A/N: i have absolutely no words. I don't even know what im doing, writing a new story when I have so many that need to be completed? obviously i like to stress myself out. i think i just need a place to put my mental illness into writing hahah is that weird? dont answer that.

i just want more itahina, is that so hard to ask for? can someone pls write some for me? i feel like a drug addict trying to find my next fix. so i will make my own fix in the meantime.

pls dont ask me about daybreak lmao it is frustrating me and i do not have the emotional capacity to even try to finish the next chapter ugh! that fic is getting on my nerves lol. also i think cutting the chapters short (under 1k words) will be easier for me to manage (lets be real, i go overboard sometimes).

When Angels Fall

Chapter One

Emergency

Looking down at the scroll, Uchiha Itachi resisted the urge to curse. Instead, he frowned and steadied his gaze on the mischievously smirking Hokage.

This is a joke, right?

"I'm afraid not, Itachi-san," Hatake Kakashi beamed at the stone faced twenty-six year old as if he read the prodigy's mind.

In an effort to conceal his rage, Itachi blinked. "I do not understand. The Hyuga clan cannot afford to use one of their own for this...mission?"

A gray brow raised at the not-so-stuble jab to the Hyuga Clan. While this was highly entertaining to Kakashi, he knew better than to push an irate Itachi to his limit. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to give him this assignment as soon as he returned from an A-ranked mission that stretched two months longer than initially estimated. Well, no matter. What's done is done.

Kakashi hummed. "If anything, requesting you for this mission would mean that the Hyuga are willing to fork over quite a fortune. As you know, your rates are very steep."

The twitch above those intense midnight eyes did not go unnoticed. Requesting the Uchiha heir directly was a huge indicator that the Hyuga wanted this matter handled, decisively. It didn't slip past him that if the Hyuga Head had gone through the trouble of seeking him out, then there must be a troublesome problem.

It was no shock that the Uchiha and Hyuga clans were not the best of friends. They were tentative allies at best. They worked phenomenal in teams but their glaring personalities clashed much too often for there to be any true teamwork, hence the two clans were rarely placed together. The last Uchiha-Hyuga team had been his father, Fugaku, and the current head of the Hyuga, Hiashi. While the two respected each other, he'd heard the stories his father had told- that of him and Hiashi brawling on more than one occasion. So, while cordial, they did not interact beyond what was required from council meetings.

Seeing him calm from his initial tantrum (as much as a stoic, killer, child genius could throw a 'tantrum'), Kakashi rolled his shoulders while a serious look took over the portion of his face that was visible. "You've been gone nearly four months so I'm sure you're not up to date on the happenings. To put it simply, Team Eight was completing a mission when there was an attempted kidnappping of Hyuga Hinata. Well, I guess I should say a successful kidnapping."

Curiosity peaked to the highest, Itachi let his brow lift. There had only been a handful of times Kakashi's face had been as dark and haunted as it was now, but he continued to speak.

"Her team searched for three weeks and finally found her after twenty days. Beaten, weak, eyes fully intact, exhausted but she made a full recovery. Physically, anyway."

It didn't take a genius to understand what was not spoken. Being captured and held prisoner was probably the worst situation a shinobi could find themselves in. But to be at someone's mercy for twenty days? It was unheard of to be kept alive that long, unless they needed that particular individual for something that couldn't be replaced.

His first guess, logically, was her famous Hyuga eyes. An unbranded Hyuga was worth their weight plus a hundred in gold. It made the most sense for a criminal to target her, especially if they have a numbers advantage. However, Team Eight was formidable in their young age, and they were from three clans that bred the most deadly shinobi in the ninja world. For someone to best all three heirs? That was a hard feat to do for an opportune criminal.

A heavy sigh broke his musings, black eyes refocusing on the Hokage. "The details are in the report," he gestured to the scroll in the Uchiha's hands. "Yet the way she was found...unsettles me."

Now, this was interesting. If anything, finding the Hyuga heiress alive after twenty days, with her eyes still in her skull, would be considered a win in his book. What could possibly be so unsettling? He knew Kakashi had seen horrendous, gruesome things as his time on active duty.

"She was found in the middle of a pile of rubble, surrounded by tens of bodies. Some mangled, gutted like fish, others torn to pieces. Right in the center, like she was the epicenter of some explosion. She was the only survivor."

Itachi could feel the hesitation from the older male when they made eye contact. He was not prepared for what he said next.

"Assigning you as her body guard is for her protection as much as it is you protecting the village from her."