Chapter 2

The tension in the boardroom was nearly unbearable. The team sat together, stiff but reasonably calm. Which was even more impressive, considering one of their own was late. In ten minutes, the most important meeting in the company's history would begin- and one of their own was late.

"Damn it, Naruto."

He didn't mean it. This time, he REALLY hadn't meant it.

But fate had a nasty sense of humor. He got caught in traffic.

After all the damn times he'd used that excuse, it had finally come back to bite him in the ass.

I hate my life. Naruto thought wryly, and he bounded through the hall. Too bad he didn't see the package on the floor. His leg slammed against the hard box, and he went flying, his suitcase flew open and his papers scattered.

Oh hell. Oh hell. Oh hell. Panicking, he crawled into the mess of papers, pulling as many into his arms as possible, in a messy and massive heap.

His face hot, and his body shaking, he tried to remain calm. But his nerves burned. His face staring down at the ground, he suddenly saw a pale hand come into his vision. His head shot up, and his eyes locked with a pair of cool green ones. The pale hands grabbed one of the documents, and held it up, examining it with those eyes.

"Interesting." He murmured his voice strange and cold. Naruto's eyes dropped to the paper. It was a biography, complete with picture, of the head of the Kishimoto Corporation. Staring at the picture, Naruto felt his blood go cold.

The same pale skin. The same green eyes.

"Gaara." He whispered, forgetting all rules of etiquette as his mouth ran dry. Green eyes narrowed, and Naruto's eyes widened. "…ah…you…I…" The man didn't blink. Was he even breathing? He just stared at Naruto…just kept…staring…

"You are Uzumaki." The man's voice was smooth and cold. Naruto gaped at him. His expression didn't change as he stared at the startled blond.

"I…I…Uzumaki…." Naruto stammered, before reality slammed into him and he realized how stupid he must seem right then. "Uzumaki Naruto. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to meet you." Naruto gave the other man his most dazzling smile, hoping the man would ignore his earlier stupidity. This seemed to have no effect, however, for Gaara just continued to stare at him. Naruto's mouth went dreadfully dry.

"Nice to meet you." There was nothing in his voice that suggested pleasure- though; equally, there was nothing that suggested disgust. That, in Naruto's view, was a positive sign, and he found himself relaxing slightly. Still grinning, he swept most of the remaining papers into his arms (swiping Gaara's bio from him as casually as possible) and shoved them into his suitcase before shutting it with a sharp click.

"What are you doing down here? The meeting's upstairs!" Naruto asked cheerily, the blush that had covered his whole face earlier softening to a rosy flush. Gaara tilted his head slightly to the side. This was the most response Naruto had gotten out of the stoic man.

"You're blushing." Naruto blinked, looking a little startled.

"Nani?" What did that have to do with anything? Naruto wondered. Of course he was blushing! He'd been blushing since he arrived late this morning.

Of course, if Naruto had thought the statement was odd, the action that followed was mind blowing. Gaara reached out, caught Naruto's chin, and ran his thumb across the bridge of Naruto's nose. The young man gaped at him.

"Right there." The red head murmured calmly, looking almost bored. Naruto froze; Gaara didn't pull his hand away.

What….

What was he doing?

This didn't make any sense at all.

Sasuke moved through the halls will cold patience. The few who crossed his path moved aside with the same ingrained sensors that taught them to duck when Naruto came running- they sensed danger. Uchiha was pissed.

The fact that Naruto would be late was both irritating and (though like hell he'd admit it) hurtful. Sasuke had made it very clear to him that this was important. Naruto was a dobe, but he wasn't one to blow off something this important. Reaching the second floor desk, Sasuke interrogated the poor secretary into the ground, asking if Naruto had arrived. When the secretary commented that a blond blur had flown by five minutes before, Sasuke demanded the direction, speed, and appearance. The secretary, having barely spotted the frazzled Naruto in the first place, quaked under Sasuke cold voice and vicious glare.

If he hadn't been in such a bad mood, Sasuke might have felt bad for her.

Maybe.

Swinging around the corner in the direction the woman had pointed, Sasuke tried to maintain and even gait. He shouldn't be chasing down Naruto in the first place- that was secretary work. But Sasuke was never good at trusting other people with a job, and he decided that them BOTH showing up late wasn't a sign of foolishness- it was an example of their power. They rushed for no one-Which is why running down the halls shouting Naruto's name was out of the question.

Moving easily through the maze of offices, Sasuke neared the west staircase. He'd be furious if Naruto made it back to the boardroom before him, after all the trouble he went through. Turning another sharp corner, Sasuke froze.

There was Naruto- Clothing slightly wrinkled, face slightly flushed…with his chin resting in the palm of one of the most ruthless and brilliant businessmen in Japan. Sasuke's features reacted immediately, falling into his characteristic blank frown. Strong emotion never made it to the Uchiha's face fast enough- his reflexes always stopped him from responding. Except, occasionally, when the emotion got to his eyes.

Sensing his presence, Naruto glanced up, his eyes growing wide. In turn, Gaara glanced over. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Naruto's natural…charm kicked in.

"Sasuke! What the hell are you doing here!" The Uchiha swallowed the strange, biting sensation that had appeared in his throat, unable to take his eyes of the fingers on Naruto's chin.

"I came to get you. We have to get to the meeting." He slowly drew his eyes away, lifting them to a pair of icy green ones. "Though it appears my efforts were futile. Gaara-san is with you." The long, pale fingers slid from Naruto's chin, and for some reason Sasuke got the impression that he brushed them against Naruto's cheeks on purpose as he pulled away. The gaze they exchange was long, and inconclusive. Sasuke didn't understand why he was staring, and Gaara didn't seem to care. It was Naruto who finally broke the silence.

"Shit, Sasuke! You wouldn't believe it! First, I got stuck in traffic- after all the times I've used that dumb excuse- then…"
"Naruto." Sasuke said, glancing at the blond quickly.

"…I came running in, and the elevator in the south entrance is down, so I went up the stairs…."

"Naruto."

"…So I was running down the hall, and there was this package, and I absolutely didn't see it…"

"Naruto."

"….So I tripped and my papers went flying, so I started to…"

"NARUTO!" Sasuke snapped, and the blond gave his a startled glared.

"What?"
"We can talk about this later." Was it is imagination, or was there a slight smirk on Gaara's face? Naruto stared at him.

"Uh…yeah. Sure." Sasuke cleared his throat.
"If the rest of your team is prepared, we can begin the meeting as soon as we get to the board room." Gaara had barely spared Sasuke a glance, as he continued to watch Naruto who had bent to gather up the last of the forgotten papers. Sasuke suddenly had the irrational (and utterly ridiculous) urge, to growl at him.

"My team is prepared." He murmured his voice steady and undeniably apathetic. His eyes were glued on Naruto's face. "They are waiting upstairs." Yes, that reminded him- what was Gaara doing on this floor in the first place? Sasuke decided that he didn't like this man (he decided to ignore the fact that he had decided this the second he saw him touching Naruto) and that he was up to something.

"Very well, then. Let's get started." Naruto grinned, shoving the rest of his papers haphazardly into his briefcase.

"Alright! Let's go! Coffee!" He cheered- all the rushing he'd done this morning had caused him to forget about his precious caffeine. Sasuke tried not to wince.

Oh God, this was not how he imagined this meeting would go

Note:

Thanks to Ahja Reyn. My we all bow down to your knowledge.

And be careful- I have it on good authority that spiders are trying to take over the earth. Glares around suspiciously

AthenaAlpha