Touching the untouchable

Chapter 8

"What do you mean I don't care?" They could hear Sasuke's angry question. The team stared at each other then at Itachi who shook his head, let them have a moment.
Naruto was silent, trying to compose himself and not make a scene on his first day at work.
"You didn't care for me." Naruto muttered, "if you cared... you would have known I was suffering. You would have seen it but you ignored it. People say friends are there to help you through your tough times. All my FRIEND did was cause me more suffering." Naruto snarled. Sasuke froze, he didn't realise that Naruto had been unhappy. "You were my only friend, Sasuke. You know how much I cherish friendship and yet every time I ask you to hang out, you say you were busy but two seconds later someone else asks you to go hang out with them you say yes. Right in front of my face. You never wanted to be my friend Sasuke, so don't bother starting now." Sasuke glared at Naruto. He always cared for Naruto and yet the blond was throwing it all away.

Naruto picked up the cup of coffee, skillfully avoiding Sasuke as he made his way back into the room. His face was neutral as he entered the room, setting down the cup near Itachi. He then went to set up the projector, ignoring everyone's stares as he worked. Naruto was about to leave when Itachi's voice broke through his concentration. "Stay, Naruto." Naruto took a small deep breath and nodded before turning around and tucked himself into the corner, behind Sasuke so that he couldn't stare at Naruto.

Naruto watched the executive team communicating carefully, memorising every subtle slip-up and every little fidget which told him many things. Things were not going so great for some branches and they did not want Itachi to know, hoping it would be fixed as soon as possible. Growing up by himself, he taught himself to observe more and recognise what the tiny movements mean so that he could protect himself from strangers that are trying to take advantage of a small kid. Itachi could see from the corner of his eyes that Naruto was following the discussion, writing little notes in the margins of the document distributed. He had no idea what Naruto could be writing about but this man was the first secretary that has ever been so attentive to the point of taking notes, his previous secretaries would always seat themselves close to Itachi and Sasuke, observing the two Uchihas with longing eyes.

When the meeting was over, Naruto was the first one up. He opened the door for Itachi and was about to hold it open for the rest when Itachi grabbed his cuff and tugged twice as he passed the blond, telling the blond to not bother with being courteous.
Naruto almost laughed when he heard Sasuke curse behind him, having almost walked into the door as he had expected Naruto to hold the door for him. Naruto kept quiet, knowing it was not professional to be laughing at someone else's demise.

Itachi went into his office, not bringing up the incident from before which made Naruto feel grateful about not being pressured into talking. Naruto flipped open his file and begun doing research on the notes he made, just to confirm that his suspicions were right and that he had concrete evidence so that he was not going around accusing people when the subtle movements or fidgets could possibly be a simple habit of theirs. When it was time for Naruto to leave, Itachi saw through the window shutters that the blond was still sitting at his desk, engrossed in his work. This made the Uchiha heir smile, he had finally hired the right person!

Itachi continued working on his paperwork, looking up when he felt hungry. Naruto seemed to have not moved from his desk since he last checked on him. Itachi looked at the time, realising that it was almost 10 pm, way past Naruto's clock off time. He picked up the phone, watching with amusement when Naruto jumped up at the sound of the phone ringing. Naruto patted his chest as if to calm his heart before picking up the phone. He could see that it was Itachi as the speed dial button was flashing. "Hello?"
"You should go home and eat something. It is 10 o'clock already."
"It is?! You are telling me to go home and eat when you haven't done either of those things." Naruto said drily, poking at Itachi for being a hypocrite.
"Fine fine. I'll go too. Good night Naruto."
"Good night Itachi. See you tomorrow!" Naruto said cheerfully before hanging up. The blond packed his things and left, Itachi following suit soon after. Tomorrow is going to be a new and interesting day to observe the blond.