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Chapter One – An Unusual Proposal

Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirm their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment—that which they cannot anticipate

- Sun Tzu

Uchiha Itachi impatiently lifted the final sheet of paper, scanned it in a second and even more impatiently tossed it aside. "I'm looking for someone with a little more experience," he dismissed tersely, his wide sensual mouth tightening with annoyance, lancing a look of displeasure.

The brunette girl swallowed, glancing down at the rejected folder before her.

The first time she looked into the man's eyes, Tenten knew she was in trouble. They were the deepest and darkest shade of charcoal that she had ever seen, framed by long, silky lashes, set beneath a pair of equally silky black brows. And they appeared to be looking into her soul, trying to find out what sort of a person she was before she had even spoken.

"If I hadn't the requisite credentials, someone else would be sitting across from you, Mr. Uchiha," she reasoned professionally, seemingly unperturbed by his repudiation.

"Your stated age leaves your qualifications in question, Miss Momochi," he told her pointedly, exercising the same expert cool that she was trying to maintain. "You are but a child."

His voice had sharpened, still a low rumble in his throat but with an added edge, and his beautifully sculpted brows drew together over his eyes.

"Age is but a number, sir," she countered lightly.

He arched a fascinated brow at her and ran a calculating gaze over her face. "A number that is of grave significance to me," he assured her sternly.

Tenten shifted uncomfortably in her seat, feeling the timbre of his voice rattling the very air in her lungs. Oh, hell his voice was sexy, coming from deep, deep down his throat. Everything about the man set off alarm bells, and stirred her deepest emotions.

It was uncanny.

She had kept these feelings rigidly in check all the way through high school, only for him to disassemble the locks and bolts with a mere glance from those lazy onyx eyes of his.

"It says here that you're twenty-one," he said with a hint of incredulity, more to himself rather than to her.

Tenten nodded, feeling certain that, in that moment, if she dared to speak, her voice would give her away. Never in her life had she felt such strong attraction at a first meeting. But she needed to get a grip on herself. She would be taking care of this man's children not her own sinfully inappropriate desires.

Desires?

Oh god, had her interest transcended into that already?

She wondered for a brief moment whether it would be advisable to work for a man who could do this much damage before she even got the chance to know him.

Perhaps she ought to turn and run.

"You're not what I expected," he admitted. "But you come highly recommended," he raised a brow as he said it. "Though at your age, I doubt you will be up to the job," he added crisply.

Tenten sucked in a deep breath, taking umbrage. "Mr. Uchiha," she declared, staring at him full in the face. "I can assure you that I am more than up to the job." She thrust an envelope into his face. "Here are my references, may they quell your doubts."

He didn't so much as look at it, "I decide if you're up to the job, not the other way around," he pointed out sternly.

She clasped her hands in her lap, realizing that she was reacting like the child he clearly saw her as. Tenten eased further back into the chair and crossed her legs, "Of course sir," she agreed grudgingly, but managed to keep the bite out of her voice.

She desperately needed to keep her cool if she wanted to land this job. It was the only one that she was certain she could manage. Plus it paid well, entitled her to a roof over her head and three hot meals per day.

It was perfect for her, especially given a certain situation that she had found herself in.

There was a moment of oppressive silence and Tenten busied her gaze with taking in the decor of his office though she much preferred ogling its handsome owner.

It was a huge suite converted into a home office, complete with a monstrous mahogany desk, a leather director's chair and a matching black leather lounge suite design to make whoever set foot in the giant room at home.

She had ignored the comfy-looking sofa and settled for the solitary chair opposite his desk, her back ramrod straight. She hadn't come here to get cosy and comfortable, she came to do business.

But that thought flew out the window the moment he had stepped into the room in his well tailor black suit that did little to hide the powerful body beneath it. She knew he must have caught her gawking at his broad shoulders and the perfectly chiseled planes of his face. Because his first comment upon entering the room had been, "Do you look at everyone like they are from another planet?"

She did her best to suppress the blush that seemed to have started from the tail of her spine, stretching up to cheeks, but it was to no avail, her skin coloured with embarrassment.

A light wind entered the room through the parted binds by the window and rustled a few strands of his long, dark, satiny tresses. A light scowl darkened his features as he sought to correct the issue with a flick of his hand.

It was then that she noticed the absence of a wedding band and there was no tan line to indicate that his finger had actually accomodated one before.

It baffled her.

And man of his callibre and good looks should not be unmarried. Heck, he should not exist. He was impossibly-impeccably sculpted and proportioned, like the very gods themselves had taken extra care in putting him together. He must be a thorn in other men's sight and every woman's dream.

But Tenten deduced, she had never dreamt that good before.

"Do you smoke?" Itachi suddenly asked, his hooded gaze trapping her brown ones in a stare down that sent something jolting throughout her being.

The intensity of it caused her voice to fail her, so she simply had to resort to shaking her head.

"Are you involved with anyone?"

She knew these were routine questions but she hardly saw what that one had to do with anything.

It was as if he read her mind, because he expanded, "In the event that you may be needing time off."

"Isn't time off, sort of a right?" questioned Tenten, her earthen eyes sparking dramatically, her tone was sharper than she had intended. Possibly because of the way her senses were all over the place.

Dark eyes narrowed and a muscle jerked dangerously in his jaw. "You haven't answered the question."

Tenten looked at him boldly, her chin high. "If you must know, there is no one. But I'm sure you knew that, you were very thorough with your specifics."

He gave a very slight lift of his shoulders, "Not thorough enough apparently."

She drew a swift breath, "I don't see why my age should be such a bother to you."

"Tenten," he said seriously, "May I call you Tenten?"

She nodded, her stomach doing somersaults at the way her name rolled of his tongue. He made it sound different and incredibly sexy. "That's fine," she answered stiffly, not looking at him.

Her hormones were behaving badly. And it annoyed her because this wasn't like her.

His scowl darkened. "You boast good qualifications and excellent references," he reiterated tightly. Vital energy, constrained for too long, had him on his feet, pacing the confines of his home office. "But you are far too young," he reminded with a bite.

"Mr. Uchiha," she said firmly, a hairsbreadth away from losing her cool. She really needed this job and was not going let something as irrelevant as age stop her from getting it.

"Itachi," he corrected. "Shall we take a walk?"

Tenten held no objections as she hurried at his heels through miles of corridors. It was a struggle just to keep up, his long legs, in danger of taking him away from her.

She devoured him with her eyes, noting the way his suit stretched across his broad muscular back, the way his pants were similarly taut over his behind and hip, emphasising once again, his athletic physique.

She inhaled deeply, needing to focus on something else. She settled on the French windows as they passed an airy corridor that opened out on to a patio area filled with florets of every colour and species imaginable.

They passed by many rooms, but the doors were kept shut so she couldn't identify which rooms belonged to his children. But the entire house looked to be furnished by an interior designer with no thoughts for comfort, only aesthetic beauty.

"I was the only one at the agency that met most of your peculiar prerequisite," she told him, needing to make conversation because the silence was too deafening. "I don't see why age should be a limiting factor. I'm as good as it gets."

He stopped so abruptly that Tenten cannoned into him, taken aback when his strong arms steadied her and those mesmerizing dark eyes locked into hers. She actually stopped breathing for a few seconds and gazes into their magical depths. It took a moment to compose herself when she realized what she had been doing.

Her olfactory cells relished the invasion of the most irresistable cologne she had ever come across. It was strong like Itachi himself, but not overpowering. And she knew it would linger long after he was gone, the same went for the imprint his hand on her.

"Are you worried that I may not be able to manage your children?" she inclined her head, stepping back.

"There's always the possibility," he told her fiercely.

Silence swept between them once more and it stirred something unpleasant in Tenten's gut.

"Are they difficult, Mr. Uchiha?" she enquired. "I'll have you know that I am more than capable of handling—"

He lifted his shoulders and let them drop again, slowly. "I have no children, Miss Momochi," he said, cutting her off.

She couldn't hide her shock; it rippled through her in violent little waves. "You have no children?" she choked. "Then why do you need a nanny? Why would you need me?"

Tenten held her breath as she waited for his answer. The very air around her changed. It had thickened until breathing was virtually impossible. The silence between them lengthened, and then he pinned her with such an intense expression in his onyx eyes that she truly couldn't breathe, couldn't even move.

"To bear them," he answered simply.

A/N: I know I shouldn't be posting new stories when I have so many ongoing ones, but fuck it these ideas keep coming! This story is dedicated to a dear friend of mine who is no longer on fanfiction but has gotten me into the ItaTen fever! It's such a pity, collaborating on this with her would have been an honour! I miss her :'(

Review if you'd like this to continue. Feel free to swing by my page to check out my other works :) I'm Tenten obsessed so she's featured in 80% of my stories. Reviews?