A/N: am i on a roll or am i dodging my responsibilities? hmm, i'll unpack that at a later date.

enjoy the Uchiha family!

thank you to everyone who reviewed. it really means a lot to me that you guys like this fic. I have a clear end but don't have anything for the middle lmao so thanks for being with me while i navigate us to the finish line. idk how many chapters i want to do but i have a few important things i want to touch on so we'll see how many i can do.

When Angels Fall

Chapter Fourteen

Meddling

Fugaku didn't like to meddle in his kids' lives. His wife, on the other hand, thought it was a perfect pass time.

As long as the boys completed their missions with one-hundred percent success, their father really couldn't care less what they did in their free time. As long as it didn't bring shame to the Uchiha name, he let them be. Itachi was very good with upholding his public image. Fugaku couldn't find a fault with his oldest at all. He was the perfect soldier, perfect heir and a genius. What more could he ask for?

So, when Itachi entered the family home at close to midnight, Mikoto shook him awake to tell them that. "I went to say goodnight to him and he smelt like vanilla and lavender. He must've been with Hyuga Hinata again. This late at night? You should've seen how big his smile was when I saw him walking up the path! I wonder what's going on with that..."

He simply stared at the woman with a tired scowl. Too tired to point out that Itachi was literally commissioned as her body guard and therefore it was logical that they'd spend time near one another, he rolled over to cocoon in the blanket. She was lucky she was so beautiful otherwise he would've had a few choice words for her disturbing his precious sleep.

Itachi was one of, if not the, strongest Uchiha alive currently. If he got back home at midnight, he was not concerned for his first born. As long as he was not bleeding over his solid oak floors, he would see him in the morning.

And that's exactly what he did.

His boys were both on the table, stuffing their faces with their mother's home-made breakfast while Mikoto fussed over their youngest for getting injured yet again during his spar with the Uzumaki child.

Sasuke shoved food in his mouth, "You don't fret over Itachi-niisan, and he's been on assignment for months." He had said that purely to get his mother off his back but something in her turned sly.

Fugaku sat in his usual seat, crisp newspaper the most interesting thing at the moment when Mikoto nudged him as she passed him on her way to the kitchen. Her dark eyes looked their eldest up and down, "Escorting a pretty girl around town doesn't sound like much of an assignment to me. I'm sure the most he's had to deal with is scaring off her suitors."

For all his genius, Itachi knew she was goading him to get a reaction. The comment she made to him the night before flashed in his mind: "Returning this late from a woman's house?" Unfortunately, he couldn't hold stop his grip on his chopsticks from tightening. He chose not to give her the reaction she wanted and stayed quiet.

Sasuke hummed when their mother came to sit next to him, "Hinata-san is very popular among the male shinobi. I'm surprised her father hasn't tried to marry her off to that one diplomat."

Their mother seemed very interested all of a sudden, her eyes flicking to Itachi as she noticed him frown. "Hm? Was she being courted?"

Holding back a groan, Fugaku put his paper down to eye his wife. He had noticed how tense Itachi's body language was a minute ago before the boy corrected it a second later. What was she getting at?

Unaware of his brother's increasing sour mood, the youngest Uchiha shrugged, "Not courted but he was definitely interested in her until she turned him down. That's around the time she went on a date with Naruto-baka so that's probably why."

The air around them lowered in temperature as they fell into silence. Fugaku gave her a look, to which she glared back, mouthing 'How was I supposed to know that?!'

For a few minutes, the family ate in tense, uncomfortable silence. The only sounds were the clicking of the metal chopsticks and the rustling of the morning paper. Wanting to redeem herself, Mikoto cleared her throat and casually asked, "So, Hinata-san and Naruto-kun are dating?"

Identical dark eyes narrowed on her, brows frowning. Sasuke was definitely not expecting to talk about Hyuga Hinata's love life over breakfast at seven in the morning. Why the hell was his mother so concerned for her all of sudden? And why was Itachi glaring at his rice bowl like it had insulted him? His father pointedly ignored anything that was said, which was pretty on brand for him honestly.

What the hell was going on?

His mother gave him a wide eyed look, tilting her head subtly to his brother. Itachi clenched his jaw, fingers flexing around his tea cup as if waiting for something. His dark eyes looked like they were trying to murder the grains of rice below him. After a moment, it dawned on him that his genius older brother was waiting for what he had to say.

Why the hell would he care about who Hinata was dating?

Either way, Sasuke glanced between all three of them before dropping the bomb, "No, they went on one or two dates before the dobe called it off. He's still hung up on Sakura."

Mikoto let out a huge sigh of relief, like a heavy burden had been raised from her chest and smiled sweetly to her youngest. Itachi resumed drinking his tea, eyes a little less intense than a moment ago. His father looked unimpressed as usual.

Sasuke was so confused. Did he miss something?