A/N: Hello peeps!

So something new, though totally belated by now, but anywho, enjoy, the tale of the man whose illness not even christmas could cure.

oh right, i dont own naruto etc etc, and its rated m, why you will know later, and i hate them grammtics, so live with the flaws as it was a quickie anyway. :D

Thus it was the month of christmas, and everywhere you looked around you could smell and see the holiday spirit taking hold, young as old. Though one man, sitting in his office on the 11th floor of his building, wasn't affected at all by the joyful singing and merry dancing, no this man wasn't at all in the holiday mood.

Despite all of his employees had decorated and made the entire building shine with the holiday cheer, and all people from the lobby to the top was in the happy mood of this exact month there comes only once a year.

But for one Sasuke Urakawa, Christmas was not something out of the ordinary, other than his colleagues had to work hard to get the Christmas sale in house and him having to go to Osaka to help out there, as their branch was in dire need of help every year.

Or so he was told..

"Okay branch manager Urakwa, we are finished with the last of the reports from the Christmas sale this year, and the files have been placed on the desk at the conference room, so we will be going now if there isn't anything else we can help you with." His assistant, lovely Hinata Hyuuga asked, as she placed his cup of coffee on his table.

"no its fine Miss Hyuuga, you and the others have a good time" He turned and smiled at her, as she waved goodbye and left the office to go out with the rest of the staff to their favorite izakaya, which I could dare to say was in likewise merry mood this day.

Despite his age, a young man still only 35, Sasuke Urakawa wasn't someone to lean onto others when he was lonely, which was why he every year instead of going out with his subordinates, he would dwell on the status reports from sale and see where he could do better, and if the products had been selling as planned.

And when he was done with this dreaded task, he would late into the night, pack his bags and go home to his 4LDK, and sleep a few hours before getting up and go back to the office to talk to his higher ups and marketing director Neji, a man likewise struck by an illness not even Christmas could cure.

So when morning yet again came to Shinjuku Tokyo, and he would pass the Christmas tree at Shinjuku station when he walked towards the office, he could surely expect the yearly call from someone who was probably his only friend.

"Yes this is Branch manager Urakawa"

"SASUKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEE!" this one friend was branch manager Kiba, of the Osaka branch of Glam Gossip cosmetics.

"Branch manager Kiba, how nice of you to call." Sasuke said, restraining the urge to pull the phone away from his ear, as his dearest friend had the habit of yelling into the electronic device from no further away than Osaka. Almost likely he didn't need the phone at all, he thought to himself bemused.

"oh don't give me that crap, I can tell you missed me you faggot" a smile tucked away in the nook of his lips and it was the only thing revealing just how much branch manager Urakawa indeed, secretly though, liked to talk to this overly excited dog.

"I can only say it's a pleasure as always Kiba." Kiba was likewise the only one he ever let honorifics and title slide with. Otherwise Sasuke was a polite man who respected status and personal relationship, which meant that even though he was a kind and polite man, he had never gotten close to anyone.

Not even the joyful Kiba, who despite his best effort every Christmas, had as of yet found someone who would fit the charcoal haired young man.

"oh fuck you Sasuke, you know I call your sorry ass every year, and besides, we just talked dirty two months ago.. remember?"

"I remember no such thing Kiba, as far as I remember we talked about the sales statistics."

"oh don't be such a drag Sasuke, and btw you know its not the real reason for me calling you… I want you to come down earlier this year, as I am out shitting with no ring to keep me afloat you know, and I even got a new assistant! So you will be fully serviced this year too! What do you say… branch manager Urakawa?"

Of course he could tell his best friend talked most outrageous as to spook his assistant standing beside him most likely, and he couldn't see the reason why not go down there to help, as his own department kept up with the sales as expected and he was scheduled to go there anyway.

"alright Kiba, I will go tonight, so be sure to pick me up." And he hung up on his friend, who on the other hand was more busy than usual now planning that Sasuke should come much earlier than anticipated.

"TONIGHT?! Oh my gawd! Naruto!" he yelled as he panicked looked to where his assistant had now run of to.

"yes sir?" somehow, never having an assistant before, made it so cool to have one now. He relished in the moment before he said.

"Sasuke is coming tonight and I need you to pick him up" he said, as he stuffed papers into his briefcase, and pointing at young Naruto with his phone in hand, already dialing up another number.

"Sasuke? You mean branch manager Urakawa?" the young assistant asked, surprised at the sudden change in schedule, though he was already familiar with the lack of same with his boss.

"yes, and I don't know when he will be here, so make sure you have on your phone for when he calls, then I will give him your number. Oh! And also, he despises name cards, so make sure you figure out how he looks so you can address him immediately, or he will be pissed." Kiba waved his hand for Naruto to leave, as he was already talking on the phone with someone else, while still sorting out papers he put in his briefcase.

The young assistant, surprised though not shocked, was now on a mission to find a photo of Urakawa, as all he knew was from what the girls said in the office. Though he did suspect that to be quite strange.

"… urakwa you say? He is a very strict man. I heard once he forced the entire staff to work 10 hours overtime to make a deal come through!..."

"… he is very handsome. He has black hair, and always wears the nicest suits.."

" … he never smiles.." one simply said.

".. even when he comes here and spends time with branch manager Kiba, he never smiles. Or that isn't true.. he never smiles from the heart. He only wears a business smile.."

The young man didn't know what to make of this branch manager Urakawa. Kiba had once told him about him when they had been eating barbeque.

".. you see.. urakawa is complicated. He was kicked out of the Uchiha firm 10 years ago, and started to work here.. He even changed his name. Before he was too an Uchiha, but his parents disowned him, and threw him out.. so in that way, its even more amazing that he does what he does today. Making it to branch manager on his own. "

At that time, Kiba had talked about this person with so much admiration that indeed, this Urakawa must not be a bad person.. surely he could only be good.

Evening came and Sasuke boarded the shinkansen headed towards Osaka, and began sorting out papers Kiba needed to be given first thing in the morning, and one thing young branch manager Urakawa hated was sitting still.

Through most of his life he had had to sit still. When his father preached to him about the importance of his grades, when he was lectured by sensei in school, when he was lectured by sensei at the kendo dojo, when he was lectured by his father at the company – through most of his life he had had to sit still and learn.

So he buried himself in piles of work, never seizing or stopping to catch a break. The young manager would then remember his fathers words, and the way they would still burn like cigarette against his delicate skin.

Yes young Sasuke was not only lost to the spirit of Christmas, he was lost to the spirit of love as well.

"Hey dickface, I have sent you the number to my secretary who is going to pick you up at the station, don't worry, he won't have a sign, because he knows what your pwetty little face looks like. Hahaha! Well and also he will drop you of at the usual hotel, because I don't have time tonight to meet up, as I have to get the rest of my report done before the deadline. But we will talk tomorrow"

Was what the young manager Kiba had said on the phone, before he had boarded the train from Tokyo, and though Sasuke liked the way things ran smoothely, he didn't like the idea of this secretary being degraded to a simple chauffeur.

He was afterall not that, and many times he had taken the cab himself to the hotel. But he suspected that it was because Kiba wanted to flaunt the fact that his branch was bigger and therefore could afford him one. Whereas the Tokyo branch was fairly new compared to Osaka.

Looking out and into the winter darkness passing him by, the former heir to the Uchiha Corp. pondered what the new year would bring.

Countless more miai's perhaps? Many had already been presented to him through his higher ups and people he knew. Indeed he could see why, as he was well of as a branch manager with a good financial support and good looks. His background was even good too, despite his attachments to it was torn.

"Next is Osaka, Osaka is the next station. Please remember.."

"oh this is me.." he thought as he gathered his things and left the train, walking outside the train station where he looked for the secretary, and he was very shocked to see a blond young man walking up to him.

"Mr. Urakawa?" He asked in perfect Japanese, which he didn't suspect as the young man looked like the foreigners working in his office building, who all spoke with an accent, or just plain English as their only mean of communication.

"yes, then you must be Naruto ?" he spoke with the most polite form of honoricfics, despite his social status was higher than the blond man, but then again, he always did have to speak polite to anyone as the social status might shift in the future, and then it was important to remember who your friends were.

But despite it being bitterly cold from the winter feeling in the air, promising small ice crystals falling from the sky within a short time, the secretary felt oddly warm.

As he saw branch manager Urakawa exit the station, he had noticed him immediately, and approached him without much thought of discretion. The manager looked nothing at all like what he had imagined, or seen a photo of.

The hair was pulled back with gel to perfection, and his long black trench with matching red scarf covered a likewise slick black suit with pure white shirt and dark grey tie. He looked like he could be a business man.. who at the same time worked with the yakuza.

He even held that kind of aura as walked towards him. His eyes never portraying more than sheer boredom at the most.

"I presume branch manager Kiba told you of my arrangements" he said as he walked over to the car and Naruto opened the door for him.

Even the car Kiba had hired for Naruto to get Sasuke in, was somewhat flashy, and matched his yakuza persona very well.

"yes he has." Naruto said, as he closed the door and loaded on the luggage and then got in to drive to the hotel.

On the way the blond noted in the back mirror, how the branch manager pulled out documents and sat with a pen to check them out. Sasuke's hand ran through the slick hair, messing it up and letting long bangs fall down from the neat sat hair – naruto unconsciously swallowed hard before he yet again had pay attention to the road to navigate through Osaka's tough urban life.

As they pulled in at the hotel, he helped the manager up to his room with his belongings, as Kiba would have yelled at him if he hadn't done so.

"Thank you Naruto. I appreciate that Kiba sent you, as I am rather tired and was glad that you could help me." Urakawa said, as he placed his bag onto a chair and pulled in his tie to loosen the collar of his white shirt.

It could have been because sasuke urakawa wasn't at all a person who neither believed in the spirit of Christmas nor the conception of love at first sight, but maybe it was exactly that or because Naruto Uzumaki was a person who loved Christmas and who believed in the fairytales there surrounded the whole concept of love.

But whatever reason it was that night, when the young secretary had said thanks and paid his goodbyes, he left with a burning sensation in his chest there hurt so much that it even surprised the young man, as he gasped for air.

Next morning the young man was yet again in front of the hotel to pick up the manager, who came walking out with his suitcase and trenchcoat flowing in a slow winter morning breeze.

"Naruto." He said most politely, and the young man enjoyed how his name rolled of in an accent not alike his own.

"Mr. Urakawa." He said likewise polite as he opened the door and soon set direction to the showroom the company had in Osaka, as he was briefed from Kiba that this was the place they spent most of their time when planning out new marketing strategies.

As they snailed through the daunting morning traffic, mixing the smell of traffic with that of vendors selling fresh food with the taste of Osaka Christmas, Sasuke took a second to relish being away from the usual streets in Shinjuku and the people who all to some degree either respected him too greatly and therefore sucked up to him or the people who gave a shit about the exact same thing.

Either way Osaka was a blessed visit and he was almost overjoyed that Kiba called him out earlier this year as well.

"Mr. Urakawa we are here" Naruto said, as he stopped the car in front of the 12 story building with glass façade that the Osaka division owned.

"thank you Naruto" the branch manager picked up his things and as soon as he got out he noted Kiba in his suit, there always to some level looked ruffled, like he had just woken up after sleeping in it – which then again wasn't that far of the target.

"SASUKEEE! Long time no see man! Welcome back, hope Naruto has treated you kindly, and didn't destroy your wonderful image of Osaka." Kiba said as he walked towards Sasuke with arms stretched out just waiting for the hug Sasuke always tried to avoid.

To fail.

"Manager Kiba, long time indeed, a whole year to be exact. And your kind secretary has treated me well, so you should worry or I might steal him in the future" as they talked and walked inside, leaving the blond man to attend to parking the car, they left the polite talk at the door as they entered.

"Why is he blond? Foreigner? And what is that accent? He speaks perfectly Japanese, but do I sense something else?" Sasuke asked as they sat down at the table in the conference room, leaving their trench coats with the young ladies at the reception.

"I cant hide anything from you, can I dickward?" kiba laughed as he scratched his brown messy hair. How he ever got away with that sloppy look was beyond him, but then again, the brunette did know how to make results.

"He's from Okinawa, or rather one of the islands there, and his parents are from America, but he is born and raised here in japan, which is why he doesn't speak English any better than the rest of us." Kiba pulled out a smoke from his pack and lit it before he opened his files and soon dozen of papers filled the table.

"I hate it when you smoke." Sasuke stated as he likewise pulled out papers upon papers, leaving no room on the table for their coffee.

"I hate it when you fart." Kiba said with a serious frown of his brow, leaving the smoke to dangle between his plum lips.

"I don't fart." The manager stated as he defiantly looked at Kiba, not at all happy with the accusation.

"yes you do. They stink like fucking roses too."