Hinata was tired, but she wouldn't let it show. She was there with coffee in hand, dressed and made up the best she could manage, and was there at the door to greet him. She read him his day and his charts, took his snippet notes, and did as she was told.

There was always someone calling or emailing her: this needed the director's approval, that was a correction he asked for, and now he needs to see it again. He asked for this to be done yesterday, but it won't be done until next week. What do they do?

On top of that, she was given short-worded orders from him, but that didn't mean that it was a simple task. He needed 'designs for the arrival of a new product' and 'an event for my son's homecoming.'

Hinata didn't dare ask about his son's arrival after the look he gave her when she asked 'which new product.'

This wasn't a job for one person.

After hours of rearranging, delegating, writing up, and fixing documents, her door opened. Hinata looked up, not recognizing who had come in, but the expensive suit told her that it was someone important. Hinata stood up, bowed, and looked at the time. It was two hours past when people started going home.

"Can I help you?" Hinata asked, worried she had not turned in something incorrectly.

"Are you the new director's assistant?" He eyed her desk.

Hinata felt subconscious about the mess of fanned-out documents.

"Um, yes. Please excuse my mess." Hinata closed a few folders.

He waved his hands and stepped forward, holding his hand out. "I'm Itachi Uchiha."

Hinata gaped at him for a moment before shaking his hand. "Hinata Hyuga, it's nice to meet you, Uchiha-sama." She bowed deeply again, standing up red. It was her job to know things like that. "I'm sorry. Are you here to see your father?"

"Nope, I wanted to see how you were doing," Itachi glanced down at her desk again.

Why would he want to check on his father's assistant?

Itachi looked back up at her. His eyes traveled down to her clothes. His eyebrows twitched together, spreading a confused look across his face. Hinata straightened her blouse. Though he seemed quite nice, she felt like she was being closely examined.

Itachi's flickered a smile back up at her. Maybe since her discomfort. He looked back down at her desk, his eyebrow knitted together further. "Backlog?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," Hinata admitted as she tucked some files into the folders.

Itachi waved his hand at the folders. "That's a lot of projects. Did the old assistant drop all his work on you?"

"Uhm, no… this all came in today." Itachi's looked surprised. Did he think she was lying?

Was she not working fast enough? Should these have already been handled? She didn't want to pass off work when she didn't know where it was going and what should be done with it.

Itachi pulled a document out with the tips of his fingers to get a better look.

Without warning, his demeanor changed, and he smiled at her. "Excuse me. I do think I will see my father."

"I… okay," Hinata stuttered. Itachi went out her door, rounding to his father's, rather than taking the door connecting their offices.

Itachi opened the door without knocking. Itachi sat down and back with his eyebrows raised with a smug look on his face, crossing his legs.

Fugaku glanced at his son, then back at his screen. Fugaku couldn't stand it when his eldest got into this attitude. He got it from his mother.

Finally, Itachi decided to break the silence. "I got an email today."

"Interesting," Fugaku commented, annoyed that his clever brat was going to force him to take the long route to find out what was bothering him.

"Do you want to guess what it was about?" Itachi cocked his head.

"No."

"Well, it wasn't really to me. It was to my assistant." Itachi continued.

"Does this story have a point?" Fugaku looked from his screen to his son's awaiting grin. "I don't like this game."

Itachi gave him an innocent look.

Fugaku sighed. "What email did you get that you felt the need to come up here to tell me about?"

"Sasuke's homecoming event." Itachi relented. "Your assistant asked mine how to honor the event properly. Seems she had no other instructions other than to plan one. She didn't even know if it should be public or private." Itachi shifted in his seat, leaning over the arm of his chair towards his desk. "She also has six documents on her desk right now that are normally given straight to my department, they shouldn't have touched her desk at all."

Fugaku rubbed his temple. His son was too smart for his own good. Unfortunately, he had to blame himself for that one.

"You are being purposely hard on her," Itachi concluded.

Fugaku flicked his wrist dismissively. "You wanted me to have a young assistant, 'to keep up with me'. She needs to keep up."

"By giving her work that she shouldn't be handling? By not giving her enough information to do what was assigned?" Itachi asked.

Fugaku growled. "Why do you have such an interest in my assistant?"

"Why are you so interested in driving her into the ground?" Itachi asked.

"I think I need to get back to work." Fugaku glared at his son.

Itachi nodded, raising his hands in defeat, which was concerning, but what concerned him more was the smile he gave him just before he turned for the door.

Itachi lightly knocked on the assistant's door again before letting himself in.

Hinata promptly stood, bowing. "Is there anything you need, Uchiha-sama?"

"You asked Kisame about my brother's welcome home party?" Itachi asked.

Hinata became flustered, but she tried to hide it. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, I have no reference for such an event in the details I was given." Her hand passed to the book he had seen pass many assistance hands. "Was that not what I should have done?"

"No, no. It's resourceful. Ask him anything you need. Don't be afraid to double-check with him. I'll make sure he knows to keep an eye out for you." Itachi smiled at her.

Hinata turned red, ashamed. Interesting girl.

"Oh, and my brother's party?" Hinata looked up at him attentively. "Would you mind if I took that off your hands?"

Hinata looked down at her paperwork, flustered. "I'm sorry…"

Itachi waved a hand. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just wanted to plan it myself. It's not often I get to show my little brother off."

Hinata's shoulders dropped their tension. She pulled out the folder, handing it to him.

"You'll be there, won't you?" Itachi asked her to take hold of the folder.

Hinata's hand faltered, and she nearly dropped to the folder. "Uhm, that depends."

"On?" Itachi asked.

"Well, I am to be with the director at all public events. However, if the event is a family matter, I would only be there if the director felt he would need me." Hinata's hand wandered back to the rule book.

"It will be public," Itachi announced.

Hinata nodded. "Alright, then I will be there."

"Good." Itachi smiled.

Hinata's head tilted. She could tell that he was up to something.

Itachi bowed his head, bidding her good night, but right before he slipped through the door, he added. "Those documents for my department. Send them over to Kisame. I'm not sure how they were assigned to you. You shouldn't have to worry about it. My father is a hand full enough on his own."

"Don't let him scare you off." Hinata looked unsure. "I think he needs someone like you."

Hinata stared at him, thoroughly confused, as he offered her a final smile and exited.