Disclaimer - I do not own anything about Naruto and nore do I receive any money or kickbacks from writing this.
Yay another chapter! Let's see how long I can keep the weekly uploads up on this story. (Encouragement welcome!)
Thanks to everyone that left a review, I absolutely love reading them, so keep them coming!
Special Kudos to ShadowRave876 for your 'smitten' catch. ~_^
Now onwards!
It had been a little under a year since Naruto left the company and during that time the company's profits had taken a dive, not a huge one but they were struggling to get eye catching products on the market. Everything their design team came up with was mediocre at best and it was no secret that the cause was their top designer leaving.
Rumors about his resignation went around the workplace like wildfire, some said he was poached by another company, others said that he ran away with a lover, while the closest to the truth was that he was actually being sexually harassed and his only way to escape was to leave.
But as fast as the rumors came they died, mainly because in that time Sasuke's mood also - coincidentally - took a turn for the worst. He pushed all his teams hard and barely gave them time to rest, let alone gossip.
Naruto's friends were also questioned about his resignation but even they knew nothing, it was as much a surprise to them as everyone else when he upped and left without notice, making them dejected that he left them no way to contact him.
In the end, everyone in the workplace felt the loss of the blond.
X~~x~~X~~x~~X
The older raven sat at his desk typing away when a soft knock came. "Enter." he called without even looking up.
The door opened then closed softly. "Guess who has an update on the N file for you." came a cheery voice.
Itachi looked up at his blond mate as he stalked over to him like a panther that had cornered his prey, placing a kiss on his lips.
"You I'm guessing." Itachi smirked, "So what did you find?" he asked leaning forward to take the file.
The blond moved it just out of Itachi's reach and smirked at him. "I want my payment guarantee first."
The raven just rolled his eyes as he smiled up at his beautiful mate while wrapping his arms around the blonds waist. "And what was it you wanted this time?" he said, playing Deidara's game.
Deidara continued to smirk down at him. "Let's say I found him."
"Then I would give you anything you desired."
"Good, cause I want to be top for a night." Deidara said, waving the file around.
Itachi's face fell, that was the last thing he expected. On the contrary he had thought Deidara would want to pick dinner or get something new for his art room since that's what he had been asking for for each piece of information he found out about the other blond. That aside had Deidara really found him? If he had, wouldn't it be a small price to pay for his brother's happiness.
"Fine." Itachi puffed out his cheeks as he put his hand out for the file. "For tonight only."
Deidara handed him the file and sat on his desk. "Turns out our little blonde moved to the other side of the country, changed his name and second gender. That's why it took me and my associates so long to find him."
"Hmmm. How?" Itachi wondered aloud.
"Seems he has friends in high places." Deidara mussed. "He's also been in serious hiding. Took my friends ages to actually see him in person and snap this photo of him." the blond said as he leant over and flipped through some of the pages revealing a picture of the blond they had been looking for.
He looked the same yet different, Itachi just couldn't put his finger on it though.
"So what's our next move?" Deidara asked, leaning back on the ravens desk.
"Finish the buyup and start recruiting." Itachi smirked.
X~~x~~X~~x~~X
It was just over a month later before everything was set up and ready to go. Itachi now found himself walking through his second company's new office building, he had finally received a call from the HR team that morning that they were ready to begin the hiring faze and just needed his okay to proceed. With that he had flown straight over.
"Welcome Mr. Uchiha." his subordinates greeted as he entered the room.
Once seated several green folders all full of resumes and broken down into best suited departments were placed in front of him. After scanning through each file he quickly noticed that all of the folders contained well suited people, but they were all either Alpha or Beta, none were Omega.
"As you can see Mr. Uchiha, we have picked the best of the best to get this new company section off the ground." said one of the male Alpha's in the room.
"Hmmm." Itachi replied as he placed the last file down. None of them had contained Naruto's resume and he was told that the blond had definitely applied. "They are all good candidates, but I think we could do better. Can I please have the rest of the resumes." he said bordly as he held out his hand.
"But Mr. Uchiha." replied the Beta woman. "These are the best of the best, the rest just didn't meet our necessary requirements."
"The folder please." he said again, this time with a bit more force behind it.
Slowly but surely a red folder was placed in his hand. After reading through it he noticed that there were indeed some great resumes in there, some better than the ones they had picked and all of them were Omega. He quickly picked out three of the best - one being Naruto's - and placed them in front of him.
"What 'requirements' did these three not meet?" he questioned looking at each HR member in turn. "Their skills are far beyond some of the ones that met your so called requirements." he said with a hint of anger.
"Well…" the Alpha HR reps began. Itachi could see him beginning to sweat as he looked at the two other reps in the room.
"I'm waiting." The raven replied impatiently, he could smell the fear rising in the room.
"You see…." the Beta woman tried next as she bit her lip.
The last HR rep, an Omega male disguised as an Alpha that Itachi had personally placed finally answered in a bored voice. "What my colleagues don't want to say is that it's because they are all Omega and that they think it would be wrong to place Omega's in such high positions, that's the 'requirement' they mentioned ."
Itachi growled at the admission.
"That's not what we said!" blurted out the Beta woman.
"We just simply didn't want the possibility of distractions or interruptions to business!" cried the first Alpha.
"Is that so." Itachi calmed himself.
"We were simply thinking of the company." the Alpha continued.
"I would have to agree with you on one thing, I am definitely thinking of the company." Itachi smirked as he reached into his briefcase and pulled out two pieces of paper, handing one to the first Alpha and the second to the Beta woman.
"What are these?" The Beta woman asked.
"Your termination letters, " Itachi smirked evilly. "Effective immediately."
"But… But…." stuttered the woman.
"I will not tolerate second gender discrimination in my company, and effective immediately anyone else caught discriminating against others, especially Omega's, will be terminated on the spot."
"Why doesn't he get one?" blurted out the Alpha.
"Because he isn't opposed to Omega's unlike you." Itachi grinned.
"Of course he is!" growled the Alpha. "He's an Alpha too!"
"I concur. He isn't opposed to Omega's in the workplace because he is an Omega." Itachi laughed. "Deidara, if you would." he said as he raised his hand.
The blond 'Alpha' produced some alcohol wipes and began to rub his arms and neck. Within seconds the room started to fill with the sweet scent of Omega.
"What is an Omega doing on the HR team!" roared the Alpha.
"Is there a problem with an Omega being on the HR team?" Itachi inquired darkly.
"Of course there is!" he challenged. "He could have…."
"Well then," Itachi interrupted, "I'm glad you showed your true colours now and I was able to terminate your employment before you messed up my company further, because under our new guidance, we at Sharingan Corp. will no longer tolerate intolerance of others. Deidara would you please show my new HR team in?" Itachi asked as he leant back in his chair.
"With pleasure." Deidara smiled as he stood and opened the door.
In stepped another Omega, two Beta and two Alpha. Once in the room all of them bowed. "Thank you for having us Mr. Uchiha." they all said in unison. "We will serve the company with integrity."
"Please note that we have given all the candidates an equal chance and await your approval to begin the interviews." Deidara grinned.
"You may begin the interviews." Itachi waved him off and with that the new team left the room. "As for you two," he said, turning to the Beta woman and Alpha male still seated. "You are formally dismissed."
X~~x~~X~~x~~X
Naruto couldn't believe his luck. He had applied for the job with no thought that he would actually get it - considering his real secondary gender was now on record - and yet he did, he got it!
"Congratulations honey!" his mother squealed, hugging him tightly when he hung up the phone. "When do you start, what's your position, are you going to be over working yourself again?"
"Tomorrow." Naruto said with disbelief. "And I find out after orientation." he answered, ignoring the last question.
"What about Menma?" his father questioned, rocking the small boy in his arms.
"I guess I'll have to find and enroll him into a child care centre as soon as possible." Naruto sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Nonsense!" his mother cried. "I'll take care of him." she nodded sternly letting go of him and placing her hands on her hips.
"Seriously mom, I don't want to put you guys out any further than I already have." he whined.
"Yes, spending the day with my adorable little grandson is such a burden." she mocked sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.
"Fine." Naruto sighed, admitting defeat. "But it's just until I find a centre for him."
"If you say so." she huffed as she walked out of the room.
"You know, if your mother had her way, you two would never be allowed to leave." his father laughed.
"I know," Naruto sighed, "That's what scares me."
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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I apologize if this one was a bit slow but so will the next few as I do some set up, but then it will pick up a bit more ^_^
Cya next time!