The First

Sasuke Uchiha pressed his hands on his forehead. His black eyes explored the papers on his desk in experienced manner, investigating the numbers.

With a sigh he loosened his tie. This was going to take a while.

He let his fingers travel slightly through his carefully styled hair while he made some corrections on papers. Vaguely he pondered whether he had eaten anything proper after breakfast. It was a Friday night and he was tired.

"Mr. Uchiha", a voice piped in suddenly. "Are you still working? It's already so late–"

Sasuke lifted his gaze from the papers to the woman standing in the doorway. Someone from around the office, obviously, but Sasuke couldn't remember her name.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked instead, not particularly keen on the possibility of small-talk.

"What do I–?" the woman stammered, looking lost. "I mean, I just– I was just worried. Everyone else has already headed home..."

"You haven't", Sasuke stated flatly, raising his eyebrows in a bored manner. "If you have too much free time on your hands, you could use it wisely and get me the materials I need for the financial statement."

A blush creeped up the woman's neck amusingly fast. "I was actually just about to leave", she mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "I... I will do it first thing on Monday, sir..."

Sasuke swallowed a tired scoff and nodded, dismissing the woman.

With another sigh Sasuke closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He was painfully aware of the fact that almost all his female co-workers were desperately lusting after him. She wasn't the first to feign concern to get closer to him. Just last week one of the older ladies told him that he looked stiff and could definitely use a massage—and then she had the nerve to wink at him. Someone had even been bold enough to stop by his house late in the evening, supposedly in order to deliver him some important papers. The racy miniskirt she had been wearing made him somewhat suspicious of her ulterior motives.

Sasuke straightened up from his seat, stretching his neck. He collected the papers back to the folders, promising himself that he would finish them on Monday before lunchtime. Then he picked up his briefcase and turned off the lights.

Although unwanted, the attention he received around the office wasn't surprising. He came from a good family and had graduated at the top of his class. Soon after graduation his career had really taken off. He was a financial manager at one of the most successful corporations in information technology, and at the age of 32 he was well on his way of becoming the Chief Financial Officer in Sowenger IT Plc.

Sasuke entered the elevator with yet another sigh, glancing at his reflection in the mirror while the elevator descended to the parking hall.

He wasn't oblivious—he knew that his looks played a big part in his popularity. It was an uncomfortable thing to be aware of, but he had heard what people were whispering behind his back when they thought nobody was listening. He knew that his looks had made him unnecessarily popular among some of his co-workers. Sasuke had never done anything to encourage his admirers, but no matter how coldly he acted, it didn't seem to faze them. Instead, they just kept whispering about how mysterious and brooding he was.

Sasuke tossed the briefcase to the backseat of his car. He was looking forward to the peaceful quiet of his apartment, where nobody would be bothering him.

xxx

Monday started off like any other day. Assistants, accountants and even some of the more courageous cleaners were making up excuses to stop by Sasuke's office. Some were just wishing him a good morning, but others would linger in his office, blabbering on about their weekend. He wasn't in the mood for pointless small talk, and he certainly couldn't handle the coy smiles and fake giggles so early in the morning.

Sasuke downed his third cup of coffee. He had way too much work to do and being constantly interrupted was really starting to get on his nerves. He had just made the decision to go and close his door, when his boss—Mr. Sowenger—popped in.

"G'morning, Sasuke", Mr. Sowenger called out, seemingly bursting with energy.

"Good morning, sir", Sasuke answered in a much more calm manner, straightening his tie.

"Hardworking as always, I see", Mister Sowenger mused, motioning his hand towards the papers stacked on the desk. "But I'm afraid I must interrupt your flow. Your presence is much more urgently needed in the conference room. They just delivered doughnuts there."

"My presence is needed…because of the doughnuts?"

"That is just one of the reasons", Mr. Sowenger smiled. "We are having an extempore meeting."

Sasuke nodded and stood up, following his boss out into the hallway. He had learned a long time ago not to be too bothered by the whims of his boss. The man was an avid donut enthusiastic, and who was Sasuke to argue?

They walked past the cubicles and along the hallway towards the conference room—Sasuke painfully aware of the people ogling at him from behind their computers. It could have been his imagination, but he was quite certain he heard a catcall.

Luckily, Mr. Sowenger was in a hurry to get his hands on the doughnuts, and they reached the conference room in a record time.

"G'mfffn", someone in the room mumbled as soon as Mr. Sowenger pushed the door open, and Sasuke sighed.

There, on the opposite side of the room at the conference table, was Naruto Uzumaki, the second financial manager of the company. He had stuffed his mouth full of doughnuts, and a laid-back smile was plastered on his face. He mock-saluted them with his doughnut-free hand—a gesture that seemed to genuinely amuse Mr. Sowenger.

"And good morning to you too, Naruto", Mr. Sowenger chuckled and took a seat at the end of the table. "It seems you managed to get yourself out of bed on time for once."

Naruto smiled and wiped some sugar from the corner of his mouth. "I had to. Irene told me there would be doughnuts."

Mr. Sowenger looked positively delighted at that. Sasuke suppressed the urge to roll his eyes while he took a seat at the table across from Naruto, who still kept shovelling doughnuts into his mouth.

It wasn't a secret that Naruto managed to get on Sasuke's nerves in a way that nobody else could. Naruto was loud and obnoxious, and practically always late. Unfortunately, Naruto was also his closest colleague—and, apparently, his self-proclaimed rival.

Sasuke had never felt the urge to ask any follow-up questions concerning the supposed dynamic, since there was very little any actual rivalry going on. Most of the time they managed to avoid each other and any conflicts were kept at minimum. However, at this point Sasuke was quite certain that at least 80 per cent of his headaches were caused by the said blond-haired idiot hollering at the top of his lungs.

"So", Mr. Sowenger begun. "You both are aware that Casper Clark is retiring. It means that we have a position to fill, as we cannot survive without a new CFO for long."

Sasuke nodded earnestly. Naruto seemed more concerned about his next doughnut.

"Then you also know why I summoned you here", Mr. Sowenger continued. "You both have done a lot for our company, and are exceptional at what you do. That is why I have informed the board that I will be promoting one of you. The problem is, I cannot seem to decide who is more suited for the job."

Sasuke nodded again. He glanced at Naruto, who was absentmindedly sucking sugar off his fingers. Sasuke tried not to grimace at that, instead turning his gaze back to their boss.

Mr. Sowenger looked almost uncharacteristically serious. "I will be monitoring you both very closely, so I can make sure that the right person gets promoted."

"Understood, sir", Sasuke confirmed with a polite smile. If the decision would be based on performance, he had nothing to worry about. Still, it would do him no good to get too confident. Mr. Sowenger certainly had a soft spot for Naruto.

"Now then", Mister Sowenger stated, standing up and grabbing the doughnut box. "Good luck to you both. Make me proud."

"Roger that, boss", Naruto grinned, waving a goodbye to Mr. Sowenger, who was already hurrying out of the room with his loot of doughnuts. Then Naruto turned his gaze to Sasuke.

"What?" Sasuke glared.

"Nothing. Just thought I should wish you good luck." Naruto's grin got even wider. "You know, 'cause you'll need it."

Sasuke spared his colleague a bored snort. "You sound quite full of yourself for someone who can't even get their tie straight."

With that Sasuke got up and walked to the door. "Try to make sure that the reports on budgeting process meet the deadline", Sasuke reminded, before stepping out of the room, leaving Naruto to his struggle with the tie.

xxx

Sasuke closed his eyes and rubbed his face. His eyes were painfully dry and the text on his computer screen was starting to look blurry. Another headache was guaranteed, and it wasn't even lunch time yet.

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his muscles and trying to release some of the tension in his spine. When it didn't work, he got up from the chair, the stiffness in his muscles making him hiss. He wiped non-existent dust off his suit and decided that he needed more coffee. A little break most certainly couldn't hurt.

He snuck out of his office, trying to stay out of sight as much as possible. Some of the staff had apparently decided to take an early lunch and the floor seemed blessedly empty.

He was lucky enough to slip away without being noticed, but his luck didn't last. As soon as he reached the break room, he could hear laughter and muffled chatting through the door. For a brief moment he considered turning back, but his head was already starting to throb. His need for caffeine was stronger than his dislike for human interaction. So, he steeled his nerves and opened the door, a cold expression on his face. One of the voices was a bit too familiar to his liking.

"–and then I asked him if we were really talking about the same person. Because the Paris I know doesn't know a thing about hotel business."

The room filled with a new fit of laughter. The sound made Sasuke's head pound more urgently, and he gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Oh, Naruto", someone cooed. "You are so lucky to be part of that kind of social circles."

"I have to admit that I'm lucky", Naruto mused, "because I get to work with all of you lovely ladies."

An exaggerated aww followed the words, and Sasuke tried not to gag. He was concerned that he would soon shatter a tooth if he gritted his teeth any harder. In last resort, he slammed his coffee mug onto the counter with unnecessary force, effectively silencing everyone.

As much as the women wanted him, they also feared him—and that was a fact that always managed to lift his spirits.

Sasuke filled his mug almost to the brim, ignoring the fact that the coffee had probably been sitting in the coffee maker for a while now, and would most definitely taste disgusting. But it was coffee, and he wasn't going to complain. It would be enough to postpone his headache and to lighten his mood.

His happiness, unfortunately, was short-lived. Apparently there was one person in the room who didn't have the necessary survival instincts that millions of years of evolution had provided for their species.

"Hey", Naruto called out. "Sasuke–"

Sasuke didn't bother turning around. "Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee."

"Spoken like a true motivational poster", Naruto scoffed. "Cheer up, would you? We were having a good time until you marched in with your grumpy attitude."

"I'm here to work, not to entertain you", Sasuke answered dryly. He picked up his coffee and glanced at Naruto. "If you have something that needs to be discussed, stop by my office."

Then he headed to the door, even more tired than he had been before. He hurried back to his room, careful not to spill his coffee.

He didn't really care what everyone else thought of him—as far as he was concerned, they were here to work and not socialize. In fact, he would have probably used the break room more often if small talk wasn't mandatory—or if the room wasn't so crowded. And if one certain blond-haired blabbermouth wasn't so keen on constantly ruining his day.

At the safety of his room, Sasuke downed the coffee with rage, grimacing at the bitterness of hours-old liquid.

It was days like this that he hated the most—the ones when Naruto would keep provoking him just to get on his nerves.

Naruto had declared them rivals on the first week they had been working together, and had been pestering Sasuke ever since. Naruto was always barging in unannounced, possibly only to irritate him, and Sasuke was tired of it. Sasuke couldn't stand how impulsive and careless Naruto was. Naruto would show up to work without his tie, his shirt wrinkled and blond hair a complete mess. He had no regard for rules, nor any concept of personal space.

Sure, Naruto had his moments and managed to get things done—at least most of the time. People seemed to enjoy working with him, and Mr. Sowenger was definitely very keen on him. Everyone seemed to ignore the fact that Naruto's careless attitude sometimes caused more work, and had more than once endangered an important deadline. Sasuke was quite certain that Naruto had gotten where he was today at least partly due to his father's status. The Uzumakis practically owned one third of the city, and his father was a very influential person. It wasn't very likely that someone would dare to deliberately confront the only son of such a powerful man.

Sasuke sneered at his now empty coffee mug. His own parents were also wealthy, but he had never used their money or name as a stepping stone in business life—but he could imagine Naruto doing just the opposite. Naruto was practically always going on about how amazing his father was, so it wouldn't be a surprise if his father had greased some palms to ensure a lucrative job for his happy-go-lucky son.

The thought of Naruto using his father's status like that made Sasuke a bit uncertain about the upcoming promotion. He didn't doubt his own abilities, and he knew that he was more than qualified for the job, but he didn't know if that was enough to get him promoted–

Sasuke's office door opened with a loud bang, effectively disrupting his thoughts. Then the blond devil himself invaded the room.

"Sassssssssuke!"

Sasuke sighed, lowering the empty coffee mug on the table. "What do you want, dope?"

Naruto slumped onto the chair that was placed on the other side of the table, right across from where Sasuke was standing. The blond let his gaze travel around the room, finally landing on Sasuke. "Your room is amazingly boring", Naruto stated.

"It's neatly organized—unlike yours", Sasuke retorted. "Is that all? Did you come over to discuss room décor? Or do you actually have something to say?"

Naruto let out a bored snort. "C'mon, man. You're depressing."

"And you are burdensome", Sasuke groaned, massaging his temples.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I just came to inform you that the reports for the budgeting process are done. At least my half is."

That took Sasuke by surprise. "...Already?"

"Yeah", Naruto laughed. "I had some help, though. Delegation is all the rave right now."

With a snort Sasuke got seated and turned his attention to the computer screen. It wasn't a complete surprise that Naruto would find a way to get things done without having to do them himself.

"Send me the copies", Sasuke said, unlocking his screen and getting back to work. He could feel his briefly forgotten headache slowly but surely returning.

"Sure", Naruto replied. "I will." Then he got up from his seat and made his exit whilst whistling loudly.

Sasuke opened his desk drawer and fished around for painkillers.

He was done with this week and it was only Monday.