-XXX-

SASUKE

The building where Naruto's father's company, Namikaze Group, was located was in absolute contrast to the headquarters of ROOT Inc. Unlike the huge steel and glass skyscraper where I worked, it was made of bricks, had only four floors, and was surrounded by many trees and little gardens. At the entrance, I checked in with two security guards who smiled at me and gave me a pass to enter the complex and park my car inside.

Upon entering the building, I was greeted by another security guard, and I saw the name on the tag, Yamato. Mr. Yamato told me that Namikaze Minato had an office on the top floor and wished me a good day. Everyone here was so nice and pleasant that it made me a little nauseous.

A few minutes later, Namikaze's personal secretary, Hinata Hyuga, aka Naruto's girlfriend, who greeted me shyly, picked me up at the lobby and took me to the meeting room. I liked that the staff wore name tags. At ROOT Inc., I often had trouble recognizing who was who and remembering their name. The girl brought me coffee and told me that Namikaze would be in shortly. I took advantage of the extra time to look around at the details of the room, and again the differences between our two companies struck me.

ROOT Inc. was just shining. The offices and conference rooms had a super-modern design and the predominant colour scheme was black and white. Everything was metallic, cold, impersonal. But if I were to judge just by the conference room where the girl had seated me, I felt odd. Wooden furniture, warm colours and pictures full of life all around. Everything felt warm, welcoming and family-like. Just like Namikaze's reputation said.

In one corner of the meeting room, there was a whiteboard for employee ideas where the staff could contribute their ideas and sketches. I stepped closer to it and looked at the pictures. I quickly grasped the whole point of this particular campaign. It was for a shoe brand and it was completely wrong.

A man's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "I get the feeling from your expression that you don't like this concept."

My gaze fell on the somewhat amused expression of the still young man whom I had the honour of meeting in person for the first time. He was tall and confident, with a rich mop of natural blond hair that shone in the light and highlighted his youthful appearance. For a man who was already the father of a grown son, he looked so young.

As I turned and walked towards the door through which he had just entered, I was caught by the warm look in his blue eyes. It occurred to me that Namikaze was bringing potential applicants here on purpose and not to his office, just because of this board of ideas, which had been placed here on purpose, as a sort of test.

I shrugged and responded to his comment with a cool head. "The concept is decent, but it doesn't create anything we haven't seen before. Same product for the whole family? It's been done before."

Minato Namikaze sat down on the corner of the conference table and folded his arms. With a challenging look, he nodded to my bold idea. "You're right, it was, and it was a success. The client is the world famous Fūma company, their shoes are known all over the world. They wish to reach more of their target audience."

I agreed, because this company was familiar to me. They even turned us, ROOT Inc., down for a project once. They were very picky and didn't like our concept at all, so they went elsewhere. So now I know where they put their trust. "Why don't you make it so that you only show one person?"

"Go on."

I pointed to the picture of the family that was pinned on the whiteboard, the youngest child. "Focus on him. The parents' very first purchase of their brand of shoes, for their little toddler. Capture every stage of that child's life as he grows up and still wears their shoes. First steps, first day of school, trips with friends, doing sports, dating, graduation, wedding..."

Finally, after a long monologue, I fell silent and waited for a response. Minato Namikaze was silent for a moment and then he showed me a little smile. "The product stays with you for life."

"Hn..." I nodded, because he obviously got my point. "It' s a permanent thing. You may change, but the product is with you for life." I clarified and saw a smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Brilliant!" He said enthusiastically, and I felt good about his praise. For some reason, his appreciation warmed my soul until I lowered my head at the feeling, which was not like me at all. Minato jumped down from the table and extended his hand to me. "Minato Namikaze."

I accepted his hand, noting how firm his grip was. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"I'm impressed." He said to me and before I could answer, my cell phone rang. Right on time. "I'm sorry." I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen, hoping that I looked embarrassed as I needed. "Sorry, I have to take this."

"It's okay, Sasuke." He called me by name and I knew immediately that we were on the right track. "At least I'll have a coffee in the meantime." I gave a nod of agreement, taking the call and turning my back on him.

"Sakura-ka?" I said into my phone in a muffled voice. There was complete silence for a moment before my flustered and very surprised secretary answered. "Mr. Uchiha...?"

"Yes." I smirked, knowing how much that must have thrown her off. I don't think I'd ever addressed her in any other way than 'Miss Haruno', and certainly not in the tone I just used. "Um... you wanted me to call you and tell you that the meeting scheduled at 5 PM was moved to 4 PM, right?" She hesitated at the end of her sentence. She was probably worried she'd made a mistake, though she knew full well she hadn't.

"So, four o'clock?" I repeated as if I hadn't heard her before. "Yes…?"

"Fine... I'll make the arrangements. Is everything okay in there?" When she answered, she sounded astonished. "Mr. Uchiha, are you alright?" Something about this situation made me feel better. Teasing that perpetually uptight woman was starting to amuse me more than I imagined. "Of course I am. Why do you ask, Sakura?" I couldn't resist confusing her further. "Are you calling me by my name? Since when? Plus, you sound kind of... weird."

"Don't worry." I reassured her because I knew Namikaze was listening. "Everything's fine." I said in a soothing voice. I think I've unsettled Miss Haruno quite a bit. "Mr. Danzo was looking for you." She said with concern and I wasn't surprised. When Danzo was desperately looking for someone and couldn't find them, he took it out on everyone around him. "What did you tell him?"

"Exactly what you ordered me to do. He..." She paused. She was obviously uncomfortable continuing that sentence. "What? What happened?"

"Mr. Danzo is irritated today... Very." The way she said it, I think Danzo's grumbling because I didn't report my absence. "Danzo is always irritated." I said, and in the process I imagined all the times when the atmosphere in the company was so depressing because of him that even half of the employees thought they were going to lose their jobs. "And he would like to see you... Very much."

"I'd love to see you, too. Very much." I couldn't help but make a cheesy remark when she gave me such a nice opportunity. "Go to lunch early and lock up the office. I'll deal with him when I get back." I advised her while smirking inwardly at how nicely I'd managed to add a caring tone to my voice.

My words surprised and probably frightened her at the same time, but she braced herself. "I should lock the office and go to lunch early? Are you drunk?" That one got me. I had to put my hand in front of my mouth because this woman had just brought out a honest chuckle in me. "Sakura, just do it. Calm down and I'll see you when I get there." Still smiling, I hung up and turned back to Namikaze, who was standing nearby at the table with cups and coffee machine, and who had certainly heard my every word.

"My secretary." I explained brusquely.

He gave me an understanding look. "I think I can see why you'd like to leave ROOT Inc." Of course, one of the most successful businessmen knew how strict the company I worked for was. I returned his understanding look and gave a slight shrug.

"Tell me more about yourself." I just got him where I wanted him. "I think you know enough about me, Mr. Namikaze." He nodded with a more serious expression now and took a sip from the coffee mug he had in his hand. "Your reputation precedes you."

"People change." I was hoping I looked like an honest guy. "And you?" He asked, and I could tell that there was doubt in his mind as to whether I was still an arrogant bastard who was chasing his career over dead bodies, or if something had changed. "In terms of what I want out of life and how to achieve it, yes. I have a certain past that got me where I am. But to be honest, now you're looking at someone who's on a journey of redemption."

I know those words were quite strong for a casual conversation like this, but with this part... I didn't even have to lie. The fact that I wanted to move on was absolutely true. "That's what happens to people when they fall in love." Namikaze said and I immediately switched into the role I had chosen to play. "Yeah... I figured that out too."

"I heard that ROOT Inc. has strict rules about relationships within the company." I snorted at his comment. "Danzo Hamura hates it when his employees have relationships. Both at work and in private." I wasn't in a relationship, so I didn't care about that rule of his. It was his screw-ups that drove me to what I'm doing now.

"And you don't agree with that?" The blond man inquired curiously. "A determined man can do both." That was the only answer he would get from me. I was confident, and I was confident in everything I wanted. And I wanted everything I could think of. I wanted my ambition, both professionally and in my personal life, to be appreciated by my potential new employer. "And it's even easier with the right person." I had to put the cherry on top.

"And you have met such a person?"

"Hn."

"Your secretary."

I swallowed hard and could only nod.

"Tell me about her."

Damn it. If this were about work, my knowledge would be endless. Strategies, perspectives, concepts, visualizations and more. I almost never talked about myself, so what could I possibly say about a woman who got on my nerves with her uptight robotic perfection? I don't know her at all, and I can't stand her. I couldn't think of anything personal about her.

I gulped heavily again, lowered my head, looked thoughtfully at the table, and then ran a finger over its smooth surface to steady myself. "You probably wouldn't meet a more clumsy woman in the world. She could trip over air." I blurted out, immediately thinking of several situations where she had literally barged into my office and often ended up on the floor. So I was starting with the truth, okay. But Namikaze frowned at my tone, and I quickly corrected my mistake.

"It bothers me when she hurts herself with her clumsiness..." I explained in a kinder, more caring tone.

"Of course, that's understandable. Women are fragile creatures. At least, most of them..." Namikaze remarked as he twirled the wedding ring on his finger. Sweat seemed to break out on his forehead as he thought of his wife, presumably. Like him, I had never met his rife in person. But I knew from Naruto that Kushina Uzumaki was anything but a fragile woman.

"She's... Um... Perfect." I blurted out some more and he immediately laughed. "We all think that about the women we love." I tried to gather my senses, mentally making a list of things I knew about Miss Haruno. "Her name is Sakura." I started with an introductory description. "You won't miss her because her hair is colored like cherry blossom and she has emerald eyes." So I would have a basic description.

"That's a very interesting and pretty name. I'm sure she'd be pleased with how nicely you describe her." Well… She'd stand speechless, looking at me, suspecting what substance I was under to say such a thing.

I smiled inwardly because I just remembered how she had reacted a moment ago. "It would rather embarrass her." Namikaze waited while I thought about what to say next. "She's small and petite. Everyone in our company adores her. She prepares a tray full of onigiri for all her colleagues and that tray is always empty at the end of the day." I often scooped the last ones too, after everyone had gone home already.

I paused and tried to think of something else. "She's not an early bird. If you wake her up early, her mean inner self, that you didn't know she had, will wake up at the same time. But I have to laugh at that."

He encouraged me to keep going. "She keeps me in line. She's a great secretary and I would never want to lose her. Both at work and in life." In the back of my mind I was thinking how damn ironic it was that I was saying this when I'd been trying to get rid of her for months.

I sighed because I didn't know what else to say. "She's innocent and a much better person than I will ever be." I admitted, knowing deep down that it was true. It was clear to me that I was the bad guy in this story, especially considering what I was doing. "Would you like her to come over to our company with you?"

"No!" I shouted before I could think. After all, my new job was a chance to get rid of her.

"I don't understand..." Minato Namikaze said in confusion, and it was clear to me that if I didn't save the day quickly, I was done here. "We... want to start a family." I improvised as best I could. "I'd prefer if she could stay home and rest. She could enjoy life."

"And now she' s not enjoying it?" Minato clearly couldn't figure out where I was going with those words. "Given our situation, she's pretty tired and annoyed. And despite that, she's working just as hard as she did when she first joined ROOT Inc. She deserves to slow down a bit." That wasn't exactly a lie.

"I assume you two live together, don't you? Having a warm home is the best thing for relaxation."

Shit, I didn't even think of that.

Apparently Namikaze was speaking from personal experience, but I had no idea exactly what he meant. My family may have been tight-knit, but we hadn't seen each other in years since I'd stood on my own two feet. My mother comes to see me sometimes because she feels lonely after our father died 5 years ago. She lived with my older brother for a time, but then she went back to the house where I grew up. Sentiment is sometimes impossible to suppress.

I maintain a good relationship with my brother too even though he is a pain in the ass. I haven't told him about this plan yet. I convinced myself that it was because I wanted to tell him when I joined the company under the Namikaze Group. But the truth was, deep down I knew I was doing a shitty thing and I was embarrassed to admit it to Itachi. I always wanted to surpass him with my own diligence and ability.

I nodded to Namikaze to agree with him that we live together. "We treasure our privacy."

"You don't like to talk about your personal life, am I right?" I smiled wryly, because here Namikaze was hinting at the weak spot in my plan. We were getting onto dangerous ground and I had no idea how to answer correctly. "No. I'm used to keeping everything to myself." I finally said firmly and told some truth.

"Here at Namikaze Group we have a unique approach in many ways." He was probably referring to the fact that secrets and seclusion won't be there. But the concept of "one big happy family" will be. It was a bit like a cult, but I wanted to get into this one so badly.

"That's what I'm looking forward to." I smirked and I continued to look guileless, composed, and as I hoped, honest.

...

An hour later, we were only talking about work stuff and discussing various ideas and campaigns. That was much easier than talking about Miss Haruno. Another moment later, we both got up from the conference table. "I'll be in town until Sunday. I'd like to invite you to the barbecue my wife and I will be hosting on Saturday in our house. I'd like you to meet Kushina and a few other people."

I knew what that meant to me, chance. "I'd be happy to stop by. Thank you." I hated social gatherings. As an introvert, I liked my quiet time alone rather than with a bunch of people I wasn't interested in. I already knew I'd just show up for a little while and be gone.

"Of course come with Sakura." I kept a cool face and squeezed his offered hand.

"She'll be thrilled."

-XXX-

End of Chapter 5