Ch.3
Clang, clang
The smell of coffee hits his nostrils before his eyes open. The sound of pots clanging together hits his hangover before his headache sets in. Sasuke grasps his head while sitting up in his bed. He then realizes he is only his boxers.
Memories of last night fade into his consciousness. Shit shit shit. He fumbled to the night stand to see if his phone was in the vicinity. Once grasping it and glancing at the time, 8:30AM. His notifications are next on his checklist a few texts from Naruto, his regular emails and an email from…fuck. He would deal with that later. He needed to hear how bad last night was from Naruto.
Ring ring ring ring
"Bastard? You ok? Taking a sick day?" Naruto asked through the phone. Sasuke was quick to dismiss his barrage of questions.
"How bad was last night?" He asked praying he remembered it right.
"Really not too bad. You were in one of your sleepy drunk phases thank god. Rather than angry drunk." Naruto said the last part slightly muffled.
"Did anyone see me like that?" Sasuke asked more urgently now. Worried for the firm and his image.
"Mmm, not that I'm aware of. Tried to get you out pretty quick once I realized you weren't ok." Naruto paused and continued. "Sakura is really nice. Pretty tough but that'll be good for you!" He said enthusiastically.
"Let me know if anyone says anything this morning. I'll try to be in around noon." With that Sasuke hung up.
A soft knocking was at his door.
"Sasuke? Are you up? I have breakfast and coffee ready." Sakura's voice filtered through the door.
"I'll be out in a minute." He replied.
He didn't remember being in his boxers last night. His memory kept fading in. Oh yeah. He threw up and cried and was a mess. She undressed his top half. He must have thrown off his pants sometime in the night.
He went to his bathroom attached to his room and freshened up and threw on some sweatpants and a clean gray t shirt one. He noted his trash bin, it looked sparkling clean and had a fresh bag in it. He scrunched his brows, well he was paying her to help him. Did he cross a line last night sobbing to her? He shook his head and went to the kitchen.
The bright lights of the kitchen upset his headache and irritated his eyes. Noticing him squinting as he walked into the kitchen, Sakura used the dimmer setting on the overhead kitchen lights and dimmed them a bit. "Better?" She asked.
"Tch. Thanks." He said curtly, taking a seat at the small kitchen table.
She brought over a plate of eggs and toast and black coffee. He noted the few slices of tomato on his plate as well. Hm, she paid attention when I told her about food preferences. He waited for her to sit with him and eat. She brought over a plate for herself and sat across from him.
"How are you this morning?" She asked before taking a sip of her own coffee.
"How do you think?" He snapped back. He quickly back tracked. "I apologize about last night. I'm sorry you had to…see that."
"Quite alright. Eat up and then get some workout clothes on. We are going for a walk or a run. Depending on your comfort level." She said taking a bite of her eggs.
He looked at her in shock.
"Pardon, what?" He asked snidely.
"You heard me. The best thing for a hangover is to get off your ass and move. And it's a good incentive to not want to workout hungover ever again." She gave a devilish smirk.
He looked at her annoyed, he was sure he was oozing anger.
"Hey, you asked for my help. This is part of it." She said now standing, taking her dish and making her way to the sink.
"I still have to go to work this afternoon."
"Ok, then we better hurry up." She said back.
They finished up breakfast and the cleanup and both changed into workout attire. They made their way out of his front door and began walking along the sidewalk until they hit a nearby paved trail.
He felt like death. He was clammy. His head was pounding and he wanted to dry heave. On top of that, this she devil was wearing tight shorts that fell halfway to her thighs. Outlining her perky ass. He decided to try to jog to get out of his thoughts. She ended up meeting his pace and jogging beside him. She ended up motioning for them to turn back after about a mile. He was confused since it had only been about 15 minutes.
They made it back to the house both with a gleam of sweat on their bodies. He was far more sweaty and out of breath than she was.
"I could've ke-kept going." He said breathless, walking to the sink to get a glass of water.
"We will work up to longer runs. It will take a bit for your body to adjust." She replied, stretching her arms above her head. He let himself take a glance at her lithe figure before he downed the water.
He glanced at the time on the stove. He noted he needed to get ready and go to work.
"I'm going to get ready and go to work." He said.
"Alright. What time do you typically get back from work?" She asked.
"Around 6, 6:30PM at the latest."
"I'll have dinner ready when you get back. Can you just show me where your measuring cups are?" She asked looking around the kitchen. He walked over to a cupboard by the sink and opened it for her.
"Thanks. Salmon ok tonight?"
"Sure." And he walked back to his room to get ready.
—
Sasuke walked into work around noon that Monday. He got his desk in order and began responding to emails and opening up his billings sheets. Once he had settled in he decided to finally read the email he had been putting off all morning.
From: Orochimaru
Sasuke,
I hope this email finds you well. I had a colleague at the creative event last night who said he saw you. Hoping we can catch up soon. From an old teacher to his student I am worried about you. I imagine it would be negative for the Uzumaki & Uchiha firm to hear of your problem.
Sincerely,
Orochimaru
Chief Financial Officer
Sarutobi Advertising
Sasuke exited the email and tried to calm his breathing. Fuck this. What would Orochimaru know? How would he be able to piece any of Sasuke's life together from an outside perspective? Fuck him, that sleaze ball.
—-
Itachi had first been hospitalized 8 years ago. Sasuke had just turned 19. He was through his first year of college, and the news of his dear older brother being severely ill with some unknown illness (at that point) sent him spiraling.
He threw everything he had into his schooling. His personal life was struggling immensely. The only friend he really talked to was Naruto. Itachi still was working at their grandfather's firm but was working from home or the hospital most days back then.
Sasuke wanted to follow in his grandfather's and Itachi's footsteps and work at the firm too. He put everything he had into being at the top of his business degree program. He specialized in Finance and Accounting, knowing full well he did not have the charisma to be in accounts. He was better with numbers anyway.
Two years passed and Itachi's condition worsened, pulmonary fibrosis, the doctors finally gave it a name. He would go in and out of the hospital being fine for a few months and then worsening. He looked so fragile. If the wind blew too strongly it seemed he would crack and break into a million pieces.
Sasuke was almost done with his accelerated degree program. Part of the accelerated course was to study under a mentor. His university did not want him to study at his family's law firm, for fear of nepotism. Therefore he was introduced to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru gave him a ton of information. He was a brilliant mentor. Although he was pretty slimy with some of the recordings he made. Sasuke wasn't fully aware at the time but the older he got the more he realized Orochimaru may have been embezzling funds in amounts over a long period of time. He had Sasuke record money into an account and label it in some sketchy way that he had not learned about in his classes and other work experience. Sasuke worked under Orochimaru for his last six months of university. He still was not able to prove Orochimaru was embezzling from Sarutobi Ad, but there was something seriously slimy going on.
Once Sasuke had passed all his classes, after all he had been through the past few years; he was happy to be in the top 5% of his class rather than valedictorian. Orochimaru offered him a job at Sarutobi Ad, but after seeing how Sarutobi Ad worked from inside he wanted no part of it. Although Orochimaru did not take his answer with grace. Sasuke became so worried with what Orochimaru would do to him, he asked Itachi for help. He still feels incredibly guilty for imploring his chronically ill brother's help in that matter, but he needed it. Itachi handled it, how he did Sasuke still doesn't know. A few weeks after graduation he started as a low level accountant for Uzumaki & Uchiha.
His grandfather Madara and Naruto's father Minato started the agency 15 years prior. He knew Naruto from his childhood because their families were in business together.
The summer Sasuke turned 25 after being at the firm for a few years, Itachi got pneumonia. He was hospitalized indefinitely. Between his pulmonary fibrosis worsening immensely and all the side effects pneumonia had on his fragile immune system Itachi was put on medical leave. Sasuke inherited some of Itachi's work, which included a bit of everything from accounts to creative. Itachi was a multifaceted worker for U&U.
Sasuke poured everything into his work and Itachi's projects he had to leave behind. He was so busy he was not able to pay attention to how his brother was suffering both mentally and physically. Or how his parents' marriage was falling apart due to financial strain from Itachi's medical bills. Itachi lived in his own apartment. He had a medical group of doctors and nurses do house calls to check on his condition.
Over the course of a year Itachi's condition worsened even more especially after the effects of his pneumonia. He eventually was put on a CPAP machine full time. Whenever Sasuke visited his brother all he could hear was the sound of the machine helping his brother breathe.
Sasuke was at work, it was around 2PM on some Thursday when his father called. "Sasuke. Hurry to the hospital. Itachi is not well." Sasuke's heart dropped to his stomach. He gathered his things and raced across town to Konoha Hospital. He made it to the room his father told him to go to. He talked to Itachi in his final moments. "I love you Sasuke, take care of yourself." Sasuke did not let any tears fall then. A few minutes after Itachi talked to each of his family members privately, machines started beeping and whirring and a rush of nurses and doctors came in. The beeping flatlined and Sasuke and his parents were ushered out of the room.
The doctors after a half hour gathered his parents and Sasuke in a private room and pronounced Itachi dead.
His mother sobbed uncontrollably. His father paled. Sasuke got up and left. He drove around Konoha for what felt like hours. When he made it to his family home's driveway he broke down completely. Screaming, punching at the steering wheel, sobbing for a while. He calmed down enough and walked inside finally.
They had a small funeral and a few months later his parents were leaving to go back to their home country. Leaving Sasuke the house and all alone.
—-
Feeling the familiar ache and constriction from anxiety in his chest he shut down his computer and went home after only an hour of being there. He drove in a frenzy to get home. Once he made it into the driveway he parked and banged on the door knowing she would answer the door.
Sakura opened it and ushered him in, noticing his frazzled state. He pushed past her and went into the kitchen digging through cupboards looking for something, anything to help through this feeling.
"If you are looking for your alcohol. I hid it." She said from behind him. "Did something happen at work?"
He was in a crouch in front of one of the kitchen cupboards, he then pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. He got up abruptly and started angrily walking to his room.
She beat him to his door. She stood with her feet apart and hands on her hips.
"Move." He said tersely.
"Nope you need to work through this. What happened to you that you are so desperately searching for alcohol?" She asks, firmly.
Seeing as he was not getting into his bedroom he decided to walk over and plant himself on the couch. For some reason he feels he can open up to her, for she doesn't know the intricacies of his life.
"An old mentor emailed me. He hinted strongly that someone from his firm saw me last night at that work event. He hinted that he would let my firm know about my alcoholism. Although I'm not sure where he would even get that information from? I'm paranoid, and I need a goddamn drink."
She planted herself on the empty space next to him. She sat for a moment thinking.
"You said he has no cause to believe you are an alcoholic? Simply do not respond to him. He seems like a shitty mentor if he would tell an enemy firm about a former student. What proof would he even have?" She asked honestly.
Why would he need to respond? Fuck Orochimaru. Maybe she was right? She did raise a good question. Was there ever a time where he was sloppy in public with his affliction? He honestly could not remember.
"Hey, can you dig a hole in some dirt?" She asked.
"What?"
"You heard me. Can you dig some dirt?" She asked again.
"Obviously. Why?" He asked confused.
"You can help me then." She began to walk away. But stopped suddenly. "You may want to change out of your work clothes though!"
—-
She had led him to his backyard, otherwise known as a small square patch of grass he had mowed every week. She had soil bags, seeds, and some gardening tools.
"We are planting some seeds today. Whenever I feel anxious I do something to help improve my mood. For me that entails either running, having a cup of tea, or reading a book. We will find what helps you. I figured we would start with gardening though. I got tomato seeds and a few herbs. You said you like tomatoes so let's see what we can grow!" And she handed him a shovel and directed him to choose an area to dig up.
His heart stuttered at the thought. She cared enough—no she didn't care. She was a hired hand trying to help him get better. That's all. It had been what? Two days? He was not going to fall for this girl.