Dark clouds covered the sky and Hinata could only blame herself for sleeping through the first alarm and having to rush her way through the morning routine. The very rush that led to her forgetting the umbrella right on the door handle.

With brisk steps she left the coffee shop with a cup in each hand. She could only thank the wonders of technology that allowed for ordering ahead because she somehow doubted that she would be able to charm a barista into conveniently remembering her order and having it ready upon arrival. Hinata laughed to herself. What was important was her ability to carry out Uchiha's requests without a hitch.

A cold breeze swept through her hair and Hinata sighed. No umbrella and no hair tie. It was fine. She could get through the day. She could. Her lips thinned as long strands flew with the wind, covering her vision.

It was alright. She was almost there.

When she reached the building her shoulders relaxed under the warm embrace of the heater. The director may be a stingy man that took his sweet time addressing the wifi issue, but at least he knew that functional heaters and AC units were a must. One point for Kakashi.

Hinata's power walk became a jog when the elevator was closing. For a moment she was tempted to raise her voice and ask for someone to stop the elevator from leaving her but the crowd in there stopped her. The last thing she needed was to be stranded in a packed elevator until emergency services arrived. A chill ran down her spine. Horrifying prospect.

As she slowed to a halt before the elevator, more people joined her. "Morning, Hina."

A small smile reached her face. "Good morning, Kiba, Shino."

Shino only dipped his head, forgoing any comments. Kiba took one cup from her hands and lifted it to his nose. He hummed thoughtfully before snapping his fingers. "Let me guess, this one is for the Overlord."

"What gave it away?" Hinata deadpanned.

"Americano. Bitter and soulless as he is," Kiba snickered and nudged Shino's arm. "He made you work late yesterday, didn't he?"

"It is dangerous for you to walk around late at night," Shino said. "Even if you can protect yourself, you're bound to get a scare one of these days."

Hinata clicked her tongue and shook her head. "This time the blame lies with the wifi. I'm tempted to start a fundraiser to get it fixed, I can't live with so many USBs here and at home anymore."

"Fair," Kiba laughed. "I'll be sure to contribute, but you really should listen to Shino. He has a point."

Hinata offered them a wry smile as they stepped into the elevator. "I'm always careful, I promise."

"Let us know when you stay late. One of us can walk you home or to the station at least." Shino held her gaze until she relented and raised her hands in mock surrender. "Deal?"

"I'm keeping you guys for dinner, then."

Kiba punched a fist in the air. "Tell Tenten to make that awesome rice she makes and I'll bring the meat. You are in charge of dessert, yeah?"

"Of course," she laughed as they opened her office door and handed over the coffee. She quickly set down the pair of coffees on her desk before opening her laptop.

One last revision after one hour of sleep. Surely there was something she missed, her mind was not in a good place when she finished the forsaken project. It still wasn't in a good place, but coffee and a bit of rest were capable of miracles.

Probably.

She glanced back with a small smile. "Thank you, both of you. Let's have lunch together later."

"Yeah, no prob." Kiba gave her a thumbs up before dragging Shino along to his next stop.

Hinata's attention returned to her screen and shook her head mournfully as she deleted the crossword puzzle tab. There was no room for distraction of any kind. She would kill for one. No— she would concentrate. No typos as far as she could see…

Without taking her eyes off of her computer Hinata raised a hand with a cup of coffee as the door opened. "Good morning, Mr. Uchiha."

"Good mo—" Sasuke had to do a double take when he plucked the coffee from her hand. "Good riddance, don't make me call EMS on such a busy day."

Hinata in a frazzled state was normal. Hinata staring unblinkingly at a bright screen with bloodshot eyes… was not. It was kind of disturbing, actually. The absence of a crossword puzzle tab on her computer was rather alarming.

Perhaps he should've given her a late morning after making her work late all week last week. No— he would allow a day off if his project was successful. Maybe. People loved to talk and she looked like crap. They would think he was working her to death and while that was more or less accurate, she was as much of a workaholic as he was, in his defense.

"I'm quite alright," Hinata started before dissimulating a yawn. Pleasantries flooded out of her as if in auto-pilot though her gaze remained glued to the screen. "I hope you've had a lovely morning so far, sir. Today we have a meeting with Mr. Jiraiya—"

"— In thirty minutes, I know."

As if he hadn't said a word, Hinata continued, "and the new author has a manuscript she would like to discuss with you after the meeting. After that, Mr. Hatake needs to see you, he says it's… urgent."

At this Sasuke snorted. "You're sugarcoating his actual words again."

"My apologies."

She did not bother to feign an apologetic appearance and Sasuke cracked a smirk. One day he would get sweet little Hyūga to swear. Something told him that day was fast approaching.

He wordlessly extended a hand and Hinata tossed the USB across the office. By then the gesture was probably practiced enough for both to throw materials and catch them blindfolded. It was rather entertaining even if he would rather die than ask her to play a brief game of catch.

"Good enough, Hyūga," was all he said about the presentation and Hinata felt a fraction of the weight on her shoulders ease.

That was the green light to move on to the next task on her imaginary to-do list. Perhaps actually writing it out would be more efficient, but the sense of neverending dread it would create was too great of a sacrifice for her inner peace. It wasn't as if she missed any deadlines with her method. It worked.

Before she could pull up any work Sasuke stood up and flicked his wrist. Follow me.

Hinata sighed and tucked her tablet under her arm. As they walked across the building clusters of employees dissipated and started typing the alphabet on empty word documents until they reached an office. Kabuto. A chill ran down Hinata's spine as she opened the door for Sasuke.

"Ah, Sasuke, good to see you," Kabuto greeted before turning to her. "Always a pleasure to see you, sweetie."

Hinata offered a stiff smile. The man was a good worker— by her standards, not Sasuke's— but there was something off-putting about him. Perhaps it was the snake-like eyes, but she was not one to talk with her own strange eyes. He was just trying to be friendly, she reasoned.

"You said Jiraiya would not consider publishing with us, did you not?"

Kabuto raised an eyebrow. "I did say that, yes."

"Then why is it that I have a meeting scheduled with him in twenty-five minutes, hm?" Sasuke stood a menacing step towards Kabuto. "How did that happen?"

Kabuto laughed and lightly hit Sasuke's shoulder. "I knew our editor-in-chief would manage it! I still have much to learn from you."

Sasuke deadpanned. "You didn't even call him, did you?"

Hinata shifted in her place and held her tablet behind her back. The waves of second-hand embarrassment crashed over her and she stared at the artwork on the wall. Nothing to see here. Nothing at all.

"I mean, the guy is a hermit." Kabuto's smile did not drop. "And a successful self-publisher. What could we possibly offer to entice him?"

Sasuke only hummed and approached the door. "Incompetence will not be rewarded here. You're fired."

Kabuto's easygoing expression twisted into barely contained rage and Hinata glanced at him apologetically, mouthing an I'm sorry. For a moment it seemed to placate his wounded pride and Hinata followed Sasuke out of the office.

When they approached their office heavy steps reached her ears. "Don't do it, Mr. Kabuto… don't do it," Hinata whispered.

"You are an arrogant, self-important piece of shit, Uchiha," Kabuto hissed. Several people walking by stopped to observe the show and others casually stepped out of their offices. Hinata wanted to slap a hand to her forehead. Foolish Kabuto. "You think you're the damn Overlord of the company because Kakashi has a soft spot for you, but make no mistake, you're just a snobbish little boy pretending to be someone."

If Sasuke was affected by Kabuto's words, she showed no sign of it. With a dismissive shrug Sasuke glanced at him and turned to Hinata. "I trust that you'll have that office cleaned out by the end of the day."

A gulp. "Yes, sir."