Chapter 3

-XXX-

SASUKE

The next morning, I already had the answer to my question, but I didn't know how to implement the idea. If Minato Namikaze wants a family-type worker, he'll get one. But there was just a minor detail that was preventing the success of my new born idea.

I must convince Namikaze that I have a solid relationship with an adequately presentable partner who will be oozing domesticity, family and kindness.

The problem, however, was the types of women that were in my social circle. The female version of myself, career women. Pretty to look at, but cold, calculating and always single. None of them were the type Namikaze would believe I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I've never been particularly attracted to women, and short encounters hardly qualify as relationships. These women were out of the question.

Miss Haruno knocked timidly on my office door and waited until I signaled her to come in. She stepped inside, carefully carrying the tray of my coffee in her hand and placed the cup on the desk in front of me.

"Mr. Danzo called a meeting in the conference room in 10 minutes."

"And my breakfast?" I looked at her empty hands now, which should have held something that would fill me up for at least half the day.

"I thought you'd want to eat after the meeting. You don't like to eat in a hurry because it makes your stomach hurt." From her words, I didn't know whether to be ashamed or scold her for worrying about my upset stomach. But in the end, I just stared at her blankly because it pissed me off that she was right.

"We've already talked about your thinking, if I'm not mistaken..."

She looked at her watch, which she'd been wearing since she'd first started work here. Plain, simple and obviously cheap. Not to mention that she completely ignored my annoyed mood.

"The meeting will begin in 8 minutes and 48 seconds. Do you want me to get you some breakfast? If I go now, you'll have 2 minutes and 12 seconds to devour it."

I got up and grabbed my cup of coffee. "No. Because of you, I'm going to the meeting hungry. If I make any mistakes, you'll be the one responsible." And I stormed out of my office without a backward glance.

…

Danzo tapped his cane on the corner of the table to force silence and our attention. How I hated that cane of his. "Attention, please. I have good news and bad news for you." So, bad news anyway. "I'll start with the good news." He paused. "I'm pleased to announce that Neji Hyuga has been promoted to Vice President of the company."

I controlled my angry expression and didn't let it show. I could feel the long and inquisitive glances of my colleagues who, like me, were waiting for the naming of another person. I was not going to let anyone know for a moment how much this situation upset me. To deceive them, I uttered in a firm voice, "Good job, Hyuga. Good luck."

The conference room was dead silent. I grinned inwardly at how easy it was for me to fool a few fools. But that didn't change the fact I didn't like the white-eyed bastard and I hated Danzo for what he'd done to me.

Danzo cleared his throat so everyone would stop taking turns looking at me and Neji. "Now for the bad news. Shikamaru Nara is no longer a part of this company as of today." I had to wince at the news. Shikamaru was one of the best. I had lunch with him the other day. We played shogi and he didn't say anything about leaving. He was a big animal at ROOT Inc. and his leaving made absolutely no sense.

"Why?" I had to ask what everyone in the room was thinking. I couldn't keep quiet. Danzo gave me a hard look. "Excuse me?"

"Why is he leaving? Does he want to start his own company?"

"No. He..." Danzo snorted and made a disgusted face. "We learned that he's been having a relationship with one of our secretaries."

That perky blonde?

Then he looked around at everyone sitting comfortably at the conference table. "You all know that our company has strict rules about personal life. And those who break the rules are scum. Hopefully, this will serve as a lesson for you in the future."

ROOT Inc. had strict rules that they stuck to. You had two choices, follow them or leave. Metaphorically speaking, you were kicked out. Romantic relationships were strictly forbidden in this company.

Danzo was convinced that romantic entanglements in the office clouded your mind. He didn't like anything that distracted from work. I got the feeling at times that he was generally opposed to employees having any kind of life outside of ROOT Inc. When I looked around at all the people at the table, all managers were either spouseless or divorced. I had never noticed this before because I was and still am more or less uninterested in the personal lives of my colleagues.

"And I would also like to announce that Temari is leaving as well." Danzo said dispassionately, lowering his gaze to his pile of papers on the desk.

It didn't take a genius to figure out which secretary Shikamaru was dating. Temari was his personal assistant on top of that. For how smart he is, he's an idiot. Never get involved with anyone at work, especially nothing with your secretary. Fortunately, I was far from that problem.

Danzo kept talking, but by then I had completely switched off and continued thinking in my head about my plan to leave and join the Namikaze Group. Before I knew it, all of my colleagues started to get up from their chairs, so I joined in and headed out of the conference room. I didn't feel like watching everyone complimenting Neji and patting him on the back for a "well" done job.

Asshole.

I headed to my office, but stopped right at the front door. I saw Naruto sitting on the corner of Miss Haruno's desk, his broad shoulders shaking with laughter. When I walked in, they both turned to look at me and each had a different expression. Naruto was amused and Miss Haruno looked guilty.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Naruto, who was slowly rising to his feet from the table. Then I turned to look at Miss Haruno. "Why didn't you call to tell me that Mr. Uzumaki was waiting for me?"

Naruto raised his hand in her defense. "I just got here a little while ago. Sakura-chan offered me coffee, and that she'd call you to tell you I was here. But I was more comfortable around her than I ever was around you, so I wasn't in a hurry." He winked at me with a grin.

"She's funnier than you, not to mention she's a lot prettier too. I always stop by her desk."

Pretty and fun? Miss Haruno? What the hell is this "Sakura-chan" thing? I never thought about that description, so I couldn't agree or disagree. "Come to my office." I ordered and Naruto followed me with a sigh.

He walked in behind me and I immediately slammed the door. "What are you doing here? If Danzo saw you here..." Naruto shook his head and waved his hand. "You're too worried. This isn't my first time here, and even if he did see me, so what? Just let him strain his damn head."

I thought about it, and maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Danzo knows very well that Naruto Uzumaki is the best talent hunter in the entire district. He has already lured several capable managers to his company or arranged a place for them somewhere high in the spotlight. Naruto's name was as well known in the business as mine. If Danzo saw him going around ROOT Inc., he might be a little uncomfortable.

"Stop fooling my secretary. It's a waste of time, and besides, I think you have a girlfriend." I said gloating and irritated at the same time. "I do, plus I am not fooling Sakura-chan, teme!" There it was again, that very close nickname. "I like Sakura-chan. Plus, she's very nice to talk to!" He said enthusiastically. "I mean, unless she's in the middle of scolding me when I say something stupid..." Naruto grimaced in shame, and I couldn't imagine my secretary could even raise her voice, let alone scold this idiot.

"Why do you hate her so much anyway?" Naruto asked with a frown when he noticed my pensive expression.

"Because she's fucking perfect." I replied, annoyed. "She'll do anything I tell her."

Now, that's enough on that subject.

"Why did you come here, usoratonkachi?"

Naruto lowered his voice, as if he was afraid that I might have a wiretap here and someone was listening in. "I talked to my dad this morning. I was driving from my apartment to see Hinata, so I went straight to see him too. He promised me he'd put you on the list of applicants for the open position."

I slammed my hand on the table. "Finally!" I smirked, my heart pumping with excitement. "What did you say that convinced him to give me a chance?" Again, there was a little worry in me at what Naruto had told him.

"I told him you'd like to leave for personal reasons. That no matter what was said about you, your values in life had changed and that you were no longer comfortable with the way employees were treated at ROOT Inc." The idiot said it nicely, I'll give him that. Personal reasons, yes, that sums it up.

"And how exactly have my values changed?"

Naruto pondered and looked at me excitedly. "I told my dad that you're past your ambitious phase where you'd walk over dead bodies, and that the way you view interpersonal relationships and cooperation with others has changed as well." I kind of couldn't believe that this had just come out of Naruto's mouth. It hadn't occurred to me that he was capable of such profound thoughts.

"Did he buy it?" I looked at him, probably too startled, because I was a little shocked. Naruto winced and I knew good news would come out of him.

"He did, dattebayo!"

"And what did you say to him about what caused the tremendous change?" I wondered a little, even with hidden fears. "Actually, you came up with it yourself last night." He added with a small wink and I was doubly confused as to what he meant. "I told my dad you were in love." As soon as Naruto finished saying that, it was immediately clear to me what kind of charade we were going to play, just as I had imagined. Minato liked the family atmosphere, and I had to fit in.

Naruto gave me a sly look. "Given your nature, teme, your new wifely will have to be much more ordinary, gentle, and affectionate than those women you meet at work. No easy woman for you to hire, either." That last part offended me a little. If anything, I was planning to hire a professional to play along.

"I'm aware of that."

"Really?"

"Yes, I am."

"You're going to lie and pretend just for a new job?" I knew Naruto was insinuating that it wasn't the best or most honest way to get a dream job and piss off a moronic boss. "I'm not going to put up with the backstabbing here anymore." I leaned back in my chair. I might start working for them with less than honorable intentions, but Minato was going to get some pretty damn good reinforcements for his team. I was as confident in my abilities as I was in the sun rising in the morning.

"What about your precious other half?" Naruto asked with concern on his face.

"I'll say we broke up. It happens." I wasn't a relationship expert, but I had picked up enough from my colleagues, I saw their relationships crash on a daily basis.

"Have you even thought of one to approach?" Naruto asked curiously and I furrowed my brow at his question. I didn't like that the biggest part of my plan was the one thing I hadn't figured out yet. "I still need to figure that out." I shook my head, and a knock on the door suddenly got my attention.

Miss Haruno came in with black coffee and onigiri from the nearby Aoda restaurant, which I regularly had for lunch on Tuesdays. She came to my table and placed both in front of me. "Mr. Uzumaki, shall I bring you some coffee as well?" She asked Naruto politely and he shook his head and smiled broadly. "Sakura-chan! I already told you to call me by my name. I'm not some heartless monster, you know." He giggled like a five year old, as it was clear to everyone in the room who he was referring to. Even his demeanor suddenly went from serious to petulant.

That idiot glanced at me and started fixing his suit. Then he looked at my secretary. "You're very nice, but no. I have to go and your boss has an important project to complete." There was his teasing again. Sometimes that idiot got on my nerves.

Miss Haruno turned to me with a wide-eyed look. "Project? I don't know of anything new. Can I help you with something?" She readily offered the moment she realized that I was clearly going to be overwhelmed with 'work' that she knew nothing about, naturally.

"No, I don't need anything from you." She lowered her head and her cheeks turned pink. She nodded at my rude remark and closed my office door behind her in disappointment.

"What was that about, teme?!" Naruto shouted angrily at me, and I stared blankly at the computer at the boring sales stats. "If you want your plan to work, you're going to have to watch your arrogance." He continued in a tone I really didn't like.

"Sakura-chan is exactly the kind of girl you need to be able to get along with my dad." I didn't understand where he was going with this. "Get along?" Naruto grimaced and continued to explain. "Did you think all this time that telling my dad her name and a short ten minute introduction would be enough?" Naruto shook his head, and I could clearly see where the main problem was.

"If my dad decides to hire you, I'm sure he'll want to meet your girlfriend too. And not just once." After that sentence, I started to realize how risky my plan was. I hadn't thought about it this far in advance. Getting someone to play along with me for one night would do the trick. But finding one that would catch Minato's eye and still willingly do more than one of those shows with me was more difficult.

Naruto was right for once. I'm going to have to play this charade for a while. At least until I can convince Minato of my skills and usefulness to his company. "I don't think Sakura-chan is married." Naruto paused at the door and made a wierd remark. "So what?" Naruto shook his head and sighed.

"You're completely blind! The solution to your problem is right in front of you! Aren't you supposed to be Mr. Extremely Brilliant!" He raised his voice as if to lecture me. He left my office in a huff, not even bothering to close the door. I heard him say something to Miss Haruno that made her laugh. I wouldn't be surprised if he said some insult about me to her. I didn't get to hear the sound of her laughter often.

I took the coffee she brought me and put the cold edge of the cup to my mouth. What was this moron suggesting to me anyway? Gradually a certain unpleasant thought began to gnaw at me. I looked towards the door and immediately regretted my thoughts. This idiot can't be serious.

I put my untouched coffee back down. Somehow the craving passed me by when I realized that Naruto was dead serious about the idea.

I can't do that, or can I?

-XXX-

End of Chapter 3