AN: This story had been put on hold because I had been struggling as to where I had wanted to go with it. In the end, I decided to end it at 11 chapters with 12 being the Epilogue. I think I made the right choice ending it where I did but we'll see.

This is an AU and it's Sasu/Hina. I will say this: I wanted to try and make Sasuke a spoiled, rich boy bachelor and his personality reflects it for a while. It's implied in the story that the entire Uchiha family is elitist and he definitely thinks highly of himself. He acts very…typical guy-ish. I really loved writing this story strictly because of Kenta. I know there's the story with Rashi but this fic had been around prior to Prodigy, I just hadn't finished it. So this story was my first attempt at a 'family' sort of story and I really loved writing it. It is, however, rated M, because 1) I'm a pervert and 2) I like cussin'.

I also really loved writing Itachi in this story. He's so…well you'll see. Enjoy!

Chapter One

xxxxx

Putting his hand to his face, Sasuke Uchiha let out a rather loud yawn, ignoring the small stares from the people beside him. In one arm was his briefcase and his other hand was now being shoved into the pocket of his pants as he looked with a rather bored expression off in the distance. His boss and somewhat friend Kakashi Hatake had driven him to his apartment last night so he had decided to take the train to work. Not doing so often he stopped by one of his favorite breakfast places for some coffee and a bit of food before continuing his trek to his place of employment. Now he stood at the crosswalk, a little tired since Itachi had asked him to come in early and he had worked late last night, staring at absolutely nothing.

The road wasn't too crowded this early in the morning which annoyed him because he still had to stand at the crosswalk until he could go, he was sure the cop standing off in the adjacent street munching on a donut and downing coffee wouldn't appreciate him jaywalking. He didn't really think of himself as not being a morning person and he didn't see himself as being a morning person; he was somewhere in the middle. This morning, however, he definitely was leaning towards the negative aspect of being a morning person and resisted the urge to smack his forehead along the light pole simply because he was that tired.

Never again would he allow Kakashi to convince him to have 'just a drink or two' at midnight when he had work early the next morning. Right now he just wanted to throw something or scream in tired frustration because what the hell, why was he awake two hours before his normal shift started?

That bastard probably did this on purpose, knowing that Itachi wanted to see me early this morning. Sasuke thought bitterly and did in fact lightly lean his head against the pole, wishing for sweet oblivion to claim him.

Something hit his foot and bounced off his shin. Looking down he blinked at a dark blue ball now rolling near his loafers. Well, there was a park just across the street so he supposed it came from there? He wasn't sure, thinking wasn't really on the forefront of his mind at the moment.

There were some gasps and Sasuke looked up, his gaze locking on a little boy across the road. He looked no older than five or six with dark brown hair and the weirdest eyes he had ever seen. They were a pale silver, almost white.

"Hey Mister!" the boy called "That's my ball!"

In the background he could hear a woman crying out a name although he couldn't quite see her. He continued to blink at the kid and then bent down, picking up the ball. "You mean this?" he asked

"Yeah!" the child waved "I'll come get it!" And just like that he ran right out on the street while the light was still green. The small group standing beside him all let out another startled gasp and he could hear the woman in the park screaming frantically, running as fast as she could to get to her – what he could only assume to be – her son.

For some reason that he could only determine to be fate traffic decided it wanted to pick up a bit and the kid was about twenty seconds away from being hit by a semi truck.

What the fuck is that kid doing? The Uchiha thought frantically and before he knew it he had dropped his briefcase and the ball rushing out at top speed. He heard the horn of the semi and he saw the kid stop dead, his eyes wide in fear. The kid had probably known that at this time in the morning traffic wasn't too bad, he had probably even ran out across the street before and hadn't thought twice about it. Unfortunately now he realized that he had miscalculated, all because he hadn't looked across the street.

"Kenta!" he heard the mother scream.

Sasuke's arm slammed into the kid as he snatched him up right as the truck was coming, almost clipping him in the process. Pulling the boy close he landed and rolled a few times before settling, his heart pounding, breaths coming out harsh. The boy was near tears and thankfully the other cars that had been coming had stopped at a good enough distance due to the scene in front of them.

Sitting up, the Uchiha regarded the boy. His knee was scraped but beyond that he looked fine, just shaken and looking as if he wanted to cry at any moment.

Something shifted through the man and he reached out and gripped the child's shoulders, shaking him lightly "Don't you ever, ever do something like that again kid, do you understand me?" His voice was hard and snappish. As their gazes locked the boy nodded weakly and could no longer hold the tears that had been threatening to emerge. Big fat teardrops began to roll down the boy's cheeks and the mother finally arrived, grabbing the boy from Sasuke and pulling him close. She was also crying and her long purple hair was a windswept mess from her running. He regarded the woman blankly for a moment, feeling for a moment as if he knew her. The mother looked up at him and she too held those same unique eyes, except hers held a tint of lavender, not silver. Her face was red and tears were rolling down pale cheeks.

Another surge of anger rushed through him as he stood up "And you, Mom. What the hell are you doing, allowing your kid to just run out into morning traffic? Have you taught this kid anything?" he wasn't shouting, he didn't shout, but he was definitely angry and he was definitely loud enough for anyone around to hear him.

She let out a gasp and flinched as if he had physically struck her. Delicate hands moved to her mouth in horror and guilt and the tears increased, her body lightly shaking. "I…." she stammered "I-I…"

Something sharp hit him in the shin. Looking down he saw the boy, still with tears in his eyes, but looking up at him angrily and with determination.

"Don't yell at my mom!" the boy snapped "It's not her fault, leave her alone!"

Did this kid just kick me after I saved his life? Sasuke couldn't even believe what he was experiencing right at this moment so he just stared down at the child as if he were stupid and the woman pulled him back into her arms.

Ignoring them, he took stock of his own condition. His suit was pretty much ruined, he would have to head home and change and end up being late for whatever it was Itachi wanted him for. He let out a short curse and began to dust himself off, irritated.

The mother stood, a shaky hand moving through her long hair "I-I'm so…I'm so sorry," she began, her voice watery, as if she were ready to start sobbing at any minute "Thank you…thank you so much for saving my son I…please l-let me pay you for a new suit." She looked down then, her son attached to her long pale blue skirt. She even looked like a mom with her long sleeved violet shirt and skirt ensemble. Letting out another curse he waved her off.

"Don't bother, you couldn't afford it anyway." He snapped, turning his back on them. "Just keep a better eye on your kid lady." Sasuke's hip hurt just a bit but not enough to make him limp, so when he went back to the other side of the street he swept down and snatched his briefcase up in one fluid motion and began to head back to his house.

This was one of my better suits too. He mused angrily at the damage done to his two thousand dollar Armani outfit. There was no repairing the rips and tears, he'd just have to buy a new one.

Sometime along while he was on the train back to his apartment, he realized that he had probably been a little harsh with the mother. It wasn't as if the woman hadn't tried to stop her kid, he just hadn't listened and she had been too far away to get to him in time. Looking out the window of the train he thought back on the way her face had looked when he had all but called her a crappy mother. A poor one at that, having accused her of not being able to afford a new suit for him. Well, she looked middle class anyway so he felt it was an accurate enough assumption to make.

This is why I hate kids. The Uchiha thought to himself. They're a waste of time and effort and they don't like to be obedient when it's actually necessary. Now I'm out one suit and I'm going to be atrociously late to work.

Thankfully Itachi had understood when he had called to tell him that he'd be late and why. He even complimented his little brother for going out of his way to save a child. Whatever made him happy, Sasuke supposed.

He grabbed a quick shower and changed into his second favorite suit and headed back out. By the time he reached work he was actually technically 'on time' for his normal shift. Walking inside the building he ignored the ornate decorating and the security guard sitting at his desk who gave him a small hello. He ignored the receptionist/information woman when she tried to catch him in conversation to flirt. He wasn't in the mood. Instead Sasuke walked straight towards the golden elevators of Uchiha Inc. and pressed the button for the top floor.

"Wait!" A voice cried. A familiar voice. "Please hold the elevator!"

For some reason he actually complied although normally in a mood like this he would have let the door close without a second thought. A woman rushed inside with a rushed but polite 'thank you' and the doors closed behind her.

She wasn't very tall, probably five or so inches shorter than him, with dark purple hair that was pulled up into a pristine bun at the back of her head. She was clutching her bag to her chest as she tried to regain her breath. Despite running not a hair on her head looked out of place and the pale gray business outfit she was wearing looked nice. Not a name brand or anything, but nice. When she looked up at him to thank him again she froze.

Sasuke's own eyes widened at the woman from this morning with those strange pale eyes. He felt as if something had just punched him hard in the gut.

This is so ironic it hurts.

Uncomfortable silence filled the elevator as the woman moved to stand on the opposite side, looking away from him, her head down a bit. The earlier guilt from before crept up on him and he found himself sighing before putting a hand through his hair.

"Look, about this morning," he began. She didn't look over at him and didn't speak so he continued "I saw you running just like me to get your kid, you really didn't do anything wrong and I uh, shouldn't have snapped at you." And that was as much of an apology as she was going to get from him. Uchiha didn't apologize damnit and if he absolutely had to do it he made sure it was only twice a year lest it become habit. So his quota was half full already.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she looked timidly up at him, giving him a shaky smile "N-no I…I should have been watching him better. Kenta was playing with the other kids so I…I didn't notice it until it was too late." Her voice wavered slightly and she took a small shuddering breath "I-I owe you so much for saving him." Then something shifted in her eyes and her smile looked a little wry "And I can actually pay you back for the suit, it would just take me a paycheck or two."

Man, I'm such a dick. "Yeah…" he leaned his head against the wall of the elevator, feeling rather crappy about himself. He was sure that this woman that he had never seen before until now – no wait, that's why he had thought she looked familiar! – running into the elevator after he had practically insulted completely as a person was karma's way of going 'Hahaha, fuck you Sasuke'. It wasn't even remotely funny how uncomfortable and ironic this situation was. "Really, don't worry about it. I was kind of a jerk earlier so we'll call it even."

Flashing him another smile she turned her attentions back to the front of the elevator and the tension in the air lightened considerably. Since she wasn't looking at him he decided to look at her, sizing her up. Her skin was very pale, as if it had never even felt a UV ray in its life. Her face was slightly round and he figured that she was probably in her early twenties. The business suit looked nice on her, it seemed as if she had a decent figure underneath the jacket and skirt but it was a little difficult to tell. The biggest thing he noticed, however, was the lack of ring on her finger.

Huh.

"Divorced?" The Uchiha asked and when she looked back at him in confusion he pointed to her hands "Usually a widow would still be wearing her ring."

Something strange crossed her features and her face flushed, bringing color to her cheeks. He thought mildly that it actually made her look a little cute "N-neither." She answered and turned back to the front.

"Oh, one of those high school accidents or something?" Never had things like subtlety or respect for a person's personal space been something he had held in high regard if he didn't want to, so when she gave him a very uncomfortable and upset look he just blankly stared back. It was just a question.

"Th-that's a really p-personal question to ask someone…" she actually sounded mortified.

"Forget I asked then." Shrugging, he finally turned his gaze away from her. As they continued to go up past floors Sasuke realized that she hadn't pushed a button for her floor. Surely she wasn't going to the executive floor. Surely he would have known if she was an executive or something. He wasn't quite there yet, he was still working his way up like all Uchiha did when coming to work for the company, but he at least knew the people there and her face was definitely not something he would have forgotten.

He would have asked but since she had gotten so upset about his last question he decided he didn't want to bother; he'd find out soon enough.

When the elevator finally stopped at the top floor he motioned for her to go first. She gave him a small and slightly uncomfortable smile and a 'thank you' before heading straight in the direction of Itachi's office.

You have got to be kidding me. He thought dumbly There's no way she…

Just as she walked into the small alcove leading to Itachi's office she made a small right turn and walked into an office. The receptionist was sitting at her desk off to the side of Itachi's door, taking phone calls and he looked up at the title on the woman's door. It said 'Executive Assistant'.

She's Itachi's personal secretary? He thought in disbelief as he regarded the woman through her window as she sat down and promptly went to work. Why had he never noticed her until now? Was she new?

Deciding to push it aside for now he walked over to the receptionist, a young lady of around twenty years of age who had bright orange hair – for now – with matching nails and outfit. She flashed him a bright smile, her face turning a bit red at his presence.

"Mr. Uchiha," she said, sounding a little breathy. Mentally he raised an eyebrow at her, outwardly he expressed no emotion. "He's waiting for you now, please go in."

"Thanks." He ignored her eyes on him as he opened the large wooden door to his brother's – the president's – office.

"Ms. Hyuuga." The voice that came over her speaker was low and definitely male. Hinata recognized her boss' voice and leaned forward to respond. Being a man of few words whenever possible, she had grown used to the small quirks of her boss, such as if he simply said her name it meant he wanted her in his office ASAP. Depending on the tone would let her know if he was upset or not. He didn't sound upset, to her relief, although Itachi sounding 'upset' was a bit of an exaggeration. Itachi never 'sounded' anything but dull and even unless you had known him for quite some time. She was thankfully one of those people.

"Yes sir, I'll be right there." She responded and smoothly stood up from her seat and took the side entrance into Itachi's office.

The man from earlier was inside and immediately their gazes locked onto one another, surprised. Hinata quickly recovered and turned her gaze to her boss, not wanting to regard the strange and rather rude man beside her. She would be eternally grateful to him for saving her son but his attitude stunk and she wanted nothing really to do with him personally.

"Do you two know each other?" Itachi's voice came in, his dark gaze scanning over the two of them calmly.

"N-no, sir," She answered honestly. "We've only met today and even then it was very brief. We did not exchange introductions." The man beside her stiffened as if he had just realized that he hadn't told her his name and vice versa.

"Ah," the president remarked with a small smile "Well, I suppose we should fix that now. Ms. Hyuuga, this is my younger brother, Sasuke. Sasuke, this is my personal secretary, Ms. Hinata Hyuuga. You two haven't formally met before but she's been with the company as long as you have; around five years right?"

The two standing adults looked at each other in surprise. Well, she had known Itachi had a younger brother, she just hadn't known that he had been working for the company for almost five years. His thoughts seemed to mirror hers and they turned back to Itachi who looked slightly amused.

"Ms. Hyuuga, I have actually called you here for a specific reason," he began "not this Saturday but the next after there will be a corporate dinner, a formal occasion of course. As I am sure you realize as you are the one who sets up my schedule, I will be out of the country that weekend. I know I have asked you to attend these sort of dinners before and you have declined, however, I am asking you if you could attend as my representative."

Her mouth actually dropped slightly before she recovered "S-sir, I-"

Itachi waved her off "Ms. Hyuuga, you know just as much about the on-goings, clients, and dealings this company encounters as much as I. Also, you understand my feelings concerning all of our clients and our associations with them. I would not ask this of you if I felt you could not do it."

Hinata couldn't speak for a moment, she was too stunned. Her boss wanted her to attend a formal dinner as his representative? He had asked her to attend such occasions before, more of on a 'company date' sort of thing than anything else. Hinata had always declined because of Kenta, but she wasn't sure if she could turn this request down.

"S-sir I…" she tried again "I am honored that you would ask me to be your representative but I-I'm not sure if I-I could…"

Itachi let out a small sigh, obviously having expected this. "Well, I can ask someone else, although I was hoping you would agree this time. Very well I –"

"Why can't you go?" Sasuke suddenly asked, giving her a strange look "Is it because you can't find anyone to watch your kid?"

The room became very silent for a solid two minutes.

"Ms. Hyuuga…you have a child?" Itachi regarded her with a slightly surprised expression. "I was not aware, you've always claimed that you are unmarried with no children."

There were two things Hinata wanted to do. First, she wanted to kick Sasuke in the shins about the same way Kenta had earlier that morning. Second, she wanted to cry, because this revelation could very well get her fired for lying on her application and interview, not to mention she had carried the lie on for so long.

"I…" Hinata wrung her hands together and let out a small sigh "I was…I was eighteen years old and I had no formal training. When you accepted me into this position I felt that if I had told you I had a little boy it would have ruined my chances and I-"

Itachi held up a hand "I believe I understand. I am assuming then that you continued to keep silent because you were worried you would get in trouble for submitting false information to us?" When she nodded he smiled a bit and leaned back in his chair. "Well, if I had known this, I would have been able to inform you that each company dinner hires individuals to take care of any children that are brought along, all of them certified of course."

Her eyes snapped up at her boss in surprise "Th-they do?"

"Yes, although you didn't know because you never attended one." He remarked coolly and it was only because his mouth was still slightly quirked up that she knew he was only teasing her. "If the only reason you have not attended is because of your son, it is not an issue; he will be well taken care of until you decide to leave. May I ask his name and age?"

"Um, his name is Kenta and he's almost six years old."

"Ah. So you had him while still in high school, I presume?"

"What?" she asked ineloquently "O-oh, no sir. Kenta isn't…he's not my biological son. He's the son of my late cousin and his…fiancé. I was named godmother and when they passed away I took him in as his legal guardian. S-so I've had him since he was a baby…"

Both men regarded her with no small amount of awe "So at eighteen you took in a child that was not yours and you have been raising him on your own all this time?" Itachi actually sounded impressed "Your record has also been outstanding, I must applaud you for your ability to manage your work and your child at the same time; many single mothers cannot do such a thing."

Her face flamed "I-it's not…Kenta's mother had no living relatives and I couldn't allow him to get adopted out, they wouldn't have wanted that. Sir, I'm so very sorry I kept it from you all this time it's just because I was hired here I was able to afford Kenta the things he needed and-"

"Ms. Hyuuga, I am not upset." Her boss remarked "Surprised, but not upset. Although it does make me wonder why you do not ask for raises more often. You know that I will never remember to do it if you don't inform me of these things."

"I didn't want to…I've already had three raises since working here so…and it's been enough…"

Itachi chuckled lightly "You have always been a very modest and humble person Ms. Hyuuga, I do believe that is why I have kept you here for so long. That and you're exceptionally good at your duties. I will however, ask that you make a note for me to raise your pay and please do not allow me to forget this time. Now that we've settled the situation somewhat, might I ask once again if you would be so kind as to attend the dinner next Saturday as my representative? As I've said, I can and will have someone else do it if absolutely necessary, but I would prefer it to be you."

Hinata nodded. As long as Kenta was taken care of she was fine with it. "I'd love to sir."

"Good. It has only taken me four years to get you to go to one, but I'm a patient man." Her face burned even hotter because she knew he was, once again, teasing her. Itachi turned his attentions to his brother "I am assuming you wish to know why I've had you stand in on our little conversation?"

"The thought did cross my mind once or twice, yeah." Sasuke remarked with a blank expression on his features.

"I've requested your presence because normally there are two members from each company that attend, this would usually be myself and whoever I would invite to attend." Hinata pretended to ignore the look he sent her way "I have decided that my new executive would be an excellent escort for Ms. Hyuuga."

The younger Uchiha blinked at his brother dumbly "Wait. You're promoting me?"

"Yes. Congratulations." Itachi remarked dryly "A raise and a promotion, I do believe I've accomplished my good deed quota for the year. Will you go Sasuke?"

Sasuke put a hand through the back of his head "Of course, Itachi; you know I will."

"Excellent. That sets my mind at ease at least for this situat-"

Both Hinata and Itachi's watches went off. They both regarded the time. Hinata looked up at her boss.

"Sir, you're nine o'clock," she began

"Yes, I'm going." Smoothly Itachi stood from his desk and grabbed his briefcase "A brief recap if you please, Ms. Hyuuga." He began to walk out the room, Hinata close behind him.

"Yes, sir. You have the nine o' clock executive meeting, after that the representatives from Suna Industrials are meeting with you for lunch at around eleven thirty – " Itachi immediately began to set his watch for his next meeting as she spoke "at Celeste's,"

"Are you sure it wasn't Blue Shell?" he raised a delicate eyebrow at her.

"Yes sir, the meeting was changed to Celeste's yesterday afternoon. You signed off on it."

"Hm. Draft up the standard 'thank you for meeting with us blah blah blah' letter for them and have it sent out by the end of the day."

Pulling out a pen and pad she scribbled down his instructions "It will be sent while you are at lunch, sir."

"Excellent. That is all the recap I need for now Ms. Hyuuga, I have my planner for the later meetings. I will not be returning to the office today so please feel free to take an early day if you so desire."

"Yes, sir." She remarked although they both knew she wouldn't. She never took an early day. "Would you like me to send you alerts through your phone for the remaining meetings?"

"Thoughtful of you, but no. I don't want to trouble you with it." He stopped in his tracks and regarded Hinata "Most importantly, the drafts for the two deals we have under negotiation will be coming to my office. You're well aware of my stance on both of them, you have authority to approve the drafts if you feel they meet to mine and the client's specifications."

Itachi's secretary smiled and nodded "Yes, sir. Shall I e-mail you the results?"

"Please do since I will not be returning. I'll review them tonight." He gave Hinata and Sasuke a short nod "Good day to you both." And then he was gone around the corner and to his private elevator.

With a small sigh she wrote down the remainder of his instructions before regarding Sasuke who had apparently been following them. The look he was giving her made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"My brother trusts you a lot, doesn't he?" He observed "He never leaves things to others if he can help it."

"Um well, I have been here for five years and I-I've always made sure that Mr. Uchiha wouldn't have to worry about anything he didn't need to worry about."

"Hn." Regarding her for another moment he tilted his head at her slightly "What time do you take lunch?"

"Eh?" Blinking up at him she began to think "Um, Mr. Uchiha normally takes his lunches at one pm if he's here, so I usually go at the same time."

"One huh?" the younger Uchiha didn't seem terribly thrilled at eating lunch so late "Alright, since we're doing this dinner thing together I figure we might as well have a lunch and get to know each other a little better…since we didn't exactly get off on the right foot."

Boy was that an understatement. Hinata smiled "That is fine, Mr. Uchiha."

He gave her a disgusted look "Don't call me that, I hate it when people call me that. Just Sasuke." With a sigh he put his hands in his pockets and looked off to the side "Well, since I've obviously been promoted I'm going to have to go see where my new office will be and move my stuff. You'd think he would have at least hinted at this, my team is going to be pissed." Realizing that Hinata was still there and he had been talking outloud to himself he gave her a short wave and turned to head back to the elevator "I'll be here around twelve fifty-five alright? Later."

Left standing there, all Hinata could do is watch Sasuke's retreating back as she went through the events of this morning through her head. It was a wonder she hadn't fainted yet, so many things had happened already.

If this is how my morning is going to be I don't even want to know how my afternoon will go. With another sigh she walked back into her office.