Sealed Heart

Betaed by Shigure *Huggles* >.<


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Chapter 4: Sasuke’s Hate List
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The first thing Kabuto noticed about Uchiha Sasuke, as he greeted and followed him right after he strode inside of the Uchiha Building at 9:00 am, was that the stoic man had a rather displeased look on his face. And when Sasuke's in a fowl mood one can expect everyone to be restless and scared all day long because one tiny fault can lead to devastating results.

On their way to Uchiha's private lift, Sasuke spotted one employee in a bright green tie. Before the poor soul could even mutter a greeting to Sasuke, Sasuke glared at his tie with displeasure and fired the poor fellow right on the spot. Ever since he came to work for him, Kabuto noted that there is hardly anything that Sasuke liked but many things that he hated. One example included in Sasuke's hate list was bright colours, and to wear something bright and cheerful to work was a taboo if you’re working with the Uchiha heir. Everything about Sasuke had always been dark and foreboding. His clothes, his office, interior design, and even his moods. Uchiha Sasuke was like a walking dark cloud that most people tended to stay away from, if given a choice.

When they had reached the top 88th floor, the lift opened and they turned right to see an automated glass door. The door glided open and they both found themselves in front of a large wooden door with a symbol of a fan carved on it with Uchiha Sasuke's name at the bottom. Kabuto excused himself to go to his room which was next door while Sasuke pressed his thumb onto a small electronic device on the right side of the door before opening the door.

The raven-haired man shrugged out of his long coat and hung it up on the wall near the door. The first thing that anyone would notice upon entering the room was the tapestry of a large fan hanging on the wall behind the desk, the emblem of the Uchiha Family. Anyone who had the privilege of entering Sasuke's lair might wonder whether the raven-haired man had an obsession with fans since most of the decorations in his room consisted of such items. The long, dark blue, velvet drapes in his room even had the Uchiha emblems on them, while dozens of gold, silver and pewter fans of assorted shapes and sizes were decorated on most of his cabinets and shelves and some even framed and hung around the room.

Sasuke searched the rather large and spacious room for anything out of the ordinary but found none. Walking over to the end where the mini bar was, he found that the coffee machine was on and brewing. He helped himself to a mug of hot black coffee without any sugar and stared out of the clear glassed wall. The weather was nice today as evident by the cheerful blue sky he could see up above from the view in his office.

However, Sasuke frowned as he didn't feel there was anything to be cheerful about that morning. Truth is, he was feeling anything but cheerful perhaps due to the reason that he had received a wake up call from the Mayor at 3:45 am telling him to meet him for lunch that day. The Mayor made a call form Wave City and was about to take a flight back home when he made that call, forgetting that it was still early morning in Konoha, due to the different time zone. If it wasn’t for the reason that the raven-haired man held the Mayor to the utmost respect, Sasuke would have told the old man some colourful words he had stacked up in his vocabulary.

One of the many things that Sasuke hated among them was being woken up from his sleep. Sasuke was not a morning person and thus people would avoid him during the morning if possible.

Sasuke headed over to his desk and decided to read the news online. His mood darkened when he saw yet another picture of him and Sakura, this time while they were at a dinner party held in the honour of Judge Hiashi three nights ago. How the picture was taken he had no idea but what irked him the most was the way it portrayed Sakura, who was seated beside him, smiling sweetly and whispering to his ear, while resting her hand on his arm, giving the wrong impression of two intimate people in a world of their own.

Sasuke glared at the blinking headline~ "BUDDING ROMANCE BETWEEN KONOHA'S ICE PRICE & HARUNO HEIRESS?" Great. Just what he needed. Another one of those stupid gossips to spice up his life. As if his life wasn't already that exciting thanks to all those stupid newspapers, tabloids and magazines. Don't they have anything else to do other than to publicize his life!? The Uchiha heir hated the Medias and those associated with them. He wished he could just buy every single, damn, Media Company and close them down for good, an idea that sounded very tempting to him. In fact he might do just that.

Having inherited all of the Uchiha’s fortunes at the age of 9, which included his 164 room family mansion, 56 properties and estates, dozens other assets and shares in other companies all over Fire Country as well as other countries including about 800 billion dollars in the bank, not to mention his sinful good looks and genius mind to go with it, Uchiha Sasuke was considered the most eligible and desired bachelor around. . It was no wonder that the Medias did everything in their power to get the latest story, especially an exclusive insight into the glamorous world of the rich and famous Uchiha heir.

Being rich and famous, however tended to be more of a curse to Sasuke, especially when paparazzi followed him around like hungry hyenas and most of the younger female population was bent on making you their husband, or mothers devising some evil plan to marry their daughters to you. For this reason alone he had his office and apartment built, equipped with the latest high security system that money could by, and his private line and mobile number made known to only a few number of people namely the Mayor, his secretary and of course Kakashi.

He clicked some other news only to find nothing of interest to him. Putting his notebook aside he turned to read a few of the reports he had left last night.

About an hour later, a knock could be heard and Kabuto entered from the door adjoining their rooms.

The raven haired man lifted his gaze to see his secretary bowing to him slightly, then opening the leather bound schedule planner he’d always carry with him. At exactly 10:00 am, Kabuto would enter his room to remind him of the schedules for the day. Sasuke gave a nod, a sign for Kabuto to continue.

“Uchiha-Sama, at 2:00 this afternoon you have a meeting with the board…"

"Is there anyone who couldn’t attend the meeting?" Sasuke asked.

"None, Uchiha-Sama. So far I've received confirmations from all the members regarding their attendance for the meeting"

"How about the reports?"

"Copies done as per requested by you, Uchiha-Sama" said the bespectacled man with a polite smile.

Sasuke gave a nod of approval, "How’s my appointment with the Mayor today?" He had called Kabuto early that morning to make a reservation.

"Ah…yes…I’ve booked a place at The Hidden Leaf Diners for lunch at 12:00 pm. I've also informed the mayor's secretary that you will be meeting him there, Uchiha-Sama."

“The meeting with company from Earth City?”

“It’s cancelled, Uchiha-Sama, as you requested yesterday.”

“Good. I don’t want to waste my time with those idiots,”

“Yes. Regarding the meeting with the press this afternoon, should I cancel it too?”

The raven haired gave a grunt “Damned persistent lot. What do they want now?”

“It concerned the latest construction project undertaken by Uchiha Corporation near Sand City, Uchiha-Sama. Apparently about some environmental issues raised by the residents there and some of the activist in Konoha.”

“Well? Have my PR officer deal with them then”

“Err…you don’t have one currently, Uchiha-Sama”

“What!? What happened to that guy? Mizu-what ever his name was?”

“Mizuki. You fired him last week, Uchiha-Sama,”

“God. Then get me a replacement will you!? Do I have to tell you everything, Kabuto?” He remembered that he had changed his PR officers numerous times in the past as well since there was always something wrong with the person. Sasuke even heard some rumours spreading among his subordinates that the post was supposed to be jinxed, which of course he didn’t believe at all.

“My apologies, Uchiha-Sama. I will get right to it,”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. There was a call from Orochimaru-san before you arrived this morning, Uchiha-Sama,”

“Orochimaru?”

“Yes, Sir. He wanted to meet you this weekend”

“He’s here in Konoha?” Sasuke haven't heard from his "mentor" for a long, long time. The raven haired never knew where the man stayed since Orochimaru didn't leave any address or numbers for him to contact. The man had always been so damn secretive and weird in his own way.

Orochimaru would pop up out of nowhere to meet him, then disappear whenever he pleased, which irked Sasuke a little, because if Orochimaru did decide to pay him a friendly visit it meant disruptions to his orderly life. Sasuke hated chaos and disorder. He loved being in control of his life and everyone else around him. Control and order meant power. And power was something that Uchiha Sasuke had and liked very much.

“I don’t think so, Uchiha-Sama. He didn’t mention. He only said that he’ll be here on Saturday and that he'll call you again, later this evening.”

“Alright. You may go.” The white haired man excused himself leaving Sasuke to ponder over this piece of new. He hadn't seen Orochimaru for almost 6 years now. After Sasuke’s eighteenth birthday, Orochimaru disappeared without a trace, though once in a while Orochimaru would contact him via e-mail or leave a message at his office.

Not long after the unfortunate event that had happen to his family when he was 10 years old, Sasuke was left all alone in the world with just his family’s fortune to his name. Oddly enough soon after that Orochimaru entered into the picture and was named as his guardian according to a will written by his father. All of the Uchiha assets would be under his control until Sasuke reached the age of eighteen.

During his time spent with Orochimaru, Sasuke had learnt everything there is to know about the corporate world. When Sasuke had barely reached thirteen he was admired and feared alike in the corporate arena for his genius business strategies.

Leaning back against his leather seat, Sasuke closed his eyes, the fateful tragedy that had befallen his family engraved in his mind as it happened only yesterday. He could still remember Kakashi appearing in front of the Haruno's home while Sakura; surrounded by her family and friends, was in a midst of blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, in celebration of her tenth birthday. At that moment a dreaded feeling took over Sasuke as his eyes connected Kakashi's. There were look of sympathy and sadness inside those eyes and Sasuke, without saying a word followed Kakashi back home.

When the car passed the large gate, his heartbeat quickened as soon as he caught sight of the police cars and ambulance. He knew something bad had really happened.

As soon as the limo stopped Sasuke ran as fast as he could, pushing his way though the crowd of unfamiliar faces surrounding in front of his home. Someone shouted for him not to enter the house but Sasuke didn't pay any heed. He slipped past officers in uniform and stood transfixed, his eyes wide with shock. The living room he had entered was in a mess, furniture broken and thrown about, and bits and pieces of broken glasses and vases covered the floor. What shocked him the most was the sight of two bodies; his parents, both dead, side by side, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He ran to them, calling out his father and mother but was grabbed by Kakashi, who tried to call him down.

He couldn't remember much what happen after that. He remembered kicking and ordering Kakashi to let him go. But Kakashi held dearly onto the poor stricken boy as they watched men carrying the bodies of his dead parents in stretchers. He even remembered getting hysterical and was frantically kicking out to the photographers to stop taking pictures of his mother's lifeless body.

A beeping sound from his watch woke Sasuke up from his thoughts. It was already 11:30 and he needed to head on out to meet the Mayor as they promised. He wondered whether Kakashi was already waiting for him on the ground floor.

He stood up, put on his long coat and entered the lift, waiting for the lift to arrive at ground floor. A few minutes later Sasuke stepped outside to see Kakashi waiting for him.

Upon seeing Sasuke, Kakashi silently nod to him, while opening the limo door. Soon the limo was passing by familiar streets and buildings, yet all the while Sasuke's mind trailed of again to that fateful night. He heard the sound of cameras taking pictures after pictures; saw the blinking of flashes around the room and the sight of his mother's beautiful, doll like face, the blood smearing her lips contrasting her deathly white skin. Even in death his mother’s beauty remained unmatched.

"Kakashi, stop by a flower shop on the way." He told Kakashi.

"Sir?" Sasuke heard the man question.

"I want to buy some roses." He explained soberly.

"Right, Uchiha-Sama," replied Kakashi but didn't question any further. He could sense that his young master was brooding over something.

Roses. His mother’s favourite flower. Lots of red roses. He was going to buy as many roses as he could for his mother's grave, decided Sasuke. Rest in peace mother. I’ll find aniki one of these days and have him begging for mercy at your grave.


*****
“Hey, Ino! The boss wants you in his office!"

A blonde haired woman sighed, and raised her eyes away from the monitor screen. She pushed back her chair, and then looked at her colleague.

"Tem! I'm busy…can't you say that I'm not here or something? My deadline is today, you know?" She took out her compact from her handbag, then began to dab powders on her face then checking herself out in the mirror.

Temari, or Tem for short, gave Ino a yeah-right kind of look. "Uh~huh…why don't you tell him that yourself" she sat down, her work space facing in front of Ino's.

"Oy, you're supposed to be my friend, Tem. Friends help out each other you know?" After re-applying some lipstick on, Ino stood up and head over to her boss's room.

"Yeah…but not this time girlfriend…I'm not staying another moment with that perverted guy, thank you."

Ino stood in front of her boss's door contemplating on whether to knock on the door or just head right in. She turned to see Temari grinning and waving back at her. Ino scowled and stuck out her tongue. Taking a deep breath she gave a knock. A male voice from behind the door beckoned her to enter. She let out another exasperated sigh and turned the brass door knob. Why couldn't she find some rich, handsome guy and get married instead of being stuck, here, at The Daily Konoha, working as an underpaid and overworked journalist with a 50-year-old man for a boss. A perverted old geezer to be exact.

Her boss gave a bright smile at the sight of the blond woman in front of him. Everything about the man screamed “I'm a pervert.” Ino gave her boss a nervous smile.

"Um…you want to see me, Jiraiya?" she sat on the chair in front of the white haired man. As always, her boss wore his favourite blue, short-sleeved, Hawaiian shirt and brown Bermuda. He even had his colourful sunglass perched up on his head.

"Are you free this Saturday?" Jiraiya asked suddenly to the blonde woman.

"Huh?" Oh no. Is he trying to get me on a date? Ino quickly thought up of an excuse "Err…I…I…I have an appointment with my hairdresser…" then laugh lamely, "Yeah…that's right…can't cancel the appointment I'm afraid"

Jiraiya grinned, "Yes you can" he saw the woman frowning for a bit. She was attractive he had to admit, and had a nice pair of legs to match her other nice body parts too. But it was his principle not to mix work and play and that meant keeping his hands off the women in his office, which was too bad.

"I can't…my schedule's full for the week" Jiraiya could see Ino's nervous face.

The big burly man gave a loud cough. "Miss Yamanako Ino" he said to the woman in a sudden serious tone.

"Um…yes…Sir"

"You and I will go to The Galleria, this Saturday night. Do I make myself clear?"

Oh no. I'm doomed. The boss is forcing me to go with him. She can't say no when Jiraiya's in his serious mode. But, then again she can't let this happen either. Without even thinking much, she stood up.

"I'm flattered that you'd want to go out with me boss but you see I already have a boyfriend" Liar. She, Ino had dozens of male friends, or to be more exact sex buddies but never had once been in a serious relationship before. She tried to keep her face straight while telling this lie to her boss.

Jiraiya blinked and looked somewhat confused at the blonde woman's statement.

"What the hell are you babbling on, Ino?" he shook his head, "and who's going on a date?"

"Well…you just told me that we were going to The Galleria this Saturday…" Well, he did, didn't he?

Jiraiya nodded, "Yes, but who said anything about a date?"

"We're…not…going…on a…date?" Ino looked confused.

"Of course not, baka. I want you to go there and cover the story on the opening of Konoha Arts Exhibition there."

"Eh?" the blonde woman's cheeks turned slight pink as she realized that she had made a wrong assumption.

"Miss Yamanako, if you had spent more time on getting the latest news and happenings around here than looking at yourself in the mirror you would have known about this."

"Yes, boss" She said meekly agreeing to everything Jiraiya had said. She was mortified. She had made herself a fool in front of her own boss. Ino could just imagine Temari laughing her head off at her mistake. She was about to get out of Jiraiya's office when he called out her.

"And oh make sure to get an interview of the Ice Prince, will you? He's the guest of honour for the opening ceremony."

Ice Prince? Did Jiraiya mean Uchiha Sasuke a.k.a THE ICE PRINCE? Ino couldn't believe her luck. YES! Uchiha Sasuke. The man of her wet dreams. Ino mentally leapt with joy at the thought being able to meet her prince.

Jiraiya eyed the young woman and scratched his head. He wondered why women would give silly smiles and turn starry eyed at the mention of the Uchiha heir. Oh well. Women are strange creatures anyway.

*****

‘How the hell did this happen!?’ Thought Naruto as Akamaru dragged him by the leash. He felt more like a pet being pulled about by Akamaru. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Naruto had to quicken his steps to match the dog's big stride. After a nice walk in the park that morning or more like a chase in the park (meaning Akamaru playing glomp that blonde which was him) Naruto decided to go to the police station to settle his lost ID problem.

As he was new to the city he didn't know where the police station was. So, after asking around he was told that it was located near the heart of Konoha City which was a long walk away from the park. The heart of Konoha City? One of the people he asked mentioned about a twin tower. He wondered if it was that tall buildings he saw yesterday while Neji drove him to Kiba's place. He looked around wondering where Akamaru was leading him to.

"Whoa! B~boy! Stop! Slow down will you!?" Naruto managed to dodge a lamppost and avoided in time from colliding into some surprised passers-by along the street, "Akamaru!!! Slow down! Hey! Sorry! Excuse me! Make way people! Unstoppable dog coming through!!!" Naruto almost cried. Kami-sama! Tell these people to move! Move!!! He prayed for the large crowd of people in front of him to disappear. Oh man. Why are there so many people in this place???

*****

Sasuke glanced at the old man before him. Old man Sarutobi, Konoha's beloved mayor and close friend of the Uchiha family. To Sasuke he was more of a grandfather figure and truthfully he did admire and genuinely like the old man even though he never showed it much. The mayor was enjoying his meal alright. Thought Sasuke as he watched in silence the old man smiling as he took a bite of the succulent meat.

"How's your company doing, Sasuke?" The mayor asked.

"Fine, Sir" came Sasuke’s short reply. He wasn't much of a talker and both of them know it.

"I'm glad since we rarely get the chance to meet unless at some dinner function or parties, eh?” the Mayor gave a chuckle as if he said something funny. “So when are you going to settle down then?"

The raven haired raised a slender eyebrow. The old man had woken him up early in the morning, suggested that they lunched together today, specifically just to ask him this? The question of when he would settle down had been the main topics and focused on almost all the Medias. Not to mention the latest gossips concerning his latest love interest and sex life.

"I'm only 24, Mayor. Isn't that a little early to settle down?"

The mayor gave Sasuke a smile, "Well, when I was your age I was already married and a father, see" the old man. "I guess young people these days like to enjoy themselves before settling down, huh?"

"Maybe" replied Sasuke, not really caring.

"Do you have someone special then?" The Mayor fixed his gaze steadily at the poised handsome man. He was glad that Sasuke had managed to grow into a fine young man and was proud of him. Mayor Sarutobi was worried that Sasuke would end up all alone, his heart locked to the world around him. He knew about the countless beautiful women vying for the young man’s affection but till this day Sasuke had never really shown any interest in anyone of them.

Sasuke’s eyes met the Mayor’s and he realized that the old man was serious by the tone of his voice.

"No" Sasuke couldn't care less about women. Truth is right now, he practically despised women. They were annoying, whiny and a pain in the neck. To him women are just sex objects and nothing more. A tool for sexual release and a spur of the moment comfort. Of course, previously in the past he had slept with famous actresses and many other beautiful women who fall scattered around his feet. But they were only one night stands and nothing more. He couldn't even remember their faces or their names for that matter.

"How about that Haruno girl. What was her name, again? Sakura was it?" said Mayor Sarutobi, recalling a small pink haired girl back then.

"She's just a childhood acquaintance, Sir." Sasuke replied curtly. He hated at the mention of Sakura. At first she was just plain annoying but then she grew up into one of those fanatic women who dreamed of owning him.

"Oh… really? I quite like that girl. The Haruno family are nice people." Said the Mayor. Yeah. Agreed Sasuke. But certainly not their daughter. She’s spoiled and downright un-likeable.

About an hour later, having paid for their meal; two men in black suits appeared, apparently bodyguards of the Mayor to escort them to the entrance and back to their cars.

Stepping outside, Sasuke noticed that a large crowd of passers by had stopped in front of the restaurant and looking with interest at something or someone. He wondered what the sudden commotion was all about.

Where the hell is Kakashi? He had specifically told him to be here on time. While Sasuke made a mental note to give Kakashi a good scolding the crowd around them suddenly parted hastily. What the hell is going on now?

"LOOK OUT!!!" someone warned him. Sasuke turned to see a large dog dashing madly in their direction while behind it a screaming blonde was frantically trying to pull the dog to a stop.

It happened so fast. The last thing that Uchiha Sasuke heard was a loud yell coming out of the blonde man's mouth telling him to move. The large dog managed to avoid him but instead the short blonde guy came crashing right into Sasuke causing them both to land onto the concrete floor. Well, the blonde probably didn’t suffer much since Sasuke cushioned their fall.

Damn. Not again. Sasuke winced from the stinging of pain of his head with a sudden feeling of déjà vu. He felt something soft pressing against his lips, and opening his eyes, realized that the shorter guy's lips were on his. They were practically kissing in front of the streets of Konoha!

Big, ocean blue eyes; widen in shock and horror at what had just took place, stared back at him. Quickly the blonde broke their kiss, panicking, “Oh my god! Oh my god! Sorry! I didn't mean any of this to happen! I'm so sorry!” Did he have to be so damn loud! Another addition to his hate list. Sasuke hated anything and everything loud and noisy. Sasuke swore that even the dead would turn in their grave right now.

"Sorry!!!" apologized the guy again. Sasuke saw the smaller man trying to wipe off dust from his very expensive custom-made grey suit. The fool is seriously going to pay for ruining his suit alright, right down to every wrinkle he could find.

Angry onyx eyes slowly registered upon that blue orbs that seemed so familiar. Now where have I seen him before? What the…? Golden sun-kissed mop of unruly hair, big blue stormy eyes and kissable lips? Not that he was thinking about their kiss just now. Sasuke eyes narrowed as he realized that the short blonde guy, still straddling him had stopped his mumbling, and those big eyes of his finally really noticing him, staring at him. The Uchiha heir looked at the blonde coldly while the smaller man’s eye twitched in recognition.

"Y~YOU!!!" screeched the blonde, pointing to Sasuke. "THE PERVERT!!!" The raven haired glared at the slender man. Great. The last idiot he'd want to meet at this place and time. Sasuke reminded himself that he was more refined than the blonde as he kept his chilling gaze on the shorter guy and said in a cool and composed tone as befits of his social status and upbringings. After all the Mayor was still here as so a dozen other spectators around them. And an Uchiha never shows any emotion, whatsoever.

"Get…off…me…moron" he said slowly stressing each word. Nobody could have guessed that the dark haired man was trying hard not to wring the little twerp's neck or that he was thinking of other means of tortures that he would like to do now to this bundle of bad luck before him.

“TEME!!!THE NAME IS NARUTO! UZUMAKI NARUTO!!!YOU HEAR!!!? NOT MORON!!!” God. Thought Sasuke. Why did the dobe have to bellow straight to his face like this? If he became deaf he’ll sue the little blonde’s ass for it.

“Shut your mouth, usuratonkachi!” said Sasuke gritting his teeth; he knew he had raised his voice a bit higher than usual. Shit. How can he let someone like him riled him up so easily? Not cool.

"WHY SHOULD I!? IT'S MY MOUTH AND I'LL DO AS I LIKE WITH IT!!" Naruto scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could while Kakashi appeared from the crowd suddenly to help the Uchiha heir up.

The Mayor who was watching with interest, this little heated drama between Sasuke and Naruto, smiled to himself. This was the first time he had seen the raven haired man showing any emotion to anyone before, which was rare. However, it was rarer still that someone like this little blonde here who even dared raised his voice to Konoha's beloved Ice Prince, feared and admired by many.

"Are you alright, Uchiha-Sama?" asked Kakashi as he grabbed hold of Akamaru.

All right? Do I look alright to you!? Sasuke asked mentally as he and the blonde continued to throw daggers with their eyes.

Sasuke's ultimate hate list: short, blonde, stormy blue eyes and mouth as big as a canon gun. That day, Uchiha Sasuke vehemently decided that he hated Uzumaki Naruto the most.

*****
End of Chapter 4

I don't why but I personally like Chapter 4. Maybe because I just love being in Sasuke's mind. Anyways hoping to spice things up after this...yeah I'm slow as usual XDD