Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It's so sad! I recently downloaded an old Pokemon game—Pokemon Ruby—and had gotten passed the second gym, but then I pressed something on my keyboard AND IT EXITED! AND I DIDN'T SAVE ANYTHING! Now I havta start all over again. Sigh. I had a pretty rockin' team, too!

Anyways, here's hoping that I can actually finish this: Onward with the story!

Naruto woke up to his cell phone alarm.

The instant it started bothering him about waking up to go to work, Naruto's hand shot out to turn off that annoying noise.

Why the hell would he set his alarm to be that annoyingly loud? Oh yea, to wake him up.

Grumbling, he turned his head on his pillow so he could catch another blissful minute of sleep. He sighed in near bliss; his pillow smelled like Sasuke. It was the smell he associated most with safety.

During those lonely years spent in social exile as the local cursed orphan with ugly scars on his cheeks, Sasuke was the only one that had stood up for him.

Sure, Naruto had friends. . .or classmates who were nice enough to let him hang out with them when they were all in detention and sometimes let him play with them should he come across their group, but Sasuke was the only one who had called out to Naruto and invited Naruto to hang out with him. Yeah, 'hanging out' with Sasuke either meant 'engage in competition' of the epic sort that made Sasuke and Naruto forever rivals, or 'sit around and pretend to like the books Sasuke reads', but the activity was never the important thing. What was important was that Sasuke would ask—demand for—Naruto to join him, not the other way around like it always was with everyone else.

And Sasuke would protect Naruto. It was rarely openly fighting against those intent on hurting Naruto since that hurt Naruto's pride who insisted on fighting his own battles, both figurative and literal, but Sasuke sometimes would if it was more than five on one or if the enemy had some form of crude weapon.

No, he protected Naruto by openly stating that Naruto was his best friend and only he could pick on his idiot. During high school when fights with the blonde would more often than not include both more than five against one and those five with crude weapons—usually pipes or bats, but sometimes a knife would pop up every now and then—Sasuke had made it clear that those who messed with Naruto also messed with Sasuke, and nobody wanted to mess with the sadist attacking in more ways than just crushing injuries.

Sasuke was always Naruto's safe haven, both in body and mind. The Uchiha would always allow the Uzumaki to stay at his place after a battle or particularly hard day and would even allow Naruto to sleep in his bed instead of the guest bed. Waking up and smelling Sasuke's scent meant that he was safe; nothing could hurt him as long as Sasuke was around.

Naruto smiled in satisfaction; his pillow was warm. Sasuke must have gotten a self-warming pillow on his trip! Not only that, but he could hear a solid, rhythmic thumping from within the pillow. It was slow and steady, a very calming thing to listen to and focus on. This self-warming pillow was probably designed for scattered-brained people who can't sleep 'cause there are way too many thoughts swirling around their heads.

And not only that, but it moves! These pillow makers really knew how to make one freaking awesome pillow! The pillow was really warm, it has a soothing thumping sound, and it steadily moves up and down! It was kind of like sleeping on somebody's chest!

Wait. . .

Naruto cracked open an eye, and immediately pushed himself into a sitting position as soon as he saw that was sleeping on a chest! SASUKE'S chest!

The blush on his face could have made fire trucks green with envy. And steam engines were hating on him.

He tried to remember if we had at anytime woken up and decided that using his best friend as a pillow was a pretty fantastic idea, but gave up quickly. All he could remember was calling Sasuke a bastard after said bastard teased him about ghosts.

AHA! THAT WAS IT!

Obviously there must have been some scary ghost shit going on during the night and Naruto sought refuge in the nearest LIVING thing; Sasuke.

Confident in his self-explanation, Naruto turned his focus to waking up.

He looked around and noticed that Sasuke's eyes were also open; bleary, but awake.

"Moron, do you have any idea what time it is?" Sasuke asked in a low, dark tone. Sasuke may be many things, but a morning person was not one of them. This they shared, though they had different definitions. Naruto was not a morning person in which he would take forever to wake up, but once he did he was definitely UP. Sasuke was not a morning person in which he woke up quickly, but hated doing so and was a grouchy bastard until he had his coffee.

"Nope!" Naruto said with a smile. He knew it was early and time to wake up, because that was what the wake-up alarm meant; time to wake up. And even though he was the one who set it, Naruto had no idea what time he set it to. It was an automatic thing by now.

Sasuke growled grumpily at him and turned to his bedside table to check the time on his clock radio that Naruto had bought for him a long time ago.

"Idiot. It. Is. 7:35. A.M." Sasuke said in a menacing voice, obviously unhappy with the time.

"Right-o," Naruto replied, amused as always at Sasuke's empty anger at him. Being friends for so long had taught Naruto when Sasuke was angry at him, or just angry.

"Why the hell are we awake so damn early?" Sasuke glowered at him, his eyes burning with drowsy rage. Naruto imagined that was the look that those dragons that aren't supposed to be woken up would have just after waking up.

"Work." Naruto stated simply, knowing that his best friend's sleepy mind, for all of its Uchiha awesome-ness, would not be able to coherently process long sentences until after coffee.

"Isn't it Sunday?" a statement more than a question.

"Yep." Naruto answered as he stretched his arms above his head, relishing in the slight tingly feeling when he pushed them to their morning limit.

"It's the weekend." Sasuke stated in a lame sleepy version of his patronizing voice.

Naruto smiled at his best friend, he always loved it whenever he got to witness the famous Sasuke Uchiha in mid-wake-up. Sasuke was strange at these times; unguarded, grumpy, slow, and honest. Only Naruto and the man's late family ever got to see Sasuke like this, it made him feel special. That, and sometimes Sasuke was just so freaking funny like this.

"Yes it is, Sasuke." Naruto clarified as he began to swing his legs over the edge of his side of the bed.

He was stopped by a hand grabbing his forearm.

"Early weekend means sleep." He pulled Naruto's arm closer to him, making Naruto lean closer to the bed he was currently trying to get off.

"For rich bastards like you," Naruto retorted, not in an unkind tone, "some people have to work."

"You work for me." Sasuke said in that lame-ass echo of a patronizing voice. It amused Naruto to no end to hear it since it proved that the bastard was human.

"Exactly!" Naruto exclaimed as if it explained everything, which it clearly did.

But Sasuke did not seem to think so. He raised his eyebrow in a silent question to explain.

"You think the media has days off? Nooooooooo!" Naruto explained with a grin in response to Sasuke's grimace, "I take Saturday off and work on Sunday to prepare for the week and to spend the day declining interview requests and check your schedule to see if I havta call security or anything drastic like the airport."

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded sagely, internally noting that this has been one of the longest conversations he's had with sleepy Sasuke, "You should give me a raise for all the work I do."

"I will." Sasuke agreed, looking up at Naruto.

"Eh? For really? I was just joking!" Naruto winced, realizing that mentioning that asking for a raise was a joke was probably a bad idea, "Actually, no it wasn't! I was totally serious. Go, raise, go!"

"Naruto…" Sasuke said in a low tone.

"I know, I know. I'm being a bit loud, aren't I? So I'll just go downstairs and make myself breakfast, then I'll do my work, which I'll be getting a raise for soon, so awesome!" Naruto babbled, completely focused on not letting Sasuke talk and take the raise away from him.

"Moron—" Sasuke tried again.

"No, no, no. I know that you hate the smell of ramen in the morning so I'll make myself toast, or something. You just lay your duck-butt head back down so you can get your precious beauty rest." Naruto ordered, already heading out the door.

The blonde hurried down to the kitchen, his stomach demanding to be fed by singing the song of its people.

When he reached the kitchen, he was cursing himself for telling the bastard upstairs that he wouldn't make ramen. He was hungry and ramen was instant! Okay, so it took three minutes, but what else that could be made in the same amount of time ever compare to RAMEN?

Eggs? Waffles? Pancakes? Took longer to make properly than instant ramen.

Toast? Way too dry. Ramen was brothy perfection.

Cereal? Not in the mood! Naruto's stomach wanted RAMEN dammit!

"You know what?" Naruto said aloud to himself, patting his stomach, "I want ramen! Sasuke can suck it!"

"Suck what?"

Naruto unleashed a manly shriek as he jumped with manly surprise. He hadn't expected Sasuke to follow him downstairs so early!

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted in his surprise, to make up for the epically manly shriek that just oozed with testosterone.

Sasuke just raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"No ramen, moron." Sasuke ordered, pushing passed the blonde to make way for the coffee maker.

Naruto made a noise of protest.

"I'll make eggs. You can gorge on cereal until then."

Throwing a glare over his shoulder, Naruto flicked Sasuke the bird as he went over to the refrigerator to grab the necessary milk.

He heard a grunt of acknowledgment to his middle finger and was satisfied.

After he filled his bowl with cereal and milk, he smiled up at his friend who was starting to scramble the eggs.

"Heeeeeey Sasuke!"

"What?"

"Did you know I'm. . ."

". . .what, moron?"

"COO-COO FOR COCO PUFFS!" Naruto exclaimed, laughing at the incredulous look his best friend sent him for his immaturity. Or what Sasuke thought was immaturity. Naruto was very mature; mature meaning knowing when he COULD act immature.

"Oh, god. How did you even sneak those in?" Sasuke asked, clearly tired of this repeated immaturity every time Naruto ate Coco Puffs.

"I'm like a ninja." Naruto replied, striking a 'ninja' pose.

Sasuke snorted, "You'd be the worst ninja ever."

"Screw you, I'd be, like, the LEADER of the ninja!" Naruto exclaimed, defending his sheer awesomeness.

"I highly doubt that." Sasuke shot down, finishing up with the eggs.

"Prick. I'd so kick ass as a ninja. I'd be the goddamn ninja war hero." Naruto nodded to his cereal, who totally agreed with him.

"Loser." Sasuke insulted as he transferred the eggs to two plates.

"Whatever, YOU'D be an emo ninja." Naruto accused, reaching for his offered plate.

"And I'll bet 'emo ninjas' don't share their eggs so I'll just be keeping these." Sasuke smirked as he retracted the plate away from Naruto's reach.

"NOOOOOO! I TAKE IT BACK! You'd be an awesome ninja! Top of the class! And super classy!" Naruto cried out, desperately reaching out and waving his arms to grab the eggs.

Sasuke smirked, "Hn," and returned the plate to Naruto's reaching area.

Naruto flashed him a smile and began eating with vigor.

While he ate, Sasuke poured himself a cup of coffee. While Naruto did not care for the taste, he absolutely loved the smell; he swore to himself that one of the deal-breaking rules of any relationship he'd hopefully find one day was that his significant other would have to love coffee almost as much as Sasuke did so that he could smell it every morning.

What could he say? It was the best form of air freshener to him.

"How was it?" Sasuke asked, noticing that Naruto had finished.

His mouth still full with the delicious scrambled eggs, Naruto smiled, gave a thumbs up, and rubbed his belly.

Sasuke smirked, "So idiots really can multi-task. Can you rub your belly and pat your head?"

Naruto's smile turned into a burning glare and his thumbs up turned into the middle finger.

Sasuke's smirk grew as he held up two hands in a gesture of truce.

Naruto rolled his eyes and headed towards the living room so he could do some work.

He grabbed the TV remote and started flipping through channels, looking for a news station.

"What are you doing, idiot?"

Naruto jumped so hard that he dropped the remote.

"GEEZE, BASTARD! You need to stop stalking me!" Naruto scolded as he reached for the remote once more.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, taking a seat in his chair.

"And if you must know, I'm working." Naruto huffed, returning his attention to the TV and his channel surfing.

"Working?" Sasuke repeated, as if amused by the term.

"Hell yes, 'working'! I'm making sure you're not on the news!" Naruto explained gesturing towards the TV as he changed channels still.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

Naruto rolled his eyes, then gave up manually searching for a news station and switched to Sasuke's menu option. He himself didn't bother with buying Direct TV or Fios or Verizon or any of those fancy TV providers since in his opinion, they were a waste of money that could be spent on rent or food. Basic cable gave him what he wanted to watch and the internet provided the rest; that or Sasuke's sweet setup did.

Since it was Sunday, there weren't as many morning news programs, but Naruto found one.

They were going over the bad economy and interested in politics—understandably—so Naruto pulled out his bag and grabbed his work phone.

When he turned it on, he was very surprised to see that he had 137 messages.

Feeling slightly nervous, he muted the television and attracted the attention of a certain Uchiha watching said TV. Naruto gestured towards his phone and started to play the messages as Sasuke nodded his understanding.

"You have *137* voice messages." The female robot voice spoke to Naruto.

"First voice message. . .'—ut UP! I'M CALLING! . . . Hello, Naruto Uzumaki? This is Ino Yamanaka, from 'Have You Heard?' TV Magazine. You just left the airport now and I got transferred to this number so that I can tell you the information you have asked for: The woman that spoke to you is named 'Sakura Haruno' from our rival program, 'Hot News Flash!' I am assuming that I am the first to give the information and am eagerly waiting for any information about that exclusive interview with Mr. Uchiha! You can call at any time, and I mean any time! My number is 555-0158. 'Kay thanks!"

"Does she really think she can land an interview by speaking in such an unprofessional manner?" Sasuke asked, making an unsuspecting Naruto jump another manly jump.

"Uh. . ." Naruto scratched the back of his neck in a nervous fashion, feeling guilty. He had made that interview promise without consulting Sasuke, or even really telling him about it afterwards. Poor Sasuke had just walked up to the area when Naruto had announced his declaration against that bitch Sakura Haruno and probably wasn't even listening.

Naruto lowered his head, the guilt from dragging Sasuke into his mess dragging him down and his mood worsening because he was reminded about the reason WHY he had made the whole interview declaration.

Sasuke sighed, then declared, "I'll do it."

Looking up, Naruto offered, "You don't have to do it. I made that promise without asking you."

"I want to." Sasuke clipped, then paused as he considered his wording and Naruto gave him a disbelieving and bewildered look. "I want to for you." Sasuke clarified.

"But. . .WHY? You HATE interviews!" Naruto reminded the man who was known to walk out of interviews mid-question.

"True, but this is important to you." Sasuke said as he got up from his chair to sit next to Naruto.

". . .not really." Naruto mumbled, looking down at his extremely interesting feet.

"Maybe not the interview itself, but the meaning behind it is. I know that she really offended you and that this is the best way to get back at her." Sasuke said in a calm, confident tone, making Naruto feel comforted.

"Yeah, but—"

"But nothing. This just means that you owe me." Sasuke said with a small smile that only Naruto ever got the pleasure to see.

Unable to contain himself, Naruto threw himself at Sasuke and wrapped his arms around his best friend in the world.

"Thank you." Naruto whispered to Sasuke, trying to show just how thankful he was that Sasuke would take part in this, just for him.

Sasuke gave a small squeeze back, so he must have gotten the message.

"Alright, then. Imma bouta work, so you kinda havta let go now." Naruto said after the hug went on after he stopped squeezing.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, letting go, but not moving from his spot from next to Naruto.

Giving his best friend a grin, Naruto turned to his phone, which he was surprised to hear was still playing the messages about this 'Sakura Haruno'. He stopped the messages, deleting the whole bunch. Then, he dialed the number that this 'Ino' had given him.

After ringing four times, the phone was picked up.

". . .'Lo?" a slightly drowsy greeting was heard.

"Hello, Miss Yamanaka? This is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto greeted.

It never ceased to amuse him how flustered people got whenever they got flustered because of his position of being Sasuke's PR, which was clearly happening on the other line.

"NARUTO? Omigosh! I mean, yes, Mr. Uzumaki, this is Ino Yamanaka. Is there anything I can help you with?" her voice was flushed with barely concealed excitement, making Naruto smile.

"Actually, Miss Yamanaka, it is the other way around today. I am pleased to inform you that you are indeed the first person to inform Uchiha Corp of the desired information about one Sakura Haruno. I thank you for this, and am calling to tell you that Mr. Uchiha will be available for an interview."

Naruto had to pull the phone away from his ear for a minute—and Sasuke covered his own—as a high pitched scream of excitement and delight emitted from the device.

"OMIGAWSH THIS IS AMAZING!" Ino exclaimed, not even bothering to conceal her ecstasy.

Naruto chuckled, "Yes, I am sure that it is quite amazing. Now if you would please, there are some things that need to be arranged before this interview."

"Oh, yes! Yes, of course!" Ino said rather quickly, "What kind of arrangements?"

"First of all, we need to discuss a date that will be free for the both of you." Naruto explained, motioning for Sasuke to show what days he could or could not interview. Sasuke, after knowing Naruto for years, understood his makeshift sign language.

"Oh, any day will be totally fine with me. I would however, like to ask if it could be done ASAP? If that is not too much trouble, I mean." Ino hurriedly added in that last part.

Naruto could see her point; this was hot news and the sooner the better.

He turned to Sasuke, silently asking for the soonest date.

Sasuke motioned towards a day on the calendar, which Naruto gave him a questioning look that was appeased with a nod of the head.

Shrugging, Naruto addressed the woman over the phone, "Would later today around 3:30 PM be acceptable?"

"What? Of COURSE! I mean, yes, that is absolutely acceptable. Should I send over the address?" Ino sounded ecstatic about the interview happening so soon.

"That would be helpful, thank you. And another thing: you will need to fax over the questions you are planning to ask Mr. Uchiha at least two hours before the interview starts so we can let you know which ones will be acceptable to ask and which questions cannot be asked." Naruto ordered, using a tone of finality.

"Well I—" she was cut off by Naruto.

"I ask this of you because unfortunately Mr. Uchiha has a habit of walking out of interviews if he is asked the wrong question, or if he feels that things have gotten too personal." Naruto warned, shrugging at Sasuke and using his crude sign language to tell that this was the easiest way to make sure everyone there was on their best behavior around the moody Uchiha.

The Uchiha in question smirked and nodded his head to show that he agreed with what Naruto had demanded.

"Yes, of course. Yes, I understand. I can fax over the questions to you." Ino immediately replied after hearing what could happen if she did not.

"Thank you. The number is 555-1197." He gave his work fax, not wanting the reporter fangirl any access to any form of direct communication to either of Naruto's or Sasuke's homes, "We will be in touch and will see you later. And I apologize for calling so early in the morning and so late after you called me." Naruto added in the last part, re-realizing the time, around 8:00 AM.

"No, no, not at all. I am just glad you even called! And rest assured that we will follow these agreements to the letter!" Ino promised passionately.

Naruto smiled, "And thank you for the information. We will see you later, and in the meantime, have a lovely day."

"I will! And thank you so, so much!" Ino practically squealed into the phone.

Naruto hung up the phone, sighed, and gave an apologetic smile to his best friend.

"Guess we'll havta go to work now?" not a question about if Sasuke understood but rather a begging for forgiveness.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, getting up from his chair.

"And she's a squealer." Naruto started to follow Sasuke to the kitchen when he paused and just heard what he just said, "I mean she squeals really loudly! GAH, NO! I didn't mean that! Well, I did, but not like that! She's not going to squeal while you two have sex! Because you're not going to have sex!"

Sasuke gave him an amused look: a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Not because she doesn't want to! She'd probably squeal at the chance, because she's a squealer and all that. But you wouldn't know because you're asexual! Ah! Yes you will know because she'll be interviewing you. You should tell her no squeals." Naruto babbled on the way to the kitchen.

"I'm not asexual." Sasuke countered, walking towards the coffee pot for a second mug.

"Cheya you are! I've never seen you with a chick and you've got literally hundreds that would just loooooooooooooooooove for you to even say hi!" Naruto exclaimed, taking his usual seat at the counter.

"That's because I'm gay, idiot." Sasuke spoke in a slow voice, as if speaking to a child.

"But I've never seen ya with a guy either, bastard!" Naruto retorted, sticking his tongue out at the insult.

Sasuke paused, and said, "Because I don't believe in just sleeping around if they aren't the One for you."

Naruto blinked, and then a wide, mischievous grin spread across his face, "Awwwwwww! Who would have guessed that my little S'ske is a hopeless romantic?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in reply.

"Don't deny it!" Naruto shouted, standing on the pegs of his stool, leaning against the countertop for balance.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted again, this time with a tone of finality.

"Fiiiiiiiiine. I won't tell anybody. But I can guarantee you that Kiba would have found it hilarious." Naruto sat back down on his stool, waiting for Sasuke to finish his coffee.

Sasuke sent him a glare over his black mug.

Naruto waved his arms in front of himself frantically, "Which is why he'd never know!" and laughed nervously.

Sasuke closed his eyes and gave a slight nod, continuing to drink his coffee.

"You're secret is safe with me!" Naruto struck an impromptu 'nice guy' pose, "I shall seal it up in an imaginary plastic bag and wrap that with orange duct tape along with a key! 'Why a key?' you ask? Well that's simple, you bastard! Because the imaginary taped up plastic bag will be placed in a box and locked up for eternity since the key that could unlock it is locked up inside it! But since someone could still pick the lock, I'll put the box inside a secret safe! And the combination will be decided randomly by playing that card game War! Whichever card wins will be the next number in the combination! And I'll make sure to shuffle the cards real good afterwards and play many more rounds so I'll forget the combination! But there are people who can crack safes so I'll put that safe into a BIGGER safe and use the same system of choosing the combination! But this time, there'll be a rig set to explode if someone cracks the combination! And that bigger safe will be placed inside a vault set Indiana Jones style with many booby traps! AH! I should call it 'penis traps' because you don't like boobies! But 'penis' is the technical word for someone's dick, where 'breast' is the technical word for boobies. So I'll call it 'The Ultimate Cock Block'!"

Throughout his chattering, Sasuke had finished his coffee.

Sasuke then placed his mug in the sink, poured a little water in it, and started to head upstairs to change. He didn't bother to tell Naruto where he was going because Naruto was following him the whole time.

"How we'd get the bombs would be a mystery to me, but it's all imaginary so it's all good. Same goes with 'The Ultimate Cock Block'. Though, that does sound like an epic name. Kinda like a spoof movie thing. You know, those kinds like American Pie where proper men like you scoff at but people who appreciate funniness like me would pay to see it twice? But now that I think about it, it sounds kinda like a porno name. Well, it'd either be filled with sexy times that can't finish but show up like every three minutes or a gay one with cock rings and stuff like that." Naruto continued to chatter behind him, not minding if Sasuke found it annoying or not because the bastard should have been used to it by this point.

Sasuke showed how appreciative he was for Naruto's creative cinematography genius by rolling his eyes.

"BASTARD! IT'D BE THE GREATEST PORNO IN THE WORLD! IT'D GET MANY, MANY REVIEWS AND ALL THE LADIES WILL BE BEGGING TO HANG OUT WITH ME!" Naruto shouted as his friend disappeared into his extensive closet.

"Sure they will, moron." Sasuke sarcastically agreed, re-emerging with a dark suit in hand.

"And all the boys too!" Naruto declared, revising his earlier statement since Sasuke was gay and wouldn't care about girls flocking to Naruto.

"Of course." Sasuke said with his bastardy Uchiha indifference. He placed his suit on the bed and grabbed Naruto's arm.

Being the trusting, mature man that he was, Naruto took it in stride.

"NOOOOOO! I TAKE IT BACK! YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE BOYS! AND THE GIRLS! HELL, I SWEAR I WON'T PRODUCE ANY PORNOS! JUST DON'T KILL MEEEEEEEEEE!" Naruto struggled helplessly as his sadistic rival dragged him by the arm to his closet where he used to torture—tickle into submission—Naruto when they were children.

"Idiot, I'm not going to kill you. . .yet." Sasuke gave Naruto a sadistic smirk that made Naruto redouble his efforts to escape, "We are working today and you need proper work attire."

"Oh. . ." Naruto mumbled as he allowed his body to go limp, forcing the bastard to have to pull him to the closet, "Wait, I get to wear one of your suits?"

"Hn." Sasuke replied, dropping Naruto's arm unceremoniously once they entered the spacious closet; it was like a friggin' room!

"But why?" Naruto asked, weary of Sasuke giving him things for free like he was prone to at time. Naruto would refuse, of course, on the basis that he did not need any help and could afford things on his own.

"Because, moron, your apartment is all the way on the opposite side of the city in the slums. I don't want to waste my time to go to your crappy place just so you have one more suit saved for tomorrow because today is the day you take them to the drycleaners." Sasuke explained as he flipped through a couple of suits on the rack.

"Oh. . ." Naruto sat up and scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed that he had assumed that his best friend wanted to spoil him. He also felt a little conceited for thinking that; Sasuke cared, but wouldn't fuss over him like a mother hen.

"Here." Sasuke tossed one of his more plain black suits with a black tie. Naruto did not bother to ask about the size since both men were about the same height with Sasuke only an inch or two taller.

Not a big deal, except the sadist bastard just loved lording that charming detail over him every so often.

Naruto sighed as he recalled those times and began to take off his shirt so he could replace it with the boring plain white shirt that Sasuke was going to hand over to him soon.

"Moron, why is your shirt off?" Sasuke asked after he turned around with the boringest of white shirts that begged for color or some form of life in his hands.

"'Cause I know it drives you wild." Naruto joked with his asexual friend, giving him a wink and a pose.

". . .Idiot." Sasuke replied, looking over him and throwing the boring shirt at his head.

"HEY!" Naruto exclaimed, attempting to free his beautiful hair from the grips of the plain shirt that was clearly possessed.

Once he was freed, he saw that Sasuke had already left the closet. Jeeze, some people—like bastards—just can't appreciate a good joke. The bastard definitely walked into that one!

Getting changed quickly and trying to ignore his soul crying because of all the plain-ness sapping his very colorful essence, Naruto came out of the closet in record time. His personal best.

"Idiot, your tie is crooked."

"Eh?" Naruto checked his tie in the mirror. It was indeed crooked. "Well, screw it! You know I'm no good with these!"

Suddenly, Sasuke was in front of him and undoing his tie.

"I know." Sasuke said. After he undid Naruto's messy knot, he started to properly tie the tie for Naruto.

While this was happening, blue eyes darted everywhere but the face in front of him. Naruto could never understand why whenever the two were so close together like this, his stomach would start to feel funny. Not bad funny, but funny funny.

He didn't know what it was, but he never asked anybody about it. The only one he trusted enough to ask questions he was sure that people who had parents while growing up would know was Sasuke. And since it only happened when around Sasuke, Naruto was hesitant to ask; afraid that it wasn't normal and Sasuke would start treating him differently.

"There."

Naruto blinked, and then realized that the Uchiha had finished fixing his tie.

"Wow! How'd you do that?" Naruto asked, pumping more excitement than usual in order to rid himself of the funny feeling in his tummy, "I can never get these black ties to tie right! I think it's because they are so plain and boring. They should be a better color, like orange! Hey! Since you're gay and all, maybe I should get you a rainbow tie! THAT'S IT! I've decided that it is my mission in life to get you a singing, rainbow tie! Did you know that they have musical ties? They mostly pop up around Christmas time, but I'm sure that if I set my mind to it I can find one before that!"

While he chattered, Naruto followed Sasuke out of the room and through the hallway down the stairs.

He continued to babble about possible gift ideas for other people, like a new dog kennel for Kiba for when he and his huge dog Akamaru went on trips.

They both headed to Sasuke's garage and got inside Sasuke's black Mercedes Benz; not his limo. It was still somewhat earilyish, so they weren't in a rush in order to go to the office to pick up the fax from that Ino reporter.

The city traffic was not terrible, well, the work area wasn't. The shopping district was crowded, so Sasuke took some of the back roads to avoid them.

Being the CEO, Sasuke had the master key card to the entire Uchiha Corp building, including the garage.

Even though there were literally hundreds of parking spots and Naruto insisting that they take the chance to be mild rebels and take up as many parking spaces as they could in one bad parking job, Sasuke still parked—perfectly—in his official parking spot.

Naruto called Sasuke a boring bastard, and followed him into the building.

It was a little creepy walking through the deserted building, but he held firm onto Sasuke's sleeve and told the sadist that if he intentionally scared Naruto then he would tell Ino some of the happy memories the two had shared as children including the time Naruto had convinced Sasuke to be the Mommy when they were playing house because his hair was longer.

He also threatened to include the little detail that it was also a game of dress-up. So while Naruto was wearing one of Fugaku Uchiha's old coats and shoes while carrying an overly large—for a child so young—briefcase, Sasuke was wearing one of Mikoto Uchiha's Sunday dresses and high heels while sporting her favorite apron and lipstick, because he was the Mommy. Lucky for them, Mikoto had found the entire thing to be so adorable that she not only allowed it and made sure Fugaku did not scold them but took pictures, which Naruto had kept for blackmailing purposes such as this.

After hitting him quite hard on the head, Sasuke agreed to protect Naruto from any hidden monsters of ghosts that might dwell in the capital of evil, aka 'work'.

The trip upstairs went without incident. The two soon made it to the top floor to Naruto's adjoining albeit way smaller office next to Sasuke's.

They saw that Ino had indeed faxed over the questions she was planning on asking Sasuke and started looking through it after going to Sasuke's office so he could check e-mail while Naruto worked.

Without bothering to ask Sasuke, Naruto crossed out any personal questions like who his ideal girlfriend—not boyfriend, because what Sasuke Uchiha fangirl could possibly assume their Greek god was gay—would be, boxers or briefs, and a description of a perfect date as well as other romantic questions.

"Stupid." Naruto muttered under his breath as he crossed out the question about what would Sasuke's perfect date be.

"What's 'stupid'?" Sasuke asked from his seat behind the computer. He looked up to face Naruto who was sitting across from him in his own chair he had pulled from his own office.

Naruto met his gaze for a moment before turning back to cross out a question regarding Sasuke's favorite flowers.

"Nothing. This Ino chick had written down what your ideal date would be." He explained his mutterings as he crossed out the question about flowers. So far, the only question that was not crossed out was asking how Sasuke was doing that day.

"Oh?" Sasuke inquired, turning back to his work as well, but still paying attention like he always did.

"And a whole lot of 'personal' questions as if knowing these will help her bag you. It's so stupid. I know the answers to these questions about you and practically all my friends, but you don't see me be pimpin' with all my bitches." Naruto rolled his eyes as he crossed out a question regarding Sasuke's favorite colors, "Just because someone knows these 'personal' answers doesn't mean that person will fall in love with them."

"What kind of answers?" Sasuke asked, his tone somewhere between bored something else. Naruto thought it sounded like Sasuke really wanted to know whether or not Naruto knew the answers, but quickly passed that since duh Naruto knew.

He knew that Sasuke had actually preferred Mikoto Uchiha's 'London Red Hot #6280' over her 'Maybelline Strawberry Cream 145' lipstick when they were playing house as kids; Sasuke liked the brighter red and Naruto had later gone and asked Mikoto exactly which two lipsticks they were after he learned what great blackmail material it made. So hells yea he knew these answers!

Naruto pointed at some of the crossed out questions and started rattling off the answers, "You were born on July 23rd and your zodiac sign is Cancer, though you don't give a shit about that astronomical stuff because you think it's a whole bunch of superstitious bullshit only those without direction buy into.

"You don't have an ideal girlfriend because despite your asexual tendencies: you are gay. And you'd want someone who can deal with your emo-ness and take your mind off of the jerks and floozies you deal with every day. Probably someone calm and boring and that shit, but hey, to each his own.

"You prefer boxers. Itachi once told you that real men wear boxers and you personally think that briefs look a little bit like a cross between those weird long swimsuits and tighty whities.

"Your favorite color is blue, mostly darker shades but can appreciate all the shades. You also like black, you emo. Red and a little bit of white are up there too, but that is mostly because you grew up with them, what with them being your family crest colors and all.

"You don't have a favorite flower because you were never into them. Sure you like them, but it was mostly your mom and I who pay attention to the flowers and you kinda don't notice them until they are pointed out to you and even then you can barely differentiate besides color. You do like honey suckles though, mostly because we used to sneak outside your mansion and eat the little honey pieces when we were told we couldn't have snacks so close to dinner because we thought we were outsmarting your mom. Plus you think they smell nice.

"Your ideal date would be a balance between casual and extravagant. You'd make your date choose their favorite usual restaurant and hangouts so they'd feel comfortable since you probably wouldn't talk all that much and it'd just be awkward if they were in a stuffy place with someone as stoic and bastardy as you. But, you would insist on the most expensive things, allowing them to splurge so they'd be comfortable and happy. You'd do the same for their favorite hangouts. Then you'd top the evening with a flash of fancy, either driving them home in your fancy car, or if it went really well, you'd get a fancy room in a fancy shmancy hotel."

Naruto returned his attention back to the questions and said, "And you're doing fine thanks, and thank Ino for having you." Answering the first question and only one to pass inspection so far.

Sasuke was silent, so Naruto glanced back up again, and was unable to look away.

Sasuke was staring at him in a sort of shock, and that pissed Naruto off!

"Wipe that stupid expression off your face, bastard! I've known you since kindergarten and you were practically my only friend until high school and you are still number one in my friggin' book so you can bet your ass I know these so called 'personal' answers!" Naruto glared at his best friend.

His scolding must have woken Sasuke up because instead of gaping like an idiot, the proud Uchiha was smiling softly at Naruto, which threw off his glare.

"You're right," Sasuke conceded, much to Naruto's immediate delight, "I'm just touched by how well you know me. I appreciate it and it brings me happiness. Thank you."

"It—it's no big deal. . .bastard." Naruto threw in the insult because he was not used to being sincerely thanked, much less by SASUKE who almost never thanked anybody!

". . .I don't think even my family knew much about me when they were alive." Sasuke confessed, still looking into Naruto's eyes.

The confession was what had hit Naruto like enthusiastic kids with a whack-a-mole mallet with an understanding of just how much his answering the questions correctly and details meant to Sasuke.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment since he still wasn't used to being thanked and said, "You're welcome!" with a smile.

The two shared a smile—in an extremely bromantic manly way of course, filled with testosterone and mustaches and all that manly stuff—and each went back to work; Sasuke deleting what he called 'spam mail' (former business partners and other non-important companies searching meaningless 'deals' via sucking up to him) and Naruto reviewing Ino's questions.

"Hey, after personal questions, there are a few 'professional' questions about your recent deal thingy that I'm leaving, but then there are a buncha questions about what happened at the airport. Should I cross them out, or leave them?" Naruto asked, looking up at his boss.

"Leave them." Sasuke answered.

Naruto understood that logic so he just nodded her understanding; the whole interview was happening because of what happened in the airport and a whole bunch of other reporters had witnessed it, so it would make sense for Sasuke to clear it up.

"MMkay, so should we go over what happened so you won't get caught off guard and all that jazzy stuff?" Naruto asked as he stood up after leaving a note reminding Ino to not stray from the allowed questions.

"There won't be a need for 'jazzy stuff' as you have already told me what happened." Sasuke answered, exiting out of his e-mail.

"You sure? She may mention something that I forgot about." Naruto called from his office, faxing over the revised version of Ino's questions.

Naruto could hear amusement in Sasuke's voice as he pointed out, "If you forgot about it, then what help will retelling what happened minus what escapes your memory?"

"Shut up, bastard!" Naruto retorted, watching the fax machine work its technology-magic.

"Plus recalling it you'd get upset and pissed and I don't want to deal with that now." Sasuke said, closing the adjoining door behind him upon entering Naruto's smaller office.

Although his words were harsh, Naruto could hear the concern in Sasuke's voice. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it so he chose pissed.

"You bastard! You should feel great sympathy! SHE KNOCKED DOWN MY RAMEN!" Naruto shouted angrily, shaking his head to get the tragic image of spilled ramen out of his head.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, opening the door for Naruto.

"Bastard." Naruto grumbled, gathering his jacket and leaving his office, "You're taking me out to ramen as an apology for disrespecting it."

Sasuke grunted, "Hn," again, making Naruto wonder if the man had a weird aversion to vowels.

The two left the building much like going into it; Naruto clutching Sasuke's sleeve despite there being nothing to worry about. The two then went to the garage and got in the car. Just before they left the property, Sasuke used his Master key card to lock it down, not that anybody would be crazy enough to break into the building Sasuke Uchiha owned.

After exiting Uchiha Corp property, Sasuke drove on the back roads to the employee parking lot in the back of Naruto's favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen.

Naruto had once been an employee of this little piece of heaven on earth, and had been a long time customer dating back to elementary school. This was part of the reason Sasuke was allowed to park in the back instead of in finding a parking spot in the city like everyone else.

The other part was because of Sasuke's new fame. Unlike most restaurant owners who would jump at the chance for an unofficial celebrity endorser like THE Sasuke Uchiha, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame valued customer satisfaction more than the size of the crowd.

And seeing that a very large chunk of their profits came from Sasuke's wallet who paid for Naruto's black hole of a stomach, they made extra sure that these two were satisfied. Not that it was hard to keep Naruto satisfied at his favorite place on earth, all he needed was somewhere to sit and their ramen to eat. Sasuke was simple as well; he did not want to be bothered.

Besides that, Teuchi was more than content with how business was and saw no reason to expand. They had steady customers and always made a profit, especially on days that Naruto would eat there, which was about once a week. In fact, Teuchi was the one who suggested that they park in the employee parking lot and had asked Naruto to make sure that them being regular customers at his restaurant remained a secret, to which Sasuke had left him a big tip he used to buy Ayame a new car.

Upon arriving, Naruto and Sasuke headed straight to their regular seats at the counter in front of the kitchen.

"Old man!" Naruto called out in greeting, grinning ear to ear.

"Naruto!" Teuchi answered, turning around and returning the smile, and a polite nod towards the one who would pay the bill. He then began to work on their orders, knowing them by heart after all the years of knowing the two customers.

"Naruto?" Ayame called, coming from the back and entering the kitchen.

Naruto smiled even wider, "Hi Ayame! How's the transition from head waitress to manager?"

"Pretty seamless," Ayame laughed, stepping out of the way for a chef to enter the kitchen, "I've been pretty much doing the work for years, but now I officially trump everyone but Dad."

Naruto and Ayame chattered between themselves with Teuchi chiming in every so often, all enjoying catching up with each other while the owner and daughter focused on their two favorite and most loyal customers while the other chefs and waitresses dealt with the rest of the relaxed restaurant.

Sasuke observed the conversation, smirking every so often, enjoying the tranquility of the atmosphere and not being asked to comment about everything since the other three knew his antisocial-ness so well.

The conversation did not end when their meals were served, but rather picked up. Naruto would slurp happily away, letting Ayame and Teuchi get more stories in before they were interrupted by Naruto's infectious laughter and urges to continue, ignoring that it was he who had interrupted.

The conversations ranged from memories of when the two customers were in elementary school and asking the two workers what a date was to the sharing shock and anger at how the pink bitch from crazy town knocked over Naruto's ramen since Teuchi and Ayame both knew first-hand how seriously Naruto took his ramen.

The four spent quite a while chatting, until Sasuke pointed out that they had to leave in order to arrive on time for the interview.

Pouting, Naruto could swear that sometimes he hated his job and missed working at Ichiraku Ramen. But he manned up and bade his goodbye.

After Sasuke paid for his fourteen bowls, the two went back to the car and started driving towards the studio where the interview would be taken.

Once arriving there, Naruto was surprised to see many cars in the parking lot. Then Sasuke explained that they were preparing for tomorrow's segment and it was pretty much an all week thing with shorter hours than a regular office job.

The two entered the building and went to the security office to get their passes and to be escorted to the proper floor and room, requesting to avoid fangirls as much as possible.

Though security did their best, they could not block out the squeals of ecstasy when young women saw Sasuke.

When they arrived on set, they saw many people milling about, looking busy doing TV stuff Naruto didn't understand. They also saw the blonde woman with a long ponytail from the airport on set speaking to a camera.

"And stay tuned for later when 'Have You Heard' gets a word with THE Sasuke Uchiha." The woman with long blonde hair in a curve-hugging purple dress spoke with a large, TV smile on her face. Naruto assumed that this was the Ino girl who he spoke with earlier.

"Alright," someone from behind the camera but not the camera man called, "and now the commercial."

Ino, or so Naruto assumed, nodded her head and turned back to the camera.

"Tonight on 'Have You Heard', we got an exclusive interview with THE Sasuke Uchiha, the youngest CEO of Uchiha Corp history, who'll speak about the company's recent success, and a few questions about the latest scandal we're sure you've 'Heard'." She gave the camera a wink.

"Alright, thanks." The mysterious voice spoke again!

"Is there anything else?" the blonde asked the voice.

"Yea, can you do a few more variations of the 'Stay Tuned'?" the voice asked.

The probably Ino chick nodded and turned back to the camera.

"Scandal?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke, making sure to cover his mouth with the magical hand wall of silence.

"The airport." Sasuke whispered back. He was so damn sneaky that he didn't need the handwall.

"Ohhhhh." Naruto whispered back, wondering to himself what was so scandalous.

"Ah, Mr. Uzumaki!" a woman said after turning around after security had finished whispering to her, "Welcome!"

Naruto smiled pleasantly and shook her hand, "Thank you for having us. I trust you have received our instructions?" he was assuming that she was high up on the show's food chain; otherwise the security guy wouldn't have chosen her to greet them.

Besides, being Sasuke's PR had taught him to give directions and orders straight away to show that Sasuke Uchiha means business, and the policy had worked pretty well so far and had gotten the message across very well.

"Yes we did, and we'll make sure that they are followed." The woman spoke in a professional manner, which Naruto appreciated. He was expecting preppy snobs.

"Thank you very much Ms.?" Naruto paused, allowing the woman to interject her name while Naruto continued to smile politely.

"Porter," the woman supplied, "Mrs. Porter."

"Mrs. Porter then," Naruto repeated her name for her, "and when and where will the interview take place?"

"Just in the other room." Mrs. Porter replied, leading the way to the hallway, "We'll give Mr. Uchiha a little bit of makeup so he'll be camera ready then we'll proceed with the interview. It shouldn't take more than an hour."

"Of course," mentally reasoning that since it's a half hour show and Sasuke's portion would at most take about ten minutes, "and if you would not mind, I have a few more arrangements I need to make with the director of this show, or whoever calls the big shots." Naruto allowed himself a little bit of unprofessional speak because he truly did not know who was in charge.

"That would be me." Mrs. Porter giggled, "I'm the overall director and wife of the producer so what I say goes."

Naruto smiled and said, "Then I hope that we get on your good side, ma'am."

Mrs. Porter laughed and said, "I'm sure you will be, dear."

She then opened a door to the makeup room and led them to where Sasuke would sit.

A young, blushing makeup artist approached them, bursting with smiles.

Naruto smiled at her and said, "Mr. Uchiha does not particularly like the makeup process, so if you would be so kind as to use the minimal amount?"

The smile on the makeup girl's face waned when she turned to Naruto, but she managed a, "Yes, of course."

"Great! Mr. Uchiha greatly appreciates your work." Naruto told the blushing girl, knowing full well that Sasuke didn't give a damn. But they both knew from experience that most of his fangirls would rush to do his bidding if they heard that their precious Sasuke might smile and thank them.

As expected, the blush on her face completely overtook whatever non-red color on her face as she bit back a squeal and nodded.

As she worked, Naruto turned his attention back to his boss.

"Usual advertisement thing?" Naruto asked, intentionally keeping his words vague because both the makeup girl and Mrs. Porter were avidly listening to whatever he was talking about with THE Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in reply, making eye contact through the mirror.

"Alrighty then, should I go over them now or after the interview?" Naruto asked, turning to face the mirror.

"I don't need a babysitter during the interview." Sasuke said, ignoring the sigh of the fangirl after hearing his perfect voice.

"Sooo. . .during?" Naruto asked.

"Hn." Sasuke affirmed.

"Well excuse me. . .sir," Naruto caught himself from calling his boss a bastard in front of the sure to be gossipy ladies, "but that's not the usual time for it so I got confused!"

"Hn." Amusement colored Sasuke's tone.

Naruto sent Sasuke a quick glare through the mirror before turning back to Mrs. Porter, "Would it be alright with you if we went over further arrangements during the interview?" All asked with a disarming smile Naruto had perfected over the years.

"Oh, I well, y-yes, that would be acceptable." Mrs. Porter caved under the combined might of Naruto's infectious smile and a quick glance made by Sasuke.

"Great!" Naruto professionally cheered and turned back to Sasuke who was silently communicating through a glare how bored he was and how much he disliked makeup time.

Naruto shrugged and grinned, telling Sasuke to suck it up and deal with it like a man.

Sasuke exhaled a little of air through his nose, telling Naruto that this was him sucking it up.

Naruto puckered his lips and batted his eyelashes, teasing Sasuke that he was probably enjoying the hell outa makeup time and was just complaining to save face.

Sasuke glared, making Naruto raise his hands in peace.

Finally, the makeup girl was done. She blushed and cooed in a sickly sweet, even for Naruto, "Finished!" expecting something like Sasuke sweeping her into a kiss and telling her that her work was so exquisite that he wanted her to be his wife.

Or something else as improbable like that.

Sasuke met her gaze and nodded his 'appreciation' for her work.

Even though it sucked, it was enough for the girl judging by her squeal.

"If you would follow me." Mrs. Porter led them out of the room into another one nearby. This one was cozy with two director chairs by a high table so only the torsos needed to be seen. There were three cameras, two set to each chair and one in the center to catch them both in the shot.

Without any direction for which spot was his, Sasuke walked to the chair somewhat facing the door; probably so he could leave immediately after the interview was over.

"I'll seeya soon." Naruto called out to his best friend as Mrs. Porter led him to her office.

Once inside her office, the two took their respective seats. Being polite, Naruto allowed Mrs. Porter to have the first word.

"So what kind of extra arrangements are we to be discussing?" she asked, she looked confident, but her tone was hesitant and showed Naruto that she was trepid about what he might say, probably having heard what Naruto had said about Sasuke having a habit of walking out of interviews.

Naruto smiled peaceably and said in a calming tone, "We just want to ensure that nothing Mr. Uchiha says will be slandered on your show, taken out of context, or otherwise sully his words."

"Oh!" Mrs. Porter's demeanor visibly brightened as she processed that her show was not in danger of being ostracized by Uchiha Corp like their rival show 'Hot News Flash' one Ms. Sakura Haruno was a part of, "Oh, yes, of course! We'll make sure that does not happen on our show!"

"Excellent," Naruto smiled wider, showing the other that he was pleased by her agreeing with him and reinforcing that she was in no danger, "and if it is at all possible, we would very much appreciate an advanced copy of the interview so we can make sure for ourselves that it is acceptable for viewers."

Mrs. Porter looked a little hesitant, so Naruto quickly added, "I am sure that nothing will be wrong with the interview, but every so often a reporter will try to sneak in a question that was not agreed upon or things get edited so Mr. Uchiha's answers are taken out of context or slandered. This is merely a precaution and a security net. But I am sure that you will pass with flying colors. After all, this isn't some unprofessional show like 'Hot News Flash'."

Mrs. Porter brightened once more at the compliment for them and the insult to their rivals. Naruto had purposefully done so in order for Mrs. Porter to grasp that it really was a security net of sorts and so she'd be more inclined to agree with him.

"That makes sense; those 'Hot News' people always do poor editing in order to make their stories seem more interesting despite taking things out of context!" Mrs. Porter shook her head with an air of superiority, "We agree with your terms!"

Naruto smiled and said, "Thank you." Then he continued saying, "If all goes well, then we may be in touch for another interview."

Mrs. Porter swelled with excitement and Naruto cut in before she could exclaim her excitement in loud shrills, "We will still hold the right to decline, but if we are satisfied with how professional the proceedings are, then we will be more inclined to agree than with other stations."

"Of course! Of course! Thank you so much!" Mrs. Porter exclaimed.

The two made arrangements for quick editing so that a demo could be e-mail to Naruto before 8:00pm and Naruto assured that it would most likely be agreed to and that he would send Mr. Uchiha's thoughts about it in a quick reply.

The two then went outside the interview room, waiting for it to be over. Neither of them wanting to disrupt an interview in progress, so they engaged in small talk.

Naruto had a lot of fun speaking with the married woman as he was able to test out his theory of the weather not being a bland topic, even without talking about natural disaster weather like hurricanes or epic droughts.

Instead, he struck a conversation by describing how he loved the city's weather, having grown up with it. He asked Mrs. Porter what kind of weather she was used to and it turned out that she was originally from a sunnier place nicknamed the Land of Sand because of how dry it was. They transitioned to weather they haven't seen or witnessed only a few times like blizzards or hail storms.

Time had flown by while describing the weather and before they knew it, the door opened, signaling that the interview was over.

While he walked into the studio, Naruto grinned and told people who thought that weather conversations were the height of awkward could stick it where the sun don't shine.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto called, making his way over to the two seated people.

Sasuke nodded his head in greeting. That was boring, so Naruto turned to the blonde he was ninety-five percent sure was Ino.

Taking a chance, he said, "And hello, Ino!" she smiled as the name was mentioned so the ninety-five turned into a one-hundred percent, "Thank you again for giving us the wanted information."

"It was no problem," Ino easily replied, striking Naruto as someone he wouldn't mind hanging out with, "sorry if I sounded way too jazzed up over the phone. I can get carried away sometimes."

"Don't worry, I do that too." Naruto assured the other with a smile that she brightly returned, "I trust the interview went well?"

"Oh yes, very well." Ino replied, sending Sasuke a glance.

Naruto looked between them, but Sasuke only stare back at him with his bastardy stoic and unreadable expression. Bastard.

"I'll walk you guys out." Ino offered, standing up.

"Thank you!" Naruto answered for the both of them, knowing the bastard would only grunt in reply.

As they walked through the building, Naruto had a burning question that he needed to ask the reporter.

"Uhhh, do you mind if I ask ya somethin' a little unprofessional?" Naruto whispered, matching her pace.

"Go ahead." Ino smiled up at him and continued walking forwards since Sasuke was making it clear that he wanted to go home and avoid squealing fangirls.

"Do you know anything about what happened with that Sakura chick after the airport?" Naruto asked in a hushed tone, feeling slightly guilty for gossiping like this.

Ino burst out laughing and answered in giddy tones, "Sakura? After security took her to their head, she started screaming that they'd be sorry because she's the future 'Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha' and that Sasuke wouldn't stand for it so they'd better let her go. Security laxed their 'no camera' rule during the whole thing because it was so damn funny!"

She smiled up at Naruto again and explained, "After that, she was fired from 'Hot News Flash' because of all the damage she caused them. And she didn't take that quietly either! When she was kicked out—almost literally—she tried to set up a facebook protest on their page, but then she was blocked. So she started ranting on Twitter about how unfair everyone is to her and how they should realize that they are talking to THE 'Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha'!"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh along with Ino after she finished explaining. Some of the bastard's fangirls could be the friggin' overlord of crazy town!

"Oh! And before I forget!" Ino rushed over to the security desk in the lobby they just arrived in. She rushed back with INSTANT RAMEN in her hands, "I called down and asked if they could prepare you a cup in replacement for the one Sakura knocked over in the airport."

She was suddenly swept by a hug by Naruto who was cheering, "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

"N-no problem!" Ino looked slightly taken aback by Naruto's enthusiasm.

"I told you he took ramen seriously." Sasuke cut in, pulling the blonde back by the shoulder.

"I can see you weren't kidding!" Ino laughed, taking a respectable step backwards and using a polite tone when addressing Mr. Uchiha.

"Eh? What?" Naruto asked, clutching the precious ramen close to his chest and looking between the two others.

"Nothing, idiot." Sasuke sighed, taking Naruto's elbow and leading him out the door.

Ino laughed pleasantly and called, "Don't feel shy to keep in touch! I'd love to hang out with you as friends without any reporter stuff!"

"Will do!" Naruto called back, waving as he was led outside to the garage.

The drive back to Sasuke's place was comparatively quick now that Naruto had some ramen in his hands.

He told Sasuke that Mrs. Porter had agreed to their terms and would e-mail a demo of the interview tonight. In return, Sasuke did not mention the interview, despite being called a bastard many times.

When they got to Sasuke's place, they decided to make an early dinner, both ignoring how Naruto had literally been eating almost the whole time they were out since they knew it wouldn't make a difference.

Naruto had originally wanted ramen, but was shot down immediately. Sasuke decided on curry and while he made that, Naruto made the rice and started to describe this one curry shop he and a few other friends discovered named 'The Curry of Life'.

The description lasted all throughout dinner as Naruto had told Sasuke that it was the basic theme of the camping trip he and the friends had went on. The blonde described how one friend was practically the embodiment of the title as he had never had so much raw energy after consuming food than he did with that particular curry. Naruto laughed as he recalled how his prim and proper friend had practically passed out due to the spicy level thus making Naruto and they guy's girlfriend wonder if they should rename the shop.

After dinner, Naruto felt like he hadn't gotten enough exercise that day so he challenged Sasuke to a spar. Sasuke shot it down, claiming that that sort of thing was a Friday or Saturday thing since they both needed to wake up early for work the next day and he didn't want Naruto to complain about bruises that Sasuke would inflict upon him.

Naruto called Sasuke a bastard and challenged him to a game of hide-and-go-seek, which Sasuke agreed to only if Naruto was 'it' first.

Surprised by the bastard agreeing to such a 'childish' game so easily, Naruto went to go count and was weary of his opponent, shouting out that inside the house didn't count.

After Naruto had counted, he had spent literally an hour running around the Uchiha grounds because he swore he kept seeing and hearing rustling from Sasuke out-running him by seconds.

When 7:30 rolled around, Naruto had shouted out that he wasn't giving up, but they should probably stop soon because he was expecting an e-mail from Mrs. Porter with the demo.

After that, Naruto heard some rustling in their old childhood favorite tree. He ran up to it and peered through the thick branches and shouted, "A-HA! FOUND YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

Then he got pissed. Sasuke was sitting against the tree on one of the branches reading a book and with a pile of pebbles besides him that he had probably used to make the rustling sounds after he threw them.

Sasuke called him an idiot and jumped down from the tree, landing perfectly like the bastard he was.

Naruto grumbled about how much of a bastard Sasuke was and Sasuke called him an idiot.

They went inside and while Sasuke started up his laptop so his PR could check his e-mail, Naruto went to the kitchen to grab some microwave popcorn.

When Naruto returned, he saw that his e-mail was already up.

"HEY!" he exclaimed, both pissed that Sasuke had opened it without his permission and worried since he never told Sasuke his new password.

"You need to get more creative. Naming your password after your old wallet 'Gama-chan' is easy to guess." Sasuke scolded, making room for Naruto next to him.

"Only for bastards like you." Naruto mumbled, thinking he was quite clever for his password being a part of his past that he never shared with anyone besides Sasuke and for not creating another variation of 'ramen'.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, downloading the demo of the interview sent by Mrs. Porter so they could watch it.

After it finished downloading, Sasuke blew it up so it covered the whole screen and sat back with Naruto to watch it.

The camera was facing Ino who introduced herself. Then, she did an introduction for Sasuke and the camera switched to him giving his 'sexy smirk' that never failed to woo anyone; except Naruto who was immune most of the time and who was currently glaring at Sasuke for manipulating the audience like he was doing.

Ino asked a couple of questions, not many, about Uchiha Corp's recent successful deal, and Sasuke had answered the questions with the company lines, but in a smooth fashion that Naruto knew made those fangirls swoon. Manipulative bastard.

"It sounds like everything went quite smoothly." Naruto heard Ino say, making him turn his attention back to the laptop monitor.

"Quite so." Sasuke replied, giving an easy smirk; never a grin in public. That only happened if Naruto caught him off guard and did something amazing.

"But not so smoothly when you got back." Ino segued into the 'scandal' as she had earlier put it.

Sasuke shook his head to agree with what Ino had said.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Ino asked, leaning against the table a little.

Sasuke nodded and said, "While my PR, Naruto Uzumaki, was picking me up from the airport, some reporters started to bombard him despite security making it clear that reporters would not be allowed." Sasuke did not mention that Ino was part of that crowd, nor did she herself mention it.

"He answered their questions regarding Uchiha Corp's recent success, but one Sakura Haruno declared that she would not accept such an answer. Mr. Uzumaki then elaborated on his answer regarding the success, but Ms. Haruno deemed it unacceptable; claiming that the answer she wanted was a proposal to her from me despite my not know her.

"Mr. Uzumaki tried to calm her down, but she caused a scene by openly ridiculing him, calling him unsavory names I won't repeat all the while claiming her and my lack of marriage to be his fault for some reason. After she shouted at him, she physically assaulted him and knocked over his instant ramen he had brought with him for the wait, having missed breakfast."

Ino gasped when Sasuke mentioned the ramen being dropped and Naruto saw a glimmer of appreciation in Sasuke's eyes—from knowing him so well for so long—as he nodded gravely and continued.

"After the assault, she demanded to Mr. Uzumaki, while insulting him, that he was obligated to set up a date between her and myself. He told this woman making the scene to be quiet while he addressed to the surrounding crowd that Uchiha Corp does not and will not cooperate with unprofessional people who would attack their employees in such a manner.

"To avoid making a scene like Ms. Haruno did, Mr. Uzumaki asked her fellow reporters for her professional information such as her name and which station she represents, 'Hot News Flash', and let it known that Uchiha Corp will not associate with them or anyone who agrees with Ms. Haruno's unprofessional and insulting manner."

Naruto was impressed with how Sasuke had portrayed the 'scandal'. While not really an embellishment, he had successfully worded it in such a way that made that Sakura bitch into some crazy psycho running around declaring to be married to her idol—which she was—and Naruto to be calm and professional—which he was. Sasuke was definitely a talented linguist.

"And do you stand by what your PR, Mr. Naruto Uzumaki, said?" Ino asked, no longer leaning against the table.

Sasuke nodded, slight anger lacing his tone, "I fully support Mr. Uzumaki. He has been my best friend for many years and he did not deserve to be attacked unprovoked."

"How do you feel about how the matter was settled?" Ino asked.

Sasuke's tone was decidedly lighter, though it was more noticeable to Naruto, "I am quite proud of Mr. Uzumaki and how he handled the situation."

"Why?" Ino's voice prodded.

Sasuke smirked again and explained, "When he was younger, he would start fist fights with people who insulted him. It didn't matter if they were girls or boys; he did not like getting insulted, especially when they had no basis other than the other feeling superior to him. So I'm proud of him for being able to act in such a professional way, as opposed to the delusional Ms. Haruno."

Ino smiled and said, "It sounds like you two are quite close."

Naruto could swear he saw the faintest of grins in Sasuke's smirk, but it was impossible. Sasuke had never grinned in an interview; EVER!

"We've been best friends since we were little. He was there when I learned of my family's accident and stood by me all this time. He is my most precious person."

Naruto froze, his eyes locked on the screen with Sasuke's as he glanced at the camera.

The rest of the interview was a blur to Naruto. He could vaguely hear questions about plans for the future, but his mind couldn't focus on that. All he could think about was that Sasuke had said on camera that Naruto was his 'most precious person'.

Tears of happiness threatened to creep into Naruto's eyes; no one had ever called him 'precious'. It was always 'monster', or 'cursed', or 'demon'. The best he had ever heard in regards to himself was 'important', and that was by his favorite middle-school teacher, Iruka, who had took him under his wing after learning the other teacher's distaste for the 'cursed monster student'.

Sasuke had also called him 'important' when Naruto had demanded to know why he continued to protect him, but he had never used the word 'precious'!

'He is my most precious person.'

"Naruto. The interview is over."

Sasuke's voice in reality cut across Sasuke's voice in Naruto's mind swirling with those words.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah. Over, huh? Well, uh, what should we say? Is it okay? Or should we tell them to cut out some things because that whole 'precious' thing could be taken out of context you know. . .and, uh, that could be. . .that could be bad if it did because then there would be a lot of controversy. So should I tell them to take it out—"Naruto's babbling was cut off.

"—No. Leave it as it is." Sasuke's voice commanded from next to him. But Naruto did not look at him in fear of what could happen if he saw Sasuke's eyes.

He had no idea what was going on and it scared him.

"Are. . .are you sure? Because this is one of those gossipy shows and it would be very easy to take things out of context. Plus, that 'are we close' question thingy wasn't on the list of approved questions so we are totally able to tell them to edit that out." Naruto chattered, staring hard at the now blank screen.

"What context do you think it is in?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto froze again. Why was Sasuke messing with him? Sasuke could only have meant that they are best friends because that's how it always was! Sasuke was the bastard and Naruto was the idiot!

Why was Sasuke being so damn sadistic? Did he really enjoy watching Naruto squirm like this? Naruto knew that he could never be somebody's 'the One'. No one would want an idiotic, cursed monster like him. Those people all throughout his education life made that very clear to Naruto.

So why was Sasuke being so mean? Did he actually want Naruto to admit it? Did he want Naruto to say aloud that no one could love him? Naruto always knew he was a bastard, but he never knew Sasuke could be THIS cruel!

Unable to stand it, the tears of happiness turned into tears of frustrated sorrow and poured down from Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto?" Sasuke sounded alarmed, "What's wrong? What happened?"

". . .why?" Naruto asked, his voice breaking, "Why do you hate me?"

"What?!" Sasuke asked, breaking his Uchiha cool demeanor and sounding alarmed, surprised, and a little angry, "I don't hate you!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Naruto shouted, pushing himself away from the bastard, "I KNOW! I KNOW THAT NO ONE COULD LOVE THE CURSED MONSTER SO WHY MAKE ME SAY IT? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! ARE YOU SATISFIED?!"

"Naruto, what are you talking about?" Sasuke sounded truly confused and his voice was getting closer to him so Naruto jumped off the couch.

"I KNOW THE CONTEXT! IT'S ONLY AS FRIENDS BECAUSE NO ONE CAN LOVE A DEMON!" Naruto shouted, backing against the wall, covering his face to hide his tears.

"Don't say that." Sasuke's voice was softer, and close to him.

"THEN WHY MAKE ME SAY IT?" Naruto cried, almost in hysterics; his whole life he had thought that Sasuke never saw him as a cursed monster. Having the cruel bastard break that illusion was too much for Naruto to handle.

This time, Sasuke spoke in his confident and calm voice, "I did not want to you say that."

Instantly, upon hearing that tone, Naruto felt himself calm down like he had so many times in the past. But this time, he did not allow himself to hug his problems away, even though he was currently craving physical affection to prove to himself that people would not cringe away from his touch like they used to.

"What?" Naruto asked in a watery tone. He discreetly wiped his tears away but still refused to look anywhere near the Uchiha approaching him.

Using the same tone, Sasuke said, "I never thought of you as a monster. Or cursed. Or as a demon. You have always been Naruto, someone who is precious to me."

'Precious'. There was that word again.

"I didn't mean for you to recall the past and for that I apologize." Sasuke said in his calming voice.

Naruto hesitated, still avoiding looking at Sasuke and asked, "You. . .you didn't?"

"No." Sasuke answered immediately and annunciated the word so there was no question about his sincerity.

Sasuke offered his hand to Naruto's line of sight and Naruto took it, allowing his best friend to lead him back to the couch. Normally, Naruto would lean against Sasuke, but he felt to guilty about accusing Sasuke of thinking Naruto was a monster that he scooched away from him.

". . .sorry I yelled at you. . ." Naruto mumbled, curling into himself in a sitting fetal position.

"I'll forgive you every time." Sasuke replied, ignoring Naruto's attempt to sit away from him and sitting next to the protected ball of blonde.

"Why?" Naruto asked, finally looking up to face Sasuke.

Bad idea. Sasuke's face was centimeters away from Naruto's and black eyes were burning into blue.

"Because you are precious to me." Sasuke repeated.

'Precious' Naruto repeated in his head.

"P-precious? Like what precious? Like the Ring of Power?" Naruto tried a lame attempt at a joke, completely unsure of what was happening and trying to gain some semblance of sanity.

Sasuke shook his head slowly and deliberately, "No. Precious as in I love you."

'Precious. . .love. . .'

"L-l-like a brother, right? C'mon, S'ske, feelings aren't jokes. You shouldn't play with them." Naruto chided, thinking that he was just blowing things out of proportion and acting conceited by thinking that all those times Sasuke said 'precious' he meant that he loved Naruto in a lovers kinda way. But that couldn't be because Sasuke is THE SASUKE UCHIHA and Naruto is the cursed demon monster who won't ever get love like that.

"I'm not. If anything you are. I said I love you, and not in a brotherly way but in a love-love way." Sasuke said patiently in his calm voice.

"You're not joking. . ." Naruto's eyes widened. He didn't know what to do!

Sasuke shook his head again, "I'm not joking."

"You really. . .love. . .me?" Naruto asked, cringing as he expected Sasuke to laugh and say no.

"I really, really love you." Sasuke told him, leaning in closer so their noses were touching.

"And. . .and. . ." Naruto wasn't sure what to say next; he wasn't sure what to do next!

"And I want you to be my boyfriend." Sasuke said, pressing slightly into Naruto's nose.

"Boyfriend?" Naruto squeaked and flushed redder than Santa's red suit.

"Boyfriend." Sasuke repeated, keeping calm.

Naruto froze again as he considered it. He had always assumed that he would be alone and unloved in the lover sense. But now somebody was telling him that they loved him. And not just anybody! SASUKE!

Sasuke! The only one who didn't run away on the playground when Naruto approached! The only one who took Naruto seriously! The only one who invited Naruto to play with him! The only one who stood up against bullies for him! The only one Naruto trusted enough to let his guard down around! And now, the only one that had told Naruto that he love-loved Naruto!

There was no more need for consideration. If they ever had a fight, then they would get through it like they always had. If it didn't work out, then they would still be best friends because they are too close.

"Okay." Naruto whispered.

Sasuke paused, and asked, "Okay?" in the same quiet tone.

Naruto nodded with a little more confidence, "I'll be your boyfriend—"

Before he could finish, Sasuke's lips were upon his. They were softer and warmer than he imagined the bastard's lips would be.

It wasn't a heated kiss, but there was still the same amount of passion.

Sasuke moved his lips around Naruto's immobile lips until Naruto regained brain control and hesitantly kissed him back.

There was no tongue, but Naruto was surprised to feel a little wetness between their lips.

After they broke apart, Sasuke pecked him on the nose and gave him a smile. A real smile; not a smirk, not a grin, but a smile.

Seeing this, Naruto knew he made the right decision.

He also knew that he would never have to consider himself a cursed demon anymore, and that made him smile.

Later, Naruto remembered that he had a job. With Sasuke's arms around him, Naruto sent Mrs. Porter a reply.

'Dear Mrs. Porter,

Thank you sincerely for the demo of Mr. Uchiha's interview. Everything is acceptable and you may run it without any changes on our part, though we do remind you of our opinions about editing taking things out of context. We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Uchiha has given a high probability of returning for another interview.

Many thanks and the best of regards,

Naruto Uzumaki, PR of Sasuke Uchiha.

P.S. Please thank Ino for her wonderful work and give her this.

Attached to the message was a picture of Naruto smiling at the camera and Sasuke kissing him on the cheek; their first picture as an official couple.

And that was the story!

You know what I noticed? Of course not, but I'll tell ya anyways. I noticed that there is a discernable difference between criticisms in reviews for people's writings between working writers and avid readers.

Avid readers tend to more judgmental; they are more prone to flaming people's writing. I'm saying this in a general sense that does not apply to all, but avid readers have a habit of demanding better quality from the story's writer. It is as if they feel that their time has been wasted, and as one who loves to read, the so called 'story' is insulting, so they flame. These flames range from flat out 'you shouldn't even be writing because you suck' to anally pointing out mistakes—from grammar to how they feel the story should go—on stories that others would think are good, if not great.

Working writers tend to be understanding; they are more likely to give detailed constructive criticisms with little compliments than flames. This is generally because those writers, while maybe wishing for better quality, are likely to sympathize with fellow writer in a sense, and want to actually help them improve rather than point out their flaws.

I also realized the same difference in update requests haha.

So please review and lemme know what you think n_n

Thank you!