Won't Let You Go

Chapter Five Theme Song: Gay Boyfriend by The Hazzards

Author’s Note: I rewrote the ending to this chapter THREE times (insert deadpanned glare of DOOM here). After much deliberation, I decided to stick with ending number two. I’m still not happy with it and as a result, I’m mad at the whole chapter! (Reyn carries childish grudges from time to time)


Chapter Five

Naruto gazed at the mass of destruction around him in shock.

Anything that could be placed in the category of ‘technology’ was shrilling madly. Phone lines he didn’t even know they had were ringing off the hook. The fax machine appeared to have jammed and was now letting out a steady plume of smoke. Hinata’s computer was probably frozen, a guess made by the way she seemed to be continuously hitting ctrl+alt+dlt in rapid succession. Unfortunately for her, the computer was stuck sounding the dreaded ‘don’ of doom, indicating whatever erroneous problem she had encountered was about to lead to the imminent crashing of her entire system.

The copy machine wouldn’t stop humming, meaning someone somewhere realized their faxes weren’t going through and had switched to the office’s back-up line. Problem was, the copier at some point decided to boycott its sudden and unexpected oversized workload by running out of paper.

What had previously been towers of packages, files, and miscellaneous mail was now a toppled mess; boxes, folders, and envelopes scattered about the floor and spotted with tiny fires thanks to the miniature Godzilla stomping through them. In the back corner, clinging to the bottom branch of the fichus was a tiny King Kong, battling away paper airplanes that looked to have been made from inner office memos.

He blinked.

The fires, Hollywood monsters, and paper airplanes disappeared, but the rest of the mayhem did not. Was he even in the right office?

Leaning back to double check the nameplates by the door, Naruto was shoved out of the way by Sasuke as he hurried into the room to save their poor secretary who was stuttering so badly on the telephone that the person on the other end probably believed they were talking to a broken robot.

“N-n-n-nnno, th-th-they’re-re h-h-hhhere, Tsu-Tsu-Ts-Tsu-Ts-Ts-Tsu-Tsu-”

“Who is it?” Sasuke asked, stumbling over a box of blank paper that was obviously meant for the copier.

Hinata looked up, white as a sheet and trembling. “Tsu-Tsu-Tsu-Tsu-Ts-Ts-Tsu-Tsu-”

Sasuke growled and snatched the receiver from the girl’s unresisting hand. “Hello?” he demanded, ready to kill whoever just completely reversed years of intensive speech impediment therapy. “Tsunade-sama! Of course we’re at work! Where else would we be?”

Turning to the right, he marched to his office for a bit more privacy, not caring that the phone actually had a cord that connected it to its base that was now being dragged along and acting as a stopper when he tried to slam the door behind him.

Silence permeated the room.

Okay, so it was really a gross parody of silence what with the muffled phone conversation in the other room, and the beeping and the humming and the ringing that was still going on in this one, but with the way he and Hinata were simply staring at one another, Naruto definitely qualified the situation as silent.

It took a short while for her chin to stop trembling uncontrollably, and when it finally did, Hinata braved to speak, “Y-you’re b-ba-back.”

Naruto offered a crooked grin as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I’m back. Sorry about-oof!”

If the very same box that Sasuke had tripped over wasn’t behind him to catch his fall, Naruto would have landed flat on his back from the sudden impact. Instead, he merely found himself sitting with an armful of kneeling Hinata who was sobbing into his chest.

“D-don’t ev-ever – hic – le-eave like that a-again!”

Something inside Naruto broke at the stuttered reprimand, and suddenly he felt even worse than any of the scum he had ever associated with in his lifetime. Hinata was hands down the sweetest girl he ever had the fortune of knowing, and no one had the right to make her cry – even if they were only stress-induced tears.

“Hinata…” the businessman shifted so that his knee was no longer digging into the poor girl’s gut, “I’m sorry. I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly at the time, but don’t worry! Sasuke brought me to my senses!” Oh, if only it were normal to convince coworkers to hang around by loaning them your girlfriend. “Hey now, don’t cry! There, that’s better,” he praised as the sniffles slowly died down. “Why don’t you run to the bathroom and clean yourself up while I get started on tidying things around here? In fact, take a short break and grab something chocolaty from the café down on the second floor. Tell them to put it on my tab while you’re at it.”

Hinata simply looked at him for a moment before nodding her head and standing, wiping her tears away as she moved to grab her purse. Naruto remained seated on his box, holding his breath until the door clicked shut behind the secretary.

Holy shit. Was this entire mess really all because he tried to leave the company just yesterday? Looks like there really was a reason behind the whole ‘two weeks notice’ thing.

A spark from the fax machine stopped him from pondering the situation too deeply as he jumped up to pull the plug from the wall. Looking around at the hopeless situation that very much seemed to reflect his life at the moment, Naruto decided it best to start with organizing the documents scattered all over the floor.

When the hell did he let his life get so out of control? He had always relied on his street smarts and gut feelings to keep him in line in the past, so why were they failing him now? Could it be that he really wasn’t cut out for this high life?

“Yes, I know he’s important to the company, Tsunade-sama! I’ve been agreeing with you on that point the past seven times you’ve said it!” Something warm spread through Naruto’s chest at the roundabout compliment and he slowed his movements to better focus on Sasuke’s conversation. “Fine, three times, whatever. I-” Sasuke’s cheekiness was effectively silenced by the loud screeching that even Naruto could hear a good wall and 20 feet away.

Naruto winced. He had been on the wrong end of their CEO’s temper more than his fair share of times and had even come out of it once with a black eye. Granted, the black eye was actually caused by him trying to run out of Tsunade’s office just as her secretary, Shizune, had been opening the door, effectively popping him in the face, but that was beside the point. The point was he still came out of it with a black eye.

Sasuke was probably going to come out of this one with a deaf ear for the next few days, so Naruto could somewhat sympathize.

“I already told you why. Yes, I did! I left a message with Shizune this morning. Don’t you ever ask her for your messages?” Sasuke’s shadow could be seen pacing by the door. “Oh. Well…you should. I’m not being-! Look, some dipshit hacked into Naruto’s computer and thought it would be funny to tell the whole world he was resigning.”

Naruto’s shoulders slumped. More lies involving more people.

Suddenly, the businessman found himself facing the overwhelming feeling of wanting to get away. He couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t do this. What the hell had he been thinking, agreeing to Sasuke’s plan? Why had he even let that moron butt in on his life in the first place? Oh yeah, because in some twisted way he had been convinced that it would all be okay.

But now…now he realized there wasn’t a chance in Hell this would all come out on the okay side of things. God, he barely even made it through lunch! And to end up sharing that copier story…

“Naruto.”

The blond jumped at the sound of his name being called. Breath held, he slowly looked over his shoulder to see Sasuke watching him from his doorway and belatedly realized the phone conversation was over.

Slower still, Naruto pivoted on his heels so that his body was facing his partner. “Uhm, hello,” he offered in acknowledgement.

The silence following stretched on for a bit before Sasuke realized Naruto had no intention of making any wisecracks regarding the state of their main office.

“So…that was Tsunade-sama on the phone. Now that she’s aware of the situation, she can help us calm a few of our bigger clients down and make things easier for us,” he explained as he carefully stepped around a few scattered envelopes to replace Hinata’s phone properly on her desk.

Naruto merely nodded and waited to be told just how exactly Tsunade-sama was ‘aware’ of his situation. But as the moment came and went, he was forced to realize Sasuke had no intention of filling him in.

Well that was rude. Considering their circumstances, he really didn’t think they could afford to keep one another out of any new loops they may create behind each other’s backs.

To avoid yet another awkward silence, Naruto cleared his throat and went through a short mental list of things to talk about, immediately deciding to cross ramen off at the top. Sasuke had developed a habit of tuning him out when ramen was brought up, although it did a wonderful job of keeping himself entertained whenever they were stuck in traffic on their way to meetings with random clients.

“Congratulations,” he offered instead, causing Sasuke to frown.

“Congratulations for what?” Sasuke asked, wondering if his ear was currently experiencing a bit of permanent damage from the shrieking it had just endured.

Naruto smiled, bending to pick up several more files from the office floor. “You know, for marrying Sakura.”

Sasuke looked around, as if expecting there to be a hidden stash of beer bottles somewhere that would explain the lack of sense his partner was suddenly making. “Naruto…you’re the one marrying Sakura.”

The folders in his hands crashed to the floor as Naruto shot up. “WHAT?? You’re making me MARRY your girlfriend?!?”

“What?” Sasuke was confused. “No! What the hell, Naruto, this whole scenario was your idea! Are you on drugs or something?”

“But…the ring…”

“For appearance’s sake! Jesus…” Sasuke breathed, running a hand through his hair before crouching down to pick up the papers Naruto had dropped.

“…Ooohhh…” Naruto was slow to comprehend. “Heh, right. I knew that. I was just…erm…testing you, you know? To make sure you…” The sentence died. He didn’t have anywhere to go with this.

Instead, he dropped to his knees to help Sasuke. “I’ll pay you back for the ring. How much was it?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sasuke dismissed. “It’ll be going back to the store once this is all over.”

“Oh. But still…” Naruto trailed off, slowly shuffling his papers together as he stood and made his way to the small filing cabinet under the fax machine. But still, to go as far as to actually buy a real engagement ring! Already, things felt like they were going way too far. “Then at least let me pay you back for half of the lunch bill,” he insisted.

It had been a somewhat tense affair when the small black billfold had been placed in the center of the table, all four men reaching to grab it without hesitation, fully prepared for an all-out tug-of-war when Sakura swiped it, curious to see if Kiba would give them a discount or charge them extra for being Sasuke’s boyfriend.

Her curiosity was left unfulfilled as Sasuke snatched the bill away from her before she had a chance to see and stuck his card in the little holder without even glancing at the receipt, repressing his own curiosity in the matter. Iruka had asked he at least be allowed to pay for half, but Sasuke declined the polite offer, leaving everyone to wonder what kind of benefits there were to reap from Kiba, if any at all.

“About that…” Sasuke began, shuffling his own folders as he stood.

Naruto instantly stiffened. Had Kiba really charged them extra? A humiliation fee? A ridiculously high gratuity? “I’m sorry I told everyone Kiba was your boyfriend!” he blurted, slamming the cabinet’s drawer shut as he began to fiddle with the smoking fax. “I shouldn’t have gone looking for excuses to make fun of you when you were helping me.” Past memories began to swell, only to be broken through by Sasuke’s snort.

“Don’t worry about it. Once he gets used to the idea, I’m sure Kiba will have a blast with it.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. Kiba found such a thing amusing? Was that even normal for the average straight-laced young men of today?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Doesn’t it take two people to be gay?”

Sasuke decided it best not to ponder where Naruto had figured that bit of logic out and waved his hand about dismissively. “I told you not to worry about it. It doesn’t bother me; it’s not like I’m really gay after all. Sakura, on the other hand, may have some issues with it.”

Right. Sakura. The important factor in this whole equation. Naruto was never good with equations, and lunch had really really driven that point home.

What kind of moron stares at his ‘fiancée’ in shock for five minutes when she steals a green bean from his plate? Add to that the bruises that were surely covering his shins from the number of times Sasuke had to kick him from under then table when he made mistakes.

“This isn’t going to work.”

Sasuke looked over in time to see Naruto move dejectedly away from the fax machine. “Then we’ll just put in a work order for a new one.”

“No, I mean this whole engagement mess!” Naruto clarified. “I can’t do this! I don’t even want to do this!”

“So…what? You’d rather tell your senseis the truth at this point?” Sasuke asked, raising a brow at the dark glare that was immediately sent his way in reply. “Then you’re just going to have to learn how to relax around Sakura.”

Naruto shook his head. “That’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

Sasuke frowned, straightening the folders as he placed them in a pile on Hinata’s desk. “Why not?”

A derisive snort escaped Naruto’s lips. Was he really about to reveal yet another closely guarded secret to the same person in less than twenty-four hours? Yes, he was.

“I don’t have any experience with women,” he admitted, looking off to the side as a soft blush made its way across tanned cheeks.

Sasuke stared, his brain not quite sure it comprehended the statement it had just been presented with. “…You’ve never even kissed before?”

He’d had his previous suspicions of Naruto being a virgin, but to have absolutely no experience at all? Was that even possible at their age? Hell, was that even possible with their level of inherent charisma?

Naruto drew back as if morally offended, his blush deepening and spilling over to cover the rest of his face. “No, you moron, I’m saying I don’t know how a bra works!”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed as he wondered how such a sarcastic remark could be delivered so not-sarcastic-like. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you’re not required to sleep with her.”

“I can’t even hold hands with her, you jerk! How am I supposed to-”

Moving to join Naruto behind the desk, the wheels in Sasuke’s head began to rapidly turn. The idiot was going to have to gain some real perspective on women real fast. He didn’t even know how to kiss, for crying out loud, let alone how to kiss Sakura as if they had been dating for months and not mere hours…

“-and then they’ll know it was a lie-”

“Naruto, kiss me.”

“-and I’ll be caught and never able to look-…What?”

“Kiss me,” Sasuke repeated simply.

“WHAT?!?” Naruto did the appropriate freak out dance.

“When Sakura approached you for a kiss, you completely froze up. Hell, you even flinched! I’m surprised the whole thing didn’t fall apart then and there,” Sasuke pointed out. “You need to practice so you can get used to the idea.”

Naruto’s mouth fell open. “Then let me practice kissing on Sakura!”

“You’re not about to go practicing such a thing with my girlfriend,” Sasuke growled, crossing his arms.

Naruto pouted. “Oh sure, fine time for you to grow all possessive.”

Sasuke sighed. “Look, the sooner we get this over with, the better. You have loads more I’m going to have to teach you later.”

Naruto began to look vaguely panicked. “I can’t kiss you! You’re a guy!” An accusing finger was up and pointing at the other’s crotch.

“Naruto,” Sasuke began, “you showed me your penis last night. So a kiss should really just be a walk in the park for you.”

The finger fell limp with shock. “I-I…I showed you m-my p-…?”

Sasuke nodded and then shrugged. “Well, you tried to. But they always say it’s the thoughts and intentions behind the matter that count.”

It was official. Naruto was about to be the first person in the history of ever to die of mortification. He was never drinking again. Especially if alcohol was going to revert him back to his teenage self!

Sasuke took a few steps towards his partner. “If it’ll make things easier, just close your eyes and pretend I’m Sakura. Or even some random chick from one of your fantasies.” That sounded wrong. And…was a bit scarring for his own mental health.

Naruto stared at Sasuke hesitantly, and for one crazy moment, the Uchiha was sure Naruto was going to bolt. But then his eyes slid lightly shut and his defensive stance relaxed, save for the white-knuckled grip he had on the back of Hinata’s chair.

Closing the distance between them, Sasuke felt the familiar churning in his stomach that he hadn’t felt since college.

He quickly pressed his lips to Naruto’s, forbidding that train of thought from continuing.

His eyes remained open as he tried to gauge Naruto’s reaction, but when nothing happened other than the distinct stiffening of the businessman’s whole being, Sasuke realized more effort was going to have to go into it and he slowly began to move his lips.

He wasn’t quite sure which of them had actually relaxed at the action, but a sudden intake of breath was heard and Naruto began to participate.

Sasuke allowed his eyes to finally slide shut, amazed that the man not only seemed to know what he was doing, but was good at it as well. He took a small step closer and moved his hands to Naruto’s hips, tilting his head a bit to deepen the kiss, and was in for the surprise of his life.

The shock of pleasure that shot through him as Naruto’s tongue tentatively reached out to meet his own was strong enough to send blood shooting up to his head then immediately down below his belt. Doing his best to stay calm, Sasuke continued to coax Naruto to confidence and was unable to help himself when his hands slid around to Naruto’s back, pulling him closer.

It was the soft moan that brought Sasuke back to his senses, causing him to gently pull away.

Naruto’s eyes remained closed, heat radiating from his cheeks and lips that were swollen from being massaged a bit too…enthusiastically.

Damn…

No longer thinking straight (or at all, for that matter), Sasuke leaned in, fully ready to go for a round two when the door opened to admit Shikamaru, the district manager, who was frowning at some paper in his hands for all of .0001 seconds before noticing the scene he had just walked in on and promptly turned around to walk right back out, closing the door firmly behind him.

Shit.

….Shit, shit, shit.

Of all the days for Shikamaru to decide on actually visiting someone’s office rather than just calling them to his own! How the hell was Sasuke going to explain to a third party that this was just a bit of training to get Naruto to loosen up around girls? The kiss meant nothing!

If you could say that nothing consisted of a pounding heart, the need to adjust yourself in your pants, and the strange urge to do it all again, that is.

Sasuke shook his head as if to clear it of any ridiculous impulses that enjoyed swirling around in there. “Naruto,” he called softly.

“Hmm?” Naruto shifted, his hands lowering a few inches from their position on Sasuke’s chest.

A spike of desire shot straight down from his navel and Sasuke quickly took several steps back to put a bit of distance between them. “Naruto,” he said again, forcing the other to finally open his eyes. “Shikamaru just walked in.”

Naruto blinked, clouded blue eyes quickly sharpening as his brain began to catch up with the moment. “What?”

“Shikamaru just walked in, saw us, then left,” Sasuke elaborated.

“WHAT?!?” Naruto paled so fast, Sasuke was worried he would faint. “He-! And-! Us-!”

Giving up words for actions, Naruto punched Sasuke.

Head snapping to the side, Sasuke stumbled into Hinata’s desk as pain exploded through his cheek. “Ow! What the fuck was that for?!” he demanded.

“You KISSED me!” Naruto shouted, as if that explained everything.

“With your permission, you idiot!” Sasuke hissed, gingerly touching his cheek and wondering how badly it was going to bruise. Perhaps there was some ice in that miniature fridge Naruto kept in his office.

“B-but! Someone SAW!”

“And that warrants you punching me??” Sasuke snapped, heading over to the dobe’s office only to open the door and be reminded that the place had been cleared out the night before.

“You KISSED me!” Naruto was obviously in a state of shock as he mindlessly followed.

Heading back into the main office, Sasuke was quick to spot Hinata’s partially frozen water bottle sitting on her desk and snatched it up, pressing it a bit too roughly against the side of his face as he turned to look at Naruto, who was still spouting the same sentence, emphasizing it a different way every time.

“Nar-”

“You kissed me!”

“Will you just-”

“You kissed me!”

“Stop talking!”

Naruto’s jaw snapped shut and he looked mildly insulted. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a moment. “I have to quit. My boss saw me kiss another man! I’m going to be fired!”

“Look, if I promise to explain the situation to Shikamaru, will you calm down?” Naruto’s mouth reopened and Sasuke hurriedly continued. “I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“…He will?” Naruto sounded dubious.

Not in a million years. “Of course he will!”

Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!

“What the hell happened to your face?”

Sasuke stopped just short of fully entering Shikamaru’s office, surprised to find Tsunade sitting in the district manager’s chair with Shikamaru standing next to her, leaning over the desk with papers spread out before them.

“I…ran into a door,” he lied, his fingers automatically reaching up to map out the size of the small bruise that had managed to form on his cheek.

Tsunade nodded, accepting the answer at face value. Apparently she was used to her employees getting injured on the days she yelled at them.

Several seconds ticked by before Sasuke realized with a start that both bosses were waiting for him to speak up and explain his sudden intrusion. “I think I’ll just come back later,” he said, finding himself unable to get over the shock that Shikamaru had the power to convince even Tsunade-sama to come to his office rather than he go to hers.

“Nonsense. Don’t let my presence stop you from whatever you need to talk about,” Tsunade dismissed, waving her hand at the brunet to indicate that it was okay for them to take a quick break from their discussion.

With a sigh, Shikamaru straightened, raising an eyebrow as Sasuke failed to start talking right away.

The exact explanation he had mentally prepared before coming here had completely flown from Sasuke’s mind. It looked like Fate wasn’t about to let him get away with lying in this situation. Why couldn’t things just ever work out in his favor? Even once?

“Naruto quit yesterday morning,” he said cutting straight to the chase.

Both Shikamaru’s and Tsunade’s eyes widened comically in shock.

“You said that was just some hack,” Tsunade accused. “Naruto would never quit!”

Both men refrained from saying, “hacker” in correction. If there was one thing the employees of Yondaime Inc. knew well, it was that their CEO did not like to be corrected in her verbal mistakes.

“I lied and he did quit,” Sasuke countered. “You both would have been painfully aware of the fact early yesterday if you checked your email more than once every few days.” At the darkening looks he was now being given thanks to his careless insult, Sasuke hurriedly added, “But he’s back now!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, ‘he’s back now’? Why did he quit in the first place?” Tsunade demanded, leaning back in Shikamaru’s chair and crossing her arms in intimidation. “What did you do?”

“Me? Why does everyone assume it was my fault?!” Sasuke groused. “I didn’t do anything! That idiot quit on his own!”

“Because every time something happens with him, you’re the root of it. And vice versa,” Shikamaru allowed at the offended look on the Uchiha’s face.

“That’s right,” Tsunade agreed. “And therefore, regardless of what happened, it is your responsibility to fix the mess.”

Shikamaru coughed. “He’s fixing it, alright.”

Sasuke groaned as Tsunade’s head whipped to the side. “What do you mean?”

Tilting his head back as if to ask the ceiling why he must start up such a troublesome conversation, Shikamaru shrugged, bringing his gaze back down before answering, “He’s gay.”

“I am not-!”

Tsunade blinked. “You’re gay?” she asked, leaning forward a bit in her seat.

“No!”

“Eh? How else would you explain the liplock I saw earlier?” Shikamaru asked. “It looked pretty gay to me.”

“What liplock?”

“Look, that’s really not-”

“What. Liplock.”

Sasuke’s hands balled into fists before he forced them to relax. “It was nothing, okay? Naruto just-”

“Naruto? You kissed NARUTO?” Tsunade was not taking this as calmly as he had hoped.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. This was really getting out of hand. His intention was to come in here, explain the situation, briefly mention training Naruto in how to act around Sakura and women in general, hope that Shikamaru was lazy enough to not question anything, and then move on with his life.

“I think you should start at the beginning,” Tsunade said, sitting up fully so that her large breasts were pressed against the desk as she rested her elbows on the now-forgotten contracts.

Seeing that he really didn’t have a choice in the matter, Sasuke spilled everything. From why Naruto tried to drop everything and run, to the lengths they were now going through to get him to stay. Thankfully, both Shikamaru and Tsunade remained quiet, listening attentively right up to the pathetic ending of, “and since I kiss Sakura, I know how she kisses, so him kissing me would be like kissing her.”

Silence permeated the office as the two digested the information with varying looks of ‘how much crack are you on?’ etched across their faces.

Finally, Tsunade cleared her throat. “Sasuke,” she began gently, “why are you going to such lengths when none of this is your responsibility?”

Sasuke was taken back. “What are you talking about? You were just telling me that this was my responsibility! You always yell at us saying if one of us quits, the full responsibility will land on the other’s shoulders! Do you have any idea how stressed I’ve been, worrying that you were going to fire me as well until Naruto agreed to come back to the company?!?”

Tsunade’s eyes glazed over for a moment before her memory caught up with her. “Oh yeah…” she chuckled fondly. “But I still don’t like what you’re trying to pull off here. Why are these men so important to Naruto?”

Sasuke shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they had some huge impact on his life. Maybe he just really likes them. Maybe he was their favorite pupil. Maybe they’re really with the mafia and Naruto’s fighting for his freedom and part of the deal is him marrying someone.”

“Or maybe you could just ask him and stop making such ridiculous assumptions around this whole mess,” Shikamaru interrupted.

“I don’t like any of this,” Tsunade said, scowling. “You’re playing in really dangerous waters, Uchiha.”

“There’s nothing dangerous about this, Tsunade-sama,” Sasuke retorted, matching the challenge in her voice. “I’m only letting you know as a courtesy. Once these guys leave, things will go back to normal and it will be as if nothing ever happened in the first place.”

“Oh yeah? And what about a few months down the road when a wedding date should be planned? Are we going to be stuck with another episode of Naruto trying to run?”

“Of course not. We’ll just worry about that hurdle when we get there,” Sasuke dismissed. At the looks of disproval at the idea, he sighed and relented. “Fine. I don’t know, we’ll tell them they broke the engagement off or something.”

Tsunade’s snort was drowned out by Shikamaru’s.

The CEO seemed unable to just accept the situation. “Why’d he choose your girlfriend, anyways? Why not someone from the company? Like your secretary? Or Temari from Marketing?”

Sasuke frowned. “Is this a trick question? Have you ever spoken with Temari?”

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. “She’s scary. I wouldn’t date her.” He thought for a moment. “Wouldn’t say no to a quickie, though. But I definitely wouldn’t date her.”

Tsunade rubbed her temples. “You men are pigs. Don’t you ever consider the other’s feelings in all this?” Her question was directed at Sasuke.

Feelings? What feelings? Naruto was a guy! “What do you mean?” he questioned, brows drawing together in confusion.

Waving her hand in dismissal, Tsunade shook her head. “Never mind. If Naruto quits anytime within the next few weeks, you’re fired on the grounds of being an idiot.”

Sasuke bristled at the CEO's words. "Naruto won't quit."

"Hmm." Tsunade sounded less than convinced.

"He won't!" the businessman insisted, forcing himself to believe it. Tsunade-sama was renowned for her insight, but this time she had to be wrong.

His plan was flawless, so therefore Naruto had no reason to quit. Sasuke wouldn't let him.

Besides, what could possibly go wrong?



---
Mailing List? Sign up for Special Notices or the Daily Digest at:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/reyndor