to say. "I mean, what's going to happen? Am I going to find out on Friday whether I have a permanent position here?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'll need the weekend to think things over, of course, and some advice from my executives. You'll be expected to attend a meeting at nine on Monday in which I'll let you know the status of your position at Uchiha Powers." His voice was almost robotic as he reeled this off. That was because Sasuke couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed. Naruto rushing in here like that…he was hoping it was to do with that conversation they had had many months ago now.

The CEO of Uchiha Powers had kept to his word – he made no more passes at Naruto or even mentioned that he was still heavily attracted to him. The blond was constantly on his mind unless he distracted himself with work. Even his regular hook-ups at clubs had become stale and similar, each person blurring into some same unrecognisable person whilst his brain noted down every last detail of Naruto.

He didn't like him anymore than for a quick fuck. He knew that. He just wished Naruto would hurry up and feel the same way.

And then, surprisingly, as though Sasuke's thoughts had tumbled into Naruto's head, Naruto whispered, "We need to talk about…us."

"Us?" Sasuke echoed, disliking the sudden sense of hope growing in his stomach.

Naruto nodded. As he stood there chewing his lip Sasuke resisted the urge to walk over there and bite it for him. "I'm worried that the fact I haven't said anything about us will impact on my whether I still have a job here on Monday." Naruto blurted out, before promptly closing his mouth and looking horrified. He hadn't meant to say the truth like that, so bluntly. It had just come out.

The hope in Sasuke's stomach vanished and was replaced with a bitter feeling, though he wasn't sure why. So what if that was all Naruto cared about? It wasn't like Sasuke wasn't going to carry on feeling like this for long.

"It won't." Sasuke said sharply. He was telling the truth. Naruto had blossomed into a brilliant member of the team up here. He was even better than some of the university qualified people, though he didn't mention this to anyone, including Naruto. Unless Naruto screwed up completely at some point in the next few days, he was definitely going to be keeping him on.

"But aren't you mad at me for not…confronting you about all of this sooner?" Naruto persisted, not sure if Sasuke was being honest. "I don't know what came over me that time…when I kissed you. I don't like you in that way. I'm not…nothing more is ever going to happen between us, okay?" He was trying to sound assertive and dominant but failing miserably.

His boss walked towards him, stopping a little too close for comfort. Naruto didn't like it when Sasuke stood this close. He could see every detail of the man's face, though it wasn't like his brain hadn't memorised it already. Sasuke was so angular. His cheekbones were so sharp, his eyes so wide and focused, his lips so…Naruto blinked and took a step back. Things had been going well for five months now; he couldn't slip back into whatever the hell had been going on at the beginning of his apprenticeship again. He was about to be a proper businessman.

Sasuke lifted up his head though he was going to cup Naruto's cheek. Naruto found his eyes closing automatically in anticipation, but the hand never came. As Naruto opened his eyes again, Sasuke was sighing and lowering his hand.

The moment was gone.

"You'll be working with Suigetsu today, going over last Friday's presentation. He'll advise you on what went well and what you can improve on. I'll see you after lunch." Sasuke murmured in his deep, low voice. "You can leave now." He added, before turning and going to sit by his desk. "Suigetsu is expecting you, just go and knock on his door."

"Sasuke…" Naruto appealed rather uselessly.

"Yes?" Sasuke asked with a frown.

"Nothing." Naruto said reluctantly. "I'll see you later, then."

"Goodbye, Naruto." Sasuke shrugged. He opened up his laptop and began typing away, now oblivious to the fact Naruto was still in the room.

After Naruto left, Sasuke closed the laptop down and covered his face with his palms. God, what was happening to him?

Naruto left Sasuke's office wondering what Sasuke would have done if Naruto had grabbed his hand and made him touch his face. No matter. He couldn't start thinking about Sasuke so much again. Not that the dark haired man wasn't always on his mind anyway…

He knocked on Suigetsu's door feeling glum.

Why didn't Sasuke touch him? The thought plagued his mind throughout the remainder of the day, especially after lunch when Sasuke was acting normal again. Naruto had missed any kind of chance to get a reaction from Sasuke. Perhaps that meant his job was safe after all.

So why was Naruto so disappointed?

Author's Note: Doesn't time fly indeed when you're having fun? With the trial period drawing ever nearer to a close, will Naruto be able to carry on working in the business world? Meanwhile Sasuke is one impatient, unsatisfied man.

Thanks everyone for reviewing, following or favouriting this. It really makes me happy knowing people are reading this and enjoying it!

There'd be no point writing it without you guys, so I really appreciate it. I apologise for the delay in updating, life and university is manic at the moment so I am juggling everything.