Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto brand names in any way shape or form. And the Thirty Themes are from the LJ Group 30 Kisses

Note: AU

List Etta: Battle

Assigned Couple: Itachi and Hinata

Theme I: Lilac

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

Well, damn. Another three seconds of Itachi's life had been wasted counting down the seconds until his lunch break. His chair screeched against the linoleum floor as he stood up. In all truth, he hated this job. He hated business, but it was something he excelled at. He sighed as he straightened out his back and tucked the chair in. His eyes still half lidded he straightened up his desk, straightening the pencils, and fixing the big nametag perched at the front of his desk. He pulled his keys out of his pocket as he flicked off the light. He turned facing the door grumbling as he flicked through his keys trying a different one periodically. Screw Company rules, he was going to label the keys and if someone stole them his excuse would be something along the lines of 'should have gotten better locks'. He finally found the right key and when he heard a solid clicking sound, he sighed and walked away.

Lunch was probably the most exciting thing that had been happening in his life as of late. He was never the social creature and so slowly after schooling his social life had depleted somewhere between then and now. It wasn't like he wasn't given the chance. Much like his anti-social, anti-happiness, brother he was showered with love notes and all sorts of creepy other things. But after the incident where a girl decided that a lock of his hair was all she needed, he swore off associating with any of them. Itachi left his pondering as he was met with the soft ding of the elevator doors opening for him. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he pushed the small button with the number one barely visible on it.

As he stared at the pad visible above the doors showing which floor he was on he smell something. It wasn't a bad smell but it was strong. Like… no it was paint. His eye twitched slightly. One of these days, he was going to pay attention to the schedule. He remembered his secretary mentioning some artist was coming to paint somewhere in the building, but after that he drew a blank. He finally saw the numbers enter the single digits. He straitened out his posture and fixed his tie. He had to keep up the unconditional nickname of 'the office hard ass', right?

He got the shock of a lifetime when the doors opened and the light flooded the elevator. The front foyer was… light purple? His left eyebrow arched delicately as he walked out into the opening room. The once white walls were covered in intricate designs all in the color of purple. Itachi felt like slapping his forehead. The boss was female but purple. Itachi bit the inside of his cheek as he stepped to the main desk. "Uchiha Itachi Lunch break, time 12:32 p.m." He watched the guard sign the sheet and Itachi passed through the metal detectors. His eye twitched as he saw the small puddle of very purple paint that he had just stepped in. He let out a few calming breaths before leaving the building hoping to get a decent cup of coffee and maybe a small sandwich.

Itachi walked down the street to the convenient café located on the corner. It wasn't fancy or anything but, he spent a lot of time there at lunch. The food was good and the coffee cheap, so what was there to complain about. Itachi opened the glass door ignoring the jingle of the bells as he entered. He looked around noticing a couple eating quietly and an older man working on his laptop. Itachi smirked a little and approached the counter. "Hey Itachi. Will you have the usual?" The girl at the counter asked. Itachi glanced at her nametag quickly. He was bad with names and that made for awkward conversation. "Ah, yeah…Tenten, I'll have the usual with black coffee instead of my usual drink." He smiled a little at her, trying to mask his stutter before her name.

She nodded and walked off behind the visible area of the counter. In that time, Itachi's attention was distracted by the sound of someone entering the shop. It was a woman; she had a white shirt covered by overalls on and a white cap that pushed her bangs out of her face. Itachi's attention once again shifted as Tenten came out with his sandwich and coffee. "Anything interesting happen at work, today," Tenten asked as she worked the cash register. "Painted the inside of the building purple." Itachi mumbled something under his breath. "Lilac." A soft voice from behind him stated. "Excuse me?" He turned only barely hearing the voice. "The walls are painted Lilac, in a contemporary abstract design." He smirked at the girl. Now he noticed, she had paint on her face and jeans and her hands were dyed. "Sounds like purple with layers of purple along with some scratches on the side, to me." The girl behind him's face shrunk into a frown that could really be called a pout.

"Itachi, when you're done driving away customers you could sit down and eat." Tenten's voice interrupted their small conversation. "Hn…"Itachi picked up the sandwich and coffee and sat down on one of the stools that faced a fish tank. Itachi unwrapped his sandwich and jabbed a straw into his coffee. His usual ceremony of eating was interrupted, when the girl from behind him in line sat down next to him. "Abstract is not just scribbles." Her voice was a little louder than before and it was slightly shocking. "I didn't mean it like that. I just don't understand art, I suppose." He tried to defend using his business like voice. Hopefully stopping him from being attacked by the small girl. "More like you don't care." He caught out of her mumbling. "Explain then." He stated hoping the girls obvious shy nature would make her back down. "Fine." She said solidly making eye contact for the first time. "But first, your name?" Itachi stated giving a lady-killer smirk. "Hinata Hyuuga, you?" His smirk died when he could have sworn he caught her rolling her eyes. "Itachi Uchiha." He smirked again, but this time the mood was killed by the sound of his growling stomach. "Before we begin though, I do believe you should eat." Itachi frowned at the giggle she made and nodded in agreement before he began devouring his food.

They had both finished eating quickly. Itachi because he wanted to watch this Hinata struggle at explaining her so-called art. Hinata because this was chance to prove to someone that her art was worth something and that she had picked the right career choice. As they exited the café, he noticed she walked with the posture of an executive not an artist. Hyuuga's were like the Uchiha, he pondered for a second. He knew much like him, all of their children were expected to go into business. "Umm… We're here." She stated when Itachi was about to walk into her. He sighed and held the door for her. He was going to pay for spacing out one of these days.

As soon as he entered the door, she stopped and pointed at the wall to their immediate right. "We'll start here." Itachi stared at the wall. It was purple with designs all over it. Wow, that was an educational experience. Next, please. "I did all of this with a 2.5 inch brush. It's hard to do smaller details with but it came out well, I think." Hinata's soft voice shrunk into the business tone all Hyuuga's had. Itachi nodded putting on his neutral, guess what I am thinking, face. "What do you see it as?" Hinata asked trying to keep his attention. "I see a wonderful pattern of nothing, in purple paint." He stated quite blandly. Hinata's smile faded. "How am I to teach you if you don't care about what you are learning?" Her voice was quiet once more. "As my teachers said, 'I had all of my creativity sucked out of me and replaced with business skills.'" He sighed.

'New approach Hinata' she silently cheered herself on. "Fine, how about this wall?" She pointed to the wall across from the one they were at. "Are those flowers?" He asked his eyebrow arched once again. "Yes, but they are all made from the same color paint so I changed the painting method for it. See you do have some imagination at least." This pattern went on for an hour at least, or until Itachi's break was over. "Tomorrow I'll show you more." She said to him from across the room. "Make it a date." He stated in a very monotone voice. He turned in the elevator just in time to see her blush before the elevator doors shut. "She is kind of cute isn't she? And for an added plus she's definitely passionate. I suppose I could call the walls lilac for a while." He spoke to himself before he heard the elevator ding marking his floor.

Author Note: Alright! This one was a short fluffish AU! I needed to submit this before I disappear for a few weeks on a trip. This will be a set of 30 themes and the requirement is that they all have battle. This is a kind of battle of the ideas. Kind of pointless but Oh well. I'm hoping tomorrow I can post another challenge I received but if not I'm sorry! Anyway, Read and Review! Thanks.

-Riza