Author's note: I know I haven't replied in almost a year, so I beg of your forgiveness, I really find it hard to do multi-chaptered fics and I promise that the next one will be longer!
I know that Sasuke seems a bit OOC in this, but I need him to be talkative even in the slightest, he's the CEO and he just cannot not talk, if you know what I mean. I'm also sorry for the grammatical errors! I'll try to make more time for this, and I promise it won't nearly take a year again for me to update!
Disclaimer: I am not claiming the rights to Naruto or any of its characters. Only the plot here is mine even though it may bear resemblance to any other work, I swear that that is purely coincidental.
Naruko Uzumaki was always known as an avid lover of Ramen, always cherishing the dish down to the last drop, and singing praises when done. She was always known to not take 'ramen' as a food for merely satisfying your hunger, no, ramen, was by any means, her one true love- therefore one should make time to appreciate the dish. If ramen was a religion, then Ichiraku would be the altar.
"I swear, out of all the things to happen," the blonde says as she angrily slurps her ramen, "and just right after a break-up too!"
Well this one time, this may be the one exception.
"Hell, working with Gai and Lee's unit would have been better and I hate latex bodysuits. That's saying something!" Naruko rants as she asks for yet another bowl of ramen, "I mean, anything- anything is better than having to work for that- that thing!"
"Ne, Naruko, who is this 'thing' you're referring to anyways?" Ayame asks as she brings in another serving of ramen.
"They must be someone pretty important to have you working for them, so tell us, who is this you're working for?" Teuchi also asks while preparing to make another bowl for their favorite customer.
Naruko groans as she slams her head on the table and looks up with 'tears' in her eyes, "Uchiha-teme."
Ayame lets out a light laugh as she looks at the young girl questioningly, "But isn't Sasuk-"
"Sh!" She hushes the waitress, "Sh! They cannot know about that."
"Uchiha-san." A voice through the intercom says, "Your new PA has arrived."
He pauses in the midst of the paperwork on his desk, "Send her up." Instead of resuming, he somehow finds himself pausing and being struck with flashbacks of a certain blonde haired idiot. He somehow amuses himself with thinking of her reaction when she found out that she were to be his PA. She probably freaked out.
"Uchiha-san," the voice says again but this time with a tone even Sasuke knew that he should dare not provoke, "Your new PA has arrived."
"Please send her up, Hikari-san." He says as he knows that being the usual Sasuke won't work with the woman his brother refers to as his PA. The woman was not going to put up with his and his brother's attitude and it was something even his mother applauds at. And she thinks that warrants her to be in a position to tell them off.
"Manners, manners," She scolds lightly through the intercom, "You're never going to get settled down at the rate you're going, your father already gave up on your brother, so he's relying on you for future grandchildren."
He doesn't say anything to that and the thought of resuming his paperwork and ignoring the woman on the phone became all the more tempting. He can't blame their parents though; his brother was definitely a tough case to crack.
"Anyway Uchiha-san, your fan mail is currently being sent to your family's manor as we speak, so if you'll excuse me." Hikari says as she cuts the line off.
Sasuke knows that he shouldn't be this excited to see the blonde, even though the excitement could be easily set aside. But the tempting thought of getting the chance to annoy her seems all the more enjoyable now that he was her boss.
The next day, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping, and all is well. Everything seemed to have kicked off to a beautiful start except for the fact that a certain blonde was standing in Sharingan Corp.'s lobby with a scowl on her face.
'Stupid job. Stupid luck. Stupid teme. Stupid break-up. Stupid life.' As she is cursing everything she can in her mind, she fails to notice the white haired woman approaching her.
"Uzumaki-san." Hikari says but it seems as if her words were met by deaf ears.
'Damn it all. I don't want this job, but I need this job. Stupid bills!' Her scowl worsens and she still does not seem to see the woman before her.
"Uzumaki-san." Still no response of any sort at all. Hikari sighs and lightly taps her on the shoulders.
"Ah!" The blonde says-shouts startled, "I-I'm sorry! I mean, yes, I am Uzumaki. I'm Uzumaki Naruko."
The woman smiles gently, "Nice to meet you Naruko-san, I am Hikari Tsuki, Itachi Uchiha's Personal Assistant, and I will be your guide today."
Naruko smiles brightly at the woman, "Yosh! Let's get going then, can't have that teme waiting!" And the words are out of her mouth before she realizes what she said. When she did, well, she turned to a shade of red that could rival her mother's hair. "I'm sorry again, it's j-"
She is cut off by the sound of light laughter and sees the person before her laughing. "No, it's fine, he can be quite the irritating little thing."
I like this woman, Naruko thinks as Hikari tells her to follow her as she gives general directions.
They both continue on, and after fifteen minutes ride an elevator up to the top floor. Stepping out of the elevator, Naruko notes how well lit the place seems to be, and notes that Sasuke is probably behind that intimidating wooden door just a few meters in front of the elevator. She also sees what she assumes to be her desk and is already loving the idea of how spacious her desk is. (She's not loving the idea of the job though, no matter how beautiful her desk is.)
"The floor you'll be working on is the here, the 28th floor. If you didn't know, Sasuke-san is the Chief Operating Officer or the General Manager. One of his jobs is ensuring that the company's flow is steady and smooth. Your job is making sure that his flow is steady and smooth- meaning that you have to keep him in check half the time. There's also a tremendous amount of paperwork that you'll help him with, and you go with him to places and meetings." She looks at Naruko and seeing that the blonde is slightly confused, she sighs though smiling. "You're basically his right hand man- or rather in our case, right hand woman."
"Ugh… I'm not sure I'm up for it, whipping his ass and deflating his ego, yes, that is a lot of work." Naruko says dejectedly but bounces back within a second, "But whether he likes it or not, Naruko Uzumaki is here to stay, believe it!"
Hikari smiles at the younger woman before her, "Itachi-san informed me that both of you acquainted with each other so I don't have to give you a warning about his personality anymore… but… Uzumaki-san, I wish you luck. Your new boss is right beyond those doors," she points to the wooden gates of hell.
"I'll see you around, and I'm just at the floor above you if you ever need any help." Hikari smiles kindly then turns to leave heading for the elevator.
"Ano, Tsuki-san?" The said person pauses midway and turns to look at her questioningly, "You can call me Naruko you know." Naruko offers her with a smile, no matter how awkward the smile may have looked.
"Very well, Naruko-san, but if I may, can I request that you call me my name too?" Hikari reciprocates her smile. "Also, please be wary of Itachi-san's business partners."
Her cerulean eyes widen in recognition of the ever famous (or was it infamous?) group of cunning business men- the 'Akatsuki'. She's heard of them all the way from the main branch with rumors saying of just how they're all unpredictable but there were also rumors saying of how they ran the criminal underworld. Why Itachi and Uchiha are linked to them, she'll never know (or she might just squeeze it out of Sasuke…) but somehow, Konohagakure's SCEO, Supreme Chief Executive Officer, trusted them, she trusts them too. Well… that SCEO was her father of course, her ever aloof father.
"Other than them and Uchiha-san's attitude, you'll get along here fine." Hikari says as she turns around but not before giving Naruko a warm look saying, "Oh and Naruko? Welcome to Uchiha Corp."
Through the security camera positioned to monitor the hallway leading to his office, Sasuke sees that the blonde has been here and was currently chatting with Itachi's PA. Seeing the blonde from his computer's monitor, with her just being a few meters away really had an effect.
There was something different about seeing his rival from the training school here in the flesh, working for him as his assistant. While he was plotting about numerous stunts he will no doubt pull, a phone call breaks through his plans. Seeing the caller's name had him groaning once more because who else could it be but Kakashi.
Is today some sort of flashback day? I mean, first the dobe, then the perverted Team Leader… who's next? The group mediator/fire starter?
"Kakashi," He greets his old teacher. "What do you need?"
His teacher lets out an amused chuckle, "Always straight to the point, huh? Didn't you miss your old sensei?"
The silence must have been enough to answer the silver haired man's question.
"Anyways, have you finished all the paperwork I sent over to you, Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi asks inquiringly from the other line.
"Of course I did, who did you think I was?" He answers back confidently, because after all, he was an Uchiha, pride came with it.
"Maa, maa, well since you've finished it, is Itachi there?"
And the man was met with silence yet again. "… are you kidding, Kakashi?" Sasuke asks incredulously. "You could have called him or Hikari to ask."
"That's the thing; I don't want to call that crazy white haired woman. So I'm asking you."
"But I don't wan-" And of course he just oh so conveniently remembers that he has a new PA. "Wait. Hold for a moment Kakashi."
He puts the phone down and presses the red button on the intercom. "Uzumaki," calling her by her last name left a bitter taste in his mouth for the reason that he was used to (and currently is, in his mind anyways) calling her names.
Through the security cam he can see that Naruko was fumbling around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. He watches her fumble more for a few minutes to amuse him, but decides that a few was enough, "The machine with the microphone on your desk."
The blonde then proceeds to, or what it looks like, yell at the intercom. "Have you seriously worked at a company before, Uzumaki?" He then looks to the screen beside him and sees that she has put her hands on her waist. "Oh no," he thinks sarcastically, "That's strike one."
"Press the button."
She presses the button once, "Te-", but doesn't hold the button.
Sasuke lets out a sigh, admitting himself that this was going to be a long day. "I'm now wondering where you got the qualifications to be my PA. You're inefficient." He watches the blonde freeze and shake in what he can assume is anger.
Really. Now I'm seeing why I didn't miss her… Not that I ever did in the first place.
"Speak while pressing the button."
"Teme!" Her voice screams through the microphone and Sasuke has to stop the smile that was forming on his face, "Why couldn't you have left instructions or something?! And just so you know, we didn't use these intercoms!" He could hear the disdain in her voice as she curses the damn machine. "FYI, a mistake doesn't mean I'm inefficient. Now whaddya want?"
"First off," he speaks through the intercom, "I'm your boss Uzumaki, and as your boss, I expect you to treat me with respect. Secondly, I want you to go up to Itachi's floor and see if he's there."
"Ain't he your brother?" She asks as she scratches her head. "And can't you like, page him or message him or something?"
"Uzumaki. I'm your boss, and you'll do as I say as long as it's within reason. It states so in your contract. Also, do yourself a favor and note that Itachi does not check his phone and hates being paged."
"…Alright then, te- boss," he hears her say rather forcefully. Then he sees her stomp her way to the elevator with her hands curled up in fists knowing that she's probably already cursing this job.
He then picks up the phone and tells Kakashi that he has got someone to check on Itachi and that that person should be back anytime soon.
"Who's your new slave then, Sasuke-kun?"
"You know her."
"It's a girl? A female?" Kakashi asks surprised.
"Yes, and you'll be rather shocked to know who it is."
"Who?"
"Dobe." He says plainly, not even intending to call her by her name because Kakashi should know who she is. After all, how could he not? He was the three's trainer even though at first he was reluctant to.
The line goes quiet for a while until he hears a familiar chuckle from the other line. "Now all we need is Sakura, and there will be a reunion."
"Don't get any ideas Kakashi." Sasuke says warningly, "I'm busy."
"Ideas? What ideas? I'm merely going over to Sakura's place to invite her for a walk."
The raven lets out a dark chuckle, "A walk to where exactly? My office?"
"Yep." The man then cuts the line, and the Uchiha lets out a sigh noting that he should tell the blonde to reschedule his meetings before lunch and to order for four, begrudgingly admitting that he was making time for his old team, no matter how much he tells himself that he does not under any circumstance miss those days.
The blonde then returns to her post and uses the intercom.
"Itachi is here." She says as she takes a seat and he sees her surprise at how comfortable the chair is.
"Good."
"Do you have anything else you want me to take care of?"
"Reschedule all my meetings before lunch, and order take-away for four." He orders her and she notes them all down on a pad that she brings out of her bag. "Uzumaki, that's reschedule. Not cancel, alright?"
"Yessir! Don't worry, boss, even I know the difference between the two." She says rather angrily but then suddenly cools down and asks shyly, "Can I order ramen?"
He lets out a chuckle at the idea that it may have been a long time since they have last met but the blonde doesn't even change. Not one bit. "Sure."
"Yay!" She says excitedly but later catches herself and fixes her composure. "Uh, I mean, thank you, sir."
No, he didn't miss her. Not even a little, not even a bit.
And as he takes one more glimpse at her through the screen before finishing the mountain of paperwork he has to work on, a little voice in his head bothers him because it reminds him of a thing that he doesn't even want to admit himself.
Liar.
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that's fine too.
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Ciao!