2 – Cold Blood
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, just the story.
6 WEEKS AGO
To be frank, it's fucking embarrassing.
Uchiha Sasuke's office is on the corner top floor of the building standing in the middle block of an avenue named for his family. He's so high up he can see a good chunk of Konoha from where he sits. Fuck, he has dozens of paralegals ready to jump through hoops just to get him his morning coffee (except he's had to go out to get them himself the past few days since the little sycophants have been instructed not to anything he asked them to).
He's one of the best damn trial lawyer in the business.
He should not have to be relegated to what is essentially standing in front of a wall to think about what he's done!
Yet here he is, schedule empty and all of his clients temporarily auctioned off to subordinates. Maybe he should be grateful the partners managed to reign themselves in not to ban him from the building but all he feels is exasperation. It's not like they could have kicked him out of a building that literally has his last name on the entrance in burnished chrome.
Sasuke looks out at the view he fought tooth and nail for his whole life and sees only the grey rain splattering on his windows. Figures.
His phone lights up on his desk, temporarily banishing the shadows of his office until Itachi gives up trying to reach him. He doesn't need the goody two-shoes to goad him. Or worse, actually try to make him feel better.
"Uchiha-sama?" A sliver of light flows in from the outside, as does the sound of hushed conversations and the ubiquitous hum of photocopiers somewhere.
"Your brother has a message for you. He said…" the nameless paralegal is visibly quaking in his doorway.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow, a gesture universally known in the office as a threat not to waste his time.
"He said, 'time out is over, foolish little brother.'"
xxx
The Rinha defamation lawsuit was supposed to be an open and shut case, as Sasuke assured his father.
Koshaku, a titan of the press industry had insinuated that their client, Rinha Marisu, had created multiple fake accounts online to accuse her deceased son's school of not doing enough to save him when he passed out due to anaphylaxis.
Simple enough. A giant corporation going after a grieving, private citizen based on the opinions of a frustrated school official? They'd already won in the court of public opinion. Not to mention the onus was on Koshaku to prove they did it out of public interest and not malice.
And then, on the last day of the high profile trial, the other side sprung credible evidence that yes, Rinha Marisu did not attack the school, but she did pay a couple of other people to do it for her.
Suddenly, the story of a grieving mother being oppressed by press intimidation became one of the big, scary law firm trying to cover up a crime and stifle free speech.
He really should have known better than to trust a sob story.
xxx
"What the fuck are we doing out here?"
Sasuke shoves his hands inside his pockets as he walks towards Itachi, part because it's norm for him and part because at basically sixty floors above ground, it's more than just a little chilly on the rooftop. At least the rain has stopped.
"You know we have actual smoking areas right?" He watches Itachi take a drag from his cigarette until the tip burned bright orange. "Stupid, disgusting habit."
"I don't harp on you about your love affair with coffee Sasuke, I'll thank you to stay out of mine. Also," his brother stretches his arms wide, his cloak and his long hair billowing around him, "You don't get fresh air like this in the smoking areas do you?"
Sasuke rolls his eyes, his older brother always did like irony. The habit is a leftover from Itachi's brief rebellious phrase in college. So is his two to three cup coffee daily fix actually. But whatever. He didn't come up here for an intervention.
"What on earth have you done to yourself Sasuke?"
He regards the wet blotches on his dress shirt, courtesy of a pink-haired menace at the Hyuuga's café. He's never thought of himself as spoiled, but damn, he really misses not having to get out to get his own lunch. It's not that he thinks he's above it, he just fucking hates crowds.
"Hn. Can we hurry this up? I'm meeting Naruto and his..." Is Naruto too old to have a caretaker? No, but it's still weird. "Iruka for lunch."
"Oh is it time to meet the parent already?"
"Fuck you. And get some new material." Honestly, if he is gay, Naruto would be the last person he'd ever consider dating. You just can't fix stupid.
"I will when you stop getting riled up by it."
"I'm leaving."
Sasuke is halfway towards the elevator when Itachi calls out to him.
"There's going to be a meeting later." His brother throws his cigarette on the asphalt and grinds it with his boot. "Okaa-san is going to suggest we do a new charity event as a way to cover-up you're mistake and I suggest you take the initiative and spearhead it."
Sasuke looks at Itachi like he just said he wanted to quit law to become a prima ballerina. "Me? Do charity?"
"Do not be obtuse little brother, it's unbecoming."
"You know the paralegals call me Hitler right?"
"And I'm sure you've more than earned the title. But Hitler's reputation can't be salvaged. Yours can. And it is essential that the board members see you taking charge of your own redemption."
Sasuke narrows his eyes at him, scanning for any signs of deception but as always, his mask is perfect. His instincts tell him his brother has his best interest at heart— he isn't the typical, cold-blooded lawyer others like to think he is. But the part of Sasuke that's always trying to catch up to Itachi wants him to at least double check for traps.
Itachi sighs when his silence drags on. "I'm sure you know otou-san's thinking of retiring. He's already making up his mind about who's going to succeed him so at least think about it."
"I know that! So why would you help me?"
"Because," Itachi turns to him and pokes him on his forehead. "You want this more than I do."
Not for the first time in his life, Sasuke finds his brother has left him behind again.
xxx
The rivalry with Itachi was an inherent part of his life.
A genius beyond compare and with six years ahead of him, Itachi set the path for Sasuke's life and their father in turn, set the path for Itachi's. And while the Uchiha have hands in several other businesses, as big and diverse as their family is, both of them led straight to the most sought after and most feared law firm in the whole of Konoha, one that their family spent generations building up.
His brother not only graduated top of his class in every school he attended, he also topped the bar the year he graduated. For Sasuke, anything less would have been a disgrace but achieving the same thing wouldn't have even merited a passing thought.
Everyone already expected it. His father certainly did.
And how the fuck do you improve on perfect?
So Sasuke went to the same schools, had the same extra-curricular activities, and aced the same tests. But they've moved past who had the higher grades and who did better at competitions. Today, it was about who brought in more clients and who won the most cases.
They've stacked their chips against the other and it was almost time to show their hands.
Still, even with all of that? It's only brought them closer than most siblings. At the end of the day, they're all each other has and who else would understand better the pressures of being an Uchiha heir? Not even Naruto, who has his own set of expectations to bear, could really know.
It's a fucking tragedy that the circumstance of their birth means they have to be pitted against each other. The worst thing is, Itachi doesn't even want any of it, but he plays the dutiful son because he's the first born. Meanwhile, Sasuke has to double over just to be considered.
And after all these years—
But… it's just the two of us.
I'll always be there like a wall you need to climb over.
Sasuke… is fucking exhausted.
xxx
Sasuke gazes out of the window for the tenth time during the meeting. It's nothing he hasn't seen before; just a view of the surprisingly massive zen garden that the Hyuuga insists on having in the middle of the fifty-eight floor. A couple of giant rocks positioned together so it looks like a group of mountainous islands protruding from the surface of a river of sand. Personally, he thinks it's uninspired. Still, it's infinitely more interesting to focus on than the droning of some nameless junior partner.
He glances at his watch as conspicuously as he could.
At least Itachi had been telling the truth. There was a last minute addition to the agenda— Karin told him just seconds before the meeting. He's glad to know that there's actually a benefit to his father's secretary being obsessed with him.
But the end of the week meeting is coming to a close and he still doesn't know if he should do as Itachi says. With the projections and case updates and whatever financial bullshit he couldn't make himself care about done, there's only one thing left to do: pacify the partners.
Or in other words, making sure his fuck up doesn't affect their bottom line.
"Is there anything else, Miss Uzumaki?" Uchiha Fugaku, managing partner of Uchiha & Hyuuga LLC, leans back on his leather seat like he couldn't wait for the day to be over. If it wasn't for him twisting the rings on his left hand, Sasuke wouldn't have noticed he was anxious about anything.
A cold sensation settles in his gut.
If his father is anxious… had he messed up worse than he thought?
"Just one more thing." The redhead pushes her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose. "I believe Mikoto-sama has a project to propose."
Uchiha Mikoto, exuding unyielding grace, stands up from her seat at the opposite end of the table from her husband. His mother doesn't usually attend these meetings even though she is a board adviser in the firm in her own right. The inner workings of the cases they handle and the logical and sometimes callous approach they take with them don't really appeal to her.
What she does, she does perfectly however, and that's cultivating the family name and taking care of the external appearance of the various businesses the Uchiha have stakes on, not just the firm. In this way, even though Uchiha Fugaku was the head of the family, Uchiha Mikoto was far more influential than her husband.
"As we all know, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Uchiha Foundation is coming up and I thought this year, the firm could introduce something new to the roster of projects that we already finance—"
Hyuuga Hiashi clears his throat, continuing the pretense of politeness even while being a condescending prick.
"With all due respect Mikoto-san, you know that's not what we want to talk about right now."
Sasuke knew it would come, knew Hiashi wouldn't be the only one furious after the fallout. Everyone along the conference table, old and stuffy executives in their bespoke three-piece suits, glare him down like he was a little kid who did something bad and incredibly foolish. Just a few weeks before, those who believed he'd be the chosen successor were trying their best to ingratiate themselves to him, and those who aligned themselves with Itachi were still trying to hedge their bets in case they were wrong.
A few years ago, when he'd been younger and still green, he'd probably be fighting the urge to vomit. But it isn't nepotism that got him his seat at the table. Besides, he's been in this scenario before, hasn't he?
His mother gives him a small, encouraging smile.
"That is true, Hiashi-san." Sasuke looks the ageing name partner in the eye. "The fiasco with the Rinha case probably damaged our reputation. Which is why I think my mother's idea would be a good way to earn some goodwill from the public, don't you think?"
"And what? You think you can just slap some money on your mistake and we'll all just forget about it? We've lost revenue. Connections. Some of our clients are jumping ship to that snake, Orochimaru's firm."
Sasuke's known the patriarch of the Hyuuga family his whole life. The old man was humorless, straightforward, and offensively conservative, so Sasuke knows not to take the it personally. He didn't have it out for him, he was terrible to everyone.
And kami, is he a fucking asshole.
But in this, Sasuke has to grudgingly accept, that he's right.
"Hiashi," Fugaku manages to signal a warning to the Hyuuga using just his name. Usually, his father stepping in to fight his battles made Sasuke feel like a helpless, snot nosed kid— it still does. But at least he knows he's going in the right direction.
"I am not trying to pass the buck. In fact," Sasuke goes to stand beside his mother. "I am personally taking charge of this new project, whatever we decide it'll be. I'll assemble a team for the planning, the preparation, and I've already got a PR agency in mind to help us with the press."
The only thing he needs is to find a worthy enough cause for the public to cry over.
It doesn't escape his notice that the partners aren't wholly convinced. If he's being honest, neither is he. But as in court or in any deposition, the truth is what he wills it to be. Amidst the whispers, Sasuke looks to the man at the head of the table. Good idea, bad idea. He couldn't give two fucks about what they thought. All he wants is…
"I think it's a good idea, and I may have a suggestion." Itachi's measured voice cuts through the prattle and that cold sensation comes back with a vengeance. "Well, actually, Uzumaki Naruto does. I ran into him this morning."
What?
When did Itachi even have the time to run into that idiot?
Itachi explains how the orphanage where the son of the much-beloved ex-prime minister grew up in is in dire need of repairs and a much needed injection of capital. They couldn't have come up with a better publicity stunt.
All the doubtful mutterings suddenly turn into exclamations of praise and their father gives Itachi that look of pride Sasuke's seen so many times but has never been the recipient of.
That's my boy.
All he wants is that approval.
"A month."
"What?" Sasuke startles when Hyuuga Hiashi speaks again.
"You have a month to accomplish this plan of yours. I think everyone here will agree that's fair?" Hiashi gestures at the others. And while some of them look uneasy about it, they don't speak up either, and that irritates Sasuke. He knows his father won't say anything because it'll just look like he's biased. "Besides, Fugaku-san is set to retire in a month. I think you'll want to make a… better impression before then."
It wouldn't do to cuss out a name partner, to his face anyway. So Sasuke settles for imagining what he would do once he takes his father's place.
"A month will be more than enough Hiashi-san."
It will have to be.
A/N: That's about it for now. I'm eager to find out what you think my friends! As for the other unfinished fics... Yes, I still plan on finishing them. But I've learned so much about writing these past couple of years (ever heard of plotting, past self?) that I feel so much would change. I might have to slightly retool them.
Thanks for reading!