Part I

Naruto awoke to the gloomy, chilly, damp late October morning, cursing that it was a Monday no less….and then cursing himself slightly for having stayed up so late at the pub with a couple of his co-workers, whom he was friends with outside of work. He glanced over at his alarm clock and cursed it as well.

After a couple more minutes of vague cursing, he finally threw aside the comforter and got up out of his bed. He stretched and yawned and ambled into the bathroom of the small flat he was letting in Shepherd's Market, near Mayfair. He turned the water on in the shower while he relieved himself, letting his boxers fall to the floor and leaving them there to step into the scalding shower. He grabbed his shampoo and began singing at the top of his voice as he lathered up his hair:

"The story of my life," he sang, mostly to annoy his neighbor, who was a crabby, old, nosy lady, "I take her home; I drive all night to keep her warm; And time…is froooooooozen!"

He finally lowered his voice as he stuck his head under the spray of water. "The story of my life…" he trailed off.

###

Coming out of his building onto the street, Naruto looked very handsome in his new charcoal grey suit and his hair was neatly combed and his shoes shown from a good polishing. He walked the short distance to the Green Park tube station and took the train to Hammersmith, where he worked. Or at least he attempted to accomplish work while he was there. It was an unusual office, to say the least.

He had been employed by Messrs. Uchiha & Sons, Ltd. for nearly a year. The company was a major publisher and had been founded nearly a century before by the current sons' grandfather, making them the third generation to lead the company. They were brothers named Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. The sons' father was (mostly) retired now but still occasionally showed up to create a stir and annoy his sons.

Naruto had been hired as a senior book editor and at the time he was unsure of how this had exactly happened since he had just graduated from university only a few months before. During his interview with the younger son, Sasuke, though, his trousers had uncomfortably crept up and he had, when he thought Sasuke hadn't been looking, adjusted himself. For some reason, though, the interview had ended soon after that with Naruto's immediate hiring.

He had chalked it up to luck…or something, but later made the connection of his adjusting his trousers and his hirnig when his new boss moved his office from the mid-level floors of the Uchiha Building to the top floor, which until that point, had only been occupied by family executives and their secretaries. With this move came frequent requests for his presence in the younger Uchiha's office, which often ended with Naruto fending off said Uchiha lest his honor be lost somewhere in the struggle. The top floor consisted of three executive offices with private bathrooms, a large boardroom, two smaller conference rooms, a kitchenette, a lounge, and bathrooms.

Over time, he came to realize that the elder Uchiha was only slightly less peculiar than his younger brother and often, the only thing that held Naruto's sanity together was the brothers' executive secretary, Hinata. Her large mahogany desk was parked outside of Sasuke's office door and she had a direct view into Naruto's office. She would often give him subtle support from afar when he would flee from one of the brothers' offices. Sometimes her support was not as subtle and she would spend time listening to him vent and he, in turn, did the same for her.

He walked through the revolving door of the office building and made his way to the lifts that were located at the far wall, past the huge, semi-circular desk where four receptionists sat. He waved to them as he went past and then took the lift up to the forty-sixth floor. He wandered out of the lift, waved to Hinata, who was busily typing away on her laptop. She looked up and smiled, then waved.

Inside his office, Naruto hung up his raincoat in the closet, sat down at his desk and switched on his laptop to begin checking his emails. He scanned through them deleting the ones which didn't concern him and then getting to work reading and replying to the rest.

One in particular annoyed him the most. It was from one of Uchiha & Sons top writers, Kakashi Hatake. Even though he wrote what was considered 'pulp' novels, they were wildly popular and he more than earned his enormous salary of advances. However, as a result of knowing how much he was worth, he often remained vague as to when he would turn in new material even though Naruto repeatedly gave him deadlines. These were either frequently rescheduled or just outright ignored, causing Naruto much stress, even though his bosses didn't seem phased too much by it.

He quickly replied back to the email that was requesting an extension of the current deadline for new material by the end of the fortnight: NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! You were supposed to have that material to me over three weeks ago. N.

A minute later Naruto's office telephone rang. He picked up the line seeing it was Hinata calling.

"Mr. Sasuke would like to see you in his office," she said. "I'm sure right away…"

"All right, what's his mood today?"

"Squirrelly, as usual," Hinata replied with a giggle.

"Great….I guess I'll get my exercise then," he laughed and hung up.

Hinata was still giggling when he walked out past her desk. He knocked on Sasuke's door and entered.

"Ah! Naruto, come in, please." Sasuke said, motioning him to sit in one of the two chairs that were in front of his desk.

Sasuke's office was the second largest in the entire building. It was on a corner so two walls were windows and the other two had built-in bookcases which were filled with first editions of books published by the company, most of them signed. Sasuke's desk was a huge, carved French writing desk and two carved arm chairs of the same wood sat in front of the desk on a Persian carpet that was woven with blues, creams, and greens. On the other side of the office, there was a full bar and a sofa and overstuffed chairs. A coffee table was in the middle of this arrangement of furniture and a small end table between the two chairs. Large ferns spilled out of polished brass basins from where they were placed on marble column pedestals.

Sasuke was sitting at the desk with his chin resting on his folded hands. He had a morbid look on his face. His Abyssinian cat, who accompanied him to work every day, was cleaning himself in one of the two chairs in front of the desk so Naruto sat in the other one, waiting for Sasuke to speak.

"Was there something you wanted?" Naruto asked after waiting in silence for ten minutes.

Sasuke glanced over at him, a look on his face as if he were just noticing Naruto was in the room.

"Oh, Naruto, thank you for joining me. You know how I adore your company," he said with a perverse gleam in his jet black eyes.

"Now, Mr. Uchiha, let's keep it professional…"

"Please, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Sasuke? Really, you'd think you were trying to get a bad review. Your year anniversary is coming, isn't it?"

"Ok…..Sasuke," Naruto said. "What is it that has you so deep in thought today?"

"Oh, it's Itachi," Sasuke said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair. "You know how he's latched on to this social media thing and has asked me to lead it….I've been thinking on what we can do, and I think I've come up with something. I'd like to run it past you.

"Sure, let me hear what you have in mind," Naruto said, feeling relieved that the meeting may actually have a purpose.

"Well, take a look at Furuba there," Sasuke said, gesturing to the cat, who continued to clean himself with abandon. "Isn't he a dear, sweet creature? He has charm and personality, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ummm, sure, he's a great cat," Naruto said.

"Well, I'm thinking of making him the 'social media face' of the company…you know, like Lagerfeld's cat, Choupette? Seriously, what does Choupette have that Furuba doesn't?"

Naruto groaned inwardly before answering.

"Five iPads, a private jet, and millions of followers on Twitter?" Naruto answered.

"That's it!" Sasuke exclaimed, coming alive from his frump. He grabbed up his office telephone and pushed the speed-dial button to his brother and then turned the speaker on.

"Yes, Sasuke?" Itahchi said upon answering.

"Are any of the company jets available this week?" Sasuke asked.

"Well…" Itachi thought a moment. "U1 is taking father on holiday to Cap Ferrat tomorrow, U2 is out of the country with the marketing team, but U3 is available, why?"

"I need to send Furuba someplace so I can detail it on Twitter and Instagram and whatever other ghastly self-promotion site you want me to…"

"Request denied," Itachi said and was about to hang up.

"It was Naruto's idea!" Sasuke said in desperation.

"Really? Hmmmm," Itachi thought a moment. "All right, let's do it. I'll put through the reservation and approve it."

"Thanks," Sasuke said and hung up.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said. "Why'd you tell him it was my idea? This is your project….and if something goes horribly wrong, I don't really want to be connected with it…"

"Oh, Naruto," Sasuke said. "Don't be so naive. One must do what one must, and you know Itachi adores you nearly as much as I do…"

Naruto laughed nervously.

"Well, I guess I should get back to work…"

"Wait, we're not finished…" Sasuke said as he rolled his pen off the front of this desk where it tumbled to the floor, catching Furuba's eye. "Oh, Naruto, would you mind picking that up for me?" Sasuke asked innocently.

Without thinking, the blonde got up and stooped down to pick up the pen. Sasuke craned his neck to look over his desktop as he did so and realized the view he was hoping for wasn't going to present itself. He quickly picked up another pen and threw it across the office where it landed on the floor in front of the bar before Naruto stood up again..

"Oh, thank you," he said as Naruto handed him the pen. "How stupid of me, I forgot I had dropped another pen over there near the bar. Would you mind picking that one up for me also?"

Naruto knew better than to resist, if Sasuke remained seated, his relative safety was assured. He walked across the office with the raven-haired Uchiha gazing at him. Naruto bent over, this time facing away from Sasuke.

"That's perfect…" Sasuke sighed.

"What?" Naruto asked bringing the pen back to his boss.

"Oh, I was going to ask you…When is the Chelsea Flower Show this year? We have that country house gardens book scheduled to come out….I was thinking we could do a tie-in publicity event at the show. Maybe a signing or something."

"I believe it's in May," Naruto answered.

"May, huh," Sasuke answered. "We could probably push back the release date. What do you think?"

"Well, I think you would definitely be reaching the right audience, but I'm not sure if a signing is the way to go. It's a little obvious. What can we do to differentiate this release?"

"I see," Sasuke said. "Yes, that's a good point, Naruto. Let's think….I'm envisioning a large display where young, shirtless boys are toiling in garden beds, lots of ivy and tropical plants….and dirty, sweaty toiling…"

A glazed look settled on Sasuke's face at the thought of such toiling. Naruto laughed nervously again.

"Ummmm, I think that might be differentiating us too much," he said.

"Too much, huh?" Sasuke said. "Would you mind calling up to Chatsworth House? See if they have any special cultivars of plants that we might be able to give away with the purchase of one of the books? If they have anything we think might work, put through an order of a thousand that we can take delivery of before the show. I think a limited edition will work. Let's talk about presentation later, once we know what we'll be giving away."

"Ok, I like that idea. I think it will work."

"Good," Sasuke said, then added suggestively. "How's your morning going? Anything I can help you with?"

"Well, Hatake is trying to push back his deadline again."

Sasuke laughed.

"When is that guy not trying to do that?" he asked. "If he would put as much effort into his material as he does trying to get out of turning it in, he'd have no problem."

"Yeah, it drives me a little crazy," Naruto admitted.

"You do seem a little tense," Sasuke said. "Would you like me to massage your shoulders?"

"No, I'm fine," Naruto said quickly.

"Oh, well, any time you aren't, just let me know…"

"Ahhh, thanks, I think," Naruto said. "Well, if that's all, I guess I should get back to my office…"

"Wait!" Sasuke suddenly cried out. "When is the Classic Car Show?"

"It's in February…" Naruto answered as Sasuke snatched up his telephone and hit the button for his brother again.

"Yes, Sasuke," Itachi answered.

"Do we still have that ancient Rolls Royce?" he asked.

"You mean the Silver Ghost that Grandfather owned?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah, that thing," Sasuke said. "Where is it?"

"It's on exhibition at Beaulieu, why?"

"Can we get it back? I was thinking that we could have it at the Classic Car Show with Furuba."

"Was this also Naruto's idea?" Itachi asked.

"Of course! You know how clever he is."

"Have Hinata call Beaulieu and see if they can do without it for a short time."

"Thanks," Sasuke said and hung up.

"Sasuke, seriously, you should be taking credit for all this…"

"Naruto, let's face it, I'm nothing without you…" Sasuke said slumping down onto his desk. "Itachi is the brains that holds this place together. I just rely on you."

"Well, I think you aren't giving yourself enough credit."

"Well, that's neither here nor there…" Sasuke said. "But, we've had a very productive morning, it's already eleven.

He picked up his telephone again and pushed the button for Hinata this time.

"Y-yes, Mr. Uchiha?" she stammered.

"Miss Hyuuga," Sasuke said. "Would you please have my car pick me up out front in ten minutes for lunch?"

"Certainly, Mr. Uchiha," she said, hanging up.

"She's such a pet," Sasuke said. "Well, I'm off to lunch. I probably won't be back until about three o'clock. It's club day…my life is such a chore…"

"Ahhhh, if you say so," Naruto said.

"Oh, by the way," Sasuke added. "Would you mind getting with the Publicity Department? I need them to draw up a press release. We're stealing a rather well-known writer away from a rival house. I've not read anything he's written, but Itachi says he's amazing. His name is Kiba Inuzaka."

"You want me to do the press release?" Naruto said. "That seems like something Hinata could do without much effort…"

"Oh, I don't want to overwhelm her," Sasuke said. "She gets so nervous….Well, I'm off. See you this afternoon."

He got up and scooped up Furuba from the chair next to Naruto after he put on his coat. He then departed the office, leaving Naruto to actually go back to his own office to do some of his own work. He stopped at Hinata's desk on his way.

"Hinata," he asked. "Why do you always get so nervous around Sasuke? You do your job extremely well and you're more than qualified."

"Oh, it's all an act," she said with a laugh. "It's just to throw him off. I think it makes him feel bad and he doesn't give me as much work that way."

"Hmmmm, you're pretty smart too," Naruto said. "That's why I keep getting your work!"

"I'm sorry," she laughed. "What did he ask you to do?"

"Do a press release with the Publicity Department regarding a new acquisition writer, Kiba Inuzuka. Have you heard of him?"

"Yes, I have," she said. "He's extraordinary. Don't worry though, I'll get with Publicity and get the press release done. Itachi and Sasuke have been keeping me copied on their emails, so I'll have it done in no time, and I'll forward it to you."

"Why don't you just take credit for it?"

"That would be bad," Hinata said gravely. "You don't want Sasuke thinking you can't get your work done. Think of it as a favor."

"I'm not going to think about it too much," Naruto commented. "The dynamics of this office are strange…."

"I can't deny that," Hinata agreed. "But I'm paid well and hardly ever have to work outside of regular hours, and I love working with you and the Itachi brothers. I wouldn't give up this job for anything."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Naruto said. "Are you going to lunch soon? Can I tag along?"

"Sure, let's go now while Sasuke's out and Itachi is on a teleconference until later this afternoon. I've taken him in some food already."

"Sasuke said he won't be back until three," Naruto said.

"Oh good, I can get my nails done later then."

Naruto laughed and went to retrieve his coat from his office and the two friends headed down in the lift to go out to find some lunch.