Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Merry (belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! This is my Christmas gift to ya'll, sorry it's a day late. I didn't have internet access all week, which would explain to my PM buddies why I've been missing. Sorry! ^-^;

And no, this has no relevancy to the plot. Consider this chapter a filler. In fact, it takes a two years before the start of the story

Thanks to Beta: Lynn06

[edited 1:31 pm 12/3/2015]

vvv

"A... Christmas party, sir?" I asked slowly, my pen halting its constant scribbling as I looked at my boss in confusion.

Itachi didn't look up from his computer. He only nodded, "Yes, employee moral is low. My father feels that an employee Christmas party is best."

I deadpanned. "I'm going to have to plan the whole thing, aren't I?" I asked with reluctance in my voice. Over the years since I had started at Uchiha Corp, my duties had gone from Itachi's personal assistant to the office's miracle worker.

Itachi finally glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "You and Sasuke's assistant."

My mouth dropped open at that. Sasuke had just started working at Uchiha Corporation over the summer and with him came a college educated, personally recommended by a professor, assistant. The girl was insufferable; she thought that since she went to college and I barely made it past high school, she knew more than me.

"You're not serious," were the first words out of my mouth.

Itachi leaned back in his chair and turned to me. "I'm perfectly serious. This is a perfect opportunity to overcome your differences with Kono-san," my boss told me.

My eyebrow twitched. After being Itachi's assistant for five years, I knew how to read him like a book... sometimes. "In other words, you mentioned this to your father all in the hopes to settle my differences with Sasuke's assistant," I said.

The corner of Itachi's mouth twitched into an almost smile. "Sometimes, I fear you have been around me too long, Ichigo-san," he teased before turning serious. He stood and shoved a pile of papers into my arms and escorted me towards the door, all the while rattling of instructions, "Now, here are the plans, numbers of approved businesses you may deal with, rules of conduct that will need to be distributed among the employees, and a list of decorations that need to be put up. I'm giving you the rest of the day off to plan; the party is this weekend, please have everything done by then. Good day, Ichigo-san." With that, Itachi practically kicked me out of his office. The door slammed shut for a moment before Itachi poked his head out and added, "Also, please pick up another pack of cigarettes, I'm nearly out."

I glared at the shut door to my boss' office, my arms loaded down with papers. Next time I saw his pretty face, I was going to bash the Uchiha Corp Employee Handbook over Itachi's head and shove his cigarettes down his throat.

"An assistant should never glare even when her boss isn't around, it makes a bad image," a very annoying and snooty voice said behind me.

It took all my willpower not to pull a disgusted face as I turned around and looked at the purple-haired assistant of Sasuke. "Ami-san," I said in a strained civil tone.

The purple-haired woman smirked at me. "Ichigo-san. Did Itachi-sama send you out on another paper run? Tsk, at least Sasuke-kun gives me real work," she said in an overly sweet voice. I wanted to gag.

Shoving the papers at her, I matched her tone with an equal overly sweet smile. "Itachi-san is making us plan an employee Christmas party. We have to be done by this weekend. Here's your half of the project," I said cheerfully.

Ami sputtered as she tried to keep the loose paper from falling everywhere, all the while gawking at me. "He can't be serious! That's impossible for-"

I held up a finger, cutting her off. "An assistant never turns down an order, no matter how bizarre. Isn't that what you told me last week?"

The door behind Ami opened before she could answer and my most dreaded enemy stepped out. Sasuke glared at me before turning his cold gaze on his purple-haired assistant. "Ami, where is my coffee? I sent you for it an hour ago," he demanded.

Ami turned wide-eyed to stare at her immediate boss, then back at me. A sneer formed on her face as she looked back at Sasuke. "I'm sorry, sir, but Ichigo-san was trying to get me to do something for her. I tried to tell her that I needed to do something, but she didn't listen!"

My eyes narrowed and I glared at the conniving little shrew. I knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to enlarge the rift between Sasuke and I in hopes that Sasuke would get me fired. It was no secret that Sasuke and I detested each other, and it didn't help that Ami was a former schoolmate of ours. She knew all about the drama between Sasuke and I.

The younger Uchiha brother's eyes snapped towards mine. "Ichigo...," he grounded out.

I returned his angry gaze with one of my own. "Sasuke," I hissed back.

When Itachi had warned me that Sasuke was going to start working at Uchiha Corp, I flat out told my boss that I wasn't going to be respectful in any way. Itachi, knowing all about my high school life, granted me that and even warned Sasuke that if he tried something like that while he worked at Uchiha Corp, there would be consequences.

I felt oddly happy when I heard about it. Sasuke's eyes narrowed even further, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it. "Ichigo, why are you trying to shove your duties onto my assistant?"

I stared at Sasuke, he knew I wasn't like that! "I'm not, Ami-san is supposed to help me-"

"That's not what you told me!" Ami interjected quickly, painting an even worse picture now. I wanted to punch her teeth out.

I turned to face Sasuke. "Look, Itachi-san is making us-"

Once again, Ami cut in before I could finish, "Stop trying to add to the things I've got to do. Just because you're lazy and have seniority, it doesn't give you the right to-"

"What is going on?" A smooth voice asked further down the lobby. It seems everyone was interrupting everyone today.

All of us stiffened and turned to Fugaku standing in front of the closing elevator doors. His stern coal black eyes landed on the three of us like a leaden weight. "If you have time to argue, then you have time to work," he said dully and moved to retreat to his office.

There was a brief hesitancy from Ami before she stepped forward. "Excuse me, sir, I hate to bother you but can you speak with Ichigo-san, please? I am struggling to complete all of the tasks Sasuke-san gives me, I can't have any more distractions."

Fugaku turned slowly to face Ami again. "Oh? And just what has she done?" He asked in a false curious tone.

Ever since Fugaku had hired me to work as Itachi's assistant, I always got the feeling that Fugaku liked me somewhat. Coming from a cold, unfeeling man like Fugaku it was hard to tell, but I still got an impression every now and then.

The purple-haired woman fidgeted nervously and acted as if she were reluctant to share, before she accused, "She claims that Itachi-sama wants us to plan a Christmas party for the employees this weekend. I tried to tell her that it is impossible to do that, and then she told me that I can do it myself. When I tried to tell her that Itachi-sama said both of us, she looked like she was going to hit me and-"

Fugaku-sama once again cut her off. "Perhaps planning such an event is impossible for you, but I have full confidence that Itachi's assistant can do it." I felt my chest fill with pride in the trust Fugaku had in me. It was one of the reasons why I continuously worked at Uchiha Corp diligently.

Ami opened her big mouth to try and falsely accuse me further, but Fugaku continued before she could speak, "Now unless you wish to find yourself unemployed this Christmas, I suggest you stop stirring up trouble and do as the senior assistant tells you."

Ami blushed and bowed her head. "Y-yes sir...," she mumbled and went to stand behind me. I could feel her hot gaze on my back, but I didn't care anymore. I had won this round, if not the entire war.

vvv

"Here," Itachi said, handing me a glass of something sparkling.

I stared at the flute, then up at my boss. "I can't have that," I pointed out slowly. Itachi should know by now that I was a lightweight to the highest degree. It had been only last year that Hidan had spiked my water with vodka to see what I would do.

My boss rolled his onyx eyes and shoved the flute into my hand anyway. "It's sparkling punch. You don't really think I'd try to hand you champagne after last year, do you?" He asked.

I blushed a little and took a sip to cover up my embarrassment. "How should I know what you were giving me? I didn't order any of this." I had ordered moderately priced champagne and wine. Being such a luxuriant company with such high profits, the Uchiha Corp could afford the costs it took to throw together a Christmas party on such a short notice and still have it looking classy.

Itachi smirked down at me and took a quick puff on his cigarette. "I know. That's why I made sure to add it to the order. I wasn't going to have my assistant sipping water all night long."

I stared at my boss, wondering if he was drunk. Itachi never spoke to me with such ease, ever. I eyed him suspiciously. "Alright, what do you want?" I asked.

My boss chuckled and reached down to tap some excess ash off the lit part of his cigarette. "It's only once a year. I just thought we could converse normally instead of employee to employer."

I blinked at him, completely stumped. In all the years I had worked at Uchiha Corp, Itachi never treated me any different than he did any other employee. Sure, there were moments when we would tease each other, but there was always an invisible wall that separated us.

Itachi caught my look and returned it with an amused expression. "What? It's not that strange."

I lost a little bit of my bewilderment to snort, "I dare say it is. You, the great Uchiha Itachi, the person who practically dragged Uchiha Corporation back to it's former glory, wants to talk freely with his lowly assistant?"

"Lowly assistant? I doubt even my father thinks that of you. After all, you were the one who put this party together with only three days to work on it, with all your normal duties of course," Itachi praised.

I finally voiced what had been nagging at me ever since he had arrived. "You're drunk, aren't you?" I asked flatly.

Surprisingly, instead of being offended, Itachi chuckled, "Only a little. Shisui is truly a bad influence on me."

My mind blanked in shock that my boss was actually buzzed. I had never seen Itachi do anything detrimental to his health other than smoking. But then... it was Shisui we were talking about. I had only saw him occasionally, but every time I did, something horrible always happened. I wasn't normally someone to blackmail people; but unfortunately for Shisui, he just kept leaving himself wide open for me to collect material to extort him with in the future.

"Okay, I guess I can believe that," I hedged.

Itachi took another drag on his cigarette. "When it comes to Shisui, anything is possible. The good and the bad."

I giggled. Truer words have never been spoken. I took another sip of my sparkling punch with a smile. I couldn't recall the taste of it, though I doubted it tasted horrible, but the memory of Itachi going out of his way to order something that I could enjoy stayed with me throughout the years.

Looking back, it was probably the first small step towards me falling in love with him.

^o^

Argh, sorry for the cheesy ending and the horrible chapter. I finished this real late Christmas Eve so I could have something to hand to my lovely readers.

Kono Ami is a real character in the Naruto series… Look up Sakura's flashback during the Chūnin Exams. However, her last name is made up because my precious beta brought up an issue about Itachi calling Ami by her first name.

Once again, Merry Christmas to all! And many blessings on your new year!

No Flames, let's remember Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Man! ;P