As Naruto barreled down the hall, still trying to get his tie on, secretaries and random office members stepped casually aside- some not even looking up as they got out of his way. The young blond did this morning sprint daily, and you learned quickly when to stay out of his way. Swinging around the corner, the blond managed to secure his tie and tried- rather unsuccessfully- to straighten his jacket. Every day and he still had failed to realize you can't straighten a jacket while running.

Ten after ten and Naruto came panting into the board room. The other members of the board stood around idly, knowing full well the meeting wasn't going to start on time. They never did- well, except that one time when Naruto had the flu and didn't attend.

"Here (Pant) Traffic (Pant) Sorry (pant)" A few smiles flickered across amused faces. In the corner, Sasuke Uchiha smirked.

"Funny the rest of us made it on time. You seem to have incredibly bad luck when it comes to traffic. I never have a problem." He commented dryly. Naruto, now having caught his breath, scowled.

"Teme. Not all of us arrive by helicopter." Sasuke just rolled his eyes. Naruto, glaring, sat down and proceeded to pout.

As everyone opened their briefcases and began to prepare their material, Naruto glanced shyly around the room. Beside him, Sasuke's eyes were flying calmly over charts and diagrams. When looked at from a distance, the two didn't seem like they could even be friends, let alone business partners. Sasuke, calm, cold and focused, Naruto, vibrant, energetic and forgetful- the two couldn't have been more different.

Yet, somehow, they made an unbeatable team. Sasuke had the business- he inherited it when his father passed away while Sasuke was still in college. The young boy had had doubts about going into the business in the first place- he couldn't stand people, and advertising companies were generally not run by the anti-social. Luck was on his side, however- By and accident of fate, he ended up in the same business administration class as Naruto Uzumaki.

The blond had never meant to sign up for the damn class in the first place. Apparently, he'd blocked in the wrong bubbles during orientation and the damn computers misread his request. He'd wanted to take art theory, because that class was infamous for its number of hot female students. Damn computers.

Nevertheless, he ended up in business administration, and partnered up with Mr. Buy-and-sell-your-ass. Neither boy had been pleased. The assignment: Create a campaign to sell hair gel. Once they were done, the campaign would be presented to random people at shopping centers and the like, to see what the result was. The success of the partnership was astounding (although some insisted that it was Sasuke's perfect hair that was the secret of their success).

Sasuke Uchiha had the female's votes, no question, and his cool style appealed to business men/women between the ages of 20-45. Naruto, on the other hand, had the so-called "working-man's vote" as well as the vote of families (his energetic and cheery style made him endearing to mothers and children of all ages). Not to mention the fact that Sasuke had the plan, and Naruto the charisma. A tentative friendship formed, and Sasuke did something he never did before, or after: He took a leap of faith. He offered Naruto a position in his newly-accessed company upon graduation.

Years went by, and between the two they manage to explode the company on the market. The amazing success it had had under his father's management was nothing. Sasuke and Naruto had created a masterpiece. So Sasuke took an unexpected step- He invited Naruto to become full partner. Naruto did what any sane man would do- accepted.

Since then, the company had prospered beautifully. New and amazing talent had been brought in under Naruto's command (Sasuke, who had previously been in charge of hiring, handed over this task to Naruto after realizing that in three years, he couldn't find one person who matched his overly high standards). The group that sat in the board room was created by Naruto- and it was one of the most influential groups in all of Japan.

On the other side of Sasuke sat the financial advisor, Sakura Haruno. The bubbly, pink haired girl would never have made it through the door if Sasuke had been in charge- in fact, she probably would have never worked in Japan once Sasuke got a look at her. When Naruto chose her, Sasuke had seriously considered reclaiming his position as hiring chief. But, beneath her giggly, boy-crazy exterior, the young woman was a master of her field. She had somehow managed to reign in and control the manipulative powers that some woman were gifted with, and used them to woo over the workers. When the economy would take a dive, Sakura would smooth over bonus cuts and layoffs with a disarming smile and a morally uplifting speech that made Sasuke want to vomit, but made the workers feel more understood.

Next, was Kiba Inuzuka. Kiba was in charge of graphic design and computer software. All ideas ran through him, and he held more power over what the company presented to the company than anyone else at the table- even Naruto and Sasuke had to occasionally bend to his will. You wouldn't think it to look at him, however- rumpled clothes, light stubble across his chin and cheeks, and a bored expression on his face; he looked like the kid who slept through high-school. Hell, he probably WAS the kid who slept through high-school.

Beside Kiba sat the soft-spoken, but perceptive Hinata Hyuga. Hinata was in charge of personal relations, and after Naruto became full partner, she took over the hiring process (though Naruto's opinion was often sought for more important positions). The girl was an incredible judge of people, and seemed to know how to make everyone feel good about themselves. Many workers sought her out during times of stress, and always left her office looking better.

Last, but not least was the spunky Ino Yamanaka. The blond female was the legal consultant for the company, and had her foot in the back door of practically every court in the country- and plenty out of the country. Getting Ino on their team had been particularly difficult. When Naruto first spotted her, she had been working for a German company that outsourced into Japan. It had taken all of Naruto's bargaining ability, and several martinis, too convince the brilliant young lawyer to even consider changing positions. It was the 20 increase in salary that finally caught her attention.

Sasuke was still sore about it.

"…the report, Naruto?" The blond jumped, and turned to Sasuke smiling sheepishly.

"Uh…what?" Sasuke let out a low breath.

"Do you have the report on the Kishimoto Corporation's board of directors?" Naruto nodded. Naruto began to shuffle through the unorganized mess that was his briefcase. Ino and Sakura hid small smiles behind their hands, and Kiba smirked wolfishly. Sasuke and Hinata just watched him- one with annoyance, the other with kind patience.

"Here! Got'em!" Naruto announced triumphantly, pulling out a thick stack of papers. "Do you have any idea how many secretaries I had to flirt with to get this?" He demanded, irritated at Sasuke's dark expression. "A LOT."

Sasuke gave Naruto a dark glare and began to glance over the information. They had had the legal information on the infamous Kishimoto gang (The companies slightly cutthroat tactics resulting in this unfavorable nickname) months ago, thanks to Ino, but the personal information was slightly harder to access. This was mostly because the members of Kishimoto's board were devotedly secretive about their personal lives, even more so than Sasuke. In fact, Naruto's report had very little usable material. Just stupid facts like how they lived, how often they wrote to their mother's, BS like that.

"It's all there was. These guys are like frickin' robots! I don't think they even have lives! The just go home, plug themselves in, and charge up." Sakura let out a small snicker as Sasuke handed her a few of the papers.

"It will have to do. We open discussions tomorrow. What do you think, Ino?" Naruto let his mind wander again as the young lawyer began to go off about yearly dividends and ownership rights.

Tomorrow was the day. Naruto had to suppress a shudder. He wasn't the least bit excited about this deal- in fact, it terrified him. He and Sasuke had been a team so long, why did they need anyone else? They were doing just fine on their own. Besides, if Sasuke got a new partner, maybe…

Maybe…

He won't need the old one. Glancing over at the dark haired Uchiha, Naruto felt the shudder he had suppressed earlier resurface. Maybe, all this time, Naruto had just been holding the other boy back. After all, Sasuke was the genius behind the company- he had the plan, the money, and the willpower. Naruto was just…a smiling face.

Naruto mused over this for the rest of the meeting, not even realizing they were done until everyone began to stand. They filed out of the board room, each heading to their own office, leaving only Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke was gathering up his papers, and made it a habit to always be out the hall last anyway. Naruto just sat and watched him, while trying to look as if he wasn't. He was doing a poor job.

"What is it, dobe?" Naruto glared at him.

"Was that necessary? I didn't even do anything and you're calling me names." Sasuke just glared up at him.

"You didn't pay attention to a single word that was said during this entire meeting. Don't you realize how important this deal is?" Naruto looked down, pouting slightly. Sasuke sighed. "Naruto be an adult. Answer me." Naruto just glared up at him.

"No."
"No? No you don't realize how important this is, or no you won't answer me?"

"No." Sasuke growled.

"Naruto." The warning in his voice was undeniable. The blond pouted and looked away.

"Is it really that important?" The blond boy grumbled. Sasuke scowled and raked his fingers through his hair.

"Every year we lose billions working with several small companies. These companies are constantly changing hands, changing procedure, changing opinions. This deal could cut that down by over 38. That's a THIRTY EIGHT percent profit increase, Naruto." The blond didn't respond. He just frowned.

"We were doing find without them." He muttered. Sasuke's scowl turned to a thoughtful frown.

"Naruto." The boy didn't look up. "You are half of this company." By the time the blond slowly raised his eyes, Sasuke had left. But that didn't stop Naruto from smiling weakly and nodding

Alright, a few things you need to know about me:

About two or three years ago I was a huge X-men Evolution fan, and had about 6 ongoing Rogue/Remy stories.

I know very little about the 'proper' use of suffixes. I know that chan is used for girls, kun is affectionate (I think). If anyone wants to clue me in a little more, feel free. Until then, Ask Jeeves is at my disposal.

This is both my first yaoi and my first Naruto fanfiction. I'm kind of nervous admitting it- A lot of the times people use the words 'first' and 'complete load of crap' interchangeably. It would upset me if people just tossed my story aside because I'm a newby.

I am a firm believer that if real guys were as hot as they are in anime, there would be no such thing as lesbians. (THIS IS NOT SLANDER! I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST LESBIANS!) I'm just saying, if real guys ran around looking and dressing like Sasuke or Ed (from FullMetal Alchemist) no woman would be able to resist…of course, there'd be a hellovalot more gay men….