Gal Friday [4/?]
First Chapter & Disclaimer
Beta: None right now. Iâll get to it.
AN: As mentioned in previous post, most people sent me asks about Gal Friday, so I decided to post that tonight :) The conclusion of Scion will be up tomorrow.
The lunch meeting with HyĹŤga Neji takes longer than expected. Some sort of internal crisis is going on with the latterâs company, and he needed to call in a favour. And of course, Neji is just as averse to asking for help as Sasuke is, so it took an entire meal of discussing stock options and comparing quarterly earnings before he cut to the chase and broached the subject.
Sasuke, naturally, made him stew for a minute or so, before agreeing, if only because he respects the other man. He also trusts him to a certain extent, at least in financial matters.
Neji has better business acumen than the entire HyĹŤga clan and company put together, yet might be passed over because of the familyâs archaic inheritance laws. His cousin Hinata is technically supposed to inherit everything, being the oldest child of the family, but she has little talent when it comes to business. The whole reason for her being offered a position with the Uchiha family was to help her ease into things, but honestly, he thinks sheâll peak at the level of secretary.
Nothing against her character, sheâs loyal and competent. But thatâs about it.
Running a business requires a certain level of mettle and cool headedness that she doesnât have.
And, of course, the ability to talk to people without faintingâŚ
As he returns to his office, Sasuke glances at his watch, groaning when he sees that itâs only three oâclock. Heâs meant to meet with Hatake Kakashi in an hour, but the man is constantly late, he likely wonât arrive until five.
Kakashi has been his mentor since Sasuke started working at the company after school as a teenager, and he has served as the right-hand man to both of Sasukeâs predecessorsâhis cousin Obito and, of course, his older brother Itachi. Kakashi even acted as Interim CEO before Sasuke took the reins, so itâs not as if Sasuke can simply cancel the meeting on him.
Maybe thereâs something I can get started on for tomorrow, he thinks as he passes Sakuraâs empty desk. He assumes sheâs gone home or whatever she does after work. Didnât she say something about night school?
He wonders at her ability to keep on top of everything during the day and then also be studying at night; he was consistently first in all of his post-secondary courses, but he hadnât almost every second of it. When it wasnât tedious, it was boring, and he slept through most of his MBA.
He somehow doubts Sakura will do the same, and then frowns at himself a second later for the direction of his thoughts. He gives his head a shake and tells himself it doesnât matter as long as she shows up on time tomorrow for work, and doesnât forget about the Oto files he asked her to get from Legalâ
He pauses, catching sight of something on the immaculately organizes surface of her desk. A dozen neatly stacked grey folders, and printed summary on top.
âThe Oto files,â he murmurs, bemused, picking one up, flipping it open, and then putting it back down on her desk with a scowl. âHow the hell does sheâŚ?â
âSasuke, stop loitering and get in here,â a voice interrupts his thoughts, and he wonât admit it, but he jumps.
Sitting in his office, Kakashi is watching him with amusement. Which makes no sense, because he shouldnât be here for at least another two hours. And yet, heâs leaning back in a chair, straightening the white surgical mask across his face.
Kakashi is always sick with some cold or flu, thanks to his kids, so he always wears a mask around the office; Sasuke doesnât think heâs ever seen him without it. Â
âDid someone die?â Sasuke asks, stepping warily into his office. âOr is someone holding your family hostage?â
âWhat? No.â
âThen why are you here?â Sasuke asks. âYouâre never on time.â
âVery funny,â his mentor grumbles, sounding put out and a little insulted. âIâm allowed to care about the direction of the company and want to use our time wisely.â
Sasuke ruminates on this, then narrows his eyes and says. âWhatâs she got on you?â
âSpoilers for the latest Icha Icha novel,â Kakashi admits gloomily.
Sasuke snorts, because at this point heâs not longer even surprised. Sakura did say she would ensure everyone adhered to her schedule and somehowâwhether through coercion or some kind of witchcraftâsheâs done just that.
Still, the fact that something so mundane is what snared Kakashi in the end is a bit pathetic.
âYou are a pitiful portrait of a man and I feel ashamed just being in the same room as you,â he informs him.
âThen letâs do this fast so that I can go home and stop subjecting you to my questionable morals.â
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âEver hear the saying âto ere is human, but to really screw up you need some kind of technological entityâ?â Kakashi asks around five hours later, breaking the silence and making Sasuke look up, bleary-eyed.
âNo.â
âYeah, me neither. And this wouldnât be one of those cases,â the white-haired man sighs and leans back.
There are dozens of papers spread out between himself and Kakashi, both of their laptops open as they iron out budget allocations for the various branches of the company, evaluate resource demands across the departments, and offer last minute input on the companyâs latest advertisement campaign. Â
There is a sound like rattling from the doorway, and when they both glance up, Sasuke is surprised to see Sakura standing there, wheeling in one of the fancy tea carts they use during board meetings or when courting clients. On it is an assortment of sushi and shashimi, as well as a pot of tea.
âWhat are you doing here?â he asks, surprised. He thought she went home hours ago.
âWell, classes donât start until next week,â she says, and he realises he said this out loud. âIâve been in the file room all afternoonâand Iâd love to meet the people who set up your system. Let me tell you, the Antikythera mechanism was probably easier to operate.â
Kakashi snorts. âYou mean someone with your blackmail talents also has to file?â
âI know I make awesome look effortless, but there is a bit of prep,â Sakura sniffs, tossing her hair. Then she grins at them both and gestures to the cart. âBut lucky for you two, the restaurant two blocks down does deliveries. So not too much effort.â
âIâm not hungry,â Sasuke says, turning back to his spreadsheets. âEating slows me down.â
He pretends he doesnât notice the way his stomach growls to belie that statement.
âThatâs the beauty of finger food. You can eat it while you work,â Sakura says, and then points at several pieces of omusubi . âI even made sure to get your favourite. Tomatoes, and everything.â
He scowls at her. âIf youâve been talking to my mother againââ
âSheâs talked to your mother?â Kakashi asks, only just changing his guffaw of amusement to a cough when Sasuke shoots him an annoyed glare.
âIno, actually,â Sakura chirps. âShe says you get cranky when you get hungry. And I figure, if what Iâve seen so far isnât cranky, I donât ever want to actually see cranky, so really, feeding you is probably a public service.â
She grins proudly, one hand on her hip. Kakashi raises an eyebrow, indicating that Sasuke that the metaphorical ball is now in his court.
He considers for a moment and shakes his head stubbornly. âNot now. Weâre working.â
Kakashi sighs.
âOh, donât be like that,â Sakura rolls her eyes. âItâs scientifically proven that working on an empty stomach increases your tendency to make mistakes.â
âThat doesnât happen to me.â
âReally? So that zero you left off the cost estimate for the Sarutobi Account was on purpose?â she asks, pointing at one of the papers to Sasukeâs left. âI didnât realise your company had forty-five million yen just lying around.â
Sasukeâs eyes widen incrementally, but he refrains from snatching the paper to see if sheâs right; Kakashi does that, though, picking it up and scanning through it. His face pales a little.
âSheâs right,â he says. âWeâll have to reclacluate this before sending the official numbers out.â He smiles at Sakura beneath his match. âYouâve got a pretty good eye for a personal assistant. Are you sure you want to spend all your time with this one? Iâm sure I can find someone more pleasant for you to work with.â
Sakura opens her mouth to speak, but Sasuke cuts her off. âWeâll eat now.â
He tells himself itâs because he doesnât want to make a major mistake in the company over a stupid matter of pride. But Kakashi observes him carefully as he reaches for a plate of food, spitefully taking all the tomatoes he can see.
Somewhat spitefully, Sasuke begin to eat, relaxing a little bit because, well, he was actually hungry
He notices eyes on him and glances up, Kakashiâs eyes comically wide, while Sakura is watching him with amusement and something oddly like exasperation.
âWhat?â he demands.
âWere you absent in playschool when they went over manners?â she chides him. âI just saved you a fortune and brought you dinner. Anything you want to say?â
She crosses her arms and looks at him in challenge. He notices for the first time that she has rather muscular forearms, which seems somewhat at odds with her otherwise delicate-looking self. And her knuckles are callused the way his were when he still trained routinely in martial arts. He wonders if she still practicesâ
âSasuke-kun,â she prompts, soft but at the same time a prompt that demands an answer.
Kakashiâs mouth may be invisible to him, but from the way his eyes focus on Sasukeâs like lasers, heâs probably repeating the words âSasuke-kunâ with incredulous mocking.
âTch!â Sasuke frowns at her, and then says, âThank you.â
And then looks away from her, a clear dismissal, as he takes another bite of food. Kakashi is gaping at him now, but he ignores that, too.
Still, he canât help glancing back at her out of the corner of his eye.
Her challenging expression changes, and she beams with genuine warmth. âYouâre welcome!â
Sasuke feels like he was just physically punched in the gut and as he breathes in sharply, inhales a large glob of sticky rice.
He begins to choke.
âSasuke?!â
âSasuke-kun!â
Sakura is already reaching for him, perhaps to clap him on the back, but he waves her off.
âItâs fine,â he says tightly. âGo home.â
âAlright,â she says slowly, hanging back. She offers him a last worried once-over, and then smiles. âIâll see you tomorrow.â
Then flounces away.
Sasuke watches her go, not entirely sure what just happened, but fairly certain that something did.
He is brought back to himself with the sound of quiet chuckling.
âWhat?â he snaps at Kakashi.
âNothing,â the older man says, in a voice that is miles from innocent. âI just suspect things are going to get very interesting around here.â
Sasuke scowls. âWhat the hell is that supposed to mean?â
âHmâŚI donât feel like telling,â Kakashi drawls. âMore fun to watch you figure it out yourself.â
âI can fire you.â
âNo, you canât.â
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Iâm going to start getting plotty with this story after this chapter. Iâve finally got some ideas, itâs just going to take a while to outline. But I figure more stunned/clueless Sasuke can tide you over for a little while at least.
As always, reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! Also, if you are in a supportive mood, you can find my tip jar here.
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